The Beef A La Mode special occasion recipe uses a French method

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For your information, the first printing of one of our favorite resources, Charleston Receipts, was November 1950. The thirty-fourth printing was December 2009! And there were many thousands of volumes printed. There have probably been more printings since then.

We have Beef a la Mode for you from Charleston Receipts. This dish will be for a very special occasion. Elizabeth’s note says, “My father’s method, which he brought back from France, where he was educated.”

Mrs. Salmons shares her Fried Chicken and Gravy recipe with us in Charleston Receipts. It looks delicious. She says, “Chill in icebox overnight…” Do you reckon today’s younguns know what an “icebox” is?

Alamagoozalum! I would try this dish simply from curiosity about the humorous name. This dish is contributed by Joy Stokes in one of my favorite cookbooks, Treasures and Pleasures from First Presbyterian Church of Apopka.

The next, from Burnie Roberts in The Apopka Woman’s Club’s What’s Cookin’?, is plain scalloped potatoes, no cheese, that you cook with onions in water before assembling the dish for baking.

From First Presbyterian Church of Punta Gorda’s A Taste of Heaven, Phyllis Tipton’s Mango Bread is wonderfully tasty and can be prepared beforehand to slice for serving at your picnic table or your fancy dining table, whichever suits.

A Plains Pot-Pourri goodie from our friends up in Plains, Georgia. This is Mrs. Rance Foster’s Colonial Carrot-Pecan Cake along with her frosting recipe

Cucumber season is coming in a month or so, so you can be ready with Ann Hlinak’s recipe for making Crispy Pickle Slices. This tasty recipe is found in Sharing Our Finest Cookbook, kindly shared by Apopka Citizen Police Alumni Association.

ELIZABETH O’NEILL

VERNER’S BEEF A LA MODE

Recipe from Charleston Receipts, America’s Oldest Junior League Cookbook in Print,

a Cookbook by The Junior League of Charleston, Inc.

6 pounds beef off the round or a haunch of venison

1 pound bacon (cut up)

3 large onions (chopped)

1 cup shortening (approximately)

1 quart apple cider vinegar

Ground seasonings: cloves, whole black pepper and 2 teaspoons whole allspice

Use a very carefully selected cut of beef off the round, no bone (costs now about one million dollars!). Put this, the night before, in an earthen bowl with vinegar and enough water to cover after having stuffed it with bacon, onions, spices and a bit of bay leaves… NO SALT. It is stuffed by piercing meat with sharp knife and ramming down the mixed seasonings. These gashes are cut in the top of the beef as well as both sides. When the beef is fairly bursting and as swollen as a pouter pigeon, then all is well. Bind cord around the meat to keep seasonings in. Next morning, the meat is lifted out, rubbed with salt and pepper, covered heavily with shortening and coated with flour. Sear on top of the stove until a rich brown. Pour off all the liquid except one cup, adding one cup of water to this. Cook in a covered roaster in a 300-degree oven 20 minutes to the pound. The gravy can be thickened and Browning added, if necessary, after the meat is taken out. It is good eaten hot and served with rice or Hoppin’ John or sliced cold, for weeks (but it will not last that long!). My daughter tells me she has used chuck meat instead of the more expensive round. SERVES: about 25.

MRS. HARRY SALMONS’

(ROSAMOND WARING)

FRIED CHICKEN

Recipe from Charleston Receipts, America’s Oldest Junior League Cookbook in Print,

a Cookbook by The Junior League of Charleston, Inc.

1 fryer (1-1/2 to 2-1/2 pounds)

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Fat for frying

Dress and disjoint fryer. Chill in icebox overnight, if possible. Sift flour and mix with salt and pepper. Put flour mixture in paper bag and add several pieces of chicken to this at a time, to coat chicken with flour. Have about 2 inches of grease in large hot frying pan. When all chicken is in, cover for 5-7 minutes. Uncover and turn chicken when underside is golden brown. Cover again for 5-7 minutes, then remove top and cook until bottom side is brown. Reduce heat and cook 20 minutes longer. Turn chicken only once.

