Profiteroles For Very Special Occasions

categories: 1970's food, 1970's recipes, A-Zof Cooking, Desserts, France, Pastry

You might think that five and a bit years into this that I would cease to be surprised. Both when things go awry and when by some stroke of mad luck things work out just as they should. Such was the case with the Profiteroles I made on the weekend from the Very Special Occasions Chapter of The A- Z of Cooking (1977). When the profiteroles came out of the oven looking like, well, profiteroles, there were whoops of joy, squeals of excitement and a bit of spontaneous kitchen dancing!

Yep, in this house, this:

Equals This:

But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves just yet. First. Hello V. And whilst we’re on the subject let’s’ all note the name of the chapter. Not just Special Occasions. Very Special Occasions. Requiring very special dancing apparently. And also requiring several goes at making something that was worthy of posting. After all, it’s a very special occasion.

First up there was a go at Carpetbag Steak. Now, if you lookup Carpetbag Steak anywhere on the interwebs, you will more than likely read that it is a famous Australian recipe. I’ve lived here virtually all my life and I have never head of it. However, I really liked the idea of steak and oysters. I made the recipe and it looked and tasted meh.

Then I made a Beef Stroganoff. Tasted good. Looked terrible in all the photos. I think it’s that thing that Jenny from Silver Screen Suppers told me about where brown food just doesn’t photo well. This was about the best…

So then I made Carpetbag Steak v2. A modern recipe this time. Still looked and tasted meh.

I was left with a choice. Champagne and Orange Juice. Or Profiteroles. And believe me . You came so close to having Champagne and Orange juice as your very special occasion meal. Because this is what happens inside my head whenever pastry is mentioned:

The profiteroles only happened because the very special occasion was a long weekend due to the Football Grand Final being the next day. I know right. Who has a holiday BEFORE the big day?

“It’s the dumbest reason for a holiday ever” I said.

“Come to work then” said my boss.

“It’s the best holiday ever. Better even than Jesus being born. Or dying.”

So anyway, on the holiday for best/ worst reason ever I got a little bored in the evening and thought that I would have a flick through The A-Z of Cooking, to plan V-Z. The profiterole recipe caught my eye and I realised that I had every ingredient. And a whole heap of bravado due to being about 3/4 of a bottle of a wine in.

Don’t judge. That produced these. Light as air, melt in the mouth, boozy cream filled and shiny chocolately pastry balls of deliciousness,

The basis for profiteroles, and the reason for my hissy fit is pastry. Choux pastry to be exact. I have made choux pastry exactly once before. For a recipe called Cherry Fritters from The A-Z of Cooking. Don’t bother searching the archives for them. They were a total disaster and I didn’t post them.

But choux starts with a roux…actually no. According to The A-Z of Cooking choux pastry starts with 63g of flour. Yep. 63. Not 60. Not 65. 63. And seeing as this was a very special occasion, 63g of flour it was.

This became this:

Which became these. I couldn’t find a piping bag and my piping skills are non-existent so I just blobbed spoonfuls of the pastry onto the tray. Also, I wasn’t really expecting this to work. And need I remind you about that bottle of wine that was now 5/6’s gone?

Well, slap my arse and call me Charlie if those funny looking blobs didn’t turn into these. They’re shall we say “rustic” but on a scale of one to ten of being recognizable as profiteroles, they have to be at least an eight.

So then fill and ice and sprinkle and you get these: (even more profiteroley).

Here’s the recipe direct from The A-Z of Cooking:

I tweaked the recipe by swapping out the rum for Amaretto and adding some sprinkles.

Make, eat, enjoy, do a little dance of sheer pleasure.

And have a great week!

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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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24
Apr
2017

Bombay Potato Snacks

categories: India, Potato, Snacks, Vegetarian

Let’s talk about what makes the best snacks the best. They are crunchy, salty, crispy, fried, spicy, sweet, creamy, fresh or sour right? So, what if you could combine all of those tastes and textures into the one dish? Wouldn’t that make it THE. BEST. SNACK.EVER? Yes. It would. And the only thing that stops me from claiming this for these Bombay Potato Snacks is that there is a little bit of work involved in making them which is kind of contrary to the idea of the snack….however, persevere with me. They’re worth the effort! And also very pretty!

I probably should have cropped this photo a lot more. However, I really liked the shadows of the plants on my kitchen windowsill. And you have to take your little pleasures where you find them right? And for you pernickety people, there’s a cropped version down below.

So, Bombay Potato Snacks. First time I made this, I totally forgot to strew the Bombay mix (or Sev as it is called in Sri Lanka over the top). Doh! It was actually still pretty tasty but you know…really just a potato snack which is totally not enough for all of you delightful and snack hungry RFFMT readers. Cos you all deserve the bomb! Eh?

