May, 2024 - Retro Food For Modern Times

Hello crime readers, foodies and lovers of terrible puns! Today’s Dining With The Dame comes to us via another short story, Witness For The Prosecution. This story appears in the Hounds of Death collection. We have already featured The Red Signal from this collection. I also have a French version of this story! Today, I am pairing the story with a classic starter, Proscuitto and Melon. We love a twofer here at Dining With the Dame so later this week, we will also be celebrating a very special occasion with a cocktail also inspired by this story.

Witness For The Prosecution- The Plot

“Supposing I tell you that he did not come in that night at twenty past nine, but at twenty past ten? You say that he tells you he knew nothing about the money coming to him. Supposing I tell you he knew all about it, and counted on it, and committed murder to get it?”

Agatha Christie – The Witness for The Proecution

Young, handsome but hard up, Leonard Vole finds himself accused of murdering the elderly lady, Emily French, in order to inherit her wealth. The facts seem stacked against Leonard. Mr Mayherne his solicitor is certain that Leonard is innocent. The only person who can provide an alibi for Leonard is his wife Romaine.

My Mayherne goes to see her, despite knowing that a court is unlikley to give much credence to the evidence of a devoted wife. He gets the a terrible shock when Romaine not only tells him she detests her husband but that he is not actually even her husband! She was married to another man in her home country of Austria but he was locked away in a madhouse so the two could not marry.

Therefore double jeopardy does not apply

She also says that Leonard committed the murder and confessed so to her.

How can Mr Mayherne save Leonard when even his own wife is determined to see him hanged?

The Witness for the Proscution – The Covers

I could not find many covers for Witness for The Prosecution as it is usually part of a collection such as The Hound of Death. We’ll look at some of the playbills and movie posters next time and talk a bit more about the 1957 movie next time.

The Recipe: Proscuitto and Melon

I’m not entirely sure we need a recipe for somerthing as simple as this, but our old friend The A-Z of Cooking has one so here it is!

I decided to sit my melon slices on some Romaine lettuce in honour of Leonard’s wife!

Links To The Christieverse

None that I could find but please let me know if you spotted any!

Other Food & Drinks Mentioned in The Witness for The Prosecution

Brandy

Our June read will be Taken at the Flood. Yay, it’s a Poirot!

Have a great week!

Hello, retro food lovers! This week we have a straightforward but delicious supper dish to delight your tastebuds! Now, I use the term “supper” quite deliberately here. For me, dinner is a much more formal affair – a multi-course spread, often quite heavy. Supper, on the other hand, is all about keeping things quick and light. And that’s exactly where Swiss Eggs come in! While they’d also be perfect for lunch or brunch, these beauties fall squarely into the supper category.

The recipe itself hails from a little gem called “500 Recipes for Quick Meals” by Marguerite Patten, published back in 1972. Get ready for a tasty trip down memory lane!

How good does it look with that combination of both melted and crispy cheese! This is not one for the lactose intolerant! And as the name of the book suggests this is also a quick recipe, it also only has four ingredients! Quick, easy delicious = a suppertime win! It would also be a great brunch or work from home lunch! So, as you might have guessed the Swiss in the title doesn’t refer to this dishes provenance but to the use of Swiss cheese which is first used to line the bottom of the baking dish.

You then add your eggs.

Cover with cream:

And more cheese. And that’s it. Job done. Pop that into the oven for around 12 minutes and enjoy!

Serving Suggestions for Swiss Eggs

While your eggs are baking, why not whip up a simple green salad and some toast? Or, if you’re feeling a touch more indulgent (like me!), pop some garlic bread in alongside the eggs to bake together. The combination of creamy Swiss Eggs, a refreshing salad, and warm, garlicky bread creates a light yet undeniably delicious meal.

Speaking of delicious, a glass of chilled white wine wouldn’t go amiss here, would it? The entire dish evokes a certain European charm, and a glass of wine would only enhance that ambiance. So go ahead, channel your inner Elizabeth David on this one. Of course, if you’re enjoying this as a breakfast treat, it might be wise to stick with Marguerite’s original suggestion of some good old-fashioned (and perhaps very 1972) fried bread! It might not be quite as continental, but it’s certainly a nostalgic and satisfying way to start your day. Then again, who am I to judge? If you want wine with your brekkie, go for it!

Swiss Eggs – Recipe

I thought the Swiss Eggs were holey delightful! (Geddit? Swiss Cheese has…nevermind) And not at all eggtravagant! I”m sure you’ll all be scrambling to make these!

Enough with the puns! Have a great week!

Retro Food For Modern Times

Month: May 2024

Witness For The Proscuitto and Melon