FRIED CHICKEN GRAVY

Pour off most of the fat, leaving the brown crumbs. Add a little flour and brown. Add hot water and stir until smooth and thickened. Season with salt and pepper.

JOY STOKES’ ALAMAGOOZALUM

from 1990 Presbyterian Women

First Presbyterian Church

of Apopka

Treasures and Pleasures

1/2 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

3 8-ounce cans tomato sauce

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

1 bay leaf

1-1/2 pounds ground beef

1-1/2 cups uncooked macaroni

Grated cheese

Ripe olives, sliced

Cook onion and garlic with meat in skillet with enough olive oil to cover bottom of pan. Add tomato sauce, seasonings, and cook about 30 minutes. Cook macaroni; drain. Add with cheese and olives to first mixture. Bake at 400 degrees until crisp crust forms. Tastes even better the second day.

BURNIE ROBERTS’

SCALLOPED POTATOES

Recipe from The Apopka Woman’s Club WHAT’S COOKIN’?

3 pounds potatoes

4 medium onions thinly sliced

3 teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

2-1/4 cups milk

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/8 teaspoon paprika

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 quart casserole. Wash, peel, and thinly slice potatoes, which should measure about 8 cups. Cook potatoes and onions, covered in small amount of boiling water with 2 teaspoons salt about five minutes or until slightly tender. Drain. Add flour to melted butter and gradually add milk. Place potatoes in casserole dish and sprinkle with pepper and paprika. Pour milk and butter mixture over potatoes. Bake until bubbling. Garnish with parsley.

PHYLLIS TIPTON’S MANGO BREAD

Recipe from

First Presbyterian Church

of Punta Gorda, A Taste of Heaven

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 cups ripe, mashed mango

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup salad oil

1/2 cup nuts, chopped

1/2 cup coconut

1/2 cup raisins

3 eggs

Sift together: flour, baking soda, salt, sugar and cinnamon. Add mango, vanilla, oil, nuts, coconut, raisins, and eggs. Mix well. Pour into greased loaf pans two-thirds full. Let set 20 minutes while preheating oven to 350 degrees. Bake 45 minutes.

MRS. RANCE FOSTER’S

COLONIAL CARROT-PECAN CAKE

Recipe from Food Favorites of Plains, Georgia

Plains Pot Pourri

1-1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

3 cups grated carrots

1 cup chopped nuts

Combine oil and sugar. Mix well. Sift together remaining dry ingredients. Sift half of the dry ingredients into the oil/sugar mixture. Sift in remaining dry ingredients alternately with eggs, one at a time. Add carrots and mix well. Then mix in pecans. Bake in three greased pans. Bake at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes.

FROSTING FOR COLONIAL

CARROT-PECAN CAKE:

1 stick butter or oleo

1 8-ounce package cream cheese

1 cup finely chopped pecans

1 box confectioners sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine butter (or oleo), cream cheese, sugar, vanilla. Add nuts. Spread over cake.

ANN HLINAK’S

CRISPY PICKLE SLICES

Recipe from Apopka Citizen Police Alumni Association,

Sharing Our Finest Cookbook

10 medium cucumbers

4 cups vinegar

8 cups sugar

5 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons pickling spice

Well worth the effort!! Place whole cucumbers in large pot. Use stainless steel, glassware, or unchipped enamel; other metals may react and cause color and taste changes. Cover cucumbers with boiling water. Let stand until following day. Repeat this procedure three more days. On fifth day, slice cucumbers. Combine and boil the vinegar, sugar, salt and spices. Pour over sliced cucumbers. Stir. On sixth day, simply stir cucumbers two or three times. On seventh day, separate cucumbers from liquid; drain liquid into pot. Bring liquid to a boil. Add pickles. Bring to boil. Remove from heat. Bottle. Best to use thin, dark-skinned cucumbers.