Salmon with a Difference

1 large salmon, filleted and cut into small pieces
mayonnaise
grated cheese

Method: Place salmon pieces in a baking dish. Spread with mayonnaise and top with grated cheese, salt and pepper. Bake in a moderate oven.

Source: contributed by Wendy Hendry in A Collection of Favourite Recipes - The Point Turton Progress Association ("All proceeds from the sale of this book will go toward improvements to the Point Turton Playground"). (n.p., 1995), p.28.

Sandwich Fillings

Cottage cheese, drained crushed pineapple, onion, salt.
Chopped raisins, mashed banana, a little sugar, orange juice.
Dates, chopped orange, nuts and raisins.
Peanut butter, cheddar cheese and chopped raisins.
Grated carrot and chopped raisins over peanut butter.
Cheese or ham with pineapple slices.
Ham or asparagus, or egg (curried).
Tomato and egg.
Chicken, walnuts and tomato.
Vegemite and walnuts.
Salmon and cucumber.
Cucumber (finely chopped), grated onion and mayonnaise.
Cottage cheese, celery, walnuts (grated carrot adds colour).

Source: contributed by Elizabeth M. Keynes in Angaston Kindergarten Jubilee Cookery Book 1955-1985. 1986 edition (Angaston, 1986), p.5.

Sherried Salmon Puff

6 slices bread and butter

1 cup cooked, flaked, or canned salmon

1/2 cup sherry

1 & 1/2 cups grated cheese

2 eggs

1 cup milk

2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce

Method: Cube bread and butter. Slightly beat eggs. Arrange alternate layers of bread cubes, cheese, and salmon in greased baking dish, ending with a layer of bread cubes on top. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over contents in baking dish. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bake in a slow oven (325 deg. F.) for one hour. Serves four.

Source: A Cooks' Tour of Recipes. Published for the Adelaide University S.R.C. [Students' Representative Council]. (Adelaide: Commercial Publications of South Australia, 1955), p.31.

Cheese and Gherkin Roll

7 ozs. SR flour

1 oz. cornflour

1&1/2 ozs. butter

grated cheese

1 chopped gherkin

1 small chopped onion

1 egg

1/2-1/4 cup milk

Make dough of flour and butter, milk and egg. Roll out to oblong shape about 1/4" thick. Brush with milk and sprinkle with grated cheese, onion, and gherkin. Bake in hot oven 20 minutes. Slice and butter. For alternative filling use salmon.

Source: Memory Lane Cookbook (Rotary Club of Naracoorte; 1986), p.117.

Impossible Salmon Pie

4 eggs
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 tspn baking powder
2 cups milk
4 oz marg melted
pinch salt

Method: In a large bowl beat together above ingredients until blended. Stir in the next ingredients to make savoury version.

1 can tuna or salmon drained
1/2 cup grated cheese
salt & pepper to taste
1 onion finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped parsley

Pour into a lightly greased pie plate 9". Bake at 180 C until filling is set and top is brown, 35 - 40 mins. Serve hot or cold.

Source: contributed by Heather Allen in Cook Book: St Joseph's School, Clare (Clare: St Joseph's School, 1991), p.45-6.

Jansen's Temptation

Swedish recipe

Method: 1 lb. peeled potatoes cubed. Place half in casserole.

[A]dd one layer of anchovies (or Australian Salmon) and one layer of sliced onion. Then cover with other half of potatoes.

Pour over a small bottle of cream. Grate cheese on top.

BAKE moderate oven until potatoes are cooked.

Source: Our Jubilee Year Recipe Book [Ascot Park Uniting Church Friendship Group] (Adelaide, 1986), p.41.

Creamy Fish Pie

50g (2 oz.) butter

1 small onion

2 tablespoons cornflour

1 cup milk

Salt and pepper

250g (8 oz.) salmon or tuna

1 dessertspoon lemon juice

One 23cm (9") cooked pastry shell

Method: Melt butter and fry onion without browning. Blend cornflour, add milk and stir until thickens. Add salmon or tuna and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper. Cool slightly before placing into pastry shell. Mix 1 cup breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese together and sprinkle on the top.

Source: contributed by J. Lemon in Gulnare Gourmets (Adelaide: Gulnare Primary School Welfare Club, 1984 [2nd edition]), p.25.

