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America’s annual Turkey Day

November 24, 2011 by fireside feasts

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ONE AND ALL.

HUZZAH!

Posted in current events | Tagged , | Leave a Comment »

Yorkshire pud II

November 21, 2011 by fireside feasts

Okay. Back to my Yorkshire Pudding experiment. Sorry for the delay.
Although, you didn’t miss too much, as I only did one other! Now,
as you may recall (or not!), I used an 18th century receipt (recipe)
for the previous pudding (from Hannah Glasse’s The Art of Cookery).
I decided to jump ahead a few years, into the early 19th century,
for the second and selected the following from The Cook’s Oracle,
by William Kitchiner, M.D. (1831; first edition published 1817):

Yorkshire Pudding under Roast Meat,
the Gipsies’ way—(No. 529).
This pudding is an especially excellent
accompaniment to Sir-loin of Beef,—Loin
of Veal,—or any fat and juicy joint. Six
table-spoonsful of flour, three eggs,
a tea-spoonful of salt, and a pint
of milk—so as to make a middling
stiff batter, a little stiffer than you
would for pancakes; beat it up well,
and take care it is not lumpy; put
a dish under the meat, and let the
drippings drop into it till it is quite
hot and well greased; then pour in
the batter;—when the upper surface
is brown and set, turn it that both
sides may be brown alike; if you
wish it to cut firm, and the pudding
an inch thick, it will take two hours
at a good fire.
N.B. The true Yorkshire Pudding is about
half an inch thick when done; but it is
the fashion in London to make them
full twice that thickness.

TA-DA! Here it is:

This time, I followed the receipt as written (no halving of ingredients
or anything), as all the amounts were quite manageable. What was
interesting, however, is that this specifies “six table-spoonsful of flour,”
yet it also instructs the cook to make a “middling stiff batter,” and,
in fact, to make it:

a little stiffer than you
would for pancakes;

Really?! But with only six tablespoons of flour, that’s mighty difficult.
In fact, I’d say it’s nigh impossible! I used my reproduction pewter
“table spoon” to measure out the flour, and each spoonful was fairly
heaping. The resulting batter, however, was far from stiff, “middling”
or otherwise. I considered adding more flour, but I didn’t want to
deviate too much from the receipt. Besides, surely it was tested by
an assortment of 19th century cooks, yes? So maybe it was just my
mo-dern sensibilities of what constitutes “stiff”? Or…who knows?!
In any event, I just had to go with it and trust that it’d turn out
perfectly fine. And, lo and behold, it did! (see photo above)

Of course, as before, the cooking was done in my modern oven. No
telling how different things would’ve been if I’d been able to cook
either of my puddings as they would’ve been done centuries ago
(i.e. under roasting meat on a spit before a fire).

And then there are those three little words in the receipt’s title,
declaring this pudding is done per “the Gipsie’s way.” What does
that mean, exactly? What is the difference between how Gypsies
prepare it and how “regular” people do? How does that fit into
the equation? I have no idea, but I welcome any you may have!

However, it did seem a little egg-y. And a bit dense. It reminded
me of one of the quotes given with the Oxford English Dictionary’s
definition of Yorkshire Pudding:

1836
[Hooton] Bilberry Thurland 1. vii. 140
At the bottom of all…lay
about half an acre of sad
and heavy Yorkshire pudding,
like a leaden pancake.

It was, indeed, rather heavy and “like a leaden pancake”! But then,
the receipt DID say to mix up the batter “stiffer than you would for
pancakes”! So…I guess…”leaden” it is! Despite all that, however, it
tasted fine. It was even good re-heated the following day. Overall,
I deem it a success. Two Yorkshire Pudding receipts, both the same,
yet both different! HUZZAH!

Posted in historic cookbooks, historic cooking, historic receipts (recipes), jolly ol' England, research & experiments | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments »

receipts: pumpkin pud & apple tarts

November 14, 2011 by fireside feasts

Here are the receipts (recipes) for the pumpkin pudding and
the apple tarts that I made recently at the Israel Crane House.
Both are from Amelia Simmons’ book American Cookery (1796).
As I mentioned previously, the fillings for each were cooked
down ahead of time. I used a basic pie crust, as well, rather
than the specific “pastes” that are given.

