New Foods

I look out of the window and it’s snowing again. The snow that was so beautiful and anticipated in December is now making me groan inwardly, “Not more!” The sun-shiny days when the sun and the temperature melt the snow and the smell of spring is in the air are uplifting. Then I turn on the nightly news and the weatherman says, “Here comes another few days of below zero weather.” I don’t know about you, but I am sick of winter. These six weeks of Lent are somber in many ways and the weather in Minnesota just adds to the depressing atmosphere.

What’s a body to do? Why, go to the grocery store, of course. I got this great idea (stolen from Every Day Food magazine) to find five new ingredients or foods that I had never tried, buy them and figure out what to do with them. I was genuinely surprised that there were so many things that I had passed over in the grocery aisles. I purposely didn’t seriously consider highly processed foods that were basically prepackaged meals; rather I chose either basic ingredients or lightly processed foods. Here’s my list (and, by the way, it was really hard to pare it down to five, once I got started): Blueberry-Acai juice, Agave Nectar, ditalini pasta, kumquats, and, as a bonus, gnocchi. All of these were found in one of our local grocery stores and, as an added bonus, they were reasonably priced.

The gnocchi was the most pre-made product. It intrigued me because it was in a vacuum-pack and didn’t need refrigeration until after opening. Gnocchi is a small Italian dumpling made with potatoes and is usually highly perishable. It requires dropping into boiling, salted water for about 2-3 minutes until it rises to the top, draining and saucing. Like tortellini, it is already filled but unlike dry tortellini, it is a moist, fresh product. I sauced it with a homemade tomato-roasted pepper sauce and dressed it with grated Asiago cheese—it was wonderful—and what an easy dinner.

The agave nectar is made from the desert plant (a type of cactus) Agave. The agave plant will produce several pounds of edible flowers during the summer. The starch in the buds is converted into sugar and the sweet nectar exudes from the flowers. It tastes like a cross between honey and brown sugar. I used it in place of honey on a pineapple-orange fruit combo that I served to guests at the inn. They loved it.

Acai (pronounced ah-sigh-ee) has recently gained a great deal of fame on Oprah as a diet aid. It is being sold as a supplement in pill form and making huge claims of helping you reduce by large amounts in short times. (Where have I heard this before?) That aside, the acai berry, originating in Brazil, is delicious and a strong anti-oxidant that aids the body’s immune system and interferes with the aging process. Since blueberries, which are related to acai, are also known for their anti-oxidant content, are combined with the acai berry in the juice I bought, it can’t help but be good for you. Sounds like a perfect combination for a smoothie—and with frozen strawberries, pineapple and a frozen banana, plus some low-fat yogurt—it was delicious.

The kumquats were another story. If you are like I, you probably thought they were mainly a garnish—especially at Christmas. I broke one of my staunch rules and looked up recipes on the internet instead of my cookbook collection. I discovered there are many easy and delicious ways to use this fruit. I am giving you a couple that look great—but since I gave up desserts for Lent, I only made the chicken one—it’s delicious.

Kumquat Puree

Fresh kumquats

Wash fruit. Cut in half and remove seeds. Place in blender and blend until pureed. Do not cook. Use puree in recipes as called for or freeze. To use frozen puree, defrost and drain excess liquid before using (don’t throw liquid away—put it in a smoothie).

Kumquat Refrigerator Pie

1 baked pie crust, 9”
1 (8 oz.) Cool Whip topping
2/3 cup pureed Kumquats
1 can condensed milk
½ cup lemon juice

Beat condensed milk and whipped topping. Add lemon juice and beat until thickened. Add pureed kumquats. Pour in pie shell; chill in refrigerator for several hours before serving.

Kumquat Chicken

2 cups whole kumquats, seeded and quartered
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut into ½ x 2 inch strips

2 T. hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 Tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp. Chinese 5 Spice powder

1 ½ T. chili oil
2 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated
½ cup chicken broth
1 T. rice wine vinegar

In a wok or large skillet add chili oil and ginger. Saute on medium heat for 1 minute. Add chicken; cook for 3 minutes. Add cooking sauce and kumquats. Stir until thickened. Add vinegar, turn down heat, cover pan and simmer 2-3 minutes until chicken is done and kumquats are limp. If necessary, add water by teaspoons to keep mixture from becoming so thick it sticks or burns. Serve over rice or noodles.

