Eaten on this day in 1851 at Niblo’s Saloon. I think my favorite dishes are the Chicken Sallad and the Beef Tongues, both served in “gelee”; the Pigeons and the Widgeons; and (no party is a party without) Charlotte Russe. I don’t know which would have been my favorite ornamental piece; probably the Fruits of Industry.
I’ve been doing some research on turtle meat for my upcoming Edible Queens article and I wanted to share a great recipe that won’t make it to print. The reason? The article is due out in June, and this slow braised, spicy dish is perfect for winter. The taste of the tender meat will envelop you like a warm hug.
My inspiration was the first printed American recipe for turtle from Amelia Simmon’s American Cookery. I actually used veal to test this recipe, and I think it would be equally good with a cut of beef or lamb. This dish is so easy and delicious, you should serve up some turtle meat surprise at your next Sunday dinner.
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Braised Turtle
Inspired by “How to Dress a Turtle,” from American Cookery by Amelia Simmons, 1796
1 lb fresh or frozen turtle, beef, or lamb.
2. Rinse meat and pat dry; cut into one inch cubes. In a bowl, toss turtle meat with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, nutmeg and mace.
3. Add meat to a baking dish or dutch oven. Sprinkle with herb mixture. Pour in Madeira or sherry and beef stock. Cover, and bake for two hours.
Simon Ford of Liqour.com adovocates the celebration of President’s Day with Classic Cocktails:
“Franklin Roosevelt guzzled Martinis, Richard Nixon drank Cuba Libres (you have to love the irony) and Gerald Ford enjoyed the odd Gin & Tonic. Woodrow Wilson, president during the enactment of Prohibition, stashed away supplies so that he could mix his favorite libations in secret while the rest of the nation settled for bathtub gin and moonshine.
I think it’s fair to say that the proper way to celebrate Presidents’ Day (and the long weekend) is with cocktails. Here are a couple of historic drinks to get you started. Cheers!”
Read the full article here, and mix up a few classic cocktails appropriate to the Presidents.
February is the coldest month in New York City. Although I know that the spring thaw is just around the corner, the bitter wind that whips off the East River makes me die a little bit inside. Every day.
To keep the frigid weather at bay, I’ve been investigating winter cocktails. Nothing beats the wintertime blues like hot water and alcohol. I’ve been eyeing up this cocktail for awhile: the Apple Toddy. It comes from my favorite cocktail book, the first cocktail book, Jerry Thomas’ How to Mix Drinks.
For my version of this recipe, I used delicate, little Lady Apples, which I found in my local grocery store. Feel free to use a large baking apple, cut into slices. Apple Brandy can be found at most liquor stores or ordered online. Laird’s has been making apple jack and apple brandy in America since 1780.
Oh that’s good. I feel warmer already.
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Apple Toddy
Inspired by a recipe from How to Mix Drinks, by Jerry Thomas 1862.
Baking Apples: three small apples or one large
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/8 tsp mace (or cinnamon, if you prefer)
1/8 tsp nutmeg
Unsalted butter
2 ounces apple brandy
Hot water
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Core apples and place in a baking dish. Mix sugar and spices. Fill the center of the apples with sugar mixture and sprinkle the remainder around the edges.
2. Bake apples for 30 minutes, or until tender.
3. Scoop one apple (or apple slice) into the bottom of a rocks glass or mug. The bottom of the baking dish should be filled with sugar syrup; add one tablespoon of this syrup to your glass.
4. Add two ounces apple brandy, then fill glass to the top with hot water. Stir gently until the sugar syrup has dissolved.
5. Grate a little nutmeg on top and serve.
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Want a mouth full of history? Then mark your calender for these free events!
Sunday, February 21st
A Timeline of Taste: A Brief Overview of the Last 200 Years
4:30pm – 5:30pm
At Trade School
139 Norfolk Street, New York, NY
Free for barter.
I’m offering an hour-long class through Trade School.
Our idea of what “tastes good” is constantly changing. In this class, we will take a look at the constant flux of America’s culinary preferences, from the publication of the first American cookbook in 1796 to the swell of convenience food in the 1940s and 50s. To inspire our discussion, we will be sampling four different cakes from four different eras, and will make one of these desserts in the class. And with your help, we’ll bring our exploration to the present day with a selection of contemporary dishes.
Trade School offers these classes through a barter system; when you sign up, you can choose to bring a small item to trade for the class. There are a limited number of seats available, so reserve yours today! Sign up here.
