Cheese Archives - Page 6 of 10 - Retro Food For Modern Times

04
Jul
2015

Cheese and Date Night

categories: 1970's food, 1970's recipes, A-Zof Cooking, Bread, Cheese, Dates, Olives, Snacks, Starters

If we are at home on a Friday, we don’t usually eat a big meal, just usually have a couple of snacky things here and there.

Tonight’s snack plate had a distinctly retro feel so I thought I would share it with you!

Cheese and Date Bread

First up, we have some Cheese and Date Bread, courtesy of The A-Z of Cooking. We have jumped somewhat forward here in that this recipe appears under G – Good Health, when technically we are only up to D – Drinks and Dips. And whilst Drinks and Dips are usually good Friday fare, tonight it was something different.

I was intrigued by the idea of Cheese and Date Bread. I really wasn’t sure how the sweetness of the dates would go with the rest of the ingredients. These fears were completely unfounded. And my bread looked just like real proper bread!

If somewhat lopsided…

The bread is pretty good plain but if you want to take it to a whole new level? Toast it up.

Cheese and Date Balls

Like I said, initially I was hesitant to make the Cheese and Date Bread. What changed my mind was finding this recipe for Cheese and Date Balls:

Epicurious – Cheese and Date Balls

Of course I made mini balls – because that’s how I roll. Also, I swapped out the lemon in the recipe above for a teeny splash of vermouth.

Mmmmm…blue cheese, walnuts and dates spread on toasted Date and Cheese Bread. Life is good!

But wait…there’s more.

But first a little bit of disclosure. I am actually trying something new tonight which is to cook (ok, assemble, I had actually cooked everything beforehand), photo, write, review and post all in the one night. Normally this process can take WEEKS. I am also doing it whilst drinking a rather large martini which we will get to in due course. So, if the end of this devolves into absolute gibberish, you know why and apologies in advance.

Those olives you see on the plate? Aren’t just any olives. They are:

Martini Drenched Olives

Normally, you put your olive into a martini. In this recipe, you put some martini into your olives! This is so simple and really adds a new and different flavour to some otherwise ordinary olives.

Print

Martini Drenched Olives

Print Recipe

Usually, you put a olive in your martini. This recipe adds a little martini into your olives!

Author: Taryn Fryer

Ingredients

Scale

2 cups green olives (I used stuffed olives because I had them)
3 tbsp vodka
1 1/2 tbsp dry vermouth
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp shredded lemon zest
8–10 cracked peppercorns

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Rinse the olives under cold water and drain.
Combine all the other ingredients.
Place the olives in a bowl.
Pour the other ingredients over.
Refrigerate for at least an hour. (I kept mine in the fridge for nearly a week).

But you know what? If your going to have some martini drenched olives, why not make also make a Drenched Dirty Martini. It is Friday after all!

The Drenched Dirty Martini is a dirty martini made with Drenched Martini Olives.

[yumprint-recipe id=’32’]

Have a great weekend!

Signature 1 PS – Love to hear your thoughts on the quick and dirty post. I live in awe of the bloggers who manage to do something daily and would love to be able to increase my output. Your feedback on me just banging something out like tonight v agonising over every comma is most appreciated! Thanks as always. xx

Reimagined Martini Recipes for Celebrating Today’s Drinking Holiday
Bond Vivant: Shaking Martinis with Nick Charles
The Martini: the epitome of cocktail-hour refinement | Empire of Drinks
Warm Marinated Olives

02
Mar
2015

Jane Grigson’s Watercress and Orange Salad

categories: 1970's food, 1970's recipes, Cookbook Guru, Feta, Olives, Orange, Salad, Walnuts, Watercress

Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter,
Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here

Ok, so not exactly true for Melbourne, although it has been a fairly shitty summer. But certainly for my friends in the States, it must feel like that. But hopefully, this Watercress and Orange Salad will bring you some virtual sunshine.

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it’s all right

This is a very cool salad from Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Book.. I think it looks like a big, beautiful sunflower. And not only is it pretty; it is super tasty too. How could it not be – peppery watercress, tangy sweet orange, earthy toasted walnuts and salty olives. And it looks so 70’s. I think it’s the combination of green and orange….

Here is the original recipe from Jane Grigson:

And here is the original version:

Jane Grigson's Watercress Salad — Jane Grigson’s Watercress Salad

This is very simple to put together. Line your plate with watercress and start piling in your ingredients. The worst bit if you do it in the circle is stripping all those watercress leaves.

Like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel…

Never ending or begining on an ever spinning wheel….

I found the best way to get the orange slices as thin as possible was to cut them with the skin still on, then cut the peel and pith away with a pair of kitchen scissors.

