Taryn Nicole, Author at Retro Food For Modern Times

Author: Taryn Nicole

14
Feb
2022

Chocolate Mousse Hearts

categories: 1980's recipes, Desserts, Magazines, Meringue, Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine’s Day friends! Love is in the air are we are celebrating with some Chocolate Mousse Hearts largely inspired by a recipe in the Autumn 1986 issue of the Vogue Entertaining Guide. Before we continue though, I need to be totally honest with you. The recipe requires several instances of piping using an icing bag and this is not one of my strong suits. Hopefully, you will find my less than perfect hearts endearingly wonky rather than downright comical. And as we all know…love means never having to say you’re sorry so let’s get to it!

Okay, deep breath, here we go…

Now, these babies might not look perfect but, I gave one to The Fussiest Eater in the World earlier.

He took his first bite. “Wow”.

Second bite “Oh my God!”

The overall vote was “Delicious”.

So, they might not be the prettiest things in the world. But they are definitely a sweet treat!

Just a little shout out before I continue though, that beautiful plate my heart is on comes from Yael Gronner Ceramics on Etsy.I bought some of her wares late last year and have been dying to feature them!

Chocolate Mousse Hearts – The Breakdown

We start off with a meringue base – the first lot of piping. And it really sets the tone for the rest of the dish. If you can do this bit perfectly, the rest of the dish will be a doddle. When you are doing the piping try to build up the outside of the hearts as much as possible.

Then those little depressions in the middle of the hearts are filled with jam. The recipe said berry jam but I used cherry. I LOVE the combination of cherry and chocolate plus I don’t like how the seeds in strawberry and raspberry jam can get stuck in your teeth.

Those little hearts? I had some of the meringue mixture left over and I thought they might be cute as garnishes or as taste testers.

So, right about now, you might be thinking where’s that chocolate mousse I was promised? Well, it’s coming right up. Along with our second bit of piping:

I topped my mousse with some crumbled up Flake and a little gold lustre powder.

And a cherry on the top!

Chocolate Mousse Hearts – The Recipe

So, I was halfway through making this when I came to the sentence that said the chocolate mousse needed to set overnight. I needed to get them made and take my pictures on Sunday 13th to have any hope of being able to ost this today. Normally I am a bit more organised but life has got in the way this month!

It’s also the reason I garnished with a flake and not chocolate leaves and curls.

So, I found this mousse recipe online that did not have to chill overnight and used that instead. I chilled it for 2 hours then piped it onto my hearts.

Whether you celebrate Valentine’s Day, Galentine’s Day or nothing at all, these decadent chocolate hearts are a good addition to your dessert repertoire. They are very sweet though so for future making I would make them a little smaller (The widest part of my hearts was probably about 10cm across). Or keep them big and share with someone you love!

Have a great week!

03
Feb
2022

Smoked Salmon Tarts

categories: Dishiest Dish, Smoked Salmon, Starters, Tarts

Hello and welcome to my best of January post! It was not the start to the year I was looking for – the month was fraught with illness (human and canine) and a nasty car accident for the Fussiest Eater in the World from which he is still recovering. In the midst of all the misery though, there was still time for some good food starting with these smoked salmon tarts from Alimentari by Linda Jones.

These are little morsels of deliciousness. I shared this recipe with a friend of mine and, like me, they have become one of her go to entertaining snacks. So tasty, so pretty, they transport really well for picnics and other out of home occasions and if you happen to have any left (unlikely) they are delicious the following day – I ate mine at ambient temperature but you could heat them if you wanted or have them cold from the fridge.

I also used whole tom berries and not halved cherry tomatoes.

Smoked Salmon Tarts – The Recipe

Other Favourites of The Month

Reading

One More Croissant for the Road by Felicity Cloake

I cannot tell you how much I loved this book!!! Felicity Cloake is a British food writer who is also a keen cyclist. In this book, she cycles around France, eating and drinking the signature dishes in each town (Quiche in Lorraine, Provencal Fish Soup in Marseille etc). I love all things French so reading this was an absolute delight! I loved her voice and really want Felicity to be my new best friend! (There are also recipes) 💖

I also read the most recent Lianne Moriarty, Apples Never Fall. This was an audiobook and, just like last month, the narrator’s voice irritated me. Apart from that, I enjoyed the story and what an ending!!!!! 😲

Cookbook

Someone’s voice who definitely doesn’t irritate me is Diana Henry, the British cookbook writer. I bought her cookbook, A Change Of Appetite in January and I am looking forward to cooking from it very soon!

The cover is so pretty too!

Watching

We watched the The Puppet Master on Netflix the other night which was excellent. It is about a conman who has been operating since the 1990’s posing as an MI5 Agent. It is compelling viewing!

Listening

And, if you are intrigued by that story of a conman pretending to be an MI5 agent, you will be as fascinated as I was by Sweet Bobby. This is a catfishing podcast about another sociopath pretending to be an MI5 agent.

Note to self and to everyone else. Like they say in The Puppet Master… If someone tells you they are an MI5 agent, they are generally NOT an MI5 agent!

