Books Archives - Retro Food For Modern Times

Category: Books

09
Apr
2022

Upside Down Cake

categories: 1970's food, 1970's recipes, Books, Classic Recipes, United States of America, World Cooking

Welcome to the best of March! I have been dying to share this recipe ever since I made it over a month ago. I held off because after tasting it I thought it would take something absolutely amazing to top it. Whilst my tastebuds would have rejoiced had this been the case, the pineapple upside-down cake from Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery was last month’s winner. It also made me realise that this is my favourite cake. You can take your chocolate cake, your red velvet and even your Victoria Sponge, I will choose Pineapple Upside Down Cake over pretty much any other type of cake ( the one exception would be Sri Lankan Love Cake).

Why do I like it so much?

It’s delicious!!!!
It has a delightful retro charm both in look and taste
It’s happy – the bright yellow pineapple and glossy red cherries can brighten a gloomy grey day
The half circles of pineapple look like they are smiling at you and the whole pineapple rings look like bright flowers

Upside Down Cake – The Recipe

Other Favourites of The Month

Reading

The best book I read in March was Turns Out, I’m Fine by Australian comedian Judith Lucy. I am a big fan of her work in general and this one did not disappoint. Lucy tackles relationship breakup, money issues, death of loved ones, aging and menopause, women in comedy, activism and many other things in her typically frank, funny and vulnerable way. This was a joy to read and really, who doesn’t want to know how not to fall apart? (Added bonus is that she reads the audio book).

Cookbook

My favourite cookbook for the month is not actually a cookbook The Alcorithm is about how to let your favourite flavours expand your palate. It reminds me very much of one of my other faves, Niki Segnit’s Flavour Thesaurus. I have only just started reading the Alcorithm but I am already fascinated.

The Alcorithm

Watching

I watched Pieces of Her on Netflix and I am mid-way through Bad Vegan and The Girl from Plainville. All of which I either enjoyed or am enjoying We are watching Se7en for film club this week. Is it weird to say that such a gory movie is probably in my top ten films ever? I am fairly sure that there will be people in the club who do not share my passion but that is what makes these discussions so interesting.

I didn’t do a lot else this month apparently – I have been trying to get to the gym more so my viewing time has been significantly cut back. I am on the lookout for some good streaming series to get stuck into and some new pods to listen to – please let me know if you have any recommendations!

Have a wonderful week! And please, let me know, what is your favourite cake?

14
Mar
2022

Vegeree

categories: Books, Film, Modern Times, Podcasts, Rice, Vegetarian

Hello friends and welcome to the best of February! The nicest thing I made this month was a vegetarian kedgeree (vegeree geddit) from Jamie Oliver. This recipe is from his Everyday Superfoods book and it is a belter! Kedgeree is a dish of spiced rice, usually made with smoked fish which grew to prominence in Colonial India. Traditionally, Kedgeree is a breakfast dish but I had mine for dinner. And as much as I love a bit of smoked fish, this was so delicious I am not sure if I will even bother to try the classic version after eating this one!

This is a dish to eat with your eyes before shovelling it down. It is so pretty and bright. I can see why it became popular for breakfast – those bright reds and greens and yellows would put a smile even on my totally-not-a-morning-person face. I used normal basmati rice, not brown and beans not peas for my vegeree.

Vegeree – The Recipe

I apologise for the state of this page. It is more than somewhat food splattered!!! (but the sign of a good recipe I always think).

Other Favourites of The Month

Reading

The Best book I read this month was Fuzz: When Nature Breaks The Law by Mary Roach. I loved learning about the different interactions between humans and animals. Not as fun but also fascinating is the book I am partway through – Going Dark: The Secret Social Lives of Extremists. As someone who mostly reads fiction, it was good to have two non-fiction recommendations this week!

Cookbook

Our theme for our Tasty Reads Cookbook Club this month is Charity Shop book and we spent a lovely Saturday morning having brunch and then shopping for our books. I bought three books during our shopping which was quite the haul. The one I am cooking from is a massive tome called Australia’s Favourite Recipes. From the photography in the book, I initially thought it was from the 1970s or 80s but I later found out it was published in 2010! Unfortunately, I am somewhat regretting my choice – not because of the dated photos but the book is so tall that it does not fit into any of my bookshelves!

I was intrigued to find within its pages a recipe for a chicken dish called Shakuti. This is possibly a recipe for the Chicken Xacuti mentioned in the Tim Key episode of the Off-Menu Podcast. I had never heard of this curry before. And now I have a recipe! The Baader-Meinhof effect at work!

Watching

We saw Death on The Nile which I LOVED. The scenery was spectacular and made me want to go to Egypt to see the sights myself. The Dining with the Dame for this will be later this year.

