money-saving
MAIN DISHES

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Home and Garden Bulletin No. 43

Contents

Page What shall we have for dinner [3] Meat [6] Poultry [15] Cooked and canned meats and poultry [18] Fish [23] Eggs [28] Cheese and milk [33] Dry beans and peas [36] Bread and other cereal foods [40] Lunch-box main dishes [44]

Human Nutrition Research Division
and
Consumer and Food Economics Research Division
Agricultural Research Service
US. Department of Agriculture
Washington 25, DC
February 1955
Slightly revised October 1962

This bulletin is a revision of and supersedes Leaflet No. 289.

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, US. Government Printing Office
Washington 25, DC.—Price 20 cents

What shall we have for dinner ...

This is easy to answer after you have decided on the main dish.

The main dish is especially important in meal planning. It is the hub around which the rest of the meal is built, and often it carries a large proportion of the cost of the meal. Usually the main dish is the main source of protein—so essential to building and repairing body tissues.

In this booklet are recipes and suggestions for about 150 main dishes—easy to make, hearty, and economical. Most of the dishes give four liberal servings; a few provide more.

Most of these main dishes furnish about a fourth of the day’s needs for protein. For those that provide less, additional protein foods are specified in the menu suggestion following the recipe. Or you may prefer to increase the amount of protein-rich food in the main dish—by adding more meat, for instance, to a main-dish soup, salad, or casserole. The rest of the day’s protein will come from milk used as a beverage, and from cereals, bread, and other foods eaten as part of the day’s meals.

You get top-rating proteins (as well as other important nutrients) in foods from animal sources, as in meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, cheese. Some of these protein foods are needed each day; and it is an advantage to include some in each meal.

Next best for proteins are soybeans and nuts and dry beans and peas. When these or grain products are featured in main dishes, try to combine them with a little top-rating protein food, if you can.

No one food is exactly like any other food and no food is complete in all nutrients. Milk products are high in calcium; meats are low. Meat, poultry, eggs, and beans are good sources of iron; milk is low in it. One kind of B vitamin abounds in meats, another in milk, and a third in whole grains. The best way to be sure of a good diet is to use a variety of main dishes and wide choices of other foods to complete the meal.

Main-dish Proteins From a Variety of Sources

To supply a fourth of the day’s protein requirement, a main dish for a family of four must contain about 2 ounces of protein. Although this averages ½ ounce (15 grams) per person, it will not necessarily be divided equally among the family members—men and teen-age boys and girls will need somewhat more; women and younger children, somewhat less. There follows a list of foods commonly used in main dishes, together with the quantity needed to provide the ½ ounce of protein.

Approximate Amounts of Some Foods That Provide About ½ Ounce (15 grams) Protein

A Daily Food Guide

As you plan your main dishes, do your overall menu planning too, keeping in mind the different kinds of foods that are needed for an adequate diet. Plan to serve foods from each of these four groups every day:

• Milk group—milk in all forms (fluid whole or skim, evaporated, dry, buttermilk). For children, the equivalent of 3 or more cups of fluid milk daily; for teenagers, 4 or more cups; for adults, 2 or more cups.

• Meat group—meat, poultry, fish, eggs; as alternates, dry beans, peas, and lentils; nuts, peanuts, peanut butter. Two or more servings daily.

• Vegetable-fruit group—vegetables and fruits of all kinds. Four or more servings, including a citrus fruit or other fruit or vegetable important for vitamin C daily and a dark-green or deep-yellow vegetable for vitamin A at least every other day.

• Bread-cereal group—all breads and cereals that are whole grain, enriched, or restored. Four or more servings daily.

Other foods—the fats and oils, sugars, and unenriched cereal products used in cooking or added to foods at the table—will help to round out meals and satisfy appetites.

Looking at our national diet, we find that nearly half of our protein comes from the meat group. But about a fifth comes from bread and other cereal foods. And the milk group provides about a fourth.

We can then rely on these three food groups to provide the protein of our main dishes. We need not have protein-deficient diets even if we economize on meat. For we can get protein from other foods, using them as suggested in the money-saving recipes given in this booklet.

Meals to Suit the Family

Foods to serve with the main dishes are suggested at the end of each recipe. Choices will depend on available supplies, cost, the season, and what the family likes. If the protein in the main dish is limited, care should be taken to include in the meal the other protein-rich foods suggested in the menu (such as salads or desserts containing egg or milk) or dishes equally high in protein, to raise the total protein for the meal.

