Hello friends and welcome to a midweek quickie. Today we are talking leftovers, specifically what to do with leftover Ham Slaw. I recently, please don’t laugh at this, but I only very recently learned that you could “bake” potatoes in the microwave! Combine the two and you get a super yummy ham slaw baked potato. AKA Work from home heaven!
Since then though, I have been making up for lost time and about once a week when I am on a working-from-home day and have suitable leftovers, I have been baking up a potato and having it with my leftovers for lunch. The Ham Slaw was AMAZING!
And how does it taste?
There is something I find so comforting about a baked potato. And at 6 minutes cooking time, you can bake your potato, walk your dogs and eat all in your lunch hour! The ham slaw is a pretty robust salad so will last in the fridge for a day or two so if you make a bit more than you need, you can have lunches for a few days. I had this as a work from home lunch but there’s nothing to stop you re-heating your potato in the office microwave either!
Ham slaw, a baked potato hack and two Taylor Swift gifs? What more could you want in a mid-week quickie! Hope your week is going well.
Hello, friends, we are back from our hols – more to come about that later! Never have I agonised over a post as much as I have over this one. Not because these Moscow Potatoes weren’t fabulous. They were delicious and tasted like something special even though they are made from only four ingredients! My dilemma was about whether this might be seen as me taking a pro-Russian stance on wider world events. So just to be really clear, this is not a political statement, this is a food blog.
The recipe for Moscow Potatoes comes from the February / March 1990 edition of Vogue Entertaining which is the same magazine that brought us the flowery delights of a rose petal salad. For this one, we are turning away from flowers and turning the usually humble spud into a ritzy item. It’s the culinary version of the plain girl taking off her glasses and becoming a glamour puss.
I had some of the salmon caviar left over from making the Oysters with Caviar so it made sense to give the Moscow Potatoes a try. We had these as a little starter before our New Year’s Day dinner of Tomahawk Steak with a coffee spice rub and a caesar style wedge salad. This was a delightful way to welcome in 2023! I served these on a plate meant for deviled eggs and I think they looked adorable! You will see I left some of the potatoes un-caviared in case people did not like it. In the end, I had to add some of the gorgeous salmon caviar pearls to the plain ones as no one wanted them!
Moscow Potatoes – The Article
The recipe for Moscow Potatoes comes from a feature called “Fed in The Clouds” . It is about Alan and Elizabeth Crompton Batts who are as posh as they sound. He was a food writer, and chef and owned a PR company that was involved with a LOT of very famous London restaurants including Chez Nico, Tamarind, and Christopher’s. He was also at one point the manager of The Psychedelic Furs whose song Pretty in Pink is in my Top Ten of best-ever songs. Her family used to own The Ivy. In short, these two are food royalty!
1990’s Power Couple, Alan and Elizabeth Compton Batts
Although I had never heard of either Alan or Elizabeth Crompton Batts before starting this post, and coming into this wanting to be a bit mocking about the whole 80s excess of it all, I was actually very sad to read that Alan Crompton Batts passed away in 2004 at only 50 years old. This meant at the time of this article in 1990, he was 36 and had already achieved everything I mentioned before! This took my breath away. What an absolute powerhouse!
Their menu is also amazing and I”m sure we will see more from the Crompton Batts’ in future posts.
In the meantime though, let’s find out how to make Moscow Potatoes!
Moscow Potatoes – The Recipe
You will see from the pictures that I swapped out the mint for some chives. I think you can go your own way on this. Dill would also be amazing.
Hello crime readers and food lovers! I’m going to kick this one off on a very personal note. Middle Eastern Food is probably my favourite style and flavour of food. I love the largesse of the many plates of food, all designed for sharing that is so much a part of the cooking of this region. So I was hugely excited to read Death on The Nile. Surely we would get some hummus, flatbread, falafel, slow-cooked lamb, maybe some baklava to finish….I was so up for this. And was bitterly disappointed. There is not much food at all mentioned in Death on The Nile. Hence we are eating Potatoes and Artichokes. The potatoes and artichokes are not a bad dish, in fact they were really tasty! Just not what I was expecting!
Death on The Nile – The Plot
Linnet Doyle, a beautiful heiress, is honeymooning in Egypt with her husband Simon. The two should be in the realms of newly wedded bliss however their trip has been spoiled by Linnet’s former friend and Simon’s former fiancee Jacqueline de Bellefort who is stalking the couple. In an effort to evade Jackie, the couple embark on a trip down the Nile.
