Hi everyone!

Aaaah! This brings back memories of actual dinner parties in the 70’s and early 80’s when we thought we were just so very modern and on trend.  You know what, it was actually a lovely time and whilst it is a lot of work to have a dinner party (not to mention expensive) it was kind of nice sitting around being able to chat without the hullabaloo of restaurant activity.  Anyway, I decided I wanted to go back in time and try some of the old dinner party recipes from Women’s Weekly.  What I love about these recipes is that they are not really flash or complicated but always tasty and deliciously straight forward.  I think I have made it clear that I am not a chef or any kind of professional cook.  I am not keen on the super fancy pants recipes that require rare ingredients only available from far and hidden away trendy shops in the back streets of the city.  So, this stuff is certainly not going to appeal to everyone.

I really hope you try this one.  I am going to be doing a few from the Dinner Party Cookbooks over the coming weeks.  I was trying to find a print date on this particular book but couldn’t, however, I think I have had it for around 40 years.  An oldy but a goody.

Till next time.

From my table to yours with love.

Steaks with Whisky Cream Sauce

A classic dinner-party steak served on a mustard crouton. Rounds of bread are cut to match the size of the fillet steaks, brushed on both sides with butter mixed with French mustard, and baked until golden and crisp. The steaks are cooked in butter to your liking and kept warm while the sauce is built in the same pan, using just a spoonful of the drippings with flour and finely chopped shallot. Water, cream, parsley and a crumbled stock cube go in, finished with whisky and a squeeze of lemon. Spoon over the steaks on their croutons.

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Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 4 Fillet steaks about 2.5 cm thick
• 4 Bread slices about 2.5 cm thick
• 30 g Butter
• 1 tsp French mustard
• 60 g Butter extra
• 1 tsp Flour
• 1 Shallot
• 3 tbsp Water
• 1/4 c Cream
• 2 tsp Parsley chopped
• 1 Beef stock cube
• 1 tbsp Whisky
• 1 tsp Lemon juice

Method

 

1. Press steaks to a neat shape; cut bread into rounds about the same size as steaks. Heat butter in pan, add mustard, mix well. Brush bread on both sides with this mustard butter, place on oven tray, bake in moderate oven 20 minutes or until golden brown. Heat extra butter in pan, add steaks, cook until done to your liking. Remove from pan, keep warm. Drain off pan drippings, leaving 1 tbsp in pan. Add flour, add finely-chopped shallot, stir over medium heat a few seconds. Stir in water, stir until sauce boils ass cream, parsley, crumbled stock cube, whisky and lemon juice, reduce heat simmer 1 minutes. Serve steak on bread drizzled with sauce.

Notes

Source: Women’s Weekly Dinner Party Cookbook- page 2

Rockmelon Ice Cream

A soft, fragrant ice cream made without a churn. Egg yolks are beaten with sugar and orange juice until pale and fluffy, then cooked gently with milk over simmering water until slightly thickened. Dissolved gelatine is beaten in and the custard cooled to lukewarm before the cream is folded through and the mixture frozen until firm. Ripe rockmelon is pureed separately, and only a cup of it is used, since the melon holds a great deal of water and any more would make the ice cream icy. Passionfruit spooned over finishes it.

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Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1 tsp Gelatine
• 1 tbsp Water
• 2 Egg yolks
• 1/4 c Sugar
• 2 tbsp Orange juice
• 1/3 c Milk
• 300 ml Thickened cream
• 1/2 Small ripe rockmelon
• 2 Passionfruit

Method

 

1. Sprinkle gelatine over water, dissolve over hot water. Beat egg yolks, sugar and orange juice until pale and fluffy. Put in top of double saucepan with milk, stir over simmering water until the mixture thickens slightly.
2. Remove from heat, add dissolved gelatine, beat until mixture is lukewarm, add cream, mix well. Pour mixture into freezer tray, freeze until it is firm.
3. Peel rockmelon, remove seeds, chop roughly, put into blender; blend until pureed. Measure rockmelon puree; use only 1 cup of the puree; water content in rockmelon is high and any extra puree will give an icy texture to the ice-cream. Spoon ice-cream into small bowl of electric mixer, beat until smooth and thick. Fold rockmelon puree and passionfruit pulp into ice-cream, pour into freezer tray, freeze until firm. If desired, top each serving with extra whipped cream and extra passionfruit pulp.

Notes

Source: Women’s Weekly Dinner Party Cookbook- page 2