Joan Crawford's Poached Salmon with Mayonnaise-Mustard Sauce

I've been rather enjoying searching for recipes from Hollywood Golden Age actors and actresses. I feel it really gives you a bit of insight as to who they were as a person. For example, Marilyn Monroe was clearly no dummy if you see her recipes -- they're well over a page long with such intricate details I often have put down the knife and said "Oh, forget this!"

Joan Crawford, whether you believe she was "Mommy Dearest" or not (I don't), was clearly an insane chef with some OCD tendencies. I'm thankful, because her recipes are the most easily reproduced without guesswork. I've been trying to pick out recipes that I would actually try, and since I've eaten salmon the last two nights, I thought I'd share this recipe.  

Joan Crawford's Poached Salmon with Mayonnaise-Mustard Sauce

Ingredients:

For the Salmon:

3 pounds fresh salmon

3 lemons

6 cups water

10 peeled pearl onions

1/2 stalk celery, including leaves, chopped

2 sprigs fresh parsley

3 small bay leaves

12 crushed peppercorns

1 teaspoon salt

Cheesecloth

Sauce:

2 cups mayonnaise

4 teaspoons prepared mustard

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Garnish:

1 lemon, cut in wedges

Fresh cut parsley

Field lettuce leaves or watercress

Quartered hard-cooked eggs

Directions:

1. To prepare the salmon, place lemon slices around salmon and in cavity. Wrap fish in double layer of cheesecloth, secured with string. Set aside.
2. Place water, onions, celery, parsley, bay leaves, peppercorns and salt in a large pot and bring to a simmer for 30 minutes. Place fish in water and simmer slowly for 40 minutes covered, using a rack or heat safe small bowl so fish is not entirely under water. Remove fish to cool slightly. 
3. Prepare the sauce by combining all ingredients. Arrange salmon on a chilled platter on a bed of lettuce or watercress, surrounded by remaining garnishes if desired. Serve with sauce. Makes 8 servings.

Harlow's Hot Rolls

The original Blonde Bombshell was known for a lot of things, but her cooking isn't really counted in the top ten. However, Harlow's Hot Rolls look like they'd be pretty tasty!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of warm milk
• 1/2 cup of butter and shortening, mixed
• 1/2 cup of warm water with 1 cake of compressed yeast
• 1 egg well beaten
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Enough flour to make soft dough.

1. Set four hours, after which roll to 1/4-inch thickness and cut with biscuit cutter.
2. Then brush with melted butter and put another biscuit on top and daub melted butter on top of that.
3. Let stand two hours and then place them in a hot oven for 10 minutes.

Now, I'm not a great cook by any means. I watch 'Food Network' a lot and I do have domestic leanings that cause me to put on an apron and bake. To me, this recipe isn't very explanatory. I have made biscuits from scratch before, so my alterations/best guesses as to what this means:

• The 'hot oven' temperature is 375 degrees.
• The amount of flour is at least 2 cups, maybe more. I don't think the rolls should be very sticky if you're rolling and cutting them out.
• The cup of warm water with the 1 cake of compressed yeast is about 2 1/2 teaspoons of yeast (the amount in one packet), and you let those sit together for about 10 minutes before adding it to the other ingredients.
• Mix all the ingredients together, then add the yeast water, then mix more; let sit for 4 hours to rise, kneading/punching it down on occasion.

I may have to experiment with this tonight and let you all know what I find!

Marilyn’s Stuffing

Adapted from “Fragments” by Marilyn Monroe (Farrar, Straus & Giroux; $30)

Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

A 10-ounce loaf sourdough bread
1/2 pound chicken or turkey livers or hearts
1/2 pound ground round or other beef
1 tablespoon cooking oil
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups chopped curly parsley
2 eggs, hard boiled, chopped
1 1/2 cups raisins
1 cup grated Parmesan
1 1/4 cups chopped walnuts, pine nuts or roasted chestnuts, or a combination
2 teaspoons dried crushed rosemary
2 teaspoons dried crushed oregano
2 teaspoons dried crushed thyme
3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon salt-free, garlic-free poultry seasoning (or 1 teaspoon dried sage, 1 teaspoon marjoram, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger and 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg)
1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon pepper.

Directions:

1. Split the bread loaf in half and soak it in a large bowl of cold water for 15 minutes. Wring out excess water over a colander and shred into pieces.

2. Boil the livers or hearts for 8 minutes in salted water, then chop until no piece is larger than a coffee bean.

3. In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef in the oil, stirring occasionally and breaking up the meat, so no piece is larger than a pistachio.

4. In your largest mixing bowl, combine the sourdough, livers, ground beef, celery, onion, parsley, eggs, raisins, Parmesan and nuts, tossing gently with your hands to combine. Whisk the rosemary, oregano, thyme, bay leaves, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper together in a bowl, scatter over the stuffing and toss again with your hands. Taste and adjust for salt. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to use as a stuffing or to bake separately as dressing.

Yield: 20 cups, enough for one large turkey, 2 to 3 geese or 8 chickens.