Apple Hash.

I finally got around to my resolution for cooking a historical recipe, although it's from a book I own, not one of the historical cooking channels.  So I have to catch up on two months of cooking from the YouTube channels.

This is a fairly simple recipe from 1711:

I followed it pretty much as written:

Apple peeled and cut crosswise, core removed.
I ate the peels and the top and bottom bits while cooking.

Butter melting in a pan, and whole wheat flour.

Apples, dipped in whole wheat flour, frying in melted butter.

Carefully turned, browning on the other side.

 Some of the butter and flour bits burned slightly between batches.  It didn't affect the taste, but might be visually unappealing.  I did add butter between the batches and a tiny bit after the flips.

Then I wiped out the pan and used the same one to make the sauce:

Butter and sugar and rosemary for the sauce.
About a tablespoon each of butter and sugar.

Pear wine added - about two or three tablespoons.
Also a couple good pinches of dried rosemary.

I don't currently have fresh rosemary, so made do with dried.  Quantities are guesswork, of course.  Then I simmered on a low flame to reduce the sauce, which made it a rather caramelly.

Pouring over the sauce, which was reduced to
about half its original volume.

And I realized after sampling that I had forgotten to sprinkle on some cinnamon before tasting, although I had it waiting by the stove.

Opinion?  Very buttery, not too sweet.  The wine and the rosemary cut the sweetness of the sauce nicely.  I didn't particularly miss the cinnamon, although I may try this again once I have live rosemary to see how it would be different.  I had a mild apple, and would like to see how something sharper stands up to the frying and sauce.

I did notice that butter leached into the dish, probably from the frying stage:

I didn't sop it up, but if you have bread handy it might not be bad.  All of the sauce was eaten with the apple slices, which were soft but not mushy.  Something of a comfort food or chilly rainy day dish, and today happens to be dreary and rainy.

This is the frontpiece of the book from which comes the receipt:

Quite light on recipes, and heavy on Remedies.  Range is 12th to 18th Centuries.

Baking Beans and Watching Playoffs

Because what else does one do on a snowy Sunday in January?

We had a bit of a snowstorm last night.  Only four inches landed where I live, but since predictions were up to six inches or more, people hunkered in.  One of the Connecticut police departments had posted this last year, and it circulated again this weekend:

I did not plan as well as some, and so didn't have soup or anything simmering or ready to simmer while the snow was falling.  I decided to make old-fashioned baked beans, so started the beans soaking last night.  I also looked up recipes, and found that most modern baked bean recipes either used canned beans, or dress up pork-and-beans, or some combination.  I was having trouble finding an old-fashioned recipe using soaked beans.  So I went to one of my reproduction cookery books, which has a fairly basic one:

 

I didn't want to make that much, so I used a cup of mixed dried beans, soaked overnight.  Then I drained, rinsed, added fresh water, boiled, and simmered until a bean was soft when tested.  I drained them again and scattered them into my Dutch oven.  Give the quantity of beans, and the size of my onions, I used a half an onion, which I cut into four wedges so they could bury in the beans, which were a bit thinly spread in my Dutch oven:

At that point, I added about a quarter-cup of molasses, and rinsed the jar a couple of times with water to clean it and make sure I had all the molasses.  I doubled the proportion of mustard, adding the full two teaspoons, as I thought it would be better a bit spicy.

      

I also put in two cloves of garlic (one whole, one split) and a bay leaf for added taste.  I left out the pork, having none, nor any other meaty thing that would substitute.  Then I covered the pot, put it into the oven, and left it to bake.  I gave it a look and stir at ninety minutes, then another ninety minutes took another a look and added a cup of water, stirred, and back into the oven:

Then I had a nap, so the next check was after two hours, when I added more water, and at the end of about six-and-a-half hours I decided it was done enough and put the oven to warming until I was ready to eat.  At this point, it looked nearly black and the beans were quite lacquered:

I put the beans in a white bowl to make them easier to photograph.

