Category: Pineapple

Pineapple and Spice Financier – Murder is Easy

Murder is Easy Collage

Hello crime readers and food lovers!  This month’s read is Murder Is Easy, and I have a LOT to say about it!  Starting with a rant about how I ended up choosing a Pineapple and Spice Financier (which does not appear in the story at all) to represent the novel.  Murder is Easy contains very few food references.   This really annoyed me!   I kind of get it when AC doesn’t mention food in the novels set in foreign climes.  Back in the day, there would likely have been some good old-fashioned British reserve (ie thinly veiled racism) against foreign food.  But Murder is Easy is set in an English village and features multiple old ladies!  Where are the scones?  Where are the high teas and finger sandwiches?   The village fete with cake stalls galore?

Pineapple and Spice Financier5

Murder Might be Easy but Menu Decisions Aren’t!

So, what do you do when there is no food mentioned in the novel? My first thought always goes to puns.  Murder is greasy?  Murder is cheesy?  Chowder is Easy?  Humlebeetroot Salad?  I dismissed all of these as cornier than the chowder! I was very nearly set on the idea of making Olivia De Havilland’s Salad Niçoise.  (She played Honoria Waynfleet in the 1982 version of Murder is Easy).  However, when I looked more closely at the recipe on Silver Screen Suppers I saw that it contained both red and green capsicums.  Long-time readers will know that these do not agree with me at all.  I thought about inventing a Hit and Rum cocktail, which was going to be my take on a pineapple mojito, and spoke to two of the murders in the novel.  However, I felt there have been a lot of cocktails in my recent Dining with the Dame posts so I wanted to shy away from them.

Finally, I decided I wanted to use pineapple which, features as a murder weapon, in the story combined with the country feel of a freshly baked cake.  I chose the  Pineapple and Spice Financier as I  felt that the spices (cardamom and ginger) were a nod to Luke Fitzwilliam’s time in the Mayang Straits.  Whilst this is an entirely made-up place in my mind it is a reference to Malaysia which was still under British rule in 1939 when this book was written.

Pineapple and Spice Financier 1

Phew…that was a long intro!  So let’s get into Murder is Easy!

Murder is Easy- The Plot

Luke Fitzwilliam is home to England from his work as a policeman in the Mayang Straits.  On his way to London, he meets an elderly lady called Lavinia Pinkerton on the train.  They get to talking and Ms Pinkerton confides to him that she is on her way to Scotland Yard to warn them that there is a serial killer operating in her small country village.  She names several people who have already been a victim of said killer and also names who she thinks will be next.

Now, if you want my honest opinion of Luke Fitzwilliam?  To put it nicely, he’s no Hercule Poirot.  He’s not even a Miss Marple.  In the words of Smashmouth he “ain’t the smartest tool in the shed”.  However, his lack of perspicacity comes later.  Right now, we can’t really fault him for thinking he has sat down next to some batty old lady and so he doesn’t really take her seriously.

Until, the next day, he reads in the paper that she was killed in a hit-and-run accident.

And a week later, he reads that Doctor Humbleby who Miss Pinkerton said was the next victim, has also died.  Luke’s spidey senses start tingling and he heads down to Wychwood under Ashe to do some investigating.

Pineapple and Spice Financier3

We have:

  • Several mysterious deaths in the town Wychwood-Under-Ashe
  • A chauffeur killed by a stone pineapple
  • Dirty deeds going on with the local antique dealer
  • A cat called Wonky Poo who becomes involved in the murders in a totally disgusting way.
  • One of the suspects strangling a canary
  • Inspector Battle who we last saw in Cards on The Table (also in The Secret of Chimneys and The Seven Dials Mystery) making an appearance!

Unfortunately,  we don’t have Poirot around to solve the mystery.  Instead, we have Luke Fitzwilliam (cue Smashmouth quote above in your head) making what seems like interminable lists of suspects and motives and still not honing in on the killer faster than his new girlfriend Bridget.  Oh, and if we’re going to cue Smashmouth whenever Luke is mentioned, then the signature tune for Bridget is The Eagles Witchy Woman!  So many references to Bridget being witch-like.  All of which come to nothing.

Murder is Easy – The Covers

Murder is Easy Collage

 

The Recipe – Pineapple and Spice Financier

My recipe comes from the November 2022 issue of Delicious Magazine.

Pineapple and Spice recipe

 

“Luke – Luke – what’s that…?”

The moon had come out from the clouds.  Luke looked down to where Bridget’s shoe trembled by a huddled mass.

