A Wolfe In The Kitchen – Introduction

Introduction Anyone who is a fan of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe character knows that there are certain rules that MUST be observed, at least in his domain. Mr. Wolfe is known for his genius, his orchids, and his love for excellent food and beer. His eccentricities are part of what endears him to us, his followers. In tribute to this master detective, who leaves his New York City brownstone on very few occasions, we offer a sampling of the dishes served in his home. Each of the foods are mentioned in the “corpus” of Rex Stout‘s stories of Wolfe. Though the recipes are collected far and wide, they show just how much Wolfe appreciates and relishes his meals‘ His girth is ample testimony to this fact This project was conceived by members of the Wolfehounds, an electronic mailing list distributed via computer for all those who wish to subscribe. It was done by volunteers and was done for love of Wolfe, not profit. Information was gathered and passed back and forth around the U. S‘ and the world to bring this to you. We hope that you enjoy it enough to utter Wolfe‘s highest form of praise, “Satisfactory.” Dorothy Moran aka Inspector Cramer Please note that this is a work in progress.  Once completed each of the following book names will link to the recipe index for that book.

1. Fer de Lance

2. League of Frightened Men

3. Rubber Band

4. Red Box

5. Too Many Cooks

6. Some Buried Caesar

7. Over My Dead Body

8. Where There’s A Will

8A. Bitter End..(.in Death x 3)

9. Black Orchids

9A. Cordially Invited

l0. Not Quite Dead Enough

10A. Booby Trap

11. The Silent Speaker

12. Too Many Women

13. And Be A Villain

14. Trouble in Triplicate
a. Before I Die
b. Help Wanted, Male
c. Instead of Evidence

15. The Second Confession

16. Three Doors to Death
a. Man Alive
b. Omit Flowers
c. Door to Death

17. In the Best Families

18. Curtains For Three
a. Gun with Wings
b. Bullet for One
c. Disguise for Murder

19. Murder by the Book

20. Triple Jeopardy
a. Home to Roost
b. Cop Killer
c. Squirt and the Monkey

21. Prisoner’s Base

22. The Golden Spiders

23. Three Men Out
a. Invitation to Murder
b. The Zero Clue
c. This Won’t Kill You

24. The Black Mountain

25. Before Midnight

26. Three Witnesses

a. The Next Witness
b. When a Man Murders
c. Die Like a Dog

27. Might As Well Be Dead

28. If Death Ever Slept

29. Three for the Chair
a. Window for Death
b. Immune to Murder
c. Too Many Detectives

30. And Four To Go
a. Christmas Party
b. Easter Parade
c. Fourth of July
d. Murder is no Joke

31. Champagne for One

32. Plot It Yourself

33. Three At Wolfe’s Door
a. Poison a La Carte
b. Method Three for Murder
c. The Rodeo Murder

34. Too Many Clients

35. The Final Deduction

36. Homicide Trinity
a. Eeny Meeny Murder Mo
b. Death of a Demon
c. Counterfeit For Murder

37. Gambit

38. The Mother Hunt

39. Trio for Blunt Instruments

a. Kill Now. Pay Later

b. Murder is Corny

c. Blood Will Tell

40. A Right to Die

41. The Doorbell Rang

42. Death of a Doxy

43. The Father Hunt

44. Death of a Dude

45. Please Pass the Guilt

46. A Family Affair

47. Death Times Three
a. Frame-Up for Murder (Will be number 47 in AWITK)
b. Bitter End ( 8A IN AWITK)
c. Assault On a Brownstone (SAME AS ‘COUNTERFEIT FOR MURDER’ #36C IN AWITK)

FINlS!—- EXTRAS (OTHER THAN BOOKS IN THE CORPUS) WHICH ARE INCLUDED IN AWITK…DTDF

BEER

CRAMER’S DESSERTS

CRAMERS COOKIES

HORN & HARDART

HERBS & SPICES

GLOSSARY

EXOTIC RECIPES

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

MELTING POT

+1 PAGE OF HINTS

Squirrel Stew ala Fritz

3 squirrels, skinned and cleaned	6 thin slices ham
½ tsp salt	2 large onions, sliced
½ tsp paprika	¼ lb mushrooms, sliced
1 cup flour	4 potatoes, sliced
2 Tbs butter	1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
3/4 cup dry red wine

1. Cut squirrels into serving pieces. Add paprika and salt to flour and dredge squirrels pieces in flour mixture.

2. Heat oil and butter in a skillet and brown squirrel piece on all sides.

3. Butter a casserole and line bottom with two pieces of ham. Place a layer of squirrel on top of ham, then a layer of onion, mushrooms, and potatoes. Sprinkle with pepper and repeat until all ingredients are used up, ending with a layer of ham.

