Seafood - Retro Food For Modern Times

Category: Seafood

07
Apr
2025

Bruges Egg Savoury

categories: 1970's food, 1970's recipes, Belgium, Eggs, Good Housekeeping World Cookery, Prawns, Shrimp, Uncategorized

Hello friends, and welcome back to Belgium! After discovering Belgians’ fondness for prawns / shrimp / crevettes, today we’re doubling down on that ingredient. Bruges Egg Savoury is a delightful and light dish that perfectly marries the richness of eggs with the delicate sweetness of prawns. Now, the recipe ideally calls for the tiny, flavorful crevettes gris found in the North Sea, a true Belgian delicacy. I opted for some fresh Australian prawns, which were an excellent substitute.

As always, our European culinary journey is guided by the trusted pages of Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery from 1972, a treasure trove of international recipes. Speaking of Bruges, it was a delightful coincidence that the film “In Bruges” was on the telly the other night. It was a thoroughly enjoyable rewatch, reminding me of the city’s captivating beauty and unique atmosphere.

But back to the star of our show: Bruges Egg Savoury. This is a perfect candidate for a sophisticated brunch or a light yet satisfying lunch. With Easter just around the corner, this dish could be a fantastic addition to your brunch spread. What also appeals to me is its simplicity and speed of preparation. You can boil the eggs the day before, leaving you with minimal fuss on the day itself. It’s essentially a matter of combining the ingredients, popping it in the oven, and voila – a delicious and elegant dish ready to impress your guests.

Bruges Egg Savoury – The Recipe

While the original recipe doesn’tsuggest it, I wholeheartedly recommend serving Bruges Egg Savoury with an abundance of crusty, artisanal bread. Trust me on this one. As the dish bakes, it creates a luscious sauce or gravy, rich with the flavors of the prawns, eggs, and herbs. This flavorful liquid is absolutely begging to be soaked up with chunks of fresh bread, adding another layer of texture and enjoyment to the meal. It’s a dish that feels both elegant and comforting, perfect for sharing with friends and family.

Have a great week!

17
Mar
2025

Croquettes aux Crevettes

categories: Belgium, Prawns, Shrimp

Hello friends, today we are continuing our European tour via Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery. Our trusty tour bus has pulled into the charming nation of Belgium, a land of delectable chocolates, waffles, stunning architecture, and, as we’ll discover, a deep-seated love for prawns. We are celebrating with some Croquettes aux Crevettes, also known as Prawn or Shrimp Croquettes

Now, I’ll admit, my initial perception of Belgian cuisine leaned heavily towards waffles, beer, and perhaps those famous mussels. The notion of prawns taking centre stage seemed a tad unexpected. However, because I was a little suspicious about this, I googled, “Are prawns a popular food in Belgium? And the answer was:

Yes prawns, particularly “grey shrimp” (crevettes grises) are a popular food in Belgium often enjoyed in various forms, including croquettes and as part of seafood dishes

What truly piqued my interest was the automatic inclusion of croquettes in the response. It was as if the internet knew precisely what Good Housekeeping was guiding us towards. Clearly, the culinary wisdom of this esteemed publication remains unchallenged. Lesson learned: never doubt the expertise of Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery.

Croquettes Aux Crevettes: The Recipe

The final product was undeniably delicious. The creamy white sauce worked perfectly with the sweetness of the prawns. The crispy coating provided a nice contrast to the soft filling. I served my Croquettes with a side of sriracha mayo which added a spicy kick that complemented the richness of the croquettes. A simple roasted onion salad provided a refreshing counterpoint, cutting through the creaminess. They would also be great with a glass of ice-cold beer! Belgian of course!

And apologies in advance, I don’t know that much about Belgium, so a lot of my references will come from In Bruges, which is an absolute belter of a movie that I must rewatch very soon!

Have a great week!

05
Jan
2025

January 2005 – Beachside Dinner

categories: 20 Years Ago Today, Australian Gourmet Traveller, Blueberries, Calamari, Cocktail, Fish, Salad, Seafood, Sorbet, Squid, Summer

Happy New Year, time travellers! Welcome to January 2025 and January 2005! Today we will enjoy a quintessential Australian beachside dinner. Unlike many parts of the globe, the start of the year here is hot, making dining on or near the beach a beloved tradition. Also very Australian is to magpie food and flavours from other cultures so today our “Aussie” meal has roots in the tropics, China, Mexico and Italy!.

I was particularly excited for this month, as seafood and ice cream are among my favourite treats. We’ll soon see how my culinary hopes fared. Today’s menu is inspired by the January 2005 issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller.

