Old Hollywood Kitchen: Vincent Price

As I write this a full-day marathon of Vincent Price films has begun on Comet (they're calling it Super Ghoul Sunday, which I might turn into an annual tradition). House on Haunted Hill currently keeping me company, it's high time I reflect on a dish of his I made just before Halloween, with the then-newly-acquired Cooking Price-Wise.

Vincent Price's Beef and Cauliflower on Rice

1 lb. beef steak
1 small head of cauliflower
2 oz. butter or margarine (I used olive oil)
1 green pepper, cut in 3/4 inch squares
1 clove garlic, crushed
4 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. cornflour (corn starch)
4 tbsp. water
1/2 tsp. sugar (I omitted)
3 oz. sliced onion
1 lb. 2 oz. hot cooked long-grain rice

I had been eyeing Vincent Price's cookbooks for a while but felt they were out of my reach in terms of cooking skills; I was more at-ease once I saw how simple some of the recipes in Cooking Price-Wise could be to prepare.

This was a great first recipe to test; a nice, light stir-fry that's a satisfying mix of flavors and textures. I've since made it again with broccoli in place of cauliflower and it works just as well. I don't find myself craving it as much as my beloved Beef and Beans but I will definitely come back to this recipe in the future.

The Last Man on Earth is my film pick this time around, a dystopian thriller with plenty of screen time for Price. Pair it with this dish and you've got dinner and a movie; if you'd prefer to host your own Super Ghoul Sunday festivities, you could decorate the table with these wonderful creations (also from Cooking Price-Wise):

Happy cooking!

Old Hollywood Kitchen: Marlene Dietrich and Karen Morley

It started simply enough: one weekend I developed a craving for banana bread, and conveniently had a couple of overripe bananas to put to good use. I realized that I had one vintage recipe to re-test and one I had never used (and a tried-and-true third recipe, my own mother's). Thus, here it is, my first side-by-side recipe comparison; a tale of two banana breads.

Marlene Dietrich's Banana Nut Bread

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. salt (I omitted)
1/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed banana pulp (usually 2 bananas)
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

The first test of this recipe taught me a valuable lesson: modern ovens run hotter, and with more consistent temperature than their 1930s predecessors. As such, one full hour in a 350 degree oven proved nearly fatal for the poor loaf. The bottom half was dry and tough, the top half just barely edible. It practically has a tan line! Try again.

The second attempt fared much better. I kept a closer eye on the oven timer and pulled the loaf out after 45 minutes. Improved texture, though still a touch dry. I was running low on walnuts this time around, and I'm not sure if that had an impact on the moisture levels.

Now, how about that "new" recipe?

Karen Morley's Banana Bread

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda (sifted with flour)
2 tsp. milk
2 cups flour
3 bananas, well mashed

Baked at 300 degrees for about 55 minutes, this loaf turned out moist, even a bit chewy, likely owing to the use of sour cream. This recipe may edge out Dietrich's as I'm not accustomed to putting walnuts in banana bread and prefer it without them. I plan to make it again sometime and may let it go a full hour in the oven to see how that affects the texture. Overall, I still prefer my mother's recipe (also without walnuts) over these two, but I'm willing to try either of these again.

I've included my movie recommendations in the photos above. The Dietrich and von Sternberg in Hollywood box set is a wonderful Criterion release and will hit the spot if you're looking for a heady dose of (mostly pre-Code) glamour. I've chosen another pre-Code gem, 1932's Arsene Lupin, for Karen Morley, who matches wits with John Barrymore's suave gentleman thief. Happy watching, and happy baking!

Old Hollywood Kitchen: Celeste Holm

With the warmer weather upon us, what better time for an entree incorporating a touch of fruit?

Celeste Holm's Chicken Montmorency

1 chicken, cut for frying
Butter
1 can dark, sweet cherries
Cornstarch for thickening
Sherry (optional)

One hurdle to clear in gathering the ingredients: canned dark cherries are tough to find in my area. Aside from fresh picked, the only other widely available options are canned pie filling and maraschino cherries. No way.

Luckily I found something better! Sour cherries are more accurate to the traditional dish and add a refreshing tartness, whereas the canned cherries would have been cloyingly sweet.

