Single Girl’s Cookbook
by Helen Gurley Brown
First published 1969
405 pages
Out of print (sadly)
- The self proclaimed bad cook, Helen, did not write the recipes. The recipes were written by Margo Rieman
- The book reads like a novel with chapter titles like Come Fry With Me, What a Friend We Have in Cheeses, and so much more!
- The book is designed to start you off slowly, or as she writes:
“Some cookbooks take for granted that you know considerably more about cooking than you actually know. They have you making tender cream-puff pastry before you even know how to fry eggs. And they can’t seem to get it through their thick heads that poaching to you meant stealing another girl’s boyfriend and grilling is what he gets when she caught him. Well, in this book, were going to start at the beginning with baby bone-simple recipes for things like Fried Eggs, ecstatic Hamburger, Crisp Bacon, Broiled Lamb Chops. Then we’ll move on to more complicated dishes.”
Not only is this a progressive cookbook Chapter 2: Basics for the New Girl Cook: How to Stock the cupboard. Detailing essential and optional equipment, basic food supplies, frozen, herbs, canned supplies, and so much more. - The illustrations throughout the book are whimsical and reminiscent of that era, a very Al Hirschfeld style. They were done by Frank Daniel
- Even if you never make one recipe from this book, reading it on the beach will be just as enjoyable. Helen’s writing is that enjoyable.
If anyone at the publishing company see’s this- PLEASE, REISSUE THIS BOOK!!!!! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!! Make it a box set with all the books that Helen has written!
After the Ball Game’s Over- Menu II
Hazel’s Sweet-and-Sour-Pork
2 pounds lean pork
1 cup water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 cups peanut oil
Have pork trimmed of all fat and cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Get your butcher to do this if you can; his cubes will be bigger, but you can cut them into two; that’s still better than starting with one big slab of meat.
Let the water come to a boil. Drop in cubed pork and simmer until it’s cooked through, approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Drain thoroughly and cool. Mix cornstarch and soy sauce in a bowl. Add cooked pork and stir until all pieces are coated.
Heat oil in a skillet. When hot, drop in the pork, a few cubes at a time, and let them brown, keeping pieces separated. The meat only takes about 1 minute to brown. As it’s done, remove to paper bowling to drain, then add more pieces. Let browned pork sit while you make the sauce
Sweet-And-Sour Sauce*
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2/3 cup water mixed with 1/3 cup white-wine vinegar
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 cup round carrot slices and green-pepper rings
1 medium-sized onion, sliced thin
* I added:
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon Sriracha
2 cloves garlic
substituted sesame oil instead of peanut
Mix sugar with soy sauce, cornstarch, and vinegar combined with water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickish and shiny, about 5 minutes.
When you want to finish the dish (after the crowd comes in), heat 2 tablespoons oil in a skillet and quickly sauté sliced carrot rounds and onion and pepper rings, stirring constantly. Let them get just crisp and tender, about 6 minutes. Add sauce and bring to a simmer. Then add pork and heat through. Serve at once over cooked rice.
Butterscotch Sauce
2 cups brown sugar
1 stick (1/4 pound) butter
1/2 cup light cream
Put all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and then boil rapidly, without stirring, for 5 minutes. Serve hot or cold.
Menu VI- An Indian -Persian Dinner
Marinated Mushrooms
1 pound fresh mushrooms
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 or 2 fennel seeds
6 peppercorns
2 garlic cloves
1 bay leaf
Pinch of dried thyme
Pinch of dried dill weed
Pinch of celery seeds
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup olive oil
Wash mushrooms and cut a little slice off the stem end of each. Put mushrooms in a pot with water to cover; add the lemon juice. Bring to a boil over high heat, then turn heat down. Simmer gently, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.
Prepare a marinade: crush the fennel seeds and peppercorns in a mortar or bowl; crush garlic. Put these, the other seasonings, and wine and oil into a saucepan and bring to a rolling boil.
