Monday, July 05, 2010

Molly MacRae Monday: Mousseline of Sole

It's the First Monday of the month again, and that means funny mystery author Molly MacRae is back...

Here’s news that tickled my family this spring – the International Herb Association http://www.iherb.org selected dill as herb of the year for 2010.


We love dill at our house, and that’s both good and necessary, because dill lives up to its name “weed” and grows in lush swaths everywhere – along the fence, amongst the peonies, with the asters and iris, between the bricks in the corner of the patio. Our favorite stand each year, though, is the hearty line that sprouts in the expansion crack between the edge of the driveway and the back steps. By mid-summer it’s as tall as I am. It’s a dill hedge, and in the swaggering central Illinois heat, our yard, our driveway, our house, all smell like pickles.

Dill is good with potatoes or cucumber soup or tossed in the occasional loaf of bread. But we’re always looking for new recipes to make a dent in our bounty. Imagine my delight when my husband, Mike, said he’d found a recipe for fish I might like. Dill + fish = Mmm!

Or not. As Amy says, any recipe that calls for meat or fish being pressed through a sieve is suspect. The lovely recipe for Mousseline of Sole, comes from the March 1944 issue of Life Magazine, page 102. It appears in an ad for Goebel beer, several bottles of which might be an integral part of enjoying this dish.

You can find that issue of Life and others from the 30s through the 70s, and more numbing recipes here: LIFE - Google Books.

Speaking of suspect and numbing recipes – I’ve sent Amy some very nice prune recipes to enjoy with her friends and family. She has, in turn, sent me some that have me worried. The question is, who will prevail? Amy “Pruneless” Alessio or Ms. Prune Whip? Stay tuned for reports from The Great Prune Off of 2010.

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