Category: 1970’s food

REPOST from 2016 -Four Kumquat Canapés For Four Food Heroes

I was celebrating this week and these kumquat canapés helped to get the party started!  How pretty are they?

Kumquat Canapes

These lovelies were inspired by a recipe by Gretta Anna Teplitzsky.  Gretta Anna has been called the Julia Child of Australian Cooking.  Through her books and her cooking school she brought French cooking to the Australian masses . She is one of my food heroes and an absolute glamour puss to boot!  I have spoken about her before but as a refresher, her she is in all her glory!

Gretta AnnaI said it before and I will say it again.  That fireplace!  The colour co-ordination of caftan, candlesticks and couch!    Love, love, love.  Gretta Anna is the big sister I never had, the cool older girl at school I always aspired to be but never quite pulled it off.

I was looking for Gretta Anna recipes this week because, as a little present to myself I popped online and bought a copy of her second book, More Gretta Anna Recipes.  And I was buying myself a little present because May is the month of the blogiversary!  Retro Food for Modern Times will turn four later this month.  Can you believe it?   And we will celebrate in style but first, we need to talk about Kumquat Canapés because they are super delicious and a snap to make!

KumquatsKumquats are a small citrus fruit (about the size of a large olive) and incredibly sour which I love! A funny thing about them, is that if you eat them peel and all they actually become sweeter.  It is the season for them here and as I was making my Gretta Anna inspired canapes I started thinking about my other food heroes and got totally carried away.  I ended up making four different kumquat canapés because of the blogiversary and I named them after my food heroes. So without further ado, here they are.

Kumquat Canapé 1 – The Gretta Anna

Gretta Anna’s original recipe called for kumquats, rare roast beef and mint.  She also wanted you to roast the beef.  I just bought some rare roast beef slices from my local deli.  I also had another idea for my mint leaves so I subbed in some rocket (arugula for my American friends).

Kumquat Canapes Roast BeefWhy this works

The rare roast beef has a slightly metallic taste with some saltiness and umami.  The acidity of the kumquat worked really well against this and the rocket gave a note of pepperiness.  A little dob of horseradish would also not go astray here either!

Kumquat Canapé 2 – The Nigella

For the Nigella Kumquat Canapé we are heading to Italy where we are pairing our tangy little friend the kumquat with some spicy chilli salami and a basil leaf.  And to steal a quote from one of my favorite movies ever, Gregory’s Girl (if you have not seen this, stop everything and see it now!) the Nigella is bella, bella (with those last two words being spoken in the broadest Scottish accept you can muster!

Salami Kumquat Canapes3Why The Nigella Works

The sharpness of the kumquat cuts against the fatty unctuousness of the salami, the chilli adds a kick of heat and the basil brings in some herby spiciness.This is a Mambo Italiano in your mouth!  Plus even writing the words fatty unctuousness made me feel like I was channelling the real Nigella.

Kumquat Canapé 3 – The Sabrina

As if I was ever going to make a food hero kumquat canapé and not include Sabrina Ghayour!    I still have 22 recipes to make from Persiana but Sirocco is wending it’s way to me as we speak!  I know I said I wasn’t going to buy it until I was totally done with the Persiana Project but I read on Twitter that if you ordered it pre-release on Amazon UK, you could  get it for a ridiculously low price.  And I’m all about the savings!

I promise I won’t read it, will not even open the package until the Persiana Project is done!

Well, I might open the package just to make sure they have sent me the right book and it is not damaged.  But then I will pack it back up again and put it out of sight until the end of the Persiana Project.

However, if during that purely quality control inspection it happens to fall open at a page….or ten….and my eyes just happen to fleetingly glance over them….then that is just what I like to call serendipity and no, it’s totally not cheating!  Let’s quickly move on to the objêt itself.

Kumquat SabrinaThe Sabrina Canapé takes us to the delicious flavours of the Middle East – hummus, dukkah, coriander and of course our little golden friend subbing in for what would traditionally be a preserved lemon.

Why the Sabrina Works

Is is a little bite of the Middle East.  The creamy earthiness of the hummus is complemented by the zing of the kumquat, the dukkah adds crunch and more spice and the coriander some greeny freshness.  And for them that care about such things the Sabrina is also vegan.

