Georgia’s Kitchen: Stretching Your Food Dollar

Georgia Diehm

Meat prices are going up because of the drought of 2012, which is expected to continue into 2013. Because of that, many people are seeing the need to stretch their food dollars. One way that may help is to serve more casseroles. Cheese and beans as protein substitutes are a good choice. Housewives from years gone by made a lot of one-dish meals because they knew how to feed their families on a shoe-string.
Here are some interesting old-time recipes…

Hash (1880)

1 1/2 lbs. corned beef
5-6 small (about 1 lb) white or red potatoes
1 onion, chopped very fine
salt
pepper
flour
butter

Cold meat of any kind will do but corned beef is best. Always remove any surplus of fat and gristle. Season with salt and pepper. Chop fine. To 1/3 of the meat add 2/3 of cold chopped boiled potato and 1 onion chopped very fine. Place in the dripping pan*. Dredge with a little flour and pour in at the side of pan enough water to come up to level with hash. Place in moderately hot oven. Do not stir when flour is a light brown and has formed a sort of crust. Take out. Add a lump of butter. Stir through several times and you will have delicious hash. When ready to dish, run knife under as you would omelet and serve hot with catsup.

Halleluia

1/4 # salt pork sliced*
2 cups hot water
4 large onions sliced
4 potatoes sliced
1 Tbsp flour
1/4 cup cold water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp pepper

Fry out the salt pork. Add water, onion and potatoes. Cook slowly 50 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Before serving, thicken with flour dissolved in cold water. Add salt, sugar and pepper. Serves 5.
*Note: Bacon can be substituted for salt pork.

“Necessity Mess”, “Potato Bargain” or “Tilton’s Glory”

1/2 # mixed pork
3 onions the size of duck eggs
1 1/2 quarts potatoes peeled and cut in slices 1/2 in. thick

To make this dish properly an iron pot should be used. Otherwise, it should be started in a frying pan. Slice the pork about 1/4 in. thick. Peel and slice onions very thin. Place in the pot and fry briskly until very brown. Then put in the potatoes and fill the pot with water until it is about an inch above the potatoes. Boil slowly until potatoes are thoroughly cooked, but not enough to crumble. Thicken the gravy, using about 3 Tbsp. flour and serve in one dish. A small turnip, a carrot, or both, may be added as may dumplings. But as these are not properly speaking necessities, I have not included them in the recipe.

Scootin-Long-The-Shore

1/4 cup bacon fat
1 cup onions sliced
4 cups raw potatoes sliced

Heat bacon fat in a skillet: stir in the onions and potatoes. Cover and cook slowly, stirring occasionally until the fat is absorbed and the potatoes are tender. Uncover when brown and crusty on the bottom. Serve with fried or boiled fish. Serves 4.
*Down in Maine a similar recipe is popular. Potatoes are sliced thin as possible and thrown into cold water. While salt pork is fried out, pork is removed from pan and potatoes fried slowly for about 30 min. stirring frequently. Sometimes an onion is added. When the potatoes are done the salt pork is placed on top. This dish is known as “Very Poor Man’s Dinner”.

Beans(Frizoles)

1 lb dried pinto or Mexican pink beans
Water
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup lard or bacon fat, melted

If you can’t get pinto or pink beans get red ones. Cover with warm water and simmer until tender, replacing water when necessary. When almost cooked add salt. When beans are tender, drain but save liquid. Mash a few of the beans at-a-time with fat. Pour back some of the liquid until you get the beans the consistency you want. Add more salt if necessary. Refried beans or frijoles are made by reheating the beans in a skillet using more lard (at least 1/2 cup) and allow them to get crisp around edges. You probably will want to add more water too. Serve with sour cream or add some cubed jack or cheddar cheese when beans are done and let cook just enough to melt cheese. This is called frijoles conqueso.

Green Onion and Cheese Pie

9 inch unbaked pie shell
4 cups sliced green onions or scallions, including tops
1/4 cup butter
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup cream
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup grated cheese

Saute the onions in the butter until they look wilted. Spread over the bottom of the pie shell. Mix eggs with the cream and seasonings. Pour over the onions. Sprinkle the cheese on top and put in (425) oven for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to (350) and cook until brown. ( A knife inserted near center of the pie should look shiny clean when you take it out) Serves 6.