Oh my goodness, this is the most delicious movie star
This recipe is a winner. Despite having an ingredient that is not available here in the UK.
When any of my chums go to the States, they usually ask me if there is any weird foodstuff I need for my film star fodder. Some time ago I asked my chums Heather and Nathan
if they would get me some condensed cheddar cheese soup and Nathan said he would, but only under the condition that I wouldn’t cook anything for HIM that contained it. Haha! Here’s the haul of things we can’t get here that they kindly brought back for me.
A particular kind of chili mix I wanted for my Johnny Cash Chili, some hatch chilies that were destined for an Anne Baxter Mexican Cheese Supper Sandwich, A1 Sauce for a Joan Crawford Meatloaf and Cheddar Cheese Soup for Bette’s fish dish. The Mexican wrestler bottle opener was a random gift Nathan decided to buy me. What a guy.
It has amused me to discover by looking back at
Now I have eaten Bette’s dish I am going to ask EVERY SINGLE PERSON who is going to the States to bring me back a tin of this. It’s the bomb.
If you are based somewhere that doesn’t have Cheddar Cheese Soup on the shelves, I would recommend making a really THICK, really CHEESY cheese sauce and just seeing how this turns out. Mind you, there are recipes all around the web for making your own Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup – this one looks good.
Bette’s dish is pretty simple, but utterly delicious. My sole was perfectly cooked (I cooked for 35 minutes then put my grill on, moved the dish up to the next level in the oven to brown it for about 5 minutes). It was
I thought Bette’s recipe was just perfect. For just me, myself and I, I quartered everything in the recipe and I ate about 2/3 of the fish and have a little portion left over that I reheated the next day. I didn’t use as much salt as Bette because I’m watching my salt intake. I probably used about half of what Bette recommended but honestly, I didn’t miss it.
This was A HUGE HIT at Silver Screen Suppers Towers, and I went to bed happy because there is A SECOND TIN OF CHEDDAR CHEESE SOUP IN MY CUPBOARD! I feel another batch of this coming on soon for sure.
Bette Davis’ Spinach Stuffed Fillets of Sole
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 pound fresh chopped spinach or 25 oz/700g frozen chopped spinach
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
2 lbs/900g fillet of sole or flounder
1 can (11 oz/310g) Cheddar cheese soup
2 tablespoons milk or beer
Ground nutmeg
Cook onion in butter until tender, but not brown. Cook spinach quickly in small amount of salted boiling water. Drain well, pressing out all liquid. Combine spinach, salt, white pepper and onion mixture; mix well. Spread each fillet with a thin layer of spinach mixture; roll up tightly and spear with skewer or wooden toothpick. Put fillets into a lightly buttered, shallow baking dish. Mix cheese soup with milk or beer until smooth; spoon over fillets. Sprinkle nutmeg over the top. Bake uncovered in preheated 350 degree oven 20 to 25 minutes. If desired, run under broiler until cheese is bubbly, and browned.
Serves 6.
3 responses
What’s with the cheddar cheese fixation? Next thing you know you’ll be asking Americans to bring you Cheez Whiz. 😉
This looks perfectly simple and lovely, just like Joan Hickson’s cod receipt…minus the bloody cheddar cheese!
Emmental or gruyere would be a less overwhelming choice, maybe back in the day they didn’t have the selection we now do.
Haha – you may laugh, Hugh, but a blog reader did send me a jar of Cheez Whiz once. I cannot for the life of me remember which movie star recipe I needed it for, but I’m pretty sure that broccoli was involved – and maybe a can of some kind of condensed soup! Sometimes I feel as though I am making these recipes so that nobody else has to, BUT, Bette’s is GOOD. As I am packing to move house, I am hoping to discover a can of that Cheddar Cheese Soup at the back of the sideboard. Watch this space…