The final kumquat canape was the hardest to name.  It had some Mexican overtones, avocado, tequila, chilli but I was damned if I was going to name it after the writer of Cantina after the terrible problems I had with that book.  So, who else would I  count as a food hero who would suitably represent my canapé?  Jamie Oliver? Margaret Fulton? Charmaine Solomon?  No, no and no came the answers.  And then, taking inspiration from the tequila – which is possibly not always a good rule to live by I hit upon the name for my fourth and final kumquat canapé.

Kumquat Canapé 4 – The Floyd

So obvious!  I’m not sure if Keith Floyd ever made it to Mexico but I’m sure he would have, at the very least liked the idea of my tequila soaked avocados.  A bon vivant, raconteur and also a bit of a boozer, Floyd was one of the first celebrity chefs. Many of his shows are on you Tube and I can thoroughly recommend them  for the sheer force of his personality if not always for the recipes made.  Zebu Penis and Marijuana Stew anyone?

Kumquat Avocado CanapeThankfully, The Floyd contains none of the above but consists of avocado marinated in tequila and  sprinkled with salt with a side of radish, topped with a strip of pickled chilli and a slice of kumquat and garnished with a mint leaf. And again, it’s vegan!

Why The Floyd Works

It’s a bit like a deconstructed guacamole, all the flavours are their with the kumquat subbing in for the lemon or lime and the radish adding some crunch!

These were each delicious and I’m glad I expanded my thinking beyond the original!

Kumquat Canapes

Coming up we are celebrating the blogiversary and not only are we having a party with the letter D but it’s also themed!  I can hardly wait!

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Kumquat Canapes

Some cute and quirky canapes using cute and quirky kumquats

Ingredients

Scale
  • 16 small cracker biscuits
  • 68 kumquats, cut into thin slices (I found you could only get 2-3 slices from each kumquat

For the Gretta Anna

  • 2 slices of rare roast beef, either home made or from your local deli,cut into two pieces
  • 4 rocket leaves
  • 4 little dobs of horseradish (optional)

For The Nigella

  • 2 slices chilli salami, cut into 2 pieces
  • 4 basil leaves
  • For the Sabrina
  • 4 tsp hummus
  • 2 tsp dukkah
  • 4 coriander leaves

For The Floyd

  • 4 chunks of avocado
  • 1 tbsp tequila
  • sea salt
  • 4 strips of pickled chilli
  • 4 mint leaves

Instructions

For the Floyd

  1. Sprinkle the avocado chunks with the tequila and allow to sit for a couple of hours.
  2. Just before serving remove from the tequila and sprinkle with the salt.

For All

  1. Arrange the ingredients on the crackers in a manner that looks appetising.
  2. Top with the kumquat slices.
  3. Enjoy!

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 2

Coming up we are celebrating the blogiversary and not only are we having a party with the letter D but it’s also themed!  I can hardly wait!

Meantime, if you were to make a canape for one of your food heroes, who and what would it be?

Have a great week!

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Breakfast Banana Cream

I know I said that we were going to skip the G is for Good Health section in the A-Z of Cooking because I had already made the Cheese and Date Bread. Then I remembered that the banana cream I have been eating for breakfast for weeks came from this same section.   And for those of you who care about such things my favourite version is also vegan because guess what?  The Banana Cream contains no cream. That’s 1970’s health food for you.

Banana Cream2

So pretty.  And it’s delicious too.  And so easy to do.  It takes all of about 30 seconds to make .

But first a little digression.  They…whomsoever they may be…say that you are what you eat.  It might be why health food often gets such a bad rap.  I mean who wants to look like the burghul salad which is the first recipe featured in the G is for Good Health section of the A-Z of Cooking.

Burghul SaladSo back to breakfast and the no-cream banana cream.  This tastes and feels rich and luscious so you can almost feel a bit decadent when eating it.  Banana CreamThe basic recipe for the banana cream is bananas, yogurt, honey, lemon and crushed nuts.  I have played with this for a number of weeks now and my favourite combination is to use coconut yogurt and maple syrup. The one highlight of that time I did Paleo was discovering coconut yogurt.  OMG that stuff is the BEST.  Shame it is so hideously expensive.  At the time I looked into making it and it can be done relatively easily. I’ll add that to the to do list!  And maple syrup is one of my favourite flavours.  Its so good.  But you can use plain yogurt or honey – whatever your favourites are.

