Grandmas Easter Biscuits

Easter biscuits were traditionally baked and given as gifts at Easter time. This recipe comes from my grandmothers kitchen.. and she baked them every year,

Lightly spiced and speckled with currants they are delicious and make a change from the usual chocolate confections.

75 g (3oz) butter
75 g (3oz) caster sugar
1 medium egg separated
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
50 g (2oz) currants
15 g (½oz) mixed peel
175 g (6oz) plain flour (all purpose)
about 3 tablespoon milk
granulated sugar to sprinkle

• Pre-heat oven to moderate (180℃ (160℃ fan)/350°F/gas mark 4).
• Lightly grease two baking trays.
• Beat butter and add sugar gradually until light and fluffy
• Add egg yolk and beat again until smooth.
• Add currants and peel and stir through
• Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and spice. 
• Gradually fold into mixture to a firm dough
• Tip out mixture onto a floured board
• Roll out to about ¼in  thickness. 
• Use a 3in round cutter to cut out biscuits and place on the trays. 
• Gather up the trimmings, roll and repeat.
• If the mixture becomes difficult to work with, place in the fridge for 15 minutes 
• Lightly beat the egg white 
• Brush the surface of the biscuits with the egg white, then sprinkle with a little granulated sugar.
• Place trays into oven and bake for 15 minutes or until a pale gold colour.
• Allow to cool for about 10 minutes on trays before using a spatula to transfer the biscuits to a cooling rack.

Escalloped Potatoes Hungarian Style

Today’s recipe is from the 1942 edition of Short Cuts and Left-Overs by Hannah W. Schloss. A great book for using leftovers in an easy and appetizing way, with what you have on hand.. very much in the spirit of 'waste not..want not'.  Recipes like this would help home front housewives use up every last bit of food in their kitchens. 

 

One problem though. None of these recipes have directions for oven temperatures and many don’t include cooking times. Less than half actually have a list of ingredients, so there is a lot of guess work involved

But a 1940s housewife would work with what she had and adapt a recipe accordingly. So with potatoes leftover from yesterdays dinner, and dried parsley instead of fresh,  I followed the recipe with what I had. Because  I was serving it with some herbed chicken strips, I cooked at 375 for 20-25 minutes. And it was really nice...like a hot potato salad. The eggs were a pleasant addition and you could definitely add things to give the dish more flavour and colour. And who wouldnt like a sprinkle of cheese on the top?

• Butter a baking dish and dust with bread crumbs. 
• Slice cold boiled potatoes and some hard-boiled eggs. 
• Fill the baking dish alternating with the potatoes and sliced eggs, sprinkling the layers with salt, pepper and chopped parsley. 
• Over all pour sour cream and bake for 20 minutes. 

This makes a very good main luncheon dish.

Barbecued Fried Chicken

This is a light, easy to fix chicken recipe works as well today as it did in the 1940s. I used chicken breasts instead of a whole fryer and they turned out moist and flavourful. The recipe comes from the 1944 edition of The Good Housekeeping Cook Book.

2 1/2 lb fryer chicken, cut up
4 tbsp salad oil or fat
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp bottled thick meat sauce
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 c catsup
dash tabasco sauce

• Wash the fryer and dry it slightly. 
• You can reserve the backbone, neck, and wing tips for making chicken broth later.
• Heat the salad oil in a skillet, then add the chicken. 
• Brown on all sides over high heat. 
• Remove the chicken and place in a shallow baking pan. 
• Mix the remaining ingredients and pour over the chicken. 
• Bake uncovered in a moderate oven of 350°F for one hour or until the chicken is tender
• Baste every 10 minutes with the sauce in the pan. 
• Place in a broiler oven which has been preheated and allow to brown slightly. 
• Make sure it doesn’t burn. 
• Remove from broiler. 
• Put the chicken on a platter and pour the remaining sauce over it to serve. 
• Serves 4.

The Good Housekeeping Cook Book.1944