Tag Archives: side dish

First Monday Menu: BBQ Chicken and Victory Garden Vegetables

The home front housewife’s Victory Garden would be keeping the kitchen stocked with fresh vegetables this time of year. Those fresh veggies were healthy and helped a family save rationing points and money by allowing them to fill up on meals that included homegrown food.

This is a light, easy to fix late summer meal that works as well today as it did in the 1940s. The chicken recipe comes from the 1944 edition of The Good Housekeeping Cook Book.

Barbecued Fried Chicken

  • 2 1/2 lb fryer, cut up
  • 4 tbsp salad oil or fat
  • 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tbsp vinegar
  • 1 tbsp bottled thick meat sauce
  • 1 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1/4 c catsup
  • dash tabasco sauce

Wash the fryer and dry it slightly. You can reserve the backbone, neck, and wing tips for making chicken broth later. Heat the salad oil in a skillet, then add the chicken. Brown on all sides over high heat. Remove the chicken and place in a shallow baking pan. Mix the remaining ingredients and pour over the chicken. Bake uncovered in a moderate oven of 350°F for one hour or until the chicken is tender, basting every 10 minutes with the sauce in the pan. Place in a broiler oven which has been preheated (unless the manufacturer’s instructions say otherwise) and allow to brown slightly. Make sure it doesn’t burn. Remove from broiler. Put the chicken on a platter and pour the remaining sauce over it to serve. Serves 4.

Note: In true home front housewife style, I used what we had on hand to make this recipe. I used chicken breasts instead of a whole fryer, and it worked well. 

Victory Garden Vegetables

I used squash, zucchini, and onions, but any vegetable you have on hand will work. Just slice, toss in a skillet, and cook with a little salt and pepper. This is also a great way to use up any leftover vegetables you have on hand. I’ve also added garlic pepper and/or cheese to the squash, zucchini, and onions. The melted cheese adds just the right amount of gooey indulgence to the dish. 

Results

The chicken breasts were very moist and flavorful. I like steak sauce, but I very rarely use it on steaks. This was a nice way to incorporate that flavor into a meal. Seven people ages 2 to adult tested this menu and everyone loved it. Next time I might add another side dish or a dessert, but the chicken and vegetables on their own were very satisfying. 

Baking without…Milk: Yeast Rolls

A warm homemade roll is a welcome addition to almost any meal. My seventeen-year-old daughter has been baking homemade bread almost daily, so I gave her this recipe to try out. My two oldest daughters are tremendous bakers and I love when they bake for me. This recipe makes about 2 dozen rolls.

This is from the January 1945 issue of Woman’s Day. To learn more about this series, you can start with Baking without…Eggs: Cocoa Cake with Chocolate Glaze.

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Yeast Rolls

1 cake yeast

1/4 c warm water

1/2 c boiling water

3 tbsp margarine

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp sugar

1/2 c cold water

1 egg, grade B

4 1/2 c sifted flour

melted margarine

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Pour boiling water over margarine, salt, and sugar. Stir until dissolved and add the cold water. Add the yeast and the well-beaten egg and mix well. Add 1 cup of flour and beat until smooth. Add the remaining flour, turn on a floured board and knead a few minutes. Place in a greased bowl, brush the top with melted margarine, cover, and allow to rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size. Knead lightly. Return to the greased bowl. When double in bulk, shape, and place in greased muffin tins. Brush with margarine, allow to rise again until doubled. Bake in a hot oven, 400°F for about 15 minutes.

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Results

These were moist and soft with a slightly crispy outer layer. My daughter said the dough looked dry while she was working with it, but the rolls were nice and moist when they were finished. My personal favorite way to eat them was fresh from the oven slathered with margarine and peach preserves. I have a 20-month-old whose favorite food is bread and she gave these the toddler seal of approval.

Of the twelve recipes in the Woman’s Day  “You can Bake without…” article, this was the only recipe that wasn’t for a cake, cookies, or other dessert. I’m glad they chose to include yeast rolls.  Rolls and breads were a large part of a person’s diet and rationing and shortages affected those foods, too. Plus, rolls were useful and versatile. Last night’s rolls could be included in today’s lunch box or this afternoon’s after-school snack. Rolls go with meats, soups, salads, and pastas. There aren’t many other foods that go with everything like a roll does.

