Food...have you eaten today?: The Faces of Yesterday

The above, Market Woman with Vegetable Stall, was painted in oil on wood, 11 x 10 cm, by Pieter Aertsen in 1567. It is in the Staaliche Museen, Berlin, Germany and was found on the web site, Web Gallery of Art, at http://www.wga.hu/ that was created by Emil Kren and Daniel Marx.

"Patty’s Adventures with Food" is about food, recipes, memories and people that make up the world around us. The question that is used for the header of this blog is an on going question that throughout the world is asked by someone of someone. Hope you enjoy the recipes, memories and tidbits and will send me your comments.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

The Faces of Yesterday

The cookhouse was set apart from the shelter house at picnic grounds. The fourth Saturday in July was hot before noon and would be hotter after noon. For a six-year-old girl the threshold to the cookhouse was the best place to be when there was going to be an all day and half the night, picnic.

The women who had worked all week alongside my Mom in the small rubber shop over in North Dayton (now called Old North Dayton!) allowed me to sit on the threshold where I could smell the aromas of their cooking.

Mom wasn't in the kitchen because she didn't know how to make Cabbage Rolls, Hungarian Goulash or Pierogis. The women, most of who were second generation Europeans, felt sorry for me because I was so very little and my Mom was the "poor widow woman" from Appalachia. It was not long before one of the women pushed a plate filled with a cabbage leaf, hamburger, rice and tomatoes with a hunk of black bread at me and said, "Here, eat this while you watch them set up the polka band. Eat!"

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Recipes

Dill Pickles
from The Fannie Merritt Farmer Boston Cooking School Cookbook (Copyright 1959 by Dexter and Wilma Lord Perkins)

Try to select small, slim cucumbers that are about 3 or 4 inches long. Do not peel. Just wash off the cucumbers and
place them in a huge pot. One that you think will hold about 50 of them. Let them stand overnight. The next morning drain off the water and pack the cucumbers in clean quart jars. There should be enough cucumbers for six or eight quart jars.

Put in a saucepan:
1 quart mild vinegar
¾ cup salt
2 quarts water

Bring this mixture to the boiling point. Stir, making sure the salt is dissolved.
When mixture is boiling pour over the cucumbers. Add to each jar one or more sprigs of Dill and a garlic clove (if this is to your taste).
When all the jars are filled, put the lids on and tighten them. Place them in a cool, dark place or the bottom of the fridge. If some of the liquid oozes out during the first week, open the jars, and add enough more of the liquid (mixed in the same way as before) to cover the cucumbers completely, and reseal.
Start eating them after the second or third week. (If this seems like too much of a big deal, get in the car and find the first handy-dandy grocery store. I’m sure there will be
jars of Dill Pickles waiting for you.)

Sauerkraut
I read this recipe in the 1966 Women’s Day Encyclopedia of Cookery and it was just too much for me. I can still remember my ex-mother-in-law and her sisters making Sauerkraut toward the end of August or the first of September. They had the whole house swimming in cabbage that they had grown in their garden out back of the house.
The funny thing about sauerkraut is that I always thought it was made with vinegar.
Clean as many crocks with tight fitting lids that you think you will need to make 6 quarts of "Kraut." Three 1- to 2-gallon crocks or one 4- to 6-gallon
crock. You will need:

15 pounds of firm white cabbage
2/3 cups of salt
Trim the cabbage and quarter the heads. Remove core and shred cabbage finely into 1/16-inch shreds. Mix cabbage with salt. Pack cabbage firmly into crock and cover with a clean cloth. Put a plate on the cloth and weight it with a piece of wood, so that the cloth is wet.

As soon as fermentation begins, remove the scum and place a clean cloth and a board over the cabbage. Wash the board daily. Keep the cabbage at a temperature below 60 degrees F. Let this stand for at least a month. At this time heat the kraut to 180 degrees F, and pack firmly into sterilized hot jars. Add sauerkraut juice to within ½ inch of the top of the jar. If there is not enough juice, make a brine of 2 tablespoons salt to each 1 quart of water and pour over. Seal. Process in a
boiling-water bath for 25 minutes for pints and 30 minutes for quarts. This will give you 6 quarts of "Kraut."

NOTE: Bulk sauerkraut should definitely be drained and soaked in cold water for about 15 minutes before cooking. Squeeze out water by pressing between the hands.
Canned sauerkraut may be washed in cold water to remove the briny taste. The time of cooking is less for canned sauerkraut than for bulk. A 2-1/2 can (27 ounces)
of sauerkraut, when drained yields 1 pound.

