February, 2025 - Retro Food For Modern Times

23
Feb
2025

Reasons To Be Cheerful Copy 003

categories: Reasons To Be Cheerful

Hello friends, Welcome to March and 31 reasons to be cheerful!

Week 1

Week 2

Rest of March

Have a wonderful March!

23
Feb
2025

February 2005 – Asian Food

categories: 20 Years Ago Today, Asia, Non - Alcoholic, Potato Salad, Salad, Sorbet

Welcome back, time travellers! Today, we are journeying back in time to February 2005 and, concurrently, embarking on a culinary expedition across Asia. I am incredibly excited about this month’s culinary adventure because Asian cuisine holds a special place in my heart, with Thai, Malaysian and Japanese food being among my favourites. Furthermore, my blog favourite, Delicious Magazine, inspired today’s menu. Nevertheless, before we delve into the culinary delights it provides, let’s set the stage for our time-travelling feast.

What Was Hot – February 2005

Books

The fiction list contained the usual suspects of The Da Vinci Code and Five People You Meet in Heaven. However, the non-fiction list is, to my mind, a bit more interesting:

While both 1 and 2 sound really interesting, as someone who loves a true crime pod or ten, Witness was the one that caught my eye. Specifically, Amber Frey was one of the key prosecution witnesses in the case against Scott Peterson who was accused of killing his wife Laci. Therefore, this would be a fascinating read!

Movies

Hitch
Constantine
Diary of A Mad Black Woman

I haven’t seen any of these which either says something about them or me If these are on your favourite film list/s please let me know. I will give them a try! How little I know about these film is exemplified by the fact that I thought Hitch was the film about Alfred Hitchcock! Given that one came out in 2012 I may also not know much about time!

Music

Let Me Love You – Mario
1, 2 Step – Ciara featuring Missy Elliott
Soldier – Destiny’s Child Featuring T.I. & Lil Wayne

Ok, so I don’t know what I was doing in February 2005 but it was neither going to the movies nor listening to music. I only remembered 2 songs in the Top Ten which were Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day and Since You’ve Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson.

The Menu

Lemongrass & Mint Tea

I positioned this herbal team at the beginning of the meal, but it would undoubtedly serve as an equally delightful palate cleanser or digestive at the meal’s conclusion. Furthermore, I enjoyed several cups of this beverage as an iced tea, finding it incredibly refreshing on a hot day. Either way, I encourage you to give this recipe a try as it is a delight!

Lemongrass and Mint Tea Recipe

Thai Style Egg Salad

I loved this. It is simple and delicious with a bit of a deviled egg vibe. It is also jam-packed with flavour. This was a revelation! It may not be an authentic Thai recipe but it was an absolute winner with me!

Thai Style Egg Salad Recipe

Chinese Duck Coleslaw

So this was a winner-winner duck dinner! It’s was so bright and colourful! Again, it was really easy as it uses a bought roast duck. It was a perfect dinner on a hot summer day.

Chinese Duck Coleslaw Recipe

Coconut and Lime Sorbet

You put the lime in the coconut, you drink ’em bot’ togetherPut the lime in the coconut and you’ll feel better

Harry Nilsson – Coconut

After the disappointment of the blueberry gelato last month this was a surprising success. I am saying it was surprising because with this…first you get the tangy lime…then you get the warmth of the cinnamon…then you get the creamy mellowness of the coconut. It’s a triple whammy of delish!!!!

Coconut and Lime Sorbet Recipe

My Nigella Moment – Potato Salad with Sour Cream, Chives and Pancetta

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 may not fit with the overall menu theme but I’m sneaking it in because it is too good not to share.

I generally adore potato salad, but unfortunately, I found this particular rendition somewhat underwhelming. This recipe originated from a Jamie Oliver article that promised ‘lovely tweaks on the old classic.’ However, the purported ‘tweak’ was a topping of crouton-like fried breadcrumbs on a rather standard potato salad. I believe I understand Jamie’s intention – to introduce a textural contrast and inject some much-needed crunchiness into what is typically a rather soft salad.

Nevertheless, in my opinion, the combination of carbs proved somewhat overwhelming. Moreover, the bread became disappointingly soggy the next day, completely negating the purpose of its inclusion. To be honest, I would have preferred this salad without the bread altogether. I cannot emphasize this enough: for a truly exceptional potato salad, one cannot surpass the recipe by Rosanne Cash!

Have a wonderful week!

16
Feb
2025

Marillenkuchen

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

Hello friends. Welcome to the final part of our Austrian culinary adventure. Today, we’ll savour Marillenkuchen – Austrian for Apricot Cake. I was more excited about Austrian desserts than the savoury dishes. Austrian cakes and pastries are world-famous, and Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery offers an enticing array! Initially, I struggled to choose between Sachertorte, the most famous, and Linzertorte, my favourite. However, when visiting my greengrocer, I saw a display of breathtaking apricots. Consequently, all thoughts of other cakes vanished instantly.

