Thanksgiving Receipts

Elaine Kessinger has compiled a lovely little booklet of period receipts for popular Thanksgiving dishes.

HFF #18: Descriptive Foods

The Challenge: Prepare a food that has an evocative name.

The Recipe: Tipsy Cake from Mrs. Beeton. [Ok, I confess that I made this up a couple days early, ie. on Thursday, because I was having a party and wanted to share it with guests.  Birthday prerogative.]

Date and Region: 1861, British

How Did You Make It: Day 1: Prepared #1782 Savoy Cake.  Separate 7 eggs; beat the whites until fluffy.  In another bowl, mix the egg yokes with 8.5 oz (weight of 4 eggs) powdered sugar and 1 tsp almond extract--the flavor was a little strong; would try 1/2 - 3/4 tsp next time.   Mix in egg whites, slowly add 15 oz. (weight of 7 eggs) flour, and beat a further ten minutes. Baked for about 50 minutes at 350 F in two small, buttered tins--I used two, so that resulting cakes are small enough to fit into the available serving plates.

Day 2: Let the cake age.  Receipt called for a 3-4 day old cake.

Day 3: Poured 1 bottle wine and 6 Tbsp brandy over cakes and allow to sit for about 2 hours. Prepared #1423 Boiled Custard: warmed 1 pint skim milk, 3 oz. granulated sugar, and 1 tsp. vanilla extract in a saucepan; mixture was brought to a boil, then strained and allowed to cool. Beat eight eggs and stirred into the cooled/cooling milk mixture.  Put it all into a hot water bath on the stove, stirring until thick (about 40 minutes...possibly this was not quite enough), without allowing the mixture to boil, Removed from heat and stirred in 1 tsp. brandy.  Drained excess liquor from cakes, sprinkled blanched, slivered almonds over them, and poured the custard over all.  Grated some nutmeg over the custard.

Time to Complete: Three days.

Total Cost: Mostly based on the cost of eggs.  There's 15 of them, after all.

How Successful Was It: Not. The cake needed longer to soak, and would have benefited from a deeper dish.  Also, I think I'd try a sweeter wine next time (not a generic white).  All of the excess liquor needs to be poured off or permitted to absorb into the cake, else the custard will have...problems.  I'd also be tempted to try the alternate presentation in which the ingredients are layered with cream as a 'trifle'.

How Accurate Was It: Fairly good in ingredients.  Specific tins/pans could be more helpful.

Mmm, cake.

Boozy Cake

With custard; narrower, deeper dishes would be helpful.

HFF #17: Revolutionary Food

The Challenge: Prepare a food that is revolutionary in some way, or dates from a revolutionary time.

The Recipe: Ginger sprigs from The lady's assistant for regulating and supplying her table by Mrs. Charlotte Mason (page 379)

Date and Region: British, 1777 (I believe there was some rather revolutionary activity going on some of the British colonies at that time...)

How Did You Make It: With precious little assistance from the instructions...

"To make Ginger Sprigs after the West Indian Manner. TAKE three eggs, a pound of sugar, a pound of flower, a little ginger, two spoonsuls of rose water mix them to a paste "

Presumably, one then bakes this paste.  I took this as a sort of biscuit/cookie, and went for 350F about 12-13 minutes. (I used 1 Tbsp of ginger and 2 Tbsp of rose water.)

Time to Complete: About 75 minutes to mix up and bake 4 pans.

Total Cost: Ingredients were all to hand.

How Successful Was It: Successful.  Tasty enough, rather dense.  The rosewater flavor predominated, so I'd want to experiment with using a little more ginger.  The two flavors worked together surprisingly well.

How Accurate Was It: Having no description, shaping, or baking instructions, it's hard to say.  I couldn't find any other references to "sprigs" in other sources, so I just make them as drop cookies.

HFF #10: Let Them Eat Cake

The Challenge: Make a cake.

The Recipe: Lemon Cake with Almond Icing from Mrs. Beeton's.

Date/Year & Region: 1861, British

How Did You Make It:  Separated 10 eggs; beat the whites, then added orange-flower water, 1.5 cups granulated sugar, minced lemon rind, and mixed well.  Stirred the juice of 1 lemon into the 10 egg yokes and added to the preceding mixture.  Slowly stirred in 3 cups of flour.  Baked in an oiled bundt pan for 55-60 minutes at 350F.

For the icing, whipped 4 egg whites (used pasteurized egg whites since this is to be served uncooked), added 4 cups powdered sugar, about 1 tsp almond extract and 1 tsp rosewater.  Poured over cake (letting it set made the icing runny), and garnished with fresh lemon wedges (Friday) or strips of candied peel (Saturday).

Time to Complete: About 90 minutes.

Total Cost: Uncertain.  Probably on the order of $6.

How Successful Was It: It seemed well received.  The cake came out a bit dark, having been cooked in an aluminum pan--the closest one I had to a period cake tin.  It was also a little bit dense, which I'm attributing to the lack of chemical leavening.  The lemon, almond and rosewater flavors were very interesting together, and I think I would use this recipe again.  However, I would not make the icing early as it became very viscous.

