20 Years Ago Today Archives - Retro Food For Modern Times

Category: 20 Years Ago Today

08
Dec
2024

Fusion Food – December 2004

categories: 20 Years Ago Today, Custard, Delicious, Desserts, France, Lamb, Lobster, Middle Eastern

Hello time travellers, and welcome to December 2004, where we are decking the halls with Fusion food courtesy of Delicious Magazine. For those who are not familiar with the term, the Escoffier School of Culinary Arts says it involves “bringing together ingredients from different cultures and merging recipes. This technique of joining culinary forces offers truly novel flavour combinations and unique menu offerings”.

In their examples, they list Tex-Mex and French Vietnamese. My personal favourite fusion was an absolutely fabulous Korean Taco place near where I used to work. Their kimchi fries were to die for!!! Kedgeree, which I also love, is a fabulous Anglo-Indian creation. I am also not averse to a tandoori chicken pizza!

On the menu today, we have an American / Middle Eastern mash-up, an Anglo-Indian combo that is not kedgeree and an Irish / French marriage to finish off. Will these be in the realm of kimchi fries? We’ll find out soon enough.

But first, it wouldn’t be a 20 Years Ago Post without a quick look at what was making the charts in December 2004.

Step Back in Time – December 2004

Movies

Today we are looking at the film charts from December 2004 and what a month! In the first week of December, National Treasure was number 1,Bad Santa was #4 and Garden State was #6. Week 2: Team America: World Police was #1. In Week 3, Ocean’s Twelve was number 1. Personally, I hated that one so it just goes to prove you can’t have everything. But in the fourth week, Lemony Snicket was # 1, and to round out the month, Meet The Fockers topped the box office, and Phantom of the Opera, which we spoke about last month, was #6.

Music

There was no change from last month in the top songs. My Boo by Usher and Alicia Keys was number 1 in the first week, and Drop It Like It’s Hot by Snoop Dog was top of the Billboard charts for the rest of the month.

Books

In a weird twist, The Da Vinci Code headed back to the top of the charts in the first week of December. I can’t explain this. The movie didn’t come out til 2006 so it wasn’t tied to that. And surely everyone who wanted to read it, had already read it by then. Maybe it was a surge of people buying Secret Santa gifts for their coworkers. Anyway, its return was short; Night Fall by Nelson DeMille took top place the second week, and Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom was the best-selling book for the remainder of December.

Two things that I would have wanted as Christmas presents that year were the rerelease of Stephanie Alexander’s Classic “The Cook’s Companion“, although with a massive price tag of $125, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t under any tree with my name on it. Also, according to Delicious magazine, this was when Nigella Lawson’s “Feast” was released.

So, now that we have set the scene, let’s set the table for our fusion feast!

Lobster Cocktail with Preserved Lemon

This recipe livens up the traditional prawn (shrimp) cocktail with a bit of luxe from the lobster and some Middle Eastern flavours of preserved lemon and harissa. You will see that the recipe calls for a whole lobster. I used a far more economical lobster tail, and one tail between the two of us was perfect for a starter. This meal looks elegant and ritzy but can be made without a high price tag.

This was delicious, and every ingredient had its place. I had never even thought of using a grain in a seafood cocktail. And, to be honest, I thought about not including the burghul wheat. Please don’t do this, it brought a beautiful nuttiness to the lobster cocktail. I’d never had it before but now, I want to have burghul in every seafood cocktail! It was a game changer ingredient!

A word of advice on the sauce. When I first made the harissa sauce, I thought it was a little bland, so I added more harissa. I then popped it into the fridge whilst I made the rest. The flavours continued to develop, so what I ended up with was somewhat spicier than when it went into the fridge! It still tasted delish, but be careful if you are playing with the ratios, as you don’t want to overpower the flavour of that lovely lobster!

Finally, our lime tree was also bare so I used a lemon as my garnish. We’ll now have to wait til winter for fresh limes but the lemon tree is the gift that keeps on giving!

Lamb Rack with Coconut Gravy and Mango Chutney

This feels to me like a perfect blend of the Fussiest Eater in the World’s tastes and mine. He likes his good old English roast. I like a bit of spice! This recipe was, therefore, a win-win! It felt a bit unusual adding the curry gravy to the meat after it was cooked but this recipe really worked for me!

