Category: Dried Fruit

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!

Print

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!

Food For Lovers Redux

Zakusi

Hello friends, and welcome to a special series I will be running over the next 12 months. A while ago, I realised I had totally missed the 10th birthday of this blog. In fact, I was thinking about how to celebrate this and wanted to check the exact date of the first post which I thought was in 2013.  Nope.  It was 17 May 2012!  There didn’t seem much point in celebrating eleven years but twelve sounds impressive.  So in the 12 months leading up to my 12th birthday I will be featuring one of the old books I blogged about in the early years.  Those old posts are mostly dire but the books are quirky and fun or just plain good. Sometimes all three.  To get this party started I am revisiting one of the most bonkers books I own – Kelly Brodsky’s Food for Lovers from 1971.

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Food For Lovers – The Book

Food for Lovers is broken into 15 chapters, each of which is devoted to a particular type of man and the food that their beloved should cook to keep them interested.  As the old adage goes, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach!   This may make it sound like this is a very conservative, conventional cookbook – the type of book you might have seen in the 1950’s on how to please your husband.   But this my friends was not the conservative 50s, this was the 1970s and the birth of women’s liberation so the tone is definitely tongue in cheek.  At least I hope it is because each of the men mentioned sounds awful (although also somewhat recognisable).  To introduce you to the book and its characters I thought it might be fun to do a little speed dating with the gents of Food for Lovers!

Bachelor #1 Come on down!

Freddy Finikin

Freddy

“Freddys who dislike food are an asexual lot who seem to get a perverse kick from driving the women in their lives to a frenzy in search of something to tempt their appetite…the woman who falls for such a man is either unaware of his finickiness, or trapped, or mad, or maybe she prefers to read in bed”

Kelly Brodsky – Food for Lovers

Should you find either the picture of Freddy or his blurb attractive, or you are mad, trapped, or prefer to read in bed here is a recipe to keep your Freddy happy!

Zakusi

Zakusi

Zakusi

You’ll notice I have changed the recipe so that rather than filling the egg whites “liberally” with caviar, I have made a more traditional and certainly more economically viable devilled egg. These were AMAZING.  So tasty!!!!  

Let’s move on to Bachelor #2

If fussy eaters aren’t your style, maybe this likely lad is more your speed!

Joe De Go

Joe De Go

A man with the Midas touch, Joe usually has his fingers in many pies.  Often in the guise of pop star, P.R, ad-man, disc jockey, TV star or such, he wizzes from one assignment, luncheon or deal to another with a slick show of competence that belies his lingering adolescence.  Bright and on the ball he mostly shoes away from anything that smacks of more than superficial know-how, for he hates to be caught out of his depth

Kelly Brodsky – Food for Lovers

Intrigued by the sound of Joe?  Why not tempt his palate with some

Creamed Leek and Potato Soup

 

Leek and Potato Soup

Creamed Leek and Potato Soup

This soup was delicious!

Still not found your ideal man?  Let’s take a look at Bachelor #3

Champers Chas

Champers Chas

With the carefully cultivated air of an educated debauchee and a fascinating, if largely fabricated family history to back it, Champers provides an inexhaustible supply of gossip.  Whether on or off the boards, he delights in titillating his ever present audience with spicy, often malicious anecdotes and ribaldry

Kelly Brodsky – Food for Lovers

Fancy chatting with Chas?  Tempt his tastebuds with some 

Pistachio Nut Pilau

This was really nice, the rice was light and fluffy and went perfectly with last week’s Chilli Crab!

Pistachio Nut Pilaf

Pistachio Nut Pilaf

Still not found the love of your life? Maybe you like your men a little more sleazy and possibly criminal? Bachelor #4 may be more your style!

Professor Repressor

Professor Repressor

If the name doesn’t say it all, here’s Kelly’s description

Repressor exudes the coldness of a tree frog, his sang-froid masking some Lucifer-like leanings.  One kinky chink in his armour is his obsession with the Lolita-type nubiles on his campus – who usually run for their sweet lives when they see the kind of red-hot light they inspire in his eyes.  Inevitably, he is forced to turn his attentions to any neglected wives of his colleagues

Kelly Brodsky – Food for Lovers

Ok.  We might need a palate cleanser after that so how about some

Watercress and Orange Salad

Watercress and Orange Salad

Watercress and Orange Salad

This was great and just the refreshing hit I  needed after writing about the pervy professor!  Let’s swiftly move to Bachelor #5!