Sunday, March 7th
Pancakes a Plenty!
11am – 1pm
At Old Stone House
336 3rd Street
Brooklyn, NY 11215
Free
Brought to you by the New York 19th Century Society.
Old Stone House lights up its hearth for a spring pancake celebration, featuring culinary creations by historic gastronomist Sarah Lohman. Pancakes a Plenty! presents three historic pancake recipes sure to please the modern palate: Pumpkin Cornmeal; Apple and Sour Milk; and Clove and Rosewater.
Pulled from the pages of 18th and 19th century New England cookbooks, these recipes have the flavor of New York life from another era. Prepared over an open fire, the pancakes will be served with all the fixins’ as well as hot drinks.
We’ll keep serving pancakes until the pancakes run out. So stop by and sample some slapjacks
Saturday, April 10th
The Boston 19th C. Pub Crawl
Starting at 5:30pm
Meet at Eastern Standard
528 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA
Free, but drinks are additional.
We’re taking the 19th Century Pub Crawl on the road to Boston! The evening will start at Eastern Standard, a contemporary bar that “…Breathe(s) life into forgotten cocktails of the past as well as conjuring up new classics.” They’ll be featuring several cocktails for the Crawl, including their house special the “19th Century,” and offering a selection of house-made hors d’oeuvres. From there, we’ll crawl to Boston’s oldest pubs, some stretching back to the 17th century! Our proposed route (subject to change) can be found here.
Saturday, May 15th
The New York 19th C. Pub Crawl
Starting at 6pm
Meet at Madame X
New York, NY
Free, but drinks are additional.
In the wake of last fall’s amazing New York 19th C. Crawl, we’re planning a whole new route! This spring, visit some of New York’s oldest taverns and most notorious dens of vice on 10th Ave. Formerly along Manhattan’s western waterfront, these inns served sailors drinks, drafts and entertainment. Our proposed route (subject to change) can be found here.
Photo by Everett Bogue
Yesterday, I cooked up a batch of a popular 19th century summertime treat, Turtle Soup. It went over surprisingly well with my friends! But you’ll have to wait to read more about it: I was testing my turtle recipe for an upcoming article in Edible Queens magazine. The Summer 2010 issue will feature this dish and many more.
The Secret Bowling Alley: “We recently purchased a building in Queens, and while clearing out the basement we discovered a two lane manual bowling alley in very good condition. We did some research and this basement was most probably a club during the Prohibition era.” (The Huffington Post)
Will Bitters Shortage Finally Kill Old Timey Cocktail Trend?: “There has been a shortage. You can’t just turn on and off supply of bitters. It’s not like producing bottled water – it’s a very delicate, intricate process.” Invented in 1824 by a German doctor and made from a secret recipe of herbs, barks, roots, spices and rum, bitters became popular in Britain as an additive for gin, partly to conceal quinine in tonic water.” (Gothamist)
Depression era cocktails at Depression era prices! Bars specializing in Prohibition era cocktails are now catering to those hit by the recession. (Liqour.com)
Bazmaawurd ready to be rolled.
A few weeks ago, I mentioned the article Cooking with the Caliphs, which analyzed a medieval cookbook from the court of 10th century Baghdad:
“A little over a thousand years ago, an Arab scribe wrote a book he titled Kitab al-Tabikh (The Book of Recipes)… The book has come down to our time in three manuscripts and fragments of a fourth—and what a treasure it is. These are the dishes actually eaten by the connoisseurs of Baghdad when it was the richest city in the world.”
Yesterday, I had a few friends over, and we tried some of these 1,000 year old dishes.
Translated by Linda Dalai Sawaya for Cooking with the Caliphs.
1 whole chicken
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons rosewater
ground saffron
1 pound dried apricots
2 fresh lavashes, pitas or other flatbreads, 12″ in diameter (or more, if smaller)
½ cup brown sugar
1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place apricots in small saucepan, add water to cover apricots by ½ inch. Bring to a boil and stew until apricots are soft and the water has reduced to a thin syrup, about 15-20 minutes.
2. In a baking pan or bottom of a broiling pan, place one lavash. Strew with apricots in syrup, sugar and 1/4 cup rosewater in which pinch of saffron has been dissolved, then cover with remaining lavash. Cover with a wire rack or top of the broiling pan.Check out all of these recipes and more in the original article here.