My Great Recipes Collection

Great Recipes From the Past

My Great Recipes

Quick Beef Steaks Chasseur

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Not a week goes by where I don’t receive a request from someone searching for a long lost recipe from My Great Recipes. Reader Kelly writes:

I have lost one of my recipe cards from my collection and was wondering if you might have it and if so would you be able to email me a copy? It is under section 10 – Beef and it is a steak with tomato and mushroom sauce. Thanks for any help you might be able to give me.

That recipe is called Quick Beef Steaks Chasseur – section 10, card 51.

Quick Beef Steaks Chausseur from My Great Recipes Collection

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Quick Beef Steaks Chasseur

Course Main Course
Keyword Steak

Ingredients

  • 4 boneless tender steaks fat removed
  • 2 tablespoons olive or cooking oil
  • 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
  • 1/3 pound mushrooms sliced
  • 1 medium tomato chopped
  • 1 tablespoon shallots chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
  • 1/3 cup dry white wine
  • 1/2 cup canned beef broth
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon leaves
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch or arrowroot
  • 2 teaspoons water
  • parsley chopped, optional

Instructions

  1. Trim steaks. Heat oil and butter in heavy skillet over high heat. When butter sizzles add steaks. Cook on high heat 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium. Cook 1 minute more. Turn over.

  2. Cook steaks 2 minutes longer for rare or cook to desired degree of doneness up to 5 minutes per side for well done. Remove steaks and keep warm. (They should stand several minutes before serving to redistribute heat within the meat.)

  3. To make sauce, add mushrooms, tomato, and shallots to pan. Stir and cook 5 minutes.

  4. Add salt, black pepper, wine, broth, and tarragon. Simmer 5 minuets, adding any steak juices. Simmer until liquids are reduced by half.

  5. Mix cornstarch and water. Stir into liquid. Cook briefly until thickened. Serve immediately with steak. Garnish with chopped parsley if desired.

Recipe Notes

  • For the boneless tender steaks, a tenderloin, boneless rib eye, shell or sirloin strip, or chopped sirloin.
  • For inexpensive, juicy, tender beef, purchase the first cut of the chuck and remove the rib eye from next to the bone. Use remainder of roast for stroganoff or stew.
  • 1/3 pound sliced fresh mushrooms is about 2 cups.
  • Can use green onion (aka scallion) for the shallots.

 

Quick Beef Steaks Chausseur from My Great Recipes Collection

Pumpkin Pecan Pie

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Pecans add crunch to this spicy New England favorite Pumpkin Pecan Pie. Don’t wait until the holidays to make it. The topping adds a gala touch.

Reader Jodi writes:

I have a set of My Great Recipes cards that I started receiving in 1983 or 1984. I can’t find one I really want to make for an office pot luck on Friday, November 16, and I’m hoping you might have it and be able to send me a copy. It’s for pumpkin pecan pie, in the pie and tart section. Thank you so much for creating this website!

You’re in lucky, Jodi, I’ve got it — and just in time for your office pot luck!

Pumpkin Pecan Pie from My Great Recipes Collection

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Pumpkin Pecan Pie

Course Dessert
Keyword Pumpkin
Cook Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

For a 9-inch pie

  • 1 9-inch unbaked pastry shell
  • 3/4 to 1 cup brown sugar packed
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • 3 eggs beaten
  • 1/2 cup dark corn syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup pecans coarsely chopped

For Spicy Whipped Cream

  • 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 3/4 cup whipping cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

Prepare the Spicy Whipped Cream

  1. Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir in whipping cream and vanilla. Chill 1 hour. Whip until stiff.

Prepare the pie

  1. Prepare pastry shell. Flute edges or press with fork.

  2. Mix sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in pumpkin, eggs, corn syrup, and vanilla.

  3. Turn into pie shell. Sprinkle with pecans.

  4. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool to room temperature. Serve with Spicy Whipped Cream.

Pumpkin Pecan Pie from My Great Recipes Collection

Ground Beef and Cabbage – Three Ways

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Here are two three recipes for beef and cabbage: Beef Cabbage Crown and Old-Fashioned Cabbage Rolls. Reader Anne wrote,

I had the collection that started in the mid-80’s and one was in the section on “great ways with ground meat” and was basically the ingredients for cabbage rolls – beef, rice, cabbage, sauce, but in the form of a casserole. Do you have that recipe you could share with me? I kept some of the cards of the things I made often but sold the rest of the set when we moved/downsized. Sorry now that I did, but just had no place to store it.

