WHAT DID WE HAVE FOR TEA?

[Marilyn]

Potato topped Chicken Mornay tonight. ( very 1970's but we enjoy it)

[LizG]

Apricot chicken here tonight, also very 70's. Do you fancy sharing your recipe Maz? I'm always looking for inspiration.

[Tripps]

"David, if they put a teacupful of Bisto in they'll have very thick gravy. . ."

Well spotted. I should have said a teaspoonful of Bisto diluted to a cupful with cold water.

[Tizer]

Now there's a coincidence - Bisto is another of those British brands that's about to be swallowed up by a US company that aims to take over the one paying my pension (see the Attention thread).

[Moh]

The liver dish was lovely - even hubby who is not too much of a sauce fan loved it.
Sausage, mash & onion sauce tonight.

[Marilyn]

Liz...much the same as making a Tuna Mornay...I soften a finely chopped small onion in butter, then make a white sauce by adding flour, milk and a little grated mild cheese. When the sauce is done I add cooked Chicken ( I lightly flour and pan fry Chicken Breast, then chop it up. I also add Chopped Parsley, Chopped Chives, Tarragon, Dill and a good grind of Black Pepper. Sometimes I add Piri Piri (I did yesterday...gives it a little kick)
Throw all that in an open oven proof dish, pile Mashed Potato on top and make lots of ridges with a fork ( as it looks nice when browned in a hot oven for 30 mins)

The basic sauce is the same one I use for Tuna Mornay ( though sometimes I use Lemon Pepper in that instead of the Black Pepper.) And I add a small can of Corn Kernels and sometimes cooked Cauliflower.

My former Mum-in-Law used to make a similar sauce and turn it into an Egg and Asparagus Mornay ( adding hard boiled Eggs and a tin of Asparagus Tips). I used to love that. She used to have the most amazing way of making a really crispy bread crumb topping. ( I reckon she grilled the top before popping it in the oven but I have never successfully got the same results
despite trying.)

Prawn Mornay is nice too. Same basic sauce...

I guess Mornays came about when everyone was in to buffets and serve yourself party food in the 60s and 70s. We love them, but likely our kids would snub their noses at them.
I served step-son/his girlfriend and her 4 year old Homemade Soup last weekend and anyone would think they were being poisoned they way they looked at it suspiciously! They don't "DO" Soup apparently (!) and the 4 year old had never seen a bowl of Soup in his life. They probably think it's only for folk who live under bridges or something...served out of the back of vans by Salvos.

[Stanley]

I love soup and stews Maz......
I had cheese and tomato butties for dinner and the last of the frozen mutton stew for tea. Only a small bowl so I treated myself to a Stilton and tomato butty to fill a corner.

[Marilyn]

Nice to see you are getting a bit of appetite back, Stanley.

[Stanley]

Well spotted Maz. I got below 12 stone a couple of days ago! Bit over that now I am eating properly again. Veggies will be cooked today!

[LizG]

Thanks for the recipes Maz. Some great ideas there already saved to my recipes file.

I had an interesting experience one night when we invited friends and their children for dinner. Everything I served the kids said 'do I like that Mum?'. They were 8, 10 & 12 and had never tasted camembert or tasty cheese and had no idea what a casserole was. I wonder what they ate for lunch or dinner.

We're having lamb shanks cooked in red wine with cranberries and all the usual vegetables.

[Marilyn]

I don't think very young children are fussy or suspicious about food at all ( I call on my experiences of caring for babies and toddlers). I only had one child in my care who was quite challenging and his slightly older sister had fed him Coca Cola in his baby bottle in desperation to keep him alive as they had a drug addicted mother who had lost the plot.
I think modern day parents feed their children differently ( I realise I am generalising), but "in our day" there wasn't access to food one just pops on an oven tray and into the oven/ or microwave food/ or plastic squeeze sachet food, or plastic tub food etc
I have had females in the 15-35 age range look at me quizzically if I mention the words "stew" or "slow-cooking". ( sat there with their designer handbags on their laps, expensive hair-dos and blank looks!)
Their mothers have much to answer for....

