Reproduced with permission from Gloria Pitzer, Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (St. Clair, MI: Secret Recipes Ltd., May 1983 – 3rd printing), p. 14.
WE CAN’T TALK ABOUT HAMBURGERS without talking about the most successful of the fast food chains – McDonald’s! It’s the only company in the fast food industry that has succeeded in cornering the market on family food and fast service restaurants – the world over! McDonald’s was the trend-setter; the hometown hospitality example in the industry. They took meat and potatoes and turned it into a billion-dollar enterprise.
Hamburgers, French fries and milkshakes were making their menu debut at “drive-in” restaurants, where car hops took your orders and returned with trays of food that hooked on to the window of your car. Kids cruised these places in their parents’ Edsel, Hudson and Kaiser-Fraser sedans back then. Hamburger “joints” were less than desirable to most people who appreciated good food and a pleasant dining-out experience. But, these drive-ins had one interesting thing in common that appealed to the public – they were AFFORDABLE!
It was 1954 and Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s, was 52 years old. Hardly the time in one’s life when they’d start to think about launching a new enterprise, but rather a time when most began to think about retiring! On one of his sales trips, Ray Kroc, a Dixie Cup salesman, met the owners of a thriving hamburger restaurant in California. Eventually, Kroc purchased the business from Maurice (Mac) McDonald and his brother, Richard. Mac & Dick had a fetish for cleanliness. Their place in San Bernardino was spotless! And much like Ray Kroc in his own experience years later, they weren’t too keen about teenagers. They avoided catering to the teenage market exclusively because kids loitered, were noisy and threw food around. The McDonald’s concept was for “the family!” McDonald’s wasn’t the first company to create a fast food concept; but, by far, it was the most recognized and the most profitable in the industry. While fast food has taken it on the chin for every conceivable infraction of culinary achievement that the critics could possibly contrive, McDonald’s still came out on top!
THE BIG MATCH ATTACH – This is the double-decked, at-home-hamburger recipe that promises you will shock the socks off everyone who tries your improvisation of the famous “Golden Arch’s” very own “Big Mac”.
All you need for one ‘Big Match’ is: 2 all beef patties, “Special Sauce”, lettuce, cheese, onions, pickles & 2 sesame seed buns. Sear both sides of the 2 patties in a bit of oil on a hot griddle, cooking to medium-well. Place each patty on the 2 bottom halves of the buns. To each of these, add a tablespoon of Special Sauce (see below), lettuce, cheese, onions and pickles to taste. Assemble one atop the other and add one of the bun tops to the top of that. Serve at once to anyone having a Big Match Attach!
THE BIG MATCH SPECIAL SAUCE
1 cup Miracle Whip Salad Dressing
1/3 cup creamy French dressing
¼ cup sweet pickle relish
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dry, minced onions
In a small mixing bowl, stir all ingredients together with a spoon, as listed. Makes 2-cups sauce. Keeps up to a week or so if refrigerated & well-covered. Do not freeze this.
White Castle information, reproduced with permission from Gloria Pitzer, Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (St. Clair, MI: Secret Recipes Ltd., May 1983 – 3rd printing), p. 22.
WHITE CASTLE – In 1916, Walter Anderson started his career in the restaurant field by opening a rented, re-modeled streetcar and giving the food industry its very first “fast food” place. In 1921, he ran into some difficulties when he tried to lease another place to expand his operation. So, he turned to a Realtor by the name of Billy Ingram, who secured the needed lease for Anderson, and soon became partners with him in the hamburger restaurant. Eventually, the operation became entirely Billy Ingram’s, and today White Castle is a respected name that represents “quality” in the food industry.
Originating in Wichita, Kansas during “The Depression”, Ingram so-named his operation “White Castle” because it stood for purity, cleanliness, strength and dignity. He was a business man with high ethics. He was responsible for many changes in the business that initiated health inspections, to ensure that all restaurants complied with what Ingram personally felt was a responsibility to the customer. He invented utensils never used, such as the spatula and the grills that are still considered the most practical equipment.
