Mary Poppins in the Kitchen Page 4
1⅔ cups milk
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup loosely packed white bread crumbs.
deep pie dish that will hold 1 quart—a soufflé dish will do
a little butter for greasing the dish
The Topping:
2 egg whites
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons raspberry jam
Heat the oven to 350°.
Heat the milk with the sugar till very hot but not quite boiling. Beat the whole eggs and egg yolks and add vanilla. Stir a little of the beaten egg into the hot milk and then pour all of the milk into the remainder of the egg mixture. Stir thoroughly and mix in bread crumbs. Put in a greased pie or soufflé dish and bake in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes.
Beat the egg whites until there are soft peaks when you lift out the beater. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar over the egg whites and continue beating. Sprinkle with the remainder of the sugar and beat a little longer.
Take the pie dish out of the oven and dot evenly with raspberry jam. Spoon the beaten egg whites over the top. Mary Poppins likes it best when the surface looks sort of rough. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 20 minutes. Mary Poppins says, “If this pudding is good enough for a queen, it is good enough for grown-ups.”
Roast Chicken and Bread Sauce
1 chicken, weighing between 3 and 3½ pounds
salt and pepper
1 large handful fresh parsley
juice of 1 lemon
½ cup water
The Bread Sauce:
1 cup milk
1 small onion with 1 clove stuck in it
1 cup white bread crumbs
1 tablespoon heavy cream—a little more if the sauce is too thick for your liking
½ tablespoon butter
salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
Heat the oven to 400°.
Rub the inside of the chicken very thoroughly with salt and dust with pepper. Fill it with parsley sprigs.
Fold the wings underneath the body—akimbo—and tie the legs together with string to make a neat package. Rub the bird all over with salt. Pour half the lemon juice inside and pat the other half over the outside—gently and thoroughly as if you were patting a cheek. Place it on a rack in a roasting pan, breast up. Add ½ cup of water to the pan to prevent it from scorching. Sprinkle some more salt over the bird. Cook in the center of the oven for 1 hour. Don’t open the oven door. There is no need for basting.
Chicken cooked this way has “a good flavour,” says Mary Poppins, “and is tender and juicy.”
Prepare the bread sauce: Heat the milk with the onion and clove over low heat for 2–3 minutes to bring out the flavours. Stir in bread crumbs and cook gently for 2–3 minutes. Remove the onion and stir in cream and the butter. Season with salt and pepper and serve with roast chicken.
Makes 1 cup or ½ pint.
Shepherd’s Pie
2½ pounds ground or minced rump steak or top round
2 small onions
2 tablespoons butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper
juices from the roast beef pan or leftover gravy, bouillon cube, or beef stock to moisten the pie
2 pounds potatoes, boiled
finely chopped parsley
ovenproof dish, 10 inches × 7 inches × 2 inches
In a large frying pan or skillet, cook the minced steak for 4–5 minutes, stirring constantly. Turn it into a large bowl. Peel and chop the onions. Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan in which the beef was cooked. Cook onions till golden and tender. Mix with the beef. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add pan juices or gravy to moisten.
Heat the oven to 425°.
Spoon the mixture into the dish. Using a potato ricer, cover the mince evenly with riced potatoes. If you don’t have a ricer, spread mashed potatoes with a fork, not pressed down but lightly. Cook in the oven till the potatoes are nicely browned and crisp. Sprinkle with finely chopped parsley before serving.
“This,” says Mary Poppins, “is a good way to use up cold roast beef. A dish fit for a king.”
Trout
1 trout per person
salt and pepper
flour, about ½ cup
butter, about 1½ tablespoons for each fish
finely chopped parsley
lemons, cut in wedges
Ask the fishmonger to clean the trout for you. Dry the trout thoroughly. Season the inside of each fish with salt and pepper. Spread the flour on a flat plate. Dip each fish into it and shake it to remove the surplus. It should be lightly coated.