Okay. Even by my standard of bad puns, that last one was just a little bit too shit. So, let’s quickly forget it ever happened and talk potatoes. In this case oven roasted with a bit o’ salt and cayenne pepper but you could totally pan or deep fry them should you so desire. Once baked or fried, arrange them on a place. I chose to place mine in a circle. Then, add a dollop of Greek Yoghurt, and top that with a dollop of Indian Chutney. I chose to use a home-made Mango Salsa Chutney from Kylee Newton’s wonderful book The Modern Preserver but you could use your favourite bought chutney.

We’re then going to sprinkle a little bit of tomato salsa over the top of all of this – tomato, red onion, chilli, coriander, mint, lemon juice to add some freshness and zing and pow!

And then, if this is not already tasty enough, we’re going to top this off by just throwing a handful of Bombay Mix all over the top! That is five layers of awesome on your plate. This is not just a Yeah! dish. This is a HELL YEAH! dish!

And totes vegetarian for those who care about those things. You could also very easily make it vegan by swapping out the dairy yogurt for a soy or coconut yogurt. Actually, vegans please make this. And give it to your non-vegan friends and defy them to say that this vegan dish is not as tasty AF.

Serve this on a platter and let your guests dig in. Or…eat it all by yourself. I won’t judge you. I promise. I may have even done that myself.

We’re doing Indian in Tasty Reads in April and May…and also there was an awesome Indian inspired Shepherd’s pie made on My Kitchen Rules this week, which I am totally going to adapt to my own tastes so stay tuned for more Indian inspired dishes in future.

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Bombay Potato Snacks

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Ingredients

Scale

5 large potatoes cut into 1cm slices
2 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt and cayenne pepper to taste
100 ml Indian Chutney of your choice – I used a home made mango chutney
125ml Greek yoghurt

Salsa:

2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp mint leaves, chopped
1 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
2 tsp lemon juice
1 red chilli, chopped, seeds removed (less or more depending on your love of heat)

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Instructions

Preheat oven to 200C.
Place the potato slices, the salt, cayenne pepper and oil in a large plastic bag and toss to coat.
Place the slices in a single layer on a baking tray and roast for 30 minutes, flipping them over half way through.
Remove from tray to a wire rack and allow to cool.

For The Salsa:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

To Serve

Spread the potato slices around the platter.
Add a dollop of Yoghurt into the middle, top this with a dollop of chutney.
Sprinkle the salsa over the top.
Top with the Bombay mix.
Eat. Enoy!

Next up though, we’re slipping and sliding, stepping and stomping into the letter S from The A-Z of Cooking. And for once, the heading is not completely random. Leave a comment if you’d like to have a guess at what it might be!

It’s your week…make it fab!

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26
Dec
2016

Consider The Mutton Curry

categories: Curry, England, Lamb

Today we are taking a huge step back in time and heading back to the time of gas lamps, hansom cabs and thick London fogs. How nice then in this cold inhospitable atmosphere to pop into the Oriental Club for a spicy mutton curry to warm your cockles on a cold winter’s night! Just think, Arthur Conan Doyle could have tucked into this curry as he pondered the intricacies of the first Sherlock Holmes story.

And now you can too!

Our mutton curry comes from 1861 from The Oriental Club’s chef, Richard Terry who made use of the ingredients from the first Asian grocery warehouse in London to recreate a curry recipe he had learned from Indian cooks. It is also indicative of Britain’s and Briton’s long-lasting love of curry!

This is certainly not a curry in a hurry! There are several parts to making this, which is time-consuming but if you have the patience, it is well worth the effort. Also, whilst the original recipe called for mutton, I used lamb. I could not find mutton anywhere – not even dressed as lamb. Funnily enough though, my mum says that in Sri Lanka when any recipe called for lamb or mutton, what they actually used was goat so use what you can get.

First up, you need to roast up some spices to make a curry powder. This will make more than you need for one curry so you will have supplies if you want to make this again or you can use it in other curries.

One thing that is strange about this curry is that you not only need a curry powder but also a curry paste.

Whilst we’re roasting and grinding those spices, let’s talk Sherlock! I am a HUGE fan of the BBC series with Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman and Andrew Scott because who doesn’t love a bad boy right? And I am over the moon excited to see Series 4. Tom Hiddleston! Colin Farrell! This series is going to be AWESOME!