On a side trip to Abu Simbel, a large rock falls off a cliff, just missing Linnet. Accident? It could not have been Jackie, she was on the boat. However, a few days later, a drunken Jackie shoots Simon Doyle in the leg. That same night, Linnet is shot dead. Again, it could not have been Jackie, after the incident with Simon, she spends the entire night both heavily sedated and under the watchful eye of one of the other passengers.
So, who killed Linnet Doyle? Good thing Hercule Poirot is also on board the Karnak to solve the crime!
We have:
A love triangle that leads to murder
Stolen pearls and a missing stole
A dodgy maid
Shady business dealings
Kleptomania
Alcoholism
A rebellious young man with communistic leanings
And Colonel Race, who we last saw in Cards on The Table joins Poirot on the Karnak
Death on the Nile – The Covers
There is not a lot of variety in the covers for Death on The Nile. They are largely images of the Karnak or Egypt. Poirot features in a few and of course, we have a few “beautiful girl in peril” pulp-type covers.
But where I ask you is the crazy? I have come to expect a few totally off-the-wall covers and was unable to anything really oddball. I also could not find any non-English covers which also seemed odd given that this is such a well-known and loved Christie novel.
The Recipe – Roasted Potatoes and Artichokes
I found this recipe for Roasted Potatoes and Artichokes on Real Simple. It was nice but I thought I could do a bit better. So there is my revamped version. You can of course keep it (real) simple and use the OG recipe
2 tbsp olive oil plus one more for dressing the cooked potatoes
1 tsp salt
1 tsp smoked paprika
4 garlic cloves
I 275g jar of marinated artichokes
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Black pepper, freshly ground
5–6 sprigs of parsley, mint, chives or a combination of them
Instructions
Par boil the new potatoes in salted water until they are just tender. This will depend on the size of your potatoes but it took me 12 minutes.
Drain the potatoes and cut them in half.
Heat your oven to 180C.
In a bowl big enough to hold the potatoes mix together the olive oil, salt and paprika. Toss the potatoes through and then place them cut side down on a baking tray.
Put them in the oven and roast for 20 minutes.
Drain your artichokes and pat dry.
After twenty minutes and your artichokes and the garlic cloves to the baking tray with the potatoes. Cook for 15 minutes
Chop your herbs and add to the extra olive oil with the black pepper and lemon juice.
Remove the roasted garlic from the oven. Squash down cloves so the roasted garlic puree comes out and add this to your oil and lemon mix. Do this one by one and taste as you go so you can get the dressing to your desired level of garlicky goodness.
Once you are happy with the dressing remove the potatoes and artichokes from the oven. Place into a bowl and stir through the lemon / garlic / herb dressing.
Enjoy while reading Death on The Nile!
Notes
Adding some onion wedges with the artichokes would also work well here.
If you wanted to sprinkle a little feta cheese over the top of the finished dish would be delicious!
Any leftover garlic can be kept in the fridge for a few days and added to anything that needs garlic.
Dr Bessner’s bulk moved up and down appreciatively. “Ho, ho, ho, it was very funny that! Doyle, he tells me about it. It was a telegram all about vegetables – potatoes, artichokes, leeks – Ach! Pardon?”
With a stifled exclamation Race had sat up in his chair.
“My God,” he said. “So that’s it! Richetti!”
He looked round on three uncomprehending faces.
“A new code – it was used in the South African rebellion. Potatoes mean machine guns, artichokes are high explosives – and so on.”
Agatha Christie – Death on The Nile
If you would like to read of another instance where Artichokes were compared to weapons, click here.
Links to The Christieverse
Christie has a short story also called Death on The Nile. We will come to that one in due course.
Miss Van Schuyler says to Poirot that she has heard of him from a mutual acquaintance, Rufus Van Aldin. He was a character in The Mystery of The Blue Train
The death of Mr Shaitana featured in Cards on The Table is mentioned. It is said that it occurred a year earlier.
Poirot mentions a case in which a red kimono was found in his luggage. This refers to Murder on the Orient Express
Poirot also speaks of attending an archaeological site which references Murder in Mesopotamia
The Film
Of course, we were not going to talk about Death on the Nile without mentioning the Kenneth Branagh film of the same which was released this year. We saw it in the cinema and, although the reviews have been universally bad, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was not a fan of Kenneth Branagh’s Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express; this has not changed. But I thought the film looked beautiful. The scenery was spectacular and really made me want to go to Egypt to see those sights for myself. I also loved its over-the-top opulence. And I thought Gal Gadot and Emma Mackey were both perfectly cast.
