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My son and DIL gave me a cookbook from England called The Curious Cookbook: Viper Soup, Badger Ham, Stewed Sparrows and 100 More Historic Recipes by Peter Ross. Long title! Whew! Some fun reading inside.
Now, I can't make most of the items. Some require pheasant from the 1400s and vipers. I hate vipers! I think it's truly meant to be a history book. But, lo and behold, I found a recipe tucked away at the end of the book that I could make. It's simple; it's tasty. It's called
Agatha
Christie’s Mystery Potatoes
I couldn't pass that up!
“6 good-sized potatoes, a little margarine, 4 tablespoonsful cream,
10 anchovies. Bake the potatoes in a moderate oven. Then cut them in half,
remove the insides, and mash them with the margarine and cream. Chop up the
anchovies and mix them in. Add pepper and salt to taste. Return mixture to the
empty skins, dap on top with margarine and brown in a hot oven.”
I have to admit I tweaked the recipe. I mean, c'mon, it's a potato, with anchovies. Admittedly, the anchovies are a wonderful touch! Tasty, salty yum!
When you add cheese (how could I not?)...heaven.
I also tweaked by using butter, not margarine! Sorry, Dame Agatha! And about a half tablespoon per…
For the moderate oven, I set it
at 325 degrees for 1 hour. I wrapped the potatoes in foil. I always find that cooks them through. I used a Barber's Cheddar cheese to top off the potatoes. A truly wonderful addition!
MY AGATHA CHRISTIE POTATO RECIPE:
6 potatoes
3 tablespoons butter
4-6 tablespoons cream
1 jar (container) anchovies, chopped
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Wrap potatoes individually in foil. Bake potatoes in a preheated oven, at 325 F for 1 hour. Remove and cut a slit down the middle. Press from the sides to open. Let out steam. Carefully scoop potato flesh out of the skin and put in a bowl with the butter, cream and anchovies. Stir and scoop it back into the potato skins, pushing together so the potato mounds out the top. Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese and serve.
Note: hold the skins together when scooping so they don’t fall apart!
GIVEAWAY
I'm giving away another CHEESE SHOP MYSTERY today, plus some swag. Tell me what is the most exotic recipe you've ever tried or have the hankering to try.
Leave your email so I can reach you if you win. If you don't feel like leaving an entire email, you can go cryptic and I'll try to figure it out. I am a mystery writer, after all. I will not use your email for any other purpose other than to contact the winner. I'll pick a name tomorrow morning. The winner will have 48 hours to contact me.
Good luck!
Savor the mystery!
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love your books and the baked potato looks yummy
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteDaryl / Avery
I enjoy reading your Cheese Shop Mystery series. Thank you for the recipe and the giveaway.
ReplyDeletemyrifraf(at)gmail(dot)com
Jen, you bet!
DeleteDaryl / Avery
The most exotic I have tried would be homemade noodles and they did not come out at all. The dough was to sticky to work with and all I did was make a huge mess lol thanks for the chance to win. I enjoy reading your books I am safer reading than cooking!!
ReplyDeleteI remember when pasta machines first came out and I bought one. What a mess. I'm sure the pros know how to use them, but mine, too, were sticky. Ugh! LOL
DeleteDaryl / Avery
As far as exotic foods, not much. I'm a food wussie. I tried sushi, it was OK, but not my fav.
ReplyDeletekaye.killgore@comcast.net
A food wussie. That's cute! :)
DeleteDaryl / Avery
Not very good with the cooking or exotic. I would rather read recipes. Congrats on the new release.
ReplyDeletegibsonbk at hiwaay dot net
Aha, a recipe reader. I know many of those! Enjoy.
DeleteDaryl / Avery
The most exotic recipe I ever tried was homemade challah. I actually succeeded at braiding the bread loaf - it was tricky though :) EMS591@aol.com
ReplyDeleteI would imagine it was. Challah is so pretty! I braided a cinnamon loaf once. :)
DeleteDaryl / Avery
I don't cook much at all and definitely have not tried making anything exotic :)
ReplyDeletejslbrown2009(at)aol(dot)com
Sometimes, simply cooking can be the challenge, right? :)
DeleteDaryl / Avery
German chocolate cake
ReplyDeleteDutchcyclone@gmail.com
Oh, yum! Adore all the coconut.
DeleteDaryl / Avery
I'm not very daring in the kitchen, but I have tried to make lettuce wraps, the filling was too runny, tearing the lettuce. Guess that's not really exotic, but lack of experience! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteJHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com
I think that's pretty exotic! I adore lettuce wraps, especially the ones at PF Changs. Gluten free and delicious!
DeleteDaryl / Avery
Eggplant Parmesan is as exotic as I get. We love cheese so anything made with it is fantastic. Pp92596 at outlook dot com
ReplyDeleteMy husband loves eggplant Parmesan. :)
DeleteDaryl / Avery
Although I'll certainly try exotic foods.... I don't usually cook them. :) Although I am experimenting with Thai foods....
ReplyDeleteafarage(at)earthlink.net
Thai anything is exotic. All the nuts and spices!
DeleteDaryl / Avery
A treasure of a recipe hidden in plain sight!
ReplyDeleteI like your tweaks.
Really? That much anchovy works?
As to cooking, I'll try to make almost anything that catches my fancy--bread, souffles, whatever.
libbydodd at comcast dot net
Libby, yes, that much anchovy. It's a pungent flavor! You can always add more. My husband likes extra anchovies on a Caesar salad.
DeleteDaryl / Avery
Here was thinking that was a lot of anchovy and you tell me I can use more if I want to!
DeleteThere was/is a coffee house in the Village (as in NYC) where I had a grilled cheese sandwich with mozzarella and anchovies. The fish with the creamy but mild cheese worked very well.
I don't think i'd want to try badger ham.
ReplyDeletesgiden at verizon(.)net
Me, either. The thought...ugh. But way back when, and if it was all that was available... Ah, the good old days. Old, old, old days.
DeleteDaryl / Avery
When I was young and foolish and cooked to please guys, I used to make a Beef Bourguignon. Now, lucky me, my son cooks for me. Hos wife loves cheese so we have a lot of it.
ReplyDeletelkish77123 at gmail dot com
I still cook to please guys (my husband), but also myself. Love Beef Bourguignon. Shared that a few months ago on this site. :)
DeleteDaryl / Avery
The most exotic food I ever tried to make was Ratatouille Niçoise. It started out fine but hubby was late from work and after sitting there it turned to mush. Never tried it again.
ReplyDeleteb5sycop@nefcom.net
Nothing worse that letting something good go cold. No fun!
DeleteDaryl / Avery
A fish dish that was a hit. Exotic is rare but interesting. Thanks for this great feature. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteThere are some fabulously exotic fish dishes out there. Good for you.
DeleteDaryl / Avery
I prefer to be safe and use my traditional recipes. I did once try a unique chicken recipe which was ok. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteOkay means you didn't make it again. Great is worth doing twice. In fact, I just learned how to make a gluten-free yule log that was GREAT!!! So I'll share that recipe with you all next Xmas. :)
DeleteDaryl / Avery
I usually don't try any recipes that I consider exotic because the hubby won't even try them---about the most exotic thing he will eat is chow mein and then it has to be American-style.
ReplyDeletesuefarrell.farrell@gmail.com