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| Cookbook Series - Part 2 |
Be Prepared for the FEAST
Good News - September 1961
This is the second in the cookbook series — with special recipes for the Feast of Tabernacles' season.
THAT time of year to which all ages look forward with special anticipation is the Feast of Tabernacles! At this festive season some will be planning to eat most of their meals in their cars, or along the side of the road while enroute.
There are those who will be preparing their own meals while at the Festival. To help make the mealtimes more enjoyable for all you need to plan ahead of time.
How to Plan Ahead
There are some foods which lend themselves more conveniently than others to a limited amount of meal preparation time. Some of the foods which will appeal for use are those which would not ordinarily be considered for common usage when in our homes under less limited circumstances. Due to their short keeping qualities some foods are not practical to take with you or even buy due to the limited refrigeration facilities that may be available.
You will need to provide the types of foods that will do the most to promote good health. Beware of carelessness in just satisfying the taste without considering the health of the body. You will all enjoy yourselves more when feeling peppy and vigorous. It is possible to allow food treats and still provide those foods which would be best for your health.
It may often be more practical to use canned foods than fresh under the circumstances being considered. Frequent shopping is difficult for some. Although you may be able to make regular shopping trips, there are limitations due to equipment, refrigeration, space and time available for food preparation. Hence you need to plan menus which use a minimum of cooking utensils and require a relatively shorter time to prepare than meals at home. It is also necessary to have items on hand which will keep well.
To make your meals more appealing, and in some cases more economical, there are food products which YOU CAN PREPARE at home before your departure. Among these are pancake mix crackers and certain dessert items.
The main items of your meals such as meat and vegetables cannot, however, be prepared ahead of time. You need to plan what you are going to use and when you will need it so that you will know ahead of time when to buy it.
Generally the first meal item to be considered is the main dish which may be meat, fish, poultry, cheese and dried beans or dried peas. When you have fresh meat it is wise to buy only the amounts which can be used at one meal. Also the meal should be purchased as near to the time to use it as possible. If ice is available the meat should be kept cold until time to use it. Fresh meat spoils rapidly if not under refrigeration when the weather is warm and/or the room temperature is high. For more details on food spoilage refer to article on "Hot Weather Food Hints" in the August "Good News." Whole pieces of meat usually keep good longer than ground meat or meat cut up for stewing. Ground meat which is not to be refrigerated should be bought and cooked right away.
A beef-vegetable stew in which the meat is cut into rather small cubes offers a tasty one-dish meat-and-vegetable menu item. Due to the smaller pieces of meat it will allow more rapid preparation than stews made from larger pieces of meat which require more cooking time. The use of wine and lemon juice not only add flavor but also act as meat tenderizers. This meat dish may take longer cooking time than some others, but once the ingredients are prepared it requires little attention. This is a good dish to prepare when you need to tend to other things around your living quarters as well as cook.
Beef-Vegetable Stew with Red Wine
1 lb. LEAN meat (chuck or round) cut in 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons oil
1 clove finely chopped garlic
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons lemon juice (or juice of 1 lemon)
1 cup water
1/2 cup dry red wine (Burgundy, Bordeaux, etc.)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 large onion, sliced
4 medium carrots, quartered (halve lengthwise, then cut in half crosswise)
4 medium potatoes, quartered.
(If white potatoes are used in this stew, they need ONLY to be scrubbed and any bad spots cut out, but if red potatoes are used they should be peeled as they have often been ARTIFICIALLY COLORED to increase their natural color.)
Roll meat cubes in flour, coating each piece well.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large heavy saucepan or a LARGE skillet. Add finely chopped clove of garlic and the meat cubes. Brown meat quickly on ONE side. (To brown the meat on all sides toughens it and destroys food values unnecessarily. All you need is enough browning to add flavor.)
When the meat has browned, add the bay leaf, lemon juice, water and wine. Cover and let simmer over low heat 45 minutes or until the meat is just tender.
Add sliced onion, quartered carrots and potatoes and salt. Cover and cook 20-30 minutes until the vegetables are done. Makes 4-6 servings.
Beef-potato hash seems to be a well-liked food by many people. You can make a delicious beef hash yourself from canned roast beef and potatoes which you cook. Canned beef hash products which are quick to get ready for eating are on the market. But when considering the purchase of these products be careful to CHECK THEIR CONTENTS. Some contain preservatives such as sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate, especially if the hash is made from corned beef.
