Culinary Muse

Mom’s Recipe Box, Part Two: Summer Entertaining

I have recently inherited my Mom’s recipe box. It is the box that sat on top of the refrigerator in the kitchen of every house we lived in. The decoration on the outside of this metal box looks like a 1960's MOD interpretation of an Art Deco floral pattern. The background is black, the flowers are red, blue, orange, yellow and white. The inside holds the larger sized index cards. I can tell that my Mom must have bought it in a fit of organization as the very back of the box is packed full of extra, blank cards.
Most of the cards are in either her handwriting or my sister’s. I think that I have identified the very last recipe card she ever wrote. It is stuffed into the front of the box, out of order. Extra large cursive letters reveal that she was losing her eye site at the end. Only the name of the recipe, a list of ingredients, time and temperature are listed. It is for her favorite dessert, custard, the ultimate nursery comfort food.

As I continue to search through the box I realize that its contents reflect the many phases of her life. There are diet recipes, party recipes, recipes from aunts, recipes that I can remember her making (mostly cookies or gooey desserts) and recipes that I can’t imagine her ever attempting - crepes? I study each card carefully to see if it reveals anything about the occasion she made it for but I can’t find any comments beyond ‘very good’ or ‘from Pat’s Party’.

It seems time to give her recipes an airing and to give them the attention they deserve. The recipes below are all appropriate for the warm summer months ahead. As all of the recipes that bear my sister’s signature suggest: Enjoy!

SWEET AND SOUR BEAN SALAD
2 cans green beans
1 can garbanzo beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can pimento, diced
1 red onion, peeled and sliced into rings
1 clove garlic
1 tsp. Salt
One half cup cider vinegar
One half cup tarragon vinegar
Two thirds cup sugar
One half cup vegetable oil
Black pepper to taste

Drain and rinse beans. Combine with pimento and red onion. Crush garlic into salt. Combine with vinegars, sugar, vegetable oil and black pepper in glass jar. Cover and shake until well blended. Pour over salad and marinate overnight.
KM NOTE: Try this with fresh green beans that have been blanched. Use a really large jar and add the salad ingredients into the dressing. Cover and refrigerate. Great for a picnic.

ASIAN SALAD DRESSING
1 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Pour ingredients into pint size jar. Cover and shake thoroughly.
KM NOTE: This would be great to toss with grilled vegetables. Serve room temp.

BAR B QUE SAUCE
One half cup Karo syrup
2 tablespoon prepared mustard
One third cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
One fourth cup onion, minced
One teaspoon Tabasco sauce
2 - 8 ounce cans tomato sauce
Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil for two minutes. Great as a basting sauce for chicken.

AUNT ELSIE’S TERIYAKI SAUCE
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup sugar
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 inch fresh ginger root, chopped
3 green onions (scallions), chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Mix well. Use as a marinade for chicken.

COLD CHICKEN AND RICE SALAD
1 package chicken flavored Rice-A-Roni, prepared and cooled
3 green onions, sliced
One half cup mayonnaise
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained (reserve marinade), and chopped
1 small can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
One half teaspoon curry powder.

Stir together mayonnaise, reserved artichoke marinade and curry powder. Combine with Rice-A-Roni and green onions. Serve cold. KM NOTE: Be careful with salads that contain mayonnaise.They must be kept cold at all times.

CORN FRITTERS
One and one-half cups whole corn kernels
One half cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2/3 cup vegetable oil

Add vegetable oil to a large frying pan. When hot, add a few tablespoons of corn mixture to oil. Fry 3 to 4 minutes or until lightly brown.

A Bon Voyage

Traveling was once a civilized undertaking.  People dressed up to get on trains and airplanes.  A picture of my Grandmother, circa 1950, shows her sitting in the waiting area of the Pan Am Terminal at San Francisco Airport.  She is going to Hawaii with her girlfriends from The Madeira Club.  She wears a hat. Her gloved hands rest on the pocketbook on her lap.  Pinned to her left shoulder is an orchid corsage. I am sure that she is also wearing a girdle and stockings.  The smile on her face reveals that she is aware of how great she looks and is ready to take on anything.  In short, she is ready for this new adventure, her first airplane trip. Another family photo shows my mother aboard the S. S. Lurline, in 1938, on her way to Hawaii for her honeymoon.  She is wearing a camel wrap coat, a hat and spectator shoes.  Her pocketbook is tucked under one arm.  The wind is blowing her hair.  And she has that same look of excitement and confidence.  She and my Grandmother were, in short, putting their best foot forward. 

I was born in the wrong transportation era. I first realized this during the summer between my sophomore and junior year of college when all of my friends went backpacking through Europe.  I longed to see Paris but the idea of seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time with a North Face backpack weighing me down was abhorrent.  I guess it was not a surprise that I eventually went to Europe, by myself, wearing high heels the entire time.  But my ideas of how one looked when one traveled were formed early by looking through those family photo albums and watching 1930's movies with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing the night away aboard ship. And of Bette Davis in ‘Now, Voyager’, descending the gangplank with picture hat, gloves, pocketbook and my Mother’s spectator shoes. 