Unlike its more fancy counterparts, Marillenkuchen is a simple cake. But as the saying goes – the simple things in life are often the best! Tilly Pamment, author of the excellent baking book “The Plain Cake Appreciation Society,” says:

The Plain Cake Appreciation Society is a club for connoisseurs of uncomplicated cakes, seasonal bakes and the general appreciation of pausing (often) for tea and cake

I think Tilly would approve of the Marillenkuchen! As do many Austrians! Marillenkuchen holds a special place in Austrian culinary tradition. It’s often enjoyed during the summer months when apricots are in season. It is a perfect treat for picnics, garden parties, and afternoon tea.

Marillenkuchen – The Recipe

Apologies for my scribble about how much my eggs weighed!

A Fun Fact About Austrian Apricots

Did you know there was an Austrian apricot that is famous throughout Europe? I had no idea! The Wachau Apricot is a key ingredient in jam, brandy, and various liqueurs. The EU protects this fruit. Only apricots originating from the Wachau region can be called ‘Wachau Apricots. Furthermore, the Wachau region, nestled along the Danube River, looks stunningly beautiful! An apricot festival appears to take place annually in July. If I ever have the opportunity to visit, I will plan my trip accordingly

Today we bid “So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen goodbye” to Austria. Our next stop is Belgium. Have a wonderful week!

09
Feb
2025

A Pocket Full of Rye – Bird Pie

categories: Chicken, Dining With The Dame, Marple, Savoury Pies and Tarts

Hello crime readers and food lovers. Welcome to Dining with The Dame! Today’s book, A Pocket Full of Rye, is my favourite Miss Marple to date. I absolutely loved this one. This is not so much a Dark Marple but a Marple out for vengeance! To paraphrase the 1976 film Network, “She’s as mad as hell, and she’s not going to take it anymore”! And I am here for every second of it!

Inspector Neele gave a sudden, rather unexpected smile. He was thinking to himself that Miss Marple was very unlike the popular notion of an avenging fury. And yet, he thought that was perhaps exactly what she was.

A Pocket Full Of Rye – Agatha Christie

Something I did not love about this book, at least in writing this post, was the weird use of ‘Pocket Full’ versus ‘Pocketful’. However, if Agatha Christie preferred it that way, who am I to judge?

Today’s menu will be a Bird Pie from Diana Henry’s excellent book A Bird In The Hand. Please note that I am not aiming for any verisimilitude with the text by baking four and twenty blackbirds in my pie. This bird pie contains a far more prosaic (and I’m sure more delicious) chicken!

A Pocket Full of Rye – The Plot

Setting The Scene

The king was in the counting-house, counting out his money…

Rex Fortescue, a wealthy businessman, dies after drinking a cup of tea in his office. However, it soon becomes apparent that the circumstances are far more complex than they initially seemed. Firstly, the actual poison was taxine, a deadly poison derived from Yew trees. Since taxine is a slow-acting poison, it could not have been contained in the tea. Instead, it was far more likely to have been something Rex consumed earlier, such as breakfast. Furthermore, he was found with some grains of rye in his pocket, an intriguing detail that adds another layer to the mystery.

Suspicion soon turns to Rex’s second and much younger wife, Adele. Indeed, Adele was almost certainly having an affair with her “golfing” partner, Vivien Dubois, providing her with a strong motive for murder.

The queen was in the parlour, eating bread and honey…

However, not long after Rex’s death, Adele is also killed via cyanide in her afternoon tea.

The maid was in the garden, hanging out the clothes, when down came a blackbird and pecked off her nose

Gladys Mitchell, the Fortescue’s maid, is later discovered strangled by the washing line with a clothes peg on her nose.

Enter Miss Marple

Gladys, the maid, had previously worked for Miss Marple. In fact, Miss Marple trained Gladys in housekeeping straight from the orphanage. Miss Marple remembers Gladys as a somewhat gullible, hopelessly romantic young girl. And she is fuming about the way that Gladys died!

“It was the clothes peg that really worried me,” said Miss Marple in her gentle voice…That’s what made me so angry, if you can understand, my dear. It was such a cruel, contemptuous gesture. It gave me a kind of picture of the murderer. To do a thing like that! It’s very wicked you know to affront human dignity”

A Pocket Full of Rye – Agatha Christie

We have:

The return of Rex’s wayward son, Lancelot
Strange muddy footprints in the house
A housekeeper with something to hide
A mysterious person in the garden
An entire family vowing revenge on Rex Fortescue for some financial double-dealings around a failed goldmine in Africa
Blackbirds left on a windowsill and baked into a pie

Thankfully, Miss Marple can pull together these disparate threads and gain justice for poor Gladys. And, I guess, Rex and Adele. Even though they, and the members of their family, are all awful people.

A Pocket Full of Rye – The Covers

There are some amazing covers here. Lots of blackbirds and cups of tea as to be expected. There are also two great pulp covers featuring Rex and Adele lying dead. My favourite, though, is the German cover with the hand on the lawn, presumably referencing Gladys, lying dead by the washing line. Maybe, like Miss Marple, I am happy she is being recognised, if only in death.

