Caramel Custard – The Hollow

Hello crime readers and food lovers!  Today’s Dining With The Dame novel, The Hollow, contains many references to food so I did not have to resort to any terrible puns.  The novel was published in 1946 which makes me wonder if, despite rationing continuing well into the 1950s, there was a sense of post-war abundance that fuelled so many food references!  I chose Caramel Custard as my menu item for The Hollow as not only it is referred to in the novel but it is also one of my favourite desserts! 

Like me (and Poirot) many of you will be more familiar with the French name for this dish, Crème Caramel.  My recipe for this classic French dish came from the amazing cookbook by thriller author Len Deighton, The Action Cookbook.

Caramel Custard

The dedication for the The Hollow reads:

For LARRY and DANAE

With apologies for using ther swimming pool as the scene of a murder

And for my mind, the best scene in the Poirot episode features that pool.  It reminds me of a Slim Aarons pool shot…with a little murder thrown in!

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SLim Aarons

 

The Hollow – The Plot

Of course, say what you like, a murder is an awkward thing—it upsets the servants and puts the general routine out

Agatha Christie – The Hollow

Who killed Doctor John Christow?  His wife Gerda stands by his dying body holding a revolver. But his last word was “Henrietta”, the name of his mistress.  He has also just recently spurned his former fiance, actress Veronica Cray.  

Could one of these three women be reponsible for his death?  Or could someone else have done it?

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Poirot cannot rid the feeling that the murder scene is staged

For what he was looking at was a highly artifiical murder scene.  By the side of the pool was the body, artistically arranged with an outflung arm and even some red paint dripping gently over the edge of the concrete into the pool.  It was a spectacular body, that of a handsome fair haired man.  Standing over the body, revolver in hand, was a woman…

And there were three other actors.  On the far side of the pool  was a tall young woman…she had a basket in her hands full of dahlia heads. A little further off was a man, a tall inconspicuous man in a shooting coat, carrying a gun.  And immadiately on his left with a basket of eggs in her hand was his hostess, Lady Angkatell.  

It was clear to Poirot that several different paths converged here at the swimming pool and that these people has each arrived by a different path. 

It was all very mathematical and artificial

Agatha Christie – The Hollow

Luckily Poirot is around to cut through the artifice to find out whodunnit!

The Hollow – The Covers

The Hollow Collage (1)

I believe we have our first Japanese cover in the mix today! And possibly the first Polish cover too! Most of these stick to the elements of the swimming pool, the gun, the house. A few also nod to Henrietta being a sculpturer.  But bless the French for their brightly coloured pool float flamingo!

The Recipe: Caramel Custard

The Len Deighton Acion Cookbook was first published in 1965  It was a compilation of “cookstrips” also drawn by Deighton and originally published in The Observer.  It is a truly wonderful cookbook!

Creme Caramel Recipe

 

After the ducks there was a caramel custard which, Lady Angkatell said showed just the right feeling on the part of Mrs. Medway.  Cooking, she said, really gave great scope to delicacy of feeling.  

“We are only, as she knows, moderately fond of caramel custard.  There would be something very gross, just after the death of a friend, in eating one’s favourite pudding.  But caramel custard is so easy – slippery if you know what I mean”

Agatha Christie – The Hollow

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Links To The Christieverse

Lucy Angkatell says that Poirot was in Baghdad “solving something” when her husband was the High Commissioner there but I could find no reference to speciifc cases.  

Other Food & Drinks Mentioned in  The Hollow

Our March read is The Labours of Hercules

Have a great week!

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Malice In The Hollow

Hello, cocktail lovers and Agatha Christie readers. While this post might not be our usual “Dining With The Dame” feature for March, fret not! Instead, consider it a literary aperitif, a tasty prelude to the main course.  Today’s recipe is a cocktail called “Malice in The Hollow.” This concoction is a playful riff on Hedda Hopper’s recipe titled “Malice in Hollywood,” which I found in the fantastic book “Recipes for Rebels” by a friend of the blog,  Greg Swenson. Greg, being the good sport he is, I’m sure won’t mind a little tampering with Hedda’s, original recipe!  The Hollow, a 1946 novel by Agatha Christie is our current Dining With The Dame read.  

