Grandma's Cookbook

I have a bit of a secret fetish.

I love cookbooks.

Whenever Rob and I went on a trip someplace, I would look for a local cookbook. I scour amazon for cookbooks. I look at yard sales for cookbooks. I read cookbooks. I have reproduction 18th C cookbooks, which I use too.

One of the most valued cookbook in my collection is my Grandma Peg’s cookbook. It’s a first edition Betty Crocker from 1961. She used the heck out of this book. Almost every page has some form of mystery spill on the page. They are dog eared, written on, and oddly enough, smell good. LOL

There is the original Toll House cookie recipe in there. It tastes so much better than the one on the back of the package now. They are Rob’s favorite. When we got ready to go to hunting camp, I would make 4 batches of cookies to take along with us. He and I were the first ones up, and got the coffee going. We would sit and talk, sip coffee and eat chocolate chip cookies and watch the sun come up. Cookies also went into the day pack for a snack. Rob said my cookies looked and tasted exactly like the one’s his mother made. I took that as a pretty high compliment.

So many of the recipes in this cookbook are not included in the newer versions. It’s a pretty neat walk thru time.

One recipe I found is a great way to use up leftover meat into the form of croquettes. Beef, chicken, turkey, or pork. It takes that meat and changes it up enough so that your not looking at your dinner and bemoaning leftovers again.

I was craving croquettes yesterday, but had no leftover meat. Oh well, not a problem. I cooked up a couple of chicken boobs and made it anyway.

Here’s the recipe.

Meat croquettes

2C finely shredded meat of your choice. I run mine thru a food processor.

1 egg

flour

panko bread crumbs

1 recipe of thick white sauce

salt, pepper or seasoning to taste

oil for frying, or use your air fryer.

Thick White Sauce

1/4C butter

1/4C flour

1C milk

salt and pepper to taste.

Prepare you meat and set aside.

To make your white sauce:

Melt butter in a sauce pan. Add flour and mix to make a roux. Add milk, salt and pepper and slowly bring to a simmer and allow to thicken. Add any other seasonings to the white sauce you desire. For this batch I used onion, garlic, sage, and paprika.

Mix your finely chopped meat to the seasoned white sauce and put in the fridge to cool down and firm up. I make the mix up in the morning, so it has several hours to sit and do it’s thing.

Prior to cooking I preheated the air fryer to 350 degrees. Beat egg in a bowl. Put your flour in another bowl/plate, and same for your panko crumbs.

I use an ice cream scoop to make my croquettes. Dip out of your cold mix, roll into a ball, dip in flour, then egg, then crumbs. Add to your hot oil or preheated fryer.

Don’t forget to spray the bottom of your fryer with pam. Once your croquettes are all dipped and rolled, spray the top of them with pam before putting into the air fryer. If frying in oil, don’t do that.

Air fry for 5 mins, then turn. These took about 15 mins in all to get hot and have lovely color on them.

This batch is enough for both the boy child and I to have dinner, and enough left over for me to have lunch today.

I enjoy these with chicken gravy on them but you can put any sauce you like on top. Had some long grain and wild rice on the side, along with a bowl of salad. Makes a great dinner on a cool, semi crappy evening.

I hope you try this and enjoy them as much as we do!

Do you have a favoite “old fashioned” recipe you enjoy? I would love to hear what your cooking up!!!

Blessed Be!