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Great Recipes From the Past

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Cambridge Cold Plate

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A colorful, robust appearance of this cold plate – an Ivy League version of an Italian antipasto – suggests the handiwork of an inspired chef. Who would guess that not a bit of cooking is involved? Open a few cans and jars, unwrap a few delicatessen packages, and you’re in business. That’s why it’s such a favorite with kitchenless collegiates and hosts-in-a-hurry. For “Cambridge Supper Plate” arrange ingredients on four dinner plates. Serve with Harvard Wine, tossed green salad, and hard rolls.

Pretty sure I didn’t have dinners like this as a kitchenless collegiate. I went to the cafeteria or ordered pizza. Then when I did have a kitchen, I was more inclined to make Mac ‘n Cheese from a blue box.

Apertifs, Card 33

 

Harvard Wine

1 jigger dry white vermouth
1/2 jigger cognanc
1 dash orange bitters
Stir vermouth, cognac, and bitters well with ice; strain into 6-ounce cocktail glass. For a Harvard Cocktail, use equal portions vermouth and cognac; substitute Angostura bitters for orange bitters.

Harvard

1 jigger cognac
1/2 jigger dry white vermouth
1 teaspoon grenadine
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Shake well with ice and strain into cocktail glass.

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Cambridge Cold Plate

Ingredients

  • 1 9- ounce jar Harvard beets drained
  • 1 10- ounce jar white asparagus drained
  • 1 6- ounce jar marinated artichoke hearts drained
  • 1/2 pound deli potato salad
  • 1/2 pound deli roast beef sliced paper thing

Instructions

  1. Chill all ingredients thoroughly and arrange in decorative manner on serving platter. Serve with mustard and pumpernickel crackers.

Finger Fruit Platter

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The “recipe” for the finger fruit platter is about as simple as it can get: take some fresh fruit, arrange on platter. Serve with cream cheese chived, and a drink or two. The card also tells you a little about Dubonnet.

Apertifs, Card 32
Copyright 1977 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA

What Fresh Fruits?

The card suggests assorted fruits in season like seedless white grapes, red and purple grapes, papaya chunks, cantaloupe wedges, apple slices, berries, and sweet cherries. The card also reminds you to rub cut fruits (like papaya, cantaloupe, and apple slices) with lemon juice to avoid discoloration.

About Dubonnet

Dubonnet is a quinine-flavored aperitif wine available in red and blonde. A generation ago it was thought of as a ‘ladies’ drink, but today served straight, at room temperature, or on the rocks, it is a popular aperitif wherever serious drinkers converge.

Dubonnet Cocktail

1 jigger red Dubonnet
2 jiggers gin
1 dash orange bitters, optional
Stir gently with ice and strain into cocktail glass; garnish with lemon or orange slice.
Dubonnet and Tonic
Pour 1 jigger Dubonnet over ice in highball glass; fill with quinine water; garnish with lime slice.

Butterfly

1/2 jigger dry vermouth
1/2 jigger sweet vermouth
1/4 jigger red Dubonnet
1/3 jigger orange juice
Shake well with ice and strain over ice into Old Fashioned glass.

Cream Cheese Chived

1 3-ounce size cream cheese
1/2 cup dairy sour cream
2 tablespoons chives, finely chopped
Warm cream cheese to room temperature; blend in sour cream and chives. Serve in small bowl or relish dip

Crown Jewel Eggs

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Shimmer, regal crowns of black and red caviar nestled atop mildly deviled eggs make this hors d’oeuvre platter an aristocratic sight to behold. From the 2-in-1 International Recipe Card Collection, the card has two drinks and one recipe.

About the hard-boiled egg instructions

Let’s talk about the recommendation on this card for hard-boiling eggs:
“Supermarket eggs may be super-fresh, and super-fresh eggs do not peel easily when hard-cooked. For ease in peeling, plan ahead: let fresh eggs stand at room temperature 2-3 days. Place in saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to gentle boil and continue to boil gently for 15-20 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold running water. Chill completely before peeling.”
There are two questionable recommendations in this ‘recipe.’ First, stand at room temperature for 2-3 days?
That might frighten an American who’s used to keeping eggs in the fridge. We’ve been conditioned to think that an egg is terribly, terribly dangerous. They’re not. If you leave fresh eggs, straight from the chicken for 2-3 days on your counter top, they’ll be fine.
But most of us don’t have chickens in our yard laying eggs. We go to the supermarket and get refrigerated eggs and store those in the fridge. Once an egg is chilled, it should stay chilled. Personally, I’ve kept eggs in the fridge for a month or two, and they’re still ‘good’ eggs. Even for hard-boiling.
Second, the whole recommendation to boil an egg for 15-20 minutes is wacky. It would make the eggs rock hard and just plain icky.  Even Simply Recipes and Incredible Egg agree, 20 minutes for boiling is not called for.
Instead, friends, bring to a gentle boil. Remove from heat. Let stand 12-15 minutes. Then drain and rinse under cold running water.
You might need a drink after all of that egg controversy. Apertifs card 30 recommends a Coronation or Slow Vermouth.

