Category: Starters

Wine and Song Prune Canapés

Hello retro food lovers and welcome to a surprise mid-week edition of Retro Food for Modern Times.  Today we are taking a teeny little step back into the amazing book that is Kelly Brodsky’s Food For Lovers and making some canapes from her wine and song prunes. When we last spoke about them, it was in the context of breakfast but these little beauties are nothing if not versatile.  My favourite food is finger food so I decided that I would turn these into a canapé based on the vintage hors d’oeuvre Devils on Horseback.  

Wine and Song Canapes1

I have taken the key ingredients from Devils on Horseback and popped them on a round of grilled bread.  

As a reminder, here is the recipe for the Wine and Song Prunes.  These are the starting point for our canape’s.

Wine and Song Prunes

 

Wine and Song Canapes2

Here’s the recipe…if you can even call something so simple that!

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Wine and Song Prune Canapés

A delicious canapé for your next retro party.  Or for eating all by yourself!

Ingredients

  • Wine and Song Prunes (as many prunes as canapés you are planning to make)
  • Rounds of chargrilled bread or bought crostini (as many rounds as canapés you are planning to make)
  • Proscuitto – (1/ 3 the number of slices as the number of canapes you are planning to make)
  • Goat’s cheese 
  • Watercress – 1 bunch

Instructions

  • Top your rounds of bread with a sprig or two of watercress, then 1/3 of  a slice of proscuitto.
  • Top this with a piece of goat’s cheese and one of the prunes.
  • Enjoy!

 

 

Wine and Song Canapes3

I’ll get my timing back on track with an N and M adjacent post. The actual post for the Agatha Christie thriller will be posted the following week. It’s a quick read so there’s still plenty of time if you wish to read it. Have a great rest of the week!

Salmon Rillettes: Sad Cypress

Salmon Rillettes4

Hello crime readers and food lovers! Welcome to Dining with the Dame for May and my take on Sad Cypress.  I loved this one!  And I also loved the Salmon Rillettes so this was a win-win for me! Now it may be a bit risky to base my recipe on the supposed murder weapon (poisoned salmon paste sandwiches) but the rillettes were absolutely delicious!  

Sad Cypress -The Plot

First up, the name comes from a quote from Shake’speare’s Twelfth Night:

Come away, come away, death,
    And in sad cypress let me be laid.
Fly away, fly away, breath;
    I am slain by a fair cruel maid.

The beautiful Mary Gerrard is dead.  Prior to her death, Mary had been the gardener’s daughter in an estate owned by the Welman family.  Elinor Carlisle, niece to the recently deceased Laura Welman stands accused of her murder.  

Her motive?  Elinor had recently been jilted by her fiance (and kind of cousin) Roddy for Mary.  

Her means?  Salmon paste sandwiches laced with morphine.  

Her opportunity?  Tea time whilst clearing out the Welman estate.  

All fingers are pointing to Elinor being the murderer.  But did she do it?  Luckily the local doctor who has a bit of a crush on Elinor brings in Hercule Poirot to determine who is guilty.  

Salmon Rillettes

We have:

  • A poison pen letter
  • Some missing morphine
  • An elderly aunt possibly bumped off before her time
  • A very large fortune left to Elinor.  
  • A mysterious figure lurking in the bushes
  • A possibly perfidious cousin
  • A strange mark on a nurse’s wrist
  • Secrets from the past impacting the present
  • Poirot hilariously calling himself a “pukkah sahib”

Such a good story!!  

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Sad Cypress – The Covers

 

Sad Cypress Collage 2

There are some great covers here – many of which contain aspects of things we have mentioned, the roses, the morphine, the poison pen letter.  We also have our first Japanese cover, some French covers, a Spanish cover and a German which may actually be my favorite.  Here it is in full:

Sad Cypress

 

I also want to call out this one because…what?  

 

I understand the rose and the tea set.  The weird green guy?  Not a clue!  It reminded me of Dumb Witness when Emily Arundell, who had been poisoned with phosphorus was said to have a luminous haze around her head.  

The Recipe – Salmon Rillettes

I based my recipe for Salmon Rillettes on the recipe for Rainbow Trout Rillettes, Rye, Cucumber and Watercress Sandwiches from Food for Friends by Hardie Grant Publishing.  That recipe is by Philippa Sibley and her book New Classics.  I swapped out the trout for Salmon and used white bread for my sandwiches.  

Salmon Rillettes Recipe

Elinor went across the hall and brought back from the pantry a big plate of sandwiches.  She handed it to Mary saying:

“Have one?”

Mary took one.  Elinor stood watching her for a moment as the girl’s white, even teeth bit into the sandwich”

Agatha Christie – Sad Cypress

Links to The Christieverse

Peter Lord, the doctor who is crushing on Elinor tells Poirot that he was recommended by Dr Stillingfleet.  He is a character in a short story called The Dream which appears in The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding.  