Back to the Basics

I’ve always thought that the reason I liked cooking better than sewing is that every time I sew anything I spend a lot of time ripping out and re-doing, reading instructions over and over again trying to decipher what they mean and ending with something disappointing after all that work. Cooking, on the other hand, came naturally to me and I rarely had failures (not counting the fudge frosting fiasco I wrote about two weeks ago).

That rarity occurred today, however, and I now certainly can empathize with anyone who feels about cooking as I do about sewing.

I set out early this morning—a free morning as it happened—with high spirits for a day of baking. I had decided to dig out my set of Pillsbury Bake-Off books (I have most of the first 25) and do a column on “Whatever happened to those big money winning recipes?” Number 7 caught my eye—the winning recipe was on the cover and looked delicious; a pinwheel-shaped sweet roll with a filling that showed and an orange glaze called “Ring-A-Lings” which won Mrs. Bertha E. Jorgensen from Portland, Oregon $25,000 in 1956. It was an easy enough recipe, or so it seemed, but the layout of the instructions was very different from today’s standard. Every ingredient was written right in the instructions instead of being listed at the head of the recipe. At least that is my best excuse.

I had some mashed potato water in the refrigerator that needed to be used. I often make extra potatoes and after boiling them for the meal I’m making, I mash the rest of them in the water they were cooked in and save it for making bread.

Full of energy and time to spare, I decided to make the potato bread simultaneously and just have a baking day. After all, it saves cooking fuel and some work to do several things at once. Early in the day I have been known to overestimate what I can accomplish. I use my bread machines on the “dough” setting to make easy homemade bread—just dump the ingredients in the proper order into your machine, set it on the dough setting. When the timer dings, the dough has been mixed, kneaded and risen for the first time. All that’s left to do is to punch it down, shape it and put it in a greased pan or free-form it on a baking stone; let it rise again and bake it. Cheaper, easier, better—how can you go wrong?

I’ll tell you how: Get interrupted in the middle of putting the ingredients in the bread maker or answer a telephone call or get sidetracked thinking of things to do with the rest of the day and be careless—or all of the above which seemed to be the case today. I did fine with the bread until I put plastic wrap over the dough in the pan and set it aside to rise. It rose a little above the rim and stuck to the plastic wrap, thus deflating the dough a bit. Now, if I hadn’t been in a hurry, I would have punched it down and let it rise again with a towel over it. But, you guessed it, I just baked it as it was and was disappointed with the results. Sort of like letting the crooked seam stay and hoping it will turn out okay anyway.

Meanwhile I was simultaneously making the sweet rolls, hoping to have a winning recipe for the inn, a great recipe for my column, a couple for Zig and me and some to send to my Dad in Florida. Alas, due to the above distractions and increasing fatigue, not to mention a certain sloppy approach, I forgot one of the steps in the instructions called, “Let Rise.” Somehow, because it was a no-knead recipe, I decided it was a no second rise recipe, too. Then I put the glaze on the rolls before they had baked at all, only noticing that it was supposed to go on after 15 minutes of baking.

The rolls would have been delicious if done correctly with one caveat: the filling has a tendency to come out and spread on the baking sheet and burn. The recipe didn’t say so, but I should have known to seal the “Ring-a-Lings” a little better.

The moral of the story: Stay focused, don’t take on too much for one day, read through the recipe completely before starting, marking and improving any obscure or confusing directions and, oh yes, don’t get too cocky.

Here for the adventurous is the recipe, exactly as printed in Pillsbury’s 7th Grand National Cookbook:

Bake at 375 F. for 15 min. Makes 1 ½ to 2 doz rolls

Soften 2 cakes compressed yeast in
¼ cup lukewarm water, (Or substitute 2 packages dry yeast
Softened in ¼ cup very warm, not hot, water.)
Combine 1/3 cup butter or margarine and
¾ cup hot scalded milk in large bowl. Stir until butter melts.
Cool to lukewarm.
Add 1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons grated orange rind
Add 2 unbeaten eggs and the yeast mixture.
Gradually 4 to 4 ½ cups sifted Pillsbury’s Best Enriched Flour to form
A stiff dough. Mix thoroughly. Cover.
Let stand 30 minutes. Meanwhile prepare Nut Filling
Roll out dough to a 22x12-inch rectangle on floured board. Spread
Half of dough along 22-inch side with Filling. Fold uncovered dough over filling.
Cut into 1-inch strips (crosswise). Twist each strip 4 or 5 times.
Then hold one end down on greased baking sheet for center of roll; curl strip around center, tucking other end under.
Cover with waxed paper or towel.
Let rise in warm place (85 to 90 deg F) until light and doubled in size, 45 to 60
Minutes.
Bake in moderate oven (375) 15 minutes until light golden brown. Meanwhile
Combine
¼ cup orange juice and
3 tablespoons sugar for glaze. Brush tops of rolls and bake
5 minutes longer until deep golden brown. Remove from baking
Sheet immediately.