____________________

Pompkin.
No. I. One quart stewed and strained,
3 pints milk, six beaten eggs, sugar,
mace, nutmeg and ginger, laid into
paste No. 7, or 3, cross and chequer
it, and bake in dishes three quarters
of an hour.

Now, I only had about a pint of cooked pumpkin, so I cut this
receipt in half. In doing so, however, I think perhaps I erred
in the amounts of the other ingredients. I used three eggs
but I think two would’ve been enough. It IS a pudding, and
a custard-y one at that, but I thought the final result was
rather egg-y. And although I strained most of the cooked
pumpkin, I also left some of it chunky, hoping to make sure
the taste of it would be prominent. It might’ve been better,
however, to strain it all. Yet, at the same time, it was quite
good, as evidenced by those who had more than one piece!

____________________

Apple Tarts.
Stew and strain the apples, add cinnamon,
rose-water, wine and sugar to your taste,
lay in paste, No. 3. squeeze thereon orange
juice—bake gently.

I was very pleased at how these turned out. The apples were
tasty, so full of flavor, and the crust cooked just beautifully, very
light and flaky. And in this instance, retaining the chunky-ness
of the apples proved beneficial. They were so good, in fact,
that I even made a few more later at home!

Posted in historic cookbooks, historic cooking, historic cooking/classes/events, historic site, Israel Crane House | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

fall treats: Pompkin Pudding and Apple Tarts

November 8, 2011 by fireside feasts

This past Sunday, I was once again cooking at the hearth
of the Israel Crane House over in Montclair, NJ. Despite
our recent Halloween snow storm and the lack of much
color on this area’s trees, it IS still fall! So I made these

season-appropriate dishes from American Cookery (1796)
by Amelia Simmons: a Pompkin [sic] pudding; and a few
Apple Tarts.

Now, due to limited weekend hours at the House, and
the fact that I have to lug my supplies over to Jersey
via public transportation, I did some prep work ahead
of time. Thus the pumpkin and the apples were pared,
cored, cut, and cooked down at home.

For the pudding, I had hoped to use a cheese pumpkin,
as it’s the most historically-correct. However, I couldn’t
find any (dagnabit!) this year, so I used a pie pumpkin.
A sugar pumpkin would work as well, although I’m not

sure that’s it not the exact same pumpkin. I’ve even seen
“use a sugar pie pumpkin” in some modern recipes! Your
common field pumpkins are probably not the best, as they
tend to be rather tough. Besides, they’re really only meant
for carving all those spooky jack o’lanterns.

For the tarts, I used Lady Apples, which have been around,
literally, for centuries. In fact, their first recorded use was
in Europe during the early 1600s. They were grown on this

continent, as well, and were highly popular from colonial times
into the 19th century. A fairly small apple, I’d say they’re much
more flavorful than other varieties. When they’re cooked down,
you can just smell the difference. It was amazing! Unfortunately,
they’re not widely available. I just happened on to them at one
of my local groceries, and so I bought several in order to make
these tarts.

OK. Enough of that. On to the cooking at Crane’s!

_______________

Everything’s on the table and ready to go:

First up, the Pompkin Pudding:

The pudding was indeed a pudding. It was light, airy, and
very custard-like. I’m not a fan of modern-day pumpkin pies,
as they tend to be dry and dense, but this…it was definitely
the opposite. HUZZAH!

We also offered up some lovely hot mulled cider:

Next, the Apple Tarts:

As you saw above, the pudding was similar to a pie in that
it had a crust (bottom only). I used the leftover dough to line
my tart pans:

The cooking’s done, the fire’s dying out. Time to head home.

____________________

NEXT: first, the recipes for the above and then (I promise!)
my other Yorkshire Pudding

Posted in historic cookbooks, historic cooking, historic cooking/classes/events, historic receipts (recipes), Israel Crane House | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

another experiment: Yorkshire puddings!

