Depression Era recipes..(and others like it)

[donrae]

Cooked oatmeal?

No, raw oatmeal. Mix with the brown sugar, then cut in the butter. Makes the "crisp" on top---yum!

 

[Searsmom]

I was going to try this the other night, I was a little tired. Peeled/cored the apples, mixed the ingredients, packed on top, baked. Tried to scoop out of the pan...I'd left out the oatmeal. It was hard as a rock.

 

[Searsmom]

There's another one my grandma used to make, she died back in the 80s. Potato chip casserole - use stale plain chips.

Mix a can of tuna with a can of cream of mushroom soup. Top with potato chips. Bake the usual 30 min at 350.

Not bad, and not as salty as you'd think.

 

[countrydream7]

same size jars of both and what size jars are we talking about thanks

 

[Searsmom]

same size jars of both and what size jars are we talking about thanks

If you're talking to me, it's a 10/12 oz can of tuna and a 16oz jar of soup - add the water recommended.

You can change the amounts according to what you prefer, it's not something that you can really ruin, unless you burn the chips.

If you're not talking to me, what are you talking about?

 

[wyoDreamer]

We have potato chip casserole for supper as a treat. DH and I both ate a lot of it when growing up. It turns out his family recipe is better, so he gets to make it for supper. They add frozen peas to their recipe. It is really good stuff! Buy the cheap chips - we prefer Old Dutch brand when available.

 

[Searsmom]

It was one of my favorites growing up! Peas sound yummy too!

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Old Fashioned Molasses Cake

This is a recipe used by KrautenSnoutens from Russia who settled on the prairies since it seems they looked like a steppe.
It uses baking soda as the leavening, and it uses an egg.

This is from Connection Generations: Food Recollections of German-Russian Heritage, Traditional Family Recipes, and Reminiscent Stories from five generations of "Cooking with Mom." Iszler, Donna and Mya Mayer.

One thing I learned early from my father's German from Russian relatives was that fried and boiled and baked dough is a big part of their cuisine; the original strudel seems to have derived from the Romanian struda. The Germans from Russian used it as noodles over a dish of fried and boiled potatoes. One occasionally comes across someone looking for a recipe for this version of strudel on the Internet who is being lectured by someone who doesn't understand the origins of the lager pastry from the original dough.

The deep fryer appears to be core to the cookery, so there aren't many dishes that my paternal grandmother made that I make. By the time you add in all of the cream, eggs, and deep frying, it definitely doesn't fit into the diet suggested by my physician.

In any event, I pretty much figured that I could skip the Germans From Russia Heritage trips to the Old Country sponsored by North Dakota State University after reading the family stories of a woman who told about how the housewives raced the biddies for the fallen fruit. I understand my ancestors apparently weren't that poor - but it sounds like it was an horrendous way to live, even in the 19th Century.

Without further ado, here is a recipe using eggs and baking soda.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 8x8 cake pans, set aside.

2.5 cups all purpose flour, either sift before measuring or measure by weight (I sometimes use white whole wheat from King Arthur)
1.5 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon, ground
1 tsp. cloves, ground
1/2 tsp. ginger, ground
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup sugar, granulated or brown
1 c molasses
1 egg, well beaten

Mix the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices together thoroughly.

Combine butter, sugar, molasses, and egg. Mix throuroghly

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until smooth..

Pour into cake pans. Bake 30 minutes at 350, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool until just warm. Serve plain, or with a dollop of whipped cream.

At our house we substitute vanilla ice cream for the dollop of whipped cream..

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Recipe from: Kochbuch Der Deutschen aus Rußland: A Book of Favorite Recipes,
Heart of America Chapter, Germans from Russia Heritage Society, Rugby, ND
Page 50, submitted by Mrs. J. A. Schmaltz

(Comment from The Yakima Kid: Generally I use shortening and bake at 350 degrees F. My grandmother made something similar, sometimes with apple filling, and she often deep fried it. The same pastry can be stuffed with ground meats and minced potatoes, vegetables, ground meat, a bit of minced potato, and sauerkraut, etc. If you bake the meat based ones, cook the filling first; if you deep fry, you don't have to cook the filling first. I make them from six inches to eight inches in diameter before cooking; the smaller ones are better for deep frying.)

