Good Housekeeping's Fish and Shellfish Book w. Tuna Chowder, Broiled Swordfish Steaks, Clams Casino & more -- Vintage Cookbook TBT

Vintage Cookbook: Good Housekeeping's Fish and Shellfish Book 

Publication Details: Consolidated Book Publishers, 1958

Published in 1958 from the folks at Good Housekeeping Magazine this cookbook is entirely dedicated to fish and shellfish, the various methods of cooking them and the sauces, stuffings and sides that best accompany them.

As is generally the case of cookbooks from the 50s some of the recipes will seem quite dated to today's tastes, but there are many classics here as well that will appeal to fans of seafood. In some cases where the recipe is not bad, such as the Tuna Chowder, the accompanying photo is hilariously off-putting.

The book has some colour photos as well as many little whimsical illustrations. Here we are sharing the recipes and sauces for the dishes that had photos as well as a recipe for Clams (or Oyster) Casino because I love Clams Casino.

(click on scans to enlarge)

Tuna Chowder

Baked Stuffed Striped Bass w. Rice and Olive Stuffing

Broiled Swordfish Steaks w. Pineapple Chunks

Broiled Perch Fillets w. Tomato Halves and Cheese Sauce

1973's Hamburger and Champagne Cookbook w. Pick-A-Bone Soup, Beefsteak Pie & more: Vintage Cookbook TBT

Vintage Cookbook: Hamburger and Champagne (Cooking on a budget)

Publication Details: Lindero Press 1973

Today we are looking at one of the more bizarre cookbooks I have come across, the Hamburger and Champagne cookbook published in California in 1973.

Everything about this one is odd. First, it has no author's name attached to it anywhere. It opens up with an anecdote apparently about the unknown author's son that is tied to the book's very first recipe.

The pocketbook format cookbook then goes on, in a very no frills, no pictures fashion to detail dozens of recipes, broken into sections like "soups", "salads" etc., with no apparent thematic cohesion and ranging from the very simple, to classic fare, to faux Chinese and Indian dishes, to bizarre dishes like the 1925 Overnight Salad below.

Despite its "Cooking on a budget" subtitle, it contains recipes for things like lobster and crab legs, and despite its Hamburger title, it does not appear to have recipes for hamburgers!

Still it has some interesting recipes and we are going to share a few of those here.

(click on images to enlarge) 

June: Leadnow, Anti-Choice Extremists, the Greens and more -- The month on The Left Chapter in review

From: Unintended consequences: Attacking Leadnow and "strategic voting" 

June saw 27 posts of various kinds on The Left Chapter.

Here are the top five posts, in terms of hits, for the month of June. June saw what is, so far, the piece with the largest number of hits, by a fair margin, for this blog ever! In fact it has stayed in our "Popular Posts" column for almost the entire month since it came out. There were also a lot of contenders, this month, for the number five spot.

1) Unintended consequences: Attacking Leadnow and "strategic voting"

As I have noted before, partisan political narratives often die very hard -- even when these narratives have begun to do far more harm than good to those who continue to espouse them.

Read More!

2) Anti-choice extremists target Trudeau and women's reproductive rights

Warning: While necessary to the content of the piece, this post contains some disturbing and very graphic images.

The extremist anti-abortion group, the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform, (CCBR) has been distributing leaflets and demonstrating around Toronto lately. Recently they targeted my west Toronto neighbourhood of South Etobicoke both distributing their leaflets door-to-door and demonstrating at a local intersection as well as, disgracefully given the imagery they use, outside of a local high school.

Read More! 

3) Are the Greens a "progressive" party?

Are the Greens a "progressive" party?

While Green voters would certainly appear to think so, some New Democrat partisans would seem to say otherwise claiming they are little more than Conservatives with composters. Recently, as an example, Paul Moist, head of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, in a letter critical of Leadnow and its strategic voting campaign stated “Neither the Liberal Party of Canada nor the Green Party are progressive...Both parties have very right-wing economic policies, do not stand for working families or public services. Only the NDP has a progressive platform.”

Read More!

4) Tom Mulcair, Bob Rae and balanced budgets

As part of Tom Mulcair's bid to eschew any hint of anti-capitalist radicalism on the part of his no longer Socialist even in theory New Democratic Party, he made a pilgrimage the other day into the heart of the Bay St. beast, Toronto's Economic Club, to attempt to allay any remaining fears that the titans of capital may have that he might do anything at all that would meaningfully threaten their power or profits.

Read More!

5) Tory led city council continues Toronto's tragic transit farce

The tragedy and farce that is Toronto's political capitulation to the cult of the car continues unabated.

Mayor John Tory -- despite the recommendations of the city's own planners and health officials, former mayors and many others -- has managed to narrowly get his "hybrid" Gardiner Expressway plan passed by Toronto City Council and to see the Boulevard plan of basically all experts (less narrowly) defeated.

Read More! 

It seems our readers are fans of ironic posts of dubious recipes as the number one food post for the month was Tuna Almondine: Behold the greatness! The number one "serious" food post was Pesto Encrusted Boneless Leg of Lamb.

Do you have a left point-of-view or opinion, a recipe or a story you want to share?

