Gentle Ginger Snaps

Rather than review the recipe in Best Loved Food of the '50s, suffice it to say that it was a dud.  The batter was dry and there was no way the recipe was going to work when baked.  I believe there was a serious printing error in the recipe.  Do you want good Ginger Snaps? Here is MY recipe!

Ingredients

2 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour (I Use King Arthur Flour)

1 1/2 tsp ground Ginger Powder

1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1 1/2 tsp Allspice

1 tsp Kosher Salt

1 1/2 Cups Sugar

2 tbs Butter

1 tbs Fresh Grated Ginger (Fine)

1 Cup Apple Butter (Yes, Apple Butter -- If you can't find, use Apple Sauce)

1/4 Cup Molasses

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  
• Spray cookie sheet with nonstick spray, or, better yet, use a silpat.
• In large bowl sift together the dry ingredients.
• Beat Sugar, Fresh Ginger and Butter together until well blended.  It's very little butter.  You will want to use a Stand Mixer if you have one on #4 for about 3 minutes. (My favorite: KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer)
• Using a fork, work in the Apple Sauce and the Molasses.
• Add the Flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, until well combined.  If using the Stand Mixer, again, use setting #4.  Careful!  You don't want the flour exploding everywhere.
• Make small, 3/4 inch balls of dough and space on silpat (or baking sheet) 1" apart.  No need to flatten.
• Bake for approximately 14 minutes.
• Cool for approximately 1/2 hour on wire rack.

Why Apple Butter and not Apple Sauce?  Simple.  Apple Butter adds a deeper, richer flavor, and you wont have to use more molasses to get depth in the taste of your cookie!

By the way, check out the Favorite Things Page (off of the Home Page) for recommendations on Baking Sheets, Wire Racks, and other items.  You'll be glad you did.

Enjoy!

--Alex

Review: Chicken Tetrazzini

Our continuing retro adventure brings us to Chicken Tetrazzini.  A comfort casserole if ever there was one. With this one, this year's cooking bible, Best Loved Food of the '50s, does not stray from the customary or the bland.  Cooked chicken, salt, Cream of Mushroom Soup, cheese, bread crumbs, sherry and done. Nothing fancy.  In the book's defense, the Tetrazzini cooked up rather easily and was tasty (once I doubled the salt and cheese)

BLF50s seems to be in love with Cream of Mushroom soup.  It uses it as a base for nearly every casserole recipe.  When combined with the sherry, it turned a light purple which was a bit off-putting, but the color seemed to cook-off (or was it covered with bread crumbs?)

I know that '50s cooking was all about using new products (hence the canned mushroom soup) and expediency, but when it comes to taste, I don't believe in skimping.  So, I found a recipe that requires a bit of work, but is well-worth the effort, trust me.  Yes, you basically create the cream of mushroom from scratch, but hey, no pain, no gourmet!

Here's the link:  Gourmet Chicken Tetrazzini

By the way, if you don't want to buy rotisserie chicken, or make one yourself, I find that poached chicken works just as well in the Tetrazzini.  I also have a pretty fool-proof method of poaching.  Click on the link to see: How to Poach Chicken.

Have a Tetrazzini recipe you want to share?

Got some thoughts on your mind?  Let me know in the comments.

Enjoy!

--Alex

Review: NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Famous Fudge

Before we begin, you can get the recipe here:  Fudge Recipe  I've done my homework and it's all over the internet.  I think it's pretty safe to say the recipe has entered the public domain.

Wow!  I had high-hopes for this recipe.  It is a brainless, no-nonsense, easy as pie (although we all know pie is NOT easy), quickie fudge recipe.  The problem, however, is that you get exactly what you put in.  The final fudge product, beautiful to look at, is so sweet you may want to take a Silkwood Shower after you have tasted it.  The taste lingers for hours.

This is NOT a complex, deep rich chocolate for the chocolate connoisseur.  It is the type of fudge you give your kids if you want them bouncing off of the walls for the next six hours -- chase it with coffee, that will help.