 

Other Food & Drinks Mentioned in Sad Cypress

  • Raspberries
  • Fish Paste Sandwiches (multiple references)
  • Cocktails
  • Tea (multiple references)
  • Doughnuts
  • Pink Sugar Cakes
  • Milk
  • Salmon and Shrimp Paste
  • Salmon and Anchovy Paste
  • Beer
  • Fresh Fish for lunch

June’s read will be One Two Buckle My Shoe

Have a great week!

 

Croquetas de Carne with Peruvian Salsa

Hola Amigos!  Today we are taking a trip to South America via Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery (1972) for some croquetas de carne from Argentina.  And to accompany them we are staying on the same continent but jumping forward in time to 1990 for some Peruvian Salsa.    OMG, these were good!  I mean not good for you – these are a treat for once-in-a-while.  But…for those times when you get a craving for meaty cheesy fried balls with a spicy salsa…these will become your go-to.  And once you have tried these croquetas de carne, believe me, those cravings will come far more regularly than before!

Meat Croquetas

Croquetas de Carne

I have made croquettes once before with a ham and egg filling and the method was quite different.  In that recipe, you made a fairly thick bechamel and then combined the ham and hard-boiled eggs and some herbs into the bechamel.  With this one, you make your meat filling and then the roux/bechamel-type sauce in the same pan as the meat.  It was kind of nifty as it meant you only used one pan.  And less washing up is something that always makes me happy! 🤗

The croquetas de carne reminded me of our Sri Lankan short eat of Frikkadels which are also crumbed fried meatballs.


Meat Croquetas2

Croquetas de Carne – The Recipe

Croquetas recipe

As good as these croquetas are, they did lack a little something-something.  The croquetas are very rich; there is meat and cheese and a fried crumb!  I felt something was needed to cut through the heaviness of the croquetas.  Now, it just so happened that I made the croquetas on the same day that I wrote the post on my  Moscow Potatoes.  It was incredibly serendipitous that as I was begining to think about what I might serve with the croquetas that I happened to have the magazine page that contained the recipe for the Moscow Potatoes and Peruvian Salsa open right in front of me!  Even better, I had all the ingredients for Peruvian Salsa in the house!

The chilli and lime in the salsa cut through the richness of the croqueta’s perfectly!

A match made in heaven!  Or South America as the case may be.

Peruvian Salsa

Peruvian Salsa – The Recipe

Peruvian Salsa recipe

A Return to The Compton-Batts

It wasn’t until just now that I had probably a tenth look at the  menu put forward by the Compton-Batts that I realised how…well the magazine article calls their menu eclectic.  I would probably go with batshit (erm Battshit anyone???) crazy.  Here it is:

  • Moscow Potatoes
  • Pickled Fish
  • Blackened Tuna Sashimi
  • Chilli Stir Fried Lamb
  • Peruvian Salsa
  • Vegetables Cooked in Virgin Olive Oil
  • Asparagus with Parmesan
  • Berry Pudding with Armagnac Chantilly

First that is a LOT of food.

Second, it is a lot of food that does not really go together.

The Moscow Potatoes are, if not exactly Russian, inspired by Russia.

We then move across to…I don’t know where for the pickled fish. I initially would have thought this might be an escabeche so Spain, but there is ginger in the recipe which I don’t think is traditional in an escabeche.  There is coriander in the garnish and coriander and ginger to me says Asia.  I will say though that the recipe sounds delicious and I may well end up making it!  Also, the recipe says to use white fish but the picture of the pickled fish looks like salmon to me.  So the pickled fish is an enigma all round.  Here’s a picture of it

Pickled Fish
Pickled Fish

The sashimi is obvs Japanese.  But why would you have pickled fish and sashimi?

Then we have Chilli Stir Fried Lamb which uses a Chinese cooking method combined with Indian-style spices such as cumin and cardamom.

And the Chinese / Indian main is accompanied by a salsa from Peru.  Which it doesn’t really need given it already has chlllies and lemon in it.

Also accompanying our stir fry we have some vegetables roasted in olive oil and some asparagus with Parmesan which for simplicity I am going to say is Italian-influenced.  Here’s a pic of the asparagus which is drowning in olive oil.  So again, two sides both drenched in olive oil and neither works particularly cohesive with the main dish!

Asparagus with Parmesan
Asparagus with Parmesan

Then for dessert there is a berry pudding (not a pudding but some berries soaked in port and Cabernet Sauvignon) served with an Armagnac Chantilly.  So French inspired.

Croquetas de Carne with Peruvian Salsa

 

That is one wild menu I thought as I reached for another croqueta de carne dipped in some Peruvian Salsa.  I’m glad I’m keeping it simple!

Have a great week!

 

 

Moscow Potatoes

Hello, friends, we are back from our hols – more to come about that later!  Never have I agonised over a post as much as I have over this one.  Not because these Moscow Potatoes weren’t fabulous.  They were delicious and tasted like something special even though they are made from only four ingredients! My dilemma was about whether this might be seen as me taking a pro-Russian stance on wider world events. So just to be really clear, this is not a political statement, this is a food blog.

