1970's recipes Archives - Page 6 of 22 - Retro Food For Modern Times

04
Jul
2022

Blueberry Cake

categories: 1970's recipes, Baking, Blueberries, Cake, Good Housekeeping World Cookery

Last Friday was Canada day so it seemed like an appropriate time to leave the United States of America and head north in our journey through Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery. It may also be an excellent time to leave the United States of America for Supreme Court related decisions too but that is by the by. Anyhoo, to celebrate our move to Canada I made a blueberry cake!

Now, blueberry cake is not the first thing I think of when my thoughts turn to Canadian cuisine. BUT…this chapter was fairly disappointing. Notably, the first thing I do think of was totally missing. I mean – WHO ON EARTH HAS A CHAPTER ON CANADIAN COOKING AND DOES NOT INCLUDE A RECIPE FOR POUTINE????

Ok. Let me take a few moments to do some of the deep rhythmic breathing they taught me at the conference I attended recently. Just. Breathe. Do not feel disappointed that you will not be making poutine. When you go to the office on Thursday you can buy some poutine from the very excellently named Lord of The Fries. Which may be even better than making some yourself. And breathe…

Ok, calming mantra over, let’s get on with the blueberry cake.

Blueberry Cake – The Recipe

The recipe called for lemon flavouring. We currently have a tree laden with lemons so I used the zest of one lemon and the juice of half a lemon as my “flavouring”. This added a nice hit of lemon to the cake. I found this cake to be quite dry – it very much needed a bit of cream or ice cream on the side. I had some with some homemade Mango Kufli (from Adam Liaw’s recipe) and it was divine. Mango, lemon and blueberries are a match made in heaven! I am not sure if this is because I did not have enough blueberries to half fill the loaf pan. There was a LOT of cake batter to blueberries so for future baking I might halve the batter mixture. Another variation might be to put a layer of blueberries in the middle or through the cake as well as on the top.

I think the way the blueberries bleed into the cake is so pretty!

Have a great week everyone!

17
May
2022

Chicken Chanteclair

categories: 1970's food, Chicken, Good Housekeeping World Cookery, United States of America, World Cooking

I am not doing a Best of April post as the very sad and sudden passing of our beloved boy Oscar at the end of the month has muted pretty much everything that was good. We are still working through our grief which for me personally has meant a great lethargy. I have barely been motivated to cook and not at all motivated to write until today. Baby steps are enough at the moment. But one of the things I made just before Oscar passed away was the recipe for Chicken Chanteclair from the Creole section of Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery which was so tasty and comforting that I had to share it.

What on Earth is Chicken Chanteclair?

The name Chanteclair comes from the French words chanter meaning to sing and clair meaning clearly. So, to my mind this is a dish that will inspire you to sing its praises loud and strong.

Chicken Chanteclair is a Coq Au Vin by another name. I can’t see any particular Creole influences in this dish – to me this is purely French. Indeed one of my notes from when I made this was that it made the house “smell like France”. And, just to be clear, I didn’t mean that in the way I mean it when I talk about our trip to Toulouse. There, it smelt like every male in the town was using the streets as his own personal urinal. Chicken Chanteclair made the house smell of herbs and wine and meat cooking low and slow. It smelled like family and comfort. One of my other notes on this recipe was “this is the kind of dish you cook for people you love”

Here’s The Recipe: Chicken Chanteclair

The actual recipe wasn’t much so here are my notes:

1 kilo of chicken thighs on the bone.
I added 3 sprigs of thyme and 2 bay leaves to the marinade
For the marinade I used 3/4 bottle of wine (Just enough left over for a glass with the meal)
I threw in 12 fresh mushrooms as well as the dried mushrooms
I wasn’t sure about the tarragon at the end but it really worked
I served mine with mashed potatoes to soak up that luxurious sauce. Crusty bread would also be a great option!

Apart from those changes, the rest was easy. Marinade the ingredients overnight, pop them in the oven and voila – Chicken Chanteclair!

The leftovers were also delicious in some cheddar and jalapeno biscuits I made!

This is so easy to make but it feels like a much more complex dish. It is delicious, reheats well and is comfort food at its best. This will go on high rotation at my house!

I really hope you cook this for someone or someones you love very soon!

I am away a training course all of next week so will not be posting anything. The following week I will be back with a Dining with the Dame. It is a Poirot and our very first Ariadne Oliver novel!

Have a wonderful week!

