Bread - Retro Food For Modern Times

17
Aug
2020

Welsh Rarebit- Dining with The Dame 6

categories: Bread, Cheese, Dining With The Dame, Grilled Cheese, Poirot, Vegetarian

Hello crime readers and food lovers! The Murder of Roger Ackroyd which is Christie number 6 has a special memory for me because this was one of the books we had oin the bookshelf when I was growing up. This was probably one of the first Christie books I ever read!. It was also the book that made Christie’s name as a writer for the innovative twist at the end. It has been recognised, many times, as one of the best and/or most influential crime novels ever written. Never mind the accolades though, it also, beautifully and comically features one of my own favourite foods – a Welsh Rarebit!

One of the few good things working from home for the last… Good Lord five months now…. is that I can whip up a Welsh rarebit for lunch whenever I choose. Turns out I choose to do so quite frequently! It’s tasty, filling, perfect with a bowl of soup, a salad, or just on its own! Of course, I ‘ am not alone in loving a bit o’ Welsh Rarebit!

The normally curmudgeonly Martin Lampen claims

Cheese on toast, its Welsh Rarebit to those in the know. It’s the perfect British rainy day lunchtime snack – quick, cheap, easy to prepare….it’s a national icon”

– The Knickerbocker Glory Years

Albert Jack, however, draws attention to the rather origin of its name by calling it

” the most insulting way to serve cheese on toast”

This is because the English thought it would be funny to mock the Welsh by insinuating that they were too poor to have proper meat and so had to have cheese instead!

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd- The Plot

James Sheppard is the local doctor in Kings Abbot. He lives with his sister Caroline who knows all the gossip and scandal in the town and who is currently interested in finding out all about the “foreign” gentleman who has moved in next door.

A wealthy widow in the town has committed suicide by drinking veronal. Her fiance, Roger Ackroyd, is in a state of agitation because the day before Mrs Ferrars (the widow) confessed to him that she murdered her first husband. She also told him that someone knew she had done it and was blackmailing her.

That night, Roger Ackroyd is stabbed to death in his study by persons unknown…

Turns out the foreign gentleman next door is no other than Hercule Poirot who has moved to Kings Abbot to grow marrows in his retirement. (BTW, Kings Abbott is a real place and it looks absolutely GORGEOUS!)

Anyhoo, no one is getting away with stabbing people to death in the neck on Poirot’s watch. What follows are:

Mysterious phonecalls
Strangers lurking in the bushes
Chairs suspiciously out of place
Stolen money
Secret Marriages
And of course, Poirot using his little grey cells to solve the crime and out the murderer!
There is also a bit of slapstick when Dr. Sheppard gets hit over the head with one of Poirot’s marrows. I mean it’s not as good as this classic from the Amazing Race. But in terms of people getting forcefully hit with produce, it’s up there! Also, who knew I was keeping that list?

The Covers

Only three covers this time – the one from my childhood, the one I read which was a graphic novel! And my favourite of them all – I mean is it just me or does Roger look hot in that third one?

The Recipe – Welsh Rarebit

I need to set the scene a bit on this one. Dr. Sheppard invites Poirot round for lunch. However, there were only two chops available for the lunch table. In order to save face, Caroline Sheppard pretends to be a vegetarian and lunches on a Welsh Rarebit.

‘With magnificent mendacity, [she] explained to Poirot that … she adhered strictly to a vegetarian diet. She descanted ecstatically on the delights of nut cutlets (which I am quite sure she has never tasted) and ate a Welsh rarebit with gusto and frequent cutting remarks as to the dangers of ‘flesh’ foods.’

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Agatha Christie

The Recipe for Welsh Rarebit I used comes from Cookery The Australian Way which was my high school home economics cookbook! As you can see from the state of the page, this has been used a LOT! I have tried other recipes for Welsh Rarebit but this is the one I have returned to time and time again for the last…hmmm…lets not count the years since I was in high school!

Other Food Mentioned in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Stay safe friends and have a great week!

30
Dec
2019

Coronation Chicken “Brexit” Rolls

categories: 1950's recipes, A Moveable Feast, Brioche, Cantina, Chicken, Leftovers, Tasty Reads

For me, closing out a recipe book is almost as satisfying as marking up the pages of a new one! The very last recipe I had to cook out of A Moveable Feast by Katy Holder was Coronation Chicken Baguettes with Apple Slaw. It took ages to make because leftover roast chicken seems to disappear from my fridge before I ever find the time to mix it with mayo, curry powder and chutney to make up some Coronation Chicken.

I did not have baguettes. I had these gorgeous Bretzel Rolls which are, I assume a cross between a Pretzel roll and a Brioche. These made me laugh because I made them on the day after the British election. Whilst I knew that technically they were Bretzel rolls, in my head, they were only ever Brexit rolls!

