Cooking Up A Halloween “Dinner And A Movie” With Vincent Price!
Actor Vincent Price was so much more than a horror legend: he was a foodie too!
And yes, that’s a heavily disguised Diana Rigg next to him! She’s helping Price serve up a lot of bloody fun for Halloween – and since we are ending the month of October, it’s time for one last ghoulish “Dinner And A Movie!”
Vincent’s Great “Treasury” Of Recipes!
Don’t worry, we aren’t cooking up any “flying” creatures, but we are going to make a great meal thanks to Price, and then watch a great Halloween film…because it’s a terrific recipe from Vincent Price’s “Treasury Of Great Recipes!”
Food Connoisseur Vincent Price!
He was so much more than a Horror Icon: Vincent Price loved food and cooking, and this book is a revelation! You see, Price and his wife Mary made friends with Chefs all around the world, and asked them all for recipes to share!
This massive collection is more than 450 pages, and beautifully categorized by country and restaurant. There are literally hundreds of recipes from some of the greatest restaurants in the world, but I chose something a bit simpler to begin – before we cook, here is how Vincent sets up each recipe, with a look at the restaurant And the event:
Vincent and his wife attended this special dinner at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and one of the dishes was this terrific “Game Hens With Wild Rice And Orange Sauce” recipe:
I admit this isn’t too complicated, but I’m cooking for a night of horror, so I deserve a break!
It all begins when I set out the ingredients for the sauce:
By the way, why did I decide to make Game Hens? Well, because Amazon Fresh delivered me two frozen birds instead of an order of toilet paper!
True Story!
Note that all of the ingredients, and the amount you need, is pictured on that recipe page above, so just a broad overview of how this comes together:
Turn the oven on to 350 degrees, and salt and pepper your game hens, then slice a few slices of butter underneath the skin – I love how that soaks nicely into the meat…they take 45-50 minutes once in, and that gives me plenty of time to make the sauce…by taking off the skin of the orange – or in this case a blood orange, and then dicing it into minute strips:
No “Flames” Here!
As the recipe says, bring the rinds to a boil in water and then simmer for ten minutes….then, you drain them and make the sauce by adding some of the drippings from the game hens – or butter, and the Grand Marnier…I used Cointreau instead, and I didn’t film it while “flaming” it in order to avoid a kitchen disaster!
Next, add the required amount of flour and stir, then add your sectioned oranges:
Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes, adjust your seasonings to your taste, and it’s ready to go!
Now, a short sidebar: I pre-cooked some white rice and some wild black rice so it would be ready to go, and just added some chopped walnuts to it…then I mixed it up and reheated in the oven for a few minutes when it was time to bring the dish together:
Of course, the final assembly begins when you take the Game Hens out of the oven – I gave them a full 55 minutes, and here’s what happened:
Next, I put the rice mixture in a shallow rounded serving bowl and placed the Game Hen in the middle like so:
Then, it was time to attempt to drizzle the bird with the orange sauce while simultaneously filming it for your enjoyment – and I almost got it!
Note: I used a bit too much flour, but I like a creamier sauce…I would have been a bit more judicious because you can always add more!
After the drizzle, I sprinkled a bit of parsley over the top and this is what the dish looked like:
And how was it? Well, it was pretty easy as the recipe showed, but the bird was moist inside, and the orange sauce had a nice pop of citrus flavor and a strong Cointreau finish as well!
Well, there’s my “dinner and a movie” DINNER – so now it’s time for a delicious Halloween “MOVIE” treat from Vincent Price and Diana Rigg!
Yes, there they are again – Diana Rigg said she had the BEST moviemaking experience of her career working with Vincent Price, and how could she not?
The comic horror film “Theater Of Blood” tells the story of a once-great Actor who decides to kill all of the Critics who helped end his career!
It’s a blast, and you can see the trailer and a lot of great behind-the-scenes information by clicking here:
As I said, Vincent Price was so much more than just a great Horror Icon…and his daughter captured his life with honesty, candor and love!
Victoria’s biography of her father is fascinating – did you know that in the 60’s Price oversaw the largest collection of Art in the United States…courtesy of Sears?
Click here to read more about this fascinating Talent!
Regular readers know that in 2022 I undertook a “52 In 22” cooking challenge – 52 different recipes over 52 weeks – and it all began with Price!
Yes, I used that same cookbook to make this wonderful sole dish – click here for the recipe:
I will be sharing ghoulish food recipes and Halloween costume ideas all month long, like I did last years when I shared some of these food costumes:
I shared a whole new batch this year – and you can see them here:
If you enjoy these posts, why not subscribe and never miss out? It’s easy, and there are NO ads of any kind, just stuff I like…click on the main page and “follow” me on the upper right…
If you like the story, share it with friends on social media! Thanks!
Categories: Bite Eat Swallow, Bite! Eat! Repeat!, Books / Media, Chef memoirs, Cookbooks, Eat This!, Fine Dining, Food Writing, Movies, Recipes, Wacky Food
Bite! Eat! Repeat! 
He was definitely an amazing man!
you are the one who taught me about what an amazing cook he was!
I love how much of a foodie he was – and an Art expert too! He had such a great life!
Hi John, this sounds like a great idea for a cookbook. A recipe anthology.
Simply – thank you! I had the original book bought in 1964 in Mexico City of all places . . . and thoroughly enjoyed it for its quite simple but hugely tasty recipes. No photos on the original cover – the very heavy tome was covered in plain regal red. The guy was intelligent, knowledgeable and stylish with a delightfully sophisticated humour. Yes, I knew about his love and expertise in art . . . just have to get his daughter’s book hoping my so-far ‘facts’ about him have been correct 🙂 !
They sound like they are indeed…his daughter’s book gives a loving but honest account of his life and he lived it to the fullest! Thanks for the comment!