I can recommend this recipe on ease of preparation alone. Served with wild rice per Holm's suggestion, and without the sherry, it's an enticing mix of flavors and textures; the tang of the sour cherries plays well against the dark meat of the chicken thighs I used. Many of the recipes in these cookbooks call for the use of a whole chicken; if you're only cooking for one or two people, it's easier to use smaller cuts of meat. It may also require some tweaking of ingredient proportions, usually a simple task (unless you're giving Joan Blondell's Sunday Night Special a whirl). I plan to make this again very soon, the perfect summertime sustenance.

Celeste Holm was in numerous supporting roles over the course of her film career, but my pick this time around is 1948's Road House, which also boasts fine performances from Richard Widmark and a singing(!) Ida Lupino. Road House was screened at the 2nd Nitrate Picture Show, which was before I began attending the festival. Fingers crossed that it gets an encore screening someday!

Old Hollywood Kitchen: Glenda Farrell

For the first time in the Old Hollywood Kitchen we have a repeat celebrity, the wonderful Glenda Farrell. This is a recipe I've had tucked away for the right occasion, as mentioned in a previous post. When St. Patrick's Day rolled around last Sunday, her Irish Beef Stew was a natural choice.

Glenda Farrell's Irish Beef Stew

Meat mixture:

3/4 lb. round steak

1 cup carrots

1 cup potatoes

1 cup celery

1 tbsp. parsley

1 cup onion

1 cup beef suet (I omitted)

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. salt

Biscuit dough:

3 cups flour

3/4 tsp. salt

*3 tsp. baking powder

3 tbsp. shortening

1 cup milk

*Note that the instructions state to sift in 6 tsp. of baking powder. I'd stick with the 3 tsp. instead, though you'll see shortly that there were other problems...

This one started out easy enough. I rounded out the meat and vegetable mixture with Worchestershire sauce and black garlic powder seasoning to stave off potential blandness. I didn't substitute anything for the beef suet, and I'm wondering if 1 cup of beef or vegetable broth would have benefited the proceedings.

This is when the worry sank in.

No matter, as the biscuit dough tested both my limited skills and patience. I sifted and mixed the ingredients as directed, but the "dough" was too dry to hold together. I splashed in a tiny bit more milk...and it got so much worse. Nothing but a gluey mess to contend with and try to form into a reasonable facsimile of pie crust. Truly an amateur hour, I forgot to flour my countertop before rolling out the dough, and so resigned myself to patting sticky globs of dough at the bottom of the casserole dish and over the top of the meat mixture without attempting to balance the dough with flour (and possibly more milk). I'd had enough. I waved the white flag.

Not ready for primetime.

As with many of these older recipes, it was done in less time than specified (only needed 45 minutes of the hour). The taste test yielded no surprises: flavorful meat and crisp vegetables, buried beneath (alternately crunchy and tacky) dough that you could use to grout tile. Doubtful I will attempt this again anytime soon, not at least until I get a better handle on making biscuits. The failure here is my own, but I'm looking onward and upward. At least we'll always have that fine Devil's Food Cake.

I've recommended several of Glenda Farrell's films in her previous post, but to end on a positive note, I'll keep with the theme and highlight a short film I watched on St. Patrick's Day, the enjoyably spooky Return to Glennascaul, featuring Orson Welles, golden timbre and all, and an unusual old house in Ireland. More recipe tests forthcoming, and I guarantee more favorable results.

Old Hollywood Kitchen: Joan Blondell

The last installment of Old Hollywood Kitchen featured my beloved Glenda Farrell, so it only makes sense to follow with one of her closest friends, the equally wisecracking Joan Blondell.

Joan Blondell's Sunday Night Special
4 cans tomato sauce
4 lbs. ground beef
1 1/2 cups green peppers, chopped
2 tbsp. chili powder
1 1/2 cans corn (easier to use 1 15.25 oz. can and 1 8.75 oz. can)
1 cup onion, chopped
1 lb. shredded cheese (not specified, I used cheddar)
3 boxes pasta (again, not specified, I used macaroni)

A caveat right up front: this makes SO MUCH FOOD. I quartered the recipe and still had way too much pasta, then had to use two cans of tomato sauce as one wasn't enough to cover the dish.

