ENTERTAINING : California Parties--Past and Future : THE FORTIES

DURING THE EARLY ‘40s, THE WAR YEARS, I WAS IN LAGUNA BEACH, LEARNING TO COOK.

My husband was in the Marine Corps, stationed nearby, and we had rented a tiny three-bedroom house close to the ocean. During the five years we lived there, every friend we knew from our school days arrived to visit (and often to stay). In order to feed this steady stream, I made casseroles, stews, soups, and big hearty salads with thick, creamy dressings--all good to eat and cheap to make.

I loved those years--cooking and eating with cheery, hungry friends. Every dish was appreciated, and there was no such thing as a leftover. Convenience foods and frozen foods had appeared in the ‘40s, but they weren’t a convenience to me. I couldn’t afford them. I didn’t even have a refrigerator until the ‘50s. And I didn’t miss it.

Among my great memories of those years are abalone feasts. It wasn’t a simple matter to collect abalone; it took strength and skill. My husband and our sturdier friends would dive off the Laguna cliffs, swim underwater and pry the abalone (which were all but welded to the rocks by barnacles) loose with tire irons. When a dozen or more had been collected, we would head home. Getting them out of the shell was easy; pounding to tenderize them was tedious, but we all took turns. The steaks were fried a few seconds on each side and served with melted butter and lemon, stacks of thick sliced bread and a mountain of Romaine lettuce with garlic dressing.

The abalone have all but disappeared from Southern California, but in those days an abalone dinner was to us what a clambake is to Down Easters.

Grunion hunting, another great memory, was a very different experience--wildly suspenseful and exciting. Grunion, small (about five inches long) silvery fish, belong to the smelt family. They spawn during the summer above high tide, by the light of the full moon. Grunion runs are accurately predicted by the Fish & Game Department, but no one knows on which stretch of beach they will choose to spawn; it could be Santa Monica or San Juan Capistrano.

On the appointed night we would congregate on the main beach in Laguna at about 10, along with lots of other grunion enthusiasts. There were groups of us spread along the beach, sitting around fires while the full moon made a path across the water. We watched and waited while we talked about the last grunion run. We retold many times the tale of the Marines, a half dozen of them from the Midwest in dress blues, who saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time. There were grunion, too, and the Marines became so excited they got soaking wet trying to catch the elusive little fish.

The popular alcoholic beverage in those days was Southern Comfort and beer, and it was in ample supply at all grunion runs. If we were lucky, and in the right spot, the magic moment would arrive around midnight and someone would yell “here they come!” It was the most unbelievable sight of shining, silvery fish wiggling on the sand. We would grab pails and head into the surf, facing the beach knee-deep in water, so we could catch the grunion as they were swept past us, back into the tides. They would only be on the beach for seconds, but for several hours wave after wave would bring more.

Gazing down the beach when the grunion are running heavily, it looks as though bits of stars are strewn on the sand. It is illegal to use nets to catch them; catching by hand is the only permissible method. It was almost dawn when we would carry our buckets home. We fixed the grunion simply, frying them quickly in sizzling bacon fat and serving them with scrambled eggs and buttered toast.

Those abalone and grunion days are a world away at this moment. And the Laguna Beach abalone are almost extinct. But the grunion are still dancing on the sands late on summer nights. And if my friends are no longer as young or as hungry as they once were, the Laguna Beach recipes still appear often on my table, and there are still no leftovers.

When I first made the Laguna Beach Shrimp Curry, I used Campbell’s cream of tomato soup for the sauce. A neighbor taught me how to make the coconut-milk sauce, which seemed more mellow with the shrimp, and it is nice to have the toasted coconut for an accompanying condiment. In those days around the beach towns, shrimp was considered an economy food; they were as cheap as calamari is today.

LAGUNA BEACH SHRIMP CURRY

1 cup water

1 cup milk

2 cups unsweetened grated coconut

5 tablespoons butter

1 onion, chopped

1/4 cup flour

2 cups warm chicken broth

1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder

Salt

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 pounds cooked shrimp, shelled and deveined

6 cups cooked long-grain white rice

Sliced bananas

Peanuts

Heat water and milk until bubbles form ring around edge of pan. Remove from heat and stir in coconut. Let steep 1 hour.

Drain, squeezing coconut milk from coconut. Reserve coconut milk and coconut. Spread 1 cup coconut on baking sheet and toast under broiler or at 350 degrees until lightly golden. Set aside.

Melt butter in saute pan, stir in onion and cook until onion is tender. Add flour and stir until smooth and thick. Cook 2 minutes over medium-low heat. Do not brown.

Slowly add chicken broth, stirring constantly. Add curry powder and salt to taste. Cook, stirring often, until sauce is smooth and thickened.

Slowly add coconut milk until sauce is of desired consistency. Add lemon juice and shrimp and stir until heated through. Serve with rice, reserved toasted coconut, sliced bananas and peanuts. Makes 6 servings.

Note: Use any leftover coconut milk, plus water, to cook rice.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake was my very favorite dessert as a child. I first remember my mother making it around 1928 for special occasions. She always lacked confidence in the kitchen, especially when baking, but this cake turned out perfectly every time. It is a sure winner for a beginning baker. Butter, brown sugar and pineapple make one of the best tastes when combined; if you serve this cake warm with softly whipped cream, you will have an unbeatable dessert.

