Austrian Chestnut Cake

Today, a guest post by Martha (her others are here, here, here and here.)

This recipe comes from Robert Carrier’s Kitchen part 17 (series published by Marshall Cavendish 1980-81). I bought this gem from a market stall in Camden Passage, Islington, just metres from where its author opened his eponymous restaurant in 1959. The stall boasted several titles from the series and I have to confess it was hard to choose only one. My goodness, the pictures! The chicken apparently roasted in candle wax! The prawns as garnish! The tomato skin roses!

Celebrity chef and ‘bon viveur’* Robert Carrier OBE (1923-2006) was the first to print his recipes on practical wipe clean cards. So indirectly we have him to thank (?) for Alison Burt. Good work Bob!

Dark Treacle Pudding

Today’s recipe (actually made on Sunday night) is from a collection of Edwardian pudding recipes published by Copper Beech books who do several of this sort of thing. This volume was edited by one of their regulars, one Julie Lessels, about whom the internet refuses to give me any more information. Many of the puddings in this book are steamed, although there are a few tarts and some fritters.

Initially, I was going to make ‘half-pay pudding’, but you have been spared this flippant nod to the horror-story that is the current socio-economic situation, when I realised it would be more expensive to make than the first pudding in the book.

Clootie Dumpling

Happy St Stephen’s Day! Actually, I imagine most of you will be reading this in a couple of day’s time when you need a break from your Christmas present books or stumbling here in a couple of months when you are looking for a suitable recipe for ballast-food.

I spent Christmas day with friends this year, a delightful experience, with just a few pangs for family rituals. I brought a contribution to the main course, offered to make custard and in a flurry of last-minute organisation, volunteered to cook clootie dumpling which several of us had missed the opportunity to have when on holiday in Scotland in the summer. On that trip, I had bought Traditional Scotttish Cookery by Margaret Fairlie, first published in 1972 by Hale Books, in Inverness Museum. I’ve tried to find out more about Ms Fairlie, but the internet is only giving me information on the identically named eminent gynaecologist and first woman to hold a professorial chair in Scotland. So if you know any more about Margaret Fairlie, cookbook writer, do comment and let me know.

Brandade of Tuna Fish and Haricot Beans

I spent all my money taking trains from London to Croatia and back, in August – a wonderful, unforgettable experience. The souvenirs acquired on this holiday include a t-shirt with a stupid wolf on, a tea towel that doubles as a handy map of the Croatian islands, and a hilarious degree of poverty, so for my dinner the other night I turned to The Pauper’s Cookbook by Jocasta Innes (1971) and fashioned this brandade recipe. I had no idea what a brandade was, and turned to wikipedia, whose entry on the subject describes something that’s not at all like what I cooked.  Here’s the recipe:

Chicken Maryland

Why did I decide to make this? Pure nostalgia. As a wee thing, my mother would (sometimes) bread small pieces of chicken for our birthday party teas, a sortof non-toxic (and, of course, very tasty) chicken nugget, to the approbation of our school friends. I remember one of the remarking ‘I’ve asked my mum to do some chicken, like yours’. My sympathies now lie with the mother – the little darling in question was one of four siblings (or possibly five). I then went through all my cookbooks looking for a suitable recipe in an attempt to find a suitable recipe and decided that a pared-down* version of Chicken Maryland perfectly fitted the bill. (This recipe is from The Reader’s Digest Cookery Year – February by Katie Stewart.)

Jansson’s Frestelse

Aka Jansson’s Temptation. This dish was mentioned on the comments to this post and although I was not overly enthusiastic about it then, when I found a recipe for it in the Time Life Scandanavian cookbook (1969)  I felt obliged to give it a go.

 

 

Cheese and Tomato Savouries

These were my contribution to our Canape party’s ‘Guess The Cheesy Decade’ competition, where 3 canapes were made, from various decades and guests were asked to, well, guess the decade. I can’t remember what the consensus was on when this recipe was from, but I don’t think anyone got it right. The recipe is from Modern Cookery Illustrated by Lydia Chatterton (Odham’s Press Ltd), and my edition is a 1947 reprint.

Eggs a la Dauphine

This was my most elaborate dish for the canape party, and the most challenging to construct. It’s from Francatelli’s Cook’s Guide of 1864, and is another egg dish. Although not strictly a canape the description appeared to be of a dish that could be easily divvied up into individual servings (note the ‘appeared‘!)

Shropshire Eggs

Rather wonderfully I now have a scanner, so shall be scanning in recipes rather than typing out the darn things. I can’t start to tell you how happy this makes me! Plus it might be nice for you, our faithful readers to see what the recipes look like.   This recipe comes from Cooking in a Bedsitter by Katharine Whitehorn, part of the Penguin cookery series, published in 1961, though my edition is from 1978.

Spinach Cannelloni

Here’s one I cooked about a month ago – the stodge was perfect at the time but now it’s salad weather and the idea of a creamy pasta dish is less appealing, so please cast your mind’s back to chillier times in order to give this recipe the attention it deserves.  It’s from The Sainsbury Book of CHEESE -  including Cheesecakes and Fondues by Rhona Newman, first published 1982 (this ed. 1983), so a fairly recent resource, with generally sensible recipes .  The difference between this book and Make A Meal of Cheese from 10 years previous is notable – where MAMOC was cheddar-centric here we have recipes for a range of cheeses (unsurprising really, given the publisher).  There’s still some slightly icky recipes (Sardine Fish Cream?) and some where you feel you’d have liked them to try a bit harder (I’m looking at you Garlic Sausage Spears, aka slice of garlic sausage wrapped round cream cheese on a cocktail stick).