No retro food today just a random collection of what I’m doing and loving at the moment. I love it when other bloggers do this so I thought I might give it a go. The title for this is inspired by this gorgeous song by Missy Higgins, covering an old Split Enz song which I have just rediscovered on my ipod.
I joined a book club!!! Our book of the month is Us by David Nicholls. I am so excited to read this. I loved his last book, One Day. Also a bit scared about the whole book club thing. First meeting next Monday!
I have just finished reading this which I loved. This was one of those books where I just wished I had had the idea to do it. This was so funny although it did get a bit repetitive at times but this may have been because I read it in pretty much a day. And like most diets, it left me wanting more!
Blogs
I’m loving Flawless Visions take on MKR. Hilarious
I took a fairly ordinary baked vanilla cheesecake and fancied it up with the addition of some Chambord and a take on Sabrina Ghayour’s Strawberries with Basil Sugar. This was delicious!!!
Have a great week. And beware the hooded figures in the dog park!
Summer, and peach season, is pretty much drawing to a close here. So, if like me, you love the stone fruit, how can you prolong the taste of summer through autumn, winter and spring? By making this gorgeous sorbet which combines lovely sweet peaches with (ahem)…homegrown lavender and rosemary. Yes, I have garden produce!!!
This is so simple, just these three ingredients, some sugar and water.
Peach Sorbet Ingredients2
And you get one of the loveliest ice creams ever. This is really refreshing without being too sweet – the lavender and rosemary are not overpowering but add a little depth to the fruit and sugar.
AUTUMN – The Sorbet Ma’am, Just The Sorbet
Autumn in Melbourne is lovely. You get cold crisp mornings, warm days and cool evenings. To prolong the taste of summer as it starts to get darker and cooler, this peach sorbet is perfect just on it’s own in a cone. All alone. Like a rolling stone.
Yes. I think it’s enough now too. Because I heard you moan and groan.
Really stopping…NOW.
Because just look at this peachy goodness!
Peach Sorbet
WINTER – Baked Peaches With Amaretti and Amaretto and Peach Sorbet
Mmmm…hot baked peach, cold peach sorbet , herby, nutty, sweet and boozy….that’s about all my favourite adjectives right there. And I totally forgot to take a picture of it before eating half of it. So I had to borrow a peach off my friend’s plate to take this picture. Thanks for the peach Monica!!!
Peaches Baked with Amaretti and Amaretto2
You may be wondering where you are supposed to find peaches in winter? Well my mum used to make this for us waaaaay back and we only ever used to have it with tinned peaches. And believe me, this is one of the few things where you will ever hear me say that this works as well (maybe even a little better) with tinned as fresh.
SPRING Into A Peach Sorbet Bellini
Spring in Melbourne means the Spring Racing Carnival which means lots of champagne. You can really welcome the warmer days by adding a dollop of the peach sorbet into the bottom of your champagne glass for a fabulous take on a Bellini.
2 springs of rosemary, about as long as your thumb
1 kg of peaches
200g water
To Serve
Ice cream cones
For The Baked Peaches with Amaretto and Amaretti
4 large peaches, or you can used tinned, in which case you will need 10 halves
20 crumbled amaretti biscuits
4 tbsp Amaretto Liqueur
2 tbsp brown sugar
Butter for greasing the pan
4 scoops of sorbet
For The Bellini
Sparkling Wine
Rosemary sprigs and lavender sprigs and peach wedges to garnish (optional)
Instructions
For the Sorbet
Place the sugar, water, lavender and rosemary into a small saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Then simmer for 5 minutes.
With a paring knife, make a small cross into the bottom of each peach. Place in a bowl and pour boiling water over the peaches. Let them sit for a few minutes then tip into a bowl of iced water. The skin should now be quite easy to peel off. Cut the peaches into wedges and place them in the sugar syrup.
Once this mixture is cool, remove the peaches and place them in your blender, strain the syrup to remove the lavender buds and rosemary and add the liquid to the blender. Blend until the mixture is smooth.
Churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to a container and chill in freezer for 2 to 3 hours, or until firm.
Serve with ice cream cones or as described below.
For The Baked Peaches with Amaretto and Amaretti
Preheat the oven to 200ºC.
Lightly butter a baking tray
If using fresh peaches, cut in half, remove the stones and, using a melon baller or a teaspoon, scoop out a little bit more of the peach flesh and place in a small bowl. If using canned peaches, finely dice 2 peach halves and place in a small bowl.
Place the crushed biscuits, the amaretto and 1 tbsp of sugar in the bowl along with the peach flesh. Stir to combine.
Fill the peach halves with this mixture.
Place the peaches onto a baking tray. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar.
If using fresh peaches, bake for around 20 minutes until cooked through then place under a hot grill for the last 5 minutes to really caramelise the topping. If using tinned peaches, bake for 5 minutes, really just to warm the peaches through then place under the grill for the last 5 minutes.
Serve immediately, 2 to a plate with a dollop of sorbet.
For The Bellini
Add a dollop of sorbet to your champagne glass.
Top with sparkling wine.
Garnish as desired.
Enjoy!!!
Notes
I like to leave my biscuit crumbs fairly rustic so they vary in size from crumbs to larger chunks.
Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter,
Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here
Ok, so not exactly true for Melbourne, although it has been a fairly shitty summer. But certainly for my friends in the States, it must feel like that. But hopefully, this Watercress and Orange Salad will bring you some virtual sunshine.
Watercress and Orange Salad 5
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it’s all right
This is a very cool salad from Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Book.. I think it looks like a big, beautiful sunflower. And not only is it pretty; it is super tasty too. How could it not be – peppery watercress, tangy sweet orange, earthy toasted walnuts and salty olives. And it looks so 70’s. I think it’s the combination of green and orange….
Here is the original recipe from Jane Grigson:
And here is the original version:
Jane Grigson’s Watercress Salad
This is very simple to put together. Line your plate with watercress and start piling in your ingredients. The worst bit if you do it in the circle is stripping all those watercress leaves.
Like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel…
Never ending or begining on an ever spinning wheel….
I found the best way to get the orange slices as thin as possible was to cut them with the skin still on, then cut the peel and pith away with a pair of kitchen scissors.
Then just add your walnuts and / or olives.
Before serving, a grind of pepper and a splash of vinaigrette made with some sherry vinegar and voila!!! Or should I say “Velado!” because this really has a Spanish feel to it.
I had this with some grilled salmon the first time I made it and it was delicious!!! The second time I had it with some prawns and it was, again super. I would love to try it with duck as per Jane’s suggestion.
And I made it a third time but this time tweaked the recipe a bit – I added some feta cheese and a teeny bit of red onion. This time, I had it with a lovely sourdough baguette for a light lunch and it was perfection!!! And yes, I made this three times in about ten days. It’s thatgood.
Watercress and Orange Salad 6
So far, Jane Grigson’s recipes are turning out to be amazing. I am a little disappointed that it is now March and we have another book to focus on at The Cookbook Guru. But wow!!! What a book!!! I am super excited about stepping across the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco for my next venture with The Cookbook Guru!!!
And, if you are struggling through a long cold and lonely winter either physically or mentally, here is a little anecdote that may help.
Back in 1969, there was not much joy camp Beatle – there were personality clashes, legal battles, business disputes….things were going to hell in a handbasket. But in the midst of all the problems, all the trouble and strife, George Harrison (by far my favourite Beatle) walked into Eric Clapton’s garden with an acoustic guitar and wrote, to my mind anyway, one of the most beautiful, hopeful songs ever written. In the midst of adversity and all that…
And just to tie it all in together, here is George singing that song with some Spanish subtitles.
All together now
Sol, sol, sol
Ahí viene
Have a great week. I hope all your clouds have silver linings.
