What classic dish is due for a revival?

[Andrew Fenton]

I sound like a broken record: ANY dish that requires table-side service.

I really want to go to a restaurant that makes Steak Diane, Caeser Salad, Bananas Foster, or Crepes Suzette table-side.

I know there are a handful of such restaurants on the East Coast, but here on the West, I believe it is a dead or dying art.

I don't know that tableside preparation is dead; I do think that it has mutated. For example, there seems to be a growing number of restaurants that prepare guacamole at the table.

Zabaglione prepared at the table is awfully good too.

[Carolyn Tillie]

I sound like a broken record: ANY dish that requires table-side service.

I really want to go to a restaurant that makes Steak Diane, Caeser Salad, Bananas Foster, or Crepes Suzette table-side.

I know there are a handful of such restaurants on the East Coast, but here on the West, I believe it is a dead or dying art.

I don't know that tableside preparation is dead; I do think that it has mutated. For example, there seems to be a growing number of restaurants that prepare guacamole at the table.

Zabaglione prepared at the table is awfully good too.

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I dunno.... Steak Diane vs. Guacamole -- just doesn't cut it for me.

[Pontormo]

Chocolate mousse?

Has anyone mentioned chicken with dumplings?

Shepherd's pie is the meatloaf of the British side of my family, though they use ground beef rather than lamb. Never went out of style. The pot roast revival happened in the late 80's, I thought, and is still going strong. That's about the time that pie (courtesy of David Lynch) started to edge out tarts.

Is anyone else making quiche anymore? It's hard to tell when it comes to Americans embracing foods from other countries for short periods of time, then casting them aside.* Same with focaccia. A decade ago, everyone was serving focaccia, if more elaborate than in Italy. The bakery section of Whole Foods produces a version of focaccia that it wraps in plastic, but it isn't at all appealing. One thing the store handles well is chicken pot pie.

What has been extremely successful when it comes to recent revivals is gingerbread. It's the ultimate comfort food, warm with ice cold, chunky applesauce cooked with cider, cinnamon and a pinch of cardamom. A tall glass of milk.

A quick look through Craig Claighborn or Silver Palate cookbooks should provide further clues.

What about salmon au croute? Does anyone mold pastry around fish and bake it these days? I don't think I ever have.

*AF, do not even think about it.

[patticky]

Chocolate mousse?

Has anyone mentioned chicken with dumplings?

Shepherd's pie is the meatloaf of the British side of my family, though they use ground beef rather than lamb.  Never went out of style.  The pot roast revival happened in the late 80's, I thought, and is still going strong.  That's about the time that pie (courtesy of David Lynch) started to edge out tarts.

Is anyone else making quiche anymore?  It's hard to tell when it comes to Americans embracing foods from other countries for short periods of time, then casting them aside.*  Same with focaccia.  A decade ago, everyone was serving focaccia, if more elaborate than in Italy.  The bakery section of Whole Foods produces a version of focaccia that it wraps in plastic, but it isn't at all appealing.  One thing the store handles well is chicken pot pie.

What has been extremely successful when it comes to recent revivals is gingerbread.  It's the ultimate comfort food, warm with ice cold, chunky applesauce cooked with cider, cinnamon and a pinch of cardamom.  A tall glass of milk.

A quick look through Craig Claighborn or Silver Palate cookbooks should provide further clues. 

What about salmon au croute?  Does anyone mold pastry around fish and bake it these days?  I don't think I ever have.

*AF, do not even think about it.

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[patticky]

I do see quiche. Problem is, much of it tastes like it's been made with skim milk.

I suggest Veal Prince Orloff....roasted top round sliced and filled with mushrooms, onions, and covered with a Swiss cheese sauce using plenty of butter, heavy cream.

[Kouign Aman]

Oooohh yes!  Carolyn mentioned one of my all time favorites - Steak Diane, prepared tableside or not, as long as it ends up on my plate!

Lobster Thermidor, Beef Wellington, Baked Alaska, all that old cruise ship and country club food from back in the day needs to make a comeback, but lightened up and tweaked so it's modern.  That could actually make for a very interesting menu concept.

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All of those, and Coquilles St Jacques.

I'm also fond of rumaki.

