recipe – Page 16 – Alice the Cook

September 24, 2010

Scotch Broth Recipe

Autumn is nearly upon us and the smell of dried leaves, bonfires, and the days grow colder as the nights grow longer. The harvest festivals of the past brings forth memories of feasts and eventually soups and stews that help keep the chill off of one’s bones.

Feasts of all kinds were found with the wealthy and peasant alike. Each feast was different from culture to station to family. Once the feasts were done, leftovers or remnants were often used for soups, stews, or other hearty dishes.

Throughout the British Isles, soups and stew became part of the culture. It was a time for families and communities to share and to help ward off the chill of the approaching winter. Scotch broth, a filing soup that originated in Scotland that utilized many of the common ingredients such as lamb and root vegetables, but also added cabbage or leeks and barley.

The proportions and ingredients vary according to the recipe or the availability of ingredients. In modern England, Scotland, and Wales, Scotch broth is often sold in cans. As with many slow-cooked dishes, Scotch broth tastes even better when re-heated.

The preparation methods varied based on the location. When there are limited resources, the recipe would require creative use of supplies while offering the best nutritional value.
Original recipes would use one pot to cook everything in it to conserve wood for cooking fires while providing enough for everyone to eat.

Later evolutions of this recipe, would call for a joint, mutton, or lamb covered with water in a pot and simmered until boiling. Barley would be added until done. Potatoes would be added with their skins on in a separate pot, so that the starch would not affect the taste. Root vegetables would be added near the end with shredded cabbage added on top prior to serving.

Families will often make small changes to the master recipe. Some would leave out the onions and replace them with two medium sized leeks, a vegetable that tastes like a very mild onion. I’ve seen celery replaced with parsnip, fennel, or even a turnip. If lamb is not available, use beef or a stewing chicken. If chicken is used, the dish is called ”Hen Broth.”

I invite to try the recipe on your own and once you have experienced it, make your own rendition of it for your family.

Scotch Broth
2 lbs. of stewing lamb with bones
6 cups of cold water
3 TB of barley, washed
2 onions, finely chopped
½ head of a small cabbage, shredded
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp of thyme
3 TB parsley, finely chopped
1/2 tsp of sea salt
black pepper to taste

Place the lamb in a large casserole or a dutch oven. Cover with cold water. Cover pan with lid and simmer for one hour. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for one more hour. Discard bay leaf. Remove lamb. Separate mean from bones. Discard the bones and shred the meat into small pieces. Return meat to pot and simmer for 5 more minutes.

Serves 6

July 29, 2010

Old Twist on Meatloaf (14th Century English recipe)

From the July issue of Renaissance Magazine

Over the years, my historical research with cooking, recipes, and food has taken me to different cultures and tasting their cuisines. Occasionally, I will encounter a new tidbit of information that will surprise me as well as culinary professional colleagues and amateur foodies alike.

The modern meatloaf usually consists of a combination of bread or cracker crumbs, eggs, and ketchup; some other ingredients may be added to each recipe making it unique for the geographic region or various family traditions. Meatloaf has been with us for a very long time, but under different names.

The oldest recorded ground meat recipe can be found in Apicius, an ancient Roman cooking text. This recipe consisted of finely chopped meat (or mince), combined with pepper, garum (a fermented fish sauce popular In Roman cooking), and pine nuts while its center contained white bread crumbs soaked in wine. This mince was wrapped in a sheep’s stomach or upper intestines and then baked in a large oven.

Other versions of meatloaf can be traced to German, Belgium, and Holland 5th century recipes. These central and northern Europeans regional forms of meatloaf usually consisted of minced or ground pork, hard boiled eggs, and bacon with bread soaked in milk or wine to help form the hand-shaped loaf and then baked. These later forms influenced recipes from other cultures including the Middle Eastern kofta and Italian meatballs. All meatloaf recipes came about for the same reason; by adding various fillers including bread, rice, or oatmeal to chopped, minced, or ground meat, anyone could stretch a small amount of meat to feed others. Today, meatloaf has become a mainstay in the comfort food menus in many homes. In this issue of Renaissance Magazine, I am sharing a meatloaf recipe from 14th century England.

