Brunch with Vincent Price

 

I've cooked many recipes from A Treasury of Great Recipes by Mary and Vincent Price (links to those posts below). It's one of my save-in-case-of-fire cookbooks. It was out-of-print for a long time and I was lucky to get my hands on a copy at a library book sale. Now, it's back in print and my friend Jenny at Silver Screen Suppers is having a cookalong to celebrate.

I had just watched The Baron of Arizona (for the first time ever!) and wanted something with a southwest vibe. Fortunately, there's an entire section in A Treasury of Great Recipes on the Santa Fe Super Chief, the train that once carried passengers in luxury all the way from Chicago to Los Angeles. The blueberry muffins were a specialty of La Posada Hotel in Winslow, Arizona, and were served in the Super Chief dining car. Continuing the Arizona theme, Ranch Eggs have a southwestern flare thanks to their yummy pepper/onion/tomato combo. They pair really well with blueberry muffins (and a great cup of coffee).

Ranch Eggs

4 1/2 ounces bacon, cut into lardons
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 cups chopped tomatoes (or two 14.5-ounce cans)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
 2 tablespoons butter
12 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 scallions, sliced

Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat. As the bacon pieces crisp up, remove them to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain. Sauté bell pepper and onion in bacon fat, regulating heat so vegetables soften but don't brown too much. When pepper and onion are softened, add the tomatoes, garlic, salt, and pepper. Turn the heat up to cook off the tomatoes' liquid. Stir frequently. When most of the tomato water has evaporated and the sauce is nice and warm, turn the heat down and keep warm while you make the eggs.

Melt the butter in a clean skillet over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, beat the eggs and cream together in a mixing bowl. When the butter bubbles, add the eggs and cream and turn the heat down to medium-low and cook, stirring constantly, until eggs are softly set. Season with salt and pepper.

Pile the eggs in the middle of your serving dish and surround with the tomato-pepper sauce. Top with bacon and scallions. Enjoy!

Serves 4 to 6

Blueberry Muffins La Posada

1/3 cup (2 2/3 ounces) soft butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup milk
10 ounces blueberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and grease 16 regular muffin cups. (So, one pan plus four more muffins.) Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar then add in the eggs. Alternate stirring in the flour and milk, adding the baking powder and salt with the last addition of flour. Gently stir in the blueberries. (You don't want to mash them up or your muffins will be grey.)

Fill muffin cups half full and bake for 20 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Serve warm with butter.

16 muffins

Both recipes adapted from A Treasury of Great Recipes by Mary and Vincent Price (1965). 

 The Baron of Arizona is loosely based on the life of a real man, James Addison Peralta-Reavis (played by Vincent Price), who went to extraordinary lengths to lay claim to a huge chunk of Arizona and part of New Mexico. Some of his antics included forging documents and creating an entire noble family out of thin air. Pretty impressive. Be sure to check out the movie; it's on DVD and sometimes shows up on TCM.

 A dining car on the Super Chief, 1947

 Lounge Car on the Super Chief, 1947

 The Turquoise Room on the Super Chief, 1951

Want more Vincent Price? You know you do! Here are my other posts:
The Tomb of Ligeia and Roast Chicken with Bread Sauce
The Pit and the Pendulum and Caesar Salad
The Three Musketeers and Filets de poisson cardinal
The Masque of the Red Death and Welsh Rabbit
House on Haunted Hill and Kedgeree
Manicotti alla passetto and Buckingham Eggs
Ayrshire Poacher

Everything you need to know about this cookalong and the reissue of A Treasury of Great Recipes:

Vincent Price Treasury Cookalong with Silver Screen Suppers

Cooking With Vincent Website – for details of celebratory events in the USA 

Vincent Price Legacy Tour – for details of celebratory events in the UK

Amazon Page for the 50th Edition of A Treasury of Great Recipes

Treasury of Great Recipes Facebook page

Silver Screen Suppers Facebook page

Super Chief photos from Wikipedia

Baron of Arizona photos from Amazon
Vincent Price photo from Doctor Macro

The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg

The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg was Ernst Lubitsch’s first Hollywood picture. He would very quickly move on to the musical comedies (many with Maurice Chevalier and Jeannette MacDonald) which were renowned for their “Lubitsch touch.” Although a silent film, The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg is very musical with its wonderful score performed by the English Chamber Orchestra.

