Oysters with Rhubarb Mignonette

categories: England, Oysters, Rhubarb, Travel

Whilst in England earlier this year I was lucky enough to visit the Oyster Festival at Whitstable. This is a 3 day celebration of all things oyster, dating back to Norman times. It was a great day, there was a market and music, a fun fair and as much seafood as you could poke a stick at! The seaside town of Whitstable is also lovely with some great shops and eateries. Well worth a visit even if the festival isn’t happening.

How to best to celebrate this day and the humble oyster but with another quintessentially English ingredient… rhubarb!

WTF??? Yep, rhubarb. Sounds weird but bear with me…it really works. Meantime, here’s some pics from the Oyster Festival.

While we were in Whitstable, we had our oysters with a traditional mignonette which is chopped shallots, red wine vinegar and cracked black pepper. I jazzed mine up with some very finely chopped rhubarb.

Raw rhubarb has a sharp, clean, crisp, sour taste – imagine sour green apples mixed with celery which mixes perfectly with the red wine vinegar and shallots in a traditional mignonette, plus it makes it a glorious pink colour!

Of course, if you want a traditional mignonette, you can use this recipe from Bon Appetit. But why not take a teeny step into the wild side and try this? It is really lovely!

Rhubarb Mignonette3 Any leftover mignonette can be used as a delicious dressing for any salad greens!

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Oysters with Rhubarb Mignonette

Print Recipe

A fresh and tangy take on a traditional mignonette.

Author: Taryn Fryer

Ingredients

Scale

12 freshly shucked oysters
1/2 stick rhubarb, finely chopped
2 French shallots, finely chopped
80ml red wine vinegar
Pinch of sugar
Freshly cracked black pepper to taste

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Instructions

Combine all ingredients except oyster in a small bowl.
Leave for at least 15 minutes to allow the flavours to develop.
When ready to serve, spoon rhubarb mignonette over oysters.
Enoy!

Leftover rhubarb can be used in:

The Dishiest Dish – Rhubarb, Rose and Passionfruit Sorbet

Dishiest Dish – Apricot and Rhubarb Frangipane Tarts

Future Classics – Australian Table – August 2001

Have a wonderful weekend!

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05
Sep
2017

Tiny Waldorf Salads

categories: Apples, Celery, Grapes, Salad, United States of America, Walnuts

Is there a salad both more famous (and more mangled) than the Waldorf Salad? I doubt it. And because, pretty much since it’s inception, people have been mucking around with it, I thought I would put my stamp on it. As I have a predilection for little food, I shrank my Waldorf Salad into individual serving sizes.

Waldorf Salad – History

The Waldorf Salad was first made at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in 1896 and was, a huge success. The original recipe only contained apples, celery and mayonnaise The grapes and walnuts came later but are now considered integral ingredients.

The Waldorf precedes the other classic “American” salad, the Caesar, by 28 years.

The Waldorf Salad was also immortalised in an episode of Fawlty Towers. I wonder if this is the only salad to ever have a sit com episode named after it. If you have not seen this you must. It is hilarious. But here’s a taste!

So, celery, apples, walnuts grapes…in a mayonnaise sauce. Which is pretty much what mine consisted of.

So how did they manage to get it so wrong in the ’60’s?

Well, the top three reasons of what went wrong in the 60’s in general are:

Charlie Manson
Massive amounts of drug taking
Gelatine

Now,Manson may be all kinds of crazy but I don’t think we can blame him for this:

Retro Waldorf via Bon Appetit Or this (even though this is kind of pretty)

Or, Good Lord, even this:

Nope, the blame for that lies squarely with 3). Possibly with a large dose of 2) thrown in

After those horrors i totally understand why the poor old Waldorf Salad is not nearly as popular today as the Caesar salad. The graphs below show internet interest in the words as search terms.

Kind of makes me wonder why I am bothering to post on Waldorf when it’s so unpopular. Next week – Caesar Salad! And hit city!

The thing is, Caesar salad is often awful and the Waldorf salad tasted good. It’s crunchy and crisp and sweet and nutty. Nothing wrong there. The buttermilk dressing I used adds a little tang without being too cloying. It’s delicious. And easy to make. And healthy. And it’s fun to wrap up the main ingredients in a lettuce leaf like a salady sang choy bau.

What more do you need?

Go and make one now. You already know how….it’s celery, apples, walnuts grapes…in a mayonnaise sauce.

Pop it all into a lettuce leaf, wrap it up and enjoy!

[yumprint-recipe id=’98’] Have a wonderful week!