Gad About Guy

Gad About Guy

Gad about Guys come in all shapes and sizes with ages and egos to match.  They usually hover round fellow Gads with a few of the uninitiated thrown in as audience.  “Remember that night in Singapore when we strolled along Bugis Street – and those fantastic little roadside stalls with the delicious Satay? ….”Lord, yes! And will you ever forget that Lamb Solanka in Moscow last winter.”…And on and on it goes, the name dropping, the reminiscences and regurgitations of past splendours”

Kelly Brodsky – Food For Lovers

If the well-travelled man is your bag, why not whip up a lovely breakfast for him with some

Wine and Song Prunes

I LOVED these.  I feel so bad that prunes have such a bad rap!  This was so delicious. And what a fabulous name!  I served mine with a little bit of labneh, some orange zest and some pistachios left over from the pilaf and it made a heavenly breakfast!

Wine and Song Prunes

Wine and Song Prunes

And because all good things must come to an end, we come to our lucky last Bachelor…who out there fancies

Jack Snack

Jack Snack

He’s strictly a non-event up to his neck in dreary day to day existence, blissfully unaware of anything outside his tight little domain…his every move as predictable as the plainness of his sitting-room with it’s enormous brick veneered fireplace above which some gypsy flamencoes wildy within a heavy gilt frame

Kelly Brodsky – Food For Lovers

I laughed out loud when I read this because growing up, we had possibly that very same flamenco dancer painting on our wall at home! I thought it was incredibly beautiful and have always wanted to learn to flamenco as a result of it!

Now, I have also not made Jack’s Snack, mostly because I quite like my life and don’t fancy being taken down by a premature heart attack any time soon.  But should you wish to share your life with this homebody and are not afraid of death by overindulgence, here is the recipe for a Veal Scallopine Sandwich that will melt Jack’s heart whilst simultaneously clogging his arteries!

Veal Scallopine Sandwich

 

Okay, food lovers, I hope you have enjoyed my second journey into Food For Lovers…I LOVED revisiting this book!!! And there are so many more delicious-sounding recipes and terrible men in it that we may have to take a third look somewhere down the track!

I have searched online for other books by Kelly Brodsky and Kelly Brodsky herself and have drawn a big flat blank!  At the moment there also appear to be no other copies of Food for Lovers for sale so, sadly you cannot share my delight in this book. Kelly, if you are out there, and I hope you are, I hope you read this and know that fifty-two years after the publishing of your book, you have a number one fan in me! 

Have a wonderful week friends and please let me know if you make that Veal Scallopini Sandwich! Or any of the other recipes!  

 

 

A Murder on The Orient Express Collab

All aboard!  Welcome friends to a cooking and murder collab between Silver Screen Suppers and Retro Food For Modern Times.   Jenny and I have been tallking about doing this literally for months!  I am breaking my usual Dining with the Dame Format to cook recipes by the stars of the 1974 version of Murder on The Orient Express and half a world away in London Jenny is doing the same.  Jenny provided the recipes and we agreed to watch the film on the same day!

Murder on the Orient Express1

Murder on The Orient Express 1974 – The Film

As with the Kenneth Brannagh 2017 film, the 1974 version of Murder on the Orient Express is a star-studded affair!  The rather schlocky trailer describes it as the “Who’s who in the whodunnit”.

Albert Finney stars as Poirot  Agatha Christie herself gave Albert the thumbs up in his portrayal of Poirot.  (He was excellent, and his denouement at the end is amazing – he had to learn 8 pages of script off by heart to do it – but for me, David Suchet is, and will only ever be, the true Poirot).

Others in the cast include Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Jacqueline Bisset, Sean Connery, Sir John Gielgud, Anthony Perkins, Vanessa Redgrave and Michael York to name but a few!   Ingrid Bergman won an Oscar as best supporting actress for her role in this.  Albert Finney was nominated but missed out to Art Carney from Harry and Tonto.

The film follows the story of the Agatha Christie novel with the luxurious Orient Express train stuck in a snow bank with no one being able to get on or off the train.  One of the guests is stabbed to death in the night.  It is up to Hercule Poirot to discover whodunnit!.  He soon learns that the victim is connected to the kidnapping of Daisy Armstrong 5 years before.  And the group of seemingly disparate strangers on the train may not be all they seem!

The stroy is based on two true events, the first being the very famous kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby i n 1932, the second was an incident when the Orient Express was trapped for 6 days in a blizzard in Turkey in 1929.

But now, we would like you to head over to the buffet car to sample today’s menu,

The Menu

Trout in Cream Saice

For your dining pleasure on today’s journey from Istanbul to Caiais, we are delighted to be serving Trout with Cream Sauce, a recipe by Ms Ingrid Bergman.

