The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Sixties Cookbook (31 page)

This cherry dessert was quite fashionable in the Sixties, perhaps because it was so easy to make (the hardest thing about it is scooping the ice cream) or perhaps because it was another opportunity to set dessert on fire: this time ice cream. To up the ante, use 1½ pounds Bing cherries, pitted, and about ½ cup sweetened cherry juice instead of the canned cherries, and sweeten to taste.

2 (15-ounce) cans pitted sweet cherries in syrup; separated

¼ cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

¼ cup kirsch (see Note) or brandy, heated until warm

Vanilla ice cream, for serving

1.
Drain the cherries in a wire sieve over a bowl, reserving the syrup.

2.
Measure 1 cup of the syrup and pour into a large skillet. Add the sugar. Sprinkle in the cornstarch and whisk to dissolve. Cook over medium heat, whisking often, until the mixture is thickened and simmering. Add the cherries and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the cherries are heated through. (If using a chafing dish, make on the stove in the kitchen to this point. When ready to serve, reheat and bring into the dining room with the other ingredients. Place the chafing dish on its holder and ignite the fuel.) Stir in the butter until melted.

3.
Pour the warm kirsch over the cherries, but do not stir it in. Carefully ignite the kirsch with a long match. Let the kirsch burn out of its own accord, or tightly cover the pan with its lid after 30 seconds.

4.
Scoop the ice cream into individual bowls, and top with the warm cherries. Serve immediately.

NOTE
:
Kirsch, also called kirschwasser, is an eau-de-vie (liquor distilled from fruits) made with cherries. Authentic kirsch is always expensive because it requires 40 pounds of cherries to make a quart. There are less pricey, and not as good, versions out there, but they will do for most cooking purposes. Do not confuse kirsch with cherry brandy or schnapps.

CRÊPES BARDOT

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

To give these flambéed crêpes their Sixties due, we are literally passing the torch from Suzette (a girlfriend of the Prince of Wales circa 1895) to Brigitte by rechristening these for Miss Bardot. The blonde French actress was a cultural influence on everything from the bikini and beehive hairdo to the Beatles and Bob Dylan (he dedicated his very first song to her). Here’s another recipe for your chafing dish, if you, like BB, enjoy playing with fire.

CRÊPES

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole milk

3 large eggs

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

¼ teaspoon salt

Vegetable oil, for cooking the crêpes

SAUCE

½ cup fresh orange juice

⅓ cup sugar

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, at room temperature

Grated zest of 1 orange

Grated zest of ½ lemon

¼ cup dark orange-flavored liqueur, such as Grand Marnier

¼ cup clear orange-flavored liqueur, such as triple sec or Curaçao

Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Fresh raspberries, for serving

1.
To make the crêpes, process the flour, milk, eggs, butter, and salt in a blender until smooth, stopping the blender to scrape down the sides of the container with a rubber spatula as needed. Let stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.

2.
Lightly oil a 7-inch nonstick skillet (measured across the bottom) with vegetable oil dipped in a wad of paper towels. Heat over medium-high heat. Pour ¼ cup of the crêpe batter into the pan and tilt to cover the bottom of the pan with the batter. Fill any holes in the crêpe with dribbles of the batter. Cook until the underside is golden brown, about 1 minute. Turn and cook the other side. Transfer to a plate. Continue with the remaining batter, separating the crêpes with waxed paper. You will have 9 or 10 crêpes, but the extras will provide “practice crêpes” or can be nibbled as a chef’s treat. Choose the 8 best-looking crêpes. (The crêpes can be made, covered with plastic wrap, and refrigerated, for up to 1 day.) Fold each crêpe in half, and then in half again, into quarters.

3.
Bring the orange juice and sugar to a boil in a large skillet over high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Cook until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, and whisk in the butter, a tablespoon at a time. Add the orange and lemon zests. (If using a chafing dish, prepare the sauce to this point on the stove in the kitchen. Transfer the sauce to a chafing dish. Bring the remaining ingredients, with crêpes, to the dining room. Set the chafing dish over the chafing dish fuel and bring to a simmer.)

4.
Pour the two orange liqueurs into the skillet but do not stir. When the liqueurs begin to simmer, carefully ignite them with a long match. Let them burn out of their own accord, or cover with a lid after 30 seconds to extinguish. Add the crêpes and cook in the simmering liquid, continuously spooning the sauce over the crêpes, until the crêpes are heated through but not falling apart, about 2 minutes.

5.
Divide the crêpes and sauce evenly among 4 dinner plates. Add a scoop of ice cream and some raspberries, and serve immediately.

STRAWBERRIES ROMANOFF

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

When Princess Grace lunched with Jackie at the White House, chef René Verdon ended the meal with this sumptuous strawberry dessert. Re-create your own royal treat by serving with small, local strawberries if possible. And while Chef Verdon used candied violets to garnish his dessert, you can also use fresh unsprayed violets or Johnny-jump-ups from your summer garden (as long as they haven’t been treated by pesticides). Another tip: freeze the serving bowls, as this will melt fairly quickly, especially in warm weather.

1 quart small strawberries, hulled (or use large strawberries, quartered)

2 tablespoons orange-flavored liqueur, such as Grand Marnier

½ cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup vanilla ice cream, slightly softened

Candied violets (available at specialty food stores or online) or fresh mint leaves, for garnish

1.
Toss the strawberries with the liqueur in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 2 hours.

2.
Just before serving, whip the cream, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla in a chilled medium bowl until stiff. Mash the ice cream in another medium bowl with a rubber spatula. Stir about ¼ of the whipped cream into the ice cream, then fold in the remainder.

3.
Divide half of the strawberries with their juices among 4 chilled glass serving bowls. Top with half of the whipped cream mixture. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Garnish with the candied violets and serve immediately.

CHAPTER 7

EXECUTIVE COCKTAILS

“Don’t make your drinks too weak, or your party won’t be very lively. Neither make them too generous, or you will have a bunch of drunks on your hands.”

—James Beard’s Menus for Entertaining
, 1965

W
hile it might seem like they drank more in the Sixties, according to a 2008 study published in
The British Journal of Psychiatry
, people actually drank less. A lot less. Today, the price of alcohol is half of what it was in 1960, and per capita consumption has doubled.

Our perception of the Three-Martini Life might very well hail from the
way
they drank in the Sixties. Cocktails parties were glamorous, drinks were sipped from real glassware, even the swizzle sticks had panache.

Here’s how to re-create the perfect midcentury celebration.

Do not take the one-size-fits-all approach. It is important to have the correct glass for the drink. This ensures a cocktail with the correct temperature and amounts of ice and mixers. Stock your bar with an assortment of glassware based on the drinks that you like to serve. Inexpensive used barware is available at secondhand stores.

Tall drinks served over ice with a large proportion of liquid mixers such as soda water, juice, or tonic such as Screwdrivers and Bloody Marys are served in tall highball glasses. (A “highball” is also a generic name for a tall drink made with liquor and a sparkling mixer,
such as soda or ginger ale.) Short drinks, usually served over ice with a small addition of mixer, are best in the short, stocky “old-fashioned” glasses, so-called because they are made to hold the cocktail of the same name. Tiki-style drinks should be served over copious amount of ice, so search out large glasses with tropical motifs, or use hourglass-shaped hurricane glasses (that average a 10-to 14-ounce capacity).