Other Food & Drinks Mentioned in Death on The Nile
To keep things neat, next up we are going to read the other Death on the Nile, the one contained in Parker Pyne Investigates. Will I get falafel and hummus this time round? I’m both doubtful and hopeful!
“Hello crime readers and food lovers! The Secret of Chimneys is Agatha Christie’s fifth novel and it is a standalone thriller even though in the tv version it is turned into a Miss Marple mystery. Chimneys introduces us to Superintendent Battle who will return in future novels. On the menu for tonight’s dinner is a classic Steak Frites with Bearnaise Sauce. I have chosen the French nomenclature today because it sounds so much more classy than the English alternative of steak and chips! I think the Dame would have approved!
Oh, and just so you don’t get confused like I did over the title, Chimneys refers to a country house, not actual chimneys! The tv version was filmed at Hatfield house which was the childhood home of Queen Elizabeth 1. And totally gorgeous!
The Secret of Chimneys – The Plot
Oh Lord…where to start? This one is complicated!
So, let’s start it in Zimbabwe where we meet our hero Anthony Cade. A friend gives him the memoirs of a Herzoslovakian (yes really) aristocrat to take to publishers in London along with some incriminating letters written by a woman called Virginia Revel. Through a series of escapades, Anthony meets the real Virginia Revel and gets an invitation to Chimneys, but only after having disposed of the dead body in the study…
Rght about now, I usually do a bit of a summary of the novel. Well, I bought a big pile of Agatha Christie novels on eBay and the back cover of The Secret of Chimneys has done it for me. Here is what it says
“Stolen letters, a foreign envoy; a shot at one of England’s historic houses; detectives Britishm French and American; secret passages, a fabulous jewel, a mysterious rose emblem; an organisation called the Comrades of the Red Hand; an international jewel thief…”
I couldn’t have done it better myself!
Sadly, the Secret at Chimneys also contains some racial slurs and stereotypes that are definitely on the nose for the modern reader which diminished my enjoyment of this “light-hearted thriller”.
The Covers
The first three on the top row are the one I read, my favourite and I don’t even know what is happening here!!! As lovely as it is, I also feel the French cover looks like it was designed by someone who had never read the book!
The Recipe – Steak Frites with Bearnaise
“He thought longingly of such things as rump steaks, juicy chops, and large masses of fried potatoes. But he shook his head ruefully, glancing at his wristwatch”
The Mystery of Chimneys, Agatha Christie
Here’s the recipe. I used oven fries but this recipe has all the instructions to cook your “mass of fried potatoes” from scratch if you so desire! I also used dried tarragon in my bearnaise because winter!
One of my goals for the new year, inspired by Jenny over at Silver Screen Suppers is to cut down on my food waste. To that end, I spent a day or so over the break adding every item of food and drink in my house – of which I apparently have 530+ – ranging from Agnostura Bitters to Zulu Spice Mix into a spreadsheet.
Zulu Spice Mix? WTF? I don’t even know why I have Zulu spice mix. I also don’t know why I have 3 unopened boxes of cream of tartar (or even exactly it does) or two unopened jars of Char Sui Paste… But all of that stuff could wait. In the dairy shelf of my fridge (another Jenny inspiration), there was some very delicious (and also very expensive) marinated feta that absolutely positively could not go to waste.
So, then to my “Recipe Schedule” spreadsheet to see where I can use some marinated feta. Wow..I’m giving you all my spreadsheets!
Don’t even get me started on my spreadsheets. Because this will then become a blog about where and how to use a multi embedded what if scenario and not at all about food. On the other hand, if, like me, you are all about the spready, head over to my other blog www.tarynisexcellent.com* for all your spreadsheet needs, wants and desires. (*Not a real blog. Unless you want it to be…)
Back to my marinated feta and the concept of the “Use By” post. In each post, I will use up an ingredient that would have otherwise had to be thrown out. And will try to use that ingredient in a manner that does not entail buying several more items which will then have to be logged and “used by”…..
Yotam Ottolenghi’s latest book, Simple contains a recipe for fries with feta and oregano. I had feta, I had potatoes. I didn’t have dried oregano but I had fresh rosemary and I love rosemary flavoured roast potatoes so I subbed in the rosemary for the oregano.
Let me tell you, these fries are GENIUS!
That drizzle of garlic oil over the top takes them to next level. Add the feta and we’re talking eleven.
Being a philistine I also tried to add ketchup and vinegar to these fries Because normally, fries without them are useless.
These were fine without!
These are possibly the best home fries I have ever eaten!
And a super recipe for using up any leftover feta cheese you may have!