Anne’s story is so familiar; it seems My Great Recipes was a beloved collection of recipes for many people. But then life gets going, and -for one reason or another- the collection is lost. Some people say cards stuck to a kitchen counter and vital pieces of the recipe disappeared. Others had family or friends borrow or take cards, and some lost cards in tragedies like hurricane Katrina. Mostly though, it’s the passage of time that takes the collection away.

Beef Cabbage Crown

I looked through “Great Ways With Ground Meat” (Section 14) and found two recipes that just might be what Anne remembers. The first of those is card 68 – Beef Cabbage Crown.

Beef Cabbage Crown my great recipes

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Beef Cabbage Crown

A crown of cabbage encases a ground beef, bacon, and bulgur wheat mixture. It is delicious served at room temperature with an assortment of mustards, crusty bread, and a bottle of wine, if you like.

Course Main Course
Keyword beef, cabbage

Ingredients

  • 1 2 lb cabbage
  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 4 slices bacon
  • 1 1/2 cups bulgur wheat cooked
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • French mustard

Instructions

  1. Trim core from cabbage. Carefully remove 6 to 7 outer leaves. Cut remaining cabbage into wedges. In large kettle of boiling water, cook leaves for about 4 minutes. Remove, drain. Cook wedges for 10 minutes or until tender, drain.

  2. Finely chop wedges (reserve leaves.) Combine with ground beef, bacon, bulgur, egg, and black pepper.

  3. Arrange cabbage leaves in an overlapping fashion in the center of a large piece of cheesecloth or a metal steamer. Enclose with the leaves. With string, tie cheesecloth or steamer around the middle to hold cabbage together.

  4. Steam for 40 to 50 minutes, adding more boiling water if necessary. Let cool for about 10 minutes. Unwrap. Carefully place on a serving platter. Cut into wedges. Serve with French mustard, a green salad, and a hearty wine, if you like.

Recipe Notes

Tip

A meatless stuffed cabbage can be made. Cook bulgur in canned mushroom broth. Saute 1 pound mushrooms in 2 tablespoons butter or margarine. Then saute 2 chopped onions in 2 tablespoons butter or margarine. Combine with the cabbage, black pepper, and salt. Serve with a cheese tray and crusty bread.

Beef Cabbage Crown recipe from my great recipes

Old-Fashioned Cabbage Rolls

Card 22 is for old-fashioned cabbage rolls, and is the other beef and cabbage recipe I found in section 14 – Great Ways With Ground Meat.

Old-Fashioned Cabbage Rolls from My Great Recipes

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Old-Fashioned Cabbage Rolls

A mixture of ground beef, pork, and veal, gently spiced, provides the filling for these cabbage rolls. To make them extra attractive, use curly savoy cabbage when in season. A creamy sauce is spooned over the rolls while baking. Nice additions for a special company meal are freshly made noodles, dilled cucumber salad, and dark rye bread.

Course Main Course
Keyword cabbage, ground beef
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound lean ground beef
  • 1/2 pound ground veal
  • 1/2 pound ground pork
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon molasses
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon allspice
  • 1 small onion finely chopped
  • 1 large head green or savoy cabbage
  • 1/2 cup boiling water
  • 1/4 cup butter or margarine
  • 1/2 cup milk approximately
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Instructions

  1. In a mixing bowl, blend meats with egg, milk and bread crumbs. Stir in salt, molasses, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and onion. Mix well.

  2. Cut out core of cabbage. Carefully separate outer 12 leaves (reserve remainder for other use.) Remove center thick vein of each leaf. Drop leaves into boiling water. Cover. Steam 3 minutes or until soft and bright green. Remove with slotted spoon. Reserve liquid.

  3. Evenly divide meat among cabbage leaves. Fold sides in and roll up. Fasten with wooden toothpick.

  4. Heat butter in frying pan. Brown rolls on all sides. Transfer them to a 3-quart casserole as they brown.

  5. Mix reserved water from boiling leaves with butter and drippings. Pour over filled rolls. Cover. Bake at 375 for 1 hour. Remove from oven.

  6. Drain off juices into measuring cup. Add milk to equal 1 cup liquid. Stir in cornstarch. Bring to boiling. Cook until thickened. Pour over cabbage rolls. Bake at 375, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until browned and heated through.

Old-Fashioned Cabbage Rolls from My Great Recipes

Update: Beef-Cabbage Bake Is Anne’s Card!

Whenever someone requests a card, I email when the card is live on the blog. Anne read through this post, and let me know neither was the right recipe. She further described the recipe card she remembered:

I don’t remember what it was called, but it was in a casserole dish and used brown rice, ground beef, chopped cabbage, and was topped with spaghetti sauce from a jar.

