Category: Good Housekeeping World Cookery

Skillet Custard Cornbread

I wasn’t sure about  the recipe for Skillet Custard Cornbread from the  North American chapter of Good housekeeping’s World Cookery (1972). Truth be told, I have only eaten cornbread twice in my life and both times in London.  Once was at friend of the blog Jenny’s (from Silver Screen Suppers) house and once for breakfast at a pub.  Both times, I very much enjoyed the cornbread and both times I was keen to try my own.  And until now, I had not done so. And I really wanted to make cornbread. But did I want to make this cornbread? It was the custard part of the skillet custard cornbread that was bamboozling me…

SSkillet Custaard Cornbread

Would a layer of custard magically appear in my cornbread?  And if so, did I want it there?  Both times I have eaten cornbread it was savoury.  Every time I have eaten custard it has been sweet.  So the question in my head was – did I want a layer of something I would usually eat for dessert in bread that in my mind comes loaded with cheese and jalapenos? The solution, when it arrived was blindingly simple.  If the custard worked I would eat it like sweet bread (not a sweetbread!) If there was no custard, I would go for a savoury option!

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Well, in the right light, there was definitely a line of something that resembled custard so sweet it was!  I served the cornbread with the same cherry jam I used for the chocolate mousse hearts and it was delicious!

If you like a sweet breakfast (I don’t) this is perfect.  For me, this was lovely as a morning or afternoon tea treat at right about the time where you need a little sugar/caffeine boost!

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Skillet Custard Cornbread – The RecipeSkillet Custard Cornbread recipe 3

 

I’m not sure if this is traditional or If I am breaking some long-held rules of cornbread but I LOVED this toasted.  I would pop a few slices in the toaster and the taste of the toasted corn was AMAZING!  I can’t wait to try making a savoury cornbread – one without the custard centre now.  But I guarantee I will be toasting that too!

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Have a great week everyone!

 

A Man’s Barbecued Chicken?

When I first saw the recipe for A Man’s Barbecued Chicken, I assumed it was so called because it had a hefty slug of booze, most likely Bourbon, in the barbecue sauce.  Because God forbid that the women of 1973 were getting sozzled on Maker’s Mark while cooking chicken.  Then I read the recipe and there is no alcohol at all in it.  So that theory went down the gurgler. I am actually baffled as to why this would specifically be a man’s barbecued chicken.

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This was really delicious.  I particularly liked the sauce.  I find a lot of barbecue sauces far too sweet for my palate but this had a lovely balance of sweet and sour.  The recipe does contain that mysterious ingredient “piquant table sauce”  which a couple of readers have suggested will likely be A1 steak sauce.  I still don’t have any of that so I used Worchestershire Sauce.

I used skin-on thigh cutlets instead of quarter chickens and tomato passata instead of the tomato juice in the recipe.

The sauce really did become finger-licking good!  Hmmm…Is that why it’s A Man’s Barbecued Chicken?  Maybe the women of the 1970’s didn’t lick their fingers?

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The method of cooking the chicken was weird, you put it in the dish skin side down for the first half an hour then turned it over.  The chicken stayed very moist – I am not sure if that was this method of cooking or the frequent basting with the sauce that did that but either way, it worked!!!

I served this with a very simple potato and watercress salad and some of the additional sauce on the side.  Corn would also be a great accompaniment as would a green salad.

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A Man’s Barbecued Chicken – The Recipe

We here at Retro Food for Modern Times believe that one of the joys of food is the sharing of it with our friends and fam.  So, today we are changing the game on A Man’s Barbecue Chicken by changing the name.

A Man's Barbecued Chicken recipe2

Cook it, eat it with people you love, or share it with strangers.  Either way, you and everyone else who eats it will be happier, even just for a few sticky-fingered moments.

Have a great week!

And if you have any insight into the original name, drop me a note in the comments!

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Cabin Casserole

The very name Cabin Casserole conjures up something hearty and comforting.  Something the Ingalls family might have eaten on Little House on The Prairie.  And the recipe for Cabin Casserole from the American Chapter of Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery did not disappoint.  For my readers in the Northern Hemisphere who are heading into winter and who are looking for an easy tasty meal, this one needs to go onto your rotation list ASAP.

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What is Cabin Casserole?

Cabin Casserole is layered tomato and onions with bacon and chops that have been sprinkled with curry powder and salt.  I used lamb chops for my casserole but pork chops would also work.  Also, don’t stint on the salt.  I only used a little salt because I thought the bacon would bring enough but I had to add salt at the end. Having said that, for a recipe with so few ingredients, this is really tasty!

I also did not use dripping to fry my chops, I fried the bacon first then used the bacon fat to fry the chops.

I served my cabin casserole with little potatoes wrapped in Proscuitto and a sage leaf and some grilled zucchini with feta cheese.  The Cabin Casserole would  be super with mashed potatoes!