I was recently shopping in the boutique of a retirement community.  By the time that people have decided to make a move into this community they have really ‘downsized’.  I was looking through a collection of books for sale and came across a small leather diary.  Genuine leather.  Gold edged leaves.  And the title embossed across the cover said it all ‘My Trip Abroad’.  Of course I bought it.  It had never been used and I am guessing that it is from the 1950's.  There is no copyright date but it does have pictures of the ocean liners S. S. Queen Elizabeth, S. S. America and the S. S. De Grasse, all of which sailed in the 50's. 

Two things struck me about this charming book.  The first was that its owner had kept it for a very long time. For at least 50 years. Why? Was this diary purchased for a special trip that never happened?  Why not?  Was it the promise of a trip that might happen one day and then one day the owner realized it never would...  And what could one do today with the advice it had to offer, most of which centers around life aboard a ship?  I have never been on a cruise so I wonder if the following advice would still hold true today: ‘On deck you will find your deck chair with your name written on a card in a holder on the back, waiting for you, with a rug (if you have engaged one) neatly folded...On most ships it is customary for the deck steward to serve hot bouillon at eleven each morning of the voyage, and tea each afternoon at five.’  I say sign me up!

The other thing that struck me about this missive from the past is that even though most of its advice is dated it still managed to offer the best advice I have heard about travel, with or without high heels:

‘The Art of Traveling in Comfort’
In planning a trip abroad remember that only half the pleasure is in the actual trip.  A small portion is in the anticipation, and a large portion in the memories. If you keep a careful record of your pleasant days afloat and ashore, and especially if you supplement that record with freely purchased postcards or patiently take photographs, you can have the most delightful of after-pleasures – living your trip over again.’

SF DECO WEEKEND ADVENTURES

San Francisco is an Art Deco Lover’s dream city.  This year’s Art Deco weekend is Saturday, June 7 and Sunday, June 8, 2008.  The highlight of the weekend is the ART DECO AND MODERNISM sale, the largest in the country.  It is held twice a year, the first weekends of June and December, at the Concourse Exhibition Center, 8th and Brannan Street, San Francisco.  This is a great sale and I attend every year.  There are over 200 dealers from across the country selling furniture, accessories, jewelry (I am always on the look out for carved Bakelite bracelets), vintage clothing and collectibles from 1900 to 1980 including Arts & Crafts, Mission, Monterey, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Streamline Modern, Vintage Western, Mid-Century Modern...The hours are Saturday, 10 am to 6 pm and Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm.  Admission: $10.  But join the Art Deco Society and get in for only $8.00.  Don’t miss the Vintage Fashion Show on Saturday at 2 pm or the Swing Dance performance Sunday afternoon.  They also have a great collection of CDs with music from the era for sale.  Go ahead, immerse yourself in a different decade.
If you would rather be outside enjoying the fresh air consider taking advantage of the two architectural tours offered by The Art Deco Society of California.  The weather is usually sunny this time of year but do dress in layers just in case the fog rolls in. Saturday’s tour is of the Downtown District featuring Art Deco commercial buildings including the Pacific Stock Exchange and the 450 Sutter Medical Building.  The tour lasts 1 ½ hours and meets at 450 Sutter Street at 11 am.  Sunday’s tour is of the Marina District that has San Francisco’s greatest collection of surviving Art Deco-era buildings.  The tour includes 40 buildings.  This tour also lasts 1 ½ hours and meets at Marina Middle School, Fillmore at Chestnut Street, at 11 am.  I have taken the Downtown tour and found it fascinating.
What’s the best way to extend the excitement of this day of vintage shopping and walking tours? A glamorous night on the town, 1950s style! From cocktails on the top of posh Nob Hill to dinner at an elegant restaurant at the foot of Russian Hill, it is still possible to have a swanky 1950s era evening out in this city that prides itself on innovative cuisine.
Resembling a scene out of the Alfred Hitchcock movie Vertigo, The Big Four cocktail lounge in the HUNTINGTON HOTEL is one of the last places in San Francisco where well-dressed men still wear jackets with ties and chic women can wear mink coats. The private men’s club feeling here is helped along by dark wood paneling, deep green leather banquettes and a roaring fireplace.  Dry martinis are served ice cold. Salty cocktail nuts (no peanuts, thank you) are served from small silver nut bowls. The bartender knows your name and your ‘usual’.  You might consider having brunch at the restaurant.  The Easter Sunday brunch we enjoyed this year was as perfect a brunch as I have ever had. (The piano player was quick to note my chapeau and played Irving Berlin’s song ‘Easter Parade’ as I walked to my table).

