January, 2025 - Retro Food For Modern Times

31
Jan
2025

Reasons To Be Cheerful 002

Hello Friends and welcome to our celebration of the little things! Here are 28 Reasons to be cheerful in February 2025

Week 1

Date	How To Celebrate
February 1 – Ice Cream for Breakfast Day	To celebrate: Go on! You know you want to! Try a fruit-forward sorbet like my Rhubarb, Rose and Passionfruit Sorbet or go all out with some Millionaire’s ice cream!
February 2 – The first Groundhog Day (1887)	To celebrate: Watch Groundhog Day. It’s such a good, fun film!
February 3 – Carrot Cake Day	To celebrate, Bake a carrot cake. This post has two recipes: an original from Tina Turner and my updated version.
February 4 – National Sri Lanka Day	To celebrate: It’s a lot of work, but you can celebrate my cultural heritage today by making some traditional Sri Lankan Lamprais!
February 5 – International Clash Day	To celebrate, Listen to my favourite band on repeat today! My favourite album is Sandanista, but you could also listen to the eponymous album, Combat Rock, Give Them Enough Rope, London Calling—or all of them!
February 6 – National Chopsticks Day	To celebrate: Enjoy your favourite Asian takeaway. Alternatively, make David Suchet’s Chinese Lemon Chicken!
February 7 – Ballet Day	Celebrate your love of Ballet with a Pavlova. Did you know it was named in honour of the famous ballerina Anna Pavlova?

Week 2

Spinach and Gorgonzola Stuffed Jacket Potatoes3

Have a fabulous February, and please let me know what and how you choose to celebrate!

26
Jan
2025

Veal with Cream Sauce

categories: 1970's recipes, Austria, Good Housekeeping World Cookery, Meat

Hello Friends, today we’re continuing our journey into Austria in 1972. We started with some Eggs in Sour Cream a few weeks back and that was a great dish! Now, I’m sure some of you might be expecting a Wiener Schnitzel as the main course. However, as I have already shared a fancy version recently, I thought I would choose something a little different. So today, we are dining on a dish of Veal in Cream Sauce. This recipe sings to my soul! Capers, mustard, lemons. As they say in Austria, a few of my favourite things!

However, the Good Housekeeping World Cookery chapter on Austrian cuisine, gives us, a world of hearty peasant fare for mains. Now, don’t get me wrong, I adore a good, wholesome dish, but let’s be honest, ‘hearty peasant fare’ doesn’t always translate to the most Instagrammable plate.

As Jenny from Silver Screen Suppers so eloquently put it, ‘brown food is the enemy of the photographer.’ Therefore, I implore you, dear reader, to feast your eyes on the words, not the pictures, for this dish is a revelation

The cream sauce was glorious! Honestly, I could bathe in it. Furthermore, it worked perfectly with the veal, but I could see it gracing chicken, fish, and shellfish. In fact, I would have eaten it with just the potatoes and the broccoli, never mind the veal! To accompany the veal, I served steamed broccoli, a vibrant green counterpoint to the rich sauce, and Nigella’s divine Salt and Vinegar Potatoes, a perfect accompaniment. Finally, as the good Doctor Seuss might say, ‘I would eat this on a plane, I would eat this on a train, I would eat this in a box, I would eat this with a fox!

This is how eating this made me feel!

Veal In Cream Sauce – The Recipe

As a total aside, can I say how hard it is for me to type “Austria”? My fingers automatically move to “Australia”! I have had to correct this so many times in these posts! I, for one, will be glad when I hit the chapter on Belgium, so that I don’t have to keep correcting my spelling!

Have a great week!

22
Jan
2025

March 2005 – Bread and Cheese

categories: 20 Years Ago Today, Bread, Eggs, Lamb, Pastry Desserts, Salad, Soufflé

Hello time travellers! March 2005 is our destination today with a menu based on two of my favourite things – bread and cheese! What kind of menu might Delicious Magazine be able to provide from these ingredients? Are we up for three courses of cheese on toast? Personally? I’d be quite happy with that but I’m sure Delicious will be able to give us a little more variety! Before we go there, though, let’s look at what was happening in music, books and film back in the day!

What Was Hot – March 2005

Books

Since I started doing these posts, the one constant has been the presence of The Da Vinci Code at the top of the list. March 2005 is no exception!

The Da Vinci Code: By Dan Brown
Prince of Fire: By Daniel Silva
Missing Persons: By Stephen White

I have not heard of the other books but Prince of Fire is one in a series of spy thriller books about an Israeli agent called Gabriel Allon. Spy thrillers are not my thing but I believe this series is very popular. Missing Persons is a psychological thriller about psychologist Allan Gregory. This is also one in a series that interests me. If I didn’t have a “To read” pile taller than me, I would give this series a go!

Movies

Robots
The Pacifier
The Ring 2

I saw The Ring in the cinema. The Ring 2 and both of these other film were not on my radar at all!

Music

All about you / You’ve for a Friend – McFly
Good Luck Charm – Elvis Presley (what??? It’s 2005 not 1965!)
Falling Stars – Sunset Strippers

Dakota by The Stereophonics was just missing out on the podium on the British Charts. This was a big fave of mine at the time!

