CLASSIC SPLIT PEA SOUP

We have lots of snow and it was five below zero a couple nights ago. That can only mean one thing; it is hot soup season!! I love having a pot of soup on the stove (or in the slow cooker) all weekend.  This is a great classic recipe for split pea soup; it is  quick, easy, packed with flavor and one of our favorite soups.

¾ pound smoked ham, cubed
1 cup onion chopped (I like Vidalia or sweet onions)
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrot
1 pound dried split peas (rinsed)
2 quarts chicken stock
2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons salt (see important note below)
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 cup cream (or half and half)

In a large stock pot, saute onion, celery and carrots together in a tablespoon of vegetable (or canola) oil for a few minutes (they don't have to be cooked all the way through).

Add the split peas, chicken stock, potatoes, ham, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer slowly (covered) for about an hour or until the peas are very soft (stir occasionally).

Now you have to process the soup in a food processor or blender (stick blenders don't work very well for this), so work in small batches, processing the soup until very smooth and thick.

Return the soup to the stock pot and add the cream (or half and half). Stir well and reheat , but don't boil.  When you serve it, top it with some crisp fried bacon (optional). I like to decorate each bowl with a rolled up slice of bacon (looks like a "bacon rose" lol).
NOTE: Don't automatically add the 2 teaspoons of salt before you consider the following.  If you are using home made chicken stock that has not been salted, go ahead and use the 2 teaspoons of salt.

If you are using a soup base, like McCormicks soup base (a fantastic product), well it has salt in it (but not as much salt as bullion).

If you use this, I would use only ½ to 1 teaspoon of salt.  If you are using regular bullion, leave the salt out all together and taste the soup just before serving to check for salt content.

Read More

Not A Cookbook -- An Article

By now I am sure that most of you have seen the New York Time's article: Are Cookbooks Obsolete?

We scoff.

Read More

Bitters

We have been waiting a long time for Brad Thomas Parsons book Bitters. That slight touch of bitterness adds a remarkable depth to cocktails and why shouldn't it be used to achieve that same level of nuance in cooking. Inspired by Parsons' book, the canned clementines we wrote about at Lucindaville featured a dash of bitters in our recipe.

There are a plethora of cocktail books out there, but Bitters is so much more. First and foremost, it is cultural history that encompasses food, medicine, and government in a tangled web of who's who. Are bitters food? Alcoholic beverage? Medicine? Well yes and no.

In a landscape of potions and elixirs and prohibition, what bitters survived. In an era of a romantic cocktail renaissance, who are the new players and will they survive this heyday? And you????

Will you head into your kitchen laboratory and whip up your own batch of bitters?


Yes, boys and girls, Brad Thomas Parsons answers all these questions and more. As one might suspect, the vast majority of the recipes in this book are for drinks. However, tucked neatly in the back are a dozen or so recipes for cooking with bitters. We cannot advocate the inclusion of bitters into cooking more. The section on compound butters, alone, will elevate your cooking prowess, not to mention that a "hostess gift" of a lovely log of compound butter will make you a standout in a sea of Two Buck Chuck wine.

Our favorite ice cream gets a bitters boost as do the ubiquitous spiced nuts. Now if you grew up in house with a little home bar, there was probably an old bottle of Angostura bitters floating about. Angostura was always publishing little recipe books and a staple recipe was always the broiled grapefruit with a splash of bitters. In keeping with that tradition, here it is:

Broiled Bitter Grapefruit

1 pink or ruby red grapefruit, chilled
Angostura bitters, Peychaud's Bitters, or other aromatic bitters
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 tablespoons Demerara sugar or turbino sugar
Garnish: maraschino cherry (optional)

Preheat the broiler and cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Slice the grapefruit in half at its equator. run the knife along the perimeter of each exposed half and along the membrane of each segment to loosen the segments. Dot each grapefruit half with 2 to 3 dashes of bitters.

In a small bowl, mix together the melted butter, sugar and 6 healthy dashes of bitters to form a sugary paste. Cover each grapefruit half equally with the brown sugar-bitters mixture and place on the prepared baking sheet. Broil until the sugar starts to crisp up and bubble, 2 to 4 minutes, Serve at once.

