Chicken Russe

Mom clipped this recipe from the L.A. Times food section in 1964.  It was published in "Happy Cooking" the following year under her name, so it must have made the grade!  Back in the 60's chicken sold at the grocery store was not in pieces.  I can remember watching Mom cut up a whole chicken and being amazed at how easily she did it.  The first time I tried to do this myself I wasn't too successful and ended up hacking through the bones.  Chicken breasts are commonly sold today in "boneless/skinless" form, but it wasn't too long ago that you had to de-bone the breasts yourself or ask the butcher to do it.  It would be assumed that the chicken breasts used in this recipe were not de-boned, but I made them using boneless/skinless and they turned out just fine.

6 whole chicken breasts (12 pieces)
2 cups dairy sour cream
2 Tbls. lemon juice
2 tsp. salt
pinch of garlic powder
1/2 tsp. pepper
bread crumbs
1/2 c. butter

Place chicken breasts in heavy duty plastic bag.  Combine sour cream, lemon juice and seasonings.  Pour sour cream mixture over chicken.  Seal bag and place on a baking sheet.  Store in refrigerator overnight or for several hours.  Turn bag at intervals.  Remove chicken and coat with bread crumbs.  Heat butter in skillet and fry chicken until brown and tender (25 to 35 minutes.)   Serves 12.

Oven Beef Stew

Ruth's Recipe Box has received its first request!  Christine Bryan mentioned her boys wanted her to get the recipe for "that really good stew Grandma made that time we were at her house."  I found the recipe and made it twice, once in the crock-pot and once in the oven.  It turned out just as yummy either way.  True to form, Mom didn't write any instructions, baking temperature, or baking time.  I looked up another oven stew recipe in one of my cookbooks and went with that baking temperature and time.

2 lbs. beef stew meat (dust with flour and brown in a little hot oil)
1 c. onion, chopped
4 carrots, sliced
3 potatoes, cut into chunks
2 ribs of celery, chopped
1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can golden mushrooms
1 cup water
3 Tbls. pearl tapioca
10-12 green peppercorns
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 pkg. frozen green peas
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Layer browned meat, onion, carrots, potatoes, celery, tomatoes, peas and mushrooms in large oven-proof casserole dish with a lid.  Mix soup, water, bouillon cubes, tapioca, peppercorns and Worcestershire sauce and pour over stew.
Cover and bake at 325 degrees for 3 to 4 hours.  (If you prefer to use a crock-pot, cook at a low temperature for about 7 hours.)  Remove stew from the oven and let it sit for about 10 minutes before serving to help the sauce thicken up.

Valentine Chocolate Cake

Happy Valentine's Day!  This chocolate cake was a tradition in our home, made into a heart shape on Valentine's Day for Dad or a layer cake on birthdays.  The heart shape is made by dividing the batter between a round cake pan and an 8x8 square pan and then cutting the round in half and attaching them to the top sides of the square.

As for the cake recipe, I found two versions of this in Mom's recipe collection, neither of which had any sort of directions.  I'm finding that she did this quite often.  She knew how to make a cake (or a casserole, or bread, etc.), so why bother to write down the instructions?  I picked the recipe with salt and a little more shortening and it tasted just like I remember.

3/4 cup shortening
1 3/4 cup brown sugar
3 squares unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
2 1/4 cup flour*
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt

Heat chocolate and water together until chocolate melts.  (You can do this in a microwave, or do it the old-fashioned way over a double-boiler.  Many people today have no idea what a double-boiler is.  It is a small pan that fits inside of a larger pan filled with water.  As the water underneath boils, it gently heats the ingredients in the smaller pan.  It's a great way to melt chocolate without scorching.)  Stir melted chocolate and water together until blended and set aside.

Cream together shortening and brown sugar.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.  Add the chocolate/water mixture and vanilla.   Combine all of the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.   Alternately add  a little flour mixture and buttermilk to the batter until well combined.  Grease and flour two cake pans. Divide the batter between the two cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes before attempting to remove the cake from the pans.  Cool on wire rack before frosting.

*I used cake flour and loved the results

Chocolate Frosting
4 Tbls. butter or margarine
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp. salt
4 Tbls. cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 c. milk (plus or minus)

Heat the butter, water, salt and cocoa powder together and stir until butter is melted.  Beat in vanilla and powdered sugar.  Add milk a few tablespoons at a time until the frosting is desired consistency.

Corn Chowder

Cook 1/4 lb. bacon.  Let bacon cool and then crumble.
Using a small amount of bacon fat, saute 1/2 cup diced onion until tender in a large pot.
Slowly stir in 1/4 cup flour, 4 cups milk, 2 one lb. cans of cream style corn while cooking over medium heat.  Meanwhile, cook together in boiling water 1 1/2 cups diced potatoes, 1/2 cup celery diced, 1/2 c. carrots diced.  When vegetables are just tender, add to corn mixture.  Add crumbled bacon.  Top with cheese, if desired.

This recipe came from Leola Ord and was dated January, 1987.  Leola was one of Mom's dearest friends in Covina.  One of the many things they had in common was their love of good food.   My sister Marie fondly remembers Mom and Leola attending a weight loss group (probably in anticipation of an upcoming cruise) and each week after weigh-in they would "celebrate" by going out to lunch!

Aunt Ethel's French Bread

Ethel was married to Kenneth Shields, my grandmother Annie's youngest brother.  Ethel was what we refer to these days as  "a foodie."  Many of Mom's best recipes came from her Aunt Ethel.  This French bread is a real winner.  It is easy to put together, raises quickly, and has a nice smooth texture.

1/2 cup warm water
2 Tbls. yeast
2 cups hot water
1 Tbls. salt
3 Tbls. sugar
5 Tbls. melted shortening
1 egg, separated
6 cups flour
Sesame seeds (optional)

Combine warm water and yeast.  Let stand for 10 minutes.  Combine hot water, salt, sugar, melted shortening and 3 cups of flour.  Beat until smooth.  Add egg yolk and yeast mixture.  Add 3 more cups flour.  (I used the dough hook on my Kitchen Aid for kneading in the last 3 cups of flour.)  Cover and let rise for one hour, punching down every 10 minutes.  Divide dough in half.  Shape each half into a loaf about 12 inches long.   Place on greased cookie sheet.  Cover and let rise 30 minutes.  Brush with a beaten egg white and sprinkle with sesame seeds, if desired.  Slash each loaf diagonally about three times.  Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

Minted Grapefruit

6 medium grapefruit
6 Tbls. frozen limeade concentrate, thawed
4 drops mint extract
green food coloring
1 cup seedless grapes
fresh mint leaves (for garnish)

Section grapefruit over bowl to catch juice.  Drain sections, reserving 3/4 cup juice.  Combine juice, mint extract, limeade, and a few drops of food coloring.  Pour over grapefruit and grapes in a deep bowl.  Cover and chill several hours, stirring once or twice.  Serve in chilled stemmed glasses with  fresh mint sprigs for garnish.

I tried this recipe because grapefruit is in season and got very positive reviews from the family.  Mom was a grapefruit lover and also grew her own mint in our backyard.  The mint spread like crazy and would have to be cut back on occasion.  This would be good for breakfast or as an appetizer.