Hello retro food lovers! Today we are taking a step back into one of my favourite vintage cookbooks, Salads for All Seasons by Rosemary Mayne Wilson. I last cooked from this book way back in 2014. I chose a Sunday Night Ham Slaw Supper as I will be posting this on a Sunday. Also, because I love the word supper. It seems much cozier than the word dinner.
The Sunday night ham slaw is such a good idea! You know that feeling after a big Sunday roast when you feel you might never need to eat again? Except a good few hours later you start to think that maybe a little something-something might be nice? Well this is that something. A little salad, some cold meat, a bread roll and butter. Enough to stave off the pangs, not enough to fill you up too much.
I used ham as my meat of choice but this would be equally nice with leftover roast chicken or beef. It would also be perfect with leftover grilled salmon, or for the vegetarians amongst us, some slices of avocado or as a filling for a baked potato. I also did not mix my ham into the slaw as per the recipe but had it on the side. I thought the ham mixed in with the slaw might not look great. It tasted great though and, with the bread on the plate was just crying out to be made into a sandwich!
Sunday Night Ham Slaw Supper – The Recipe
This is a quick, easy and very tasty meal and a nice way to round off the weekend!
Go west they said. I took their advice and not only went west but a whole heap north as well to end up in the UK for this year’s Cowboy Day. I will be spending the actual day in the most haunted town in Britain! Maybe a ghost cowboy just like this one will appear on the day….
Spooky huh?
Something that is not at all spooky is the Cattle Country Beef Salad Salad l made to celebrate Cowboy day. But first, this is the first time I am writing, editing, and posting entirely via phone so let’s put any weirdness in this post, beyond the regular weirdness down to that and I will re-edit, format as required once I get home!
We don’t have cowboys in Australia. We have cattlemen. Who live in cattle country which is where this salad comes from. Actually, it comes from Rosemary Mayne-Wilson’s Salads for All Seasons but you know what I mean.
So what all goes into a Cattle Country Beef Salad?
Beef of course. I suspect originally this would have been leftovers from the Sunday roast but I just bought from slices of roast beef from the supermarket.
Then there’s apples. Because we all know one a day keeps the doctor away and you don’t want to get sick while you’re out riding the range.
There’s celery because…I dunno. What use is celery? I like the taste of it but….oh that’s right. Celery keeps the cattlemen skinny. Because no one likes a tubby cowboy. Specially the horses they ride around on all day.
Spring onions. To put a spring in their step.
That was about it for the original ingredients. I also added some mixed leaves because I had to use them before I left for the UK the following morning. I also added some chunks of a lovely vintage cheddar. Which also had to be used but cheese also makes anything taste better and this was no exception.
RMW suggests using a French dressing for this. Make it really punchy by being HEAVY on the mustard. The flavours in here are strong enough to deal with it.
This was yummy!!!! Quick simple delicious. That’s an all round winner for me!
Here’s the original recipe:
Okay, I’m trying to keep this short and sweet because posting off the phone is doing my head in.
Many thanks to Greg from Recipes for Rebels for inviting me to participate in the cookalong again this year. It is always a so much fun to be a part of something like this. Plus, he”s one of the most awesome people on the internet so should just be thanked in general
I dont have my regular sign off this week but just look what can happen when bloggers get together. For an explanation of why Battenberg Belle, Jenny Hammerton and I are wearing cowboy hats and clutching a meat cleaver, a melon baller and a hammer respectively, you’ll need to head over to Silver Screen Suppers but in the meantime, have a great Cowboy Day everyone!
If you read my last post you would have already seen these amazing cucumber candlesticks…now you get to learn how to make them yourself!
Cucumber Candlesticks
I found the original recipe in, yep, you guessed it, the delight that is Salads For All Seasons by Rosemary Mayne Wilson, because that book never gets old. Well, technically yes it does but you know what I mean.
I fancy pantsed mine up a bit by adding a little bit of hot sauce into my crab and mayo mix but you could use wasabi or tomato paste or chilli sauce, chopped herbs, chopped up sun-dried tomatoes, or pretty much any flavouring you liked. You could also swap out the crab for canned tuna or salmon if that’s how you roll.
I also added a strip of sun-dried tomato as a flame.
The only bit of making these that was even a little bit difficult was scooping out the flesh of the cucumbers and not having them break. I don’t have a grapefruit knife as suggested by Rosemary Mayne Wilson so I ended up using a 1/4 teaspoon measure and scooping out a little bit at a time.
Cucumber Candlesticks
These were really tasty and pretty easy to make. And a pretty cool retro canapé to kick off the celebrations.
Cucumber Candlesticks2
To eat these you can slice them either across into rounds down the middle into half or quarter moons.
But before the recipe, I thought I might do a quick “retro” spective. I spent some time the other day going through some old posts and one thing became clear. If there was going to be a sub-sub title for this blog, it would surely have to be “I like round food. And I really, really like small round food”
May 2012 – Cucumbers Stuffed with Cream Cheese
July 2012 – Moccha Mousse
July 2012 – Tuna Stuffed Tomatoes
February 2013 – Barbra Streisands Coffee Ice Cream
April 2013 – Devilled Chestnuts
April 2013 – Rosé Wine Cup
May 2013 – Television Eggs
September 2013 – Ice Cream Muffins
September 2013 – Vietnamese Inspired Aubergine
Minh Mang-o Daiquiri
November 2013 – Kale and Onion Pies, Smoked Salmon Frittata
December 2013 – Pepperoni Pizza with Boccocini, Olives and Mint
December 2013 – Cabbage Rolls with Meatballs
January 2014 – Saffron Risotto Balls
April 2014 – Ox Eye Eggs
August 2014 – Autumn Rosti With Smoked Salmon
August 2014- Meatball Sandwich
Umami Meatballs
November 2014 – Cheesy Eggplant Sandwiches
Eggplant Salami Sandwich 4
November 2014 – Chargrilled Aubergines from Persiana
