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Category: Desserts

16
Mar
2024

Caramel Custard – The Hollow

categories: Custard, Desserts, Dining With The Dame, Poirot

Hello crime readers and food lovers! Today’s Dining With The Dame novel, The Hollow, contains many references to food so I did not have to resort to any terrible puns. The novel was published in 1946 which makes me wonder if, despite rationing continuing well into the 1950s, there was a sense of post-war abundance that fuelled so many food references! I chose Caramel Custard as my menu item for The Hollow as not only it is referred to in the novel but it is also one of my favourite desserts!

Like me (and Poirot) many of you will be more familiar with the French name for this dish, Crème Caramel. My recipe for this classic French dish came from the amazing cookbook by thriller author Len Deighton, The Action Cookbook.

The dedication for the The Hollow reads:

For LARRY and DANAE

With apologies for using ther swimming pool as the scene of a murder

And for my mind, the best scene in the Poirot episode features that pool. It reminds me of a Slim Aarons pool shot…with a little murder thrown in!

The Hollow – The Plot

Of course, say what you like, a murder is an awkward thing—it upsets the servants and puts the general routine out

Agatha Christie – The Hollow

Who killed Doctor John Christow? His wife Gerda stands by his dying body holding a revolver. But his last word was “Henrietta”, the name of his mistress. He has also just recently spurned his former fiance, actress Veronica Cray.

Could one of these three women be reponsible for his death? Or could someone else have done it?

Poirot cannot rid the feeling that the murder scene is staged

For what he was looking at was a highly artifiical murder scene. By the side of the pool was the body, artistically arranged with an outflung arm and even some red paint dripping gently over the edge of the concrete into the pool. It was a spectacular body, that of a handsome fair haired man. Standing over the body, revolver in hand, was a woman…

And there were three other actors. On the far side of the pool was a tall young woman…she had a basket in her hands full of dahlia heads. A little further off was a man, a tall inconspicuous man in a shooting coat, carrying a gun. And immadiately on his left with a basket of eggs in her hand was his hostess, Lady Angkatell.

It was clear to Poirot that several different paths converged here at the swimming pool and that these people has each arrived by a different path.

It was all very mathematical and artificial

Agatha Christie – The Hollow

Luckily Poirot is around to cut through the artifice to find out whodunnit!

The Hollow – The Covers

I believe we have our first Japanese cover in the mix today! And possibly the first Polish cover too! Most of these stick to the elements of the swimming pool, the gun, the house. A few also nod to Henrietta being a sculpturer. But bless the French for their brightly coloured pool float flamingo!

The Recipe: Caramel Custard

The Len Deighton Acion Cookbook was first published in 1965 It was a compilation of “cookstrips” also drawn by Deighton and originally published in The Observer. It is a truly wonderful cookbook!

After the ducks there was a caramel custard which, Lady Angkatell said showed just the right feeling on the part of Mrs. Medway. Cooking, she said, really gave great scope to delicacy of feeling.

“We are only, as she knows, moderately fond of caramel custard. There would be something very gross, just after the death of a friend, in eating one’s favourite pudding. But caramel custard is so easy – slippery if you know what I mean”

Agatha Christie – The Hollow

Links To The Christieverse

Lucy Angkatell says that Poirot was in Baghdad “solving something” when her husband was the High Commissioner there but I could find no reference to speciifc cases.

Other Food & Drinks Mentioned in The Hollow

Joint of Mutton
Pudding (burnt)
Breakfast
Cucumbers
Bread
Souffle
Sherry
Cocktails
Ducks (eaten cold)
Soup
Brandy
Coffee
Sandwiches
Tea
Eggs
Kidneys
Chestnuts
Pint of Ale
Steak and Chips
Blanc et noir (they call this dessert by another name)
Lobster
Vegetables
Runner beans
Pastry
Chicken
Crepes Suzette
Souffle Surprise
Apple Tart
Apple Dumplings

Our March read is The Labours of Hercules

Have a great week!

