Steak and Kidney Pie

I read book jackets. I live for a good blurb. Casserole Cookery: One-Dish Meals for the Busy Gourmet doesn't have a jacket; however, it does have some great cover copy.

Casserole Cookery IS MORE FLAVORSOME, KEEPS FOOD HOT, SAVES TEDIOUS POT-WASHING, AND DECORATES THE TABLE WITH THE POT YOU COOK IN.

WHY THIS COOK BOOK IS UNIQUE:

New dishes in the modern manner

One meal, one page -- everything right under your nose

What to cook -- How to make it -- How long it takes -- How many it serves

DIRECTIONS ARE EXACT, EASY TO FOLLOW

WASHABLE COVER, BOOK DESIGNED TO STAND OPEN AT YOUR PLACE WHILE YOUR HANDS ARE BUSY

Increases your culinary repertory without extra expenditure of time or money -- will add novelty to any woman's shelf of cook books and delight to any he-man's meals.

I couldn't make up those bolds, italics, random-caps and all-caps if I tried, folks. That's straight from the back cover.

Yesterday's recipe was so unabashedly vegetarian and contained so few ingredients, I figure we can go for something more complex and organ-ish today.

Steak and Kidney Pie

Time: 1 1/4 hours

Ingredients:
1 lb. beef -- top round
6 lamb kidneys
1 medium-sized bunch of carrots, scraped and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 No. 2 can tiny new potatoes drained
1 package frozen limas
3 medium-sized Bermuda onions quartered
2 cups prepared biscuit flour
1 cup milk
1/4 small bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon sage
salt and pepper

Prepare kidneys by splitting and removing white membrane; soak in cold salted water while cutting steak in small pieces about the size of a half-dollar. Sear both in an iron skillet about 5 minutes, add 2 cups of water and boil 6 minutes. Put everything in a low buttered casserole and cover with soft dough (2 cups of biscuit flour, 1 cup of milk, and do not roll). Bake about 20 minutes at 450°.

Menu
Steak and kidney pie
Endive salad with French dressing (1 part wine vinegar, 2 parts olive oil, salt and pepper, and a dash -- merely a dash -- of nutmeg)
Swedish bread (the kind that looks like phonograph disks -- can be bought at any fancy grocery)
Coffee

Story
This will serve four of our friends, or six normal eaters. People who drop in during our dinner, which we have fairly late, and say, " Thank you, I've had dinner, but that looks good, I'd like to taste it," have been known to eat three helpings

I tend to say I've "peeled" carrots, but really like the word "scraped" here. After all, carrots don't actually have a peel; you're just scraping off the outer bit that is a touch darker, a bit likely to be clinging to dirt.

There's a lie in that last paragraph. I only ever peel (or scrape) carrots if I'm peeling/scraping them all the way down into long ribbons. I figure that a washing is all that is needed.

I'm a bit curious about the one quarter of a bay leaf. I'm much more likely to chuck a few extra bay leaves in when I make a stew or soup. A quarter of one? Seems like a pointless endeavor.

In the not-so-distant future, this recipe will be even more anachronistic. Describing bread as looking like a phonograph disk is going to be as out-of-date a reference for the next iPod generation as calling for things by can size number. Oh, and, remember: a No. 2 can is approximately 2 1/2 cups, so, a nice big can, like the size you'd get if you wanted a can of stewed tomatoes to make yourself a mess of spaghetti sauce.