The issue of pathological lying also crops up in Apples Never Fall, so on the whole, I have spent a month immersed in liars, cheats, conmen and sociopaths!

I am on the lookout for new things to watch and new listen to, let me know your recommendations!

Playing

Like everyone else I am obsessed with WORDLE.

It is the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning. My favourite opening words have changed from CABIN to TRAIN to IRATE.

What’s your favourite opener?

Cooking

We have our Foodies meeting this week where the theme is tv shows. I am cooking from The Cook Up with Adam Liaw. I haven’t finalised what I am making but these are most likely going to be on the menu!

Shopping

My Mum and I went antiquing and I bought these gorgeous Scotch Whiskey ceramic decanters which are now taking pride of place on my bar cart.

So, you’re all caught up on my life! Here’s hoping February is a better month!

Have a wonderful week!

03
Feb
2022

It’s the Year of the Tiger

categories: Baking, Cake, Chicken, Lunar New Year

Hello and welcome to the second instalment of my Year of The Tiger special. Today we having a Tiger Skin Chicken from Adam Liaw and some little French almond cakes called Les Tigres (the tigers) from Dorie Greenspan. But first let’s have a little look-see at what may lie ahead for us in the Year of the Tiger!

Predictions for the year of the Tiger suggest that this could be a year of political and social upheaval. It is also a year of extremes, some people will boom and some will bust. Fortune will tend to favour the brave. The water element in this year of the Water Tigre will bring emotions to the forefront.

Strap in folks, this could be a wild ride!

Tiger Skin Chicken

Let me first show you Adam Liaw’s beautifully striped Tiger Skin Chicken.

Mine was not nearly as precise.

BUT, this was so delicious! I basted the chicken every 15 minutes in those buttery juices and it stayed delightfully moist. It had a slight spicy curry flavour which I thought was lovely eaten warm and also cold in sandwiches the following day.

I just need to get my squeeze bottle technique so the lines are a little thinner and maybe control the heat during the grilling of the skin a little better. I also think I should have heated my honey before mixing it in with the yoghurt as it didn’t mix in well which is why I think some of my stripes were white, they were primarily yoghurt.

Here is the recipe from Adam’s Big Pot:

Les Tigres

To end our Year of the Tiger special we are having some little French cakes called Les Tigres. I am assuming this is because they are dipped in a ganache which gives them a dark stripe against the dark gold of the almond cake. They could also be called the leopards because the inside is dotted with choc chips!

Les Tigres Recipe

The Tigres were a lovely way to finish this celebratory meal!

Best of luck to you all in the coming 12 months – let’s hope you don’t catch too many tigers by the tail but that you wake every morning with a tiger in your tank!

30
Jan
2022

The Eye of The Tiger

categories: Cocktail, Drinks, Fish, Gin, Holidays

Hello friends! This weekend people all over the world are celebrating Lunar New Year and the start of the year of the Tiger. Traditional foods for Lunar New Year include long noodles (symbolising long life and happiness) dumplings and spring rolls to bring wealth and fish to increase prosperity. Well, here at Chez Retro Food, we’re also celebrating the Year of the Tiger, but in our own special way!

Let’s get to it!

I always think that any occasion should be celebrated with a cocktail. And Lunar New Year is no exception. The Norwegian Tiger’s Milk Cocktail comes from a book called The Australian Hostess Cookbook (1969) and a chapter called “A Party on the Nullabor Plain”. Now for those of you unfamiliar with the Nullabor Plain, it is an area of some 200,000km (that would be 76, 000 sq miles for those of you who are not used to the metric system) that is both flat and largely treeless. Plain is putting it mildly.

I mean, does it not just scream party central? But I digress. If the location seems bonkers let’s further examine the cocktail.

Norwegian. Tiger’s Milk.

Nope.

The World wildlife fund reliably informs me that tigers are very versatile creatures and can live in a variety of habitats – rainforests, savannahs, grasslands and mangrove swamps. Tigers.org.za further specifies that they are most commonly found in China, Korea, Russia and Southeast Asia with Sumatra being the only island inhabited by tigers today. Not even a whisper of Norway. And, I’m no geography expert but I’m pretty sure the landscape of Norway is not rampant with savannahs. Fjords yes. Mangrove swamps? No.

(Also note the natural habitat of the tiger is not an “exotic” animal part in Oklahoma. But don’t even get me started on that one!)

Maybe if you are partying on the Nullabor Plain in 1969 a Norwegian Tiger makes sense. They took a lot of drugs back then.

Norwegian Tiger’s Milk Cocktail

Copious amounts of drugs may also explain the ingredients. Equal parts gin, vanilla ice cream and creme de cacao. It really sounds like something someone with the munchies would pull together.

It also means that whatever measurement you use, (I used 30ml of each) you get a lot of booze and not much ice cream.

I used a cherry-infused gin which came in a Gin Advent Calendar I bought at Christmas.

