Fontina Cheese & Ovengold Turkey Entree

    Hi. I'm back. I've been ill. I caught a wretched cold from my aunt. Still, I courageously forged my way into the kitchen to try a new recipe. And that recipe comes from a non-vintage booklet. I have them all mixed together so sometimes that's what I pull out. This time it is "Classic Recipes" put out by Boar's Head Brand meats and cheeses in 2004.
    The first time I came across the Boar's Head brand was when I was reading a cooking magazine's recommendations for the best bacon. Boar's head was at the top of the list. I signed up for their emails and they sent me a keychain. Maybe that's where I got the cookbook too, I'm not sure.
    Here's a little history about the Boar's Head brand:
"When Frank Brunckhorst founded Boar's Head in 1905 he had a very simple idea: to make the finest meats possible. Nothing less. There would be no compromising of quality in the name of efficiency; there would be no ingredients that would  be 'almost as good'. And if it cost more to produce meats of this caliber, then so be it."
"The world has changed since then. Manufacturers  believe that people will accept less, so they are content to offer less. But Boar's Head has not changed. To this day Boar's Head will never use extenders, will never use by-products, will never use artificial colors or artificial flavors. Though these practices may be up to government standards, they are not up to those of Boar's Head."
    Bravo, Boar's Head! That said, I am sorry to say I had to use a different brand. I asked for Boar's Head at the Giant Eagle deli, but they only carried Deitz & Watson. To be fair, the Deitz and Watson turkey was of a good quality.

        Fontina Cheese & Ovengold Turkey Entree

1 tbs. butter                       1/2 lb. Boar's Head

1 large portobello                      Ovengold Roast Breast

    mushroom, sliced into            of Turkey, sliced 1/8" thick

    1/4" slices                      2 tbs. chopped sun dried

2 tbs. Chardonnay wine              tomatoes marinated in

1/4 cup chicken broth                 olive oil

1 tbs. of all purpose flour     1/2 lb. Boar's Head Fontina

                                               Cheese

                                        dash ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a lg. oven proof skillet on top of stove and melt butter over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and saute until tender. Drain the mushrooms using a slotted spoon and set aside. Add wine and chicken broth to the pan juices. Bring to simmer, then add flour to thicken sauce. Remove skillet from the stove, and place Ovengold Turkey in a layer at the bottom of the skillet. Top turkey with sun dried tomatoes, spreading evenly. Next, spread with the sauteed mushrooms, then finish with the Fontina Cheese. Sprinkle nutmeg lightly over the cheese, and place skillet into preheated oven. Cook until heated through and the cheese has become bubbly. Cut into 4 portions and serve hot.

    I used my trusty cast iron skillet and the recipe was super easy, also super quick. It took only 10 minutes to cook in the preheated oven. It was very tasty! I especially enjoyed the flavor of the sun-dried tomatoes. The strange thing was that I felt like I was serving the innards of a sandwich. My aunt thought it would be good served oven-face style on toasted bread with butter. I think it would be great on a grinder roll. It would really make a great sandwich. I enjoyed it as it was but in future I would slide it into a bun- yum!

P.S. My aunt tried it as an open-face sandwich and said it was fab! 

        

Good News!

    Hi there! I have two pieces of good news. Firstly, Book Rush is officially over at 5:30pm tonight! Yay! When I go for too long without a day off I get quite short-tempered and irritable. I am going to the supermarket tonight with a list of ingredients for my next recipe selections.     
    Secondly, I have handed over a bag of cooking pamphlets to my coworker, Drew so that he can make some digital scans of them. I will add them to my previous posts so you can delight in the visual spectacle of my vintage cookbooks! 
    Note: I have just been informed by Drew that I won't have those scans by tonight. That's okay since I cannot post from home due to my computer situation.

