Category: Good Housekeeping World Cookery


Aug
2020

Almond Cookies

categories: 1970's food, 1970's recipes, Good Housekeeping World Cookery

These almond cookies come from the China section of Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery (1972). Let me tell you right from the get-go, (and I could be totally wrong here)  but to me, there is absolutely nothing Chinese about them. Not that I have a vast knowledge of Chinese cookies…the only ones I can think of are Fortune cookies which also have absolutely nothing authentically Chinese about them either!

Hmmm…I’m sensing a pattern here…

Almond Cookies2

Having said that, can you imagine what fortune cookies for 2020 should have actually said? 


It feels weird to be starting the recipes for a country with a sweet but it just so happened that I had all of the ingredients to make these cookies in the house already. I hate shopping (or doing anything really) while masked up so an excuse not to have to leave the house is a bonus!  Another bonus is that these almond cookies are really easy to make.  And delicious!

Almond Cookies4
I used coconut oil as the oil for these because I thought it might make them taste more Asian.  The slight coconut flavour alongside the more prominent almond was really nice.  Using coconut oil made for a really crunchy cookie though, so if you like a chewy cookie, I recommend using a different oil.  
Also, a pet hate of mine is recipes that use half an egg!  I mean WTF!!!!  What on earth are you meant to do with the other half?  Luckily I have two sous chefs who are more than happy to solve those problems for me.  But for everyone else, half an egg is a pain the neck!  Happily, though, these are really good I think you can do no wrong by doubling the recipe!


Sous chefs
Here’s the  recipe!


I’ll flick through the book and find some more Chinese-y Chinese dishes over the next few days.  Even if it means I have to brave the world out there to get some ingredients!



Almond Cookies 1Stay safe friends and have a great week!



Jun
2020

Cheese-Stuffed Chillies

categories: 1970's recipes, Cheese, Chilli, Good Housekeeping World Cookery

These cheese-stuffed chillies are based on a recipe from the Ceylon section of Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery Book.  So…I know a little bit about Sri Lankan cooking and never have I ever heard of a cheese-stuffed chilli.  Never.  Not once.  Just in case I am not being entirely clear – no one in my family, not my grandmothers, not my mother, not my aunts, cousins, no other writers of Sri Lankan cookbooks have ever made or even mentioned cheese stuffed chillies in the context of Sri Lankan cooking. 

Until now.  

cheese stuffed chillies 1

I became a little obsessed with this recipe because I started wondering if this was the original Jalapeno popper.  Turns out the term jalapeno popper came to prominence in Texas in around 1972 so the recipes are definitely contemporaneous in time if a continent or two apart in space.

The recipe was vague about the type of cheese to use.  Mum said that in Sri Lanka when she was growing up the only types of cheese available were Kraft cheese in a tin and Edam.  Neither of which I happened to have on hand.  

I did have some goat’s cheese and I remembered that my friend Leesa once brought an amazing dish to cookbook club that was feta baked with thyme, honey and walnut. Which also accounted for the other thing that was bothering me which was the inclusion of sugar in the recipe.  

Hmm…so goat’s cheese to sub for the cheese in a tin, honey to sub in for the sugar.  Looks like a recipe is coming together!

cheese stuffed chillies 2

These cheese-stuffed chillies were delicious!!!!

There was some heat from the chillis, creaminess and a little bit of salty tanginess from the cheeseand the mustard, sweetness from the honey, crunchy toastiness from the nuts and a hit of herbiness from the thyme.

Perfect drinking snack!!!

I could have eaten a dozen of these with an ice-cold beer on a sunny afternoon.  And I would have been in total bliss!  They were also nice with a glass of red wine on a cold winter’s night too!

A Digression in the World of Major League Eating

Which reminds me.  I found this amazing factoid on Wikipedia when doing some research on the origin of the jalapeno popper.  