But first, let’s ease ourselves into 2005, not with Pop Culture as per our norm but a look at the news events that defined the year:

YouTube’s first video: “Me at the zoo” was the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube. Can you believe YouTube is only 20 years old? I feel like I’ve been watching it all my life!

Hurricane Katrina: A devastating tropical cyclone that killed 1,392 people and caused $125 billion in damages, particularly in New Orleans
London bombings: 52 people were killed and about 700 were wounded in a terrorist attack on the London Underground
Angela Merkel’s election: Angela Merkel became the first woman chancellor of Germany
Kyoto Protocol: The Kyoto Protocol, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, began to take effect
Same-sex marriage legalization: Spain and Canada legalized same-sex marriage

So a mixed bag news wise! Let’s see if the menu was also a blend of good and bad!

The Menu

Blue Hawaiian

I’ve always harboured a certain prejudice against blue drinks. They somehow screamed “college party” to me, a garish, overly sweet concoction best left to the youthful and the reckless. And creamy cocktails? Don’t even get me started. I’ve always considered them rather…gloopy.

But the Blue Hawaiian was an entirely different beast. The colour, was a glorious, cerulean blue, like a summer sky. But the flavour! It was a symphony of the tropics, a vibrant burst of sunshine in a glass. Honestly, I can’t imagine a more perfect aperitif for a beachside dinner. The mere thought of it now transports me – I can almost taste the salt spray on my lips, hear the gentle rustle of palm fronds overhead… pure joy!

Salt and Pepper Squid

Salt and Pepper Squid is a firm favourite of mine when dining out. But I had never tried to cook it at home before. And the result? A perfect prelude to a seaside feast, I served mine not with rice as per the recipe but with a vibrant fennel salad (though you wouldn’t know this from this photograph). You can find the recipe here. I also had some mayonnaise in which I swirled some chilli crisp just in case the pepperiness of the squid needed a bit more oomph!

Salt and Pepper Squid is as ubiquitous in Australian pubs as… well, as a pot of beer. So you can imagine my surprise to discover while poring over the recipe that it has Cantonese roots. This version, however, pays homage to those origins with the addition of Szechuan peppercorns, a delightful touch of unexpected heat that sets it apart from the standard pub fare.

Snapper Veracruzana

For the main course, we transported ourselves away from the vibrant shores of China to the sun-drenched beaches of Mexico with a delectable Snapper Veracruzana. This dish was simply exquisite! The snapper, cooked to perfection, flaked effortlessly at the touch of a fork, while the Veracruz sauce… well, words can hardly do it justice. A symphony of flavours – ripe tomatoes, briny capers, plump olives, and a tantalising hint of chilli – it was utterly irresistible. Frankly, I could imagine this sauce gracing almost any plate. Chicken, prawns, even grilled halloumi or roasted vegetables – the possibilities are endless. It’s a testament to the magic of great ingredients, a celebration of the vibrant flavours of Mexico.

Blueberry Gelato

Gelato has a certain nostalgia for me. Travelling around Italy with some girlfriends back in the day, “gelati” was our code word for a handsome young man. “Shall we go for gelati at 3 o’clock?” would indicate both the presence of one of them and the direction the others should look to see him! I wanted this blueberry gelato to transport me to the beaches of Amalfi. and the heady summer days we spent there. Sadly, this was not to be. I would have preferred this to be more blueberry-forward, like a sorbet. I feel the milk dulled the blueberry flavour. Pretty colour but for me, this was a fail.

My Nigella Moment – BLT Salad

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.

BLT is a classic for a reason and this salad combines those familiar flavours into something new. This was delicious and definitely something to sneak back to for a little bit more after everyone else has gone to bed!

I hope you’ve enjoyed being beside the seaside with me! I also wish you all the very best for 2025! Let’s hope it’s a wonderful year for all of us!

08
Dec
2024

Fusion Food – December 2004

categories: 20 Years Ago Today, Custard, Delicious, Desserts, France, Lamb, Lobster, Middle Eastern

Hello time travellers, and welcome to December 2004, where we are decking the halls with Fusion food courtesy of Delicious Magazine. For those who are not familiar with the term, the Escoffier School of Culinary Arts says it involves “bringing together ingredients from different cultures and merging recipes. This technique of joining culinary forces offers truly novel flavour combinations and unique menu offerings”.

In their examples, they list Tex-Mex and French Vietnamese. My personal favourite fusion was an absolutely fabulous Korean Taco place near where I used to work. Their kimchi fries were to die for!!! Kedgeree, which I also love, is a fabulous Anglo-Indian creation. I am also not averse to a tandoori chicken pizza!

