sade080

Potatos are a large portion of the British diet.  Yet essentially they are a really boring vegetable, tasteless and a pain to prepare.  Why do we like them so much? Because they accompany most dishes without obliterating the flavour, they make are softly spoken and don't offend anyone.  Which makes me realise that when they become the main focus of a meal, you have to make sure you put plenty of zing in to it. Luckily for us, there are lots of cool potato recipes that do just this.  In this recipe, onions and seasoning provide the backbone of the flavour.

From my box of index cards by Marguerite Patten. Pickwick Fish Pie works.  It is the closest to Fish that I really like with any great degree of enthusiasm.

I need to explain a few things with this recipe.  First of Ratafia is a type of liqueur  or  cordial  flavoured with lemon peel, herbs in various amounts ( nutmeg ,  cinnamon , clove ,  mint ,  rosemary ,  anise , etc.).  Thanks Wikipedia. It is a classic recipe that appeared even in a 1789 cookery book entitled Cookery and Pastry by Mrs MacIve r that you can access on Google books.  I have embedded the book below so you can see what other fantastic recipes exist.  It even has a search function!  This little drink would make excellent party appetisers or even a pudding course, depending on how thickly it turns out. But this seems to be the non-alcoholic version.  By 1851 it had morphed into a concoction using Brandy and Ratafia, but if you don't have Ratafia to hand, then a good malt whiskey should do nicely. The recipe calls for heating the mixture over boiling water, so in a similiar way that you would make a chocolate ...

This isn't a vintage recipe exactly.  Making fudge isn't necessarily something that ONLY happened in the 1960's, but given the nights are long and the wind is cold I want to inspire you to make home-made sweets stuff. I am also launching a another food blog dedicated to junk food, fast food and unhealthy fatty things, treats etc.  I will post up the URL somewhere obvious here on this blog when it becomes something worth visiting.  This recipe for Extra Rich Vanillia Fudge will be included on that blog at some point. So, how do you make Extra Rich Vanilla Fudge? 1lb granulated sugar half a pint of cream 2 oz butter 3 tablespoons water half a pint of milk 1 - 2 teaspoons vanilla essence (or a vanilla pod). 1. Put all ingredients, including the vanilla eessence or the cut vanilla pod into a strong saucepan.  This is very important because of the high cream content. 2. Stir until sugar is thoroughly dissolved. 3.Boil steadily, stirring quite frequently, until the mixture...

Don't eat these mushrooms, buy them from a shop. Its cold outside, the perfect soup weather.  Mushrooms have an earthy savory flavour that is perfect in a soup, and added with onion and scattered with some lovely crispy croutons, you're on to a satisfying vintage recipe your grandmother would have loved, assuming she liked mushrooms. We now have pre-made croutons available to us, so a quick fix is available.  But in my opinion you cannot beat home made croutons. 2 pints of white stock 1lb mushrooms 2 eggs 1 Spanish onion 1  dessertspoonful  of flour A little milk A little cream salt and pepper Croutons of fried bread. 1. Wash the mushrooms and chop them up.   Chop up the onion finely then bring the stock to the boil. 2. Add the mushroom and onion then boil for half an hour. 3. Pass all through a tammy or a fine hair sieve.  Add a dessertspoonful of flour mixed into a smooth paste with a little milk and salt and pepper to taste. 4. Boil up again,...

Another dinner party favourite from the fifties.  This dish ripe for modification and some experimentation, try choosing different types of beer and vinegar to use. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"] [/caption] 3 lbs of Fish (carp, pike or bass) 1 tablespoon of vinegar 2 chopped onions 4 tablespoons of butter 2 tablespoons of flour 2 tablespoons of brown sugar 5 whole peppers 2 ground cloves 1 teaspoon of Worcester Sauce 1 pint of Dark Beer (locally produced craft beer/real ale/stout maybe?) 1. Prepare the fish by cleaning it and scaling cutting it in to three inch slices. 2. Brown the onion in the butter, adding the flour and cook for three minutes. 3.  Add the beer and all other ingredients except the vinegar. 4.  Boil the sauce to the thickness of single cream. 5. Add the fish slices to the sauce, and continue boiling until the fish is well done. 6.  Finally add the vinegar and continue boiling for ...