Latin American Cookies Pt. 2

    "The Perils of Vintage Cooking"
    There, I did it! Caption not wasted. As I mentioned yesterday I made cookies when I got home from work Tuesday night. This recipe comes from the "Nestle's Chocolate Kitchen Recipes" cookbook by Jane Fulton, published in 1951. This 33 page booklet includes recipes for cookies, cakes and breads, desserts, and candies. Also, if you care to know a thing or two about the history of The Toll House cookie or Nestle's Quik, this is the book for you. As a side note I would like to state my displeasure at the bastardization of Nestle's Quik to Nesquik. What's next? Are we going to call Armour Hot Dogs "Armdogs"? Geez!
    From the book: "Tucked away in historic Oswego Valley, in the heart of New York State's beautiful dairyland, is Fulton- home of The Nestle Company's chocolate plant- locally known as the "Chocolate Works." How idyllic-sounding. I wonder if it's still there.  
    Do you know the history of the Toll House cookie? Would you like to? Here it is...
        "A cookie is born and a dream comes true"
    "Just as the introduction of pressure cookers and frozen food made radical changes in our cooking techniques, so did the creation of a cookie- the Toll House Cookie.
    It all started as an ingenious experiment on the part of Ruth Wakefield of the Toll House Inn when she chopped up Nestle's Semi-Sweet Chocolate for use in her favorite cookie recipe. To her surprise, her favorite crispy cookie not only became more delicious in flavor but had, in addition, a delightful surprise element- whole pieces of chocolate that did not melt during baking. Almost overnight Toll House Cookies became a sensational success."
    Hmm, that wasn't a very exciting tale. I expected a bit more. Possibly some political intrigue, a smidgen of spy involvement, rabid squirrels, parachuting milkmaids, anything! Oh well.

        Latin American Cookies

Sift together and set aside

    1 1/2 c. sifted flour

    1/2 tsp. salt

    1 tsp. baking powder

    1/2 tsp. soda

    1 tsp. cinnamon

    1/2 tsp. nutmeg

    1/4 tsp. ginger

Blend

    1/3 c. butter

    1/4 c. sugar

Combine

    1/3 c. light molasses

    1/3 c. double strength coffee (cold)

Add alternately to butter-sugar

        mixture, sifted dry in-

        gredients and molasses

Add

    1 pkg. Nestle's Semi-Sweet

        Chocolate Morsels

Drop by teaspoonfuls on greased

cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees  Time: 15 min.

        Yield: 3 dozen

If desired, frost with powdered

sugar frosting.

    It was as i was mixing in the chocolate chips that I realized something was wrong. There were so many chocolate chips you could barely see the batter. Oh no! Just then it occurred to me: perhaps the package sizing was different back in the 1950s! There wasn't anything I could do about it at this juncture, so I just measured out the batter onto the cookie sheets and set the timer.
    While the cookies were baking I hopped on the internet and did some investigating. I found several references to a six ounce package. Well, that was it! I had just put double the amount of chocolate chips into the cookies! Oh man! I don't even particularly care for chocolate! 
    The cookies turned out even with the extra chips. I brought them into work and they disappeared. My friend, Jackie said they were "Awsome!". It's hard to beat awesome, so even if they weren't my favorites this is apparently a fine recipe.
    Oh, by the way, I didn't label them "Latin American Cookies" I called them "molasses double chocolate chip cookies". People are too frightened by the unknown where food is concerned.

Latin American Cookies pt. 1

    I made the cookies last night! I was all ready to tell you about them when I realized I had forgotten to bring the cookbook with me. I even had the "headline" picked out..."The Perils of Vintage Cooking". It's not that the cookies didn't turn out;  they're just a bit different than originally intended. I'll give you a hint... today's package sizing is frequently not the same as it was mid-20th century. That's all I can say for now. I'll get back to you tomorrow

Brief Hiatus?

    Hi Guys. I may or may not do any cooking tonight. As you know, it is Fall Rush time and we are working long hours. I have a cookie recipe picked out, but cookies can be quite time consuming, so we'll see. I may just take a short break until we have decent hours again. I won't wait for a day off though; 3 weeks is too long to wait between recipes. Okay, that last sentence was steeped in self-pity. Forgive me.

