After finding the recipe for the Pumped Leg of Lamb I was reminded of another cold meat specialty of Mum’s – Pickled Pork. Like the lamb you don’t see pickled pork ready made any more and you’ll have to ask the butcher to prepare it for you. It’s treated the same way as the lamb and corned beef, pumped with brine and basically you cook it the same way. If you want to modernize it you could cook it in a slow cooker.
Hunting through Mum’s recipes I found this Pumped Leg of Lamb recipe and it’s brought back lots of memories. Ham when I was a kid only came in cans and even then only on special occasions. On the other hand lamb was readily available and cheap and Mum always made it to have as cold meat a Christmas time. When cooked it had a vague ham look, taste and texture. This recipe was printed in the Herald Sun in, I think, the 70s, I don’t have Mum’s original recipe, but I’m sure it didn’t have red wine, orange juice and honey in it, Mum’s was a much plainer version.
Pumped Leg of Lamb is similar to corned beef. You can’t buy it off the shelf these days, but I’m sure a butcher would be prepare it for you, like corned beef the lamb is pumped with brine and you cook it the same was as corned beef. Not sure if you want to try it out, but it does bring back lots of memories to me of cold meat and salads on hot Australian summer days.
Did you think using chickpeas in a recipe was a new thing? This Moroccan style casserole from a 1990s, Australian Women’s Weekly supplement Clever Casseroles disproves this. This recipe is more than 20 years old and a. is Moroccan style and b. uses chickpeas – everything old is new again…….and it even includes a couscous recipe.
The recipe suggests using these chicken drumsticks hot or cold for picnics, but I think you could also make the recipe using chicken wings or chicken tenders and serve them up as party finger food. The cornflake coating would give them a lovely crunch.
Version One has the grand title Chicken Saute Au Gratin – a bit fancy really for chicken and mushroom topped with chips and cheese. Still as the tag at the bottom says it’s a great one for kids.
Version Two is not that much more sophisticated and should also be one kids love. Having just made a ‘pasta bake’ ie macaroni cheese for my grand-daughters, I really think this could also be called a pasta bake. Although I think I’d substitute whole milk for the evaporated milk for a better flavour.
I found this recipe in Mum’s collection and straight away thought of my grand daughter who is going through a rissole loving phase at the moment. I hope she enjoys them!
Another recipe from the Tiger Oven Bag collection. The marinade sounds tasty and except for crushing the garlic not much work. Like most of the oven bag recipes I don’t think the bag is essential, cooking it in a little oil in a dish would work just as well.
If you make up the Casserole Base, divide the mixture and freeze it, then when you need it it’s pretty easy to jazz it up by adding some tomatoes, garlic, herbs and lemon juice. If you’ve got time to make the Olive and Fetta Bread then voila – you’ve got a Greek style meal!!!
Sausages have always been one of Mum’s favourite things and onion gravy makes them so much better. At age 98 she still loves them. I don’t think she ever used a recipe, but this one comes pretty close to how she made them, although I’m pretty sure she cooked the sausages in dripping not butter.
I think the idea of pre-making a large batch of beef casserole, freezing it in batches and then jazzing it up when needed is a great one. This Diane-style version would be a quick way to make a tasty dish when you don’t have much time or energy left after a busy day.
Beb's Recipe Drawer 