There are a variety of possible uses for the canned PLAIN ROAST beef with salt (there is a canned CHOPPED beef which contains preservatives). For example: the canned roast beef could be used for hash, in sandwiches, in stew and chilli when it is not advisable to use fresh meat. Since the canned roast beef has salt added to it, reduce the amount of salt called for when using it in recipes which call for freshly cooked meat. The beef-potato hash recipe which follows makes use of the canned ROAST beef. This hash resembles an oven-cooked hash even though it is cooked on top of the stove.
Beef-Potato Hash
2 tablespoons oil
2 cups chopped roast beef (1 12-ounce can)
2 cups diced COOKED potatoes
1 small onion, FINELY chopped or grated
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
Mix meat, potatoes, onions, salt and milk together.
Spread evenly in greased hot skillet. Cover.
Stir occasionally. Cook over LOW heat about 20 minutes. Makes 4-6 servings.
Ground beef makes its appearance in many forms on the average menu. One widely liked use is in chilli with beans. When cooking under conditions where you want to provide appealing meals and use a minimum of time in the cooking process, canned cooked dried beans will cut down on cooking time. Ordinarily it is not wise to buy prepared beans as a regular habit. The cost is much higher than when you cook the dried beans yourself. Canned kidney beans and pinto beans are some of the canned bean products available. In purchasing canned bean products ALWAYS READ THE LABEL CAREFULLY — some contain pork. For an easy-to-make chilli you will find the following recipe one which you can prepare quickly in your full time schedule.
Chilli with Kidney Beans
1 lb. LEAN ground beef
1 medium onion, FINELY chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
4 cups canned kidney beans
1 28-ounce can (3 1/2 cups) tomatoes
1 8-ounce can (1 cup) tomato sauce
2 teaspoons chilli powder
2 teaspoons salt
Spread meat over the bottom of a heavy saucepan or a kettle.
After the meat is browned on the under side, stir in the finely chopped onion and garlic and cover. Cook over LOW heat until the vegetables are barely tender — about 10 minutes.
Add kidney beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce and seasonings. Replace cover and simmer 20 minutes. Makes 6 servings.
For a popular, rapidly prepared main dish, dress up scrambled eggs with dried beef or cheese. (When using chipped beef it is advisable to use the canned type. The packaged form usually found on the delicatessen counters of the markets is likely to contain preservatives.)
Scrambled Eggs with Chipped Beef
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 of a 2 1/2-ounce jar chipped beef
6 eggs, beaten
Cut or tear beef into small pieces.
Put oil in hot skillet. Add chipped beef and cook until the edges begin to curl. Add eggs and scramble. Makes 4-6 servings.
No salt needs to be added as the beef already contains enough to salt the eggs. If only the amount of this recipe is made, the dried beef that is left may be kept in the original jar for use at another time.
For scrambled eggs with cheese, add 1 tablespoon grated or finely diced cheese per egg. Add the cheese to eggs when they are partially done, then cook until of desired consistency.
Some other main-dish menu items which offer possibilities for use during this time are canned tuna, salmon, sardines, kippered herring, natural cheeses such as mild and sharp cheddar and Swiss and cottage cheese. Nuts also contribute protein to your meals and add variety. These are, in fact, the only types of protein foods that you can safely use on the weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Tabernacles. The home-prepared meat dishes such as the stew and chilli mentioned earlier cannot, however, safely be kept from Friday until the Sabbath without being refrigerated. If you have an ice chest, a roast prepared on Friday will keep on ice for the Sabbath because a large piece of cooked meat keeps better than small pieces. Nor are there other food items such as potatoes, which spoil readily, mixed with it. But remember, this is safely done ONLY with roasts, and none should be kept beyond the day after the meat was cooked. That is, if you roasted it on Friday, don't keep any of the roast that may not have been eaten on Saturday until Sunday. Don't hesitate to put such leftovers in the garbage.
Soup frequently appears as a menu item for hurried meals. When the soup is a hearty one and well supported by other menu items it can be a valuable contribution to your meals away from home. Canned soups such as tomato, cream of celery and cream of mushroom make tasty dishes as a PART of your meal. These soups can be used with other vegetables and/or meat to make a wholesome main portion for your meal. Canned mixed vegetables and one of the canned soups mentioned could be blended together to make a hearty vegetable soup. By making this type of combination you could get more vegetables in your soup than in the usual canned vegetable soup — they generally contain a large proportion of macaroni.
