Retro Food For Modern Times

09
May
2016

REPOST from 2016 -Four Kumquat Canapés For Four Food Heroes

categories: 1970's food, 1970's recipes, Canapes, Food Heroes, Vegan

I was celebrating this week and these kumquat canapés helped to get the party started! How pretty are they?

These lovelies were inspired by a recipe by Gretta Anna Teplitzsky. Gretta Anna has been called the Julia Child of Australian Cooking. Through her books and her cooking school she brought French cooking to the Australian masses . She is one of my food heroes and an absolute glamour puss to boot! I have spoken about her before but as a refresher, her she is in all her glory!

I said it before and I will say it again. That fireplace! The colour co-ordination of caftan, candlesticks and couch! Love, love, love. Gretta Anna is the big sister I never had, the cool older girl at school I always aspired to be but never quite pulled it off.

I was looking for Gretta Anna recipes this week because, as a little present to myself I popped online and bought a copy of her second book, More Gretta Anna Recipes. And I was buying myself a little present because May is the month of the blogiversary! Retro Food for Modern Times will turn four later this month. Can you believe it? And we will celebrate in style but first, we need to talk about Kumquat Canapés because they are super delicious and a snap to make!

Kumquats are a small citrus fruit (about the size of a large olive) and incredibly sour which I love! A funny thing about them, is that if you eat them peel and all they actually become sweeter. It is the season for them here and as I was making my Gretta Anna inspired canapes I started thinking about my other food heroes and got totally carried away. I ended up making four different kumquat canapés because of the blogiversary and I named them after my food heroes. So without further ado, here they are.

Kumquat Canapé 1 – The Gretta Anna

Gretta Anna’s original recipe called for kumquats, rare roast beef and mint. She also wanted you to roast the beef. I just bought some rare roast beef slices from my local deli. I also had another idea for my mint leaves so I subbed in some rocket (arugula for my American friends).

Why this works

The rare roast beef has a slightly metallic taste with some saltiness and umami. The acidity of the kumquat worked really well against this and the rocket gave a note of pepperiness. A little dob of horseradish would also not go astray here either!

Kumquat Canapé 2 – The Nigella

For the Nigella Kumquat Canapé we are heading to Italy where we are pairing our tangy little friend the kumquat with some spicy chilli salami and a basil leaf. And to steal a quote from one of my favorite movies ever, Gregory’s Girl (if you have not seen this, stop everything and see it now!) the Nigella is bella, bella (with those last two words being spoken in the broadest Scottish accept you can muster!

Why The Nigella Works

The sharpness of the kumquat cuts against the fatty unctuousness of the salami, the chilli adds a kick of heat and the basil brings in some herby spiciness.This is a Mambo Italiano in your mouth! Plus even writing the words fatty unctuousness made me feel like I was channelling the real Nigella.

Kumquat Canapé 3 – The Sabrina

As if I was ever going to make a food hero kumquat canapé and not include Sabrina Ghayour! I still have 22 recipes to make from Persiana but Sirocco is wending it’s way to me as we speak! I know I said I wasn’t going to buy it until I was totally done with the Persiana Project but I read on Twitter that if you ordered it pre-release on Amazon UK, you could get it for a ridiculously low price. And I’m all about the savings!

I promise I won’t read it, will not even open the package until the Persiana Project is done!

Well, I might open the package just to make sure they have sent me the right book and it is not damaged. But then I will pack it back up again and put it out of sight until the end of the Persiana Project.

However, if during that purely quality control inspection it happens to fall open at a page….or ten….and my eyes just happen to fleetingly glance over them….then that is just what I like to call serendipity and no, it’s totally not cheating! Let’s quickly move on to the objêt itself.

The Sabrina Canapé takes us to the delicious flavours of the Middle East – hummus, dukkah, coriander and of course our little golden friend subbing in for what would traditionally be a preserved lemon.

Why the Sabrina Works

Is is a little bite of the Middle East. The creamy earthiness of the hummus is complemented by the zing of the kumquat, the dukkah adds crunch and more spice and the coriander some greeny freshness. And for them that care about such things the Sabrina is also vegan.

The final kumquat canape was the hardest to name. It had some Mexican overtones, avocado, tequila, chilli but I was damned if I was going to name it after the writer of Cantina after the terrible problems I had with that book. So, who else would I count as a food hero who would suitably represent my canapé? Jamie Oliver? Margaret Fulton? Charmaine Solomon? No, no and no came the answers. And then, taking inspiration from the tequila – which is possibly not always a good rule to live by I hit upon the name for my fourth and final kumquat canapé.