27
Jan
2024

Jan 2004 – Pretty in Pink?

categories: 20 Years Ago Today, Delicious, Desserts, Drinks, Icecream, Pasta, Salmon, Sandwiches, Sorbet

Hello, retro food lovers and welcome to 2004! This month the random number generator chose Pink as the theme for our menu via the pages of Good Taste Magazine. Before we start though, maybe let’s throw around some phrases usually more prevalent in corporate speak than around here…

Maybe we just need to redefine what success looks like
It was a learning experience
And fun. Don’t forget how much fun it was.

All of this means if the success of this menu lies in its pinkness…this month was a disaster.

If we redefine success to mean did it taste good? We are not quite in the pink but certainly faring a bit better than colour alone.

So back in January 2004, we were all shaking it like a polaroid picture to Ooutkast’s Hey Ya, some of you were still watching The Return of the King and people on mass were still reading the Da Vinci Code. Surely by January 2004 we had reached peak Da Vinci?

So, in a new year, where pop culture looks very much like the old year, let’s take a look at a pink-inspired menu.

The Menu – January 2004

Pretty Pink Drink

Well, how can this go wrong? There’s pink in the title and for people doing dry January (or Feb fast), it’s non-alcoholic too. It’s lovely and refreshing. In fact the only thing wrong with it is…

It’s not overly pink is it? I mean on a scale of one to Barbie..I’d give it a 5 out of 10. The Pretty Pink drink looks like the liquid lovechild of the two candle holders behind it. It is a pretty colour though, if not as pink as I would have liked. It was tasty although having to buy three drinks to make one seemed a little unnecessary.

Pretty Pink Drink Recipe

Open Ham Sandwich

Is there a sufficient amount of actual pink in this? Yes! Is it weird to have an open sandwich as a starter? Also yes.

I thought this challenge would be an absolute lay down misère. Apparently, I vastly underestimated the prevalence of pink foods!

I was a bit worried about the combination of chutney and avocado in this sandwich but they worked well together. This was a very nice sandwich.

Open Ham Salmon Recipe

Salmon Ravioli With Fresh Tomato Sauce

I may have used the wrong sort of wonton wrapper for these because, not only was the “pasta” rather thick it was also not nearly as translucent as the one in the picture. This was not only not overly pink but also a bit meh…the ravioli were hard to make and bland. The sauce is pretty accurate though! I also liked that they used the same colour plate as my bowl!

I am certainly alone in not liking this though, the comments on the recipe are all highly complimentary

Salmon Ravioli Recipe

Peach and Rosewater Sorbet with Peach Schnapps

Peach. I mean, the clue is right there in the name. And we’ll leave it to the picture to show exactly how well this met the brief of pink.

Having said that, the peach sorbet was delicious. I almost wish I had made it back in 2004 so it could have been in my life for the last twenty years. As a bonus though, last year my mum gave us a…what do you call a really tiny tree? This was basically a knee-high-to-nothing stick in the dirt when we first got it. This summer though, we had our first three peaches from it. So I foresee many summers of peach sorbet in my future life. And that can only be a good thing.

It wasn’t anything like pink though!

Peach Sorbet Recipe

My Nigella Moment – Gravlax Salsa

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.

I almost had this as the starter but I felt it was a bit cheaty in a pink challenge to have a salmon starter and main. This, and the sorbet are the things I will take away from this month to be the things I make again and again. The recipe for the gravlax salsa came with some caraway wafters – I don’t like the taste of caraway so I made my wafers with everything bagel seasoning. I won’t make them again. They were ok but for the time and effort they took I would rather buy some. I haven’t included the recipe for the wafers. You also do not need the mustard dill sauce for the salsa.

Gravlax Salsa Recipe

So January 2004 was a total failure in terms of meeting the brief, but also gave me two amazing recipes! And the drink wasn’t bad either. Let’s see what February brings!

