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.

There is a distinct lack of seafood recipes on this blog.  The main reason is that I don't really do seafood, and the idea of it makes me turn a little green. But, I know that the hundreds (HAHAHA) of emails and comments that I get on this blog each week do request that I do a few more seafood related posts.  So here is one... and as we're on a theme of soups and chowders today, this one is quite apt.

The temperature has dropped here in Exeter.  And now is the perfect time to start looking at Soup and Chowder recipes for an instant hot savory fix.

For someone that writes about food, has a general preoccupation with culinary matters and mixes with those who have brilliant gastronomic taste, I have very crude food tastes.  And the idea of Nettle Soup doesn't really do anything for me, despite the majority of people who I have spoken to over the years who have said how nice it is. I encourage you to give it a go.  If it is nice, tell me and it might encourage me even more to go and pick some and see what happens!  Nettles are a free and abundant plant, but be careful you pick from a spot that you know has not been treated with weed killer.

This recipe is taken from Recipes Rare from Everywhere , published in 1930 by  Pauline  Quirin Peto which I haven't really looked at properly.  It is available on Amazon and contains a whole load of weird and classic recipes. It reminds me of the Peasants Revolt, cunningly I found a picture that depicted it, so here you go. Yeah, I know its an English thing, but you have to get in to the spirit! So what do you need to tell that the Peasants are revolting? Boom boom. Ingredients: 3  Pimentos 6 Tomatoes 4 Onions 2 Leeks The hearts of 3 small cabbages 3 teacupfuls of haricot beans Herbs The Haricot Beans need to have been cooked [boiled] the day before to the point of being nearly boiled enough but not quite. 1. Cut up all ingredients, not very fine (except the beans), add 3 or 4 spoonfuls of butter.  Let the mixture cook but not brown. 2. When the vegetables have begin to soften, pour 1 quart of any meat stock over them and let the mixture simmer for half an hour....

This recipe appears in the book ' The edible mollusks of Great Britain and Ireland, with recipes for cooking them' by MJ Lovell, published in 1867.  It is a free eBook that is available from Google Books, and freely downloadable from from Google Books if you have a mobile device.  This book covers what sort of shelled creatures you can get away with eating in the UK. The quantities for this bizarre recipe are very much up to you.  But I would urge you to have a go, just make sure that you don't strip the landscape of Limpets, as that would be selfish and destructive. Limpet Soup  1. Wash them and free the shells from seaweed etc put them into a saucepan and parboil them.  2. Take them out of the shells chop up some parsley and put it with a tablespoonful of oil or an ounce of lard or butter into a saucepan and fry until it becomes brown  3. Add a pint of water and when boiling throw in the limpets with a teaspoonful of anchovy sauce some pepper and boil a...

This evening I came across a set of recipe cards that my Aunt has had for, quite literally, years.  They are nearly all 1967 published and in mint condition. I am, sadly, very very happy and intend to bring you some of the finest recipes from this massive collection which is going to take up half of my desk, as I have nowhere else to put it. So the first recipe that I am going to bring from this monster box of goodies is Peanut Butter Soup, and it is filed in the 'Picnics' section. The cooking time for this strange dish is 15 minutes, it should take 15 minutes to prepare and for this you'll need a frying pan and saucepan.  The recipe makes enough for four people. 1oz/25g butter 1oz/25g flour half a pint / 275 ml milk a bay leaf 2 - 3 oz / 50 - 75g peanut butter 1 pint/ generous half litre of chicken stock OR water and stock cubes Seasoning To garnish: croutons. 1. Heat the butter in the pan, then stir in the flour and cook for several minutes, stirring well. 2. Remove fro...

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,...