Let boil gently for 10 minutes, then cool.
Use a dish just large enough to hold mushrooms and marinade, and pour cooked marinade over the drained parboiled mushrooms. Let this stand overnight in refrigerator. Give it a stir from time to time, should you be up waking up around at 3: 00 or 4:00 in the morning. Cover and refrigerate, these mushrooms will keep for weeks.
Sweet Walnut Dessert
12 shredded-wheat biscuits
3 cups boiling water
2 sticks (1/2 pound) butter, melted
1/4 cup shelled pistachio nuts
2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts
2 cups milk
1 3/4 cups sugar
This is a scrumptious dessert, very rich and sweet. If you’re wondering about the shredded wheat, wheat is wheat, it comes in cereal, noodles, or cake. People in other lands are often rather more clever and ingenious than we are about using our foods in interesting ways so be adventurous!
Dip the shredded-wheat biscuits into boiling water and drain well wrap in aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.
Next morning, heat oven to 375˚F. Melt the butter and spread about 3 tablespoons of it around bottom and sides of a 10- or 11-inch round baking pan. (that means 10 or 11 inches across the bottom. Naturally a single girl doesn’t have every size baking dish so just use whatever you have that’s close). Sprinkle pistachio nuts on buttered pan. By the way, these come shelled in cans, but you could shell them yourself, of course; if you do shell them do it the day before while you are soaking the shredded wheat.
Cut the shredded-wheat biscuits lengthwise, horizontal (are you following that?), into halves and arrange half of them on top of the pistachios. Cover with chopped walnuts, followed by the rest of the shredded wheat. Pour all melted butter you haven’t used over the dish and let it soak in for a minute; then press the whole thing firmly down with a small plate of the bottom of a slightly smaller, flat round baking pan. The idea is to press the whole mixture firmly together. Bake in a 375˚F oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
While the dessert bakes, make a syrup by combining the mil and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring all the while. Cook mixture until it is syrupy and thick.
After “cake” is baked, remove it from the oven and pour the syrup over it while “cake” and syrup are still hot. Cover the pan set it aside to cool for at least 2 hours.
Chicken Korma- Step 1
Chicken Korma is a very subtle, “dry” curry made, as it is in India, with fresh spices instead of packaged curry powder. When you make this dish, you are actually making your own curry-powder blend as an Indian chef would do!
3 Onions
Salt
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 inch of fresh green ginger-root, minced, or 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups plain yogurt
3 chicken breasts
3 chicken legs and thighs
Chop 1 onion very fine and put it into a bowl big enough to hold the chicken. (put the other onions aside for the present). With a wooden spoon, crush chopped onion as much as possible. Add a good sprinkle if salt, the minced garlic and ginger root. Sir in yogurt and mix well.
Cut chicken breasts into halves and discard the breast bones; cut legs and thighs apart at the joints. Prick the chicken pieces all over with a two-tined fork and put them into the yogurt mixture. Let marinate for 2 hours, with an occasional stir to be sure all pieces are coated.
Chicken Korma- Step 2
1/2 tablespoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds
5 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
5 peppercorns
2 cardamom pods
Crush cumin seeds, mustard seed, and poppy seeds in mortar or small bowl. Cut 2 remaining onions into thin slices. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a frying pan large enough for the chicken and lightly brown the onions. Add turmeric and crushed seeds and sauté gently over very low heat for 1 minute.
Now add chicken and marinade to the pan; continue to cook over low heat, turning chicken pieces occasionally, until the yogurt is dried out, about 30 minutes.
Crush the peppercorns and cardamom pods. Add these with remaining tablespoon of butter to the pan, and stir well into mixture. Put a lid on the pan and give its a good shake to distribute ingredients. Now add 1/2 cup water, cover, and simmer gently until water has dried out, about 30 minutes longer. Add another 1/2 cup water, cover again, and simmer gently until dry; repeat this once more if necessary, until chicken is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove cover and let the pan dry out before serving chicken.