In some homes, noon is the time for the big meal of the day. In others, only at night can the family gather around the dinner table. In still others, where everyone is physically active, a big meal is needed both noon and night, and perhaps also at breakfast. But whenever the meal, the hearty dishes described in this booklet will help you to use a variety of economical foods to supply the protein your family needs.

If you cannot use the recipe exactly as stated, perhaps one of the suggested variations will be suited to the foods you have at hand, your family preferences, or the facilities you have for cooking.

Meat ...

Meat is too valuable, for its flavor and its protein, iron, and B vitamins, to waste any of it. Part of the cook’s skill is to make good use of every bit.

Cook meat bones with beans or soup to extract all possible flavor, and nutrients too.

Use rendered fats in gravies and sauces and ground cracklings in quick breads.

The following information on the yield from various cuts of meat will help you decide how much to buy to get enough lean meat for a main-dish serving. It will also help you figure the cost per serving.

Much bone or gristle—a pound yields 1 to 2 servings. Examples are shank, brisket, plate, short ribs, spareribs, breast of lamb or veal.

Medium amount of bone—a pound yields 2 to 3 servings. Examples are whole or end cuts of beef round, veal leg or shoulder, ham with bone in; also steaks, chops, or roasts from the loin, rump, rib sections, or chuck.

Little bone—a pound yields 3 to 4 servings. Examples are center cuts of beef round, or ham; also lamb or veal cutlets.

No bone—a pound yields 4 to 5 servings. Examples are ground meat, boneless stew meats, liver or other variety or boneless meats.

Buying Meat

Homemakers who are after good buys at the meat counter will consider the grade and the cut.

Federal grades of beef usually found on the market are Prime, Choice, Good, Standard, and Commercial. Markets vary in the grades of beef carried and may offer only one or two, as for example, U. S. Choice and U. S. Good. The lower grades cost less per pound than similar cuts of higher grades and usually contain more lean. Beef is the meat most often sold with a U. S. Grade stamp, but lamb, mutton, veal, and calf are sometimes federally graded. Pork usually is not graded.

The cut refers to the part of the animal from which the meat comes. The buyer can usually save money by using the less tender cuts of beef and the less popular cuts of pork, lamb, and veal. These cuts cost less per pound but provide the same valuable protein as the more expensive cuts. Variety meats, such as liver, heart, and kidney, also provide high return in nutrition for money spent.

In comparing costs, consideration must be given to the amount of bone, fat, and gristle because they affect the cost of the lean edible portion.

It pays to buy the cuts best suited to the cooking methods you use. Do you know what to choose for pot roasts, stews, and soups? Here is a handy guide.

For pot roasts, Swiss steaks, smothered steaks, other braised meats.—Beef round, rump, sirloin tip, flank, chuck, short ribs, heart, and liver. Spareribs and ham hocks. Pork liver and heart. Thick pork chops or ham slices or shoulder steaks. Lamb shoulder, neck, breast, shanks, heart, and liver. Veal round, rump, shoulder, and heart.

For stews, soups, or to cook before creaming or frying.—Beef, lamb, or veal neck. Beef plate and brisket (fresh or corned). Tongue (fresh or smoked). Veal or lamb shanks, kidneys, brains. Pork kidneys and brains. Veal, lamb, or beef sweetbreads.

To Make Meat Tender

Good cooking can help make any cut of meat a favorite main dish with the family. Here are some of the methods that skillful cooks use for less tender cuts:

Long, slow cooking, as for braised meats and stews.—For extra flavor first brown meat in a little fat. To braise, use little or no liquid except the juices that cook from the meat. Cook, closely covered, with low heat. To stew, add water to partially cover meat, cover kettle, and simmer.

Chopping, pounding, scoring.—The foodchopper helps make meat tender. After chopping, any meat cooks as quickly as a tender cut. Pounding, or scoring with a knife, before cooking is similar in effect to chopping but tenderizes meat less.

Seasonings

Meat itself is usually flavoring enough for the main dish. It is often browned in a little fat to develop its flavor. In combination dishes, highly flavored or cured meats such as ham, dried beef, corned beef, and sausage may lend more flavor than fresh meat.

When the meat is limited, other foods will add zest and additional food values. Tomatoes, onions, parsley, chives, green peppers, celery, sour cream, lemon, nippy or smoked cheese—all contribute in both ways.

Other seasonings your family may enjoy with meat are bay leaf, catsup, chili, curry, garlic, marjoram, paprika, sage, soy sauce, sweet basil, tabasco sauce, thyme, worcestershire sauce. Since these are used in small quantities, they are not expensive in the long run.

Seasoning is especially important for meat-extending dishes. Meat loaves and other dishes which combine meat with bland foods such as macaroni, rice, or potatoes depend on skillful seasoning for their goodness.