How Accurate Was It: Fairly.  I already mentioned the "make do" pan; again, I used converted volume measures instead of weights.  In the icing, pasteurized egg whites were an intentional decision, as was using almond extract instead of grinding up almonds in rosewater--which I considered, but dismissed because I had a lot of other things which needed to be done (this being part of my first big dinner).  Using an electric mixer was also a compromise, but I'm not quite mad enough to voluntarily beat than many egg whites by hand.

So many eggs...

The yellow color is actually from the eggs, not the lemon...

All baked!

The other side is a little darker.

Garnished with lemon wedges on Friday night.

Saturday's cake has candied lemon peel on top.

Dinner Party Menu: Candlelight Tour (scroll down for pictures)

Washington Territory. Early October, 1855.

At the Hudson Bay Company's Fort Nisqually, Chief Trader W. F. Tolmie is entertaining a few friends with a dinner party.  Dr. and Mrs. Tolmie have many reasons to celebrate: their beautiful new house was completed in April, their fourth child--named James--was born in early September, and now word has come from London that Dr. Tolmie is being promoted to Chief Factor.  Mrs. Tolmie's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Work, have been visiting; very soon, Mrs. Work and her younger daughters will be returning to Fort Victoria, while Mr. Work proceeds proceeds to Olympia, the territorial capital, on business.     


For menu formatting, I consulted Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management (1860), What Shall We Have For Dinner? by Lady Maria Cutterbuck (1852), Eliza Leslie's New Receipts For Cooking(1854), and a selection of Godey's Bills of Fare reproduced in Civil War Recipes by Lily May and John Spaulding.

General Meal Outline (for a dinner party, according to Mrs. Beeton):

• First Course: 1-2 soups and 1-4 fish or seafood dishes (for parties from 6 to 18)
• Entree: 2-4 Meat dishes (one may be substituted for fowl, fish, or a vegetable dish)
• Second Course: 1-2 Meat and 1-4 Fowl dishes, plus vegetables
• Third Course (Entrements): 1 or more Fowl Dishes, 5+ puddings, jellies and sweet dishes; for larger groups add a meat dish, a seafood dish and/or a salad
• Desserts ("and Ices" for parties of 8+) 

For the larger groups, some of these dishes are "removes" which replace an earlier dish in the same course: ie, the Beeton first course for a party of 18 reads something like "Soup-1, removed by Fish-Q, Soup-2, removed by Shellfish-A, Fish-X, Fish-Z".

Many other sources do not delineate the course numbers, but follow a similar outline (soups, fish, meat, fowl, puddings, dessert).  For example, on page 386, Miss Leslie gives an autumn dinner menu (for company): "Mock turtle soup; stewed rock-fish; roasted ham; boiled fowls; stewed ducks; fried rabbits; stuffed egg plant; broccoli and eggs; fried artichokes; stewed mushrooms; potatoe [sic] snow; sweet potatoes--Chocolate pudding; meringued apples; cake syllabub; peach ice-cream."   One thing I'm not sure of is whether this presentation is a way of saving space ('everyone know we mean "serve the fish and soup as the first course, then the ham and fowls, then the..."') or whether the authors expected all of the dishes to be on the table from the start.

The number of dishes in a given meal varies wildly as well; though Miss Leslie didn't specify a number of people for her 16-dish dinner with guests (compare to her 'family supper' of 1 meat dish, 4-5 veggies, and a pudding), Lady Clutterbuck's menus for a party of 8-10 persons range from 8 to 33 dishes.  Mrs. Beeton stays a bit more consistent, with each non-dessert course averaging 1 dish per 2 persons (or five dishes per course for a party of 10).

When I've attended a period dinner served ala Francais, all the main courses were on the table at the outset; servants brought soup to each person and removes were used to replace certain dishes as they emptied.  This was at a ball, so a dance set between dinner and dessert allowed the table to be reset and re-supplied.  Standing buffets (as in Beeton's "cold ball supper") also mix the dishes of 'different courses' freely.  The only time I've seen the course distinction maintained in practice, was while serving at dinners ala Russe, in which each course was plated up in the kitchen, and then served to the individual guest (this is a little different from Beeton's version, in which the guests select their dishes from a menu, and servers fill each plate at a side board containing the dishes).  Which all goes to say, that while I wish I could find explicit documentation for mingling courses 1-3 and the entrees on a table, I feel comfortable enough with the ambiguity to go ahead with it, as the best option for handling a dinner party with few servants, little local staging space, and a long walk to the kitchen.