Cheese Fondue
I found this recipe written in my mother’s handwriting on a half sheet of writing paper. It is turning yellow with age, so, your guess as to how old it is, is as good as mine. She passed away in 1988. I think she must have copied this recipe off of
a can of Campbell’s Soup. But I don’t know. It sure is good poured over slice potatoes and then baked in the oven. It
could be used for your Mac & Cheese, over broccoli and cauliflower or anything needing a cheese sauce. The beauty
of this recipe is that it is quick. You will need:

1 10 ounce can of cheddar cheese soup
1 8 ounce container of French Onion sour cream dip
1 cup of grated cheddar cheese
½ tsp. of dry mustard (in a pinch, use some brown or
yellow wet mustard)
Dash of cayenne pepper or a shake or two of hot sauce

Put all the ingredients in a heavy sauce pan or a fondue pot over low heat.
Stir constantly until well blended and cheese is melted. Serve with chunks of French bread to dip into the fondue.

Hope Caramels
When my Aunt Eura died in October 1988 and her surviving siblings were disposing of her "stuff" they found this
two-ring 4 x 4 recipe booklet, for lack of a better description, compiled in 1982, titled, …of Finest Wheat (a gathering of recipes by the Women’s Missionary
Society of the Dorothy Lane American Baptist Church.

Pick a time for making this candy when you won’t be interrupted for ANYTHING. To store for any length of time, bury in the deep freezer, behind the davenport or in back of the books. They do not keep well! (LOL) This recipe makes
approximately 130 pieces.

2 sticks of butter (yes, that is butter) which you melt in a heavy (iron) pan.
Add:
1 pkg. Light brown sugar (that is l lb. or 2-1/2 cups packed brown sugar)
1 cup Karo syrup
1 can Eagle Brand milk

Mix altogether and cook on medium heat. Stirring constantly until your candy thermometer reaches 248 degrees.
Pour the candy on a greased jelly roll pan or cookie sheet.
(It is best to have your pans ready to be used.) Let candy
cool. After cooling, use your scissors to cut into 1 inch squares. Wrap the pieces in 3 inch x 4 inch wax paper. Enjoy!

Suckers called Lollipops
This recipe was printed in a pamphlet called, Candyland, in 1962 by The Home Service Department of the East Ohio Gas Company in Akron, Ohio.

2 cups sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
½ cup water
½ tsp. peppermint or wintergreen flavoring

You can use red or green food coloring to color the lollipops.
Combine sugar, corn syrup and water in saucepan; cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Add flavoring and food coloring. Bring to a boil until the hard ball stage
(260 degrees) on your candy thermometer is reached. Pour syrup on a greased cookie sheet where you have wooden skewers placed. You will have to guess as to the amount
used because it depends on what size you want your lollipops.
These even can be decorated with frosting and candies.
Merry Christmas!

Southern Brown Bread
This recipe comes from by dear friend, Dixie White, who lives in Ashland, Kentucky. She would bake this bread early in the morning and by the time the other ones in the household
were up it was done and ready for breakfast.
Yum, Yum, and Yum.
This is not black like the bread the Kellners sold, but is a golden deep brown made that way by the sorghum and graham flour used in the recipe.

1 cup sugar
4 tbsp. Melted shortening
2 well-beaten eggs
1 cup sour milk
2/3 cup sorghum
1 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. soda
1 cup raisins, cut up fine
2 cups graham flour

Mix sugar, shortening then add eggs. Beat for two minutes. Add the sour milk (buttermilk or 1 tablespoon of vinegar in a cup of milk) and the sorghum. Mix in the flour, salt, baking
powder and soda. After mixing all of this, add the raisins and graham flour. Mix the dough thoroughly and pour into 2 greased 4 x 8 inch loaf pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or when a toothpick comes out of the dough clean. Enjoy.

Oatmeal
Oatmeal is a cereal made from hulled oats and should contain not more than 12 percent of moisture, The grains are softened by steaming, after which they are flattened between steel rollers to make rolled oats. (From The Wise Encyclopedia of Cookery, 1948, pg. 803).

