Category: Drinks


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!”

Raspberry and Strawberry Mousse Cake

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

Feeling Fruity 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

Wicked Champagne Cocktail Recipe

AACHAMPAGNE COCKTAIL

Prawn, Grapefruit and Avocado Salad

This was divine!!!  All my favourite flavours! 

Prawn, Grapefruit, Avocado Salad

Prawn, Grapefruit and Avocado Salad Recipe

Prawn, Avocado Grapefruit 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

Duck Breast with Raspberry Vinaigrette Recipe

Duck Breast Recipe (1)

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 Cake2

Raspberry and Strawberry Mousse Cake Recipe

AA Raspberry and Strawberry Mousse Cake

 

Orange and Rosemary Tisane

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

Rosemary and Orange Tisane

 

Tisane

My Nigella Moment – Asparagus Maltaise

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’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?

Asparagus Maltaise

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!   

Blood Orange

The juice looked like red wine!

Blood Orange Juice

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!

Asparagus Maltaise2

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

Asparagus Maltaise Recipe

AA asparagus maltaise (1)

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! Signature2

 

 


Sep
2024

Caliph of Baghdad

categories: Celebrity Cookbooks, Celebrity Recipes, Drinks, Rum

Hello friends! Today, I’m sharing a “twofer” post. First up, a cocktail called the Caliph of Baghdad. This recipe is from a 1933 book, Del Monte – Cocktail Recipes Mixed by Famous People for a Famous Hotel. I chose it because of its connection to this month’s Dining with The Dame book, They Came To Baghdad.  This book was originally published in 1933 for the Del Monte Hotel but has been brought back into circulation by my old pal, Jenny of Silver Screen Suppers and Dinner and A Movie.

Caliph of Baghdad

The Book

The book was inspired in  1933 around the same time as the the repeal of Prohibition. 

“John Caitlin, the eccentric Mayor of Carmel-By-The-Sea in California, established the Association for the Advancement of the Fine Art of Drinking and invited the great and good of the stage, screen and typewriter to submit their concoctions for consideration”

Submissions were evaluated at the Del Monte Hotel in Monterey in December 1933, leading to the creation of the book.

Ernest Hemingway, Marlene Dietrich, W.C. Fields, and the Marx Brothers were but a few of the great and the good to submit recipes.  I will definitely be featuring the Marlene Dietrich cocktail down the track, it sounds amazing!

Caliph of Baghdad2

The Hotel

The Hotel Del Monte still exists and it looks beautiful!!!!  And, the rates are not exorbitant.  I have never been to America, but my best friend lives in California so it is high on my list of places to go!  I wonder if we could have a night or two in the Del Monte when I am there so we can pay homage to the Association for the Advancement of the Fine Art of Drinking!

AA Hotel Del Monte1

The Caliph of Baghdad – The Drink

There is a warning that this drink packs a punch.  And it certainly does!  This is one that you want to sip slowly all night and / or add a lot of ice!  Having said that, savouring one of these over a evening is quite pleasant because the sweet  / sour of the brown sugar and the lime combined with the rum is delicious!

AA Caliph of Baghdad

 

I can absolutely recommend the Del Monte Cocktail book!  There are many delicious sounding cocktails from so many famous names! It is truly a little piece of history!

Have a great week! 

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Jun
2024

Negroni Sbagliato: Witness for The Prosecco

categories: Dining With The Dame, Drinks, Movies, Personal, Stand Alone, Sweet Vermouth

Hello friends, apologies for the long break between posts.  My father passed away at the end of last month and getting regular posts out suddenly didn’t seem so important.   However, I wanted to close out Witness for The Prosecution as planned.  There is also a link, albeit tenuous between Witness for the Prosecution and my dad.   So if there was ever going to be a right time to honour him, this was it.  We’ll get there but for the moment, let’s focus on the Negroni Sbagliato.  

Negroni Sbagliato

Sbagliato…Say What?

In 1972, Milanese bartender Mauritio Stocchetto accidentally reached for prosecco instead of gin while creating a negroni, thus inventing the “sbagliato”.  The word means  “mistaken” in Italian – pronounced Spah-li-art-toe.. Bar Basso, the scene of this mishap is still open and of course, Negroni Sbagliato’s are still on the menu!  

The main flavours in the drink are bitter from the Campari and sweet from the Vermouth.  I think this fits well with the tone of the story.  

