Poirot - Retro Food For Modern Times

Category: Poirot

19
Oct
2021

A Murder on The Orient Express Collab

categories: Celebrity Recipes, Desserts, Dried Fruit, Film, Fish, Poirot

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 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.

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 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!

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.

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

Here’s the recipe:

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!

10
Oct
2021

Sole au Vermouth – Lord Edgware Dies

categories: Dining With The Dame, Fish, Poirot

Hello crime readers and food lovers! Today we are Dining not only with Dame Agatha but also with Vincent Price. What a combo!! And it’s not the first time these two have met either. But more about that later. On the menu is Sole au Vermouth from Vincent Price’s A Treasury of Great Recipes. And top of our reading list is Lord Edgware Dies. This is another absolute cracker of a novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Lord Edgware Dies is a novel, where if you pay close attention and you know some Christie tropes you can, I think, quite easily figure out whodunnit it. I won’t mention the specific trope here because spoilers but let’s just say that people of a certain profession are quite often the villains in the novels so far!

Lord Edgware Dies – The Plot

Jane Wilkinson aka Lady Edgware wants a divorce. She asks Poirot to speak to her husband about granting her one. Although reluctant to do so, Poirot speaks to Lord Edgware, only to find that he says he has already agreed to a divorce. Then…wait for it….Lord Edgware dies (quelle surprise!). He is murdered in his home. His butler and housekeeper claim that Lady Edgware was the last person to see him alive as she visited the house that evening. However, 12 people swear to her having been at a dinner party with them at the time of the murder.

It is up to my beloved trinity of Hastings, Japp but mostly Poirot to figure out who did him in!

On top of a dead Lord we also have :

An actress who died from an overdose of veronal
A mysterious gold case
A dead actor
Altered letters
A mysterious American widow
An impoverished nephew who stands to inherit the Lord’s considerable wealth

Lord Edgware Dies – The Covers

Finding non-English Christie covers has become quite an obsession of mine. Here we have a Farsi version, a Russian edition, two French versions, and another possibly Eastern European edition. Dead centre is the Tom Adams version which eschews the normal symbolism for a pretty graphic knife in the head. It is not a corn knife, which was the murder weapon in Lord Edgware Dies but in “Tom Adams Uncovered” Tom Adam says that it was “nice little paper-knife of mine”. He also says he thinks Agatha Christie was not happy with the cover.

It is also definitely of a piece with Adams’ illustration for The Murder of Roger Ackroyd:

The Recipe – Sole au Vermouth

‘We will dine first Hastings. And until we drink our coffee, we will not discuss the case further. When engaged in eating, the brain should be the servant of the stomach.”

Poirot was as good as his word. We went to a litlte restaurant in Soho where he was well known, and there we had a delicious omelette, a sole, a chicken and a Baba au Rhum of which Poirot was inordinaltey fond”

Agatha Christie, Lord Edgware Dies

Disclaimer, we do not have sole in Australia so I cooked flathead. It tasted lovely and I very much liked VP’s idea of browning the sauce.

Other Food Mentioned in Lord Edgware Dies

Champagne, cocktails and old brandy in an immense goblet

Coffee (twice)

The ever present Whisky Soda (twice)

An omeltte (three times)

A chicken

A Baba au Rhum – I was tempted to make one of these but given I have already made a Savarin of Rum which is very similar I felt I would hold off. Given Poirot is said to be fond of them, I’m sure I will have another opportunity.

Next chronologically in the Christie canon is 1934’s Three Act Tragedy. But we may be skipping that one for the moment as we have a very special Christie collab coming up…stay tuned!

Have a great week, and for another great collab, here is something else combining Vincent Price and Agatha Christie.

23
Aug
2021

Dry Martini – Peril at End House

categories: Cocktail, Dining With The Dame, Gin, Poirot

Greetings crime readers and food, well drink lovers! Today we are celebrating the delights of the Agatha Christie novel Peril at End House with a fabulous dry martini. And there are many delights to this book. First, it is a Poirot, second, the adaptation is filmed in the most gorgeous location and third, we get to drink a martini!

Also, for those of you who may think that Christie novels are all knitting and cups of tea at the Vicarage, this book has a Scarface-esque amount of cocaine in it. Those bright young things of the 1930’s were not shy when it came to a bit of blow!