It's A Retro Cook-Off!

It's time for the Hung Up On Retro / Lucy Violet Vintage... 

It's A Retro Cook-Off! 

I collect vintage cookbooks, primarily those from South Australia, and my Retro Meal (which I served last night to my family) comes entirely from South Australian recipe books.

I followed the recipes as closely as possible, but had to substitute in a few places where the ingredients no longer exist (probably for good reason): the shops are empty of 'Green Lemon Jelly' (was 'Lime' such a frightening concept?) and 'menz malt biscuits'. The type of canned salmon was not specified; I went with 'pink' rather than the costly 'red', which I think is in keeping with the parsimonious ethos of these cook-books. 

What did I make? To begin, a cocktail: 

Barossa Lightning

"This is a dry cocktail that is guaranteed to start off any party with a sparkle, but it has no depressing after-effects. It can be mixed for immediate use, or bottled. Four glasses gin, three quarters glass French vermouth, 1 glass Italian vermouth, 1/2 glass green ginger. Ice and shake well. Serve so cold that glasses are frosted."

This type of meal requires a sturdy anaesthetic type of pre-dinner drink. The Barossa Cookery Book is a classic of the country cookbook genre and is still in print. It was first published in 1917; the second edition of 1932 has since reached its 33rd edition (2006). The cocktail quantities are expressed in 'glasses', a term explained as 'cocktail glass'. Since the 1930s, cocktail glasses have increased in size from around 3.5 fl oz to 10 oz.. I used the cap on the cocktail shaker. This is a very strong cocktail and I must never let my mother have another one. On the plus side, it made all the food look really tasty.

With the main course I served Mateus Rosé: this ran like a river of pink sweetness at my parents' dinner parties in the 1970s. My fall-back would have been a Liebfraumilch (something like Blue Nun).

My entrée comes from p.24 of The Parson Knows: Easy Dinner Party Recipes produced by The Parish of St. Stephen at Glenunga (one of the eastern suburbs of Adelaide). The cookbook is undated, but I suspect it is from the late 1980s. St. Stephen's has since been demolished, but its legacy lives on... The recipe forms part of a 'Autumn Menu'. I could not find tinned grapefruit, so settled for fresh (from our tree):

Prawn & Grapefruit Cocktail 

200g tin prawns

200g tin grapefruit OR 1 fresh grapefruit

1/4 pint reduced cream

1 tbs tomato sauce

3 drops Tabasco (optional)

1 tbs brandy

1 tbs lemon juice

1-2 tsp horseradish

salt & pepper

Method: Empty prawns from tin and rinse in cold water - drain well. If using fresh grapefruit, remove pith and skin, then dice fruit and mix with prawns. Pour over brandy and lemon juice and leave to marinate for an hour at least. Meanwhile, mix all other ingredients to make sauce - pour off excess juice from prawns, etc. and mix with sauce. Serve garnished with parsley or a prawn or a grapefruit segment. Serves 4. [recipe]

It turned out like a cold soupy prawn cocktail with a vicious grapefruit aftertaste. It wasn't awful. It wasn't great: the proportion of sauce to prawn was completely wrong. The sauce was delicious, but then it is basically a Marie Rose sauce.

The main course - Salmon Meringue Tart - is something I have wanted to make for a very long time, but have never had the courage. The recipe comes from p.64 of one of my favourite retro cookbooks, The Lunchbox: A Selection of Tried Recipes produced in Clare (in the Barossa Valley) by the Bihar Mission Auxiliary (raising money for the then Jesuit mission to Bihar state in northern India). I have the second edition (1975). The recipe was contributed by Mrs. M. Horgan. 

I cheated with a pre-made pastry case, and I served it hot. The mixture smelled like cat food. I had no idea that tinned salmon was so revolting in the flesh - bones! skin! Ghastly, revolting things I couldn't identify. It tasted like tuna mornay and while it was not as unpleasant as I feared, I'm glad I didn't waste my time making pastry from scratch. The meringue added zero to its charm. The cheese helped a lot.

