CAULIFLOWER SOUP with Blue Cheese

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In winter a pot of soup was usually made each week. In the early years Mum made it by boiling bones, vegetables and a split pea mix together, cooling, removing the bones and fat and then reboiling to serve. The soup was full of vegetables and small pieces of meat and was almost a meal in itself. With the advent of tinned soup and stock cubes this process became quicker and easier, with more flavour combinations. This recipe with the blue cheese was something quite different for Mum.

Cauliflower Soup

CAULIFLOWER SOUP

  • 1 cauliflower
  • 1 onion
  • 2 potatoes
  • 2 rashers of bacon, chopped
  • 3 chicken stock cubes
  • 125g blue cheese
  • Cream to serve, if desired

Chop the cauliflower, onion and potatoes. Fry onion and bacon, add cauliflower and potatoes. Barely cover with water, add 3 chicken stock cubes – boil until tender, then blend. If liked add blue cheese before serving. Serve with a swirl of cream.

CARAMEL CORNFLAKE BISCUITS

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I’ve given these the title ‘Caramel Cornflake Biscuits’ as I don’t think – Biscuits (Dot Beagley) – really describes them. I’ve made a version of them for years for my family, but this recipe looks like it was quite a bit earlier than that. I think it’s a good example of how the old recipes keep on going.

Biscuits - Dot Beagley

CARAMEL CORNFLAKE BISCUITS

  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup Self Raising Flour
  • 1 cup sultanas
  • 1 cup coconut
  • 1 cup corn flakes – lightly crushed
  • 125g butter
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 egg

Melt the butter and add to the other ingredients. Add beaten egg. Place teaspoons of mixture on a tray lined with baking paper. Press mixture together with fingers. Bake 180°C for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Leave on tray to cool for a few minutes and then lift off with a spatula onto wire rack to finish cooling.

PEANUT BISCUITS

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These biscuits are lovely and crunchy and taste great..Peanut Biscuits

PEANUT BISCUITS

  • 125g butter
  • Breakfast cup of sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cocoa
  • 1 egg
  • 125g unsalted peanuts
  • Heaped cup Self Raising Flour

Melt the sugar, butter and cocoa together in a saucepan, add well beaten egg, add flour and peanuts. Put teaspoonfuls on a paper lined tray. Bake at 200°C for about 10 minutes.

MARSHMALLOW BALLS

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I found this recipe among the collection and thought it sounded like something kids would like – marshmallows are always a winner. We decided to try it out to see what it tasted like. My daughter made them up and reports back that her girls loved them, but she found them quite bland. Mum must have thought that also, because she changed the biscuits from Digestives to Granitas, which have a bit more texture and flavour. My daughter thinks using Chocolate Ripple biscuits would be a good way to add extra flavour for adults. We’ll try that next time.

Marshmallow Balls PS

MARSHMALLOW BALLS

  • 1 tin condensed milk
  • 125g butter, melted
  • 1 packet Granita biscuits (or Chocolate Ripple) – finely crushed
  • 1 cup coconut
  • Marshmallows

Mix the milk, butter, biscuits & coconut together. Break into pieces and roll into a ball, flatten out and wrap mixture around a marshmallow. Refrigerate until set.

PIKELETS

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An old favourite, but still good today topped with jam and cream. I think this recipe varies from current ones by the use of sour milk. Sour milk was made by taking fresh milk, adding vinegar or lemon juice and standing in a warm place until it soured. Mum always used sour milk when she made banana cake and it gave it a great taste.

Piklets cropped

PIKELETS

  • 1 cup Self Raising flour
  • Pinch salt
  • ½ teaspoon bi-carb soda
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 egg
  • ½ cup sour milk (or fresh milk soured with 1 teaspoon vinegar)
  • 1 dessertspoon melted butter

Sift dry ingredients, add sugar, beat milk and egg together and mix into dry ingredients, add melted butter. Heat a frypan and brush with a little extra melted butter, drop tablespoons of the mixture into the pan and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Turn and cook on other side.

NOUGAT SLICE

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Mum’s sisters all worked in dressmaking before they married, but Mum, just to be different, worked in a bookbinding business. Doreen was one of her friends there so I think this recipe originates from the 1940s. It’s obviously before packet mixed fruit, which is a much easier alternative now. The addition of dates and apricots would add a bit of extra flavour though.

Nougat Slice cropped

NOUGAT SLICE

  • 125g butter, melted
  • 1 heaped cup Self Raising Flour
  • Pinch of salt
  • 155g castor sugar
  • 1 cup coconut
  • 1 cup mixed fruit (½ cup mixed fruit, some dates & dried apricots & cherries) cut finely
  • Walnuts or almonds
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • Almond essence

Melt the butter and put aside to cool. Sift flour, salt and sugar together and put in a basin, add coconut, mixed fruit & nuts. Add beaten egg to melted butter and then mix into dry ingredients with some almond essence. Press into slice tin and bake 20 mins at 190°C. Ice when cold (you could use vanilla or chocolate icing and sprinkle with coconut, if desired).

MERINGUES

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This recipe only makes a small quantity and I think Mum used it to make individual meringues that she then topped with some whipped cream and a strawberry. She would have served them at afternoon tea or supper.

Merangues cropped

MERINGUES

  • 1 egg white
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon white vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons boiling water

Whip the egg white until firm, add sugar a tablespoon at a time until combined. Fold in vanilla essence, baking powder, vinegar and water. Place teaspoonfuls on a flat tray covered in baking paper and cook at 190°C for 1 hour. Turn off heat and leave to cool in oven.

FISH WITH MUSTARD SAUCE

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There are not many fish recipes in Mum’s collection. Dad was a keen fisherman and we had fish probably once a week. Mum simply made a batter and fried the fish – that was the way Dad liked it. I’m not sure this recipe would have been Dad’s favourite, but he would have happily eaten it as he enjoyed all Mum’s cooking, including the ‘experiments’.

Fish with Mustard Sauce cropped

FISH IN MUSTARD SAUCE

  • 500g white fish fillets
  • 2 leeks
  • 300ml sour cream
  • 100ml cream
  • 1 heaped teaspoon French mustard
  • Salt & pepper

Wash leeks and chop into 2½cm pieces, lay in the bottom of a pie dish. Lay fish fillets on top. Mix both creams with mustard and salt and pepper, then pour over fish. Bake 30-40mins at 200°C. Serve with rice or mashed potato.

APPLE SPONGE

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I’m not sure of the age of this recipe, but the milk measurement of 1 gill dates it back a fair way. Mum would serve this with cream and made it often for afternoon teas along with sandwiches and other small cakes and biscuits. I can remember coming home from school, after the guests had left, and being allowed to eat some of the leftovers from the spread she had put on – a great treat.

Apple Sponge

APPLE SPONGE

  • 1 cup Self Raising flour
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 60g sugar
  • 1 egg
  • ½ cup milk
  • Apples, stewed

Rub butter into flour, beat egg with sugar add milk until combined. Make a well in centre of dry ingredients, add milk mixture. Put the stewed apples in a greased 18cm cake tin and pour mixture over. Bake 30-45 mins in moderate oven 180°C.