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Cookbook Project, Books #100 and 101
Sep. 30th, 2009 05:19 pm"Comfort Casseroles," Betty Crocker
And back into the stack of glossy checkout lane booklets we go. I honestly had no idea how many of these things I had before I started this project - they're small and slender, and they don't take up much space on the shelf, so I just assumed there weren't too many. This one I picked up myself, because on a quick flip-through while waiting in line, a bunch of the recipes looked decent, and because one-dish meals are good for when I'm working late, and when I was living alone. Alas, once I actually got home and read through it, it wasn't near as good as it looked.
Still, this project means using all of my books, and this is by far not the most challenging one I'll have to take on, so I managed to pick out a couple of passable options. My better half narrowed it down from there, and we wound up making Santa Fe Chicken Tortellini Casserole - partly because it sounded good, and partly because it let us use up bell peppers and broccoli that we had from the garden and the farmer's market.
It was.... not bad. It was standard Pot O' Stuff - chicken and pasta and veggies and cheese, all baked together. It gained extra points for actually having you make a white sauce, instead of using canned Cream Of Something soup, and while it's not haute cuisine, it was easy and fairly tasty. I'm still let down by the fact that this book isn't near as useful as I hoped it would be, but I don't hate it.
"Better Homes And Gardens Make-Ahead Cookbook," Don Dooley, ed.
Remember when I said that the above book wasn't the most challenging one I'll have to take on? I know that's true, because I own this book. This is another one of my mother's hand-me-downs - she had heap plenty of them, and now I do, and now I am paying the price for taking them all because I have to use them. This one, a shining example of the glorious food 1971 had to offer, is particularly full of disturbing pictures and recipes calling for mixes that I'm pretty sure don't exist anymore.
Perseverance paid off, though, and about halfway through the book I found a recipe for Basic Oven Meatballs, that made enough for several meals, and half a dozen recipes that then used the meatballs in various and occasionally odd ways. The basic meatballs themselves, though, looked reasonable enough, and cooked up easily. If anything, they were a no-brainer;![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
umbran and I have found that having pre-made meatballs in the freezer is a darn useful thing for last-minute dinner ideas.
Coming up with the best way to use them, though, was the challenge. I wanted to use one of the book's recipes, and I didn't want to cheat and go with something as simple and safe as Spaghetti and Meatballs. On the other hand, I wasn't quite daring enough to try, say, the Sauerbraten meatballs, which calls for gingersnaps and raisins. I finally decided to split the difference and try the Sweet And Sour Meatballs, which, while it may sound entirely non-daring to you, is a bit outside my standard recipe comfort zone, mostly because I'm very picky when it comes to mixing sweet elements into my main dishes.
Here's the surprising thing: it was really good. The meatballs themselves were pretty basic, but they worked well when mixed with other flavors. The recipe itself defied its time period by not calling for many canned ingredients, and the flavors balanced out surprisingly well. Much to my shock and mild alarm, I'd make this again. I might even be willing to try the other variations, based on how well this one turned out.
Chalk one up for Scary Cookbooks of the 70's.
And back into the stack of glossy checkout lane booklets we go. I honestly had no idea how many of these things I had before I started this project - they're small and slender, and they don't take up much space on the shelf, so I just assumed there weren't too many. This one I picked up myself, because on a quick flip-through while waiting in line, a bunch of the recipes looked decent, and because one-dish meals are good for when I'm working late, and when I was living alone. Alas, once I actually got home and read through it, it wasn't near as good as it looked.
Still, this project means using all of my books, and this is by far not the most challenging one I'll have to take on, so I managed to pick out a couple of passable options. My better half narrowed it down from there, and we wound up making Santa Fe Chicken Tortellini Casserole - partly because it sounded good, and partly because it let us use up bell peppers and broccoli that we had from the garden and the farmer's market.
It was.... not bad. It was standard Pot O' Stuff - chicken and pasta and veggies and cheese, all baked together. It gained extra points for actually having you make a white sauce, instead of using canned Cream Of Something soup, and while it's not haute cuisine, it was easy and fairly tasty. I'm still let down by the fact that this book isn't near as useful as I hoped it would be, but I don't hate it.
"Better Homes And Gardens Make-Ahead Cookbook," Don Dooley, ed.
Remember when I said that the above book wasn't the most challenging one I'll have to take on? I know that's true, because I own this book. This is another one of my mother's hand-me-downs - she had heap plenty of them, and now I do, and now I am paying the price for taking them all because I have to use them. This one, a shining example of the glorious food 1971 had to offer, is particularly full of disturbing pictures and recipes calling for mixes that I'm pretty sure don't exist anymore.
Perseverance paid off, though, and about halfway through the book I found a recipe for Basic Oven Meatballs, that made enough for several meals, and half a dozen recipes that then used the meatballs in various and occasionally odd ways. The basic meatballs themselves, though, looked reasonable enough, and cooked up easily. If anything, they were a no-brainer;
umbran and I have found that having pre-made meatballs in the freezer is a darn useful thing for last-minute dinner ideas.Coming up with the best way to use them, though, was the challenge. I wanted to use one of the book's recipes, and I didn't want to cheat and go with something as simple and safe as Spaghetti and Meatballs. On the other hand, I wasn't quite daring enough to try, say, the Sauerbraten meatballs, which calls for gingersnaps and raisins. I finally decided to split the difference and try the Sweet And Sour Meatballs, which, while it may sound entirely non-daring to you, is a bit outside my standard recipe comfort zone, mostly because I'm very picky when it comes to mixing sweet elements into my main dishes.
Here's the surprising thing: it was really good. The meatballs themselves were pretty basic, but they worked well when mixed with other flavors. The recipe itself defied its time period by not calling for many canned ingredients, and the flavors balanced out surprisingly well. Much to my shock and mild alarm, I'd make this again. I might even be willing to try the other variations, based on how well this one turned out.
Chalk one up for Scary Cookbooks of the 70's.