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Hedda Hopper and Agatha Christie

Hedda Hopper, an American gossip columnist and actress, was born in 1885. This makes her a contemporary of Agatha Christie, who was five years younger. Intrigued by a possible connection between the two, I began to research. Perhaps, I thought, Hedda had starred in a film adaptation of one of Christie’s acclaimed novels. Sadly, this was not the case.  

However, the Wikipedia article for the 1965 version of “Ten Little Indians” (also known as “And Then There Were None”) cites an article by Hedda Hopper. This tantalizing detail sparked my curiosity. Did their paths ever cross beyond this single reference?  Calling all Agatha Christie and Hedda Hopper superfans! If you have any information about a deeper connection between these two ladies, please share it!

Now, let’s shift gears. “Malice in Hollywood” is a fitting description for Hedda Hopper’s career. She wielded her pen with a vitriolic touch, becoming one of the most feared figures in Hollywood. Furthermore, her staunch conservative views fueled her column during the McCarthy era, where she relentlessly denounced those with leftist leanings.

Hedda Hopper

The Malice In Hollywood Cocktail

In Recipes for Rebels, Greg says that Hedda was said to have created the Malice in Hollywood Cocktail in the 1940’s.  The OG recipe is below.  

Hedda Hoppers Malice in Hollywood

 

The Malice In The Hollow Cocktail

I am not fond of Bourbon so I have changed the ratios and added some lemon juice to balance out the sweetness of the Apricot Brandy.  

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Print

Malice In The Hollow

A bourbon sour, based on Hedda Hopper’s Malice in Hollywood

Ingredients

Scale

2 parts Bourbon (ideally Jim Beam black)

2 parts Apricot Brandy

1 part lemon juice

Dried Apricot and Lemon peel to garnish

Instructions

Combine the bourbon, apricot brandy and lemon juice in a shaker

Shake over ice then strain into a cocktail glass.

Garnish with dried apricots and a twist of lemon

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Next week’s post will be our Dining with The Dame for The Hollow, so there is still plenty of time to read it if you so desire!  

Also, why not pop over to Amazon and buy a copy of Recipes For Rebels?  It is a beautifully curated book of celebrity recipes which I am sure you will love!

Have a great week!

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Fresh Asparagus with Rouille

Hello friends and welcome to another post on what posh people ate in the 1980s. Spring has sprung in many parts of the world. I have been holding over the recipe for Fresh Asparagus with Rouille for months as I think it is a perfect dish for the season. 

Asparagus with Rouille

Why Is Fresh Asparagus with Rouille Posh Food?

We’ve long considered asparagus a high-end vegetable. 

A scene in The Crown was reshot because the etiquette advisor noticed Dominic West using a knife and fork for asparagus. The proper way is to pick it up with your fingers! This is exactly how I used to eat it back in my single days. Sometimes, when too tired to cook after work, dinner became microwave hollandaise sauce and steamed asparagus dunked straight from the jar.  I just thought I was being lazy!

And I suspect that the inclusion of the word “Fresh” in the recipe title was further 1989 code for “Not that tinned garbage the hoi poiloi eat darling, we only want the real deal”. 

Rouille accompanies the asparagus. This: 

  1. Is a Provençal Sauce
  2. Is Hard to pronounce – its Roy-ee btw
  3.  Contains saffron, a very expensive spice

Any of which would send the Poshometer into overdrive.  All of them?  This could be the poshest recipe ever!  

Finally, this recipe comes from an article called Polo Partying Shot.  Now, I don’t know if you know any polo-playing people?  One of my friends once dated a polo player and he and his buddies were universally vile.  They truly believed that having more money than God entitled them to be arrogant, rude, dismissive, sexist and racist.  They were the worst!  

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Dunking with Glee..not a knife in sight!

Fresh Asparagus with Rouille – The Facts According To Me

This was amazing!  It was so tasty!  I love asparagus.  My Nana’s asparagus sandwiches (made with tinned asparagus) were one of my favourite things to eat!!!! And, as above, it was one of my lazy single-girl meals.  So, I am already a fan of asparagus.

But the Rouille?  

OMG….

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The Rouille was a game-changer!  I always thought nothing could be better than Hollandaise with asparagus.  The Rouille blew my mind.  Not only was it a beautiful deep, rich yellow but it also had a deep rich flavour that was nothing short of superb.  It’s thick and lemony and garlicky with a little kick from some mustard and cayenne but you could also definitely taste the saffron.  But whilst it is punchy, it doesn’t overwhelm the asparagus.  

