Archive for the ‘Cooking’ Category

On seeing the news about the upcoming iron chef challenge with White House Chef Cristeta Comerford, I had to wonder: Does she use any of the recipes left behind from previous chefs?

I was fortunate to pick up a copy of The Original White House Cookbook 1887 Edition (reprint) at a yard sale in Ohio over the summer. In addition to being very interesting reading and learning a bit about the challenges of the day, there are plenty of obscure hints, such as:

To preserve Brooms: Dip them for a minute or two in a kettle of boiling suds once a week and they will last much longer, making them tough and pliable. A carpet wears much longer swept wtih a broom cared for in this manner.

I’m not so worried about carpet wear… don’t think I’ve swept my carpets in recent memory. I’d be more likely to bash a lightbulb trying to finagle the broom into a pot!

Then there are the interesting recipes for a variety of meats such as squirrel and snipe. Most of the “recipes” are really just brief instructions:

Page 89: Squirrel

They are cooked similar to rabbits, are excellent when broiled or made into a stew, and, in fact, are very good inall the different styles of cooking similar to rabbit.

There are many species common to this country; among them the black, red, gray and fox. Gophers and chipmunks may also be classified as another but smaller variety.

Now for a real recipe. From page 219

Virginia Corn Bread

Three cups of white corn-meal, one cup of flour, on tablespoon of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt, two heaping teaspoonfuls of baking-powder, one tablespoonful of lard, three cups of milk and three eggs. Sift together the flour, corn meal, sugar, salt and baking-powder; rub in the lard cold, add the eggs well-beaten and then the milk. Mix into a moderately stiff batter; pour it into well-greased, shallow baking-pans, (pie-tins are suitable). Bake from thirty to forty minutes.

This is one of the recipes that just works. It’s simple and tasty.

Corn Bread

1 box Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
1 box Jiffy Golden Yellow Cake Mix (these can sometimes be hard to find, but Walmart usually has them)
+ ingredients to make both mixes

Prepare each box according to it’s own directions in separate bowls, then fold the batter together. Pour into a greased 9″x13″ pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

This is a classic, non-alcoholic, recipe that my sister Becky taught me to make when we were kids. If you have issues with raw eggs, you may prefer the grocery store variety of eggnog. I’m sure the original recipe probably called for half-and-half or cream, but we just used whole milk, and that’s the way I like it. (I personally have to thin down store-bought eggnog.)

Into a blender, combine the following:

• 4    Eggs
• ¼    cups Granulated Sugar
• 3    cups Milk
• 1    tsp Vanilla Extract
  dash Salt

Blend on high until smooth, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle with a dab of nutmeg for a garnish.

Serves 4

1. Make turkey broth with your leftover turkey carcass
2. Save the celery tops and celery leaves from your stuffing to use in your turkey broth
3. Save the skins you peeled from your onions to use in your turkey broth (they add the color)
4. Take all other vegetable scraps and add to your compost bin (or start one!)
5. Freeze any leftover wine in ice cube trays to have on hand to add to soups and sauces (measure your ice cube tray so you’ll have an idea of the volume for later)
6. Freeze any uneaten vegetables to add to soup (you can make it with your broth)
7. Make potato pancakes with leftover mashed potatoes
8. Use leftover cranberry sauce on turkey sandwiches (trust me on this, it’s fabulous)
9. Save the crusts from sandwich bread over the year in the freezer and dice up to use to make stuffing (a bit late for this tip!)
10. Chop and freeze any turkey meat that you won’t use in the next few days. Portion into 2-cup quantities and vacuum seal or use zippable sandwich bags (suck the air out with a straw). Most casserole dishes (turkey a la king, turkey enchiladas, etc.) call for 2 cups cooked chicken or turkey. Be sure to mark them, a Sharpie® marker works great.

Powered by ScribeFire.

This morning when I got out my old American Home All Purpose Cookbook (©1966. I learned to cook with this book when I was 13), I saw my favorite “old fashioned stuffing” recipe called for poultry seasoning. Ack! I’d checked the cupboard for sage, but not for poultry seasoning. After a moment of panic, it occurred to me that poultry seasoning is probably just like pumpkin pie spice — a mixture of other spices. A quick search on Google revealed several recipes. Combining a few of them, I came up with the following:

Home-Made Poultry Seasoning

3 parts ground or rubbed sage
1 part ground thyme
1 part ground marjoram
1/2 part black pepper

I used up the last of my ground marjoram making this, so I’ll just put a new label in that jar and store my new concoction.

Powered by ScribeFire.