Important points in cheese cookery

1 Divide cheese finely (grate or sieve). This breaks up the coating

2 Additional extra seasoning to a cheese dish will excite the flow of the digestive juices to deal with the concentrated food, e.g mustard, cayenne pepper.

3 Serve generally in small quantities. Serve often.

4 Mix with starchy foods, which will absorb the fat, e.g bread, macaroni, flour.

5 Cook over a gentle heat for as short a time as possible to prevent hardening of protein.

Cheese for cooking should be kept covered to prevent it becoming hard and dry.

How to prepare groundnut paste

This is a substitute for almond paste, and may be used to cover the outside of a fruit cake which is to be coated with Royal icing, e.g. wedding Cakes, etc.

50 g groundnuts 500 g icing sugar Whites of 2 eggs

1 Roast groundnuts. Grind or pound into fine powder. It should not be oily.

2 Put into a bowl, add the sifted icing sugar and mix well.

3 Add the lightly beaten egg white. Mix all together to a stiff paste which will form into a ball.

4 Knead thoroughly until smooth but not oily.

5 Roll out into required shape.

Bon appetite!

Chocolate moulds

50 g plain chocolate.                                    15 g cornflour

750 ml milk.                                                   25 g sugar

Vanilla essence.                                            Whipped cream

1 Grate chocolate into a small saucepan. Add 2 tablespoons of milk and dissolve slowly over gentle heat.

2 Mix cornflour into a smooth paste with a little of the milk.

3 Heat the remaining milk and pour over blended cornflour, stirring all the time.

4 Pour on to the melted chocolate and boil for 5 minutes stirring all the time. 

5 Pour into wet individual moulds and leave in a cool place to set.

6 Turn out on a round, flat glass dish; decorate the top of each with whipped cream and a sprinkling of grated chocolate on the cream. Serve more cream separately.

Bon appetite!

Wholemeal bread

500 g wholemeal flour                                   25 g margarine or lard

15 g yeast.                                                         250 ml tepid water

1 teaspoon sugar.                                            1 teaspoon salt

1 Add salt to wholemeal flour. Rub in the lard or margarine.

2 Cream yeast and sugar and add the tepid water and strain this into the flour.

3 Mix and knead thoroughly until smooth.

4 Put in a warm place to rise, then knead again slightly on a floured board.

5 Press in a prepared loaf tin and leave to ‘prove' in a warm place for 15 minutes.

6 Bake in a hot oven for 45 minutes reducing the heat after 15 minutes. A lighter loaf is made with half plain flour and half wholemeal flour.

Bon appetite!

Beef pies

250 g short crust pastry.                        Salt and pepper to taste

500 g minced beef.                                 1 onion

2 tablespoons cooking oil.                    1 tablespoons tomato paste

1 Chop up onions. Fry in hot oil. Add minced beef and season to taste. Cook for 5 minutes.

2 Roll out pastry ½ cm thick.

3 Use an 8 cm biscuit cutter and cut out 16 rounds.

4 Put 8 rounds in greased patty time (reserve the best 8 for covers).

6 Press the edges together and flake with a sharp knife.

7 Make a small hole in the centre to let out steam.

8 Bake in a hot oven for 20 – 30 minutes.

Bon appetite!

Currant bread

500 g flour.                                                           25 g yeast

50 g margarine.                                                   250 ml milk

50 g granulated sugar.                                       1 teaspoon castor sugar

1 egg.                                                                      Large pinch of salt

75 g currents

1 Mix the salt with the warmed flour and sieve. Rub in the fat. Stir in the sugar and the currants. To make the currants plump, pour a little boiling water over them, strain, and dry them in a clean cloth.

2 Cream the yeast with the castor sugar. Beat the eggs and add both the egg and tepid milk to the creamed yeast.

3 Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture. Pour in the liquid. Cover lightly with a little of the flour and leave in a warm place for 20 minutes to set the sponge.

4 Beat with the hand until thoroughly mixed. Put in a floured bowl and leave in a warm place for 1 hour to rise.

5 Put in a warmed greased loaf tin and ‘prove’ until dougjh rises to the top of the tin.

6 Bake in a hot oven for 15 minutes and reduce heat o moderate until thoroughly cooked.

7 Remove from oven and brush the top with sugar glaze. Return to oven for a minute or two to dry the glaze.

Note: To make sugar glaze, dissolve 50 g sugar in about 3 tablespoons of water. Bring to the boil and boil for 4 minutes without stirring. Cool before using.

Bon appetite!

Beans cakes

1 cup white beans.                                                             1 medium onion

2 large tomatoes or 1 teaspoon tomato paste.             1 egg

2 large peppers.                                                                  Salt to taste

1  Cook beans until soft, grind or mince to a paste.

2 Grind or mince onion, peppers and tomatoes.

3 Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix well. Add salt to taste.

4 Add the lightly beaten egg to bind the mixture.

5 Form into balls or flat cakes, and toss lightly in seasoned flour.

6 Fry in deep fat until crisp and brown. The cooked beans must be well drained and the consistency stiff enough to allow for easy handling and shaping. If too soft, add a little bean flour if available, or put the mixture in a refrigerator before shaping.

Bon appetite!

Uses of eggs

1 Eggs are used to increase food value and to improve the flavor of foods to which they are added, e.g. doughnuts, banana pancakes, egg and corned beef stew.

2 As a binding medium, e.g fish cakes, yam balls, etc.

3 For coating foods for frying, e.g. fish, yam balls, etc.

4 As thickening agents, e.g. in sauces, custards, etc.

5 As a raising agent in cake-making.

6 For garnishing: hard-boiled eggs are sliced or wedged and used for garnishing salads, etc. The yolk may be sieved and the white chopped for garnishing meat or fish dishes.

7 For glazing pastry, bread dough, biscuits, etc, before baking.

8 Eggs are valuable in the diet especially in that of growing children and invalids because they are rich in nourishment and are easily digested.

Corn pie

6 fresh corn cobs.                                          225 ml milk

2 eggs.                                                              1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon butter or margarine.            Salt and pepper to taste

 Scrape corn grains from cobs to make about 2 teacups. Pass through a mincer.

2 Make a white sauce with the butter, flour and milk. Add salt and pepper.

3 Remove from fire and add the well-beaten eggs.

4 Stir in the minced corn and pour mixture into a greased pie dish.

5 Bake in a moderately hot oven until firm and brown.

Bon appetite!

Canary pudding

125 g margarine.                                ½ teaspoon baking powder

125 g sugar.                                         Grated lemon rind

2 eggs.                                                   Milk to mix if necessary

125 g flour.                                          A pinch of salt

 Cream the fat and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat well after each addition. 

2 Sieve flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the grated lemon rind. Fold all into the creamed mixture.

3 Add milk if necessary to give a dropping consistency.

4 Put mixture into a greased basin and cover. Steam for 11/2 hours.

5 Serve with custard sauce or jam sauce.

Bon appetite!