How to Wine Friends and Affluent People

If you are into that throwback 1950's vibe, you can credit a good bit of it to Robert H. Loeb, Jr.  Loeb was the food and drink editor for Esquire magazine in the early 1950s. It was a perfect fit.  Loeb has an ethos that men are better than women and whiskey is better than most men.

While in today's world that might make him sound like the quintessential asshole, you have to admit he was very funny.  He loved for his books to have little text and a lot of pictures.  He wrote several cooks employing a technique of taking rather lofty historical characters, writing a short, first-person bio or (autobiography as they read from the characters point of view) and spinning recipes. Clearly, the recipes have no real connection to the biography, nor are they meant to be indicative of what the person would have eaten.  It is perhaps more indicative of of his supposition that what really matters is appearance and knowing a bit about Cleopatra or Balzac would lead to a favorable impression for those of "wine and affluence."

While these may not be recipes that become staples in your kitchen, for those of you interest in food history, this is a great starting point for how food has changed in the last century.  The rationing and Victory gardens of the war gave way to an almost cavalier view of food. In the many "illustrated" food guides like this one, food is quite literally cartoonish.

Here is a recipe preceded by a bio of Sir Issac Newton.  The recipe is for a dish of canned beets that have been hollowed out and stuffed with a horseradish cream.  Not a bad recipe, but with little to do with Newton.  Here is Beets Isaac:

Beets Isaac

1 #2 can of beets
1 cup heavy cream
4 teaspoons white horseradish
1/8 teaspoon salt

Hollow out each beet.  Whip the cream. Add the salt and horseradish.  Stuff the beets.  Refrigerate. Serve.

If you are looking for a nifty fifties recipe for your Labor Day Man Men binge, this is the ticket.  Make those martinis strong.

The Cook is in the Parlor

A nifty little number from 1947, The Cook is in the Parlor was written to make entertaining fun and allow the cook...well, allow the cook to socialize in the parlor. Even in the 1940's no one wanted to spend their time in the kitchen while the party is in the parlor.  As Marguerite Gilbert McCarthy says:

I wanted to write a cook book that will make cooking seem so easy and entertaining such fun that everyone who reads my book will want to dash to the telephone and invite all her friends in for a party.

Mrs. McCarthy wanted her book to appeal to both the bride and novice cook and the more seasoned cook.  As with a book of this age, there is not a lot of instruction for the reader.  This book also takes full advantage of the wide variety of tinned foods that were coming into vogue.  There are a lot of lovely little sandwich ideas, including 23 different forms for the versatile hamburger.  Salads lean toward canned fruit and vegetables are doused in sauce. This is one of those cookbooks that features a high kitch value on the surface, but delves into the way we once cooked and entertained.  It is definitely not the way we cook today.  It is very interesting to look at the recipes for vegetables, for example, and think how one might serve them without the sauce.

We love a cooked beet.  Check out this recipe.

Creamed Sweet and Sour Beets

Drain 1 can of tiny beets and save the juice.  Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and add 2 tablespoons of sugar, mixed with 1 1/2 tablespoons of flour.  Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and gradually add 1/2 cup of the beet juice.  Let cook until thickened. (Prepare in the morning and reheat.)

Heat beets in double boiler and pour into a glass casserole.  Add 1 cup of hot cream  to the beet juice mixture and pour over the beets.  Cover thickly with ground nut meats.  Brown lightly under the broiler.

Creamed beets are not high on our list of yummy veggies.  Simple roasted beets are high on the list.  So if you roast the beets, add a touch of lemon juice and topped with crushed nuts, this would be a fine option.  But if you really want some creamed beets, this one's for you.

Happy Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day we thought we would share a recipe from Doe Run Farm. A lovely end to any Valentine's Dinner.

Beet Pie

1 pie crust
2 cup mashed beets
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon quatre-epice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups evaporated milk

Combine the the dry ingredients to incorporate the spices evenly.

In a bowl, beat the eggs.

Stir in the mashed beets and the dry ingredients

Add the evaporated milk a bit at a time to fully incorporate

Place your pie shell on a heavy baking sheet

Pour the mixture into your pie shell

Add to a hot pre-heated oven -- 450 -- and bake for 15 minutes

Reduce heat to 350 and bake for about 40 minute


Horseradish Whipped Cream

1 pint whipping cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish; added a teaspoon at a time to insure you don't over power the cream.

Enjoy.

Spice Up Your Life

Binda Grandhi DID send me a copy of her new cookbook, Spice Up Your Life. Grandhi makes food that is healthy, low-fat, Indian, spicy and flexitarian. Being fond of giant slabs of meat, I wasn't sure this cookbook would do anything for me, but even I have to eat vegetables once in a while. The recipes are easy and spicy and they never betray their flavor, even when they are good for you. So many cookbooks offer up "healthy eating" but if you won't eat it, how healthy can it be.

Spice Up Your Life does just that, it gives you spicy and tempting recipes with plenty of chicken and fish for those carnivorous eaters who might balk at anything both vegetarian and healthy. The fish recipes in Spice Up Your Life really shine. As you know, I am not at my best when cooking fish, but these recipes are clever and easy enough for me to try.

There is a great recipe for okra, Southerners are not the only okra lovers out there, it is quite big in India. Not wanting to betray my Southern heritage, but I was never a big fan of okra until I saw it being made by Indian chefs. They manage to cook it in ways that leave it crisp and delightful.

I adore cauliflower curry. Brussels sprouts are one of my favorite vegetables but I never thought of a cauliflower/ Brussels sprout curry. It is my favorite recipe in the book, though I must admit I leave out the cashews as I hate nuts in my food.

Another favorite veggie for me are beets. Here is a great recipe featuring beets.

Spicy Beets and Rice

2 c. basmati rice, prepared according to your favorite method and set aside
2 Tbsp. extra light olive oil
1 large sweet onion, diced
2 green chilies, stemmed and sliced in half lengthwise
2 beets (1 lb. each) or enough beets to equal 2 lbs, stemmed, peeled, and diced
1 Tbsp. lime juice
2 Tbsp. powdered, unsweetened dried coconut
salt to taste

1. In a medium skillet, heat the oil. Over medium heat, sauté onions and green chilies for 7–8 minutes. Add the beets; cover and sauté 5 minutes. Add lime juice and coconut powder; sauté for 3 minutes, or until beets are tender. Turn off heat.

2. Add cooked basmati rice and mix until well blended. Salt to taste.

3. Serve as a stand-alone or with another entrée.

Truth be told, I would probably never have put this book on my wish list, and look at all the cool things I would have missed. Shame on me, come on people, lets start moving out of that comfort zone and experimenting with the unusual and even the healthy.

Grandhi has a cool website, The Flex Cook, with more info and recipes. If you are in New York, she has a cooking show, Cooking With Spices, premiering 4 November.

And remember: Eat your vegetables, especially if they are spicy!