Meatloaf
2 lbs. (4 cups) ground or minced beef
1 cup of oatmeal
1 / 3 cup of red wine
4 eggs
1 /4 tsp black pepper
1 / 4 tsp of ground cinnamon
1 / 8 tsp ground mace
1 / 8 tsp ground cloves

Combine ingredients in large bowl and shape into a loaf or place in deep casserole pan. Add a pinch of the mace and ground cloves and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Drain off fat and tip onto serving platter and slice up servings. Serves 4-6

Glazed Root Vegetables
4 cups of root vegetables, largely diced (carrots, rutabagas, turnips)
1/2 cup of brown sugar or honey
1/4 cup brandy
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp of ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp of ground clove
1 / 4 tsp ground ginger
Salt to taste

Cook vegetables in pot of water until tender. Drain water. In a separate saucepan, melt the butter over low heat and add the brown sugar or honey, cinnamon and cloves. Continue to stir, slowly adding the brandy to the sauce mixture. If honey is being used, the sauce will need to be reduced by one half. Turn up the heat to medium and add the root vegetables. Continue to cook over medium until sauce thickens. Serves 4.

Unlike the modern meatloaf recipes that have a saltier finish due to the use of ketchup, this recipe has a sweet/spicy finish due to the cloves, cinnamon, and mace. The oatmeal provides an even binder when combined with the red wine and eggs. I’ve also partnered this recipe with a side dish of Glazed Root Vegetables. Both dishes complement each other rather well and may be served with red wine.

July 15, 2010

Harira (Beef and Chick Pea Soup)

The cuisine of the Middle East is an exotic and colorful as the people themselves. It is indeed a traditional and deeply-rooted way of eating with recipes handed down from mother to daughter or daughter-in-law.

Some of the ingredients in these recipes date from civilizations that go back to earliest known history. The simple foods of the desert and oasis – lamb, milk turned into yogurt and dates – merge with what was available in the maze of food stalls or souks in the markets of towns and cities. Here, olives of brown, green, red, and black, rice, dried beans of all color and varieties, wheat, peppers, onions and garlic were added.

The results of this merging are creations that are as appealing to the eye as well as the palate. Beautiful vegetables are hollowed out and filled with seasoned combination of meat, rice, nuts, fruits, and spices. Generous hospitality is the most important phenomenon in the Near east and no one is ever turned away. Whether you stop for a visit in the morning or afternoon, a long-handled pot of fragrant coffee, platter of sweets, and a bowl of fruit would appear. This hospitality would also be found at dinner. Although the dishes were often easy to create, they were made with the utmost care. Once of my favorite dishes is Harira, a Moroccan soup. It’s a rich and delicately spiced soup-stew of beef, vegetables, and chick peas. It makes a meal in a bowl or is perfect with a light main dish.

1 lb beef cubes (1/2 inch)
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp crushed saffron or ground turmeric
1 tbsp butter
1 cup beef broth
1 cup minced tomatoes or 1 small can of tomato paste
2 cups of water
1/4 cup of barley
1 lb of chick peas (equal to one can (drained) or 1 lb soaked chick peas)
1 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped parsley
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp fresh lemon zest

In a large pan, brown beef and cook carrots, celery and onion with seasonings in butter until tender. Add broth, tomato paste, water and barley. Cover and cook over low heat for an hour and 15 minutes. Add chick peas, tomatoes, parsley and lemon juice. Cook 15 minutes more or until done, stirring occassionally. Sprinkle a pinch of lemon vest over each bowl served. Make about 9 cups.