 

Negroni Sbagliato1

Negroni Sbagliato – The Recipe

Print

Negroni Sbagliato

Print Recipe

A bittersweet cocktail, perfect to accompany watching Witness for the Prosecution

Ingredients

Scale
  • 25ml Campari
  • 25ml sweet vermouth
  • Prosecco to fill glass
  • Orange twist to garnish

Instructions

  • Add the campari and vermouth to a mixing glass full of ice.  Stir to chill. 
  • Strain into your drinking glass.
  • Top with Prosecco.
  • Garnish with an orange twist

 

Witness for The Proscecution – The Film (Spoilers Galore)

ilmed in 1957, Witness for the Prosecution starred Tyrone Power as Leonard, Marlene Dietrich as his wife, and Charles Laughton as his lawyer.

The film’s ending dramatically differs from the book. In the book, Christine confesses she knew about the murder and lied to protect Leonard. The filmmakers, however, thought audiences in the 1950s wouldn’t accept a murderer going free. So, the film takes a darker turn: Christine kills Leonard upon learning he’ll leave her for another woman despite her sacrifice.

witness-1

Some great advertising and images from the film, above.  They certainly play up the suspense and the glamour couple of Power and Dietrich!

My Personal Link to Witness for the Prosecution

My father was named Tyrone, after Tyrone Power.  We all think my  nana must have had quite the crush on Tyrone Power!  And, as you will see from the posters above, Tyrone Power was one of the stars of the 1957 version of Witness for the Prosecution.   

Today would have been my dad’s 83rd birthday so it seemed like the right time to honour his passing.   I don’t know when I will feel up to getting back to a regular posting schedule.  I’m still finding it hard to wake up and not spend the first hour of my day crying.  So my posts may be a bit erratic in the coming weeks.  I’ll do what I can when I can.  Starting with this one.  

These are my two favourite photos of my dad, and, I know I am biased but I think, maybe my nana named him right because he was kind of movie star handsome when he was a young man!  The first is him, maybe in his late teens or very early twenties.   He was so proud to have been an excellent rugby player and even played for Sri Lanka, (then Ceylon) in a match against India.  In this picture he is wearing one of his beloved team jerseys.  

Dad01 Front

This next one is me and him on holiday.  I can’t remember even remember where but it looks pretty cold! Incidentally, my name, Taryn is the feminine version of Tyrone and is also the name of one of Tyrone Power’s daughters.  

Dad02 Back

My ask of you?  If you decide to watch Witness for the Prosecution with a Negroni Sbagliatio in hand (and I really think you should do this) maybe raise a little toast to the lesser known Tyrone as well as the more famous. 

Have a great week, I’ll be back when I can.  

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Apr
2024

April 2004 – The Letter L

categories: 20 Years Ago Today, Breakfast, Delicious, Drinks, Fruit, Lamb, Lemon, Magazines, Mango, Meat

 

Hello, retro food lovers!  Today’s post features the letter L and Delicious Magazine from April 2004.  Our meal today has a slightly Indian feel with a lassi, some lamb and a lovely lemony dessert!  But before we get to the food, let’s set the scene.

The Da Vinci Code was the best-selling book of the first half of April.  Quelle surprise!  However, for the remaining two weeks, Glorious Appearing stole the number-one spot!  Before you get excited, this book sounds dreadful!  I would rather read The Da Vinci Code!  Toxic by Britney was number one on the charts and Hellboy was number one at the box office. 

April 2004 (2)

 

Hopefully more on the side of glorious, rather than toxic or hellish is our menu for April 2004!

April 2004 menu

Mango Lassi

I am starting my L themed meal with a Mango Lassi.  Lassis are yogurt-based drinks often containg spices. Think of it as a Punjabi smoothie.  Lassis boast a long history, dating back to 1000 BC!  People believed they had healing properties.  Drinking lassis could improve your digestion and your skin and reduce bloating just to name a few!  

Lassis can be sweet or savoury.  The mango here makes this one quite sweet so it would have been an equally nice way to end the meal!  This also takes less than a minute to make so quick as well as delicious.  I used frozen mango in mine so you do not have to wait until mangoes are in season to make this!

Mango Lassi

Mango Lassi Recipe

Mango Lassi Recipe

Spiced Lamb Lollipops with Korma Sauce and Toasted Almonds

This, like the Mango Lassi above comes from an article called “Curry on Jamie”.  No surprises for guessing that the Jamie is one Mr Oliver, who seems to be featuring in thee 20 Years Ago posts rather a lot.  The Lamb Lollipops were a version of a curry.  The twist was that instead of the meat being cooked in the curry, it was grilled and served with a curry sauce for dipping.  It was absolutely delicious!  I served my Lollipops with a radish and coriander pickle from the same article and some bought paratha.  

