The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Sixties Cookbook (6 page)

- Benihana

- TGI Fridays

- Red Lobster

- Red Robin

- Old Spaghetti Factory

- Cracker Barrel

- Wendy’s

- Domino’s Pizza

- Taco Bell

- Arby’s

- Subway

REAL ONION DIP

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

Thanks to the advent of sturdier “ruffled” potato chips that didn’t explode when you touched them, very few parties in the Sixties were without a bowl of onion dip. And why not? Is there an easier way to feed a crowd? Mix sour cream with powdered onion soup. Serve. We love the original (and we’ll give it to you below), but we couldn’t help but elevate it by making it from scratch with caramelized onions. So get out the chip-and-dip set and dig in!

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 medium yellow onions, chopped

1 pint sour cream; divided

¾ cup (3 ounces) crumbled blue cheese; divided

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chopped fresh parsley or chives, for garnish (optional)

Potato chips, preferably ridged, for serving

1.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, about 6 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring often, until the onions are deep golden brown, about 30 minutes.

2.
Remove from the heat. Add ½ cup sour cream to the skillet and scrape up the browned bits with a wooden spoon. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add ¼ cup of blue cheese to the bowl and stir it in to partially melt the cheese. Let cool completely.

3.
Stir in the remaining sour cream and blue cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

4.
Sprinkle with the chives, if using, and serve chilled, with the potato chips.

KITCHEN TIME MACHINE

Mix one 16-ounce container of sour cream with one 1-ounce envelope of dry onion soup mix in a medium bowl. Return to the sour cream container and cover. Refrigerate until the onions soften, at least 1 hour and up to 2 days. Serve chilled.

California Dip

Lipton’s Onion Soup, basically dehydrated onions and seasonings in a packet, debuted in 1952. Two years later, an anonymous housewife married the soup with sour cream to make a dip for chips. The recipe took off like briquettes soaked with lighter fluid, and by 1958, it was printed on the back of every Lipton’s box. No one is quite sure about the California reference. Was the inventor from California, or did the dip acquire the name to evoke visions of patio parties around a turquoise-blue, chlorinated built-in pool? The world may never know.

PIGGIES IN BLANKETS

MAKES 40 PIGGIES, ABOUT 10 SERVINGS

When big franks are wrapped in dough, they are called pigs in blankets. When small cocktail wieners are wrapped in dough, they are piggies in blankets. We use freshly prepared buttermilk dough for our piggies, and we can tell you that the effort will be worth it when you hear your friends snorting with pleasure. But we also include a recipe for pigs with store-bought refrigerated croissant dough, the product that introduced Poppin’ Fresh, the Pillsbury Doughboy, to the world. (We really wanted to name these Chauvinist Pigs in Blankets, but our research showed that the term didn’t take hold until the early Seventies. So call them what you wish!)

Flour, for rolling out the dough

½ batch Buttermilk Dinner Rolls (
page 142
)

1 (14-ounce package) (about 40) miniature “cocktail” beef franks or smoked sausages

¾ cup Dijon mustard

½ cup honey

1.
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F.

2.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface into a 15-by-4-inch rectangle. Using a yardstick and a pizza wheel, cut into forty 1 ½-inch squares. For each piggie, place a dough square in front of you with the points facing north, south, east, and west. Place a frank horizontally in the center of the square with its tips facing east-west. Bring the north and south tips together to meet over the center of the frank and press them closed, with the ends of the frank peeking out from the dough. Arrange the piggies on an ungreased baking sheet, open side up. Cover with a kitchen towel and let stand in a warm place until the dough looks slightly puffed, 20 to 30 minutes.

3.
Bake until the dough is golden brown, about 15 minutes. (The piggies can be made up to 2 hours ahead, stored at room temperature. For longer storage, transfer to a plastic storage bag and refrigerate for up to 1 day. Reheat on an aluminum-foiled covered baking sheet in a preheated 350°F oven for about 10 minutes.)

4.
Meanwhile, mix the mustard and honey together in a small bowl. Transfer to a serving platter. Serve warm, with the mustard for dipping.

KITCHEN TIME MACHINE

Open an 8-ounce package of refrigerated crescent rolls and separate into 8 triangles. For each, wrap a dough triangle around a standard frankfurter, leaving the ends of the frankfurter exposed and pressing the seams in the dough closed. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Do not cover and let the dough rise before baking. Bake in a preheated 375°F oven until the dough is golden brown, about 12 minutes. Cut each frank into thirds. Omit the Dijon mustard-honey mixture, and serve hot with prepared yellow mustard for dipping. Makes 24 pigs, about 8 servings.

PIMIENTO AND WALNUT CHEESE BALL

MAKES 12 SERVINGS

Plain pimiento cheese, as many a Southerner will tell you, is a heaven-sent sandwich filling. Here it is transformed into a spread to grace your favorite snack cracker. (We’re thinking Triscuits. . . .) Pimientos may look similar to red bell peppers, but they are really different. The latter have a spicier flavor. Pimientos are mild, and even though Spain leads in world production, they seem about as European as Andy Williams.

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, well softened

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded sharp or mild Cheddar

¼ cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 (4-ounce) jar chopped pimientos, drained, rinsed, and patted dry

Hot red pepper sauce

1½ cups (6 ounces) finely chopped walnuts

Crackers, for serving

1.
Mash the cream cheese, Cheddar, mayonnaise, and Worcestershire sauce together with a rubber spatula in a medium bowl. Mix in the pimientos. Season with hot red pepper sauce.

2.
Scrape the cheese mixture onto a large sheet of plastic wrap. Bring the wrap up to cover the cheese, and twist the ends together to shape the cheese mixture into a ball. Refrigerate until chilled and firmer, at least 2 hours. (The cheese ball can be prepared up to 5 days ahead.)

3.
Just before serving, unwrap the ball and roll in the walnuts to cover. Place on a serving platter. Serve chilled or at room temperature, with the crackers.

QUICHE LORRAINE (OR JULIA)

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

Julia Child’s biggest contribution to French cooking was making it easy to understand. Until she arrived on the scene in the early Sixties, only the gourmet-crazed would know what a quiche was . . . or how to pronounce it. But down-to-earth, clarion-voiced Julia changed all that with her can-do approach to the most complicated recipes. This version harks back to before quiche became a cliché. It’s slightly Americanized, baked in a pie plate and not a tart or quiche pan, and best enjoyed with a glass of Chablis (preferably not out of a jug).

All-purpose flour, for rolling out the dough

Perfect Pie Dough (
page 163
)

6 bacon strips

4 large eggs

2 cups half-and-half

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 large pinch freshly grated nutmeg

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Gruyère or Swiss cheese

1.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface into a 12-inch-diameter round about inch thick. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate, letting the excess dough hang over the sides. Fold the dough under so the edge of the fold is flush with the edge of the pie plate rim. Flute the dough or lightly press a fork around the edge of the dough to decorate it. Freeze the uncovered pastry-lined pie plate for 15 to 30 minutes.