I can’t remember how our recipe for hash first evolved. Desperation to cook something nourishing in a hurry probably was what happened.

Rumor had it that you should never eat hash in a restaurant because they scraped leftovers from plates which were returned to the kitchen, ground it up and re-served it as “hash.”

My mother made hash by grinding leftover roast beef with onions and raw potatoes, seasoned with some salt and pepper. This was placed in a casserole dish together with leftover gravy and baked until it was nice and crispy on top. Then all you had to do was clean that miserable messy grinder and clean up the onion juice that ran all over the floor when you were grinding the onion.

I still make hash this way if I have leftover beef roast, only I chop everything in a food processor to avoid the mess.

If you don’t have leftover beef, brown one pound of hamburger in a cast iron dutch oven, using a small amount of oil or bacon fat, if you have it.

Add a chopped raw onion and enough chopped raw potatoes to feed as many kids as you expect to show up for supper that night. A package of frozen hash brown potatoes works just fine, too.

Add salt and pepper to taste and a little green pepper if you have it. Add a little water, maybe half a cup, and dot the top with butter. If you have it, add leftover gravy instead of water.

Bake in the oven at 350 until the potatoes are done, probably an hour. Good with catsup.

There was one exception to the restaurant hash situation. When I first came to Helena in 1948 the G & B Cafeteria on Main Street was located across the street from where I worked for the Montana Unemployment Compensation Commission.

The cafeteria was in the front of the building and the back was occupied by a really disreputable cowboy bar. It was a place you didn’t go by yourself, but sometimes a group from the office would gang up and go together to eat their hash.

It might have been made out of scraps but it was really delicious. They served it with a poached egg on top. The atmosphere wasn’t the greatest but it was hard to beat the price­—65 cents for a heaping plate.

It’s easy to turn Camp Shakey Beans into Mom’s Norwegian Beans.

When the beans are done, add 1 cup of brown sugar and a quarter cup of catsup.

Place in a 300 oven for 30 minutes or so to give the flavors a chance to blend.

You can substitute light molasses or sorghum for the brown sugar, but I prefer brown sugar because it is milder.

I also prefer the flavor of bacon over ham for these beans.

Choose nice, solid heads of cabbage.
Shred cabbage in five-pound batches and add two tablespoons of canning salt to each batch, mixing it well.

Place in a crock that has been washed well and scalded with boiling water.

Pound the salt-cabbage mixture down in the crock until the juice begins to form.

We use the end of a piece of 2x4 to do this.

Continue to mix in five-pound batches, add to crock, and pound.

Fifteen pounds (three five-pound batches) should be enough for a family for a year, unless you really like sauerkraut.

When all the cabbage is in the crock, continue to pound until the juice covers the cabbage.

If there isn’t enough juice, mix a tablespoon of salt in a quart of water and add it to the crock.

We modern sauerkraut makers don’t bother with skimming it every day.

We place a garbage sack on top and fill it with water, making sure it fits tightly against the edges of the crock to keep the air out.

Fermentation will take anywhere from three to six weeks depending on the room temperature.

At 75 it will take three weeks.

Fermentation is complete if you tap the side of the crock and no bubbles rise to the top.

After three weeks check it, taste it, and if it’s not quite done, cover it again with the plastic bag.

Be sure there is enough water in the bag to keep the cabbage submerged.

When you think it’s ready, it can be stored in tightly packed containers in the refrigerator for several months.

If you don’t have room, it can be canned.

Heat the kraut to almost boiling, pack in pint jars, adjust lids, and process in boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

This recipe is from our friends Lorraine and Roland who make it in 100-pound batches and share with friends and family.

This seems to be a holiday tradition in a lot of homes.

The recipe calls for a can of French’s Fried Onions.

In a one and a half quart casserole, combine:
1 can mushroom soup ½ cup milk
1 teaspoon soy sauce dash of pepper
2 cans green beans, drained 2/3 cup french fried onions

Bake for 25 minutes, or until hot; stir; sprinkle the rest of the can of onions on top and bake 5 minutes longer.

This is Karen’s famous made-from-scratch lasagna.

It’s often requested for birthdays.

Cook one package of lasagna noodles until they are tender.

Drain and set aside.

Then make sauce:
Add 2 tablespoons oil to a frying pan and add the following:
1 chopped onion
2 cloves of chopped garlic
When the onion is cooked add:
1 pound hamburger
Salt and pepper to taste
½ teaspoon rosemary or basil
When no pink remains in the hamburger, add:
2 6-ounce cans of tomato paste
1½ cups hot water

Let sauce simmer for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, beat two eggs and mix with a large container of cottage cheese.

