I haven't planned the menu yet but think it would be fun for it to be representative of the mid to late 60s period when the show has been taking place.

The first entree that came to mind was the Beef Wellington that malna posted on the last Virtual Dinner thread. One of our friends suggested creme de Menthe parfaits for dessert.

Any ideas including appetizers and cocktails would be appreciated. I would like it to be dinner party fare rather than casual.

***recap & pix at bottom

I think either Beef Wellington or Steak Diane for the entree.

You could do pineapple upside down cake for dessert and offer grasshoppers for an after dinner drink along with brandy alexanders.

Here is a link to "Under the Sea Salad" originally published in the Joys of Jello, 1963. There is nothing in it related to the sea however.
This website is kind of cool. There are links to recipes that go back to the 1800's.

I'd start with Oysters on the half shell, Oysters Florentine or a Shrimp Cocktail. Caesar salad made table side. Good piece of beef - Rib Eye, Prime Rib, Chateaubriand with all the sides.

And some decadent dessert - Cheese cake , Flan, Creme Brulee, etc..
Edited to correct typing error.

Ham salad? Not part of my youth for sure!

Creme de Menthe is perfect, although any parfait would be great, especially after a heavy meal like beef wellington-- which I think is a great idea!!!

Also Jackie O. and Julia Child had influenced American food by then. Vichychoisse would seem a good soup course.

/tricia

I like your idea of Beef Wellington. It always makes for a special dinner.

~Ann

Ann's steak house menu sounds perfect.

Drinks..... martini's gimlets, Rob Roy, Sidecar, Manhattans. Whiskey Sour

Desserts...pineapple upside down cake, banana pudding with those valilla wafers, cherries jubilee

Signature dishes & popular trends
Kennedy style entertaining
Menus for entertaining
Thanksgiving menus
Christmas menus
Buffet ideas
Cocktail parties
Space Needle recipes [1962 World's Fair/Seattle]
Alice's Restaurant [1967 Arlo Guthrie song & real restaurant]
Picnic notes
Baby boomer kid favorites
Halloween candies
School lunch: Cafeteria service & brought from home
New product introductions
Popular American brands
Favorite kitchen appliances
Classroom suggestions (simple & portable!)

I never thought I would regret giving away my copy of the Sterns' American Gourmet but I just dug out from the attic a 1968 Junior League cookbook called Entirely Entertaining - A Book of Party Menus and Recipes.

I'll keep you up to date.

You'll find many ideas in our book, The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook, and our on website (and blog): http://www.unofficialmadmencookbook.com

Enjoy!

DH is envisioning a Supper Club menu, somewhere in between the home dinner party and the gourmet restaurants where they'd take clients and their wives.

So far, all I'm set on is first course of clams Casino or oysters Rockefeller, entree of beef (Theresa, Steak Diane is calling to me) or Veal Oscar (with fresh asparagus instead of canned), tableside-made Caesar salad, broiled tomatoes with crumbs, Duchesse potatoes, no green vegetables, and Peach Melba for dessert. Cocktails and appetizers to be figured out later.

I'm going to pass on the jello salad, since I just can't picture Don Draper eating one in a restaurant. We did do the jello molds with a mandarin orange, maraschino cherry, and pineapple mix for our church's 50's TV Party dinner and they were well-received.

Thanks again. Anyone else looking forward to this season's show?

I have never seen the show but I understand it's quite good.

Eileen

Baked Oyster Rockefeller
• 10 ounce bag of spinach, washed
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1 tablespoon butter, divided
• 6 slices bcaon, diced
• 1 shallot, finely diced
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1 cup heavy cream
• pinch of nutmeg
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon Pernod (optional)
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 5 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 10 cups Kosher salt for baking and serving (about 3 lbs)
• 16 oysters, scrubbed
• 5 tablespoons breadcrumbs
1.
2. To shuck oysters, using towel, hold oyster flat on work surface, flat shell up. Insert tip of oyster knife into hinge and twist to open shell. Slide knife along inside of upper shell to free oyster from shell; discard upper shell. Slide knife under oyster to free from lower shell; leave in shell. Repeat with remaining oysters
3. In a large skillet, heat 1 tsp butter over medium heat. Add spinach and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until spinach has wilted. Drain spinach, squeezing out extra liquid, and coarsely chop. Set aside.
4. In a separate medium skillet, sauté bacon over medium heat, 5-6 minutes, or until fat has rendered. Remove all bacon and extra fat except for 1 tbsp bacon fat from the pan. Reserve bacon.
5. Add 1 tbsp butter to remaining bacon fat and melt. Add shallot and sweat 3-4 minutes, or until translucent. Add white wine to deglaze the pan and stir until pan is almost dry, 2-3 minutes.
6. Add cream, nutmeg and black pepper. Allow liquid to reduce by half, approximately 3 minutes. Add Pernod, if using. Remove from heat.
7. Add wilted spinach to cream mixture and season to taste with pepper. Add egg yolk and ¼ cup Parmesan cheese.
8. Preheat oven to 400 F.
9. To assemble oysters, spread 5 cups kosher salt in a large shallow baking pan. Nestle oysters in their shell in the salt. Spoon spinach mixture evenly over oysters, and top each oyster with 1 tsp breadcrumbs, and 1 tsp Parmesan cheese. Bake oysters in preheated oven for 5-6 minutes or until breadcrumbs are golden.
10. As oysters come out of the oven, sprinkle each with reserved bacon. Serve warm oysters in shells, nestled in remaining kosher salt (about 5 cups), on a platter.
Baked Oyster Rockefeller
1. To shuck oysters, using towel, hold oyster flat on work surface, flat shell up. Insert tip of oyster knife into hinge and twist to open shell. Slide knife along inside of upper shell to free oyster from shell; discard upper shell. Slide knife under oyster to free from lower shell; leave in shell. Repeat with remaining oysters
2. In a large skillet, heat 1 tsp butter over medium heat. Add spinach and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until spinach has wilted. Drain spinach, squeezing out extra liquid, and coarsely chop. Set aside.
3. In a separate medium skillet, sauté bacon over medium heat, 5-6 minutes, or until fat has rendered. Remove all bacon and extra fat except for 1 tbsp bacon fat from the pan. Reserve bacon.
4. Add 1 tbsp butter to remaining bacon fat and melt. Add shallot and sweat 3-4 minutes, or until translucent. Add white wine to deglaze the pan and stir until pan is almost dry, 2-3 minutes.
5. Add cream, nutmeg and black pepper. Allow liquid to reduce by half, approximately 3 minutes. Add Pernod, if using. Remove from heat.
6. Add wilted spinach to cream mixture and season to taste with pepper. Add egg yolk and ¼ cup Parmesan cheese.
7. Preheat oven to 400 F.
8. To assemble oysters, spread 5 cups kosher salt in a large shallow baking pan. Nestle oysters in their shell in the salt. Spoon spinach mixture evenly over oysters, and top each oyster with 1 tsp breadcrumbs, and 1 tsp Parmesan cheese. Bake oysters in preheated oven for 5-6 minutes or until breadcrumbs are golden.
9. As oysters come out of the oven, sprinkle each with reserved bacon. Serve warm oysters in shells, nestled in remaining kosher salt (about 5 cups), on a platter.