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

1/4 cup butter

3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed

7 canned pineapple rings

7 maraschino cherries

1/3 cup shortening

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1 2/3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup milk

Whipped cream

Melt butter over medium heat in 9-inch cast-iron or other oven-proof skillet. Add brown sugar and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until sugar melts and is very thick and bubbly.

Carefully but rapidly arrange pineapple rings in single layer in pan, pressing down into hot syrup. Place cherry in center of each ring. Set aside.

Cream shortening in large mixing bowl. Add granulated sugar gradually, beating well. Add vanilla, then eggs, and continue to beat until mixture is well blended and light.

Stir together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to creamed mixture along with milk, beating about 30 seconds until batter is smooth. Spread evenly over pineapple rings.

Bake at 350 degrees 35-40 minutes, or until wood pick comes out clean when inserted in center of cake and thick, syrupy juices are bubbling around edges. Remove from oven and let cool in pan 5 minutes. Place serving plate face down over pan, turn both upside-down; remove pan.

Serve warm with whipped cream. Makes 6-8 servings.

Note: If using baking pan instead of skillet, prepare syrup in heavy pan and transfer to baking dish, then continue as directed.

I made these cookies for the first time in Laguna because my husband loved peanut butter. I’ve tried other recipes, but these are the best: crisp, just sweet enough and full of the flavor of peanut butter.

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs, well beaten

1 cup peanut butter, creamy or chunk-style

3 cups flour

2 tablespoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Cream butter until light and fluffy. Slowly add brown and granulated sugars, continuing to beat until well blended. Add eggs and beat until smooth and light.

Add peanut butter and mix well. Pour flour into peanut-butter mixture, then sprinkle on baking soda and salt. Beat until all ingredients are well mixed.

Using palms, roll spoonfuls of dough into balls about 3/4 inch in diameter. Place about 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.

Press each cookie with back of fork to make crosshatch design (pattern looks like tick-tack-toe), and flatten each cookie to round about 1 1/2 inches across and 1/3 inch thick.

Bake at 350 degrees 8-10 minutes, or until edges are light brown. Remove from oven and transfer to racks to cool. Makes about 120 cookies.

This potato salad will save you when you are down to pennies with your budget. It is a supper dish , served with lots of whole, hard-cooked eggs and a platter of lettuce and tomatoes. The secret of this potato salad is the lemon juice and oil that is tossed and thoroughly mixed into the potatoes while they are hot. The flavor is keen, sharp and well-balanced.

POTATO SALAD

2 pounds red or white potatoes

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 1/2 cups chopped celery

1 cup mayonnaise, about

Salt, pepper

Boil potatoes until barely tender (potatoes continue to cook after removing from heat), remove from heat and peel while hot. Cut into 1/2-inch cubes.

Place in bowl and sprinkle oil and lemon juice, tossing potatoes until oil and lemon juice have completely coated cubes. Add celery and mayonnaise. Season to taste with salt and pepper and toss until well distributed.

Mix salad well and serve chilled or at room temperature. Makes 6 servings.

Note: Salad needs enough salt, pepper and lemon juice to give sharp balance. Mayonnaise should be ample, so salad is moist.

This Old-Fashioned Beef Stew has pleased a lot of people for a lot of years. I put this recipe into my first revision of “The Fannie Farmer Cookbook.” It is still the tastiest version I know.

OLD-FASHIONED BEEF STEW

1/3 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 pounds stewing beef, cut into 2-inch chunks

1/4 cup shortening

4 cups boiling water

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

1 large onion, sliced

2 bay leaves

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

Beef broth, optional

12 small carrots, trimmed and scraped

12 small white onions, trimmed

Combine flour, salt and pepper. Roll beef chunks in mixture. Shake off excess.

Melt shortening over high heat in Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot with cover. When fat is very hot, add beef, about 5 or 6 pieces at time to avoid crowding. Brown to rich, dark color on all sides, then remove.

When last batch of meat is browned, return meat to pot and carefully pour in boiling water. Stir and add lemon juice, Worcestershire, sugar, sliced onion, bay leaves and allspice. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 1/2-2 hours, or until meat is tender.

If liquid evaporates or gets too low, add more water or beef broth. Add carrots and small white onions and cook 15-20 minutes more, until carrots are tender when pierced with fork. Remove bay leaves. Makes 4 servings.

Ham and Bean Soup holds a special place in my heart because it was one of my best lessons in cooking. When I was first married, my husband had several favorite dishes from his mother, and one of them was this soup. I started trying to recreate the soup of his memory with recipe after recipe, adding sage, adding thyme, adding everything but the kitchen sink. Nothing came close. Finally I asked my mother-in-law for her recipe. I was shocked at the sparseness of ingredients; dried Great Northern beans, water, onion, ham, salt and pepper.

This is an example of “less is more.” It is also the most satisfying of supper soups. HAM AND BEAN SOUP

2 pounds Great Northern beans, soaked overnight, drained

2 onions, chopped

2 cups cut up ham or smoked pork butt

Salt, pepper

Place beans, onions and ham pieces in large pot. Pour in cold water to cover beans by 1 1/2 inches. Bring mixture to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to simmer, removing any scum that rises to surface. Simmer about 2 hours, or until beans are tender. Add water, if needed. Season with salt, pepper to taste. Remove fat that rises to top. Makes 6 servings.

STYLISTS: CHRIS JONIC, STEPHANIE PUDDY