“Joey “Jaws” Chestnut holds the Major League Eating record for jalapeño poppers, eating 118 in 10 minutes at the University of Arizona on 8 April 2006.”

This of course took me down a path of Major League Eating.  Turns out our boy Jaws (known on the MLE site as “the greatest eater in history” and “the apex predator” does not restrict himself to the jalapeno.  He also holds records for downing Chicken Wings (both long form and 12 minute),  pulled pork sandwiches, hot dogs, meat pies, donuts, eggs, asparagus, corned beef sandwiches, pork ribs, Philly Cheesesteaks, funnel cakes, fish tacos, mutton sandwichs, traditional tacos, shrimp wontons, pulled pork,  horseshoe sandwiches (???), pulled pork sliders, long form burritos, short form ramen, gyros, Twinkies, boysenberry pie, tamales, gyoza, gumbo, ice cream sandwiches, grilled cheese sandwiches, poutine, shrimp cocktail..there are more but I lost the will to live whilst typing that lot out. 

Sadly,  the prize for French cut green beans (2.71 pounds in six minutes) went to Joey Jaws arch-rival Crazy Legs Conti.  Shine on you Crazy Legged Diamond! 

cheese stuffed chillies 3

Cheese Stuffed Chillies – The Recipe

Stuffed Chillies Recipe

I also put my stuffed chillies under the grill to melt the cheese, toast the nuts and get some nice roastiness on the chillies.  But you could serve them as is per the recipe if you wanted.

The ultimate verdict on these cheese-stuffed chillies is that they are not at all Sri Lankan but are totally delish!  Just don’t invite Joey Jaws Chestnut over if you plan on making them.  Or make a LOT!  

cheese stuffed chillies 4

Next stop on the good Housekeeping World Cookery Tour is China!  Let’s see what inauthentic food we can find from the land of dragons and emperors!  I’m hoping for some dumplings!

Have a great week!  

 

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May
2020

Not Quite Seeni Sambol

categories: 1970's recipes, Good Housekeeping World Cookery, Onions, Sri Lanka, Vegetables

Seeni Sambol is a Sri Lankan side dish, served as an accompaniment to rice, curries and hoppers as per the photo below.   It is an integral component of lampries, which despite Covid-19, mum and I made this year at Easter, as per our normal habit.  I made the seeni sambol this year, something we never really do as it takes so many onions!  I used 8 onions to make mine and in the end, there was not enough for all our lampries and we ended up having to use a shop-bought version as well!

Please don’t judge my hoppers, I am playing with a recipe which I will post on here as soon as I have it right!  The main ingredient of Seeni Sambol is onions.  Put very simply you caramelise them down add some spices and voila – there you have it.

Our 2020 lampries.  This is a SriLankan meal consisting of ghee rice, lampries curry, eggplant pickle,seeni sambol, prawn blachan and frikadeller which mum and I cook annually.  We make enough to last the year, packing individual servings into foil packets and putting them into the freezer to reheat and eat whenever the mood takes us!

Lampries

What I am trying to say is, that I know a bit about Seeni Sambol.  So, when I saw that there was a recipe for it in the Good Housekeeping World Cookery Book, 1972 I was intrigued.  My gut feel is that books this old do not do justice to “ethnic” recipes.  But for the sake of the blog, I was willing to give this one a go.

But, because WordPress loves a subheading,  let’s break it down a little.

The Title

The actual title is fine.  In that, all words are spelt correctly.

It’s the subtitle that made me pause.

And call my mum.

“Are you meant to just eat Seeni Sambol with prawns?”

“No.  Why?”

“No reason”.

So fail on the title.  Seeni Sambol actually means sugar sambol and relates to the sweetness of the caramelised onions and the sugar you add towards the end of cooking to balance out the flavours.  No prawns at all.  Whatsoever.

Seeni Sambol 4

The Ingredients

There are two very non-traditional additions in these ingredients.  Tomatoes play no part in seeni sambol and neither does milk.

