1950’s Eisenhower White House Era Menu – 1st Course Salad

      We recently planned and prepared a 1950s Eisenhower era themed menu. It was inspired by original State Menus on file at the Eisenhower Library, Abilene, KS. Many of the recipes came directly from Francois Rysavy’s cookbook, White House Chef. For the entire menu, click on MENU or use the MENU tab at the top of this page.

     Rysavy attests that a green salad with Green Goddess dressing was the President’s favorite salad and so it was a common addition to both formal and informal menus. Following the typical French style, salads were generally served after the entrée course on formal occasions in the White House.  But adhering to American tradition, we used it as a first course.

   I must admit that I was a little skeptical about using anchovy paste but the salad dressing was delicious.

    Following the White House tradition, we served the salad with Cheese Straws – these were available on a plate at the table so guests could help themselves.

Green Goddess Salad Dressing

2 cups mayonnaise

1 cup sour cream

1/8 cup (2 tablespoons) anchovy paste (available in squeeze tubes)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup, chopped green onions

1/4 cup tarragon vinegar (couldn’t find it locally so I just steeped dried tarragon leaves in white vinegar overnight, then strained the leaves out)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (fresh lemon juice really adds to the taste)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar

1.     Whisk together all ingredients.

2.     Refrigerate until ready to serve and pour over favorite salad or greens. (After adding the dressing, we garnished it with chopped chives.)