According to our friends over at GalleyCat, W. Hodding Carter just scored a book deal for A Year of Living Within Our Means, a timely work that will follow him and his family of six as they try out cost-saving techniques from the Great Depression and the first cookbook in America while on a tight budget.
But what exactly will that entail — boiling their leather boots? That’s what we wondering, and then we found a strange but helpful Web site with a bunch of Depression Era recipes for everything from doughnuts to beet jelly.
After the jump, check out the Poor Man’s Casserole (which as the author points out, artfully combines meat, potatoes and vegetables into one dish), and let us know in the comments if it’s something that you’d be willing to sample.
Poor Man’s Casserole * 1 small head of cabbage * 2 large potatoes * 1 large onion, diced * 1 1/2 pounds of hamburger * 1 teaspoon cumin * 1/2 stick butter or margarine * 1/2 teaspoon salt, more or less. depending on taste * pepper to taste * dash of paprika
Cut cabbage into cubes, salt and pepper to taste and cook until well done. Drain. Peel and quarter potatoes. Salt and cook until well done. Drain and mash potatoes with butter but make sure the mash potatoes are on the dry side. Place hamburger in large skillet, add onion and cook until well done. Drain off all the fat. Stir in the cumin. Line baking dish at least 3-inch deep with cabbage. Place meat mixture on top of cabbage. Cover the top with the mash potatoes, sprinkle with paprika. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees F. Makes 4 large servings. In the casserole you had your whole meal. Meat, potatoes and your vegetable.