In his introduction to the Crespéou in Plenty More, Yotam Ottolenghi says
If I was going to sum up my cooking style in five words, 70’s-style-retro-picnic-bling would not be them”
Huh…Weirdly enough that’s exactly the style of cooking I aspire to.
Still, with an introduction like that, there was no way I was not making a Crespéou! I was already thinking about having a month of food I have no idea how to pronounce (Kouign Amman anyone?). Google tells me this is Cresp-ay-oo. And also that it’s from Provence and so-called because the layers look like crepes. Never say I don’t do the research hard yards for you…
So what is this unpronounceable piece of 70’s style crepe like Retro Picnic Bling?
Well, it’s layers of three differently flavoured omelettes stacked on each other and baked. One red, one yellow, one green. Which just goes to show the difference between those classy people of Provence and around here. We’d be calling it something dumb arse like “Traffic Light” Special.
Crespéou – Red Layer
Yotam suggests red peppers for this layer. I used sun-dried-tomatoes because red peppers and I have a love-hate relationship. Without the love.
Hmm, I have realised in looking at this picture of the red layer that I may have put in fresh coriander rather than ground. Oops.
Crespeou Red Layer
Still, I think that is one of the benefits of a dish like this. You can mix up the flavours. I have seen other recipes where people have used, zucchinis, mushrooms, olives, all sorts of things. It could really become a “clean-out-your-fridge” type dish.
Crespéou -Yellow Layer
The yellow layer was intriguing. I have never used turmeric in an omelette before. It reallyworks!!! If I was going to mix this layer up a bit thin crispy discs of pan sautéed potato would be great!
The trick with this dish is to leave the top of your omelettes much more runny than you would any other omelette. The idea of this is that when you stack them and bake them the egg will solidify and the layers will stick together.
Crespeou Yellow Layer2
Crespéou – Green Layer
Another genius combination – green onions, green chilli, basil, tarragon and cumin!!! Wow!!! This layer was really perky and fresh!!!
Once you have cooked all your omelettes, stack them up as neatly as possible. And into the oven they go to cook up that last bit of runny egg.
Once cooked through, you can eat your Crespéou as is or trim the edges with a sharp knife to be able to see the layers. I used a small square pan so I cut mine into four cubes…
Crespeou
These were superb. I had it for lunch I think 3 days running and looked forward to it on day three as much as I did on day one.
And I know what you’re all thinking. Which layer tasted best? I did separate one of my cubes and ate each later alone. And they were all really good. But the combination was a-may-zing!!!!
Yotam Ottolenghi also says of the Crespéou that:
“If there is one recipe that might make me cringe in years to come, it will, for sure be this one”
I say “I love you. Can you not be so happily gay and be my boyfriend? You could cook me Crespéou and we could go on a picnic in a field in Provence and I could dance around listening to “Total Eclipse of the Heart” on a vintage Walkman. Or…hold your head up high and embrace the Crespéou for the lunchbox saviour that it is. And I’m sure even better on picnics. Especially picnics in Provence. With heaps of rosé wine and 1970’s disco music on your vintage Walkman.
Which is fairly redundant – I can’t think of ANYTHING that wouldn’t be better on a picnic in Provence with heaps of rosé wine and 1970’s music on your Walkman. Can you?
Speaking of which…before she was Totally Eclipsed in the Heart Bonnie Tyler was Lost in France which would actually be the perfect musical accompaniment to the Crespéou…
The full recipe can be found in Plenty More or online here
Bonnie Tyler being Lost in France is here:
Make. Listen. Drink lots of rosé and imagine yourself lost in France.
This week, I’m cooking up some more 70’s Style Retro Picnic Bling courtesy of Jane Grigson! Have a tres fantastique week what ever you get up to.
And turn around bright eyes.
And P.S. – I’m totally contemplating the name of this blog to Retro Picnic Bling. Loving it madly!!!
One of the best things about 2014 was connecting with other cooks and bloggers and cooking from the same books. I love doing it in person at the Tasty Reads bookclub but it was also so much fun doing the Joan Crawford inspired dinner for Jenny’s book launch.