I have also eaten the banana cream as a topping for granola and swirled into warm oatmeal //porridge and it is good with both!

I have used walnuts as the nuts in these pictures but almonds are also good.  Sub in whatever you like. Or, if you hate nuts, use a sprinkle of granola for a lovely crunch!

I’m not overly fond of bananas but I have eaten the banana cream a couple of times a week for a few weeks now and there is no sign of it going off high rotation.  I make the serving size below and put half in a container in the fridge for the following day – it keeps quite well overnight.  Quick, versatile, delicious so simple and healthy to boot!  So much nicer than that burghul salad!

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Breakfast Banana Cream

A quick, easy and healthy breakfast dish. Vegan optional.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 large banana
  • 125ml coconut or plain Greek Yogurt
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup or honey
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp toasted walnuts or almonds

Instructions

  1. Place the banana, coconut yogurt, maple syrup, lemon juice and half the nuts into a food processor.
  2. Blitz until just combined.
  3. Spoon into serving dishes and sprinkle with the remaining nuts.

I feel that the A-Z of Cooking has given us two very simple recipes in a row.  Next time we head there it should be for the Gourmet section.  I have semi-chosen what I am going to cook and it involves a deep fryer so I am going to have to beg, borrow or steal one sometime soon.  And if gourmet food and deep frying don’t quite go together in your mind, remember it was the ’70s – all sort of things happened that made totally no sense.  Deep fried gourmet food was the least of their worries!

Have a great week!

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MFCB 13 – Missing from the Modern Part 3

It seems fitting that for the 13th (and last) part of this series that we hit what has to be the weirdest photo in The Margaret Fulton Cookbook. I’m not even sure where to start with this one….

  • This lady’s incredibly hairy arms?
  • The weird tan line across the back of her wrist?
  • Why would you put your thermometer in the meat and then rub the salt over it.  Surely it’s just going to get in the way?
  • What is that even doing there? Don’t you take the temperature during cooking not before?
  • Why would you even want a photo of someone rubbing raw meat?

So many questions.  So few answers…it boggles my mind!

It seems so right…and yet so wrong to leave you with this image but I’m back from holidays and normal (or what passes for it ’round here) transmission will resume shortly!

Missing From The Modern 3
Missing From The Modern 3

Have a great week!

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The Margaret Fulton Cookbook 12 – Sunday Roast Chicken

Margaret Fulton - ChickenMargaret’s Mediterranean Chicken from 1977 fits the bill of being big and fat and crisp and brown.  Not to mention utterly delicious.

Mediterranean Chicken - Then
Mediterranean Chicken – Then

And when you’re onto a good thing? Stick to it:

Mediterranean Chicken - Now
Mediterranean Chicken – Now

if only the modern picture had a glass of wine in it, it would be perfect! But both of these are pretty superb pictures, you can almost taste and smell that lovely roast chicken!

I liked this so much I made one myself:

Mediterranean ChickenI think it is such a genius idea of Margaret’s to change the vegetables from the traditional roast – the tomatoes, mushrooms and olives were delicious, although I did throw in a few potatoes too.

Here’s the recipe so you can make it too:

French Roast Chicken1French Roast Chicken2Mediterranean Chicken - RecipeHave a great week!

 

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The Margaret Fulton Cookbook 11- Fish

Fish…is fresh when the eyes are bright, the flesh is firm, the gills red and the scales do not come off easily.  Fish should smell of the sea.

The biggest crime is to overcook fish.  Whichever method of cooking you choose, watch your fish with loving care, serve it with a glad heart and a touch of parsley, a wedge of lemon or a dash of paprika”

– Margaret Fulton

Fresh lively vibrant seaood

THEN:

 

Fish - MFCB 1977Yikes!  So much fish, none of it looking all that appetizing.  And that fake background of the sea.  Because that’s where fish comes from kids.  Just in case you didn’t know….

NOW

I really want to be on a beach somewhere watching the sunset and eating some fish and chips as mouthwateringly delicious as these.

Margaret Fulton's Fish and Chips

Margaret Fulton’s Fish and Chips

 

What do I love about this photo?  The crispy fish, the sharp salt crystals, the hazy tartare sauce in the background, the muted colour sheme that makes the fish, the chips and the lemon just pop…so, in short everything!.

Hope your having a great week!  Now go eat some fish and chips…you know you want to!

 

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