Country substitutions

[Harborwitch]

I guess you really have to be resourceful out here in the boonies - you can get snowed in, or (as we are now) flooded in and you just might need to substitute somehow.

So - in light of that, after browsing in a North Dakota community cookbook I found some clever ideas.

Cream Soup Substitute

2 c. instant non fat dry milk
3/4 c. cornstarch
1/4 c. chicken bouillon
2 TBS dried onion flakes
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp thyme

Combine all and mix well. Store in an airtight container. To make equivalent of one can of soup or about 1 1/2 c. sauce - combine 1/3 c. dry mix with 1 1/4 c. cold water in a saucepan. Stir over low heat until warm. You may add cheese, mushrooms, cooked celery, or dried herbs. Can be used as a cheese sauce for macaroni & cheese or cubed potatoes and a few sliced wieners. (:p ewwwwwww)

Casserole Sauce Mix

A substitute for 1 can condensed soup.

2 c. powdered milk
3/4 c. cornstarch
1/4 c. instant beef bouillon
2 TBS dried onion flakes
1 tsp. dried basil leaves, crushed
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves, crushed

Combine together and store in an airtight container in refrigerator. To prepare for cooking, mix 1/3 c. dry mix with 1 1/2 c. water. Cook and stir until thickened. This has less fat and salt than canned soup.

Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 c. Instant non-fat dry milk
1/3 c. boiling water
3 TBS melted butter
2/3 c. sugar
pinch of salt

Put in blender and process until smooth. Keeps several weeks in the refrigerator. Can be used in any recipe using sweetened condensed milk. Equals 1 can "boughten" milk.

Microwave Sweetened Condensed Milk

3/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. water
1/4 c. butter
1 c. dry milk

In a 2 cup glass casserole, measure sugar, water, and butter. Put in microwave on high for 1 1/2 minutes or until it boils, stirring every 30 seconds. Combine in the blender with the dry milk. Process until smooth. Refrigerate. Yields 1 can.

Homemade "Eagle Brand" Condensed Milk

1/3 c. evaporated milk
3/4 c. sugar
2 TBS butter

Heat until bubbling, stir during time of heating.

There are a lot more - but I thought these were clever, and interesting.

[labradors]

Quote:

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Country substitutions

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I substitute Morocco for France, on occasion.

[Harborwitch]

Jean - send him to his room! I darn near spewed gimlet all over my monitor and the living room.

[Gourmet_Mom]

Interesting...looks like you need to stockpile dried milk, carnation, sugar, and butter. With that and your dried herb supply, you should be able to make just about anything...LOL!

Speaking of substitutions...has anyone tried reconstituted powdered milk to make bechamel? I've pulled it off with carnation, but hadn't thought about trying powdered milk in a pinch.

[labradors]

Because of the uneven quality of the milk available in the supermarkets, here, I've used powdered milk for quite a few things, including béchamel, and it has worked very well. In fact, there are about five different brands of powdered milk, here, and they are all very good. Two of them: Anchor (from New Zealand, of all places) and Dos Pinos (from Costa Rica) are excellent. The big difference, though, is that these powdered milks are WHOLE milk, not the nondescript Carnation Instant Non-fat Dry Milk. In the States, I would keep Carnation on hand as part of a hurricane-preparedness kit, but here, I actually look forward to drinking the powdered milk. I'll usually mix it with slightly warmed water at night then put it into the fridge over night so it will be good and cold when I'm ready to use it. For cooking, I'll sometimes use it on the fly by whisking the powder and the water directly into something else.

[Gourmet_Mom]

Good to know...I'm glad I asked. Even though I can usually only get Carnation brand, I think I'll get the larger box from now on. I try to keep the small box on hand for Jean's Pizza Dough recipe.

[cjs]

Those are great ideas, Sharon. While I was working on Journey...Home, there were a number of 'old' dishes that we loved so much that called for commercial soups. I wanted to have them again, but I try to stay away from those soups, not from snobbishness (a word?), but because of the sodium content. Long story short, I did find a lot of ways to make subsitutions for the cream soups that we liked.

So, boonies or health, your ideas are great!

[Harborwitch]

I wish I could take all the credit - a bunch of North Dakota women contributed these to a community cookbook.

I think some of their ideas are great. So many of their cookbooks are full of recipes that are made with 1 or more cans of soup so this is great.