White Castle has no special, secret recipe – but, the technique used to prepare their small hamburger is unique and unequaled by competitors. You must like onions to appreciate White Castle patties. The quality of the beef they specifically use that we couldn’t possibly equal it with what we buy in the supermarkets; so, I set to work to try to enhance the ordinary “ground chuck” available to us with a few ingredients that create a recipe reminiscent of Ingram’s “White Castles.”
A letter of appreciation from Gail Turley, Director of Advertising and Public Relations with White Castle Systems in their Columbus, Ohio headquarters reflected the feelings not often expressed by the major food companies, whose products I attempt to imitate with “make at home” recipes. “On behalf of White Castle System,” the letter said, “We are honored that you deemed the White Castle Hamburger worthy of an attempt at replication of the early days of White Castle and Billy Ingram…” And she enclosed a check to cover the cost of purchasing 15 copies of my first Secret Recipes Book to distribute to their Regional Managers. A far cry from the reaction I received from Orange Julius and Stouffer’s, who threatened legal action against me.
WHITE TASSLE BURGERS
Supposedly, the original beef mixture used in the famous White Castle patties during the early 30’s was of such high quality that there was no way to equal it [50 years later.] Today we send beef to the market much younger, before it has aged. Young beef has less fat, which Americans want. The marbleizing fat in older beef is what gives it flavor. To compensate for this, it seemed to me, ground beef’s flavor could be enhanced by adding another pure beef product – strained baby food. It worked!
3-ounce jar baby food, strained veal
1 ½ pounds ground round steak
1 tablespoon onion powder
½ teaspoon pepper
Combine all ingredients thoroughly. Shape into 12 rectangular, thin patties. Fry briskly on a hot, lightly oiled flat grill, making 5-6 small holes in each patty with the end of a spatula handle. After turning patties once, place bottom half of bun over cooked side of patty and place the top half of the bun over the bottom half. Fry quickly to desired “done-ness” and remove. Add pickle slices and a few tablespoons of chopped, grilled onions to each serving. Makes 1 dozen burgers.
COUNTRY CLUB BURGERS
I don’t know why, but so many country clubs can easily fracture a simple hamburger! They serve them too thick to ensure that they are properly done, turning them out either too rare or too well-done and, therefore, dry. Or they have no flavor. Well, when I complained to one manager about the texture and flavor of the burgers they served, and offered him a suggestion for improving them, he took me up on it. I developed a recipe for marinating the patties and shaping them differently. The first day that he added these to the menu, he said he had more compliments than he could keep track. Here’s that recipe (makes 15 patties.)
5 pounds ground round
3 ½ ounce jar baby food, strained veal
3 ½ ounce jar baby food, strained beef
10 ½ ounce can Campbell’s Beef Broth
1 teaspoon onion salt
½ teaspoon pepper
In a roomy mixing bowl, combine everything as listed, working ingredients together well with your hands. Separate mixture into 15 6-oz patties, 1-inch thick and as big around as the bun you’ll be using. I use a 1-cup measuring cup and pack it firmly, 2/3 full. Place each patty into a sandwich-sized plastic food bag. Sprinkle both sides liberally with season salt AFTER you have placed it in the bag.
THEY FREEZE WELL up to 6 months. Store them in coffee cans with tight-fitting plastic lids or in store-bought plastic freezer containers. Thaw patty at room temperature before searing on a hot, lightly oiled grill to desired doneness. To sear properly, use 1-tsp oil and 1-tsp margarine for each patty; melting it and getting the grill hot, but not hot enough to burn the margarine. Don’t use butter with oil because that changes color too quickly with heat. Make a small slit in the patty as it sears on the second side, to check the color of the meat. You can also broil the patties on a rack in a shallow pan, placing them about 3” from the broiler heat, allowing about 5-minutes on each side (or as you desire doneness.)
ANOTHER LITTLE TIP: if you like the patties pink in the center and “done” everyplace else, place a chip of ice in the center of the patties before cooking them. Keep the chip about the size of an M&M candy. It melts as the patty cooks, keeping the center from over-cooking.
PATTY MELT – COUNTRY CLUB STYLE
An old-fashioned restaurant favorite is to serve seared hamburger patties on open-faced, grilled rye or pumpernickel bread with a slice of American, cheddar or Swiss cheese, broiler-melted over the top. Add some sautéed onions and a spoonful of hamburger sauce or bleu cheese dressing just as you go to serve it. You can also garnish the plate with a dill pickle spear and a few olives on top of a small ruffle of lettuce. Use an ice cream scoop to dip out a nicely rounded mound of macaroni or potato salad along-side the sandwich, as well, and sprinkle with a little paprika. Now you have a sandwich equal to what is being served in the best country clubs around!