Care and Use of Vegetables
Canned vegetables bought at the store do not need to be heated before they are tasted or served. When using them in soups as suggested above, use the liquid portion as well as the solid vegetable portion, since it is proven that the juice on canned foods contains just as much food value as the solid portion.
Canned vegetables to be used in salads must be drained of juice, however. But don't throw the juice away. Mix it with canned tomato juice and serve it as a drink or put it instead of water into soup.
Precaution, however, must be used when using HOME-canned vegetables. Corn and spinach canned at home should be brought to a bubbling boil and be maintained for 20 minutes BEFORE tasting. All other home-canned vegetables except tomatoes should be boiled 10 minutes BEFORE tasting. Tomatoes, like fruits, are acid and do not need cooking after they are opened in order to be safe. You are running the risk of food poisoning if you ignore these safety measures.
Home-canned meat, likewise, should be boiled 20 minutes before even a taste of it is taken.
Vegetables should play a major role in your menus. They can be eaten raw, cooked plain or in combination dishes such as soups or stews. Some vegetables which have relatively long-keeping qualities without refrigeration are potatoes, dry onions and hard-shell squash.
Potatoes are a good substitute for bread as well as being a food which can be prepared in many ways. Potatoes give an alkaline reaction in the body instead of an acid reaction as is the case with bread. If potato salad is served, it should be made and used right at mealtime — keep no leftovers.
Of the vegetables which need a cooler temperature, carrots and cabbage have high keeping qualities. Lettuce, celery and other green vegetables need to be kept cold and moist after washing and draining them. If those vegetables which need refrigeration are kept in plastic bags or wrapped in damp clean cloths it helps in retaining their moisture content. Raw vegetables served as relishes or in salads are quick to prepare and can add color as well as needed roughage to the meal.
One of the secrets of a successful salad is crisp fresh ingredients. But salad dressings can "make" or ruin your crisp salad. Three basic salad dressings — French, mayonnaise and cooked dressing — offer a wide range of variations which may be made to suit the individual tastes and type of salad involved. When buying commercial salad dressing, get the best quality and tastiest you can to help promote the most desirable salad appeal. For a tangy French-type dressing here is a speedy one to make.
French Dressing
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon raw or brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon black or white pepper
2 teaspoons finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons cider or malt vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup oil
Mix and shake in a jar.
Fruits are a versatile food which go well with any meal and between times too, whether it be as a starter for breakfast or for dessert at dinner. Breakfast should include a fruit or juice — preferably citrus or tomato juice. You can find canned unsweetened juices and fruits canned in light syrup or water on the grocery shelves. These are much more desirable than those juices with sugar added and fruits in heavy syrups. Raw fruits keep well at room temperature and give you an easy quick way to vary your meals and satisfy hungry appetites.
To add variety to the salad portion of your meal try a Waldorf salad. This is a combination of fruits, vegetable, nuts and salad dressing.
Waldorf Salad
1 1/2 cups diced unpeeled apples (wash well before using)
1 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped or broken nut meats
1 rounded tablespoon mayonnaise
Mix all ingredients. 6 servings.
When traveling it is often difficult to find desirable bread products in the markets. Read labels carefully. When the fat used is listed as shortening — beware! It may be animal fat. More and more animal fats are being blended with oils for use in the commercial baking process. Unless the label specifies that vegetable shortening or oil or butter is used you may be getting animal fat. Crackers made with vegetable shortening or butter are particularly hard to find, especially in the smaller markets. Yet crackers travel and store well and maintain their freshness for relatively long periods of time. Try making your own!
Following is a crisp cracker recipe which contains plain whole wheat flour and wheat germ. If you can get whole wheat pastry flour it may be used instead of the regular whole wheat flour. A crisper, flakier cracker can be made from the whole wheat pastry flour.
Wheat Germ Crackers
1 1/2 cups sifted whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup water
Sift flour and then measure. Sift measured flour, soda, cream of tartar, salt together. Add wheat germ and mix.
Combine oil and water. Add dry ingredients and mix until they are wet.
Take a ball of dough about the size needed for a single pie crust. Roll on lightly floured board or wax paper until it is wafer thin. Cut into squares with a knife or in rounds with a cookie cutter.
Place on ungreased cooky sheet. Prick twice with a fork. If a salty cracker is desired, sprinkle with table salt, garlic, celery or seasoned salt. Bake in a hot oven (400°F.) 8-10 minutes.