VERDICT:   Meh.  Rather sweet, of course, and not much tang from mustard, onion, or garlic.  Definitely something you need to eat with other things, to balance the meal, or additional spicing is needed.  No wonder so many of the recipes I found were for dressing-up or added things to the pot.  Some of the beans were also still quite firm, so maybe more water and simmering instead of putting it on low?  Lighter molasses, not blackstrap?   (I'd wanted to finish off the jar, which a friend left when moving out of state.)  Maybe some smoked paprika; one vegan version used liquid smoke, substituting for the pork, and that might have balanced the flavours better, but I don't have any.

I thought about adding hot sauce or some other spices while the beans were cooking, but I wanted it to be reasonably close to the original recipe, so I didn't.  However, when I portioned out the beans for storage, I put a portion into a small dish and added some ground allspice, as I thought cloves might be nice but I have only whole ones, and allspice is similar.

The remainder, about two portions, I put into a larger dish and added most of a can of Ro*Tel fire-roasted tomatoes with green chiles.  I think that will be a nice counter to the sweetness and heaviness.

Will I do this again?  Yes, but with many adjustments to the seasoning.  I've seen recipes use half maple syrup and half molasses, or all maple syrup, and will try that the next time.  I will add more onion and/or garlic, and maybe more mustard (but not if I use all maple syrup), and some ground pepper.  I might do it in my crockpot instead of the oven, as that limited what else I could do in terms of cooking today.  I've been doing roasted brussels sprouts a lot, and also a modified version of British jacket potatoes (partly cook in microwave, finish in very hot oven), and those are yummy.

Resolution Check-in

While I am here, an update on my resolution for January:  Finish Scarves.  I have finished four of the ones I listed:

• Browns - Bernat Super Value Stripes in Beechwood, knit, and Caron Jumbo in Chocolate Variegated crocheted on the sides.
• Patons Lace in lavender and Porcelain.
• Red Heart Fleece Hugs in Jungle.
• Stitch Studio Sweet Dreams in Creamsicle.

I have also made progress on the crocheted one from leftover Ferris Wheel from my grandmother's Christmas vest.  The other two from my original list are pending, as they are not in my current possession:

• Premiere Serenity Chunky Big Ombre in Walnut - in Plano, waiting for my next theater trip, which happens at the end of this month.
• Caron Chunky Cakes in Trifle (red/white/blue) - at my parents', and I will get it next weekend when I am there for the opera.

Unfortunately, the list has grown longer by two, as I found them whilst doing other things:

• Crocheted in Patons Lace in Woodrose (and I have to figure out the pattern).
• Knit in a slip-stitch pattern of Big Twist Premium in Peacock Stripes.

Right now I am working on my niece's mittens and scarf.  I've restarted the mittens and adjusted the pattern for gauge, as I need to use the washable yarn I have and they were coming out huge even though it's a worsted yarn, just not the one the designer used.

Playoffs resulted in the KC Chiefs against the SF 49ers for Superbowl LIV in Miami.  As a lifelong (and fourth-generation) Chicago Bears fan, I am glad the Packers didn't make it.

Martha Washington Cooking in March

No fooling, I did cook from a historical cookbook in March - I just didn't get around to writing the post.  So here it is!  I thought of pulling out Apicius for the Ides of March, then I found the Martha Washington cookbook I'd originally intended to use on President's Day.  So I thought I'd see what she has to offer.  Since I've given up wheaten goods for Lent, I had to ignore all the recipes for baked items, of course, and figure out how to do a balanced meal from the ones included in the cookbook.

As with Thomas Jefferson's cookbook, there were few recipes for vegetables.  Most were how to grow the vegetable, or how to preserve it.

   

Looking at the list, I decided to make "sparragus" (asparagus) which is plentiful in March, and use the Seasonal Pickle from my CSA, which is a lacto-fermented collection of whatever odds and ends they have when they are making that particular batch of pickle.  This one includes carrots, various greens, and some onion.

