Birds of a Feather

Murder, She Wrote - S1:E2

Jessica's great love of lobsters is revealed in this episode. She is visiting her niece in San Francisco, and they are at a very swanky restaurant. Surprised to hear that they have Maine lobsters flown in fresh each day, she suggests that they must have jet lag. When asked which ones they would like, J.B. laughs and says, "The first two that move."

We'll see Jessica interacting many times with these lovely creatures of the deep; she doesn't just enjoy eating them; she knows how to cook them too, as we'll see in season 4 in the episode entitled Who Threw the Barbitals in Mrs. Fletcher's Chowder?

So to accompany this episode, you could opt for lobsters and white wine for dinner or read on for a lovely steak recipe.

I do so wish I had an aunt who would accompany me to the bonkers cabaret featured in this show; it's utterly brilliant. The venue is festooned with many chandeliers and candelabra. There's a fountain, some drag acts, pink roses and pink flamingoes.  

Glorious! La Champignon is not a set in my fevered imagination, it’s an actual venue, and it is still open for business, looking just the same as when Jessica visited in 1984, with exactly the same entertainment.

Martin Landau plays the host of La Champignon, looking very suave indeed in a white tuxedo. 

I can heartily recommend rustling up some of his Jerk Beef Steak if you are not a fan of lobster, as it's utterly delicious!

Martin Landau's Jerk Beef Steak

3/4 cup Italian salad dressing

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon firmly packed brown sugar

1 large jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 beef top round/rump steak, 1-inch thick (about 1½ pounds)

For the marinade, combine all of the ingredients except the steak. Place the steak in a large, shallow, non-aluminium baking dish or plastic bag. Pour ½ cup marinade over steak; turn the steak to coat it. Cover, or close bag, and marinate in the refrigerator, turning occasionally for 6 to 24 hours. Refrigerate the remaining marinade separately.

Remove steak from marinade and discard the marinade remaining in the dish or bag.

Grill the steak, turning occasionally and brushing frequently with the marinade that was reserved in the refrigerator. Grill the steak for 16 to 18 minutes, or until steak is medium-rare to medium doneness.

Slice and serve.

Serves: 4

Enjoy sprinkling some stardust around your kitchen! If you try Martin’s steak, do let me know how it turned out in the comments below. All thoughts on this episode are welcome too.

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Next week on Murder, She Cooked, a recipe from the kitchen of Samantha Eggar.

Here come all the linky-links!

More movie star recipes can be found over at the Silver Screen Suppers blog - 15 years and counting.

You’ll find me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook by searching for Silver Screen Suppers.

Would you like to test a recipe for the forthcoming Murder, She Cooked book? Leave a comment on this post or drop me a line via this link to my contact page.

If you like Columbo, you might like my Cooking With Columbo cookbook

and if you have never been to a Solve-Along-A-Murder-She-Wrote live show, check out the amazing Tim Benzie’s website here. Tim did a private show for my hen night. Can you guess which episode we did?

My typewriter logo was designed by the divine Thom Kofoed - do check out his etsy shop for loads of great goodies.

Everyone who tests a recipe for me will receive a postcard featuring an Angela Lansbury recipe, commissioned from my wonderful food illustrator friend Miriam Figueras.

It won’t be that big, of course! Do you like my Jessica Fletcher raincoat?!

Cheerio for now, tune in for another episode next week!