Cream of Potato Soup - 1960's (Marguerite Patten Recipe Card)

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.

Pickwick Fish Pie - 1970's (Marguerite Patten)

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.

Ratafia Cream (1851)

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 MacIver 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 sauce with a bowl in a large saucepan.

1.  Gradually stir two glasses of Brandy in to a quart of cream.  Heat over boiling water stirring constantly, until hot but not boiling.
2.  Then gradually stir into 4 or 5 well-beaten egg yolks.  Return to the top of double-boiler and stir over hot water until thickened but do not allow to boil.
3. Flavour the taste with Ratafia or Noyeau (generic word for liqueur).  Add the strained juice of a lemon or a Seville orange can be stirred in as well before reheating.

Serve in glasses after chilling.

Extra Rich Vanilla Fudge - 1960's

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 reaches the 'soft ball' stage.  This fudge is nicer if its a bit soft so do not let it exceed 238F (digital thermometer would be handy here, or just use your instinct).  Take out the pod, rinse under cold water and store in a jar of sugar.
4. Beat until slightly cloudy, pour into a well oiled or buttered tin.
5. Allow to set and cut in to squares.

Mushroom Soup - 1930's

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, and just before serving remove teh soup from the fire and add the yolks of two eggs beaten up in a little cream.  Do not let the soup boil after adding the eggs, just enough to thicken the soup.
Serve with croutons.

Fish in Dark Beer

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.

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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 another two minutes.  Pour the sauce through a strainer and serve separately.

Related articles

• Shrimps In Beer (recipevintage.wordpress.com)


• Chicken Mischief (recipevintage.wordpress.com)