This morning, I picked up my 1982 edition of The Family Cookbook Treasury to look for ice cream recipes. I don’t know how this book made it’s way into our cookbook collection, but it’s there. Flipping through the pages, I’m often left in awe at how utterly disgusting the photos make the food look. Not to mention, some of the recipes are pretty gagworthy. (Baked avocado? Pass.)
Still, I was convinced that an edible meal could be created. Therefore, I tossed aside the idea of making ice cream and decided to make a seven course meal. Tonight. So, I spent 45 minutes looking for recipes, created a quick grocery list and went shopping. I started cooking at 4:15pm and everything was done by 6:15pm.
I bet you’re curious about what we ate, so here it is. Ignore the place settings. It’s amazing to me to find that all my table linen has gone missing and half of my dishes have been broken or lost.
Course 1: Cottage Cheese Pâte
From Family Cookbook Treasury (p. 47)
I ignored the awful walnut part and substituted seasoned almond slices. I was a bit put off by mixing melted butter with cottage cheese, but it all turned out pretty tasty. The baguette was a good carrier, though I think a darker, toasted bread would be just as well.
Course 2: Cream of Onion Soup
I had never made a cream of anything soup that hadn’t completely sucked. This time, I prevailed.
From Family Cookbook Treasury (p. 11)
Everyone said it was good, but there was something off on it. Alton pointed it out by saying it tasted like milk. He was right. If I make this again, I’ll follow the recipe and use the amount of onions listed. I got tired of chopping, so stopped at 1.5 onions. In fairness to me, these were some big-ass onions.
The seasoned croutons were perfect for the soup. The baguette was not.
Course 3: Fennel Salad
I’m not a fan of fennel, but since I have a ton of it growing in my garden, how could I pass this recipe?
From the Family Cookbook Treasury (p. 28)
This was surprising good and depressingly bad all at once. I had made a vinaigrette a few days ago and used that on the salad. Unfortunately, I also dumped all the salt at the bottom of the bottle on the salad. So that was pretty gross. Add in the anchovies and black olives and I had a perfect little salt bomb sitting on Bibb lettuce. Other than that, when you didn’t get a salty patch, it was quite good despite the presence of, you know…fennel.
Course 4: Curried Shrimp Cocktails
From Family Cookbook Treasury (p. 173)
This starter looked a little rich and considering this is a 7 course meal, I made change to the recipe: yogurt instead of mayonnaise. I am pleased to say, that was a brilliant move. The dish is perfect for summer. If I were to make any other change, it would be to add lemon zest or a dash of lime juice to it. Instead of serving it on lettuce, I served it on cabbage. I feel the added crunch contributed to the overall taste of this dish.
Courses 5: Lamb in Yogurt and Mint Sauce
From Family Cookbook Treasury (p. 62)
Now, this part of the meal you have to give me mad props. I MADE LAMB AND IT DIDN’T SUCK! This is the first time I’ve made lamb that wasn’t biryani. I was worried about the cuts I used (shoulder arm and shoulder blade), but it was perfect. The meat was tenderoni yumminess. The sauce was perfect with it. Another meal I’d definitely serve in the summer. Honestly though, what I think I loved best was starting it on the stove in my All Clad pot, then moving that bad boy into the oven without a care in the world.
Course 6: Minty New Potatoes with Cucumber
From Family Cookbook Treasury (p. 113)
The mint in the lamb dish said this was a perfect companion and I was not disappointed. The pairing of the two dishes was kismet. They complimented each other well. The sauce from the lamb on the potatoes was fantastic. The sauce from the potatoes mixed with the lamb was superb. Bonus: Everyone raved over these two dishes.
Course 7: Pineapple and Ginger Creams
From Family Treasury Cookbook (p. 159)
So…um…yeah. I couldn’t do dessert. I made it, I just didn’t eat it, hence no picture. I had no idea what “ginger biscuits” were, so I bought these Swedish ginger crisps at the store. I even grated some real ginger into the dessert. Even though I am not a dessert (or sweets) eater, I was willing to go the whole nine for this experiment. Unfortunately, despite the fact that I hadn’t eaten all day and that I only ate 1/3 of my servings of the other 6 courses, it wasn’t happening.
I did make a bowl for my son and grated some Mexican chocolate on top. He loved it. So, maybe tomorrow I’ll eat some. Maybe. I’ll definitely take a picture for you.
UPDATE: Here is dessert!
Crushed ginger crisps are on the bottome and I’ve grated Mexican chocolate on top. My husband loved it!
I had planned to make a syrup with the sherry and pineapple juice but that didn’t happen. Maybe tomorrow.
The UPDATED! 7 Courses, 2 Hours, 1 Measuring Cup by Anika Malone, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Tags: 7 course meal, cookbook, cooking, eating, experiment, family cookbook treasury, Food, recipe