The Holiday Dinner

During the coming holiday season, any polished young man surrounded by his sisters and his cousins and his aunts will still dutifully raise the old ivory-handled carving knife over the traditional turkey and ask who wants the drumstick. But when the same guy wants to companionize with a particular girl, when he feels that the time has come for certain views to be intimately welded together, he knows there must be a change in menu. He can hardly hope to raise his stock over the carcass of a big gobbler swimming in the same old giblet gravy the wench ate when she was five years old.

If he takes our advice, he'll introduce his lass to Playboy's Holiday Dinner, featuring, as its main course, that new and altogether charming indulgence, the Rock Cornish Game Hen.

This infant member of the feathered kingdom first appeared seven years ago on a Connecticut farm owned by a Russian exile, Jacques Makowsky. In 1949 Mr. and Mrs. Makowsky set about creating a new kind of poultry by crossing the Cornish Game Hen, a descendant of a Malayan fighting cock, with a strain of Plymouth Rock chickens. The heavenly hybrid first sold to a select clientele, soon caught on in a popular way. Chefs, hostesses and pleasure partisans everywhere bought and ate Rock Cornish Game Hens. This year Jacques Makowsky's Idle Wild Farm in Pomfret Center, Connecticut, will produce two million of the small succulent birds. They will be eaten during the coming holiday fête not only on American Thanksgiving and Christmas tables but in restaurants on the Champs Élysées, in officers' mess halls in Japan and at isolated trading posts in Africa.

When you sit down to a Rock Cornish Game Hen, you can look forward to revelling in what Playboy considers one of the most ecstatic and heartfelt of all holiday pleasures — namely, eating around a bone. Unlike the plate of soft sliced turkey, each portion of Rock Cornish Game Hen comes to you as the carcass of a whole bird. When you face a small bird of this type you must remember the one and only valid principle of etiquette: do what everybody else does. Eat with your fingers.

If you're sitting across the table with your playmate, you'll both discover first of all that the Rock Cornish Game Hen isn't gamey; that is, it doesn't have the high flavor one encounters in pheasant, grouse or quail. Old time sportsmen and hunters will miss this strong flavor and the delicate fragrance of incipient mold. Others will be delighted by the rich, "chickeny" taste of the bird. Although its flavor is somewhat like chicken, it has an added richness perhaps closer to guinea hen than to anything else. It doesn't have the occasional dryness or stringiness one may find in guinea hen. There's a special kind of tenderness in the Rock Cornish Game Hens, too. The meat doesn't slide off the bone like a piece of over-boiled fowl. As your teeth attack the bird from the wing tip to the aft, you'll notice a certain cordial firmness in the flesh that causes everybody in the bone cult to be captivated with pleasure. It's like kissing a girl. You want her lips to yield but not turn to jello.

We feel that a holiday dinner should be both new and traditional. The dinner should be relatively easy to cook, to serve and to eat. It can't be too much of a snap, however, or it simply won't show any creative effort. The truffle sauce, for instance, in the menu coming up, requires a certain effort and patience. If you want to avoid this effort, you can substitute a French wine sauce put up in frozen form. But the product you buy will automatically deprive you of that strange luxurious bliss which every fellow enjoys when he passes the sauce boat and says, "It's my own."

Playboy's Holiday Dinner is obviously not an inexpensive menu. Nor should it be one. For people of normal incomes it won't stretch the purse strings to the breaking point. But Christmas is coming, and all hands including the cook will not begrudge this once-a-year elegance. Here's the lineup:

Playboy's 1956 Holiday Dinner

Manhattans-on-the-Rocks

Caviar Oyster Canapes

Iced Spanish Melon with Lime

Roast Rock Cornish Game Hen,

Truffle Sauce

Quince Jelly

Buttered Asparagus

Chestnut Puree

Red Burgundy

Plum Pudding, Rum Sauce

Black French Roast Coffee

Salted Macadamia Nuts

Assorted Liqueurs

And here are the tasty details:

[recipe_title]The Cocktail[/recipe_title]

Manhattans-on-the-rocks are made in the usual way — with two parts rye, one part Italian vermouth and a dash of bitters. They should be twirled, not shaken, with ice. While the classicist will insist on rye, a fine Manhattan can also be made with bourbon. Old Grandad or Old Taylor make a magnificent holiday Manhattan. Pour them over ice cubes in Old Fashioned glasses. Place a stem cherry in each glass.