Baileys Crème Brulée

Speaking of win – win…Baileys is one of my favourite tipples. And crème brulée is one of my favourite desserts. This was DELIGHTFUL! The Baileys was there but more like a whisper than a scream. If I hadn’t known it was was Baileys I would have spent the first few spoonfuls thinking…”I know what that flavour is….but I need just one more spoonful to figure it out”…and after that I would have decided not to worry too much about defining the flavour and just dug in for sheer enjoyment! And of course, if you want a stronger Baileys flavour, a little glass on the side wouldn’t go astray!

And just listen to that crack!

My Nigella Moment – Tomato Tarte Tatin

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.

The tomato tatin was absolutely delicious. What made it SPECTACULAR was the caramelised garlic. I made the tomato tarte tatin on a night when I was by myself so I made a quarter quantity of the caramelised garlic. Massive mistake. It was absolutely delicious. I had some left over after the tomato tatin and I put it on absolutely everything I ate over the next day or so. Salad? I added it to the dressing? Steak, I added it as a little condiment. Snacking – the carmelised galirc and butter on really fresh bread was divine. Seriously someone needs to bottle that up and sell it. I would buy a lifetime supply!

The ricotta cream was also really nice. I did add a little tip I picked up from Girl Dinner and added a splash of pickle juice into the ricotta mix which I thought set it off really nicely!

What a month! Each of these brought me joy! I’m so glad the December 2004 issue of Delicious delivered fusion, not confusion. Now, I need to dash; I have a great little business idea I want to try out!

Have a great week!

24
Nov
2024

Movie Night – November 2004

categories: 20 Years Ago Today, Cake, Chicken, Delicious, Salad, Savoury Pies and Tarts, Snacks, Whiskey

Hello friends! Welcome to November 2004! This month, we’re going to the movies via the pages of Delicious magazine. Caution – there are puns galore in this post, so if you are not a fan, feel free to skip this one! But before you do, why not hang around and take a trip down memory lane as we look back at what was popular in November 2004!

Given this is movie night, let’s first take a look at what was at the top of the box office in November 2004. The Incredibles was the number 1 movie, with National Treasure and The Polar Express rounding out the top 3. I’ve not seen The Polar Express but I like The Incredibles and I also enjoyed National Treasure. Jumping back to 2024 for a moment, I recently watched Longlegs with Nick Cage and it was so creepy! I really enjoyed it, but it is definitely not for everyone!

Bookwise, I was quite surprised to see that I only recognised one of the books that topped the charts during the month: Northern Lights by Nora Roberts, Hour Game By David Baldacchi (this was the one I had heard of), Metro Girl by Janet Evanovich and London Bridges by James Patterson. I was a huge fan of the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich but Metro Girl completely passed me by!

The top three songs also got a “meh” response from me: My Boo by Usher and Alicia Keys, Dropp It Like It’s Hot by Snoop Dog, and Lose My Breath by Destiny’s Child Iam very glad to tell you that this month’s menu did not get that reaction. So, let’s take a look!

“Sunset” Boulevard

Let’s kick off our movie night with a Boulevard, which is a take on the Boulevadier, a Parisian Cocktail from the 1920s. The Boulevard packs a punch as it contains Bourbon, Grand Marnier and Vermouth! It actually reminds me of the famous quote from Sunset Boulevard. In the scene, Joe Gillis, a young and poor screenwriter, meets Norma Desmond, a former silent movie star dreaming of making her comeback.

“You used to be big,” he says.

She responds “I am big. It’s the pictures that got small”.

Well, like the film I’ve matched it with, the Boulevard is big! Sip slowly while enjoying the brilliance that is the film Sunset Boulevard!

Phantomato of The Opera Tarts

I loved these! They were so delicious! The combination of sweet caramlised onions, the tanginess of the goat’s curd and sweet bite of the cherry tomatoes was Chef’s kiss perfect. I could not find mustard cress so garnished my little tartlets with basil leaves. The phantomato tarts are sure to have you singing an aria of joy when you taste them!

Chinatown Chicken Salad

This was the first recipe I chose for this film night post because it seemed too good to be true that here was a direct reference to a film. (For new readers, I chose the topics for these 20 years ago posts via a random number generator). And yes, the name was incredibly fortuitous, but….I just didn’t love the salad. It wasn’t terrible. It was just a bit bland.

