October 2003 – The White Menu

Hello retro food lovers and welcome to October 2003 where today I am using Delicious magazine to create a white menu.  White food has the double reputation of being 1) boring and 2) overly processed so my aim with this menu was to try to combat both of those.  But first, let’s take a look at what was happening in pop-culture in October 2003.  

School of Rock was #1 at the box office and The Five People You Meet In Heaven was the best-selling book.  Number 1 on the pop charts was Where Is The Love by The Black Eyed Peas.  Two weeks earlier it was White Flag by Dido which would have fit in perfectly with this menu!  Let’s hope I won’t have to wave a white flag with my menu!

Now I also realise that this view of my cheesecake is not white, however it just looked so good, I couldn’t resist sharing it!  

The Menu – October 2003

I found this menu template on Etsy.  Isn’t it gorgeous?  We’ll be seeing it a lot more from now on!

Mozzarella and Grilled Chilli Salad

This was AMAZING!  So tasty and the perfect way to kick off a meal!  I loved the simplicity/minimalism of this Jamie Oliver recipe.  It also not only looked beautiful on the plate but tasted divine!  Another recipe from this same article, a squid and cannellini bean salad nearly made the cut for the main dish in the menu and is something I am still very keen to try!

Mozzarella and Grilled Chilli Salad Recipe

Fish Stew With Lemongrass and Lime

This is an Ainsley Harriott recipe and was also divine!  It was light and refreshing and, as he says in his intro, very different from the usual tomato-based fish stews.  Like the  mozzarella starter, this would be a perfect summer meal. 

Lemongrass and Lime Fish Stew Recipe

Low Fat Cheesecake

I felt bad that I could not deliver a cheesecake for the Birthday Party, Cheesecake, Jelly Bean, Boom!  menu.  Because I LOVE cheesecake!  So I was delighted to find one in this issue of Delicious.  And this was a beauty too.  It’s a pretty classic baked cheesecake.  Even though it is low fat, it feels  rich,  The rest of this menu is light though so this seemingly decadent dessert won’t weigh you down too much!

Low Fat  Cheesecake Recipe

My Nigella Moment  – Beef with Lavender Mustard

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!

OMG, this beef just melted in my mouth!  And if you’re thinking you don’t have any Lavender Mustard, come back next week.  I’ll have a little treat for you.  I added a spoonful of honey to my Lavender Mustard to give the required sweetness to this.   Also, I misread the ingredients and I bought a rump roast and not rump steak for my version.  I seared the meat as per the recipe and then roasted it until it reached 72C / 165F on my meat thermometer.  

Well, Delicious Magazine from October 2003 really came through with a delicious white-themed menu for me!  Certainly no Didoesque white flag moments for me!