Recipes from the Homefront: Abendbrotauflauf (Dinner Casserole)

 

I'm back again but this time in the kitchen. I have another recipe from the German home front for you today and this time it's a dinner casserole. This dish makes use of migetti like the other recipes I've posted before and this one also makes use of mostly leftover stock, meat and other bits and pieces. This recipe is from a 1941 German lady's magazine. To make this dish you will need the following:

300g of migetti 

11 cubes of bone or vegtable stock

2 eggs or egg substitute 

2 pinches of baking powder

left over beef scraps, cooked

chopped parsley and celery leaves 

30 g of cheese if possible 

To start, add the cubes of stock into a pot of simmering water until dissolved and then add the migetti. Cook until the migetti is swollen or cooked through and then drain and set aside to cool. 

Into a dish, toss the migetti, beef scraps, baking powder, eggs yolks, salt and pepper. Next, stiffen the egg whites and then fold into the mixture. How do you stiffen egg whites? Simple, after you crack and separate the egg whites from the yolk, pour the egg white into a bowl. Take a whisk and beat it until it is foamy looking. 

Grease a baking dish and pour the whole mixture into it. Top with the cheese. If the cheese is not available, then bread crumbs, left over fat, or even bacon scraps will do. 

Bake for 30 minutes and serve. 

Ta da, a recipe to use up leftovers so nothing goes to waste. What makes this recipe interesting is that this recipe makes use of egg substitute and gives instructions on how to use them. Best I can figure the egg substitute was a powder and you needed to add water to activate. I omitted those instructions here because if you choose to recreate this yourself, you will need to follow the instructions given on the product you are using, I am not sure the 1940s instructions will help you. if you really want to know the 1940s instructions, it was adding water and mix. Another thing that makes this recipe interesting is that it mentions substitutions if you don't have cheese. I think this is a hint that food sources and supplies are being impacted by the war. The recipe does not indicate what kind of cheese so I am guessing you can use any kind. 

So why the baking powder and stiffened egg whites? If you don't cook on the regular, those ingredients are probably strange to you. Baking powder, like stiffened egg whites, can add loft to a dish. That is, they can make the dish fluffy or lighter instead of too heavy or dense. Egg yolks are often used to bind the ingredients together.