Serious Eats
Weekend Cook and Tell Round Up: Vintage Recipe Redux
Last week we asked you to travel back in time to recreate some of your favorite dated recipes. This challenge was a scary one and not everyone was ready to break out those cream of mushroom soup cans and pineapple slices. Some of you shared fond (and not so fond) childhood food memories and some brave souls broke out those yellowing cookbooks to cook up some classics from times gone by. Here are some of our dustiest favorites:
Jilly's mom made a dish that she considered to be the height of elegance, it consisted of a round roast of beef coated in a can of cream of mushroom soup, some HP Sauce, and an entire packet of onion soup mix. The whole mess was roasted in the oven to an appealing shade of grey. Oh, how times have changed.
TheKitchenWitch brought back memories of childhood by recreating this aptly named Shipwreck Casserole. Apparently this was TheKitchenWitch's sister's favorite birthday meal and it tasted like a shipwreck.
In an attempt to be healthy, sorahatch cooked up a batch of lentil soup from a 1975 cookbook. Thanks to some powdered milk, the soup was nice and creamy. According to sorahatch, "There's just something about a cocktail of corn syrup solids, sodium saseinate, dipotassium phosphate, and propylene glycol monosterate that just hits the spot. Sometimes."
thatgrrl inherited mustard yellow deviled egg holders from a relative who had a tendency to spend winter holidays throwing back Tom and Jerrys and cursing. I hope she made some decent deviled eggs at least.
Rocquie made this Vegetable Salad from a 1967 church cookbook. Canned asparagus, peas, and pimentos might look beautiful suspended in a cloud of cream cheese gelatin but the addition of Durkee Sauce was a little too retro for Rocquie.
Utilizing the old-meets-new philosophy, ElizabethS made sushi rolls incorporating the 1960s classic: hearts of palm.
Using the timeless frozen pairing of peas and carrots as an inspiration, Peas Love Carrots made an updated version of the dish that employs some more timely kitchen staples such as shallots, mint, and garam masala.
My good friend and SE resident hot dog aficionado Hawk Krall wondered why "Wylie Dufrense or someone hasn't yet began messing with molecular gastronomy Jello salads?" He also shared an absolutely horrifying recipe for Hot Dogs Amandine. Ingredients for this casserole include chopped hot dogs, MSG, canned pineapple and slivered almonds. Ugh.
Finally, MMinNYC shared a best and worst list of vintage recipes. Favorites included: sukiyaki, tuna surprise, green bean casserole, and cornucopias of salami stuffed with cream cheese or Velveeta. The worst: Waldorf salad with marshmallows, a particular aunt's duck a l'orange, and some scary Jell-O casseroles.
Thanks to everyone who took time to unearth some occasionally painful childhood food memories to participate in this week's Weekend Cook and Tell challenge. Be sure to head over to Talk and read about next week's challenge: