Plum Torte- 1983

David Leite Posted a link to this recipe on his blog- If you want to make it yourself (If you don't have the book yet- Mine is on the way!)


Plums always remind me of the summer, of car trips, jammed into the back of my dad's tiny pickup truck, my cousins sitting alongside, heading to the beach or to Hacklebarney State Park.  The sweet-tartness of plums that make your mouth pucker a little and make you want another bite, and another one. I picked the plums that I used (black plums) because they are dark and looked like they would be on the more tart side, and I thought that would balance well with the sweet batter.

This recipe was one of the most requested to be put in the cookbook, and it was run in the paper a dozen times.  It's easy to see why!  The plums are sweet and a little tart, the lemon adds brightness, and the cinnamon adds a depth to a simple batter.  I don't know that I would have paired plums and cinnamon, but it is certainly a tasty match.


I was having a moment of panic when I realized that I didn't have a springform pan, and It turned out my mother didn't either, but I went to my Grandad's house, and he had one that he wasn't using, and lent it to me.  He also said he didn't mind if it went to Baltimore with me, which is good, because I'm willing to bet there are more recipes that require a springform pan coming.


The batter came together quickly, and made the house smell great.  I am definitely adding this to my culinary repertoire,  to make again and again. 

Cheese Straws- 2002

In the beginning of the meal, there were cheese straws. So goes the meal, so goes the blog.  I am beginning the project with a dinner for my family in New Jersey, because they are A) a very receptive audience to my cooking and B) not very picky and C) Don't mind being written about on the blog. Right, guys?... right?  These first three recipes, Cheese Straws, Plum Torte, and Chicken a la Marengo are all available online, which is good, because my book hasn't gotten to me yet.  I did all the cooking for this dinner at my parents' house, which was great, because my Dad did all the dishes (for real. I think the hardest thing about this project is going to be doing the dishes. Do you know how much I hate to do dishes? I hate to do dishes A LOT. But! The beginning of the project had a chief resident dishwasher, which I am very thankful for. 


 Cheese straws are a Southern thing that my Yankee New Jersey upbringing was never familiar with.  I did not grow up with these adorning buffet tables, and holiday gatherings, and potluck dinners, and now I wish that I had.  The end note in the recipe says that the first time a cheese straw recipe was run in the New York times in 1878. It's really cool to think that something that I'm making in my kitchen to start off a dinner party in 2010 was made in kitchens over a hundred years ago


I used a sharp cheddar from New York, and and the straws turned a lovely golden color. The crushed red pepper gave them a really nice kick, and I really like how elegant they look in a glass. These are definitely an item that I could see bringing to a party- they are really easy to put together (even without a food processor, which I don't have- I used a pastry cutter) The next time I make them though, I'm going to whip out a ruler- my straws weren't all that even, and it was driving me a little bit nuts. 


They were hard to roll out, but I'm pretty sure that was user error- I probably could have added a little more milk, because the dough was breaking up some as I rolled it out. It was mostly okay though. They baked up excellently. 


Definitely in the make-again category!

Chicken a La Marengo 1908

*If you want to check out this recipe- it is here


I love chicken, I love mushrooms, and I'm a fan of tomatoes,  to begin with I was thinking that this combination is bound to be wonderful, and it was. 


Cooking it though, wasn't quite the smooth sailing I had hoped.  In looking at the recipe before making it, I couldn't quite visualize it.  Usually when I'm cooking from a recipe I've been thinking about it for awhile, and I kind of work my way thorough the steps in my head, so that when I go to make the recipe, it goes pretty smoothly.  That did not really happen here. I kept running back and forth to my laptop, running into the kitchen, trying to remember what point in the process, I was, going back to the table to chop things, and then repeating that process.  While it was funny to watch- My friend Helena seemed amused by my crazy pacing around the kitchen, I'm hoping that doesn't happen too much. (or at least if it does, while I'm alone so only the cat can see my crazy and disorganized mess)


I think this could probably be solved by better mis en place.