Nut Filling

Cream 1/3 cup butter or margarine. Blend in 1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar thoroughly. Add 1 cup filberts or hazelnuts, ground or chopped very fine. (Other nuts may be substituted.)

Light Cooking: Bittersweet Chocolate Souffle

A reader e-mailed me recently asking for recipes with fewer calories and less fat. Before I fulfill that request, let me give a little of my philosophy on this subject. Like most of you, I have been on many diets and done all kinds of things to keep my weight down with varying results. You may have read about my “Cruise Diet” in this column, but a brief synopsis is: I have lost weight on both of the cruises I have been on and I attribute it to the abundance and availability of all kinds of food. It created in me an anti-deprivation mentality that kept me from eating too much while enjoying anything I wanted to eat. Coupled with increased activity and excitement, my metabolism was in full gear and knowing that another feast was around every corner made me a nibbler.

I learned an important lesson from these cruises that I brought back to the mainland. Don’t deprive yourself because it sets up cravings that will not be denied. Stay active and happy, enjoy food, stop worrying about what you’re eating, eat quality food (i.e. the best of whatever you’re choosing to eat), and eat less of everything.

Having said that, I do believe there is a place for “light cooking”--eating less fat and calories--and since we’re not all on cruises we have to deal with the day-to-day concern about meals. I find that when I eat a lot of junk food or high-fat food or fast food or convenience food is when I am fatigued and busy. And who isn’t? So here are my best tips for cooking light and a recipe.

Eat and cook in a manner that you can sustain for a lifetime. No other way to eat healthy and lose or maintain weight will work. You know the drill: great enthusiasm in the beginning of a new diet, a costly output for odd ingredients and reduced fat or diet versions of old standbys, a month (more or less) of eating, cooking and then—you’ve had it! Craving comfort foods, going out to dinner with friends, sneaking chocolate bars, dreaming of doughnuts—whatever your weakness it rears its ugly head with a vengeance.
Use quality ingredients. Most reduced fat or diet foods are not quality, but the exceptions that I like are: fat-free sweetened condensed milk. In dessert recipes, it looks, tastes and cooks the same as the high-fat version; fat-free half and half (only for cooking), or fat-free evaporated milk—same as half and half, only for cooking. I also like reduced-fat mayonnaise and reduced-fat sour cream.
You can successfully replace some fat in recipes by sautéing in much less fat (even just a quick spray of Pam), stir-frying, baking and roasting most foods. Fruit purees such as applesauce or baby food prunes work well in place of some of the fat, but never all. Low-fat buttermilk is the liquid of choice instead of plain milk or water.
Use flavor boosting tricks for all your recipes such as herbs, spices, lemon juice and low-calorie condiments (salsa, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, mustard and hot-pepper sauce.

I have about 75 cookbooks devoted to low calorie food. I also get the magazine “Cooking Light” In addition, I have several “Cooking Light” cookbooks put out from time to time by the magazine. The recipes and philosophy of cooking (very healthy, fresh ingredients, gourmet) are right up my alley. So I give you one of the all-time great recipes from their newest book. Stay tuned for more of these in future columns.

Bittersweet Chocolate Souffles

Cooking spray
2 Tbsp. sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar, divided
½ cup Dutch process cocoa
2 Tbsp flour
1/8 tsp. salt
½ cup 1% milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 large egg yolks
4 large egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 Tbsp powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Coat 8 (4 ounce) ramekins with cooking spray and sprinkle evenly with 2 Tbsp. sugar. Place ramekins on a baking sheet. Combine ½ cup sugar, cocoa, flour, and salt in a small saucepan. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook until thick (about 3 minutes), stirring constantly. Remove from heat; let stand 3 minutes. Gradually stir in vanilla and egg yolks. Spoon chocolate mixture into a large bowl; cool. Place egg whites in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until foamy. Gradually add ¼ cup granulated sugar and cream of tartar, beating until stiff peaks form. Gently stir one-fourth of egg white mixture into chocolate mixture; gently fold in remaining egg white mixture and chopped chocolate. Spoon into prepared ramekins. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until puffy and set. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve immediately. Yield: 8 servings

Calories 206 per soufflé; Fat 5.5g; protein 5.2g; Carb 34.1g; Fiber 2.3g; Sodium 75 mg; Calc 33 mg.