How fun was that? Now get in there and dig around in that old bar cabinet and find that bottle of bitters and start thinking of all the things to add a slash of bitterness.

Read More

EASY ENGLISH MUFFINS

I have always loved English muffins; I love all of the nooks and crannies that hold creamy butter and jam or a dab of melting peanut butter. They are very easy to make and they make wonderful breakfast sandwiches (they freeze well too!!).
2 packets dry active yeast (I use 2 tablespoons)
½ cup warm water
½ cup warm milk
¼ cup canola oil
1 egg
3 tablespoons honey
2 cups all purpose flour
1 whole wheat flour
1 cup raisins
1 teaspoon salt

Mix the flours, salt and raisins together and set aside. Whisk the egg into the cold milk and then add the water, oil  and honey. Warm this mixture in the microwave for a few seconds to take the chill off (bring it to the same temperature you would for a babies bottle). Stir in yeast and let it sit for about 5 minutes.

Pour this mixture into a stand mixer (can be done by hand also) and add the dry ingredients. Knead this dough for about 5 minutes or until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl cleanly. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm place for an hour. Dough should double in size.

Turn dough out onto counter (I do not flour the counter) and roll to ½” thickness. Cut muffins with a 4” cutter (or drinking glass). Place each muffin on a square of wax paper to rise. This will help you transfer the muffins to the frying pan. Let the muffins raise for an hour before you cook them.

The muffins are cooked on a DRY electric frying pan (no grease) or a cast iron skillet. The recipe does not say specifically what temperature to cook them at, it just says medium low for 7 minutes each side. I have found that they cook nicely at 300° on my electric griddle. Serve warm right from the frying pan or  cool on a wire rack and then slice in half and toast.
NOTE: Since everyone’s frying pan and stove temperatures are different, I suggest you try a single muffin and see how quickly it browns before you cook the whole batch.
NOTE: Hold onto the edges of the wax paper square as you gently lift the raw muffin from the counter. Turn the muffin over and gently peel of the wax paper and gently lay the raw muffin on the griddle.

NOTE: Do not grease the frying pan, they will NOT stick. If you are worried about it, or if you don't have a good non-stick pan, you can use a light sprinkle of corn meal on the cooking surface.

Read More

From Season to Season: A Year In Recipes

We love Sophie Dahl. In fact we love all the Dahl's, especially Roald. Sophie is Roald's granddaughter, who took the famous family name when she began to model. She was what we loving call in America a plus-size model.

Ironically,since she has started writing cookbooks, she has slimmed down considerable. But with a second cookbook and a another television show, the British press loves to compare her to Nigella Lawson.

With all that cleavage one worries whether they can even get close to the stove without some sort of Mrs. Doubtfire moment...

...but I digress...

We really loved Dahl's first cookbook, Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights. This new book is called From Season to Season: A Year In Recipes. However, when it gets published next year in America is will be titled, Very Fond of Food: A Year In Recipes. Why the name change is beyond me unless they are worried that there are several "season to season" books floating around.

This book is very much like the last. It is filled with comforting food, great photos, and family anecdotes. The recipes are fairly easy to follow and would be at home on any family table. In Britain is would seem that the kebab is very much like the hamburger -- that food one grabs when in a big hurry. Dahl's kebabs offer both a vegetarian and a chicken option, safely providing something for everyone. I must say, the recipe for the dressing is a good one. Often the words "dressing" or "sauce" are usually tedious and the part of the recipe that makes the reader turn the page. So putting everything in the blender and blitzing is quite comforting.

Kebabs

1 large courgette/zucchini, cut into rough chunks
1 packet of halloumi cheese, cut into chunks (or 250g/9 oz of skinless and boneless chicken breast, cut into chunks)
1 large red onion, peeled and cut into chunks
250g/9 oz of cherry tomatoes

For the dressing

250g of plain yoghurt
25g/ 1/4 cup of flaked almonds
1 clove of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
A handful of fresh coriander/cilantro
A small handful of fresh mint
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon of olive oil

If using wooden skewers, soak them for one hour in cold water first. Light the barbecue or preheat the grill of the oven.

Assemble the vegetables and cheese on the skewers, alternating courgette/zucchini, chunks of halloumi, onion and whole tomatoes. Leave to one side.

