1970's food - Retro Food For Modern Times

19
Feb
2015

Locket’s Savoury & Pimped Up Locket’s Savoury (GF)

categories: 1970's food, 1970's recipes, Blue Cheese, Bread, Cookbook Guru, Gluten Free, Pears, Watercress

One of the best things about 2014 was connecting with other cooks and bloggers and cooking from the same books. I love doing it in person at the Tasty Reads bookclub but it was also so much fun doing the Joan Crawford inspired dinner for Jenny’s book launch.

So, I was super excited to find this blog:

https://thecookbookguru.wordpress.com/what-is-the-cookbook-guru/

Which is pretty much all cook-a-longs. They choose a new book every two months and anyone can cook from the book and post on their own site. Then, Leah shares what everyone posts on The Cookbook Guru. What a great idea!!!

The book for January and February is Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Book. First published in 1978, this has become a classic. And very auspicious that I get to start with a book full of retro recipes.

I was even more excited that there were a whole heap of artichoke recipes because the local continental deli had been having a sale and I bought about a ton of artichokes because they were something insane like 50 cents a can.

Then I read Jane’s advice on

How to choose canned artichokes.

“Don’t”

Huh….Jane apparently doesn’t mince words. I like her already. But anyway I hightailed it out of artichokes and landed at the very other end of the book at watercress and found this lovely recipe for a very fancy grilled cheese called Locket’s Savoury.

I did have a little giggle when I read the name of this dish. Back in the day, we used to have a footballer by the name of Lockett nicknamed Plugger because….I have no idea why and have sufficient lack of interest in football to be arsed to Google it. Anyway, some time before the Grand Final one year (the equiv of the Super Bowl or the FA Cup Final), Plugger hurt his groin. And I swear for an inordinately long amount of time, it seemed like if you picked up a newspaper, turned on the radio or the tv, all you heard about, all people seemed to care about was Plugger’s Groin. Strangers would approach you on the street and say “So, do you think it will be good for the Granny?”

“What?”

“Plugger’s groin.”

Not since David Beckham made those underwear ads has an entire nation been so obsessed by the state of a football player’s nether regions. And yes, by the way…we do nickname our Super Bowl/FA Cup etc The Granny. As in a little old lady. That’s Australia for you.

So, all that was Lockett’s Unsavoury, let’s turn to the matter at hand – Locket’s Savoury

So simple. So delicious, and just 4 ingredients.

Bread

The original recipe called for white bread. I used this beautiful seeded ciabatta. Jane’s recipe called for the crusts to be cut off. I left mine on because I love the taste of the toasted seeds!

Watercress

One of my favourite greens. I love the peppery taste of it!

Pears

Are probably my least favourite fruit. Will this recipe redeem them in my mind?

Locket's Savoury - Pear — Locket’s Savoury – Pear

Stilton.

Mmmmmm…blue cheese. Happy days….

Stilton is apparently the king of cheeses. Who knew cheese had a royalty. Who’s the queen? And more importantly who is the red headed reprobate prince flashing it’s arse and donning a swastika for high jinks?

I’m betting it’s goats cheese.

This was awesome. It actually made me like pears. And that’s saying something!
There’s a few more totally awesome watercress recipes in this same book and I have a ton of it left so you may get a few more o’ these before the month is through. There is definitely one more I have to do.

Here is Jane Grigson’s recipe:

This was really good. Super tasty, super easy and I wouldn’t change a thing in Jane’s recipe.

Or would I?

The more I thought about it, the more it seemed very unfair that my gluten-free friends missed out on this delight.

So without further ado, meet the pimped up, gluten-free Locket’s Savoury

Basically, scrap the bread, use a slice of pear as the base. Add your watercress and Stilton. Throw in some chopped walnuts. Once done, sprinkle with some chives.

In some ways this was almost better. Those pears got all caramelised and…dare I say it, delicious!!!

I’m so looking forward to doing the Cookbook Guru Cook-a-longs. And you know what would be even better? If you all did it too…

If you did want to, you already know the book for the rest of Feb. March and April is The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert. My local library has a copy of this. Yours probably does too. I also got the Jane Grigson book from the library.

