"The Master of Menace" is helping us usher in 2025.
Hollywood Kitchen was basically launched during a time of adversity. I started doing these posts and videos in the middle of lockdown during the Covid pandemic. This gave me something fun to do that took my mind off my problems for a while. Hopefully it was a fun and entertaining escape for some of you as well.
So far the New Year of 2025 has not gone according to plan. Los Angeles has been hit with a series of catastrophic wildfires and the city has been in crisis. I wanted to do an episode to an episode to entertain others and hopefully boost morale. I also wanted to honor Los Angeles. I love this city so much and Vincent did too. He lived here, made movies here and left us the Vincent Price Art Museum in East L.A. I went through a ton of recipes, but I wanted to make something simple, comforting and something that reflected Los Angeles. We have fantastic Mexican food here in restaurants and from local street vendors. Mexican Creamed Corn or Elote Con Crema a la Mexicana felt like the perfect choice.
My guests Peter Fuller and Jenny Hammerton made Vincent Price dishes too! See the photos and recipes below.
Recipe
This recipe was published in "A Treasure of Great Recipes" by Vincent and Mary Price in 1965 and more recently in "Supper with the Stars with your host Vincent Price" by Peter Fuller and Jenny Hammerton in 2021.
Elote Con Crema a la Mexicana (Mexican Creamed Corn)
Ingredients
4 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion (chopped)
1 clove garlic (minced / crushed)
8 ears of fresh corn on the cob
4 chilies poblanos (thinly sliced) *
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup Swiss / Meunster cheese (diced)
*If you can't get a hold of poblano peppers, rehydrated ancho chillies are a good alternative.
Directions
Melt the butter in a large saucepan.
Add the onion and garlic and saute until browned lightly.
Add the kernals cut from from your corn on the cob, then the chillies, salt and diced cheese.
Cover with a tea towel or clean cloth and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Allow to cool before using.
Serves 4.
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Wilted Spinach Salad with Bacon Dressing
Ingredients
1 lb young baby spinach
6 green spring onions (finely chopped)
1/2 clove garlic
1 tablespoon salad oil
3 slices bacon
1 egg
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon tarragon vinegar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Directions
Cut the roots and tough stems from the spinach. Wash well in cold water, being careful to remove all the sand. Drain and shake out all the moisture and blot dry with paper towels. Tear the leaves into bite-size pieces.
Mix the green spring onions with the spinach leaves in a large wooden bowl. Mash the garlic and cover the salad with oil. Let this stand for about 30 minutes. Discard the garlic, then trickle the garlic oil over the spinach and let stand.
Saute the bacon until crisp. Remove from the pan, reserving the bacon fat and cut into strips. Drain the bacon on absorbent paper.
Beat together the egg, sugar, tarragon vinegar and red wine vinegar. Pour this mixture slowly into the warm bacon fat, stirring constantly until the mixture has thickened slightly. Season with salt and pepper to taste. It will not need much salt.
Pour the dressing over the spinach mixture and toss well.
To serve, crumble the bacon and sprinkle over the salad.
Serves 4.
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Crocodile Cucumber
Ingredients
1 cucumber
Few blanched almonds
4 strips green pepper
Cubes of cheddar cheese
Cocktail cherries
Olives
Gerkin pickles
Colored cocktail onions, etc.
Directions
Choose a cucumber that is suitably curved. Split broad end of cucumber lengthwise for 2 - 3 inches to form the mouth and prop open with a small cocktail stick. Press a few pieces of blanched almonds for the teeth. Arrange two slices of stuffed olives for the eyes. Shape strips of green pepper into legs with a sharp knife and secure in place at sides of cucumber with small cocktail sticks.
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Special Guests
Peter Fuller
Australian-born Peter Fuller is a London-based award-winning print, radio and television journalist and film historian with over 30 years of experience. He is also a renowned authority on the life and career of Hollywood icon Vincent Price, winning several Rondo awards for his active promotion of the actor's legacy through publications, websites and special events. Peter curates The Vincent Price Legacy UK Facebook page and manages the official Vincent Price YouTube channel. In partnership with Vincent's daughter, Victoria Price, he also guides bespoke tour groups worldwide to celebrate Vincent's passion for travel, culture and the visual arts. His latest project is the Supper with the Stars cookbook which he has co-authored with Silver Screen Suppers' Jenny Hammerton.
Jenny Hammerton of Silver Screen Suppers is a film archivist in London and an expert on celebrity recipes. She's published multiple cookbooks including "Murder, She Cooked", "Cooking with Columbo", "Cooking with Joan Crawford" and "Supper with the Stars: With Your Host Vincent Price" co-authored with Peter Fuller,
Video
There are plenty of Vincent Price films on DVD and on Turner Classic Movies.
Order the "Supper with the Stars" cookbook.
Order the "Cooking Price-Wise" DVD Blu ray from the British Film Institute. Make sure you have a multi-region DVD player.
You can also find the Vincent Price Tiki Mug online.
Please consider making a donation to the American Red Cross to help us fight the wildfires in Los Angeles. I am also on the board of Grace Diner and 100% of our funds go toward feeding those in need.
Thank you for watching and stay tuned for more food, fun and film history.
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