Month: February 2021


Feb
2021

Fish and Chips – The Seven Dials Mystery

categories: Dining With The Dame, England, Fish

Hello crime readers and food lovers!  Today we are eating some fish and chips with Dame Agatha.  And discussing The Seven Dials Mystery.  This book could best be described as a caper – I thought it was a really fun romp of a read.  The book features Lady Eileen Brent (aka Bundle) and Inspector Battle who we first met in The Secret of Chimneys.  I very much liked Bundle in the Secret of Chimneys and I like her even more in this one!  She is mostly fearless, smart and funny – my kind of heroine!

Fish and Chips1

The Seven Dials Mystery – The Plot

Chimneys is being rented to Sir Oswald and Lady Croote who are hosting a house party.  One of the guests, Gerry Wade is a chronic oversleeper much to the dismay of Lady Croote.  Gery’s habitual lateness is putting strain in the running of the house.   His friends decide to sneak 8 alarm clocks into Gerry’s room all set to go off at different times of the morning in the hope that the resulting cacophony will get the sleepyhead up at a decent hour.  The clocks go off but Gerry does not wake up.  Then or ever.  Gerry has been murdered!  And weirdly enough, there are now only 7 alarm clocks in his room…

Fish and Chips2

On top of a missing clock and a dead body we have

  • Mysterious references to The Seven Dials in hidden letters and on the lips of a dying man
  • Another murder – by gunshot this time
  • Seedy nightclubs in a London area called Seven Dials
  • Secret letters
  • Shady Russians,
  • Sinister secret societies of seven who wear masks  of clock faces
  • Stolen chemical formulae
  • And a marriage proposal for Bundle!

The Covers

There is not much variety in the covers for this book.  Nearly all of then feature clocks of some sort.   I like the image of the burning gloves but my favourite is the very are deco looking version (bottom left and below. The  back of this cover also contains an image of Bundle’s reckless driving which features in the story.

Seven Dials Collage

Note the above version of The Seven Dials Mystery will set you back a cool £819 GBP so maybe not one for most of us!  At the other end of the spectrum, you can get the Tom Adams cover version on Ebay for $1 AUD  at the moment.

The Recipe – Fish and Chips

Full disclosure here.  I was getting myself into a bit of a tizzy about this meal.  I have one deep fryer which meant that either the fish was going to get cold while I cooked the chips or vice versa.  My solution was to make the fish as per the recipe below but to use frozen oven fries.

Second disclosure. I would normally never make fish and chips at home – to me, this is a meal best eaten as a take away ideally by the seaside.

I used  John Dory as my fish because that is the fish used by our favourite pub fish and chips.  In Seven Dials, they would traditionally use cod.

I added some dill and a little homegrown horseradish into my tartare as well as all the ingredients listed in the recipe.

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“Where did everyone go?”

“To the Seven Dials Club of course, ” said Bill, staring.  “Wasn’t that what you were asking about”

“I didn ‘t know it by that name,” said Bundle.

“Used to be a slummy sort of district round about Tottenham Court Road way.  It’s all pulled down and cleaned up now.  But the Seven Dials Club keeps to the old atmosphere.  Fried fish and chips.  General squalor.”

Agatha Christie, The Seven Dials Mystery

Fish and Chips Recipe (2

Other Food Mentioned in The Seven Dials Mystery

The next book, if you are reading along, is Murder at the Vicarage.  Yes, March will bring our very first Miss Marple murder mystery!  

 

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Feb
2021

In a Pickle about Piccalilli – REPOST

categories: Pickles, Tasty Reads

When i was a child, one of my favourite things to eat was a McDonald’s Cheeseburger.  The worst thing – the pickle.  I goddamn hated those pickles.  Now, I love all sorts of pickles and this recipe for Piccalilli was a beauty!   It is super quick and super tasty.  And also very pretty with all it’s different colours.

Piccalilli
Piccalilli

I was inspired to make some pickles after a visit to Meatmaiden.  One of their entrees is a “Quick Pickled Heirloom Veg with Chilli and Goat Curd”.  These are just clean, fresh, , delicious and a perfect counterpoint to the meat, meat and more meat of the rest of the menu.

I found a recipe for a quick Piccalilli in Slow, one of the Tasty Reads Book Club books.

Piccalilli 2
Piccalilli 2

According to the fount of all knowledge, Wikipedia, Piccalilli is

“an English nterpretation of Indian pickles, a relish of chopped pickled vegetables and spices”

dating back to 1758.

But enough education.

You wouldn’t think that pickles were that contentious….but hooley dooley did this cause a commotion in la maison de la retro food.

“That’s not piccalilli,”  said the Fussiest Eater in the World.

“Is so” I said.

“Not like any I’ve ever seen” he muttered.

