Asparagus Archives - Retro Food For Modern Times

29
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!”

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

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 Recipe

Prawn, Grapefruit and Avocado Salad

This was divine!!! All my favourite flavours!

Prawn, Grapefruit and Avocado 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 Recipe

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 Cake Recipe

Orange and Rosemary Tisane

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

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?

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!

The juice looked like red wine!

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!

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

Asparagus Maltaise Recipe

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!

03
Mar
2024

Fresh Asparagus with Rouille

categories: 1980's recipes, Asparagus, France

Hello friends and welcome to another post on what posh people ate in the 1980s. Spring has sprung in many parts of the world. I have been holding over the recipe for Fresh Asparagus with Rouille for months as I think it is a perfect dish for the season.

Why Is Fresh Asparagus with Rouille Posh Food?

We’ve long considered asparagus a high-end vegetable.

A scene in The Crown was reshot because the etiquette advisor noticed Dominic West using a knife and fork for asparagus. The proper way is to pick it up with your fingers! This is exactly how I used to eat it back in my single days. Sometimes, when too tired to cook after work, dinner became microwave hollandaise sauce and steamed asparagus dunked straight from the jar. I just thought I was being lazy!

And I suspect that the inclusion of the word “Fresh” in the recipe title was further 1989 code for “Not that tinned garbage the hoi poiloi eat darling, we only want the real deal”.

Rouille accompanies the asparagus. This:

Is a Provençal Sauce
Is Hard to pronounce – its Roy-ee btw
Contains saffron, a very expensive spice

Any of which would send the Poshometer into overdrive. All of them? This could be the poshest recipe ever!

Finally, this recipe comes from an article called Polo Partying Shot. Now, I don’t know if you know any polo-playing people? One of my friends once dated a polo player and he and his buddies were universally vile. They truly believed that having more money than God entitled them to be arrogant, rude, dismissive, sexist and racist. They were the worst!

Asparagus with Rouille2 — Dunking with Glee..not a knife in sight!

Fresh Asparagus with Rouille – The Facts According To Me

This was amazing! It was so tasty! I love asparagus. My Nana’s asparagus sandwiches (made with tinned asparagus) were one of my favourite things to eat!!!! And, as above, it was one of my lazy single-girl meals. So, I am already a fan of asparagus.

But the Rouille?

OMG….

The Rouille was a game-changer! I always thought nothing could be better than Hollandaise with asparagus. The Rouille blew my mind. Not only was it a beautiful deep, rich yellow but it also had a deep rich flavour that was nothing short of superb. It’s thick and lemony and garlicky with a little kick from some mustard and cayenne but you could also definitely taste the saffron. But whilst it is punchy, it doesn’t overwhelm the asparagus.

Finally, this was ridiculously easy to make! And certain to impress your friends at your next dinner party, picnic or night on the couch!

Fresh Asparagus With Rouille – The Recipe

via the pages of Vogue Entertaining Oct/Nov 1989

For another lovely take on Spring Asparagus recipes, why not check out my Easter Lily Sandwiches?

Have a wonderful week!

15
Oct
2020

Asparagus and Bacon Tartlets

categories: 1970's food, Asparagus, Bacon, Pie

I’m not exactly sure where this recipe for Asparagus and Bacon Tartlets came from. It has obviously been clipped from a magazine and sticky taped to a piece of paper. But when? And by whom? It has been floating around in my collection of “Recipes to Cook” for as long as I can remember.

The recipe gives both imperial and metric measurements which would indicate it comes from some time after 1970 which is when Australia went metric but not too far after because people still understood imperial measures. So it likely was not me who clipped it but whether it was my mum or my nana or a complete stranger I do not know!

Well, whoever clipped it so it could fall into my hands deserves a round of applause because I thought these were really delicious. Emphasis on the” I” there. The fussiest eater in the world was not convinced. “What’s in these? It is cream? It’s not like the usual quiche you make.”

“I used cream cheese”

“It’s too much”

“Well…you did eat six of them….”

Both sides make a fair point here. The Asparagus and Bacon Tartlets are richer than a normal quiche, primarily due to the cream cheese filling. But you also don’t have to eat half a dozen of them in one sitting.

