Bread - Retro Food For Modern Times

Category: Bread

29
Dec
2022

Avocado and Crab Finger Sandwiches

categories: 1980's Food, 1980's recipes, Afternoon Tea, Avocado, Crab, Sandwiches

Hello friends! Welcome to the latest post on “What Posh People ate in the ’80s”. This recipe for Avocado and Crab Finger Sandwiches comes from the Vogue Entertaining Guide from Autumn 1986. The article features a mother and daughter who love to entertain after a match or two on their private tennis court. When I said posh I meant swish enough to have a house with its own tennis court!

I would LOVE to be invited to a spot of doubles followed by an elegant afternoon tea! (Note to friends – can one of you please get rich so we can do this? And can we also wear gorgeous tennis dresses like these?)

The whole thing reminded me very much of the John Betjeman poem called A Subaltern’s Love Song:

Miss J.Hunter Dunn, Miss J.Hunter Dunn,
Furnish’d and burnish’d by Aldershot sun,
What strenuous singles we played after tea,
We in the tournament – you against me!

Love-thirty, love-forty, oh! weakness of joy,
The speed of a swallow, the grace of a boy,
With carefullest carelessness, gaily you won,
I am weak from your loveliness, Joan Hunter Dunn

Miss Joan Hunter Dunn, Miss Joan Hunter Dunn,
How mad I am, sad I am, glad that you won,
The warm-handled racket is back in its press,
But my shock-headed victor, she loves me no less.

Her father’s euonymus shines as we walk,
And swing past the summer-house, buried in talk,
And cool the verandah that welcomes us in
To the six-o’clock news and a lime-juice and gin.

Rather than lime juice and gin, this article waxes lyrical about a boysenberry daiquiri served with the afternoon tea:

One of Helena’s specialties is the delicious boysenberry daiquiri which is smooth in texture, with a wonderful colour and just enough zing in it to revive tired tennis bodies

And even includes a large picture of said daiquiris:

But, back in 1986, if you had a tired tennis body and needed the reviving properties of a boysenberry daiquiri, you would have been SOL as the Vogue Entertaining Guide did not give you the recipe for it! It’s the opposite of Chekhov’s Gun. Even today, with full use of the internet, the closest thing I could find is this recipe for a berry daiquiri from the BBC. Never let it be said that I don’t give you something to soothe your tired tennis body! I mean it’s not boysenberries but what can you do? Maybe boysenberry daiquiris only exist in the realms of people who have their own tennis courts and would never dream of publishing their recipe on something as mucky as the internet!

The Recipe – Avocado and Crab Finger Sandwiches

The article made no mention of who Margie is/was so neither shall we. These were very yummy and delicate sandwiches. And whilst I don’t want to drag Agatha Christie into every post, they were certainly something I could imagine people eating after a hit of tennis in one of her novels. Whilst someone was being stabbed in the drawing room.

I added a sprinkle of chives from the garden and some chive flowers as a garnish for my sandwiches.

The Saratoga Torte which I featured a while back is from this same article.

I am now going to go dream of a life that includes

The traditional charm of a tennis afternoon tea expressed through the use of gleaming family silver and old lace

Have a wonderful week!

26
Nov
2022

Orange and Poppyseed Cupcakes – November 2002

categories: Baking, Cake, Sandwiches

Hello Friends!!! For today’s twenty years ago post, I am cooking from the November 2002 issue of Super Food Ideas. Let’s see if the mag lives up to it’s name! Today’s theme is picnic food. These orange and poppyseed cupcakes would be perfect for a spring picnic and were delicious to boot! Sadly our weather has not been kind. It has been very cold and rainy so my picnic ended being on my dining room table!

My Picnic Menu

Chicken Club Sandwich

I love a club sandwich but for some reason, I only ever eat them when ordering from a hotel room service menu. This one was ok. No bacon which was disappointing but the addition of avocado was nice. There was a weird instruction to add tomato sauce (ketchup) into the avocado mix. I ignored it. because….ewww. You can do beter November 2002!

Here’s the recipe.

I am not going to talk about the Mac and Cheese bites here because, I ended up changing the recipe so much that I am going to do them as a separate post! But we came here for Orange and Poppyseed Cupcakes so here they are!

I don’t think I have tasted orange and poppyseed anything before. There was a time when I was absolutely addicted to the lemon and poppyseed muffins at Muffin Break. It got so all the people I worked with knew how much I loved them so even if I had not gone past the Muffin Break that morning, my colleagues would let me know if the lemon and poppysed muffins were on the menu. These cupcakes were very reminiscent of those muffins. In fact though, I did not have enough orange zest to top all the cupcakes (possibly because I spilt so much of it all over the recipe) so there is a mix of lemon and orange zest on all of them making them even more nostalgic for me.

Orange and Poppyseed Cupcakes – The Recipe

The original recipe was for one large cake. For cupcakes, just drop the cooking time, Mine were ready in 25 minutes.

