I’m only about 10 years behind on this story that went viral back in 2010.
Apparently someone got wind of the U.S. military’s recipe for brownies, which was, to put it mildly, a bit overboard.
The specifications/recipe run for 26 pages!
Here are some of the highlights:
- Whole eggs may be liquid or frozen and shall have been processed and labeled in accordance with the Regulations Governing the Inspection of Eggs and Egg Products (7 CFR Part 59).”
- brownies should not be cut larger than 3 1/2 inches by 2 1/2 inches by 5/8 inch, and each brownie should not be less than 46 grams.
- Brownies made according to the Pentagon recipe will last about three years.
- the shortening used “shall have stability of not less than 100 hours as determined by the Active Oxygen Method (AOM) in Method Cd 12-57 of the Commercial Fats and Oils chapter in the Official and Tentative Methods of the American Oil Chemists Society,”
- The moisture content of the uncoated brownie shall be not more than 8.0 percent.
- Nuts, walnuts, shelled. Shelled walnut pieces shall be of the small piece size classification, shall be of a light color, and shall be U.S. No. 1 of the U.S. Standards for Shelled English Walnuts. A minimum of 90 percent, by weight, of the pieces shall pass through a 4/16-inch diameter round hole screen and not more than 1 percent, by weight, shall pass through a 2/16-inch diameter round hole screen. the shelled walnuts shall be coated with an approved food grade antioxidant and shall be of the latest season’s crop.
Jeremy Whitsitt of the Department of Defense Combat Feeding Directorate told NPR there’s good reason for the precision involved in military cooking.
“One thing we like to say is ‘What would happen if you cooked a meal, stored it in a stifling hot warehouse, dropped it out of an airplane, dragged it through the mud, left it out with bugs and vermin, and ate it three years later?'” he said, noting that food made for the military must hold up under such conditions.
If this is the sort of thing that gets you excited, here’s the link to the complete recipe.
I get confused if a recipe has more than two ingredients and more than two steps.
In other words, I’m not a recipe kind of guy. So there’s no way I’d even consider something like this.
I’m quite content with green smoothies, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, oatmeal, and store bought tomato pie (and oreo cookies…)
sources:
*image from Bigger Bolder Baking
Oh gosh! I can handle more than 2 steps but it has to be a lot more simple than this! No military cooking for me!
Tomato pie?? Oooh sorry I would much rather have a whoopie pie! 🙂
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I’ll pass on the military recipe as well. And who Opie pie would make a good dessert after the tomato pie. And how about some shoofly pie as well?!
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You definitely would need something good to wipe the tomato pie taste out of your mouth! 🙂
YES! Shoofly pie is the best!
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Tomato pie is a South Philly thing. It’s basically a thick crust pizza, like Sicilian, with no cheese…
And it’s been a long time since I’ve had shoofly pie, but I do recall it being quite tasty!
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Oh , well if you are talking about pizza, than tomato pie doesn’t sound too bad! 🙂
Its been a very long time since I had shoofly pie too, but we used to have it at every holiday! That and vanilla pie which is also quite tasty.
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I have never heard of vanilla pie…
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You don’t know what you are missing!
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You live close to Pa dutch country you gotta try Vanilla pie! 🙂
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I’ll be on the lookout for one… 🙂
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Wow that is an interesting recipe to say the least… Unfortunately I don’t bake much so I’m going to stick with the three boxes of Oreos I just bought!
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Oreos are the best – do you have a favorite flavor, or just the classic?
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I like most of the flavours but it kind of depends on my mood. Right now I’m really into the birthday cake flavoured ones. What about you?
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I really liked the s’mores one…
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I haven’t tried that one but it sounds so good!
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I’m not sure if they are always available, or just at certain times of the year…
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I don’t think they’re available in Canada because I’ve never seen them
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something else to look for when you get to visit the U.S.!
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This is probably going to be the first thing I look for 😂🤤
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Good luck! 🙂
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Even for me, that’s a bit too much.
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So you can imagine what it is like for someone who never cooks or bakes!
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I’m with Tandy on that one but then nothing I cook would last until the next day let alone 3 years…..The bright side is it was material for a blog post so a bonus :)..
