Recent Foodsville Recipes

FDR's Martini

pinkney@meadandmikell.com — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:03:31

I know a lovely woman who says that when she lays dying she wants someone to give her a freshly lighted Marlboro. I want one of these Martinis.... and a cheese straw made with sharp cheddar and cayenne.

Somewhere I read that this is how Franklin Roosevelt made his Martinis and when he served one to Joseph Stalin, the premier didn't like it, saying it was, "Cold on the stomach". It sounds like he spilled it down his shirt front. The recipe is unusual today in that it is made from equal parts Gin and Vermouth. This is probably closer to the drink's origin, the claims to which are clouded and confused.

My venerable old mixology book recommended Martinis be made in a 7:1, Gin to Vermouth ratio, but I thought to try FDR's version and found it to be a very fine, aromatic, clean and tasty cocktail. It should be noted that cocktails mixed on ice have water in them. Water is part of the drink and while a Martini on the rocks isn't to my taste, neither is a Martini that manages to exclude ice melt in the mixing.

Cocktails have changed a great deal over the last fifty years or so. When film stars and publishing giants were knocking them back at three Martini lunches a Martini was a two to three ounce cocktail in a three and a half ounce stemmed glass; hardly worth the barman's time today. At home the smack was made by the pitcher one round at a time to be consumed very cold a little bit at a time. Watch Nick and Nora mix and drink a pitcher in a Thin Man movie and you will see what I mean. Today, a Martini is understood to be an enormous amount of straight up alcohol, usually Vodka or maybe Vodka touched with a breath of Vermouth. Todays standard SUPERSIZED Martini would have served Nick and Nora Charles for much of an evening. The idea was to have several rounds each made fresh, consumed ice cold so as not to go all drunk on the first one or have it get warm while being nursed along.

There is nothing wrong with drinking chilled Gin or Vodka, but one isn't drinking a Martini even if it has an olive. It isn't a cocktail at all; it's a glass of cold alcohol with a piece of fruit. There's a place for this, for sure; just, please, don't call it a MARTINI.

A twist of lemon peel adds much to the finished drink.

Elder Ward's Brisket on a Big Green Egg

ahurvitz@gmail.com — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:19:22

Elder Ward is something of a legend in Big Green Egg-Land. This is his famous recipe for brisket. I believe it is a Carolina brisket, though I'm not certain. It's pretty incredible. One thing I plan to do the next time is to reduce the rub to more of a dusting than a crusting and to cut back on the flavoring wood. The recipe makes for a fairly spicy (not all that hot or overpowering, but spice-laden) and smoky brisket. I'm looking for a slightly more subtle result.

The recipe references a sauce and beans. Those recipes can be found online by googling Elder Ward. Also by searching the Big Green Egg Forum. And yeah, there's a forum. And no, I guess I really don't have a life.

Bigmama's Chocolate Pie

charlottehw@gmail.com — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 20:50:41

Bigmama’s Chocolate Pie, a recipe immortalized by a great chocolatey woman from my childhood, is a family recipe that prevails, one that every bride asks for and the one that guests always expect at my house. It is very simple, and quick to make, but chocolate, deep and dark and warm like the woman who made it. Her name was Helen Graham and she was another mother to me when I was a little girl growing up just outside the city limits of a small town in Iredell County, North Carolina. My daddy made house calls, took out tonsils and delivered the babies, while Helen worked as our family cook and caregiver. This recipe is inspired by hers, which I have made fudgier over the years, by adding a tad of unbleached flour.

My recipe card says,“Bigmama’s Chocolate Pie” and this is the official christening of that name for it. Bigmama is my own grandmother name, chosen as (comical) irony, when my daughter, a senior in college, made me a grandmother when I was 40 and a petite size 4. Helen Graham was a Bigmama in every sense of the word, and this recipe is dedicated to her. The recipe is for two pies, one for tonight, and one for breakfast…

Now's the time - Small (Baby Artichokes)

pinkney@meadandmikell.com — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:57:02

Now's the time - I think this comes mostly from the box that baby artichokes come in. The small artichokes are all over the place right now in clam shell packages and loose in bins. So - get hold of a dozen or so little-tiny-small-as-you-can-find baby artichokes. They make a nice spring treat like the fiddle head ferns.

