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.
It might put you off that this old recipe because it starts off “Place the barley in a large bowl. Cover with water; soak overnight”. But if you be bothered doing it the barley will make the soup delicious and when you add in the lamb and vegetables you’ll end up with a very hearty and warming winter dish.
Pork used to be the cheapest cut of meat on the supermarket shelves, but over the past few years the price has gone up quite a lot. Shoulder steak or chops are probably the most economical cut so using them in this casserole makes it tasty and affordable.
This hearty lamb casserole comes from an Australia Meat Board leaflet published back in 1970. Mum and I have both made in many times, it’s a great winter warmer
One of the joys of summer when I was growing up was the crop of tomatoes that Dad grew in the backyard. I’m sure today’s tomatoes don’t taste as good. My Uncle Alf had a much larger veggie patch with a lot more tomato plants and vegetables growing. As a result my Auntie Elsie made tomato chutney, pickles and relish in abundance each year. This is one of her recipes, written out by Mum on a piece of the now defunct Ansett Airlines notepaper.
TOMATO RELISH
Peel and slice the onions, cut and slice peeled tomatoes and put all into a basin. Sprinkle with salt. Allow to remain overnight. Next day put into preserving pan with just sufficient vinegar to cover, add sugar. Boil gently for 1 hour. Moisten dry ingredients with a little cold water and vinegar and stir them into mixture. Boil together for another hour or until a nice consistency.
We’re just back from a terrific holiday in Europe. We ate lots of great meals in Italy, France and England, but as always it’s good to be home – back to the land of affordable lamb and beef. This is my favourite Lamb Roast recipe, I wrote it down for Mum years ago. As you can see it’s a bit sketchy, there’s no quantities you just put as much onion and potato in the baking dish as you need.
LAMB ROAST
Fry onions in butter or margarine. Tip into the bottom of a baking pan and cover with sliced potatoes. Pour over beef stock until not quite covered. Generously rub salt and pepper into a leg of lamb. Put the lamb on a rack over the onion & potato mix and bake at 180o. Cooking time depends on the size of the leg of lamb, but it needs a bit extra time to crisp up the onion & potato.
This recipe was published by the Australian Meat Board to promote lamb and Mum would have picked the leaflet up from the counter at her local butcher’s shop. It’s a recipe I’ve cooked a lot over the years and still do. You can’t beat a lamb casserole on a cold winter’s night can you?
By the yellowing of this newspaper clipping Mum cut it out of the Herald Sun quite a long while ago, but meatloaves never go out of fashion. The article talks about how good cold a meatloaf is and how good it is for picnics and sandwiches, but hot meatloaf with roast potatoes and gravy is really very hard to beat. Great hot for dinner and great next day for sandwiches – as the article says, it’s very versatile.
I was really surprised to find this recipe in the collection. For many years Mum made a sausage dish that consisted of beef sausages, bacon, onion, corn, tomatoes and noodles. Although it was quite simple it was always a great hit and I’ve made in many times myself. This printed recipe is a bit fancier with chicken sausage, salami and garlic, but it’s basically the same idea. Either version is worth trying out.
This is a low kilojoule recipe for Chicken Noodle Soup. I like that beside the chicken and noodles it also has carrot, leek, creamed corn and two types of onions. More than just a soup, more like a meal in a bowl.
Beb's Recipe Drawer 