It’s James Dean’s birthday today, so I wanted to cook something in his honour, from the brilliant Recipes For Rebels cookbook by Greg Swenson. Sooooooo many recipes from Jimmy’s family, co-stars and favourite eateries to choose from though….
Until Greg’s book came out, I didn’t have a recipe for Rod Steiger, Greg has found two. This one, and a pumpkin pie one. Roll on Halloweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen!
I really liked Rod’s chicken recipe, it was super tasty and easy to pull together. So here we go… I followed the recipe exactly, except for the frozen orange concentrate. We can’t get such a thing here in the UK, which grieves me, as I really want to try Yinzerella’s Fox Mulder’s Motel Cocktail
Rod Steiger’s Baked Chicken Grand Marnier
2 whole chicken breasts
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt [this seemed a lot to me, I used slightly less]
1/4 teaspoon paprika (or white pepper to taste)
1 cup minced white onion
1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange rind
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon frozen orange concentrate
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier (or Cointreau)
Cut chicken breasts in halves. Spray vegetable oil lightly on Teflon-coated skillet. Brown chicken breasts quickly on both sides, remove from heat.
Lightly grease bottom of oven-proof casserole. Cover with half the miced onion, top with chicken breasts. Season breasts with salt and paprika (or white pepepr). Top with remaning onions,
cover, cook in preheated 350 F [180 C / gas mark 4] oven for about 40 minutes.
Combine orange rind, milk, lemon juice, orange concentrate, beaten egg yolk and Grand Marnier (or Cointreau). Spread over chicken. Cook uncovered 15 minutes longer (or under broiler with flame set low to brown and crispen). Serve with crisp green salad with diet Roquefort dressing. Serve with good bottle of Beaujolais. Each serving has about 260 calories.
Here’s the finished article, with some garlic smashed potatoes, mmmmmm!
Zip over to Greg’s website for a FABULOUS post all about Schwab’s Pharmacy for James Dean’s Birthday
I’m putting the Shwab’s Pharmacy’s Don’t Care Sundae on my to do list STAT, that looks fab Greg!
It amazes me that you don’t have frozen orange juice concentrate in the UK.
Isn’t it bizarre? WHY can’t we get it?! I think it might be because Brits have TINY freezers as a rule, just little biddy things on top of their fridges. Unless they are like me and ask Father Christmas for one that fits under the kitchen counter too, for all the vast amount of leftovers generated by a spinster who does so much cooking…
In the 70s there was a craze for massive chest freezers here though. My mum had one. From memory it was full of mini pizzas, enormous bags of frozen peas and great big vats of ice-cream.
Kitchens (as a rule) are smaller here I think, consequently less freezer space.
Bah. I WANT FROZEN ORANGE JUICE CONCENTRATE. It’s not even something I can ask friends to bring me back from the States, for obvious reasons, ha ha!
Wow! That looks absolutely delectable! Great job as always!
We too can’t get frozen juice concentrates…and so many vintage recipes I’d love to have it for. More Grand Marnier I say! (joking…but a little tipple on the side while baking sure couldn’t hurt) 🙂
Glad you found a recipe that coordinates with your upcoming Columbo cookbook! I need to watch the “Strange Bedfellows” episode…it sounds great.
Thanks for the mentions! (and if you like your morning coffee as much as I do…you’re gonna love the “Don’t Care” sundae, Alex and I did)
I’ve been craving ice-cream for a couple of weeks now. It’s not something I generally have around the house, and I don’t have a sweet tooth really, CRISPS and salty snacks in general are my weakness…. But I do really want to try that sundae. I do have the requisite long spoons, but I’ll have to keep my eye out for those very tall sundae glasses too, wouldn’t be the same served in anything else! MMmmmm ice-cream!
Oh and P.S. Rod Steiger is brilliant in Columbo. Me and Mr R attempted to watch it after our Baked Chicken Grand Marnier. I fell asleep as usual. But not before Mr R made me laugh out loud several times by thinking every single bit part actor in “Strange Bedfellows” was Rod. He doesn’t turn up for quite a while!