Murder on the Orient Express2

This was delicious!  Trout is such a delicate fish and the lemony cream sauce was a perfect accompaniment to it.  I served mine with chips (very un Orient Express), beans, broccolini and some cherry tomatoes.  It was also incredibly easy to make!!! Without the chips, it is an elegant and light dish which would be worthy of the Orient Express!

The whole time I was making the trout I was singing the Billy Bragg  / Wilco song :

Ingrid Bergman, Ingrid Bergman
Let’s go make a picture
On the island of Stromboli
Ingrid Bergman
And I deft anyone who knows this song to do otherwise!

Ingrid Bergman Trout (1)

Ingrid Bergman plays Greta Ohlsson in the film and she won the Academy Award for best-supporting actress for her role. I would give her an Oscar for that trout recipe because it was chef’s kiss mwah!!!

Prune Fool Syllabub

To end your meal, we are serving  Prune Fool by Ms. Wendy Hiller.   Wendy plays Princess Dragomiroff  in Murder. I feel that the Prune Fool, despite its name has the hint of gravitas equal to such a grand dame!

Murder on the Orient Express3

I LOVED the Prune Fool!  The prunes and currants (I didn’t have sultanas in the red wine combined beautifully with the cream and shortbread.  Eating this made me feel like a grownup.  for something that is so simple to make, the end result is sophisticated.

I feel both of these dishes would meet Poirot’s approval!

Just as an aside, it appears as if, whilst on the Orient Express, Poirot has eschewed his normal tisanes and sirops for a little glass of…creme de menthe? Drunk via a straw no less.

Murder on the Orient Express4

But, I digress, back to the Prune Fool.  Murder on the Orient Express5
I know I am biased but how pretty is it?

Here’s the recipe:

Wendy Hiller Prune Fool (2)

 

Cooking for this was so fun!  I loved the film as well!  And it is always fun to have a shared project.  Thank you Jenny for the recipes and for joining in particularly on one of the big hitters like Murder on The Orient Express.  (Let’s not wait 6 months before we do another!!!)  And if anyone else would like to Dine with the Dame and me, please let me know!!!

If you would like to see what Jenny cooked and how she celebrated Murder Sunday, head over to Silver Screen Suppers for a look!

I’ll be back next week with a more traditional version of Dining with the Dame – Murder on the Orient Express 2 (Electric Boogaloo).

Have a great week and happy watching!

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Cheese and Date Night

If we are at home on a Friday, we don’t usually eat a big meal, just usually have a couple of snacky things here and there. 

Friday Night Snack Plate 1Tonight’s snack plate had a distinctly retro feel so I thought I would share it with you!

Cheese and Date Bread

First up, we have some Cheese and Date Bread, courtesy of The A-Z of Cooking.  We have jumped somewhat forward here in that this recipe appears under G – Good Health, when technically we are only up to D – Drinks and Dips. And whilst Drinks and Dips are usually  good Friday fare, tonight it was something different.

Cheese and Date BreadI was intrigued by the idea of Cheese and Date Bread.  I really wasn’t sure how the sweetness of the dates would go with the rest of the ingredients.  These fears were completely unfounded.  And my bread looked just like real proper bread!

Cheese and Date Bread2
Cheese and Date Bread2

 If somewhat lopsided…

Cheese and Date Bread3
Cheese and Date Bread3

The bread is pretty good plain but if you want to take it to a whole new level?  Toast it up. 

Cheese and Date Bread4
Cheese and Date Bread4

 Cheese and Date Balls

Like I said, initially I was hesitant to make the Cheese and Date Bread.  What changed my mind was finding this  recipe for Cheese and Date Balls:

Epicurious – Cheese and Date Balls

Of course I made mini balls – because that’s how I roll. Also, I swapped out the lemon in the recipe above for a teeny splash of vermouth. 

Cheese and Date BallsMmmmm…blue cheese, walnuts and dates spread on toasted Date and Cheese Bread.  Life is good!

Cheese and Date Balls2
Cheese and Date Balls2

 But wait…there’s more. 

But first a little bit of disclosure.  I am actually trying something new tonight which is to cook (ok, assemble, I had actually cooked everything beforehand), photo, write, review and post all in the one night.  Normally this process can take WEEKS. I am also doing it whilst drinking a rather large martini which we will get to in due course.  So, if the end of this devolves into absolute gibberish, you know why and apologies in advance. 

Those olives you see on the plate?  Aren’t just any olives.  They are:

Martini Drenched Olives

Normally, you put your olive into a martini.  In this recipe, you put some martini into your olives!  This is so simple and really adds a new and different flavour to some otherwise ordinary olives. 

