Category: Fruit

August 2003 – Summer

Summer Lovin’ had me a blast!  Hello, retro food lovers!  Today as you may have guessed from the header and my musical intro we are taking a tour back to August 2003 via Australian Table.  The aim is to see if that magazine can provide us with a super summer feast! 

Now I know that some of you might be thinking…what’s hard about that?  Surely all mags, twenty years ago would be showing seasonal recipes..  Well, don’t forget readers that in Australia is it winter!  Now it may surprise some of you but in the south of Australia, where I live it gets cold!  Not Canada cold or Northern European cold, but definitely cold enough for this season to be recognisably winter. The magazine cover promises Shepherd’s Pie, Bangers and Mash, Beef Stroganoff and Roast Chicken.  Will we be able to find some summery food in the midst of this hearty winter fare?

Table 0803

 

First, to put us in the mood let’s see what was on the pop culture in August 2003!  The Da Vinci Code was still topping the book charts, S.W.A.T was killing it at the box office and Breathe by Sean Paul featuring Blu Cantrell was the number 1 song.  

The Menu – August 2003

Summer Menu 1

Chargrilled Prawns with Coriander and Lime

For me, the best summer food is eaten outdoors so these prawns, which would be amazing cooked on the BBQ were my choice of a starter.

Chargrilled Prawns

The marinated prawns were super delicious!  I did not like the dressing and, come summer when I make these on the barbie I will leave the dressing out completely.  Whilst I don’t mind sherry as a drink I felt it gave the dressing on what was a very fresh and lively dish a kind of fusty taste which I found unpleasant.  If you want to try it with the dressing, I would suggest serving it on the side!

Chargrilled Prawns Recipe

Chargrilled Prawns Collage2

Satay Chicken Skewers

Another dish which would be ideal cooked on the BBQ.  I love a chicken satay and this one is super easy because it uses a bought satay sauce!  

Chicken Satay 1

I served this with a cucumber and red onion salad, which is, my Malaysian friends tell me, a traditional accompaniment to Chicken satay.  You could also, of course serve rice or noodles with the chicken satay skewers as well. 

Chicken Satay 2

Perfectly grilled chicken, dipped in a satay sauce with some salad!  Heaven on a stick!

Satay Chicken Recipe

Chicken Satay 1 (1)

Ice Cream with Rocky Road Sauce

I didn’t have time to make this due to holidays, Pieathalon, work, cooking for our Foodies Cookbook club, a date with my mum to see A Haunting In Venice all of which amounts to life in general.  However, it’s a really simple recipe which I am sure tastes absolutely delicious!  Please let me know if you give it a try!

Ice Cream with Rocky Road Sauce Recipe

Watermelon and Vodka Cocktail

This cocktail was pretty much identical to this one that I made back in February.

Watermelon Vodka

My Nigella Moment  – Thai Beef Noodles

For first-time readers, this refers to the moment at the end of Nigella Lawson’s cooking shows when she sneaks back to the fridge to have another bite of something delicious.  In the context of these Twenty Years Ago posts, it is something contained in the magazine that does not fit with the overall menu theme but I’m sneaking it in either because I made it and it was really good, or I just didn’t have time to make it but it was one of the most appetising things in the mag!

This time round it was some Thai beef noodles. I’m hoping that sherry will redeem itself in this recipe as it sure didn’t work in the prawns!  These look delicious and fun!

Thai Beef Noodles

 

Australian Table was able to dish up a lovely summery meal despite being an issue from the middle of winter!  The prawns and satay were also nice in winter and were lovely reminders that summer is on it’s way!

 

 

 

Wine and Song Prune Canapés

Hello retro food lovers and welcome to a surprise mid-week edition of Retro Food for Modern Times.  Today we are taking a teeny little step back into the amazing book that is Kelly Brodsky’s Food For Lovers and making some canapes from her wine and song prunes. When we last spoke about them, it was in the context of breakfast but these little beauties are nothing if not versatile.  My favourite food is finger food so I decided that I would turn these into a canapé based on the vintage hors d’oeuvre Devils on Horseback.  

Wine and Song Canapes1

I have taken the key ingredients from Devils on Horseback and popped them on a round of grilled bread.  

As a reminder, here is the recipe for the Wine and Song Prunes.  These are the starting point for our canape’s.

Wine and Song Prunes

 

Wine and Song Canapes2

Here’s the recipe…if you can even call something so simple that!

Print

Wine and Song Prune Canapés

A delicious canapé for your next retro party.  Or for eating all by yourself!