MARKUS–STYLE FRANK–BURGERS
Detroit, Michigan (circa 1940’s and 1950’s) – The proprietor of a popular lunch spot had his bakery supplier rush over an order of rolls for his burgers, only to find that they had delivered the wrong kind – they had delivered hot dog buns! There wasn’t time to have the order corrected, with the place already filling up for the lunch hour rush. So, “instead of raising the bridge, he lowered the river.” Once again, a mistake that could have been a set-back to someone else, became a step forward for this fellow. He shaped his burgers to fit the buns and his “Frank Burgers” became not only an instant success, but also his trademark.
I still re-create these at home, using the same mixture I use for “White Tassel Burgers” (see Index), but I add to it one beaten egg. Then, I shape the meat mixture to resemble hot dogs and brown them like sausage links in a little bit of oil in a shallow skillet. To this, add just enough water to the skillet until it’s about 1/2-inch deep in the pan and cover it with a tight-fitting lid. Turn burner heat to low to keep it simmering gently for about 5 minutes. Using tongs, remove them from the pan onto toasted hot dog buns. One recipe of “White Tassel” plus the egg makes about 8 “Frank Burgers”.
THE BEST RECIPE for making a proper hamburger is to use the right kind of ground beef. I use what is called “hamburger” for everything BUT hamburgers! In sauces and meatloaf, this grade of ground beef is fine; but, as a patty, it has too much fat and gristle, and less flavor than ground round. Ground beef or hamburger is less expensive than ground round, but there is no bargain in the waste in it.
If you want to know exactly how good the quality of the ground beef is that you’re buying, try this test: Pack about 1 cup of ground beef into a 2-cup Pyrex measuring pitcher. Seal it in foil and place it on a cookie sheet on the center rack of your pre-heated, 350-F oven – bake it for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and uncover the pitcher. You should see that some liquid has come to the top of the beef. If you allow it to cool about 30 minutes the liquid will separate so that the liquid fats rise to the top and the liquid mixture of the water and juices form a second layer underneath. If you have more than 1” deep of liquid on top of the meat (or the equivalent of a 1/4-cup combined liquid,) complain to your butcher! In the old days, when ethics were not practiced seriously in the meat business, it was not unusual for ground beef to be packaged with the addition of water, which gave added weight and only surfaced when it was cooked. You must conduct this test before you freeze the beef, however; because once the beef has been frozen, the ice crystals will convert to more water in the thawing process.
To make hamburgers the way they do at your favorite places, you must have a flat grill. Skillets do not produce a decent burger. After much experimenting, I finally bought the next best thing to a grill – a 10x10, flat griddle with a 1/4-inch rim, a handle and a no-scratch surface (that requires very little oiling) that you can place on a burner on the stove. (Teflon and Stone-Ware make good ones.) I use it for nothing but hamburgers. It’s dishwasher safe and stores nicely in the cupboard without using as much space as the skillet. The reason skillets don’t produce good hamburgers is that the collar (or rim) around the skillet traps the steam from the meat and “fries” the patties rather than “sears” them. You want to keep the grill hot, but not too hot, and barely oiled. Apply a few tablespoons of corn oil to the hot surface of the grill (or griddle pan) and wipe up the excess with a paper towel. When a few drops of water “dance” on the surface, the heat is just right for adding the patties – don’t crowd the patties either, keeping at least 2-inches between them and turning them only once, salting only the seared sides. Kosher salt and Sea Salt are best to use because the iodine in table salt makes the meat tough and evaporates the liquids and natural juices too quickly.
FRENCH FRIES
“NOBODY DOES IT LIKE McDONALD’s CAN” - [was] the popular television jingle that advertised some of the best French-fried shoestring potatoes to come down the pike in a long while. The French did not invent French fries – American fur trappers did. Potatoes were not well-thought of in the early days of this country. But, fur trappers would melt down bear grease in large open kettles over their campfires and, when the grease began to bubble, they’d spear chunks of their dressed game meat, roots and potatoes on the end of a sharply pointed stick, setting them in the hot grease to cook to the individual’s liking and then eat off the stick – much like modern-day shish kabobs or fondue.
