Recipes by Jack Warner: Boiled Corned Beef Brisket; Broiled Salmon

Jack Warner's Boiled Corned Beef Brisket

5 lbs. corned beef brisket
Cold water
1 tbsp. pickling spices
1 bay leaf
6 peppercorns
1 clove garlic, sliced
6 large potatoes, peeled, cut in pieces
6 small onions, peeled
6 large carrots, scraped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 medium head of cabbage, cut in wedges
Horseradish sauce

Wipe corned beef with damp cloth; tie into shape, place in large stock pot. Cover with cold water. Add pickling spices, bay leaf, peppercorns and garlic. Simmer slowly 3 hours (or until meat is tender). Keep skimming off scum that forms during cooking. Cool slightly, skim off excess fat and add potatoes, onions, carrots and celery; cook 20 minutes. Add cabbage wedges and cook until cabbage is tender. Cut beef in thin slices. Serve with vegetables arranged on platter with beef. Accompany with horseradish sauce. Serves 6-8.

Jack Warner's Broiled Salmon

Salmon steak, cut 1-inch thick
3 tbsps. sweet butter
1 lemon
1 cup cooked fresh peas
1 cup cooked baby carrots
1 cup cooked green beans. cut in julienne strips

Place salmon steak on broiler pan lined with aluminum foil. Melt 2 tbsps. butter and add juice of half a lemon. Brush salmon with lemon-butter. Broil fish on one side 8 minutes (or until fish begins to flake); turn, again brush with lemon-butter. Broil about 5 more minutes (or until it begins to flake). Arrange fish on serving platter with vegetable garniture of hot cooked peas, carrots and green beans. Melt remaining butter and add rest of lemon juice. Pour over fish and vegetables. Serves 1.

Eli Wallach's Broiled Swordfish Steaks

Eli Wallach's Broiled Swordfish Steaks

2 pounds swordfish, cut into 1-inch thick steaks
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/16 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
Piece of cut lemon
Watercress (or parsley)

Wipe fish with damp cloth. Combine salt, paprika and pepper; rub lightly into both sides of fish. Place steaks on broiler rack that has been lined with aluminum foil. Thin mayonnaise with several squirts of lemon, spoon half the mixture over one side of fish.

Preheat broiler 10 minutes. Place fish two inches from heat and broil 3 minutes. Turn, spoon on remaining sauce, grill 4 minutes longer or until fish is brown. Serve on heated platter with baked potatoes topped with chive-flavored sour cream and cooked green vegetable. Serves 4-6.

Jean Wallace's Sotanghon

Jean Wallace's Sotanghon

3 1/2 pounds cleaned chicken, cut in 8 pieces
Cracked veal knuckle
About 7 1/2 cups water
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound green shrimp, deveined (retain shells)
1 ounce dried oriental mushrooms (or Chinese bean threads)
1/4 pound rice noodles
3 1/2 tablespoons toyo (good Chinese or Japanese soy sauce)
1/2 teaspoon patis malabon (clear anchovy sauce)
Minced American (or Chinese) parsley

Place chicken and knuckle bone in large stock pot. Cover with water (about 6 cups), add onion, garlic powder and salt. Simmer uncovered about 1 1/2 hours until chicken is tender and stock is reduced about one-third. Skim off scum and fat during cooking.

Prepare remaining ingredients as follows: Cut shrimp in bite-size pieces. Cover shells with water (about 1 1/2 cups) in saucepan, simmer 10 minutes, strain off liquid, add to stock pot. Soak mushrooms in warm water to cover 15 minutes; drain, shred. Soak noodles in warm water 20 minutes, drain, cut in 2-inch lengths with scissors.

Add shrimp, mushrooms, noodles, toyo and patis malabon to stock. Cover, simmer about 20 minutes. Cool and refrigerate overnight. To serve, reheat, add more liquid as needed, and garnish with minced American or Chinese parsley). Serve with side dishes cooked rice. Serves 4-6.

Thoughts: Filipino food items are available in Oriental food shops. Rice noodles, known as mai fen in Chinese, are sometimes called rice sticks. Fun-Si (Chinese bean threads) are called by many names: silver, cellophane or glass noodles. Patis malabon, imported from the Philippines, is very salty and should be used sparingly.

Jimmie Walker's Barbecued Spare Ribs

Jimmie Walker's Barbecued Spare Ribs

2 racks pork spare ribs, weighing about 4 lbs.
3 cans (8 ozs. each) tomato sauce
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
3 tbsps. chopped onion
1 clove garlic, mashed
Juice of 2 lemons
1/3 cup corn oil
1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
2 tbsps. aromatic bitters

Have butcher crack spare ribs so they can be easily cut after cooking. Wash spare ribs; pat dry. Trim off and discard any extra fat. Combine remaining ingredients in saucepan; simmer slowly for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Brush ribs with sauce; place ribs high over gray coals (8 to 10 inches). Broil, turning occasionally. Brush with sauce. Cook 50 minutes or until brown and crisp.

Or, bake in shallow pan in preheated 350 degrees F. oven about 45 minutes. If oven-baked, divide sauce, lather spare ribs well when they begin to bake. Keep brushing on remaining sauce until all the sauce is used up. Serves 6.

Thoughts: Walker's ribs are delicious indoors or outdoors. Serve with a tossed green salad and your favorite libation.

