'Out of Style' Foods you love

[Potter]

Chicken a la King over toast points.

To this day, my MIL makes a pale green jello salad with celery and walnuts that is wonderful.

Bananas Flambe

[Potter]

Tuna casserole.

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Thank goodness I'm not alone in my love of tuna casserole. That and chicken or turkey tetrazzini are good ole' comfort foods in my books.

Edited because I had a lapse in singular versus plural adjectival forms.

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Yeah turkey tetrazinni! Yuck tuna casserole. I only like my tuna hot when it's music.

[Potter]

Home with the kids today, the topic of food came up, and I was recounting the days when every baby shower had crepes.  Back when the Magic Pan was on Nicollet Mall.  I think we'll make crepes this weekend.  Sweet and savory.  Anybody else remember the Magic Pan?

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I absolutely loved the Magic Pan at the Paramus Park Mall in NJ in the mid to late 1970s. I thought it was so chic and sophisticated when I was a kid. My favorite was the ham & cheese crepes. I guess Magic Pan went the way of Farrell's (which was also in the same mall)

[Potter]

I hate that there are so many fashion and food police theses days to tell everyone what's hot and what's not..I'm always aghast at what some of these guys are wearing/eating themselves....

That said....Let's hear it for veal or chicken cordon bleu. As soon as the Atkins people put out the word... it will have a new run.

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Hooray for chicken cordon bleu! My mom made this a lot when I was a kid and I still like to make great dish. My favorite meal to order at a restaurant as a kid was French Onion soup and chicken cordon bleu. It seems every restaurant had it on the menu.

[Potter]

spinach dip, definitely. It's one of those things that always gets devoured if I serve it at a party or bring to a pot luck.

fondue and quiche both

hot dogs sliced down the middle and stuffed with cheddar cheese, then rolled in a Pillsbury crescent roll and baked. (I always thought that the term "pigs in a blanket" referred to sausage rolled in pancakes.)

dutch baby pancakes

port wine cheese spread (either in a tub or formed into a ball and rolled in almonds). Anyone remember cheese spread coming in ceramic crocks?

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My house is rarely without a tub of port wine cheese spread. I love the stuff & so does my 5 year old son. I remember the ceramic crocks. Now it's plastic or nothing. A few years ago I bought at a yard sale an oil painting of a mouse with human-like characterisitcs standing next to a brown ceramic crock of cheese. Deliciously bad art.

[Potter]

Does anyone else remember the anti-beef "movement" about 17-18 years ago? Americans were drastically cutting down on the amount of beef they were eating. Or am I remembering it as a bigger thing than it actually was? 

No, it was a big thing-- or at least a high-profile media thing, what with the fat and the cholesterol and the hey hey MY ARTERIES! But as a movement, it was sacrificed on the altar of the great god Atkins...

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If I recall correctly, wasn't oat bran the big diet thing back when folks were anti-beef. Supposedly it cleaned out your arteries. Everyone was very concerned about their arteries.

[touaregsand]

Does anyone else remember the anti-beef "movement" about 17-18 years ago? Americans were drastically cutting down on the amount of beef they were eating. Or am I remembering it as a bigger thing than it actually was? 

No, it was a big thing-- or at least a high-profile media thing, what with the fat and the cholesterol and the hey hey MY ARTERIES! But as a movement, it was sacrificed on the altar of the great god Atkins...

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If I recall correctly, wasn't oat bran the big diet thing back when folks were anti-beef. Supposedly it cleaned out your arteries. Everyone was very concerned about their arteries.

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I remember the oat bran thing too.

Remember vegemite in all the stores after the Men at Work song was a huge hit?

[Potter]

Chicken Kiev.

Malted Milkshakes.

Relish trays.

Pickled or Creamed Herring.

Compound Butters.

And this isn't really a food, but I have an odd fascination with it: There's a Chinese restaurant near me that still has a full page of fancy cocktails, some that come in a giant bowl big enough for two or more people to sip out of, and all of them are garnished with plenty of fruit and umbrellas, and some of the cocktails are set on fire when served. Serving drinks in a coconut also gives me a little thrill.

Maybe I just have poor taste.

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There was a very long thread on relish trays awhile back. You should search for it. It was fascinating and amusing. The Chinese place near me has a page like that in their menu book. I recently ordered the fanciest looking one with the most gee-gaws sticking out of it. The waiter told me they no longer use the tiki cups or fake coconuts. I told him to forget the drink. I only wanted it because of the cup and the way it looked. When I was a teenager my best friend and I used to order the "Lover's Bowl." It was a giant bowl with hula girls and volcanos painted on the side and it had a raised ceramic volcano in the middle. Liquor was put in the volcano and set on fire. God I loved that!

[zilla369]

Croques -Monsieur et-Madame

The Kentucky Hot Brown (not out of style here in Louisville, but perhaps most other places)

[kayswv]

And there is always James Lileks compilation of regrettable food:

http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/

[cakewench]

Every once in a while I hanker for a Monte Cristo Sandwich.  A great lunch menu item from the '70's.  I could go for one right now. 

Ham, turkey and swiss on two slices from a pullman loaf, dipped in egg, sauteed in butter and then given a good spank of confectioner's sugar before serving.

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Bennigan's (the chain) still serves one, a very good one in that. Although, it is the heaviest most dense sandwhich I think I have ever encountered.... I mean, a deep fried ham sandwich with sugar and jam, wow...

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My son waits tables part-time at Bennigans while going to school. He told me he has never seen anyone finish one of them.

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Then he's obviously never waited on me.

Mind you, it's been since late high school/early college that I even had one of those things. (10 years ago) I loved them.

If we're talking about menu items that were popular once, but not anymore, then I agree with whomever mentioned gooey brownie sundae-style desserts. Please don't get me wrong, I love the delicate and fancy ones, too, but there's just something nice about a hot, rich brownie and some Haagen Daaz.

Simple carved roast dinners seem to be 'out', and that's a pity.

mmm spinach dip...