Peril at End House – The Plot

Poirot and Hastings are taking a little vacay to the Cornish town of St Loo. While sitting on the terrace of the Majestic Hotel, they make the acquaintance of Nick Buckley, a young female who is the owner of End House, a ramshackle mansion next door to the hotel.

Nick tells them that she has escaped death a number of times recently – a heavy painting fell of the wall cliff and onto her bed. Luckily she had been making tea at the time and missed having her head bashed in by it. The brakes on her car failed and she is nearly crushed by a boulder on the cliff path. Indeed, even as she is talking to Poirot and Hastings she is bothered by what she thinks is a bee flying too close to her face. Poirot later discovers that this was in fact a bullet, not a bee.

Someone is apparently trying to kill Nick Buckley!

Poirot convinces Nick to send for her cousin Magdalena to help keep her safe. Magdalena is then killed whilst wearing Nick’s shawl, presumably in a case of mistaken identity.

On top of a dead cousin, rafts of cocaine and multiple life attempts we have

The wonderfully named Commander Challenger
Some shonky Australian housekeepers
Chocolates poisoned with cocaine
Some wonderful repartee between Hastings and Miss Lemon in the adaptation
Missing pilots
Love letters and secret marriages
Lost wills
Fake deaths and mad ex-husbands

Peril At End House – The Covers

There are quite a few foreign covers in this lot – some French, an Italian and even an Arabic (?) one. Also two FABULOUS pulp fiction covers from the 1950’s or 60’s!

The Recipe – Dry Martini

‘What about a cocktail?’ I suggested. ‘It’s just about the time.’

‘Well—’ She hesitated. ‘Thanks very much.’

‘Martini?’

‘Yes, please—dry Martini.’

I went off. On my return, after having ordered the drinks, I found Poirot and the girl engaged in animated conversation.

‘Imagine, Hastings,’ he said, ‘that house there—the one on the point—that we have admired so much, it belongs to Mademoiselle here.’

‘Indeed?’ I said, though I was unable to recall having expressed any admiration. In fact I had hardly noticed the house. ‘It looks rather eerie and imposing standing there by itself far from anything.’

‘It’s called End House,’ said the girl. ‘I love it—but it’s a tumble-down old place. Going to rack and ruin.’

Agatha Christie, Peril at End House

Dry Martini

Print Recipe

A classic dry martini

Author: Taryn Nicole

Ingredients

Scale

2 1/2 ounces Gin, I used Four Pillars Cousin Vera Gin
1/2 ounce dry vermouth. I used Noilly Prat
Green olive or a lemon twist to garnish
Ice cubes
Ice

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Combine the gin and vermouth in a mixing glass full of ice cubes

Stir them to combine.

Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Garnish with an olive (or two) on a cocktail stick.

Notes

If you are not a fan of olives you can also garnish with a lemon twist

Other Food Mentioned in Peril at End House

Cup of Chocolate

Bacon and eggs (as per every other Poirot)

Marmalade, coffee and rolls.

Good champagne (of couse darling!)

Tisane

Chocolates

Brioches

Chocolate eclairs

I LOVED this book! It was probably my favourite so far and the adaptation is also mwah chef’s kiss perfect!

If you are reading along, next up is Lord Edgware Dies.

Have a great week and happy reading!

31
Jan
2021

Savarin Au Rhum – Dining With The Dame 8

categories: A-Zof Cooking, Books, Dining With The Dame, Poirot

Hello crime readers and food lovers! Today we are boarding a luxury train (No, not the Orient Express…but we will get to that one eventually) for murder, robbery and other hijinks. Luckily Poirot is on hand to bring justice to all. And, even better, while we read we can munch on some cake. Tbook is The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie, first published in 1928 and it features a Savarin Au Rhum.

The Mystery Of The Blue Train – The Plot

Heiress Ruth Kettering is taking the luxury “Train Bleu” from Paris to Nice. Also on the train is Katherine Grey, a young girl who is on her first trip out of England after inheriting a large amount of money. When they meet in the dining car Ruth tells Katherine that she is unhappily married and that she is on the train to go to meet her lover.

The next morning Ruth is found dead, strangled in her sleeper compartment and the gorgeous and very expensive “Heart of Fire” ruby which had been given to her by her father is missing. Moreover, not only has she been strangled but her entire face has been bashed in.