You probably could not have got fresh milk in Sri Lanka in 1972 – it would have either been evaporated or coconut milk.  Either way, I inadvertently left the milk out of my version.  I added the tomatoes though.

There is also an ingredient that is used in a traditional Seeni sambol called a Maldive Fish which is a cured dried fish which adds protein and umami flavours to the Seeni Sambol  If you want to make this, and you cannot find Maldive fish, you can substitute Asian fish sauce.   Or you can leave it out altogether which is what they do in vegetarian versions.

Overall though, the ingredients are pretty close to home.  Just forget the tomatoes and the milk if you want to keep it real!

Oh, and btw?  No prawns.

Seeni Sambol 61

The Method

Seeni Sambol

So, it all seems legit until…WTF why are they talking about Prawns? There were no prawns in the ingredients so why are there prawns in the GD recipe???

There are no prawns in Seeni Sambol.  And that’s not just me saying that.  That comes direct from my mum.  And I may be an idiot who knows nothing but she knows Sri Lankan cooking!

So, this is kind of a shambolic recipe.  However, if you ignore the magical prawns that do a disappearing act in the ingredients and reappear in the method and the milk which has no place here what so ever. this is not a bad recipe. I didn’t even mind the tomatoes in the final dish!

Here is the full recipe:

Seeni Sambol 11

And here is a better one from chef Manu Fieldel.  This is a vegetarian version so does not contain the possibly hard to find Maldive Fish.

Hope you are having a good week!  Stay safe friends…the light at the end of this tunnel seems to be appearing!

 

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Feb
2020

Prawn and Potato Curry

categories: 1970's food, Good Housekeeping World Cookery, India, Prawns, World Cooking

Greetings people of the internet.  This week we are returning to our sojourn around the world via Good Housekeepings World Cookery. Last time we visited this book we were in Pakistan for a subcontinental take on Scotch Eggs.  Today we are moving south and east into India for a super easy, super delicious Prawn and Potato Curry.

Potato & Prawn Curry1

I threw some baby corn in as well because this is my year of not wasting food and we happened to have some in the fridge that was not going to last the week.  To be honest, the baby corn should never have been bought.  It was on sale and the fussiest eater in the world said he wanted it.

“For what?” I asked.

“I’ll think of something”

Something was not thought of.  Hence the fact that the baby corn went into the curry.

There seems to be something in the air this year around reducing waste/saving money.  I set a goal for 2020 to be my year of reducing kitchen waste.  Halfway across the world, the lovely Jenny from Silver Screen Suppers is also cutting down on waste this year.  My boss  is radically cutting down on her kitchen waste this year by living off pantry supplies every fourth week and donating the money she would have spent on food to charity.  I LOVE this idea!!!! Such a bold and generous move!

Potato & Prawn Curry5

But back to the curry.  This curry is very easy to make and for a curry, few ingredients.  It is also very tasty! Here’s the recipe, direct from the pages of Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery.  But please feel free to add in any veggies you may have that would otherwise go to waste!

 

Potato & Prawn Curry8

 

Have a great week!  And please tell me any tips you have for reducing kitchen waste!

 

 

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Jul
2019

Pakistani Scotch Eggs

categories: 1970's recipes, Good Housekeeping World Cookery, Pakistan, World Cooking

Hello, people of the internet!

Arrrgghh, it’s been such a long time between posts due to a long period of lethargy following the flu and a dying,  then dead,  laptop.  But, at long last, we can continue our journey around the world 1972 style as we enter the Indian subcontinent and taste test these delights straight out of Pakistan.  During this leg of the trip, we will visit, Pakistan, India and the country of my birth,  Sri Lanka.  I am very excited about what lies ahead.  But first, let’s talk about these Pakistani Scotch eggs I made…or, more correctly, let’s talk about the Nargasi Koftay I made.

