Retro Food For Modern Times - Yesterdays Recipes, Cooked Today

09
Aug
2023

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.

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.

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

Wine and Song Prune Canapés

Print Recipe

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

Author: Taryn Nicole

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

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

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!

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!

25
Jul
2023

July 2003 – What’s In The Fridge?

categories: 20 Years Ago Today, Chocolate, Pizza, Steak

Hello, retro food lovers! Let’s take a trip back twenty years to July 2003. While where there, why not pick up the current copy of Delicious Magazine and try to make a meal with ingredients that we can find in our fridge. I set a rule for myself with this one that at least 2 ingredients for each meal had to come from my fridge. For the purposes of full disclosure, I have also listed items I have used from my freezer, pantry and those I bought for the recipes. Before we head to the recipes, let’s set the scene for what else was happening in July 2003!

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl was #1 at the box office, followed by Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Bad Boys II. Doesn’t sounds like I would have been going to the movies a lot in July 2003! Instead, I was likely staying at home reading the best-selling Da Vinci Code by Dance Brown and listening to Beyonce’s Crazy in Love. But enough about me, let’s get to our menu!

The Menu – July 2003

BROCCOLI, PANCETTA AND FETA PIZZA

There was a cheese fondue in the magazine which very nearly became the entree for our July 2003 menu but in the end I chose the pizza. The recipe comes from an advertisement for Ardmona Rich and Thick Chopped Tomatoes which was absolutely brilliant and why I decided to use this recipe over the fondue. The advertisements which ran for a number of years featured celebrities not known for their intelligence advertising pureed tomatoes! Rich and thick tomatoes from the rich and…you get it. The ad certainly caught my eye! Also, this was the only recipe in the magazine where I did not have to buy any ingredients, although I substituted a few:

Fridge ingredients

Broccolini (subbed for the broccoli in the recipe)
Proscuitto (subbed for the pancetta in the recipe)
Feta cheese

All of these were leftovers from other things I had made which would have otherwise likley gone to waste

Other ingredients

Puff Pastry – from the freezer
Tinned tomatoes – from the pantry

Broccoli and Pancetta Pizza Recipe

Beef Carpaccio with Parmesan, Horseradish and Raw Beetroot

This is a Jamie Oliver recipe that I made to use up some leftover beetroot. I generally hate beetroot but the fussiest eater in the world likes it so we had half a beetroot in the fridge left over from a roast dinner he had made. A lot of people, including me, give Jamie Oliver a hard time but seriously…this might be one of the best things I have eaten all year!!! It was perfectly pitched. Everything went together so well. It was an absolute dream of a dish! 10/10 Mr Oliver, this one was outstanding!

Fridge ingredients

Beetroot
Horseradish (originally from our garden)
Sour cream (instead of the creme fraiche in the recipe)
Parmesan cheese

Other ingredients

Thyme – from the garden
Lemon – from the garden
Olive oil, salt, pepper – from the pantry

Bought ingredients

1 steak – I was not going to buy a whole fillet for two people!
Rocket -(this cost all of 36 cents!)

Carpaccio recipe:

Chocolate Chestnut Log

On first reading, I thought this would be a cake. Instead, imagine a melt-in-the-mouth mousse with a swirl of chestnut surrounded by a swirl of chocolate chestnut. Delicious but very rich!!!! (Not thick though). If the carpaccio was something I would gladly eat every day, this is a dish I would save for special occasions.

Chocolate Chestnut Log Recipe:

Fridge ingredients

Butter
Egg

Other ingredients

Sugar – from the pantry
Brandy from the drinks cabinet
A can of chestnut puree which had been in the pantry for far too long!
Cocoa powder – from the pantry

Bought ingredients

Dark Chocolate

My Nigella Moment – Fillet of Beef Bourguignonne

For first-time readers, this refers to the moment at the end of Nigella Lawson’s cooking shows when she sneaks back to the fridge to have another bite of something delicious. In the context of these Twenty Years Ago posts, it is something contained in the magazine that does not fit with the overall menu theme but I’m sneaking it in either because I made it and it was really good, or I just didn’t have time to make it but it was one of the most appetising things in the mag!

