Recipes by Bob Crane: Lamb Kebabs; Lamb Rice Pilaf

Bob Crane's Lamb Kebabs

4 cups "boned-out" leg of lamb, cut in 2-inch cubes
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup wine vinegar
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
1/8 teaspoon garlic salt
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 large green pepper, cut in pieces
Mushroom caps
Tomatoes, cut in quarters
Onion, peeled, cut in pieces
Canned, drained pimento
Salt and pepper to taste

Trim off fat from lamb. Place meat in a bowl containing a marinade made by mixing together olive oil, vinegar, onion and seasonings. Cover, refrigerate several hours or overnight, turning meat occasionally. Arrange lamb on skewers alternately with vegetables. Brush lightly with marinade. Cook on outdoor grill over coals. Turn, basting frequently with marinade until meat is done (15 minutes or longer depending on size of cubes). Season as desired. Push cooked lamb and vegetables off skewers on plate with a fork. Serve with rice pilaf and green salad. Serves 8.

Bob Crane's Lamb Rice Pilaf

3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup noodles (uncooked)
1/4 cup chopped onion
5 cups water
6 lamb bouillon cubes
2 cups converted long-grain rice

Melt butter, saute noodles, chopped onion until golden. Boil water, dissolve bouillon cubes in water. Add stock and rice to noodle mixture. Cover, cook over low flame until water is absorbed, about 30 minutes. For drier rice, remove cover after cooking and simmer 4 to 5 minutes. Serves 8.

Noel Coward's Warsaw Concerto

Noel Coward's Warsaw Concerto

Eggs, onions, vinegar, breadcrumbs, butter, seasoning.

Cut the onions into thin slices and fry in butter until brown. Add a little vinegar, and continue frying for three to five minutes. Grease a fireproof dish and line with onions. Slide in the required number of eggs, whole, add
salt and pepper, and cover generously with breadcrumbs. Dab top with bits of butter and grated cheese. Bake in a hot oven for five to six minutes, when eggs should have set.

Recipes by Jacques Cousteau: Gateau au Citron; Entrecote and Pommes Frites Calypso

Jacques Cousteau's Gateau au Citron

1/2 cup butter
Scant 3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tbsps. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon rind
1 3/4 cups cake flour
1 tsp. baking powder

1. Cream sugar and butter together. Add one egg at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in lemon juice and rind.

2. Sift together cake flour and baking powder. Add to lemon mixture, beating well. Pour into buttered-floured 9-inch cake pan. Bake in preheated  400 degrees oven until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from pan; cool on wire cake rack. Ice with lemon icing (use 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice, 1/4 tsp. grated lemon rind and enough water to give icing a spreadable quality). Serves 4.

Thoughts: This classic French sweet is made by weighing the eggs and measuring equal weights of sugar flour and butter. For convenience, approximate American measurements are given. French cooks bake the cake in special quatre quarts molds.

Jacques Cousteau's Entrecote and Pommes Frites Calypso

For the steak:

4 large club (or Delmonico) steaks (cut at least 1-inch thick)
1 tbsp. butter (or chicken fat)
1 tsp. vegetable oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup liquid (beef bouillon, dry red wine or water)
Large pat of sweet butter

1. Trim off excess fat from meat. Cut small gashes around outer edge of steaks (to prevent steaks from curling while cooking). Dry steaks well on paper towels.

2. Put butter and oil in large skillet; heat until butter stops foaming. Pan broil steaks 3-4 minutes per side for medium rare. Remove to heated platter; season well with salt and pepper.

3. Deglaze skillet with liquid; cook over medium heat. Add butter and heat until butter is melted. Pour over steak as sauce (or serve with flavored butter--parsley, chives, shallot or anchovy).

For the pommes frites:

1. Peel about 2 lbs. potatoes and cut into julienne strips. Cover with cold water; refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Drain and dry potatoes well between layers of paper toweling.

2. Heat about 2 quarts peanut (or vegetable) oil in deep a saucepan to 375 degrees F. Drop in a few potatoes at a time (make sure fat is hot enough each time before adding more potatoes). Cook until golden. Drain, salt, serve at once. Serves 4-6.

Thoughts: Entrecote, a French beef cut, refers to the rib or rib eye steak from the rib-roast section. Club or Delmonico steak from the rib section of the short loin is a close American equivalent. Traditionally, the French are inclined to pan broil the meat using rendered beef fat rather than oven broiling. The steak can be cut thin or thick, with or without the bone, to taste. Serve with a good Bordeaux or Burgundy wine. 

Bill Cosby's Scrapple Meat Loaf

Bill Cosby's Scrapple Meat Loaf

2 pounds top quality lean sirloin
1 large peeled, minced raw potato
1 egg, beaten
1/4 onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (or cloves)
Salt
1/4 teaspoon hot popper
Butter (or lard)

Have butcher grind sirloin three times. Combine meat with potato, onion, eggs, cinnamon (or cloves), salt and hot pepper. Mix well with the fingers.

Butter (or grease) skillet, fill with meat mixture. Pop into preheated 500 degree oven about 20 minutes. Run under broiler to brown top. Serve alone or top with fried eggs. Serve with chili sauce. Serves 6.

Bill's Thoughts: For a looser texture, omit the egg. Improvise seasonings using sage or thyme.