In all seriousness, the resulting fudge is ultra-smooth, and my office taste-test yielded some varying degrees of likeability:  from "I love it, you see me licking my fingers, don't you?" to, "I think I'll save it for my son."  You get the picture.  While still protecting the innocent, I can tell you that the "finger-licker" was an attorney. Somebody's mom added: "Que rico!" Further, I will say not.

So, I've thought about how to fix this to my liking.  Maybe by adding some ginger, or nutmeg, or tabasco, something to get rid of the evaporated milk taste.  What do you think?  Leave me some comments.  Let me know.

Enjoy!

Alex

NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Famous Fudge

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup (5 fl.-oz. can) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1 1/2 cups (9 oz.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

LINE 8-inch-square baking pan with foil.

COMBINE sugar, evaporated milk, butter and salt in medium, heavy-duty saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil, stirring constantly, for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

STIR in marshmallows, morsels, nuts and vanilla extract. Stir vigorously for 1 minute or until marshmallows are melted. Pour into prepared baking pan; refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm. Lift from pan; remove foil. Cut into 48 pieces.

FOR MILK CHOCOLATE FUDGE:

SUBSTITUTE 1 3/4 cups (11.5-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Milk Chocolate Morsels for Semi-Sweet Morsels.

FOR BUTTERSCOTCH FUDGE:

SUBSTITUTE 1 2/3 cups (11-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Butterscotch Flavored Morsels for Semi-Sweet Morsels.

FOR PEANUTTY CHOCOLATE FUDGE:

SUBSTITUTE 1 2/3 cups (11-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Peanut Butter & Milk Chocolate Morsels for Semi-Sweet Morsels and 1/2 cup chopped peanuts for pecans or walnuts.

Hungarian Goulash Casserole

When I first looked at the title: Hungarian Goulash Casserole, I was excited!  Love Goulash!  Love Casserole!

Sad to say, I was disappointed with the results.  Against my better judgment, I followed the directions on meatball preparation strictly -- the recipe called for browning in a skillet, rather than braising.  The result, meatballs that were dry.  Fortunately, although I did prepare them as directed, I ignored the seasoning recommendations and came up with a Hungarian Meatball that was very tasty! If you want the recipe, the link is below.

By the way, when using Paprika, the only thing that made this casserole "Hungarian" (as far as the book is concerned, LOL), I normally use a Paprika Paste that I find combines better with ingredients and brings out an earthy taste.  It's easy to prepare.  I've added a link below.

One last note, as I mentioned below, we do love Goulash, but this wasn't it.  There is a great recipe for Goulash that, if followed closely, will yield excellent, traditional results.  It's from Saveur (bow).  Link at the bottom of the page.

Hungarian Meatballs

Hungarian Paprika Paste

Hungarian Goulash - at Saveur

Enjoy!

Alex

Zu's Hungarian Ghoulash Casserole

Let there be meatballs! And noodles. And sour cream. And Cream of Celery soup. Yeah, you didn't see that one coming did you?

This is comfort food at its best. Egg noodles, cream sauce and made-from-scratch pork meatballs. A little baking action and then you're done.

I should tell you a little about my family. My husband, AKA Saint Craig, is the sweetest guy ever. And he L-O-V-E-S food. He also loves all his girls. All four of us. Hence, the "Saint" moniker and the apologies he hears everywhere we go. "Oh, you have THREE daughters? I'm so sorry."

Alexis is my oldest daughter. She's a Daddy's girl and L-O-V-E-S food too. Ashley, my middle daughter, is a budding chef. I bet she'll share with us some of her cupcake recipes this year. Addison is our youngest. She has food fixations. One week she'll eat only blueberries. Another only spaghetti. This week it's peanut butter. She normally looks at dinner with an evil eye if it doesn't contain her food of the week. We're trying to break her of this.

So the Hungarian Ghoulash was a hit. I didn't tweak the recipe at all. Mostly because it's Friday and I'm beat. The meatballs were very, very good. The noodles had a soothing element to them. The two older girls had seconds. The youngest wanted to know when dessert was. Hubby said it was a keeper.

