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Amongst all the assorted madness of the crisis, I think many of us have found the silver linings and often how the simple nature of our lockdown lives brings a reminder of the past and sometimes it’s a simple casserole dish that used to be Mum’s.
This orange enamel number was responsible for every stew, casserole and pot roast that was consumed in our family home until it absconded with me to the North Melbourne sharehouse in the early ’90s.
One of the culinary hits that I used to make for the boys in those days was an adaptation of a sweet-and-sour chicken recipe that Mum used to make. She favoured the Sunbeam electric fry pan over the casserole dish when she mixed chicken thighs with soy sauce, diced onion, a can of pineapple pieces and carrot sliced with a vegetable peeler.
My version ditched the chicken for a three-dollar tray of supermarket sausages and added a can of chopped tomatoes and curry powder instead of soy sauce. This ‘sausage stew’, plonked on the table in the old orange casserole dish, never failed to impress and achieved legendary status during the golden age of Frente.
On Monday night, I drew heavily on those days of frugality when I pulled out the old orange banger and the recipe got a ‘plant based’ makeover, the sausages replaced with a tin of beans. The sorry looking arse-end of a pineapple got the call up and I also added a splash of vinegar before serving it up with some brown rice.
Michelle took one look and said, “This looks a bit ’70s” (which was the whole point) and then happily devoured the whole plate. It was comfort food reflecting two wonderful parts of my life. Alas, the kids thought it tasted shit.
It’s a strange world we now live in.
This orange enamel number was responsible for every stew, casserole and pot roast that was consumed in our family home until it absconded with me to the North Melbourne sharehouse in the early ’90s.
One of the culinary hits that I used to make for the boys in those days was an adaptation of a sweet-and-sour chicken recipe that Mum used to make. She favoured the Sunbeam electric fry pan over the casserole dish when she mixed chicken thighs with soy sauce, diced onion, a can of pineapple pieces and carrot sliced with a vegetable peeler.
My version ditched the chicken for a three-dollar tray of supermarket sausages and added a can of chopped tomatoes and curry powder instead of soy sauce. This ‘sausage stew’, plonked on the table in the old orange casserole dish, never failed to impress and achieved legendary status during the golden age of Frente.
On Monday night, I drew heavily on those days of frugality when I pulled out the old orange banger and the recipe got a ‘plant based’ makeover, the sausages replaced with a tin of beans. The sorry looking arse-end of a pineapple got the call up and I also added a splash of vinegar before serving it up with some brown rice.
Michelle took one look and said, “This looks a bit ’70s” (which was the whole point) and then happily devoured the whole plate. It was comfort food reflecting two wonderful parts of my life. Alas, the kids thought it tasted shit.
It’s a strange world we now live in.