If you were making a pink menu, what would you include?

22
Jan
2024

Classic Pavlova

categories: 1970's recipes, Australasia, Desserts, Good Housekeeping World Cookery, Meringue

G’Day Mates! Today we are heading back to our old friend Goodhousekeeping’s World Cookery for a sweet treat from the Antipodes! People hotly debate whether the Pavolva was invented in Australia or New Zealand. We will not be entering into that discussion here. Neither does Good Housekeeping. They, rather wisely have a recipe for Pavlova in both the Australia and the New Zealand chapters! Nice diplomacy there GH!

I am using the recipe from the Australian chapter just because most of the other recipes in that chapter were awful! The recipes included things like Brain and Walnut Sandwiches, Sheep’s Tongues in Aspic, and a leg of lamb stuffed with kidneys, identified as Colonial Goose. I’m sure that 1970’s Australian cuisine was better than what is represented here. So Pavlova or Pavlova Cake as they call it, it was! Not that I minded because I adore a pav! It is one of my favourite desserts and reminds me of summer, Christmas and good times whenever I eat it!

Why Pavlova?

Anna Pavlova, the Russian Ballet dancer was the inspiration for the dessert. She toured Australia and New Zealand in 1926.

The lightness of the meringue represents not only the lightness of her steps but also her beautiful tutus. The Good Housekeeping Pavlova was wonderfully light. The meringue was crisp but it also had that lovely marshmallow inside which is the hallmark of a good pavlova.

Pavlova – The Recipe

I followed the recipe for the meringue as per Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery. However, when it came to the topping I went my own way. Pavlova can be very sweet so to add some tang, I add a dollop of lemon curd into my cream. My favourite toppings are the classic strawberry and passionfruit but you can add whatever fruit you like.

Have a great week!

27
Dec
2023

Dec 03 – Make Mine A Double

categories: 20 Years Ago Today, Champagne, Delicious, Desserts, Drinks, Icecream, Potato, Rice, Salad, Salmon, Sorbet

Hello, retro food lovers and Season’s Greetings from 2003! This month I am using Delicious Magazine from December 2003 to prepare a menu where…well let’s see if you can guess…Hint..there’s a big clue in the title.

The whole time I was cooking this month I also kept thinking back to my early twenties when we used to play a drinking game called “I’m going to the moon”. The person who starts says “I’m going to the moon and I’m taking (for example) an apple”. Then the next person says “I’m going to the moon and I’m taking a pear”. The first person who is the game controller tells them if they can come to the moon or not. If they can’t go, they need to stay on earth and have a drink. There are many variations on this game but my personal favourite was based on the same theme as this month. Let’s move away from my sozzled past to see what was happening in December 2003. Although come to think about it, that was probably the same time as I was playing the game!

The Lord of The Rings: Return of the King was the big movie of December 2003. The Last Samurai was the next biggest. And, quelle surprise, The Da Vinci Code was still the best-selling book. Which all kind of explains why I was playing drinking games instead of partaking in pop culture. Although the soundtrack to those drinking games would have been good with Here Without You and Hey Ya! being the number one songs that month!

The Menu – December 2003

Moorish Champagne Cocktail

I am always very happy to be able to start these menus with a cocktail. The Moorish Champagne Cocktail was both easy to make and also very more-ish!

Moorish Champagne Tart Recipe

Salad of Dried Pears, Proscuitto, Blue Cheese and Walnuts

AKA a salad of a few of my favourite things! If this hadn’t fit the theme, it would have surely been my Nigella item for this month! And it was divine!

Salad of Dried Pears, Proscuitto, Blue Cheese and Walnuts Recipe

Grilled Salmon with Thai Green Risotto

I apologise for the photo of this which is not great. Having said this, the photo from the mag (which follows the recipe) is also not great. Neither photo does this dish, which was amazing any justice! But, trust me, it is worth taking a punt on as it was delicious!

