Books Archives - Retro Food For Modern Times

14
Feb
2021

Broken Hearts on Horseback

categories: Books, Holidays, Starters, Valentine's Day

Broken Hearts on Horseback? What kind of a name is that I hear you ask. Well, you’ve heard of Angels on Horseback and Devils on Horseback? Broken Hearts on Horseback are my contribution to the genre. They were inspired. by the book Why We Broke Up written by Daniel Handler and illustrated by Maira Kalman I read this book recently and absolutely loved it!

Why We Broke Up – The Plot

Why we broke up is the story of Min and Ed and why they broke up. Min is arty, no different, no weird, no offence as Ed would say. Ed is co-captain of the basketball team. High school being high school, these are two people whose paths should never have crossed but for the brief time they did, it was glorious!

Their story is recounted by Min and is set around a box of objects that had significance to their relationship – bottle-tops from the first bottles of beer they drank together, cinema tickets, a bought coat, a stolen sugar pourer. Min is returning them all to Ed as she no longer wants to be reminded of their love. (I remember doing something very similar after my own first love breakup. Which, if you are contemplating this…don’t do it. Those things that are so precious to you will only either be thrown in the bin or worse still, given to the new girlfriend!).

Why Should You Read It?

If you have ever been in love.
If you have ever had your heart broken.
If you have ever fallen for someone who was not of your social set.
If you are madly in love
If you are in the deepest darkest throes of a break up
if you have forgotten what love feels like

Then this is the book for you.

And if the love story reasons don’t convince you, then there is this – Min is a passionate film buff and is constantly referring to her favourite films. I also consider myself somewhat knowledgeable about movies and was surprised, after the third or fourth reference that I had never heard of any of the films, actors or directors she mentioned. The reason? They only exist in the universe of the book. I had to Google them to find this out though. I thought this was so clever. It would have been easy to use real films but inventing so many? Genius!

There are also two books (also which don’t exist in real life) that are referenced throughout the book. Both of these made me think of the lovely Jenny from Silver Screen Suppers. I so wished both Real Recipes from Tinseltown and When The Lights Go Down were real just so I could send them to Jenny and brighten her days in lockdown!

Broken Hearts on Horseback – The Inspo

” I think I read, ” Al is saying now , “About an appetizer thing with chestnuts though. You wrap them up in prosciutto I think, brush them with grappa, and roast them and put a little parsley on top.”

“Or maybe blue cheese”, I said.

“That’d be good.”

“Could we use chestnuts from a jar?”

“Sure. Wrapping something in proscuitto cancels out from a jar. Wrapping in proscuitto cancels out anything.”

Why We Broke Up – Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman

Broken Hearts on Horseback – The Recipe

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Broken Hearts on Horseback

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A delicious appetiser inspired by the book “Why We Broke Up” by Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman

Author: Taryn Nicole
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Category: Appetisers

Ingredients

Scale

I pack pre-cooked chestnuts (The pack I used had about 25 chestnuts inside).

4 slices of proscuitto

1/2 tbsp Calvados*

1 wedge of blue cheese

2 tbsp chopped parsley

Smoked Paprika (optional)

Olive oil and Balsamic Vinegar (optional)

As many toothpicks / cocktail sticks as you have chestnuts

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Preheat your grill to 150C.

Cut or tear each slice of prosciutto into 6 pieces.

Wrap a prosciutto strip around each chestnut.

Place the wrapped chestnuts onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper.

Brush with the calvados and place under the grill for around 10 minutes or until the proscuitto is crispy.

Meanwhile, cut as many small chunks of blue cheese as you have chestnuts and roll them in the chopped parsley. Place a cocktail skewer through each chunk of cheese.

Once the chestnuts are cooked, add a chestnut to each of the blue cheese skewers. The cheese may melt a little. Sprinkle with a little smoked paprika if you wish.

Serve with a little dipping sauce of olive oil and balsamic vinegar if you wish.