Deviled Crabs from Charleston Receipts

pinkney@meadandmikell.com — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:25:50

There are four recipes for Deviled crabs in The Charleston Receipts and five more for casseroles, souffles and so on. All four are variations on the following,

"Quickly prepared and eaten.... Mix 1 pound crab meat with one cup mayonnaise (a commercial brand may be used); season with juice of 1 lemon, 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce, 1 tablespoons chopped parsley, hot sauce, salt and pepper. put in shell, cover with buttered crumbs, bake in 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. Fills 6 to 8 large crab shells. Mrs R. Barnwell Rhett (Virginia Prettyman) "

Thirty minutes at 400 is a long hot time. We usually cook for less because the crab has been cooked to make picking possible. The above ingredients are in all four versions, but variations and additions include butter, some milk, prepared mustard, chopped eggs, sherry ... sometimes, crushed saltines are specified instead of bread crumbs....

Papas Arequipeña

caclampitt@att.net — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 01:08:27

Potatoes are indigenous to Peru, so it's not surprising that they figure largely in the local cuisine. This recipe originates in the city of Arequipa, in southern Peru. It combines Inca traditions (potatoes, peanuts, chilies) with colonial (milk, cheese, eggs and olives). It is delicious, filling, and easy to make. In more aristocratic Peruvian homes, this might be presented before the main course, but for most people, it's a meal in itself.

Another Poulet au Vinaigre from the Hess's taste of America

pinkney@meadandmikell.com — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 16:41:23

This recipe is found on page 180 of The Taste of America. It isn't really poulet au vinaigre, but a variation on it as given by Fernand Point and translated by the Hesses. It has tomato concentrate in it.

"Cut up a chicken and saute' it in butter. When nicely browned and almost done, throw in a little finely chopped garlic. Deglaze with a good glass of wine vinegar, reduce, moisten with four tablespoons white wine, again allow to reduce and moisten with a little consumme' and a little tomato concentrate. Decant, skim and add fines herbs, tarragon, parsley and a good chunk of butter (and more vinegar if it is not highly enough seasoned) at the monment of serving. (Our translation)"

Poulet Saute' au Vinaigre from The Taste of America, J & K Hess

pinkney@meadandmikell.com — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 16:24:54

Page 179, The Taste of America gives the following notes.

"... in France, French women have made pouletau vinaigre for centuries. The dish will vaty slightly with regional differences in the chicken, the type of vinegar, the aromatics and the fat used in the saute'eing. One of our prized recipes comes comes from from an old woman in the causses of the Quercy who saute'ed the chicken in goose fat with a clove or two of garlic and simply sprinkled verjus (unripe grape juice) on towards the last. If it were an older bird, she explained, she would put the verjus in right after the initial browning, thus demonstrating the origin of the dish; vinegar and similar acids have a tenderizing effect. She warned against too much; just enough to give "that little tart taste."

The ingredients below are my guesses.... There is a variation on this to be found here in the same book

Benne Seed Wafers

pinkney@meadandmikell.com — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 14:55:27

This recipe is attributed to Mrs. Gustav P. Richards (Lizetta Wagener) in my copy of the Charleston Receipts. It has always been a great favorite. There are two more recipes for Benne cookies in the book; this is the first one.

The other two recipes are very similar, but vary the amounts of the Ingredients. The cookies in each recipe should be brown and crispy when done. It is VERY EASY TO BURN THESE THINGS.

Venison Fried in Mustard

pinkney@meadandmikell.com — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 22:29:45

This recipe is from The South Carolina Wildlife Cookbook, published in 1982 by the SC Wildlife and Marine Resources Department. It was contributed by Bill Chastain of Columbia, SC. It is surprisingly good and can be used with beef for an interesting change of pace. Where there is a plentiful supply of deer it is not unusual for this to made using the loins or tenderloins. If these are used, the cubing is not necessary as the meat is plenty tender. Cubing does help the mustard and flour stick to the meat in frying, however.