3 cups flour
1/2 cup lard
3 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
3 Tbsp sugar
1 cup milk
1 tsp salt
Stir dry ingredients. Add lard. Blend as for pie crust. Beat egg and milk. Mix with dry ingredients. Divide into about eighr parts. Roll out in rounds. Put as much filling as you like on half of rolled pastry. Fold other half over filling amd pinch ends together. Place on greased pan. Cut 3 little slits in top and bake till brown.
Filling:
Put 3 quarts of raw pumpkin through a meat chopper and add:
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 little onion, cut fine
1 tsp salt or to taste
a little pepper

 

[The Yakima Kid]

From the NDSU Germans from Russia Heritage Website:

The next several recipes were handed down to Esther Eisenbeis and translated by JoAnn Eisenbeis. These use modern substitutions, such as shortening for lard. You if you are slaughtering and leafing your own hogs, by all means use the lard if you eat lard.

Fleischküchle
Dough: 4 cups flour, 2 teaspoons salt, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 2 teaspoons shortening, 1 1/3 - 2 cups milk (or
cream).
Sift flour, salt, and baking powder together. Cut in shortening. Add milk. Mix to make a medium hard dough. Let
dough rest about an hour to make rolling out easier. Divide into 10 equal balls.
Filling: 1.5 pounds ground beef; 1 medium onion, grated fine; salt and pepper to taste
Mix meat ingredients well. Set aside. Roll out the dough into circles and spread half a circle with a thin layer of the
meat mixture. Fold remaining dough over filled half. Seal edges by rolling a saucer around the kuechle. Deep fry
until golden brown turning once. Drain well on paper towels. Cut in half. Eat with hands.


This dish is the orginal strudel, believed to have been adapted from the Romanian struda. Note that it is not served as a sweet pastry, but as a heavy meal.

Strudla
Dough: 4 cups flour, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 1/4 cups warm water
Mix ingredients and knead well. Cover and let stand 1 hour.
Base: Potatoes and/or cooked meat, 1/2 cup diced onion, 1/4 cup butter, bacon grease
Roll out dough paper thin. Spread with thin layer of melted bacon grease. Roll up loosely (as for cinnamon rolls).
Cut rolls into 1 inch lengths. Dice potatoes and place in heavy skillet with onion and butter. Cover potatoes with
water and bring to a boil. Layer strudla on top of potatoes in skillet. Cover when boiling and simmer 30 minutes.
Do not remove cover during cooking time or strudla will set.

Stirum
1 cup milk, 3 eggs, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, flour to make a thin batter
Place milk, eggs, salt, sugar, and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Mix well. Add flour until the batter is the
consistency of pancake batter. Stir until smooth. Heat 3 tablespoons cooking oil in a medium-sized kettle. When
hot pour the batter over the hot oil and stir fast over high heat with a spatula. Continue to chop batter into small
pieces until all pieces are light brown. Remove and serve immediately. Good with garden lettuce or pancake syrup.
Fleischknöpfla
Dough: 2 eggs, 2 cups warm water, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, approximately 5 cups of flour to
make the dough stiff.
Beat eggs. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Set aside and let rest. Dough is easier to work with if allowed
to rest for several hours.
Filling: 1 pound lean ground beef, 1 egg, 1/4 cup finely diced onion, 1 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1
tablespoon parsley. After being mixed, the meat filling can be refrigerated for several hours or overnight to enhance
the flavor. The dough needs to be used the same day is it made.
Place above ingredients for filling in a separate bowl. Mix well.
Fill a large kettle with water and a dash of salt. Bring to a boil. Roll dough out into a large square. Cut into 3 inch
squares. Place approximately 1 teaspoon filling in center of small squares. Take care not to get filling on edges.
Fold in half and seal edges with fingers. Drop into large kettle of boiling water. Leave heat on high until all pockets
are in the kettle. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Drain water with colander. Brown 1/2 cup
83
bread crumbs with 1/4 cup butter. Toss over cooked pockets and serve. Garnish with sweet or sour cream if
desired.

Käsknöpfla
Dough: 2 eggs, 2 cups warm water, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, flour as needed, generally a little over 1 pound.
Beat eggs. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Set aside and let rest. Dough is easier to work with if allowed
to rest for several hours.
Filling: 1 pound dry curd cottage cheese, 1 egg, 1/4 cup finely diced onion, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, 1
tablespoon parsley
Place above ingredients for filling in a separate bowl. Mix well.
Fill a large kettle with water and a dash of salt. Bring to a boil. Roll dough out into a large square. Cut into 3 inch
squares. Place approximately 1 teaspoon filling in center of small squares. Take care not to get filling on edges.
Fold in half and seal edges with fingers. Drop into large kettle of boiling water. Leave heat on high until all pockets
are in the kettle. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Drain water with colander. Brown 1/2 cup
bread crumbs with 1/4 cup butter.
Toss over cooked pockets and serve. Garnish with sweet or sour cream if desired.