Recipes by Wilhelmina Cooper: Quick Spaghetti Sauce Fit for a King; Quickie Dessert; Vegetable Casserole Gourmet Delight

Wilhelmina Cooper's Quick Spaghetti Sauce Fit for a King

1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green pepper, chopped
2-3 tbsps. butter (or vegetable oil)
2 lbs. lean, top grade ground round (or chuck) beef
2 qts. canned, prepared spaghetti sauce
One 6-oz. can tomato paste
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced and sauteed in 1/4 cup fat (one half butter, one half olive oil)
3/4 cup dry red wine (a good Burgundy will do or cranberry juice)
1 generous pinch sweet basil
1 generous pinch rosemary
1 generous pinch oregano
3 rounded tsps. sugar
1 generous dash Tabasco
1 generous dash Worcestershire sauce
2 packets powdered chicken bouillon
2 packets powdered beef bouillon
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 ozs. Cognac
2 red-ripe fresh tomatoes, chopped

1. Saute onion, garlic and green pepper in butter (or oil) until limp. Remove vegetables and set aside. Drain most of the fat from the pan. Lightly brown beef in same skillet in which vegetables were sauteed. Stir often with fork to keep beef loose and crumbly-textured.

2. Add spaghetti sauce, partially cooked vegetables and all the remaining ingredients except fresh tomatoes and Cognac. Cook 15-20 minutes, stirring often. Add fresh tomatoes during last 5 minutes. Taste to correct seasonings. Just before serving, add Cognac and stir into the sauce. Serve over your favorite cooked pasta. Serves 6-8 generously.

Wilhelmina Cooper's Quickie Dessert

For adults only:

Place one quart of your favorite ice cream (banana or other fruit-flavored; butter pecan, French vanilla, mocha, burnt almond or peanut brittle) into a blender with 1/2 cup good Cognac. Blend for a minute; pour thick mixture into a mixing bowl. Add pieces of ice cream's companion: fresh fruit (fresh slices of strawberries with strawberry ice cream, sliced bananas with banana ice cream, pitted bing cherries with cherries jubilee ice cream) etc.

Spoon mixture into individual serving dishes and return to freezer until time to serve. Do not let it stay so long in freezer that it becomes laced with ice particles. If wished, garnish with toasted slivered almonds, ground pistachios or Macadamia nuts. Serves 8 generously.

Wilhelmina Cooper's Vegetable Casserole Gourmet Delight

One No. 2 can French-style green beans, drained (No. 2 can = 20 oz.)
1/4 cup finely minced white onion
1 small can sliced mushrooms, drained
1/2 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 can of cream of mushroom soup (undiluted)
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsps. unseasoned bread crumbs
3 tbsps. grated Parmesan cheese

1. Grease a small casserole with butter. Put half the beans in bottom of casserole, sprinkle with half the onion, mushrooms, cheese and soup. Repeat for second layer, using up remaining ingredients. Cover and bake in preheated 350 degrees F. oven for 30 minutes. Remove casserole from oven and remove cover. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and cheese. Return to oven to brown (about 15 minutes). Serve directly from baking dish. Serves 4-6.

Recipes by Gary Cooper: Buttermilk Griddle Cakes; Chicken Saute

Gary Cooper's Buttermilk Griddle Cakes

1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup half-and-half
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cornmeal
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon melted butter

Sift dry ingredients together, then add wet ingredients. Mix all together. Fry on hot buttered griddle.

Gary Cooper's Chicken Saute

Clean and cut as for frying a 2 1/2 lb. fresh broiling chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Dip in seasoned flour and saute in a saucepan with 4 ounces of olive oil and butter mixed. Cook until golden brown. Add 2 chopped shallots, 6 large mushrooms (sliced), and 2 cups chicken broth. Cover and cook 5 minutes more. Before serving add a wine glass of dry white wine and sprinkle with parsley.

Frank Converse's Pepper Steak with Brandy Sauce

Frank Converse's Pepper Steak with Brandy Sauce

2 pounds boneless sirloin, one-inch thick, cut in 4 pieces (or use boneless sirloin strip steak or top quality boneless steak of comparable weight and thickness)
2 tablespoons black peppercorns
Beef suet
5 tablespoons butter
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon minced shallots (or green onions)
2 tablespoons Cognac
3 tablespoons canned beef broth (or brown sauce)
Chopped parsley

Trim off excess fat, cut small incisions on edges of steak to prevent curling. Dry well with paper towels.

Crush peppercorns coarsely using mortar and pestle (or pepper mill set at "coarse" grind). With heel of hand, rub both sides of steak well with crushed pepper. Cover loosely with waxed paper, allow steak to stand at room temperature at least one hour (longer if a "pepperier" flavor is desired).

Rub seasoned large cast-iron skillet (or two small skillets) well with beef suet. Add 2 tablespoons butter and place over high heat until butter begins to foam. Saute steaks quickly over high heat to desired degree of doneness. Remove steaks to heated platter and season with salt.

To skillet add remaining butter, minced shallots (or green onions), and cook lightly. Pour in beef broth (or brown sauce), stirring often to keep pan from glazing. Add Cognac and cook quickly to reduce volume by one-third. Remove from heat. Swirl in remaining butter, one-half tablespoon at a time. Pour sauce immediately over steak. Garnish each steak with parsley. Serve with fried potatoes, crisp watercress salad flavored with lemon-oil dressing, and chilled rose wine. Serves 4.

Thoughts: If desired, prepare one large hunk of steak. Use skewers if necessary to keep steak intact. Omit brandy sauce. Serve steak plain, topped with parsley or garlic butter. Garnish with watercress.