On the menu today, we have an American / Middle Eastern mash-up, an Anglo-Indian combo that is not kedgeree and an Irish / French marriage to finish off. Will these be in the realm of kimchi fries? We’ll find out soon enough.

But first, it wouldn’t be a 20 Years Ago Post without a quick look at what was making the charts in December 2004.

Step Back in Time – December 2004

Movies

Today we are looking at the film charts from December 2004 and what a month! In the first week of December, National Treasure was number 1,Bad Santa was #4 and Garden State was #6. Week 2: Team America: World Police was #1. In Week 3, Ocean’s Twelve was number 1. Personally, I hated that one so it just goes to prove you can’t have everything. But in the fourth week, Lemony Snicket was # 1, and to round out the month, Meet The Fockers topped the box office, and Phantom of the Opera, which we spoke about last month, was #6.

Music

There was no change from last month in the top songs. My Boo by Usher and Alicia Keys was number 1 in the first week, and Drop It Like It’s Hot by Snoop Dog was top of the Billboard charts for the rest of the month.

Books

In a weird twist, The Da Vinci Code headed back to the top of the charts in the first week of December. I can’t explain this. The movie didn’t come out til 2006 so it wasn’t tied to that. And surely everyone who wanted to read it, had already read it by then. Maybe it was a surge of people buying Secret Santa gifts for their coworkers. Anyway, its return was short; Night Fall by Nelson DeMille took top place the second week, and Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom was the best-selling book for the remainder of December.

Two things that I would have wanted as Christmas presents that year were the rerelease of Stephanie Alexander’s Classic “The Cook’s Companion“, although with a massive price tag of $125, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t under any tree with my name on it. Also, according to Delicious magazine, this was when Nigella Lawson’s “Feast” was released.

So, now that we have set the scene, let’s set the table for our fusion feast!

Lobster Cocktail with Preserved Lemon

This recipe livens up the traditional prawn (shrimp) cocktail with a bit of luxe from the lobster and some Middle Eastern flavours of preserved lemon and harissa. You will see that the recipe calls for a whole lobster. I used a far more economical lobster tail, and one tail between the two of us was perfect for a starter. This meal looks elegant and ritzy but can be made without a high price tag.

This was delicious, and every ingredient had its place. I had never even thought of using a grain in a seafood cocktail. And, to be honest, I thought about not including the burghul wheat. Please don’t do this, it brought a beautiful nuttiness to the lobster cocktail. I’d never had it before but now, I want to have burghul in every seafood cocktail! It was a game changer ingredient!

A word of advice on the sauce. When I first made the harissa sauce, I thought it was a little bland, so I added more harissa. I then popped it into the fridge whilst I made the rest. The flavours continued to develop, so what I ended up with was somewhat spicier than when it went into the fridge! It still tasted delish, but be careful if you are playing with the ratios, as you don’t want to overpower the flavour of that lovely lobster!

Finally, our lime tree was also bare so I used a lemon as my garnish. We’ll now have to wait til winter for fresh limes but the lemon tree is the gift that keeps on giving!

Lamb Rack with Coconut Gravy and Mango Chutney

This feels to me like a perfect blend of the Fussiest Eater in the World’s tastes and mine. He likes his good old English roast. I like a bit of spice! This recipe was, therefore, a win-win! It felt a bit unusual adding the curry gravy to the meat after it was cooked but this recipe really worked for me!

Baileys Crème Brulée

Speaking of win – win…Baileys is one of my favourite tipples. And crème brulée is one of my favourite desserts. This was DELIGHTFUL! The Baileys was there but more like a whisper than a scream. If I hadn’t known it was was Baileys I would have spent the first few spoonfuls thinking…”I know what that flavour is….but I need just one more spoonful to figure it out”…and after that I would have decided not to worry too much about defining the flavour and just dug in for sheer enjoyment! And of course, if you want a stronger Baileys flavour, a little glass on the side wouldn’t go astray!

And just listen to that crack!

My Nigella Moment – Tomato Tarte Tatin

The tomato tatin was absolutely delicious. What made it SPECTACULAR was the caramelised garlic. I made the tomato tarte tatin on a night when I was by myself so I made a quarter quantity of the caramelised garlic. Massive mistake. It was absolutely delicious. I had some left over after the tomato tatin and I put it on absolutely everything I ate over the next day or so. Salad? I added it to the dressing? Steak, I added it as a little condiment. Snacking – the carmelised galirc and butter on really fresh bread was divine. Seriously someone needs to bottle that up and sell it. I would buy a lifetime supply!

The ricotta cream was also really nice. I did add a little tip I picked up from Girl Dinner and added a splash of pickle juice into the ricotta mix which I thought set it off really nicely!