TO MAKE FRENCH FRIES at home – long, white Russets work best! Peel and cut in half lengthwise. Place cut sides on a cutting board and remove a thin slice from each end, as well as from the rounded long-sides. You now have sort of rectangle blocks to work with. Slice these into 1/4-inch thick strips and place in a deep refrigerator container. Mix 1-quart water with ½ cup vinegar and pour over potatoes, repeating this process until you have enough to cover the potatoes. Cover and chill for several hours to draw out the starch that makes a fried potato hold the grease and become limp.
After chilling, drain them well on paper towels. Drop a few at a time, using a French-frying basket, into 425°F oil that’s at least 4” deep. A good combination is 1-pint corn oil to 1 cup Crisco, using as much as is needed for the amount you are preparing, keeping it 4 inches deep; and, if the oil is not hot enough, the fries will turn out greasy. Let the potatoes “Blanche” in the oil rather than fry completely, removing them after just one minute. Drop them on a cookie sheet and put in your freezer for 10 minutes. Return them to the oil to fry until golden brown and drain them well on paper towels. Salt them as you wish, which also helps to evaporate any excess grease on the finished potatoes. Most of the salt will fall off when the fries are transferred to serving plates.
SALT-SPICE MIX
¼ cup sea salt
1 tablespoon Accent
1 teaspoon each: dill weed, black pepper and onion powder
finely-grated rind of 1 lemon
¼ teaspoon each: chili powder, paprika, oregano leaves, dried marjoram leaves, & rubbed sage
Combine all the ingredients and store in a grinder or put through the blender on high-speed until finely powdered. Makes about 1/2-cup mix. Keeps indefinitely at room temperature.
CELERY SALT MIX
Combine 1/2-cup table salt with 1/2-cup dehydrated celery leaves and 1/4-cup celery seed in a blender on high-speed until powdered. Makes 1 ¼ cups. Keeps for ages at room temperature.
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HAMBURGERS can be seasoned as differently as there are restaurants to serve them. Some of my own favorites include a mixture like my Steak Tartare and Country Club Burgers in this chapter. But these are easier to put together - and much juicier! They are reminiscent, in fact, of a famous fast food restaurant!
WEDNESDAY’S HOT & JUICY HAMBURGERS
5 pounds of lean ground beef
3 ½ ounce jar baby food, strained veal
3 ½ ounce jar baby food, strained beef
10 ½ ounce can Campbell’s Beef Broth
1 teaspoon each: onion salt and season salt
½ teaspoon each: lemon pepper and finely crushed, dry, minced onions
2 tablespoons of my Cup of Thoup Powder – Tomato Flavor (see Index)
Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly, covering your hands with plastic food bags to knead it well. Or dig right in like Grandma did; remember that fingers were made before forks! Shape into patties by measuring out 2/3-cup of mixture for each and keeping them about 1/2-inch thick and square in shape (about the size of a graham cracker.) The mixture makes about 15 patties, which can be individually wrapped and frozen to use within 6 months, thawing for about 30 minutes at room temperature. Do not refrigerate for more than 2 days.
LUMP’S GOLLY BURGERS - Best when, first, kept in this liquid marinade overnight:
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon pepper
1 ½ teaspoons season salt
1 tablespoon each: Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, A-1 Steak Sauce and corn oil
½ cup canned beef broth (or 1 teaspoon beef bouillon powder, dissolved in ½ cup boiling water)
1 teaspoon Heinz 57 Sauce
¼ teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon vinegar
Shape 1 ½ to 2 pounds ground round - into 6-8 round patties, 3/4-inch thick & 3 ½ inches across. Mix the above ingredients together in a refrigerator container that will also accommodate the patties and seal tightly with a lid. Refrigerate at least 12 hours, turning the patties frequently in the marinade. Just before preparing, remove from the marinade and sear as suggested in my Country Club Burger recipe in this chapter.