A “boiled” dinner

2 pounds spareribs

1½ cups hot water

4 medium-sized potatoes, pared and halved

1½ cups canned or cooked green snap beans and liquid

Salt and pepper

Brown spareribs in fry pan without added fat. Add water and simmer about 1 hour.

Add potatoes to meat and cook until tender—about 25 minutes.

Add beans and liquid the last 10 minutes of cooking. If raw beans are used, add with potatoes.

Season with salt and pepper. Skim off excess fat before serving.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with crisp lettuce, tomato, and celery salad, and apple betty with lemon sauce for dessert.

For Variety

Beef short ribs may be used with longer cooking.

Corned beef, meaty ham hock, or ham bone may be used in place of the spareribs. Cover with water and simmer about 3 hours or until tender. Omit salt, and continue as above. Good with sauerkraut.

A variety of vegetables may be used in a “boiled” dinner. In addition to potatoes, use onions, large pieces of carrot, and wedges of cabbage. Add cabbage about 20 minutes before serving, as it cooks more quickly than the other vegetables.

Scotch meat patties

¾ pound ground beef

⅓ cup milk

¾ cup quick-cooking oats

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons cooking fat or oil

1 cup water

¼ cup chopped celery

¼ cup chopped green pepper

¼ cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon flour

Combine meat, milk, oats, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Make very thin patties; brown on both sides in the fat or oil in a fry pan.

Add water and vegetables; season with worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Cook covered over low heat 30 minutes.

Blend flour with a little cold water, add slowly to the mixture, and cook until thickened, stirring occasionally.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with candied sweetpotatoes, cabbage and carrot salad, with fruit and cookies for dessert.

For Variety

Meat Balls and Tomato Sauce.—Form the meat mixture into small balls and brown in fat. Remove from pan and brown the vegetables in the fat. Add ½ cup water and ½ cup tomato paste. Add meat balls and seasonings and cook covered over low heat. Thickening may not be needed. Serve over spaghetti.

Kidney stew

¾ pound veal or lamb kidneys

1½ cups diced potato

1 small onion, sliced

¾ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon flour

1 egg yolk

Chopped parsley

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Cut the kidneys in half and wash well. Remove skin, blood vessels, connective tissue, and fat.

Cover kidneys with cold water, heat slowly to boiling, discard the water, and repeat the process until there is no strong odor and no scum on the water. Add about 1 quart fresh water and simmer kidneys until tender. Remove kidneys from broth and cut into small pieces.

Cook potato and onion in the broth. Add kidneys and salt.

Blend a little water with the flour, stir into broth. Cook a few minutes to thicken.

Stir some of the stew into the beaten egg yolk. Mix all together and add parsley and lemon juice. The heat of the stew will cook the eggs sufficiently.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with a green or yellow vegetable, apple and raisin salad, cookies or cake for dessert.

For Variety

Beef kidney may be used in place of veal or lamb if desired.

Soy meat loaf

¾ pound chopped meat

1½ cups vegetable liquid, tomato juice, or milk

2 ounces salt pork, diced (about ⅓ cup)

2 tablespoons chopped onion

½ cup chopped celery

¾ cup soy grits

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 teaspoons salt

¾ cup breadcrumbs

⅛ teaspoon pepper

Select one kind of meat or a mixture of two or more kinds.

Blend vegetable liquid, tomato juice, or milk with the meat.

Fry salt pork until crisp and remove from fat. Cook onion and celery in the fat for a few minutes.

Add all the ingredients to the meat and mix well.

Shape the mixture into a loaf and place on heavy brown paper on a rack in an uncovered pan.

Bake loaf at 350° F. (moderate oven) until well done and brown—about 1 hour.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with baked potatoes or squash, peas, and green salad, with apple crisp or peach cobbler for dessert.

For Variety

To vary the flavor, serve the loaf with brown gravy or tomato sauce.

Sweet-sour spareribs, Chinese style

2 pounds spareribs

1½ cups water

¼ cup raisins

½ teaspoon salt

2 green peppers, cut in 6 pieces each

1½ tablespoons cornstarch

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup vinegar

Soy sauce

Cut spareribs into serving portions and brown in a fry pan over moderate heat—about 5 minutes on each side.

Add ½ cup of the water, the raisins, and salt.

Cover pan tightly and cook over very low heat 20 minutes.

Add green peppers. Stir in cornstarch blended with sugar, vinegar, and 1 cup of water.

Cover and continue cooking over low heat for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally and add more water as needed to prevent drying. Before serving add soy sauce to taste.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with rice or hominy grits and a green salad. For dessert, have fresh or baked fruit.

