I’ve been sharing recipes from a collection my Aunty Audrey had gathered from a weekly cookery class she attended. I think she went there to meet other people as well as learn new recipes, because she was a good cook and an interested cook – especially of cakes and desserts. I’ve inherited her collection of recipes, which date back to maybe the 50’s and continued for the next forty years! What an archive!
The next few recipes in her pile were very much of their time, for example her ‘quick sauce for covering vegetables comprised of milk, a knob of butter, salt and pepper, and cornflour (“Boots the chemist is the cheapest cornflour“. she notes) She added it could be made in advance, covered with greaseproof paper until needed, and also you could omit the salt and pepper and add sugar to make a sweet sauce. Macaroni cheese was made with “Quick Quaker” macaroni, which presumably did not need as long to cook as regular macaroni, and white sauce made with milk and water from the boiled macaroni – plus salt and pepper (no doubt white pepper). ‘Eggs au gratin’ was two hard-boiled eggs in a parsley or cheesy white sauce, garnished. She notes – “No “bite to this dish – usually put small triangles of toast round edge. Can garnish with tomatoes and parsley”.. Pork chops made a very regular appearance at lunchtime, so for something different, Audrey has a recipe for “chop and tomato in batter” – would we be bothered to do that? Would we even like it? Do people still eat pork chops – I can’t remember the last time i had one! Spices made more appearances, no doubt to add variety to the regular dishes which appeared, cayenne pepper and nutmeg for instance, nutmeg was often added to savoury dishes and sauces. I’m a big fan, of that idea, nutmeg is a favourite spice!
At this time, there wasn’t the unbelievable variety of ingredients on offer that we have, so taking something quite ordinary, and using a different recipe or method to cook it would probably be very welcome. Here are two recipes for the pastry and filling of the flan:
Flan with tasty Shrimp filling
Cheese pastry
6 oz flour
pinch of salt
pinch of cayenne pepper
3 oz Cookeen (white vegetable fat)
2 oz grated cheese
egg yolk
2 tbsp water
1. sift flour, salt and cayenne, add Cookeen and cut in with a knife
2. when in small pieces rub in with finger tips and add grated cheese, egg yolk and approx 2 tbsp cold water mix with knife and finish off by hand
3. . roll out, cut to fit 8″ flan ring, place in ring, trim edges and prick bottom with fork
4. line with greaseproof paper and dry beans, bake blind for 10-15 mins
5. remove paper and beans, put back in oven for a few minutes to dry out
tasty shrimp snack filling
4 tablespoons Mayonnaise
4 hard boiled eggs
tin of peeled shrimps
tomatoes, sliced
watercress
1. heat mayonnaise in a saucepan
2. stir in hard-boiled eggs and mix well
3. add shrimps (drain if necessary
4. put in flan, spread out well to the sides
5. decorate top with slices of tomato round the edge and a little watercress in the middle
I’m not totally sure about heating the mayonnaise, i think it might become oily, There is no instruction to slice or chop the eggs either. I would add the seasoning and shrimps to the mayo, then carefully fold in pieces of egg.and decorate with tomato and watercress.
PS Cookeen is a block of vegetable oil used for making pastry and other baking recipes. It is claimed to be usable straight from the refrigerator – there is some debate over whether it is still readily available in the UK, but any white vegetable shortening would do very well instead.