IMPROVISING ON SOME INGREDIENTS
Before we go much further, I want to give you a few recipes that can be used in place of commercial food products that may not be available to you in your area. When Paul & I were publishing my monthly Secret Recipes Report, our subscribers in Europe and Australia and some remote places in Alaska, were grateful they could make their own substitutions for ingredients they couldn’t buy. Lipton’s Tomato Cup-A-Soup was one product that seemed to be difficult to come by [and has, since, been discontinued by Lipton.] Although I couldn’t pulverize my mixture into a silky, fine powder like the commercial product; I could do a good job with a blender and a mixture that, once baked and broken into pieces like crisp cookies, did yield a very good likeness to the original soup powder.
CUP-OF-THOUP POWDER – Tomato Flavor
6-ounce can tomato paste
½ cup each: cornstarch and Creamora creamer powder
2 tablespoons season salt
1 cup finely powdered Saltine crackers
1 teaspoon bottled, finely grated lemon peel
Mix all the ingredients together well, using a fork, until it’s the consistency of hamburger. It will look just like ground beef when you’ve finished combining it properly. Line a cookie sheet in brown wrapping paper; or, cut up a paper grocery bag to fit, having the inside facing up. Spread out mixture on paper so that no single piece is larger than a blueberry, and place cookie sheet on oven rack 4” from the bottom of the oven, baking slowly at 200°F for about 1 ½ - 2 hours, or until completely dry. Do not let the mixture brown. [If the least little bit of browning develops before the mixture is completely dry, reduce heat to 150°F, or turn it off altogether for a while and back on again in 10 or 15 minutes.] When completely dried, put the mixture through your blender until finely powdered, using an on/off speed on high. The powdered mixture should be stored in a covered container at room temperature; where it will keep for several months, if away from direct heat or humidity and out of direct sunlight.
TO USE THE SOUP POWDER: Allow 1/4-cup of homemade soup powder for 1 envelope of the commercial kind. To prepare a cup of soup with the homemade powder, mix 1/4-cup of soup powder with 7 or 8 ounces of boiling water, stirring well until it’s dissolved. You can add more powder if you like the soup thicker, or add more water if you want it thinner.
LEMON PEPPER
Using the smallest holes of your grater, remove the yellow peel of one whole lemon; being careful not to take off too much of the white pulp, beneath, as it’s very bitter. Measure the grated peel and mix with an equal amount of coarse ground black pepper. Measure that mixture and add half as much salt. Mix thoroughly. Store in a shaker-style container out of direct sunlight, away from heat and humidity. Keeps for ages! (If it gets sticky add a few grains of rice to the shaker to keep it free-flowing.)
LOUDLY’S SEASON SALT
1 tablespoon each: chicken bouillon powder, garlic salt, dry-minced parsley and chili powder
1 teaspoon each: onion salt, onion powder, cumin powder, dry marjoram leaves and paprika
½ teaspoon curry powder
1/3 cup table salt
Mix ingredients together thoroughly. Put into a 1-qt jar with tight-fitting lid and shake the mixture until blended thoroughly. Keep at room temperature, to use within 3 months. Makes about 1-cup salt.
BIG PLOY’S SEASON SALT
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons each: dry mustard, dry sweet pepper flakes, onion salt, garlic salt and black pepper
1 ¼ cups table salt
1 tablespoon each: celery salt and paprika
1 teaspoon each: finely grated lemon peel and dry-minced parsley flakes
Mix well and store at room temperature in a covered container. Keeps for ages! Makes 1¾ cup of salt.
LIP BONE ONION SOUP MIX
2 jars (3 ½ ounces each) beef bouillon powder
¼ cup instant tea powder
½ teaspoon pepper
1 cup dry, minced onion
¼ cup each: onion powder and parsley flakes
1/8 cup onion salt (or 7 teaspoons)
Combine as listed, mixing well. Keep at room temperature in a covered jar. Makes 2-cups. TO USE THE MIX FOR SOUP: Allow 1/4-cup mix for 4-cups boiling water, stirring well until soup mix is dissolved Serves 4. (1/4 cup mix = 1 envelope commercial soup mix product.)