I love Scotch eggs. Not those horrible store-bought things you buy on holiday in England and spend the next few weeks regretting…but proper homemade Scotch eggs.  My mum used to make them regularly when I was a child and like most things, in my mind, mum’s Scotch eggs are the BEST!  But surprisingly, given our Sri Lankan heritage, we never had them with a spicy mince coating the egg.

Let me tell you….mind blown!!!!  Such a good innovation.

That is…until I started to do a little bit o’ digging into the history of the Scotch egg and realised that maybe it is not an innovation at all…

Fortnum and Mason claim to have invented the Scotch egg in 1738 as a luxury travelling snack for wealthy Londoners departing the fog and funk of the city for the fresh and crisp air of their country manors.  The idea being that plain old hard-boiled eggs were far too stinky for these posh folk to have to deal with.

Wow…imagine that world!

I had never thought of Scotch Eggs being posh people’s food.  I would have put money on it originating in a working-class scenario, much like a pastie. The crumb coating protecting the meat from the dirt and dust of a coal mine while the egg was added as a cheap and quick protein boost and to eke out the meat.

Pakistani Scotch Eggs2

Let’s throw another scenario out there

Way back in 1592, the Moghul Empire was founded…and those dudes had a long history with Persia. How about those Moghuls found a recipe for an egg wrapped kofta from the Persians and,  in turn, and over centuries, that was given to the British in the days of the Raj…

And turned into a lux travelling snack due to its popularity with the returning sahibs and memsahibs?

Not totally out of the realms of all probability I think.

Here’s the recipe!

Print

Pakistani Scotch Eggs

Print Recipe

A spicy take on a British Scotch Egg.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 6 eggs, boiled and shelled, aim for soft boiled
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 1cm piece of ginger, grated
  • 1/2 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp Garam Masala
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground coriander
  • 4 sprigs of coriander or mint, finely chopped
  • 500g beef mince
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 1/2 cups dried breadcrumbs
  • Sunflower oil to deep fry
  • Kasundi, coriander leaves to serve (optional)

Instructions

  1. Carefully shell the eggs and place aside.
  2. Heat the coconut oil in a pan over a medium heat
  3. Add the onions and cook until translucent.
  4. Add the garlic, ginger, salt, chilli powder, Garam masala, turmeric, cumin and coriander. Cook for 2 minutes until the spices become aromatic.
  5. Put aside to cool.
  6. Once the spice mix is cool add the minced beef and the coriander and mix well.
  7. Wet your hands with water and divide the mince mixture into 6 equal parts.
  8. Wrap one of these around an egg, ensuring that there are no cracks or uncovered spaces.
  9. Repeat with the remaining eggs.
  10. Season the flour with salt and pepper and spread on a plate.
  11. Put the beaten egg in a bowl
  12. Add the breadcrumbs to another plate.
  13. Roll the covered eggs in the flour, dip in the egg and roll in the crumbs.
  14. Repeat for all the eggs.
  15. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes.
  16. Preheat the oven to 170C.
  17. Half-fill a deep-fryer or a large pan with oil and heat to 190°C (a cube of bread will turn golden in 30 seconds when the oil’s hot enough). Fry the eggs, in batches, for 2 minutes or until golden. Place the eggs on a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes until the meat is cooked through.
  18. Serve warm or cold with tomato kasundi and coriander leaves.

Nargasi Kofta is traditionally served in a curry sauce. I decided to crumb and fry mine simply because I wanted them to be portable.  Sadly no country manor just a commuter train to work!

I served my Pakistani Scotch Eggs with a tomato kasundi from Kylee Newtons’ The Modern Preserver, which is a book I can heartily recommend.  You can also find the recipe for the kasundi here.

This spicy relish complements the taste of the Scotch Eggs.  If, however, you did not want to go to the bother of making it, you could serve with mayo, or Greek yoghurt – ideally with a swirl of Sriracha through it but plain would also be fine!

Enjoy and have a great week!