Vincent Price Treasury Cookalong!

Poularde Pavillon (Chicken in Champagne Sauce)
Pineapple Nut Loaf
contributed by Vincent Price

Our friends over at Silver Screen Suppers are hosting a Vincent Price Treasury Cookalong, to celebrate the 50th Anniversary release of Vincent and Mary Price's A Treasury of Great Recipes. There's even time for you to participate yourself if you want, so follow the links below for everything you could possibly need to know!

Vincent Price Treasury Cookalong with Silver Screen Suppers

Cooking With Vincent Website – for details of celebratory events in the USA 

Vincent Price Legacy Tour – for details of celebratory events in the UK

Amazon Page for the 50th Edition of A Treasury of Great Recipes

Treasury of Great Recipes Facebook page

Silver Screen Suppers Facebook page

I'll have to admit that for most of my childhood, I had no idea that Vincent Price was supposed to be scary, I just thought he was a kindly old man who came on Merv Griffin and shared recipes.

Here we have two gems right from the cookbook, and they're both keepers. Chicken in Champagne Sauce was adapted by the Prices from New York's Le Pavillon. It looks complicated on paper, but goes together pretty quickly. If you're serving for company, you'll have to coordinate your timing carefully since you have to wait til the end to do the sauce:

Preheat oven to 350

Season a 3 lb chicken with 1 teaspoon salt.  Truss it and place in a small casserole with 2 tablespoons butter and 2 cups dry French champagne.  

(I used thigh cutlets in lieu of a whole chicken)

Cook about 45 minutes.  Baste every 8 minutes and turn until the chicken is an even golden brown on all sides.  

Remove chicken, cut off string, and keep chicken warm on hot platter.

SAUCE

Add to juices in the casserole: 4 cups cream, 3 shallots, chopped fine, 4 mushrooms crushed by rolling with rolling pin, 1 sprig parsley, chopped, 2 bay leaves, and a pinch of thyme.

Simmer on top of stove until sauce has reduced to two-thirds of the original amount.  Strain through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan.

Place over a medium heat and swirl in 2 tablespoons butter.  Add 6 ounces (a glass) dry champagne.

PRESENTATION

Spoon some of the sauce over the chicken, serve the rest separately. 

 Now, then, for dessert. Pineapple Nut Loaf. I don't bake much, as you might remember, because I hate measuring and usually the kitchen ends up looking something like this:

But I rallied, and here's the recipe if you find yourself interested:

1 ¾ cups sifted flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped

3 tablespoons soft butter

¾ cups light brown sugar, firmly packed

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup crushed pineapple, including juice

2 tablespoons sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350

Butter a one-pound loaf pan

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the nuts.

In mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar then beat in egg and continue to beat until mixture is smooth.

Stir in half the flour-nut mixture.

Stir in pineapple, including juice.

Stir in the remaining flour-nut mixture and stir into well blended. Drop into the prepared pan.

Combine the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over batter. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until bread tests done. Let cool for 5 minutes, then turn out on the cake rack to cool.

Easy squeezy, and delicious (though not very pineapple-y).  But what did Dr. Husband think?