4. Add wine and cover.

5. Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours in a moderate oven (350°F) or until meat is tender.

Serve hot from casserole.

Nero Wolfe Cookbook

[Archie] “When I have to wait until nearly midnight for my dinner and then it’s squirrel stew…” ~ League of Frightened Men

Slate Run Squirrel Stew

3 squirrels, cut in serving pieces	1 tsp salt
Flour	1/4 tsp tarragon
4 Tbs butter	Dash of red pepper
2 large onions, sliced	3 carrots, sliced
2 large tomatoes, chopped (2 cups)	2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cups beef bouillon

Douse squirrel pieces in flour and brown in butter in a Dutch oven. Add onions and saute for a few minutes. Add tomatoes, bouillon, salt, tarragon, and pepper and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Add carrots and celery, cover and simmer another 40 minutes or until meat and vegetables are tender.

Bounty of the Earth Cookbook

Egg and Sausage Casserole

6 Tbs cream	Salt and pepper
3 fresh eggs, well beaten	Paprika
4 Lambert sausages	Chives

Brown sausage quickly and slice. Beat the eggs, add salt, pepper, paprika and chives to taste. Add sliced sausages and put the mixture into a buttered casserole. Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes.

League of Frightened Men

[Archie] “…when I called down to Fritz that I was out of the bathtub, he had lined a casserole with butter, put in it six tablespoons of cream, three fresh eggs, four Lambert sausages, salt, pepper, paprika and chives and conveyed it to the oven.” ~ League of Frightened Men

Omelet Chasseur

6 Tbs butter	1 ½ tsp flour
2 tsp chopped shallot or scallion	3 Tbs dry white wine or chicken stock
3 chicken livers, cut into 3 or 4 pieces	18 small mushroom caps
3 mushrooms, sliced	Chopped parsley
Salt and freshly ground pepper

1. In a skillet melt three tablespoons of the butter and add the shallot. Cook, stirring one minute. Add the chicken livers and mushroom slices and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook gently, stirring, one minute, or until the livers are browned.

2. Sprinkle the mixture with flour and stir in the wine. Use as a filling for six

three-egg omelets.

3. Melt the remaining butter in a skillet and in it saute the mushroom caps. Garnish each omelet with three caps and sprinkle with parsley.

New York Times Cookbook

Deviled Scallops

1 pint scallops	Dash of cayenne pepper
4 Tbs butter, softened	1 cup freshly made buttered bread crumbs
1/2 tsp dry mustard

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Butter a small baking dish or 3 scallop shells. Rinse the scallops and pat dry with paper towels. Cream the butter, mustard and cayenne in a small bowl. Put the scallops in the baking dish or shells, dot with the creamed and seasoned butter, and cover with buttered crumbs. Bake for 20 minutes.

Fannie Farmer Cookbook

[Archie] “Hibbard was at that moment eating scallops and arguing psychology with Wolfe.” ~ League of Frightened Men

Scallops Newburg

1 pint scallops	1/4 cup heavy cream
4 Tbs butter	2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 Tbs lemon juice	2 Tbs dry sherry
2 tsp flour	Salt

Rinse the scallops and pat dry with paper towels. Cut them in half. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a skillet and add the scallops and lemon juice. Cook for 1 minute, remove and set aside. Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in the skillet, stir in the flour, and cook until smooth and blended. Slowly add the cream, stirring constantly . Stir over low heat until thickened and smooth. Beat 2 spoonfuls of sauce into the yolks, and then stir the yolk-sauce mixture back into the sauce. Add the sherry and cook for 1 minute. Add the scallops and cook 2-3 minutes more. Add salt to taste.