GOOD TEASIN’S ITALIAN DRESSING MIX
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 tablespoon sugar [or 1 packet (.035-oz) Sweet & Low artificial sweetener]
1/8 teaspoon each: black pepper, powdered allspice, paprika and marjoram leaves (crushed)
1 teaspoon each: dry minced onions and dehydrated celery flakes
¼ teaspoon each: garlic salt and dry oregano leaves (crushed)
1 clove garlic, peeled and sliced fine (or 2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic)
2 [1 ½ inch-square, each] soda crackers
Put everything in your blender, using an on/off agitation on high speed, blend until mixture is the consistency of the original [or force through a fine mesh strainer until powdered.] Keep mixture in covered container at room temperature, away from direct sunlight, up to 3 months. Recipe yields equivalent of one envelope of the commercial product.
TO USE THE DRESSING MIX: Combine with 1/4-cup vinegar, 2/3-cup water, and 1/3-cup corn oil. Keeps in covered container in refrigerator up to a month. Shake well before using the dressing. Makes about 1 ½ cups of prepared dressing.
WITCH BONE ITALIAN DRESSING – This is one of the most versatile seasoning ingredients, as well as a good salad dressing.
Put into your blender:
1/3 cup light vinegar
2 [1 ½ inch-square] Saltine crackers
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon instant tea powder
Blend for 20 seconds and pour into a small mixing bowl, adding:
1 teaspoon each: lemon juice, garlic salt and onion salt
1 tablespoon dry, minced onions
½ teaspoon dry oregano leaves
½ cup, plus 1 tablespoon, corn oil
Funnel mix into a bottle (that accommodates 8 ounces with shaking-room). Shake mixture well to combine and, again, before each use. Refrigerate up to 3 months. Makes 1-cup (8-oz) dressing.
CANNING HAS NEVER BEEN one of my favorite culinary projects – mostly because it requires so much time and because the equipment and ingredients seem to overwhelm me to the point that I dream I’m making a liar out of Geritol! It wouldn’t help me!
THIS RECIPE FOR KOSHER PICKLES (and the next one for Bread & Butter Pickles) requires no canning, no hot water baths, and no calling in the Marines to help with the work! In the Kosher Dill recipe, you will notice that it requires no vinegar… just a salt water brine strong enough that, when the salt has been dissolved in the simmering water, it will “float an egg.” This means that if you drop a fresh egg (in-shell) into the water solution when it’s at lukewarm (or room) temperature, it should float to the top and “bob” around if the brine is strong enough. If the egg sinks to the bottom, retrieve it and bring the water back to a boil, adding 2- or 3-TB more of Kosher-style salt. Continue the process until you can “float an egg” in it. By the way, always use Kosher salt because it’s not iodized. Iodized salt will give you rubbery pickles and probably scum on top of the brine too!
ELASTIC BRAND DELI KOSHER DILLS
3 quarts of water
½ cup Kosher salt
1 dozen dill sprigs
1 large bulb garlic
10 to 12 cucumbers (do not peel these)
Put water and salt into a stainless-steel kettle or large saucepan. Never use aluminum cookware for this brine. There is something about the acidity that offends aluminum! Bring the water to a boil and let it simmer about 15 minutes without a lid. Be sure the salt is completely dissolved. Let it cool to Luke-warm or room temperature. Perform the egg test described above until brine is strong enough to “float” the egg.
Meanwhile, put half of the dill sprigs into a 1-gallon, wide-mouth, plastic (or glass) container with a nice fitting lid. Do not use a metal container with the salt brine. Separate the bulb of garlic into individual cloves and put half of them into the container as well. Cut each of the cucumbers in half, horizontally, and then each half into about 6-8 spears. Arrange spears in the container, packing them in tightly with the narrow tips up. On top of the spears, place the remaining sprigs of dill and cloves of garlic and then pour in brine to completely cover the cukes. Cap it loosely and let it stand at room temperature for 3 days and 3 nights. You may have to put a plate under the container in case the fermentation of the brine bubbles up and spills out the top. This sometimes happens, but don’t worry about it. It merely means the stuff is working the way it should.
On the third day, check the brine to see if it’s bubbly. It should be a bit like soda pop when you pour it into a glass. Take a bite of one of the spears to see if it is crisp enough for you. If not, leave them another day or two, or until they are. Then to halt the fermentation, you just cap it tightly and refrigerate it. Once it is in the refrigerator, the fermentation stops and the pickles stay as you have them. They will keep up to 3 months in the refrigerator – maybe longer.
