Classic macaroni and cheese (not mac & cheese, please), Ritz crackers, Lowry seasoned salt, cube steak, Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup, these and many more are the dishes and main ingredients that I’ve re-introduced to my repertoire of simple home cooking.  They were the standard bearers in American kitchens in the last half of the prior century before we became enlightened to cook local without using processed foods.

Classics from yesteryear still easily found today: Ritz crackers, Lowry salt, Campbell’s soup and butcher’s cut cube steak

But if you look at regional cookbooks focusing on country cooking you encounter lots of calls for canned soup popularized by Campbell’s or cracker crumbs of all kinds mostly Keebler saltines or Ritz crackers that fill meatloaf mixtures and handy-dandy casseroles.  While I haven’t thrown out my whisk to whip up classic sauces, I’ll use those canned soups occasionally as the base for a hearty casserole.   There’s a baked haddock dish, for instance, that I make with Campbell’s cream of shrimp soup mixed with milk or cream, topped with Cheddar and crushed Ritz or saltine crackers moistened with melted butter.  It’s delicious.  Could I prepare a version of the soup from scratch?  Of course, after hours spent making it.

It’s a dichotomy, I know, for someone such as myself who makes his own ice cream rather than buying store bought. I don’t even use canned stocks.  Even in a pinch since I always have the homemade brew on hand either in my freezer or easily assemble the few ingredients (wings and aromatics) for a quick stock that’s ready in less than an hour.

I’ve started to use Lowry salt, too—a kitchen staple that was always on the spice shelf in my family’s kitchen when I was growing up.  My mother, an uninspired cook, sprinkled it on everything.  But in her own way she was a purist.  She hardly ever served frozen vegetables as long as fresh were available. And her cooking was simple, bland and often a little weird, but the food we ate was always healthy and fresh.  Most of the time, however, we went out to a neighborhood restaurant for dinner.

Macaroni and cheese was her favorite dish and we had it often.  I don’t think her version was memorable because I can’t remember how it was made.  But I recall one rule: it had to be baked in a glass Pyrex dish because she loved to have the sides of the casserole be as crusty and brown as the top, and a glass baking dish promotes that.

Classic macaroni and cheese

Her version was most likely made with a white sauce in which cheese was melted.  It might have contained American cheese like Velveeta or the ubiquitous Cracker Barrel cheddar.

I’ve gone beyond that typical version, which is popular in the northeast and Midwest and prefer what southern cooks do.  The elbow macaroni is cloaked in a custard-like mixture of milk, cream, sour cream, eggs, cheese and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.  Sometimes I’ll add half an onion grated into the mixture, a touch that I learned from cookbook author and southern chef, Edna Lewis.  Her version is the one I make the most often—it’s a delicious custard that’s crusty and rich, holding the pasta in divine suspension.

Another ingredient that I’ve rediscovered is the venerable cube steak.  You don’t even see this in the meat case of supermarkets anymore.  But it was one of those cuts of meat that homemakers (what a weird word nowadays) relied on in the 50s because it was quick to cook, tasty and very inexpensive.  A venerable dish like chicken fried steak includes the use of cube steak and I’m planning to make it soon and will share the recipe here.

Butcher’s cut cube steak from Bisson’s

The old-fashioned family butcher Bisson’s in Topsham has stocked their meat case with cube steaks for years.   I go to Bisson’s  all the time because of the freshness and quality of their meats.  The beef comes from their own cows who graze on meadows across the road from the shop; it’s essentially grass-fed beef that’s finished on grain.  And for years I’ve seen cube steak in the meat case and passed it by summarily until recently. (Pat’s Meat Market will do up a version of cube steak by pounding the meat until thin and slightly broken apart; they don’t have a cubing machine.)

Cube steak is essentially round steak put through a machine that creates its unique look and acts to tenderize it. I asked one of the Bisson ladies who works there how to cook it and was instructed to just season it with onion and garlic salt, lightly dredge in flour and sauté quickly in oil, about one minute per side.

Today’s featured menu is sautéed cube steak, baked macaroni and cheese and an intriguing side dish of roasted carrots, which I adapted from London chef Yotam Ottolenghi in his fabulous book “Nopi.”

Home cooking, a touch of the past and modern dishes: sauteed cube steak, macaroni and cheese and roasted carrots with coriander seeds and garic

Carrots: About 2 pounds of carrots are peeled and cut in half and in half again to have spears about 3/4 -inch-thick and 3 inches long.  In a bowl toss the carrots with a heaping tablespoon of honey, a glug or two of olive oil, 1 ½ teaspoons coriander seeds gently crushed in a mortar and pestle, 3 cloves of garlic crushed, skins removed and chopped roughly and salt and pepper to taste.  Put these on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Do not let the spears touch or use two pans if necessary.  Roast in a 425-degree oven for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Just before they’re done add a few sprigs of thyme and more salt and pepper to taste.

Cube steak: season with garlic and onion salts and freshly ground pepper.  Dredge the steak very lightly in flour seasoned with Lowry salt; pan fry in oil (canola or olive oil) over moderately high heat for about 1 minute per side or until the meat is browned and cooked through.