Category: 20 Years Ago Today


Sep
2023

August 2003 – Summer

categories: 20 Years Ago Today, Chicken, Prawns, Vodka, Watermelon

Summer Lovin’ had me a blast!  Hello, retro food lovers!  Today as you may have guessed from the header and my musical intro we are taking a tour back to August 2003 via Australian Table.  The aim is to see if that magazine can provide us with a super summer feast! 

Now I know that some of you might be thinking…what’s hard about that?  Surely all mags, twenty years ago would be showing seasonal recipes..  Well, don’t forget readers that in Australia is it winter!  Now it may surprise some of you but in the south of Australia, where I live it gets cold!  Not Canada cold or Northern European cold, but definitely cold enough for this season to be recognisably winter. The magazine cover promises Shepherd’s Pie, Bangers and Mash, Beef Stroganoff and Roast Chicken.  Will we be able to find some summery food in the midst of this hearty winter fare?

Table 0803

 

First, to put us in the mood let’s see what was on the pop culture in August 2003!  The Da Vinci Code was still topping the book charts, S.W.A.T was killing it at the box office and Breathe by Sean Paul featuring Blu Cantrell was the number 1 song.  

The Menu – August 2003

Summer Menu 1

Chargrilled Prawns with Coriander and Lime

For me, the best summer food is eaten outdoors so these prawns, which would be amazing cooked on the BBQ were my choice of a starter.

Chargrilled Prawns

The marinated prawns were super delicious!  I did not like the dressing and, come summer when I make these on the barbie I will leave the dressing out completely.  Whilst I don’t mind sherry as a drink I felt it gave the dressing on what was a very fresh and lively dish a kind of fusty taste which I found unpleasant.  If you want to try it with the dressing, I would suggest serving it on the side!

Chargrilled Prawns Recipe

Chargrilled Prawns Collage2

Satay Chicken Skewers

Another dish which would be ideal cooked on the BBQ.  I love a chicken satay and this one is super easy because it uses a bought satay sauce!  

Chicken Satay 1

I served this with a cucumber and red onion salad, which is, my Malaysian friends tell me, a traditional accompaniment to Chicken satay.  You could also, of course serve rice or noodles with the chicken satay skewers as well. 

Chicken Satay 2

Perfectly grilled chicken, dipped in a satay sauce with some salad!  Heaven on a stick!

Satay Chicken Recipe

Chicken Satay 1 (1)

Ice Cream with Rocky Road Sauce

I didn’t have time to make this due to holidays, Pieathalon, work, cooking for our Foodies Cookbook club, a date with my mum to see A Haunting In Venice all of which amounts to life in general.  However, it’s a really simple recipe which I am sure tastes absolutely delicious!  Please let me know if you give it a try!

Ice Cream with Rocky Road Sauce Recipe

Watermelon and Vodka Cocktail

This cocktail was pretty much identical to this one that I made back in February.

Watermelon Vodka

My Nigella Moment  – Thai Beef Noodles

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 does not fit with the overall menu theme but I’m sneaking it in either because I made it and it was really good, or I just didn’t have time to make it but it was one of the most appetising things in the mag!

This time round it was some Thai beef noodles. I’m hoping that sherry will redeem itself in this recipe as it sure didn’t work in the prawns!  These look delicious and fun!

Thai Beef Noodles

 

Australian Table was able to dish up a lovely summery meal despite being an issue from the middle of winter!  The prawns and satay were also nice in winter and were lovely reminders that summer is on it’s way!

 

 

 

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Jul
2023

July 2003 – What’s In The Fridge?

categories: 20 Years Ago Today, Chocolate, Pizza, Steak

Hello, retro food lovers!  Let’s take a trip back twenty years to July 2003.  While where there, why not pick up the current copy of  Delicious Magazine and try to make a meal with ingredients that we can find in our fridge.  I set a rule for myself with this one that at least 2 ingredients for each meal had to come from my fridge.  For the purposes of full disclosure, I have also listed items I have used from my freezer, pantry and those I bought for the recipes.  Before we head to the recipes, let’s set the scene for what else was happening in July 2003!

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl was #1 at the box office, followed by Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Bad Boys II.  Doesn’t sounds like I would have been going to the movies a lot in July 2003!  Instead, I was likely staying at home reading the best-selling Da Vinci Code by Dance Brown and listening to Beyonce’s Crazy in Love.  But enough about me, let’s get to our menu!