But PS..The Locket’s Savoury is the gift that keeps on giving. Those little bits of blue cheese that slide off as you grill the cheese and go kind of crunchy. So good to eat later!!!

Have a fabulous week!

And I would love to know your royal family of cheese!!!

[yumprint-recipe id=’24’]

Blood oranges with fennel, watercress, olives and burrata recipe
Watercress and a Lady 1/21/15
20 Shades of Green
4 juice recipes for clearer skin

19
Jan
2015

Surprise! Orange Chicken Salad

categories: 1970's food, 1970's recipes, Chicken, Jello Salad, Jelly, Orange

OMG. I was downloading some photos from my camera of the Ice Iced Vovo when I found all the photos I had taken of the Orange and Chicken Surprise Salad. I had totally forgotten about it. How, I do not know. I’m sure I didn’t drink THAT much over the holiday period. I’m equally sure you will agree that the Orange Chicken Surprise Salad should be unforgettable (in every way).

Given that I have named January the month of crazy, it seemed fitting to post it here. I totally had something else in mind to close out the month and we may yet get there. But this had to get a mention.

It looks quite pretty. Like a lovely orange jello dessert. But wait! A surprise lurks within.

Not much of a surprise as the name pretty much gives it away….(There must be some sort of term for that….is it a paradox? A tautology? Someone smarter than me please tell me….) But hiding under that innocent orange jello exterior is a chicken salad. A rather tasty chicken salad to boot.

The idea of mixing sweet jello and savoury items kind of freaks me out. It should not work. It freaks me out even more when, like this, the result is actually pretty tasty. Mind you, I loaded the jello with lemon juice so it was not as sweet as the original recipe dictated which may have helped make it a bit more palateable to my taste. The original recipe is below:

The hardest thing about this recipe is getting the layer of jelly on the top the right thickness. My cup sank way too deep the first few times, requiring some melting and resetting of the jelly. It was still a little bit thin in this version and it kind of fell into a heap when I cut into it.

But all up, this was a success. The jelly actually added a light tangy touch to the salad which was refreshing both on a hot day and after the heavy meals of Christmas.

My version, which includes cranberries and tarragon is below.

I’ll be spending this week working on my post to celebrate Australia Day….I’m venturing into the best left alone arena of “things people eat when drunk” and, believe me, whether I love it or hate it, it’s going to be a doozy!!!

Signature 1

Print

Orange & Chicken Surprise Salad

Print Recipe

Surprise! Hidden beneath the layers of tangy orange and lemon jelly is a super tasty chicken salad.

Author: Taryn Fryer

Ingredients

Scale

For the Jello

2 packets orange jello
2 1/2 cups orange juice
1 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup boiling water, just off boil

For The Salad

11/2 cups finely diced cooked chicken
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1/2 tbsp chopped tarragon
1/2 tbsp chopped chives
1/4 cup (about a handful) of cranberries, chopped
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1 stick of celery, diced
more lemon juice to bind, if needed
salt and pepper to taste

To Garnish

1 orange peeled and segmented
Mint leaves
Cranberries

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Combine the jello, fruit juices and boiling water, stirring until the jello melts. Place in fridge to set.
When about half set place a small bowl into the jello and weigh it down (baking beans are ideal if you have them, otherwise use rice or beans or anything else you have to hand).
Chill for several hours until very firm.
Meanwhile combine all the salad ingredients and season to taste.
When the jelly is set, take a sharp knife and dip it in hot water. Dry the knife then ease all around the small bowl. You may need to dip it in the water a couple of times.
Once the bowl is removed pack the chicken salad into the cavity. Put foil or a plate over it and chill until firm.
When ready to serve, place the mould in hot water to loosen the jelly, it only needs to be in there a short time. Then turn it out and garnish with the orange segments, cranberries and mint leaves.

Notes

If your cup sinks too low in your jelly mould like mine did, place the bottom of the mould in hot water. The jelly will melt. Keep the mould in the water until you get the level of jelly you desire then place back in the fridge to reset.

Uncle Bob’s Jell-O Salad

08
Jan
2015

Cucumber Catamaran with Carrot Paprika Balls

categories: 1970's food, 1970's recipes, Carrot, Cream Cheese, Cucumber, Starters

They say the devil will find work for idle hands to do.