Presidents' Day Cherry Pie

Monday is George Washington’s Birthday—how could there be any pie of the month besides cherry? When I was growing up we celebrated (meaning no school) Abraham Lincoln’s birthday on February 12th and Washington’s on the 22nd. Now we have one day to honor all the presidents and so it seems we have lost a little of the lore that went with these two great presidents’ birthdays.

Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin and was a rail splitter before he finally became a lawyer by walking miles through the back woods to get books which he brought back to study at night. And, of course, he finally became one of the greatest presidents our country has known, but I’m not aware of a pie that would be appropriate for his birthday.

I’m not sure whether the story of the cherry tree is actually truth or just a great story, but probably everyone knows that little George Washington, while using his new hatchet, cut down one of his father’s prize cherry trees. When confronted, George supposedly said, “I cannot tell a lie, Father, it was I”. I am glad that the story is well-known, true or not, because cherry pie is one of my top five favorites and I always have an excuse in February to make and eat one.

While researching cherry pie, I did come across quite a few variations on the tried and true, but none that sounded fantastic, so I am including a recipe for a standard cherry pie, along with one that, “I cannot tell a lie, is not JUST a cherry pie”. The second pie is made from red currants along with sweet cherries and incorporates maraschino cherry juice. It has an irresistible color—although the currant is very tart. If you don’t have frozen red currants around (I picked mine locally last summer), you can substitute sour red pie cherries, fresh or canned.

Lynette’s Standard Pie Crust

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup plus 2 Tbsp. cold vegetable shortening
5-7 Tbsp. ice water

Cut vegetable shortening into flour-salt mixture with a pastry blender until mixture looks like peas. Add ice water, one tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork lightly until mixture begins to hold together. With your hand, quickly gather into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes to an hour.

Lightly flour a board and roll out half the dough into a circle to fit 9” pie pan with 1” overhang.
Put pie filling in dough and dot with butter. Roll out second half and fit over pie. Flute edges, vent and bake.

George Washington’s Cherry Pie

1 Standard Pie Crust recipe (above)
2 ½ Tbsp. minute tapioca
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. lemon juice
½ tsp. red food color
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 Tbsp. butter

Drain cherries. Measure 1/3 cup liquid into mixing bowl. Add tapioca, salt, almond extract, lemon juice and food color, then cherries and sugar. Mix and let stand while making pastry. Fit pastry into bottom of 9” pie pan. Trim ½” beyond outer rim of pan. Fill with cherry mixture. Dot with butter. Fit top crust over pie and flute edges. Cut vents in top crust and brush crust with milk or cream and sprinkle with an additional 2 Tbsp. fine sugar. Place on foil covered rimmed baking sheet and put foil over edges to prevent too much browning. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes; remove foil on edges and bake an additional 15 minutes or until filling is bubbling through vent holes and crust is golden brown. Do not cut pie until cool.

I Cannot Tell A Lie Pie

2 cups pitted tart frozen cherries or 2 cups canned sour cherries, drained or 2 cups red currants, stemmed and washed
1 cup pitted frozen sweet cherries
½ cup tart cherry juice
1/3 cup maraschino cherry juice
1 cup sugar
2 1/3 Tbsp. minute tapioca
1 ½ tsp. cornstarch

Thaw cherries or currants if frozen. Drain off juices. Measure juices as above recipe and stir into mixture of sugar, tapioca and cornstarch in saucepan. Heat until thickening is complete. Boiling is not necessary. Set aside to cool. Add cherries to cooled, thickened juice. Pour filling into pastry-lined 9” pie pan. Roll out second half of pie crust and cut with fluted pastry cutter into 1”-wide strips. Weave strips over and under to form lattice-top crust. Brush top crust strips with milk or cream and sprinkle an additional tablespoon of fine sugar over. Cover edges with foil and bake on foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet for 40 minutes at 425 degrees.

School Days

Like many children with older siblings, I eagerly awaited the first day of school. Mary Anne, my very best friend was a year younger and, besides, would attend Catholic school when her turn came. So, I was left with my neighborhood "boyfriend," Allen Peterson, to stand with me at the bus stop (along with my Mom, of course). Allen lived in the house directly behind me and was the only child of a couple with many problems--among them alcohol abuse. I can remember being at his house when his mom (a school teacher) was home "sick" with all the shades down and her head covered with a washcloth. Allen would be only too happy to come down to our house to play. He was a great kid and a good friend. I have heard that he is now practicing medicine in the Twin Cities someplace--but I have never run into him.

