The Real Man's Cookbook, Mark MacIntyre USA 1990

Veal with Mushrooms and Pineapple

“Here’s veal with an Hawaiian twist! Veal schnitzels are fun to work with because they’re tender, cook up in a jiffy and have a delicate, distinctive flavor. If you’re like me and like your pineapple tart and flavorful rather than syrupy sweet, buy the type packed in its own juice rather than sugar. Better yet, buy it fresh and slice and core it just before cookig. You’ll taste the difference immediately.” Mark MacIntyre

8 veal schnitzels; 125g field mushrooms; 1 tblsp butter; 8 slices pineapple; 125ml cream; salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Season the veal with salt and pepper. Heat the butter in a heavy-based frying pan and when the butter foam subsides fry the schnitzels on both sides until golden brown and cooked through, about 2 – 3 minutes per side. Gingerly remove from pan and keep warm. 

Sauté the mushrooms in the same pan for 3 minutes, remove with a slotted spoon and keep warm. Place the pineapple slices into the pan and heat through; remove with the same slotted spoon and keep warm.

Pour the cream into the pan and deglaze by stirring the residue into the cream. Cook slowly, stirring until the sauce thickens slightly.

On individual serving plates, arrange the veal slices, mushrooms and pineapple. Pour the sauce over and serve.

Serves 8.

We varied the recipe a little, Les cooked the pineapple and veal on the barbecue and I made a sauce by lightly sauteeing the mushrooms with a dash of ground pepper and a little cream stirred through.

Thanks for the oyster mushroom kit Ella and Rob, they really were delicious (and fun to grow!) Anne

http://fluidgrowers.com.au/

Anyone for Croquettes?

The Australian Women’s Weekly Cookery Book, Prize recipes from our £2,000 Cookery Contest, 1948

Meat Croquettes with Pineapple Slices    

Four slices pineapple; 2 cups cooked cold veal; 1 tblsp dripping or margarine; 2 tblsp flour; ½ cup milk; 1 dstsp chopped parsley; nutmeg; lemon rind; salt & cayenne; flour, egg & breadcrumbs for coating

Mince veal. Make a thick white sauce from the fat, flour, and milk, and allow to cool a little. Add meat and flavours. Mix well and turn on to a plate to cool. Divide mixture evenly into portions, taking 1 tblsp at a time, and shape into croquettes. Prepare 1 tblsp flour, ½ tsp salt, and a shake of pepper on a piece of kitchen paper. Mix egg with a little milk on a soup plate. Have 2 cups dried breadcrumbs on a plate. First cover all croquettes with the seasoned flour. Then brush them with the egg mixture. Remove, drain, and roll in breadcrumbs. Shake off loose crumbs. Wet fry in deep fat till golden brown. Drain.

Drain away all fat except 2 tablespoons. Dip pineapple in seasoned flour and fry quickly on both sides for a few minutes until golden brown, turning once.

If you Google "Anyone for croquet?" you'll learn just how many croquet clubs there are in the world! I still don't know who originally termed this phrase but I did read some amusing anecdotes about the game:

"Croquet came first at the Paris Olympics of 1900, and was the first Olympic event that women could enter. All the medals were won by France which is not surprising, as the only non-French competitor was a Belgian that failed to complete the first round."

http://www.funtrivia.com/en/subtopics/Anyone-for-Croquet-333356.html

“Lewis Carroll featured a nonsense version of the game in the popular children's novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: a hedgehog was used as the ball, a flamingo the mallet, and playing cards as the hoops.” No mention of pineapples!

This one’s my favourite “H. G. Wells wrote The Croquet Player, which uses croquet as a metaphor for the way in which people confront the very problem of their own existence.”    http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croquet

Of course none of this has anything to do with croquettes! Anne.

Ladies who lunch on pineapple!

Ladies Who Lunch:  Easy, elegant recipes for brunch, lunch or dinner by Ann Reed and Marilyn Pfaltz 1972  USA

Pineapple Ham Loaf & Fluffy Mustard Sauce

¼ cup light brown sugar, packed; 1-1 ¼ cups pineapple chunks, drained; cloves; 2 eggs, beaten; 1 can (300ml) cream of mushroom soup; ¼ cup ketchup; ¼ cup water; 450g ground cooked ham; 450g ground veal; 1 cup dry breadcrumbs; ½ tsp salt; pepper to taste; 1 onion, minced; 3 tblsp minced green pepper

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Grease a 23cm x 12cm loaf pan & sprinkle pan with the brown sugar. Stick pineapple chunks with clove & place, clove side down, to cover the bottom of the pan. Combine eggs, soup, ketchup & water. Thoroughly mix remaining ingredients. Pack on top of pineapple in pan. Bake for about 1 hr. remove from oven & invert on serving platter. May be served hot or cold with Fluffy Mustard Sauce.

Serves 8 - 10.

Fluffy Mustard Sauce

1 tblsp sugar; 3 tblsp prepared mustard; 2 tblsp vinegar; 1 tblsp water; 33/4 tsp salt; 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten; 1 tblsp butter, melted; 2-3 tsp horseradish; ½ cup heavy cream, whipped

Add sugar, prepared mustard, vinegar, water & salt to the beaten egg yolks. Cook over hot water, not boiling, & stir until thickened. Stir in butter & horseradish. Remove from heat & cool thoroughly. Fold in whipped cream. Serve at room temperature. Yield: 1 ¼ cups.