I made these twice recently which is something I rarely do with recipes for the blog. Usually, I make something, eat it, blog it and move on. However, the first time I made the tartlets I used fresh asparagus. I was going to post that version. But it felt like cheating. Of course a fresh asparagus and bacon tart was going to be amazing. It’s asparagus! And bacon! And for those of us who like a little bit of rich – cream cheese!. Would these taste as good using tinned asparagus?

They weren’t quite as good as the fresh version but they were still really good. And I am not being an asparagus snob here. I grew up on tinned asparagus. My nana’s asparagus rolls which only ever used tinned asparagus are one of my top ten things to eat ever! The only reason I have not posted that recipe here is that I honestly think I could not do nana’s memory justice as my version would never live up to hers!

Anyway…that’s given me some food for thought…maybe I will post that recipe one day. But as for the Asparagus and Bacon Tartlets? They’re really good. And if you find them too rich? Stop at four, or two or one.

These also reheat up well and I thought they were also quite nice to eat cold.

They are also perfect fare for a socially distanced picnic in the park!

The Recipe

Have a wonderful week!

22
Apr
2014

Retro Easter Part 2: Easter Lily Sandwiches

categories: Asparagus, Cream Cheese, Lunch, Sandwiches

Let’s start with a caveat.

I am perfectly aware that these sandwiches do not resemble Easter Lilies and would, based on their look, be far more appropriately called Calla Lily Sandwiches. But it’s Easter ok?

And take a look at them. How pretty are they? Perfect for an afternoon tea with the girls….

Easter Lily Sandwiches2 — Easter Lily sandwiches

And they taste pretty damn good too!!!

There are a few recipes for these lily sandwiches floating about the interwebs. However, most of them use green onions for the stem. I actually made it that way the first time but was disappointed in the taste.

Chomping on that big stalk made the sandwich way too oniony – I’m pretty sure no one else wants to bite into a huge chunk of onion like that either. Or suffer the onion breath afterwards. But to use them as decoration only and take them out when it came to eating the sandwich seemed like a waste. My first thought was to replace the onions with beans but when I went to buy the beans, I was waylaid by some gorgeous baby asparagus spears.

And my version of the Lily Sandwich was born.

If you can only get thicker asparagus you could cut the spears in half down their length. If asparagus is not available, use beans or celery matchsticks – all of which I think would be preferable to the onion!

Oh and a tip for the frugal. When you cut the circles out of the bread, don’t throw the rest of the bread out. Save them to use for what my family call Ox-Eye eggs but is, I believe more commonly called, Egg in A Hole the next morning! Any asparagus left over can also be dipped into a runny yolk for a breakfast made in heaven!!!

Leftovers

Oh and if you don’t happen to have a rolling-pin handy, a bottle of your favourite sauv blanc works equally as well.

And would also be the perfect accompaniment to these sandwiches at your Easter afternoon tea!

[yumprint-recipe id=’2′]One more Easter Treat to go…stay tuned!

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15
Nov
2013

Ole, Ole Ole, This Soup is Hot, Hot, Hot (Daring Kitchen)

categories: Asparagus, Daring Kitchen, Eggs, Soup, Spain

Hola and Olé friends…and that’s the extent of my Spanish done!

Let’s talk about soup, baby….ok…I’m stopping with the bad music puns.

Right here. Right now.

Or..Maybe not…

Green Asparagus SoupOur November Daring Cooks’ hostess was Begoña, who writes the beautiful blog, Las recetas de Marichu y las mías. Begoña is from Spain and didn’t want to go with the more common challenges of paella or gazpacho, she wanted to share with us another very popular recipe from Spain that we don’t see as often called Sopa Castellana which is a delicious bread soup!

I chose the Green Asparagus version as not only is it my second favourite vegetable ( behind the far less exotic green bean) but also, currently in season here in the Southern Hemisphere..

Just look at how gorgeous it is!

And the soup was pretty awesome too…I love the combination of egg and asparagus and I also love a poached egg in a soup…so, so good.

And saffron in anything just makes it awesome!

Try it, it may just get you dancing just like this!

Have a great week!