The Student Prince, Karl Heinrich (Ramon Novarro), is sent to Heidelberg to attend the university accompanied by his tutor, Dr. Jüttner (Jean Hersholt). Wanting to live like a “normal” person for once in his life, Karl Heinrich decides to stay at a rather plebeian Gasthof, no doubt partially swayed by the presence of a vivacious barmaid, Kathi (Norma Shearer). Naturally, Karl Heinrich and Kathi fall in love and K.H. has a great time in Heidelberg. Unfortunately, his uncle (the king) falls ill and K.H., next in line for the throne, has to return home to take the reigns of government, where Karl Heinrich is torn between duty to his country and his love for Kathi.

The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg isn't available on DVD, so if you want to see it you'll have to catch it on TCM at 7:30 am CST, Tuesday, January 28.

Shrimps Worcestershire (and Vegetable Gumbo)

If you you've "liked" The Past on a Plate on facebook, you've noticed I've been testing a lot of 1920s recipes so far this year. Here's the recipe for Shrimps Worcestershire from a fantastic booklet I bought on etsy, Delightful Dinners. The shrimp are a delicious appetizer. (Or you can double the amounts for a main course.)

Shrimps Worcestershire

1 tablespoon butter
¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
squeeze of lemon juice
pinch of salt
pinch of paprika
8 large steamed shrimp
leaves from 1 stalk parsley, minced

Add the butter, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, salt, and paprika to a small skillet or omelet pan. Heat over medium-high heat until butter is melted and bubbling. Stir in shrimp to coat well with sauce then serve sprinkled with parsley.

Serves 2 as an appetizer or side

Adapted from Delightful Dinners.

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The aforementioned Delightful Dinners--isn't it adorable?

Photo sources:

Poster, March 1928 Photoplay

Ramon Novarro and Norma Shearer, Doctor Macro

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Annie Oakley

OK, so this movie is ridiculous, ahistorical, and even racist, although its depiction of the Sioux and Lakota is not quite as bad as a lot of contemporary films. Ah, the Western.

So, you're probably wondering, why watch it? You might be a fan of Barbara Stanwyck and she's great in this so you can see why she went on to do a lot of Westerns. You might even have a soft spot for Melvyn Douglas and watch whatever he's in even if it sucks. You might just like silly, corny old movies. If you fall into any (or all) of those categories, you'll probably want to give Annie Oakley a couple hours of your time.

Speaking of corny (see what I did there?), I've got another soup recipe for you (from 1935, just like the movie).

Corn Chowder

1 slice bacon, chopped
2 tablespoons minced onion
½ green pepper, minced
1 large potato, peeled and diced
2 cups water
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon sprouted whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 cups milk
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 carrot, peeled and grated

Heat a stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the bacon, onion, and green pepper. Cook until onion is translucent and just starting to brown. Add the water and bring heat up to high. When water is boiling, add the diced potato, turn heat down to a vigorous simmer and cook, covered, 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour, salt, and pepper and cook one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the milk. When all the milk is added, return pan to the heat, turn up to high and bring to a boil, stirring the whole time. Boil 1 minute, continuing to stir. Remove from the heat and stir in the corn and grated carrot. Combine with potato mixture.

Serves 4

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If you have TCM (it's the only thing I miss no longer having cable), Annie Oakley will be on this Thursday, January 16 at 2:00 p.m. CST.

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Photo source

Dinner and a Movie: Cold Comfort Farm

Remember going to the video rental store? Sometimes Blockbuster could come up trumps. I love the convenience of Netflix but sometimes I miss just browsing. Thanks to browsing, I discovered Cold Comfort Farm in the "New Releases" section back in 1996 and rented it because I recognized Kate Beckinsale from Much Ado About Nothing and I already had a penchant for period pieces.

Cold Comfort Farm is a really good example of when a film adaptation works. I actually think I might like the movie better than the book! The most obvious reason why is the cast, which includes Joanna Lumley, Eileen Atkins, Rufus Sewell, Stephen Fry, and Ian McKellen. Cold Comfort Farm is wonderful fun (Joanna Lumley's character Mrs Smiley would tell me to say it's "amusing" instead of "fun") and still makes me laugh after at least a dozen viewings. I never get tired of watching Flora Poste (Kate Beckinsale) attempt to tidy up her appalling country relatives and evade the advances of Mr. Meyerburg (Stephen Fry), the libidinous Lawrentian.

From Cold Comfort to deliciously warm comfort...

This is the old and oversized, warm and extremely cuddly sweater of supper dishes. Isn't there just something supremely satisfying and enveloping about anything au gratin? I like that this recipe has lovely fresh green herbs, which lend a nice freshness.

