SPEED SCRATCH

SPEED SCRATCH

When you make a brown stock or gravy, do you roast meaty bones in the oven with seasonings for one hour, remove them to a large pot, add celery, onions, garlic, and parsley, and cover with water, bring to a boil, reduce heat to a gentle roll, skim the fat that rises to the top and simmer for three to four hours before cooling, straining, refrigerating overnight and skimming off the fat from the top? Or, do you add water to a packaged mix or stir flour into a condensed can of beef broth? You might be surprised that most chefs of even upscale restaurants do the same with purchased gravies and stock from reliable sources for time and cost effectiveness. And, unless a restaurant has hired an expensive pastry chef or an independent owner has a loving wife or mother whipping up home-made desserts from pride and pleasure, most eateries purchase their cakes and pies from wholesale purveyors.

Speed-Scratch is not a catchy new phrase of modern cooks, but a movement that existed in great-grandma’s generation, who doctored up canned Spam and Franco-American Spaghetti during the rationed years of WW2. The phrase "from scratch" entered the lexicon of English language in the 1950s--the same decade that produced the first electric can opener. How many of us remember the pretty blond named Betty Furness who opened a refrigerator on black and white TV in 1954 and announced, “You can be sure if it’s Westinghouse”. The frozen food revolution had begun. Liberated women across America opened their freezer doors for the perfect answer to feed a hungry, television-addicted family: the TV dinner. Who could resist a metal tray neatly divided into sections containing a main dish (fried chicken or Salisbury steak, for example), mashed potatoes or perhaps cornbread stuffing, and peas—all for under a dollar! And all the modern housewife had to do was to place the dinner in the oven and wait.

It is believed that a man by the name of Gary Thomas was the inventor of the TV dinner that same year with the Swanson turkey dinner. It resulted in ten million sales that year alone. Many of these dinners went directly from supermarket to stove until home freezers became the norm instead of the exception. This was followed by the demise of the family eating together at the dining room table. TV trays on individual collapsible tables were set up in front of chairs and sofas for the family to sit down, peel the foil off the tops, and tune in their favorite show.

We new brides of the ‘60s and ‘70s, who wanted to impress our husbands, added enough water to Lipton’s Onion Soup Mix to spread over fresh chicken before roasting and Cream of Mushroom Soup to canned tuna for a casserole topped with crunched up corn flakes for economical or Lenten dinners. We made cakes from boxes, adding pudding or flavorings to make it our own. We mixed several cans of sauces for our spaghetti, which we had begun to call “pasta”. We did everything except incorporate fresh vegetables and herbs into our creations.

And, then, another revolution began. Perhaps as a reaction to fast food or the preservatives, additives, sugar and salt that flavored most of the instant products, a cry for healthier eating arose. We continued to purchase frozen and canned products, but began reading labels and adding our own meat and poultry and fresh vegetables from the produce section of our markets. Today, the produce area of supermarkets that once featured only iceberg lettuce, Idaho baking potatoes and unimaginative vegetables that were often wilted from warehouse storage, offers a banquet of appealing selections as well as organically grown choices.

SPINACH SOUFFLÉ

Yield: Approximately 6 servings

They’ll never guess it’s not your very own recipe

2 packages Stouffer’s® frozen Spinach Soufflé

4 thick cut slices cooked bacon (microwaveable or pre-cooked), chopped

8 ounces mixed Italian shredded cheese (or mixed Mexican, if preferred)

4 cup soufflé or deep baking dish

1. Preheat conventional oven to 350°F.

2. Defrost the spinach soufflés. Set 1 package into the soufflé dish.

3. Sprinkle with the chopped bacon.

4. Sprinkle with half the shredded cheese.

5. Cover with the second soufflé.

6. Set the soufflé on a rack ⅓ from the bottom and bake 30 minutes. Sprinkle the top with remaining cheese and bake another 10 minutes, or until brown and bubbly. Serve immediately.

Note: Vegetarians omit the bacon. Chopped walnuts or pine nuts or sliced water chestnuts or 6 ounce can of French’s® Fried Onions may be substituted for the center filling in the soufflé.

CHICKEN ALFREDO

Yield: 4 servings

2 chicken breasts, skinned and boned

Salt and pepper to sprinkle

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

Optional: 1-2 fresh garlic cloves, minced, or ¼ teaspoon bottled garlic powder

Optional: ½ pound sliced white mushrooms or 8 ounce bottle, sliced

24 ounce bottle Alfredo Sauce (Bertolli®)

½ cup or more grated Parmesan cheese

Pasta of choice (Linguine is good)

1. Sprinkle the chicken breasts lightly with salt and pepper.

2. Combine oil, butter, and garlic in a pan. Cook the chicken over medium-low heat on one side until lightly colored. Turn the breasts over. Cover the pan and cook over low heat approximately 10 minutes.

3. Remove the chicken to a cutting board. Place the mushrooms in the chicken pan and cook over low heat for a few minutes. Stir in the Alfredo Sauce.

4. Slice the chicken breasts into strips and add to the pan.

5. Cook the pasta. Drain. Do not rinse. Toss with the hot Alfredo sauce.

6. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese to serve.

DUCKLING À L’ORANGE

Yield: 2 servings

The frozen duck comes with its own sauce but it is not nearly as good as the easy recipe below that makes this gourmet delicacy your very own.

14 ounce package Maple Leaf Farms® Fully Cooked Duck (Half a duck)

½ cup orange marmalade

½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice

2 tablespoons Brandy

2 tablespoons Gr. Marnier or Triple Sec or Peach Schnapps (more economical)

Optional: Fresh orange segments

1. Defrost duck and cook in a conventional oven according to package directions.

2. Combine remaining ingredients. Cover the duck the last 15 minutes of cook time for a perfect sauce.

3. Serve with instant wild rice or mixed wild and white rice.

BROCCOLI CHEESE SOUP

Yield: 4-6 servings

2 packages frozen broccoli spears or fresh broccoli

2-10 ¾ ounce cans Campbell’s® Cream of Mushroom Soup

2 cups water

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Touch of cayenne pepper or white pepper

1. Defrost broccoli. Cut the spears and flowers from 1 package into small pieces and set aside. Place the others into a food processor and pulverize. Or, cut the stems off a bunch of fresh broccoli 4 inches from the flowers. Chop the stems and boil gently in water until tender before pulverizing in the blender.

2. Combine the Cream of Mushroom soup with the water in a pot. Bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce heat to medium. Add the broccoli pieces and broccoli from the food processor. Add salt, pepper, and a touch of cayenne. Cook, stirring, approximately 5 minutes.

3. Stir in cheese and serve.

Tune in Comcast channel 22 & BrightHouse 199 to watch host, Valerie Hart, interview chefs in their kitchens "The Back of the House", or watch it live on your computer at www.lakefronttv.com. Follow her food page on Wednesdays in The Daily Commercial.