Notes

*The original recipe used Grappa. I did not have Grappa so subbed in some Calvados I found in the liquor cupboard. Brandy would also be a good substitute. if you do not want to use alcohol, you could try an unsweetened apple or grape juice.

Happy Valentine’s Day friends, may your hearts never be broken and your plates full of cheesy meaty goodness on a stick!

23
Nov
2020

Castilian Leg of Lamb- Dining with The Dame 7

categories: Dining With The Dame, Lamb, Poirot

Hello crime readers and food lovers! Today we are dining on a Castilian leg of lamb as we uncover the evil machinations of a shady group of evildoers known as The Big Four. This is certainly not my favourite of the books I have read so far as the plot seemed a little silly in parts. However one of the early stories significantly involves a leg of lamb This seemed like a great excuse for a roast dinner and the meal did not disappoint!

The Big Four- The Plot

This novel pits Hercule Poirot against four evil genius’ bent on world domination – they are an American – the richest man in the world, a female French scientist, the Chinese leader of the group – a criminal genius and “the Destroyer” the group’s assassin who is also a master of disguise and (wait for it) a British actor.

We have:

Sinister cabals
Poisoned curries
Poisoned grandmasters
Hijinks on trains
Stolen radium
Secret lairs under mountains
Twin brothers
Telltale tics
And, course Hercule Poirot (or is it twin brother Achilles?) using his little grey cells to thwart the villains and their evil plans.

The Covers

Given that we are talking about the Big Four – I’m showing four covers today. The third from the left is the one I read but I am rather taken by all the others.

The Recipe – Castilian Leg of Lamb

The recipe comes from the wonderful Keith Floyd and his journey through Spain – not in the search of arch criminals but in search of some damn fine nosh!

You can find the recipe here. You can also watch the entire series of Keith Floyd’s adventures in Spain on YouTube. Floyd is so engaging it is well worth investing the time.

In his hand he was brandishing a leg of mutton! “My dear Poirot!” I cried “What is the matter? Have you suddenly gone mad?”

“Regard, I pray you , this mutton. But regard it closely!”

I regarded it as closely as I could but could see nothing unusual about it. It seemed to me to be a very ordinary leg of mutton.”

Agatha Christie, The Big Four

Other Food Mentioned in The Big Four

Have a wonderful week! Next book in the list is The Mystery of the Blue Train from 1928.

17
Aug
2020

Welsh Rarebit- Dining with The Dame 6

categories: Bread, Cheese, Dining With The Dame, Grilled Cheese, Poirot, Vegetarian

Hello crime readers and food lovers! The Murder of Roger Ackroyd which is Christie number 6 has a special memory for me because this was one of the books we had oin the bookshelf when I was growing up. This was probably one of the first Christie books I ever read!. It was also the book that made Christie’s name as a writer for the innovative twist at the end. It has been recognised, many times, as one of the best and/or most influential crime novels ever written. Never mind the accolades though, it also, beautifully and comically features one of my own favourite foods – a Welsh Rarebit!

One of the few good things working from home for the last… Good Lord five months now…. is that I can whip up a Welsh rarebit for lunch whenever I choose. Turns out I choose to do so quite frequently! It’s tasty, filling, perfect with a bowl of soup, a salad, or just on its own! Of course, I ‘ am not alone in loving a bit o’ Welsh Rarebit!

The normally curmudgeonly Martin Lampen claims

Cheese on toast, its Welsh Rarebit to those in the know. It’s the perfect British rainy day lunchtime snack – quick, cheap, easy to prepare….it’s a national icon”

– The Knickerbocker Glory Years

Albert Jack, however, draws attention to the rather origin of its name by calling it

” the most insulting way to serve cheese on toast”

This is because the English thought it would be funny to mock the Welsh by insinuating that they were too poor to have proper meat and so had to have cheese instead!