With a startled exclamation he dragged his arm free and knelt down.  He looked from the shapeless heap to the gate post above.  The pine-apple was gone. “

Murder is Easy – Agatha Christie

Pineapple and Spice Financier4

Links to The Christieverse

  • As mentioned above Inspector Battle makes an appearance in Murder is Easy.
  • The Bells and Motley. is a pub in Wychwood under Ashe.   A pub by the same name features in the Harley Quin short story called “At The Bells and Motley”.

Other Food & Drinks Mentioned in Murder is Easy

  • Plum Pudding
  • Tea (multiple times)
  • Coffee (multiple times)
  • Bacon and eggs  (I will make these one day!)
  • Kidneys (I will never make these)
  • Liqueur Brandy
  • Beer
  • Sherry

Pineapple and Spice Financier 2

Other Related News

  • A boomslang features in the  Bullet Train. We, of course, know all about that particular snake from Death in The Clouds.
  • The BBC has announced a new adaptation of l Murder is Easy.   (The Olivia de Haviland / Bill Bixby version is available on You Tube.  The Miss Marple version is not great and I would not recommend it, except Benedict Cumberbatch plays Luke).)
  • This month marks the 100th anniversary of Murder on The Links…why not celebrate by making an Omelette Berrichonne?

April’s read is Sad Cypress.

Have a great week!

 

 

 

Admiral Highball – Appointment with Death

Hello food lovers and crime readers!   Today we have not only an Appointment with Death but also a meeting with an Admiral!  An Admiral Highball that is! As mentioned in my previous post on Manakish, there is no food mentioned in Agatha’s Appointment with Death.  There is however a mention of the cocktail called a Highball. I searched through my cocktail recipes and decided that an Admiral Highball would be my drink of choice for this book.

Why you ask?  Well…Admiral Highball sounds like he might be a character in a Golden Age murder mystery.  Or one of the potential murderers in a game of Cluedo.  “It was Admiral Highball in the boatshed with a fishing rod” sounds almost too good to be made up!  More importantly, though, the Admiral Highball contains bourbon and I thought that was a nice nod to the American Boynton family who feature in this story!

Admiral Highball 1

Also, welcome to the RFFMT family, the gorgeous Carmen Vaseranda!  She’ll be popping in now and again to give her verdict on fruity concoctions. She is an absolute beauty isn’t she?

Appointment with Death – The Plot

You know how sometimes you may feel your mother is a little overbearing and/or demanding?  I hear you.  But believe me.  None of our collective issues prepares us for Mrs. Boynton. She’s Flowers in the Attic level mad in her control over her family! Formerly a prison warden, Mrs. B treats her adult children like her former prisoners!  Their touring party consists of her adopted adult children Raymond, Carol, Lennox, her own daughter Ginevra, and Raymond’s wife Nadine.

They are all somewhat psychologically scarred by their years under their mother’s control – some more than others.  Then Mrs Boyton is found dead.  She was taking medication for a heart condition so was her passing from natural causes?  Or something more sinister?  Admiral Highball 2

We have

  • Poirot overhearing the following words through an open window on his first night in Jerusalem.  “You do see, don’t you, that’s she’s got to be killed?”
  • Raymond Boynton catching feelings for Dr. Sarah King, a member of their travelling party.
  • Nadine on the verge of leaving Lennox due to his mother’s control over them
  • Ginevra Boyton increasingly losing hold of reality
  • A number of missing hypodermic needles
  • Some missing digitoxin
  • A tiny mark on Mrs Boynton’s wrist.  Could it be from the prick of a needle?
  • Pretty much everyone lying because they think someone they love did the evil deed

It’s a tangled tale.  Good thing we have Poirot on hand to bring the wrongdoer to justice!

Appointment With Death – The Covers

This, even if I do say so my self is an amazing collection!  Three Italian and one Vietnamese for a start!  I know I always gush over the colours but each and every one of these is amazing!

Appointment with Death Collage

Just as quck aside, you may be wondering why both my photo above and one of these pics has a Buddha when the story is set entirely in the Middle East?  Well it’s because at least once Mrs B is described as a Buddha:

“here, like an arch priestess of some forgotten cult, like a monstrous swollen female Buddha, sat Mrs Bonyton”

But none of above covers  prepares us for the mec plus ultra of covers for Appointment for Death which is, of course, the Tom Adams cover.  Just imagine you have heard the above plot points and seen the covers that came before you.  And instead of using motifs like an older, fat woman, scenes of Jordan, or a  threatening Arab (not even remotely featured in the story but back in the day apparently no one cared about casual racism) you come up with this!