Hash Skillet Pie

    Today's recipe comes to us from "Betty Crocker's Pie Parade"! A parade of pies! Oh my! Dateline: 1957, Our lovely Betty sends us this message: "Everybody loves pie, especially the men of the family." (I didn't know that!). She also tells us that, "every one of these recipes has been thoroughly tested". Well, that's a relief, after the whole eggless cake debacle!
    "Dependable Gold Medal is what we call the 'flower of the wheat' which means that it is the finest and best part of the wheat. That's why it really does help you bake a 'flower of a pie', all golden, flaky, tender, and good." "Do try these recipes, won't you?" Yes, Betty, yes I will.
    Some pie history: 
    "Pie is as American as the Fourth of July.Through those first lean and hungry years in New England and Virginia, courageous pioneer mothers contrived 'pyes' out of the few simple foods at hand. They sliced the top off pumpkins, scooped out fiber and seeds, filled the pumpkins with milk, and set them to bake on the open hearth. Later, a greased pan sprinkled with rye meal was filled with pumpkin diluted with milk and spices. Still later, they added the pastry crust."
    "The 'pyes' of old England were baked in a long deep dish called a coffin, and 'pye receipts' up to Martha Washington's day directed colonial cooks to 'first make your coffin.' The first American pie pans were designed round to cut the corners, flat and shallow so pies would 'go a long way.' As orchards were planted and food became plentiful, pies gradually took on the 'new world' look- large and richly crusted, lush with fruit and abundant fillings. Pies had become distinctively American, as glamorous and exciting as this thrilling new nation!"
    Well, with that said, let's move on to the recipe:

        Hash Skillet Pie

Make Stir-N-Roll pastry for Two-crust 

Pie (below). Roll between 2 squares of

waxed paper into a 12" square. Ease into

heavy 10" skillet; let pastry hang over

edge.

Mix...

    1-lb. can corned beef hash, broken up

    1/4 cup milk or tomato juice

    2 tbsp. chopped onion

Spread in pastry-lined skillet. Fold pastry

over filling. Bake. Cut in wedges and

serve with hot chili sauce or catsup.

Temperature: 425 degrees (hot oven)

Time: Bake 30 to 40 min.

Amount: 4 to 6 servings.

        Stir-N-Roll Pastry for Two-Crust Pie

Mix 2 cups sifted Gold Medal flour and 1 1/2 tsp. salt.

Pour into measuring cup (but don't stir together):

1/2 cup cooking (salad) oil and 1/4 cup cold milk.

Then pour oil and milk all at the same time into the flour.

Stir with fork until mixed. Dough looks moist, but isn't

sticky. Press into smooth ball.

    This is an incredibly easy recipe. The hardest part 
was trying to remember what I did with my cast iron
skillet. I used the milk rather than the tomato juice
because that's what I had on hand. Also, I knew I would
be putting catsup on it when it was done baking. 
When you make this recipe "hash becomes a
conversation piece". Well that's what Betty said! 
I'm not sure if we conversed about it all that much but
this was good and tasty.

Zesty Hamburgers

    I have another not-so-vintage recipe here. This hamburger recipe comes from "Chili & Hamburger" This is one of those "Popular Brands Cookbooks". It's square though, instead of the usual rectangle shape. It is dated 1995 and has a picture of a fabulous, juicy cheeseburger on the front.
    It's hard to go wrong with a burger. This is a very simple recipe and I only needed three things: hamburger, buns, and Old Bay Seasoning (which I already had on hand). My main concern was what to serve with it because I hadn't been to the grocery store. Then I remembered some Ranch Beans I had bought a few months back. I bought them strictly because I liked the look of the can. What do you think?

    I felt like a regular cowpoke just putting them in my cart.

Here's the recipe! (For the burgers, not the beans!)

         Zesty Hamburgers

    1 lb. ground beef (or ground turkey)

    1 1/2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning

    In a medium bowl, mix together ground beef and Old Bay Seasoning. Shape into patties. Fry or broil as usual. Serves 6.

    Yep! It's just that easy! Yum yum yum! By the way, the beans were good too, and they went well together! Giddyup!