Retro dishes reborn — new twists on prawn cocktails, vol au vents and meatloaf
FROM prawn cocktails to meat loaf and apricot chicken, give daggy dinner ideas a new twist, writes Simon Wilkinson and Dan Stock.
WALDORF salad and prawn cocktails. Carpet-bagger steak and crepes suzette. Just like facial hair, pocket squares and Brylcreem, what’s old is new again and dinner is no exception.
Hip inner-city menus are strewn with old-school classics given a twist for today with a retro revival in full swing.
But how to transform the daggy dinners of yesterday – apricot chicken and beef stroganoff and tuna mornay – into family favourites of today?
We’ve asked some of our best cooking brains how they turn dinner with flares into dinner with flair.
PRAWN AGAIN
From the vol-au-vent starter to the choux pastry swans and chocolate mousse carried around on a refurbished dessert trolley, the Mayflower Restaurant is Adelaide’s temple of retro dining.
Chef Bethany Finn remembers fondly a time of “creaky floorboards, waiters in white gloves and a sense of occasion”.
Her passion for the style of the old hotel dining rooms is reflected not only in the menu she has designed for Mayflower, but in the antique sets of crockery, cutlery and other tableware she tracked down in second-hand stores.
Many of the classics, she says, still have a place on the modern table, if they are updated with the quality produce that is now available.
“It’s about a time and a place and a fantastic reminder of the past and your favourite dishes,” she says. “Many of them are timeless and can be improved with better produce and a contemporary twist. They will always be a favourite if they are done well.”
Take the much-mocked prawn cocktail. Replace ordinary little shrimps with majestic local king prawns, give the Marie Rose (seafood) sauce some extra Asian-inspired zip and it is a different thing altogether.
“Spencer Gulf prawns are sensational and at their best right now – they are huge,” Bethany says.
She serves the prawns with shredded iceberg and baby cos leaves and a sauce made with mayonnaise, Newman’s horseradish, sriracha, a splash of tabasco, lemon juice and soy.
“The classic Marie Rose with tomato sauce and worcestershire is a bit flat,” she says. “This combination is really gutsy.”
ON A ROLL
When Stewart Wesson decided the Port Admiral Hotel should have an all-day fish-and-chipper menu, he was desperate to include his take on a Chiko roll.
He started to research the original product and was surprised to discover it didn’t contain chicken at all, but a mixture based on ground mutton.
His version, Wesso’s Schmiko Roll, fixes that anomaly with a filling of shredded, wood-grilled chicken, a mirepoix of onion, carrot, celery and fennel cooked in butter, fresh thyme and spices. This is all rolled in a thin, crisp spring roll wrapper.
Stewart also has a personal connection to the Admiral’s rolls, filled with chicken, chips and gravy.
“I remember eating them all the time as a kid,” he says.
MAC TO THE FUTURE
As comforting as a dressing gown and slippers in front of the fire, mac(aroni) and cheese has found a place as a snack or a side at many Adelaide diners and burger bars.
Stewart’s twist turns the rich, stodgy bake into a finger-food snack that is dipped into an equally indulgent cheese sauce.
He makes a bechamel that is wetter than normal, stirs through the pasta and allows it to cool and become firm. The mixture is then formed into logs, crumbed and fried until golden. The bechamel/cheese sauce contains four different varieties.
“Mozzarella helps give it texture, parmesan brings saltiness and sharpness, an American-style burger cheese has a bit of sweetness, and a smoked cheddar is a different element again,” he says.
JUST IN CASE
They are the kind of snack you expect to see served at a Kath & Kim soiree but even the daggy vol-au-vent has been reinvented for contemporary tastes.
Forget a filling of tuna and corn mornay. At the Mayflower, Bethany loads her puff pastry cases with a base layer of leek, cooked down to a fondue, and mixed with cream and gruyere cheese. This is then topped with fresh peas and a mix of butter-fried mushrooms that at the moment includes pines and the delicate oysters from Mid-North grower Beetaloo. Fresh morel, chanterelle and porcini are included when available.
To construct the vol-au-vent case, use a sheet of quality puff pastry (such as Careme), cut out a round for the base, then a second round of the same diameter with a hole in the middle to form a ring. Repeat with a second ring and use egg yolk to stick the layers together.
For beef wellington, served at the Mayflower on “Welly Wednesday”, Bethany sears a whole fillet, wraps it in San Jose prosciutto, then mushroom duxelle, before rolling in
puff pastry.
This might be served with “pommes william”, a pear-shaped croquette of mashed potato with a clove in place of the stalk.