NOTE: To be certain the cucumbers are not bitter, cut them up one at a time and take one slice off the center, tasting it to be certain it’s not bitter. I have had an entire batch of pickles spoiled because I didn’t taste each cuke that I sliced, and it only takes one bitter cuke to ruin the entire batch!
BREAD & BUTTER PICKLES
1 small onion – the size of an egg – sliced thin
6 cucumbers – unpeeled and sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices
Enough water to cover the slices in a plastic container
¼ cup Kosher salt
Combine in an accommodating plastic container and allow to stand, uncovered, for at least 12 hours.
The Brine:
6 cups light vinegar
5 cups sugar
4 tablespoons mustard seed
2 teaspoons turmeric
4 teaspoons each: celery seed and celery salt
Combine the Brine ingredients in a large sauce pan and bring them to a gentle boil. Stir and simmer for 5 minutes. When sugar is completely dissolved, remove from heat and allow to cool to Luke-warm or room temperature.
Drain the cukes and onions, but don’t rinse them. Pack them into a 1-gallon plastic or glass container and pour the brine mixture over them. They must be completely submerged in the Brine. If the cukes are especially large, you may have to increase the Brine recipe to accommodate this. Cover tightly and refrigerate immediately. Do not serve for at least 72 hours. They’ll keep refrigerated up to 3 months.
HIGH-END’S MUSTARD SAUCE
This is a unique product that can be used alone or in addition to mayonnaise or other dressings, as a salad dressing or sandwich spread.
½ cup cold water
4 tablespoons cornstarch
½ cup, plus 2 tablespoons of dark vinegar
2 tablespoons salt (sounds like a lot, but it isn’t)
½ cup sugar (or equivalent of artificial sweetener)
1 egg
4 tablespoons each: French’s prepared mustard and margarine (in tiny bits)
Place all ingredients, as listed, in blender on high speed (2 minutes) until smooth. Transfer to top of double boiler and cook over gently boiling water, stirring often, for 12-15 minutes, or until thickened. Refrigerate in covered container 24-hrs before using. Makes 2 cups. Keeps refrigerated up to 3 months.
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HIGH-END’S KETCHUP – WITHOUT CANNING
This is the kind of ketchup you prepare, using a blender, when you only need a quart or two – enough to last about a month for a family of four. It can be used as an ingredient in other recipes calling for “ketchup” and it doesn’t require canning or hot water baths or multiple jars, equipment and energy.
14 ½ ounce can (approx.) stewed-tomatoes
¾ cup light vinegar
4 teaspoons season salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons cornstarch
6-ounce can tomato paste
¾ cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons onion powder
¼ teaspoon powdered cloves
2 tablespoons butter (or margarine)
Put everything into your blender one ingredient at a time, blending well with each addition. Turn off from time to time and scrape down sides and around blades to ensure proper blending. When smooth, transfer to a 2 ½-quart heavy sauce pan. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil, continuing to stir… If the Avon Lady rings the bell and you’re interrupted, remove this from the heat before you let her in! If it’s your mother-in-law, you can always ask her to wait until you’re finished with the ketchup… Only allow the ketchup to boil for about half of a minute, then remove it from the heat. Let it cool in the pan about 30 minutes without a lid. Pour it into a quart-sized container and refrigerate up to a month (maybe even longer.) It freezes beautifully for up to a year. Makes 1-qt.
FRESH’S MILD MUSTARD
Simple mustard that is every bit as good as what you can buy at the supermarket. Takes only a little time and effort, and requires NO canning!
Put these ingredients, as listed, through blender on high speed until smooth: ½ cup light vinegar, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ cup flour, 1 ½ teaspoons turmeric, ¼ cup softened butter (or margarine), 1 egg, ½ cup water, 1 teaspoon dry mustard and ¼ cup sugar. Transfer to 2-quart saucepan. Cook on medium heat until smooth and thick, stirring constantly. It should have the consistency of pudding. Remove from heat. Pour into a non-metal container with a tight-fitting lid. Keep refrigerated up to 2 months. Makes about 1 cup of mustard.