Recipes by Maria von Trapp: Austrian Goulash; Gugelhupf

Maria von Trapp's Austrian Goulash

3 lbs. boneless stewing beef (top round), cut in 1 1/2-inch cubes
4 tbsps. lard (or shortening)
3 large yellow onions, peeled and chopped
2 small cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsps. sweet paprika
1 1/2 tsps. caraway seed
2 tbsps. tomato paste
About 2 cups water (or beef broth)
2 tsps. salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tbsp. flour
Fresh minced parsley

Trim any fat from beef cubes, discard. Brown meat in hot fat in large skillet or Dutch oven; remove meat, set aside. Add onion and garlic to drippings, cook a few minutes over low fire. Add paprika and caraway seed, stir to blend. Add tomato paste, water (or beef broth), salt and pepper. Return meat to pan. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring often, for about 1 1/2 hours, or until meat is tender. Remove cover. Cook down slightly to reduce sauce (or add flour mixed in a little cooled stock). Cook over low heat a few minutes until thick and smooth. Taste to correct seasonings. Serve with dumplings or hot boiled potatoes. Garnish with parsley. Serves 8-10.

Thoughts: For a nice touch, add 1 1/2 tsps. grated lemon rind to goulash along with paprika and caraway seed.

Maria von Trapp's Gugelhupf

1 1/4 sticks sweet butter, softened
1 cup plus 2 tbsps. finely granulated sugar
3 large eggs, separated
1 tsp. finely grated lemon rind
1/3 cup blanched whole almonds
1/3 cup seedless raisins
Scant 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsps. baking powder
Scant 2/3 cup milk

Cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored; beat into creamed mixture, along with lemon rind, almonds and raisins. Sift together flour and baking powder; divide in half. Add half the flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk, then add remaining flour mixture. Blend well. Beat egg whites until stiff, fold into flour-butter mixture. Pour batter into well-greased gugelhupf pan or ring mold. Bake in preheated 350 degrees F. oven 1 hour or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Delicious for coffee break or dessert. Makes 1 loaf.

Thoughts: Maria's prize coffee cake is styled after the original recipe made for Emperor Franz Joseph. Gugelhupf is traditionally made with baking powder in Austria, with yeast in other German-speaking countries of Europe. In Austria, the gugelhupf is found in several versions: marbelized by the addition of chocolate and cake-like with the addition of candied fruits for holiday feasting. The addition of rum gives the cake a moist, well-flavored texture.

Veruschka von Lehndorff's Vegetable-Meat Fantasia

Veruschka von Lehndorff's Vegetable-Meat Fantasia

3 carrots
2 stalks celery
6 pieces water chestnuts
1 pound bag spinach (or 10 1/2 ounce pkg. Chinese pea pods)
8 Italian plum tomatoes (or 1/2 cup canned Italian-style tomatoes)
2 pounds lean ground sirloin
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cubes beet broth
1/4 cup hot water
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon basil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Minced parsley

Wash and clean vegetables thoroughly. Chop carrots, celery, water chestnuts and tomatoes into bite-size pieces. Rinse spinach very well, discard any bruised leaves. Brown meat, onion and green pepper in vegetable oil. Dissolve beef cubes in hot water and add to meat mixture. Add Worcestershire sauce, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Add carrots, celery and water chestnuts, with enough water to barely cover vegetables. Cover, cook until vegetables start to tenderize. Add remaining vegetables, cook only a few minutes. Serve at once over hot cooked rice. Garnish with minced fresh parsley. Serves 4.

Recipes by Nina van Pallandt: Mushroom-Seafood Salad; Nina's Pears

Nina van Pallandt's Mushroom-Seafood Salad

1 pound fresh mushrooms (or 2 cans, 6 to 8 ozs. each) sliced mushrooms
1 pound cooked, peeled and deveined shrimp, halved
2 cups cooked corn kernels
2 cups cooked elbow macaroni
2 cups sliced raw cauliflowerettes
1 cup diced celery
1/2 cup pine nuts
4 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
6 tbsps. lemon juice
1/4 cup catsup
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsps. pickle relish
1/4 cup fresh dill (or parsley)
1 tbsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
black pepper
1 cup heavy cream, whipped

Rinse, pat dry and slice fresh mushrooms (or drained canned mushrooms); place in a large bowl. Add shrimp, corn, macaroni, cauliflowerettes, celery, pine nuts and eggs; toss lightly. In a medium bowl, mix lemon juice, catsup, mayonnaise, pickle relish, dill (or parsley), salt and black pepper. Fold in heavy cream. Add to mushroom mixture and mix well. Cover and chill until ready to serve. Serves 8-10.

Nina van Pallandt's Pears

6 California Bartlett pears
Lemon juice
3 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 vanilla bean, minced
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 tsp. anise seed (or 1/4 cup anisette liqueur)
1/2 cup honey
2 tbsps. lemon juice
2 tbsps. pear brandy (or other brandy)
1 cup almond macaroons (or cake crumbs)
6 two-inch rounds of pound cake, sliced 1/2-inch thick
8 egg whites
1 cup sugar

Core and peel pears; brush with lemon juice. Simmer water, 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and anise seed together 15 minutes. (If using anisette liqueur, add later with brandy.) Add honey and 2 tbsps. lemon juice; stand pears upright in pan. Cover and simmer 20-30 minutes or until just tender, depending upon ripeness of pears. Add brandy and anisette, if used. Cool pears in liquid. Remove pears, dry well. Coat with crumbs. Stand on cake rounds on baking sheet.

Whip egg whites until foamy. Gradually add 1 cup sugar; whip until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue (or pipe with pastry bag with star tube) over pears and cake. Bake in preheated 450 degrees F. oven until lightly browned, or use broiler, watching carefully to avoid burning. If desired for stems, insert strip of candied peel or gum drop on top of each pear. Serves 6.