Print

Martini Drenched Olives

Usually, you put a olive in your martini. This recipe adds a little martini into your olives!

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 cups green olives (I used stuffed olives because I had them)
  • 3 tbsp vodka
  • 1 1/2 tbsp dry vermouth
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp shredded lemon zest
  • 810 cracked peppercorns

Instructions

  1. Rinse the olives under cold water and drain.
  2. Combine all the other ingredients.
  3. Place the olives in a bowl.
  4. Pour the other ingredients over.
  5. Refrigerate for at least an hour. (I kept mine in the fridge for nearly a week).

 But you know what?  If your going to have some martini drenched olives, why not make also make a Drenched Dirty Martini.  It is Friday after all!

Drenched Dirty Martini2
Drenched Dirty Martini2

 The Drenched Dirty Martini is a dirty martini made with Drenched Martini Olives. 

[yumprint-recipe id=’32’] 

Drenched Dirty Martini
Drenched Dirty Martini

 Have a great weekend!

Signature 1 Vintage Valentine Quick as Wink2      PS – Love to hear your thoughts on the quick and dirty post.  I live in awe of the bloggers who manage to do something daily and would love to be able to increase my output.  Your feedback on me just banging something out like tonight v agonising over every comma is most appreciated! Thanks as always. xx

After School Snacks – Date Crunchies

Part Two of A in The A-Z of Cooking concerns itself with one of the best meals of the day, the after school snack.

I chose to make the Date Crunchies purely on the basis that I had every single ingredient already in my pantry.

That never happens!

Date Crunchies2
Date Crunchies2

But first, two intros to After School Snacks.  The original from The A-Z of Cooking

 “Welcome home your hungry young scholars with something nourishing to tide them over until suppertime”

May have pleased mothers but set children all over the world weeping. They didn’t want something nourishing, they wanted something chockful of sugar with maybe a bit of artificial colouring thrown in.

Not so my After School Snacks Haiku:

Hungry After School?

Dates and Oats Make Good Crunchies

Yummy for your tum.

Did I miss a career in marketing or what?

And…we’re done with the poetry.  Trust me.  There will be no sonnets to breakfast food, no odes to the buffet.  Unless you really like them.  In which case get ready for a whole heap of limericks and haikus because that’s about my limit. 

Date Crunchies1

Date Crunchies – The Good

  • These are kinda sorta almost healthy with the sweetness coming from dates and honey instead of sugar, and the use of oats and wholemeal flour.
  • Dates, honey and cinnamon are a combination that works amazingly well together. And the little bit of lemon made the it even better!
  • I think I probably like them more now than I would have as a child when I would have wanted something sweeter.
  • Apparently they worked well with a glass of milk.  This is on hearsay only.  I have never liked milk and even the thought of drinking a full glass of it makes me want to gag.
  • Working the dough was the best arm workout I have had in a long time.  I’m pretty sure I’ve staved off bingo wings for at least another year just by that alone.

Date Crunchies 4
Date Crunchies 4

 Date Crunchies – The Bad

  • The the quantities in the recipe seemed wrong. I needed a lot more water to soften the dates and a pinch of cinnamon is no good to anyone.  You need at least 1/4 teaspoon.
  • More than this though that pasty was way too short.  I was lovely and light but you just had to look at it the wrong way and it crumbled. It needed an egg or something else to bind it together a bit more.

Date Crunchie
Date Crunchie

 Date Crunchies – The Ugly

Let’s also address the other elephant in the room when in comes to this recipe. In some places in Australia, “date” is a colloquial expression for one’s…well…anus.  So a date crunchie is probably not something that should be even remotely appetizing.   As for these?  They were better than that.  Just not by much.

In all honesty, they were perfectly acceptable.  They were average.  There was nothing fundamentally hideous about them.  Truth be told, it’s taken me ages to write this post simply because I find it really hard to describe food that’s just….meh….

WouId I have wanted these as an afternoon snack when I was a child?

Hell no.

But  I was a weird  only child with a working mother.  She didn’t have time to bake and I had an idea that anything homemade was bound to be inferior to something that could be bought from a shop.  I was far happier with a perfectly formed store-bought Tim Tam than anything homemade and vaguely hippyish.

Now?  That date filling was rather nice…but you know what?  I think I’d still prefer a TimTam.  I may make the Date Crunchie dough again just so I never have to do another tricep dip in my life.

Date Crunchies – not an epic fail, not even a fail, just not much of a pass… And with that, we’re done with the A’s.

Next time we venture into The A-Z of Cooking we’re heading to Canada for B..B..Breakfast.

Have a great week!  Signature 1 Vintage Valentine Quick as Wink2