This week we made Chicken Basin Street for our family night dinner. This recipe hails from McCall's Great American Recipe Card Collection, 1973.
This dish is really easy to put together. My teen learned how to brown chicken in a pan without burning it, which was a first.
Once you put it all together and get the sauce cooking with the chicken, the aroma is really mouthwatering.
Steaming the rice was interesting for my daughter because she kept wanting to open the lid to check on it. I told her the whole point of steaming rice is to keep the lid on. She resisted the urge and the steamed rice came out perfect.
This Chicken Basin Street dish came out really well and was tasty. Personally, I would prefer to de-bone and skin the chicken prior to putting the sauce together. We will make this chicken dish again to try it without bones.
This week we decided to try a stew recipe: Brunswick Stew. A few weeks ago we tried Sunday Supper Soup, and found it was so delicious, we wanted to try some other soup options in the collection. Brunswick Stew comes from McCall's Great American Recipe Collection (1973), The Old South.
The teen learned about saving money buying in bulk and freezing. Instead of using a whole chicken, which I would have had to purchase, we used leg quarters I had purchased previously on sale and froze.
With this recipe she also learned how to cut raw bacon. She did not like that too much. I taught her how to brown bacon and onion without burning it: Toss ingredients frequently to avoid scorching.
Cutting raw boned chicken was new to her also. The technique here is to find the joint and cut into the bend and follow the natural line. This always works for me. It worked for her, no mutilated pieces or cut fingers.
We had to buy celery for this dish. We do not use celery as often as we probably should, but in light of the occasion, I introduced her to our trusty FoodSaver. She was stuck cutting an entire bunch of celery for future recipes. I told her this will save money and time later.
These handy pouches are in the freezer ready and waiting for the next recipe! I love my FoodSaver!
The results of the chicken Brunswick Stew were fantastic. For those not akin to Lima beans, you could not even tell they were in there by taste. The okra made the dish almost like a southern gumbo. Take a look at our chicken Brunswick Stew:
The Sunday Supper Soup is a card my husband pulled when we were deciding what to cook for family night this week. He thought meatballs in soup would be an interesting combination. I have to admit I thought the same thing. The girls were not so enthusiastic. Sunday Supper Soup is from McCall's Great American Recipe Card Collection (1973), Sundays at Home.
The ingredients in this meatball soup are some you may have on hand. I just happened to have everything except for the beef broth. I should start keeping some. Thankfully I did not have to drive all the way to the grocery store, they had some at the convenience store.
The teen was not too excited about mixing and rolling up meatballs. This is not one of my favorite tasks either. She did get right into it and get it done. She learned trying to mix raw meat with a spoon is not how you go about making meatballs. Sometimes you just have to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty.
Another thing she learned was sometimes meatballs don't cooperate when you brown them. Gentle persuasion with tongs may be necessary. One broke during the browning process. We decided it's all going to the same place, what difference does it make if one or two break?
She learned a new term preparing this recipe: Paring. Paring is peeling. Peeling used to be done with a paring knife before peelers became popular. I'm sure there are a lot of cooks who still use paring knives for peeling. However, I had not used or seen this term since my Nana taught me how to cook.
The end result of this recipe was a delicious combination of meat, broth, and vegetables. We served our Sunday Supper Soup with pan fried garlic bread and a tossed salad. I'm not changing a thing on this recipe, it's perfect!
For our first family night dinner idea recipe, my daughter chose Ukrainian Goulash. I have never made this one before, that's for sure. The recipe comes from McCall's Great American Recipe Card Collection (1973), Budget Stretchers.
Ukrainian Goulash is easy to make, yet it has several steps and it requires a long cooking time in the oven. It's all well worth your efforts. Here's the result of our work:
The beef sauce is mild yet very rich. The recipe calls for you to brown your beef in "salad oil" then to use the drippings to brown your onion. For my taste, it's really too much oil. The next time we prepare this dish we will be using a cooking spray rather than oil.
The meat is tender as can be when it's done. However, next time I plan to cut the chuck a bit smaller than 1 1/2 inch cubes.
The recipe as written will definitely provide you with 8 servings. I froze our leftover sauce for a future meal.
I think this recipe could adapt well to being cooked in a crock pot. I'll have to experiment a bit with it and see what results.
The recipe suggests you serve the sauce over buttered noodles. We chose fettuccine. I think the dish would be excellent over white or brown rice.
Overall we really enjoyed cooking this dish. It gave the teen some experience with cutting raw meat, chopping per recipe directions, and browning.