But, back to the first day of school. Kindergarten was being held at Brookside school--on the east side of Highway 100, almost to Edina. Fern Hill School, where I would be attending was being finished and so we began at Brookside and later transferred to Fern Hill. I wore a beautiful rose colored taffeta dress with three tiers of ruffles on that first day and I clearly remember having a note pinned to my dress that had my name, address, bus number, etc.

I'm not sure exactly when my bubble was burst, but I did not like my teacher and she did not like me. For one thing, as aforementioned, my mother was a primary school teacher who had already done a lot of teaching at home and I knew how to read and could write my own name in cursive. I, naively thinking this was great, proceeded to show off my talents which annoyed the teacher quite a bit. I remember spending a great deal of time sitting behind some long, heavy drapes where I couldn't be seen--an old-fashioned version of the modern "naughty chair." The highlight of that year was when we went into the cafeteria kitchen to learn how to make some cookies for a project. I felt right at home and I think I didn't get in trouble that day.

This obsession with cooking and kitchens was part of a crazy dream that I had many times, starting when we first moved into the house on Vernon Avenue. My room had a clothes chute built into the wall behind the door to my room. As you opened my room door, if you peeked around the door, you'd see the little door to the clothes chute. I was entranced with that little door and soon had a dream that I went through the door (sort of like Alice in Wonderland) and on the other side was a long, narrow kitchen miniaturized to be my size and equipped with every imaginable kitchen utensil. I loved that little kitchen. After the first time I had the dream, I actually went to the clothes chute to check and see if it was there--it was that real. Over the nine years we lived in that house, I had the dream many times. It was always so disappointing that it was just an old clothes chute!

Back to school. First grade was much more fun--for one thing I dearly loved my teacher. Her name was Miss Keeling (later she married and became Mrs. Hershey--an apt name, I thought for someone so sweet and yummy) and she had an orange-y blush on her cheeks. She was beautiful! She was young and kind and she actually liked me although I can distinctly remember having to sit out in the hall on occasion for talking too much. Some things never change. Even so,the best part of every day was lunchtime. In those days, every school cooked its hot lunch on site. So, if you were a hungry food-loving little kid like I was, the smell of lunch cooking all morning was agonizing. I remember standing in the lunch line with my lunch ticket ready, counting the people ahead of me and with my stomach rumbling away. There were a few disappointing lunches--the large brown baked beans, for instance--but even though my mom was an outstanding cook, I didn't share today's kids assessment of school lunch--I thought it was good. And no matter what else was served, there were always bread and butter sandwiches or a thin glaze of honeyed peanut butter sandwich to save you--and you could have as many of those as you wanted.

President's Day

I’m so old I can remember when we got two days off school in February; one on the 12th for Abraham Lincoln’s birthday and one on the 22nd for George Washington’s birthday. Now they’ve rolled it all into one “President’s Day”, which is this coming Monday. I decided to find out if any other Presidents had birthdays in February and only 4 of our 43 presidents were born in February; the aforementioned Washington and Lincoln, William H. Harrison and Ronald Reagan.

We always made cherry pies for Washington’s birthday and decorated the table with stovepipe hats and profiles of honest Abe on their respective birthdays, but I turned to one of the most interesting cookbooks in my collection, The Presidents’ Cookbook by Poppy Cannon (former food editor of Ladies’ Home Journal) and Patricia Brooks in hopes of finding some very authentic and different presidential food ideas. It is full of information on the personal food preferences and official entertaining menus for state dinners and other official functions of each. It really is well done and fascinating, but there is one big problem with this book—it was published in 1968 and ends with Lyndon B. Johnson, although as it went to press, Richard Nixon was in the white house and the book includes an addendum including his administration.

So for old-times sake, I am focusing on the two presidents we formerly feted in February.

George Washington had the daunting task of establishing the etiquette and protocol of the new nation’s presidency. He tackled the job by calling his newly appointed Cabinet together to discuss it. He himself said: “My manner of living is plain, and I do not mean to be put out by it. A glass of wine and a bit of mutton are always welcome. Those who expect more will be disappointed.” This, however, is an example of the “plain living” offered guests at a Presidential dinner:

There was an elegant variety of roast beef, veal, turkey, ducks, fowls, hams, etc.; puddings, jellies, oranges, apples, nuts, almonds, figs, raisins, and a variety of
Wines and punch (one guest observed). We took our leave at six, more than an hour after the candles were introduced. No lady but Mrs. Washington dined with us. We were waited on by four or five men servants dressed in livery.

