A Taste of Texas: An Introduction to some vintage recipe madness

"I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food."

Mr. Spencer and I had a very lovely Saturday night; We decided to stay in and cook a good ol' American meal. I had a special little book in tow and we chose a couple of  recipes to try out for the first time...Today, I introduce you, my dear friends, to "A Taste of Texas", edited by Jane Trahey, and published in 1949. Aquired at an estate sale, years ago...this is the first time it's seen the light of day.  I was delighted when he agreed to some vintage recipe goodness. Can you see the little devil horns peeking out? And it all worked out great...

We prepared the Eggplant and Broiled Tomato Casserole first. Take a look at the ingredients; We substituted bacon drippings for butter and oil, and American Cheese for Mozzerella. Looking for shallots was an adventure in itself, neither one of us knew what they were. Turns out, they are an onion that kinda look like garlic bunches. Whoulda thought? We also cut this recipe way down to one eggplant and two large tomatoes.  Even then, this dish was way too much for two people.

Finding roquefort cheese proved difficult. There was NONE at the grocery store. We instead used Blue Cheese.

The final result:

Some final thoughts: Having both dishes containing lots of cheese is probably not a good idea. Pretty heavy unless you are a cheese lover like myself. And apparently Blue Cheese is too strong for the steak. You live and you learn, I suppose. We thought blue cheese was pretty comparable to roquefort. Whether or not it is, can any one answer that? I'm clueless when it comes to that stuff. Overall both dishes were very tasty! Next time, I'll add more veggies to the casserole...that'll be delish!

***Update: As I was surfing the internet world, I came across a lovely blog, with a just-as-delectable version of the above eggplant and tomato casserole, take a look-see here!