Send them to The Left Chapter via theleftchapter@outlook.com!


Check out our review for the month of May!: May: Bill C-51, the "Men's Rights Movement", taxes & more -- The month on The Left Chapter in review

The best canned tuna or salmon salad sandwich recipe

Today I will be sharing my recipe for canned tuna or salmon salad, which I declare to be the best. If you wish to challenge this, I will tell you how you can at the end of this blog post.

Canned tuna or salmon are a staple for many Canadians & Canadian families as, especially if bought on sale, these can often be had relatively inexpensively. This makes tuna or salmon salad sandwiches a favourite of many.

While canned pink salmon is a little better, canned tuna is very dry and really, on its own, not terribly good. To make it more enjoyable, we often toss it with mayonnaise and some salt and pepper and, presto, you have tuna salad!

And this is fine! But, with a the addition of a few other ingredients, tuna or salmon salad can be made far more exciting.

Without further ado, here is my creamy, "deluxe" version. This version is for four normal sized cans of tuna or salmon. Adjust ingredients accordingly to make more or less.

Ingredients:

Keen's Dry Mustard...one of my favourite secret ingredients!

4 cans of tuna or pink salmon
8 heaping  tablespoons of mayonnaise
2 heaping tablespoons of Tartar sauce
1 tablespoon of curry powder
1 teaspoon of Keen's Dry Mustard
2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
1 small jar of capers
1 celery stalk finely chopped
1 green onion stalk finely chopped

Open and drain the tuna/salmon cans and empty into a large mixing bowl. Add the mayo, and tartar sauce and blend together. Add the curry powder, dry mustard, salt, pepper and capers and blend some more. Finally add the celery and green onion and blend. 

As an alternative to Tartar sauce, you can use 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard instead, but I slightly prefer the Tartar sauce. If you like some heat, add a few dashes of Tabasco or a hot sauce of your liking. 

Serve on bread of your choosing, though I like it best on toasted Rye, or, as an alternative, have it on Triscuit or Rye style crackers. 

This blend is really flavourful and helps to jazz up a classic.

I think this is pretty much as good as a canned tuna/salmon gets...but if you have a recipe that is better, send it to theleftchapter@outlook.com and I will make it and post it!

Tuna Almondine: Behold the greatness!

There can be little doubt that this will steal the show at your next shindig!

Looks...ummm....delicious!

Canadian Fish Cook Book with French Fried Shrimp, Lobster Chowder, Tuna Casserole & more!

Vintage Cookbook: Canadian Fish Cook Book
Publication Details: Published under the authority of the Minister of Fisheries 1959 (would go on to be reprinted several times in the 1960's)

Put out by the Canadian Department of Fisheries, this handy cookbook and guide was published to promote Canadian seafood through its many recipes, as well as to teach how they are best prepared, served and more.

It is very detailed with sections on how to buy, store, freeze, can, broil, bake and to do just about everything else you might want to do with fish or seafood. The cookbook's greatest legacy and claim to fame is as the origin of James Beard's famous "Canadian Method" for baking fish, which is to do so 10 minutes for each inch of thickness measured at the fish's thickest part.


While it has some rather dated recipes and somewhat humorously unappetizing photos, it also contains countless useful tips and many absolutely delicious dishes.

Today we share four, all as they originally appeared.

French Fried Shrimp

1 1/2 pounds raw shrimp
Batter - 3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1 egg

If shrimp are frozen, allow them to thaw. Peel and remove sand vein. Wash and drain. Mix and shift dry ingredients.  Beat egg and add milk. Add liquid to dry ingredients and stir until smooth. Dip shrimp in batter and fry in hot, deep fat (375 F) [Editor's note: You can also use any cooking oil of your choice other than Olive Oil or peanut oil] until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes.

Makes 5 or 6 servings.

Lobster Chowder

2 cups or cans (5 ounces each) lobster meat
2 medium onions, chopped
1/4 cup butter or other fat
2 medium potatoes, diced
2 cups boiling water
3 cups milk, heated
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Cut lobster into bite-size pieces. In saucepan cook onions in fat until tender. Add potatoes and water. Simmer covered for 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add lobster, heated milk and seasonings. Bring to simmering temperature.

Makes 6 servings.

Sheila's Tuna Casserole

1 can (6 or 7 ounces) tuna
1 cup cooked rice
1 cup green peas, cooked
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter or other fat
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
Few grains pepper
2 fresh tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 cup grated Cheddar Cheese

Drain and flake tuna. Spread rice on bottom of greased 1 1/2 quart casserole and cover with peas and tuna. Cook onion in fat until tender. Sprinkle with flour and blend in milk to make white sauce. Add seasonings. Pour sauce over tuna and arrange tomato slices on top. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake in moderate over (350 F) for 20 to 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Makes 4 servings

Whitefish Anchovy Sandwich

1 cup cooked whitefish, flaked
1 can (2 ounces) anchovies, mashed
1 tablespoon chopped onion
2 tablespoons mayonnaise

Combine all ingredients and blend well. May be used for plain or toasted sandwiches.

Makes 1 cup filling or 3 sandwiches.