Brought to you by Hideous Formica.

The "finished" product:

The concept is good and the flavors are almost there, but this is going to take some serious reworking of proportions. My biggest failure of these recipe tests thus far, but not a total loss; I'm definitely going to give this another try and will share my version here once I get it right.

It's fitting to wrap up 2018 with Joan Blondell as I spent Christmas morning watching her team up with Katharine Hepburn in Desk Set. Dated in (mostly) entertaining ways, it's a fun film for the holidays; if you're not keen, I can always recommend peak Blondell in any of her Busby Berkeley outings, particularly Gold Diggers of 1933 ("Remember My Forgotten Man" has me in tears every time). There's also her numerous pairings with Farrell, natch, my favorite of them being Havana Widows. Here's to more great food, films and fun in 2019!

Speaking of Katharine Hepburn, here's a little bonus! Her brownie recipe has been floating around the internet and I finally decided to give it a try:

Very easy to make for a relative novice like me, and with a satisfying fudgy chewiness to boot. They're too rich and dense for me to want to make on a regular basis, but will be a great recipe for future use if I need to whip up a quick dessert.

Old Hollywood Kitchen: Glenda Farrell

When I began my search for these vintage recipes, there was one star I had always hoped to find. Once I picked up a copy of What Actors Eat When They Eat, I was thrilled to see that Glenda Farrell was featured in the collection, having had no previous luck turning up one of her recipes. I plan to make that recipe sometime this winter as it's best suited for cold weather. What a pleasant surprise to chance upon another vintage cookbook, Famous Stars Favorite Foods, and flip to this page:

Glenda Farrell's Devil's Food Cake

3 squares chocolate, melted
1 cup butter
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 3/4 cups cake flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. salt
2 cups milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract

I'm growing in confidence with my cooking, but baking is still largely a nerve-wracking affair. I halved the recipe for a two-layer cake, and it turned out fine though a bit on the dry side. I'm not sure what the recipe might need to add some moisture, but it's simple enough to lend itself to experimentation. I also substituted an oil and cocoa powder mixture for the chocolate since I don't keep baking chocolate around.

Topped with a simple buttercream frosting, it's just the way to satisfy that cake craving. I first baked this for Glenda's birthday back in June to complement a marathon of her films. If you haven't yet experienced her acting, any of her Warner Brothers features would be a good start, particularly the one that brought her Torchy Blane to acclaim: 1936's Smart Blonde. You can also tune in to TCM every Monday in November to celebrate her reign as Star of the Month. Long may she rule.

Old Hollywood Kitchen: Eleanor Powell

One of my goals in exploring these vintage recipes is to find successes that will become mainstays in my kitchen. I'm so enamored with today's recipe that I've already prepared it several times since my initial test...

Eleanor Powell's Beef and Beans (Cantonese Style)

1 lb. flank steak

2 1/2 lbs. string beans

3 large onions

1 bottle soy sauce

1/2 lb. lard or olive oil (olive oil is preferable here)

Salt and pepper to taste

The recipe as written yields 4 hearty portions, but I cut the recipe in half. It can take a while to trim down the green beans (in the full recipe I used about 2 lbs. of beans instead of 2 1/2), but you can save time by sauteing the beans and onions together; cooking them separately creates excess liquid and is an altogether unnecessary step. I also use garlic salt or garlic powder to season the beef, complementing the richness of the olive oil and soy sauce beautifully.

In Eleanor Powell's own words, "this dish is crisp and tender and served with steamed rice and tea makes a delicious and different dinner", and it certainly fits the bill of the "strength giving food" she she sought out. The green beans soak up the flavor nicely, and the steamed rice makes it lighter than your typical stir fry. Best of all, the leftovers are just as satisfying as when freshly cooked. Highly, highly recommended.

The only downside of this recipe is that it doesn't impart any of Powell's great dancing ability (oh, I wish!). However, you can't go wrong with any of her films if you want to see her skills on display. My pick this time around is Broadway Melody of 1940, her only collaboration (sadly) with Fred Astaire. Powell and Astaire are as perfectly matched as the beef and beans, a fine pairing for dinner and a movie.