Party Food of the 1970s, Bon Appétit Style
Between Anchorman 2 and American Hustle, there is a decidedly '70s bent to the upcoming holiday movie season. And while bellbottoms, James Taylor, and Quebecois separatism are all cool (sorta?) in their own right, it's the food of this flamboyant decade that we find the most thrilling. Just in time for this serendipitous duo of releases, we looked back through our archives, sifting through amazing and terrifying images of cheese balls, molds, and various "stuffed" meats to see whether we could identify the main culinary themes of the decade. Flip through for inspiration on how to entertain like they did back in the day.
1/9Use One Ingredient as a Vessel for Another
Whether it was avocados, tomatoes, or (in this case) artichokes, the '70s were a time when basically any foodstuff was looked at as a potential container for another foodstuff. Artichokes Italian INGREDIENTS 6 medium artichokes, prepared by basic directions and chilled; 1 ½ cups olive or salad oil; ½ cup white wine vinegar; ¼ cup water; 1-tablespoon slat; 1-teaspoon sugar; ¾ teaspoon oregano, crushed; ¾ teaspoon basil, crushed; ¼ teaspoon dry mustard; ¼ teaspoon pepper; 1 large garlic clove, crushed; ½ pound cauliflower, cur into small flowerets; ¼ pound mushrooms, sliced; 1 cup sliced carrots; about 2 medium ½ cup pitted olives, cut into slivers; ½ cup Italian salami, cut into strips; ½ cup diced fontina, muenster or provolone cheese; ¼ cup diced drained whole pimento; 1 7-ounce can solid pack tuna, drained PREPARATIONIn a small saucepan, combine oil, wine vinegar, water, salt, sugar, oregano, basil, dry mustard, pepper and garlic. Heat to boiling; boil gently for 5 minutes. Add cauliflower, mushrooms and carrots. Heat to boiling. Boil gently for 3-5 minutes, or until vegetables are crisp tender. Chill. Drain vegetables, reserving marinade. In a large bowl, combine drained chilled vegetables, olives, salami, cheese and pimento. Toss in tuna, taking care to keep pieces as whole as possible. To serve, spoon some antipasto mixture into each prepared chilled artichoke, spreading center leaves to hold filling. Serve reserved marinade for dipping artichoke leaves, stirring marinade frequently. Serves 6.
2/9Stuff Meat with Another Meat
If one piece of meat is good, imagine how much better it would be with another type of meat implanted inside it! This logic informs many main courses in the magazine. Sausage Stuffed Flank Steak INGREDIENTS 4-6 servings: ¾ pound Italian sweet sausages, about 4, casings removed; 1 medium onion, chopped; 1 medium carrot, diced; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 1 medium apple, peeled, cored and chopped; ½ cup diced green pepper; 2 cups seasoned bread stuffing mix; 1 egg, slightly beaten; ½ cup chopped parsley; ½ cup beef broth; ¼ cup Madeira Salt and freshly ground pepper; 1 2-pound flank steak, butterflied and lightly scored on both sides; Barbecue sauce; ½ cup water PREPARATIONBreak sausage into small pieces and place in large skillet. Sauté over medium heat about 8 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon and transfer to medium bowl. Add onion, carrot and garlic to droppings in skillet and sauté 4-5 minutes. Stir in apple and green pepper and sauté until slightly softened, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and add to sausage. Preheat oven to 350°F. To sausage mixture, add stuffing mix, egg, parsley, broth, and wine and blend thoroughly. Season to taste with slat and pepper. Spread mixture on meat, leaving ¼-inch border on all sides. Loosely roll steak lengthwise and secure at intervals with string or skewers. Place in roasting pan, seam side down, and bake 45 minutes. Brush with barbecue sauce and baked 15 to 30 minutes more, or until meat is tender. Remove to serving platter and keep warm. Degrease roasting pan and place on range top over medium heat. Add water and 1-tablespoon barbecue sauce and cook a few minutes, scraping pan to blend in any brown bits. Strain. Slice steak thinly, arrange on platter and pour sauce over.