And so, a (simplified) Bill of Fare for a party of 10 in October:

Dinner (courses served more-or-less concurrently)
"First Course"
Soups: Mullagatawny Soup (sample receipt; Thornhill has his own methods)

"Entree"
Pork Cutlets (prepared by Mrs. Repp) with Tomato Sauce
Beef Fricandeau (prepared by Trapper Dave, Mrs. Rowan)
Potatoes (German Method)
Squashes

"Second Course"
Roast Goose (prepared by Mrs. Keller-Scholtz) with Apple Sauce
Savoury Vegetable Pie
Boiled Kale 
Boiled Beetroot with Onions

"Third Course"
Chicken Salad
Damson Pudding (used yellow plums, Suet Crust); day 2: Melons
Flanc of Apple
Raspberry Cream (using raspberry jelly)

Company rises and table is re-set

Dessert
Dish of Fruit (Grapes, apples, plums, pears)
Dish of Nuts  (Hazelnuts, walnuts)
Lemon Cake
Pumpkin Pudding
Chocolate Cream
Baked Apple Custard

Number of meat dishes reduced to meet budgetary restrictions and to take maximum advantage of the heirloom foods produced on site (including kale, golden beets, squash, melons, pumpkin, cucumber, yellow plums, citron, apples, potatoes, and eggs).  Note that vegetarian recipes were available during the mid-19th century.

And finally, the pre-event pictures.  Professional photos were also taken during the event proper.

The Factor's House Dining Room, table setting by Mrs. Keller-Sholtz

Fort Nisqually's Beautiful Blue Italian Dinner Service

Pumpkin and plum puddings for Friday night

Friday Sideboard Close-up, including raspberry cream, apple custard, beets, bread, and lemon cake 

Friday Sideboard: apple custard, beets, bread, lemon cake, flanc of apple, kale, and cheese

Lemon cake, sliced melon, and decanters of faux wine

Saturday Sideboard Selections, including raspberry cream, flanc of apple, pumpkin pudding, apple custard, vegetable pie, chicken salad, beets, kale, apple sauce and tomato sauce (in pitcher); cheese behind the rightmost candle

Historical Food Fortnightly, challenge #1

The inaugural challenge--make a food (from a period recipe) which is referenced in a piece of literature.  I considered making some of the tea dainties from "elegantly economical" Cranford... until I happened upon this 1841 reference and realized I needed to make more gingerbread.  Using a math book as "literature" amused me too much to do anything else.

The receipt is Mrs. Beeton's (1861) white gingerbread.  I've made up the "thick gingerbread" before, but hadn't tried this version.  In a happy coincidence, I've recently learned to use the iron stove at Ft. Nisqually, and so decided to try out this receipt* in the period kitchen.

The results:

Dough and rolled sheet

Baked Gingerbread

1854 Stove

Staff lunch: leek stew & dumplings

With no kitchen scales, I had to 'convert' the masses into cup measures (used the conversion tables from "Civil War Recipes" by Lily May and John Spaulding).  Rubbed the butter into the flour, added the ginger, sugar, nutmeg, and lemon; dissolved the soda in warm milk (held it near the stove briefly to warm), then added the liquid to the dry ingredients, and worked it all into a paste.  It was still a bit crumbly, so I added some of the lemon's juice (being out of milk), and the consistency improved nicely.

What I liked about this receipt was that several of the ingredients needed processing-- peeling the lemon and mincing the peel, grating the nutmeg, and so forth.  It meant that I was actually doing activities for the fort visitors to see, instead of waiting while the cake baked or the stew stewed.  (Actually, I was waiting on the stew while working on the gingerbread-- multitasking!).

Besides the lemon juice, my other deviation was in regards the 'pounded loaf sugar'.  I did get out the mortar and pestle and start working on the some of the cone sugar that was available.  After less than a quarter of the needed amount, I surrendered, and switched to the 'crash sugar'.  Much less obnoxious.

The gingerbread baked very nicely in the oven, either because I finally worked out the right rate of adding wood to the fire, or because the thin sheets are better suited to it--when I tried "thick gingerbread" in this oven it scorched badly without the center ever cooking.  The shortbread, however, turned out well, so that was the size I aimed for in making the gingerbread (this also ensured that it fit into the available baking tins).

With the oven going anyway, I decided to make lunch for the hard-working staff members.  The garden had a plentiful supply of leeks just now, so I did a leek & potato stew (improvised, with carrots and onion, and herbs from the garden) and served it with egg dumplings (from "Civil War Recipes", attributed to Godey's, 1869).

Challenge Summary:

The Challenge: A Literary Dish
The Recipe: White Gingerbread, Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management
The Date/Year and Region: Recipe is English, published 1861
How Did You Make It: Rub butter into flour, add other dry ingredients; convert into a paste with liquid ingredients, roll out and cut into cakes, bake in a moderate oven 15-20 minutes.  
Time to Complete: Uncertain (no clock in period kitchen, probably 20-ish minutes to prepare and another 20 to bake each pan)
Total Cost: Unknown (I had the spices, the lemon and the gill, ie half cup, of milk on hand); flour and sugar are provided by the fort.
How Successful Was It?: Tasted nice and spicy.  The lemon/nutmeg combination went well with the ginger, even if you aren't expecting lemon peel in gingerbread (or expecting gingerbread to be so pale).  I was mostly relieved that it cooked through without burning on the outsides (though the first pan had a few edges need to be cut off); it all got eaten, so I take it the product was acceptable.  

How Accurate Is It?: Used cups instead of weighing ingredients, substituted crash sugar for loaf sugar, used pre-ground ginger, added lemon juice for more liquid.  

*One of the period 'advice' books I've read (Miss Leslie's, I believe) has a short tirade on 'recipe' referring to pharmaceutical preparations and 'receipt' to food products.