And when I say they, I mean Messrs Morrissey, Marr…and….ermmmm…. the other two. AKA The Smiths. I’m not sure where the original quote for that comes from. Shakespeare? The Bible?

Wouldn’t it be fabulous if I had a little box and I could type questions into it and get almost instantaneous answers to questions like who were the other two and where did that quote come from?

But, no time for that sort of sorcery right now….these idle hands built a boat!!!

Not a real boat, I haven’t spent my holidays tinkering around the backyard with a hammer and some hickory barky bark, but a boat nonetheless. A catamaran to be exact!

Remember when I made the Hayman Island Chicken Salad? That post contains this photo amazing photo of a catamaran table.

And now, in the spirit of a Russian Doll, imagine a smaller catamaran. Maybe one that could be placed on the catamaran table, filled with some cheesy balls o’ goodness.

Et voila…

The cucumber catamaran.

Now, I”m not saying she’s the best looking boat in the world. She’s a bit wonky. But she is quite obviously a boat.

In case you need some work for your idle hands, here’s how to make your own:

The paprika carrot balls weren’t bad either…recipe below…

The Smiths are one of my favorite bands ever. I spent countless hours of angsty teenage emotional turmoil locked in my bedroom listening to “How Soon Is Now” and “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out”, countered only by and the sheer manic malicious exuberance of “Panic”.

So here’s a little treat for me you!

This week, I’ll be “spending my warm summer days indoors, writing frightening verse to a buck tooth girl in Luxembourg”…

Otherwise known as doing this. Which I guess makes you my bucktooth girl.

Where ever you are.

Have a great one!

[yumprint-recipe id=’17’]

02
Jan
2015

The Potato Salad Roll That Rocks!!!

categories: 1970's food, 1970's recipes, Potato, Potato Salad, Prosciutto, Retro Cookbooks, Salad

I think this recipe is awesome!

Sadly, I am currently alone in this.

But I have a dream. And that dream is to bring the potato salad roll to the world.

Hmm,so I guess I can cross that one off the list and bask in the smugness of a goal for 2015 achieved. And it’s only January 2nd!!!!

But before we get to the Potato Salad Roll…

I’m sure better bloggers than me really think about the messages they want to send when they post their first post of the year…you know, those super organised people who have a theme and a word for the year? And the first post reflects that dream and vision?

I wish I was one of those people. I really do. Because I pretty much know everything I’m going to write about this month and believe me…if we were going to run a theme around January, it would have to be supercalifragilisticexpialidociouslly insane.

Although…maybe getting the crazy out at the start of the year is a good thing. Maybe by the end of the year I’ll be ever so high-brow and Julie and Julia-ing the Larousse Gastronomique…

Yeah, I doubt that too. But you never know…I do own a copy….

And the highly observant of you will notice that it is also still in it’s plastic wrap….

So…the potato salad roll. Hands up how many of you thought this would be potato salad in a bread roll?

Yep, that would be about all of you. Because that would make sense. But remember when I said this month was going to be all about the crazy stupid? I don’t even know where to start with this but they say a picture paints a thousand words so, world, here is the potato salad roll…

Yeh, it’s kind of a Swiss Roll of Potato Salad. Except without the jam. Not even I’m that weird.

Basically, it just a potato salad rolled into a log with the dressing on the outside.

Which in no way explains the absolute spontaneous hatred my family felt for it when I brought it for Christmas. The comments ranged from “What the fuck is that? ” to “Who laid the big white poo in the middle of the table?”

I tried to explain that it was potato salad. Comments ranged from

“Not in my world”

To:

“No. It’s not. Potato salad looks and is, delicious. That looks like a big white poo”.

And then there was:

“Why can’t you make normal potato salad? Are you on drugs? I saw a documentary on people taking ice…do you have a problem with methamphetamines?”

I saw the exact same documentary.

There was a man injecting himself in his penis because “it was the only good vein he had left”. ‘

I made a slightly off beat potato salad.

I’m struggling to find the connection.

I was the only person who ate the potato salad roll on Christmas day which was a real shame because despite it’s rather unconventional appearance it was a damn good and tasty potato salad.