Salmon Meringue Tart

(May be eaten hot with vegetables, or cold with salads)

1" x 10" lightly cooked Pastry Shell

1 x 8 oz tin Salmon

1/2 pint Milk

Knob Butter

2 Eggs

1 rounded tbsp. Cornflour

Squeeze of Lemon juice

Salt and Pepper

Method: Drain salmon, remove skin and bones. Flake into a saucepan, add milk and butter, bring to boiling point. Separate eggs, blend Cornflour with the yolks and add to saucepan and cook one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, season with salt, pepper and lemon juice and turn into tart shell. Beat egg whites (with small pinch cream of tartar) until stiff, cover salmon with this meringue, bake for 15 minutes at 375 deg. When cooked sprinkle with chopped parsley and grated cheese. [recipe]

To accompany the Tart, I made a Jellied Pea Salad. Gelatine salad is a staple of retro cooking. This salad also comes from The Lunchbox cookbook (p.74, contributed by Mrs. T. Chidwidden). I used lemon jelly and tinted it with a drop of green colouring. The mould is a vintage glass one. And? This was surprisingly good, albeit rather sweet. Some vinegar in the mix might have fixed that. It fell to pieces too quickly for presentation as a mould - I'd set it in a bowl next time (next time!).

Jellied Pea Salad

1 large dspn finely chopped mint leaves, mixed with one packet of green lemon jelly crystals. Add 2 cups boiling water, stir until dissolved, then pour whole mixture over 1 lb frozen peas; leave to set. [recipe]

Dessert. How does one remove the taste of Salmon Meringue pie from the mouth? I initially thought about something with that other great staple of retro cooking, pineapple, but then I saw Rum Pudding) on p.28 of The Parson Knows: Easy Dinner Party Recipes (another item on the 'Autumn Menu'). I set it in vintage compote dishes, rather than another mould (why detract from the moulded delights of the Jellied Pea Salad?). I sprinkled the sponge with additional rum. The verdict: very nice indeed. A bit bouncy, perhaps. But not bad. Not bad at all.

Rum Pudding

1 small jam roll

1/2 cup sugar

1 heaped tbs cocoa

1 tbs gelatine

whipped cream

1 tin Carnation milk

1 heaped tbs Nescafe

1 tbs rum

1/2 cup hot water

walnuts, cherries/strawberries

Method: Line a basin - bottom and sides with slices of jam roll. Beat chilled Carnation milk, add sugar (slowly), Nescafe, cocoa and rum. Beat in gently, then stir in gelatine dissolved in hot water (when cool). Pour mixture into basin and set in refrigerator. Turn out of basin and cover with whipped cream flavoured with rum. Decorate with walnuts and cherries or strawberries. [Serves 4] [recipe]

Finally, a little digestive: Chocolate Mints.

The after-dinner mint is another staple of these books. Perhaps it was cheaper than Mylanta? This is a common recipe, appearing in various guises, often shaped into a log, rolled in coconut and cut into coin-sized pieces. I chose a simple version where the mixture is rolled flat and cut into squares (I used a berry-shaped cutter). They tasted like minty tarmac when I was making them. After a day in the fridge, all the bits melded together and they were really very nice and not so much like peppermint asphalt. Minty. Very minty. The source, The S.C.N.H. 1st Floor Cook Book (no. 2), is local - from the Southern Cross nursing home about 100m from my doorstep. There is no date, but it looks late 1980s/early 90s. The recipe was contributed by one V. M. Smith:

Chocolate Mints 

1 pkt menz malt biscuits

1 pkt white mints, round ones 

3/4 cup sweet cond. milk 

Method: Crush biscuits and mints, and mix all together. Roll out then cut into squares.

The verdict? 

Would I make any of these recipes again? 

I thought the cocktail rather a waste of decent gin, but it certainly made everyone mellow. The entrée sauce was excellent, with a real horseradishy punch. The grapefruit was just plain nasty. Salmon Meringue Tart was a tuna mornay in tawdry floozy attire. It made Jellied Pea Salad look like a good thing. Dessert was surprisingly nice - decent rum and mocha flavours (and good looks). The mints rocked. And I find myself with a strange craving for retro rosé… 

Many thanks to Kylie (lucy violet vintage) and Donna (hung up on retro) for inspiring me to cook from my collection; and thank you to Anne (pineapple princesses) for letting me know about the Cook Off.  I thoroughly enjoyed torturing my family myself.