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd- The Plot

James Sheppard is the local doctor in Kings Abbot. He lives with his sister Caroline who knows all the gossip and scandal in the town and who is currently interested in finding out all about the “foreign” gentleman who has moved in next door.

A wealthy widow in the town has committed suicide by drinking veronal. Her fiance, Roger Ackroyd, is in a state of agitation because the day before Mrs Ferrars (the widow) confessed to him that she murdered her first husband. She also told him that someone knew she had done it and was blackmailing her.

That night, Roger Ackroyd is stabbed to death in his study by persons unknown…

Turns out the foreign gentleman next door is no other than Hercule Poirot who has moved to Kings Abbot to grow marrows in his retirement. (BTW, Kings Abbott is a real place and it looks absolutely GORGEOUS!)

Anyhoo, no one is getting away with stabbing people to death in the neck on Poirot’s watch. What follows are:

Mysterious phonecalls
Strangers lurking in the bushes
Chairs suspiciously out of place
Stolen money
Secret Marriages
And of course, Poirot using his little grey cells to solve the crime and out the murderer!
There is also a bit of slapstick when Dr. Sheppard gets hit over the head with one of Poirot’s marrows. I mean it’s not as good as this classic from the Amazing Race. But in terms of people getting forcefully hit with produce, it’s up there! Also, who knew I was keeping that list?

The Covers

Only three covers this time – the one from my childhood, the one I read which was a graphic novel! And my favourite of them all – I mean is it just me or does Roger look hot in that third one?

The Recipe – Welsh Rarebit

I need to set the scene a bit on this one. Dr. Sheppard invites Poirot round for lunch. However, there were only two chops available for the lunch table. In order to save face, Caroline Sheppard pretends to be a vegetarian and lunches on a Welsh Rarebit.

‘With magnificent mendacity, [she] explained to Poirot that … she adhered strictly to a vegetarian diet. She descanted ecstatically on the delights of nut cutlets (which I am quite sure she has never tasted) and ate a Welsh rarebit with gusto and frequent cutting remarks as to the dangers of ‘flesh’ foods.’

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Agatha Christie

The Recipe for Welsh Rarebit I used comes from Cookery The Australian Way which was my high school home economics cookbook! As you can see from the state of the page, this has been used a LOT! I have tried other recipes for Welsh Rarebit but this is the one I have returned to time and time again for the last…hmmm…lets not count the years since I was in high school!

Other Food Mentioned in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Stay safe friends and have a great week!

05
Aug
2020

Steak Frites with Bearnaise Sauce – Dining with The Dame 5

categories: Dining With The Dame, Potato, Steak

“Hello crime readers and food lovers! The Secret of Chimneys is Agatha Christie’s fifth novel and it is a standalone thriller even though in the tv version it is turned into a Miss Marple mystery. Chimneys introduces us to Superintendent Battle who will return in future novels. On the menu for tonight’s dinner is a classic Steak Frites with Bearnaise Sauce. I have chosen the French nomenclature today because it sounds so much more classy than the English alternative of steak and chips! I think the Dame would have approved!

Oh, and just so you don’t get confused like I did over the title, Chimneys refers to a country house, not actual chimneys! The tv version was filmed at Hatfield house which was the childhood home of Queen Elizabeth 1. And totally gorgeous!

The Secret of Chimneys – The Plot

Oh Lord…where to start? This one is complicated!

So, let’s start it in Zimbabwe where we meet our hero Anthony Cade. A friend gives him the memoirs of a Herzoslovakian (yes really) aristocrat to take to publishers in London along with some incriminating letters written by a woman called Virginia Revel. Through a series of escapades, Anthony meets the real Virginia Revel and gets an invitation to Chimneys, but only after having disposed of the dead body in the study…

Rght about now, I usually do a bit of a summary of the novel. Well, I bought a big pile of Agatha Christie novels on eBay and the back cover of The Secret of Chimneys has done it for me. Here is what it says

“Stolen letters, a foreign envoy; a shot at one of England’s historic houses; detectives Britishm French and American; secret passages, a fabulous jewel, a mysterious rose emblem; an organisation called the Comrades of the Red Hand; an international jewel thief…”

I couldn’t have done it better myself!

