Vegetarian recipes weren’t something Mum would have been looking for on the pages of the Herald Sun. Growing up I can’t remember anyone among our family or friends who didn’t eat meat, so cooking vegetable only dishes just wasn’t necessary. This recipe is on a page Mum kept from the paper that had pork, lamb, sausage and fish casseroles on it, so the recipes were around, they just weren’t something Mum made.
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.
Today, September 1st, is the first day of Spring in Australia so it seems fitting to post a recipe that is a side dish to have at a backyard barbecue. A good time as well to hope for lovely barbecuing weather in the months to come.
I love Beef Wellington, but it’s a tricky thing to make so I usually leave it to the experts. This Salmon Wellington looks a lot easier and although the recipe uses tinned Red Salmon I don’t see why a nice piece of fresh salmon couldn’t be substituted.
I’m not quite sure what makes this Finnish, but as I’ve never been to Finland and know very little about their food I guess it could be from there. Wherever it’s from I do like the idea of mashed potatoes, mushrooms and onions baked together.
This is a nice meaty pasta bake with carrot, celery and mushrooms cunningly hidden to fool those picky eaters. I like that you can make it and freeze it as it’s always great to have something in the freezer for those busy or lazy nights when you just don’t have time or feel like cooking.
This recipe was one of mother-in-law’s. Sadly she passed away many years ago so I don’t have too many of her recipes. She was a great cook though and this early version of Beef Stroganoff was one of my favourite things that she used to make.
Beef Burgandy is just the fancy name for slow cooked beef with red wine. My tried and true way of cooking it has always been by using the first method shown here, which gives you lovely tender beef in a rich sauce. The second method using an oven bag I found in Mum’s collection and should work just as well. The more modern way, of course, would be too use a slow cooker. Whichever way you end up cooking it, it’s a great winter dish. You get the best flavor by using the cheaper cuts of beef – gravy beef, blade or even skirt steak.
MY WAY:
THE OVEN BAG WAY:
For me one of the best things about winter is homemade soup. In the old days Mum’s soups started with ham, chicken, lamb or whatever bones she bought at the butcher’s that week. She’d add vegetables and then cover the lot with cold water, bring it to the boil and cook it for a few hours. The next step was to allow the soup to cool so that the fat from the bones could solidify and it was then carefully taken off. The resulting soup was worth all that effort, but modern recipes like this one make the job a whole lot easier.
This is another no-pastry quiche which Mum collected from the New Idea. I’m not sure what the difference between a quiche without pastry and a frittata is. I suspect it’s just the country it’s made in – Quiche, Australia – Frittata, Italy. What do you think?
Beb's Recipe Drawer 