Charles Farrell Salad

At turns light and heavy, this salad is a blue cheese, bacon, and avocado salad which is lightened by the lemon juice vinaigrette. I was kind of amazed to find avocados in the book considering how scarce vegetables are. Still, a nice salad. Although probably not something I would rush to make again.

Blueberry Muffins La Posada

These blueberry muffins served on the Santa Fe Super Chief and originating from the La Posada Hotel in Winslow, Arizona are fine little muffin, light and clean tasting, although perhaps a little innocuous. There was nothing wrong with them but I kind of hope for something a little more elevated when I look for pastry recipes.

Ranch Eggs

Last Sunday I had my whole family over for breakfast and served these Ranch Eggs with French Toast Santa Fe and Blueberry Muffins La Posada. The Ranch Eggs essential consist of scrambled eggs with a side of sauteed peppers and onions with bacon crumbs sprinkled on top. A hearty and tasty dish, lightened somewhat by the peeled and seeded tomatoes sauteed with the veggies. There’s nothing particularly special about this recipe but it got the job done and left everybody quite satisfied.

French Toast Santa Fe

This recipe for french toast came from the Santa Fe Super Chief railroad dining car  in the USA, a now defunct deluxe passenger train which used to run between Chicago and Los Angeles from the mid-30s up to 1971. The recipe itself is fairly standard although the addition of cream and trimmed crusts makes it quite nice. They were supposed to “puff up” in the oven but it didn’t seem to work for me. Although perhaps I didn’t soak them for long enough in the batter and my bread was still fairly fresh.  Still, a great recipe and will probably become the standard for me now. As an aside, the Super Chief was considered the preferred passenger car of the Hollywood elite and carried such stars as Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, and of course, Vincent Price. In 1952 there was even a film set on the moving Super Chief entitled “Three for Bedroom C” starring Gloria Swanson running off the success of her pivotal late era Sunset Boulevard. It is little gems like this which are the very reason I am so attracted to this book. Part culinary auto-biography, part time capsule, Mary and Vincent’s cookbook provides so much more than simply recipes.