The Twentieth Century Cookbook and Practical Housekeeping seems to have been written by James Bethuel Smiley, c.1900 and published by Henneberry Company, Chicago, Ill., with approximately 816 pages. The copy of this book that I have is falling apart and if you even look at some of the pages they crumble into dust. However, on page 287 it is written:

Oatmeal Mush (Ugh)
Put ½ pint oatmeal and 1 teaspoon salt into the double boiler; add 4 cups boiling water, set the upper part of the boiler on
the stove and boil 4 or 5 minutes to start the cooking; then
put it into the lower boiler and cook 3 to 5 hours (sic!); salting the water in the lower boiler makes it cook faster. It is often cooked so that the grains are whole, but it is not then so easily digested, nor so pleasant in flavor. It should be thin enough to pour when done, and should cool into a jelly-like consistency. Serve with sugar and cream, tart jelly, applesauce or baked apples.

Whew, what a mess. Thank goodness for Quaker Oats and instant oatmeal cooked in a microwave oven for just a minute….

Beans
The following recipe is The Famous Senate Restaurant Bean Soup. It is served in the Senate’s restaurant every day. No one knows positively, but it was either Senator Fred Dubois of Idaho in the early 20th-century or Senator Knute Nelson of Minnesota, in 1903, who requested bean soup for lunch and so began a tradition. This recipes serves 8 and is very near to the way my Mom made her bean soup. The difference being the braised onion.

2 pounds of dried navy beans
4 quarts of hot water
1-1/2 pounds of smoked ham hocks
1 chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Wash the navy beans and run hot water through them until they are slightly whitened. Place beans into pot with hot water. Add ham hocks and simmer approximately three hours in a covered pot, stirring occasionally. Remove ham hocks and set aside to cool. Dice meat and return to soup. Lightly brown the onion in butter. Add to soup. Before serving, bring to a boil
and season with salt and pepper. Delicious, if you do not over salt.

CORNBREAD
There are a lot of cornbread recipes out there in the wide blue yonder. Some call for yellow cornmeal, flour, sour cream, milk, egg and heaven forbid, sugar. But for me the simplest way to have cornbread is to go to the nearest store and purchase a package of Martha White Buttermilk Cornbread Mix. Within minutes, I have white cornbread. Maybe, not as good as my Mom’s or as good as my sister’s but it is better than doing without.

...and the price of food.
The following was taken from the 1937 The Everyday Cook Book which you might find quite interesting in this year 2010, in view of the way the economy is and the price of food. The article was written by C. F. Langworthy, Ph.D., and Caroline L. Hunt, A.B.
"Considering the fact that meat forms such an important part of the diet and the further fact that the price of meat, as of other foods, has advanced in recent years. It is natural for housekeepers to seek more economical methods of preparing meat for the table, and to turn their thoughts toward
the less expensive cuts and ask what economy is involved in their use, how they may be prepared, and whether the less expensive dishes are as nutritious and as thoroughly and easily digested as the costlier ones.

The relative retail prices of the various cuts usually bear a direct relation to the favor with which they are regarded by the majority of persons, the juicy tender cuts of good favor selling for the higher prices. When porterhouse steak sells for 25 cents a pound, it may be assumed that in town or village markets, round steak would ordinarily sell for 15 cents, and chuck ribs, one of the best cuts of the fore quarter, for 10 cents. This makes it appear that the chuck ribs are less than half as expensive as porterhouse steak and two-thirds as expensive as the round. But apparent economy is not always real economy...."

The Everyday Cook Book said that "Spinach has little food value, but its refreshing and slightly laxative qualities make it a valuable adjunct to the more substantial foods. (Good choice, Buddy!)
As for the Potato, Everyday said, "The potato is in such common use that it would seem as if all its characteristics would be well understood and it would be cooked to perfection. Unfortunately, the contrary is true, and perhaps no other vegetable is so carelessly cooked as a rule.
Everyday continued by saying that Milk Gravy was made by heating flour in the (pork) fat that has been tried out (sic) allowing 2 tablespoonfuls of fat and 2 tablespoonfuls of flour to each cup of milk. This is a good way to use skim milk, which is as rich in protein as whole milk. The pork and milk gravy, served with boiled, (mashed), or baked potatoes, makes a cheap and simple meal, but one that most people like very much."

BLINKIES (POLISH POTATO CAKES)
(This is how I remember seeing Mrs. Lakatos make them, Irene’s mother)

4-5 Medium Potatoes
2-3 tbs. Flour
1 Egg - Beaten
Pinch of Salt - no pepper
Scrub the potatoes clean and grate. Do not peel. Mix the salt, flour and egg together. Add this mixture to the grated potatoes. Stir lightly.