To make the dressing, put all the remaining ingredients in a blender and blitz until smooth. You can now pour this over the skewers before or after cooking them.

Put the skewers on the barbecue or under the grill and cook for about 10 minutes, turning occasionally.

Last time, the book was coming out before Christmas but Very Fond of Food: A Year In Recipes has a spring release date. If you can't wait, pick up a copy of From Season to Season: A Year In Recipes and find out why Miss Dahl is very fond of food.

Read More

PECAN PIE BARS

Picky-picky Hubby says these pecan pie bars are totally addictive. They have a buttery shortbread crust and a nutty (and slightly gooey) baked topping with a great pecan pie taste.

I have to admit that my budget doesn't allow pecans right now (they are almost $10 for a 2 cup bag!!), so I use walnuts, but they are ever so tasty just the same!! I am planning on adding these to my Christmas cookie trays (I'll splurge on pecans for Christmas though).

CRUST
2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter (room temperature)

Mix the above crust ingredients and press into a 9" x 13" baking dish (see note below about greasing pan). This mixture will seem crumbly, but don't worry about that. Just pat it evenly into the pan.  Bake in preheated 350 oven for 20 minutes. While the crust is baking, mix up the topping:

TOPPING
3 eggs well beaten
1 cup light corn syrup (like Karo syrup)
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 + 2/3 cup chopped pecans (toasted a little)

Mix well and pour over partially baked crust, making sure the nuts are evenly spread. Return to the 350 degree oven and bake for 25 more minutes.

Cool completely in pan before cutting.

NOTE:  The pecan pie bar crust does not stick to the pan, but around the edges of the topping, it does tend to stick. To combat that, I lined my 9" x 13" glass dish with foil. I didn't grease the bottom, but I greased the sides of the foil a little (the new Reynolds Easy Release foil would be good for this). 

Also, let the foil ends hand over the edges of the baking dish a little bit so you can grab the foil "tails" and lift the baked (and cooled) bars out of the pan for easier cutting.

When the bars are completely cool, just lift the whole thing out of the pan and onto a cutting board.They are rich, so cut the bars small.

Read More

Pieminister

We have acquired several British cookbooks as of late. Now we love a good pie, but frankly we love a great savory pie. Apples and pears and berries, oh my. But for a really spectacular pie try chicken and rabbit and leeks...among other things. Enter the Pieminister. The most funnest pie shoppe in Britain and now the best little pie book one can lay one's hands on. Loads of savory treats and sweet touch or two.

Tristan Hogg and Jon Simon were just two blokes who loved their pie. Then one day it dawned on them that they could be piemakers. They tried out a bunch of recipes and in 2003, they opened a little shop in Bristol. The next year, they became the official pie shop of the Glastonbury Festival. Then they became the pie shop of the Borough Market in London. Pieministers started sprouting around and now, for those of us who live outside their delivery area, Pieminister, the cookbook.

Really, the book is filled with yummy casseroles stuffed into pastry. So if one to find one's self trapped at home with no flour or suet, the book would still work. (Though, frankly, if one has,sausage, cider and potatoes, my guess is there is some flour around.) Of course, in America, it is rather hard to find suet anywhere, except in the occasional bird feeder. Keep your fingers crossed that suet will become the new "It" ingredient and start showing up everywhere. While we don't like to tamper with a recipe, the suet-challenged can stuff this into a fine plain pastry.

Sausage, Cider & Potato Pie

500g new potatoes, cut into slices 6-8mm thick
25g butter
1 onion, sliced
1 dessert apple, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
1 tsp sugar
100ml good-quality cider
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
500g herby sausages
1 quantity of suet pastry
handful of grated Cheddar cheese
1 free-range egg, lightly beaten, to glaze
sea salt and black pepper
a little chopped thyme and/or sage, to decorate

Cook the sliced potatoes in boiling water until tender, then drain and set aside. Melt the butter in a pan, add the onion and cook gently until softened. Stir in the apple and sugar and cook until the apple slices are tender but sill hold their shape. They should just be starting to caramelize a little. Pour in the cider and simmer until almost completely evaporated. Stir in the mustard, season with a little black pepper and remove from heat.

Slit the sausages open and peel off the skins. Mix the sausage meat with the potatoes, using your hands to break it up a little. Finally, stir in the warm onion and apple to give a loose mixture.

Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Roll out half the pastry on a lightly floured surface to about 5mm thick. Use to line a pie tin and then fill with the sausage and apple mixture. Brush the edge of the pastry with beaten egg. If you like, you can add the Cheddar at this stage, pushing it down into the filling to make cheesy pockets. Roll out the rest of the pastry to about 3mm thick and use to cover the pie, trimming off the excess and pressing the edges together to seal. Brush the top of the pie with beaten egg and then make a couple of holes in the centre to let out the steam. Place in the oven for 40-45 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is cooked through – check by inserting a skewer in the centre; it should come out hot. Serve with a WI-competition-winning chutney.

What could be better? I am headed to the kitchen now.

Read More

Testicles

I often write about my predilection to procure every French cookbook there is and often lament the fact that there really are just so many ways on can make boeuf bourguignon! So leave it to some French author to come up with a cookbook that covers a culinary delicacy I have never thought of cooking.

Blandine Vié has written a book that is the best of what a cookbook can be. Testicles: Balls in Cooking and Culture is part cookbook, part cultural history, part lexicon, an all profoundly entertaining. The book was originally published in France in 2005. It has been masterfully translated by Giles MacDonogh. I regret that my knowledge if French does not allow me the pleasure of reading this work in its original as MacDonogh tells us that Vié has a masterful sense of words, puns and is often plainly untranslatable. In fact, Testicles won the Prix Litteraire de la Commanderie des Gastronomes Ambassadeurs de Rungis.

The book is divided into three section. Mythology offering up a history of balls from anatomy to slang. Method, the bulk of the book, features recipes from ancient to modern. Attributes serves as a dictionary or lexicon of testicular. (Here, Giles MacDonogh augmented Vié's heavily French list to include more of an English slant.)

Having read several of the cookbooks alluded to in this book, I can safely say that one often overlooks the unfamiliar, that is to say, I am more likely to read that thousandth recipe for boeuf bourguignon before delving into say, a ragout of cock's stones. One of the easiest balls to come by or to get ones hands on or well, as you can see, one must chose one's words as carefully as one's balls. Let me start again: Lamb's testicles or "fries" are probably the easiest to procure from a butcher. Here is a small plate of lamb fries, but it can be doubled if you are a big ball eater for an entréé.

Balas à la provençal, as an apéritif

4 lamb’s fries [balas in Provençal]
200g fine soft breadcrumbs or dried crumbs
2eggs
1 tbsp crème fraîche
oil for deep-frying
2 lemons
fine sea salt
freshly ground white pepper


Remove the membrane surrounding the testicles and rinse them in cold water in which you have added a dash of vinegar or lemon juice. Drain and dry and cut into slices 5 mm thick. Spread out the breadcrumbs on a flat plate. Beat the eggs as for an omelette in a bowl together with the cream.

Lightly season the slices with salt and pepper, dip them in the egg mixture then turn them in the breadcrumbs, making sure both sides are covered.

Next drop them in the hot oil, which should not be smoking (175°C) and fry them for 2–3 minutes on each side until they are golden. Dry them on paper towls.

To serve, arrange them in a pyramid on a hot plate and surround them with lemon quarters.

Note: double the quantities if you wish to serve the balas as a main course. They can be accompanied by a fresh tomato sauce.

If you love food, language, and culinary history, you will have balls of fun with this book. IT makes a great present as I am sure, few out there have a a testicle cookbook!

Read More

Happy Halloween

Night of the Living Teddy

Read More

APPLE CRISP FOR TWO

Click on photo

I call this apple crisp for two, although I guess that is a bit of a misnomer. It actually makes 3 large desserts (like the above photo), so in my warped sense of proportions, it is apple crisp for two (and a little more for later) haha.  This can easily be doubled (just bake it a little longer).

I love a good fruit crisp. I like the topping slightly crunchy (but not HARD crunchy) and I like it to have lots of gooey filling. This is one of the best crisps we've tried in years.

2 large Granny Smith apples (see note)
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg (optional)

Peel, core and thinly slice the apples. Toss with the above ingredients and place in a greased baking dish (I use a 9" x 5" loaf pan). Sprinkle two tablespoons of water over the filling. NOTE: Don't mix the water into the above mixture, just sprinkle it evenly OVER the filling; trust me it works perfectly and makes the BEST sauce.