Sadly, the Secret at Chimneys also contains some racial slurs and stereotypes that are definitely on the nose for the modern reader which diminished my enjoyment of this “light-hearted thriller”.

The Covers

The first three on the top row are the one I read, my favourite and I don’t even know what is happening here!!! As lovely as it is, I also feel the French cover looks like it was designed by someone who had never read the book!

The Recipe – Steak Frites with Bearnaise

“He thought longingly of such things as rump steaks, juicy chops, and large masses of fried potatoes. But he shook his head ruefully, glancing at his wristwatch”

The Mystery of Chimneys, Agatha Christie

Here’s the recipe. I used oven fries but this recipe has all the instructions to cook your “mass of fried potatoes” from scratch if you so desire! I also used dried tarragon in my bearnaise because winter!

Other Food Mentioned in The Secret of Chimneys

Have a great week! Oh and I’m so excited, my next post will be a collab with Jenny from Silver Screen Suppers! Stay tuned and stay safe!

16
Jun
2020

Coffee Ice Cream Sodas – The ManBrown Suit

categories: Coffee, Dining With The Dame, Drinks

Hello crime readers and food lovers! Today on Dining with the Dame I am looking at the food found in the fourth novel by Dame Agatha Christie, The Man in The Brown Suit, published in 1924. Like The Murder on the Links there was not much mention of food – at one point I seriously thought that this post might have to be on “dry toast and ginger-ale” which is mentioned as a meal taken by the very seasick heroine. Happily for me, later in the book she buys not one, but two, coffee ice cream sodas to soothe her jagged nerves following one of her adventures.

The Man in the Brown Suit – The Plot

Our heroine, Anne Beddingfield leads a quiet life but is ever so ready for adventures. After the death of her father she decides she wants to live in London and heads there for a job interview. On the way home, Anne sees a man fall onto the live rail at the station and die. Anne picks up a note dropped by the doctor who pronounced the man dead which reads “17.1 22 Kilmorden Castle”.

The man is identified as LB Carton and in his pocket was a viewing document for The Mill House, owned by Sir Eustace Peddler MD. The very next day a strangled woman is found dead in the same house. The eponymous “man in the brown suit” who was seen entering the property shortly after the dead woman is named a suspect.

Anne realises that Killmorden Castle is the name of a ship, sailing to South Africa. She uses the last of her money to buy a ticket.

Hijinks ensue!

The Man in The Brown Suit contains:

Travel to South Africa
Shifty secretaries
Suspicious clergymen
Stolen diamonds
Romance
Kidnapping
Murder attempts
And of course, the mysterious man in the brown suit

The Man in the Brown Suit is also funnier than any of the previous novels. There are quite a few witty lines, mostly to do with Guy Pagett, the shifty secretary mentioned above.

“Guy Pagett is my secretary, a zealous, painstaking, hardworking fellow, admirable in every respect. I know no one who annoys me more” says Sir Eustace. He also describes Pagett as having “the face of a fourteenth-century poisoner”.

The Covers

A lot of the covers for The Man in The Brown Suit either depict the scene on the train platform or else the ship, The Killmorden Castle.

I have chosen my two favourites here.

The one on the left has a Frank Abignale, Catch Me if You Can vibe which very much enjoyed. The one on the right takes the prize for bonkers with a depiction of a long blonde wig and a bloodied razor.

The Recipe – Coffee Ice Cream Sodas

“I walked into Cartwright’s and ordered two coffee ice-cream sodas – to steady my nerves. A man, I suppose would have had a stiff peg but girls derive a lot of comfort from ice cream sodas”

The Man in the Brown Suit, Agatha Christie

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