Corny Biscuits au Gratin

As we were going through Bill's grandma's house a few months ago, we came across a cookbook called "Ford Treasury of Favorite Recipes from Famous Eating Places" with a 1950 copyright. I love old books and cooking so I was really excited to look through this. It appears that this was a cookbook given to Ford customers. Somehow, buying a car and receiving a cookbook seems strange to me but maybe that was normal in 1950!

There are recipes from all across the country. Kayleigh was horrified that there were several recipes for frog legs! These biscuits seemed like a safer bet.

I've typed up the recipe as is (because I found it charming) but added my notes to the side where necessary.

Corny Bisuits au Gratin from Phil De Graff's Lodges in Trout Lake, Michigan

4 cups Bisquick (I didn't have any so I used this recipe.)

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 heaping tablespoon shortening

Cheddar cheese to individual taste (I used 1 cup of misc. cheeses we had left over)

1/2 cup cream style corn

Water enough for a soft dough (about 3/4 cup)

Bran (I used oat bran)

Mix dry ingredients, then work in shortening as for pie crust. Grate cheese into the corn and water, and mix together into a soft dough. Add corn-cheese mixture to dry ingredients and mix fast, adding water as necessary to make a very soft biscuit dough. (I wasn't really sure what they meant here so I added the corn and cheese to the dry ingredients and then stirred in enough water to make a nice batter.) "Flour" the board with bran and pat out dough about 3/4 inch thick on top of it. Cut into biscuits and bake in a moderately hot oven (375 degrees for 18 minutes).

Kay: These were ok but a little dry. I couldn't really taste the cheese in them though.

Mom (Dana): I liked these. I thought they were really moist. They were pretty easy to make, too so I would probably make them again. I was thrilled to find an old recipe that didn't contain tons of butter, cream, and eggs!