Ingredients

  • Wine and Song Prunes (as many prunes as canapés you are planning to make)
  • Rounds of chargrilled bread or bought crostini (as many rounds as canapés you are planning to make)
  • Proscuitto – (1/ 3 the number of slices as the number of canapes you are planning to make)
  • Goat’s cheese 
  • Watercress – 1 bunch

Instructions

  • Top your rounds of bread with a sprig or two of watercress, then 1/3 of  a slice of proscuitto.
  • Top this with a piece of goat’s cheese and one of the prunes.
  • Enjoy!

 

 

Wine and Song Canapes3

I’ll get my timing back on track with an N and M adjacent post. The actual post for the Agatha Christie thriller will be posted the following week. It’s a quick read so there’s still plenty of time if you wish to read it. Have a great rest of the week!

The Zombie’s Secret

Hello friends and welcome to a spooky edition of Retro Food for Modern Times. Today, via Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery (1972) we will be discovering The Zombie’s Secret. And also learning that some things are better left undiscovered. But we will get to that! So what is The Zombie’s Secret? 

 

So, if not brains, then what is The Zombie’s Secret?  What if I were to drop you a clue that this recipe comes from the Caribbean chapter of GHWC?  Oh…I hear you say.  It’s a cocktail.  I bet it has lots of rum and is so potent it will turn you into the walking dead!  No, but the cocktail in the link looks and sounds delish!!! 

This is the Zombie’s Secret:

The Zombie's Secret1

Turns out, The Zombie’s Secret is a weird fruit salad with a coffee cream topping.  I’ll be honest here,  I didn’t love this.  I’m not a great lover of bananas and this was all a bit same-same in terms of texture.  Bananas are kind of mushy as are avocados, as is cream cheese which also felt like it didn’t belong when I was adding it.  It did, however, give the dish a cheesecakey vibe which was one of the nicest things about it.  I toasted my coconut which added some much-needed crunch. Maybe the soft texture of banana, avocado, cream cheese, and cream is the texture of brains?  Maybe this is the secret for vegetarian zombies?  Maybe all the vitamins and minerals contained in bananas and avocados give our brain-hungry friends their beautiful hair and skin? Who knew discovering this secret would learn to so many questions?

 

The Zombie’s Secret – Recipe

 

The Zombie's Secret2

 

The Zombie's Secret Recipe

The flavours in this were surprisingly good, it was really the lack of texture that let it down.  I think someone (not me because ewww bananas) could use these ingredients and make a lovely cheesecake.  Coconut crumb base, avocado, and cream cheese filling, topped with some bananas and the coffee spiked cream maybe with a little of Caribbean rum thrown in! 

Now that sounds like a secret worth sharing!  

Have a great week!  

 

Summer Berry One Two Buckle My Shoe

Summer Berry Buckle2

Hello food lovers and crime readers! Today on Dining with The Dame, we are taking a look into the Hercule Poirot novel One Two Buckle My Shoe. And to snack on while we read, we have a lovely fruit filled cake called a Summer Berry Buckle. Yes, not much food in this one so again, I had to use some creative thinking for the food component. And the Summer Berry Buckle is a delight!  I loved that you got a different berry in each bite!

Summer Berry Buckle2

 

One Two Buckle My Shoe -The Plot

Leaving his dentist’s office, Hercule Poirot bumps into the delightfully named, Mabelle Sainsbury Seale, a former actress.  He picks up a buckle that has fallen off her shiny new shoe and gives it to her. 

Before you can even start to get any creepy dentist vibes aka Norman Gale in Death In The Clouds, we find out via Inspector Japp that sometime after Poirot’s visit, the dentist Hector Morley apparently killed himself.  Morley’s clients between Poirot and his death included Ms Sainsbury Seale, a banker called Alistair Blunt and a rather shady Greek gentleman called Mr Amberiotis.  Another man, an American activist called Raikes leaves the office without a visit to Morley’s Partner (who is a bit of a drunk).  

Summer Berry Buckle4

We have

  • Mr Amberiotis dying not too shortly after Dr Morley from an overdose of adrenaline and novocaine – both commonly used by dentists. Are the death’s connected?
  • A secretary called away from work on false pretenses.  Was it so she did not recognise the killer?
  • A fiance annoyed with Morley’s interference in his love life – did he kill Morley?
  • Mabelle going missing
  • A body in a trunk with her face bashed in.  
  • Two murder attempts on Alistair Blunt, one supposedly by the aggrieved fiancé.  Has he moved from killing dentists to bankers?
  • And what of the left-wing activist?  The one who left before seeing the drunk dentist?He has no love of bankers or members of the bourgeoisie.  Might he be the murderer?
  • And what of that drunk dentist?  Did he bear a grudge against his more successful partner?
  • We also have Poirot revealing himself to be a leg man!  How else would he know that a ten-inch stocking equates to a size six shoe?