My Nigella Moment

What is a Nigella moment? You know how at the end of each episode of a Nigella tv show, you see her popping back to the fridge for just one more bite of something? My Nigella moment this month is a recipe I cooked from the mag that did not fit with the picnic theme. It was a salmon fillet with wasabi mayo. I served mine with some edamame sprinkled with furikake, pickled ginger and some not very Japanese but very delicious oven fries! In the interest of brevity, I have not included the recipe but, if you like the sound of it and want to do your own trip back in time, hit me up in the comments!

I hope you’ve enjoyed time travelling back to November 2002 with me.

Have a great week!

24
Jul
2022

Taste Testing Reuben Sandwiches

categories: Sandwiches, United States of America, World Cooking

A little while ago, we were talking about sandwiches and one of my readers said that her favourite sandwich was a Reuben. I had to confess that I had never eaten one. I was not even 100% sure what the ingredients for a Reuben were! However, for it to be someone’s favourite, and a discerning person (after all, they are a reader of this fine blog) at that, I was sure that it would be a pretty good sandwich. So, I decided to make one!

The History of The Reuben

First things first though. Why is a Reuben called a Reuben? There are a few versions of this story but the one we are going with is that the Reuben was invented in the Blackstone Hotel in Omaha Nebraska when a gentleman called Reuben Kulakofsky asked for a sandwich with corned beef and sauerkraut during one of his weekly poker games. The cook added some Swiss cheese and Thousand Island dressing and encased the lot in between some slices of rye bread. The sandwich became popular locally when it was added to the lunch menu at the Blackstone. It became popular nationally after winning the National Sandwich Idea Contest in 1956.

The Rick Reuben – 8/10

My first attempt at this classic American sandwich was a recipe from the classic but not at all American Rick Stein. Why? I was reading his wonderful book Rick Stein at Home when I got the idea for this challenge. Rick suggests using salt beef in his recipe. I used pastrami in mine. I’m not sure I have ever seen salt beef in my local deli.

This was delicious. I LOVED this sandwich! BUT it was lacking something. Every picture I had seen of a Reuben had a bright orange dressing and the Rick version of the dressing consisted mostly of white ingredients It did have some tabasco but I would have had to put in a whole bottle of tabasco to achieve the vivid orange I have seen in pictures. And that is a step too far even for a chilli lover like me! As a result, I felt I was missing the true Reuben experience on this one.

The Toasted Reuben – 8.5/10

My second attempt at a Reuben was a toasted version which came from the May 2022 issue of the Australian Women’s Weekly Cooking Magazine which I bought around the same time as I was reading the Rick Stein book. Coincidence that both contained a recipe for a Reuben? I think not.

This one used pastrami and the addition of Sriracha into the sauce gave me the orange colour I was craving. I also liked the splash of Worcestershire sauce in the dressing on this one. And it was toasted. so the cheese got all melty and delicious.

Now, the recipe below was intended to be made in a pie-maker. I do not have one of these so I made it as an ordinary sandwich.

The Bought Reuben – 9.5/10

So far, I was pretty happy with both Rebens that I had made. However, never having eaten one I had no point of comparison. How would my homemade version stack up against a Reuben made by a professional? So, one lunchtime I popped into a cafe in the CBD that specialises in American-style sandwiches and bought one of their Reubens. The Bowery to Williamsburg Reuben won on the slow-cooked brisket pastrami. That was sensational. Also even though I bought posh sauerkraut instead of the reg supermarket stuff, the B2W sauerkraut had a funk that was both delicious and disturbing. The cafe is a good 20 minutes walk from my office and as I was short on time I ordered my Reuben to go. As I was walking back I began to smell something not entirely pleasant wafting about me. I soon realised the odour was from the very funky sauerkraut and, thankfully not from me! This was delicious!!!! Bright orange dressing, swiss cheese and a pickle on top completed the deal but that brisket pastrami? Heavenly! BTW, The first photo in this post is the B2W Reuben.

My Reubens tasted pretty similar to the one from Bowery to Williamsburg. The difference really was in the quality of their meat. It was warm, it was smoky and tender in the middle and a little bit crunchy on the ends. It was sooo good.

You may be wondering why I only rated it a 9.5 when it was so good? Well, it cost a very hefty $17 dollars which is a LOT, even if t was huge! I had half of it for lunch that day and took the rest home for dinner! I’m both glad and somewhat relieved that Bowery to Willamsburg is quite the trek for me. I could easily become addicted to their Reuben which would not be great for my bank balance. Having said that, I might pop in there this week because writing about their Reuben is making me really want one!

Have a wonderful week everyone!

25
Apr
2022

Vogueing A Ham and Cheese Croissant

categories: 1980's Food, 1980's recipes, Bread, France, Magazines

Now you might be wondering why on earth am I featuring a recipe for a ham and cheese croissant? Surely that’s not even a recipe? Well, we are cooking from the Vogue Entertaining Guide from Autumn 1986 which means we are making easy food complicated because that’s what posh people wanted back then.

You or I or most normal people would make a ham and cheese croissant by placing ham and cheese inside a croissant and toasting it. If I was feeling a bit fancy I might grate the cheese. I always add a bit of mustard because I love the ham, cheese, and mustard combo. That’s as fancy as I normally get.

