The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Sixties Cookbook (15 page)

Chopped fresh parsley or chives, for garnish

Hot cooked noodles, for serving

1.
Cut the steak across the grain into ½-inch-thick slices, trimming and discarding excess fat. Cut each slice into pieces 2 to 3 inches long. Season with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.

2.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. In batches without crowding, add the beef and cook, stirring often, until seared, about 3 minutes. The beef should be rare at this point.

3.
Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion and butter together to the skillet (don’t add the butter alone, or it could burn from the retained heat) and cook, stirring often, until the onion softens, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until their juices evaporate and the mushrooms begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Add ⅓ cup water to the skillet and bring to a boil, scraping up the browned bits in the skillet.

4.
Return the beef to the skillet. Add the sour cream mixture and cook, stirring often, until the sauce comes to a simmer. (The cornstarch will keep the sour cream from curdling.) Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the parsley. Serve hot, with the noodles.

PAN-FRIED STEAK WITH BUTTER

MAKES 2 SERVINGS

While backyard barbecues were popular in the suburbs, for most people, especially city dwellers, a steak at home meant taking out the cast-iron skillet and cooking the meat on the stove. (Broilers were not very efficient yet.) Pan-frying creates a deep, dark crust on the steak. The finishing touch is a thick pat of butter melted in the pan to collect the juices. So turn on the stove’s vent (hint: you can expect some smoke), bake a potato, and get sizzling.

2 boneless top loin (shell or New York) or rib-eye steaks, about 14 ounces each

¾ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1.
Trim off some of the fat that surrounds the steaks and reserve. Season the steaks with the salt and pepper. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

2.
Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Use tongs to rub the fat inside a large cast-iron skillet to coat it—this should only take about 15 seconds. Discard the fat. Add the steaks and cook until the undersides are well-browned, about 4 minutes. Turn and cook until the other sides are well-browned and the steak feels only slightly resilient when pressed on top in the center, about 4 minutes more for medium-rare steak. (If you like your steak more well-done, reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking until the steak is done to your liking. When pressed, medium steak will feel moderately resilient, and well-done will feel firm.) Transfer each steak to a dinner plate.

3.
Dip the bottom of the pan in a large bowl of cold water to cool the pan somewhat. (If you add the butter to the hot pan, it will burn.) Return to low heat. Add the butter and melt it, scraping up the browned bits in the pan with a wooden spoon. Pour and divide the butter equally over the steaks and serve hot.

NOTE
:
You will only be able to fit two steaks in the skillet. For hearty appetites, serve a steak to each person. Or, cut the steaks crosswise, across the grain, into ½-inch-thick slices, and stretch them to four servings.

YANKEE POT ROAST

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

This fork-tender pot roast has all of the old-fashioned flavors that make us hungry for simple American cooking. We did sneak a little wine in there–not very Yankee, but awfully good.

3 tablespoons bacon fat or vegetable oil

1 (3-pound) rump roast

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 medium carrots, 1 chopped, and 2 cut into 1-inch lengths

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 medium celery rib, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

⅓ cup all-purpose flour

3 cups canned reduced-sodium beef broth

1 cup hearty red wine

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 bay leaf

3 medium red-skinned potatoes, scrubbed but not peeled, cut into halves lengthwise

2 medium turnips, peeled and cut into sixths

1.
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325°F.

2.
Heat 2 tablespoons of bacon fat in a Dutch oven or flameproof casserole over medium-high heat. Season the rump roast with 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Add to the Dutch oven and cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer the rump roast to a plate.

3.
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon fat to the Dutch oven. Add the chopped carrot, onion, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 6 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Sprinkle with the flour and stir well. Stir in the broth, wine, tomato paste, thyme, and bay leaf and bring to a simmer. Return the rump roast to the Dutch oven and cover.

4.
Bake for 2 hours, turning the roast over after 1½ hours. Remove the Dutch oven from the oven. Add the cut
carrots, potatoes, and turnips to the pot, submerging them in the cooking liquid. Return to the oven and cook until the meat and vegetables are tender, about 1 hour.

5.
Transfer the rump roast to a deep serving platter and let stand 10 minutes. (Keep the vegetables warm in the gravy, covered.) Slice the rump roast. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the vegetables to the platter. Season the gravy with salt and pepper. Spoon some of the gravy over the roast and vegetables, and pour the remaining gravy into a sauceboat. Serve hot.

KITCHEN TIME MACHINE

To make a simple pot roast with onion gravy, use this time-tested favorite. Heat 1 tablespoon bacon fat or vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown a 3-pound rump roast in the fat, about 10 minutes. Add 1 (1-ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix combined with 2½ cups water. Bake, turning occasionally, until tender, about 3 hours. For gravy, remove the cooked roast to a platter. Mash 3 tablespoons unsalted butter and 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour together into a paste in a medium bowl. Whisk in about 1 cup of the cooking liquid, and whisk back into the Dutch oven. Simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. You won’t have enough liquid to cook the vegetables, so roast potatoes and carrots to serve on the side.

Dinner with the Family

Here is a delicious, middle-of-the-road meal that is guaranteed not to offend anyone, with a mellow soundtrack to match.

Iced tea

Beer

California Chablis or Burgundy

Iceberg Lettuce Wedge with Thousand Island Dressing (
page 54
)

Yankee Pot Roast (
page 81
)

Butter-Whipped Potatoes (
page 135
)

Mixed vegetables (carrots, peas, and corn) with butter

Tart-Tongued Lemon Meringue Pie (
page 161
)

Coffee and tea

CD PL
ay
L
i
S
t

Henry Mancini:
Midnight, Moonlight, and Magic

Various:
Capitol Sings Rodgers and Hammerstein

Ferrante and Teicher:
All-Time Greatest Hits

THE ULTIMATE MEAT LOAF

MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS

How many millions of meat loaves were served every night by loving moms in the family dinner time zone that fell between homework and
Bonanza
? This is an over-the-top loaf that you will want to cook again and again . . . as long as you don’t count the calories. If you ever doubted that fat makes food taste good, this recipe will have you kissing the sour cream container in thanks. So, when you just can’t face ground turkey again, make this meat loaf, enriched with the ingredients of classic onion dip (including the potato chips!).

2 pounds ground round (85% lean)

1½ cups crushed potato chips

¾ cup sour cream

1 (1-ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix

2 large eggs, beaten

1.
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Combine the ground round, potato chips, sour cream, onion soup mix, eggs, and ¼ cup water with your clean hands. Transfer to an 8½-by-4½-inch loaf pan.

2.
Place on a baking sheet. Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of the loaf reads 165°F, about 1¼ hours. Let stand 5 minutes. Drain off the excess fat, invert onto a serving platter, and slice.

Hamburglar

In 1961, there were only 100 McDonald’s restaurants in the world. In 2010, there were more than 32,000.