Caviar oyster canapes are merely black caviar spread on small squares of buttered toast or cocktail crackers, topped with a small oyster of the Bluepoint size. Some very tiny wedges of lemon and sprigs of parsley are scattered between the canapes. For this appetizer it isn't necessary to use fresh Beluga caviar at $32 a pound. It is important, however, to buy a good grade of lightly salted black caviar. Don't buy the cheapest, smallest, saltiest grain. Don't use the red salmon caviar. The canapes must be biting cold when served. Be sure the toast is trimmed of all crust and each piece is cut into four equal squares. Spread the toast generously with butter. Spread it with caviar, covering the toast completely to the edge. Make a small hollow in the center of each canape for resting the oyster. If you can't open the oysters yourself, or if you do not have a mechanical oyster opener, ask the man at the fish store to open the oysters and put them in a container with their own liquor. Drain each oyster well before placing it on the canape. Allow about three canapes per person. Smoked oysters may be substituted for the fresh if desired.

[recipe_title]The Melon[/recipe_title]

During the holiday season it's impossible to predict just when a particular melon will be on the market. Sometimes the Christmas or Santa Claus melons arrive the first week in December, sometimes later. Sometimes the Spanish melons, a particularly luscious fruit, arrive firm and ripe for the Christmas board. There have been years when honeydew melons, carried in storage from the previous summer, were still on sale at the year's end. Consult your fruit dealer for available melons. Be sure they are ripe and ready to eat, not merely "on the turn." Serve the melon cut into long wedges with a small piece of lime on the side. If there are no melons available in your neighborhood, then serve a half grapefruit or grapefruit segments. Drizzle the grapefruit with honey or Drambuie just before serving.

[recipe_title]Roast Rock Cornish Game Hens[/recipe_title]

Idle Wild Rock Cornish Game Hens are each packed in an individual carton with cooking instructions on the plastic bag covering each bird. They may be ordered direct from the Idle Wild Farm in Pomfret Center, Connecticut, or may be bought in swank food stores throughout the country. Some Cornish Game Hens other than the Idle Wild brand do not carry cooking instructions. All Cornish Game Hens are sold frozen and must be thawed before cooking.

The Idle Wild birds are sold in single portion size, each about as big as a fair size squab, and a larger version enough for two servings. Each size may also be bought either (a) stuffed with wild rice, (b) boned or (c) boned and stuffed. The boned versions are obviously designed for lorgnette ladies in the social register or toothless members of the Brownstone Front.

To roast a small size unstuffed bird, brush the thawed bird generously with softened or melted butter. Sprinkle it lightly with salt and pepper. Place it in an uncovered shallow roasting pan in an oven preheated at 450 degrees. Roast it at 450 degrees for 15 minutes or until light golden brown. Reduce heat to 350 degrees. Add about 1/4 cup chicken broth or water to the pan for gravy drippings. Continue to roast at 350 degrees for about 20 to 25 minutes longer. Baste frequently and turn the bird when necessary to brown evenly on all sides. The larger size birds are roasted in the same manner, with a somewhat longer cooking time. Place the large birds in a 450 degree oven for about a half hour. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and continue to roast as above for 40 to 50 minutes longer or until tender and well-browned.

Note Well: If you use a deep roasting pan with high sides, the birds will not brown as well as they will in a shallow pan. A bird that is ice cold will take a longer cooking time than a bird at room temperature. The frozen neck as well as the liver and heart of the bird should be removed from the cavity of the bird before roasting. The neck and heart may be used to give flavor to the sauce. The liver may be sautéed or cooked in the roasting pan for a few minutes before the bird is removed from the oven. If your oven thermostat is not (concluded on page 87)Holiday Dinner(continued from page 40) working properly, you may use your own judgment to lengthen or shorten the cooking times suggested here. The bird is done when the drumstick is tender and when the breast shows no pink liquid when pierced with a fork. If, after cooking, the bird is tender but not brown, turn the oven heat up high for a few minutes or place the bird under a broiler flame and turn it until evenly browned. The skin must be a deep brown or the flavor is not at its best.