POTATO GRATIN

2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 eggs
1 ¼ cups (½ Imperial pint) heavy cream
1 ½ lbs waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into matchsticks
4 oz. hard cheese, grated (I use a mixture of Gruyère and Cheddar.)
1 tablespoon parsley, minced
1 tablespoon chives, minced
2 tablespoons thyme leaves, minced
nutmeg, salt, and pepper

Place a baking sheet in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375º Fahrenheit. Butter a large oval gratin dish and set aside. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook until translucent, stirring occasionally and being careful to turn down the heat if the onions threaten to brown. Stir in the minced garlic and cook just until garlic is fragrant and remove pan from the heat.

Beat together the eggs and cream in a very large mixing bowl. Stir in the potatoes, half the cheese, all the herbs, and season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Add the onions and garlic and stir to combine. Pour mixture into prepared gratin dish and sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top. Place gratin on top of the baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 50 minutes, or until nicely browned.

Serves 4 to 6

Adapted from “Creamy Potato Gratin with Herbs” in Hilaire Walden, ed., Traditional British Cooking (London: Hermes House, 1997), 166.

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Cold Comfort Farm photo source

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North by Northwest Dinner for Two

Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint star in Alfred Hitchcock's North By Northwest

Happy Valentine's Day! Perhaps you're looking for a romantic dinner for two? Look no further--I've made a menu based on the 20th Century Limited's Dining Car, which was featured in North by Northwest (1959), which would be a pretty good Valentine's Day movie choice, as well. There's train travel and adventure and romance and spies and national parks! What could be better? North by Northwest airs Saturday, February 16th, at 11:00 p.m. CST on TCM. It's also available on DVD.

Dinner and a Movie: Flesh and the Devil

Loin of Pork Roasted with Sweet Potatoes, Apples and Squash 

(Salad with French Dressing in the background)

If you follow me on facebook, tumblr or pinterest, you have probably guess that I'm back on a bit of a 1920s kick. I found some fabulous magazines and cookbooks on etsy recently from that decade, so I'm really looking forward to cooking from them. The Sunday lunch above is from the Woman's World Magazine Menu Book from 1928. I have to say it was absolutely divine and went perfectly with one of the best silent films ever, Flesh and the Devil.

Dinner and a Movie: 1930s Hitchcock Triple Feature

TCM is showing The 39 Steps, Sabotage and The Lady Vanishes all in a row on Sunday evening, so I thought I'd talk about each film and make a '30s menu to go with them. I thought Finnan Haddie would be appropriate. This menu is a Sunday-night supper suggestion from my 1936 edition of The Boston Cooking School Cook Book.

Belgian Endive Salad

Epicurean Finnan Haddie

Toasted English Muffins

Devil's Food Cake

 Belgian Endive Salad

Dinner and a Movie: The Love Parade (1929)

Jeanette MacDonald and Maurice Chevalier in The Love Parade

I love early talkies. It's so amazing to get to see and hear the 1920s at the same time. I'm always blown away by that particular decade, because it, at once, seems so terribly modern and quaintly old-fashioned. Filmed in 1929, The Love Parade was director Ernst Lubitsch's first talkie, Jeanette MacDonald's first-ever film and (according to IMDb) the first movie musical to incorporate the songs into the storyline. The direction is top-notch, the sound is clear (it was all dubbed in post-production) and the cast is fantastic. Besides Jeanette MacDonald and Maurice Chevalier, there are roles for Eugene Pallette, music-hall veteran Lupino Lane (who would later introduce the world to "The Lambeth Walk") and former vaudevillian Lillian Roth. If you're a fan of 20s clothes, you'll want to check this one out. Jeanette MacDonald has a doozy of a wardrobe. The songs aren't really anything to write home about, but The Love Parade is such fun I don't think you'll mind. It had me hooked from the very beginning:

Vintage Movie, Vintage Recipe--It's Visions of Sugarplums!

If you're like I am and you get tired of all the "Christmas miracle" holiday movies, may I suggest Bachelor Mother?

Polly Parrish (Ginger Rogers) is a seasonal employee at Merlin's department store, wondering where she's going to find a job after Christmas. Due to an enormous misunderstanding, her boss David Merlin (David Niven) believes Polly is an unwed mother and can be convinced not to give up her baby if only she has permanent employment. While Polly gets to keep her job she also ends up responsible for a baby that isn't hers! It's really only a holiday movie in the sense that it's set around the holidays and it's more about the time between Christmas and the New Year than about Christmas itself (although it does start on Christmas Eve), but don't let that stop you. I don't think there are enough post-Christmas movies anyway. Bachelor Mother is available on DVD and will be on TCM December 20th at 10:15 pm (CST).