I feel a bit sorry for the cheese fondue recipe in the July 2003 issue of Delicious Magazine. It got pipped at the post for the starter and again for the Nigella moment. Those of you who know me, and whose jaws are dropping that I didn’t pick the fondue (twice), take a look at this picture:

The perfectly cooked beef, the glossy sauce, the wine-soaked onions – this dish looks so beautiful and luxurious to me and something that I would definitely cook if I was having a group of people for dinner. Something this size though would feed us both for a week. I’m holding on to this recipe though! Next time we do magazines in my Foodies club, this is exactly where I am heading!!!!

Well, the July 2003 issue of Delicious proved to be an absolute treasure trove of recipes and definitely filled the brief of being able to base a meal, largely on ingredients that were in my fridge!

24
Jul
2023

The Return of the Australian Vegetable Cookbook

categories: 1970's recipes, Australian Vegetable Cookbook, Blue Cheese, Cornwall, Leeks, Lettuce

Hello friends, today I am revisiting a book I first wrote about in 2012 – The Australian Vegetable Cookbook. I am taste-testing two recipes from that book – a Cornish Leek Pie and a Roquefort Wedge Salad. The book contains a lovely line drawing and a brief history of each vegetable. So, without further preamble let’s get to the recipes!

Cornish Leek Pie

I was dubious as to how authentic the Cornish Leek Pie would be. However, I found a few references to a Leeky / Likky Pie which dates from 1865 and is remarkably similar!

I layered boiled leeks and bacon into a pie dish and covered with pastry. Now, I made a mistake here as the recipe quite clearly says to season the layers with salt and pepper. I thought the bacon would be salty enough which turned out to be true so I didn’t add salt. But I totally forgot about the pepper. But by the time I remembered the pepper, the pie was already in the oven.

Then, the recipe itself got weird. After cooking for a while, I needed to make a hole in the pastry top and pour in a mixture of cream and parsley. I have never added ingredients to a pie in this way before! But it did allow me to add the missing pepper in with the cream and parsley. I thought it would be really hard to cut a hole in the pastry once it was baked so I did this before it went into the oven.

The recipe which I have linked above adds eggs and cream to the bacon and leek mix which I think would be a lot more sensible. This would have thickened up on cooking to form a quiche-like filling. As it was the cream did nothing except make everything a bit wet! It also kept bubbling up out of the hole in the pastry and made a bit of a mess.

There was nothing wrong with the cornish leek pie. It was just not something I would make, in the format given in the Australian Vegetable Cookbook. Full marks for the illustrations though! They are beautiful!

Cornish Leek Pie – The Recipe

Roquefort Lettuce Wedges

The night after I made the Cornish Leek Pie I made the Roquefort Lettuce Wedge from the same book.

The roquefort dressing was sooo good! But overall this dish lacked something. I served it on a gorgeous plate I bought when I was in Darwin earlier this year to try to fancy it up a bit. Plate 10/10. Dish…kind of meh…I would defintely make this again, However, I would add some bacon or croutons or some chives to the salad (or all three) just to make it a bit more interesting!

They say you can’t step in the same river twice and, to be honest I was disappointed with my revisiting of The Australian Vegetable Cookbook. There was nothing wrong with either recipe but they were also not amazing. One or two more ingredients to each one might have brought a bit more flavour or texture or just some va va voom to the dish.

Whether this was due to bad recipe choices on my behalf or a comment on the state of vegetable dishes in the 1970s remains to be determined. There are still a number of recipes I have flagged as “to be cooked”. so I may well have another crack at it in the future. Just not for a little while!

Roquefort Lettuce Wedge – The Recipe

I hope your cooking adventures this week fare a little better! Have a great week!

09
Jul
2023

Chinese Lemon Chicken: Evil Under The Sun

categories: Chicken, China, Dining With The Dame, Poirot

Hello crime readers and food lovers! Welcome to Dining with the Dame for July and a collab with Jenny from Silver Screen Suppers. We have been reading/watching Evil Under The Sun. I loved this book. It reminded me of both Triangle in Rhodes and Death on the Nile, books I also loved. Maybe I just love an ill-fated love triangle. I was very disappointed that there was no food mentioned in this one – it is set in the delightfully named Jolly Roger Hotel (based on the Burgh Island Hotel). I would have thought that we might get the details of at least one meal in such a grand establishment but sadly that was not to be. Enter Jenny to save the day with a recipe for not just any old Chinese Lemon Chicken but David Suchet’s Chinese Lemon Chicken!!! I almost feel like we have two special guests this time round, Jenny and David Suchet! What an amazing dinner party that would be!

