Watercress Soup from the 70s

From Good Housekeeping's Easy Entertaining.

4oz butter or margarine
1 medium onion, chopped
2 bunches watercress
2 oz plain flour
One and a quarter pints chicken stock
Half pint milk

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the onion and cook gently for 10 mins until soft but not coloured. Wash and trim the watercress, leaving some of the stem, then chop roughly. Add to the onion, cover the pan with a lid and cook gently for a further 4 mins. Add the flour and cook gently, sitrring, for one to two mins. Remove from heat and gradually blend in the stock and milk. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly then simmer for 3 mins. Sieve or puree the soup in a food processor. Return to the pan and reheat gently without boiling. Serve hot.

Rice Biscuits

From Mrs Beeton.

1/2lb rice flour
1/4lb castor sugar
1/4lb butter
1 egg

Beat the butter to a cream, stir in the rice flour and sugar, and moisten the whole iwth the egg, which should be previously well beaten. Roll out, cut out with a round cutter into small cakes, and bake from 12 to 18 mins in a very slow oven. (Average cost ninepence.)

Supermarket Paella

From Delia Smith's How to Cheat at Cooking.

1 large Spanish onion, chopped small
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 packet of frozen peas, cooked and drained
1 can red peppers, drained and chopped
1 can Spanish rice
8 oz fresh peeled prawns, thawed
Meat from 2 cooked chicken portions, chopped
1 can grilling mushrooms, drained and chopped

In a large frying pan, fry the onion and garlic in the oil for about 15 mins. The stir in the rice, peas, peppers, prawns, chicken meat and musrooms and heat through, stirring most of the time.

I don't think you can get tins of "Spanish" rice any more, but Uncle Ben may have something similar. You could use fresh mushrooms and red peppers, but chop them small and fry them with the onion.

Peach Cream

According to Mrs Beeton. Makes a change from her 101 ways with boiled cabbage...

1/2 pint of peach puree
1/2 pint of whipped cream
1 oz castor sugar
1 gill of peach syrup
gelatine

Pass sufficient peaches through a hair sieve to make the required amount of puree. Dissolve the gelatine in the syrup, add the sugar and the puree, stir in the stiffly whipped cream. Turn into a mould and put it in the fridge to set.

Celery Soup (Economical)

From Beeton's Cookery - all the recipes without Isabella's waffle about the history of barley (yawn).

2 pts water
1 pt milk
2 oz lean bacon or ham
1 oz butter
1 1/2 tbsp flour
1 large head of celery
2 onions
salt and pepper

Cut the ham into dice, slice the onions and celery. Melt the butter in a pan, fry the vegetables without browning, put in the bacon and water and simmer for 30 or 40 minutes, or until the clery is tender. Strain, rub through a fine sieve, return to the saucepan, add the milk and bring to the boil. Mix the flour with a little milk, stir and cook for 5 or 6 minutes, season to taste and serve.

Average cost: 6d to 8d. Sufficient for 6 persons.

You could always NOT sieve it. And NOT add so much flour. Try adding a teaspoon of cornflour or rice flour instead. And some ginger, sugar and lemon juice would pep it up a bit.

Cheese and Potato bake

From the Walberton Quick and Easy Cookbook

2lbs potatoes
6oz grated Cheddar cheese
1 egg
knob of butter and a little milk
small onion diced
1 large tomato sliced
6 rashers streaky bacon

Peel and boil potatoes. Fry the onion until soft. Grill the bacon and then cut into pieces. When potatoes have boiled, drain them and mash adding the knob of butter and a little milk. Add the egg, 40z cheese, onion and stir well. Turn mixture into casserole, arrange the bacon pieces and slices of tomato on top and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake in oven for 30-40 mins at 200C or Gas Mk 6. Serve with peas or other favourite vegetable.

Austerity Party Food

From Marguerite Patten's Post-War Kitchen

Fork and Finger Savouries

Spread slices of bread with butter or margarine. Cut off the crusts, and cut into fours. Top each with a slice of hard-boiled egg, a slice of beetroot and a pinch of parsley. (Toast might work better.)

Roll out pastry and cut into small squares. When baked, top with grated cheese mixed with mayonnaise, and a lattice of celery strips.

Cut celery into three-inch lengths. Mix mashed potato, grated cheese and tinned chopped tomatoes. Fill the celery "baskets" with the pink mixture. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. (And eat with care.)