Iowa’s Catering Cuisine by Ruth Paget
Crossing the Mississippi River from Wisconsin to DuBuque (Iowa) is a rather enchanting experience, because the road is elevated downtown and passes through a forest of church spires that are level with the car. Houses along the way are substantial and remind you that the Amish and Mennonites worship at home.
Immigrants to Iowa have included Germans, Dutch, Czechs, and the Swiss. They have overseen the production of food that feeds the United States and the world with the production of corn, oats, soybeans, hogs, beef cattle, popcorn, poultry, and dairy products according to the Best of the Best from Iowa Cookbook edited by Gwen McKee and Barbara Moseley.
This cookbook has many traditional recipes that could be catered by personals chefs for extra cash. Some of the farm dishes that I thought would work well for catering include:
-baked Reuben dip made with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, sour cream, brown mustard, onions, cream cheese, and corned beef
-chive and black pepper corn bread
-Depression-era potato soup made with potatoes, onions, celery, noodles, and evaporated milk
-Dutch lettuce made with potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, lettuce, chopped onion, and bacon
-spinach salad with bacon -blue cheese-artichoke salad
-marinated tomatoes which are chilled
-marinated green beans which are chilled
-cabbage and apple slaw with walnuts
-card club chicken salad made with chicken, macaroni, boiled eggs, carrots, peas, celery, onions, green pepper, and pimientos
-garden club salad made with chicken, water chestnuts, grapes, celery, almonds, sour cream, mayonnaise, curry powder, and pineapple chunks
-corn cheese casserole
-sour cream and cheddar supreme potatoes
-baked stuffed tomatoes made with chives, mushrooms, bread crumbs, and Parmesan cheese
-asparagus the Dutch way made with asparagus, potatoes, smoked ham, eggs, and nutmeg
-ham, cabbage, and noodle casserole
Recipes for these classic dishes and 400 more can be found in Best of the Best from Iowa edited by Gwen McKee and Barbara Moseley.
Happy Reading!
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