Bravo and a standing ovation for Tom Adams.  I have no idea what your cover means, it bears no relevance to the script.

But I love you for creating it!!!

And hate you for giving me nightmares because of it!  I mean what the hell is that  coming out of that woman’s head?

The Recipe – Admiral Highball

Admiral Highball 3My recipe for the Admiral Highball came from The Mammoth Book of Cocktails by Paul Martin

Admiral Highball Recipe

Mr Jefferson Cope took another sip of highball and went on:

“I’d like to tell you, Dr Gerard, just a little of the Boynton family history”

Appointment with Death – Agatha Christie

Links to The Christieverse

I was able to find three references to other books in Appointment with Death:

  • Colonel Race and the Shaitana murder are mentioned by Colonel Carbury (Cards on The Table)
  • Nadine speaks of Poirot’s accepting the official version of the truth in the case of the Orient Express
  • Miss Pierce says she read all about the ABC CaseAdmiral Highball 4

Other Food & Drinks Mentioned in Appointment with Death

  • Coffee (twice)
  • Whisky Soda (twice)
  • Tea (Twice)
  • Soda Water

As I said at the top – not a huge amount to choose from!

Last time I posted I was heading to Darwin, later this week I am doing a two-day work trip to Adelaide.  My reading material on the flights will be next month’s selection, Murder is Easy. Adelaide is considered the weird murder capital of Australia so goodness only knows what I’ll find there!  Actually, maybe I won’t take Murder is Easy – I don’t want to give some nutter any ideas!

Have a great week!

Signature2

Simply The Best Carrot Cake

I don’t think I have mentioned this before but I absolutely hate cooked carrots.  I don’t mind them chopped up really small in a Bolognese or Shepherd’s Pie but to this day, if I go to my mum’s for a family dinner I get raw carrots on my plate instead of cooked.  This hatred of cooked carrots meant that I did not eat carrot cake until well into my thirties and even then, my first taste was by stealth!

Carrot Cake1

I clearly remember my first taste of carrot cake.  It was someone’s birthday at work and I was too busy to attend the celebration but one of my friends brought me back a piece of cake.  Still concentrating on what I was doing, I took a bite.

“OMG…this is delicious!!!!  What on earth is this?”

My friend looked rather non-plussed.  “It’s carrot cake…”

“This is carrot cake?”

“Yes”

“Is there any more?”

 

Carrot Cake2

Since then I have been making carrot cake on the reg so I was a little surprised  when I mentioned that I was going to blog my “Classic” carrot cake recipe  and the fussiest eat in the world said

“I don’t think you can call it classic”.

“Why not?”

“Well….it has pineapple in it…It’s delicious.  But it’s not classic carrot cake”

“Carrot cake has pineapple in it”.

“No other carrot cake I ever ate had pineapple in it”

“It’s based on a recipe by Tina Turner”

“That doesn’t make it a classic”

Well, I beg to differ.  I think that absolutely makes it a classic.  And you can argue with me all you want.  Try arguing with her!

She will kick your ass all the way to Nutbush City Limits!  Anyway, I changed the name so it homaged Tina a bit more!

Carrot Cake4

The Recipes

As mentioned my recipe for carrot cake is based on a recipe by Tina Turner from the book “Cool Cooking” by Roberta Ashley.  I have adapted it in minor ways:

  • My version uses butter not margarine
  • I leave out the currants
  • I add some rum.  Pineapple and rum is a great flavour combination and the rum works really nicely with the brown sugar and cinnamon too!  Plus, now more than ever, what isn’t better with a little bit of booze!
  • I prefer cream cheese icing rather than the cream suggested by Tina

The OG Tina Version

Here are the original recipe and the front and back covers of the book it comes from.

Carrot Cake Collage

 

My Tweaked Version

Print

Simply The Best Carrot Cake

A delicious cake, based on a recipe by Tina Turner.  This cake is easy to make and keeps beautifully!  This will last for a week if kept in the fridge – if you don’t eat it all first!  

Ingredients

Scale

For The Cake

  • 120g butter
  • 1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
  • 3 eggs, well beaten
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp bicarb of soda
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 400g can crushed pineapple (drained)
  • 2 cups grated raw carrots
  • 3 tbsp dark rum
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

For The Icing

  • 80g icing sugar
  • 250 grams cream cheese
  • Zest of a lemon
  • Juice of 1/2 a lemon
  • Additional walnuts, toasted and chopped to decorate

Instructions

For the cake – Preheat your oven to 170C (150 Fan forced).

