Betty Lives!

Amy Vanderbilt’s Complete Cookbook

1961

Although this is a very cool cookbook I only bought it because when I opened the inside flap I noticed that Andy Warhol had done the illustrations.  That’s right folks.  Andy. Freakin. Warhol.  How cool is that?  But in all fairness to Ms Vanderbilt, it is a wonderful book and the person who originally owned it left many positive testimonials to that effect in the margins: “Great!” “Very Good!” “Use more sugar!”  There is nothing better than buying a vintage cookbook that already has personal testimony in it.  Except maybe buying a vintage cookbook that has little newspaper recipe clippings from the previous owner. But we’ll get to that in another post.

Unlike Hilary Knight, there is nothing recognizably “Warhol” in any of the illustrations.  The best I can say is that the drawings are, well, accurate.

The book is one of those comprehensive tomes meant to be the only cookbook one would ever need.  Ms Vanderbilt was not a direct descendant of Cornelius, but what she did have going for her was the title of “America’s Foremost Expert on Etiquette”. She wrote two books on the subject and I believe at least one of them is still in print.  I don’t know what lead her to make the leap to cookbooks but it was an extremely admirable effort.  In addition to the chapters on proper carving techniques and table settings which one would expect from an etiquette expert, the book covers everything from breads, barbecues, picnics, and cakes to game, casseroles, cheese and chafing dish food.

I was in the mood for a casserole and since I feel I’ve overdone the ground meat bit for this blog, I needed an alternative.  The Savory Onion Pie hit the right note with me.  First, 3/4 cup of saltine crumbs are mixed with 1/4 cup of melted butter and pressed into a shallow baking dish.  Then you saute 2 cups of sliced onions (I used Vidalia) in 2 Tbl butter for five minutes.  The onions are spread on top of the crumbs and over the top you pour the following combination: 2 beaten eggs, 1 cup milk, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 3/4 cup grated Cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup ground ham.  The dish is baked for 35 minutes at 300 degrees until set. I made no substitutions other than the Vidalia (does it really count as a substitution if the recipe doesn’t specify?) but opted to chop the ham rather than grind it which is just a texture preference for me.  Doug, Lulu and I loved it.  In fact, I ate it straight from the dish (forgive me Ms Vanderbilt).  Nicky, who cannot stand eggs or cheese, had a leftover chicken leg.  Interestingly, the saltine/butter combo doesn’t really become a crust.  I could taste that the saltines were there but it was more of a crust suggestion than an actual crispy bottom.  Regardless, it was a huge hit.