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BIG PLOY’S HAMBURGER SAUCE
1 cup mayonnaise
¼ cup each: chili sauce and ketchup
3 tablespoons sugar
½ cup sweet relish
1/8 teaspoon garlic salt
½ teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dry, minced onion
Use an electric mixer on low to medium speed to carefully combine all the ingredients as listed. Blend for 1 minute on medium with the last addition. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator up to a month. Makes 2 cups of sauce. DO NOT freeze.
HAMBURGER ASSISTANT
In a box on the Grocer’s shelves, it would be a convenience food by another name. This is my answer to dinner-in-a-rush!
2 pounds ground chuck
4 cups water
4 envelopes Tomato Cup-a-Soup powder (or 1 cup of my Cup-of-Thoup mix, see Index)
1 tablespoon each: dry minced onions and cornstarch
1 teaspoon each: onion powder, chili powder and season salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon each: garlic salt and oregano powder
8-ounce package thin spaghetti, uncooked
Brown the chuck in a large skillet without any additional oil added to the pan. Crumble the beef with the back of a fork and, when the pink color disappears, stir in the water, soup powder, onion, cornstarch, and remaining seasonings. Stir it thoroughly to blend it all well. Cover and simmer for 3 minutes. Break the uncooked spaghetti into 2- or 3-inch pieces and stir it in to the simmering sauce. Cover and continue simmering for 10 more minutes, or until spaghetti is tender. Serve piping hot! Feeds 4 or 5, depending on their appetites!
STEAK TARTARE
Originally the hamburger was of German origin, being served hundreds of years ago, by only the aristocrats as a dish of raw beef, scraped with a dull knife into highly seasoned hot oil and swallowed with a piece of bread and a chunk of cheese, then, washed down with a mug of ale. Today, we call the “scraped beef” dish, steak tartare and it’s still considered a gourmet’s choice. The only remarkable difference between this and the all-American hamburger, is that the hamburger is hardly seasoned and it is also cooked to varying degrees. But, it still goes good with bread, and sometimes cheese, and the seasonings are added to it in the form of relish, mustard, ketchup, onions and such. When Europeans began to immigrate to this country, they brought with them their own food customs and traditions, of which included steak tartare. Served in the colonies, as it was in their homeland near the port of Hamburg, Germany – some found the taste of spoilage was camouflaged if the meat was heated and then seasoned. Thus, the birth of the American hamburger! My own favorite recipes for making steak tartare at home, developed from one dish I had sampled at a country club gathering.
I was a little skeptical about trying this very gourmet appetizer the 1st time I was introduced to it years ago; but after studying the chemistry of food science, I realized that the ingredients with the raw ground beef were preserving the meat, even though it was served uncooked. This is the great-grandfather of the all-American hamburger, brought to this country by people who found the ingredients they were used to in Europe, unavailable in the new land. They did what they could with what they had. The steak tartare was a staple on the colonial table. Today it is a gourmet treat!
You’ll want to make this up at least 4-5 hours before you plan to serve it. It’s even better if you make it up the day before serving, so the wine can thoroughly marinate the meat. Note: Don’t substitute on the cut of beef; the leaner, the better. If you can get your butcher to grind the meat twice, all the better!
1 ½ pounds of ground round steak
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 envelope Lipton’s [or Knorr’s] Tomato Cup-a-Soup powder
(for my homemade equivalent, see Index)
½ cups Burgundy or Sweet Vermouth
1 tablespoon Italian Dressing Mix powder
1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
***lettuce and pimiento-stuffed green olives for garnishments
Mix it all thoroughly, as listed. Work it well with your hands. Pack the mixture into a lightly oiled 4-cup ring mold (or a pretty bowl, lightly oiled.) Cover well and refrigerate 4 to 5 hours – or overnight.
Loosen edge of meat mixture with the tip of a sharp knife. Cover the bowl with a pretty plate and invert it, shaking them tightly together to loosen the meat from the mold. Arrange little ruffles of leafy lettuce around the edge of the mold, tucking the ragged edges under the meat so they don’t show. Accent here and there around the lettuce ruffle and on top of the meat with pimiento-stuffed green olives. Serve it icy cold as a spread for Melba toast or crackers. Serves 6-8 adequately.