Then just add your walnuts and / or olives.

Before serving, a grind of pepper and a splash of vinaigrette made with some sherry vinegar and voila!!! Or should I say “Velado!” because this really has a Spanish feel to it.

I had this with some grilled salmon the first time I made it and it was delicious!!! The second time I had it with some prawns and it was, again super. I would love to try it with duck as per Jane’s suggestion.

And I made it a third time but this time tweaked the recipe a bit – I added some feta cheese and a teeny bit of red onion. This time, I had it with a lovely sourdough baguette for a light lunch and it was perfection!!! And yes, I made this three times in about ten days. It’s that good.

So far, Jane Grigson’s recipes are turning out to be amazing. I am a little disappointed that it is now March and we have another book to focus on at The Cookbook Guru. But wow!!! What a book!!! I am super excited about stepping across the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco for my next venture with The Cookbook Guru!!!

And, if you are struggling through a long cold and lonely winter either physically or mentally, here is a little anecdote that may help.

Back in 1969, there was not much joy camp Beatle – there were personality clashes, legal battles, business disputes….things were going to hell in a handbasket. But in the midst of all the problems, all the trouble and strife, George Harrison (by far my favourite Beatle) walked into Eric Clapton’s garden with an acoustic guitar and wrote, to my mind anyway, one of the most beautiful, hopeful songs ever written. In the midst of adversity and all that…

And just to tie it all in together, here is George singing that song with some Spanish subtitles.

All together now

Sol, sol, sol
Ahí viene

Have a great week. I hope all your clouds have silver linings.

Signature 1

24
Feb
2015

Crespéou (70’s Style Retro Picnic Bling)

categories: 1970's food, Eggs, Feta, France, Omelette, Turmeric

In his introduction to the Crespéou in Plenty More, Yotam Ottolenghi says

If I was going to sum up my cooking style in five words, 70’s-style-retro-picnic-bling would not be them”

Huh…Weirdly enough that’s exactly the style of cooking I aspire to.

Still, with an introduction like that, there was no way I was not making a Crespéou! I was already thinking about having a month of food I have no idea how to pronounce (Kouign Amman anyone?). Google tells me this is Cresp-ay-oo. And also that it’s from Provence and so-called because the layers look like crepes. Never say I don’t do the research hard yards for you…

So what is this unpronounceable piece of 70’s style crepe like Retro Picnic Bling?

Well, it’s layers of three differently flavoured omelettes stacked on each other and baked. One red, one yellow, one green. Which just goes to show the difference between those classy people of Provence and around here. We’d be calling it something dumb arse like “Traffic Light” Special.

Crespéou – Red Layer

Yotam suggests red peppers for this layer. I used sun-dried-tomatoes because red peppers and I have a love-hate relationship. Without the love.

Hmm, I have realised in looking at this picture of the red layer that I may have put in fresh coriander rather than ground. Oops.

Still, I think that is one of the benefits of a dish like this. You can mix up the flavours. I have seen other recipes where people have used, zucchinis, mushrooms, olives, all sorts of things. It could really become a “clean-out-your-fridge” type dish.

Crespéou -Yellow Layer

The yellow layer was intriguing. I have never used turmeric in an omelette before. It really works!!! If I was going to mix this layer up a bit thin crispy discs of pan sautéed potato would be great!

The trick with this dish is to leave the top of your omelettes much more runny than you would any other omelette. The idea of this is that when you stack them and bake them the egg will solidify and the layers will stick together.

Crespéou – Green Layer

Another genius combination – green onions, green chilli, basil, tarragon and cumin!!! Wow!!! This layer was really perky and fresh!!!

Once you have cooked all your omelettes, stack them up as neatly as possible. And into the oven they go to cook up that last bit of runny egg.

Once cooked through, you can eat your Crespéou as is or trim the edges with a sharp knife to be able to see the layers. I used a small square pan so I cut mine into four cubes…

These were superb. I had it for lunch I think 3 days running and looked forward to it on day three as much as I did on day one.

And I know what you’re all thinking. Which layer tasted best? I did separate one of my cubes and ate each later alone. And they were all really good. But the combination was a-may-zing!!!!

Yotam Ottolenghi also says of the Crespéou that:

“If there is one recipe that might make me cringe in years to come, it will, for sure be this one”

I say “I love you. Can you not be so happily gay and be my boyfriend? You could cook me Crespéou and we could go on a picnic in a field in Provence and I could dance around listening to “Total Eclipse of the Heart” on a vintage Walkman. Or…hold your head up high and embrace the Crespéou for the lunchbox saviour that it is. And I’m sure even better on picnics. Especially picnics in Provence. With heaps of rosé wine and 1970’s disco music on your vintage Walkman.