The Menu

Quick Cuban

This was more of a lunch than a starter. It was most certainly not a traditional Cuban sandwich, but it was delicious nevertheless! And combined both our key ingredients! You may notice that I have not toasted my sandwich – the day I made this, we were in the middle of a mini heatwave, and I really didn’t fancy anything toasted. It would, however, be as good or even better toasted!!! I also thought the tomato salad accompaniment was a bit extra even thought it was tasty!

Quick Cuban Recipe

Pistachio Crusted Goat’s Cheese Soufflé With Pea, Feta and Mint Salad

These were both superb! I loved them individually, and they really worked well together, too. I did not make the red capsicum and mustard seed relish, which was the suggested accompaniment to the soufflé. However, if you would like to give that a try, let me know and I can flick you the recipe I served mine with some chilli jam I had in the fridge. The soufflé was as light as a feather! And I could eat that salad every night of the week. I could not find snow pea shoots for love or money, but the salad was delicious without them.

We have goat’s cheese in the soufflé, parmesan in the crisp and feta in the salad as our key ingredients.

Pistachio Crusted Goat’s Cheese Soufflé Recipe

Pea, Feta and Mint Salad Recipe

Raspberry Tartlets with Raspberry Caramel

Oh. My. God!!!!

These were divine!!!! Truly a piece of heaven!!!! I cheated a bit by buying tart shells because sometimes, life’s too short and the weather is too hot to make pastry! Also, Any leftover raspberry caramel is amazing on ice cream.

Raspberry Tartlets with Raspberry Caramel Recipe

My Nigella Moment – Lamb with Sun-Dried Tomato and Onion Jam

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 for a delicious late-night bite. In the context of these Twenty Years Ago posts, it is something contained in the magazine that may not fit with the overall menu theme, but I’m sneaking it in because it is too good not to share.

This was amazing! I really loved this, and I am so glad I chose to cook this one as my special dish! That sundried tomato and onion jam was absolutely delicious!

Have a wonderful week!

19
Jan
2025

Pebbles on A Peruvian Beach

categories: 1970's recipes, 500 Recipes for Quick Meals, Cheese, Eggs, Potato, Recipe Fail, Recipe Revamp

Hello friends and retro food lovers! Remember back in your school days when you got marks/grades for effort? Alternatively, does the phrase “the soul was willing, but the heart was weak” resonate with you? Well, they will indicate how I feel about the recipe for Pebbles on The Beach, which I’ve renamed Pebbles on a Peruvian Beach.

I understand what they were trying to do here…it just didn’t work! This recipe was also an anomaly because, so far, everything else I’ve made from Marguerite Patten’s 500 Recipes for Quick Meals has been great! Remember the Sardine Toadstools? (It’s still my favourite thing from last year)!

Pebbles on The Beach – The Intent (I think)

So, I assume that in this recipe the tops of the eggs and the potatoes would poke out of the cheese sauce like pebbles on a beach! If pebbles were white and pink and the sea was a cheese sauce. So, even then, the analogy has problems. Pebbles on the moon? Pebbles in the desert? These may have been more accurate visual descriptions of this dish.

Pebbles on The Beach – The Actuality

Without it’s Peruvian flavour bomb, this dish was as bland as could be. Potatoes don’t have much flavour nor do eggs. Don’t get me wrong, I love both of these ingredients but even combined with a cheese sauce this was dull. My best description would be nursery or invalid food. It even looks dull without its garnish!

The second is that the recipe requires you to take eggs that are already hard-boiled and then cook them for another 20 minutes. Those eggs were rock-hard!

Oh!

Surely that was not why they called this dish pebbles?

The cure for the blandness was to serve the Pebbles on the beach with some Peruvian Salsa. We last saw this salsa paired with some Croquetas de Carne almost exactly two years ago, in January 2023.

The cure for the eggs? Maybe keep them raw and cook them in the cheese sauce? I don’t quite know how to fix that one. And, to be honest, it wasn’t tempting enough, even with the Peruvian Salsa to give it another go! Honestly, if you want a really good tasty combination of potatoes and eggs, then I would recommend Roseanne Cash’s Potato Salad over this any day of the week!

Oh well, you can’t win ’em all….here’s the recipe in case you have any bright ideas or want to feed a three-year-old or an invalid.

Have a great week!

15
Jan
2025

History Happy Hour: Happy Days

categories: Cocktail, History Happy Hour, TV, Vodka

Good Bye grey skies, hello blue…

Today history lovers, we are celebrating the first airing of the TV show Happy Days, on 15 January 1974, with a lovely cocktail, called appropriately enough, Happy Days.

But before we get to that, just a little explanation. I originally shared this post way back in 2016. However, due to some gremlins in the machine, it ended up back in my drafts file. Over the Christmas break, I started working on an index page for this blog. In doing so, I was horrified to see how much content I had that was unavailable.

Oh, and the index is coming. It is much harder to do than I thought it would be!

One of my aims for 2025 is to bring this content back. So, apologies if this looks and feels familiar (and equally, congrats on your amazing memory!) For everyone else, I thought the 51st anniversary of the first airing of Happy Days would be a great time to bring back this post!

