American Chocolate Pudding - 1960's (Marguerite Patten Recipe Card)

Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, I give you Marguerite Patten's American Chocolate Pudding.  It has walnuts, it has cream, it is amazing.

Serve it to your friends, serve it to your enemies, serve it to your grandmother.  If you do, you will make friends and influence people when they realise you are brandishing an American Chocolate Pudding.

Pots Au Chocolat - 1960's (Marguerite Patten Recipe Card)

First post for 2014, well only 5 months late.  But let me make it up to you with Chocolate!

Crepes Au Mocha - 1970's (Robert Carrier Cookery Card)

There is nothing better, in my world, that coffee flavoured stuff.  And here is a fantastic little recipe for Coffee flavoured Crepes :) :)

Ham and Bean Supper Chowder - 1960's (Marguerite Patten Recipe Card)

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.

Nettle Soup - 1960's (Marguerite Patten Recipe Cards)

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.

Christmas Cake - 1960's (Marguerite Patten Recipe Card)

A theme tonight.  Now its the sister of the Christmas Pudding, again this needs lots of brandy!  Christmas Cakes have mixed origins, but take a gander at this lovely website to get the full fascinating history.

Christmas Pudding 1960's - Marguerite Patten Recipe Card

Love it of loathe it, that time of year is bearing down on us.  It is about this time the foodies among us, start thinking about Christmas Pudding, which takes a lonnng time to make if you do it properly.

So I invite you to have a go at Marguerite Patten's version, and see if you can make one just like you used to have when you were a kid (hopefully a good thing).

School Cake 1920s (The Anerly Cookbook)

Here is a very basic cake recipe. I can imagine it would have plenty of scope for adding to or modifying.

1lb self raising flour
6ozs butter or lard
4ozs castor sugar
2ozs currants
2ozs sultanas
2ozs raisins, stoned and chopped
2 eggs, well beaten

Rub the butter or lard into the flour then add the other ingredients also a drop of milk if required.

Put in a well greased tin and bake for one and a half hours.

Marrow Pickle (1920s, The Anerly Cookbook)

4lbs of Vegetable Marrow
1/2oz of ground ginger
1/2oz mustard
3/4lb moist sugar
2ozs eschalots
9 small chillies
14 cloves
1/2oz tumeric
3pts vinegar

Cut the marrow in to 1/4 inch squares, put into a colander and sprinkle with salt. Leave one night then strain.

Boil all other ingredients together for 10 minutes then put in the marrow and boil slowly until tender.

Moist Chocolate Sandwich - 1960's (Marguerite Patten Card Index 6)

Moist Chocolate Sandwich.  Very much a variation on a theme, but a quite delicious theme.  

Fruit and Walnut Sponge - 1960's (Marguerite Patten Index Card 3)

I love Walnuts.  That is all.

Chocolate Layer Sponge Cake - 1960's (Marguerite Patten Index, Card 1)

Seems to be the most logical idea really, start at the first card rather than pick random cards.  Further efforts to digitise the Marguerite Patten Cookery Card Index.

I did cave in and buy some more cookery cards today, but I'll whitter on about that in my next post.

This is a really basic sponge recipe.  But it opens itself for modification and 'jazzing up'.  I have to admit, this is a slightly pointless recipe unless you have all the cards lying around.  The Victorian Sponge recipe, is pretty basic anyway, but I might jump ahead and scan in Card 31 and Card 2, just to give my efforts some validity.

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.

Apricot Croutes - 1950s

Ingredients.

1. Stale Cake
2. Tinned Apricots
3. 1 or 2 ounces of Butter
4. Castor sugar

Cut the cake into round or oval shapes about 1/4 inch thick, spread with butter and arrange into a greased fireproof dish.

Place one or two apricots, free from syrup, cut side up on each slice of cake. Sprinkle with sugar and bake in a moderate oven for 10 minutes.

Sift more sugar over and serve hot.

Valentine Special! Extra Rich Brandy Fudge - 1960's

Good old Marguerite Patten, she has a recipe for just about everything you can imagine.  And with Valentines Day looming over us like some heart shaped inevitable tsunami of soppyness and love, (read hatred and resentment for the single-and-proud types) the whole question about what to get your admired comes to mind.

Image taken from candyhero.com, go forth and drool as its an amazing website!

In my experience there is nothing better than a handmade token of love or gratitude, way above any bought chocolate.  So I give you a basic fudge recipe which is classed as 1960's as it comes from a book of that vintage, but its simply timeless.  Not only that but its also a damn bit cheaper.

If you just want to make Rich Vanilla Fudge you can replace the brandy with water.  Try a variation and add Apricot Brandy? What about Disaronno or even White Rum?  The possibilities are endless!

You will need:

1lb granulated sugar
1/2 pint cream
2oz butter
3 tablespoons brandy
half pint of milk
1 to 2 teaspoons of vanilla essence or 1 vanilla pod

1. Put all the ingredients, including the vanilla essence or cut the vanilla pod, into a strong saucepan, this is very important because of the strong cream content.  Here I would recommend a non-stick pan of high quality.

2. Stir until sugar is thoroughly dissolved.

3. Boil steadily, stirring quite frequently, until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage.  This is a nicer fudge if rather soft so do not let it exceed 238F (best use a thermometer).  Take out the pod, rince under 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 into squares.