It is a quick cab ride down the hill to the restaurant Herb Caen described in 1950 as “a bit of England” in San Francisco, the HOUSE OF PRIME RIB. Silver carts holding prime rib
roasted in rock salt are wheeled across the thick carpet of the dimly lit dining room. The waiter carves at your table side. He spoons the smooth creamed spinach onto your plate
next to the Yorkshire pudding. What would you like on your baked potato? The works? “This is one of the few places in San Francisco that feels the same way it did in the 50s”, says Neil Anzalone, a retired musician and regular customer since 1952. “But back then I would have been wearing a hat and gloves!” whispers his wife, Anne.
A cable car ride over the hill ends the evening in North Beach. The strong aroma of roasting coffee beans is coming from Caffé Trieste, the unofficial living room for this bohemian neighborhood since 1956. Caffé Trieste was the first coffee house on the west coast to serve espresso. Sit back with a creamy cappuccino, a slice of rich tiramisu made with their own espresso and enjoy watching the regulars who look like retired Beat poets. Could it get any more authentic than this?

Mom’s Recipe Box, Potatoes and Her Cast Iron Skillet

I have inherited my mom’s recipe box. As I go through it I find it startling just how similar our idea of what makes a good recipe.  That is, a recipe worth clipping out of a magazine or newspaper and worth keeping for years. My recipe box spills over with these clippings So does hers.  I will be sharing several with you in the next few months.  They are recipes that recall my childhood, maybe your childhood as well. They range from old New York Times Magazine recipes by Molly O’Neill to the ones from utility companies, like Pacific Gas & Electric, which were included in the newsletter that accompanies the monthly bill. We will begin with the following potato recipes.  I always wondered who developed the newsletter recipes.  Did they have a home economist on staff whose sole purpose it was to come up with recipes that used a lot of fuel to prepare? Was there a set of guidelines that established that no recipe would be acceptable unless it took at least an hour to bake at 350 degrees? Perhaps that is how ‘Potato Wedges’ was born. I remember my mom preparing them several times a week.  This is a typical mom recipe.  She always had potatoes (bought by the ten pound bag) and a few yellow onions in the house.  So easy, so delicious, so inexpensive. I remember her serving them with meat loaf.  I prepared them in the same oven that last night’s chicken was roasting in.  I plan to prepare them again next week to serve along side a pan fried steak.   I find them most comforting these days. 
POTATO AND ONION WEDGES
1 red onion, peeled and cut into quarters
4 large Russet potatoes, washed, dried and cut into quarters lengthwise
Canola oil
Seasoned Salt (Schillings Brand)*
Garlic powder*
Freshly ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, toss together onion, potatoes and enough canola oil to coat well. Sprinkle with plenty of seasoned salt, garlic powder and black pepper. Sprinkle with plenty of seasoned salt, garlic powder and black pepper. Toss and pour onto a large baking sheet. Bake for one hour. Check at 30 minutes to flip over wedges. The potatoes are done when they are slightly puffy and golden. The onions will be a deep caramel color. Yield: 2 – 3 big servings
*Food Snobs Note: Ingredients like seasoned salt and garlic powder have been around for a long time for a reason. They are tasty and they are convenient. Just think of them as ‘rubs’.

More Mom’s Kitchen Musings: For a very long time it lived in the dark, tucked away in the back of the cupboard that holds all of the seldom used cookware. Once in a while it would get unearthed for baking a Pineapple Upside Down Cake. But lately it has held forth front and center in the kitchen. The ten-inch cast iron skillet. Seasoned to a shiny black by my grandmother it is the kitchen workhorse of the hour. Need to dry out a few slices of bread for breadcrumbs? Place them in the skillet in a 400-degree oven for about 10 minutes. Feeling guilty about wasting the last quarter loaf of that a day old baguette? Cut it into 2" squares, place in the skillet in a 400-degree oven for about 15 minutes, tossing every five minutes. But what has really kept the skillet front and center this week is the recipe below. This is a deeply satisfying and easy meal to make after a long day at work. It also fits into the category that we can all relate to: The Budget Meal. Maybe you need to eat home all this week. Your next paycheck doesn't arrive until next Friday and you can't quite justify or afford a 'cheap' $20 meal out every night this week. The solution is a pantry stocked with Russet potatoes, good olive oil, kosher salt, Spanish Smoked Paprika and eggs.
SPANISH ROASTED POTATOES
Preheat oven to 400-degrees.
4 Russet potatoes, washed, dried and cut into 1-inch chunks
Place potatoes in a large mixing bowl. Add about 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt, 1 teaspoon Spanish Smoked Paprika (sweet), 1/2-teaspoon garlic powder.
Toss well until the mixture turns a deep mahogany red.
Place in cast iron pan. Roast for 30 minutes. Using a metal spatula carefully turn the potatoes over being sure to scrape the great crust that is forming on the bottom. Return to oven for at least 30 more minutes or until they are nice and crisp. Remove from oven. Poach 4 eggs. Place roasted potatoes on plate. Top with poached eggs. Sprinkle with chopped Italian parsley.  Also good served on a bed of fresh spinach.
Yield: two servings