Meat Archives - Page 4 of 13 - Retro Food For Modern Times

Category: Meat

05
Dec
2021

Cabin Casserole

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

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.

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!

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.

Here’s the recipe

Have a wonderful week!

28
Nov
2021

The BLT – An American Classic?

categories: Bacon, Classic Recipes, Sandwiches, United States of America

I was very surprised recently to learn that what I thought was a quintessentially American sandwich was actually British in origin!!! Taste Atlas says that the BLT first appeared in British cookbooks in the 1920’s but that it only gained popularity in the U.S.A in the post-war period. It further surprised me to learn that the BLT was, in 2019 ranked as the UK’s favourite sandwich but only came in 6th in the United States!

I guess though, for anyone who is new to Earth…first, hi, welcome, glad you found me! Second, BLT stands for bacon, lettuce, tomato being the three key ingredients of this sandwich.

I LOVE a BLT and it’s avocado-ey cousin the BLAT.

I was hoping to find a classic BLT in the American chapter of Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery. Not that I need an excuse to make one. However, I was simultaneously delighted and horrified to see their idea of a BLT. Here’s their recipe:

The GHWC BLT – The Pros

You will notice that Good Housekeeping calls it a Bacon, Tomato and Lettuce Sandwich. Which if you look at my picture above is actually my preferred way of layering. I don’t understand why you would go to the bother of getting nice bread and toasting it, only to have the tomato making it all soggy and gross half way through eating it.

My preferred version – from the top-down: toasted bread, bacon, tomato, lettuce mayo, toasted bread. So, thank you Good Housekeeping for getting the order correct!

An potato chips and pickles on the side are always a good idea!

I am ambivalent about whether or not you have a double or single decker BLT. I do think though that the second piece of bread requires either another condiment or another dab of mayonnaise. My preferred option is some Dijon Mustard.

I made my BLT on holiday and we only had some very hefty olive sourdough which normally would not be my choice for a BLT. This was a very heavy bread so double decking my sandwich was not an option – the bread would have overpowered everything. (The olives did make a tasty, if not traditional, alternative!).

The GHWC BLT – The Con

In the words of Amy Winehouse, what kind of fuckery is this?

Who puts processed cheese on their BLT?

You may as well just take a dump on it.

A little bit of Brie, some vintage cheddar? I”m here for it.

Processed cheese?

A Few BLT Questions For You

Do you love a BLT? Or do you prefer a BTL?

Double or Single Decker?

What’s your preferred bread?

Iceberg or fancy lettuce?

What degree of crisp of the bacon? I like my bacon so crisp it is snappable!

Mustard?

Avocado?

Other additions? (If you say processed cheese, you’re dead to me)

Is the BLT the best sandwich ever? Or only the 6th best?

If not your number one, what is better?

Leave your answers in the comments!!!

Have a great week!

17
May
2021

Lamb Rissoles with Mint Jelly

categories: Daily News, Lamb, Starters

Do you ever look at a recipe and think “That’s absolutely bonkers! Why on earth would you do that?” It happened to me with a recipe from the Daily News Cook Book for Jellied Lamb Rissoles. The idea behind the original was to crumb and fry some spicy lamb meatballs, then dip said fried meatballs in mint jelly and allow the jelly to set around the meatball. I think we can all agree that the recipe is very set in its time – ie when coating all sorts of things in aspic or jelly was the height of fashion.

HowEVER….the recipe asks you to go to the bother of crumbing and frying meatballs, which is one of my least favourite kitchen tasks. Admittedly, it is worth all the pfaffing about if you get a lovely crispy crumb coating on your meatballs. But then you have to dip that delightful crumb crust into a liquid jelly and let it sit in said liquid jelly until the jelly sets. Now, I could be totally wrong but to my mind, that would make the crumb crust into a soggy mess.

No thank you Daily News.

However once the idea of lamb rissoles with mint jelly takes hold, it is very hard to dislodge the idea. Plus the idea of rissoles reminded me of one of my favourite scenes from The Castle:

If you have not seen this film, you really need to. It is such a delight. Make these rissoles, grab a cold beer and watch The Castle immediately!

So, for anyone who wants to try out the original recipe here it is. Please let me know how it does turn out. I am very happy to be proved wrong if anyone is willing to take the risk of a soggy crust on my behalf!

The Revamped Lamb Rissole with Mint Jelly

A little note here. You can go a little wild with the chilli in these as the mint jelly will provide some cooling relief…see, I am willing to take a few risks after all!! If you cannot get hold of lamb, beef or pork would work here although lamb and mint is a delightful classic combo!

Lamb Rissoles with Mint Jelly

Print Recipe

A SriLankan-inspired appetiser adapted from the classic “Daily News Cookery Book”. The kick of heat in the rissoles will be offset by the calming cool of the mint jelly so feel free to increase the amount of chilli you would normally use.

Author: Taryn Nicole
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 25 1x

Ingredients

Scale

For the Rissoles:

500g minced lamb

I onion finely chopped

1–2 green chilli, finely chopped (depending on the heat of the chillies and your tolerance)

1 tsp mixed spice

2 slices white bread, crusts removed

1 beaten egg

Juice of 1 lime

Salt and pepper

For the Crumb:

Breadcrumbs – around 1 cup

1 beaten egg

Oil for frying – traditionally this would have been fried in dripping but I prefer to use canola oil.