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Kumquat Canapé 4 – The Floyd

So obvious! I’m not sure if Keith Floyd ever made it to Mexico but I’m sure he would have, at the very least liked the idea of my tequila soaked avocados. A bon vivant, raconteur and also a bit of a boozer, Floyd was one of the first celebrity chefs. Many of his shows are on you Tube and I can thoroughly recommend them for the sheer force of his personality if not always for the recipes made. Zebu Penis and Marijuana Stew anyone?

Thankfully, The Floyd contains none of the above but consists of avocado marinated in tequila and sprinkled with salt with a side of radish, topped with a strip of pickled chilli and a slice of kumquat and garnished with a mint leaf. And again, it’s vegan!

Why The Floyd Works

It’s a bit like a deconstructed guacamole, all the flavours are their with the kumquat subbing in for the lemon or lime and the radish adding some crunch!

These were each delicious and I’m glad I expanded my thinking beyond the original!

Coming up we are celebrating the blogiversary and not only are we having a party with the letter D but it’s also themed! I can hardly wait!

Print

Kumquat Canapes

Print Recipe

Some cute and quirky canapes using cute and quirky kumquats

Author: Taryn Fryer
Yield: 16 1x

Ingredients

Scale

16 small cracker biscuits
6–8 kumquats, cut into thin slices (I found you could only get 2-3 slices from each kumquat

For the Gretta Anna

2 slices of rare roast beef, either home made or from your local deli,cut into two pieces
4 rocket leaves
4 little dobs of horseradish (optional)

For The Nigella

2 slices chilli salami, cut into 2 pieces
4 basil leaves
For the Sabrina
4 tsp hummus
2 tsp dukkah
4 coriander leaves

For The Floyd

4 chunks of avocado
1 tbsp tequila
sea salt
4 strips of pickled chilli
4 mint leaves

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Instructions

For the Floyd

Sprinkle the avocado chunks with the tequila and allow to sit for a couple of hours.
Just before serving remove from the tequila and sprinkle with the salt.

For All

Arrange the ingredients on the crackers in a manner that looks appetising.
Top with the kumquat slices.
Enjoy!

Nutrition

Serving Size: 2

Coming up we are celebrating the blogiversary and not only are we having a party with the letter D but it’s also themed! I can hardly wait!

Meantime, if you were to make a canape for one of your food heroes, who and what would it be?

Have a great week!

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26
Apr
2016

Cherry Beer Margarita – My Way

categories: Beer, Cocktail, Tequila

Dear readers…you have no idea of the indignities I sometimes have to suffer to bring you this.

But first, let me tell you how my recipe for Cherry Beer Margaritas recipe came about. A little while ago, I was pottering around on Pinterest and I found several recipes for Cherry Beer Margaritas. Happy Days, I thought and began a clicking frenzy. Only, not one of these recipes was what I expected. I thought that these would be Cherry Beer Margaritas….i.e. margaritas made from Belgian Cherry Beer. Instead, they were all beer margaritas with some sort of cherry flavouring.

I could not find a Cherry Beer Margarita the way I envisaged it for love or money. And so I decided to make one.

First problem. I thought I would just run down to my local bottle shop and pick up some cherry beer and make me some margaritas. Uh uh. Not so speedy there, Gonzales.

They had Ginger Beer, Mango Beer, Lychee Beer, Chilli Beer, about a billion flavours of Cider and Perry but no Cherry Beer. This was repeated everywhere. I actually shelved the idea for several months simply because I could not find Cherry Beer anywhere.

That changed on the weekend. But not without a cost.

I finally tracked down the one bottle shop in Melbourne that sells Belgian Cherry Beer.

I asked for two bottles but they were on a very high shelf so the shopkeeper needed to climb up a ladder to get them. Whilst he was climbing he started telling me that they were getting more, different cherry beers in a few weeks. He rattled off some names.

“I used to drink a Cherry Beer…but it wasn’t either of those”

“Was it Belle Vue?”

“Yes! That’s the one”.

He said “That was a while ago”.

I had totally lost interest by then and was looking round the shop to see what else I could buy. “Yeah, I guess”

“Wow….was a REALLY long time ago” The dude was giving me a look that quite clearly said “Would you like a pension card and a zimmer frame to go with your two beers, Granny?”

“I beg your pardon what?” I asked him, giving him my best death stare and resisting the urge to kick that ladder right out from under him.

“Erm…nothing. Would you like anything else with that?”

How about one of these?