Good thing we have Poirot around to sort out who did the deed!  We also have Inspector Japp in his last appearance in a novel.  😔

Summer Berry Buckle3

There is a lot going on in this book and the plot seems quite convoluted at times.  The nursery rhyme felt far more wedged in than in “And Then There Were None” too.  While this was not my favourite novel it did give an insightful look into power and privilege and the importance of one life versus another.  
 

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe – The Covers

I was able to find a lot of covers for this one, primarily I think because it has three names. It was originally called The Patriotic Murders in the US but they changed this to An Overdose of Death in 1953.

One Two Collage2

So many great covers here.  I think my favourite is the shoes second row second from the right which also is our very first Finnish cover!  

The Recipe – Summer Berry Buckle

I used the recipe from the New York Tmes as my recipe and I can highly recommend it. 

I served my Buckle with some labne that I had made for something else and wanted to use up and some fresh raspberries.   

Whipped cream or yoghurt could easily sub in for the labne. 

Poirot shrugged his shoulders.  He said:

I t would seem that death selected, most inartistically, the wrong man.  The Mysterious Greek, the Rich Banker, the Famous Detective – how natural that one of them should be shot!  For mysterious foreigners may be mixed up with espionage and rich bankers have connections who will benefit by their deaths and famous detectives may be dangerous to criminals”.

Whereas poor old Morley wasn’t dangerous to anybody, ” observed Japp gloomily.

“I wonder.” 

Agatha Christie – One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

Summer Berry Buckle5

Links to The Christieverse

Poirot speaks of Countess Vera Rosakoff who we last saw in The Big Four and is the closest thing we come to Poirot having a love interest

The Case of The Augean Stables is mentioned.  We haven’t got there yet but it is one of the stories in The Labours of Hercules

Other Food & Drinks Mentioned in One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

Summer Berry Buckle

Also, apologies for this post being nearly a week late!  I dropped my laptop, and thankfully whilst nothing major was damaged, the pin on the charger bent making it impossible to charge so I had to wait for the replacement charger to arrive.  I’m going to try really hard to get the post that is due tomorrow out on time or just a little late to get back on posting track!

July’s read is Evil Under The Sun which is a great read and I have something very special planned for it. 

Have a great week!

Signature2

Food For Lovers Redux

Zakusi

Hello friends, and welcome to a special series I will be running over the next 12 months. A while ago, I realised I had totally missed the 10th birthday of this blog. In fact, I was thinking about how to celebrate this and wanted to check the exact date of the first post which I thought was in 2013.  Nope.  It was 17 May 2012!  There didn’t seem much point in celebrating eleven years but twelve sounds impressive.  So in the 12 months leading up to my 12th birthday I will be featuring one of the old books I blogged about in the early years.  Those old posts are mostly dire but the books are quirky and fun or just plain good. Sometimes all three.  To get this party started I am revisiting one of the most bonkers books I own – Kelly Brodsky’s Food for Lovers from 1971.

Zakusi2

 

Food For Lovers – The Book

Food for Lovers is broken into 15 chapters, each of which is devoted to a particular type of man and the food that their beloved should cook to keep them interested.  As the old adage goes, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach!   This may make it sound like this is a very conservative, conventional cookbook – the type of book you might have seen in the 1950’s on how to please your husband.   But this my friends was not the conservative 50s, this was the 1970s and the birth of women’s liberation so the tone is definitely tongue in cheek.  At least I hope it is because each of the men mentioned sounds awful (although also somewhat recognisable).  To introduce you to the book and its characters I thought it might be fun to do a little speed dating with the gents of Food for Lovers!

Bachelor #1 Come on down!

Freddy Finikin

Freddy

“Freddys who dislike food are an asexual lot who seem to get a perverse kick from driving the women in their lives to a frenzy in search of something to tempt their appetite…the woman who falls for such a man is either unaware of his finickiness, or trapped, or mad, or maybe she prefers to read in bed”

Kelly Brodsky – Food for Lovers

Should you find either the picture of Freddy or his blurb attractive, or you are mad, trapped, or prefer to read in bed here is a recipe to keep your Freddy happy!

Zakusi

Zakusi

Zakusi

You’ll notice I have changed the recipe so that rather than filling the egg whites “liberally” with caviar, I have made a more traditional and certainly more economically viable devilled egg. These were AMAZING.  So tasty!!!!  

Let’s move on to Bachelor #2

If fussy eaters aren’t your style, maybe this likely lad is more your speed!