Evil Under The Sun -The Plot

Hercule Poirot is on holiday at the Jolly Roger Hotel in Devon. The hotel, which as mentioned has a very real-life counterpart, is located on a causeway that is underwater during high tide, accessible only via boat (book) or sea tractor (real life). One wonders why Hercule Poirot who, as we know suffers badly from “la mal de mer” would choose to holiday on an island remains unexplained in the book. The Poirot episode of Evil Under The Sun, explains this by saying that the hotel is a wellness spa that Poirot must attend for his health.

We have:

Stephen Redfern and Arlena Marshall, both married, (not to each other) having a very public attraction to each other
Two upset spouses
Arlena strangled to death on the beach
One of the other guests almost beaned by a bottle thrown out of a window
An oddly timed bath
A troubled teen buying candles
Arlena’s husband and his childhood sweetheart both being lying liars who lie
Drug smuggling in Pixy Cove
A reverend obsessed with evil in general and evil women in particular

Good thing we have Poirot on hand to solve the mystery of whodunnit!

Evil Under The Sun – The Covers

Again, the Christie covers do not fail to disappoint. Except maybe that Hawaiian Dancing Girl in Les Vacances D’Hercule Poirot…which…nice try French people but not really relevant! The impressionist-style Russian title (top left) is gorgeous! I also really like the second row far right which to me has a bleached-out California 1960s vibe. It may be more Helter Skelter than Hercule Poirot but is very attractive all the same. I also really like bottom row, second from the right, which gives a nod to Arlena’s red hair, green Chinese hat and Linda’s foray into witchery.

The Recipe – Chinese Lemon Chicken

Chinese kimonos are optional but heartily recommended!

I was feeling lazy the first night we ate this and served it with some bought fried rice and spring rolls. The second night, I stir-fried up some kale and cashew nuts to eat with the Chinese Lemon chicken. Both worked really well.

Emily Brewster said..”this isn’t the sort of place you’d get a body!”

Hercule Poirot stirred a little in his chair. He protested. He said:

“But why not Mademoiselle? Why should there not be what you call a “body” here on Smuggler’s Island?”

Emily Brewster said: “I don’t know. I suppose some places are more unlikley than others. This isn’t the kind of spot –” She broke off, finding it difficult to explain her meaning.

“It is romantic, yes, ” agreed Hercule Poirot. “It is peaceful. The sun shines. The sea is blue. But you forget Miss Brewster, there is evil everywhere under the sun:

Agatha Christie – Evil Under The Sun

A Slight Tangent on Poirot’s Attire

“There was one very important person (in his own estimation at least) staying at the Jolly Roger. Hercule Poirot, resplendent in a white duck suit , with a panama hat tilted over his eyes, his moustaches magnificently befurled, lay back in an improved type of deck char and surveyed the bathing beach”

Now, if like me, you are not 100% familiar with male couture of the late 1930’s and have only a limited idea of what a duck suit is…let me give you some advice. Unless you specify 1930’s duck suit in your search, you are more likely to get a whole heap of this:

And not a lot of this!

Also, speaking of costumes, I have not seen the Peter Ustinov version of Evil Under The Sun but I will pay good money for it, just to see this scene!

Magnifique, as Poirot himself might say! (Peter Ustinov also looks like je might be about to tuck into a place of Chinese Lemon Chicken in that kimono!)

And on Casting…

I know that the Poirot version of Evil Under The Sun is not held in high regard by many people. However, I think Michael Higgs is perfectly cast as Patrick Redmond. He is undeniably handsome but also has a slightly dissolute air about him – a combination the French would call louche and good girls everywhere who love a bad boy call hot! (Also louche is one of my favourite words and finally after 11 years I get to use it on the blog!)