For the topping, mix
¼ cup quick oats
¼ cup all purpose flour
¼ cup brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons melted butter

Use a spoon and mix the topping ingredients until everything seems coated with butter. Evenly sprinkle it over the fruit filling. Bake in pre-heated 350 oven for 30-35 minutes or until apples are tender.  Let cool 15 minutes before serving (if you can wait that long).

NOTE: Make sure you use a good baking apple like Granny Smith. Regular eating apples don't work well in this kind of recipe (they get mushy).

NOTE: If you want to make dessert for 6, just double the recipe and cook for 45 minutes in an 8" x 8" pan.

Read More

WEEKEND BREAKFAST PIZZA

I don't buy refrigerator ("whomp tube") biscuits very often, but I DO buy them for this recipe. My family absolutely loves this quick and easy breakfast. As a matter of fact, the first time I made this, I was told "this is gold!!"  Even Picky-picky Hubby gave double thumbs up which is rare!!

 

This weekend treat can easily be "tweaked" to suit your family. Here are the basic ingredients:

8 ounce Pillsbury refrigerated crescent rolls
1 pound (total) cooked breakfast meat (see  note)
1½ cups frozen shredded hash browns (thawed)
1½ cups shredded cheddar
4 eggs  (don't be tempted to add more)
¼ cup milk
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ cup Parmesan cheese

Open the refrigerator rolls and press into an ungreased 12" pizza pan, pinching all of the seams shut. Important: make sure you press some of the dough up onto the sides of the pan to create a "lip". DO NOT PRE-BAKE THE CRUST.

Cook (and completely drain) one pound of your favorite breakfast meat (NOTE: I used equal parts of crisp bacon, breakfast sausage and finely diced ham...but ANY combo will work well. Just make sure the total weight is about a pound).

Sprinkle the cooked breakfast meat, evenly, over the unbaked crescent dough. Next, evenly sprinkle the thawed hash browns and cheddar cheese over the cooked meat.

In small bowl, whisk the 4 eggs, black pepper and milk together. Drizzle evenly over everything.  NOTE: Don't be tempted to add more eggs. It is going to SEEM like it isn't enough, but trust me...it is perfect.

 

Lastly, sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over all.  Bake in a 375 pre-heated oven for 30 minutes (my oven took 28 minutes). Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before you cut it.

 

Sauteed mushrooms, peppers, etc. would be wonderful in this breakfast pizza. Just add them the same time as the thawed hash browns. You might have to add a couple extra minutes to the total baking time if you add a LOT of extra veggies.

NOTE: You can also use one of those small boxes of JIFFY pizza crust mix instead of the crescent roll dough.

NOTE: If you use frozen hash browns, make sure they are thawed before using in this recipe.

Read More

STRAWBERRY FROSTING

This quick and easy strawberry frosting is just delightful. I used fresh strawberries, but I see no reason why frozen (thawed) strawberries wouldn't work.  It has a light, fresh, fruity flavor and was a big hit at my house.

1 cup UNSALTED butter at room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar (see note)
1 teaspoon vanilla
dash salt
5 tablespoons strawberry puree (see note)

Whip the butter, with electric mixer, until light and fluffy. Beat in powdered sugar, one cup at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally.

Add the strawberry puree (I just pureed fresh strawberries in my food processor), vanilla and salt. Beat till smooth.

NOTE: The liquid of the strawberries will vary for everyone. If your frosting seems too soft, just add extra powdered sugar (a little at a time) until you get the consistency you want.  If you are going to use this for piping trim, you'll have to add at least another cup to a cup and a half of powdered sugar.
NOTE: This recipe will easily frost 2½ dozen cupcakes if you are just frosting them with a knife.

Read More

Eat, Drink And Be Merry In Maryland

I defy you find another cookbook that is dedicated to Oliver Wendell Holmes and features and introduction by Emily Post. That is, however, what you will find in Eat, Drink And Be Merry In Maryland by Frederick Philip Stieff. Stieff was the scion of a famous piano-making family and a well-known gastronome. Post was a rather famous Marylander who found the cookbook dredged up many a Maryland memory. Holmes once wrote, "Baltimore... is the gastronomic metropolis of the Union." Who knew!

