{"id":96526,"date":"2025-12-08T02:00:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T07:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/?p=96526"},"modified":"2025-12-07T10:01:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T15:01:18","slug":"eating-aboard-a-us-submarine-during-world-war-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/2025\/12\/08\/eating-aboard-a-us-submarine-during-world-war-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Eating aboard a US Submarine during World War 2"},"content":{"rendered":"<p align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"854\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/knN3738JU9s?si=3Suw67bsqNFjNDP9\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Tasting History with Max Miller<\/strong><br \/>\nPublished 1 Jul 2025  <\/p>\n<p>Slow-cooked steaks with tomatoes and onions with mashed potatoes and gravy<\/p>\n<p><em>City\/Region<\/em>: United States of America<br \/>\n<em>Time Period<\/em>: 1945<\/p>\n<p>Being a crew member aboard a submarine during World War II was one of the most dangerous jobs in the US military with a fatality rate of over 20%. This, and the extremely cramped and uncomfortable quarters, were why the food aboard a US sub was really good. If nothing else, at least you had delicious food to keep you going.<\/p>\n<p>These steaks cook up to be fall-apart tender and delicious, and the mashed potatoes have wonderful flavor, even if the texture is a little different from regular mashed potatoes. They kind of remind me of the mashed potatoes I&#8217;d get as a kid in school, which were also probably made from dehydrated potatoes.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<p><em><strong>SWISS BEEF STEAKS<\/strong><br \/>\nPortion: 1 (6-ounce) steak.<br \/>\n100 PORTIONS<br \/>\nBeef, bone-in&#8230;&#8230;60 pounds<br \/>\nOR<br \/>\nBeef, boneless&#8230;&#8230;42 pounds<br \/>\nFlour&#8230;&#8230;2 pounds&#8230;&#8230;1\/2 gallon<br \/>\nSalt&#8230;&#8230;6 ounces&#8230;&#8230;3\/4 cup<br \/>\nPepper&#8230;&#8230;1\/2 ounce&#8230;&#8230;1 3\/4 tablespoons<br \/>\nFat&#8230;&#8230;2 pounds&#8230;&#8230;1 quart<br \/>\nTomatoes&#8230;&#8230;12 pounds, 12 ounces&#8230;&#8230;2 No. 10 cans (6 1\/2 quarts).<br \/>\nOnions, sliced&#8230;&#8230;6 pounds&#8230;&#8230;4 1\/2 quarts<br \/>\nSalt&#8230;&#8230;1 ounce&#8230;&#8230;2 tablespoons<br \/>\nFlour (for gravy)&#8230;&#8230;1 pound&#8230;&#8230;1 quart<br \/>\nWater, cold&#8230;&#8230;<br \/>\nCut meat into 6-ounce steaks 1 to 1 1\/2 inches thick.<br \/>\nSift together flour, salt and pepper. Pound into steaks.<br \/>\nCook steaks in fat until browned on both sides. Place in roasting pans.<br \/>\nAdd tomatoes. Cover with onion slices. Sprinkle with 1 ounce salt.<br \/>\nCover pans. Cook in slow oven (300\u00b0F.) 3 hours or until steaks are tender.<br \/>\nDrain liquid from Swiss steaks. Make a paste of flour and water. Stir into steak liquid. Cook until thickened. Pour over steaks. Reheat.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MASHED POTATOES<\/strong> (Using dehydrated, shredded potatoes)<br \/>\nPortion: Approx. 4 1\/2 ounces (approx. 2\/3 cup).<br \/>\n100 PORTIONS<br \/>\nWater&#8230;&#8230;5 pounds, 8 ounces&#8230;&#8230;2 gallons<br \/>\nPotato shreds, dehydrated, precooked&#8230;&#8230;5 pounds&#8230;&#8230;2 gallons<br \/>\nSalt&#8230;&#8230;3 ounces&#8230;&#8230;6 tablespoons<br \/>\nMilk, liquid, hot&#8230;&#8230;3\/4 gallon<br \/>\nButter, melted&#8230;&#8230;1 pound&#8230;&#8230;1 pint<br \/>\nHeat water to vigorous boil. Pour over potatoes. Cover.<br \/>\nLet stand in warm place 15 minutes or over low heat 10 minutes.<br \/>\nAdd salt. Stir vigorously 15 to 20 minutes or until smooth.<br \/>\nAdd milk and butter. Whip until light. Serve immediately.