I also remember going to Kona Kai at the Marriott on City Line Avenue. So sophisticated, at least it seemed that way at the time.

~Ann

Chas, you can tell your wife that there are still a few old restaurants in our area that serve turtle soup with the glass cruet of sherry alongside for the diner to mix in. I considered cherries jubilees, bananas Foster or any of the other flaming desserts from that era but since we'll be serving it after the show starts, I wanted to go for something that could be made somewhat ahead and assembled during a commercial. I've seen many photos of Baked Alaska in books but never made or tasted one.

Dedtired, that's the one. I also remember going to The Library in that vicinity around the same time.

Lpink, shrimp were relatively more expensive then compared to now so they only appeared in abundance at my parents' annual Christmas Eve open house. My mom didn't add them to the buffet table until about a hour after the party started and the guests who came overly hungry were mostly satisfied.

Plans are on track.

Cocktails were frozen daiquiris made in the blender and Old Fashioneds. Because we wanted to be finished eating before the show started, cocktail fare was confined to various spiced and buttered nuts, cheese straws, and an olive tray. First course was mushroom consommé.

It wasn't until DH was creating the Caesar salad that I thought of pictures. I put the rest of the courses on a small serving table on the way to the main table and snapped them, not realizing that my usual red dishes blended right in with the black tablecloth. Oh, well, at least you can see the food.

Main course got changed fron Veal Oscar to what we called Veal Roger because I had to substitute shrimp for the crabmeat. Sides were individual potato soufflés and broiled tomatoes.

We ate the dessert of Peach Melba Meringues during the show, along with coffee and liqueurs that had been languishing in the liquor cabinet forever. I made the meringues and Melba sauce from scratch and used peaches our neighborhood co-op canned last summer.

All of us had watched Mad Men since its first episode and felt that the dinner captured the spirit of the show and set the stage for the new season. Thanks so much for all your input.

Your food looks yummy, especially the Peach Melba.

I was glad we didn't go with a flaming dessert because the Melbas' assembly only took a few minutes away from the show.

Your guests must have been thrilled.

Ann

I just realized that Veal Oscar was the first meal photo I ever posted on the CF. I was clueless about using Photobucket and didn't have a digital camera but did have the photo as an e-mail attachment from DD so I forwarded it to Ann and she kindly posted it for me. I don't remember how long ago it was.

I also remember being thrilled when I figured out how to post a picture. Talk about change!

The peach Melba looks to die for! We had that as our wedding dessert.

VEAL OSCAR

1 1/2 lbs. veal cutlets, cut into serving-size pieces
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/3 c. butter, melted
1 c. fresh lump crab meat
1/2 c. chopped green onions
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 (10 oz.) pkgs. frozen asparagus spears, cooked (optional)
Bearnaise Sauce
Chopped fresh parsley

Flatten cutlets to 1/4 inch thickness, if necessary. Combine flour and seasonings; dredge cutlets in flour mixture. Cook veal in melted butter in a large skillet until browned on both sides. Remove meat, and keep warm, reserving drippings in skillet.

Add crab meat, green onions, and Worcestershire sauce to drippings in skillet; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture is thoroughly heated.

Arrange asparagus over each piece of veal, if desired. Spoon crab meat mixture evenly over asparagus; top with Bearnaise Sauce. Sprinkle with parsley. Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Ty!

For the crumbs, melt about a tablespoon of butter in a small dish and mix in 3 - 4 Tbs. fine dry bread crumbs, S & P, and any herbs or spices you want to add. Sometimes I mix in about 2 tsp. of finely grated cheese.

Bake tomatoes without crumbs at 350 or 375 for about 10 - 15 minutes, enough to heat them up but not get soft and lose their shape.

Remove from oven and blot tops with paper towels. Add crumbs and put under broiler about 8" from heat source until golden brown.

Just made Boston Cream Pie with my daughter. Daddy's fave! Not a looker but hope it taste good!

Thank you so much, Ruthanna for the inspiration,