Good Housekeeping's Quick 'n' Easy Cook Book; Cranberry-Beef Patties

At my local grocery store, at every check out, there are small booklets of recipes, for small change, ready for the impulse shopper who is bored waiting in line. These booklets have been around for a long time, folks. The saddle stitch bindings might lack the gravitas of perfect bound tomes, but they can be fabulous little collections. This week, we'll look at Good Housekeeping's Quick 'n' Easy Cook Book, from 1958. It's not currently available from any Amazon sellers, but you can probably find it on eBay or the like; booklets might not look impressive, but they're small, so they aren't usually the first thing to go when someone purges a bookshelf to regain space.

Cranberry-Beef Patties

1 1/2 cups chopped, cooked pot roast
1 1/2 cups diced, cooked potatoes
1 1/2 cups diced, cooked beets
1 onion, chopped
1/3 cup packaged dried bread crumbs
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 teasp. Worcestershire
1 teasp. salt
1/8 teasp. pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablesp. butter or margarine
1/2 can whole-cranberry sauce

Mix together pot roast, potatoes, beets, onion, bread crumbs, milk, egg, Worcestershire, salt, pepper. Form into 8 patties. Dip lightly into flour. Sauté in hot butter in skillet until browned on both sides and heated through. Add cranberry sauce; heat until milted. To serve, spoon sauce on top of patties.

Makes 8 servings

This recipe has "leftovers" written all over it. And why not? Leftovers make dinners quick and easy. If you've cooked up a pot roast, with root veg, and you need a way to reformat it or you'll go crazy... this is a heck of a way to do it.

If you're not in the habit of having beets with your pot roast, either use canned beets, or substitute the carrots (or parsnips) you did cook with the roast.

I've never served cranberry sauce along side pot roast, but this recipe has me wondering whyever not; tangy berries would be nice along a nice bit of beef as easily as next to turkey. And flipping them into a pan sauce for the leftovers? Pretty snazzy. If you're an IKEA devotee, you could use the lingonberries you bought to go with your Swedish meatballs ... and add a splash of milk or cream at the last minute, too.