No quantities are given because everything depends on the amount of deer meat you have and your taste for mustard and soy sauce. French's mustard is the norm. Don't knock it without trying it.

Almost everything can be eliminated from the marinade if you like. In that instance, you would just use mustard, salt, pepper and flour. Mustard predominates so you can mess with the other marinade ingredients.

Shepherd's Pie

Mzanger@comcast.net — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 05:02:00

People don't think of Anglo-Americans as ethnic, but they too dress up in costumes and celebrate national holidays. They dress up in colonial American costumes, decorate colonial houses, and eat Roast Beef, Yorkshire Pudding, shepherd's pie, plum pudding and hot cross buns. They are some of the most ethnic-conscious Americans of all! This recipe is from Kate Burton, the actress daughter of the late British actor, Richard Burton, in MORE Recipes and Reminiscence (2006) by Roy Harris, a collection of recipes from theater people. The American side of the hyphenation is the subsitution of beef and the addition of ketchup.

ANZAC Buiscuits

caclampitt@att.net — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 05:57:15

ANZAC is an acronym for Australia New Zealand Army Corps. If you saw the movie “Gallipoli,” you know who these guys are. The corps served with distinction in World War I but ceased to exist when Australia and New Zealand were no longer lumped together by the British as a single entity. There are several stories about the origin of these cookies (which the Aussies, like the Brits, call “biscuits”). Some claim that a group of women created them for care packages for soldiers, another story suggests that they were making a dish that didn’t use eggs, which were dried and sent to soldiers over seas. Whatever the real story is, there is no doubt that their purpose was to honor the brave ANZAC soldiers of World War I.

One note regarding measurements: I got this recipe in Australia, which means that it used a mix of British Imperial measure and European metric. I’ve translated it into American standard measure, but thought you’d wonder why some measures are a little inexact. For example, one cup Imperial is 10 ounces, while in American a cup is 8 ounces, and tablespoons are the tiniest bit bigger in Imperial measure. However, being off one way or the other by a couple of shreds of coconut or drops of golden syrup won’t really make a difference.

Anyway, these are among the most delicious cookies on earth. Enjoy.

Friday Night Fresh Bean Soup

pinkney@meadandmikell.com — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 02:53:12

Marcela Hazen says that if one likes bean soup there is little more that needs to be done than combine beans with garlic, olive oil and stock to make a very satisfying soup. She's right. I am fortunate to have easy access to Fairway Market at 125th street in New York City. Fairway frequently has fresh Roman beans, Fava beans and so on from who knows where. This afternoon Fairway had Roman beans. I usually make an elaborate soup with these beans, but was tired, it being Friday afternoon and all, and so made the following instead. It takes very little time and next to no effort.

Marbelized Smoked Eggs

pinkney@meadandmikell.com — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:24:46

I think this came from the television chef who went off the air sometime ago in some sort of disgrace having to do with choir boys and alcohol or some such. The memory is somewhat cloudy, but a friend just asked for it so here goes. If it works out correctly you will have a very pretty and smokey egg. The tea makes a cool pattern on the peeled egg.

This process could be done, I suppose, with any flavor you like and most any color, but black smokey tea is how I remember it and the people I have given the recipe to like it. It's very simple despite my run on instructions below. Boil eggs, crack eggs, dye eggs, cool eggs. peel and eat.

Easter Baba (Baba wielkanoca -- Polish)

Mzanger@comcast.net — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:43:19

Since we are coming up to Easter weekend, here is a special Polish Baba from the amazingly multicultural East Chicago Centennial International Cookbook, published in 1993 in East Chicago, Indiana. This recipe was contributed by Michalene Reba.

There are a lot of steps, but this kind of brioche dough is fairly foolproof, and the icing, similar to what we use on lebkuchen, is also easy. Ms. Reba tells us this cake freezes well, but one should freeze before icing.