Lightly grease a 20cm (base) round cake pan and line with non-stick baking paper.

Cream the butter with the sugar until pale.  Add the eggs one by one, mixing thoroughly between each addition.

Add the flour, baking powder, bicarb and cinnamon.

Mix again until all the ingredients are well combined.

Add the carrots, pineapple, walnuts, rum and vanilla. 

Stir through so that all the ingredients are well combined.  

Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for around 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. 

Set aside for 5 minutes, before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely

For the icing – place the cream cheese, icing sugar and lemon juice in a bowl. Beat together unitl well combined.  

  • Spread over the cooled cake.
  • Top with addtional chopped walnuts and lemon zest.

Carrot Cake 7

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Stay safe!

Giddy-Up, It’s a Melbourne Cup Pineapple Double

Those of you who don’t live in Australia may be unaware that the Melbourne Cup is run on the first Tuesday in November.  The Melbourne Cup is our version of the Kentucky Derby  or Ascot or  the <<insert the biggest horse race from your country here>>.

Melbourne Cup Crab and Pineapple Appetizer
Melbourne Cup Crab and Pineapple Appetizer

They call it the race that stops a nation because, come tomorrow  at around 3:00pm, just about everyone in the country will stop what they are doing to watch, or listen to, the running of the Cup.  If you happen to live in Melbourne, you get to stop for a hell of a lot more than that.  We get the WHOLE day off work.  Seriously.  We don’t go to work all day because for about 5 minutes in the afternoon some horses run around a track.  It’s awesome, the most mad and random holiday ever!!!

And because we’re not working, if people aren’t actually going to the races, they have parties and bbq’s or set up parties in the car park at the track, kind of like tail gating but classier.  Every one dresses up and the weather is generally good – it’s party time here!!!    Apart from the hay fever.  That’s still sucking.

Melbourne Cup Crab and Pineapple Appetizer
Melbourne Cup Crab and Pineapple Appetizer

And what better way to celebrate your Cup Day holiday, than this adorable vintage salad from Rosemary Mayne-Wilson’s Salads for All Seasons and the accompanying MC Cocktail which I made up to go along with it?

The unifying element between the two is pineapple.  And can I just say.  Forget Chanel #5.

Pineapple has got to be the best smell in the world.  When I opened that can?  I  just wanted to take a big swim in that glorious scent.  Soooo good. And yes, I used pineapple from a can.  Fresh pineapple is great.  If you happen to live in Cambodia…OMG, the best, sweetest most heaven scented pineapple ever…or you have a couple of spare hours to pfaff about with peeling and coring and taking the eyes out and blah blah blah.  As far as I am concerned, canned pineapple is the way to go.

Melbourne Cup Appetiser 3
Melbourne Cup Appetiser 3

What was not so good was the tinned crab.  It was….fairly bland is a nice way of putting it.  Completely tasteless would be another.  Despite that, the pineapple was sweet and the dressing was surprisingly good.  I think that if you used fresh crab meat this would become super good.

RMW recommends decorating this with crab legs.  Even if I had made this using fresh crab I would find that a bit creepy.  I used some chopped up chives and mint (both can I add, fresh from my garden)!

Alternatively you could forgo piling the crab into and onto the pineapple rings and mix them together and serve in these amazing bits of crabby kitsch!

Crab Salad Bowls
Crab Salad Bowls

I would still use the watercress to line the crab bowls.  That peppery goodness added a real bit of zing to this dish.

But I will tell you something totally weird.  As I was making it, I believed I had spotted a huge flaw in the logic of this salad.  Cos that’s the kind of thing I think about,  The logic of food.  As I may have said a couple of times before, it’s nice to see that Philosophy major isn’t going to waste!

So, here was my concern.  You pile your crab meat onto and into the hole of your pineapple ring.  However, the law of gravity would suggest that when you picked up your pineapple ring that the crab meat in the hole would not, should not lift with the ring….

Weird thing is?  It totally does.  Well nearly totally does.  A smidgeon of crab may remain on the plate but it will lift.  You need to pack it in fairly tight though.

I would definitely make this again.  But I would definitely use fresh crab meat.

