Sandwich Soufflé

From Mrs Harvey’s Sister-in-Law and Other Tasty Dishes, Margaret Dunn, Murdoch Books, 2007.

Just the name of this was enough to make me curious enough to make it.

I decided to make it in individual casseroles. For each casserole (I was making two) I cut three slices of bread into rounds to fit. I now buttered one round of bread and placed it in the casserole with some slices of cheddar cheese on top. I did the same with two more rounds of bread ending with the cheese on top.

I scalded about 400ml of milk and when it had cooled beat in one egg, ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard and a little salt. This was carefully poured into the casseroles until they were full. They were now left for an hour for the liquid to be fully absorbed by the bread.

They were cooked in a 180ºC oven for half an hour at which time they had risen wonderfully and turned brown and crisp on top. I thought that they would not sink like normal soufflés so did not hurry to serve them. I was wrong they did sink a little but it made no difference. 

They were a cheap and very tasty dish. I’d make them again.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Aunt Nellie’s Tomato Pie

From Mrs Harvey’s Sister-in-Law and other Tasty Dishes, Margaret Dunn, Murdoch Books, 2007.

I always enjoy making recipes from this book with the fascinating title. It is a collection of family and friends’ recipes and they have the feeling that they are the result of a loving collection that must work.

For this easy dish three medium-sized tomatoes were skinned, chopped roughly and placed in a saucepan on a low heat for half an hour. I added a little salt. At the end of this time a cup of soft bread crumbs was added and the mixture left to cool.

Two eggs were beaten with a cup of milk, some salt and pepper, and added to the tomato mixture. They were placed in a pie dish and put in a low oven for an hour. That was it.

The result turned out to be more like a set tomato custard than a pie. It was tasty but had the texture of a savoury custard. It was better cold than it was hot. While I didn’t mind it I think I would let Aunt Nellie keep this recipe.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Family dinner

The family were coming to dinner. This doesn’t happen often but it is always a pleasure when it does.

I needed to settle on a menu that would please all, be able to be got together without too much trouble and that suited the occasion with plenty to sample. I also decided to choose a menu from items on my blog site.

I decided to begin with a chickpea and leek soup (Jamie Oliver’s The Naked Chef) that is a favourite with us at home. In fact, of all the soups we eat, this one would be the one that we make most frequently. It’s easy to prepare, can be made a bit ahead of time and packs a heap of flavour to start people wanting more. With the soup we had an olive sourdough bread. Very tasty.

For mains I already had prepared the previous evening two individual casseroles of quick tomato macaroni cheese (Jamie’s Dinners). For the other dinner guests I prepared individual baked ricottas (Vegetarian, Alice Hart). I cooked these in the oven when the guests arrived while, at the same time, heating up the macaroni cheeses.

For vegetables I decided on broccolini with truffle butter, cherry tomatoes on the stem, green beans cooked in vodka (More from the Accidental Vegetarian, Simon Rimmer) and Pan Haggarty (The Accidental Vegetarian, Simon Rimmer). The green beans did not turn out extra special as I had anticipated that they would but the Pan Haggarty was particularly good—far better than the first time I had made it.

For the dessert course I thought I would make two so that guests could choose one or the other—and they all chose to have both. One was cold, a papaya, blood orange and strawberry salad (Salades, Damien Pignolet), and the other was hot, Mother’s Roly Poly (Mrs Harvey’s Sister-in-Law and other tasty dishes, Margaret Dunn). I guess you could consider the sweets a great success. There weren't even any photos taken as they all went down too quickly.

We had a great night. Everyone was in a really happy mood. The food all went down well. It always helps when there is choice (even if everyone takes both of the choices).

Luise’s Almond Crescents

From Mrs Harvey’s Sister-in-Law and other tasty dishes, Margaret Dunn, Murdoch Books, 2008.