By contrast with the elaborate hospitality of the President’s household, George Washington’s own eating habits were relatively simple. One observer of the time said that he “took what came with philosophy”; certainly no one could accuse our first President of having been a gourmet. He ate heartily but was not particular in his diet, with the exception of fish, of which he was excessively fond. A special passion of the President’s was nuts. On one occasion, the Prince de Broglie reported that “at dessert he eats an enormous quantity of nuts.”

As food reflects the man, it also reflects the times. The food served at the President’s table from 1790 to the end of Washington’s second term, 1797, indicates the new nation’s dependence on the land. Game, fowl, meats, plantation-grown fruits and vegetables, fish from local rivers or the Atlantic reveal the abundance of the land. Spliced throughout the menus are the remnants of Washington’s English heritage—puddings, cream trifles, a taste for port and wine.

Because of the wonderful story of George Washington and the cherry tree, any recipe associated with George Washington would have to include cherries. It is true that George was very fond of cherries—all fruit, for that matter—but this recipe was in Martha’s notebook of receipts and was one of her favorites:

Martha’s Cherry Bread-And-Butter Pudding

12 slices bread
6 Tbsp. butter
½ cup cherry preserves
1/2 tsp. nutmeg, grated
2 tsp. lemon peel, grated
4 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
3 cups milk

Cut slices of bread and butter them thickly. Put a layer on the bottom of a baking dish. Then put a layer of cherry preserves on top of it. Add grated nutmeg and lemon peel. Continue making alternate layers until the dish is filled. Mix eggs, milk and sugar; pour over the bread mixture. Let stand until the bread has soaked it up, then bake in 325 degree oven about 1 hour or until set and lightly browned. Most delicious served warm.
(Serves 6)


Abraham Lincoln was a study in contrast to George. He grew up on the frontier of Kentucky were he ate very plain food, partly for economic reasons, partly because of the frontier tradition. Corn dodgers, cakes made of coarse cornmeal, were a staple. Wild game provided the protein a growing boy needed. As a young man his diet consisted largely of cornbread, mush, bacon, eggs, and milk. Mary Todd Lincoln, Abe’s wife, although also from Kentucky, came from the lush bluegrass region of the state where gracious, comfortable living and rich, elaborate cooking were legendary. Many tales of Lincoln describe him thus: “(He) was one of the most abstemious of men; the pleasures of the table had few charms for him. His breakfast was an egg and a cup of coffee; at luncheon he rarely took more than a biscuit and a glass of milk, a plate of fruit in its season; at dinner he ate sparingly of two courses.”

Contradictory evidence has it that Mr. Lincoln was a hearty eater. He never lost his taste for the things a growing farmer’s boy would like. Plentiful and wholesome food was one of the means by which he kept up his strength which was taxed almost beyond endurance in those days (during the Civil War).

Wherever the truth lies, a story by Carl Sandburg related in The Prairie Years illustrates his wry sense of humor. During one of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, someone asked why Lincoln seemed to have so little female companionship. Did he find no pleasure in the company of women?

“When we lived in Indiana,” the future President began, “once in a while my mother used to get some sorghum and ginger and make some gingerbread. It wasn’t often, and it was our biggest treat. One day I smelled gingerbread and came into the house to get my share while it was hot. My mother had baked me three gingerbread men. I took them out under a hickory tree to eat them. There was a family, near us, poorer than we were, and their boy came along as I sat down. ‘Abe,’ he said, ‘gimme a man?’ I gave him one. He crammed it into his mouth in two bites and looked at me while I was biting the legs off of my first one. ‘Abe,’ he said, ‘gimme that other’n?’ I wanted it myself but I gave it to him. ‘You seem to like gingerbread.’ ‘Abe,’ he said, ‘I don’t s’pose anybody on earth likes gingerbread better’n I do—and gets less’n I do.’”

Young Abe’s Gingerbread Men

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
½ cup dark molasses
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
2 eggs, well beaten
1 tsp. vinegar
5 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda

Cream butter and sugar. Add molasses along with the spices. Mix well and pour into a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. As mixture reaches the boil, remove from heat and cool to lukewarm. Then add eggs and vinegar. Mix well and add the flour, sifted with the baking soda. Mix again until mixture forms a smooth dough. Chill for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator. When ready to bake, roll out on floured board and cut with a gingerbread-man cutter. Put pieces of raisins on the cookies before baking—to form eyes, nose buttons. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 deg. Approximately 10 minutes. Makes 50 or so.