Grilled Salmon with Thai Green Risotto Recipe

Mulled Wine Sorbet With Clove Biscuits

This was so nice and refreshing. It is summer in Australia so this is a nice nod to wintry flavours but adapted for summer. The sorbet mixture was very soft, for me it was more like a slushie than a sorbet so my recommendation is either not to serve it on a very hot day or to eat it quickly as it melts in moments. Speaking of melting, the clove biscuits just melt in your mouth! I am usually a bit wary of cloves – I’ve bit into them accidentally when eating things like curries and find the flavour a bit too much! So, for the first few biscuits, I ate, I picked the cloves off. Since then, I have eaten them with the clove in and the flavour of them seems to be less powerful in the biscuits than in say a curry. So, even if you don’t love cloves, give these a try with them!

Mulled Wine Sorbet with Clove Biscuits Recipe

My Nigella Moment – Crispy Herbed Potatoes

You had me at crispy potatoes! And then when I saw how pretty these were, I knew they would be my Nigella item for this month. If I hadn’t already bought what I needed to make Katrina Meynink’s Roasted Taters with Horseradish and Tapenade for Christmas Day, the Crispy Herbed Potatoes would have been on the menu. (As an aside, I have just bought the aforementioned book From Salt to Jam and am absolutely loving it).

Crispy Seared Potatoes Recipe

Overall a great month from Delicious December 2003. If you have not yet guessed the theme, no going to the moon for you! But in the interest of your liver, it was to find recipes with double letters. Until I did this, I had never really thought about how many food items had these. I was absolutely spoiled for choice with options:

(Update 6/1/24 – I had originally included links to items below that are still on the Delicious.com.au website. Those links have been blocked but anything I have asterisked is available should you want to check them out.)

Starters

Baked eggs
Bruschetta with grilled artichokes and roasted garlic
B’stilla*
Cheese Crock
Chilled pea soup with lobster and risoni salad*
Goat’s curd in grappa*
Prawn and fattoush salad
Schiacciata*
Spanner crab chowder
Peppered Beef Salad
Smoked Salmon with clementines and cress
Terrine with microwave cranberry chutney

Mains and Sides

Beef fillet with spicy potatoes and horseradish
Butternut pumpkin with tasty stuffing
Cheeky Christmas turkey with braised leeks and the best wine gravy
Chicken noodle salad
Chicken with pepperoncini
Cinnamon and sultana couscous
Cold turkey salad with mango and honey dressing
Country chicken and mushroom pies
Chicken coconut curry pie
Crispy skin coral trout with roasted pineapple, coconut salad and rosti potato
Fillets of John Dory with olives, capers and rosemary
Flame grilled tuna with wasbi cake, bok choy and lime ponzu
Fricassee of chicken with mustard and grapes
Grilled coral trout with asparagus, red capsicum and sugar snap peas
Rice paper rolls with turkey
Seared barramundi with garlic skordalia, asparagus and creole salsa
Traditional Barossa ham in verjuice jelly
Turkey with saffron butter and preserved lemon and olive stuffing
Baked zucchini tarts with stuffed vegetables
Frisee, watercress and witlof salad
Goat’s cheese tarts with roast peaches and vincotto
Moroccan carrot salad
Open lasagne of asparagus with rocket tortellini
Roasted eggplant and tomato salad
Savoury Summer puddings
Sweet potato briks
Truffled potato mash

Sweets

Baked lime cheesecake
Boozy puddings with cheat’s custard*
Cherry clafoutis*
Choc-mint raspberry sundae
Chocolate and strawberry tartines*
Chocolate and brandied prune terrine*
Christmas morning muffins*
Christmas pudding ice cream with sweet cranberry sauce
Cinnamon ice cream with red wine poached figs*
Chocolate cake with plum pudding vodka*
Coconut and passionfruit slice
Eggnog custards*
Flourless Hazelnut roulade
Free-form berry trifles
Middle Eastern fruit cake*
Pannettone with berries and brandy sauce
Passionfruit panna cotta*
Raspberry ice cream sundae
Snowballs*
Starry night tarts*
Star-topped mince pies
Strawberry sundae*
Tutti Frutti ice cream*
Vanilla sponge with raspberries
White Chocolate and chilli ice cream with tropical fruit