Finally, this was ridiculously easy to make! And certain to impress your friends at your next dinner party, picnic or night on the couch!

Fresh Asparagus With Rouille – The Recipe

via the pages of Vogue Entertaining Oct/Nov 1989

Asparagus with Rouille recipe (2)

Asparagus with Rouille6

 

For another lovely take on Spring Asparagus recipes, why not check out my Easter Lily Sandwiches?

Have a wonderful week!

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Neviled Eggs – Towards Zero

Hello crime readers and food lovers. Let me start right off with an apology for the atrocious pun. I am so sorry. But…I was racking my brains to think of what to cook for Towards Zero and, as is my want, I started searching for a pun. “What rhymes with Audrey..tawdry…no cancel that one. Battle rhymes with cattle…maybe a beef Wellington?” And then I got to Nevile and “eh voila” as Poirot would say, the idea of Neviled Eggs was born.  And once it was in my head…there was no going back. 

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I adored “Towards Zero,” so please don’t mistake my playful recipe title for any disrespect towards this brilliant novel. Usually, I read these books twice: once for the initial experience, and then again to glean details for these posts. My first read of Towards Zero left me utterly bewildered about the culprit, right until the big reveal. On my second read, however, I was astounded by the sheer number of cleverly hidden clues scattered throughout. 

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The plotting here is simply masterful! What seemed like passing chatter on the first go-round all converged beautifully towards the killer’s identity. To any aspiring mystery writer, I wholeheartedly recommend “Towards Zero” as a masterclass in artful clue placement. But even if you’re simply seeking a meticulously crafted detective story, this is a must-read.

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Towards Zero – The Plot

“I like a good detective story,’ he said. ‘But, you know, they begin in the wrong place! They begin with the murder. But the murder is the end. The story begins long before that—years before sometimes—with all the causes and events that bring certain people to a certain place at a certain time on a certain day.”.”

Agatha Christie – Towards Zero

We start with four seemingly disparate vignettes.  

  1. A group of London lawyers are speaking of the latest case and Mr Treves, a highly esteemed and elderly solicitor makes the above quote about murders being the end of a series of events that can bring a group of very different people together, all as they move towards zero hour.
  2. Angus MacWhirter is recovering in a hospital after a failed suicide. He is bitterly disappointed still to be alive but his nurse tells him that he was saved because God may need him in the future
  3. We next take a peek at a very disturbed person who is meticulously planning a murder
  4. Superintendent Battle’s daughter is intimidated into confessing that she stole things when she is innocent

Could these four seemingly unconnected events, be somehow related as they all move towards zero?

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Our Cast:

  • Nevile Strange is a tennis player, known for his good sportsmanship on the court.  Neville was raised by Matthew and Camilla Tressilian at their home Gull’s Point.  Sir Matthew has now passed and Lady Tressilian is bedridden but Neville visits her each year.  (Incidentally, I did my first “reading” of this on audio via YouTube and the reader kept referring to Nevile as Ne-vile and not Neville.  For me, Ne-vile Strange sounded like the name of a Harry Potter villain.  
  • Kay Strange is Nevile’s second (trophy) wife.  She finds the visits to Gull’s Point boring and would prefer to be having fun with her friends, one of whom is Ted Latimer, a very handsome but somewhat louche young man.  Whilst not staying at Gull’s Point, Ted has taken up residence at Easterhead Bay, a short distance across the bay from Gull’s Point.
  • Audrey Strange, Nevile’s first wife.  Normally Audrey and Neville stagger their visits to Lady Tressilian however this year their trips converge.  And no one seems happy about it.  Except Nevile who seems to be trying to rekindle his old flame. 
  • Mary Aldin, Lady Tressilian’s companion
  • Thomas Royde. Audrey’s cousin who is visiting from Malaysia
  • Mr Treves, who was an old friend of Sir Matthews is holidaying in the vicinity and is invited to dinner one fateful evening.

Neviled Eggs10

 

We have:

  • Mr Treves killed by staircase (ingenious!)
  • Lady Tressilian beaten to death with a golf club and, 
  • Superintendent Battle virtually pushing someone off a boat to confirm that really can’t swim!
  • Rank odours, MacWhirter asking odd things of Mary
  • Something significant in the attic
  • And many, many people being lying liars who lie

Battle also channels his inner Poirot to bring the killer to justice.