Valentine's Day

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day but many of us will be celebrating with the one(s) we love tonight. Since we are really economizing around here and because our inn is full (thankfully) tonight, we will be at home celebrating. I wracked my brain for a lovely meal for the two of us that wouldn’t take too much energy or money and would still be very special. And then there’s our real hearts. Both of us need to watch the health and weight issues. This started looking like a real challenge.

I chose the heart shape as the theme. Don’t you just love that shape? There are many foods and dishes that are naturally heart-shaped such as chicken breasts and strawberries, or those that can be easily formed into a heart such as meringue and pastries.
Taking the theme one step further, I decided to make a dinner that would keep our hearts in shape as well.

This menu is easy enough to make for tonight or tomorrow (actual Valentine’s Day) for you and your heart-throb.

Hearts on Fire Cheese Spread on Crackers
Bubbly (champagne or sparkling cider)

Chicken Breasts en Papillote
Vegetables in parchment
Spinach and red pepper salad with Ruby Red Dressing

Strawberry Meringue Clouds

Hearts on Fire Cheese Spread

1 3-oz pkg. Neufchatel Cheese
½ cup (about 2 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
2 ounces feta cheese
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp. cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp. toasted almonds, chopped
Dash cayenne pepper

Put all cheeses, Worcestershire sauce and ½ tsp. cayenne pepper in food processor and blend well. Take out of work bowl and with wet hands, shape cheese into a heart shape. Press nuts on edges only; sprinkle with cayenne pepper. Refrigerate until nicely firm and serve with Ritz crackers.

Chicken Breasts en Papillote (Adapted from Everyday Food Magazine)

½ large mango, peeled, pitted and cut into ¼-inch wedges
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 ½-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro leaves (optional)
½ medium jalapeno, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp. olive oil
Lime wedges for serving

Cut parchment into 2-18” pieces. Fold each in half and cut into heart shape. Open the paper and spray with vegetable spray. Place mango wedges on one side of paper and top with chicken, ginger, cilantro and jalapeno. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle each with half of the olive oil. Fold parchment over and twist edges, pleating along the heart shape. Place on large rimmed baking sheet and bake until packets are puffed up and chicken is cooked through, 18 to 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Potatoes, Leeks and Carrots in Parchment (you can use any combination of vegetables you like)

6 small, red, new potatoes, halved
1 medium leek (white part only), halved lengthwise, rinsed well and cut into 3-inch pieces
3 large carrots cut into 3-inch sticks
½ tsp. dried Thyme
1 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper

Cut parchment into 18” pieces. Spray with vegetable spray. Place vegetables in center of paper; drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Fold like a letter, twisting ends and then turning up. Place on large rimmed baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Start dinner with vegetable packets on baking sheet and after about 10 minutes, add chicken packets so everything will be done at the same time.

Spinach and Red Pepper Salad with Ruby dressing

Baby spinach leaves
¼ large sweet red pepper, julienned
Candied pecans (recipe follows)
Ruby Red Dressing (recipe follows)

Take long stems off spinach leaves and wash, if necessary; spin dry and store in plastic bag until ready to use. Toss spinach, red pepper slices and pecans with Ruby Dressing just before serving.

Candied Pecans

1 tsp. egg white
1 cup pecans
2 Tbsp. sugar

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Mix nuts with egg white in small bowl until nuts are coated. Sprinkle sugar over nuts, stirring until completely coated. Spread on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 30 minutes. Store in a tightly covered jar until used.

Ruby Red Dressing

½ cup currant jelly
1/3 cup canola oil
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
Dash of salt

Put all ingredients in blender and process until smooth.

Strawberry Meringue Clouds

Meringue Shells

Heat oven to 275 degrees. Cover baking sheet with heavy brown paper or parchment. Beat 3 egg whites (room temperature) and ¼ tsp. cream of tartar until foamy. Beat in ¾ cup granulated sugar, very, very gradually. Add 1 Tbsp. maraschino cherry juice and 1/8 tsp. red food coloring. Continue beating until stiff and glossy. Drop meringue by 1/3 cupfuls onto paper. Shape mounds into heart shapes building up sides. Bake 1 hour. Turn off oven; leave in oven for 1 ½ hours. Do not open oven until time is up. Cool.