The Cherry Beer Margaritas were everything I wanted them to be. A gorgeous deep red, a great cherry and citrus taste, a good kick of salt and a pleasant hit of booze. Perfect drinking for a sunny afternoon!

I used a mix of vintage merlot salt I bought at Gewurzhaus and sea salt for the glass. The merlot salt is such a gorgeous colour and looked really pretty on the glass but any salt would do.

It’s almost a shame these tasted so good because I won’t be going back to that shop in a hurry. Anyway, I doubt these ancient bones would make the trip!

Anyone up for a lychee beer margarita?

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Cherry Beer Margarita

Print Recipe

A delicious cherry beer margarita with a twist – it contains Belgian Cherry Beer!

Author: Taryn Fryer

Ingredients

Scale

30ml tequila
30ml lime juice
30ml triple sec
250ml Belgian Cherry Beer, I used Floris

To Garnish

Salt, I used a Vintage Merlot Salt but any salt will be fine
Lime circle
Maraschino Cherry

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Instructions

Fill your cocktail glass with ice and place in the freezer to chill.
Mix the tequila, lime, triple sec together in a large measuring cup.
Remove the glass from the fridge, tip out the ice.
Rub the rim of the glass with lime and roll in the salt.
Pour the tequila mix into the glass and top with the beer.
Garnish with the lime and cherry.
Enjoy!

Have a fabulous week!

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15
Apr
2016

History Happy Hour – April 15, 1912 – Punch Romaine

categories: Books, Cocktail, Rum, Sparkling, White Wine

“Everyone knows what rockets at sea mean,” said the portly Boston Harbor pilot.

“They mean distress…It means, please come to me because I am in trouble. Simple as that.”

“But you see, that’s just my problem. If it is that simple, I’m trying to understand why the ship that The Titanic saw did not come….Is there any reason why the captain would not go to the aid of the distressed ship?”

“No, if he saw them, he must go. It’s the oldest tradition of the sea.”

The Californian was the closest ship to The Titanic on the night it sank, possibly only 8 miles away. It was close enough for crew members to see the lights on the sinking ship and the eight distress rockets sent up by The Titanic. They alerted the Captain. And, yet, they did not go to help.

This is the story of The Midnight Watch.

The Midnight Watch is a super read. I loved it and I’m sure it is going to rank high in my books of the year. Even though, it is also soooooo frustrating. Right from the start you know that The Californian did not go to help The Titanic. And of course, you want to know why. And at times you want to reach into the book and shake one of the people and yell “Why? Why didn’t you do something?” WHY?” Or, as one of the reporters in the book says to Captain Lord of The Californian

“If you’re the only one who can speak, then you must speak more!”

First Class Food on the Titanic — Chocolate Eclairs were served to the First Class Passengers on The Titanic.

The writing is beautiful. From tales of heroism and gallantry to cowardice and inaction, The Midnight Watch covers the best and worst of human behaviour both in the face of, and following momentous events:

“Because by now we knew the numbers. Fifty-eight first-class men has found their way into the lifeboats but fifty-three third-class children had not. It was an almost perfect correlation. For almost every rich man who lived a poor child had died”

American IceCream — American Ice Cream was on the menu for Second Class Passengers on The Titanic. Passengers in First Class were served French Ice Cream

“What Franklin (Head of The White Star Line) thought of the Captain I couldn’t know, but I did know that if he, Franklin, had been accused of abandoning so many people, the weight of shame would have broken him. And yet, Lord’s head was upright, he seemed to bear no weight at all”

So, so good. The Midnight Watch not only brought the story of The Californian but the entire period to life. This is the kind of historical fiction that I love; writing that truly transports you to another time and place. Oh and, if you wiki Captain Lord, he looks EXACTLY how I imagined he would!

When I read I see the words as a movie in my head and I think that this would make a fabulous film. The journalist searching for justice, the proud, flinty Captain; the second officer torn between loyalty and a desire to tell the truth. It would be amazing.

Titanic Third Class Food — Third Class passengers on The Titanic were fed hearty, no frills fare. Fresh bread and butter, cold meat, cheese and pickles were part of their menu.

I was initially disappointed with the “answer” posited by David Dunn as to why Lord and The Californian did not go to the aid of The Titanic. Although perfectly plausible, It felt to me like an anti-climax; such a little reason for such an appalling consequence. But then I realised – pretty much any answer would have been disappointing. Because the only acceptable answer to the question of “Why didn’t you save the 1500 people who died that night?” would have been “Because we were too busy saving 1501 people elsewhere”.

Nonetheless a totally brilliant read.