LOAFING AROUND
Matt Preston is a master of reinventing classics and making them cool – or at least making them delicious for today’s tastes.
“I’ve been a fan of reviving dishes ever since I started my Retro Revival column in Taste magazine with their food guru Michelle Southan five or so years ago. It’s such a rich playground,” he says.
Over the years the cookbook author and kitchen whiz has turned his hand to making meatloaf marvellous. Forget about a solid grey block served with lumpy mash and say hello to chicken mince meatloaf with onion jam and a kransky-inspired version that oozes with melted cheese.
In his latest book, Yummy, Easy, Quick, he gives an Indian twist to chicken meatloaf with tandoori paste and a mango chutney glaze.
“There has been a huge wave of interest in revisiting retro classics but in a way that’s a bit more modern,” he says. “This means making lighter versions but that still pack the same familiar flavour punch. Like we say on MasterChef, there is no point recreating a dish unless you improve it.”
Matt’s meatloaf recipe is right, and for more of his retro recipes, head to taste.com.au.
WINNER WINNER
“It was definitely a staple when I was growing up,” says Sharlee Gibb of that ’80s classic one-pot wonder, apricot chicken.
But rather than use the packet of French onion soup mums around the country once relied on, the co-author of Mr + Mrs Wilkinson includes dukkah and, perhaps controversially, Promite, in her modern version, to give a salty depth to the sweet fruity sauce.
Coating the chicken in flour and spices and browning the meat first adds depth of flavour before putting it in the oven, with tinned apricots adding juicy sweetness at the end.
“The kids love eating chicken drumsticks, and I add cauliflower in there to sneak in some veg,” she says.
SHE’S APPLES
Apple turnovers with pouring custard … just reading it is enough to feel an inner glow of nostalgia to ward of the chill of a winter afternoon.
No wonder the dessert is “walking out the door” at d’Arry’s Verandah, according to owner/chef Peter Reschke.
“I wanted to put something on the menu that has a retro feel but is given a little twist in presentation,” he says.
“It’s a good winter dessert … It feels warm and comfy in the belly.”
Apples are grated and cooked with sugar, cinnamon, star anise and orange zest, then wrapped in puff pastry parcels and deep fried. The turnovers are dusted with cinnamon sugar and served with custard and lavender ice cream.
It’s a combination that could easily work in a crumble, pie or baked turnover.
“The orange zest helps to pull it back from being too sweet, as well as some lime in the ice cream,” Peter says.
For the custard, he warms a mixture of equal parts cream and milk, before adding to egg yolks and warming over a double-boiler with a little sugar and vanilla.
“You can’t rush a good custard. You need to sit and slowly stir while it is cooking,” he says.
PORK & BEEF MEATLOAF WITH BACON JAM
prep / 20 minutes cook / 1 hour serves / 4
“Bacon jam adds the sweet, sour, salty tang of a kitchen glaze. Then we added a surprise, hiding hard-boiled eggs in the loaf to give your family a thrill” — Matt Preston
1kg pork and beef mince
½ cup rolled oats
1 egg, lightly whisked
1 small green apple, cored, coarsely grated
3 garlic cloves, crushed
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tbsp chopped fresh sage
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
4 hard boiled eggs, peeled
10 cornichons
Mashed potato, to serve
Sage leaves, to serve
Bacon Jam
1 tbsp grapeseed oil
350g rindless bacon rashers, cut into thin strips
1 red onion, finely chopped
⅔ cup, firmly packed brown sugar
⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup maple syrup
1Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan forced. Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
2Place mince, oats, egg, apple, garlic, parsley, sage and Worcestershire sauce in a large bowl. Use your hands to mix until well combined.
3Shape mince mixture into a 14 x 28cm log on the lined tray. Make an indent down the length of the log. Place boiled eggs into indent, in one long row. Place the cornichons beside the eggs on one side. Use your hands to fold the mince mixture, on the sides, up and over the eggs and cornichons, to enclose. Reshape into a neat 10 x 32cm loaf. Bake for
50 minutes.
4Meanwhile, to make the bacon jam, heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add bacon
and onion, stirring, for
10 minutes or until golden. Add the sugar, vinegar and maple syrup. Cook, stirring, for 10-15 minutes or until thick and syrupy.
5Spoon half the jam over the top of the meatloaf. Brush the sides with some of the remaining jam. Bake for a further 10 minutes or until golden. Slice and serve with mash. Spoon the remaining jam over the meat loaf and scatter with sage leaves.
RECIPE / Matt Preston