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30
Aug
2017

Cheery Cherry Sangria

categories: Cherry, Drinks, Sangria, Sparkling, Wine

This post’s name came from the fact that I totally read the name of this recipe incorrectly. More than once. I swear, the first four times looked at it I thought it was called Cheery Sangria. I even wrote it that way on my “meal” planner. Cheery Sangria. It was only when I was writing the ingredients on my shopping list that I paused. “Oh. It has cherries in it. That’s cute, they made a pun.” Well, it turns out, they didn’t. But I did. And we all know how much I love that! So, technically what we’re drinking today is CHERRY sangria. But you know what? It brought a touch of the sun and warmth of Portugal into a totally cold, wet and grey Melbourne winter day so I think Cheery Sangria works just as well!!

Yes, I’m back from holiday. And determined to make Sangria my drink of choice for this summer. It’s just so good!!! Wine and fruit and a little bit o the hard stuff….it really doesn’t get much better. Mind you, summer has to come first. And at the moment, it seems a long time away.

The best Sangria I had overseas was in Portugal – a teeny cafe in Faro. Here I am drinking one….

Sangria The Portuguese,they are a people after my own heart. They have a cherry liqueur called Ginja which is commonly drunk for breakfast. Speaking of which…when the breakfast buffet contains both Portuguese egg tarts and sparkling wine, I know I have found my people!

Cheery times! And cheersy times!!! But now onto some cherry times.

The cherry sangria I made is pretty hearty. It has loads of strong, spicy flavours which made it suitable for a cold winter’s day. I also totally forgot to add the cinnamon stick but that would have only made it even better! The gorgeous deep red colour is also so pretty and warming. I also used cherries and sparkling wine to remind me of the Portuguese breakfast drinks of Ginja and cava!

But let’s start with some fruit. Limes, blood oranges and, of course cherries make for a tasty and colourful combination!

Then add some tequila for a kick, grenadine for sweetness and a teeny taste of Tabasco for spice and muddle the fruit to get some juicy, fruity flavours. (Pre-muddle is also when the cinnamon should have been added).

Top with orange juice and some sparkling red wine…and voila…cherry sangria!

Salud!

[yumprint-recipe id=’97’]

Have a great week!

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17
Sep
2016

Tanis Inspired Cocktails #3 – The Navigator

categories: Cocktail, Gin, Grapefruit, Podcasts, Tanis

The huge reveal of Tanis Episode 209 was that The Navigator is…

Yeah right, as if I’m going to spoiler that!

No way! You have 21 fascinating episodes of murder, madness, conspiracy and stray right feet washing up on beaches before you can get to that reveal. Having said that, there’s no need to be daunted, the Tanis back catalogue is still small enough that you could binge listen to it all in a weekend.

So get onto it. It is actually one of those things that is also worth a second (or third ) listen.

You could have a Geoff Van Sant moment and grab a beer while you listen. Or, even better, make this super dry, super citrussy cocktail called The Navigator.

The Navigator & Clues to Tanis

The Navigator is to Eld Fen what the runner is to Tanis. Basically, to get there you need one. And you also need a map.

But maybe not a map like this.

Because even when you have a Navigator / Runner, you can only get to Eld Fen / Tanis when the stars don’t align.

As soon as I heard about the stars not aligning my first thought went to the line from Space Oddity, “And the stars look very different today”. I don’t think it’s at all relevant but except maybe for the writers tipping their hat and giving a little nod to the late, great Mr David Bowie. I hope it’s that and the twist about to come is not aliens.

The Navigator Cocktail

I found this on the ever reliable, always excellent Difford’s Guide.

Dry Gin, Limoncello and Pink Grapefruit Juice…three of my favorite things! I added some additional lemon juice to mine. I figured that if I was going to cut open a lemon from the garnish, I may as well use some of it in the drink too!

This is so good! The stars all align with The Navigator. It is:

Lipsmackingly dry from the gin
Sweet from the limoncello
Sour from the lemon juice
Bright with a hint of bitter from the grapefruit.

It’s like a flavour explosion in your mouth.

The Navigator could easily become one of my favorite cocktails!

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The Navigator

Print Recipe

A refreshing dry and tangy citrus cocktail

Author: Taryn Fryer

Ingredients

Scale

2 shots dry gin
3/4 shot Limoncello
1 1/4 shot freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice
1/2 shot freshly squeezed lemon juice
Lemon wheel to garnish

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Instructions

Shake all the wet ingredients with ice.
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with the lemon wheel.
Enjoy!

Tanis Speculation

I have no doubt Nic is about to go into the forest again but with whom? Per the first series, you need four. So, Nic, The Navigator and two others.