Fannie Farmer Cookbook

Scallop and Shrimp Stew

This wonderful dish is from Chile

1 pound scallops	1 tsp Spanish paprika
1 pound shrimp, peeled and cleaned	1 cup cream
1/2 cup water	2 tsp salt
1/2 cup white wine	1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs	1/8 tsp dried ground chili peppers
1 cup milk	3 hard-cooked eggs, quartered
1/4 lb butter	1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 onions, chopped

Combine the scallops, shrimp, water and wine in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook over low heat for 6 minutes. Strain, reserving the stock. Reserve 3 scallops and 3 shrimp, and chop the remainder coarsely. Soak the bread crumbs in the milk. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the onions and paprika and saute for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Squeeze the excess milk from the bread crumbs and discard. Add the bread crumbs to the onions. Add the reserved stock, mixing well. Add the chopped scallops and shrimp, cream, salt, pepper, and chili peppers. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. The stew should be placed in individual earthenware or casserole dishes, garnished with the eggs, and sprinkled with cheese. Cut the reserved scallops and shrimp in half and place some in each portion.

Round-the-World Cookbook

[Archie] “Wolfe had once remarked to me that the orchids were his concubines: expensive, parasitic and temperamental.” ~ League of Frightened Men

[Wolfe] “A|l genius is distorted. including my own. But so, for that matter, is all life, a mad and futile ferment of substances meant originally to occupy space without disturbing it.” ~ League of Frightened Men

Madeira Sauce

Remove the pheasant to a warm serving platter and add one cup consomme to the pan. Stir over moderate heat, scraping loose the browned particles. Blend two tablespoons flour with two tablespoons butter and stir into the gravy bit by bit. When the gravy is thickened and smooth, add two to three tablespoons Madeira wine and the cooked pheasant liver, finely chopped.

New York Times Cookbook

[Archie] “Wolfe asked me once why the devil I ever pretended to read a book, and I told him for cultural reasons, and he said I might as well forgo the pains, that culture was like money, it comes easiest to those who need it least.” ~ League of Frightened Men

Roast Pheasant

1 two to three pound pheasant	1 slice lemon
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste	4 slices bacon
1 bay leaf	Melted butter
1 clove garlic	Madeira sauce
Few celery leaves

1. Preheat oven to moderate (350°F).

2. Sprinkle the pheasant inside and out with salt and pepper. Place the bay leaf, garlic, celery leaves and lemon in the cavity. Tie the legs together with string and turn the wings under.

3. Cover the breast with bacon and a piece of cheesecloth soaked in melted butter. Place the pheasant, breast up, on a rack in a baking pan and roast until tender, about thirty minutes per pound, basting frequently with melted butter.

4. Remove the cheesecloth and string. If desired, serve the pheasant on a bed of rice accompanied by Madeira sauce.

New York Times Cookbook

[Wolfe] “There are two pheasants which should not be kept waiting.” ~ League of Frightened Men

Roast Goose with Chestnut and Fruit Stuffing

1 goose, 9 to 12 pounds	2 Tbs grated lemon rind
24 to 30 prunes which have been brought to the boil and marinated in sherry or port to cover	2 to 3 cups whole shelled and skinned chestnuts (canned chestnuts in brine are excellent for this)
6 cooking apples, peeled, cut sixths, rolled in sugar and lemon juice	2 Tbs grated orange rind
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Prepare the goose for roasting. Roll the marinated prunes in the grated lemon rind, the apples in sugar and lemon juice, and the chestnuts in the grated orange rind. Stuff the bird with alternate layers of these three ingredients. Close the cavity with several thicknesses of foil or sew it up. Rub the goose with salt and pepper and prick the skin. Place on a rack in a roasting pan, cover with foil, and roast at 375°F about 2 ½ hours. Remove the foil, prick the skin of the goose very well, and return to the oven for 15 to 25 minutes or until the skin is crisped. Remove to a hot platter and serve surrounded by baked or candied sweet potatoes. This is good with an endive salad made with sliced oranges and onions and tossed with a vinaigrette sauce.

James Beard: “Strangely enough, although goose has been traditional in many of the countries from which people came to the United States, the number of recipes for this bird are very few. Even more astonishing – goose is a very difficult bird to find except occasionally at holiday time. At one point, small geese called junior geese were raised in the West. They had less fat on them, and more compact body frame, but even these are now practically unknown. A Mennonite group in Ontario, Canada has developed a remarkably good strain – not as fat as a French goose but tender and deliciously meaty. The average goose one finds in a market is frozen.”

James Beard’s American Cookery

[Wolfe] “In any art..one of the deepest secrets of excellence is a discerning elimination.” ~ League of Frightened Men

[Wolfe] “It is disastrous to permit the vagaries of the heart to infect the mind.” ~ League of Frightened Men