Yesterdays Recipes, Cooked Today
Only the pure in heart can make a good soup”
– Ludwig van Beethoven
But any bozo in 1977 could photo it. The sign, the snails, the baguettes.
It’s French. We get it.
Nous l’avons.
The soup looks like a hot mess too.
Whereas this from 2004? Gorgeous! So elegant. I just want to grab that spoon and tuck right in!
Which is your favourite?
Also, all going well in scheduled post land…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM, LOVE YOU LOTS !!!!
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“What wonderful memories I have of soup and my Scottish mother’s kitchen. We had soup everyday and each one had it’s own character and charm”
– Margaret Fulton
To me, the character and charm of the soups in the 1977 picture are rather overwhelming. How much nicer are the modern pictures? I do however like that there is a nod to the past in the dish for the Soup Chiffonade…
And I just love the orange pumpkin soup in the blue bowl.
In fact, I have used this particular combination more than once on this blog. Once in one of my posts on Valli Little’s Slow:
And it will shortly feature in my post on Cantina…hmm…maybe it already has?
“When a substantial first course is called for, it is hard to improve on a savoury tart served warm”
– Margaret Fulton
I so totally agree!
I think the Onion and Olive Pie looks pretty good in both of these pictures. It’s certainly the best looking item on the 1977 page. In the modern picture though, it really shines.
Both make me wonder why this is not called a Tomato and Olive Pie.
If like me, you really want to eat this, here is the recipe. From the 1977 version. This ain’t called Retro Food For Modern Times for nothing.
Have a great week…if you want to know what I’m up to on holidays check out my daily Instagram!
If we are at home on a Friday, we don’t usually eat a big meal, just usually have a couple of snacky things here and there.
Tonight’s snack plate had a distinctly retro feel so I thought I would share it with you!
First up, we have some Cheese and Date Bread, courtesy of The A-Z of Cooking. We have jumped somewhat forward here in that this recipe appears under G – Good Health, when technically we are only up to D – Drinks and Dips. And whilst Drinks and Dips are usually good Friday fare, tonight it was something different.
I was intrigued by the idea of Cheese and Date Bread. I really wasn’t sure how the sweetness of the dates would go with the rest of the ingredients. These fears were completely unfounded. And my bread looked just like real proper bread!
If somewhat lopsided…
The bread is pretty good plain but if you want to take it to a whole new level? Toast it up.
Like I said, initially I was hesitant to make the Cheese and Date Bread. What changed my mind was finding this recipe for Cheese and Date Balls:
Epicurious – Cheese and Date Balls
Of course I made mini balls – because that’s how I roll. Also, I swapped out the lemon in the recipe above for a teeny splash of vermouth.
Mmmmm…blue cheese, walnuts and dates spread on toasted Date and Cheese Bread. Life is good!
But wait…there’s more.
But first a little bit of disclosure. I am actually trying something new tonight which is to cook (ok, assemble, I had actually cooked everything beforehand), photo, write, review and post all in the one night. Normally this process can take WEEKS. I am also doing it whilst drinking a rather large martini which we will get to in due course. So, if the end of this devolves into absolute gibberish, you know why and apologies in advance.
Those olives you see on the plate? Aren’t just any olives. They are:
Normally, you put your olive into a martini. In this recipe, you put some martini into your olives! This is so simple and really adds a new and different flavour to some otherwise ordinary olives.
Usually, you put a olive in your martini. This recipe adds a little martini into your olives!
The Drenched Dirty Martini is a dirty martini made with Drenched Martini Olives.
A dirty martini with a twist!
Have a great weekend!
PS – Love to hear your thoughts on the quick and dirty post. I live in awe of the bloggers who manage to do something daily and would love to be able to increase my output. Your feedback on me just banging something out like tonight v agonising over every comma is most appreciated! Thanks as always. xx
It’s been a while since we dipped into the pages of The A-Z of Cooking…and yep, we’re still only up to C. This time though we head away from the fun, fun, fun of Children’s Favourites and into the darker world of cost savers. Retro Frugality can a very scary place!
Surprisingly, all three recipes featured in this section were things I would have been happy to make. There was the Chili Con Carne, a Tagliatelle with Bacon and Tomato Sauce and an Oxtail Casserole. I REALLY wanted to make the Oxtail Casserole just because the others are things we probably eat fairly regularly and I have never cooked with o before. But, someone had a hissy fit in the butcher when I asked for oxtails. Sometimes it’s difficult trying to be a retro food blogger when you live with the fussiest eater on the planet!!! It will be made though. I have enough meals alone to warrant making some, even if just for myself.
But for now, we needed a meal to be eaten together and, turned out, we had everything to make this chilli already in the freezer, fridge and store cupboard. This is really important as you will soon find out that not all my ventures into Mexican cooking have been so expeditious. You will also notice that there are no green peppers, as specified by the recipe ingredients, and there are mushrooms which are not mentioned. I am not fond of bell peppers of any sort as they tend to repeat on me for HOURS after I have eaten them. Plus, I had mushrooms and, in the cost cutting vibe of this post, waste not, want not right?
I had one problem with this recipe. And that was the lack of cumin. Funnily enough, as I was writing this post, I was watching a Heston Blumenthal show where he made chili con carne and he too mentioned how important it was to have cumin in your chili recipe.
Then again, Heston’s’ chili contains 27 ingredients and at least 3 processes….I love Heston, I really do. But 27 ingredients for chilli? And that doesn’t even include the muffins?
http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/heston-blumenthals-chilli-con-carne-cornbread-muffins
I’m sure Heston’s recipe is the best chili you’ve ever eaten. I’m equally sure that the A-Z of Cooking’s Cost Saving Recipe won’t be.
BUT. And it’s a big but. (Sir Mixalot would be proud).
Is this a tasty dish? This recipe lacked some flavour, most notably cumin. And personally, I would have increased the chilli content too. However, I think the mushrooms added some umami that would not have been present had the green peppers been used instead. And it was tasty even without the cumin. So yes, big tick on tasty.
Does it fill the brief of being a cost saver? Absolutely. The basic chili cost around $7.00. And that made 4 large or 5 medium sized serves.
Should this become something that is in your repertoire of basic dishes that you can then flavour and snazz up whatever way you want? Totally!
Is it something you will make over and over? You bet!
It’s a good, solid, basic chili recipe. Sure it’s not Heston. But it not everything needs to be. In fact, nothing except food at The Fat Duck should be.
And if you want to jazz it up, any, or all, of the following would make good additions:
This is great, quick easy weeknight cooking, it is also great, maybe even better the next day for lunch or dinner.
Eat, enjoy! With the money you save on this why not treat yourself to a margarita or two.
Have a great week!