Meat - Retro Food For Modern Times

17
May
2021

Lamb Rissoles with Mint Jelly

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!

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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!

22
Dec
2020

Salami on a Sushi Platter?

categories: 1970's food, 1970's recipes, Fish, Good Housekeeping World Cookery, Japan, Rice, Salami, World Cooking

Kon’nichiwa friends! Today we are making Sushi but not any old sushi. Today, I am using the recipe for O’Sushi contained in the Japanese chapter of Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery (1972). It’s mostly sushi as we know it with one notable exception. Yes, that is salami in the middle of the plate!

For this recipe, I wanted to put myself into the shoes of a housewife from 1972 who had never tasted or seen sushi before. So, for the purposes of this post, this is me, using my new-fangled microwave to zip up some delightful treats for the kids.

And later tonight when they are in bed I am going to make some fancy pants Japanese food for date night with the hubby because we like walking on the wild side. Just look at the massive pocket on my denim overalls dress. If that doesn’t scream living on the edge, I don’t know what does. Except for maybe my cork platform sandals.

O-Sushi The Recipe.

Boil some rice in the usual fashion. Prepare a sauce of vinegar, sugar and salt whilst it is cooking, using 2 tsps sugar to 1 tbsp vinegar.

How much salt Good Housekeeping? And what do you mean boil rice in the usual fashion? I’ve never boiled rice in my life. Good lord, step one and already I need to phone a friend?

Sheila? I’m making the sushi…su….shi…It’s Japanese. Only I don’t know how to boil rice or how much salt to add to the sauce? What do you mean my hair, face, clothes and kitchen seem different? I’m not interested in continuity I’m interested in salt and getting laid tonight! This is date night sushi Sheila so quit with the comments and help me with the rice…oh…ok…thanks.

The rice should be dried and cooled quickly and the juice is shaken over it whilst it cools.

WTF? Where am I supposed to get juice from? Oh…the vinegar sauce is the juice? Why did they suddenly decide to call it juice? And how quickly does this rice need to be dried and cooled? Maybe I’ll just pop it in the fridge and shake the juice / sauce over it from there? Will that work?

Ok, next step.

Form the rice into small flat rolls or cakes and garnish with any of the following: Boiled prawns

Smoked Salmon

Raw Fish

Tinned fish; Anchovy fillets; ham or any other cold meat thinly sliced;

A thin omelette seasoned with salt and sugar, edible seaweed, or any salad vegetable

Place the garnish on top of or around the rice cakes. Alternatively, cylindrical cakes can be made with a filling in the centre and and thin layer of egg, seaweed, etc around the outside.

Well, mercy sakes alive, it looks like I’ve just made proper some Japanese O’Sushi….I really hope hubby likes it!

The Following Day – The Sushi Wrap Up

Hello Sheila? I”m just calling to fill you in on date night last night. Yes, it went very well. The food was all very tasty but we both agree. Raw fish will never really catch on here…it’s just too out there for most people! The salami sushi though? That was the bomb! I can see people lining up in the streets for some of that! …. The sex? No, nothing, I caught a cold from standing in front of the open fridge for and hours and shaking juice on the rice and had to go to bed early.

Have a great week!

PS – For a real insight into the art of making sushi, watch Jiro Dreams of Sushi.

23
Nov
2020

Castilian Leg of Lamb- Dining with The Dame 7

categories: Dining With The Dame, Lamb, Poirot

Hello crime readers and food lovers! Today we are dining on a Castilian leg of lamb as we uncover the evil machinations of a shady group of evildoers known as The Big Four. This is certainly not my favourite of the books I have read so far as the plot seemed a little silly in parts. However one of the early stories significantly involves a leg of lamb This seemed like a great excuse for a roast dinner and the meal did not disappoint!

The Big Four- The Plot

This novel pits Hercule Poirot against four evil genius’ bent on world domination – they are an American – the richest man in the world, a female French scientist, the Chinese leader of the group – a criminal genius and “the Destroyer” the group’s assassin who is also a master of disguise and (wait for it) a British actor.

We have:

Sinister cabals
Poisoned curries
Poisoned grandmasters
Hijinks on trains
Stolen radium
Secret lairs under mountains
Twin brothers
Telltale tics
And, course Hercule Poirot (or is it twin brother Achilles?) using his little grey cells to thwart the villains and their evil plans.

The Covers

Given that we are talking about the Big Four – I’m showing four covers today. The third from the left is the one I read but I am rather taken by all the others.

The Recipe – Castilian Leg of Lamb

The recipe comes from the wonderful Keith Floyd and his journey through Spain – not in the search of arch criminals but in search of some damn fine nosh!

You can find the recipe here. You can also watch the entire series of Keith Floyd’s adventures in Spain on YouTube. Floyd is so engaging it is well worth investing the time.

In his hand he was brandishing a leg of mutton! “My dear Poirot!” I cried “What is the matter? Have you suddenly gone mad?”

“Regard, I pray you , this mutton. But regard it closely!”

I regarded it as closely as I could but could see nothing unusual about it. It seemed to me to be a very ordinary leg of mutton.”

Agatha Christie, The Big Four

Other Food Mentioned in The Big Four

Have a wonderful week! Next book in the list is The Mystery of the Blue Train from 1928.

Category: Meat

The Revamped Lamb Rissole with Mint Jelly

Lamb Rissoles with Mint Jelly

Ingredients

Instructions

Oysters Kilpatrick – The Recipe

Crumbed Lamb Cutlets – The Recipe

O-Sushi The Recipe.

The Following Day – The Sushi Wrap Up

The Big Four- The Plot

The Covers

The Recipe – Castilian Leg of Lamb

Other Food Mentioned in The Big Four