Battle rubbed his chin and frowned.  “I wish I knew what keeps putting Hercule Poirot into my head.”

“You mean that old chap – the Belgian – comic little guy?” asked Leach.

“Comic my foot,: sais Superintendent Battle.  “About as dangerous as a black mamba and a she-leopard – that’s what he is.  I wish he were here – this sort of thing would be right up his street.”

Towards Zero – Agatha Christie

If only Battle had used a Boomslang (as per Death in the Coulds) as his snake analogy!

Towards Zero – The Covers

Towards Zero Collage (1)

 

So many great (and non-English) covers here.  My three favourites are Audrey on the cliff (top row second from left), a theatre bill, second row first from left showing Gull’s Point and of course, top row, first on the left, Tennis racquet head!  So clever and cluey!  

And it’s not the first tennis racquet head we’ve had either!  Murder at the Vicarage also has one of these!

Tennis Racquet Heads (1)

 

The Recipe Neviled Eggs

Print

Neviled Eggs – Towards Zero

A lovely elegant appetizer, inspired by one of the characters in Agatha Christie’s Towards Zero

Ingredients

Scale
  • 12 quail eggs
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • Dash of Tabasco (optional)
  • 2 tsp mayonnaise
  • sprigs of dill to garnish
  • Salmon roe to garnish

Instructions

Place the eggs in a pan filled with enough water to cover them.  Bring the water to boil then cover with a lid, remove from the heat and let the eggs sit for 2 minutes.

Drain and cool the eggs in cold water with some ice cubes in it.

Peel the eggs, cut them in half and scoop out the yolks.  

Mash  the yolks with the lemon juice, mustard, Tabasco and mayonnaise until the mixture is smooth. 

Fill a piping bag with the mashed yolks and pipe back into the egg whites.  

Garnish with a little sprig of dill and a salmon egg.  

Enjoy!

Notes

I found it easier to place the dill sprigs and salmon roe on the eggs with a pair of tweezers because I have massive man hands that are not great for delicate tasks like this!  

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Links To The Christieverse

Battle mentions Poirot a few times but does not refer to any specific cases.  The other Superintendent Battle books are:

Other Food & Drinks Mentioned in  Towards Zero

Our March read is The Hollow.

Have a great week!

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Cherry PomPoms

Hello friends! Today I am sharing a recipe for a super easy sweet vintage treat. The recipe for Cherry PomPoms comes from the 1986 book 250 Quick and Easy Recipes. And as the name suggests they are quick and easy, not to mention absolutely delish!  They also look adorable. And I absolutely 100% did not pick this recipe as it was another food with a double name.  😉


Cherry Pom Poms

For my Australian readers, the cherry pompons are reminiscent in taste to a Cherry Ripe Bar.  It also contains many of the same ingredients – glacé cherries, coconut, and dark chocolate.  

There is very little cooking involved in making these, just some chopping and melting of chocolate.  These would be a perfect recipe to cook with kids – they could roll the cherry coconut mix into balls and help with dipping the pompoms into the melted chocolate.  Mind you, if making with little people you might want to leave out the booze and swap out the dark chocolate for milk chocolate!

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Cherry Marnier?

The recipe calls for something called Cherry Marnier.  The only Marnier I had ever heard of before this was Grand Marnier.  I found out that there was once a liqueur called Cherry Marnier, made from Morello cherries, but it is now discontinued.  If you wanted to add a cherry-flavoured liqueur you could substitute in Cherry Brandy or Kirsch.  I went the other way and used Malibu to vibe with the coconut. Alternatively, you could leave the booze out altogether and use fruit juice. 

I would caution against anything too sweet, particularly if you are teaming your pompoms with milk chocolate.  The condensed milk and the glace cherries are sweet – this could get sickly very quickly if you don’t balance out that sweetness somehow.  

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Cherry PomPoms – The Recipe

 

Cherry Pompoms (1)

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When I first saw this recipe, my eyes did a funny thing where I read it as “Cheery Pompoms” wihch is accurate as who wouldn’t be happy with such a quick and easy recipe! And then I realised there is another interpretation to cheery pompopms -so why not get your pompoms out and give a cheer for this recipe?

Have a great week!

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