Other

Hettie Potter’s suet-free mince meat
Easy cranberry sauce
Peanut Butter sauce
Raspberry sauce
Strawberry sauce
Irish coffee with orange rind and vanilla

Sorry for the massive laundry list but I really wanted to show how many items had double letters! I was honestly astounded!

So, my question to you lovely readers is – if you were making your own double-letter dinner, what would you choose? Either from the extensive list above or things that have not been mentioned – baguettes, beetroot, jelly, waffles, green beans, toffee, frittata, dill, mayonnaise, cabbage, spaghetti, mozzarella…the list goes on!

Couscous which is in the list above is the only thing I could think of with the same series of letters twice. Can you think of any others?

And one last thing. Thank you all for reading and commenting through the year! Best wishes for an amazing 2024!

28
Oct
2023

October 2003 – The White Menu

categories: 20 Years Ago Today, Cheese, Cheesecake, Delicious, Desserts, Fish, Meat, Mozzarella

Hello retro food lovers and welcome to October 2003 where today I am using Delicious magazine to create a white menu. White food has the double reputation of being 1) boring and 2) overly processed so my aim with this menu was to try to combat both of those. But first, let’s take a look at what was happening in pop-culture in October 2003.

School of Rock was #1 at the box office and The Five People You Meet In Heaven was the best-selling book. Number 1 on the pop charts was Where Is The Love by The Black Eyed Peas. Two weeks earlier it was White Flag by Dido which would have fit in perfectly with this menu! Let’s hope I won’t have to wave a white flag with my menu!

Now I also realise that this view of my cheesecake is not white, however it just looked so good, I couldn’t resist sharing it!

The Menu – October 2003

I found this menu template on Etsy. Isn’t it gorgeous? We’ll be seeing it a lot more from now on!

Mozzarella and Grilled Chilli Salad

This was AMAZING! So tasty and the perfect way to kick off a meal! I loved the simplicity/minimalism of this Jamie Oliver recipe. It also not only looked beautiful on the plate but tasted divine! Another recipe from this same article, a squid and cannellini bean salad nearly made the cut for the main dish in the menu and is something I am still very keen to try!

Mozzarella and Grilled Chilli Salad Recipe

Fish Stew With Lemongrass and Lime

This is an Ainsley Harriott recipe and was also divine! It was light and refreshing and, as he says in his intro, very different from the usual tomato-based fish stews. Like the mozzarella starter, this would be a perfect summer meal.

Lemongrass and Lime Fish Stew Recipe

Low Fat Cheesecake

I felt bad that I could not deliver a cheesecake for the Birthday Party, Cheesecake, Jelly Bean, Boom! menu. Because I LOVE cheesecake! So I was delighted to find one in this issue of Delicious. And this was a beauty too. It’s a pretty classic baked cheesecake. Even though it is low fat, it feels rich, The rest of this menu is light though so this seemingly decadent dessert won’t weigh you down too much!

Low Fat Cheesecake Recipe

My Nigella Moment – Beef with Lavender Mustard

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!

OMG, this beef just melted in my mouth! And if you’re thinking you don’t have any Lavender Mustard, come back next week. I’ll have a little treat for you. I added a spoonful of honey to my Lavender Mustard to give the required sweetness to this. Also, I misread the ingredients and I bought a rump roast and not rump steak for my version. I seared the meat as per the recipe and then roasted it until it reached 72C / 165F on my meat thermometer.

Well, Delicious Magazine from October 2003 really came through with a delicious white-themed menu for me! Certainly no Didoesque white flag moments for me!