The second day I ate this, I added some baby corn and some crispy chilli oil to liven things up a bit, and that did make it better. I also didn’t have any coriander (cilantro) so I added some Thai Basil which to me is a far superior herb. Not everything is for everyone, though, and I’m sure many other people would find this delicious! Personally, I might have liked it better with the duck, which is given as an option instead of chicken. However, for me, this quote is my view on the Chinatown Chicken Salad!

Passionfruit Roulade of The Christ

Interestingly, both The Phantom of the Opera and The Passion of The Christ were released in 2004! So, technically, a movie buff in November 2004 could have themed a dinner party exactly like this. I added some whipped cream into the roulade along with the passionfruit curd.

And what a way to finish! The passionfruit roulade is as light as air with a little zing coming from the passionfruit so it is also not overly sweet! One might say it is divine!

My Nigella Moment – Polka Dot Popcorn

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.

This month, my Nigella moment is definitely in theme! Because what’s a movie night without some popcorn? When I was growing up, we had a snack food called Lolly Gobble Bliss Bombs, which were a combination of caramel popcorn and peanuts. This gave me the same vibes, plus a wave of nostalgia! It’s really yummy, and if you wanted to throw in some peanuts for a really Lolly Goggle Bliss Bomb effect, who could blame you?

I hope you have enjoyed Movie Night from November 2004. For me, the month was a little hit-and-miss.

I am taking a weekend break next week to travel to Queensland to catch up with some family. I will do my best to set up the next post to send out on Sunday morning at the regular time. However, if things go awry and that doesn’t happen, I will be back Sunday evening and will do my best to send it out manually then. Apologies in advance if it is late.

Have a great week!

27
Oct
2024

Feb 2004 – From the Garden

categories: 20 Years Ago Today, Australian Table, Chicken, Potato, Potato Salad, Scallops, Seafood

Hello dear readers! I was updating the index for the Twenty Years Ago Today posts this week and I realised I had not actually posted this one from way back in February! Given that today’s post was just a little teaser for Murder is Announced which will be released on Tuesday, I thought why not post this today so you also get some real content. Enjoy!

Hello, retro food lovers! Buckle up for a delicious journey back in time! Today, we’re using the magic of Australian Table magazine to teleport ourselves to February 2004, and build a menu that celebrates the vibrant bounty of the garden. Talk about perfect timing, with our own gardens bursting at the seams right now! But before we whip up some culinary magic, let’s take a nostalgic stroll down memory lane and see what was buzzing in pop culture back then.

First up, music: Australia was rocking out to Shannon Noll’s powerful cover of the Moving Pictures classic “What about Me?”. Fun fact, this very song just gave me some serious bragging rights in a pub quiz! So, while it might have retired from the charts, it’s clearly not forgotten.

Now, onto the literary world: can you guess the top-selling book of the first half of February 2004? Drumroll please… yep, you guessed it, it was the phenomenon that was The Da Vinci Code. And if you think its grip on pop culture was about to loosen anytime soon, think again! Speaking of cultural giants, Jesus himself made a big splash on the big screen, with The Passion of the Christ becoming the highest-grossing film of the month. So, get ready for a menu that’s not only fresh and seasonal, but also infused with a touch of early 2004 nostalgia.

Fun Fact From Australian Table February 2004

I found this little timeline of how food evolved in Australia over the last 70 years fascinating I particularly liked it that they did this by looking at old magazines. Hmm…now what does that remind me of?

Now, let’s take a look at our menu.

The Menu – February 2004

Summer Cocktail

Garden ingredient : Mint

This was a take on a Classic Pimms Punch combining gingerale, lemonade, Pimms, cucumber, mint and orange. Many of these recipes often also contain strawberries which we also have growing but this one didn’t. It was however delicious. This was summer in a glass!

Summer Cocktail Recipe

Seared Scallop Salad with Macadamia and Coriander Pesto

Garden Ingredients, Mint, Lime

While I am not a huge scallop fan this was delicious! Next time I make it I would use prawns. Confession: I took some liberties with the salad, swapping out the red capsicum and beansprouts. I can’t eat red capsicum and I could only find huge bags of beansprouts at the greengrocer. Bean sprouts aren’t bad, but buying a giant bag just for a few felt wasteful! I opted for cherry tomatoes (home grown) and red onion instead. This dish is colourful and pretty and the macadamia and coriander pesto is divine!