Now, a very weird thing about this curry paste is that it contains lentils which you grind up. I have never heard of this technique before but…hey, if it’s good enough for the The Duke of Wellington, who was the President of the Oriental Club back in the day, it’s good enough for me! The genius stroke is that they help to make the gravy lovely and thick.

Mutton curry (maybe even one based on this recipe!) features as a clue in a Sherlock Holmes story. In The Adventure of Silver Blaze, which not only contains the phrase”Consider the mutton curry,” the title of this post but also “the curious incident of the dog in the night-time”, a mutton curry is doused with powdered opium, putting the stable boy meant to be guarding the race horse Silver Blaze into a stupor and hence rendering him unable to do his job.

The paste mix will also make more than you need for one curry but will keep in the fridge for months.

Sadly, Sherlock Holmes may not have been a fan of curry. At least not according to the 1946 film, Terror by Night. This however is not based on a Conan Doyle story so this is open for debate. Terror By Night is also available for free download here. Personally, I think Sherlock would have been a fan of this mutton curry…with or without a garnish of powdered opium.

The 19th Century Mutton Curry was delicious, dark and spicy, thanks to those lentils, the gravy was lovely and thick and the meat was tender. This was a winner! And hey, I’ve got paste and powder left so I’ll definitely be making it again!

Best served with an ice-cold beer! Whilst watching Series 4 of Sherlock!

Any leftovers? A curry jaffle is THE best hangover food known to man. Just sayin’. Tis the season after all!

Oh and by the way, the Oriental Club still exists and curries still feature on the menu. I am adding to the list for a trip to London next year!

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19th Century British Mutton Curry

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A delicious mutton curry from the days of The Raj, Queen Victoria and Sherlock Holmes!

Author: Taryn Fryer

Ingredients

Scale

19th Century British Curry Powder

2 tbsp ground turmeric
5 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cardamom seeds
1/2 tsp ground cloves

19th Century British Curry Paste

4 tbsp whole coriander seeds
2 tbsp yellow split peas
1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
1 1/2 whole cumin seeds
1 tbsp whole brown mustard seeds
1 tbsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp minced ginger
2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
120ml cider vinegar
6 tbsp corn, peanut or olive oil

Curry

675g bones lamb, cut into 2.5cm cubes
2 tbsp 19th Century British Curry Powder
1 tbsp 19th Century British Curry Paste
200g onions, peeled and finely chopped
4 tbsp corn, peanut oil or ghee
3/4 – 1tsp salt

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Instructions

For The 19th Century British Curry Powder

Combine all the ingredients in a jar. Mix. Cover with a tight lid.
Store away from heat and sunlight.
Makes 7 tablespoons.

For The 19th Century British Curry Powder

Put the coriander seeds, split peas, peppercorns and cumin into a medium cast iron frypan and set on medium heat. Stir and roast until the split peas are reddish, the coriander has turned a shade darker and all the spices begin to give off a roasted aroma.
Empty them into a bowl and allow to cool.
Put the roasted spices and the mustard seeds into a spice grinder or food processor and grind as finely as possible. Place in a bowl.
Add thee turmeric, cayenne pepper, ginger, salt, sugar, garlic and vinegar.
Stir to mix.
Pour the oil into a small non-stick frying pan and set over a medium heat.
Add the spice paste.
Stir and fry for around 5 minutes or until it browns slightly.
Cool, then empty into a jar.
Cover tightly and refrigerate until needed.

For The Curry

Put the oil or ghee in a heavy, wide, lidded pan. Set it over a medium high heat.
When the oil is hot, stir in the onions and fry them until they are lightly browned.
Add the curry powder and curry paste.
Stir a few times then add the meat and half the salt.
Stir and fry for a few minutes until the meat is coated in the spice mix.
Cover and reduce the heat to low.
Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add 600ml water and increase the heat/ Bring to the boil.
Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook for an hour until the meat is tender and the sauce is thick.
Season to taste and serve.

Notes

If the sauce is not thick enough, remove the lid and let it boil down.

Have a great week! Enjoy your holidays if you are on them, enjoy Sherlock S4 if you are watching. Let me know if you are, we can compare notes after!

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02
Nov
2016

Turning Japanese – 1989 Japanese Snack Plate

categories: Chicken & Poultry, Japan, Prawns, Radish, Snacks

Konichiwa dear people o’ the Internet.

Today we are exploring the first part of a two-part series taken from the pages of Vogue Entertaining October / November 1989 with a gorgeous Japanese snack plate.

On the plate today we have Japanese Fried Chicken, Prawn Canapé’s, Radish Canapés, edamame beans, wasabi and mayo! This is so pretty, perfect for a Spring brunch!

The magazine comes from a time when ingenious recipes and inventive ideas may have involved giving your guests a bowl of roses to munch on. Yummy!