In a heavy pan long enough to hold the fish, heat enough butter to cover the bottom to about ⅛ inch in depth. When it foams, add the fish and cook it on one side for 3 minutes. Turn it over and cook for 3 minutes longer. It should be crisp and brown on the outside. Keep it warm in the oven while the others are cooking. When all of them have been cooked, pour off the butter in the pan and add 2 tablespoons of fresh butter. Heat it till foaming and pour over the trout. Sprinkle with finely chopped parsley and serve with wedges of lemon.
“Cooking trout by this method,” says Mary Poppins, “takes full advantage of the natural flavour. Lemon juice increases it.”
Upside-down Cake
(Topsy-Turvy Cake)
4 tablespoons or ½ stick butter
1½ cups dark brown sugar
cake tin, 8 inches × 1½ inches
Cream the butter and sugar till smooth. Spread the mixture evenly over the bottom of the cake tin. Set aside.
6 tablespoons butter
⅓ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup self-rising flour
3 whole peaches, peeled, halved, and pits (stones) removed if fresh
6 cherries, maraschino or glacé
Heat the oven to 350°.
Cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating vigorously after each one. Add the flour gradually and beat thoroughly. Lay the peaches, cut side down, with a cherry in the “cup,” on the prepared cake tin: one in the middle and the other five close to the edge of the tin. This makes a pretty arrangement. Spoon the batter over the peaches and level it off with a spoon. Bake for 45 minutes in the center of the oven.
Loosen the cake round the edge and turn it out on a pretty plate. Pineapple rings, apricots, rhubarb, or apples may be used in place of peaches.
Very Plain Cake
4 tablespoons or ½ stick butter
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg, separated
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup milk
baking tin, 8 inches × 1¼ inches, lightly greased and dusted with flour
Heat the oven to 325°.
In a mixing bowl cream the butter till light and fluffy. Add the sugar gradually while mixing. Beat hard. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla extract. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Stir into the butter and sugar a little flour and then some milk, beating very hard after each addition. Beat the egg white till it will hold a stiff peak when the beater is lifted from the bowl. Fold the beaten white into the batter, lightly and thoroughly. Spoon into the prepared cake tin. Bake for 25–30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean and diy. Turn out to cool on a wire rack.
Walnut Cake
½ cup (¼ pound) unsalted sweet butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour (sift first and then measure)
½ cup cornstarch
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup milk
1 teaspoon lemon juice
½ cup chopped walnuts
cake ti
n, 8 inches × 1½ inches, lightly buttered
Heat the oven to 375°.
Beat the butter and sugar together till light and creamy. Add the egg yolks, and continue beating till thoroughly mixed.
Sift the flour with the cornstarch, salt, and baking powder. Add, spoonful by spoonful, to the egg and butter mixture with a little of the milk between each spoonful. Beat thoroughly after each addition. Add the lemon juice. Stir in the chopped walnuts. Beat the egg whites till stiff but not dry. Fold gently into the batter and spoon into the cake tin.
Bake for 30–35 minutes. Cool for a minute or two and then turn out on a wire rack to cool thoroughly.
XXX Candy kisses
1 pound almonds
1 cup powdered milk
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
½ cup milk
additional powdered sugar for coating the kisses
Drop the almonds into a pan of boiling water. Lift them out after 1 minute. When they are cool enough to handle, slip them out of their skins. Grind them very fine in a meat grinder or blender.
Mix the ground almonds, powdered milk, and powdered sugar together. Add the almond extract and milk. Take care not to add all of the milk at one time. Mix together thoroughly and knead with your hands. The dough should be very heavy and slightly sticky. A little more milk may be needed if the dough does not bind. Cover the bowl and chill for 1 hour.
Dust your hands with additional powdered sugar and roll balls of dough, using about 1 teaspoon for each ball. Roll balls in powdered sugar and store in a cool larder or in the refrigerator. There will be about 60 kisses.
“Very nice,” says Mary Poppins, “for a special bedtime treat.”
Yorkshire Pudding
1 cup flour
pinch of salt
1 small egg
1 cup milk and water in equal parts
Heat the oven to 425°.
Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle and drop the egg into it. Add a little of the milk and mix, starting in the center, gradually drawing in the flour while pouring in more milk. Mix thoroughly with an egg beater or whisk and let stand in a cool place for 1 hour.
Heat about 1 tablespoon of the drippings or fat from the roast chicken in an ovenproof pan, about 12 inches × 12 inches. Tip it and tilt it till it is coated with fat. Pour in the batter and bake for 25 minutes. It will be by then well puffed up, crisp, and brown. Mary Poppins cuts it into squares for serving.
Zodiac Cake
1 large egg, separated
2 squares semi-sweet chocolate
1½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons or ¼ cup butter
¾ cup sugar
½ cup ground nuts (walnuts, pecans, or hazels)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup milk
round cake tin, 3 inches × 11½ inches
Heat the oven to 375°.
Grease the cake tin with butter and flour it. Shake out the excess flour. Separate the egg yolk from the white. Melt the chocolate in a small bowl standing in hot water. Sift the flour and measure. Sift again with the baking powder and salt.
Cream the butter—beat it till light and creamy. Add the sugar gradually and continue beating. Add the egg yolk and beat even harder. Stir in the melted chocolate and ground nuts. Stir the vanilla into the milk. Add some flour to the chocolate mixture and then stir in some milk, a little more flour and then some more milk, till both have been used up. Beat very thoroughly.
Beat the egg white till stiff and fold gently into the batter. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes.
Mary Poppins decorates this cake with small silver stars.
Index
A
Apple brown betty, [>]
Apple charlotte, [>]
B
Bananas
See Honey and bananas
Beef patties, [>]
Bread
-and-butter pudding, [>]
date, [>]
nut, [>]
sauce, [>]
C
Cabbage
See Kale
Cake(s)
Easter, [>]
kings’ or Twelfth Night, [>]
upside-down, [>]
very plain, [>]
walnut, [>]
zodiac, [>]
Candy kisses, [>]
Cherry pie, [>]
Chicken
See Roast chicken
Cookies
gingerbread stars, [>]
oatmeal, [>]
D
Date bread, [>]
Dressing for salads, [>]
E
Easter cake, [>]
F
Fish
See Trout
Fruit salad, [>]
G
Gingerbread stars, [>]
H
Hamburgers
See Beef patties
Honey and bananas, [>]
I
Irish stew, [>]
J
Jam tarts, [>]
K
Kale, [>]
Kings’ cake, [>]
L
Lancashire hot pot, [>]
Lemon soufflé, [>]
M
Meat
beef patties, [>]
Irish stew, [>]
Lancashire hot pot, [>]
roast chicken, [>]
shepherd’s pie, [>]
Meringues, [>]
N
Nut loaf, [>]
O
Oatmeal cookies, [>]
P
Pies
cherry, [>]
shepherd’s, [>]
Potatoes, [>]
Pudding(s)
bread-and-butter, [>]
queen of, [>]
Yorkshire, [>]
Q
Queen of puddings, [>]
R
Roast chicken, [>]
S
Salad
dressing for, [>]
fruit, [>]
Sauce
See Bread sauce
Shepherd’s pie, [>]
Soufflé
See Lemon soufflé
Stew
See Irish stew
T
Tarts
See Jam tarts
Topsy-Turvy Cake, [>]
Trout, [>]
Twelfth Night cake
See Kings’ cake
U
Upside-down cake, [>]
V
Vegetable(s)
kale, [>]
potatoes, [>]
Very plain cake, [>]
W
Walnut cake, [>]
X
XXX (candy kisses), [>]
Y
Yorkshire pudding, [>]
Z
Zodiac cake, [>]
About the Author
P. L. TRAVERS (1899–1996) was a drama critic, travel essayist, reviewer, lecturer, and the creator of Mary Poppins. Travers wrote eight Mary Poppins books altogether, including Mary Poppins (1934), Mary Poppins Comes Back (1935), Mary Poppins Opens the Door (1943), and Mary Poppins in the Park (1952). Ms. Travers wrote several other children’s books as well as adult books, but it is for the character of Mary Poppins that she is best remembered.