Dinner and a Movie: The Postman Always Rings Twice

photos from Doctor Macro

This week, I'm bringing you more from Woman's Home Companion. The "Picture of the Month" (see below) is The Postman Always Rings Twice and there's a Lux ad featuring Lana Turner, as well. Based on James M. Cain's book, the film stars Ms. Turner and John Garfield as lovers who decide to get a pesky husband out of the way. Despite some sanitation for the censors, The Postman Always Rings Twice is pretty faithful to its source material. I enjoyed the book more (maybe because I read it first) but that doesn't mean the film isn't worth watching. It's really well done and thoroughly enjoyable, especially if you like 40s fashion and/or film noir. This was a great movie to watch en famille at my house, because Paul's really only interested in watching 40s films if they're "noir" or have lots of airplanes in them. He likes Casablanca, too, but I think that's just his soft spot showing.

Dinner and a Movie: Spellbound

For my version of this classic recipe, I used pork ribs instead of pork stew meat so that I could infuse the stew with all the fantastic minerals and gelatin/collagen from the bones. It's an easy switch that will add so much nutrition to your dinner. In "traditional foods" cookbooks, bone broths are typically cooked for hours and hours to get all the nutrients out of the bones. I found that just cooking this stew until the meat fell off the bones (about 2 1/2 hours) still gave me a huge amount of natural gelatin in the final product. (You'll notice that your leftovers will become the consistency of aspic.) It's worth it to hunt around for some really high quality pork. Keep an eye out for products that are Certified Humane or find local farmers who treat their pigs well. Happy pigs = tasty, nutritious pork.

Life This Week: May 1, 1939

 

Barbara Stanwyck and Joel McCrea

In their fourth movie together, Barbara Stanwyck and Joel McCrea star in Union Pacific, this week's "Movie of the Week." Directed by Cecil B. DeMille, Union Pacific is the story of the building of the transcontinental railroad. Or more specifically, it's about an Irish "end-of-track" postmistress (Barbara Stanwyck), her gambling fiancé (Robert Preston) and the former Union army captain sent to maintain law and order along the line (Joel McCrea). Naturally, what happens is that postmistress Mollie Monahan and Captain Jeff Butler can't seem to stay away from each other. Probably because Joel McCrea has got to be one of the most adorable men ever. 

Life This Week: April 17, 1939

Really, how could you resist? Dodge City is one of those movies that's so charming and likeable that I forget how ridiculous it really is. It may not be the best film of 1939, but it's certainly one of the most fun.

While delivering cattle and a wagon train of settlers to Dodge City, improbably handsome cowboy Wade Hatton (Errol Flynn) stands up to saloon-owner and all-around baddie Jeff Surrett (Bruce Cabot). The impressed townspeople want Hatton for sheriff. So, Wade and his buddies (Alan Hale and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams) stick around to clean up the town. Keep in mind that this is the film that helps establish all those Western-genre clichés.

Dinner and a Movie: The Hound of the Baskervilles

Basil Rathbone in

The Hound of the Baskervilles

The Hound of the Baskervilles is particularly appropriate this week, because there's an article about the hound himself in the April 10, 1939 issue of Life magazine (more about the issue at Tuesday's post). To quote Life, "'Chief' [the dog] helps and excellent cast headed by Basil Rathbone to make Conan Doyle's great detective story moderately good movie fare." All of a sudden, Life has high standards? The Hound of the Baskervilles is much more entertaining than Alexander Nevsky and I simply adore Basil Rathbone. He and Jeremy Brett and Benedict Cumberbatch are my favorite Sherlocks. (I can't wait for the next season of Sherlock to air--only one more month!)

Since cauliflowers are in season for another week or so, this is a perfect way to serve them in early spring, when the afternoons are warm and sunny but the evenings still have a bit of a nip to them. The cauliflower and the cheddar are hearty and warming while the crème fraîche adds tang and the scallions bring a bright, green, springtime taste. If you've only had cauliflower on a crudité platter, I urge you to try this recipe. I loathe raw cauliflower, but Crème fraîche Cauliflower Cheese is heaven.