The Menu – July 2003

 

What's in the Fridge Menujuly

BROCCOLI, PANCETTA AND FETA PIZZA

There was a cheese fondue in the magazine which very nearly became the entree for our July 2003 menu but in the end I chose the pizza.  The recipe comes from an advertisement for Ardmona Rich and Thick Chopped Tomatoes which was absolutely brilliant and why I decided to use this recipe over the fondue.  The advertisements which ran for a number of years featured celebrities not known for their intelligence advertising pureed tomatoes!  Rich and thick tomatoes from the rich and…you get it.  The ad certainly caught my eye!   Also, this was the only recipe in the magazine where I did not have to buy any ingredients, although I substituted a few:

Fridge ingredients

  • Broccolini (subbed for the broccoli in the recipe)
  • Proscuitto (subbed for the pancetta in the recipe)
  • Feta cheese

All of these were leftovers from other things I had made which would have otherwise likley gone to waste

Other ingredients

  • Puff Pastry – from the freezer
  • Tinned tomatoes – from the pantry

Broccoli Pizza

 

Broccoli and Pancetta Pizza Recipe

Pizza recipe

 

Beef Carpaccio with Parmesan, Horseradish and Raw Beetroot

This is a Jamie Oliver recipe that I made to use up some leftover beetroot.  I generally hate beetroot but the fussiest eater in the world likes it so we had half a beetroot in the fridge left over from a roast dinner he had made.  A lot of people, including me, give Jamie Oliver a hard time but seriously…this might be one of the best things I have eaten all year!!!  It was perfectly pitched.  Everything went together so well.  It was an absolute dream of a dish!  10/10 Mr Oliver, this one was outstanding!

Fridge ingredients

  • Beetroot
  • Horseradish (originally from our garden)
  • Sour cream (instead of the creme fraiche in the recipe)
  • Parmesan cheese

Other ingredients

  • Thyme – from the garden
  • Lemon – from the garden
  • Olive oil, salt, pepper – from the pantry

Bought ingredients

  • 1 steak  – I was not going to buy a whole fillet for two people!
  • Rocket -(this cost all of 36 cents!)

Beef Carpaccio

Carpaccio recipe:

Carpaccio Collage

 

Chocolate Chestnut Log

On first reading, I thought this would be a cake.  Instead, imagine a melt-in-the-mouth mousse with a swirl of chestnut surrounded by a swirl of chocolate chestnut.  Delicious but very rich!!!! (Not thick though).  If the carpaccio was something I would gladly eat every day, this is a dish I would save for special occasions. 

Chocolate Chestnut Log

Chocolate Chestnut Log Recipe:

Fridge ingredients

  • Butter
  • Egg

Other ingredients

  • Sugar – from the pantry
  • Brandy from the drinks cabinet
  • A can of chestnut puree which had been in the pantry for far too long!
  • Cocoa powder – from the pantry

Bought ingredients

  • Dark Chocolate 

My Nigella Moment  – Fillet of Beef Bourguignonne

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 does not fit with the overall menu theme but I’m sneaking it in either because I made it and it was really good, or I just didn’t have time to make it but it was one of the most appetising things in the mag!

I feel a bit sorry for the cheese fondue recipe in the July 2003 issue of Delicious Magazine.  It got pipped at the post for the starter and again for the Nigella moment.  Those of you who know me, and whose jaws are dropping that I didn’t pick the fondue (twice), take a look at this picture:

Fillet of Beef Bourguignonne (1)

The perfectly cooked beef, the glossy sauce, the wine-soaked onions – this dish looks so beautiful and luxurious to me and something that I would definitely cook if I was having a group of people for dinner.  Something this size though would feed us both for a week.  I’m holding on to this recipe though!  Next time we do magazines in my Foodies club, this is exactly where I am heading!!!! 

Well, the July 2003 issue of Delicious proved to be an absolute treasure trove of recipes and definitely filled the brief of being able to base a meal, largely on ingredients that were in my fridge!  

 

 

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Jun
2023

June 2003 – Gluten-Free

categories: 20 Years Ago Today, Cocktail, Gluten Free, Noodles, Prawns, Sorbet

Hello, retro food lovers! Today we are taking a trip back to June 2003 for a gluten-free meal brought to us by Donna Hay Magazine, issue #x. Was gluten-free a thing back then? I know obviously people with Coeliacs and other conditions would have needed to be gluten-free but I am not sure it was as popular as it is now. However, before we see whether or not we could prepare a decent meal from a magazine in 2003, let’s see what was making headlines!

  • Europe launched it’s first mission to Mars

  • J.K Rowling released book 5 in the Harry Potter series, Happy Potter and the Order of The Phoenix.

  • Glastonbury was headlined by Radiohead, Moby and R.E.M

  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl premiered at Disneyland

Sugar Cane Prawns2

So, a pretty good month for pop culture!  And space exploration.  But was it as good a month if you had gluten free guests arriving and all you had for inspiration was the latest edition of Donna Hay Magazine?

The Menu – June 2003

 

Grapefruit Bianco

This was refreshing and quite savoury.  I used a bit less sugar than the recipe and I loved the combination of the slight bitterness from the grapefruit and the herby/citrussy Cinzano.  This really helped to set the tone for the rest of the meal!