For those of you not familiar with the bright orange concoction that is Coronation Chicken, it is the best of British combined with a little bit o’ spice from the days of the Raj. Martin Lampen quite cruelly describes it as follows:

“A combination of chicken breasts, curry powder and mayonnaise, Coronation Chicken was created by flower-decorator and author Constance Spry ( the Nigella Lawson of powdered egg, nylon chaffing, sexual repression, back street abortions and locking women in the attic for thyroid problems and ‘hysterics’) in 1953 to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II….Cheap chicken in a sickly yellow curry gunk with six sultanas. God save the Queen”

It is actually quite delicious – a little bit spicy, a little bit sweet. And the slaw on the side suggested by Katy Holder is a great accompaniment to cut through some of the richness.

You could also make these with turkey if you still have any leftover from Christmas! The homemade is also a whole lot nicer than the “sickly yellow curry gunk” that comes in those plastic tubs in British supermarkets. So why not make your own. With, a Brexit roll if you can get one!

For a vegetarian version, Yotam Ottolenghi suggests his curried egg and cauliflower salad. It lacks the sweetness of a regular Coronation chicken – which could be resolved, if you wish, by adding a little dollop of mango chutney or those sultanas reviled by Martin Lampen.

So this will be my last post for 2019. Apologies for being absent recently. I had a mad 6 weeks at work before the break, then got sick, and since then have been busy trying to socialise the new addition to the family!

Holly joined us about a week ago. She has had a terrible life, first on a puppy farm who then sold her to medical research. So even though she is nearly 11 years old, she has never been a house dog. She is very timid but is learning very quickly how to dog! We already love her to bits. She will need ongoing training but has already come a very long way in a short time. And every second is worth it as she is an absolute joy!

Anyway, all that has meant that the blog has been on a back burner for a while but for 2020…

Now that I have cooked through A Moveable Feast, another aim for 2020 is to cook through Cantina. I did not entirely enjoy this book when we tackled it in Tasty Reads back in 2015. I found the recipes were too long and complicated and many of the ingredients were hard to come. Alhough the results were generally delish. I still have 30 recipes left to cook from it which equates to around 1.5 per week during 2020.

It might be a long year!

The upside is delicious Mexican food 30 times in the year which can’t be a bad thing!!!

Thanks for reading and being a part of this in 2019. Wishing you all a wonderful 2020!!!!

12
Aug
2018

Macdedonian Grilled Cheese (Przeni Lepcinja)

categories: Bread, French Toast, Grilled Cheese, Macedonia, World Cooking

Grilled cheese is one of life’s little pleasures. Warm toasty bread, oozy melty grilled cheese…it doesn’t get better than this. Except in Macedonia where they top their grilled cheese with…wait for it….more cheese!!!

Today we’re continuing our visit to the Balkan States with a little look at Przeni Lepcinja – Macedonian grilled cheese.

Macedonian Grilled Cheese is essentially a cheesy French toast, topped with cheese. It’s delicious and so quick and easy to make!

The blend of creamy melted mozzarella and the salty feta cheese is great and perfect with the crisp french toast style bread!

I found the recipe for Macedonian Grilled Cheese here I’ve also copied it below. I served mine with a little tomato and red onion salsa that was very similar to the Sopska Salata featured here. Although given the double cheese abundance in the toast, I left the cheese out of the salad!

If you feel like something a bit more substantial, this is also great if you serve with a poached or fried egg on top…this I think also has a nice symmetry – cheesy eggy bread, topped with cheese and egg.

And now, just because I can, here’s a cheesy joke for you:

What’s cheese’s favourite music?

R ‘n’ Brie.

🤗

Cheesy and cheesy if you know what I mean.

Just like a Przeni Lepcinja!

Have a great week!

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20
Jul
2018

Tomato and Tarragon Soup with Sun Dried Tomato Bread

categories: Bread, Soup, Tarragon, Tomatoes

Bonjour mes amis, aujourd’hui nous faisons une soupe de tomates inspirée par un jardin d’herbes françaises.

It is actually a tomato and tarragon soup but the French word for tarragon is “estragon” which I kept reading as “oestrogen”. That’s not generally an ingredient I want in my soup so we’ll keep it English!

It also seems to be a particularly French time of year, Bastille Day just, gone, the World Cup victory and the Tour De France. And of course, nothing says celebrate like soup right? Don’t answer that.

Whatever, this soup is super! 😏

Back in the summer, I grew both tarragon and tomatoes in the backyard. But it wasn’t until late in the season after the tomatoes had finished that I came across this recipe for tomato and tarragon soup. I had never heard of that combination before – tomatoes and basil? Definitely. Chives – most certainly. Parsley – why not? But tarragon? Not so much.

Since then, I have learned that they are both ingredients in a Sauce Choron which is a tomato flavoured Bearnaise sauce. The only comment I have to make about that is “What took me so long?” Next summer, Salmon with Sauce Choron will be featuring on the menu but for the meantime as the cold of winter sets in, I will remind myself about the joys of summer produce by remembering how good this soup was!

The tarragon here is homegrown even if the tomatoes are not.

This was a lovely soup; light and very fresh. It tasted of summer! The recipe came from a book called Recipes From a French Herb Garden by Geraldene Holt.