For the meat I am using fish, and although the recipe is for trout, that's surprisingly expensive, so I went with a filet of tuna from the freezer. Needing a starch, and not being able to bake bread or biscuits, I found a steamed pudding that uses oats instead of wheat flour:

I used steel-cut oats, and instead of letting it simmer all night, pulled out my small crockpot, which I have used to cook steel-cut oatmeal in the past.

I used "high" to heat a pint of milk, then following the 4:1 ratio on the carton of oats, I added a half-cup of steel-cut oats.  After leaving it to cook on low overnight, it was cooked but still milky.

I chopped up a bunch of spinach and about half a bunch of flat-leaved parsley, and stirred them into the oats in the crockpot along with an egg.  I debated whether to use a second egg; it's hard to guess sizes of eggs then versus now, and I generally assume the eggs are smaller, so making a half-recipe meant I could use one large egg instead.

Once this was mixed, I took some muslin and wetted it, then rubbed on cornmeal.  I placed it in a bowl to make filling it with the pudding mixture easier.

 

I tied off the pudding and set it into a pot of simmering water, tying the string to a wooden spoon placed over the top to make it easier to fish out.  Then I went away for an hour or so, checking periodically and adding water once or twice.

The asparagus was just steamed a bit, that was easy.  For the fish, I followed the recipe on "How to Boyle a Trout", although using a single tuna steak instead of a while fish "cut in pieces" - fillets? steaks?  My guess would be the former, but I was working from my freezer.

This is white wine (from a local winery, plus a splash of champagne left from making New Year's celebratory cupcakes), a lump of butter, a bit of minced ginger, and a sprig of rosemary from my kitchen pots.  I thought it might be a bit large, but I like rosemary, so took a chance.

Since the tuna steak was a bit thick, I cooked it for a few minutes, then turned it and cooked the other side until the piece was done to my liking.


At this point, I took out the pudding, unwrapped it, and arranged the plate:

Seasonal pickle is top left, and simply steamed asparagus at top right.  I chose thin stalks and had to cut them in half due to the size of the pan.  The pudding is to the left of the fish, and I thought another egg might have been a good idea because it was somewhat falling apart.  Of course, I'd had to guess at proportions of the "hearbes" to oats, and was trying to not put in too many so the oats would also keep it together.

For the fish, I think next time I will add a bit more ginger and a bit less rosemary.  I love it, but that was definitely too much and starting to overwhelm the dish.  The pickle added a welcome tang to the overall dish.  Definitely a meal I'll try again, with adjustments.

Since there was quite a lot of pudding, I put it into the refrigerator.  Cold, it was much more cohesive.  Warmed, it made a nice breakfast with a bit more pickle on the side.

I've already decided on the April cookbook, and will work on getting that report posted more promptly after cooking.  In the meantime, it's an icy day outside, and I might try the fish again as a nice warming meal.  No fooling!

Presidents Day cookery with Thomas Jefferson

My company gives us Presidents Day off, so I decided it would be a good date for the monthly cooking experiment with old recipes.  I picked a book at random, chose some recipes, and made a shopping list.  I had projects around the house and didn't want to waste time on Monday, so I planned to shop ahead and not need to go out for additional items.

Then I thought that since it was Presidents Day, shouldn't I be cooking from a presidential cookbook?  I knew I had one or two someplace, and first looked for Martha Washington's since it's George's birthday after all.  Instead I found this one:

Since Mr. Jefferson was known as a bit of a gourmet, this seemed perfect, especially in light of the recent news about the discovery of Sally Hemmings' room.  The only problem would be to find recipes that would work with what I have in the house, so I didn't have to go out again!

I'd bought chicken (specifically, skinless boneless breasts, in part because they were on sale, and in part because I didn't feel like dealing with waste, and in part because they are most adaptable to all kinds of recipes, and in part because thighs - my usual preference - were not available, at least not at a good price) so I looked for a recipe using that, with other pantry items, and found:

Other than the meat jelly (a thickened, congealed stock used for seasoning), I was set!  Sadly, the book has almost no vegetable recipes - salsify, parsnips, potatoes, and some that look odd to modern eyes: polenta and macaroni, which we would put into a chapter about starches or grains or otherwise.  I thought about doing polenta with the chicken, but the recipe bakes the polenta with cheese and that was more flavours than I felt like mingling.