[Moh]

Chicken & chorizo paella tonight.

[Stanley]

Liz and Maz, an interesting exchange there and one that goes straight to the root of what I call 'food faddish'. I can only look at my own experience. I was raised in what would now be seen as 'food poverty' because we were rationed. Life was simple, everyone sat down to the same meal and ate what they were given. I can only remember two things that got the universal thumbs down, whale meat and Snoek. I had a personal dislike which was curds and whey but always ate it.
Today the plethora of expensive modified ready foods means that parents will ask kids what they want for tea and it's easy to cater for them out of the fridge with prepared foods. So much more expensive and part of the great con trick that has been played on us by food processors chasing profit and the rise of the supermarkets. Old fashioned concepts like cooking natural food from scratch have gone by the board because parents have made a rod for their own backs and in turn this gets passed to the next generation. We are lucky because we were taught well by our mothers and got into good food habits early in life.
I got really old-fashioned yesterday. I slow cooked carrots and parsnips in just enough water to be able to leave it in the pot and serve as gravy, salt, pepper, chicken stock cubes and long slow cooking until the sugar came out. Popped some frozen peas in for a bit of variety and had straight veggies for dinner and tea. One helping left..... Tasted lovely and no nutrients lost in the cooking water.

[LizG]

My daughter in law has done a great job and my granddaughters eat every vegetable known to man. Not so long ago we were there for dinner and when she got her plate Ava burst into tears (8year old). When she calmed down and explained it was because her Dad had more brussel sprouts than she did. We made her serve up to 4 and she was very happy, ate the lot. Dennis was very happy to donate his, he hates them.

[Stanley]

Nice story Liz. Those kids will not get allergies!

[Moh]

Lamb chops, chips & garden peas tonight, just had smoked haddock and a crusty cob for lunch.

[Stanley]

Steak pudding and the veggies for dinner. Two small Haslet butties for tea....

[Moh]

Stuffed loin of pork, roasties & cauli. tonight.

[Stanley]

Steak pudding and baked beans for dinner. Three Haslet and Stilton butties for tea, very small ones.....

[PanBiker]

Just about to set to making a chicken curry for tea, I fancy a hot one so maybe a vidaloo. Will have it with rice and a garlic and coriander naan.

[Wendyf]

I made a chicken curry last night, had it with salad and a low carb flat bread made by Col. He is planning something fishy tonight, baked in a tomato, olive & caper sauce.

[PanBiker]

Mine turned out to be a Tikka Masala, Sally had already had dibs on the Vindaloo for her veggie curry. I made enough of mine to freeze two portions.

[Stanley]

Fried smoked haddock, mushy peas and chips for dinner. Same for tea but an egg substituted for the peas.

[Marilyn]

Just ate the most fabulous fresh Prawn Sandwich. More Prawns in the fridge for tea.

[Stanley]

This is a half leg of mutton that has been slow cooking overnight for 12 hours. I sat it on a bed of onions, put in the usual simple condiments and a bottle of vintage cider. I strained the gravy and put it in the freezer until the fat had solidified and could be lifted off and put in the deep fryer. I de-boned and de-fatted the meat and divided the result into two portions, one wrapped in cling film and sat on the worktop ready for butties later on and the other half diced, put back into the pan with the onions and 1kg of frozen peas and a diced large sweet potato. Then I popped the gravy back in and the whole thing is sat on a slow stove again to argue with itself until teatime, another ten hours at least. The meat is lovely, succulent and juicy. Old mutton like this if not cooked slowly can be dry and leathery. You can't beat slow cooking and patience! I'll adjust the seasoning of the resulting stew tonight and the last thing to go in will be a good dollop of horseradish paste and mint sauce. I'm looking forward to it! Note that apart from the trimmed fat and bone nothing has been thrown away. Purists would say it was overcooked, they just haven't got a clue about real old-fashioned cooking.