Iron Chef: Frugal 1940s Edition (How I'm Turning Random Fridge Contents Into a 40s-Style Dinner)

Maybe not 1940s-esque day before grocery run. It's slim pickins' by today's standards.

Yesterday in the garden, today in the kitchen. Come along as I play a high-stakes round of Iron Chef: Frugal 1940s Edition. It's the end of the grocery-week and the crisper is almost bare. Compounding that, I have no meal plan for tonight. Instead of complaining, this will be a fun culinary challenge to pull some random items together and make a good meal for the four of us. And to do so, I'll be consulting a couple of my wartime era cookbooks. Today, I'm showing you exactly how this played out.

The Fridge

• 2 long-in-the-tooth carrots, the last that no one else wanted
• a partial bundle of celery
• 1 lone onion
• 4 apples losing their crisp bite
• most of a head of cabbage, hmmm why is no one eating the cabbage?
• part plus 1 whole aging, wrinkly green peppers
• 1 small hunk of leftover pot roast, about 7 to 8 ounces
• 1 lonely boiled egg
• most of a loaf of homemade whole wheat bread

The Plan

part of my vintage cookbook collection

When you have random cooked protein, some veggies and a loaf of bread, sandwiches sound like the logical outcome. In my case, I have not just one sandwich but two types of sandwiches to satisfy both ends of the crowd, the carnivore at one end and the plant-based at the other. 

Tonight I'm using grinding the leftover beef roast and blending with mayo, onion, carrot, and boiled egg for the beefy Vegetable-Meat Filling as a mash-up between the March 1944 edition of Health for Victory and the Meat, Carrot, and Egg Filling from the 1943 400 Tempting Salads and Sandwiches. I'm also using a bit each of cabbage, apple, carrot, celery, onion, green pepper, and mayo for the garden-fresh Vegetable and Apple Filling from the 1941/1949 500 Tasty Sandwiches. I'll use the vegetable sandwich filling as a side salad served on the lettuce leaves picked from the garden.

Both sandwich fillings call for grated carrot, and one calls for ground cooked meat. I'll use my food processor to shave some time off those two chores. 1940s housewives would have had a manual crank grinder, the kind that would clamp onto the counter and one would use to make sausage meat or other ground meat.

The Recipes

(remember I'm combining the two meat fillings)

Vegetable-Meat Filling from Health for Victory

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp. grated onion
3/4 tsp. salt (see my notes below, 1/4 to 1/2 tsp would be better)
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 cup ground cooked meat
1/2 cup raw ground carrot

Mix all ingredients together. Makes enough for 6 sandwiches.

NOTE: Ground meat may be leftover beef, veal, lamb, chicken, or ham.

Meat, Carrot, and Egg Filling from 400 Tempting Salads and Sandwiches

Combine ground left-over meat with grated raw carrot, chopped hard-cooked egg, and seasonings to taste; moisten with mayonnaise.

Vegetable and Apple Sandwich Filling (or Small Salad) from 500 Tasty Sandwiches

1/4 cup chopped cabbage

3 tablespoons chopped apple

3 tablespoons chopped carrot

3 tablespoons chopped celery

1 tablespoon chopped onion

3 tablespoons chopped green pepper

1/4 cup mayonnaise

No instructions given in the cookbook. Combine all ingredients and use for a sandwich filling or small salad.

All of these recipes use very basic ingredients that would have been available for those keeping victory gardens in combination with a little produce, meat, and egg shopping. 

One roast often had to last the family an entire grocery week for fresh meat. First night might have been a roast, but sliced very thin. The second night the family might have had a hash, stretching the meat substantially with potatoes, The third night, sandwiches, either with very thin slices between bread or as in these recipes, ground and combined with other stretchers. And finally, the fourth night the housewife would make a penny-stretcher soup, simmering any bones and gristle for hours to extract flavor and nutrients, afterward adding any vegetables the victory garden produced and some barley, rice, or potatoes to add bulk. A family's animal protein ration might also have been supplemented with organ meats, some poultry, rabbit & game, and fish, which weren't rationed.

How It Turned Out

I suspected the meat filling would be too salty as the recipe was written, so I cut the salt to 1/2 teaspoon. It could have even been cut down to 1/4 teaspoon and tasted fine. I also cut the pepper to 1/16 teaspoon, but in hindsight, we might have enjoyed the full amount of the pepper. When I mixed the mayonnaise into both the meat filling and the vegetable-apple filling, I didn't measure, but added mayo until I thought it was right. I think I used about 1/3 cup mayo in the meat filling (then used mayo on the slices of bread) and used about 3 tablespons in the vegetable-apple filling.

I had 3/4 of an apple  (plus 3 more whole) remaining after making the Vegetable and Apple Filling. I used the 3/4 apple plus 1 more and made apple-raisin-cinnamon baked apple slices, adding a couple of capfuls of lemon juice and cinnamon-sugar for flavor. I covered with foil and baked at 360 for about 30 minutes. There were a few fresh lettuce leaves remaining. Those were nice on the Vegetable-Meat sandwiches.

The Verdict

It wasn't fancy, but it was very good. And it gave the remaining bit of beef roast a last run as some delicious sandwiches. The meat sandwiches were very meaty. The recipe made a lot of filling. And the vegetable-apple salad (recipe for a sandwich filling) was a huge hit. It was tasty, fresh, and flavorful. My family and I enjoyed all of these foods.

Your Turn: What is your ultimate fall-back meal when the fridge is almost empty and grocery day is tomorrow? Is it a "brinner" night, an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink soup meal.,or stir fry all you've got for dinner? Let's swap ideas below.