I’m going to be on the radio on Sunday talking about Vincent Price, I’m very excited. It’s the Museum of Soho show on Soho Radio and you can listen to me make a fool of myself live between 10-11am. I’ll put the link to the show in this post after it has gone out too… I’ll be wearing a Hollywood Halloween cardigan (featuring Boris Karloff and Elsa Lanchester) and there must be some joke potential here about having a good cardigan for radio.
I bought it especially for the show but have already worn it twice, because it is so fab.
One of the things I’ll be taking with me to the studio is this weird and wonderful long-playing record. There really are no words to describe the brilliance, and I haven’t been able to find any extracts from this online, so if you want to hear some, tune in!
It’s one of the dozen International Cooking series of LPs that Vincent recorded in the 1970s. He talks you through recipes and includes tips on how to make your dinner party go with a swing. I’ve cooked my way through a few of the recipes on these recordings
The Vincent Price Bounty of Paradise Party
The Vincent Price Exotic Delights From the Far East Party
The Vincent Price Delights From the Sultan’s Pantry Party
and I made a fun video with Peter Fuller of the Vincent Price Legacy illustrating a curry recipe that I must do a blog post about soon…
But for now, here’s the chicken recipe that Vincent describes in Shakespearean stylie on this record – helpfully (as ye olde fashionede directions are a bit hard to follow) the recipe is on the back of the record.
THIS WAS REALLY DELICIOUS.
Mr R observed that the oranges, spices and prunes gave a really lovely Christmassy aroma to the chicken as he was carving it, and it was as succulent as can be. A winner of a recipe. I would definitely make this again, very autumnal and lovely.
I didn’t cook my chook for as long as Vincent directed (I have a feeling chickens are HUGE in America) – I just followed the 1.40 mins directions that came with my lovely free-range bird. I used about 50g of butter inside and out as I wasn’t sure what Vincent meant by a “cube” of butter.
I made a gravy will all the lovely pruney, orangey drippings but it was pretty salty – for the modern palate and arteries, might be worth using slightly less salt than Vincent recommends (unless you have a huge chicken of course). I had to add a LOT of red wine to the gravy to counteract the salt – ha ha! Winner, winner, chicken dinner.
I’m at the brewery this Saturday selling my breads, mustards and the Christmas batch of PiccalALEY so come on down.
And tune in to Soho Radio 10am on Sunday if you can – I need the moral support!
Wonderful can’t wait to see the cardi .. Don’t worry I make a fool of myself every month and it hasn’t done me any harm ! I’ve just been typing up some continuity notes for it. I’m also hooked on cassoulet now after a recent trip to the Cathar country in Southern France . Vincent got a recipe for that ?
Ha ha! I am so looking forward to it! There’s a good Shakespeare theme running through the LP record, Theatre of Blood (going to watch it today) and the Columbo episode set in London as Richard Basehart and Honor Blackman play Shakespearean actors…
No cassoulet recipe from Vincent alas, but do you want to see the role-call of who else likes cassoulet? Richard Burton, Myrna Loy, Liz Taylor, Diana Dors, Dinah Shore and Simone Signoret. I’ve made Simone’s version and it was DIVINE – https://www.silverscreensuppers.com/simone-signoret/simone-signoret-cassoulet-day-3
I will gather together all the other recipes sometime soon and send them over to you…
Very enjoyable hour, Jenny and Mark! Wasn’t able to catch you “live,” but was happy to see the archived show was there for listening.
Glad you enjoyed it Greg! I wonder if James Dean was ever in Soho?!
Thank you SO much for posting this! I liked the sound of the recipe so much that I decided to make it for my Halloween party and review it for my blog. I made sure to link here, of course! This was absolutely delicious and I’d wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who’s thinking of trying it out! Thanks again, and here’s the post with my review: https://annsblyth.wordpress.com/2017/11/02/cooking-with-the-stars-halloween-special-vincent-prices-guacamole-and-vincent-prices-savory-stuffed-chicken/
Oh, thanks so much Samantha! Just read your blog post and was so glad to see that you and your guests enjoyed the chicken. It’s really a winner isn’t it?! Your photos looked drool-worthy.
I think this is now my favourite way of cooking chicken, although I do love Elizabeth Taylor’s chicken dish too https://www.silverscreensuppers.com/elizabeth-taylor/elizabeth-taylors-chicken-steamed-in-wine – mmmmm CHICKEN!
Any chance of seeing a pic of the aforementioned cardi?
Ooh, yes, of course, Beth – I’ll put one in the next post! I’ve got it on right now actually, I love it.