Seafood Casserole

1 tin mushroom soup

1/2 cup fresh milk

1.1/2 tbs cornflour

squeeze lemon juice

breadcrumbs

1/4 cup evaporated milk

1 tbs butter

1 med tin salmon or tuna

1 cup peas

1 cup crushed potato crisps

grated cheese

Method: Melt butter, add cornflour (off heat) and blend into a paste gradually with milk, add evaporated milk with mushroom soup and bring to boil, stirring all the time. Add fish, peas, lemon juice, salt & pepper. Serve in individual ramekin dishes, topped with crushed potato crisps, breadcrumbs and grated cheese. Reheat at 250°F. [Serves 6]

Source: The Parson Knows: Easy Dinner Party Recipes (The Parish of St. Stephen, Glenunga; n.d.), p.48 ['Winter Menu']

Salmon Soup

1 onion, finely chopped

1.1/2 teaspoons curry powder

15g butter

2 x 440g cans pea and ham soup

3 cups water

180g salmon in brine

2/3 cup thickened cream

Method: Sauté onion and curry powder in butter, add soup and water, stir until mixture boiling, stir in drained salmon, serve with a spoonful of whipped cream in each bowl.

Source: Royal Adelaide Hospital Community Children's Centre (RAHCCC) Cookbook, 2nd edition (Adelaide, 2008), p.14.

Impossible Savoury Pie

8 eggs 

1 cup wholemeal flour

2 cups milk

2 cups grated cheese

Filling:

400g tin tuna OR salmon

1 onion, finely diced

2 tomatoes diced

Method: Beat eggs then add flour, milk and grated cheese. Pour into a large pie dish and top with desired filling. Bake for 35-40 mins at 200C. Allow to cool for 5 mins before serving.

Variations: Other filling combinations could include: 2 cups of cooked chicken with 1 tin of chopped asparagus; 1 cup of diced ham with 3 cups of mixed, diced fresh or frozen vegetables; a 400g tin of kidney beans with 2 diced tomatoes and 1 teaspoon of chilli powder.

Hints: The flour in this recipe settles to form the crust when cooked. This is a good recipe for using up any left-over meats and vegetables. Suitable to freeze.

Source: Royal Adelaide Hospital Community Children's Centre (RAHCCC) Cookbook, 2nd edition (Adelaide, 2008), p.47.

Salmon Pate

1/2 cup Hot Water

1 Chicken Stock Cube

220 gm Red or Pink Salmon

2 tspn Lemon Juice

1/2 cup Cream

1 tlbspn Gelatine

4 Shallots

1/4 cup Mayonnaise

Salt & Pepper

Method: Put hot water, gelatine & crumbed stock cube in blender, blend on high for 1 minute. Add undrained salmon, roughly chopped shallots, mayonnaise, lemon & salt & pepper, blend for 1 minute. Add cream, blend 30 secs. Pour mixture in lightly oiled containers and refrigerate to set. Serve with lettuce, toast triangle & wedge of lemon.

Source: contributed by Heather Allen in Cookbook: St Joseph's School, Clare (Clare: St Joseph's School, 1991), p.11.

Mornay with Variations

1 pint milk
2 ozs. plain flour
2 ozs. marg. or butter
Squeeze lemon juice
1 tspn. curry powder
1 egg yolk
1/2 tspn. salt
Chopped parsley

Method: Melt butter in saucepan, add flour and mix well. Pour in all the milk and stir until boiling, boil 3 minutes. Add raw egg yolk, cayenne, curry, salt, pepper, parsley and lemon juice. Beat well. Add 8 ozs. of any variations. Put in greased ovenproof dish and sprinkle with grated cheese and put in oven until nicely browned.

Variations:
Cooked and drained salmon or tuna
Finely chopped ham
Cooked chopped rabbit
Cooked chopped brains
Chopped sardines
Chopped cooked chicken
Tin drained sweetcorn
Chopped crayfish
Tin mushrooms
Tin drained whitebait
Tin asparagus tips or piece

Source: contributed by J. Gabell in Recipe Book Containing the Favourite Recipes of Members of the Payneham Methodist Women's Fellowship, 1961 (Payneham [Adelaide]: 1961), p.21.

