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  This recipe serves 8, and is originally made with a can of chopped tomatoes.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.

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.

Apple Tansy (1950s)

Apples are my favourite fruit.  I am sorry but a banana doesn't hold it for me and there are so many varieties to choose from.  If you travel back fifty or sixty years ago however there were countless different varieties, even more than today but many have become extinct down to neglect and the commercial homogeneity of the cider industry in the eighties and nineties.

About.com has a whole bunch of information about Apples as I am more interested in what you do with them once you get them.

They feature quite heavily in vintage cooking given their ease of growth and availability.

So what is an Apple Tansy? It is essentially a sweet omlette.  As with most things, there are many different takes on this recipe, but this take is provided by Farmhouse Fare being contributed by Kathleen Thomas.

You will need:

3 large apples
Sugar to taste
1 pint of milk
3 eggs
A little mixed Spice
1 cupful of fine breadcrumbs

1. Peel and slice the apples, cook gently in a little butter until soft and pour into a greased fireproof dish.
2. Beat the eggs and add them to the milk, sweeten to taste and add a pinch of the mixed spice and the nutmeg.
3. Pour the mixture over the breadcrumbs and beat lightly then pour the mixture over the apples and bake very slowly till set.

There isn't any indication about what temperature you should cook it at so your guess will be the right one.

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.