The reviews:

Boy, you can really taste the Hungarians! -Hubby
Tasty yumminess! -Alexis
Dug the meatballs! -Ashley
I have a cookie now? - Addison

Rating: 8 thumbs up! (Alexis, Ashley, Craig - 2 thumbs each. Mommy & Addison 1 each.) I guessed for her, and I found it a bit bland.

Addison's star rating based on the following exchange:

Addison, do you like it?  No.
Do you want more? Yes.
Do you like it? Yes.
Do you want more? No.

Hence, 1 thumbs up for Addison.

Have a great weekend,

Zu

Recipe can be found on page 110 of Best-Loved Food of the 50s

Zu's Tropical Pork Chops

Wow! Alex's pork chops look delicious! I totally love the crushed pineapple he used and that rub sounds divine. My version is a little more subdued but was a huge hit with the kids (all three of them!) and the hubby loved it too.

I only made two slight modifications to the recipe. First, I added freshly ground pepper while the pork chops were searing. The recipe didn't call for any salt or pepper and I was worried it would be bland. Second, after the pork chops had simmered for about 7-8 minutes in the "tropical sauce," I sliced them on a cutting board and added the slices back into the sauce and simmered them another 5 minutes.

My husband, a self-proclaimed pork afficionado, is not particularly fond of dry pork and I knew my girls would like the sweet taste to travel all the way through. The result was a juicy, sweet tang in every bite. Rice and a strawberry/blackberry medley finished off this VERY easy and kid-friendly meal.

The results?

"Delicious, excellent, extravagant!"- Alexis

"Yummy, sweet and fabulous!" - Ashley

"More rice!" - Addison

"I would sell ALMOST everything I own just to eat it again!" - Hubby

Cheers!

Zu

Tropical Pork Chops "Luscious Luau"

I thought I'd start off easy by tackling a "dump and serve" recipe from our book of 1950s cuisine.  Although the name was inviting, the recipe called for little more than taking some prepared sweet and sour sauce, combining it with pineapple chunks, and dumping the concoction over some browned pork chops.  Completely uninspired and totally pedestrian.  Although I've got to give it massive props for quick and easy, and, yes, the result would have yielded a perfectly edible set of pan-fried chops, the experience would have left me somewhat empty inside -- and somehow, the blasé recipe did not conjure a Luscious Luau in my mind.

In four simple steps, the recipe wanted us to:

1. Combine pineapple chunks, sweet and sour sauce, raisins and brown sugar in a bowl.
2. Brown chops.
3. Dump combination sauce over chops and simmer until cooked -- about 10 minutes.
4. Serve over cous cous (I doubt they had this in the 50s, in the U.S., but what can you do?)

So, what could I do that was simple and at the same time increase the flavor quotient?  I added a flavor-paste rub.  Before browning the chops (which were not chops at all but a chopped pork loin), I dosed them with a rub designed to bring out a Luscious Luau flavor.

Alex' Luau Rub


1 tbs Chinese 5 Spice
1 tbs Onion Powder
2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/4 tsp Ground Ginger
1 tbs Pineapple Juice












Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and form a paste. Take the paste and spread it over both sides of the chops!  Put the chops in the refrigerator (covered or it they will stink up the fridge) for at least two hours.

By the way, if you don't have pork chops, relax.  I didn't have pork chops at home but I did have a 1 1/2 lb pork loin.  Here's what I did:

Take the loin and cut it in half, leaving you with two even cuts.

Take those halves, and slice them in half again for four "chops."

Presto!  Four "Chops."  As long as you don't over-cook them (internal temperature 145 degrees) they will be moist, juicy and tender.

Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed that I used crushed pineapple rather than pineapple chunks.  Well, I didn't have any chunks.  I'm over it.  Are you?  Use what you have.  Repeat with me.  Use what you have.  Not surprisingly, I found that the crushed pineapple combined very well with the cous cous.

Oh!  Before I forget, I didn't have any sweet and sour sauce either -- I'll post that recipe for you tomorrow.  Who needs store-bought?

Enjoy!

Alex