Luckily for all, Hercule Poirot is also travelling on the same train and is engaged by Ruth’s father to find the murderer and the missing ruby.

On top of murders and missing jewels we have

About to be ex-husbands with money issues
Ruth’s somewhat shady lover
Ex-lovers with axes to grind,
An infamous international jewel thief known as The Marquis
Shonky secretaries
Male impersonators

Ooh la la…Poirot’s little grey cells have to go into overdrive on this one!

The Covers

Many of the covers feature versions of trains, murdered women etc. I particularly like the skulls and bones level crossing! Then there are the covers that take a less obvious route. These are of course my favourites!

The Recipe – Savarin Au Rhum

For the recipe for Savarin au Rhum, I turned back to one of the vintage cookbooks I looked at a few years back, The A-Z of Cooking. The Savarin is a French cake which is why I chose it. Who knows, a Savarin of Rhum may well have featured on The Blue Train’s menu back in the day!.

The Savarin would be a great recipe to serve guests who claim not to like cake (although why are you friends with people like that?) as it is not overly sweet. The recipe says it is meant for 6-8 people. We are 2 people but the Savarin did keep nicely in the fridge for close to a week. Once it got a teeny bit stale, it made a lovely scone substitute if you toasted a slice or two and added some jam and a dollop of cream! So, even even if you have fewer than the required number of people, it will not go to waste.

The Comte de la Roche had just finished dejeuner, consisting of an omelette fines herbes, an entrecote Bearnaise and a Savarin au Rhum. Wiping his black moustache delicately with his table napkin, the Comte rose from the table. He passed through the salon of the villa . noting with appreciation the few objet’s d’art which were carelessly scattered about.

Agatha Christie, The Mystery of the Blue Train

Other Food Mentioned in The Mystery of The Blue Train’

This book mentions so much food it was hard to decide what to choose!

Brown Bread (for supper)
The above mentioned Omelette fines herbes and entrecote Bearnaise
Little bits of quail
Chicken en casserole
Apple tart and a jug of cream
Filet of sole a la Jeanette
Steak with grilled tomatoes
Porterhouse steak
Steak and kidney pudding
Stilton and sparkling Moselle
A small pot of chocolate
Mint Humbugs

Have a wonderful week!

Next book in the list, if you want to read along, is The Seven Dials Mystery.

23
Nov
2020

Castilian Leg of Lamb- Dining with The Dame 7

categories: Dining With The Dame, Lamb, Poirot

Hello crime readers and food lovers! Today we are dining on a Castilian leg of lamb as we uncover the evil machinations of a shady group of evildoers known as The Big Four. This is certainly not my favourite of the books I have read so far as the plot seemed a little silly in parts. However one of the early stories significantly involves a leg of lamb This seemed like a great excuse for a roast dinner and the meal did not disappoint!

The Big Four- The Plot

This novel pits Hercule Poirot against four evil genius’ bent on world domination – they are an American – the richest man in the world, a female French scientist, the Chinese leader of the group – a criminal genius and “the Destroyer” the group’s assassin who is also a master of disguise and (wait for it) a British actor.

We have:

Sinister cabals
Poisoned curries
Poisoned grandmasters
Hijinks on trains
Stolen radium
Secret lairs under mountains
Twin brothers
Telltale tics
And, course Hercule Poirot (or is it twin brother Achilles?) using his little grey cells to thwart the villains and their evil plans.

The Covers

Given that we are talking about the Big Four – I’m showing four covers today. The third from the left is the one I read but I am rather taken by all the others.

The Recipe – Castilian Leg of Lamb

The recipe comes from the wonderful Keith Floyd and his journey through Spain – not in the search of arch criminals but in search of some damn fine nosh!

You can find the recipe here. You can also watch the entire series of Keith Floyd’s adventures in Spain on YouTube. Floyd is so engaging it is well worth investing the time.

In his hand he was brandishing a leg of mutton! “My dear Poirot!” I cried “What is the matter? Have you suddenly gone mad?”

“Regard, I pray you , this mutton. But regard it closely!”

I regarded it as closely as I could but could see nothing unusual about it. It seemed to me to be a very ordinary leg of mutton.”

Agatha Christie, The Big Four

Other Food Mentioned in The Big Four

Have a wonderful week! Next book in the list is The Mystery of the Blue Train from 1928.