MC - Midori and Chartreuse Cocktail
MC – Midori and Chartreuse Cocktail

So, what do you do with the leftover juice from the can of pineapple?  Well, if life gives you pineapple juice, I say make a super refreshing and tasty as hell cocktail.  I also happened to have a bottle of Midori hanging about.  It was given to me as a housewarming present when I moved into my old apartment.  How on earth it managed to survive 13 years I have no idea.  Anyway on that bottle was a tag and on that tag was a recipe for a cocktail called a 24/7 which was Midori, Chartreuse, lime cordial and pineapple juice.  I made this and it was ok.  Then I made a second one where I subbed in some fresh lemon juice for the lime cordial and it was much better.  Then I made a third…(see what I mean about being surprised that bottle hadn’t been drained long ago?)  where I added a splash of ginger beer.  And ladies and gentlemen, we had a winner!

The MC Cocktail
The MC Cocktail

I’m calling my version the MC – Midori and Chartreuse, Melbourne Cup…

Oh, and the left over salad dressing?  Was really good on some oysters the following day! It had that Bloody Mary Shot vibe about it.  Kind of retro in it’s own way!

Oysters with Tomato - Horseradish Dressing
Oysters with Tomato – Horseradish Dressing

I will be spending Cup Day cooking up a Joan Crawford inspired Romantic dinner for two courtesy of Jenny at Silver Screen Suppers…stay tuned, I think it’s going to be awesome!  Whatever you do, I hope it’s fabulous!

Print

Melbourne Cup Crab & Pineapple Appetizer and MC Cocktail

Ingredients

Scale

For the Appetizer

  • 6 pineapple rings
  • 400grams (14oz) crab meat (preferably fresh)
  • 1 bunch watercress
  • Mint and Chopped Chives to serve (optional)

For The Tomato Horseradish Dressing

  • 1 tsp prepared horseradish
  • 1/2 cup tomato juice
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp worchestershire sauce
  • salt & pepper to taste

For the MC Cocktail

  • 30ml (1 oz) Midori
  • 15 ml (1/2 oz) green chartreuse
  • 15 ml (1/2 oz) lemon juice
  • Pineapple juice
  • Ginger Beer
  • Ice

Instructions

For the Tomato – Horseradish dressing (can be made in advance)

  1. Mix all the ingredients together and chill

For the Melbourne Cup Crab and Pineapple Appetizer

  1. Arrange the watercress on a large plate or six small plates.
  2. Place the pineapple on top of the watercress.
  3. Mix 1-2 tsp of the dressing through the crab -just enough to help it stick together. Pile the crab onto the pineapple rings
  4. Spoon a little bit of the sauce over the crab (a little goes a long way, so go easy) or serve the dressing on the side. Sprinkle with the chives and mint.

For the MC Cocktail

  1. Fill a long glass with ice. Add the Midori, Green Chartreuse and Lemon Juice. Add pineapple juice to about 2 cm below the rim of the glass.
  2. Top with ginger beer.

 

Hayman Island Chicken Salad

Don’tcha just love it when bits of your life just seem to fit together?   This Hayman Island Chicken Salad pretty much joined all the dots for me last week.

Hayman Island Chicken Salad
Hayman Island Chicken Salad

If last week my life was a movie, this week is a jigsaw.

I have always been inordinately fond of a jigsaw. I think it stems from being an only child and it being one of the things I could do alone.  We have been doing some jigsaws at work recently and it has been awesome.  We set them up in the kitchen so, at lunch time or randomly through the day, people can go in a do a piece or two.

Although, just between you and me, I think the lady who is bringing them in secretly  hates us.  Not for her the art prints which are my favourites or the Alpine scenes and waterfalls of my childhood,  No way,  Uh uh…She likes the impossipuzzle.  We had only just recovered from #2 which was this:

My PhotoFy_09_29_09_27

 

No, not a series of pieces thrown on the table.  The top one is the picture.The bottom one is a close up.  It was only five hundred pieces and it took us three weeks to complete!  It also  left us shattered remnants of human beings.  Then she brought in number 3.

Cat Impossipuzzle
Cat Impossipuzzle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yep, no borders and five extra pieces.  Not to mention a plethora of cats that all look the same  She really does hate us.

There was some weirdness as well.  We finished puzzle #2 on a Friday but left it out so people could admire our puzzle making skills and laud us accordingly.  No change on Monday. However, when I came in on Tuesday, someone had removed the four corner pieces.  They hadn’t taken them or thrown them away.  Just removed them and left them on the table.  Who or why?  No idea.  I work with some strange people.

But enough of the literal, here’s the metaphorical.