Speaking of the Woman’s Day article, there are three recipes left. I’ll probably make those in March. There are several other topics I want to visit before I return to “Baking without…Shortening”. I also got some really interesting new cookbooks that I’d like to show you.

Let me know if you try these delicious rolls. I think you’ll like them.

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Victory Lunch Box: Split Pea Soup

One of a home front housewife’s jobs was to pack lunches for her family. Her husband, if not at war, would need a lunch for work. Her children needed packed lunches for school. If she was part of the growing number of women working outside the home, she would need a lunch herself. Of course, packed lunches weren’t the only option Americans had for lunch, but they were a great way to save money, stretch food, and make sure every member of the family had a nutritious meal three times a day.

Many magazines and cookbooks included menus that provided leftovers to be used the following day in a lunch box. This soup could be part of an evening meal and then put in a small vacuum container the next day and tucked next to a sandwich or some fruit in a lunch box. This kind of soup was especially good for lunch boxes because it was hearty and filling. Add some bread and you had a meal that could get you through an afternoon at the factory or at school.

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Split Pea Soup

1 lb split peas (you can also use Navy beans)

2 qt boiling water

ham hock or leftover pieces of ham

3-4 cloves

1 onion

1/2 bay leaf

a piece of red pepper pod

3 1/2 c irradiated evaporated milk

salt to taste

Pick over peas, wash, cover with cold water, and soak overnight. Drain, add the boiling water, ham, cloves, onion, bay leaf, and red paper. Bring to a boil. Cook slowly until the peas are tender. Add milk and salt to taste. Makes about 3 1/4 quarts.

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Results

I used red pepper flakes instead of the red pepper pod. I also only used about half of an onion. We all peppered our individual bowls of soup. I also made the soup one night and then reheated and put it in a small thermos the next day to see how it would be in a lunch box.

The first night the soup was delicious. It was thick and warm and made a filling meal with the addition of bread.  Having had a chance for the flavors to mingle overnight, the second-day soup in the thermos was even better. I added some homemade bread that my teenage daughter baked, and had a satisfying lunch. I think that adding some fruit, a sandwich or a dessert would help anyone get through their afternoon without a need for a snack.

This recipe comes from a 50-page booklet that was specifically written for housewives who needed ideas for packing and planning lunches. It’s from 1943 and is part of a series of “Hook-up” cookbooks. There is a hole in the middle of each page that allows the housewife to hang the booklet at eye level. This helps keep the booklet clean and makes it easier to read the recipe. The picture on the front of the booklet shows the soups packaged for lunch boxes in waxed paper cups.

 

 

 

Green Beans in Mustard Sauce

During World War II, Woman’s Day magazine included a section at the front of each month’s issue that was called the “Woman’s Day War Food Bulletin”. This section included information about current rationing issues and offered tips for canning, gardening, and shopping. The shopping portion included a list of plentiful foods and ways to cook them.

Victory gardens were in full swing by July 1943 and were providing families with food they could use in daily meals. Victory gardens were a great way to make sure families had fresh vegetables and fruits without using rationing stamps for canned products. This allowed each family to use points for other foods they needed. Canning the harvest also helped families make it through lean times. Recipes that helped a woman deal with the multitude of fruits and vegetables the gardens produced were helpful, especially when trying new vegetables for the first time, or when a staple was becoming boring.

Green beans were popular in gardens, and Woman’s Day had the home front housewife covered when it came to finding new ways to fix them.

Green Beans in Mustard Sauce

This recipe calls for 3 cups cooked green beans and asks that you keep 3/4 cup of your cooking water for the sauce.

Sauce:

1 1/2 tbsp bacon fat

3 tbsp flour

2 tsp prepared mustard

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

3/4 c undiluted evaporated milk

3/4 c vegetable cooking water

Add the flour and seasonings to the bacon fat in a saucepan, then gradually add the evaporated milk and water. Stir constantly until the sauce is smooth and thick. Add the green beans and stir until they are coated with the sauce mixture. Let them warm in the saucepan, and then they are ready to serve with your main dish.

 

A couple notes: I crumbled up 3 bacon strips and added them to the finished beans. I had an extra cup of green beans and added them. There seemed to be a perfect amount of sauce for 4 cups, so if you like less sauce on your veggies, consider adding more green beans.

 

Results

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The green beans were evenly coated. The sauce had a mild mustard flavor and was thick enough to cling to the beans as you lifted them with your fork. It had the consistency of a thick gravy. The bacon added a nice crunch and good flavor. These beans would be the perfect complement to pork chops, chicken, or a steak.