[recipe_title]Truffle Sauce[/recipe_title]

The smallest can of truffles, imported from France, will cost about a dollar. Usually truffles are only obtainable in the fancy food shops in large cities. The firm black tuber has little flavor of its own, but it is incomparable for highlighting and accenting the flavors of other blended foods.

In a saucepan melt 3 tablespoons butter. Add 1 sliced medium size onion, 1 sliced piece of celery, 3 sprigs of parsley and a pinch of sage. Sauté slowly until the onion is deep yellow. Add 2 tablespoons flour and stir well. Cook for a few minutes over a low flame, stirring frequently, until the flour turns a very light brown. Be careful not to burn it. Gradually add 1 1/2 cups hot chicken broth — the canned will do. Add 1/4 cup tomato juice. Stir well while adding the liquids. Bring to a boil. Skim well. Add 1 jigger brandy and 1 wineglass of dry red wine. Simmer very slowly until liquid is reduced to one cup. This slow reduction is extremely important for a proper blend of flavors. Add gravy color slowly, stirring until the sauce has a rich brown color. Pour the sauce into the pan in which the Rock Cornish Game Hens were roasted. Scrape the pan bottom. Stir well. Strain the sauce back into the saucepan. Skim the fat if necessary. Add 3 tablespoons coarsely chopped truffles. Simmer 2 or 3 minutes longer. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour some of the hot sauce over the Rock Cornish Game Hens on the serving platter. Pass more sauce at the table.

If you can't get your hands on the truffles, you can make this sauce without them and still have a distinctive gravy.

[recipe_title]Quince Jelly[/recipe_title]

Be sure the jelly is ice cold. Run a knife along the edge of the jar, and unmould the jelly whole onto a serving dish. If quince jelly is not available, then any other tart clear jelly, such as apple, crabapple or raspberry, will do.

[recipe_title]Chestnut Puree[/recipe_title]

For two persons, buy a one-pound can of chestnuts in water. (Do not buy marrons or Chinese water chestnuts.) Mash the chestnuts by forcing them through a colander, food mill or puree machine. Place the mashed chestnuts in a heavy saucepan with 14 cup heavy cream, 14 cup milk. 1 tablespoon butter and a heavy sprinkling each of nutmeg, cinnamon and sugar. Mix very well. Season to taste with salt. Cook over a slow flame, stirring frequently, until heated through. Correct seasoning if necessary. If the puree is too thick, thin it with additional milk. The puree should have the consistency of mashed potatoes. Imported pureed chestnuts, ready for the saucepan except for seasonings, may be bought in one-pound tins.

[recipe_title]Red Burgundy[/recipe_title]

Although Rock Cornish Game Hen is a white meat bird, the flavor is rich enough to warrant a deep red wine. Any fine domestic or French Burgundy will provide a magnificent counterpoint to this sort of dinner. If a white wine is preferred, then the Alsatian Sylvaner, slightly chilled, is recommended without reservation.

[recipe_title]Plum Pudding[/recipe_title]

A one-pound prepared plum pudding will serve six people easily since the dessert is quite intense in flavor. Plum pudding may be bought in either a tin or a crock. The pudding in the tin will usually be more moist than the pudding in the crock. Heat the pudding, before serving, in its own container in warm water. Cover each portion with prepared rum sauce also slightly heated. The Charlotte Charles brand or the Martha Ann brand of rum sauce are both very pleasant.

[recipe_title]After Dinner[/recipe_title]

Serve the black coffee in demi-tasse cups with small lumps of sugar. Use the dark French roast coffee or Italian espresso coffee if available. The slightly sweet, slightly salty flavor of the Hawaiian Macadamia nuts goes perfectly with after-dinner drinking. Any liqueur from cointreau to kirsch will help to keep the glow of your guests as steady and bright as the holiday candles.