Moscow Potatoes6

The recipe for Moscow Potatoes comes from the February / March 1990 edition of Vogue Entertaining which is the same magazine that brought us the flowery delights of a rose petal salad.  For this one, we are turning away from flowers and turning the usually humble spud into a ritzy item.  It’s the culinary version of the plain girl taking off her glasses and becoming a glamour puss.

Moscow Potatoes

I had some of the salmon caviar left over from making the Oysters with Caviar so  it made sense to give the Moscow Potatoes a try.  We had these as a little starter before our New Year’s Day dinner of Tomahawk Steak with a coffee spice rub and a caesar style wedge salad.  This was a delightful way to welcome in 2023!  I served these on a plate meant for deviled eggs and I think they looked adorable! You will see I left some of the potatoes un-caviared in case people did not like it.  In the end, I had to add some of the gorgeous salmon caviar pearls to the plain ones as no one wanted them!

Moscow Potatoes2

Moscow Potatoes – The Article

The recipe for Moscow Potatoes comes from a feature called “Fed in The Clouds” .  It is about Alan and Elizabeth Crompton Batts who are as posh as they sound.  He was a food writer, and chef and owned a PR company that was involved with a LOT of very famous London restaurants including Chez NicoTamarind, and Christopher’s.  He was also at one point the manager of The Psychedelic Furs whose song Pretty in Pink is in my Top Ten of best-ever songs.  Her family used to own The Ivy. In short, these two are food royalty!

Alan and Elizabeth Compton Batts
1990’s Power Couple, Alan and Elizabeth Compton Batts

Although I had never heard of either Alan or Elizabeth Crompton Batts before starting this post, and coming into this wanting to be a bit mocking about the whole 80s excess of it all, I was actually very sad to read that Alan Crompton Batts passed away in 2004 at only 50 years old.  This meant at the time of this article in 1990, he was 36 and had already achieved everything I mentioned before!  This took my breath away.  What an absolute powerhouse!

Their menu is also amazing and I”m sure we will see more from the Crompton Batts’ in future posts.

In the meantime though, let’s find out how to make Moscow Potatoes!

Moscow Potatoes – The Recipe

Moscow Potatoes Recipe

You will see from the pictures that I swapped out the mint for some chives.  I think you can go your own way on this.  Dill would also be amazing.

Moscow Potatoes5

Have a great week! Signature2

 

 

 

Oysters with Caviar

Happy 2023 everyone!  Today I am sharing a “recipe” for a starter that is low on fuss and time but high on elegance!  Oysters with caviar will bring the luxe to a formal dinner party or some glam to your backyard barbecue. We had these as a little snack before heading out to dinner on New Year’s Eve.  I am actually using salmon roe instead of caviar for my oysters.  I may like to eat like a posh person but my budget does not spread to a 1/4 cup of real caviar.  If you would like to use the real stuff though go right ahead!  Oh and please invite me to your party!

Oysters with Caviar2

 

 

Australia’s Favourite Recipes – The Book

A few months ago, we decided to use charity shop books as a theme for our Tasty Reads Cookbook Club.  Most of our club members met for breakfast and then went looking through the local op shops for some culinary treasures.  The book I chose, Australia’s Favourite Recipes is a monster of a book.  I regretted buying it almost the minute I got it home because it is so big it does not fit into any of my bookshelves and so can only be accommodated lying flat.  It is also very heavy which makes it quite cumbersome which probably explains why I have not cooked from it a lot. For context, it is about shoulder height for Holly who is a small beagle.

Holly v Book

One thing I did make from this book was a lovely Apricot Meringue Dacquoise for the Cook Book Club meeting.

Apricot Meringue Dacquoise

Actually, on reflection that Dacquioise was amazing.  Even if I do say so myself!  I’ll throw in the recipe for that too as it would also be perfect for entertaining!

And speaking of recipes, here is the one for the Oysters with Caviar if you can even call something this simple a recipe!  I guess though when you are using some luxe ingredients like Oysters and Caviar, you want to keep things simple!  The last thing you would want to do is to overshadow them!

Oysters with Caviar3

 

I used the Yarra Valley caviar infused with Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz Gin for these.  The dark colour of the gin-infused salmon roe is so pretty and festive!

The Recipe – Oysters with Caviar

Oysters with Caviar Recipe

I really liked the pop of the salmon roe in this.  Which got me thinking…for Christmas, the Fussiest Eater in the World bought me a Finger Lime tree.  These are Australian native limes but instead of the normal lime flesh when you open them up your get these lovely pearls as in the picture below.

They are very slow growing so it will likely be a few years before my little tree bears fruit. But I already have plans to celebrate my first lime by remaking this recipe using a finger lime instead of a lemon for a double pop!  We have the variety called pink ice which is the middle one in the picture above.  Here is our little tree.  And in another comparison, here is the large book next to the small tree.

Finger Lime Tree

Ok, I promise that will be the last time I compare one thing of a size you don’t know to another thing of a size you don’t know.  🤦 Here’s the recipe for the Dacquoise!

Apricot Meringue Dacquoise

 

Oysters with Caviar4

To all of you, thank you so much for reading and commenting!  Have a wonderful, safe and happy new year!

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