October 24, 2011 by fireside feasts

It’s not too difficult to locate a receipt (recipe) for Yorkshire
pudding in historic (1840s or earlier) British cookbooks. There
are even a few in early American works, as well. At the same
time, I was rather surprised that there weren’t more, and that,
in fact, many of the English books that I consulted (those in my
personal library) don’t have any at all. Is not “Yorkshire pud”
the quintessential British dish? Or, perhaps it IS, and thus no
one really needs a receipt, as every cook across the pond
instinctively knows how to whip up a proper pud!

Nevertheless, those numerous receipts that I did find are,
as usual, quite similar and yet, a bit different. The basic
ingredients tend to be the same, that is flour, milk, eggs,
and a bit o’ salt, as is the method of cooking, namely the
placement of the resulting batter in a pan under roasting
meat. The most noticeable difference is the varying amount
of those above ingredients. The eggs, for instance, ranged
from three to eight, and the flour varied from a mere “four
spoonfuls” to the rather ambiguous “[add] flour to [make]
a good batter.” It all certainly made for interesting reading!

Eventually, I began to wonder how the end result of any
of these receipts might stack up against the store-bought
mix that I recently made. Or even how they might compare
to the modern version I use for popovers. And of course,
the only way to determine all this would be to make a few.
And so I did!

After reviewing all the different receipts, I chose the two
that follow (and I may do more later; we’ll see!). The BIG
problem with this experiment, however, is that I can’t follow
the instructions exactly as they were written as I don’t have
a proper cooking hearth, and so I’m not able to roast meat.
dagnabit! Ahhh well, I’m not going to let that stop me! I just
did the best I could, mixed up the batters as directed, and
baked them in my modern oven.

So first up, I tried this receipt from The Art of Cookery Made
Plain and Easy (London, 1747), by Hannah Glasse:

A Yorkshire Pudding.
Take a Quart of Milk, four Eggs, and a little
Salt, make it up into a thick Batter with Flour,
like a Pancake Batter. You must have a good
Piece of Meat at the Fire, take a Stew-pan
and put some Dripping in, set it on the Fire,
when it boils, pour in your Pudding, let it bake
on the Fire till you think it is nigh enough, then
turn a Plate upside-down in the Dripping-pan,
that the Dripping may not be blacked; set your
Stew-pan on it under your Meat, and let the
Dripping drop on the Pudding, and the Heat
of the Fire come to it, to make it of a fine brown.
When your Meat is done and set to Table, drain
all the Fat from your Pudding, and set it on the
Fire again to dry a little; then slide it as dry as
you can into a Dish, melt some Butter, and pour
into a Cup, and set in the Middle of the Pudding.
It is an exceeding good Pudding, the Gravy of
the Meat eats well with it.

TA-DA!

____________________

As you see, the bulk of this receipt deals with the cooking
portion (placing it under roasting meat), which I’m not able
to do, as I said. Thus, I concerned myself with the first part,
the mixing of the batter. Now, to make it more manageable,
I cut all the amounts of the ingredients in half. Of course,
the most “iffy” part was figuring out the amount of flour.
I worried about either using too much or not enough! After
a certain point, however, I figured I just had to use what
seemed best and be done with it. So I gradually added
roughly half a cup at a time, for a total of two. Baking
temperature and time made for another guessing game.
I relied on past experiences with popovers for the former,
setting it at 425. As for the latter, I basically left it in, well,
until it was done! (which was about 45 minutes or so)

Overall, again, I think it turned out well. The taste was
marvelous, much like the popovers I’ve made. The real
test on that score is that it was highly enjoyable a day
after (and beyond). As the photo shows, it “poufed” up
nicely, thus filling my cast iron skillet. I’d like to try it again,
only as individual puddings (aka popovers). I think that’d
be another, and perhaps better, way to judge these. We’ll
see. If I have time!

On now to receipt Number Two!

______________________________

NEXT: Part II of the Yorkshire Pudding historic receipt experiment

Posted in historic cookbooks, historic receipts (recipes), jolly ol' England, research & experiments | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Yorkshire pudding by any other name is…a popover?