What a month! Each of these brought me joy! I’m so glad the December 2004 issue of Delicious delivered fusion, not confusion. Now, I need to dash; I have a great little business idea I want to try out!

Have a great week!

27
Oct
2024

Feb 2004 – From the Garden

categories: 20 Years Ago Today, Australian Table, Chicken, Potato, Potato Salad, Scallops, Seafood

Hello dear readers! I was updating the index for the Twenty Years Ago Today posts this week and I realised I had not actually posted this one from way back in February! Given that today’s post was just a little teaser for Murder is Announced which will be released on Tuesday, I thought why not post this today so you also get some real content. Enjoy!

Hello, retro food lovers! Buckle up for a delicious journey back in time! Today, we’re using the magic of Australian Table magazine to teleport ourselves to February 2004, and build a menu that celebrates the vibrant bounty of the garden. Talk about perfect timing, with our own gardens bursting at the seams right now! But before we whip up some culinary magic, let’s take a nostalgic stroll down memory lane and see what was buzzing in pop culture back then.

First up, music: Australia was rocking out to Shannon Noll’s powerful cover of the Moving Pictures classic “What about Me?”. Fun fact, this very song just gave me some serious bragging rights in a pub quiz! So, while it might have retired from the charts, it’s clearly not forgotten.

Now, onto the literary world: can you guess the top-selling book of the first half of February 2004? Drumroll please… yep, you guessed it, it was the phenomenon that was The Da Vinci Code. And if you think its grip on pop culture was about to loosen anytime soon, think again! Speaking of cultural giants, Jesus himself made a big splash on the big screen, with The Passion of the Christ becoming the highest-grossing film of the month. So, get ready for a menu that’s not only fresh and seasonal, but also infused with a touch of early 2004 nostalgia.

Fun Fact From Australian Table February 2004

I found this little timeline of how food evolved in Australia over the last 70 years fascinating I particularly liked it that they did this by looking at old magazines. Hmm…now what does that remind me of?

Now, let’s take a look at our menu.

The Menu – February 2004

Summer Cocktail

Garden ingredient : Mint

This was a take on a Classic Pimms Punch combining gingerale, lemonade, Pimms, cucumber, mint and orange. Many of these recipes often also contain strawberries which we also have growing but this one didn’t. It was however delicious. This was summer in a glass!

Summer Cocktail Recipe

Seared Scallop Salad with Macadamia and Coriander Pesto

Garden Ingredients, Mint, Lime

While I am not a huge scallop fan this was delicious! Next time I make it I would use prawns. Confession: I took some liberties with the salad, swapping out the red capsicum and beansprouts. I can’t eat red capsicum and I could only find huge bags of beansprouts at the greengrocer. Bean sprouts aren’t bad, but buying a giant bag just for a few felt wasteful! I opted for cherry tomatoes (home grown) and red onion instead. This dish is colourful and pretty and the macadamia and coriander pesto is divine!

Seared Scallop Salad with Macadamia and Coriander Pesto

Rosemary and Lemon Chicken with Mint Dressing

Garden Ingredients: Rosemary, Lemon, Mint

This was a great quick and easy midweek meal. Nothing elaborate but relatively quick and tasty.

Rosemary and Lemon Chicken with Mint Dressing – Recipe

Potato Salad with Garlic and Caper Mayonnaise

Garden Ingredients: Lemon, Parsley

I love potato salad. Roseanne Cash Potato Salad remains one of my favourites but the Garlic and Caper Mayo on this one was superb!

Potato Salad with Garlic and Caper Mayonnaise – Recipe

Angel Cheesecake

Garden Ingredients: Limes

I am not 100% sure why this is called an Angel Cheesecake. Maybe because there are egg whites in the filling to make it lighter? Maybe because the combination of lime and passionfruit is divine?

We have a passionfruit vine in the garden but it is only tiny so has not had any fruit on it yet. I am looking forward to making this again with some homegrown passionfruit sometime in the future!

Angel Cheesecake – Recipe

My Nigella Moment – Barbecued Green Rice

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.

This month I chose a recipe that used a technique that was new to me. I have never thought of putting rice on the bbq. But I made the sushi with crispy rice out of the book Eat California by Vivian Lui (highly recommended BTW) and I loved it. And this gave me the same vibes. It was really tasty and I did get the crispy rice I was after but this recipe really needed some salt to make it a 10/10 instead of an 8/10! We also do not have a bbq at the moment so I made this in a pan on the stove.

Barbecued Green Rice Recipe

I really enjoyed this month, it just felt very lemon and mint-heavy in terms of garden produce! There were some absolute winners in the taste department too – the pesto, the potato salad, the cheesecake, and the rice are things that will become part of my repertoire!