Lohimuhennos is a hearty salmon and potato stew from Finland. The name lohimuhennos is a simple compound word in Finnish. Lohi=salmon. Muhennos=stew. For a language that is largely impenetrable to non-native speakers, this is about as easy as it comes. The recipe comes to me by way of a 1939 cookbook: Recipes from “Round” the……
Ingredient: flour
Creamed Beans with Dill Seed (Oregon, 2006, adapted)
Creamed Beans with Dill Seed is a simple yet elegant side dish with a unique and alluring flavor profile. The recipe comes to me by way of Recipes of the Heart, a 2006 cookbook from my home congregation. The author is a dear woman who still lives nearby and who I still see regularly. She’s only……
Chili Stack (1949, adapted from Sunset Cook Book)
Chili Stack is an out-of-the-ordinary savory pancake main dish with the flair of the American Southwest. I’ve never seen anything quite like it before or since. Adapted from the 1949 Sunset Cook Book of Favorite Recipes, Chili Stack is a meal of thin cornmeal pancakes and a smooth, spicy chili. The pancakes and chili are……
Soup Bagdad (adapted from Smart Shopper’s Cookbook, 1972)
Soup Bagdad is a warm and rich lentil-and-lamb soup punched up with a heavy hand of fresh herbs. Despite the long simmer time this is still a tractable weeknight meal, and requires very little chopping or active time. It’s also plenty hearty for a weekend meal. This recipe comes to me by way of Smart……
Oktoberfest Potato Pancakes (adapted from Beta Sigma Phi International Cookbook, 1956)
Despite not having a lick of German heritage, the German language is spoken frequently in our house. My spouse and I both learned German in high school, and my daughter has two years of college German under her belt. None of us are anywhere near fluent but we’re fairly competent, enough for a week abroad……
Breast of Ozark Fryer Parisienne (adapted from Beta Sigma Phi International Cookbook, 1956)
The presumptious-sounding Breast of Ozark Fryer Parisienne is a simple and elegant chicken-and-toast entrée. The recipe is adapted from the 1956 Beta Sigma Phi International Cookbook, one of nearly a dozen smothered-in-sauce chicken recipes from the extensive chapter on “meats”. The good ladies of mid-century Beta Sigma Phi were perhaps too patrician to follow……
Lamb Conquistador (adapted from the Smart Shopper’s Cookbook, 1972)
Lamb Conquistador is an easy weeknight chili-with-beans from Smart Shopper’s Cookbook (1972) by former Betty Crocker executive Loyta Wooding. Like many recipes in Smart Shopper’s Cookbook it treats lamb shoulder and lamb chops as a budget friendly item – a cost-friendly alternative to beef. This may have been true in the 1970s but it’s hardly……
Curried Chicken with Rice Colombo (Oklahoma, 1920s, adapted)
Curried Chicken with Rice Colombo comes to us by way of a community cookbook published by the First Presbyterian Church of Enid, Oklahoma in the late 1920s. Originally published in the Kansas City Star, it provides an interesting window into perceptions of “exotic” cuisine in this area. Colombo presumably refers to the Sri Lankan port……
Cheese Grits with Tomato Gravy (adapted from The Black Family Reunion Cookbook, 1991)
The Black Family Reunion Cookbook (1991) is a glorious cookbook compiled by the National Council of Negro Women. The recipes honor NCNW’s founder, Mary McLeod Bethune, and commemorate the organization’s annual Black Family Reunion Celebration, which honors “the historic strengths and values of the Black Family.” The recipes are peppered with stories of Ms…….