Next month, I am heading to France. On my travels, I will be visiting the Ville Rose (Toulouse). And then on to Bordeaux. Where I definitely will not be sampling any of the local wines!!!! 😉 Given it will be the height of summer when I am there, I wonder if there will be a tomato and tarragon soup on the menu anywhere?

This was a lovely soup; light and very fresh. It tasted of summer! It is so cold and miserable here in Melbourne at the moment but even looking at these photos brought back memories of warmer days and anticipation of the warm weather ahead in Europe!

I served the soup with a sun-dried tomato bread which I feel is a very 90’s adaptation of the Spanish Pan con Tomate where bread is rubbed with olive oil, garlic and tomatoes. In this version, I chopped up some sun dried tomatoes, some garlic, added some finely chopped basil and a little bit more tarragon and mixed these through some butter. I then spread this onto some rustic, toasted bread and popped it under the grill until golden.

Teamed with the soup it was a double delight of tomato-ishness. And tarragon-yness

Here is the recipe for the soup:

And the bread:

Print

Sun Dried Tomato Bread

Print Recipe

Delicious herby, garlicy, tomatoy bread, perfect for dunking into soup!

Author: Taryn Fryer

Ingredients

Scale

2 slices of rustic style bread
1 tsp butter
4 sun dried tomatoes, finely chopped
1/4 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp mixed chopped herbs, (I used basil and tarragon)
Salt and pepper to taste

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Instructions

Combine the butter, cheese, tomatoes and garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Spread over the bread.
Transfer to a baking tray and place under the grill until golden brown.

Have a great week everyone!

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22
Jan
2018

All The Z’s 3 – All The Zucchini – REPOST

categories: Flatbread, Salad, Turkey, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Zucchini

You knew it was coming right? There was never going to be a showcase of Z recipes without a recipe for zucchini. Except there’s not just one zucchini recipe…there’s going to be four. Because it’s midsummer and my zucchini plants have gone berserk. I have been eating zucchini at least once a day for weeks. I have given away dozens of them. And they just keep coming! So I have to keep finding things to do with them. Here is a summary of this summer’s dishes…so far…

This flatbread recipe came via Australian Gourmet Traveller and it is so good – not to mention almost too pretty to eat! If you don’t want to make your own bread, you can sub in a flatbread of your choice. But the bread is pretty easy and gives you a huge dose of smug!

Seriously three zucchini plants are producing enough to feed a small army! And they grow so quickly. One second they are tiny, the next literally as big as my arm!

But here’s the thing…up until recently, I wasn’t that big a fan of zucchini. I recall it from childhood as being a bland soggy mess. My conversion came when I tasted it raw in a salad one day. And it was super good! The above salad is so easy to make and became my go-to whilst on holidays – I chopped a heap of carrots, zucchini, celery and cheese and kept them in a container in the fridge. Whenever I got a bit peckish, I would get out some lettuce, sometimes crumble in some hard-boiled egg, add a splash of dressing and roll up for a healthy, tasty snack! The recipe is from my old fave Rosemary Mayne Wilson’s Salads For All Seasons.

Rosemary suggests a mayo dressing for this salad. I vote no on that. My preferred dressing for this salad is a vinaigrette with a good dollop of mustard in it. Try it…you won’t regret it.

Turkey and Zucchini Patties with Cacio e Pepe Zoodles

Okay, here’s one for the meat eaters! Although I was not very complimentary about a lot of the meals in Pete Evans’ paleo cookbook, Healthy Every Day, these turkey and zucchini patties were an exception. They are awesome! I make them all the time (sometimes I even have to buy zucchini to make them!). I don’t use the egg in this recipe as I find the mixture is already quite wet without it. (Pete also doesn’t tell you to squeeze the water out of the zucchini which you need to do).

And here’s Pete’s recipe:

The eagle-eyed of you may have noticed the fourth dish nestled in below the turkey patties in the photo above. The last recipe in the zucchini extravaganza is a Zoodle Cacio e Pepe. (Zucchini noodles which cheese and pepper). A lot of recipes I have found for this cook the zoodles. We’re not going there. I far prefer raw zucchini to cooked so mine is kind of a Cacio e Pepe carpaccio…

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Zoodle Cacio e Pepe

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale

1 zucchini
2 tbsp Grana Padano or Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 finely chopped mint (optional)

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Instructions

If you have a spiralizer, make noodles out of your zucchini.
If not, use a vegetable peeler to make long thin strips of zucchini.
Place in a bowl and toss through the olive oil, lemon juice, black pepper and cheese.
Top with the mint if using.
Serve straight away

Have a wonderful week! I’m off to harvest more zucchini!

Before we go though, tell me what is your favourite zucchini recipe?

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Category: Bread

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd- The Plot

The Covers

The Recipe – Welsh Rarebit

Other Food Mentioned in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Sun Dried Tomato Bread

Ingredients

Instructions

Turkey and Zucchini Patties with Cacio e Pepe Zoodles

Zoodle Cacio e Pepe

Ingredients

Instructions