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| Vintage Cooking 1976 |
This past week I consulted an old cook book for a dish I was making. It’s a recipe book from the James Beard Cooking Classes, made for Cuisinart back in 1976 (pictured above). The good old 70’s when I learned everything I know from the restaurants of that time and the foodies of the time. The people who contributed to this recipe book were icons and very well known to me as they would be to any foodie (term not yet coined).
They included CraigClaiborne, Helen McCully, Jacques Pepin, Simone Beck, Julie Dannenbaum, John
Clancy, Pierre Franey, Marcella Hazan, Madhur Jaffrey, Barbara Kafka, Perla
Meyers,Maurice Moore-Betty, Andre Soltner, Julia Child.
A recipe for Steak Tartare, so popular
then, as were cocktail parties. (I think they should be revived.)
Cucumber soup. Barbara Kafka’s Gazpacho.Vichyssoise, served before a Boeuf Bourguignon. Zucchini Bisque. Andre Soltner’s (Lutece) Onion Soup, Soupe de Poisson Marseillaise. Rack of Lamb, Quo Vadis (the restaurant). Craig Claiborne had called it the one of the finest kitchens in Manhattan and gave it four stars.
Cucumber soup. Barbara Kafka’s Gazpacho.Vichyssoise, served before a Boeuf Bourguignon. Zucchini Bisque. Andre Soltner’s (Lutece) Onion Soup, Soupe de Poisson Marseillaise. Rack of Lamb, Quo Vadis (the restaurant). Craig Claiborne had called it the one of the finest kitchens in Manhattan and gave it four stars.
French recipes were the majority. Mustard Vinaigrette, Bearnaise, and Hollandaise shared the pages with Marcella Hazan’s Ragu alla
Bolognese. James Beard's Cranberry Relish, and Green Mayonnaise that I served with poached
Striped Bass. These were recipes you could count on to be flawless and made easier with the use of the Cuisinart.
To buy a Cuisinart when it
was first available was like waiting in line for the first Nike addition or
the latest iphone.
How very excited I was when I came across the New York Times
Dining Section this past Wednesday, May 9, 2012 . Pete Wells, Jacques Pepin and Bryan Miller were also having a nostalgic moment with a featured article celebrating
Craig Claiborne and other famous foodies of the 70’s.
Confusing headline, which I didn’t
understand at first-“ When He Dined, the Stars Came Out”. Days later, it hit me…
Ahha, when Craig Claiborne dined out he was the first in the United States to rank the restaurants with stars, after the Michelin Guide in France.
Underneath the headline, a photo of Craig Claiborne in
his kitchen, with many of the afore mentioned food icons, Pierre
Franey, Jacques Pepin, Marcella Hazan, Julia Child .
Below, a page from my 1976 journal.
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The Menu: Explorateur cheese and crackers Cream of Pumpkin Soup Rack of Lamb Baked tomatoes stuffed with sauteed peas potatoes Anna Lemon Ice Box Pie wine: Inglenook Burgundy |
Lemon Ice Box Pie Recipe
1974 recipe from Serendipity New York, NY
Graham Cracker Crust
9-inch pie pan
1 cup crushed honey graham
crackers
(always use honey grahams, they taste much
better than plain)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter,
melted
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Mix together the graham
crackers and butter, ground cinnamon and brown sugar and press into the pie
pan.
Lemon Filling
1 cup sweetened condensed
milk (Borden’s Magnolia brand )
½ cup fresh lemon juice
2 egg yolkes
grated lemon zest from 1
lemon
Mix all ingredients and pour
into the pie crust.
Refrigerate for at least four
hours before serving
Heavy cream for whipping. Top
pie with whipped cream.
As Always,
xxoo Sheila
