Onion soup hangover cure

Onion Soup Hangover Cure

The tastiest (and only tolerable) vintage hangover cure that I have found is a classic, light onion soup. This particular recipe was originally published as “onion soup” in the Sunday Times (Perth), July 14th, 1935

Other hangover cures of the time included raw eggs, Worcestershire sauce and oysters, donating blood (although that was in an emergency during WW2 and not generally recommended) , and giving up and staying drunk.

Ingredients

2 medium sized onions, sliced finely

570 ml or 2 1/4 cups of stock (a brown stock or vegetable stock both work well)

1 cup of water

1 tablespoon of butter or margarine

4 teaspoons of plain or all purpose flour

salt and pepper

to garnish

bread

cheese

Method

Finely slice the onions and cook in a saucepan in the butter until they’re see-through.

Add the flour and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the stock and the water. Simmer for 15 minutes.

While the soup is simmering, toast your bread, put some cheese on top and put it under the grill (broiler to my US visitors) until melted.

Once the soup has cooked for the 15 minutes, add the seasoning. If you’re using a commercially made stock don’t add the salt.

Serve in soup bowls with the cheesy toast floating on top.

Jellied chicken salad garnished with tomato and cucumber

Jellied Chicken Salad

A creamy chicken salad, perfect for the Summertime Christmas table. Originally published in the Australian Women’s Weekly, December 2nd, 1953

Ingredients

570 ml or 2 1/4 US cups of chicken or vegetable stock (not 2 1/2 US cups as I say in the video!)

8 teaspoons or 2 Australian tablespoons of gelatine

1/2 cup grated carrot

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 chopped gherkin (or other sweet pickle)

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 1/2 cups of diced, cooked chicken. I diced some chicken breast and cooked it very quickly in a frying pan/skillet

Salad vegetables and lettuce leaves for garnish

Method

Take 3/4 of a cup of the stock and put the gelatine in it to soak

Put the rest of the stock in a saucepan and heat gently.

Add the gelatine mixture and stir until completely dissolved.

Let it cool, put it in a bowl and refrigerate until it has partially set, about the consistency of thick cream.

Mix the carrot, celery, gherkin, chicken and mayonnaise.

Mix the chicken mixture and gelatine together

Rinse the mould with water and while still wet, pour the chicken mixture in.

Refridgerate until set.

When set, put some lettuce leaves artfully over the top of the mould and turn out into a plate.

Garnish with your choice of salad vegetables.