Spareribs in Another Way

Baked Spareribs.—Bake spareribs at 350° F. (moderate oven) until the meat is tender—about 1½ hours. Baste several times with a barbecue sauce, if desired.

Pork shoulder with savory stuffing

Remove the bones and any skin from a 5- to 6-pound fresh pork shoulder.

Sprinkle meat on inside with salt and pepper, and pile in some of the stuffing. Begin to sew edges of shoulder together to form a pocket, and gradually work in the rest of the stuffing. Do not pack tightly.

Sprinkle outside of shoulder with salt and pepper, and if desired with flour also.

Place the roast, fat side up, on a rack in a shallow uncovered pan. Roast without water at 350° F. (moderate oven) until tender—about 4 hours for a 5-pound shoulder. Turn roast occasionally. Remove strings before serving.

Serve with sweetpotatoes, fried apples, celery salad, and raisin pie.

Savory Stuffing

¼ cup diced celery and leaves

1 tablespoon diced onion

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

2 tablespoons cooking fat or oil

2 cups soft breadcrumbs

¼ teaspoon savory seasoning

Salt and pepper

Cook celery, onion, and parsley in fat or oil for a few minutes.

Add breadcrumbs and seasonings and stir until well mixed. This stuffing may be used with other meats and with poultry. Sausage, chopped tart apples, or chopped nut meats may be added.

Swiss steak

1 pound beef or veal rump or round, cut about 1 inch thick

Salt and pepper

Flour

Cooking fat or oil

2 cups cooked or canned tomatoes or tomato juice

Season meat with salt and pepper, sprinkle with flour. Pounding helps make the meat tender.

Cut meat into serving pieces and brown in a little fat or oil.

Add tomatoes or juice, cover, and simmer gently until meat is tender—about 1½ hours.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with mashed potatoes, corn, lettuce salad, and prune whip.

For Variety

Swiss Steak With Brown Gravy.—Use water instead of tomatoes. When done, remove meat, add water if needed to make 1 cup total liquid, and if necessary thicken with flour blended with cold water.

Swiss Steak, Onion Gravy.—Add 2 cups sliced onions to Swiss Steak With Brown Gravy during the last half hour of cooking.

Spanish Steak.—Follow recipe for Swiss Steak, using ¾ pound meat. Brown ½ cup chopped onion and 1 chopped green pepper in fat. Cook 1 cup macaroni in boiling salted water. Mix macaroni, onions, and pepper with the tomato sauce and serve over meat.

Sausage with sweetpotato and apple

½ pound sausage

2 medium-sized sweetpotatoes

3 medium-sized apples

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon flour

2 tablespoons sugar

½ cup cold water

1 tablespoon sausage drippings

Cut link sausage into ½-inch pieces.

Fry until well done. If bulk sausage is used, shape it into small balls before frying or break it up as it cooks.

Pare and slice potatoes and apples.

Mix salt, flour, and sugar together and blend with cold water.

Arrange layers of potatoes, apples, and sausage in a baking dish, pouring flour-sugar mixture over each layer. Top with apples and sausage, and add drippings.

Cover; bake at 375° F. (moderate oven) until apples and potatoes are tender—about 45 minutes.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with a crisp green salad. For dessert have a well-chilled creamy rice pudding made with eggs and milk to supplement the protein from the small serving of meat. If you double the amount of sausage in the main dish, you will not need to choose a dessert that supplies additional protein.

For Variety

Replace the sausage with thin slices of smoked pork shoulder, or thin shoulder pork chops, well browned.

Main-dish soup

3 or 4 pounds meaty soupbones (beef or veal shank or shortribs)

Drippings or other fat

Bay leaf, if desired

3 cups diced vegetables

Salt and pepper

Have bones cracked and remove small slivers. Brown in fat in a large kettle. Cover with water, add bay leaf, and simmer until meat is tender enough to fall from bones—3 to 4 hours.

Add vegetables such as onion, carrots, and potatoes during the last half hour of cooking.

Remove bones from broth. Cut up meat and add to the soup. Season to taste.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with green salad and fruit pie. If there isn’t much meat, serve cottage cheese salad or serve cheese with pie.

For Variety

Onion Soup.—Omit other vegetables. Slice 4 medium-sized onions and brown in drippings before adding to the meat broth. Serve piping hot, topped with toasted bread sprinkled with grated cheese—the traditional French way of serving.

Beet Soup.—To 1 quart broth and meat add 2 large beets, grated or ground, 1 cup chopped cabbage, and 2 chopped onions. Simmer until vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper. Top each serving with sour cream.