The Norwegian Tiger’s Milk was a LOT nicer than I thought it would be! It tasted like a slightly weird in a good way Bailey’s Irish Cream. Mine had that hint of cherry but I think without that the similarity to Baileys would be even more marked. It was also much more of an after-dinner drink than an aperitif but I’ll forgive myself that. And maybe have another after dinner! I’m not driving and there is a little bit of gin left in that tiny Advent bottle!

We are continuing the theme of Tiger’s Milk with our starter.

Tiger’s Milk Ceviche

We are heading to Mexico for our starter. Also not a natural habitat of the tiger. However, Tiger’s Milk is the name of the liquid used to “cook” the seafood in a ceviche.

This was soooo good! I love raw fish and this was zingy with citrus and fiery with chilli and crunchy with tortilla chips and loaded with fresh veg and herbs! This is the kind of dish I could eat every day.

And it’s so pretty too! Look at all those colours!

I used salmon for my fish because I could not get the kingfish specified in the recipe. I also threw in some tiny tom berry tomatoes for extra colour and as mentioned subbed in some crunchy tortilla chips for the tortillas.

The recipe for the Tiger’s Milk Ceviche comes from the Matt Preston Cookbook – Yummy Easy Quick Around The World.

Tiger’s Milk – Hangover Cure?

Tiger’s milk is supposedly a hangover cure par excellence. Maybe for the morning after a few too many Norwegian Tiger’s Milks? However, I’ve been hungover once (maybe twice) in my life 😂 and I’m going, to be honest with you. When I am in that very precarious and fragile state, given the choice of Uber Eatsing a Big Mac and a very large coke and downing some salmon soaking citrus liquid? I’ll take those two all-beef patties etc any day of the week!

Would you drink the tiger’s milk?

Later this week I’ll share the rest of our tiger-themed celebrations!

23
Jan
2022

Why Didn’t They Ask Evans – Cucumber Sandwiches

categories: Dining With The Dame, Sandwiches, Stand Alone

Hello crime readers and food lovers! Today we are raising our pinky fingers and taking delicate bites from a classic item of British high tea, cucumber sandwiches. Our book of choice is a standalone Christie novel, Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? Published in 1934, Why Didn’t They Ask Evans came after an amazing run of novels – Murder on the Orient Express and Three Act Tagedy (both also published in 1934), Lord Edgware Dies (1933) and Peril At End House (1932). And…well…for my mind, it is not in the same calibre as any of these. There is also not a great deal of food mentioned within its pages. Generic references to cocktail parties, breakfast and afternoon teas abound. There is even a reference to a sausage and beer party which sounds like heaps of fun. But not many specific mentions of food. So, for my menu, I have taken the liberty of choosing an item that I hope was served at least one of those any afternoon teas, cucumber sandwiches!

Why Didn’t They Ask Evans – The Plot

Bobby James is playing golf near his home in Marchbolt, Wales. As a sudden fog descends Bobby hears a man cry out. Worried that he may have hit someone with his last shot, Bobby goes to investigate and finds a man lying close to death on a ledge below a cliff. The man gains consciousness long enough to utter the words “Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?” before dying. This sets Bobby and his friend / romantic interest Lady Frances (Frankie) Derwent on a series of adventures that could cost them their lives.

We have:

Sisters behaving suspiciously
Beer poisoned with morphia
Staged car accidents
Morphine addicts (aka drug fiends! in 1934 parlance)
Dodgy doctors
Supposed suicides
Kidnapping
Poisoned coffee
Wicked wives
And a romantic ending for Bobby and Frankie.

Bobby and Frankie are both very likeable characters and well written. So it is not the absence of Poirot or Marple which makes this book not one of my favourites. In fact, the tv adaptation I watched shoehorned Marple into it which to my mind, made the story even worse!. For me, this is just not a compelling plot. I think what didn’t work for me was that I LOVE trying to solve the mysteries and the mystery of Evans and why they weren’t asked is almost impossible to solve. There was some fun along the way though so this is still worth a read even if, to my mind, it was not as good as some of its predecessors.

Why Didn’t They Ask Evans – The Covers

This was called The Boomerang Clue on its American release hence the varied titles. The modern 1920’s stylised look with Bobby and Frankie on the train. is my favourite. What is yours?

The Recipe – Cucumber Sandwiches

I used this recipe from The Spruce Eats but I cut my sandwiches into fingers and not triangles. And I buttered one side of the bread so there was only cream cheese on one side.

Other Food & Drinks Mentioned in Why Didn’t They Ask Evans

Fried Fish
Coffee (Multiple mentions)
Sandwiches (a packet)
Beer (Poisoned with Morphia)
Cocktail Party & Cocktails (several mentions
Beer and Sausage Party
Port
Tea (several mentions)
Afternoon tea (several mentions)
Bacon and Eggs (It wouldn’t be a Christie without it)
Breakfast
Toast (two mentions)

Have you read Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? Am I being too harsh in saying it is one of the worst Christies to date? I would love to hear from people who love this novel to tell me I’m wrong…And from people like me who think it is just a bit meh.

Beer and sausage party? Who’s in?

Death in the Clouds will be our read for February and, despite some OMG moments of blatant racism, is to my mind a much better story. We’ll delve into that in February.

Happy reading and eating!