Edited September 12, 2006 by Kouign Aman (log)

[duckduck]

Steak Oscar was always my fave in the late 70's. This thread is making me want my mom's chicken and rice. You know, the one where you mix the rice with a packet of onion soup mix and a can of cream of mushroom soup and put the cut up chicken on top, sprinkle with lemon pepper and bake? Man, I'm hungry!

[Hawthorne]

Steak Oscar was always my fave in the late 70's. This thread is making me want my mom's chicken and rice. You know, the one where you mix the rice with a packet of onion soup mix and a can of cream of mushroom soup and put the cut up chicken on top, sprinkle with lemon pepper and bake? Man, I'm hungry!

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Steak Oscar ... how does that go?

We used to eat Veal Oscar in Miami in the late 70s, and I reconstructed the recipe for when I wanted something special, and asparagus is in season. I've done it with chicken, too -

My husband likes retro kinds of casseroles, but my mother never made them, so I am kind of casserole challenged ..

I do regularly make beef stroganoff, pot roast, tuna casserole, hot chicken salad pie, and in fact have a fridge full of pot roast leftovers and am plotting a cottage pie for tomorrow.

Haven't had any chicken a la king in donkey's years, but have been thinking about it for the last month or so. Am putting it off til I get a round tu some pastry for it, though. I think I'm going to have a pastry fit here soon :-)

I'm a sucker for a used cookbook though ... maybe that accounts for it.

[MissMeglet]

Great topic this...how about deep fried camenbert? or is that early eighties? and that thing that people used to do with an avocado, halved, stone removed and filled with french dressing..and what what about..shrimp cockatil with the single prawn dangling over the side of the cocktail glass!

[Mikeb19]

Great topic this...how about deep fried camenbert?  or is that early eighties?  and that thing that people used to do with an avocado, halved, stone removed and filled with french dressing..and what what about..shrimp cockatil with the single prawn dangling over the side of the cocktail glass!

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Sounds more like dishes that people just hoped would die forever....

[ExpatC]

i had a craving for chiken with dumplings this summer. I live in Europe and invited friends over who had never had anything like this. It was great, it reminded me of how easy it is to throw bisquits together all the time, and we all got very fat in a month.

Something to think about when revisiting all these carbs and creams, but, it was the best idea I had had in months!

[andiesenji]

I came across a mention of Chicken Paprikash with Caraway Schnitzel recently and it reminded me that it has been years since I prepared this or Chicken Marengo or one of my old favorites for entertaining, Wiener Schnitzel, the latter because veal fell out of fashion some years ago.

Fortunately we have a local butcher who sells real "milk-fed" veal and this thread has inspired me to run over to his store and buy some for tomorrow.

I recently received a gift of Thoughts For Food "A Menu Book and a cook book for those who like exceptional cooking." Published in 1946.

Some forgotten recipes here.

[Jaymes]

I must say that I'm surprised to see chicken and dumplings on a list of 'classic dishes due for a revival.' For one thing, I never knew it was 'fashionable,' in the manner of Beef Wellington, Lobster Thermidor, etc.

Chicken and dumplings is more like a staple dish in the US south, rather than something that comes and goes. I'm over 60 and it was on my grandmother's table, I'm sure, before my ability to remember it there. Through my growing-up years, and then when I was doing the cooking for my own family, we had it often. And in the US south, anyway, it continues to be ubiquitous on home tables, especially for Sunday supper.

And many 'comfort food' type restaurants also feature it.

We still make it frequently in my house, and it's always slurped down very happily.

Although I will say that I don't make the dumplings from scratch anymore. I now plop in balls of prepared biscuit dough. Not as good, perhaps, but when I'm cooking for just myself, it's so quick and easy that I can't resist.

Edited September 17, 2006 by Jaymes (log)

[ned]

Anything with a flour-based sauce.

also

Lobster Thermador

[Country]

Veal Scallopini? Chicken Cacciatore?

[pumkin]

What about Swiss Steak?

[jsmeeker]

This thread is great!!

It's kinda cool to see people mention all of these old-school dishes. It's motivating me to make some Steak Diane. Since it's a traditional table side dish, it means that it's quick to cook. I think it actually may be perfect for a weeday meal, assuming I can find a version doesn't have too much prep. Does any one havea good recipe that doesn't require me to make my own veal demi-glace?