If I was Nic, I’d take Geoff Van Sant and MK. But then, given the choice, I’d probably take GVS and MK anywhere with me. They’re the best. I think GVS is my secret podcast crush. What can I say, I happen to have a thing for guys with messy hair and alert eyes who like a drink or two. And in my head he looks like Paul from Orphan Black. And that is never a bad thing!

And MK is just the best. She may also be my secret podcast crush!

I can’t wait…the series two final is fast approaching….I will try to align my fourth (and final) cocktail with that happening!

Breaking News!

Ladies of the PNW who need a thrilling secret conspiracy to liven up their lives? GVS is trying dating again. Why not have a beer with him?

‘kay people of the internet, we’re done.

Keep looking!

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14
Aug
2016

REPOST – Future Classics – Australian Table – August 2001

categories: Australian Table, Berries, Cocktail, Desserts, Duck, Magazines, Rhubarb, Vodka

Remember how I said I had a fab idea for a whole new series of blog posts whilst on holiday? Here’s the thing, along with hundreds of cookbooks, I also have a huge collection of food magazines, most of which sit on shelves in my back room doing nothing. Once a year, I grab a handful of the oldest, take them on holiday and cut out the recipes I want, throw away the magazines, and cook the recipes over the next 12 months.

Currently I have a few mags from the late 1990’s but they are most from the early noughties onwards. So they are not quite but well on their way to becoming formally vintage. My thought on holiday was….”These are the things that will shortly become the vintage recipes of the future. So, instead of ripping them up, I’m going to start cooking from them. Once a month, I’ll revisit one of these magazines, cook a thing or two and decide if these are future vintage classics – or just junk taking up space in my backroom. Here are the early years to 2013:

And here are 2014 to the present day:

so, to start, we are stepping back in time 15 years to the August 2001 edition of Australian Table:

I also thought it might be fun to revisit some of the content of these magazine as well as the recipes, so without further ado, here are the:

Flavours of The Month – August 2001

This section spoke about what was in season. I thought I might give it a little Retro Food For Modern Times Twist!

Sweet Potatoes

Huh….my plan was to insert a recipe or two from the blog. However, apparently I have made nothing with sweet potatoes. I’ll link to some recipes below.

Baby Bok Choy

Or anything with Bok choky. What have I been cooking in for the last four years?

Cumquats

Hooray – Finally!

Click here for my Four Kumquat Canapés For Four Food Heroes recipes

Pineapples

Melbourne Cup Crab and Pineapple Appetizer and MC Cocktail

Pineapple soufflé

Movies of The Month

Oh man. August 2001 was a GOOD month for movies! I would quite happily watch Bridget Jones’s Diary or Along Came a Spider today. I don’t recall ever seeing Evolution but I am definitely putting that to rights, pronto. I know it’s probably a little late with the picky picky however, Australian Table, I would like to point out that the chocolate-voiced, sloe-eyed maverick investigator is actually called Alex Cross. The ACTOR is Morgan Freeman. And what a difference a letter makes. Slow-eyed which I typed at least a dozen times in the above paragraph makes you sound like you should be taking special classes. Sloe-eyed…hello sexy!

Music Of The Month

Well, I guess you can’t have it all. I listened to none of these at the time nor do i have any real desire to seek out any of these. Maybe the Elvis Costello.

The Food

I chose two recipes from an article on fool proof party food starting with:

Vodka with Crushed Limes

These are my flavours…this was so good! Tangy, sweet delicious!

Crispy Duck with Green Scallion Pancakes

No, these are my flavours! Spicy, seductive!

Berry and Rhubarb Crumble

This recipe came from an advertisement for a 3 in one hand blender. Crumble is pretty much already a classic but the addition of rhubarb instead of the more traditional apple? Genius!

Everything I made from this mag was SUPER! My view is that this is a definite future vintage classic!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little walk down memory lane! I’ll be back in a couple of weeks with a mag from September 2001. I hope it’s as good as this one!

Have a great week!

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Category: Fruit

Oysters with Rhubarb Mignonette

Ingredients

Instructions

Waldorf Salad – History

The Navigator & Clues to Tanis

The Navigator Cocktail

The Navigator

Ingredients

Instructions

Tanis Speculation

Breaking News!

Flavours of The Month – August 2001

Sweet Potatoes

Baby Bok Choy

Cumquats

Pineapples

Movies of The Month

Music Of The Month

The Food

Vodka with Crushed Limes

Crispy Duck with Green Scallion Pancakes

Berry and Rhubarb Crumble