The thing is, he has only ever known piccalilli as this luridly coloured, mushed up kind of chunky paste in a jar. I have never been able to bring myself to taste this because to my eye it looks totally unappealing!

Piccalilli Recipe

I didn’t make the ham hock terrine but if you feel so inclined, this is a two for one!

Piccalilli (2)

 

I”m not sure where you fall on the spectrum of piccalilli, all I can say is this fresh version was delicious and even if you are a diehard lurid yellow stuff in a jar fan, it’s certainly worth a try!  And it might just change your mind!

 

 

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Feb
2021

Crumbed Lamb Cutlets

categories: 1980's Food, Comfort Food, Lamb

So, we went back into our third lockdown this week.  Albeit for only five days.  But the news sent me into a spiral of gloom.  So I was deep in need of comfort food.  What I am trying to say is that sometimes you just need some crumbed lamb cutlets!

Crumbed Lamb Cutlets2

Outside of vegemite, a meat pie and maybe a lamington, a crumbed lamb cutlet is about the most Australian food you can get.  I served mine with a fresh tomato sauce and some buttered zoodles.  Exactly as per the serving suggestion in the  Autumn 1986 issue of the Vogue Australia Entertaining Guide from when the recipe came.  Here they are in all their 1986 glory!

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Normally this mag (which doesn’t exist anymore) is quite high falutin’ so I was quite surprised to find something quite as downhome as a crumbed lamb cutlet within its pages.  Having said that, their cutlets had those little chefs hat looking covers so I guess they did try to posh them up a bit!

Everything about the cutlets was perfection!  I cooked them for around 2.5 minutes each side – the result?  A crispy golden outside and a delightfully tender inside.

Crumbed Lamb Cutlets3

However, the zucchini was bland and the fresh tomato sauce was not great.  So both sides were a fail.  I would think that pairing the crumbed lamb cutlets with either minted yoghurt or beetroot chutney might be better options.

Crumbed Lamb Cutlets – The Recipe

Here’s the recipe for all three in case you want to make the full recipe as per 1986.  And, the best way to eat these?  Pick them up by the bony end and go for your life!

Lamb Cutlets collage

I know some of you find it hard to source lamb.  You could use the crumb mix on flattened pieces of chicken or veal (as if you were making schnitzel).  You would not get the fun “lollipop” element of a lamb cutlet but you will still get the lovely crispy comforting crumb crust!

I hope you are all doing well,  where ever and whatever state of lock down or not you are in!

 

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Feb
2021

Broken Hearts on Horseback

categories: Books, Holidays, Starters, Valentine's Day

Broken Hearts on Horseback?  What kind of a name is that I hear you ask.  Well, you’ve heard of Angels on Horseback and Devils on Horseback? Broken Hearts on Horseback are my contribution to the genre.  They were inspired. by the book Why We Broke Up written by Daniel Handler and illustrated by Maira Kalman  I read this book recently and absolutely loved it!

Broken Hearts on Horseback

Why We Broke Up – The Plot

Why we broke up is the story of Min and Ed and why they broke up.  Min is arty, no different, no weird, no offence as Ed would say.  Ed is co-captain of the basketball team.  High school being high school, these are two people whose paths should never have crossed but for the brief time they did, it was glorious!

Their story is recounted by Min and is set around a box of objects that had significance to their relationship – bottle-tops from the first bottles of beer they drank together, cinema tickets, a bought coat, a stolen sugar pourer.   Min is returning them all to Ed as she no longer wants to be reminded of their love.  (I remember doing something very similar after my own first love breakup.  Which, if you are contemplating this…don’t do it.  Those things that are so precious to you will only either be thrown in the bin or worse still, given to the new girlfriend!).

 

Why Should You Read It?

  • If you have ever been in love.
  • If you have ever had your heart broken.
  • If you have ever fallen for someone who was not of your social set.
  • If you are madly in love
  • If you are in the deepest darkest throes of a break up
  • if you have forgotten what love feels like

Then this is the book for you.

And if the love story reasons don’t convince you, then there is this – Min is a passionate film buff and is constantly referring to her favourite films. I also consider myself somewhat knowledgeable about movies and was surprised, after the third or fourth reference that I had never heard of any of the films, actors or directors she mentioned.  The reason?  They only exist in the universe of the book.  I had to Google them to find this out though.  I thought this was so clever.  It would have been easy to use real films but inventing so many?  Genius!

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There are also two books (also which don’t exist in real life) that are referenced throughout the book.  Both of these made me think of the lovely Jenny from Silver Screen Suppers. I so wished both  Real Recipes from Tinseltown and When The Lights Go Down were real just so I could send them to  Jenny and brighten her days in lockdown!