Listening

I’ve started listening to the Twin Flames podcast and am very much enjoying the current series of Rabbits. The Rabbits novel is also great! I’m devastated that the shipping for Path Cards outside the US is so expensive. I would buy a pack for sure if it was anywhere near reasonable!

Moving

Along with my beloved Zumba classes, I am now doing Sh’bam classes at the local gym and LOVING them! I love an exercise class where it feels more like fun than hard work and this certainly fits the bill! Looking forward to shifting some of those covid kilos through dance!

Tomorrow is a public holiday here to celebrate Labour Day. I will be celebrating the introduction of the 8-hour workday with a sleep in, a trip to the gym and some baking which hopefully will feature here shortly!

Have a wonderful week!

31
Oct
2021

Murder on the Orient Espresso Martini

categories: Books, Cocktail, Coffee, Dining With The Dame, Kahlua, Poirot, Vodka

Given my love of Aggie, cocktails and puns was there ever a world where I was not going to make a Murder on The Orient Espresso Martini? And yes, in my head I call her Aggie. I am sure Dame Agatha is turning in her grave at the thought! But, once I started I could not stop! Just like you might not be able to stop at just one of these delicious Espresso Martinis!

I have always been a bit wary of an Espresso Martini as I thought the caffeine would keep me awake. Also, the last coffee flavoured cocktail I made was from Cantina and was disgusting. It convinced me that I did not like coffee flavoured cocktails. I now think that the awfulness of that cocktail was probably more due to the many problems with that book rather than an aversion to coffee cocktails per se. I really enjoyed the Espresso Martini!!! Drinking it felt very luxuriant and sophisticated which ties in nicely with the glamour and opulence of the Orient Express.

Poirot might have sipped one instead of the luminous green cocktail he drinks in the film had they been invented back then!

Express Martini History

London bartender Dick Bradsell created the Espresso Martini in the 1980s. He mixed it up for a young model who asked him for something to “wake me up and f**k me up” Rumour has it that the model was Kate Moss but this is unconfirmed!

It would however dovetail very nicely into my narrative as Kate Moss famously dated Johnny Depp in the 1990s. And he played Ratchett in the Kenneth Brannagh version of Murder on the Orient Express!

This brings us back to doh-oh-oh!

(Don’tcha love it when something works out so neatly!)

Espresso Martini – The Recipe

I used the recipe from 365 Days of Cocktails by Difford’s Guide. The recipe on their website has a very intriguing sounding dash of salt solution in it which I really want to try!

Here’s the recipe I used:

Espresso Martini Recipe — via 365 Days of Cocktails

The November book if you are reading along will be “Three Act Tragedy” which was actually written before Murder on the Orient Express but which I skipped in order to do the collab with Jenny. Whilst it is not as well known as Murder it is a cracker of a read and unlike a few recent books is jammed full of food references.

Have a wonderful week and happy reading!

14
Feb
2021

Broken Hearts on Horseback

categories: Books, Holidays, Starters, Valentine's Day

Broken Hearts on Horseback? What kind of a name is that I hear you ask. Well, you’ve heard of Angels on Horseback and Devils on Horseback? Broken Hearts on Horseback are my contribution to the genre. They were inspired. by the book Why We Broke Up written by Daniel Handler and illustrated by Maira Kalman I read this book recently and absolutely loved it!

Why We Broke Up – The Plot

Why we broke up is the story of Min and Ed and why they broke up. Min is arty, no different, no weird, no offence as Ed would say. Ed is co-captain of the basketball team. High school being high school, these are two people whose paths should never have crossed but for the brief time they did, it was glorious!

Their story is recounted by Min and is set around a box of objects that had significance to their relationship – bottle-tops from the first bottles of beer they drank together, cinema tickets, a bought coat, a stolen sugar pourer. Min is returning them all to Ed as she no longer wants to be reminded of their love. (I remember doing something very similar after my own first love breakup. Which, if you are contemplating this…don’t do it. Those things that are so precious to you will only either be thrown in the bin or worse still, given to the new girlfriend!).

Why Should You Read It?

If you have ever been in love.
If you have ever had your heart broken.
If you have ever fallen for someone who was not of your social set.
If you are madly in love
If you are in the deepest darkest throes of a break up
if you have forgotten what love feels like

Then this is the book for you.

And if the love story reasons don’t convince you, then there is this – Min is a passionate film buff and is constantly referring to her favourite films. I also consider myself somewhat knowledgeable about movies and was surprised, after the third or fourth reference that I had never heard of any of the films, actors or directors she mentioned. The reason? They only exist in the universe of the book. I had to Google them to find this out though. I thought this was so clever. It would have been easy to use real films but inventing so many? Genius!