Filling: Blend 1 3-oz pkg. softened cream cheese, ½ cup sugar and ½ tsp. vanilla with mixer. Beat 1 cup chilled whipping cream and 2 Tbsp. sugar until stiff. Gently fold whipped cream and 1 cup miniature marshmallows into cream cheese mixture. Fill shells. Cover; chill at least 4 hours. Top with halved, sweetened strawberries.

Chinese At Home

One of the great cuisines of the world, Chinese, is thought by many to be too difficult and time consuming to do at home. Actually, with a little advanced planning, it is quite manageable and fits right into a healthy eating style. I am not talking about the ubiquitous stir-fry, as delicious as it can be, but the more adventurous fare of fried won tons, sweet and sour dishes, hot and sour soup, to name a few.

Won tons of all kinds are really simple. The won ton skins that are sold in any supermarket are perfect and they freeze successfully, so you can make as many or few as you like and freeze the remaining skins for another use. Won tons are used to make everything from the famous Crab Rangoon (a Trader Vic original) to won ton soup. As with other ethnic dough pockets or dumplings, they can be filled with anything you wish. The Crab Rangoon is cream cheese and crab; the meat-filled won-tons use scraps and bits of various meats and fish, along with vegetables and seasonings, all chopped very fine.

Making the won tons is not only easy, it is surprisingly fast and fun. Depending on the size of the won ton skin, you fill the square dough with ½ tsp. to 1 Tbsp. filling in center of square, fold in half lengthwise, then fold again lengthwise. Bring ends together and, after moistening one corner, overlap slightly, forming the tortellini-like won ton. After filling you can freeze them raw in a single layer and then put into freezer bags to use at your convenience, or cook them immediately. They can be dropped into bubbling broth for won ton soup or deep fried.

Hot and sour soup is one of my all-time favorites but sometimes it has been held too long and has too much viscosity and/or an off-flavor. I was delighted to find that it is truly simple to make at home where you can control the amount of “hot” and “sour”, the amount of cornstarch (viscosity) and, of course, it is freshly made.

Zig’s favorite Cantonese treat is Sweet and Sour Pork. There are a great many recipes for this favorite, but none of them is daunting for an average cook. I am giving you some of the recipes I used for our delicious Chinese dinner. The menu:

Hot and Sour Soup
Deep-fried Won Tons
Sweet and Sour Pork
Chinese Rice

Hot and Sour Soup

4 dried black mushrooms
¼ cup dried fungus
Boiling water
½ cup lean pork
½ cup bamboo shoots
½ tsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp oil
6 cups chicken stock
2 Tbsp light soy sauce
½ tsp. pepper
3 Tbsp vinegar
2 Tbsp cornstarch, dissolved in ¼ cup water
2 pieces fresh bean curd, cut into ¼” dice
2 eggs, beaten
1 Tbsp sesame seed oil
2 scallions, cut into 1-inch lengths

Put mushrooms and fungus into separate bowls. Cover each with boiling water. Let soak 1 hour or more. Remove stems from mushrooms. Remove woody parts from fungus. Separately cut mushrooms, fungus, pork and bamboo shoots to fine julienne. Mix pork with salt and cornstarch in bowl. Heat wok or large skillet; add vegetable oil to wok and stir-fry pork until color changes. Bring chicken stock to boil in large pot. Add mushrooms, fungus, pork and bamboo shoots. Stir constantly. Add soy sauce, pepper, and vinegar. Thicken with dissolved cornstarch, stirring constantly over moderate heat. Add bean curd. Bring to boil. Turn off heat. Add beaten eggs. Stir quickly 30 seconds. Add sesame seed oil. Garnish with scallions and serve hot.

Fried Won Tons

½ pound ground pork, beef, turkey, chicken or shrimp or crab, or combination
½ tsp. salt
1 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 Tbsp. sherry
4 water chestnuts, chopped fine
1 scallion, chopped fine
½ egg, beaten
2 leaves of bok choy or other Chinese cabbage (optional)
60 small won ton wrappers (skins)
2 cups oil for deep frying

Combine meat with salt, soy sauce, sherry, water chestnuts, scallion, beaten egg and blanched, drained and squeezed dry bok choy. Mix well.

Put 1 tsp. of filling in center of each skin. Fold in half lengthwise. Gently press edges together. Fold in half again lengthwise; then bring ends together. Dab a little water on one corner, put two corners one over the other, and press together. Won ton resembles an old-fashioned nurse’s cap. Heat oil to 400 degrees in wok. Deep fry won tons, 10 or 12 at a time for about 3 minutes. Drain. Serve with purchased sweet and sour sauce. As a healthier alternative, drop won tons into bubbling chicken broth.