IDEA ALLEY: No-sugar ice cream a wartime necessity

Old cookbooks from the Food editor Kelly Brant's collection
Old cookbooks from the Food editor Kelly Brant's collection

Recipes that appear in Idea Alley have not been tested by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

I love reading old cookbooks and recipes. In fact, poring through our historic archives searching for recipes for this column is one of my favorite parts of my job. And I find it very difficult to let go of old recipes and cookbooks.

It's nice to know I'm not alone.

"Since I am a 'keep all' kind of person I noticed a couple of old recipes (dated 1941) and thought it might be interesting to see if [other] Alley Kats might have others to share," writes Judy Saindon of Fayetteville.

"[These] were from a time when sugar was rationed and times were hard so recipes were 'frugal' to say the least. Just thought some families might benefit from some of the older recipes. Just for fun here is what I found today."

No-Sugar Basic Ice Cream

Good master recipes are the foundation of every good recipe file. This recipe should go into your wartime collection. To 1 cup of milk add ½ pound of marshmallows and heat over low heat, stirring until smooth. Cool. Beat 3 eggs until frothy and add marshmallow mixture to it. Beat well. Add 2 cups of cream, 1 cup milk, ⅛ teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons vanilla and blend. Pour into freezing trays and freeze. When partly frozen remove and whip thoroughly with electric mixer or dover [egg] beater and freeze again. Chocolate chips or other flavoring may be added.

Chocolate Syrup

Thoroughly blend 2 cups of corn syrup and 1 cup cocoa, add a dash of cinnamon, place over direct heat and bring to a boil. Cool and pour into a fruit jar, cover and set aside until needed. This cocoa syrup, not having water added, will not sour nor need to be put in the refrigerator. To make drink, put 2 tablespoons of syrup in glass, fill with whole cow's milk OR add 4 tablespoons of canned milk, water to fill glass and stir until ingredients are thoroughly blended. This will give your youngsters the between-meal pickup, relieve you of the worry of how to satisfy their "sweet" hunger and not use sugar so very much needed in other ways just now. Signed, A Mother Too

This recipe is for Betty Caton. It was shared by Ted Hood Sr. in Idea Alley in 2006 when Irene Wassell was Food editor. The column isn't clear on who "I" is regarding the gravy.

Chicken-Fried Steak

Usually cube steaks were dredged in a flour mixture containing crushed crackers, salt, baking powder, black pepper and red pepper, then dipped in a milk and egg mixture and dredged again in the flour mixture.

Heat oil in a heavy iron skillet to 360 degrees. (Do not use a nonstick skillet.) Fry for 10 minutes, turn over and fry 4 to 5 more minutes or to a golden brown. Remove to a wire rack on a jellyroll pan. Keep warm in a 225 degree oven.

Drain hot oil from skillet, leaving cooked bits and 1 tablespoon oil drippings. In a large bowl, whisk together ¼ cup all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper and 4 cups milk. Pour mixture into reserved drippings in skillet, cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly until thickened. Serve gravy over the steaks.

I would like to mention my rule of thumb for making a smooth gravy: Use 1 tablespoon of fat or oil for each tablespoon of flour. Heat oil or fat in a heavy skillet and stir in the flour. Heat until flour is lightly toasted (watch that it doesn't burn). Add milk and stir until smooth and thickened. Add more milk if needed for desired consistency.

Next week: More Mexican-style fruit punch and Senate bean soup.

REQUESTS

■ Sour cream raisin pie with an oat cookie crust for Cora Ward of Bentonville.

■ Orzo pasta salad like Diane's Gourmet in Little Rock for Mary Green of Maumelle.

Send recipe contributions, requests and culinary questions to Kelly Brant, Idea Alley, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, AR 72203; email:

kbrant@arkansasonline.com

Please include a daytime phone number.

Food on 04/24/2019

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