Lamb Lollipops

Lamb Lollipops Recipe

Lamb Lollipops Recipe

Lamb Lollipops2

Lemon Posset with Lemon Crunch

Apart from the letter L, there is another linking factor between today’s recipes.  The lassi dates back to ancient times, Korma is believed to be created in the 16th century for Shah Jalan at the inauguration of the Taj Mahal and our dessert also has it’s roots in history.  The OED traces posset back to the 15th century where, like the lassi, it was known for it’s healing properties.  I liked the lemon crunch because it added some texture into what was otherwise a very soft dessert.  The texture of the posset was panna cotta-esque.  An almond biscotti would have also gone down a treat with this…and created a link with the lamb dish!

Lemon Posset Recipe

I found the quantities here made for quite a sweet mix so l added more lemon juice, specifically as I also knew the crunch would also be sweet.

lemon posset recipe

 

My Nigella Moment  – Breakfast Almond Croissants

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.  

One of my favorite bakery treats is an almond croissant so I was delighted to find a recipe where I could do a cheats’ version at home.  These were delightful.  And also went nicely with some mango lassi!

Breakfast Almond Croissants

Breakfast Almond Croissant Recipe

Breakfast Almond Croissant recpe

 

 

Oh, I just realised another link.  These meals all belong in a spectrum from yellow to brown…the posset is light lemon yellow, the mango lassi is a pale orange, the korma sauce was a deep orange and the croissants were brown.  These colours are also all autumnal so maybe I was also channelling the seasons with my meal!

The colours of my menu

colours

 

Have a great week! 

 

 

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Mar
2024

Malice In The Hollow

categories: Apricot Brandy, Bourbon, Drinks

Hello, cocktail lovers and Agatha Christie readers. While this post might not be our usual “Dining With The Dame” feature for March, fret not! Instead, consider it a literary aperitif, a tasty prelude to the main course.  Today’s recipe is a cocktail called “Malice in The Hollow.” This concoction is a playful riff on Hedda Hopper’s recipe titled “Malice in Hollywood,” which I found in the fantastic book “Recipes for Rebels” by a friend of the blog,  Greg Swenson. Greg, being the good sport he is, I’m sure won’t mind a little tampering with Hedda’s, original recipe!  The Hollow, a 1946 novel by Agatha Christie is our current Dining With The Dame read.  

Malice in The Hollow1

Hedda Hopper and Agatha Christie

Hedda Hopper, an American gossip columnist and actress, was born in 1885. This makes her a contemporary of Agatha Christie, who was five years younger. Intrigued by a possible connection between the two, I began to research. Perhaps, I thought, Hedda had starred in a film adaptation of one of Christie’s acclaimed novels. Sadly, this was not the case.  

However, the Wikipedia article for the 1965 version of “Ten Little Indians” (also known as “And Then There Were None”) cites an article by Hedda Hopper. This tantalizing detail sparked my curiosity. Did their paths ever cross beyond this single reference?  Calling all Agatha Christie and Hedda Hopper superfans! If you have any information about a deeper connection between these two ladies, please share it!

Now, let’s shift gears. “Malice in Hollywood” is a fitting description for Hedda Hopper’s career. She wielded her pen with a vitriolic touch, becoming one of the most feared figures in Hollywood. Furthermore, her staunch conservative views fueled her column during the McCarthy era, where she relentlessly denounced those with leftist leanings.

Hedda Hopper

The Malice In Hollywood Cocktail

In Recipes for Rebels, Greg says that Hedda was said to have created the Malice in Hollywood Cocktail in the 1940’s.  The OG recipe is below.  

Hedda Hoppers Malice in Hollywood

 

The Malice In The Hollow Cocktail

I am not fond of Bourbon so I have changed the ratios and added some lemon juice to balance out the sweetness of the Apricot Brandy.  

Malice in The Hollow2

Print

Malice In The Hollow

Malice in The Hollow1
Print Recipe

A bourbon sour, based on Hedda Hopper’s Malice in Hollywood

Ingredients

Scale

2 parts Bourbon (ideally Jim Beam black)

2 parts Apricot Brandy

1 part lemon juice

Dried Apricot and Lemon peel to garnish

Instructions

Combine the bourbon, apricot brandy and lemon juice in a shaker

Shake over ice then strain into a cocktail glass.

Garnish with dried apricots and a twist of lemon

Malice In The Hollow3

Next week’s post will be our Dining with The Dame for The Hollow, so there is still plenty of time to read it if you so desire!  

Also, why not pop over to Amazon and buy a copy of Recipes For Rebels?  It is a beautifully curated book of celebrity recipes which I am sure you will love!

Have a great week!

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