Roses aside, we are putting some Spring flavours in full bloom on today’s Japanese snack plate. Just as an aside though, guess which day the J key on my laptop decided to break, meaning it had to be hit about four times harder than all the other keys. The sound track for the writing of this post was tap, tap, tap THUMP tap, tap, tap THUMP.

Minor typing difficulties aside, lets turn our attention to some hors d’œuvres for our Japanese snack plate.

Japanese Stuffed Radishes

Could not be simpler and the crunchy peppery radish is delicious with the salty punch of the caviar. Simply slice your radish down the middle of the stem, then scoop out a small hollow in your radish and fill with caviar. I think nowadays if you were making this you would use tobiko instead of normal caviar but maybe that was readily available in 1989. Come to think of it, I have no idea if it is readily available now!

Stuffed Prawns

Pardon me for having two things stuffed with caviar in this post but seeing as I had to buy it specially, I wanted to get some bang for my buck. Also, if it was good enough for Vogue Entertaining in 1989 its good enough for me!

This is also very tasty with this time a contrast between the sweet prawn meat and the salty caviar. Add a dob of pungent wasabi and some creamy mayo and you have perfection! The original recipe had the prawn heads left on. I took mine off. I just think it is easier to eat with head and shells gone.

It is important to skewer the prawns so they stay straight.

To make these you will need:

12 medium green king prawns
2 tsp salt
25g black caviar

Place a satay stick through the body of each prawn to keep it straight. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Drop the prawns in and cook for 3-5 minutes. Remove from the water and leave to cool.

Remove the satay sticks and remove the heads and shells, leaving the tail. Split the prawns down the back with a sharp knife and remove the digestive tracts. Fill the tract cavity with a little caviar. Repeat.

Soy and Ginger Edamame (loosely adapted from A Moveable Feast by Katy Holder)

These are not from Vogue Entertaining Oct /November 1989 but make a tasty and colourful addition to the snack plate.

200g edamame in pods
1/2 tbsp Japanese rice vinegar
1/2 tbsp light olive oil
1/2 tbsp mirin
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp grated ginger
pinch of sugar

Cook the edamame in boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and refresh under cold water. Pop the beans from their pods. Combine all the other ingredients in a bowl, stirring well to dissolve the sugar. Pour over the edamame and sit for at least an hour to let the flavours absorb. Strain and add to the plate.

Japanese Fried Chicken

I did not make this for the snack plate. We had it for dinner the night before but I made extra so we could have it on the plate. This is so good. Huh…it’s fried chicken, like it was ever going to be bad! This was great hot from the fryer in the evening and also super eaten cold the next day – it was not too greasy like a lot of fried chicken as leftovers and still quite crispy, although it is not a thick southern style coating.

Here’s the recipe!

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Japanese Fried Chicken

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A delicious Japanese take on fried chicken

Author: Taryn Fryer

Ingredients

Scale

500g chicken breast meat, skin on
3 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
1 spring onion chopped finely
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp Japanese soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
1 tsp wasabi paste
1 small dried chilli, chopped
pinch of black pepper
1 egg white, lightly beaten
2/3 cup cornflour
vegetable oil for deep frying
Mayonnaise, wasabi to serve

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Instructions

Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.
Make a marinade of the ginger, garlic, spring onion, sesame oil, soy sauce, mirin, pepper and chilli.
Marinate the chicken for at least 1 1/2 hours.
Mix eggwhite and cornflour well.
Add the chicken and marinate.
Heat the oil.
Deep-fry spoonfuls of the chicken mixture until golden brown.
Drain onto crushed kitchen paper and keep hot whilst the rest of the mixture is cooked.
To serve, spread on platter with dobs of mayo and wasabi

That’s it from me, have a great week!

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Retro Food For Modern Times

Category: World Cooking

Profiteroles For Very Special Occasions

Tiny Waldorf Salads

Waldorf Salad – History

Bombay Potato Snacks

Bombay Potato Snacks

Ingredients

Salsa:

Instructions

For The Salsa:

To Serve

Consider The Mutton Curry

19th Century British Mutton Curry

Ingredients

19th Century British Curry Powder

19th Century British Curry Paste

Curry

Instructions

For The 19th Century British Curry Powder

For The 19th Century British Curry Powder

For The Curry

Notes

Turning Japanese – 1989 Japanese Snack Plate

Japanese Stuffed Radishes

Stuffed Prawns

Soy and Ginger Edamame (loosely adapted from A Moveable Feast by Katy Holder)

Japanese Fried Chicken

Japanese Fried Chicken

Ingredients

Instructions