Bulgarian Peasants Daily Soup (1930s)

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 beansHerbs

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. Remove any scum.

3. Have a quantity of boiling water ready, just enough for six full plates of soup in a saucepan.

4. Stir in the mixture well and drop in the Haricot beans, 2 spoonfuls of tomato sauce and a teacupful of rice, already cooked.

5. Stir it up well and cook further for another quarter of an hour and serve hot with grated cheese.

Florentine Ring (Fish) - 1970s

It looks like a burnt curry, and its the latest card from that massive cardex that I acquired a few weeks ago.  Florentine is the name given to any dish that is paired with spinach, in this case its not obvious that this is a fish dish, but it is.

It has a cooking time of 1 hour, and will take 25 minutes to prepare.  Best to have an 8 inch ring tin handy and a sauce pan, and pre-heat your oven to 350f which is 180c.  Out of this recipe you'll get enough to serve three greedy gannets or six smallish portions.

2lb/1kg Fresh Spinach

White Sauce:
2 oz/50g butter
2 oz/50g flour
half a pint/275ml milk
seasoning
3 egg yolks
good pinch of nutmeg

Filling: 
1lb/0.5kg fish fillets
half a pint/275ml milk
2 oz/50g butter
2 oz/50g flour
3-4 oz/75-100g grated cheese
seasoning

Garnish:
1oz/25g grated cheese and tomatos

1. Cook spinach in a very little salted water.  Drain well and chop.

2. Make a thick white sauce in the usual way. (not sure how to make white sauce? see http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/whitesauce_1298)

3. Stir in the egg yolks and nutmeg.  Add the spinach, season well and blend thoroughly.

4. Pour in to greased ring tin.

5. Stand in a tin of water, bake until firm - 40 to 45 minutes.

6. Meanwhile simmer the fish in milk until cooked.  Drain and use liquid to make a white sauce with the butter and flour.

7. Season and stir in grated cheese.

8. When spinach ring is cooked, turn on to warm plate.

TO SERVE:
Fill centre of ring with flaked fish and pour over the cheese sauce.  Sprinkle with grated cheese and garnish with sliced tomatos.

Peanut Butter Soup - 1960s

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 from heat, stir in the milk then bring to the boil and cook until smooth and thick, again stirring to keep the sauce smooth. Add the bay leaf.
3.Put the peanut butter into a basin gradually blend in a little of the warm sauce, then return to the pan, adding the stock and seasoning.
4. Meanwhile prepare the croutons for this dice bread and fry in hot butter until crisp and golden brown.

To Carry: Pour the soup into a warmed vacuum flask.  Put the croutons into a screw topped jar, Take cups or soup bowls.

To Vary: Many other home made or canned soups are ideal for a picnic and by mixing various canned soups you have interesting flavours.

Tollhouse Cookies - 1930s

So we made some Tollhouse Cookies from this recipe which is pretty well documented in nearly every single recipe book you could care to read that includes recipes for biscuits/cookies.  This recipe is pretty generic and very easy.

Here is an interesting thought.  Chocolate Chip Cookies come under the 1930s category because they were first developed at that point, only becoming popular during the war.  Well that is what the wikipedia article says.

180g/6.5 oz unsalted butter, cubed and softened
140g/5 oz soft brown sugar
110g 3.75 oz granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
280g/10oz plain all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
350g/12 oz dark chocolate bits
100g/3.5 oz pecans (or flaked almonds) roughly chopped

1. Preheat oven to 190C/375F and line two large baking trays with baking paper/greaseproof paper.
2. Cream the butter and sugars with electric beaters until light and fluffy.
3. Gradually add the egg, beating well after each addition.
4. Stir in the vanilla extract, then the sifted flour and bicarbonate until just combined.
5. Mix in the chocolate bits and pecans/almonds.
6. Drop table spoons of mixture onto the trays; leave room for spreading.
7. Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on the trays before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.  When completely cold, store in airtight container.

Irish Stew - 1970s

This is most probably an older recipe, but I am taking it from the newest addition to my collection.  The first edition of the 1000 Recipe Cook Book, editied by Isabel Barrett and Jane Harrop ISBN 0706405315
As with these sorts of books, the recipe itself is most probably older than 1970s but it appeared in 1976, not possibly the first time it appeared.  It is very much one of those timeless classics that has evolved as you can read on about.com on their history of Irish Stew.  One thing that I love is that this recipe can be 'Boozy' if you want it to be.  Whack a bit of Guinness in why not?

You will need:

1kg/2lb of potatoes sliced
2 large onions sliced
salt and pepper
15ml/tablespoon dried thyme
1 kg/2 lb lamb chops


1. Put about half the potatoes on the bottom of a large casserole.  Cover with half the onions then sprinkle with salt and pepper and half the thyme.
2. Add the chops, then continue to make layers with the remaining Onions, salt and pepper, thyme and remaining potatoes.
3.  Add just enough water to cover.  Cover tightly and put into the oven pre-heated to warm (170 celsius/325 Farenheit/Gas Mark 3).
4. Cook for 2 to 2.5 hours or until the chops are cooked through.