The Homestyle Amish Kitchen Cookbook (27 page)

2 tsp. brown sugar

2 cups canned tomatoes, broken into small pieces

Mix together the mustard, salt, pepper, and flour. Dredge the steak pieces in the flour mixture and then brown in a skillet to which has been added the oil.

Place the browned steaks in a baking dish and top the meat with the onions, carrots, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and tomatoes.

Cover and bake at 325° for 1-1½ hours or until everything is completely tender.

The Amish are allowed to use telephones when necessary, but they may not have one inside their home. Several families will get together to install and maintain a “public” phone inside a small building often built for that purpose. The rule is, you may use a telephone to conduct business or in an emergency, but it must be far enough away that you cannot hear it ringing from the house.

Tamale Pie Casserole

2 T. oil

1 onion, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

½ lb. hamburger

¼ lb. ground pork or unseasoned pork sausage

3 large tomatoes

½ tsp. salt

1¼ tsp. chili powder

¼ tsp. oregano

1 small can pitted sliced olives

1 can whole kernel corn, drained

1 egg

½ cup milk

½ cup cornmeal

3 T. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1½ cup Cheddar cheese, shredded

Heat oil in a large frying pan. Add onion and garlic and cook until limp. Crumble in the beef and pork and brown meat. Drain off grease.

Skin and cut up tomatoes and add to the meat mixture. Cook about 15 minutes, adding a small quantity of water if it seems too dry. Add the seasonings, olives, and corn. Stir to combine.

Cornmeal Topping

Mix together the egg, milk, and cornmeal. Add the flour and baking powder and beat until smooth.

Pour the meat mixture into a greased casserole dish and top with the cornmeal topping. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes.

Tuna Casserole

1 can cream of celery soup

½ cup milk

3 cups cooked egg noodles

1 6½-oz. can tuna

½ cup mayonnaise

1 cup celery, chopped

⅓ cup onion, chopped

¼ cup bell pepper, chopped

½ tsp. salt

1 cup sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded

Blend the soup and milk together and then mix all ingredients except cheese together. Pour mixture into a casserole dish and sprinkle cheese over the top.

Bake uncovered at 425° for 20 minutes.

Barn Raising Dinner Menu for 250

24 loaves of bread

5 pounds of butter

21 crocks of mashed potatoes

4 large roasting pans of beef and gravy

8 crocks of cooked and buttered carrots 

3 crocks of pickled carrots and cucumbers

45 quart jars home-canned applesauce

12 crocks of sweet apple snitz and prunes

350 doughnuts

5 gallons of maple syrup

45 lemon drop pies

Tuna, Cheese, and Rice Muffins

2 cups cooked rice

1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded

1 6½-oz. can tuna, drained

¾ cup black olives, sliced

2 T. milk

1 T. instant diced onions

1 T. parsley flakes

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs, beaten

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Grease muffin tins and divide tuna mixture evenly into cups.

Bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until lightly browned on top. Loosen with spatula and serve.

Tuna Macaroni Casserole

2 cups uncooked macaroni

2 T. salt

4 T. butter, melted

¼ cup milk

¾ cup Cheddar cheese, shredded

1 6½-oz. can tuna

1 cup cooked peas

¼ cup onion, chopped

Cook macaroni in 2 quarts water to which the salt has been added; boil for 8 minutes and then drain, but don’t rinse. Place the macaroni and the rest of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix well. Pour mixture into a buttered casserole dish and bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Tuna Stroganoff

2 small cans tuna

1 can cream of chicken soup

½ cup sour cream

¾ cup milk

2 T. chopped fresh parsley

¼ tsp. salt

pepper to taste

2 cups cooked egg noodles

2 tsp. melted butter

3 T. dry bread crumbs

Drain the tuna and fork it into small chunks. In a large bowl, blend the soup and sour cream and then stir in the milk. Add the tuna, parsley, salt, and pepper. Mix well. Add the cooked noodles and gently blend.

Mix together the melted butter and bread crumbs.

Pour the tuna mixture into a buttered casserole dish and top with the bread crumbs.

Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Tuna Swiss Pie

2 cans (6½ oz.) tuna, drained

1 cup Swiss cheese, shredded

½ cup green onion, chopped

½ cup mushrooms, sliced

1 9-inch pastry shell, baked

3 eggs

1 cup mayonnaise

½ cup milk

Mix together the tuna, cheese, onion, and mushrooms. Spoon into the pastry shell.

Beat eggs slightly and then add and blend the mayonnaise and milk with the eggs. Pour over tuna mixture in pastry shell.

Set pie plate on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake at 375° for 50 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

Turkey Supreme

2 cups turkey, cooked and diced (can substitute chicken)

2 cups uncooked macaroni

2 cups milk

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 medium onion, chopped

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

3 T. butter, melted

1 cup Velveeta cheese, cut into small pieces

Combine all ingredients except Velveeta and pour into a greased casserole dish. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight. Remove from the refrigerator an hour or so before baking.

Bake at 350° for 1 hour. Top with Velveeta cheese and put back in the oven for another half hour, taking the casserole out of the oven and spreading the cheese over the top when it has melted and then returning to the oven to finish baking.

Wigglers

5 slices bacon, chopped

1½ lb. hamburger

1 onion, chopped

1 cup carrots, sliced

1 cup celery, chopped

2 cups potatoes, peeled and chopped

1½ cups cooked spaghetti noodles

1 cups peas

1 can cream of mushroom soup

salt and pepper to taste

3 cups tomato juice or soup

6 oz. Cheddar cheese, grated

butter

Cook bacon and set aside. In the same pan, brown hamburger and onions together; drain off grease. In 2 separate pots, cook vegetables and spaghetti until half done.

Mix everything together except the tomato juice, cheese, and butter. Place the mixture in a large roaster. Pour the tomato juice over everything, sprinkle on the cheese, and dot with butter. Bake at 350° for 1½ hours.

The Holy Bible guides everyday life for the Amish. They believe in the doctrines of salvation: the sinful nature of man, the need for repentance and baptism of adults, the atonement of christ, brotherly love, self-denial, nonresistance, and nonconformity.

Yum-a-Setta

2 lb. hamburger

salt and pepper to taste

2 T. brown sugar

¼ cup onion, chopped

1 can tomato soup

1 16-oz. package egg noodles

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup Velveeta cheese

Brown hamburger with salt, pepper, brown sugar, and onion; drain off grease. Add tomato soup to the meat mixture and mix.

Meanwhile, cook the egg noodles according to package directions; drain. Add cream of chicken soup to the noodles and mix.

Layer hamburger mixture and noodle mixture in a 13 × 9-inch casserole dish with Velveeta cheese between layers. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

This makes a great potluck dish
.

When an Amish person dies, their body is placed in a church-owned cemetery. All the headstones are uniform in size and style, but there may be a few markers that appear under the fence line at the edge of the cemetery. These are the markers of those church members who died while under the ban of shunning. The Amish believe that putting them under the fence allows God to decide if that person is inside or outside of the family of God.

DESSERTS

T
he Amish are well-known for their desserts—especially pies—and the assortment of recipes is astounding. Pastry-making is an acquired skill, and Amish girls learn early how to turn out a good pie. The trick to good crusts is to measure carefully and handle quickly and gently.

Amish church services last several hours, and for young children the seemingly endless sitting on backless church benches can be trying. Mothers know this, so sometime during the service a plate of cookies will be passed around for the youngsters. A cookie definitely helps to quietly pass the time.