Which is fairly redundant – I can’t think of ANYTHING that wouldn’t be better on a picnic in Provence with heaps of rosé wine and 1970’s music on your Walkman. Can you?

Speaking of which…before she was Totally Eclipsed in the Heart Bonnie Tyler was Lost in France which would actually be the perfect musical accompaniment to the Crespéou…

The full recipe can be found in Plenty More or online here

GlitterPhoto
Bonnie Tyler being Lost in France is here:

Make. Listen. Drink lots of rosé and imagine yourself lost in France.

This week, I’m cooking up some more 70’s Style Retro Picnic Bling courtesy of Jane Grigson! Have a tres fantastique week what ever you get up to.

And turn around bright eyes.

And P.S. – I’m totally contemplating the name of this blog to Retro Picnic Bling. Loving it madly!!!

Signature 1

19
Feb
2015

Locket’s Savoury & Pimped Up Locket’s Savoury (GF)

categories: 1970's food, 1970's recipes, Blue Cheese, Bread, Cookbook Guru, Gluten Free, Pears, Watercress

One of the best things about 2014 was connecting with other cooks and bloggers and cooking from the same books. I love doing it in person at the Tasty Reads bookclub but it was also so much fun doing the Joan Crawford inspired dinner for Jenny’s book launch.

So, I was super excited to find this blog:

https://thecookbookguru.wordpress.com/what-is-the-cookbook-guru/

Which is pretty much all cook-a-longs. They choose a new book every two months and anyone can cook from the book and post on their own site. Then, Leah shares what everyone posts on The Cookbook Guru. What a great idea!!!

The book for January and February is Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Book. First published in 1978, this has become a classic. And very auspicious that I get to start with a book full of retro recipes.

I was even more excited that there were a whole heap of artichoke recipes because the local continental deli had been having a sale and I bought about a ton of artichokes because they were something insane like 50 cents a can.

Then I read Jane’s advice on

How to choose canned artichokes.

“Don’t”

Huh….Jane apparently doesn’t mince words. I like her already. But anyway I hightailed it out of artichokes and landed at the very other end of the book at watercress and found this lovely recipe for a very fancy grilled cheese called Locket’s Savoury.

I did have a little giggle when I read the name of this dish. Back in the day, we used to have a footballer by the name of Lockett nicknamed Plugger because….I have no idea why and have sufficient lack of interest in football to be arsed to Google it. Anyway, some time before the Grand Final one year (the equiv of the Super Bowl or the FA Cup Final), Plugger hurt his groin. And I swear for an inordinately long amount of time, it seemed like if you picked up a newspaper, turned on the radio or the tv, all you heard about, all people seemed to care about was Plugger’s Groin. Strangers would approach you on the street and say “So, do you think it will be good for the Granny?”

“What?”

“Plugger’s groin.”

Not since David Beckham made those underwear ads has an entire nation been so obsessed by the state of a football player’s nether regions. And yes, by the way…we do nickname our Super Bowl/FA Cup etc The Granny. As in a little old lady. That’s Australia for you.

So, all that was Lockett’s Unsavoury, let’s turn to the matter at hand – Locket’s Savoury

So simple. So delicious, and just 4 ingredients.

Bread

The original recipe called for white bread. I used this beautiful seeded ciabatta. Jane’s recipe called for the crusts to be cut off. I left mine on because I love the taste of the toasted seeds!

Watercress

One of my favourite greens. I love the peppery taste of it!

Pears

Are probably my least favourite fruit. Will this recipe redeem them in my mind?

Locket's Savoury - Pear — Locket’s Savoury – Pear

Stilton.

Mmmmmm…blue cheese. Happy days….

Stilton is apparently the king of cheeses. Who knew cheese had a royalty. Who’s the queen? And more importantly who is the red headed reprobate prince flashing it’s arse and donning a swastika for high jinks?

I’m betting it’s goats cheese.

This was awesome. It actually made me like pears. And that’s saying something!
There’s a few more totally awesome watercress recipes in this same book and I have a ton of it left so you may get a few more o’ these before the month is through. There is definitely one more I have to do.

Here is Jane Grigson’s recipe:

This was really good. Super tasty, super easy and I wouldn’t change a thing in Jane’s recipe.

Or would I?

The more I thought about it, the more it seemed very unfair that my gluten-free friends missed out on this delight.

So without further ado, meet the pimped up, gluten-free Locket’s Savoury

Basically, scrap the bread, use a slice of pear as the base. Add your watercress and Stilton. Throw in some chopped walnuts. Once done, sprinkle with some chives.