Happy Days – The Show

Happy Days” centers around Richie Cunningham, portrayed by Ron Howard. The sitcom follows the Cunningham family, their upstairs tenant Arthur Fonzarelli (aka The Fonz) – the coolest guy in town – and Richie’s less-cool friends, Ralph Malph and Potsie. The series ran for a decade, concluding in September 1984.

During my childhood, “Happy Days” was a constant presence. As one of my favourite after-school shows, it seemed to be on television endlessly. Set in the 1950s and 1960s, “Happy Days,” along with “Gilligan’s Island,” likely contributed to my enduring fondness for the fashion of those eras. Moreover, the series launched the careers of many actors, including Ron Howard and Henry Winkler, propelling them to stardom.

Happy Days – The Cocktail

The Happy Days Cocktail is a mix of equal parts peach schnapps, vodka, grapefruit juice and pineapple juice. And it’s delicious!!! The grapefruit juice makes it by bringing an almost florally citrus scent and taste. Its bitterness also helps to tamp down the sweetness of the peach and pineapple to stop the Happy Days from being too cloying.

It also smells amazing! Like a summer fruit basket!!!

This is so good! I garnished it with some pineapple and a maraschino cherry – because how could you not be happy with one of them in your drink! I also added a little twist of the grapefruit rind just to ramp up the citrussy bitterness a tad.

And the verdict:

Fonzie

Print

Happy Days

Print Recipe

A refreshing not too sweet cocktail with some lovely fruity flavours

Author: http://www.cocktailmaking.co.uk

Ingredients

Scale

1 oz vodka
1 oz peach schnapps
1 oz pineapple juice
1 oz grapefruit juice
Ice
Pineapple wedge, maraschino cherry, grapefruit rind twist to garnish (all optional)

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Chill a cocktail glass.
Stir the vodka, peach schnapps and juices over ice.
Add some ice cubes to the chilled cocktail glass.
Strain the liquid into the glass.
Garnish with the cherry and pineapple, twist a piece of the grapefruit rind over the glass to release some of the essential oils and serve immediately

Have a week full of happy days!

February 8 1885 – The Devil’s Footprints, hoof-like marks mysteriously appear for over 60km after a snowfall in southern Devon, England.	To celebrate: Who wants to be trudging barefoot through the snow when you can ride a horse! Celebrate this weird event with some Devils on Horseback.
February 9 – Potato Lovers Day	To celebrate: Who doesn’t love a spud? So, let’s celebrate with Yotam Ottolenghi’s Spinach and Gorgonzola Stuffed Jacket Potato.
February 10 2006 – The last episode of Arrested Development airs on Fox. 🙁	To celebrate: To mark this bittersweet occasion, enjoy a Breakfast Banana Cream, a nod to the iconic Bluth’s Original Frozen Banana Stand from this beloved show. Subsequently, I recommend a full Arrested Development rewatch. Who’s in?
February 11 1977 – The heaviest lobster known was caught off Nova Scotia, weighing in at 44 lb 6 oz (20.14 kg)	To celebrate: You won’t need a whopper of a lobster to make this delicious lobster cocktail!
February 12, 1939—Writer Judy Blume was born. I loved her books, especially “Are You There, God? It’s Me Margaret.”	To celebrate: Treat yourself to a delicious Late Blumer Cocktail.
February 13 1920- The League of Nations recognises in perpetuity Swiss neutrality	To celebrate this significant milestone in international peace, enjoy some Zurich Mushroom Tartlets!
February 14 – Valentine’s Day? Too mainstream.	Today, we celebrate the first gig of the legendary B52’s in (1977)! Wear a beehive, sip on a B52 cocktail, and dance to “Rock Lobster,” “Planet Claire,” or your favourite B52’s tune.

February 15 – In 1903, the first teddy bear went on sale.	To commemorate this momentous occasion, hug your childhood teddy bear or indulge in a Winnie-the-Pooh read-aloud
February 16 – Almond Day	To celebrate: Bake some almond cookies to celebrate this delicious nut!
February 17 – Cabbage Day	In honor of this humble vegetable, prepare your favourite slaw or some cabbage rolls with merguez
February 18 – Drink Wine Day	To celebrate: Say “Ole” to today with some Cheery Cherry Sangria
February 19 – In 1964, in response to Beatlemania, a massive shipment of half a ton of Beatles wigs was flown from the UK to the US. This shipment was a testament to the sheer popularity of the band and the desire of American fans to emulate their iconic mop-top hairstyles	To celebrate, don your kookiest wig, bake a Beatles Cake, and sing along to your favourite Fab Four tunes. And let me know your favourite Beatles song! Mine is “Here Comes The Sun”.
February 20 – It’s Clean Out Your Bookshelves Day!	This is a much-needed day! My goal is to donate any book that doesn’t fit on my shelves. Wish me luck!
February 21 – In 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published “The Communist Manifesto,” a foundational text of communism.	Whether we believe in the tenets of this book or not, let’s celebrate the day with a Red Signal.

Retro Food For Modern Times

Month: January 2025