Add butter, olive oil or vegetable oil to a flying pan. Not too much or you will have a greasy mess on your hands. Once the oil is hot, drop the potato mixture by tablespoon into the pan and fry until they are well done. Turn only once since this is the tricky part and you do not want the potato cakes to fall apart.

Serve with applesauce or sour cream. Enjoy.

Mom's Patty Cakes
Use any leftover mash potatoes.
Add a small amount of chopped onion, one egg (if you have it) and a small amount of flour. Mix together. If mixture is too thick, add a drop or two of milk or water.

Mom always used her clean hands to shape the mixture into patties. Be sure to dip your hands in flour, otherwise, the potato mixture will stick to your hands. Be careful when putting the patties into the hot grease to fry. Brown both sides and be careful when lifting them out of the hot grease when done.

Do not let them burn...burned potato cakes do not taste good.
Delicious with apples that have been fried in brown sugar and butter.

Balandelial - Lithuanian Cabbage Rolls
(This recipe is old, antique you could say and has been embellished by different cooks over the years )

1 head of cabbage
1 cup of rice
1 lb. ground beef (hamburger, ground chuck)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup onion, finely chopped
1 cup Tomato Puree
1 cup Beef stock or use beef cubes mixed with hot water
1 can Sauerkraut medium size

Mix beef, rice, onion and if you use the egg, then beat it up and add to the mixture. Mix thoroughly, then, set aside. On a hot day be sure and put it in the refrigerator while you prepare the cabbage.

Fill a large pot with salted water. While this is heating, core the cabbage. After removing the core, place the cabbage in the water and parboil it. When you think you could remove a leaf of cabbage from the head easily, then, most likely, it is time to drain the water. Place the cabbage on a dish and allow it to cool. When it is cool to your touch, separate the leaves from the cabbage head.

Make sure cabbage leaves are dry before adding a tablespoon or more of the filling in the center of the leaf. Fold the leaf around the filling like you were enclosing the filling in an envelope. Fasten with a toothpick. Use up all the filling. The left over cabbage should be chopped up and placed in the bottom of a roasting pan or baking dish along with the sauerkraut.

Place the rolls on top of the chopped cabbage. Mix the tomato puree and the beef stock together and pour over all the rolls. Cover the roasting pan or baking dish with a lid or foil.

Place in a 450 degree oven for 15 minutes. By this time the pan should be hot so be careful when you remove the lid or foil. Turn the heat down to 350 degree and finish baking for another 20-30 minutes.

Don't forget to base the rolls with the sauce ever so often so that they do not dry out. Watch the rolls so they do not burn. Enjoy with plenty of rye bread which can be used to slop up the juices.

Leave nothing on your plate.

The Amber Rose Restaurant at 1400 Valley Street in (Old) North Dayton serves Cabbage Rolls but I’m not sure how they make them. I do know that they are really good and so are the Sauerkraut Balls. This restaurant is a quaint restaurant in a very old building that use to be a general store, one that use to be called "Sigs."

I can remember how happy I was, even if I did have to walk three long blocks just so I could go to "Sigs" and buy penny candy. What a treat. My favorite was the sucker on a stick which I can’t remember the name of but it was caramel with a chocolate coating and was it good. I even remember Sig, the owner, hugh old man that scared me to death sitting on the porch and watching me cross the street. I would skitter pass him as fast as I could into the store. But the sucker on the stick was worth it all.

Hungarian Goulash
(Page 133 of The Everyday Cook Book)

2 pounds top round of beef 1 onion
A little flour 2 bay leaves
2 ounces salt pork 6 whole cloves
2 cups tomatoes 6 peppercorns
1 stalk celery
1 ts. mace

Cut the beef into 2-inch pieces and sprinkle with flour; fry the salt pork until light brown; add the beef and cook slowly for about 35 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cover with water and simmer about 2 hours; season with salt and pepper or paprika.

From the vegetables and spices a sauce is made as follows:
Cook in sufficient water to cover 20 minutes; then rub through a sieve, and add to some of the stock in which the meat was cooked. Thicken with flour, using 2 tablespoonfuls (moistened with cold water) to each cup of liquid, and season with salt and paprika.

Serve the meat on a patter with the sauce poured over it. Potatoes, carrots, and green peppers cooked until tender, and cut into small pieces or narrow strips, are usually sprinkled over the dish when served, and noodles may be arranged in a border upon the platter.

Goulash is a Hungarian dish which has come to be a favorite in the United States.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

The Faces of Yesterday

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