Recipe: Dinner Casseroles from Leftovers (General Foods, 1943)

DINNER CASSEROLES FROM LEFTOVERS

Delicious casseroles may be made from small amounts of leftover cooked meat, poultry, fish, eggs, vegetables, rice, macaroni, and noodles.

Cut ingredients into cubes, strips, or slices. To bring out best flavor of meat, saute with a little minced onion in fat.

Combine ingredients with well-seasoned gravy or sauce, using as much sauce as total other ingredients. Bits of sauteed mushroom, green bell pepper, celery, tomato, or special seasonings may be added for extra flavor. Place in a casserole dish. Sprinkle with Casserole Topping (recipe follows).

Bake in moderate oven (350 degrees F) 1/2 hour.

GOOD FLAVOR COMBINATIONS:
*Using leftover cooked foods and Casserole Topping (recipe follows).

BEEF CASSEROLES:
Use beef with white onions, peas, carrots, and gravy. Or beef with celery, rice, and Spanish Sauce (recipe follows).

VEAL CASSEROLES:
Use veal with Lima beans, corn, and tomato sauce in nest of well-seasoned spaghetti. Or veal with chives, sauteed mushrooms, carrots, potato balls or cubes, and gravy.

PORK CASSEROLES:
Use layers of pork, sweet potatoes, and raw apple rings with a little cider or water (no sauce needed). Or pork with rice, thin raw onion rings, peas, and tomatoes.

HAM CASSEROLES:
Use ham with cauliflower or cabbage and cheese sauce. Or ham with string beans, noodles, and mushroom sauce. Or ham with corn and Green Pea Sauce (recipe follows).

LAMB CASSEROLES:
Use lamb with green beans, rice, a few raisins, and curry sauce. Or lamb with cubed turnips, peas, carrots, and gravy; make a border of overlapping slices of potato around edge of casserole and fill in center with Casserole Topping.

CHICKEN CASSEROLES:
Use chicken with corn, Lima beans, and gravy. Or chicken or turkey with potatoes, saut ed onion, and medium thick chicken cream sauce.

FISH CASSEROLES:
Use fish with macaroni, scraped onion, green beans, and tomato sauce or thick tomato soup. Or alternate layers of flaked fish, sliced potatoes, and Green Pea Sauce (recipe follows) with added sauteed onion, celery, and green pepper.

LIVER CASSEROLES:
Use liver with potatoes, onions, bits of bacon, and white sauce made with bacon fat. Or liver with saut ed onion and celery, peas, and mushroom or tomato sauce.

EGG CASSEROLES:
Use hard-cooked eggs on layer of well-seasoned spinach with cheese sauce. Or deviled stuffed eggs, green beans, rice, and curry sauce.

VEGETABLE CASSEROLES:
Use broccoli or cauliflower, peas, carrots, celery, bits of cooked bacon or chipped beef, scraped onion, and tomato sauce. Or small white onions on layer of spinach with green beans in cheese sauce.

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CASSEROLE TOPPING

1 cup Corn Toasties, Grape-Nuts Flakes, or Post's 40% Bran Flakes
1 teaspoon melted butter or margarine
1/4 cup grated American cheese

Use cereal flakes whole or crush slightly. Heat in saucepan, shaking pan back and forth over heat. Pour butter over hot flakes and toss lightly to distribute butter evenly. Put into bowl; add grated cheese and mix lightly.

Sprinkle as topping over any creamed dish or casserole. Makes topping for small casserole.

VARIATIONS:
A little minced onion may be sauteed in the melted butter. Cheese may be omitted. Bits of cooked bacon or ham may be added.

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SPANISH SAUCE

1 1/2 tablespoons fat
3 tablespoons chopped onion
3 tablespoons green bell pepper
3 tablespoons celery
1 1/2 cups stewed tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash of ground black pepper
a few sliced stuffed olives (optional)

Melt fat in skillet. Add onion, green pepper, and celery. Cook slowly until onion is golden brown.

Add stewed tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Cook slowly until sauce is thickened. If desired, add a few sliced stuffed olives to sauce.

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GREEN PEA SAUCE

Make 2 cups medium white sauce, browning butter and adding 2 bouillon cubes. Add 3/4 cup drained cooked peas.

From: Recipelink.com
Source: Recipe booklet: Recipes for Today, General Foods Corporation, 1943