On Boxing Day, I made a roll within a roll by wrapping part of the original roll in prosciutto and the same people who has scoffed at the original roll could not wolf it down fast enough.

Go figure….

Potato Salad Proscuitto Rolls — Potato Salad Prosciutto Rolls

It was kind of nice to end the year with a badly written retro recipe. It’s been a long time between drinks for one of them.

First line. Prepare the gherkins, parsley, pimento, eggs and onion…

Onion? What onion? Would that be one of those special invisible onions that don’t appear in the ingredient list? And what I am I supposed to do with my half a cup of diced celery? Use it to pelt my ungrateful family to death?

Despite the shortcomings of the recipe, I am utterly obsessed with the idea of the potato salad roll. I already have two more versions in my head which I will make and post some time in the future. Maybe I will make 2015 the year of the Potato Salad Roll….huh…maybe I am, albeit unwittingly, one of those people who have a theme. And a vision.

I mean, yeah, I totally am. This was all planned. Months in advance….

I will be spending my week preparing my potato salad roll vision board.

Have a fabulous one whatever you do!!!

Signature 1

[yumprint-recipe id=’16’]

24
Dec
2014

Cranberry Party Salad

categories: 1970's food, Cranberries, Gelatine, Holidays, Salad

If Christmas has an official fruit, to my mind it would have to be the cranberry. We smother our turkey in it, serve it up with some brie for an oh so yummy canapé and knock it back by the bucketful in Christmas inspired cocktails.

If retro cooking had an official dish, it would have to be the jellied salad.

And if these two met at a party and got a little tipsy on a few too many festive sherries and had their very own love child? It would look a little like this:

And you know what? If there’s any rationale for hiding your love children in the attic? The Cranberry Party Salad from Salads For All Seasons could well be it.

I wasn’t the worst thing I made this year. Oh, no, that is a dead heat tie between the Paleo Muesli and the Paleo bread…

It wasn’t awful like these, it was just way too sweet for my taste to have as a savoury dish. It’s a problem I have in general with Cranberry sauce. Sometimes it feels as if someone snuck up whilst I wasn’t looking and smeared my turkey with jam. To me, the thing, the whole raison d’etre of the cran is the tang.

I was also a little disappointed that the fruit and nuts and…yep ok…spoilers ahead…celery…floated to the top which became the bottom once I turned it out. Then I looked at the picture in the book and it looks like her fruit is all chunked at the bottom too.

Also, look at her terracotta water cooler in the background. And look at my Kris Kringle present this year…we do the one where you can steal gifts and believe me, there was nothing coming between me and this baby. Sadly, I stole it off one of the nicest people in the world. And she really wanted it because she had stolen it from one of the boys. Caitlin, if you read this, I’m sorrynotsorry.

I am seriously a couple of oddly placed copper moulds away from having that retro kitchen!!! That woman also has weirdly large man hands like me too. And that blue salad? Will be made. I promise. I have to see how that particular combination of ingredients becomes blue…we will find out together in 2015. I may even wear a badly fitting blue dress and have my water cooler in the background for some happysnaps.

Rosemary says this is to be served with light meats and poultry. But how? You have to remember that this type of dish is most definitely not in any kind of ancestral memory I have. Well, having said that, I did ask my mother WEEKS ago to give me the recipe for a salmon and jello type thing she used to make. Which, I have STILL not got. Someone’s game needs to be lifted….

Given the spread between chunky at the bottom and clear at the top, it seemed sensible to slice it. To my mind that just looked way too weird on the plate. In the end, I treated it like a cranberry sauce and ate it on crackers with ham and cheese.

Huh…it doesn’t look too bad in the photos and, in all honesty, this wasn’t awful….just waaaaaayyyy to sweet for my taste. And I tarted it up by adding fresh cranberries into the mix….

Leave this one with me. I’m going to ponder it over the next 12 months and next year, I’m going to bring you the best cranberry party salad ever!!!

Any suggestions, you know where to send ’em.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Signature 1

Category: 1970’s food

How to choose canned artichokes.

Bread

Watercress

Pears

Stilton.

Related articles

Orange & Chicken Surprise Salad

Ingredients

For the Jello

For The Salad

To Garnish

Instructions

Notes

Related articles