I went back to the spreadsheet of recipes, and found Beef-Cabbage Bake. It fit the criteria, so I snapped a couple late night photos of the card and emailed Anne. Sure enough, this was the card she remembered.

beef cabbage bake my great recipes

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Beef-Cabbage Bake

If you like stuffed cabbage rolls, you will enjoy this dish which has much the same delicious flavors but is easier and less time-consuming to prepare.

Course Main Course
Keyword cabbage, ground beef, spaghetti sauce
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup brown rice uncooked
  • 1 1/3 cups boiling water salted
  • 1 medium onion chopped
  • 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
  • 3/4 pound ground beef
  • 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
  • 4 cups cabbage finely shredded
  • 1 16-ounce jar Italian cooking sauce or spaghetti sauce

Instructions

  1. Cook rice in boiling, water seasoned with salt for 25 minute or until rice is tender. Drain if necessary.

  2. In medium skillet, saute onion in the butter until tender. Add beef and cook, breaking it up with a fork, until meat loses its red color. Stir in worcestershire sauce, seasoned salt and black pepper. Add rice and mix well.

  3. Layer half the cabbage in 2-quart buttered casserole. Add beef mixture and press down. Add remaining cabbage. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Press down. Pour sauce over top.

  4. Cover and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

beef cabbage bake my great recipes

Missing A My Great Recipes Card?

If you’re longing for a treasured recipe from My Great Recipes, please look at the original post about the collection of cards I have. There’s a list of all of the recipes, and a link to a spreadsheet with the recipes, too.

Date Nut Cookies

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The request for these Date Nut Cookies comes from reader Darlene. Looks like these would be a lovely Christmas cookie.

Sadly, Darlene lost all of her collection in the Katrina hurricane. She said that after the collection was under water, it turned into one solid block of recipe cards that could not be separated. The collection I got at the thrift store had some cards sticking together, but definitely not that bad.

Darlene also asked for Shortbread Squares!

Date Nut Cookies My Great Recipes

Using only a few ingredients make these crunchy cookies easy to put together. There is also very little clean-up.  These cookies can be frozen if packed airtight.

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Date Nut Cookies

Course Cookies
Keyword Date, Nuts

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup dates pitted and finely snipped
  • 1/2 cup walnuts chopped

Instructions

  1. Cream butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla until blended. With hands, work in flour, dates, and nuts.

  2. Shape into 1-inch balls. Arrange close together (cookies do not spread) on buttered cookie sheets.

  3. Bake at 300 (above center of oven to avoid excessive browning on bottom) for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

  4. Remove from sheets. Roll in additional powdered sugar while still warm. Cool on wire racks. Store airtight.

Date Nut Cookies My Great Recipes

Shortbread Squares

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The request for these Shortbread Squares comes from reader Darlene who asked for “Shortbread Cookies.” These are as close as I can get! Looks like these would be a lovely Christmas cookie, too.

Sadly, Darlene lost all of her collection in the Katrina hurricane. She said that after the collection was under water, it turned into one solid block of recipe cards that could not be separated. The collection I got at the thrift store had some cards sticking together, but definitely not that bad.

Darlene also asked for Date Nut Cookies!

These bite-sized cookies are very easy to make and can be made well ahead. They keep their flavor and texture if stored airtight in a cool place. They are not oversweet and almost melt in the mouth.

Good served with tea or coffee, and with fruit, frozen desserts, and many light desserts.

Shortbread Squares My Great Recipes

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Shortbread Squares


Course Cookies
Keyword shortbread

Ingredients

  • 2 cups butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
  • colored, coarse, granulated sugar

Instructions

  1. Butter a 13x9 baking pan and set aside. Preheat oven to 275.

  2. Cream together butter and sugar by hand or with mixture until creamy and smooth.

  3. Add flour all at once. Mix with hands or spoon until ingredients are well blended. Turn mixture into prepared pan.

  4. Cover with waxed paper. Evenly spread dough by pressing on paper with palms of hands. Remove paper. Prick top of dough closely with fork.

  5. Bake on center shelf at 275 for 1 1/2 hours. Turn off heat. Remove pan from oven.

  6. Cut at once into 1-inch squares. Return pan to oven. Close door. Remove pan when oven is cool.

  7. Sprinkle squares with colored sugar. Store in pan, wrapped airtight in foil, or remove squares and place in airtight containers.

Have all ingredients at room temperature. You can use powered sugar, if you like, instead of the colored granulated sugar. A variety of colors can be used for the granulated sugar. Several colors are often available packed together in glass vials. They enhance plain puddings and fruit when sprinkled on top.

Shortbread Squares My Great Recipes