I’m back again into the cookery book with my favourite name: Mrs Harvey’s Sister-in-Law and other tasty dishes. The recipes all have the same feel as the name: a casualness, a feeling of family and of recipes collected over time. Sometimes the recipes have a little information about who they came from but this time there was no information about Luise with this recipe. It was enough, though, to make me search a little further. I headed for the index and found another recipe by Luise and it was there that I found that Luise was a friend who came from the country to stay. Not a lot more but enough to make me feel much more comfortable about Luise.

The recipe was very simple: mixing together the ingredients (butter, caster sugar, chopped almonds, SR flour and salt) in the order given and then letting them stand for one hour.

Small pieces were then taken and rolled into little logs. These were then pushed into a crescent shape and baked.

When they were cooked and while still hot they were rolled in a mixture of caster sugar and cinnamon. Done.

These were easy to make and they were so moreish that they didn’t last over long at all. Definitely a recipe to make again. Thank you, Luise.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔ 

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Jock’s Spinach Pancakes

From Mrs Harvey’s Sister-in-Law and other tasty dishes, Margaret Dunn, Murdoch Books, 2007.

I seem to be picking up recipes at the moment that all have a tomato sauce in them of some kind. I had a Mexican salsa (great) and a tomato chutney (not so great). Now here’s Jock’s spinach pancakes with a tomato sauce.

I have no idea who Jock was but this cookery book is a medley of odds and sods of recipes that the author has collected over time. They are usually wonderful family-type recipes that work because they have been tried over time and savoured.

Jock has no instructions for making the pancakes. You just go ahead and make your own from your favourite recipe.

The filling includes chicken livers which I just ignored. The remaining ingredients (cooked spinach, cottage cheese, eggs, pepper and salt) were basically blended and chilled before using them to fill the pancakes.

The tomato sauce was an annoying recipe. It was written in straight prose rather than recipe format. There was no ingredient list to begin; you just had to find the ingredients as you worked your way through the instructions that all came in one long paragraph.

I fried onions and green capsicums until softened, then added peeled and chopped tomatoes. A mixture of seasonings was added: salt, pepper, sugar, cloves, bay leaf and oregano. It was cooked until it had thickened a little.

The filled pancakes were placed in a casserole, the sauce poured over and some grated parmesan sprinkled on top. It was then baked in the oven for roughly 30 minutes.

All in all it was a pleasant comfortable dish, nothing out of the ordinary but a good mid-week dish that left you satisfied and not over filled. With a green salad it made an enjoyable meal.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Mother's Roly Poly

Mother’s Roly Poly

from  Mrs Harvey’s Sister-in-Law and other tasty dishes, Margaret Dunn, Murdoch Books, 2008.

Sometimes you look at some of the old recipes and wonder if they could really work. This is one of those.

You make a dough with flour and a very small amount of butter. Milk is then added to bind it and make it malleable. It’s then rolled out and spread with jam. Next it’s rolled up again and put in the baking dish.

A mix of water, butter and sugar is heated and poured over the roll and it is baked for about an hour.

It sounded all a bit casual and as if these simple ingredients put together so easily could never make a dish as delicious as this one turned out to be.

The instructions were as casual as the dish seemed to be. I really dislike instructions that list things such as a small cup and a large cup. I prefer a bit more precision but it doesn’t seem to matter here. I suspect that it would turn out well no matter how you measure.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔ 

Phil's Omelette with Soy-Braised Potatoes

Phil’s Omelette

from  Mrs Harvey’s Sister-in-Law and other tasty dishes, Margaret Dunn, Murdoch Books, 2008.

I keep returning to this book because I find the recipes not only well worth trying but I am entertained by the gossipy stories that accompany them. They are family type stories that give bits of information or background to where the recipes came from or who supplied them. It all gives a nice sense of history that brings back memories of my own grandmother’s cooking.

Phil’s Omelette gets its name from a boyfriend of the author even though she explains that she is sure that he never ever cooked it. It’s a little different from the usual omelette recipe so I thought I would give it a try.