Punch Romaine was served To First Class passengers on The Titanic as a palate cleanser between the first and second courses on the fateful night of April 14th. It is a white wine, rum and champagne cocktail served over…wait for it…. a mound of crushed ice. Which is surely worth it’s own line in Alanis Morisette’s Ironic. Don’tcha think?

On a total tangent, Romaine was one of the names my parents had picked out for me before I was born. Can you imagine a more foodie name than Romaine Fryer? Then again, Taryn was bad enough growing up, can you imagine going through life with the same name as a lettuce?

You know what else is a lettuce?

Iceberg.

Which brings us back to…..doh, oh, oh, oh….or Punch Romaine.

Print

Punch Romaine

Print Recipe

A white wine, rum and champagne cocktail that was served to First Class Passengers on the Titanic on the night it sank.

Yield: 1 1x

Ingredients

Scale

1 egg white
1 oz. white rum
1 oz. white wine
1⁄2 oz. simple syrup
1⁄2 oz. lemon juice
1 oz. fresh orange juice
2 oz. Champagne or sparkling wine
Twist of orange peel, for garnish

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Instructions

In an ice-filled cocktail shaker, combine egg white, rum, wine, simple syrup, lemon and orange juice.
Shake vigorously until well mixed and frothy.
Mound crushed ice in a large coupe glass, and pour drink around it.
Top with champagne, and garnish with orange peel.
Enjoy

Have a wonderful week!

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04
Apr
2016

Safavid Style Beef Pastries

categories: Books, Dish of The Week, Dishiest Dish, Persiana

Hey, lovely people of retro food world. I feel like I have been totally neglecting you recently but believe me, you are not alone. Top o’ the list of neglect as been myself. There was a night last week when my dinner consisted of 1 cronut and 2…ok…3 glasses of red wine. Oh and tears. Which I figure counts for grains, fruit and salt. That’s three of the food groups isn’t it?

I have been working all the hours and even though it has been crazy busy, I have also been loving it.

The tears were because that night I realised I had not only missed a book club meeting but I had missed the emails advising of the book club meeting so I was basically a no show which I hate. Because that’s just rude.

So, there has not been much cooking done at all. One of the few things I have made was the Safavid Style Beef Pastries from Persiana. My plan was to get home by 7, maybe 7:30 and then make a yoghurt sauce and some salad and the pastries – I had already made the beef mixture – and we would eat, drink and be merry and marvel over the elaborate pastry swirls and curlicues I had formed. Except I didn’t get home til closer to 8:30 and those pastries were thrown together with the love and attention that you would normally give a a not very interesting advertisement for something you have no intention of buying. There was no yoghurt sauce. There was no salad. There were some badly formed pastries on a plate with a blob of ketchup mixed with tabasco sauce (me) and HP sauce (him).

BTW, these should have looked like this:

I felt I had done really badly on this meal. So when I asked a very tentative “So what do you think?” I was pretty much bracing myself for critique that contained all the things I was berating myself for, being all the missing parts of the meal I had planned in my head. And that the pastries looked like they had been made with someone with no opposable thumbs.

“These are great. I really like them”

“What?”

“Are there more? Can I have some more?”

Sabrina Ghayour, this is why I love you.

Speakin’ of which

The Persiana Project

Last time we spoke I had 32 recipes left to cook from Persiana. Somehow, and I don’t even know how I managed to do this, we are now down to 26.

I made the Safavid Beef Pastries, the Cod with Relish, the marinated feta, the feta cigars from the marinated feta and….two other things that I have no recollection of making. Such is the fugue state of my brain. On the other hand, this challenge is going really well. And OMG…the marinated feta and the feta cigars? Delightful, delicious, delovely!

Next on the list to cook is the Chicken and Artichoke salad which I am planning to make tomorrow night. Then again, I was also planning to make it tonight and ended up having a jaffle made with some leftover curry instead. This is actually one of the very best ways to eat leftover curry – and a special little trick – instead of just plain butter on the bread, make a little garlic butter. Leftover heaven!

Inbox Zero

Because I have been so busy my personal inbox is out of control. At last count I had about 2700 unread emails. My challenge for April is to get this under control i.e. no more than one page of unread. I have found in the past, the best way to do this is to pick the latest email, search for all from that sender and work through them in a batch. This is particularly good for anyone who is selling anything as you can do a mass delete and voila that’s 30 emails gone in 10 seconds. But if anyone has any tips on how to control a crazy inbox, please let me know!

Watching

I reinstated our Netflix subscription over Easter so I am finally watching Making A Murderer.