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it does a little over the top, but I guess when they make them in bulk, the cost per brownie is pretty cheap. And yes, anytime I can get a blogpost out of something, it’s a good topic 🙂
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This does actually make sense to me, Jim. Baking is a science and the more you adhere to the rules the better the result. It also makes sense the military foodstuffs need to remain edible in adverse conditions and circumstances. I can’t think of a single recipe with two ingredients. Even peanut butter and jelly sandwiches have four ingredients.
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I guess I can see the need to have standards, but 26 pages seems a bit much 🙂
And as for a recipe with two ingredients, I remember my son used to drink banana smoothies – just bananas and water (30 bananas a day…)
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Ah, an interesting recipe, Jim. The problem in the USA is that people sue for everything, that’s why there are 26 pages.
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I am sure that’s part of it. It’s sad that we are known for our propensity to sue…
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this is so crazy, but i like the explanation for why it has to be like this. i do love to cook, but i do a lot of improv (why i’m a better cook than a baker, which is much more precise). p.s i’ve never had tomato pie.
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I can understand the need for the food to survive any condition. I’ve just have never been into cooking or baking.
And tomato pie is, for lack of better explanation, pizza without the cheese…
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I’ve never even heard of it-is that a regional food? I love pizza, but if I had to choose between toms and cheese,I’m team cheese all the way )
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I just looked it up on Wikipedia; it seems limited to Philadelphia, Utica, and Rhode Island… Here is the brief description: Italian tomato pie is an Italian-American baked good consisting of a thick, porous, focaccia-like dough covered with tomato sauce.[1] It may be sprinkled with romano cheese or oregano. It is not usually served straight from the oven, but allowed to cool and then consumed at room temperature or reheated. Like Sicilian pizza, tomato pie is baked in a large rectangular pan and served in square slices.
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Now, it is sounding better by the minute
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It is a great option for vegans!
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Having partaken of just about everything the military is willing to call food, I too understand the need for this type of longwinded recipe to meet standards in the military kitchen. We leave nothing to chance and have an instruction manual for everything, including how to dress (shoelaces are always left over right). My first foray into food in the field was in 1983 and we were eating C-rations dated from before I was born. I can only hope these brownies would taste better. We need a post with a recipe for tomato pie, as I have never had it either!
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That’s funny how down in the details the military get, even with how to tie your shoes. I can’t imagine what that food must have tasted like, but I guess at some point, you’ll eat anything. I guess they wouldn’t cater to vegans 🙂
And tomato pie is basically pizza without the cheese…
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Enjoyed this jim. Sounds like my recipe for making porridge… cheers!
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That must be quite the porridge!
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Sometimes military recipes are ruined by other rules. For example, on my battleship (USS Wisconsin) the Navy baked fresh baked break every day. But somewhere up the line it was decided that fresh bread was not healthy. Therefore, fresh bread sat in the open air until it was stale enough for sailors to eat.
Bob Jensen’s links to recipes —
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm
Scroll down to Food Recipes
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That would have been torture, knowing that there was fresh bread and you couldn’t eat it!
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I had kp duty once, while in basic training. All I did was help wash dishes, but even that confused me. Since then, I picked up a book on cooking, learned some recipes, and then fought battles with my wife over kitchen territory. She won, and now I’ve forgotten everything I learned.
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That’s a battle I would be happy to lose…
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I agree with you Jim. Let’s keep everything simple in the kitchen. Hmm, now I better understand why my Mom ran her kitchen with military precision as she fed a household of eight.
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I can also see the need for precision and discipline when cooking for eight!
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I’d have taken one scan and moved on. I like to bake, but nobody I know wants that detailed a recipe.
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You’re one up on me; I don’t even like to bake…
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I’d put that one in the too-hard basket too. Making, that is. I’m not sure about eating.
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I’m with you, Norah. No interest in making it, but I’ll gladly try one or two…
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🙂
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Lol, a bit too stringent for my cooking style. 🙂
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probably too stringent for most…
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🙂
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Never heard of a tomato pie, but reading through your description in the comments it sounds delicious!
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Pizza was probably the hardest thing to give up when I became a vegan. Tomato pie has been a great alternative!
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pizza with olive oil and pesto is amazing and can be vegan 🙂
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that does sound good; I guess with no cheese or vegan cheese?
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You can add herbs instead. Rosemary , basil, oregano. All good. Onions and olives will also be good 🙂
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now you’re making me hungry…
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Hahaha, we’ll get cookin’
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