1939 Macaroni, Cheese & Tomato Recipe

Welcome friends .

It is Sunday morning .

So we're going to do another one of our post Depression pre World War Two recipes .

And this week we're doing one from the Elm Vale community cookbook published in 1939 .

Uh and we're going to make macaroni and cheese with tomato .

Now , this was published in 1939 which is just as Canada was entering World War two .

We entered World War two in 1939 .

So some of these recipes show the austerity of what's coming and a little bit of hope that they've made it out of what just happened .

So , into that pot , I've got salted boiling water .

I put in some elbow macaroni in this pot on uh sort of medium low heat .

I'm going to put in some red onion that's just sliced up and it says half a can of tomatoes .

Now , it doesn't say what size the can of tomatoes needs to be just half a can .

So , um let's see if that works .

It says just to cook this together and I imagine that's just to get the onion to soften .

Uh It also says to put in some salt and pepper .

So we'll let that cook away for a little bit .

Now , in this pot , we're going to make a roux .

So first off , I'm going to melt this butter .

OK ?

The butter is melted .

So we put in some flour and we just stir this and cook it until the flour starts to brown .

Ok ?

Just a few more seconds until that flour is cooked and starting to brown , the macaroni is done .

So I'm going to turn that off and I'm going to drain it and I'll just leave that over the pot there for a moment .

This looks pretty good .

Now , so in go the tomatoes and it says to stir cook and mix this together until it starts to thicken and it starts to thicken almost immediately .

So I'm gonna turn the heat off to this and we'll just let this sit while I grate the cheese .

OK ?

I think I've got all of the components ready .

Now , it doesn't say what size of a baking dish to put it in .

So I'm gonna try this eight by eight .

I'll put the uh macaroni in first and see how it fills it up .

Yeah , eight by eight is gonna be the right size .

Now , says to mix in the cheese .

So we'll mix the cheese in , mix the cheese in the macaroni is still hot and the cheese is gonna start to melt into the macaroni almost immediately .

Now it just says to pour the tomato mixture over top .

It doesn't say to mix it in .

So I guess we just plop this on top .

It is quite thick .

It's very thick , spread it out .

Interesting and mix on some buttered bread crumbs .

Now , this just goes in the oven , it says until it's heated through and the bread crumbs are crispy .

It smells pretty .

Tomatoey looks pretty .

Tomatoey is pretty tomatoey .

Um , a little bit of cheese .

Ok .

Is a fork or spoon ?

Um , I'm gonna say spoon , you're not sure .

I'm not sure .

I don't think it's gonna hold together enough for , for .

I think this is maybe it holds together better .

What is it going to ?

So I brought forks and spoons .

It looks like it's got all the right things though .

Tomatoes , cheese , tomato macaroni , tomatoes , cheese macaroni , I mean an onion with it .

It's like it should be fine .

Um , it'll still be kind of hot .

Oh , yes .

It's Demi , it was perfectly fine .

Ok .

I got halfway in and I thought this is gonna be really bland because there's only salt and pepper in it .

Your tone suggested that you were concerned .

Um , I was concerned .

I thought there's only salt and pepper in it .

You've made a roof with the tomato sauce to thicken the tomato sauce and it's gonna be , it's gonna be goopy , it's gonna be goopy and flavorless .

Even hot .

It's not goopy .

No , it is actually quite nice .

You sound so surprised .

I am surprised but no , so I made this exactly as the recipe because that's what this , that's what this series is about .

I would take this method , make it again and throw some of those other things in that we always associate with tomatoes and noodles .

Why ?

Um , just to elevate it a little bit .

But I , I guess you don't have to because it is , if , if you , if you're looking for a comfort food , this is what you're looking for .

This is very comforting .

You could , you know , go all that way and add all sorts of other flavors .

Some basil and some you could , you could , you could do that .

You could .

But I don't , I don't wanna undersell it .

It is .

I am surprised that it is as good as it is .

It is very comfortable .

It's a very lovely comfort food like warm .

I would .

Yeah , I'll be having this for lunch is like a at the cottage after you've taken the dock suit , you just need something .

It makes you feel happy , ripped off because it was three pots on the stove .

And then this thing that went in the oven , it was a lot of work .

It felt like I used a lot of utensils to make something that was very simple .

So maybe not to you .

Maybe your task is not to um add more flavor to it because it sounds but how to simplify it so that it is a one pot wonder that would be , I don't know , I'm digging this .

So as much as I was apprehensive , I'm gonna finish this and I'm going to really enjoy it and I will make it again .

So thanks for stopping by , see you again soon .