November 7, 2024

Our Sir Rod serves up his sexy pipes at Queen’s Jubilee concert. And there’s pie!

Rod Stewart #RodStewart

Penny Lancaster posted this Instagram photo of the family at gates of Buckingham Palace.

Paul McCartney, David Beckham, Elton John, and Rod Stewart have two commonalities.

All are participating in Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebration in some way — whether by posting good wishes, by performing at the Saturday night concert or simply by hanging around London for the long weekend.

And they all have Palm Beach connections. Well, of course they do. If we have learned anything from this job, it is this: All roads lead to Palm Beach.

Stewart has the strongest tie; he lives here. And yes, he has lots of other homes, but we figure if he’s paying a king’s ransom in property taxes for that oceanfront pile, then he’s a Palm Beacher.

McCartney, until recently, was a frequent under-the-radar visitor to Palm Beach, where he had an in-law. His wife Nancy’s father, Myron “Mike” Shevell, lived at the luxe lakefront Il Lugano condominium, where he owned two units, until his death in January at age 87.

Paul McCartney posted this photo with QEII on his Instagram page

McCartney penned a little ditty about the queen for the ‘Abbey Road” album, called “Her Majesty”:

There’s a love song if we ever heard one.

Beckham, too, has kinda-sorta-in-laws here. In April, his son, Brooklyn, married Nicola, the daughter of Claudia and Nelson Peltz.

He is the only one of the above mentioned four not to have been knighted by the queen.

Elton John performing at The Mar-a-Lago Club in 2006. (Davidoff photo)

Captain Fantastic Elton John is no stranger to Palm Beach. Back in 2006, he played a private members-only concert at The Mar-a- Lago Club, packing the ballroom to capacity.

(Or over capacity, according to the missive that came a couple of days later from the fire marshal.)

John performed 12 of his hits, including “Daniel,” which he tweaked to Donald in honor of The Boss. The concert raised more than $1million for the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

John also was the featured performer at the 2010 Palm Beach wedding of right-wing radio talker Rush Limbaugh and Kathryn Rogers. Yes, the ultra-conservative and the out-and-proud gay rights activist. Fortunately, The Breakers had a room big enough for both their personalities.

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John collected a million-dollar fee, which went to his AIDS foundation.

Of the four, only Stewart performed last night, along with the aptly named Queen.

Where are Prince and The King when we need them?

The official Platinum Jubilee website is urging home cooks to make the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Beacon Tart as part of their celebration.

Its four main ingredients represent each country in the UK — cheddar cheese for England, potatoes for Northern Ireland, smoked salmon for Scotland and leeks for Wales.

Here is the recipe. Let us know how it turns out.

CRUST:

OR

  • 5 oz. flour

  • 1 ¼ oz. margarine or butter

  • 1 ¼ oz. solid shortening, such as Crisco

  • 1 ½ tablespoons cold water

  • An 8-inch tart (or quiche) pan with pie weights or dried beans to keep crust in place while baking.

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

    Generously butter and lightly flour tart pan.

    To make crust, place flour in bowl; add the fats and rub in lightly with fingertips until mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Add enough cold water to bind to a soft dough. Knead briefly and shape in to a ball. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes. While the dough chills, prepare:

    FILLING:

  • 4 oz. smoked salmon, chopped small

  • 2 oz. chopped leek

  • 4 oz. cooked potatoes

  • 2 ¾ oz. grated cheddar cheese

  • 7 fl oz. light cream or half-and-half

  • 2 large eggs, beaten

  • 1 tbsp. fresh chopped parsley

  • Black pepper

  • Butter or oil

  • Scrub potatoes and place in a pan of lightly salted boiling water to cook for 15 minutes. Drain and allow to cool before removing the skin and then slicing thinly.

    Heat a little butter or oil in a small frying pan, add chopped leek to the pan and cook over a low to moderate heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes until soft but not losing its color. Allow to cool.

    Roll out the chilled pastry. Place across bottom and up sides of pan. Prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork. Place sheet of aluminum foil over pie crust; add pie weights or dried beans.

    Place on a cookie sheet and bake in at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and remove foil and pie weights/beans.

    Return to the oven for 10 minutes more. After 10 minutes, remove crust from oven and lower heat to 325 degrees.

    Mix together cream, beaten eggs, chopped parsley and plenty of ground black pepper. To fill crust, lay smoked salmon in bottom, top with cooked leek and half of the grated cheddar. Top with potato slices. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and slowly pour cream and egg mixture over top.

    Return to cookie sheet (to catch any spills) and bake in 350-degree oven for 30-35 minutes until filling is set and golden.

    Serve cold or at room temperature.

    An icy Boodles martini goes quite nicely with it.

    Or so we’ve heard.

    This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: The Caledonian Crooner sings for QEII and you need to make this pie

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