In some ways this was almost better. Those pears got all caramelised and…dare I say it, delicious!!!

I’m so looking forward to doing the Cookbook Guru Cook-a-longs. And you know what would be even better? If you all did it too…

If you did want to, you already know the book for the rest of Feb. March and April is The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert. My local library has a copy of this. Yours probably does too. I also got the Jane Grigson book from the library.

But PS..The Locket’s Savoury is the gift that keeps on giving. Those little bits of blue cheese that slide off as you grill the cheese and go kind of crunchy. So good to eat later!!!

Have a fabulous week!

And I would love to know your royal family of cheese!!!

[yumprint-recipe id=’24’]

Blood oranges with fennel, watercress, olives and burrata recipe
Watercress and a Lady 1/21/15
20 Shades of Green
4 juice recipes for clearer skin

12
Feb
2015

Favourite Tomato Salad

categories: 1970's recipes, Blue Cheese, Salad, Salad Dressing, Sour Cream, Tomatoes

As we approach the day of ~~sickening oversentimentality~~ love, it seems fitting to devote a post to the love apple aka the tomato. And just to further add to my bah humbug disdain of the day, I thought I would share another one of my dating disasters from the good old days when I was single (and dinosaurs ruled the Earth). The first which I posted last Valentine’s day can be found here.

But first, tomatoes…..have to be one of my favorite foods. And as much as I love the fancy stuff – if you give me two slices of white bread, spread liberally with butter, some slices of tomato, preferably fresh from the garden some salt and pepper….right there you have a little bit of my idea of heaven.

And speaking of tomato heaven, this salad is one of the best things I have ever eaten. And it’s not just my favourite tomato salad, it is also a mash up of Rosemary Mayne Wilson’s Favourite Tomato Salad and her Superb Blue Cheese Dressing.

Just look at this and tell me it’s not one of the prettiest things you have ever seen? And just to gild that lily? The dressing contains a hefty dose of blue cheese. And a liberal splash of sherry for those of you who, much like myself, like to have a little bit o’ booze with….well pretty much anything.

So tasty and full of yummy deliciousness. But as we celebrate the love apple, let’s also take a step back into my dark, deep dating history for another disaster story.

So, a few years ago, I was dating a someone who…seemed pretty normal. Until.

STRIKE ONE

Best Tomato Salad2 — Favourite Tomato Salad2

We were due to meet my mum and her partner for dinner one night. And we had to park a little bit away from the restaurant. As we started walking through the car park, he went to spit on the ground.

Which, is pretty disgusting in, and of, itself. But then came

STRIKE TWO.

So. He goes to spit on the ground.

Only thing is…he misses.

Misses the ground that is How you ask? How can he miss the ground? Do you live in a land of anti-gravity?

No, He missed the ground because he spat all over his own shoe.

Feel free to insert massive eyeroll at will.

Bad enough, you’re going to spit on the ground. That’s uncouth. Do you need to add uncoordinated onto that as well?

So now we’re half way across the car park. He has a big gob of spit on his right shoe. Which needs to be gotten rid of pronto because we’re about to meet my parents.

And here comes

STRIKE THREE

He chose to get rid of that big gob of spit by lifting up his right leg and wiping it on the back of his jeans on his left leg.

Appalling, I know. But you haven’t even heard the worst.

Because even though I know that technically there’s no such thing as a

STRIKE FOUR

The worst thing?

Let’s just suppose I had accidentally spat on my own foot…it would never happen but you know…in the realms of absolute fantasy….

I would have hopped about shrieking like a banshee for….I don’t know, at least a good ten minutes…

“OMG, I’ve spat on my own shoe…what am I going to do? I need to get it off, how am I going to get it off…where’s the nearest shoe shop? I need to buy new shoes…” etc.

HE did not even break stride. It was like spit, shoe, wipe…all in one fluid motion. Which only meant one thing….

It wasn’t the first time he had done it.

He was a serial spitter and misser.

That relationship didn’t last the carpark….

This tomato salad should become an immediate part of your summer repertoire. It’s so damn good!!!

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!! Hope it’s fabulous whatever you do!

[yumprint-recipe id=’22’]

Category: Cheese

Cheese and Date Bread

Cheese and Date Balls

Martini Drenched Olives

Martini Drenched Olives

Ingredients

Instructions

Related articles

Crespéou – Red Layer

Crespéou -Yellow Layer

Crespéou – Green Layer

Related articles

How to choose canned artichokes.

Bread

Watercress

Pears

Stilton.

Related articles

STRIKE ONE

STRIKE TWO.

STRIKE THREE

STRIKE FOUR