There are also two books (also which don’t exist in real life) that are referenced throughout the book. Both of these made me think of the lovely Jenny from Silver Screen Suppers. I so wished both Real Recipes from Tinseltown and When The Lights Go Down were real just so I could send them to Jenny and brighten her days in lockdown!

Broken Hearts on Horseback – The Inspo

” I think I read, ” Al is saying now , “About an appetizer thing with chestnuts though. You wrap them up in prosciutto I think, brush them with grappa, and roast them and put a little parsley on top.”

“Or maybe blue cheese”, I said.

“That’d be good.”

“Could we use chestnuts from a jar?”

“Sure. Wrapping something in proscuitto cancels out from a jar. Wrapping in proscuitto cancels out anything.”

Why We Broke Up – Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman

Broken Hearts on Horseback – The Recipe

Broken Hearts on Horseback

Print Recipe

A delicious appetiser inspired by the book “Why We Broke Up” by Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman

Author: Taryn Nicole
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Category: Appetisers

Ingredients

Scale

I pack pre-cooked chestnuts (The pack I used had about 25 chestnuts inside).

4 slices of proscuitto

1/2 tbsp Calvados*

1 wedge of blue cheese

2 tbsp chopped parsley

Smoked Paprika (optional)

Olive oil and Balsamic Vinegar (optional)

As many toothpicks / cocktail sticks as you have chestnuts

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Preheat your grill to 150C.

Cut or tear each slice of prosciutto into 6 pieces.

Wrap a prosciutto strip around each chestnut.

Place the wrapped chestnuts onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper.

Brush with the calvados and place under the grill for around 10 minutes or until the proscuitto is crispy.

Meanwhile, cut as many small chunks of blue cheese as you have chestnuts and roll them in the chopped parsley. Place a cocktail skewer through each chunk of cheese.

Once the chestnuts are cooked, add a chestnut to each of the blue cheese skewers. The cheese may melt a little. Sprinkle with a little smoked paprika if you wish.

Serve with a little dipping sauce of olive oil and balsamic vinegar if you wish.

Notes

*The original recipe used Grappa. I did not have Grappa so subbed in some Calvados I found in the liquor cupboard. Brandy would also be a good substitute. if you do not want to use alcohol, you could try an unsweetened apple or grape juice.

Happy Valentine’s Day friends, may your hearts never be broken and your plates full of cheesy meaty goodness on a stick!

12
Feb
2021

The Late Blumer Cocktail

categories: Books, Cocktail, Gin

Happy birthday Judy Blume! Let’s all celebrate the 83rd birthday of one of my favourite young adult authors by raising a toast with a cocktail known as the Late Blumer!

Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret was one of my FAVOURITE books growing up. I must have read it a hundred times! The issues of boys and bras and periods and feeling confused and anxious all the time spoke to me in a way that no other book at the time did.

I read and reread this edition of the book. Funnily enough, I rarely reread books nowadays but as a child? I could finish a book on a Monday and start it again the following day. Having said that, I am currently rereading Are You There God and it is totally transporting me to back then!

I also read all the other Judy Blume books that were available in the Glen Waverley Public Library. But Are You There God was by far my favourite.

The Late Blumer Cocktail

I found this cocktail on A Beautiful Mess years ago The link to the cocktail recipe on the site no longer works. So, I am very glad I printed it when I did. Thank you so much for the recipe Elsie!.

The Late Blumer is a fruity gin cocktail with some spice from the ginger and some herbiness from basil. In other words, my kind of cocktail! I love the combination of gin and ginger so this one was always going to be right up my alley in terms of flavour and it did not disappoint!

Here is my printed recipe:

And here it is a version with the measurements I thought worked best.

The Late Blumer

1 serving

30mls Gin
1 ripe apricot
4 raspberries plus 1 more for garnish
2 basil leaves plus more to garnish
Gingerale to top up your glass – mine was around 150ml.
Ice cubes

Mudde the apricots, raspberries and basil leaves in the bottom of your cocktail shaker.

Add the gin and let sit for around 5-10 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse.

Add some ice cubes to a glass and top with the gin mixture. You can strain this of you do not like bits of fruit in your cocktail. Fill to the top of the glass with ginger ale.

Garnish with additional basil leaves and raspberries and enjoy!

Judy Blume NY Post (1) — **via The New York Post**

Here’s to you Judy Blume! Happy birthday!!! Your writing has helped shaped the lives of generations of girls. Because we always knew that if we needed some understanding, some kind words or encouragement, we didn’t even need to ask “Are you there Judy?” All we had to do was open a book.

“Each of us must confront our own fears, must come face to face with them. How we handle our fears will determine where we go with the rest of our lives. To experience adventure or to be limited by the fear of it.”

– Judy Blume

Tell me, where you a Judy Blume fan? What was your favourite?

Have a great weekend!