Fruit - Retro Food For Modern Times

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!

02
Oct
2021

Lemon Barley Water

categories: Drinks, Lemon, Non - Alcoholic

When life gives some people lemons, they make lemonade. We, here at Retro Food For Modern Times never like to follow the crowd so we made lemon barley water. As previously mentioned, our backyard lemon tree is laden and because we are now in our sixty-fifth year of lockdown (or our 240th day – which feels like 65 years) we can go nowhere nor can anyone visit us so the opportunities for giving away our lemon crop are few. Other people in the area have cornered the market in setting boxes of lemons on the pavement for walkers by to pick up so we can’t even give ours away to strangers.

I was contemplating setting up my own Lucy Van Pelt-esque lemonade stand. And then, as if we don’t have enough to contend with, on top of the 240 days of lockdown already mentioned, we also had an earthquake! I now think the idea of the psychiatric stand is a better option. I mean how much more are we expected to put up with?

If you would like to see the most Australian response to the earthquake watch this. If you are offended by profanity and you watch it, that’s on you. I gave you fair warning.

Anyhoo, we were talking about Lemon barley water. It is a very old-fashioned drink. They used to serve it at tennis tournaments when I played as a teenager and I remember it as being refreshing and not too sweet. It is also the perfect drink to serve in this delightful fruit-inspired jug and glasses that I found the last time I went antiquing.

Benefits of Lemon Barley Water

You might be wondering why make lemon barley water and not just good old-fashioned lemonade? Well, I had some barley that had been sitting in the pantry for a while….

Also, according to healthline.com barley water may:

Lower cholesterol
Control blood sugar
Promote weightloss
Improve digestion
Lower the risk of cancer
Support the immune system and,
it is rich in vitamins and antioxidants.

I suspect that some of these benefits are not as prevalent in this version which contains quite an amount of sugar but it is also probably no worse for you than many sweet drinks. The slight nutty barley flavour with the lemon is very pleasant.

I used the recipe for Lemon Barley water that was on the back of the pack of barley. You can also find it here. I added the juice of an extra lemon juice into my mixture to give it a bit more zing as I thought the initial end product was a bit bland.

What to do with the leftover barley

The making of lemon barley water does cause one issue – what to do with the barley. Some other recipes I looked at suggested it could be served unstrained in which case you would get more of the health benefits of the barley. I was not in the mood for a lemon barley bubble tea so I rinsed the lemon and sugar off the strained cooked barley and made a tabbouleh-like salad with more lemon juice, a heap of parsley and some tomatoes with some of it. I also mixed the rest of the rinsed barley with the dogs’ food so none of it went to waste! And we were all pretty happy!

Have a great week!

15
Aug
2021

Limoni di Amalfi Cotti Al Forno

categories: Italy, Lemon, Starters

To vaguely paraphrase The Arctic Monkeys we are going from the rubble to The Ritz. I’ve lately dabbled in some trashy food but the next two posts are going to be pure class. Hello Limoni di Amalfi Cotti Al Forno! You can tell this one is high-end because it has a name in a foreign language. Unless you are Italian. Then they are plain old Amalfi baked lemons.

I am going to confess straight up that my lemons are not Amalfi lemons. They are good old down home straight from the ‘burbs East Keilor lemons via the tree in my backyard! You can probably expect a lot of lemon recipes in the coming weeks!

We have just now entered LOCKDOWN SIX so it seemed like a good time to transport myself somewhere else! The Amalfi coast seemed like not a bad option! This is a Jamie Oliver recipe so you can expect fresh vibrant flavours and Limoni di Amalfi Cotti al Forno delivered! These little morsels were delightful and totally took me to a little open-air trattoria by the coast on a warm sunny day.

This is where I went when eating these!

Now, where’s my glass of prosecco?

Limoni Di Amalfi Cotti Al Forno – The Recipe

I think these would also be great placed on a bbq and as soon as it is warm enough to eat outside here, I will be putting that to the test!

You could play around with the flavours in the OG recipe too – add some olives or garlic, swap out the basil for dill or parsley, use sun-dried instead of fresh tomatoes., add some little marinated mushrooms…but speaking of the recipe, here it is!

You can use the leftover lemon flesh in anything where you would normally use lemons – I made a hot lemon and honey drink with mine.

These were so delicious and brought some much-needed summer sunshine and Italian sophistication into a dreary lockdown winter day!

Have a great week friends!

31
Jan
2021

REPOST – General Satisfaction

categories: Baking, Berries, Custard, Desserts, England, Lemon, Limoncello, Meringue, Pudding

Pop quiz hotshots…

General Satisfaction is:

a) A minor character in the Stanley Kubrik classic Doctor Strangelove,

b) A new character in the game Clue / Cluedo. ” It was General Satisfaction in the billiard room. With the Candlestick” or,

c) A Victorian nursery pudding with the most awesome name ever?

I made this to take to my family on Christmas day and let me tell you…general satisfaction became major happiness as people tucked in. And who would not be happy with this mix of lemony berries, topped with sponge finger biscuits liberally soaked in limoncello, topped with a lovely lemony custard and then baked with a meringue topping?

Yep. It’s like you’ve died and gone to heaven….

One of the side effects of the Paleo diet is that I seem to have become hyper-sensitive to sugar. The first version I made of this was so sweet I actually couldn’t eat it, Someone else in the house had no such qualms. He’s lying in a diabetic coma as we speak.

