Trifles

½ swiss roll or.                                           2 sliced bananas or any other fruit (fresh or tinned)

1 small sponge cake and some jam.      250 ml custard

250 ml fruit jelly.                                       Glace cherries and nuts to decorate

1 Slice the swiss roll or slice the sponge cake and spread with jam.

2 Arrange them in a glass bowl or in individual sweet bowls.

3 Lay the sliced fruit over the cake and soak well with liquid jelly.

4 When this is set, cover with the custard and leave until firm.

5 Decorate with cherries and nuts. If liked, soak the cake with a little sherry before laying the fruit over the cake.

Bon appetite!

Chicken stew

1 chicken (prepared).                          2 tablespoons seasoned flour

250 ml cooking oil.                               1 tablespoon tomato puree

2 tomatoes (large).                               Sprig of thyme

4 peppers (large).                                 150 ml cold water

2 onions.                                                Salt and pepper

1 Cut chicken into sections and toss in seasoned flour.

2 Heat oil in saucepan and fry chicken until golden brown.

3 Add water, thyme, tomato puree, seasonings and sliced onions and simmer until chicken is tender.

4 Add sliced peppers and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally

5 Serve with a root vegetable or rice.

Bon appetite!

Milk and coconut jelly

1 coconut.                                   500 ml diluted evaporated milk

15 g gelatine                               2 tablespoons castor sugar

1 Shell the coconut; remove the brown back with a sharp knife and grate the white part.

2 Heat the milk and pour over the grated coconut. Cover and leave to stand for 5 minutes.

3 Stir and press the coconut with a wooden spoon to extract all the fat and flavour. Strain, pressing well.

4 Reheat the strained milk. Add the gelatine and sugar. Dissolve gelatine without boiling. Whisk well and pour into a glass dish or individual sweet glasses. Put in a refrigerator to set.

5 When set decorate with cherries or sprinkle browned grated coconut on the top. If no refrigerator is available, double the quantity of gelatin

Bon appetite!

Grapefruit and water-cress salad

2 medium grapefruit.                               2 tablespoons French dressing

Crisp water-cress

1 Peel grapefruit, separate in sections, remove seeds, Chill.

2 Drain off the juice and mix the fruit with the French dressing. Serve on watercress.

As a variation, add wedges of avocado pear, thin slices of tomato or cucumber or add colour by garnishing with thin strips of sweet pepper.

Bon appetite!

Stewed fruit

50 g firm fresh fruit (pineapple, under-ripe mango, pawpaw, guava, or berries).                                                                                                                                            250 ml water

4 tablespoons sugar (use less for sweet fruit)

1 Dissolve sugar in the water very slowly and boil for 5-7 minutes.

2 Cut fruit into neat pieces.

3 Place in the syrup and simmer gently till tender.

4 Dish with the syrup poured round.

Bon appetite!

Fried egg cakes

 3 hardboiled eggs.                                                50 g grated cheese

1 tablespoon boiled rice.                                     1 dessertspoon flour

1 dessertspoon tomato paste or puree.            1 egg for binding

2 tablespoons fresh breadcrumbs.                    Egg and breadcrumbs for coating

                                                                                  Salt and pepper

1 Chop the hardboiled eggs finely.

2 Mix with the grated cheese, rice, breadcrumbs and season with salt and pepper. Bind with the well-beaten egg.

3 Form into flat, round cakes on a floured board.

4 Coat with egg and breadcrumbs.

5 Fry in deep hot fat. Drain well. Serve hot.

Bon appetite!

Cassava chips

1 Peel and wash a cassava and cut it into pieces about 8 cm long.

2 Boil in salted water until almost cooked. Chill in cold water.

3 Split and remove string from centre and cut into chips.

4 Roll in flour and fry in deep fat.

5 Serve hot with fried fish or meat dish.

Bon appetite!

Chicken cutlets

1 frying chicken.                            Oil for frying

4 eggs.                                              Bread crumbs for coating

1 Wash and joint chicken. With a sharp knife cut the meat from the bones so that the bones are exposed, but do not remove meat completely.

2 Chop the meat with knife to break down the fibres.

3 Season well with salt, white pepper and other poultry seasoning if available.

4 Coat with egg and bread crumbs and remove crumbs from bones before frying.

5 Fry gently in deep fat until golden brown.

6 Drain and serve hot or cold.

Bon appetite!

Kedgeree

250 g cooked fish or smoked fish.                  1 hard-boiled egg

150 g cooked rice.                                              1 tomato

1 onion.                                                                2 tablespoons margarine

                                                                              1 tablespoon milk

1 Remove skin and bones from fish and flake it.

2 Melt the margarine and saute the sliced onion and tomato.

3 Add the fish, rice, and remaining seasoning.

4 Make thoroughly hot and add the milk and the hard-boiled egg cut in pieces.

5 Pile in a mound on a hot dish.

One teaspoon curry powder may be fried with the onions and tomato to give additional flavour. 

Tinned salmon  or pilchards may be substituted for cold cooked fish.

Bon appetite!

Toad-in-the-hole

250 ml plain batter.                                                  1 tablespoon fat

100 g sausages or 150 g cooked meat cut in uniform pieces

1 Prepare batter and leave to stand for 30 minutes.

2 Make the fat hot and pour it into a baking dish.

3 Pour in the batter. Put in sausages or meat.

4 Bake as yorkshire pudding, allowing 40 – 50 minutes in all.

Bon appetite!