But Vogue in 1986 would have us melting the cheese with some cream and pouring it over the top of the croissant. And if that’s what Vogue wanted me to do, that’s exactly what I did! I feel that someone at Vogue HQ back in 1986 thought making a sauce, somewhat akin to the bechamel used in a traditional Croque Monsieur would make this more…French? Sophisticated? Elegant?

Or, none of the above.

It was messy and made the croissant soggy. And no one likes a soggy croissant!

But there was something here I didn’t want to let go of. And I’d bought a multipack of croissants

I also had some of that cheese sauce left.

So why not give it a little twist?

Ham and Cheese Croissant Day 2 – Better In Than Out

The problems with Day One (apart from having to make a cheese sauce) were the sogginess and the mess. I want to be able to eat my ham and cheese croissant without utensils. However, pouring sauce over the top of the croissant made this impossible.

But….instead of over the croissant, what if I put the sauce in the croissant?

This was a lot less messy. I could pick it up and eat it without having to use a knife and fork which was a bonus and it also meant that the outside of the croissant stayed crispy and flaky. But it was a bit messy, the sauce leaked out onto my hands a bit so it was still not ideal.

Ham and Cheese Croissant Day 3 – The Bruléed Croissant

So the issue with making this with cheese sauce instead of plain cheese is the sauce. For day 3 I thought about how to make the sauce less, well, saucy. Which is how I got to the idea of the bruleed croissant. Same as Day 2 but instead of serving the croissant as soon as I added the cheese, I popped it back into the oven and under the grill for a few minutes.

This was the best so far. The croissant was crispy and flaky. The sauce was not too runny and it took on that lovely flavour of grilled cheese.

Day Four – A Break Day Bagel

Day Four I went into the office and bought a bagel for breakfast from my favourite place. I was getting a little bit sick of ham and cheese croissants. However….

It. Was. Terrible.

Possibly the worst bagel I have ever eaten.

I’m not naming and shaming them because pre-covid they were superb. But I also will not be buying a bagel from them for a while. I have sourced a new bagel place not too far from home which I will try out during the week. As well to the traditional salmon and lox, they also have some combos like a chicken katsu, a miso mushroom and a labneh and za’atar bagel. All of which I cannot wait to try!

Day 5 – The Classic Ham and Cheese Croissant

Sometimes you just have to go back to basics and tell Vogue to take a hike.

Swap out the sauce for a slice of cheese and place your croissant under the grill for a few minutes until the cheese melts. I used a slice of Jarlsberg but feel free to to use whatever melting cheese you have.

Oozy cheese, flaky croissant, no cutlery required to eat. Perfection!

Here’s the recipe from Vogue October 1986. Why you might want it is another question entirely!

For slightly more successful dishes from Vogue October 1986 you could check out the following:

Have a wonderful week my friends!

06
Apr
2022

La Mediatrice

categories: 1970's food, Bread, Good Housekeeping World Cookery, Oysters, United States of America

The recipe for La Mediatrice comes from the creole section of Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery. Quite simply, it is a fried oyster roll somewhat akin to an oyster po’boy.

La Mediatrice is French for the peacemaker and the story behind the name is delightful. Apparently back in the day in New Orleans, drunken husbands stumbling home in the wee small hours would stop by a bakery on their way home and buy a freshly baked loaf filled with deep-fried oysters to take home to their wives to stop them from being angry about the husband’s shenanigans.

Now, I suspect that this may be apocryphal. Because personally? The idea of being woken up at 3am by a drunk brandishing an oyster roll is not something that would inspire me to sweetness. It is far more likely to send me into a vitriolic (but highly creative) rant on all the places he could shove said oyster roll!

La Mediatrice – Version 1

You will see from the pictures above that I made two versions of La Mediatrice. The first one, which confusingly is the second photo – the one with the pickles is pretty much the recipe from Good Housekeeping. I did fancy it up a bit by using some garlic and parsley infused butter instead of plain butter for the roll: And I added some smoked paprika to the flour mix for a bit of extra flavour.

The OG version was tasty but it was a little dry, which is why I decided to give it another go.

La Mediatrice – Version 2

For my second stab at this, I wanted sauce and more crunch.

To bring the crunch with the oysters instead of plain flour, I used rice flour to dredge the oysters.

I also added some cos/romaine lettuce into the rolls

And I made a Sriracha Honey Mayo for drizzling over the top:

La Mediatrice – Sriracha Honey Mayo

Print Recipe

This is a spicy-sweet mayonnaise that perfectly accompanies a La Mediatrice

Author: Taryn Nicole

Ingredients

Scale

2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp Sriracha chilli sauce
1 tsp honey
1 tsp lemon juice

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Mix all ingredients together.

Notes

Quantities are a guide only. If you like it hotter use more Sriracha, sweeter use more honey, etc

I loved my sriracha mayo and the lettuce made this feel not completely unhealthy! Unfortunately, I totally forgot to put the pickles into this one but they would have been super!!!! I would strongly recommend keeping them in the dish!

Question for the week. If your partner came stumbling home dead drunk in the middle of the night, would an oyster roll calm your annoyance? If not what would be your preferred peacemaker?