3/9Craft Food to Resemble Nature
Food just looks more appetizing when it's shaped to resemble a tree or mountain, especially a giant, slightly lopsided mountain of brown goo. (Just don't make food that resembles dirt, branches, or ash: We're not there yet.) Mont Blanc This mountainous dessert, a facsimile of its famous French namesake, may be made as one large gateau or 10 individual desserts. 10 servings. INGREDIENTSMeringue: Flour 4 egg whites, room temperature; 1/8-teaspoon salt; 1/8-teaspoon cream of tartar; 1 cup less 1-tablespoon sugar ¾ teaspoon vanilla; Chestnut Puree: 3 pounds fresh chestnuts or 1 1-pound 15-ounce can sweetened chestnut puree; 1 vanilla bean (if using fresh chestnuts); ¾ cup water; 1/3-cup sugar; 1-½ cups whipping cream; 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar; 1-teaspoon vanilla; 1 egg white, room temperature; 1 to 2 squares semisweet chocolate, grated PREPARATION Preheat oven to 250°F. Grease a baking sheet, sprinkle with flour and mark 1 9-inch circle or 10 3 1/2 –inch circles (this may require more than one baking sheet) In large bowl, beat egg whites with salt until foamy. Add cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Beat in 2 tablespoons sugar until mixture holds long, stiff peals when beater is lifted. Fold in remaining sugar and vanilla. Place in pastry bag fitted with ½-inch plain tube and pipe 1 large round or 10 small ones onto prepared sheet. Bake 1 hour or until meringue is firm to the touch. If meringue(s) brown during baking, reduce heat. Transfer meringue(s) to rack and let cool. For chestnut puree: Peel chestnuts using small, sharp knife and leaving inner skin. Preheat oven to 375°F. Place chestnuts in shallow heatproof dish and bake 10 to 15 minutes, or until skin dries and peels off easily. Rub nuts in rough cloth to remove skins. Place peeled nuts in saucepan with vanilla bean and water to cover and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 25-30 minutes, or until very tender. Remove vanilla bean. If may be washed and reused. Drain chestnuts, then put through food mill or sieve, or in food processor and puree. Briefly boil together ¾ cup water and sugar to make thin sugar syrup, then set aside to cool. When cool, beat enough syrup into chestnut puree to make it thin enough to pipe through pastry bag but still thick enough to hold its shape. If using canned puree, sweeten to taste, making sure it is thin enough to be piped. Fit pastry bag with 1/8-inch plain tube and fill with puree. Briefly boil together ¾ cup water and sugar to make thin sugar syrup, then set aside to cool. When cool, beat enough syrup into chestnut puree to make it thin enough to pipe through pastry bag but still thick enough to hold its shape. If using canned puree, sweeten to taste, making sure it is thin enough to be piped. Fir pastry bag with 1/8-inch plain tube and fill with puree. Beat cream until stiff, then add sugar to taste and vanilla. Beat egg white in separate bowl until stiff peaks form, then fold into cream. Place cream mixture into pasty bag fitted with star tip. Arrange meringue(s) on serving platter and pipe chestnut puree in bird’s nest shape around egg of meringue. Pipe cream mixture in center, piling it high. Sprinkle grated chocolate over whipped cream and chill until serving time. Meringues may be stored in airtight containers up to 3 weeks. Chestnut puree may be made up to 2 days in advance and kept covered in refrigerator. Mont Blank may be completely assembled and chilled for 3-4 hours before serving
4/9You Can Microwave ANYTHING
"If you're already the proud owner of a microwave oven, consider yourself among the avant garde cooks of America," writes Jo Ann Thompson in the April 1976 issue of the magazine. "This roast, ham, and meatloaf were cooked by the microwave, utilizing the slower cooking process available on many models." No recipe was included in the issue, which is good because no one should do this.
5/9When in Doubt, Make a Dip
It should be made up primarily of massive quantities of mayo. Holiday Green Sauce INGREDIENTS Makes about 3 cups: 2 cups thick mayonnaise; 1/3 cup very finely minced parsley; 1/3 cup minced green onion; 1/3 cup minced spinach leaves, spines removed; ¼ cup sour cream; ¼ cup fresh lemon juice; 2 tablespoons finely grated onion; Dash of Worcestershire sauce; Salt and freshly ground pepper PREPARATION Combine all ingredients in medium bowl and blend until smooth with whisk, or whirl in blender or food processor. Chill before serving.