Broken Hearts on Horseback – The Inspo

” I think I read, ” Al is saying now , “About an appetizer thing with chestnuts though.  You wrap them up in prosciutto I think, brush them with grappa, and roast them and put a little parsley on top.”

“Or maybe blue cheese”, I said.

“That’d be good.”

“Could we use chestnuts from a jar?”

“Sure.  Wrapping something in proscuitto cancels out from a jar.  Wrapping in proscuitto cancels out anything.”

Why We Broke Up – Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman

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Broken Hearts on Horseback – The Recipe

Print

Broken Hearts on Horseback

Broken Hearts on Horseback2
Print Recipe

A delicious appetiser inspired by the book “Why We Broke Up” by Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman

  • Author: Taryn Nicole
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Category: Appetisers

Ingredients

Scale

I pack pre-cooked chestnuts (The pack I used had about 25 chestnuts inside).

4 slices of proscuitto

1/2 tbsp Calvados*

1 wedge of blue cheese

2 tbsp chopped parsley

Smoked Paprika (optional)

Olive oil and Balsamic Vinegar (optional)

As many toothpicks / cocktail sticks as you have chestnuts

Instructions

Preheat your grill to 150C.

Cut or tear each slice of prosciutto into 6 pieces.

Wrap a prosciutto strip around each chestnut.

Place the wrapped chestnuts onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper.

Brush with the calvados and place under the grill for around 10 minutes or until the proscuitto is crispy.

Meanwhile, cut as many small chunks of blue cheese as you have chestnuts and roll them in the chopped parsley.  Place a cocktail skewer through each chunk of cheese.

Once the chestnuts are cooked, add a chestnut to each of the blue cheese skewers.  The cheese may melt a little.  Sprinkle with a little smoked paprika if you wish.

Serve with a little dipping sauce of olive oil and balsamic vinegar if you wish.

 

Notes

*The original recipe used Grappa.  I did not have Grappa so subbed in some Calvados I found in the liquor cupboard.  Brandy would also be a good substitute.  if you do not want to use alcohol, you could try an unsweetened apple or grape juice.

Broken Hearts on Horseback4

Happy Valentine’s Day friends, may your hearts never be broken and your plates full of cheesy meaty goodness on a stick!

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Feb
2021

The Late Blumer Cocktail

categories: Books, Cocktail, Gin

Happy birthday Judy Blume!  Let’s all celebrate the 83rd birthday of one of my favourite young adult authors by raising a toast with a cocktail known as the  Late Blumer!

The Late Blumer 1

Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret was one of my FAVOURITE books growing up.  I must have read it a hundred times!   The issues of boys and bras and periods and feeling confused and anxious all the time spoke to me in a way that no other book at the time did.

I read and reread this edition of the book.  Funnily enough, I rarely reread books nowadays but as a  child? I could finish a book on a Monday and start it again the following day. Having said that, I am currently rereading Are You There God and it is totally transporting me to back then!

I also read all the other Judy Blume books that were available in the Glen Waverley Public Library.  But Are You There God was by far my favourite.

Late Blumer 4 (2)

The Late Blumer Cocktail

I found this cocktail on A Beautiful Mess years ago  The link to the cocktail recipe on the site no longer works.  So, I am very glad I printed it when I did.  Thank you so much for the recipe Elsie!.

The Late Blumer is a fruity gin cocktail with some spice from the ginger and some herbiness from basil.  In other words, my kind of cocktail!  I love the combination of gin and ginger so this one was always going to be right up my alley in terms of flavour and it did not disappoint!

Late Blumer 3

Here is my printed recipe:

Late Blumer 5

And here it is a version with the measurements I thought worked best.

The Late Blumer

1 serving

  • 30mls Gin
  • 1 ripe apricot
  • 4 raspberries plus 1 more for garnish
  • 2 basil leaves plus more to garnish
  • Gingerale to top up your glass – mine was around 150ml.
  • Ice cubes

Mudde the apricots, raspberries and basil leaves in the bottom of your cocktail shaker.

Add the gin and let sit for around 5-10 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse.

Add some ice cubes to a glass and top with the gin mixture. You can strain this of you do not like bits of fruit in your cocktail.  Fill to the top of the glass with ginger ale.

Garnish with additional basil leaves and raspberries and enjoy!

Judy Blume NY Post (1)
via The New York Post

Here’s to you Judy Blume!  Happy birthday!!!  Your writing has helped shaped the lives of generations of girls.  Because we always knew that if we needed some understanding, some kind words or encouragement, we didn’t even need to ask “Are you there Judy?”  All we had to do was open a book.

“Each of us must confront our own fears, must come face to face with them. How we handle our fears will determine where we go with the rest of our lives. To experience adventure or to be limited by the fear of it.”

 – Judy Blume

Tell me, where you a Judy Blume fan?  What was your favourite?

Have a great weekend!

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