My first introduction to General Satisfaction came from recipe came from Tamasin Day-Lewis’ Supper for A Song . There is also this version online:

General Satisfaction

I “unsweetened” this by swapping out the jam for a slightly more tart lemon curd and adding some fresh (frozen) berries into the base mix. I also added some limoncello to the custard mix. Just because…name me one thing that isn’t made better by a liberal splash o’ booze. And you know, it is the season….

It was still pretty sweet though.

This is at it’s best straight out of the oven with the custard runny and the meringue all crispy. However the last few pieces were also pretty good at room temperature a few days later as part of an afternoon tea.

And if you make this, true to it’s name, I promise you will not be disappointed!!!

I am also interested to know what are most kookiest food names you have come across? General Satisfaction must be right up there but I would love to know yours!!!

Wishing you and yours not only general satisfaction but super happy fun times for 2015. May it also be the year you learn to stop worrying…

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General Satisfaction

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A lovely tangy take on a Victorian nursery pudding.

Author: Taryn Fryer

Ingredients

Scale

1 level tbsp cornflour
425g full cream milk
1 vanilla pod, split, seeds scraped (or 1 tbsp vanilla essence)
3 large eggs, separated
5 tbsp caster sugar
170g lemon curd
1 cup mixed berries, thawed if using frozen
1 tbsp warm water
1/4 cup limoncello, maybe a bit more….
10–12 savoiardi or sponge finger biscuits

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180c.

For The Custard

Mix the cornflour with 1 tbsp milk.
Pour the milk into a small, heavy saucepan. Add the vanilla seeds, empty pod and cornflour mix.
Bring to the boil, stirring then drop the heat and simmer, still stirring for a coupe of minutes. Remove from the heat.
Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl then whisk in a tablespoonful of the milk mixture. Repeat three times then pout the combined egg and milk mixture into the warmed milk.
Set the pan back over low heat, and whisk until the custard thickens and is perfectly smooth. Don’t let it boil. Remove from the heat, and whisk in 2 tablespoon of the sugar and half of the limoncello. Set aside to cool.

For The Lemon Berry Sauce

Mix the lemon curd with 1 tbsp of just boiled water until runny and pour into the base of a medium baking dish.
Scatter the berries over the curd then press them down with a potato masher to flatten them down a bit and get their juices running.
Lay the savoiardi on top of the curd and berry mix and sprinkle with the remaining limoncello.
Poor the cooled custard over the biscuits, straining if it is lumpy.

For The Meringue

Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then whisk in the remaining sugar, little by little until you have a firm shiny meringue.
Spoon the meringue over the custard.
Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for about 20 minutes until the meringue is pale golden and crisp when you tap it.

Notes

Adding a little bit of the milk to the egg, prevents the egg from cooking.

29
Oct
2020

Lord Mayor’s Mango Chutney

categories: Condiments, India, Mango

Over the next week or so election fever will hit many of us like a less lethal but possibly more pervasive version of the ‘rona. After all, the fate of many will ride on the outcome of this highly important and contentious race. I am, of course talking about our local Moonee Valley council elections! And yes, of course, there is another far more important election happening shortly. But today, we are keeping it local and going exotic with a recipe for the Lord Mayor’s Mango Chutney!

The recipe comes from the June 1991 issue of Vogue Entertaining Australia. It features in an article called “Banquet by The Billabong” which is all about posh dining outside

What that glamourous description doesn’t tell you is that the calls of the river life probably include crocodiles that will kill you quicker than you can blink and mosquitos carrying dengue fever, Ross River virus and Murray Valley Encephalitis . Then there’s the venomous snakes and the poisonous spiders and the drop bears. And the occasional serial killer to boot. That rustle of linen could well be the noose around your neck and the chink of silver the knife about to slit your throat!.

Come on, it’s Hallowe’en! if we’re not going to get dark at this time of year when are we????

Something a lot less Wolf Creeky is this recipe for Mango Chutney which comes from Alex Fong Lim who was Lord Mayor of Darwin from 1984-1990. This is a fabulous recipe too. I don’t like a lot of commercial mango chutneys because I find them too sweet. This however, has the perfect blend of sweet and spice and heat. And it is so pretty as well! The chunks of mango become almost translucent as they cook so they look like gorgeous bright jewels. This is the perfect accompaniment to a curry – the picture directly below had it paired beautifully with Nick Sharma’s Chicken Biryani Tagine and the one below that has it matched up with a Sri Lankan chicken curry badun.

Lord Mayor’s Chutney – The Recipe

You can, of course, adjust the amount of chilli to suit your taste. I only used 500g of mango and 2 birdseye chillies in my chutney. I also used fresh grated ginger and sultanas because I can’t abide raisins. Most importantly for those of you who cannot get ripe or under-ripe mangoes, or it is not mango season even if you can, I used a packet of chopped frozen mango for my chutney and I was very happy with the results!

I’m not entirely sure about what the other duties of a Lord Mayor are. I guess they are boss of the council? But if the quality of this recipe is anything to go by, then maybe part of their job description needs to be that they all have to share a recipe with their constituents!

I’d vote for that!

Have a great week!

Category: Fruit

Murder on The Orient Express 1974 – The Film

The Menu

Trout in Cream Saice

Prune Fool Syllabub

Benefits of Lemon Barley Water

What to do with the leftover barley

Limoni Di Amalfi Cotti Al Forno – The Recipe

General Satisfaction

Ingredients

Instructions

For The Custard

For The Lemon Berry Sauce

For The Meringue

Notes

Lord Mayor’s Chutney – The Recipe