Baked Eggs Melange - 1980s

This time of year is definitely tomato time.  We, like many households across the nation have lots of organically grown, home seeded tomatoes that we've been given by friends and family, and also ones we've grown ourselves.  The common thing is to put them in salads or make them in to chutney, but this eighties recipe from my favourite Tomato themed cookbook  published in 1987, shows you something a bit unique you can do with your Tomatoes.



Melange means a blend or a mess, a cacophony, and this is very much the case.  For this recipe I would definitely recommend free-range organic eggs, as they have much more taste to them.  This recipe serves 8, and is originally made with a can of chopped tomatoes.  However it can easily be converted to use fresh ones.

You need:

12 hard-boiled eggs, shelled.
810g can of tomato pieces (or lots and lots of tomatoes).
120g butter
1 onion, chopped
1 capsicum pepper, seeded and chopped.
1 cup chopped celery
2 tablespoons flour
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne pepper to taste
1 cup White Sauce (Schwartz mix is an easy option)
365g can champignons, chopped (mushrooms).
half a cup of breadcrumbs
half a cup of grated cheese
finely chopped parsley

1. Chop the eggs roughly.  Strain tomatoes, reserving the juice.  (If using fresh tomatoes it might be good to chop the tomatoes and scoop out the insides and use the insides for the juice.)

2. Melt half the butter in a pan and gently fry the onion, capsicumand celery until tender.  Add the flour and tomatoes stirring until the mixture thickens.  Add the reserved tomato juice and seasonings, then bring the liquid to the boil.  Stir in the White Sauce, chopped eggs and champignons.

3. Spoon the mixture in to individual serving dishes or an oblong cassorole dish, then top with breadcrumbs and dot with the remaining butter.

4. Bake in an oven pre-heated to 220C for 10 minutes or until brown and bubbling.  Sprinkle with grated cheese and parsley to serve.

Beef Bake with Beer - 1980's

If you're in Exeter next week on the 21st January, the local CAMRA is holding their Winter Ales festival at the Exeter City Football ground in St James Park.  In tribute to this occasion, here is another beer related meal that can be experimented with and played around with.

15g Margarine
450g minced beef
1 x 225g packet of frozen mixed vegetables
200ml beef stock
300ml real ale
100g mushrooms, chopped
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Topping:
2 tomatoes, skinned and sliced
salt
freshly ground black pepper
450g thinly sliced potatoes
50g margarine
300ml plain yoghurt
1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
50g grated cheese

1. Melt the marge in a saucepan and saute the meat for 5 to 10 minutes until browned.
2. Add the mixed vegetables, stock, real ale, and mushrooms.  Add salt and pepper to taste and then simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Turn into an ovenproof dish and arrange the tomatoes on top.
4. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
5. Fry the potatoes in the marge until softened and arrange over the tomatoes.  Combine the yoghurt and nutmeg and pour over the potatoes.
6. Sprinkle with cheese and bake in a preheated moderately hot oven (200C) for 25 to 30 minutes until top is browned.

Marguerite Patten's Stuffed Peppers - 1970's

This is most probably the simplest and healthiest dish that I can make without a recipe book near me.  Here Marguerite Patten gives us a quick simple recipe for this classic dish which I personally reckon was more sixties?  Regardless, Ms Patten gives us some alternatives with Cheese or minced meat instead of rice at the end of recipe, but I'll leave that up to you. A neat little recipe which can be adjusted and modified easily.

4 green peppers
2 onions
3 tomatoes
2 oz margarine
3 oz cooked rice
seasoning (salt and pepper?)
little parsley chopped

1. Halve the peppers lenthwise and remove seeds and hard centre
2. Out into boiling salted water and cook for about 5 minutes early.
3. Take out and drain.
4. Meanwhile fry the chopped onions and tomatoes int he margarine, add to the rice, season well and put into the centre of the peppers.
5. Cover with greased paper , put into a well greased dish and bake in teh centre of a moderate oven (375F - Gas Mark 6). Sprinkle with Parsley.