Spoon & Shutter

From Susan: Our rental cottage is a treasure trove of old and interesting stuff. On the cookbook shelf in the kitchen, alongside an ancient version of Joy of Cooking, we found a gem – the Junior League of Montclair Cookbook. There’s no publication date – the obviously well-used, plastic-bound book is missing its covers and some of its pages, but our guess is it’s circa 1950 – 55. The names of the contributors are all “Mrs. so-and-so,” which seems to me a 50′s thing, including Mrs. Robert Trent Jones, the wife of the famed golf course designer, who we know lived in Montclair during that era.

Since we’re from Montclair, we thought it would be a hoot to cook up a dinner featuring the retro recipes. I settled on the following menu:

Montclair Moonshine and Rum Fizz cocktails

Cheese and Ham Puffs

Seafood Casserole

Peas Vinaigrette

Green Salad (no recipe!)

Chocolate Creme

Our friends Bridget and Dave – visiting from Montclair – eagerly got into the act. Bridget and I procured “vintage” shirts for all four of us from Reny’s in Damariscotta and we “girls” wore white headbands. Dave expertly mixed the cocktails and we invited my parents (who joked that they must have been included because they fit the vintage theme)!

All of the recipes were prepared exactly as they were written and we all agreed that everything was very good. I specifically avoided choosing any dish made with cream of mushroom soup, but there are actually very few recipes in this sophisticated book that rely on “convenience foods.” Note that all of the serving dishes, tablecloth, etc. were all in the cottage!

Montclair Moonshine

2 tbsp. lemon juice

4 tbsp. orange juice

2 tsp. confectioners sugar

2 tbsp. bourbon

2 tbsp. medium-dark rum

2 tsp. falernum (an cocktail syrup of yesteryear that we obviously did not have!)

Mix together all ingredients. Mix well and strain into ice-filled old-fashioned glass. Makes 1.

Rum Fizz

Cracked ice

1/4 cup light rum

1/4 cup orange juice

gingerale

orange slices for garnish

Fill highball glass 3/4 with cracked ice. Add rum and orange juice. Fill with gingerale. Garnish with orange slice. Makes 1.

Cheese Puffs with Ham

1 1/2 cups water

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups flour

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups grated Swiss cheese

1/3 lb. ham, finely diced

2 tbsp. mustard (I used Dijon)

Boil water and butter together. Add flour, stirring constantly until mixture forms a ball. Put this in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat in eggs one at a time, then beat on high speed another 5 minutes. Fold in 1 cup of the cheese. Transfer mixture to a pastry bag and pipe 24 mounds of the dough – 12 on each of two cookie sheets. (Our relatively well-equipped cottage kitchen does not have a pastry bag, so I just used a spoon and while I did not grease the cookie sheets, I would next time.) Combine ham and mustard. Make an impression in each mound, fill with ham and sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake at 375 for 30 mins. (These are great reheated!)

Baked Seafood Casserole

1 lb. crabmeat

1 lb. lobster meat

1 lb. small cooked shrimp

1 cup mayonnaise

3/4 cup chopped green pepper

1/2 cup minced onion

1 3/4 cups finely chopped celery

3/4 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. Worchestershire sauce

2 cups crushed potato chips

paprika (which I did not have)

Mix ingredients together as if making a seafood salad. Fill shallow baking pan with mixture and completely cover with crushed potato chips. Sprinkle with paprika and bake at 400 for 25 minutes. (A note about serving size – the recipe says “serves 12-15″ so I cut it in half, which was enough for six small portions – plenty after we filled up on the cheese and ham puffs. But bear in mind people ate less in the 50s!)

Peas Vinaigrette

2 10-oz. packages frozen petite peas, defrosted

1/2 cup salad oil

3 tbsp. vinegar (I used cider vinegar)

2 tbsp. finely chopped scallions

2 tbsp. finely chopped sweet pickles

1 tbsp. minced parsley

1 tbsp. diced pimento

1 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. freshly ground pepper

Run hot water over peas and drain well. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over peas. Let stand in refrigerator for 2 hours before serving. (I served this right away and the flavors were fine.)

Chocolate Creme

1 package vanilla custard dessert mix (I used Jello custard-flavor pudding)

2 1/4 cups milk

1/2 cup chocolate chips

3/4 cup heavy cream, whipped until stiff

4 tbsp. light rum

Combine custard mix, milk and chocolate chips. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Transfer to a bowl and chill in refrigerator until set. Whisk until smooth, then fold in whipped cream and rum. Spoon into demitasse cups and chill thoroughly. Top with shaved chocolate before serving.