We're going retro as we go back in time to the 19th century cooking.

 Yesterday I officially finished my dear Mom Hi-Ho's recipe book. It was a bittersweet milestone that means a few things. The recipes that will come, with the exception of the ones I add from my own personal kitchen and family dinners, I will have less of a personal connection to. That is to say that until I go into my Indian recipes, we are going to be taking a turn for the weird and when I say weird you better hold on to your hat because there's some doozies on the way. So, get ready for a ride and bear with me through the weirdness of things I will never eat let along cook. We're heading into 19th century New England Yankee kitchens.

Chicken Tarragon

 This is another recipe from Mom. We miss you Hi-Ho. Yield 3 to 4 servings.

Ingredients

1 stick butter

2 broiling chickens, cut into serving pieces

1/3 cup chopped shallots (or scallions in place)

1 cup of dry white wine

2 Tablespoons dried tarragon, steeped for 1 hour in the 1 cup of dry white wine

salt and pepper to taste

chopped parsley

Process

1. In a heavy skillet, melt the butter. 

2. When hot add chicken pieces, a few at a time. 

3. Brown lightly on all sides. 

4. Add shallots and cook over low heat until the chicken is tender, about 20 minutes. 

5. Add the tarragon win mixture and cook slowly until the liquid is hot. 

6. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

7. Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with chopped parsley.

Vienese Chicken

 

 This recipe is another New York Times clipping from Hi-Ho. When I google the recipe, it brings me to Chicken Schnitzel. I guess names change over time .Yields 4 servings.

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons butter

1 onion, finely chopped

1 two to three pound chicken, cut into serving pieces

1 green pepper, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

6 mushrooms, sliced

1 tomato, skinned and diced

1 cup chicken broth

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1 Tablespoon flour

1/4 cup sour cream

Process

1. Melt the bitter in a heavy skillet. Add the onion and saute until tender but not browned. 

2. Add the chicken pieces and brown on all sides. 

3. Add the green pepper, carrots, mushrooms, tomato, chicken broth, paprika, salt and pepper, and bring to a boil. 

4. Cover and simmer until the chicken is tender, 25 to 35 minutes. 

5. Blend the flour with the cream and stir into the skillet. 

6. Reheat while stirring but do not allow to boil.

Wedding Day Photos

Cranberry Ginger Relish

This 2008 Martha Stewart recipe is a favorite I keep coming back to. I've decided that I need to finally add it to my blog, since my goal is to un-clutter my life which may include culling collections of saved magazines. I return to this year after year and quadruple it for canning and the plethora of turkey and stuffing sandwiches that inevitably follow Thanksgiving. My one wish was that Hi-Ho was still alive to know that, after all these years, I am finally a cranberry sauce lover!

Ingredients

• 1 bag (12 ounces) fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red-wine vinegar

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, bring cranberries, sugar, ginger, and 2 tablespoons water to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until most of the cranberries have popped, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in vinegar.
2. Remove relish from heat. Let cool to room temperature, and serve.

Baked Cheese Fondue

Oh my oh my this makes me think of fondue married to Welsh Rarebit served as a cake pop in heaven. Oh Hi-Ho why did you never make this for me! Oh SP? Honey? Can you run out to store please?

(silence)

oh darn he is at hockey. Gasp!

Ingredients
6 slices bread without the crust
2 eggs beaten
1/2 package sliced Old English or any cheddar cheese
tomato slices
dry mustard
herbs
worcertershire sauce
1 teaspoon chopped onion
1 and 1/2 cups milk

Directions

1. Place bread and cheese in layers in a baking dish.
2. Beat eggs, add milk and seasonings. Stir. 
3. Pour over bread and cheese. 
4. Let stand on hour. Stare at it and drool. 
5. Preheat oven to 325. 
6. Bake for one hour. 

Makes 3 to 4 servings. 

Peanut Butter Soup

This is today's mystery soup. It is an old family recipe, handed down to my mother from her mother, who wrote, "Really very good! If the children like peanut butter, they'd love this!

Ingredients
1 teaspoon minced onion
1 Tablespoon butter
3 tablespoons peanut butter
2 Tablespoons flour
3 cups scalded milk
salt and pepper to taste
Hi-Ho wrote in: Sherry and parsley to garnish

Directions
1. Begin by heating/scalding milk.
2. Cook onion in butter and peanut butter for five minutes.
3. Add flour and stir until smooth.
4. Add milk slowly, and cook for 20 minutes. (it says in double boiler but I omit)
5. Season to taste.
6. Process with immersion blender if desired.
Enjoy!

Wedding Day Photos

HiHo's Sweet Tomato Chutney

This recipe is hands-down most nearest and dearest to my heart as the number one culinary memory of my mother. This chutney is a truly epic olfactory event. Hi-Ho used to make this as Christmas gifts. The recipe elicits a whole manner of bittersweet memories. I remember returning from school to a house filled with a mouth watering aroma, only to find Mom standing protectively over her bubbling blue LeCreuset filled with simmering heaven. I would risk a finger scalding taste any chance I had. This chutney is Hi-Ho's legacy. I love you and miss you and think of you any time this chutney is close to mind or hand.

In recent years, I gave in to my gnawing desire to have chutney with dinner, and stumbled upon a perfect accompaniment: Fondue. Heaven on earth for sure! Many people have eaten this chutney: at every Indian dinner in my house, every New Years on hot oil fried meat and even with a steak dinner.

The origin of this chutney is from the Madhur Jaffrey.





















Isn't she just the sweetest looking woman!? She totally reminds me of Mom. The best part though is how dog eared and stained the recipe page actually is. It is clearly the most actively used page in the book. I will never get rid of HiHo's note, reminding herself that she quadruples the recipe for Christmas.

















Typically, I only doubled the recipe making sure I yield enough to can. I love my magnetic lid remover!




























OK, enough rambling, and I will post the recipe, but please if you have eaten any of this chutney, please leave a comment!
To Hi-Ho! I love you Mom!

Ingredients

• 1 head garlic, peeled,coarsely chopped
• 1 piece fresh ginger, about 2 inches long,1 inch thick and 1 inch wide,peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups red wine vinegar
• 1 (28 ounce) can whole tomatoes (or 2 lbs fresh tomatoes if they taste like a tomato should)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/8-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (personal preference)
• 2 tablespoons golden raisins
• 2 tablespoons blanched slivered almonds

Directions

1. Put the chopped garlic, ginger and 1/2 cup of the vinegar into the container of an electric blender and blend at high speed until smooth.

2. In a 4-quart, heavy-bottomed pot with non-metallic finish, place the tomatoes and juice from the can, the rest of the vinegar, the sugar, salt and cayenne pepper (or, if you prefer, add the cayenne at the end, a little at a time, stirring and tasting as you do so).

3. Bring to a boil.

4. Add puree from blender.

5. Lower heat and simmer gently, uncovered, for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until chutney becomes thick.

6. Stir occasionally at first, and more frequently later as it thickens. (A film should cling to a spoon dipped in it.)

7. You may need to lower the heat as the liquid diminishes.

8. You should end up with 2 1/2 cups of chutney, and it should be atleast as thick as honey after it cools.

9. If the canned tomatoes you used have a lot of liquid in them, a longer cooking time may be required, resulting in a little less chutney.

10. Add the almonds and the raisins.

11. Simmer, stirring, another 5 minutes.

12. Turn heat off and allow to cool.

13. Bottle and Keep refrigerated. It last for years!