Brown beef stew

1 pound boneless stewing beef

Salt and pepper

Flour

Drippings or other fat

1½ cups water

3 potatoes, diced

2 onions, sliced

3 carrots, diced

1 cup raw snap beans

Cut meat into inch cubes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, roll in flour, and brown in the fat.

Add water, cover, and simmer until almost tender—2 to 3 hours.

Add vegetables, season with salt and pepper, and continue to simmer, covered, until vegetables are done. Stir occasionally.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with coleslaw or green salad, and a baked pear or peach for dessert.

For Variety

Green-Tomato Stew.—Use ½ chopped onion in place of sliced ones. Brown with the meat. Use 2 medium-sized green tomatoes, quartered, instead of beans.

Lamb or Veal Stew.—Use breast or neck of lamb or veal in place of beef and ½ cup diced turnips instead of beans.

Quick Stew With Hamburger.—Use hamburger in place of stewing meat. Brown the meat, add vegetables and water and simmer. The stew will be done in half an hour or less.

Meat-potatoburgers

¾ pound chopped raw beef

¾ cup chopped or coarsely grated raw potato

¼ cup chopped or grated onion

2 tablespoons chopped green pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg

Drippings or other fat or oil

1 cup tomato juice or puree

1 tablespoon flour

Mix all ingredients except fat, tomato juice, and flour. Form into 4 or 5 flat cakes.

Brown the cakes on both sides in fat or oil in a fry pan. Add tomato juice, cover, and simmer slowly until done, about 25 minutes.

Remove cakes and keep them hot. Mix flour with a little water and stir slowly into the liquid in the pan. Cook until thickened, stirring occasionally. Serve this sauce with the cakes.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with mashed or buttered squash and apple-celery-raisin salad. Add protein to the meal with peanut butter cookies or cheese and crackers for dessert.

With Cooked Meat and Potatoes

Meat and Potato Cakes.—Combine 1½ cups diced or chopped cooked meat, 2 cups mashed potatoes, 1 egg, and 2 tablespoons chopped parsley. Mold into flat cakes, flour lightly, and brown in a little hot fat or oil.

Ham and scalloped potatoes

4 medium-sized potatoes, sliced

1 tablespoon grated onion

2 cups hot milk

½ pound thinly sliced ham, cut in serving pieces

Salt, pepper

Put half of the potatoes into a greased baking dish. Sprinkle with half the onion, a little salt, and pepper. Use salt sparingly.

Add ham. Cover with rest of potatoes, seasonings, and onion.

Add milk until it barely shows between the potato slices on top. Save rest of milk to add during cooking if needed.

Cover dish and bake at 350° F. (moderate oven) about 1 hour. Remove cover last 15 or 20 minutes to allow potatoes to brown on top.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with tomato juice, snap beans, and cabbage salad. Choose a fruit dessert such as dried-fruit whip.

Other Potato-Meat Dishes

Use ham trimmings, cheese, roast meat, chipped dried beef, frankfurters, or corned beef in place of ham in the recipe above.

Mashed Potato-Meat Pie.—Moisten leftover mashed potatoes with hot milk and beat until fluffy. Put a meat stew in a baking dish, top with the potatoes, and brown lightly at 400° F. (hot oven).

Liver loaf

1½ pounds liver

2 tablespoons fat or meat drippings

¼ cup chopped onion

¼ cup chopped celery

¼ pound pork sausage

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup soft breadcrumbs, mashed potatoes, or cooked rice

1 egg, beaten

About ⅔ cup milk or canned tomatoes

Brown the liver lightly in the fat. Chop fine.

Brown the onion and celery in the fat and add to the liver.

Add the rest of the ingredients, using just enough milk or tomatoes to moisten the mixture well.

Pack firmly into a loaf pan to shape. Bake in the pan or turn out on a rack in a shallow pan for baking. Bake at 350° F. (moderate oven) 1½ to 2 hours.

Menu Suggestion

Serve the loaf with spanish sauce (see recipe), buttered carrots, tossed green salad, and ice cream or fruit gelatin.

Spanish sauce

2 tablespoons chopped onion

2 tablespoons fat or meat drippings

1 tablespoon flour

2 cups cooked tomatoes

½ cup chopped celery

½ cup chopped green pepper

Salt and pepper

Brown the onion in the fat and blend in the flour. Add the other ingredients and cook about 20 minutes, or until rather thick.

Tongue-and-corn casserole

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 teaspoon finely chopped onion

2 tablespoons finely chopped pimiento

3½ tablespoons flour

1¼ cups milk, broth from tongue, or water with 2 beef bouillon cubes