These “Share the Meat” Ration Recipes Show The Innovation Of The Greatest Generation

Braised Stuffed Hearts

Beef hearts were a source of protein not overlooked by butchers and wives. While they weren’t commonly clamored for at the meat counter, they never the less were a viable food during a time of such shortage. This recipe calls for stuffing them, which sounds about as good as one could get with a lesser-known meat. From the original caption: “To supplement the voluntary weekly meat allotment of two and a half pounds per person, housewives are turning to the unlimited supply of ‘variety’ meats on the market. Beef or calf hearts are among these meats which are rich in iron and vitamin B. To prepare braised stuffed heart select one beef heart, or two or three calf hearts. A simple stuffing of onion, celery, herbs, and bread crumbs gives distinction to the dish.”

The filling gets sewn into the hearts after trimming away the blood vessels and gristle. The hearts get browned on the stove and then baked in the oven for up to 5 hours depending on size and whether you’ve used beef hearts or calf hearts. You then “make gravy of the pan drippings and serve the hearts piping hot, garnished with crisp greens” which sounds better than starving at any rate.

For your family you had to make each coupon (seen above) stretch as far as it could and recipes like these helped to make that possible. Imagine the panic if you had miscalculated and a dinner basically went missing from your weekly line-up? Wives and mothers must have been under such strain to make it all work! But, we bet an odd dinner would have been a small price to pay for getting to go to bed fed!

Have a look at some Depression Era recipes here»