This cookbook was published in 1932 and features over 100 illustrations by Edwin Tunis. Remember that the book was published in 1932, so some of the illustration are very politically incorrect. Some of the illustration offer up poems, jokes, and histories of Maryland. For instance in the "drink" section, this:

A Marylander and a Virginia were discussing the merits of their respective liquors, The Marylander poured the Virginia two drinks. On imbibing one the Virginian fainted. When he came to, he admitted defeat. "But, " said the Marylander, "you drank the chaser."

I am sure it was more amusing in 1932, but you get the gist.



The endpapers feature a gastronomic map of Maryland, featuring the bounty of the state. Stieff not only


cooked, but collected recipes from multiple sources: restaurants, hotels, bars, inns and people. He culled recipes from housewives and spinsters, to a recipe from Senator Millard Tydings for a rather interesting breakfast.

Since crab is one of the bounties that makes Maryland great, here is a recipe featuring the states finest.

CRAB MEAT DEWEY

Take one pound of crab meat, melt two ounces of butter and blend with two ounces of sifted flour, gradually add 2/3 cup of chicken stock and a pint of thin cream.
Bring to boil for about five minutes, season with salt and cayenne pepper. Stir in the yolks of three well-beaten eggs.
Pay attention that sauce is perfectly smooth, add one cup full of thin sliced cooked mushrooms and crab meat. Serve on toast in shallow casserole. Sprinkle very fine chopped parsley as garniture.—Maryland Yacht Club, Baltimore.

Read More

CLASSIC BUTTER CAKE

A few days ago, my cooking buddy Katy, at Food For a Hungry Soul, posted a great classic cake recipe. It immediately caught my eye, not only because it looked so moist and delicious, but it looked quick, easy and used all standard pantry ingredients (my idea of a great recipe).

The recipe is all I hoped it would be. We had company for the weekend and the cake was a big hit. As a matter of fact, it was gone in about a day and a half (and it makes a nice big cake!!).  I hope you try it, it is delicious, thank you Katy!!

OLD FASHIONED BUTTER CAKE
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used 2)
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease and flour two 8" x 2" baking pans and set aside. (see note)

In a large mixing bowl sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add butter, milk, and vanilla. Beat on high speed of an electric mixer for 2 minutes (scrape down the sides of the bowl once in a while). Add the eggs and beat two more minutes.

Pour batter into prepared pans, dividing equally between the pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven.

Cool in the pans for 10 minutes and then turn cakes out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Katy frosted her butter cake with a delicious looking chocolate frosting, which I planned on repeating until I discovered I didn’t have enough powdered sugar, so I opted for a cooked frosting that uses granulated sugar, you can find my recipe here.

NOTE: The first time, I made this cake, I made the mistake of not measuring  the depth of my 8” cake pans. Katy’s directions said 8” x 2” and I found out (all too late) that my pans were 8” by 1½”. The cake baked beautifully, but got so tall that it came over the top and flowed over the edges (and down the sides) of the pan (thank goodness I had them on a cookie sheet!!) The next time I made the cake, I used a 9” x 2” pan and it worked beautifully (baked in 30 minutes).

Read More

Cosmopolitan Cookery In an English Kitchen

Theodora Fitzgibbon wrote over 30 books, most of them cookery books. Much of her writing dealt with her native Ireland and its surrounding area, but she was also well versed in food from an international perspective. For 15 years she worked on The Food of the Western World: An Encyclopedia of Food from North America and Europe a compendium of... well, it is exactly what the title says it is: an encyclopedia of food from North America and Europe.


As a kind of precursor to this monumental work, Fitzgibbon wrote Cosmopolitan Cookery In an English Kitchen. The book is a collection of Recipes Fitzgibbon adapted from her many travels. IT was an attempt to move the English cook away from mutton and boiled carrots. Published in 1953, it recalls a time when England was still dealing with the ravages of rationing. On 4 July 1954, food rationing in England came to an end with meat being the last of the rationed foodstuffs. After so much hardship, it was often hard for the home cook to let go and explore new options, as simply putting "food" on the table had been so hard.