6/9Molds Are the Answer
The most important item in your pantry is a bundt pan. Don't bake a cake in it: Fill it with poultry set with gelatin in stock and cream. (Although actually, don't.) Duck Mousse in Gelee INGREDIENTS 2 cups cooked, chopped duck; 1-cup white sauce or veloute; 4 cups duck or chicken stock or canned chicken consommé, undiluted; 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin; ½ cup cold water or Cointreau; ½ pint heavy cream, whipped; 3-½ tablespoons salt; ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper; 1 can (11 ounces) mandarin orange segments, drained; 6 jumbo white olives watercress, parsley, leaf lettuce, or young spinach leaves, for garnish PREPARATION Put duck and sauce through fine blade of food grinder or whirl in food processor until smooth. Sprinkle gelatin over cold water or Cointreau in small saucepan and stir over low heat until gelatin is dissolved (about 3 minutes). Do not boil. Add to the stock or consommé and mix well. Gradually add 2 cups of this to the duck mixture, blending well. Meanwhile, rinse a 2-quart mold in cold water and coat the inside with some of the remaining gelatin liquid. Chill until set. Arrange orange segments and slices of ripe olives in decorative design in bottom of mold. Carefully pour in additional gelatin liquid, just enough to cover design. Chill till set. Coat again with the liquid and chill again until set. Add the salt and pepper to the whipped cream and fold into the duck mixture. Transfer to the prepared mold and chill until set, 3-4 hours in the refrigerator. Unmold on serving plate and ring with greens. Serves 6.
7/9Rice Goes with Everything
If you're stressed about dinner, just relax and make some rice. It goes with everything and is an especially elegant accompaniment to a crown roast of pork capped with kumquats. Crown Roast of Pork with Fruit Dressing 12 servings INGREDIENTSLemon juice; 1 7- to 8-pound crown pork roast (12 ribs), all fat removed; Salt and freshly ground pepper; Fruit dressing; ½ cup Dijon mustard; 2 tablespoons soy sauce; 2 garlic cloves, minced;1 teaspoon sage; ¼ teaspoon marjoram Fresh or preserved kumquats or paper frills (garnish); Raw cranberries or grapes strung on heavy thread (optional garnish) PREPARATIONPreheat oven to 325°F. Moisten paper towel with lemon juice and rub over roast. Insert meat thermometer into meatiest section of roast, being sure not to touch bone. Place roast on rack in roasting pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover exposed ends of bones with foil to prevent burning; crumble additional foil and place in center of roast to help retain shape. Roast uncovered 1 hour. While meat is cooking, prepare dressing. Let stand at room temperature. Combine mustard, soy sauce, garlic, sage and marjoram and baste roast with mixture. Continue cooking 1 hour, basting after 30 minutes with pan juices. Remove foil from center and paint inside of roast with juices. Pack dressing onto center of roast. Cover dressing with foil and continue cooking until meat thermometer registers 170°F, about 1 to 1 ½ hours more. Remove foil from bone tips and cover each with kumquat or paper frill. Loop cranberries between bones, allowing them to drape around sides of roast. Serve with Cumberland Sauce on the side, if desired.
8/9Start Every Party with a Cheese Log
Don't waste your money on anything fancy; a massive amount of cream cheese will do. Pecans are a must! Yule Log 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened 1 jar (5 ounces) blue cheese spread 3 tablespoons chopped sweet pickle 2 tablespoons instant minced onion ½ cup finely chopped pecans Blend cheeses. Add pickle and onion. Shape into 10x2-inch roll; wrap in waxed paper. Chill 3-4 hours. Remove paper; roll in pecans. Serve with crackers as a spread.
9/9If All Else Fails, Make a Pineapple Chicken
Hawaii and luau culture were big in the pages of 1970s Bon Appétit, and the editors weren't afraid to riff on the classics by making literally the most insane food. Chicken Baked in Pineapple Recipe courtesy of Executive Chef Martin Wyss (serves 4) INGREDIENTS 2 whole pineapples; 1 ½ diced, broiled chickens; 1-tablespoon butter; 2 ounces sherry; 1 ½ cups heavy cream; Salt pepper, few drops of lemon juice; 1 cup whipped cream; 1 tablespoon slivered almonds PREPARATION Mix 1 tablespoon of soft butter with one tablespoon of flour. Blend with 2 cups of chicken broth, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes Hollandaise sauce 4 tablespoons water 4 egg yolks ½ tablespoon butter lemon juice, salt, pepper, cayenne Mix water and egg yolks in small pot. Whip in double boiler or over small direct heat and stir in little by little the melted butter. Season with salt and lemon juice. If sauce curdles, add 1 or 2 teaspoons cold water. Sauté diced chicken in butter. Add sherry and cook until half of the sherry has evaporated. Add cream when mixture has been reduced by 2/3, add chicken sauce. Mix well without mashing the chicken. Season to taste and add almonds. Blend carefully with Hollandaise Sauce and whipped cream. Cut pineapple in half lengthwise. Scoop out fruit. Heat pineapple shell in oven. Then, fill with the chicken and glaze to a golden brown in oven or under salamander. Garnish with baked puff pastry in the form of a chicken head. Serve with plain rice on the side.
