Cooking on Saturday ~ Sunday Dinner

Hi and welcome back to my Cooking on Saturday. I should point out that the only cooking I do on a Saturday is writing this blog. Hehehehe. Okay do I have a treat for you. This week I’m looking at cooking in Australia in the 1800s. Oh yummy, what delights they had back in the good old days.

First course Soup:
Hare Soup:-

Ingredients:
1 hare
2 onions
1 carrot
¼ oz. black pepper
Salt to taste
Herb seasoning
1 cup bread-crumbs
3 quarts of water
A little cayenne

Preparation:
Cut the hear in pieces, and put in a stew-pan with all ingredients. Simmer gently for 6 hours strain through a sieve, Return the best part of the hare to the soup, and serve. This is best cooked the day before.

Main:

Baked Calf’s Head:-
Ingredients:
1 calf’s head well cleaned (not the family pet)
Nutmeg
Sweet herbs
Pepper & salt
Crumbs of bread
Lemon peel
Flour
1 onion

Peppercorns
1 pint of water
For calf brains
Sprig of sage
Flour
Teaspoon of butter
2 spoonful of port wine

Preparation:
Clean the calf’s head, removing the brains. Put cleaned head into a baking dish on a rest in the centre. Grate some nutmeg over it with chopped sweet herbs, pepper and salt, bread crumbs, and a little lemon peel. Dredge a little flour over, and put some pieces of butter here and there, place head in oven. Put into the dish a bunch of sweet herbs, an onion, some peppercorns and a pint of water. Bake according to size, about ten minutes for each pound.

To make the brains sauce:
While head is cooking boil the brains with a sprig of sage in water. Once the calf’s head is baked: strain the gravy from the dish into a saucepan. Chopped the brains finely and add to gravy with a teaspoon of butter rolled in flour, the port wine and boil for a few minutes. Place calf’s head on serving dish and pour gravy over it. Serve with baked vegetables.

Dessert:

Sunday Pudding:-
Ingredients:
Half a stale loaf
1 ½ cups of flour
½ a nutmeg
1 teaspoonful ginger
1 teaspoonful of baking powder
½ teaspoon of salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup currants
1 cup sultanas
4 tablespoons good dripping
2 or 3 eggs

Preparation:
Crumb into your basin the stale loaf, add flour, grated nutmeg and ginger. Mix in all the other dry ingredients. The beat the eggs with a little milk pour into dry ingredients mixing well. Pour into a well-greased mould or basin and boil for 2 ½ hours. Serve with boiled custard.

Boiled Custard:-
Ingredients:
2 eggs
Pinch of cornflour
1 tablespoonful white sugar
1 cupful milk

Preparation:
Place milk in saucepan. Break the eggs into a basin, sprinkle as much cornflour as you can take up between finger and thumb, add sugar. Beat well together. Bring milk slowly to boil, when it bubbles pour it into the egg mixture. Do not pour the egg mixture into the milk or your custard will curdle and break. Stir well and return to the saucepan, just let it come to the boil, so it thickens. Pour into a jug, stir for a few minutes and add any flavouring you prefer.

Of course only the best dinner setting was used for Sunday dinner, with all the family expected to be present.

There you go, you now have a lovely Sunday meal to serve your family. Won’t they be impressed?

See you next week.

Sandie