June 12, 2010

15th Century Oyster dish (translated and easy)

Oysters in Bruette (oysters in beer)

This particular dish has been a favorite of mine. When I found it, it was in old French. A friend of mine who specializes in European history, helped me translate the dish.

I was fortunate enough to test this in my kitchen and it is pretty good. I usually serve this with some French bread to sop the sauce.

1 1/4 c oysters
3/4 c liquid from oysters
3/4 c ale (I recommend a dark, heady ale)
2 slices bread, torn up small
1/8 t cinnamon
3 pinches of ground clove
3/16 t ginger
1/4 t sea salt
a few shakes of pepper
a pinch of saffron

Rinse and strain shelled oysters. In a pot add the ale and the bread. Place the pot over medium heat and add the seasonings and begin to simmer. Once the bread comes apart and begins to thicken the “broth,” add the oysters until done.

Serve

June 3, 2010

Something new

I love ethnic foods from all over the globe. I consider it a real treat when i get to experience something new. Today, I decided to treat myself and went to an Indian restaurant. The smells of curries, tandoori, masala enveloped my senses and I ate heartily.

One of my favorites is dosa masala, a vegetarian dish. With several trial and error attempts, I finally perfected my recipe. I hope you can try it too.

Crispy Masala Dosa is one of the most popular among the South Indian recipes. It is a typically eaten for breakfast and is rich in carbohydrates and protein. It is considered as the staple food in the South Indian region. In the rest of the country too, Dosas are hugely popular and Udipi restaurants serving them and other South Indian foods can be found in almost every suburb.

Dosa shell:
2 cups – Idli rice or parboiled rice
1/2 cup – Skinless split urad daal* (skinless black gram)
1/2 teaspoon – Methi seeds (Fenugreek seeds)
1/4 cup – Poha (beaten rice)*
1/4 cup – Cooked rice
1/4 teaspoon – Cooking Soda
3 to 4 teaspoon – Sugar
1 tablespoon – Salt
1 handful – Chana dal (Yellow split peas)*

* many of these items can be picked up in various ethnic food stores.

Add parboiled rice, methi, poha, cooked rice, yellow spilt peas into one large vessel containing sufficient water for soaking. Then soak urad dal in water in a separate vessel. Soak for 6-7 hours or overnight.
Then grind the contents from both the containers separately to a smooth paste adding water as required. After grinding the urad dal, add it to the main batter container and mix well. Add water as required until you get a pouring consistency.

Now add sugar, salt, cooking soda and mix well. Cover and keep aside in a warm place for at least 7 hours. During this time the batter raises and reaches approximately two and a half times the original volume. So make sure you use a big enough container for the dosa batter.

Masala Filling:
4 Potatoes, medium sized
1 to 2 Onions, medium sized long thinly sliced
12 Small green chilies, split at the center (optional)
1/4 tsp – Turmeric
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp – Mustard
1 tsp – split urad daal
1 1/4 tsp yellow split peas or lentils
½ cup of chickpeas
½ tsp – Curry powder
2 tbsp – Coriander leaves or Cilantro
1 tbsp – Ghee or additional oil
2 tbsp – Oil

Cut the potatoes each into 2 pieces with the skin intact and cook them as if you were making mashed potatoes. Once tender, peel the skin of the potato and roughly smash or squeeze them coarsely by hand and set aside.

Heat oil in large pan and add the mustard seed. When the mustard starts popping or bursting add split urad daal, chickpeas and the yellow split peas or lentils. Keep stirring for a minute and then add onion, curry, green chilies and turmeric. Sauté for around 10 minutes. Add Salt and 1/2 cup water and stir well. Add the mashed potato, coriander leaves, ghee and mix well. Now take the pan of the heat and the filling is done.

The filling is added to the dosa and wrapped like a cannoli.

Now, I like to eat the filling as a stand alone or with toasted pita or naan bread. But you can make your own determination. The cook can control the level of the spice by limiting the number of chilis to the dish. In my version, they are not added at all.