[ChristineT]

I have a very old, simple recipe I use that once appeared in a Good Housekeeping cookbook:

STEAK DIANE*

4 beef rib-eye steaks, each cut about 1/2 inch thick

salt

pepper

4 tablespoons butter or margarine

4 tablespoons brandy

2 small shallots, minced

8 teaspoons chopped chives

8 tablespoons dry sherry

About 20 minutes before serving:

On a cutting board, with meat mallet, edge of plate or dull edge of French knife, pound steaks until about 1/4 inch thick, turning occasionally. Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper.

In an electric skillet (at the table) at high heat setting, in 1 tablespoon hot butter or margarine, cook one steak just until browned, turning once.

Pour 1 tablespoon brandy over steak and with match, set aflame. When flaming stops, stir in 1/4 of shallots and 2 teaspoons chives; cook, stirring occasionally, until shallot is tender, about 1 minute. Add 2 tablespoons sherry; heat. Place steak on a warm dinner plate and pour sherry mixture over steak; serve immediately. Repeat with remaining steaks to make 4 servings.

*Traditionally, steaks are prepared individually at the table.

Edited September 20, 2006 by ChristineT (log)

[fifi]

Oh dear . . . How to reply to this topic.

As to chicken and dumplings, this dish is always the final product of a big baked chicken. Long ago, we figured out that the exquisite sinking dumplings that our Great Aunt Minnie made could be duplicated by using cheap, store brand biscuits, smashed thin in flour.

I also have to make Coquille St. Jaques annually for a friend's birthday. Nothing else will do. It is glorious, by the way.

After all, the old classics have a reason for being classics.

[judiu]

Oh dear . . . How to reply to this topic.

As to chicken and dumplings, this dish is always the final product of a big baked chicken. Long ago, we figured out that the exquisite sinking dumplings that our Great Aunt Minnie made could be duplicated by using cheap, store brand biscuits, smashed thin in flour.

I also have to make Coquille St. Jaques annually for a friend's birthday. Nothing else will do. It is glorious, by the way.

After all, the old classics have a reason for being classics.

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recipes ,give, PLEASE!

[markk]

This IS a great thread!

I'd love for Lobster Thermidor and Lobster Newburgh to make a comeback as well.

[Jaymes]

Oh dear . . . How to reply to this topic.

As to chicken and dumplings, this dish is always the final product of a big baked chicken. Long ago, we figured out that the exquisite sinking dumplings that our Great Aunt Minnie made could be duplicated by using cheap, store brand biscuits, smashed thin in flour.

Fifi!! Cannot tell you how tickled I am to see you reappear. And I, too, will be watching for your recipes.

[Grub]

Shepherd's Pie, Beef (or anything) Wellington, Chicken Kiev, Veal/Chicken Cordon Bleu, Pot au Feu, Quiche, Veal Scallopini or Saltimbocca, Swiss Steak -- these are all things that I've been cooking this last year or so... Doing salmon en croûte tomorrow -- and damnit, this time I'm doing my own puff pastry. Coq au Vin scheduled for Sunday.

And I wanna do Blanquette de Veau at some point... This thread is giving me ideas... Love it.

[Domestic Goddess]

Grub,

I have fixed Coq au Vin several times since I made it (the original version) last year. My eldest son has developed a taste for it that I would buy a bottle of red just to fix it for him.

You're right, this thread is also giving me ideas for future meals. My youngest loves cheese and I think Cordon Bleu would just be right for him.

[Pat Churchill]

Great topic this...how about deep fried camenbert?  or is that early eighties?  and that thing that people used to do with an avocado, halved, stone removed and filled with french dressing..and what what about..shrimp cockatil with the single prawn dangling over the side of the cocktail glass!

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Never did it but was served it a couple of times - with some sort of berry sauce/jam?

Oh, yeah - the shrimp cocktail, made with canned shrimps 'cos we couldn't get the real thing in New Zealand in the 60s. Best part was the sauce - ketchup, mayo and lemon juice. Sometimes served in an avocado half - two bites of the cherry.

And then there was black forest cake!