Retro Food For Modern Times

07
Jan
2019

Use By: Oven Fries with Marinated Feta and Rosemary

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!

31
Dec
2018

Silence of the Lamb Chops

categories: Books, Lamb, Movies

December 31st not only marks the end of the year but also the birthday of actor Anthony Hopkins. Let’s celebrate both events with a delicious recipe from Zach Neil’s The Nightmare Before Dinner called…well you already know… Silence of the Lamb Chops! This was the very first recipe I wanted to cook from this book because, for me, Silence of The Lambs is a perfect film.

The actors are stunning, the direction is flawless, the script is tight, the cinematography is en pointe. For my mind, Silence of the Lambs has no weak link. Plus…and this one I could be wrong on this one but in my mind, Hannibal Lector defined a new type of movie villain. Intelligent, eloquent, charming…he is a bit Hans Gruberesque….but at the end of the day, however, suave Gruber was, we were all happy when he fell to his death. No one wants Hannibal to die. We’re glad he escapes. And let’s be clear. He is a monster. And therein lies the magic of the Silence of the Lambs.

I had thought I’d taken a million photos of the Silence of the Lamb Chops.

I totally did. It was so good. The chops are marinated in olive oil, garlic, rosemary and apple cider then grilled. They are served with a mushroom and apple sauce which was great. An unusual combination but it worked really well with the lamb. This is then drizzled with a glaze made from raspberry preserves and soy sauce which is again an odd combination but works well. The Silence Of The Lamb Chops is like a flavour explosion. There is the herby, fattiness of the lamb set against the earthiness of the mushrooms and the apple. The sweet and salty raspberry soy sauce acts as a highlight, a little oomph!

I served mine on a bed of mashed potatoes which added a creamy element. If you wanted to though, you could serve it….

Here’s the recipe:

And here’s my only other photo:

So, it’s the end of the year. Time for me say a massive

to you all for reading and commenting and being a part of my tiny corner of the internet. It’s been another amazing year. I think my highlight was Pieathalon in London and getting to share pies with fellow pieathletes Jenny from Silver Screen Suppers and Battenberg Belle.

Stay tuned for 2019, I think it’s going to be just as much fun!

Have a great week And a fabulous New Year.

May all your dreams and wishes come true. Love you lots!

24
Dec
2018

Nakatomi Towers Cocktail

categories: Cocktail, Grapefruit, Movies, Sake

Yippy Ki Yay People of the World! I joined a film club. And, to celebrate, I made a very down low version of Jane Rocca’s Nakatomi Towers cocktail. The original recipe contains fancypants ingredients like Shochu and yuzu but two days before Christmas, I have enough to do without trying to source either of them so we’re going basic. And you know what? My version is delicious!

So, my work team decided to form a film club! One of my work buddies had 12 themes for films and there are six of us, so we each got randomly allocated a theme and a time. Turned out…I was up first. With the theme of “Blockbuster”. It was actually one of the easier themes. I flirted with Home Alone for the seasonality, and Inception because it made the bucks. But when we talk blockbuster and this time of year? There can only be one!

Ah, Die Hard…I had not seen Die Hard for many a year and, truth be told, I was wondering whether it would stand the test of time. It does! I made some popcorn and spent a rainy Sunday afternoon totally absorbed in the antics of John McLaine, Hans Gruber and co. So absorbed that I then watched A Good Day To Die Hard which is the only one of the franchise I own. Don’t do that, it’s terrible. But Die Hard the original – awesome!

Then, during the week, I happened to be flicking through the pages of Jane Rocca’s The Fashionable Cocktail (I can thoroughly recommend it) and I came across the recipe for a cocktail called Nakatomi Towers…and this post was born!

This is the original recipe but the shops at this time of year are a hot mess and even if I was willing to brave the great unwashed, given I have never seen a yuzu in my life, my chances of finding one on the eve of Christmas eve were slim. My tiny local bottle-o had Sake so that was going to sub in for the Shochu and I had a grapefruit in the house. I also don’t see the reason for simple syrup if you are going to add lemonade so we can cut that step out too…It’s Christmas, we’re all busy, let’s not take time consuming steps unless they are absolutely necessary right??

I do like the thought of muddled apricots though!

Okay Hans, sure whatever. Calm the farm down dude. It’s Christmas! Have a cocktail and enjoy!

Let’s get to the recipe shall we? Are we good to go?

Print

Nakatomi Towers

Print Recipe

A delicious cocktail celebrating the blockbuster “Die Hard”

Author: Taryn Fryer

Ingredients

Scale

2 Apricots
45 ml Sake
45 ml red grapefruit juice
Lemonade
Ice Cubes

To Garnish

Apricot slice
Grapefruit wedge
Maraschino cherry

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Muddle the apricots in your shaker.
Add some ice cubes, the sake and the grapefruit juice to the shaker.
Shake it like a polaroid picture.
Put fresh ice cubes into a glass.
Strain the apricot / sake mixture into the glass.
Top with lemonade.
Garnish with a slice of apricot, a wedge of grapefruit and a maraschino cherry.
Take a sip and murmer “Yippy Kay Yay!”

I really like the kind of funkiness the sake brings to the Nakatomi Towers. It works really well against the sweetness of the apricots, the tanginess of the lemonade and the bitter of grapefruit. For a cocktail that I “dumbed” down the flavours are quite complex. And not heavy on the booze so if you want to have more than one it’s….