A delicious cheese cracker can be made by adding 1 1/2 cups finely grated natural cheddar cheese to the wheat germ cracker recipe. Add the grated cheese to the oil and water and stir BEFORE adding the dry ingredients, then proceed as for the plain crackers.
For a popular breakfast treat serve pancakes as a change from the usual fare. You can make your own dry mix at home, store in tightly sealed plastic bag or plastic container or clean empty honey or coffee can. Add the liquid ingredients when ready to use the mix. The pancake recipe which follows is for a bread type pancake. The batter is rather thick, but you can spread it out gently with the back of a spoon on the griddle or skillet. If the batter is made thinner the texture of the pancakes is likely to be heavier and less tender than those made from the thicker batter. The liquid ingredients should be added to the mix just prior to cooking them. Stir only enough to combine the ingredients. Avoid beating — it develops the gluten which results in less tender pancakes. The longer the batter stands the more leavening it loses. So mix and use right away! Best results are also obtained if the mix is made up in 2 cup amounts as is suggested in using the mix that follows.
Whole Wheat Pancake Mix
4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup dry skim milk
1 1/2 teaspoons soda
3 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup raw or brown sugar
Sift dry ingredients and store in a cool place until ready for use.
To make an average amount of pancake batter from the mix, use the following:
1 egg
2 tablespoons oil
1 1/4 cups water
2 slightly rounded cups pancake mix
Mix the liquid ingredients and add all at once to the mix. Stir JUST ENOUGH to moisten the dry ingredients. Bake on an ungreased skillet or griddle. There should generally be no need for greasing the surface where the pancakes are to be cooked since there is oil in the batter. As a precaution against sticking you can put salt in a coarse cloth and rub the skillet or griddle thoroughly. Makes 16-18 medium pancakes.
PREPARED BREAKFAST FOODS usually offer little more than empty calories, enrichment products and preservatives. There are some few commercially prepared cereals which on special occasion might be worthwhile getting — but you have to look carefully and diligently to discover them. Generally speaking you get far more for your money if you buy and use cereals YOU cook.
SWEETS seem to be considered a delicacy by many. There are several taste-appealing morsels along this line that will satisfy the sweet tooth and at the same time provide more than just empty calories.
Recipes for some sweets that can be made at home and taken on a trip ought to be used because it is most often in bakery cakes, cookies and crackers that we find undesirable ingredients. It is far wiser to make such things yourself at home before you go to the Feast so that you know what kind of ingredients have been used. They will cost you less, too, than if you buy the ready-baked items.
Clean, empty honey and coffee cans make excellent storage containers for such. The dessert referred to can be made at home and taken along on your trip. The following recipes give some different types of desserts from which you might like to choose what best suits your taste.
Peanut butter and honey are a sandwich-filling favorite. For a different combination these two can be mixed with dry milk to make an uncooked candy.
Peanut Butter Balls
1/3 cup peanut butter (plain or nutty)
1/4 cup honey or molasses
1/2 cup dry skim milk
1/3 cup flaked, or chopped shredded coconut
Mix and shape into balls about the size of a walnut. Roll balls in ground nuts, dry milk or flaked coconut. (The canned coconut is less likely to contain preservatives than that found in packages. Read the labels.) This recipe is easier to work with when made in the quantity given.
Dried fruits such as prunes, figs, dates, raisins and apricots are better for snacks than sugary candies and often no more expensive. Eaten with nuts, especially almonds, they make a very sustaining food.
Just for a change, you may like to have confections made of mixtures of them.
Raisin Candy
1 1/2 cups seedless raisins
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup coconut, Shredded or flaked
3 tablespoons honey
Any kind of nuts may be used. Brazil nuts are least desirable.
Put the raisins and coconut through a food chopper using the medium blade.
Knead in the chopped nuts and honey. Roll into small balls. Makes about two dozen.
There are cooky recipes galore, but they are often overly rich and sweet. Here is one that is not too rich or sweet and yet has taste appeal.
Crispy Oatmeal Cookies
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 cup seedless raisins
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup raw or brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 medium egg
1 teaspoon soda
2 tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Prepare the nuts and wash the raisins if necessary. Mix both with the rolled oats (the regular, not the quick-cooking type). Set aside. Lightly oil one or two cooky sheets.
Set the oven to heat to 400° F.