Grapefruit Bianco

Grapefruit Bianco Recipé:

Grapefruit Bianco Recipe

 

Sugar Cane Prawns

I loved these!  I didn’t use the rice paper as per the recipe but added some lettuce leaves to use as wraps.  Any leftover sticks are great the following day in a baguette with some more lettuce, some herbs, chilli and pickles, banh mi style!

Sugar Cane Prawns

 

Sugar Cane Prawns Recipe

Sugar Cane Prawns recipe

 

Pad Thai

Who knew this take-out favourite was so easy to make at home?  This was so tasty it had the fussiest eater in the world commenting on how good the tofu was!

 

pad thai

Pad Thai Recipé:

Pad Thai Recipe

Grown Up Spider

Just to explain for my non-Australian readers.  We are not about to eat arachnids.  We call a mix of soft drink and ice cream a spider.  This one mixes sorbet and Moscato into an adults-only version which was a lovely refreshing end to this meal.   I used mango sorbet in my Spider and it worked really well. 

Grown up Spider

Grown-Up Spider Recipe:

Grown Up Spider recipe

My Nigella Moment  – Crispy Skin Chicken

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 does not fit with the overall menu theme but I’m sneaking it in either because I made it and it was really good, or I just didn’t have time to make it but it was one of the most appetising things in the mag!

There were a few contenders for my Nigella moment in this magazine.  There were some macarons…but hold fire as we will be making them next week.  If they work out!  Then there was a four-cheese toasted sandwich which sounded divine.  Cheese is my love language after all!  But a sandwich seemed a little contrary to the gluten-freeness of this post.    So, I went with this Crispy Skin Chicken because just looking at it makes my mouth water!

Crispy Skin Chicken Collage

 

I didn’t make the crispy skin chicken because:

1) I couldn’t find spatchcocks 

2) Deep frying is such a faff and,

3) I very doubt I could make something that looked that good!

I think the June 2003 Donna Hay Magazine gave me some fabulous inspiration for my gluten-free meal!  And it made someone enjoy tofu!!!  10/10 for this one! 

Have a great week!


 

 


Apr
2023

Lunch in Provence – April 2003

categories: 20 Years Ago Today, Delicious, Magazines
Braised Green Olives

Bonjour les amis et bienvenue dans mon déjeuner inspiré de la Provence et d’avril 2003. My inspiration for this menu came from the April 2003 issue of Delicious Magazine. Initially, the topic was “So Frenchy So Chic” but as the menu evolved, so did my interpretation of it. Not for us the hustle and bustle of a Parisian bistro. Today we are taking it slow and enjoying the fresh air and rustic pleasures of lunch in the countryside.  With a tiny bit of Asian influence thrown in.  It is not totally unfounded either, after all, back in the day, the French has colonies in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and parts of Thailand.  

Let’s set the scene, shall we? Lunch is being served outside on a long table sheltered from the sun by the branches of the same olive trees that are providing your entree. The air is scented with lavender from a nearby farm and somewhere nearby a little brook is babbling away…

Maybe something a little like this!

Our April 2003 Menu

Eagle-Eyed readers will notice that for the first time ever in these 20 years ago today posts that we are not opening with some sort of beverage. Instead, we are closing out with one.  This is because the starter I chose, the Braised Olives and Almonds was the most purely “French” course whilst the only cocktail in the book was very Asian in its ingredients.  The two didn’t really work together so I thought moving the cocktail to the end of the meal would work better!

April 2003 Menu

 

Braised Green Olives With Roasted Almonds

These were so more-ish!  And so easy to do!  I could happily munch on a bowl of these any day of the week!  And I know we are holding out for the Sakitni at the end of the meal…but a glass of lovely French cider (Maybe a pear cider to match with the dessert) or some Provence Rosé would make this perfect drinking food!

Braised Green Olives

 

Braised Green Olives and Roasted Almonds Recipe:

Braised Olives Recipe

 

Glazed Salmon with Lime Beurre Blanc and Tomato, Ginger and Basil Salsa

This was really delicious and I liked the method of cooking the salmon in foil.  I had not tried this before as normally I pan fry or grill my salmon.  This was a more delicate way of cooking it.  I also used salmon fillets which made this so much easier to cook as a weeknight meal.  I simply placed the lime leaves under the salmon, the lemongrass by its side, and the lime on top.  Whilst we’re at it…I used regular red sweet chilli sauce instead of the yellow one suggested in the recipe.  I don’t think I have ever even seen yellow sweet chilli sauce!  