I also doubled the recipe, so that made for a lot of cooking of chicken (two four pound chicken cut up into parts is a lot of cooking going on. Also, it took a lot longer to cook the chicken than I had anticipated.

I started with the sauce, simmering tomato, onion, celery, carrot and parsley for about an hour.


Then I smashed a garlic clove, and started cooking chicken.  I used a dutch oven and my mom's biggest frying pan, and after putting all the pieces into the pans at once, switched over to cooking the chicken in batches, and it seemed to go a lot smoother after that.




Once the sauce was done simmering, I put it through the potato ricer (I don't have a food mill) which turned out a little less liquid than I thought it would, but it turned out that that was okay.

Once the chicken was done, I sauteed the mushrooms, and added the tomato sauce, and things were smelling quite amazing.

Chicken on the platter

Along with the chicken, I served steamed spinach, and mashed red skin potatoes. I knew the chicken was going to be challenging, so I picked sides that I knew would be quick and easy, and go well with the chicken dish. 

If every time cooking from the book is going to be this wonderful, I'm in for a great ride.  The chicken was really good, and the sauce was luscious, the potatoes were creamy and buttery. 

Many thanks for my Mom, my Dad, (especially my Dad, who heroically did all the dishes. I generated a lot of dishes) my cousin Amy, and my auntie Ange and Uncle Dave for coming for dinner and telling me that they liked it.  These guys were here at the first dinner, and I hope they'll be at the last one of the project, which I am definitely going to go all out for. 

Three recipes down, 1000+ to go!

It Begins!

There are a number of great food blogs that are cook-the-book, and I have found it fascinating to read the experience of Carol at Alinea at home, Julie Powell of the Julie/Julia Project, and Sara of Sara Discovers How to Eat (and many more!) Cook the book blogs are a really cool way to work on your cooking skills.  Plus, I like having a project, and this one will certainly take up my time and energy. 

 So it begins!  I am going to cook my way through The Essential New York Times Cookbook, by Amanda Hesser.

Why this book?  You may not know this, but I was a History major in college, with a concentration on the early 1900's.  The way that we cook and the way that home cooking has evolved has always interested me. I think that this book will be a really neat way to explore our national culinary history.  What recipes are from the depression? Which ones are wartime recipes? How did trends in society play into what people were cooking in their home kitchens?  Plus, while I consider myself a pretty capable cook, I don't tend to go outside of my culinary comfort zone all that often. I want to expand my culinary knowledge and practice in all directions. Learning about the past, and practicing my skills for the future.  The best way to get better at something is to practice it.

What I am going to do:

• Post as frequently as I can. Include in the post the page number the recipe is on. 
• Take pictures of the things I make.
• When I make substitutions/ adjustments (due to time, or tools, or cost) I will note it in the post.
• Cook from the book at least three days a week (since I live alone, a majority of these meals will be just for me. I can take leftovers for lunch, but I am figuring I'm going to have some dinners of leftovers, as well).

  

What I am not going to do:

• Cook all of these recipes in a year.  I think over thousand recipes in a year is way too ambitious, even for me.  So over the first couple of weeks, I'm going to develop some sort of cooking/posting rhythm. 
• Post the recipes.  Amanda Hesser did an awesome job writing and editing this cookbook, and the authors wrote the recipes,  and If you want the recipes, grab a copy of the book and cook along with me!  You can get it on Amazon for a great deal. If however, there's a link to it somewhere else, (as part of an interview, or something like that) I will provide a link to the recipe.

*Note to my friends in real life:  You are all hereby invited to dinner, A LOT.  I am going to need your help eating all of this food, so if you want to get in on the action, give me a call, or send me an email, and I'll send an email out at the beginning of every week saying what I'm cooking and if it's something you're interested in, just let me know, and you're invited!