Sift the whole wheat flour and measure. Add the salt, soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon and nutmeg and sift together two or three times.
The butter should be at room temperature or even a little warmer so that it will cream very easily. Measure it into a large mixing bowl and beat until creamy with no lumps remaining. Add two tablespoons of the oil and beat until well mixed. Add the remaining oil and beat again.
Add the sugar to the butter-oil mixture and beat until the mass develops a creamy appearance.
Add the egg and beat the mixture until well blended.
Measure the molasses and water into a cup and stir until they are thoroughly mixed.
Add about 2 heaping tablespoons of the sifted flour mixture to the creamed egg mixture and beat until blended.
Pour in half of the mixed water and molasses and beat again. Add half of the remaining flour; beat until mixed. Add the rest of the molasses mixture and beat; then add the remaining flour and finish beating.
Add the raisin-nut-oatmeal mixture and combine it with the dough with folding motions.
Take heaping teaspoonfuls of the dough and roll them lightly between the palms of your hands to make balls about the size of a walnut. Place these about 2 inches apart on the oiled cooky sheets.
With a fork flatten the balls, keeping their shape as nearly round as possible. Flatten them to the thickness of the raisins in the dough. The fork will become sticky after pressing two or three cookies. Simply dip the fork into a cup of cold water, shake off the excess water and continue.
Slide the filled cooky sheets into the heated oven and leave to bake to a light golden brown (about 10 minutes).
After removing the cookies from the oven, leave them on the cooky sheets for a minute, then remove them with a spatula or small pancake turner. This recipe makes 3 1/2 to 4 dozen cookies.
As soon as they are cool, store them in a covered jar or tin.
No doubt you have favorite cooky recipes of your own that you might like to make for eating during the Feast. Choose those that make a crisp cooky since soft, moist cookies are prone to mold during warm weather. Also, cookies made with honey or it least with some honey in them resist molding better than those made with sugar only.
Had you ever thought of taking a fruitcake for a treat during the Festival? It can be made weeks ahead. In fact, fruitcakes are better if made beforehand.
You need to be careful, however, in selecting the fruits that you are going to put into your cake. It is almost impossible to find untreated candled citron, pineapple, cherries or fruit peels in stores. Often these products have been preserved with benzoate of soda or colored in some way.
At some future date we plan to explain how you can make some of these yourself and make healthful fruitcakes containing them, but for the present we can have fruitcake made without any of these questionable items.
Honey Fruitcake
3 cups raisins
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups cooked, drained prunes cut in small pieces
4 cups sifted whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups chopped figs
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 1/4 cups chopped dates
2 cups chopped walnuts
1/4 teaspoon soda
1/2 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup prune juice (use juice from cooked prunes)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup oil
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 1/2 cups raw or brown sugar
Prepare the fruit, cover with fruit juices and honey and LET STAND OVERNIGHT.
Line three 9 x 5 bread pans with brown paper and oil the paper.
Sift all the dry ingredients.
Mix honey, oil and sugar in a LARGE mixing bowl. Add eggs and beat until smooth.
Add the fruit mixture and nuts and mix well. Add the sifted dry ingredients in two additions, mixing well after each addition so that all the flour is moistened.
Fill each of the three pans about 1/2 full of cake batter.
Bake in slow oven (275°) about three hours.
Cool in pans. Remove from pan. Peel off paper.
Wrap in brandy-soaked cloth (place cloth on a plate, pour brandy over cloth until it becomes moist.) Store in covered container in cool place.
There is a canned brown dessert type bread on the market which contains no shortening. This could be spread with cream cheese to add a finishing touch to your meal.
What to Drink
Last of all, there is the question of what to serve to drink. Beside the fruit or tomato juice which has already been mentioned, you can use powdered skim milk for milk drinks if you have no way of keeping fresh milk. You can mix mashed bananas or other fruit into the milk along with honey to taste and have "milk-shakes." Lemon-ade and orange-ade made with freshly-squeezed or canned juices are always acceptable. On occasion, wine used in moderation will add a festive air.
Bottled punches artificially colored and flavored or powdered mixes such as Kool-aid should not be drunk. Their wholesomeness is certainly questionable and the effect of the artificial colorings used in them is definitely not above suspicion. The same is true of "pops" and "cokes."
Tea and coffee may be used in moderation. They definitely are known to contain two or three substances which, if taken in moderation, the body may rid itself of, but large quantities of these can overburden the body.
(To be continued.)
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