Chicken and Salmon Mornay

1 pkt creme of chicken soup
2 cups water
1&1/2 cups milk
2 tbls butter
1-2 tsp curry powder
1/4 cup chutney
1 cups cooked rice
8 oz tin salmon
2 heaped tbls flour

Method: Make up soup to the directions on packet, using only 2 cups water, add milk, butter, curry powder and salmon. Bring to boil and thicken with the flour mixed with water. Place mixture in a casserole, in alternate layers with rice and chutney, finishing with a layer of salmon mixture. Top with crushed cornflakes, dot with butter. Bake in moderate oven until thoroughly heated and nicely browned.

Source: contributed by B. Roocke in Booleroo Centre Primary School 1885-1985 Centenary Recipe Book (Revised edition 1985 of 1970 edition), p.24.

Salmon Dip

4 oz Cream Cheese
2 tbspns Evaporated Milk

Method: Mix together and add any of the following:

* 2 finely chopped gherkins, pinch paprika, salt and pepper to taste.
* 4 oz salmon, 3/4 packet French Onion soup.
* 1/2 packet Leek and Cheese soup.

Source: Oodnadatta Cookbook (1986), p.36.

Saucy Savoury Salmon

12 oz. salmon
Small tin cream celery soup
1 cup cooked green peas
1 pkt. potato crisps

Method: Flake salmon in bottom of greased pyrex dish, add green peas. Make a thick white sauce (about 3/4 pint) add to celery soup and pour into dish. Crush crisps on top and bake until brown.

Source: Mantle of Safety Cookbook 2 (The Port Augusta Women's Air Branch Auxillary [sic] of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia;n.d., after 1987), p.22.

Salmon Pie

1 tin Kraft Supreme
finely chopped onion
2 cups soft bread crumbs
finely chopped parsley
pepper and salt to taste
2 beaten eggs
2 cups milk

Method: Mix all together and put in a casserole dish, then pour over eggs which have been mixed with the milk. Bake in moderate oven for about 3/4 hour.

Source: contributed by Mrs. M. Highet in Look and Cook: 1st/3rd Glenelg Scout and Cub Group (Glenelg; 1971), p.8.

Note: has the salmon been omitted or is this a 'Mock' dish?

Fish Bake

1 can Salmon or Tuna, drained and flaked
2 cups cooked Macaroni or Noodles
1 can (298 gm) Condensed Cream Mushroom Soup
1/2 cup Light Cream
1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/2 cup chopped Onion
2 tablespoons Buttered Crumbs
2 tablespoons Butter or Margarine

Method: Cook onion in butter until tender. Stir in soup, cream, 3/4 cup cheese, macaroni and fish. Pour into a buttered 6 cup casserole. Top with crumbs and remaining cheese. Bake moderate oven for 30 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbling. Makes 4 servings.

Source: contributed by M. Harvey in Flinders Favourites: Hawker Centenary Recipe Book (6th edition, 1996).

Tuna Slice

1/4 cup Onion
1 large tin Tuna or Salmon
1&1/2 cups crushed Savoury Biscuits
Lemon Juice or Vinegar
1 cup grated Cheese
3 Eggs
1 cup Milk
2 tablespoons Parsley

Method: Blend all ingredients together. Bake 45-60 minutes, depending on depth of tin. Moderate oven.

Source: contributed by M. McInnis in Flinders Favourites: Hawker Centenary Recipe Book (6th edition, 1996).

Salmon Meringue Tart

(May be eaten hot with vegetables, or cold with salads)

1" x 10" lightly cooked Pastry Shell
1 x 8 oz tin Salmon
1/2 pint Milk
Knob Butter
2 Eggs
1 rounded tbsp. Cornflour
Squeeze of Lemon juice
Salt and Pepper

Method: Drain salmon, remove skin and bones. Flake into a saucepan, add milk and butter, bring to boiling point. Separate eggs, blend Cornflour with the yolks and add to saucepan and cook one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, season with salt, pepper and lemon juice and turn into tart shell. Beat egg whites (with small pinch cream of tartar) until stiff, cover salmon with this meringue, bake for 15 minutes at 375 deg. When cooked sprinkle with chopped parsley and grated cheese.

Source: contributed by Mrs. M. Horgan in The Lunchbox: A Selection of Tried Recipes (Clare: Bihar Mission Auxiliary. 2nd edn, 1975; 1st edn 1968), p.64.