Bad from the Bone

Splurge and buy a big one. That's the advice we get from Family Circle's What's for Dinner Meal Planning Cookbook when it comes to smoked tongue. "When nutritious smoked tongue is on the menu, splurge and buy a big one, for it can be served in so many ways. Here it's sliced hot to eat with a tangy fruit sauce. What's left will keep well for sandwiches or a supper meat-and-salad plate." What's worse than tongue for dinner? Leftover tongue for dinner, I suspect. But no tongue for us today. Today's recipe is from yet another, heretofore unexplored, part of the cow - the bones! My question is, why would you ruin perfectly good dumplings by adding beef bone marrow? Protein? Not really necessary when they are to be served atop a beef stew. I suspect it's - as the PA Dutch say - just for so. Wouldn't want to waste valuable bones, would we?

MARROW DUMPLINGS

Beef marrow from a 3- to 4-inch beef marrowbone (1/2 cup mashed)
1 egg
1 cup soft bread crumbs (2 slices)
1 TBS. chopped parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

Cut out marrow from bone with a sharp, thin-blade knife; mash and place in a small bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients until well blended. Form lightly into marble-size balls. Set in a shallow pan; chill at least one hour. (Dumplings hold their shape better when chilled before cooking.) Makes about 12 dumplings. [Arrange dumplings on top of a bubbling beef stew; cover and cook five minutes.]
What's for Dinner Meal Planning Cookbook, Family Circle, Inc., 1963

A Veddy British Dish

Pudding [noun]: a thick, soft dessert, typically containing flour or some other thickener, milk, eggs, a flavoring, and sweetener. Note that this definition clearly does not include potatoes. Nor does it refer anywhere to suet, which has only one proper place in a dessert - mincemeat pie. Yet both ingredients have a prominent place in today's recipe, the unappealing named Dessert Vegetable Pudding.  "Would you like some pudding for dessert?" "I sure would!" "Here, have a nice big helping. By the way, it's vegetable pudding Nyah-hah-hah!" Apparently, this recipe is for one of those steamed puddings that always seem to be served at some point in British murder mysteries. An excellent example of why "British cuisine" is considered an oxymoron.

DESSERT VEGETABLE PUDDING

1-1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup grated raw carrot
1 cup grated raw potato
1 cup raisins
1 cup suet
1 tsp. soda, dissolved in 1 tsp. hot water
1 tsp.salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/2 cup nuts, if desired
Combine sugar, carrots and potatoes [I bet this is the one and only recipe you will see with that particular instruction!]. Add soda. Sift flour, salt and spices and add gradually. Add raisins, suet and nuts. Turn into a buttered bowl or mold; cover with aluminum foil and steam for 3 hours. Serve with your favorite lemon or brandy sauce. Serves 6.

Recipe from: A Collection of the VERY FINEST RECIPES ever assembled into one Cookbook CONVENTIONAL AND MICROWAVE

Pattycake, Pattycake

I passed over the recipe for Tripe Stew, since I've harped on tripe before, even though this one included hot peppers, hominy and 2 - yes, 2! - small bottles of hot sauce. Spicy! The next recipe caught my eye, too. I guess you could say it's a bit like potato pancakes, but it has no potatoes and no flour. It's a bit like a whole-grain pancake, but it includes onions and cream of mushroom soup, so that comparison's a stretch. It may be that there is just nothing quite like it. I suspect that's a good thing, because as I visualize this combination of ingredients, the picture that comes to mind is...well, never mind. Once you picture this combo, I'm sure you'll have a similar idea.

OATMEAL COTTAGE CHEESE PATTIES
1 cup cottage cheese (may use low-fat)
1-1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 medium onion, chopped (or onion powder)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 to 1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

Sauce:
2 cans cream of mushroom soup - 10-3/4 oz.
1 can evaporated milk - 10-3/4 oz. (may use diluted for less calories)

Mix ingredients well. Heat prepared frying pan on medium or low heat and spread large spoonfuls of mixture into the shape of patties about 1/2" to 3/4" thick in frying pan. Cover and cook until lower side is brown, about 5 minutes; turn patties and brown other side. Place in casserole pan or shallow dish. Pour hot sauce over patties. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 min. or microwave on full power 10 minutes. Serves 6.
To prepare sauce, place the contents of 2 cans of mushroom soup in saucepan. Add one can evaporated milk; stir well to mix then stir occasionally while heating. Optional: May use tomato soup instead of mushroom soup for sauce.

The Perfect Meal for a Drunk, Spunky Wino

A Collection of the VERY FINEST RECIPES ever assembled into one Cookbook CONVENTIONAL AND MICROWAVE is actually full of recipes that sound great. They  ["they" meaning the anonymous writers/editors responsible for this book] include a large number of authentic ethnic recipes, including one for a Russian meat pie that I never thought I would get to taste again. I probably have as many pages marked for recipes I want to try as I do for possible frightening food subjects. Questionable recipes like Avocado Cake, Deviled Egg-Stuffed Flounder Rolls and Oatmeal Cottage Cheese  Patties are offset by tempting recipes for Ukranian Kolach, fresh Mushroom Soup and Crab-Stuffed Chicken Breasts. The variety of recipe styles suggests that this is a collection of recipes from a wide variety of unnamed sources - thus, we don't know who to thank for the boozy meal that follows. Whoever wrote the entree recipe clearly was sipping on the aprict brandy before choosing the name, while the jello salad contributor was definitely the pragmatic type. Just to round out the meal, let's have some after-dinner coffee, too.  Remember, though, safety first: don't eat and drive!

PHEASANT - ALL DRUNK & SPUNKY
 2 large Pheasants
salt and pepper to taste
1 medium orange, quartered
2 celery stalks, halved
1 cup apricot-pineapple preserves
1/2 cup apricot brandy
4 strips of bacon

Stuff 2 pieces of orange and 2 pieces of celery into the cavity of birds. Tie legs closed with kitchen thread. Place in large roasting pan. Heat broiler to 400 degrees.
Heat mixture [of preserves and brandy] carefully in saucepan until preserves are melted. Spoon some of the mixture over pheasants to glaze. Place pan with birds in broiler for 7 - 10 minutes, until birds are beautifully browned. Remove and spoon additional sauce over birds. Place 2 strips of bacon over each bird and roast at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 45 minutes, basting every 10 minutes with glaze. Remove and discard orange and celery and serve.  Note: 5 minutes before serving, you may pour 1/3 cup brandy over your birds.

WINE JELLO
2 TBS. unflavored gelatin
1 cup sugar
2 cups boiling water
1/3 cup orange juice
3 TBS. lemon juice
1 cup wine, either sherry, claret or a rose is delicious

Mix the gelatin and sugar well in a bowl. Add boiling water and stir until dissolved. Add juices and wine. Mold and chill. Serves 6 to 8 as a dessert, 12 as an accompaniment  for poultry.

IRISH COFFEE en GELEE
1-1/2 TBS. good instant coffee
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
4 TBS. sugar
2 cups water
2 oz. Irish whiskey

Put 1/2 cup cold water in a saucepan. Sprinkle with gelatin. Add 1-1/2 cups hot water. Stir to dissolve gelatin over heat. Add sugar and Irish whiskey. Stir until blended. Pour into small serving dishes. Chill until firm. Serve with whipped cream. This is an excellent light dessert.