Dinner and a Miniseries: Pride and Prejudice

Chicken and Parsley Pie is the perfect accompaniment to the five-hour extravaganza that is Pride and Prejudice. Both are scrumptious and oh-so-English. I can't believe it's taken me this long to blog about what is one of my absolute favorite movies ever, even though it's really a miniseries. In fact, I think it's better than the book. (Sorry, Jane!) I first discovered Pride and Prejudice a couple of years after it aired. I was in middle school, I didn't have many friends anyway, so seclusion and five hours of Britishness seemed like a good plan for the weekend. I've watched it at least once a year since then and I've owned it on VHS (six of them!) and DVD (only two). That means I've seen Pride and Prejudice at least a dozen times and it never gets old.

Dinner and a Movie: I See a Dark Stranger

St. Patrick's Day is the holiday that keeps on giving. We ended up with a fair amount of leftovers, so what could be better than Corned Beef Hash? I'd never had it before, but Modern Meal Maker suggests making it like potato cakes, so there was no argument here. The scallions in the champ and the saltiness of the corned beef really make this dish. Yum! We ate it two nights in a row with a green salad.

Dinner and a Movie: North and South

Before we get started, head over to Sunday's blog Ciao Domenica (a fantastic blog you should check out anyway) and read "Do We Need a Support Group?" (warning: contains Downton Abbey spoilers but you've already seen it, right?). I was thinking I needed to do a series called "For the Downton-deprived" and Sunday has generously confirmed that suspicion.

Who doesn't love Mr. Bates? I mean, besides Thomas and O'Brien. So--if you haven't already, you should check out North and South. It's even available on Netflix streaming. Brendan Coyle (Mr. Bates) plays Nicholas Higgins, an industrial worker whose family is befriended by Margaret Hale (Daniela Denby-Ashe), an idealistic young woman who has recently moved to the northern mill town of Milton from the bucolic south of England. Margaret's concern for Milton's workers brings her into direct conflict with the handsome yet dour mill owner, John Thornton (Richard Armitage).

Daniela Denby-Ashe and Richard Armitage in North and South

I made a "North and South" Oven Supper to go along with my (now third) viewing of North and South. I even got Paul to watch it with me this time. Sure, everything's beige and green, but it was tasty!

Dinner and Movies: Africa on Film

Greta Scacchi, in a still from White Mischief.

This post was originally going to be about the book and film White Mischief. I was able to get the book (written by James Fox, not the actor) through interlibrary loan and enjoyed it, so I thought, "Why not make a 'Dinner and a Movie' out of it?" My library just happens to have a copy of White Mischief (1987) on VHS. I thought I had hit a goldmine...until Paul and I watched it. Except for the synthesized music (it's supposed to be 1940), it's difficult for me to say exactly why this movie doesn't work, but it doesn't, and no amount of gratuitous sex, nudity or violence can make up for it (take note, future filmmakers). The story should be fantastic fodder for a movie--the young wife of a much-older peer takes up with a reckless, womanizing earl. Everyone is living it up in an exotic locale (Nairobi) while the rest of the world is at war. Suddenly there's a shocking murder that wasn't considered "solved" until 2007. Just read the book.

So--what to do? Thankfully, TCM has several hours of movies set in Africa planned for next Wednesday and Thursday that you can watch instead. Even better, these films star some of my favorite actors: Gene Tierney and George Sanders (Sundown), Clark Gable (Mogambo) and new favorite Ralph Richardson (The Four Feathers). There'll be more about The Four Feathers in July--it's a Life "Movie of the Week."

Dinner and a Movie: The Master of Ballantrae

Remember my Burns Night Roast Lamb Dinner? Well, there are two of us, so that means we were left with a good amount of leftover roast lamb. So, something fortuitous (at least to my mind) occurred. I had recorded The Master of Ballantrae from TCM and I had bookmarked a couple recipes for Scotch Broth. It's just the sort of thing to eat while immersing oneself in Jack Cardiff's technicolor Highlands.*

Dinner and a Movie: Queen Christina

Images from Doctor Macro.

In Queen Christina, the Queen of Sweden (Great Garbo), dressed as a man to preserve her anonymity while out riding, meets the new Spanish envoy to her court, Don Antonio (John Gilbert). They're forced to share a room at an overcrowded inn during a snow storm. This is a pre-code film, so when Antonio discovers Christina's a woman, the two engage in a torrid love affair. What will happen when Antonio discovers she's a queen? I'll let you learn the answer for yourself. I adore this film so much. Paul bought it for me as part of the Garbo: The Signature Collection DVD set, which also includes a couple of my other all-time-favorite movies Ninotchka and Flesh and the Devil, as well as seven other fabulous Greta Garbo films.

I whipped up a wintry Scandinavian menu to go with Queen Christina. It's hearty, simple food, like what might be served at a roadside inn during a snow storm. Enjoy!