Salmon with Beurre Blanc2

 

Glazed Salmon with Lime Beurre Blanc and Tomato, Ginger and Basil Salsa Recipe:

Salmon with Beurre Blanc recipe

Pear Tart with Ginger Custard

I did not make this one – the purpose of these Twenty Years Ago Today recipes is not for me to cook the whole menu, even though sometimes I wish I could!  It is about seeing if a particular magazine from the past can fulfill a brief.  I don’t love pears so this is not something I would make BUT, I felt the Pear Tart fit in nicely with the French Country theme and the ginger custard echoed the ginger in the salsa that went with the salmon

Pear Tart with Ginger Custard Recipe:

Pear Tarts recipe

Sakitini

To close out our French country meal we have a very Asian-inspired martini – sake, a lychee instead of an olive, and ginger which has been present in the main and the dessert.  This is a sweeter style of martini rather than the dry style most people would drink so it ,is a nice if somewhat unusual, way to round out a meal.  

Sakitini recipe:

Sakitini recipe

 

My Nigella Moment  – Chocolate Raspberry Pudding Cake

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 does not fit with the overall menu theme but I’m sneaking it in either because I made it and it was really good, or I just didn’t have time to make it but it was the most appetising thing in the mag!

Again this month, this was a really tricky one.  There were two recipes that I wanted to cook.  In the end didn’t do either, possibly because I spent so long vacillating between the two that I ran out of time to do either!  

The first was a Brownie, Raspberry and Drambuie Trifle.  I mean…OMG…how good does that sound?  BUT the second was a Chocolate Raspberry Pudding cake from the lady herself!  And how could I resist not Nigella-ing Nigella?  Plus, I have made this recipe from How To Eat several times and it has never failed me.  It is my go-to recipe if I ever need to bake something that I know will turn out well!  

Chocolate Raspberry Pudding Cake Recipe

 

This was certainly the most challenging menu to pull together as there was nothing in the magazine that seemed specifically French.  I felt it came together pretty well even though I had to tweak the theme a little bit!  We’ll save So Frenchy So Chic for another day and leave this one as So Frenchy So Rustique!   Whatever we call it, April 2003 provided some delicious food which is what it’s all about!

Have a great week!

 

 

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Mar
2023

Let’s Get Lit – March 2003

categories: 20 Years Ago Today, Bread, Pasta, Sangria, Seafood, Soup, Tomatoes, Wine

Hello friends and welcome to March 2003! Avril Lavigne was topping the charts with I’m With You, Bringing Down the House was #1 at the box office and U.S. troops invaded Iraq looking to seek and destroy Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction. No wonder, when reflecting on the events of twenty years ago, we here at Retro Foods for Modern Times felt we might need to get a little boozy!  This was the theme for our menu which came from the March 2003 issue of Delicious Magazine!

March 2003 – The Menu

rffmt gets boozy menu

Sangria

As if we could have a boozy menu without a starting drink!  I love Sangria which despite being Spanish in origin always reminds me of our 2017 trip to Portugal where we would have a pre-dinner sangria most days!

Sangria in Portugal

Happy times!  Here’s the one from Delicious!

Sangria1

Sangria Recipe:

Beer Bread with Pastrami and Relish

Due to time constraints, I didn’t make this but doesn’t it look amazing?

Beer Bread Recipe

Spaghettini Alle Vongole

OMG, this was so good.  And also when I really wished I had made the beer bread so I could mop up all the delicious sauce left in the bowl.  I had never eaten Spaghettini Alle Vongole before and although this took a bit of effort to cook, it was worth it!

Spaghettini Alle Vongole Recipe:

Spaghetti Alle Vongole RECIPE

Citrus Salad with Cointreau Cream

To finish out the meal, we have a Citrus Salad with Cointreau Cream.  For an alternative dessert, but one that still uses Cointreau, you could sub in last week’s White Lady which also came from this magazine!

Citrus Salad with Cointreau Cream recipe1

My Nigella Moment – Salmorejo

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 does not fit with the overall menu theme but I’m sneaking it in either because I made it and it was really good, or I just didn’t have time to make it but it was the most appetising thing in the mag!

This was a difficult one.  I was torn between two recipes that really appealed to me.  One was a pink grapefruit tart.  However, as we already had a dessert containing grapefruit I decided to go with the other recipe from March 2003 which caught my eye – salmorejo.

Salmorejo is a cousin of gazpacho.  Gazpacho is one of those things that I thought I would hate.  Cold tomato soup?  Yeccchhh!!! That is until I tried it.  And from then on it was love!  I will note that even though I am a garlic lover, 4 cloves of garlic was too much for this!  Two would, I think have been plenty! 

It looked exactly as it did in the picture too!

Salmorejo

 

Salmorejo Recipe

Salmorejo recipe

Delicious Magazine certainly delivered on our ask for a boozy menu.  We had red wine and brandy in the sangria, beer in the bread, white wine in the spaghetti and Cointreau in the dessert!

Let me know if you would like to contribute a theme to my list.  I’m happy to take on any challenge!

 

Signature2

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