Kedgeree

From the Radiation "Regulo-Controlled" Cookery Book, 1941 (out of print)

2 oz butter
1/4 lb boiled rice
3/4 lb cooked fish
1 egg raw
1 egg hard-boiled
1 teaspoonful chopped parsley
Little grated lemon rind
Salt, pepper and cayenne
Little milk

Melt the butter, add the boiled rice, flaked fish, seasoning and well-beaten egg, and also the hard-boiled white of egg chopped up. Add a little milk if the mixture is dry, then transfer to a casserole. heat in the over for 25 minutes with the "Regulo" at mark 7. Serve on a hot dish and garnish with sieved yolk and parsley.

Could there be a better title for a cook book? You could use smoked mackerel, and add more parsley. One teaspoonful is a bit stingy. You could also add finely chopped onion or spring onions.

7-Up Salad

From The Life and Cuisine of Elvis Presley, by David Adler

1 package lemon gelatin
1 package lime gelatin
2 cups hot 7-Up
1 cup cottage cheese
1 can crushed pineapple
Green food coloring (if desired)

Prepare gelatin according to the package directions, substituting 7-Up for water. Let cool to room temperature. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Pour into pretty individual salad molds or mold as desired. let set in refrigerator for several hours. To unmold, dip the chilled mold in warm water for a second before serving.

David Adler has done a good job as a food detective, following the trail of the King from his humble origins to Graceland and Vegas. When his dad was in jail, Elvis and his mother lived on relief, and ate cheese grits for weeks on end. When Elvis went to high school, he often couldn't afford lunch, so he went without. He became successful very young, and the words "I'll never be hungry again" might have been written for him. He liked Southern food, and had a sweet tooth. He burned a lot of calories performing, but he still had to struggle not to put on too much weight. When not performing, he lived at night. He liked to eat in his bedroom, with its blacked-out windows and aircon that was always off. Then he became a prisoner of Vegas. But he was supremely talented, and was still the King.

You Were Always on My Mind

Cottage Pie

In an English country ga-arden

From Delia Smith's original How to Cheat at Cooking, 1971
Ingredients
1 15 oz can of savoury minced beef
1 tablespoon of dried minced onions
1 small green pepper, chopped
1/2 teaspoon of dried mixed herbs
Salt and milled black pepper
1 15 oz can of Italian tomatoes, drained
1 packet of instant mashed potato
2 oz of grated cheddar cheese
Some butter
Preheat over to 350 degrees F (mark 4)

Grease a pie-dish with a butter paper. Mix together the mince, onions, chopped green pepper and mixed herbs. Season with freshly-milled black pepper. Pack the lot into the bottom of the pie-dish and arrange the tomatoes on top. Make up the mashed potato according to the instructions on the packet then beat in the grated cheddar cheese and a knob of butter, and some pepper and salt to taste. Spread the potato over the meat and tomatoes (and make pretty patterns with a fork if you feel like it). Sprinkle the grated Parmesan over and put a few small dabs of butter here and there. Bake it in the oven for 45 minutes.

That's Delia's original recipe. She forgot to list Parmesan in the ingredients. Parmesan, peppers and freshly milled black pepper were very modern and sophisticated in 1971. Peppers never grew in any English cottage garden! You could use Marks & Spencer's superior tinned mince, and a real onion. And, of course, real mashed potatoes as instant mash is revolting, though we thought it was very modern and labour-saving back then. "Grease a pie-dish with a butter paper" - this is never necessary, and it's an instruction left over from the war, when butter and marge were so scarce that you saved your butter papers.