Seared Scallop Salad with Macadamia and Coriander Pesto

Rosemary and Lemon Chicken with Mint Dressing

Garden Ingredients: Rosemary, Lemon, Mint

This was a great quick and easy midweek meal. Nothing elaborate but relatively quick and tasty.

Rosemary and Lemon Chicken with Mint Dressing – Recipe

Potato Salad with Garlic and Caper Mayonnaise

Garden Ingredients: Lemon, Parsley

I love potato salad. Roseanne Cash Potato Salad remains one of my favourites but the Garlic and Caper Mayo on this one was superb!

Potato Salad with Garlic and Caper Mayonnaise – Recipe

Angel Cheesecake

Garden Ingredients: Limes

I am not 100% sure why this is called an Angel Cheesecake. Maybe because there are egg whites in the filling to make it lighter? Maybe because the combination of lime and passionfruit is divine?

We have a passionfruit vine in the garden but it is only tiny so has not had any fruit on it yet. I am looking forward to making this again with some homegrown passionfruit sometime in the future!

Angel Cheesecake – Recipe

My Nigella Moment – Barbecued Green Rice

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 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 because it is too good not to share.

This month I chose a recipe that used a technique that was new to me. I have never thought of putting rice on the bbq. But I made the sushi with crispy rice out of the book Eat California by Vivian Lui (highly recommended BTW) and I loved it. And this gave me the same vibes. It was really tasty and I did get the crispy rice I was after but this recipe really needed some salt to make it a 10/10 instead of an 8/10! We also do not have a bbq at the moment so I made this in a pan on the stove.

Barbecued Green Rice Recipe

I really enjoyed this month, it just felt very lemon and mint-heavy in terms of garden produce! There were some absolute winners in the taste department too – the pesto, the potato salad, the cheesecake, and the rice are things that will become part of my repertoire!

20
Oct
2024

October 2004 – The Letter B

categories: 20 Years Ago Today, Delicious

Hello Friends, today we are time tripping back to October 2004. Our menu is brought to us by Delicious Magazine and the letter B. And if that has a vaguely Sesame Street ring to it, then you might also enjoy this! And whilst we are delving into nostalgia, let’s take a look at what was topping the film, book and movie charts in October 2004.

October 2004 – Pop Culture

Films

If you remember last month, I was underwhelmed by the movies on offer. How the world can change in 30 days! October 2004 was an absolute belter of a month for movies. Team America World Police was #8, The Motorcycle Diaries was #13 and one of my very favourites, Shaun of the Dead was at #14.

Books

For what seems like the first time since I have been doing these posts, The Da Vinci code was not at #1 on the book charts. The start of the month saw Trace by Patricia Cornwall take that spot and later in the month the 7th instalment of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series, The Dark Tower top the best sellers.

Music

Just Lose It by Eminem was top of the charts, followed by She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5 and Lose my Breath by Destiny’s Child. Losing things was big in October 2004! My favourite, Bowling for Soup’s 1985 was still at #8.

Having set the scene, now lets turn our attention to the menu.

The Menu – October 2004

This was another AI assisted menu design. Still super frustrating to do! I’m sure I will get better at it, the more I do it, but for the moment it is really difficult!

Broad Bean Bruschetta

Well, if we’re gong to feature the letter B, why not start with a triple! I love broad beans – their bright green colour and the velvety feel of their pods give me a sense of joy that is hard to describe. And their appearance signals the start or spring and longer warmer days. The tarragon, which came from my garden, was an unexpected delight in this! I really want to grow my own broad beans too but keep missing the growing season. I would love to be able to make these again with both of the main items home grown. I’ll file that one for next year!

My one complaint with this is that there was nothing to “stick” the beans to the bread. The minute I picked it up and took a bite, there was a rain of broad beans off the bread! I think maybe a goat’s cheese or a whipped feta would have worked here to help the broad beans stay on the bread.