09
Apr
2022

Upside Down Cake

categories: 1970's food, 1970's recipes, Books, Classic Recipes, United States of America, World Cooking

Welcome to the best of March! I have been dying to share this recipe ever since I made it over a month ago. I held off because after tasting it I thought it would take something absolutely amazing to top it. Whilst my tastebuds would have rejoiced had this been the case, the pineapple upside-down cake from Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery was last month’s winner. It also made me realise that this is my favourite cake. You can take your chocolate cake, your red velvet and even your Victoria Sponge, I will choose Pineapple Upside Down Cake over pretty much any other type of cake ( the one exception would be Sri Lankan Love Cake).

Why do I like it so much?

It’s delicious!!!!
It has a delightful retro charm both in look and taste
It’s happy – the bright yellow pineapple and glossy red cherries can brighten a gloomy grey day
The half circles of pineapple look like they are smiling at you and the whole pineapple rings look like bright flowers

Upside Down Cake – The Recipe

Other Favourites of The Month

Reading

The best book I read in March was Turns Out, I’m Fine by Australian comedian Judith Lucy. I am a big fan of her work in general and this one did not disappoint. Lucy tackles relationship breakup, money issues, death of loved ones, aging and menopause, women in comedy, activism and many other things in her typically frank, funny and vulnerable way. This was a joy to read and really, who doesn’t want to know how not to fall apart? (Added bonus is that she reads the audio book).

Cookbook

My favourite cookbook for the month is not actually a cookbook The Alcorithm is about how to let your favourite flavours expand your palate. It reminds me very much of one of my other faves, Niki Segnit’s Flavour Thesaurus. I have only just started reading the Alcorithm but I am already fascinated.

The Alcorithm

Watching

I watched Pieces of Her on Netflix and I am mid-way through Bad Vegan and The Girl from Plainville. All of which I either enjoyed or am enjoying We are watching Se7en for film club this week. Is it weird to say that such a gory movie is probably in my top ten films ever? I am fairly sure that there will be people in the club who do not share my passion but that is what makes these discussions so interesting.

I didn’t do a lot else this month apparently – I have been trying to get to the gym more so my viewing time has been significantly cut back. I am on the lookout for some good streaming series to get stuck into and some new pods to listen to – please let me know if you have any recommendations!

Have a wonderful week! And please, let me know, what is your favourite cake?

06
Apr
2022

La Mediatrice

categories: 1970's food, Bread, Good Housekeeping World Cookery, Oysters, United States of America

The recipe for La Mediatrice comes from the creole section of Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery. Quite simply, it is a fried oyster roll somewhat akin to an oyster po’boy.

La Mediatrice is French for the peacemaker and the story behind the name is delightful. Apparently back in the day in New Orleans, drunken husbands stumbling home in the wee small hours would stop by a bakery on their way home and buy a freshly baked loaf filled with deep-fried oysters to take home to their wives to stop them from being angry about the husband’s shenanigans.

Now, I suspect that this may be apocryphal. Because personally? The idea of being woken up at 3am by a drunk brandishing an oyster roll is not something that would inspire me to sweetness. It is far more likely to send me into a vitriolic (but highly creative) rant on all the places he could shove said oyster roll!

La Mediatrice – Version 1

You will see from the pictures above that I made two versions of La Mediatrice. The first one, which confusingly is the second photo – the one with the pickles is pretty much the recipe from Good Housekeeping. I did fancy it up a bit by using some garlic and parsley infused butter instead of plain butter for the roll: And I added some smoked paprika to the flour mix for a bit of extra flavour.

The OG version was tasty but it was a little dry, which is why I decided to give it another go.

La Mediatrice – Version 2

For my second stab at this, I wanted sauce and more crunch.

To bring the crunch with the oysters instead of plain flour, I used rice flour to dredge the oysters.

I also added some cos/romaine lettuce into the rolls

And I made a Sriracha Honey Mayo for drizzling over the top:

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La Mediatrice – Sriracha Honey Mayo

Print Recipe

This is a spicy-sweet mayonnaise that perfectly accompanies a La Mediatrice

Author: Taryn Nicole

Ingredients

Scale

2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp Sriracha chilli sauce
1 tsp honey
1 tsp lemon juice

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Mix all ingredients together.

Notes

Quantities are a guide only. If you like it hotter use more Sriracha, sweeter use more honey, etc

I loved my sriracha mayo and the lettuce made this feel not completely unhealthy! Unfortunately, I totally forgot to put the pickles into this one but they would have been super!!!! I would strongly recommend keeping them in the dish!

Question for the week. If your partner came stumbling home dead drunk in the middle of the night, would an oyster roll calm your annoyance? If not what would be your preferred peacemaker?

20
Feb
2022

Skillet Custard Cornbread

categories: 1970's food, 1970's recipes, Good Housekeeping World Cookery, United States of America

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…

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!

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!

Skillet Custard Cornbread – The Recipe

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!