Which is pretty much all cook-a-longs. They choose a new book every two months and anyone can cook from the book and post on their own site. Then, Leah shares what everyone posts on The Cookbook Guru. What a great idea!!!
The book for January and February is Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Book. First published in 1978, this has become a classic. And very auspicious that I get to start with a book full of retro recipes.
I was even more excited that there were a whole heap of artichoke recipes because the local continental deli had been having a sale and I bought about a ton of artichokes because they were something insane like 50 cents a can.
Then I read Jane’s advice on
How to choose canned artichokes.
“Don’t”
Huh….Jane apparently doesn’t mince words. I like her already. But anyway I hightailed it out of artichokes and landed at the very other end of the book at watercress and found this lovely recipe for a very fancy grilled cheese called Locket’s Savoury.
Locket’s Savoury 2
I did have a little giggle when I read the name of this dish. Back in the day, we used to have a footballer by the name of Lockett nicknamed Plugger because….I have no idea why and have sufficient lack of interest in football to be arsed to Google it. Anyway, some time before the Grand Final one year (the equiv of the Super Bowl or the FA Cup Final), Plugger hurt his groin. And I swear for an inordinately long amount of time, it seemed like if you picked up a newspaper, turned on the radio or the tv, all you heard about, all people seemed to care about was Plugger’s Groin. Strangers would approach you on the street and say “So, do you think it will be good for the Granny?”
“What?”
“Plugger’s groin.”
Not since David Beckham made those underwear ads has an entire nation been so obsessed by the state of a football player’s nether regions. And yes, by the way…we do nickname our Super Bowl/FA Cup etc The Granny. As in a little old lady. That’s Australia for you.
So, all that was Lockett’s Unsavoury, let’s turn to the matter at hand – Locket’s Savoury
So simple. So delicious, and just 4 ingredients.
Bread
The original recipe called for white bread. I used this beautiful seeded ciabatta. Jane’s recipe called for the crusts to be cut off. I left mine on because I love the taste of the toasted seeds!
Locket’s Savoury – Bread
Watercress
One of my favourite greens. I love the peppery taste of it!
Locket’s Savoury – Watercress
Pears
Are probably my least favourite fruit. Will this recipe redeem them in my mind?
Locket’s Savoury – Pear
Stilton.
Mmmmmm…blue cheese. Happy days….
Locket’s Savoury – Stilton
Stilton is apparently the king of cheeses. Who knew cheese had a royalty. Who’s the queen? And more importantly who is the red headed reprobate prince flashing it’s arse and donning a swastika for high jinks?
I’m betting it’s goats cheese.
Locket’s Savoury3
This was awesome. It actually made me like pears. And that’s saying something!
There’s a few more totally awesome watercress recipes in this same book and I have a ton of it left so you may get a few more o’ these before the month is through. There is definitely one more I have to do.
Locket’s Savoury 4
Here is Jane Grigson’s recipe:
This was really good. Super tasty, super easy and I wouldn’t change a thing in Jane’s recipe.
Or would I?
The more I thought about it, the more it seemed very unfair that my gluten-free friends missed out on this delight.
So without further ado, meet the pimped up, gluten-free Locket’s Savoury
Pimped Up Locket’s Savoury
Basically, scrap the bread, use a slice of pear as the base. Add your watercress and Stilton. Throw in some chopped walnuts. Once done, sprinkle with some chives.
In some ways this was almost better. Those pears got all caramelised and…dare I say it, delicious!!!
I’m so looking forward to doing the Cookbook Guru Cook-a-longs. And you know what would be even better? If you all did it too…
If you did want to, you already know the book for the rest of Feb. March and April is The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert. My local library has a copy of this. Yours probably does too. I also got the Jane Grigson book from the library.
But PS..The Locket’s Savoury is the gift that keeps on giving. Those little bits of blue cheese that slide off as you grill the cheese and go kind of crunchy. So good to eat later!!!
Have a fabulous week!
And I would love to know your royal family of cheese!!!