After eating my weight in bacon whilst being obsessed with Fruity Devils I felt the need for some slimming.

I also had some left over pineapple and oranges and Rosemary Mayne Wilson’s Salads For All Seasons.

S4AS Cover

There is a section on diet salads in the book however it contains recipes like this

Cottage Cheese Mould

And this:

Curried Lamb Mould

I don’t know, maybe I’m just being picky but if I was making a recipe that I wanted people to eat, I’d think twice about having the word “mould” in the title.  Just saying. Maybe that was  Rosemary’s cunning plan.  You are so repulsed by the name of the food that your appetite is automatically reduced.  Then you realise it’s either cottage cheese and pineapple juice (note, you don’t even get the pineapple) or lamb and curry powder in gelatine and what’s left of it disappears all together.  Voila.  I suppose it’s one way to get skinny!

Handily, not all of Rosemary’s recipes are that disgusting.  I made my version of her Hayman Island Chicken Salad which used up my leftover oranges and pineapple.  It was pretty tasty and looked quite pretty with the green from the avocado, celery and spring onion, the orange from the oranges (duh) and the yellow pineapple.  Mango would also be great in here and would add to the tropical vibe. I have shown it here as a sandwich but I also took some into work for lunch and it was great just as a salad too.  Also, there was no avocado in the original.  I just had one that needed to be used….

Hayman Island Chicken Salad3
Hayman Island Chicken Salad3

There is no explanation given the Salads For All Seasons as to why this recipe is named after Hayman Island which is a holiday resort on the Great Barrier Reef.  I can only assume it was served there back in the 1970’s.  It is possibly the thing in the white dish front and centre below.

Hayman Island Buffet via Vintage Queensland
Hayman Island Buffet via Vintage Queensland

So I had made my Hayman Island Chicken Salad and then, in a coincidence weirder than someone removing the corner pieces from a jigsaw, I happened to glance at the cover of this month’s Gourmet Traveller which had been sitting on my coffee table unread for a couple of weeks. (It actually made an appearance last week, slightly obscured by my huge glass of wine…)

My PhotoFy_09_19_21_58

And totally obscured by my hot sauce was this!

My PhotoFy_09_29_22_26

Coincidence?  I don’t think so.  I think the universe is trying to tell me something. And I’m fairly sure that it is that I need to get to Hayman Island pronto.

You see, I read that article and there is no mention of a chicken salad. Nor does it appear on any of the resort menus.

Which is, as far as I am concerned a travesty.

hayman-island-resort-32832
hayman-island-resort-32832

I feel it is my duty, no my mission, to bring this salad to the attention of the resort owners. I would be quite happy to spend a weekend working with the chefs to bring help back this piece of  Hayman Island history.   Although…we would probably need to match it with some wines and a cocktail or two.  Hmm…maybe I’ll need a week.

And we needn’t go all out with the retro vibe.  The outrigger canoe as a buffet table?  That can stay gone.

And I’m not greedy.  I don’t need the $ 10,600-a-night penthouse.  I have simple tastes.  The $1990 per night beach villa with private pool will be just fine.

 

How glorious does that room look?  The only downside is that now I have that Coldplay song running through in my head.

As do you now too.  Don’t thank me.  You’re more than welcome.

All together now…Para, para, paradise…..Whoa-oh-oh oh-oooh oh-oh-oh.

So what do you think of my chances of getting the all expenses paid trip to Hayman to act as historical cuisine consultant to the chefs?

Yep. Me too.  (Sigh).

Oh well, at least I have the salad!

Have a great week!

Signature 1 Vintage Valentine Quick as Wink2

Print

Hayman Island Chicken Salad

Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 cups cooked chicken
  • 1 cup celery, chopped
  • 1 tbsp spring onion, chopped
  • 1 tbsp capers
  • 1 avocado, flesh cut into cubes
  • 2 oranges, segmented (the original recipe called for tinned mandarin segments)
  • 1 can pineapple pieces
  • 2 tbsp slivered almonds, toasted
  • 3/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tsp lemon zest
  • dash of tabasco sauce (optional)
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • salt & pepper

Instructions

  1. Combine the chicken, celery, spring onions, capers and lemon juice.
  2. Chill for 1 hour.
  3. Mix lemon zest, tabasco if using, and mayonnaise. Chill.
  4. At serving time, add the pineapple, avocado and oranges to the chicken mix.
  5. Gently add the mayonnaise and carefully mix through.
  6. Season to taste
  7. Top with almonds and serve.