I am also binge watching The Librarians…this is almost like someone make a show EXACTLY for me. It’s set in a library and its about really smart people solving supernatural stuff. Who even knew I had that many buttons that could be hit?

Reading

The Midnight Watch

Loved it, loved it, loved it. Best book I have read thus far this year. And I feel like I have read a lot of good stuff already. Stay tuned. There will be more. Soon.

The Method

I loved this too. How is this for a premise?

“Imagine a helpless, pregnant 16-year-old who’s just been yanked from the serenity of her home and shoved into a dirty van. Kidnapped . . . Alone . . . Terrified.

Now forget her . . .

Picture instead a pregnant, 16-year-old, manipulative prodigy. She is shoved into a dirty van and, from the first moment of her kidnapping, feels a calm desire for two things: to save her unborn son and to exact merciless revenge.

She is methodical – calculating – scientific in her plotting. Leaving nothing to chance, she waits . . . for the perfect moment to strike. The Method is what happens when the victim is just as cold as the captors.”

This week I am hoping for a bit more time away from work to get my life back under control. I am planning to cook the salad from Persiana as mentioned but also Anthony Bourdain’s Onion Soup Les Halles, and a mixed mushroom strudel.

Your turn now. What are you cooking, reading, watching doing this week? I love to hear from you so let me know. Also., please send clearing email tips.

Oh and if anyone out there is a jam maker? I have an A-Z of Cooking Project just for you – get your 1970’s jam on! Just let me know.

Have a super week!

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24
Mar
2016

REPOST from 2016 – The Black-Eyed Susan

categories: Books, Cocktail, Vodka

“I am the star of screaming headlines and campfire ghost stories.

I am one of the four Black-Eyed Susans.

The lucky one”

Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin is the story of Tessa Cartwright. As a teenager, she was abducted and left for dead in a field of Black-Eyed Susan flowers along with other dead and dying girls. They become collectively known as the Black-Eyed Susans. Tessa is the only survivor.

Now, in her thirties, the man accused of the crime, the man whom Tessa’s testimony helped put away is facing death row. And Tessa is having doubts about his guilt. And if he’s innocent, then the real killer is still out there….

I came to this book in two ways.

It was one of the selections we had for our Crime /Thriller month in bookclub along with Maestra (the one we chose), The Method (which I am currently reading) and The Ex (which I just bought as I noticed it was super cheap as I was getting the link).

Then, the very next day after we had made our choice, Heather who writes the blog Meta’s Meals wrote a very positive review of Black-Eyed Susans on Goodreads and I promptly decided that it was going to the top of my reading list!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Black Eyed Susan’s. It was very suspenseful and the plot was original which is a really hard thing to do in crime fiction. I only hope Maestra which is our book club choice is half as good. Mind you, last year we chose Girl on The Train which…urrggghhhh…I cannot even tell you how much I hated that book.

But this one’s good. And it has a gorgeous cover!

Black -Eyed Susans

Whilst reading The Black-Eyed Susans, I discovered that there is a cocktail called the Black-Eyed Susan. It is the official drink of the Preakness Stakes Horse race which is run in Baltimore each year as the winning horse is draped in a blanket made of these flowers.

This was delicious. I love pineapple juice and St Germain in cocktails so there was no way I wasn’t going to like this. The lime juice gave it a nice little kick of tanginess too!

The Black-Eyed Susan also got the thumbs up from resident bon vivant F Scott.

Oh, and before anyone complains, I know the flowers I have used in my photos are not Black-Eyed Susans. I am not even sure if they grow here, or, if they did when they would flower. Anyhoo, the gerberas were the closest (only) thing my local florist had that came close!

Here’s the recipe. Why not make one and have a sip whilst reading the book!

Print

Black Eyed Susan

Print Recipe

A delicious refreshing pineapple and citrus cocktail with a hint of Elderflower.

Author: Taryn Fryer

Ingredients

Scale

45ml Vodka (The Preakness recommend Finlandia)
15ml St Germain
60ml pineapple juice
7.5 ml lime juice
22.5ml orange juice

To Garnish

Orange Slice
Amarena cherry

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Instructions

Combine all the drink ingredients over ice in a cocktail shaker.
Shake, baby, shake.
Pour over ice into a Collins glass
Garnish with an orange slice and an Amarena cherry

Notes

I used Amarena cherries for this because their darker colour looked more like a black eye than a Maraschino.

Thank you Heather for the recommendation. If anyone else would like super book recommendations from Heather, why not follow her, or me on Goodreads!

Have a wonderful Easter!

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