Chicken A La King

I made this for my WW2 Christmas class today and it was fantastic! It is an authentic 1940s, ration-friendly recipe. Best served over bread, rice or noodles with a side of vegetables.

I made it the night before, chilled it and reheated it the next day in the crock pot. I may do it that way every time... :)

3 pounds of chicken breast, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces

1 cup diced celery
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
3 Tablespoons butter

Saute vegetables in butter until tender and there is no longer any liquid in the pan.
Add to cooked chicken in large bowl or casserole dish.

Melt 4 Tablespoons butter or margarine (no rations on margarine) in large saucepan.
Quickly whisk in:
4 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 Tablespoons dried parsley

Then pour in 4 cups chicken broth all at once and whisk until smooth.

Cook over med-high heat, whisking constantly, until thick and bubbly.

Remove from heat and pour over chicken mixture. Stir well to mix.

Serve on top of toast, bread, noodles or rice. Top with sliced hard-boiled eggs and a bit of jarred pimentos.

Old Fashioned Apple Raisin Pie

For my second all by myself pie attempt, I decided to really go out on a limb and make up my own recipe. While paging through some vintage 1930s to 50s cookbooks, I found several versions of raisin pie. My mom said that they reminded her of mincemeat. Really??? Apple mincemeat is one of my favorite pies!

So I pieced together a few of the recipes, threw in some apples and spices and came up with my own apple raisin pie. And I have to admit that it turned out pretty incredible! I know what I will be making next Thanksgiving…

3/4 cup brown sugar

3 Tablespoons instant clear gel (if you don’t have this, you can try cornstarch in the hot liquid but I can’t promise the results)

grated zest from 1 orange

1/2 cup orange juice

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1 1/4 cup cold water

dash salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1.4 teaspoon cloves

1 cup raisins

1 cup peeled, chopped apples

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 400.

Mix brown sugar, clear gel and orange zest in a small bowl.

Combine water and juices in a medium sized saucepan. Whisk in sugar/clear gel mixture until smooth and thick.

Stir in raisins and apples.

Aren’t these gorgeous raisins?

 

Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (it will probably already be pretty thick), stirring constantly. Boil for 2 minutes while stirring.

Remove from heat.

Then roll out pie crust and line a 9” pie plate.

Pour hot filling into pie crust. Roll out and place crust on top. Cut vents into the crust.

Cover crust edge with foil (I LOVE the pie shield I bought!!!) and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove foil and bake for another 25 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Serve pie slightly warm or room temperature with a dollop of whipped cream.

If you are keeping your pie more than a day, store the leftovers in the fridge.

Ration Book Spice Cake

This recipe is a true WWII ration book special. It has no eggs, butter, milk or white sugar. How could a cake with none of those things even work??? Like a charm!  It has a delightful spicy aroma, rose up beautifully in the pan, and was incredibly moist. Any GI Joe would love to have this on the table when we came home…

2 cups brown sugar

2 cups hot water

2 Tablespoons shortening

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon cloves

1 cup raisins

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 1 teaspoon hot water

Bring all the ingredients except flour and soda/water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat.

Watch for boil overs! Stir occasionally. After it boils, reduce the heat to keep it at a low boil for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

Add flour and soda/water. Mix well.

Pour into 2 greased and sugared loaf pans.

Bake at 325 for 45-50 minutes, or until pick comes out clean.

Cool on wire rack.

Serve cooled or slightly warm.

Who said you had to use your ration stamps to have a delicious dessert???

WWII Red Beans and Ham

Here’s another recipe adapted from my WWII cookbook. I wasn’t too sure about this one and the guys DEFINITELY weren’t sure, but it turned out pretty tasty! One of my sons quipped, “Maybe war rations aren’t so bad after all?”  I served it with carrots from our “Victory Garden” and home canned pears. Just doing my bit… ;o)

2 cans kidney beans, undrained

1/2 cup chopped onion

4 cloves minced garlic

2 stalks chopped celery

1 green pepper, chopped

leftover cut up ham

salt & pepper, to taste

Pop everything into a large saucepan and heat over medium heat until everything is hot and the veggies are tender.

Serve over cooked rice.

WWII Shepherd’s Pie

Here is my version of a WWII recipe for shepherd’s pie… I was a bit skeptical because of the condensed soup, but I splurged for Campbell’s vegetable beef soup and it turned out swell! :o)

I also altered the recipe to serve more people…

1 1/2 pounds hamburger

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green and/or red peppers

2 cans condensed vegetable beef soup

2 cups mashed potatoes

Brown hamburger, onion and pepper until beef is thoroughly cooked and veggies are tender. Stir in soup.

Spoon into a greased casserole dish. Scoop potatoes into mounds on the edge of the casserole.

Bake at 425 for about 20 minutes.

Sausage & Applesauce Bake

This is a recipe that I altered a bit from a WWII cookbook I bought while we were at Pearl Harbor. I decided to try a recipe from it every time I plan a new menu. This was my first one. I was a bit nervous about it, but it turned out just fine!

I liked the introduction in the cookbook, “Cooking on the Home Front” by Hugh and Judy Gowan.

We all had a goal; to win the war as soon as possible and put the world, our country and our lives back into order. There was only one way to do it and that was pulling together with limited resources. From our brave armed forces all over the world, to the defense plant worker and the home maker, we all had a job to do and we did just that.

1 pound sausage links

1 pound egg noodles, cooked

1/2 cup onion, chopped

2-3 Tablespoons butter (more than you need but you want some extra to toss with the noodles)

1 cup applesauce

1 Tablespoon stone ground mustard

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup grated cheddar

Preheat oven to 425. Bake sausages on a shallow baking pan for 25-30 minutes or until browned and thoroughly cooked. Drain and slice. Turn oven down to 350.

Sauté onion in butter until tender. Stir into cooked egg noodles.

Mix applesauce, mustard, lemon juice and nutmeg in a small bowl.

Place half the noodles into a greased 9x13 baking dish.

Pour applesauce mixture over noodles. Cover with remaining noodles. Top with sliced sausage links. Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake uncovered for 20 minutes.