October 15, 2011 by fireside feasts

While at my local grocery store recently, I made an interesting
discovery. On a shelf of the small bookcase that constitutes
the “British” section, I found a boxed mix for…Yorkshire
Pudding! It was even made in Yorkshire (says so right on
the box) and then shipped all the way here from jolly ol’
England. Imagine that! So, of course, I just had to buy it.
Then the other evening, I made it. Now, the directions say
to pour the mixed batter either into individual “patty tins”
or into one large “baking tin.” I decided on the latter and
used my cast iron skillet:

I think it came out beautifully, yes?! It was pretty exciting.
And it was delicious, as well. HUZZAH!

Now, while my store-bought Yorkshire pud mix-in-a-box was
baking, I began wondering about two things: Why is it called
Yorkshire pudding; and, Is it the same as a popover? I’ve
probably made literally hundreds of the latter through the
years (most were “from scratch” BTW). I’ve even eaten
quite a few of the former, as well, particularly on those
British-owned and operated cruise ships. For the most
part, though, I’ve always thought that there isn’t any
difference between the two, and in fact, that they’re
one and the same. But am I correct?

So I turned to that ol’ reliable resource, the Oxford English
Dictionary (OED). In general, it says, Yorkshire is the name
of the largest county in northern England. Or, at least it was,
until 1974 when the area was split into the three separate
counties of North, West, and South Yorkshire, all as a result
of a local government re-organization. However, it also states
that the word Yorkshire:

is still used to loosely designate the region.

Old habits die hard, I guess!

The OED definition then continues with the following:

1b. Applied to things originating in or
cultivated especially in Yorkshire, as
Yorkshire ale, cabbage, cord…stone…
Yorkshire bond, cement…Yorkshire
pudding, a batter-pudding orig. [sic]
baked under meat, now usu. [sic]
cooked and served as a separate
item to accompany roast beef;
hence Yorkshire pud colloq. [sic];….
[emphasis mine]

Ahhh, now I know the origins of the words Yorkshire pudding.
But wait, I still don’t know whether or not it’s the same thing
as a popover. The ingredients are the same, but still…. So
back to the OED; soon I found:

pop-over Chiefly U.S.
Also popover, pop over.

A very light cake made of flour,
milk, eggs, and butter (? so
called because it swells over
the edge of the tin in which
it is baked).

I gather popover is basically the American word for Yorkshire
pudding. They are very similar in their ingredients and in how
they’re prepared. The only difference might be the “swells over
the edge of the tin” part. And yet, my Yorkshire pud box-mix
swelled. Besides, a question mark does precede that phrase.
I think it IS the same. Besides, the definitive answer may just
be in the photo that’s on the front of the Yorkshire-Pudding-
from-Yorkshire-England box:

They sure look like popovers to me!

______________________________

UP NEXT: Historic receipts (recipes) for Yorkshire pudding…and
maybe one or two for popovers, as well

Posted in historic cooking, jolly ol' England, research & experiments | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

reckon I’ll render some lard

October 8, 2011 by fireside feasts

The receipts (recipes) for many of the dishes that I’ve
been cooking lately (i.e. apple fritters), specify that they
be fried in lard. Now, in the past, I’ve often just bought
it at a local supermarket. However, once I began awhile
back to read the list of ingredients on various and sundry
packages, I soon discovered store-bought lard contains
all kinds of odd and questionable things. So, I went back
to making my own.

Fortunately, another local grocery store sells packages
of pork fat (and it’s fairly inexpensive). So, every now
and then during the past few years, I’ve purchased
batches of that lovely piggy fat and rendered it myself.
It’s done on my “mo-dern” gas stove, of course, as I
don’t have a cooking hearth (although, I have done it
a couple of times at Wyckoff’s firepit and even once
at the Crane House). Nevertheless, I always feel very
“historic” as I toil away, knowing that, no matter what
I’ll be cooking eventually, it’ll be done in a more authentic
manner. And, as my frequent readers know, that’s what
I’m all about. HUZZAH!

____________________

Posted in historic cooking, historic receipts (recipes) | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

apples as dumplings

October 4, 2011 by fireside feasts

I was busy cooking at the hearth of the Israel Crane House
this past Sunday. In fact, I’ll be there again the first Sundays
of November and December. And don’t forget about my hearth
cooking class next Sunday, October 9! The menu I have planned
is awesome! HUZZAH!