This omelette has a slice of white bread included in it. It is soaked in milk and then mashed before it is added to the egg yolks, and then finally the beaten egg whites. I omitted the Worcester sauce as it does have anchovies in it and is a no-no for vegetarians.

The result was a very light, fluffy omelette cooked in a small size like large pikelets. They were a little difficult to turn in the pan because they were so light and tended to buckle a bit as you tried to slide the slice under them. Nevertheless, a welcome change to the usual omelette.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Soy-Braised Potatoes

from The Gourmet Vegetarian Slow Cooker, Lynn Alley, Ten Speed Press, 2010.

Wanting something to go with Phil’s Omelette I settled on soy-braised potatoes. It was odd to cook them in a slow cooker but it did mean I could put them on and forget them for some time and give all my attention to the omelette when I was ready to make it.

They were an easy cook, not a flavour I felt went particularly well with potatoes, but certainly worth the try.

Taste: ✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Mr Cutlack's Tomato Pie

Mr Cutlack’s Tomato Pie

from Mrs Harvey’s Sister-in-Law and other tasty dishes, Margaret Dunn, Murdoch Books Australia, 2008.

Last time I looked at this book I was excited to find a recipe for cheese biscuits that seemed to be the same as the one my grandmother used to make. And when I tried it out it tasted just right.

Turning over the pages I located this tomato pie, credited here to Mr Cutlack. It also sounded just like something that my grandmother made. The book says that it is actually made in America at Christmas time when tomatoes are scarce and expensive. It thus becomes a special dish for the occasion.

When I was leaving work I mentioned that I was going home to make tomato pie. I described it my workmate who expressed delight that it was one of her favourite dishes.

I just love the way this particular recipe book seems to be a stimulus for raising memories. So I made my tomato pie with great anticipation.

It turned out to be just like Gran’s but perhaps my memories had overburdened the anticipation. I enjoyed it, but it didn’t quite come up to what I had expected. When I cook it again I might be in a better mind set to appreciate it without the heightened expectation.

The recipe doesn’t stipulate what onions to use so I used the common brown onion. I think that next time I might used white onions. The brown onion tended to be a little too strong.

When tomatoes are more plentiful and less expensive I’ll give it another go.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Inge's Cheese Biscuits

Inge’s Cheese Biscuits

from Mrs Harvey’s Sister-in-Law and other tasty dishes, Margaret Dunn, Murdoch Books Australia, 2008.

I was attracted to this book by its unusual title and its old-fashioned appearance. When I began to read it I found that both the name and the look were highly appropriate for this is a collection of recipes garnered from family and friends, many of them passed down over several generations.

The recipes and sections of the book are padded with entertaining reminiscences of family life, like ‘As I grew up I also was allowed a  glass of dry sherry. (Sweet sherry, my father said, frowning on my youthful preference, is for cooking.)’ An entertaining book which brings back many memories. It’s easy to get waylaid into spending lots of time on the background stories as you cook.

And the recipes include lots of old and unusual items like onion sandwiches or Mrs Oodnadatts Jones’cream puffs. I can browse in here for longer than I have time to.

Inge’s Cheese Biscuits apparently came from Inge who came to South Australia from Austria during the war. When I followed the recipe I found that they were very like the ones my grandmother used to make occasionally and she came from Britain.

The biscuit mixture was easy to make. It was no more difficult than mixing the ingredients, rolling them out, and then cutting them into biscuit shapes. The writer says that she always used her father’s jigger to cut them out, so I got hold of ours and did the same—for some of the biscuits. But the instructions also say that grandmother said to cut them into fingers. Hence some of mine were cut into fingers. (This was also how my grandmother made them.) There is a further comment to say that Inge said there should be caraway seeds in them. So some of mine had caraway seeds.

The result was some extremely short, savoury biscuits that did not last long before they were all eaten.

As some of these books may be out of print if anyone would like a particular recipe, email me (alfcooksvege@ozemail.com.au) and I’ll send an abbreviated version. Of course, the whole book would be better; it’s loaded with other goodies.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