Assemble in this order in a large baking pan (13x9 cake pan will do):
half the meat sauce
half the noodles
all the cottage cheese and egg mixture
12-oz. package of shredded mozzarella cheese (more if you like)
the rest of the meat sauce
other half of the noodles
12-oz. package of shredded Swiss cheese (more if you like)
16-oz. can of Italian-style chopped tomatoes

Bake for 45 minutes at 350.

Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

How could I ever have forgotten to add meatloaf to this cookbook?

I was reminded that it was not included when I offered to let Jennifer see the draft copy, and she noticed immediately that it wasn’t included.

When I make meat loaf, I usually just add a little of this and a little of that so I had to go back to Betty Crocker to get the basic recipe.

Sometimes my meatloaf isn’t that great, so I intend to start using this basic recipe again.

Mix thoroughly:
1 ½ pounds hamburger OR 1 pound hamburger and ½ pound sausage
2 cups dry bread crumbs
1 egg
1 ½ cups milk
¼ cup minced onion
1 ½ teaspoons salt (1 teaspoon if you use pork sausage)
¼ teaspoon pepper
Pack into a greased 9x5x3 loaf pan.
Combine: ¼ cup catsup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon mustard

Spread over the top of the meatloaf and bake at 350 for 1½ hours. I usually stick some potatoes in the oven to bake along with the meatloaf; add a salad or vegetable—and dinner is ready.

You can do a lot of things to the basic meatloaf recipe.

Grandma sometimes used oatmeal instead of bread crumbs, and Jim’s mom used saltine crackers.

The bread crumbs made for turkey stuffing work well.

You can add a can of mushrooms, or a couple of teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce, some chili sauce, or a little horseradish for seasoning.

I have poked whole fresh mushrooms in a row down the middle.

Instead of the topping recipe I included above, I sometimes spread barbecue sauce or chili sauce on top.

One recipe I have says to add chopped pimentos and another calls for chopped green pepper—so there are a lot of options, and it just depends on what you like.

Cold meatloaf makes great sandwiches. The meatloaf recipe can also be used to stuff green peppers.

I had never eaten veal or anything seasoned with bay leaf prior to the time I was invited to dinner at Grandma Zimmerman's house.

Since Grandpa was a butcher they always had the best cuts of meat. I always thought it was odd that most evenings Grandma wouldn't start cooking dinner until Grandpa came home from the butcher shop with the meat.

Grandma was Irish-English and Grandpa was German, and this was often reflected in their meals.

For the stew:
Dip pieces of stew meat (1 1/2 pounds of either veal or beef) in flour to which salt and pepper have been added.

Brown in hot fat. Add a bay leaf and several slices of onion. Add hot water to cover, and put a lid on the pan.

Simmer on very low heat until the meat is tender, adding extra hot water if it boils low.
Allow at least a couple of hours. Then add pieces of carrot, celery, onion, and potatoes and simmer until done.

Remove the meat and vegetables to a serving bowl with a slotted spoon, and thicken the remaining liquid in the pan with a mixture of 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup water.

Add it slowly until you have a nice gravy-like consistency. It might not take all the flour and water mixture.

Check for seasoning and add salt or pepper if necessary. Stir gravy with a wire whisk, and, if you are really lucky, you won't have any lumps in the gravy.

Pour this over the stew and serve.

It's nice to have crusty hard rolls to serve with the stew.
=================================

Another dish the Zimmerman family enjoyed was boiled pork hocks.

Grandpa would bring home pork hocks with a lot of meat on them. They were boiled in salted water until very tender and then left to cool.

The meat was then sliced thin and served cold with a sweet-hot mustard.

Grandma Zim was a very good cook and I'm sorry I don't have more of her recipes.

At one time, Grandpa Zim and his father owned butchershops in Butte, Boulder, and Alhambra.

He then worked 25 years at the Union Market on 6th Avenue in Helena and, before retiring, spent another 11 years at Hennessy's Grocery Store which was located on the corner of 11th and Last Chance Gulch.

This was one of my kids' favorite dinners and we had it often.

When I was growing up, these were called "hot dishes" rather than "casseroles."

Brown 1 pound of hamburger with a small chopped onion, some chopped celery and green pepper. (Green pepper is optional.)

Add:
One package of cooked noodles or macaroni
One can of tomato sauce or a can of Campbell's tomato soup
One can of Niblets corn
A little catsup to spice it up
Velveeta or American cheese cut in chunks

Place in a casserole, sprinkle with additional cheese, and bake at 350 until hot, cheese is melted, and vegetables are tender-maybe 30 minutes or a little longer.