So tell me… What movie would you have chosen given the theme “Blockbuster”?
And where do you stand on Die Hard being a Christmas movie?
For the record? In my opinion – it’s a movie set at Christmas, not a Christmas movie. But let the debate begin!

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!

18
Dec
2018

Semolina, Coconut and Marmalade Cake

categories: Cake

I’ve been reflecting on the comment I made in the post on the Stuffed Monkey about how I don’t like the taste of orange peel and, to be honest, I feel it made me sound like a big baby. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I actually don’t like the taste of dried orange peel but….and it’s a big but…(not a big butt, I’m no Sir Mix A Lot) I thought that in the general spirit of pushing myself out of my comfort zone that is this blog, I should try things before dismissing them. And my last recollection of dried orange peel comes from Hot Cross Buns from back in the days when I was kissing tv screens. Which is all a very long way of saying that I made Yotam Ottolenghi’s Semolina, Coconut and Marmalade Cake.

And it was delicious.

Who knew marmalade was actually quite nice? I bought one that was full of peel too! They don’t call me a dare devil for nothing! Yes, you’ll lfind me and my newly found tolerance for slightly bitter jam living right over there on the edge!

The recipe for this cake came from Yotam Ottolenghi’s book Jerusalem. The recipe can be found here:

Semolina, Coconut and Marmalade Cake

I should mention here that this is a syrup cake. Which means that once the cake is baked you add some sort of syrup to it. In this case it is an orange blossom water flavoured syrup. HHowever,one thing that was very different in this cakes to other syrup cakes I have made is the technique off applying the syrup. In previous recipes that I have made you usually stab the cake all over with a skewer and pour the syrup over. In the Ottolenghi version you kind of paint the syrup into the cake.

This seemed daunting at first. There was a lot of syrup. And initially ,I thought it was going to take forever. And you know, I have things to do! In the end ,the slow painting of syrup onto cake became quite meditative.

This is a good cake to make if you need time to ponder an issue…like does God exist? Should I buy those shoes? And what exactly is semolina anyway?

So, fear of marmalade conquered. I have a bit left in the jar, maybe in the not too distant future, I will tackle my dislike of bourbon enough to make these babies!

Bourbon and Marmalade Glazed Drumsticks

Although, come to think of it, I’m not that fond of drumsticks either.

In the meantime though, I feel like I have earned the title Lady Marmalade. Except that song was about a hooker so I may have to rethink that title!

Have a great week!

11
Dec
2018

The Nine Cocktail

categories: Books, Cocktail

The Nine is a delicious cocktail from “The Nightmare Before Dinner” the book I mentioned last week in the post on Beetle Pie. The book features recipes from Beetle House, Zack Neill’s Tim Burton inspired restaurants located in Los Angeles and New York.

Tim Burton + food? You had me at hello! 😍

I love a sour cocktail and The Nine is the best blend of sweet, sour and apple flavours.

And it’s a great colour! An almost iridescent green. You can almost imagine it glowing in the dark. It doesn’t (I checked) but it looks as if it might! This is a fun cocktail As is the book it came from!

If you like your food to come with a pun (and I think by now we all know that I do!) or you are a fan of Tim Burton, or you want to dine at Beetle House but can’t afford the flight to New York or L.A, then this book is for you! Or the film buff in your life! Christmas is coming peeps….

The Nightmare before Dinner begins with Sauces and Dips for the Recently Deceased – my favourite being the Veruca Sauce! To be used only when you “want an Oompa Loompa now, Daddy, now”…or, probably more commonly, to put over chicken, fish or veggies as it is a delicious sounding honey butter garlic sauce.

And with all due respect to Tim Burton – there will only ever be one Verucca Salt. (And just so we’re clear? It’s not his version)

The next chapter is caled The Nightmares Before Dinner. This contains recipes for items like Hallowpeno Honey Cheddar Cornbread, Charlie Corn Bucket and Beetle Bacon Bread….just listen to this mouthwatering description

“It’s a hearty sundried tomato and bacon “pizza” with a sweet balsamic reduction, soft mozzarella cheese and crisp scallions”

Here’s the picture from the book:

How I good does that look? Let me tell you a little secret into my obviously maladjusted childhood. When I was a child, apparently I would kiss the tv screen whenever my favourite handsome boy of the moment would appear. This picture kind of made me want to lick the screen…

I didn’t!!!!! I swear I didn’t!

And let’s never talk about any of this ever again.

The next chapter, Soups and Salads for The Living contains, of course, a Giant Peach Salad. The Macarbre Mains section has an Edward Burger Hands, a Shrimpy Hollow and my very, very favourite….ah no. I’m saving that one for a special occasion.

But the Edward Burger Hands sounds delish! And a lot easier to eat than this meal!

I won’t take you through all the chapters because I think you should have a taste for the book now.

See what I did there? A taste for the book?

Oh…Kay. moving swiftly along…the final chapter is how you can put together the various meals to have themed parties. It also offers suggestions for table and room decorations so you can really set the scene!!!! Here are both the menu and the scene suggestions for an Edward party!

The joy of The Nightmare before Dinner lies in that it is seriously good food and cocktails that don’t take themselves to seriously. Hmmm…sounds kind of like the ethos of this here blog…no wonder I like it so much!

Here’s the recipe for The Nine:

Now, let’s all make ourselves The Nine and jump in the line…..

Day -O….

Many thanks to Net Galley and Quarto Publishing for the ARC of The Nightmare Before Dinner.

Have a wonderful week. I”m going to binge on Tim Burton films. Speaking of which…what’s your favourite?

Mine is an absolute four-way tie between Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood and Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.

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