Broad Bean Bruschetta Recipe

Lamb Burger

This was billed as the best lamb burger. Now, we all know that the actual ultimate lamb burger is my Spic(e)y Feta Burger but these were pretty good!

Lamb Burger Recipe

Berry Tiramisu

Who doesn’t love a Tiramisu? And the berries brought a fresh note into this Italian classic. This was SENSATIONAL. I don’t love a coffee dessert but I would eat this every and any night of the week!

Berry Tiramisu Recipe

My Nigella Moment – Crumpets

Possibly inspired by my Welsh Rarebit Crumpets of a few weeks ago, I was very excited to make my own crumpets. They were somewhat successful. They were quite tasteless which was not so much of an issue because I could add flavour with the toppings but I could not get the really crumpet like top on them. This one was probably the most recognisably crumpetty one:

They did have the crumpet like texture on the inside though! Would i make these again? Probably not. They were quite a bit of work and when bought crumpets are cheap and delicious I think I will stick to them in future. Still, at last I can say I gave them a go!

Crumpets Recipe

29
Sep
2024

September 2004 – Feeling Fruity

categories: 20 Years Ago Today, Asparagus, Avocado, Champagne, Delicious, Duck, Grapefruit, Orange, Prawns, Raspberry, Strawberries

Hello friends and welcome to September 2004. Today, we’ll be exploring a fun fruit-forward menu via Delicious Magazine. But as usual, before we dive into the menu, let’s take a look at what we were watching, reading, and listening to in September 20 years ago.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t rushing to the Cinema in September 2004. Resident Evil: Apocalypse was #1 at the box office, followed by Hero with Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow at number 3. However, all of these titles are drawing total blanks for me! On the other hand, I am very well aware of the number one book on the best seller lists – it was The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, which I think has been number one on the charts since I started doing these Twenty Years Ago posts!

While I may not have been greatly enamoured with the books and films of 2004, the music was another matter. 1985 by Bowling for Soup was #7, and American Idiot was #8. Finally, something for me!”

Speaking of other things for me, let’s get it started in here (BTW, that was #2 in September 2004) with our feeling fruity menu!

The Menu – September 2004

I designed my September 2004 menu using AI. It was a hard slog, and there were times when I was ready to throw my laptop against the wall. However, in the end, it was worth the effort. Even if I do say so myself!

Wicked Champagne Cocktail

This Jamie Oliver recipe was very simple – pomegranate juice with sparkling wine. But it was also a great way to start our fruity theme for September 2004!

Wicked Champagne Cocktail Recipe

Prawn, Grapefruit and Avocado Salad

This was divine!!! All my favourite flavours!

Prawn, Grapefruit and Avocado Salad Recipe

Duck Breast with Raspberry Vinaigrette

Another winner! I had some pink pickled onions from something else I had made in the fridge and I added them to this recipe. I think they worked well with the rest of the ingredients but, they could easily be left out.

Duck Breast with Raspberry Vinaigrette Recipe

Raspberry and Strawberry Mousse Cake

Oh. My. Lord. This was heaven!!!! And for something that looks so gorgeous was very easy to make!

Raspberry and Strawberry Mousse Cake Recipe

Orange and Rosemary Tisane

Drinking this made me feel very Poirot! The blend of orange and rosemary was very pleasant and refreshing.

My Nigella Moment – Asparagus Maltaise

This month’s Nigella dish actually fits the theme. It is an Asparagus Maltaise. Now I only learned recently that Hollandaise was the OG way of saying that the sauce came from / was isnpired by Holland! It’s kind of in the name when you think about about it, but I had never put the two together before. So…Maltaise is a Hollandaise with Orange.. inspired by…Malta?

If you’re wondering why my sauce is pink…well the recipe called for Blood Orange and the Blood orange I bought (not on purpose, I literally grabbed the first blood orange I saw at the supermarket) were the darkest I have ever seen!

The juice looked like red wine!

It was that depth of colour that turned my sauce pink! I thought this looked spectacular! Pink and green are one of my favorite color combinations. And the flavour of that blood orange was spectacular!

This was delicious!!!! One of the dishes that makes me so glad I am going back and exploring these magazines!

Asparagus Maltaise Recipe

What a month!!!! I loved cooking these recipes! They were all amazing!!! And helped me to get my seven a day! Have a great week!