But I digress. Back to my cooking this past weekend.

In keeping with the season, I again cooked apples, only this time
they were done as dumplings. And, if I say so myself, they turned
out beautifully! I only wish I’d made more. I had a marvelous time
making them. And yes, they were as delicious as they looked!
HUZZAH!

____________________

Posted in historic cooking, Israel Crane House | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

cooking from Crane to Wyckoff

September 23, 2011 by fireside feasts

Eeegad! It’s now been almost two weeks since I last posted
anything here. I am sorry. Life gets in the way, sometimes.
However, I haven’t just been lazyin’ around! I’ve been busy
with assorted hearth cookery tasks. You see, I have not one,
but TWO, cooking gigs this week. One was yesterday (9/22),
as it was Homeschool Day at the Israel Crane House. Then
this coming Saturday (or possibly Sunday, due to the current
steady rain that may last til then), is the annual Apple Festival
at Brooklyn’s Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum. For both I’ve been
doing the usual buying of supplies, the transporting of same
plus equipment, doing pre-event prep (including cooking),
and so forth. Of course, my trusty camera and I documented
much of it with photos. HUZZAH!

So, let’s get started! I think I’ll begin with yesterday’s event
at the Crane House, then I’ll go back to some of the necessary
pre-event prep work. Although, I may throw in pictures from
the Apple Fest in the middle of it all. We’ll see.

Homeschool Day was a huge success. I don’t know the exact
numbers, but based on who joined me in the Crane kitchen,
I’d say they were pretty high. We discussed the foods that
would’ve been eaten not only in general, but also during
a typical Fall. We churned butter, fried up apple fritters,
enjoyed bowls of Hasty Pudding, and more.

_________________________

_________________________

More to come…

Posted in historic cooking, historic cooking/classes/events, Israel Crane House, Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

remembering that day…

September 11, 2011 by fireside feasts

Lately there have been alot of people here in NYC commenting
about their remembrances of the events that took place on this
day ten years ago. Of course, I vividly recall that day, as well,
not so much for what took place, but for what came after. You
see, I slept through it all. Yep, I had an appointment later that
afternoon, so I’d planned to, and did, sleep in. I didn’t have
a clue as to what was going on, or had gone on, until a friend
from Indiana phoned to check on me. At first, I was puzzled;
why was she calling? And at this specific time of day? After
a few innocuous pleasantries, and then a brief pause, she
finally asked what I knew.

“Um, know about what?”
“The attacks.”
“Attacks? What attacks?”
“On the World Trade Center. The Towers have been destroyed.”
“No. What?! When? How can that…what?!?!”

I turned on the TV, to the one still-broadcasting station, and saw
again and again, that black cut-out of a plane hit the tower. And
then, all the rest. I know it sounds trite, but it did, it looked just
like some wild action movie.

So I went outside, walked a few blocks down to Flatbush Avenue
in my neighborhood, turned, and walked towards Manhattan. Oh,
it was such a glorious day! Not a cloud in the clear blue sky. The
street was empty, not a car in sight. Then, as I walked, I was met
by people going in the opposite direction. Hoards of people. I walked
all the way down to the foot of the Manhattan Bridge, where I saw
what can only be described as a sea of humanity walking across
and into Brooklyn. Just hoards. Some were barefoot and carrying
their shoes, others had towels or handkerchiefs on their heads,
most had looks of shock, confusion, and utter horror written on
their faces. I looked in the direction of the Towers, and there I
saw it, a long plume of thick black smoke. And no Towers. The
world had somehow gone insane. It was all so surreal. And it
sometimes still is.

I didn’t know anyone who was killed that day. Nor do I know
anyone who knew someone. Even so, the grief was palpable
in the days, weeks, and even months following. It was heart-
breaking, gut-wrenching, and at times, overwhelming. I just
can’t imagine.

And so, in honor of those who lost their lives on September 11
ten years ago, I re-post this heartfelt, tear-inducing commercial.

May God bless.

____________________

Posted in up close & personal | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments »

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