The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Sixties Cookbook (9 page)

3.
Position a broiler rack about 8 inches from the source of heat and preheat the broiler on High. Lightly oil the broiler rack.

4.
Brush the Spam and pineapple lightly with the soy sauce mixture. Broil, turning occasionally, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Serve hot.

NOTE:
If you have a hibachi with your pupu platter, the kebabs can be cooked directly over the heat source (usually Sterno).

Mai Tai Madness

Light the tiki torches, mix up some crazy rum drinks, pass the pupus, and try not to sacrifice anyone in a volcano. . . .

Mai Tais (
page 190
)

Blue Hawaiians (
page 185
)

Crab Rangoon (
page 22
)

Coconut Shrimp with Hot Chinese Mustard and Duck Sauce (
page 43
)

Rumaki-a-rama (
page 39
)

Spam and Pineapple Kebabs (
page 45
)

Macadamia nuts

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake (
page 153
)

Kona coffee

CD PL
ay
L
i
S
t

Ultra-Lounge,
Tiki Sampler

Martin Denny,
The Exotic Sounds of Martin Denny

Yma Sumac,
Voice of the Xtabay

The Price of Milk . . . Inflated

Price tags were certainly lower in the Sixties than they are today, but was stuff really cheaper? Considering that $1 in 1963 had the same buying power as $7.10 in 2010, you might be surprised. Groceries were slightly more expensive back then, but we’d kill for those gas and house prices!

cost in 1963/cost in terms of 2010 inflation

Surprisingly Expensive

The modern age of electric appliances might have made life easier for a housewife, but they came at a pretty price!

cost in 1963/cost in terms of 2010 inflation

EAT-BY-THE-BARREL TV MIX

MAKES ABOUT 15 SERVINGS

Kix and Cheerios both tried out “TV Mix” recipes, but the clear winner was Ralston Purina’s Chex. Although the company, now owned by General Mills, has been printing the recipe for their “Chex Party Mix” on their cereal boxes since 1954, they only got around to patenting it in 1990. The recipe on their own website marked “the original” doesn’t quite cut it for us, as we’re fairly sure they didn’t have bagel chips back then. Crunchy and salty, with a little sweetness from the breakfast cereal, this mix is impossible to stop eating.

6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon hot red pepper sauce

1½ teaspoons seasoned salt

¾ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon onion powder

9 cups of crunchy breakfast cereal squares, such as Chex Brand Cereals (Corn, Rice, and/or Wheat), in any combination

1 (8-ounce) container salted mixed nuts

2 cups pretzel sticks or miniature pretzels

1.
Preheat the oven to 250°F.

2.
Melt the butter in a very large roasting pan over medium heat, stirring to be sure that the butter doesn’t burn. Remove from the heat and stir in the Worcestershire sauce, hot red pepper sauce, seasoned salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. Gradually add the breakfast cereal, nuts, and pretzels, stirring well after each addition to coat the ingredients well.

3.
Bake, stirring well every 15 minutes (this is important, or the mix will burn, so use a timer), until the mix is crisp and aromatic with garlicky-oniony scents, about 1 hour. Let cool completely. (The mix can be made up to 3 days ahead, stored in airtight containers at room temperature.)

KITCHEN TIME MACHINE

Substitute margarine for the butter, and omit the hot red pepper sauce. If you really want to recall the true original flavor, then the margarine is a must.

TV Highlights of 1963

• The FCC officially authorizes the remote control.

• Soap opera
General Hospital
premieres.

•
Leave It to Beaver
airs its final original episode.

• Six-year-old Donny Osmond makes his singing debut on
The Andy Williams Show
.

• The Los Angeles Dodgers (formerly the Brooklyn Dodgers) shut the New York Yankees out of the World Series.

• CBS expands its evening program from 15 to 30 minutes; NBC follows a week later.

• All three networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC, preempt programming to cover the Kennedy assassination.

• Jack Ruby kills Lee Harvey Oswald on live TV.

CHAPTER 3

VICHSSOISE, ICEBERG, AND ASPIC . . . OH MY! SOUPS, SALADS, AND SANDWICHES

L
unch, like the rest of the Sixties, was a mix of old and new. Comfort food, like grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken soup, was joined by the more upscale vichyssoise and artistic aspics. And in some cases, homegrown and gourmet were combined.

In the quest to make everyday food more sophisticated, many Sixties cooks took simple recipes and elaborated on them. Sandwiches were stacked into a “loaf” and cut at the table, revealing colorful layers. Instead of tossing torn crisphead lettuce with dressing, it was cut into a giant slice and drizzled with blue cheese and bacon, making perhaps the world’s first deconstructed salad: the iceberg wedge.

TOMATO AND SHRIMP ASPIC

MAKES 8 TO 10 SERVINGS

This classic molded salad has a tomato and vegetable flavor reminiscent of gazpacho. As it must chill for a few hours, there is very little last-minute fussing. All you have to do is put down your vodka gimlet when unmolding it.

4 cups canned tomato juice; divided

3 envelopes unflavored powdered gelatin

1 small onion, thickly sliced

1 small celery rib with leaves, coarsely chopped, plus 2 tablespoons diced (¼-inch) celery

1 bay leaf

2 cups cooked cocktail (baby) shrimp

2 tablespoons seeded and (¼-inch) diced green bell pepper

2 tablespoons finely chopped pimiento-stuffed green olives

Salt

Hot red pepper sauce

Vegetable oil, for the ring mold

Salad greens, for serving