So I looked for desserts, and when I saw this one I thought it perfect, since Jefferson is credited with having introduced macaroni to the colonies and newly-born USA:

As you can see, I had everything on hand (eggs were in the refrigerator):

 

Usually I would use fresh cow's milk.  I always have some canned or boxed milk in the pantry in case of emergencies, and on Monday could find only a last container of soymilk from when I used it to bake for a group that contained some lactose- and milk-intolerant persons.  It would have to do.

I halved the amounts, using two large eggs instead of the five indicated, and followed the directions pretty much as written.  First, I simmered the noodles in the milk until done, about twenty minutes:

 

Then I stirred in the sugar (3/8 cup) and some rosewater. Since that's a tricky flavouring, I erred on the side of not much, and ended up with about 3/4 of a teaspoon, which turned out to be not enough.

Following this I beat the eggs and added them to the noodle mixture.  I did this so I would just have to stir them together, and thus not break up the noodles too much.

 

After that, into my handy casserole to bake.  Since no temperature was given, I set my oven at about 350(F), reducing it to 300(F) when I started the chicken.  By the way - is anybody else amused when you see those "like if you remember this" memes on Facebook, and it's an item you own and use regularly?  Yep, something close to this showed up recently, and I have several in different sizes.

Going into the oven.

Halfway cooked, still liquid in the center.

After it had baked about a half-hour (righthand picture), I started on the chicken.  Since one of the essays at the front of the cookbook said that Jefferson was interested in the oils used and worked to get olive oil for Monticello's kitchens, that's what I used in the recipe:

By the way, this was one breast from a package of four very large ones, which I cut apart into more manageable pieces.  The other three breasts went into the freezer for future cooking adventures.  Since a whole chicken would weight three to five pounds, but has a lot of not-edible-for-this-purpose portions such as bones and skin, I estimated that a pound of meat would be about half the recipe.

Since I was pantry-scrounging, and don't keep meat jelly in stock, I used twice as much of the cooked-down tomatoes from a package in my freezer.  I have a winter window garden that includes parsley, so that was fresh, but I seem to have used up the last of my garlic bulbs so had to use jarred.  And since I hadn't purchased mushrooms, because they were not needed for the original recipes, I had to use canned ones.  As I'd done last month, I substituted cider vinegar for the (still expensive) lemon, adding a generous tablespoon.

I chopped the larger mushroom pieces.

Ready to simmer.

 I covered the pan and let the ingredients simmer for about twenty minutes, keeping an eye on it in case it dried out and to keep from overcooking the chicken, which is too easy with the boneless, skinless breasts.  I miss-guessed it slightly but the ingredients made enough juice on their own.

When I cook this again I'll use a smaller pan to keep the chicken more immersed in the juices.  I used a large one to make photography easier.  I plated about half the chicken and sauce with about a third of the pudding, once again happy to have oiled the baking pan:

Overall the result was very tasty.  As I said, the chicken was a bit dry, but the sauce fixed that; I added a bit more after taking this picture, since there was plenty in the pan.  It was a tangy sauce because of the vinegar and garlic, but not overwhelmingly so.  A modern cook might simmer down the sauce to make it a bit thicker, and I am considering making polenta to absorb it the next time.  I plan to make this recipe again in the summer with fresh ingredients, and it's likely to go into regular rotation.

The pudding was mild and sweet, definitely not tasting of rosewater except a vague hint now and again.  When I make it again, I plan to use cow milk (the soy taste may have overwhelmed the others) and increase the rosewater to at least a teaspoon per pint of milk, and maybe a bit more.  The cold leftover noodle pudding made a tasty breakfast the next couple of days.