This dish could definitely be made with either fresh or canned beans, making it the perfect Victory garden recipe. It was quick and easy to make.

 

 

 

First Monday Menu: Summer Lawn Party

I know this isn’t the first Monday of this month–it’s not even a Monday!– but what better way to kick off a blog than a fun menu from 1940?

On the first Monday of every month, I’ll be cooking an entire meal based on either a published menu or recipes from 1940-1945. This month it’s a summer lawn party from the Wyandotte County Gas Company’s 1940 cook book. Just so you know, Wyandotte County is in the eastern part of Kansas and includes Kansas City.

Summer Lawn Party

The star of the menu is a spiced chicken baked in a mustard-based sauce. Add some yummy torpedo rolls, corn on the cob, and a crisp salad to round the meal out. Pour yourself a refreshing  glass of iced tea, and finish things off with a slice of spiced blueberry pie.

I was a little surprised that this chicken recipe was suggested for a lawn party. I usually try to find foods that are easy to eat while standing and chatting, and this didn’t seem to fit the bill. With the sauce you’d definitely need a napkin, and a knife and fork to cut the meat into manageable bites. That’d eliminate the portability, and it just seems messy. I was intrigued by the mustard, horseradish, and brown sugar combo in the sauce, though. We made a few adjustments to both the menu and the recipes as we went, but tried to keep the recipes as close as possible to the 1940 version. My daughter Addison helped me cook this month.

Let’s start with the chicken.

Spiced Chicken

The spiced chicken called for a whole chicken cut up for frying, but we used chicken breasts because that’s what our family prefers. We pounded the chicken breasts flat with a mallet to help ensure they cooked all the way through. The recipe said to dredge in flour and seasonings, but didn’t specify which seasonings. We used 2.5 cups of flour with 2 tablespoons garlic pepper. We placed the flour coated breasts in a baking pan and moved on to the sauce.

Sauce:

1/2 c. prepared mustard

1/2 c. prepared horseradish

1/2 small box of Mexican Chili powder

1 c. vinegar

1/2 c. brown sugar

3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp salt

1 garlic clove

We used 1 tablespoon chili powder and added some extra garlic. We like our garlic! We mixed everything together and spread it evenly over the chicken breasts. We baked it at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. When it was done, we placed each breast on a bed of rice as the recipe suggested, and covered it with more of the sauce from the baking dish.

Torpedo Rolls

The Torpedo Rolls recipe called for using your favorite roll dough, and gave instructions of how to start the rolls before adding the “torpedos”. We took a short cut and used pre-made dough already shaped into rolls. We pressed holes halfway down into each roll and added a dollop of wild plum jelly that Addison canned last year with plums from our ranch. Then we followed the cooking instructions on the package. Using pre-made dough made easy work of this recipe.

Spiced Blueberry Pie

We felt the spiced blueberry pie recipe had a mistake somewhere in it. We followed it exactly and got a pie that just didn’t work. We tweaked the recipe and baked a new pie. You can read about the pie here: Spiced Blueberry Pie

Results

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The chicken was much more flavorful than I had expected. The dish had a very strong mustard aroma, and that made a few members of our dinner party question whether they’d like it or not. The sauce was tangy and very similar to honey mustard. The chicken was tender and juicy and there was enough sauce to add a bigger kick if needed. We added enough garlic that it gave the sauce added texture that you can see in the photos. The rice helped ease the bite of the sauce. I served this to a combination of 8 adults and children and only one person disliked it, mainly because she doesn’t like mustard.

The torpedo rolls were fun and well liked. The jam added a sweet touch and the rolls were soft and moist. The jelly was a little firmer than it had started out, but I liked the thicker texture. I’d like to try these in combination with other kinds of jam or jelly. Next time we might make these from scratch, but our shortcut worked well and proved to be a quick addition to our meal. I also liked the sweetness of the jelly mixed with the tangy kick of the sauce. I can see these being a versatile, easy side for a variety of meals, or even for a quick after school snack.

As for the menu being for a lawn party, I think it’d work best for any get together where there was ample seating and table space. This could very well be an outside event, but a place to sit would be a must. Cutting the chicken into bite sized pieces before the party could help it become more manageable. The recipe did call for a full chicken, and while drumsticks would also be more portable, the sauce would still be messy.

The menu makes for a nice summer meal that I would serve again.

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