Below this is a rather unflattering drawing of Miss Marple on the cover of a Czech version. In contrast, two to the right of this one, there looks to be a very snazzily dressed Miss Marple wearing a beautiful lilac suit paired with a gorgeous green scarf, bag and umbrella. It’s such a pleasant change to see a glam Miss Marple. Even though I’m sure far more eyes were focussed on the central figure of a very buxom Adele virtually bursting out of what is most definitely not a golfing outfit!

The Recipe: Bird Pie

I very much enjoyed this. The capers were a really nice addition that added a little spark to this chicken pie!

Links to the Christieverse

None that I could find. Please let me know if you find any!

Other Food & Drinks Mentioned in They Do It With Mirrors

Tea (so many mentions)
Biscuits (limp and special)
Mustard and Water
Bacon x2
Scrambled Eggs
Toast x2
Coffee x2
Marmalade (a few times)
Sausages
Cold Ham
Fish
Sugar
Rye Bread
Rye
Roast Veal
Brandy
Horseradish
Carrots
Peas
Turnips
Scones and Honey
Chocolate cake
Swiss Roll
Homemade liqueurs
Cordials
Herb Teas
Cornflakes
Blackberry Jelly x2
Veal and Ham Pie
Sweets
Eggs x2
Pastry
Soufflé
Herring

Our read for March will be Destination Unknown.

Have a great week!

02
Feb
2025

Frankfurter Roka

categories: 1970's recipes, Blue Cheese, Chorizo, Salad

Hello friends, I’m shaking things up today with a vintage recipe from Good Housekeeping’s Cooking for Today. Firstly, this is just the tip of the iceberg. This was a 13-part weekly magazine. The recipe for Frankfurter Roka comes from issue #2. I have a few of these, which I intend to cook from this year, so we will definitely be hearing more from this mag in the coming months!

Moving on, I’m channelling my inner Beatles and “Hey Jude”-ing a vintage recipe for Frankfurter Roka. Meaning, my aim is to “Take a sad song and make it better.” Just substitute “song” for “salad” and we’re there!

The Original Recipe for Frankfurter Roka

Here is a picture of the old and the new!

My Changes To The Original and Why

The original recipe promised a vibrant salad brimming with flavours I adore: tangy blue cheese, briny olives, and earthy potatoes. However, there were two ingredient that simply had to go. First up was the frankfurters. The mere thought of them makes me gag. Consequently, I had a delicious replacement in mind: finely sliced, pan-fried chorizo, adding a delightful smoky depth to the dish.

Whilst canned potatoes don’t give me the same visceral reaction, I would never willingly eat them! So, out with the convenience, in with the fresh! I opted to boil some lovely new potatoes and then pan-fry them in the aromatic oil left behind from the chorizo.

Now, the dressing presented its own challenge. The original recipe called for Kraft Roka Blue Cheese Dressing, a product sadly unavailable in Australia. No worries! I decided to channel my inner Nigella Lawson and whip up her “Universally Useful Blue Cheese Dressing.” While I skipped the HP sauce (personal preference!), I added a touch more Worcestershire sauce for an extra kick.

Finally, I decided to serve the Frankfurter Roka in large lettuce leaves. Consequently, everyone can choose their favourite bits and the amount of dressing they prefer. Furthermore, these could then be wrapped up and eaten using your hands, similarly to how you would in a Vietnamese restaurant when you get to wrap your spring rolls in lettuce and herbs. This makes for a fun shared plate to eat with family or friends! Here’s my updated recipe!

Print

Frankfurter Roka, Updated

Print Recipe

My take on a vintage salad. These amounts will serve 2 people as a light meal.

Author: Taryn Nicole

Ingredients

Scale

1 chorizo sausage
4–6 new potatoes, peeled and cut into a 1cm dice
1 Serve of Nigella Lawson’s Universally Useful Blue Cheese Dressing, or if it is available in your country, some Kraft Roka Blue Cheese Dressing
12 stuffed olives
A pile of large lettuce leaves to serve – Cos / Romaine or Iceberg are ideal

1

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Boil the potatoes in salted water until they are just tender (about 10 minutes) Drain.
Slice the chorizo and place in a frying pan. You do not need to heat the pan or add any oil. Cook the chorizo over medium heat until they are nicely browned.
Remove the chorizo slices from the pan. Add the potatoes. Fry the potatoes in the oil left by the chorizo until they are golden and crisp.
Place your lettuce leaves on a serving platter.
Mix the chorizo, potatoes and olives, sprinkle with the parsley.
Serve the blue cheese dressing on the side.

To eat, load your lettuce leaves with the chorizo and potato mix. Pour as much or as little of the blue cheese dressing as you desire over the top.

Enjoy!

I loved my updated version of Frankfurter Roka! I hope that you will also think that I’ve taken a sad salad and made it better…better…better…