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Little House on The Prairie – The Lost Cabin Casserole Episode

Further to my mention of Little House on the Prairie, I can almost imagine the episode which would be called “Give them curry, Laura”.  The Olesen’s start selling the very exotic ingredient of curry powder in the Mercantile.  Nellie teases Laura that her family is too poor to ever even taste it.  A fight ensues a little like this one.  Just substitute “Your pa’s too poor to buy curry powder” instead of smelling like a horse.

Laura is required to go to the Mercantile and apologise to Nellie.  She also has to help out in the store for a week.  We see in a store work montage that she works very hard and is so polite to the customers that through the week she makes a little tip here and there.

At the end of the week, she has enough money to buy herself some candy or maybe a toy.  Instead, she asks for some curry powder which she takes home and gives to Ma.

That night the Ingalls family feast on Cabin Casserole.

The moral of the story is that hard work and not giving someone curry is the key to getting curry.

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Here’s the recipe

 

Have a wonderful week!

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Cheesy Egg Dunk

Howdy friends, today we are starting a new Chapter of Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery.  We are leaving the shores of Africa and heading to the good ol’ U.S. of A!  I’ll be choosing a few classics and a few lesser-known dishes from the land of the free and the home of the brave starting with this Cheesy Egg Dunk!

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I find it hard to believe that there was a time when a dip was strange to anyone.  However, Good Housekeeping felt the need to introduce the concept  with this:

“Dunking” is an established American custom.  For any informal buffet type party, savoury “dips” are very popular.  Guests help themselves to the bite-sized pieces of toast, etc., and dip them into one of several soft piquant mixtures”

I’m not sure why, if it is such an established custom, why they felt the need to put quotation marks around the words dunking and dips.  Maybe we just need to be glad that “dunks” did not become the preferred nomenclature!

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The Cheesy Egg Dunk tastes like a smooth egg salad.   Full disclosure I only had 60g of cream cheese and, as I am about to go away for a few days I did not want to buy any more so I subbed in some cottage cheese to make up the difference.  My version might be a bit less creamy but it will also be lower in calories!.  More importantly, it was delicious!

Cheesy Egg Dunk – The Recipe

One thing that did bamboozle me – the recipe calls for piquant table sauce.  I had no idea what that is so I hoped for the best and added a 1/4 teaspoon of Worchestershire sauce combined with a few drops of Tabasco sauce.  I was pretty pleased with the result but if any of my American readers can let me know what piquant table sauce is,  I would love to know.

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If like me you are trying to lose a few covid kilos you could have some Cheesy Egg Dunk on lettuce as a low carb substitute for an egg salad sandwich.  Or, you could take it high-end and sprinkle some fancy salmon roe over the top. Ooh la la!!!!

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Cheesey Egg Dunk recipe

Maybe because I used 2/3 cottage cheese instead of all cream cheese my mixture was quite soft so I did not add the milk.

Just remember, if you make it…no double dipping!!!

A Little Vacay

As mentioned I am heading off on a little holiday!  I am so looking forward to getting out of Melbourne, having a break from work and relaxing for a new days!  One of the delights of the Air BNB we have chosen is that it has very sketchy reception.  On the upside, that means no work calls or emails!  On the downside,  I might not be able to post from there next week.  I have however planned to cook another recipe from this chapter when I am there.  Even if I can’t post I will be thinking of you all as I make it.

I have already packed my books – I am taking the next Agatha Christie on my list, Why Didn’t They Ask Evans, The Devil’s Picnic by Taras Grescoe and The Lost Man by Jane Harper which will satisfy my need to have a holiday read that is set somewhat in the place where I am going. We will be on the coast and not in the outback but It is the closest I have!  For the 4 hour drive there I have Stanley Tucci’s Taste all set to go on Audible!

Have a wonderful week!

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Melktert

My recipe for Melktert comes from the South African chapter of Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery and it is a baked custard tart. It is called Melktert because the day before the recipe for the OG Milk Tart went to print, someone broke into the printing press and stole all bar one of the vowels.

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Some people would tell you that it is a dish that originated in Holland and it kept the Dutch spelling when it came to South Africa.  However, we at RFFMT  prefer not to allow truth to get in the way of a good story.  Besides the visual image of a never say die printer triumphantly adding e’s to where the i and a had been, humming a prototypical version of The Shamen’s 1992 hit Ebeneezer Goode as he did so was too good not to share.

I pondered whether in homage to the melktert, I should also write this post using the letter e as my only vowel.

That idea lasted all of about 5 seconds – I got as far as “Here.  Melktert.  Sweet” and gave up.

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The Melktert was delicious!  Just the right amount of sweetness and the almonds on top gave a nice crunch.  There was a lot of the filling mix leftover so I think next time I make it I will try a deeper dish which would also mean there would be more of the slightly cinnamon-y custard which could only be s a good thing!  The recipe does state a deep pie dish!

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Melktert :The Recipe

Melktert Recipe 1

Melktert Recipe 2

That’s all folks, nothing much else to say except:

Melktert – Excellent? Yes!

Enjoy your weekend!

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