How beautifully obscure these testing methods seem, until you have a pot of molten jam in front of you. No missing or damaged pages, no creases or tears, no underlining or highlighting of text, and no writing in the margins. Bloaters are lightly salted herrings, left ungutted before smoking, sadly these are less available today.

Cooks of the past made good use of herbs, spices and even nuts and dried fruits to enhance the taste of the smooth savoury mixture. Broil steak, turning once and brushing with more marinade – about 20 minutes per side, until thermometer registers 140F for rare. At her funeral, I found myself apologising for the non-appearance of the hare, and there and then decided that it would be cooked on 4 November to celebrate her life. This is an old post, but I was looking for a classic English scones recipe, and my mum still has Marguerite Patten’s Cookery in Colour book which I hoped I’d find somewhere online as I no longer live in the UK.Published by Hamlyn in 1960, this ‘picture encyclopaedia for every occasion’ was the first widely available cookbook containing colour photographs and featured a thousand recipes, almost all of them accompanied by a photo. Unfortunately the jam bubbled so vigorously it reached the top of the pot, so no temperatures could be read. We have a wealth of national dishes, some of which have survived for generations; they are part of our British heritage.

Because it has such a delicious taste elaborate methods of cooking and serving are unnecessary, but I am indebted to that wonderful cook of the nineteenth century, Eliza Acton, for the unusual asparagus recipe you will find on page 28. The method of making potted foods is a simple one - the ingredients are pounded with butter and a clever choice of flavourings. Join me as I navigate the previously unchartered territory of motherhood always safe in the knowledge there's a bottle of wine in the fridge. I love how the spine is battered and the pages are spotted with spilt ingredients from previous, decades old bakes. I am frequently asked if I enjoyed cooking from an early age, and the answer is “No”,’ she said later in life, but she began cooking occasionally to help her busy mother after her father’s death.Each of Patten’s books is simply designed to make cooking as easy as possible and she assumes a truly basic level of knowledge or skill.

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This entry was posted in Beef and tagged bad food photography, madeira sauce, Marguerite Patten's Recipe Cards, sirloin steak, vintage recipe cards, vintage recipes on April 12, 2023 by iamsurly. For the intimidated cook, she is a culinary guardian angel: ‘Do not be frightened by the mention of yeast if you have not used it before, as it is very straightforward.