Fitzgibbon offers this advice to those reading her book:

"I have found that many a good cook tends to spoil a meal by serving the wrong things together. A dinner consisting of the following was given to me some time ago: a leek and potato soup with cram, followed by chicken and onions in a bechamel sauce, followed in turn by mousse covered in cream. All delicious separately and all practically tasteless together, to say nothing of the appearance three times of a great gery-white splodge. (For the colour and consistency of food is important too.)"

I find "splodge" to be my new favorite word. Technically an irregular milky spot or drip, but with a recently more sexualized connotation. But I digress...

I have never been fond of veal, but I do love a good cooked cucumber and this dish offers the option of lamb and frankly, I think chicken would work too.

Sliced Veal or Lamb and Cucumbers

1/2 lb veal
1 1/2 dessertspoons of water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 oz mushrooms and/or Chinese fungus
1 teaspoon cornflour
1 cucumber
1 oz cooking fat

Slice the veal into thin strips, and mix with the cornflour paste made from the teaspoon of cornflour and the water, Peel the cucumber, cut into cubes, and fry for a few minutes with the slice mushrooms or fungus in the cooking fat Add the meat and cornflour mixture and fry together for 10 minutes. Add soy sauce, stir well and cook gently for 5 minutes, This dish can be made with pork and celery.

Or, I think, chicken!

Read More

Not A Cookbook -- Mamie Eisenhower's Fudge

Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower, 1959 by Thomas Edgar Stephens

Having a boatload of cookbooks means that I often get requests to find recipes. I was asked recently for an old fudge recipe, that someone remembered and I dare say, Mamie Eisenhower's Million Dollar Fudge may well be the most famous fudge recipe, if not the most famous recipe in American history.


Not only has it been reprinted in numerous newspapers and books, but it seems that everyone's mother or grandmother has a recipe card with this fudge recipe tucked in a box.




Supposedly, it made its first appearance in a cookbook entitled, Who Says We Can’t Cook, published in 1955 by the Women's National Press Club. Here is the recipe:

Mamie’s Million Dollar Fudge

4-1/2 cups of Sugar
2 Tablespoons of Butter
1 pinch of Salt
1 tall can of Evaporated Milk
12 ounces of Semi-sweet Chocolate Bits
12 ounces of German Sweet Chocolate
1 pint of Marshmallow Cream
2 cups of chopped Nutmeats

Heat the sugar, butter, salt and evaporated milk over low heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, and boil for six minutes. Put the chocolate bits, German chocolate, marshmallow cream and nutmeats into a heat resistant bowl. Pour the mixture you've been boiling over the ingredients you've just placed in the bowl. Beat until the chocolate has melted, and then pour it all into a pan. Let it stand for a few hours before cutting it into fudge sized pieces. Remember, it is even better the second day. Store in a tin box

When not tucked in a recipe box, it can be seen as a bookmark,

holding a place in a rather obscure Vladimir Nabokov novel.


Several days before Dwight Eisenhower was elected President, Mamie Eisenhower sent a letter to Mrs. Robert W. Macauley. She included a recipe for "Uncooked Fudge," and sent her best wishes for the success of the Cathedral's Women's Auxiliary Fall Festival. Whether this was the same fudge as her Million Dollar Fudge is unknown to me.

The Food Network "updated" the recipe for Eisenhower's fudge. The update seems to be changing "nutmeats" to "pecans" and moving the nuts to a higher position in the recipe. Here is their update:

Mamie Eisenhower's Fudge

4 1/2 cups sugar
Pinch salt
2 tablespoons butter
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
1 pint (1 jar) marshmallow cream
12 ounces semisweet chocolate
12 ounces German's sweet chocolate

Directions

In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, bring the sugar, salt, butter and evaporated milk to a boil. Boil for 6 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the pecans, marshmallow fluff and chocolate in a large bowl. Pour the boiled syrup over the chocolate mixture. Beat until chocolate is all melted.

Spray a 15 1/2 by 10 1/2 by 1-inch jelly-roll pan with a nonstick cooking spray and pour fudge into pan. Let harden at room temperature before cutting into 1-inch squares (can be placed in the refrigerator or freezer to speed hardening process).

All the updating in the world will not change the fact that this recipe is still a family favorite.




Check out things people leave in books at Forgotten Bookmarks.

For old recipes check out Gram's Recipe Box.

Read More