To Serve

Mint Jelly

Coriander leaves (optional)

Chilli slices (optional

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Mix all the ingredients for the meatballs together and shape into 25 meatballs.

Place the beaten egg into a bowl and the breadcrumbs on a plate.

Dip the meatballs in the egg then roll in the crumbs.

Place in the fridge to set for around 30 minutes.

Heat the oil. I used a wok but any deep sided pan or a deep fryer would work. Fry the meatballs in batches until golden brown (around 5-7 minutes).

Check a meatball to ensure it is cooked through. If not, you can pop them into the oven for around 5-10 minutes at 180C until they are.

Serve while still hot with a scattering of coriander and chill if liked and some mint jelly as a colling dip on the side.

Enjoy!

On a personal note, I have not posted for a while – I went on a little holiday, then had a sick dog, then I got sick so it’s been a busy few weeks! Hopefully I am back on track now though and looking forward to getting back into the groove of blogging.
OH, and I just realised today this blog turns 8 years old!

Well, I am off to celebrate, have a wonderful week!

21
Mar
2021

Oysters Kilpatrick

categories: Bacon, Classic Recipes, Oysters

I made Oysters Kilpatrick recently because I thought they might make a nice Irish-themed edition of Name Plates for St Patrick’s Day. I should have probably done some research before cooking them because, despite their Irish-sounding name, Oysters Kikpatrick are not Irish! And they may actually not even be called Oysters Kilpatrick!

So, if they are not Irish, where are they from? These yummy bites of seafood heaven were created by the chef of the Palm Court Restaurant in San Francisco’s Place Hotel, Ernest Arbogast. He named the dish after Colonel John C. Kirkpatrick, who managed the hotel from 1894 to 1914. Kirkpatrick was also not Irish coming from American and Scottish stock.

Oh, and yes, you read that correctly. Oysters Kilpatrick is named after John Kirkpatrick. How and why the change to Kilpatrick came about seems to be lost in history. Also, there are plenty of places that call the dish Oysters Kirkpatrick. Initially, I thought there might be variations due to geography but I found two restaurants in the same city serving them but one was Kirk and one was Kil…

Just to further confuse the issue there are several sites on the interwebs that call this an Australian recipe!!!

Seriously, is this the most confounding recipe ever? First, they’re not Irish, second, it has two names! What is going on? Choose a lane, Oysters Kilpatrick!

Oysters Kilpatrick – The Recipe

If the name is confusing then the ingredients also seem to change at will – oysters, bacon and Worchestershire sauce are the mainstays but to these can be added:

- Balsamic Vinegar
- Barbecue sauce
- Chorizo instead of bacon, shallots and Brandy (Ooh, la la..so.fancy!)
- Tomato Ketchup (I do NOT endorse this!)
- Cheese (Errgghhh…as much as I usually love cheese that one can go get shucked!)

I used Matt Preston’s recipe which contains Soy Sauce which is also not a conventional addition to Oysters Kilpatrick. However, seeing as everything else is confusing about this recipe…why the shell not? It was an absolute pearl of a recipe!

Have a great week my friends! And if you make these Oysters Kilpatrick, make sure you share them around. You don’t want anyone to think you are shellfish!

And tell me – what’s your preferred name? Kilpatrick or Kirkpatrick?

21
Feb
2021

Crumbed Lamb Cutlets

categories: 1980's Food, Comfort Food, Lamb

So, we went back into our third lockdown this week. Albeit for only five days. But the news sent me into a spiral of gloom. So I was deep in need of comfort food. What I am trying to say is that sometimes you just need some crumbed lamb cutlets!

Outside of vegemite, a meat pie and maybe a lamington, a crumbed lamb cutlet is about the most Australian food you can get. I served mine with a fresh tomato sauce and some buttered zoodles. Exactly as per the serving suggestion in the Autumn 1986 issue of the Vogue Australia Entertaining Guide from when the recipe came. Here they are in all their 1986 glory!

Normally this mag (which doesn’t exist anymore) is quite high falutin’ so I was quite surprised to find something quite as downhome as a crumbed lamb cutlet within its pages. Having said that, their cutlets had those little chefs hat looking covers so I guess they did try to posh them up a bit!

Everything about the cutlets was perfection! I cooked them for around 2.5 minutes each side – the result? A crispy golden outside and a delightfully tender inside.

However, the zucchini was bland and the fresh tomato sauce was not great. So both sides were a fail. I would think that pairing the crumbed lamb cutlets with either minted yoghurt or beetroot chutney might be better options.

Crumbed Lamb Cutlets – The Recipe

Here’s the recipe for all three in case you want to make the full recipe as per 1986. And, the best way to eat these? Pick them up by the bony end and go for your life!

I know some of you find it hard to source lamb. You could use the crumb mix on flattened pieces of chicken or veal (as if you were making schnitzel). You would not get the fun “lollipop” element of a lamb cutlet but you will still get the lovely crispy comforting crumb crust!

I hope you are all doing well, where ever and whatever state of lock down or not you are in!