Hello dear readers!  I was updating the index for the Twenty Years Ago Today posts this week and I realised I had not actually posted this one from way back in February!  Given that today’s post was just a little teaser for Murder is Announced which will be released on Tuesday, I thought why not post this today so you also get some real content.  Enjoy!  

Hello, retro food lovers! Buckle up for a delicious journey back in time! Today, we’re using the magic of Australian Table magazine to teleport ourselves to February 2004, and build a menu that celebrates the vibrant bounty of the garden. Talk about perfect timing, with our own gardens bursting at the seams right now! But before we whip up some culinary magic, let’s take a nostalgic stroll down memory lane and see what was buzzing in pop culture back then.

First up, music: Australia was rocking out to Shannon Noll’s powerful cover of the Moving Pictures classic “What about Me?”. Fun fact, this very song just gave me some serious bragging rights in a pub quiz! So, while it might have retired from the charts, it’s clearly not forgotten.

Now, onto the literary world: can you guess the top-selling book of the first half of February 2004? Drumroll please… yep, you guessed it, it was the phenomenon that was The Da Vinci Code. And if you think its grip on pop culture was about to loosen anytime soon, think again!  Speaking of cultural giants, Jesus himself made a big splash on the big screen, with The Passion of the Christ becoming the highest-grossing film of the month. So, get ready for a menu that’s not only fresh and seasonal, but also infused with a touch of early 2004 nostalgia. 

Fun Fact From Australian Table February 2004

I found this little timeline of how food evolved in Australia over the last 70 years fascinating  I particularly liked it that they did this by looking at old magazines.  Hmm…now what does that remind me of?

Now, let’s take a look at our menu.  

The Menu – February 2004

Summer Cocktail

Garden ingredient : Mint

This was a take on a Classic Pimms Punch combining gingerale, lemonade, Pimms, cucumber, mint and orange.  Many of these recipes often also contain strawberries which we also have growing but this one didn’t.  It was however delicious.  This was summer in a glass! 

Summer Cocktail Recipe

Seared Scallop Salad with Macadamia and Coriander Pesto

Garden Ingredients, Mint, Lime

While I am not a huge scallop fan this was delicious!  Next time I make it I would use prawns.  Confession: I took some liberties with the salad, swapping out the red capsicum and beansprouts.  I can’t eat red capsicum and I could only find huge bags of beansprouts at the greengrocer.  Bean sprouts aren’t bad, but buying a giant bag just for a few felt wasteful! I opted for cherry tomatoes (home grown) and red onion instead.   This dish is colourful and pretty and the macadamia and coriander pesto is divine!

Seared Scallop Salad with Macadamia and Coriander Pesto

Rosemary and Lemon Chicken with Mint Dressing

Garden Ingredients:  Rosemary, Lemon, Mint

This was a great quick and easy midweek meal.  Nothing elaborate but relatively quick and tasty. 

Rosemary and Lemon Chicken with Mint Dressing – Recipe

Potato Salad with Garlic and Caper Mayonnaise

Garden Ingredients:  Lemon, Parsley

I love potato salad.  Roseanne Cash Potato Salad remains one of my favourites but the Garlic and Caper Mayo on this one was superb!

Potato Salad with Garlic and Caper Mayonnaise – Recipe

Angel Cheesecake

Garden Ingredients:  Limes

I am not 100% sure why this is called an Angel Cheesecake.  Maybe because there are egg whites in the filling to make it lighter?  Maybe because the combination of lime and passionfruit is divine?  

We have a passionfruit vine in the garden but it is only tiny so has not had any fruit on it yet.  I am looking forward to making this again with some homegrown passionfruit sometime in the future!  

Angel Cheesecake – Recipe

My Nigella Moment  – Barbecued Green Rice

For first-time readers, this refers to the moment at the end of Nigella Lawson’s cooking shows when she sneaks back to the fridge to have another bite of something delicious.  In these Twenty Years Ago posts, it is something contained in the magazine that does not fit with the overall menu theme but I’m sneaking it in because it is too good not to share.  

This month I chose a recipe that used a technique that was new to me.  I have never thought of putting rice on the bbq.  But I made the sushi with crispy rice out of the book Eat California by Vivian Lui (highly recommended BTW) and I loved it.  And this gave me the same vibes.  It was really tasty and I did get the crispy rice I was after but this recipe really needed some salt to make it a 10/10 instead of an 8/10!  We also do not have a bbq at the moment so I made this in a pan on the stove.  

Barbecued Green Rice Recipe

I really enjoyed this month, it just felt very lemon and mint-heavy in terms of garden produce!  There were some absolute winners in the taste department too – the pesto, the potato salad, the cheesecake, and the rice are things that will become part of my repertoire!