<br \/>\n\u2014 <strong>The Cook Book of the United States Navy by the United States Department of the Navy Bureau of Supplies and Accounts<\/strong>, Washington, D.C., 1945<\/em><\/p>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ingredients<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p><em>Swiss Steaks<\/em><br \/>\n3 1\/2 pounds (1.5 kg) boneless beef, something that stands up well to a long cook time, I used chuck roast<br \/>\n1 cup (120 g) flour, divided<br \/>\n1 tablespoon plus 1\/2 teaspoon salt, divided<br \/>\n1\/2 teaspoon black pepper<br \/>\n1\/3 cup (75 ml) oil, but I think you could cut this as much as half<br \/>\n1 pound (450 g) canned chopped tomatoes<br \/>\n1\/2 pound (225 g) sliced onions<br \/>\n1\/3 cup (80 ml) water, more or less as desired<\/p>\n<p><em>Mashed Potatoes<\/em><br \/>\n1 quart (1 L) water<br \/>\n2\/3 pound (300 g) dehydrated shredded potatoes*<br \/>\n2 1\/2 teaspoons salt<br \/>\n1 1\/2 cups (350 ml) milk<br \/>\n4 tablespoons (55 g) melted butter<br \/>\n*See notes below.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Instructions<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>For the steaks: Preheat the oven to 300\u00b0F (150\u00b0C).<\/li>\n<li>Slice the beef into steaks about 1 to 1 1\/2 inches (3 to 4 cm) thick.<\/li>\n<li>Whisk together 2\/3 cup (80 g) of the flour with 1 tablespoon of the salt and the pepper.<\/li>\n<li>Dredge the steaks in the flour mixture, making sure to press the flour into the meat and that the steaks are coated on all sides.<\/li>\n<li>Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over high heat. When it&#8217;s shimmering, place the steaks in and cook until well browned, then carefully flip them (they may sputter in the hot oil) and cook on the other side.<\/li>\n<li>When the steaks are well browned on both sides, place them in a baking dish and cover them evenly with the tomatoes, then the sliced onions on top of that. Sprinkle the last 1\/2 teaspoon of salt over it all and cover it.<\/li>\n<li>Bake for 3 hours or until the steaks are nice and tender.<\/li>\n<li>When the steaks are done, drain off as much of the liquid as you can into a small saucepan.<\/li>\n<li>In a bowl, mix together the remaining 1\/3 cup (40 g) flour with enough water to make a paste. The original recipe isn&#8217;t specific on the amount or how thick the paste should be, but I used about 1\/3 cup (80 ml) of water. I would err on the thicker side because you can always thin the sauce out later if you like.<\/li>\n<li>Whisk the flour paste into the liquid from the steaks. Cook this over medium high heat, whisking constantly, for 3 to 4 minutes until you have a nice, thickened sauce. You can add more water to thin it out if you&#8217;d like.<\/li>\n<li>For the potatoes: Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan, then add the dehydrated shredded potatoes. Reduce the heat to medium and boil them for about 10 to 20 minutes, or until they&#8217;re mostly softened. You may need to add a little more water if it all gets absorbed.<\/li>\n<li>Add the salt and mash them with a potato masher. They probably won&#8217;t get completely smooth, but that&#8217;s okay. Stir in the milk and melted butter.<\/li>\n<li>Whip the potato mixture vigorously. I found a stand mixer to be very helpful for this, and in just a few minutes, they fluffed up into something pretty close to mashed potatoes. If you use a stand mixer, start on a lower speed to get things going, then work up to high. You could use a whisk or a hand mixer for this, it&#8217;ll just take longer.<\/li>\n<li>When the potatoes are whipped, serve them forth with the steaks and gravy.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tasting History with Max Miller Published 1 Jul 2025 Slow-cooked steaks with tomatoes and onions with mashed potatoes and gravy City\/Region: United States of America Time Period: 1945 Being a crew member aboard a submarine during World War II was one of the most dangerous jobs in the US military with a fatality rate of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[74,7,5,683,13,230],"tags":[1276,30,1388,364,1442],"class_list":["post-96526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food","category-history","category-military","category-pacific","category-usa","category-ww2","tag-cooking","tag-navy","tag-recipes","tag-submarine","tag-tastinghistory"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2hpV6-p6S","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96526"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99509,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96526\/revisions\/99509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}