As those were seriously dull photos here's an inventive keyring given to me by Larna, to lighten things up! Anne.

Two disappointments

Well, what can I say?  I reheated it for lunch, hoping it had improved overnight but alas no.  Ruby, you have let us down with this one, I certainly won’t be repeating it. Even with a generous grating of parmesan it was barely palatable. Ann.

Continental Veal Ragout with Spaghetti.

440g can Golden Circle Pineapple Pieces, 250g thin spaghetti, 1 tblspn butter, ¼ cup red capsicum, 1 kg boneless veal, 3 carrots, 2 stalks celery, 1 onion, 1 cup chopped skinned tomatoes, ½ cup dry white wine, ½ cup  veal stock or water.

Drain pineapple pieces and brown in butter. Cook and drain spaghetti, add pineapple pieces and butter. Line heat-proof serving dish with this. Cook chopped carrots, celery and onion in oil until beginning to brown. Add cubed veal, season to taste with salt, pepper and chopped marjoram. Add tomatoes, wine and stock. Simmer until veal is tender. Thicken if you wish with 1 tblspn cornflour blended in ¼ cup cold water. Serve very hot over the hot pineapple and spaghetti. Sprinkle veal with chopped parsley.

Note: The fabulous pineapple keyring

Ruby said “You’re a magician with quick, sunny sweets when your frig holds cans of Golden Circle’s vitamin-rich Tropical Pineapple.” 
I think she would have been disappointed with the can of fruit salad I bought for this recipe – it was mostly crushed pineapple with a little chopped pear, and I counted one passionfruit seed in the whole can! However it was fun to prepare with Raffeallu, the orange halves made great little dishes and the jelly was enjoyed! Anne.

Jewel Islands.

Encourage young people to eat what’s good for them. Serve Golden Circle Tropical Fruit Salad in a scooped-out orange with bright chopped jelly garnish.

Note: The beautiful glass dessert dish!

An old favourite.

Party-time Crumbed Cutlets.

I hadn’t associated crumbed cutlets with parties before, but why not? They were my favourite as a child, I can even remember ordering them in cafes. My daughter, Ella, recently commented on my like for them and said “What is it with you and crumbed cutlets?” I’m not sure actually. But finding this recipe in Ruby Borrowdale’s “Golden Circle Tropical Recipe Book” seemed like a good reason to cook them once again! I wasn’t as exciting as Ruby when it came to the potatoes or presentation but those cutlets were yum! Anne.

440g can Golden Circle Sliced Pineapple, 6 to 8 crumbed veal or lamb cutlets, 6 to 8 baked jacket potatoes, butter, grated cheese, parsley.

Drain syrup from pineapple and cut slices in halves. Cook the required number of cutlets until done to taste. Cover cutlet ends with paper frills. Scoop out centres of potatoes, mash with butter and grated cheese, then replace adding garnish of parsley. Arrange cutlets on serving platter, frills to the outside, and surround with the potatoes and the halved [pineapple slices which have been lightly browned in butter.

Chinese Veal and Ice Cream Islands, both with pineapple.

On a visit to my mother-in-law, Joan, in Sydney this week I cooked Chinese Veal and Pineapple Slices, and Ice Cream Islands. Her local butcher didn’t have veal chops or steaks and suggested osso bucco instead. I substituted peas with spinach. I’m not sure why the “Chinese” appears in the title – must be the Soya Sauce.

Inspired by Jenia‘s comment on the ABC online blog about this blog http://open.abc.net.au/openregions/nsw-hunter-70MU6Ji/posts/blogging-the-triumphs-of-retro-cooking-28lr7zl  I looked for a dessert recipe that was especially colourful. Joan’s three flavoured ice cream certainly helped in that regard. This could be a wonderful ice cream syrup for children as it could be made with fruit juice, and the colours, well, go for it! Anne.

Chinese Veal and Pineapple Slices

440g can Golden Circle Pineapple Slices, 6 veal chops or pieces of veal steak, 4 level tblsps seasoned flour, 4 tblsps butter, 2 tblsp lemon juice, 2 tblsp Worcestershire Sauce or Soya Sauce, salt, pepper, 3 dstsp brown sugar, 3 tsps butter.

Cover chops or steak with seasoned flour and fry lightly in butter. Drain and place in casserole dish. Add remainder of seasoned flour to the pan and brown lightly. Stir in lemon juice, sauce and pineapple syrup made up to one cup with water, season with salt and pepper. Pour gravy over veal in the casserole. Place [pineapple slices on top, sprinkle with brown sugar and dot with butter. Cover and cook in a moderate oven until tender, approximately 40-45 minutes. Serve with rice and green peas.

Ice Cream Islands

440g can Golden Circle Pineapple Pieces, tsp butter, 1 level tblsp arrowroot, ¼ cup cold water, pink food colouring 4-6 servings Vanilla Ice Cream.

Drain pineapple syrup into saucepan. Add butter and bring to boil. Thicken with arrowroot blended in water until smooth. Remove from stove and tint bright pink. Cool and chill. For each serving, place a spoonful of pineapple pieces in dish, top with ice cream and pour the chilled sauce over. Garnish with cherries or strawberries.