Joe De Go

Joe De Go

A man with the Midas touch, Joe usually has his fingers in many pies.  Often in the guise of pop star, P.R, ad-man, disc jockey, TV star or such, he wizzes from one assignment, luncheon or deal to another with a slick show of competence that belies his lingering adolescence.  Bright and on the ball he mostly shoes away from anything that smacks of more than superficial know-how, for he hates to be caught out of his depth

Kelly Brodsky – Food for Lovers

Intrigued by the sound of Joe?  Why not tempt his palate with some

Creamed Leek and Potato Soup

 

Leek and Potato Soup

Creamed Leek and Potato Soup

This soup was delicious!

Still not found your ideal man?  Let’s take a look at Bachelor #3

Champers Chas

Champers Chas

With the carefully cultivated air of an educated debauchee and a fascinating, if largely fabricated family history to back it, Champers provides an inexhaustible supply of gossip.  Whether on or off the boards, he delights in titillating his ever present audience with spicy, often malicious anecdotes and ribaldry

Kelly Brodsky – Food for Lovers

Fancy chatting with Chas?  Tempt his tastebuds with some 

Pistachio Nut Pilau

This was really nice, the rice was light and fluffy and went perfectly with last week’s Chilli Crab!

Pistachio Nut Pilaf

Pistachio Nut Pilaf

Still not found the love of your life? Maybe you like your men a little more sleazy and possibly criminal? Bachelor #4 may be more your style!

Professor Repressor

Professor Repressor

If the name doesn’t say it all, here’s Kelly’s description

Repressor exudes the coldness of a tree frog, his sang-froid masking some Lucifer-like leanings.  One kinky chink in his armour is his obsession with the Lolita-type nubiles on his campus – who usually run for their sweet lives when they see the kind of red-hot light they inspire in his eyes.  Inevitably, he is forced to turn his attentions to any neglected wives of his colleagues

Kelly Brodsky – Food for Lovers

Ok.  We might need a palate cleanser after that so how about some

Watercress and Orange Salad

Watercress and Orange Salad

Watercress and Orange Salad

This was great and just the refreshing hit I  needed after writing about the pervy professor!  Let’s swiftly move to Bachelor #5!

Gad About Guy

Gad About Guy

Gad about Guys come in all shapes and sizes with ages and egos to match.  They usually hover round fellow Gads with a few of the uninitiated thrown in as audience.  “Remember that night in Singapore when we strolled along Bugis Street – and those fantastic little roadside stalls with the delicious Satay? ….”Lord, yes! And will you ever forget that Lamb Solanka in Moscow last winter.”…And on and on it goes, the name dropping, the reminiscences and regurgitations of past splendours”

Kelly Brodsky – Food For Lovers

If the well-travelled man is your bag, why not whip up a lovely breakfast for him with some

Wine and Song Prunes

I LOVED these.  I feel so bad that prunes have such a bad rap!  This was so delicious. And what a fabulous name!  I served mine with a little bit of labneh, some orange zest and some pistachios left over from the pilaf and it made a heavenly breakfast!

Wine and Song Prunes

Wine and Song Prunes

And because all good things must come to an end, we come to our lucky last Bachelor…who out there fancies

Jack Snack

Jack Snack

He’s strictly a non-event up to his neck in dreary day to day existence, blissfully unaware of anything outside his tight little domain…his every move as predictable as the plainness of his sitting-room with it’s enormous brick veneered fireplace above which some gypsy flamencoes wildy within a heavy gilt frame

Kelly Brodsky – Food For Lovers

I laughed out loud when I read this because growing up, we had possibly that very same flamenco dancer painting on our wall at home! I thought it was incredibly beautiful and have always wanted to learn to flamenco as a result of it!

Now, I have also not made Jack’s Snack, mostly because I quite like my life and don’t fancy being taken down by a premature heart attack any time soon.  But should you wish to share your life with this homebody and are not afraid of death by overindulgence, here is the recipe for a Veal Scallopine Sandwich that will melt Jack’s heart whilst simultaneously clogging his arteries!

Veal Scallopine Sandwich

 

Okay, food lovers, I hope you have enjoyed my second journey into Food For Lovers…I LOVED revisiting this book!!! And there are so many more delicious-sounding recipes and terrible men in it that we may have to take a third look somewhere down the track!

I have searched online for other books by Kelly Brodsky and Kelly Brodsky herself and have drawn a big flat blank!  At the moment there also appear to be no other copies of Food for Lovers for sale so, sadly you cannot share my delight in this book. Kelly, if you are out there, and I hope you are, I hope you read this and know that fifty-two years after the publishing of your book, you have a number one fan in me! 

Have a wonderful week friends and please let me know if you make that Veal Scallopini Sandwich! Or any of the other recipes!