Coronation

2/3 jigger sweet sherry
2/3 jigger dry white vermouth
1 dash maraschino liqueur
1 dash orange bitters
Stir well with ice and strain into cocktail glass.

Slow Vermouth

2/3 jigger sloe gin
2/3 jigger dry vermouth
1/3 jigger lemon juice
Shake well with ice and strain into prechilled cocktail glass.
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Crown Jewel Eggs

Ingredients

  • 6 hard-cooked eggs
  • 1/4 cup dairy sour cream
  • 2 tablespoons onion minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 2- ounce jar whitefish or lumpfish caviar
  • 1 2- ounce jar salmon roe

Instructions

  1. Peel hard-cooked eggs and slice in half lengthwise. Remove yolks and place in mixing bowl. Add sour cream, onion, paprika, and lemon juice. Blend thoroughly with fork or blend to puree.
  2. Spoon mixture into egg white halves. Top 6 halves with black caviar and 6 halves with red caviar. Arrange on plate and garnish with parsley sprigs and lemon slices.

Curried Cauliflowerettes

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Take your cauliflower and curry it…with yogurt. Feel free to spice it up as much as you want.
Don’t you just love the word, “cauliflowerettes?” It’s used a few times on this card.
Chrysanthemum in this case refers to a drink, not to the ubiquitous flower.
This is Apertifs, Card 29 of the 2-in-1 International Recipe Card Collection.

Chrysanthemum

2 jiggers dry white vermouth
1 jigger Benedictine
1/3 jigger Pernod
Rinse 6-ounce cocktail glass with Pernod and discard excess Pernod. Stir vermouth and Benedictine with ice and strain into glass. Garnish with orange twist.

Sweet Chrysanthemum

Follow instructions above but substitute sweet red vermouth for dry white vermouth.

Faded Chrysanthemum

Follow instructions above for Chrysanthemum but substitute sweet white vermouth for dry white vermouth.
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Curried Cauliflower

Ingredients

Cauliflower

  • 1 medium cauliflower
  • 2 tablespoons cooking oil
  • 1 tablespoon curry powder
  • 1 medium onion chopped
  • 1 medium green pepper chopped
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1 cup plain yogurt

Orange Chutney

  • 1 12- ounce jar marmalade
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon curry powder
  • 1/4 cup raisins

Instructions

Make the cauliflower

  1. Separate cauliflower into individual cauliflowerettes and set aside.
  2. Heat oil in heavy skillet. Brown curry powder quickly, about 1 minute. Add onions and green pepper and saute until onions are translucent. Add water, tomato paste, ginger, cayenne, and cardamom. Simmer uncovered 20 minutes.
  3. Add cauliflowerettes. Stir thoroughly and simmer covered 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.
  4. Stir in yogurt and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour to permit cauliflowerettes to absorb flavors.
  5. Remove cauliflowerettes from skillet, tapping lightly to shake off excess sauce, and arrange on serving plate. Serve with Orange Chutney.

Make the Orange Chutney

  1. Combine all in a saucepan and heat until raisins are soft and plump. Serve warm.

Campari and Caponata

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This cherished Italian eggplant appetizer is best homemade; it goes splendidly with Campari Soda on a hot summer afternoon and adds a festive touch to picnics and patio parties.
As is, the recipe will yield 6 to 8 servings. You can also add 1 7-ounce can white tuna in oil and/or 1/2 cup pignoli nuts if desired.
The recipe card recommends serving the salad with cheese-or bacon-flavored crackers or chunks of Italian bread.
Apertifs, Card 27 from the 2-in-1 International Recipe Collection.

Campari Soda

2 jiggers Campari
Club soda
Pour Campari over ice cubes in highball glass. Fill with soda. Garnish with orange or lemon twist.

Campari Tonic

Follow instructions above, but substitute quinine water for soda; garnish with lime slice.

Campari Cooler

Pour 1 jigger Campari and 1 jigger gin over ice cubes in highball glass; fill with soda or quinine water.
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Caponata

Ingredients

  • 2 medium eggplants
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1 glove garlic minced
  • 3 stalks celery chopped
  • 1 medium onion chopped
  • 1 cup Italian plum tomatoes chopped
  • 1/4 cup capers
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup green olives chopped

Instructions

  1. Peel eggplant and cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Heat olive in oil in skillet. Add garlic and eggplant and saute until eggplant is browned, about 5 minutes.
  2. Remove eggplant from skillet with slotted spoon. Add celery and onions. Saute until onions are translucent. Add tomatoes and simmer 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
  3. Add eggplant, capers, vinegar, sugar, basil, salt, and olives. Simmer additional 5 minutes. Remove from heat; cool and chill.