Equally Tamzin Malleson is perfect as Christine Redmond:

Links to The Christieverse

Mrs Gardner mentions “That business in Egypt when Linet Ridgeway was killed” referring to Death on The Nile (and also possibly setting the scene for another love triangle?)

When Colonel Weston talks of “that affair at St Loo” he is referring to Three Act Tragedy

Other Food & Drinks Mentioned in Evil Inder The Sun

Strawberry Jam
Dry Martini
Bacon and Eggs (of course)
Cup of Tea x 2
Poisoned Chocolates
Devonshire cream
Sandwiches

Thanks to Jenny for providing the David Suchet recipe, I hope you enjoyed your foray into the world of Agatha Christie! For everyone else, please pop over to Silver Screen Suppers to see Jenny’s take on the recipe. (I will link to it when it is up).

August’s read will be N or M. I finished reading it today and it is a super Tommy and Tuppence World War 2 Thriller! I am reading ahead because I am on holiday for part of August so need to be super organised to make sure I can get that post out before I leave.

Have a great week!

09
Jul
2023

The Ginger Tingle

categories: 1960's recipes, Dining With The Dame, Drinks, Mocktail

Hello friends and welcome to a precursor episode to next week’s Dining with The Dame. We will be focussing on Evil Under The Sun in both weeks. This week is just me. But, next week’s post will feature a very special collab with a very special person! More about that at the end of the post. Today we are drinking with the Dame with the delightfully named Ginger Tingle. The recipe comes from The Australian Hostess Cookbook (1969).

Arlena Marshall

As soon as I read the name, I knew I wanted to dedicate The Ginger Tingle to Arlena Marshall from Evil Under The Sun. Arlena – is a gorgeous redhead (hence the ginger) and full of sex appeal (hence the tingle). I”m nothing if not subtle! 😜

Here is Arlena’s entrance into the story:

Her arrival had all the importance of a stage entrance.

Moreover, she walked as though she knew it. There was no self-consciousness apparent. It would seem that she was too used to the invariable effect her presence produced.

She was tall and slender. She wore a simple backless white bathing dress and every inch of her exposed body was tanned a beautiful even shade of bronze. She was as perfect as a statue. Her hair was a rich flaming auburn, curling richly and intimately into her neck…the whole effect of her was one of youth, of superb and triumphant vitality”

Arlena Stuart Marshall as played by Diana Rigg — Arlena Marshall as played by Diana Rigg

I intentionally left out a bit of that quote that said “Her face had that slight hardness which is seen when thirty years have come and gone” . On behalf of women of a certain age, everywhere, none of us need that! Or, in the words of another lovely redhead:

I also wanted to feature Arlena because she is treated incredibly harshly in the novel. She is not only the murder victim but she is also resoundingly and almost universally slut-shamed throughout the book:

“Now to my mind, that woman’s a personification of evil. She’s a bad lot through and through”

“Such women are a menace – a menace to — “

“There’s a type of woman who likes smashing up homes”

“She’s the world’s first gold digger. And a man-eater as well. If anything personable in trousers comes within a hundred yards of her, it’s fresh sport for Arlena. She’s that kind.”

Even the police inspecting her murder have noting good to say about her:

“Ï should say that a lady like her would -well, would make some pretty bad enemies”

Arlena reminded me of another misunderstood readhead.

One of the remarkable things about Evil Under The Sun is that we mostly hear about Arlena. We rarely hear from her. Arlena’s own motivations are intentionally omitted (I believe) to build a picture of her as seen through the eyes of other people. Only the more astute guests at Jolly Roger Hotel see her for what she truly is – a victim – of an unscrupulous murderer, gossip from other guests, and ultimately, her own foolishness. Christie does this with an absolutely deft touch that reveals a writer at the top of her game!

The Recipe – Ginger Tingle

Now if you wanted to add a little splash of gin or vodka into the mix, be my guest! The Ginger Tingle however a lovely refreshing soft drink and would be perfect to sip under the sun as is. Either way let’s raise a toast to Arlena!

Next Week’s Dining The Dame

I am absolutely delighted that next week’s post will be a collaboration with Jenny from the fabulous blog Silver Screen Suppers. Why not grab a copy of Evil Under The Sun or watch the Poirot episode based on the book and join us for some fun (and evil) under the sun!