September 2016 - OLD LINE PLATE

Chilli Sauce

September 29, 2016January 13, 2019

There’s a lot of tempting 19th century options for tomato preservation. In addition to catsup, tomatoes were preserved spiced, in piccalilli, chow-chow, or stewed and strained into “soyer.” Tomatoes have one of the highest concentrations of naturally-occurring MSG, and these sauces and pickles all provided ways to add some umami to meals throughout the winter.

I settled on “Chili Sauce” or “Chilli Sauce” which, despite its name, is not really a hot-sauce fore-bearer. Bell peppers generally comprised the “peppers” component. Even swapping them out for jalapenos, the end result doesn’t carry much heat.

According to a 1994 article in the Hartford Courant (CT), “chili sauce seems to have surfaced in New England in the last half of the 19th century… How it got the name remains a mystery… especially because the original product had no chili peppers in it.” Writer Bill Daley wrote that the sauce was would have featured into the diet of seafarers during long voyages, and was used by generations of “Yankee cooks” to “jazz up winter menus,” finding its way into and onto “roast beef, lamb chops, cod cakes, baked beans, eggs – nearly everything – with this blend of tomatoes, peppers, onions, vinegar and spices.”

An 1880 Minnesota cookbook “Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping” lists Chili Sauce among the many sauces worthy of a Christmas dinner:

“Christmas Dinners. Clam soup; baked fish, Hollandaise sauce; roast turkey with oyster dressing and celery or oyster sauce, roast duck with onion sauce, broiled quail, chicken pie; plum and crab-apple jelly; baked potatoes in jackets, sweet potatoes, baked squash, turnips, southern cabbage, stewed carrots, canned corn, canned pease, tomatoes; Graham bread, rolls; salmon salad or herring salad, Chili sauce, gooseberry catsup, mangoes, pickled cabbage; bottled, French or Spanish pickles; spiced nutmeg-melon and sweet- pickled grapes, and beets; Christmas plum-pudding with sauce, charlotte-russe; cocoa-nut, mince, and peach pies; citron, pound, French loaf, white Mountain and Neapolitan cakes; lady’s fingers, peppernuts; centennial drops, almond or hickory-nut macaroons; cocoa-nut caramels, chocolate drops; orange or pine apple ice cream; coffee, tea, and Vienna chocolate.” —Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping [Buckeye Publishing Company:Minneapolis MN] 1880 via foodtimeline.org

Apparently it was a heyday for sauces, “Commercial relishes and condiments were introduced around this time, and the public developed quite a taste for them. By the 1880s, [James] Farrell said, there was a proliferation of chopping gadgets on the market for do-it-yourselfers,” wrote Bill Daley.

A biography of H.J. Heinz describes Heinz’ systematic “studying” of sauces at the 1876 Philadelphia Exposition. He encountered Tabasco but sensed that the market wasn’t ready for it.

“At the same time, Eugene Durkee or New York and William Railton or Chicago introduced pepper sauces known as ‘Chilli’ sauce. These very mild and thick sauces in hexagonally shaped bottles and cathedral square shaped bottles fascinated Heinz. The thicker, mild, ketchup-like product found a larger market in the north. Heinz introduced his as ‘Chili’ and found a large market that remains to this day.”- H.J.Heinz, A Biography, Quentin R. Skrabec, Jr. 2009

My mom uses Heinz’ Chili sauce to make cocktail sauce. Beyond that, I don’t know many uses for it. I was a little stumped at what to use my own Chilli Sauce for, with its 19th century cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and allspice. So far, some has made its way into some barbecue sauce. I guess I have all winter long to see what else I can “jazz up” with it.

Recipe:

“Twenty-four ripe tomatoes, eight onions, six peppers, eight coffee cups of vinegar, eight tablespoons of sugar, the same of salt, one tablespoonful of cinnamon, one of allspice, one of nutmeg, and one of cloves. Boil all well together and seal while hot. This is superior to tomato catsup.”

Source: Mrs. Charles H. Gibson’s Maryland And Virginia Cookbook

Elizabeth Ellicott Lea’s Smearcase

September 22, 2016January 13, 2019

This isn’t the official Smearcase post- that’s to come later. (Update: Click here for Official Smearcase Post) This is just a brief post with two recipes from Elizabeth Ellicott Lea’s book. I thought they might offer some insight into the history of smearcase.

Many Baltimoreans know “Smearcase” as a beloved cheesecake of German origin, available at many of the same bakeries that peddle Peach Cakes. Much like Baltimore Peach Cake, Smearcase has enjoyed a fair share of nostalgic press. The word “smearcase,” readers may know, referred originally to the cheese that this cake was made from. That is what the word meant to Elizabeth Ellicott Lea.

I had some milk that had gone a little off so I decided to try and make use of it. Modern cottage cheese advice suggested adding a little acid, in the form of vinegar or lemon juice, to curdle the milk. I opted for that method. Modern milk is pasteurized, and so I was essentially working with a different ingredient than Lea would have been.

By 1845, when Lea’s book was published, the recipe was named “Cheese Cake,” but in truth, cheesecake is more the direct descendent of pudding than any cake. Most early American cookbooks and their English predecessors have recipes for making “curd” or “cheese puddings”.

This recipe was about as close to hearth cooking as it gets in my kitchen, owing to a lack of air-conditioning on a very hot day. The buttercrust had to be worked quickly, and it looks quite “rustic” as a result. It is humbling to think of the ways that experienced hearth cooks of the past would cope with these challenges.

Even with the 19th-century flavors (rose water and currants), the pie was suitable for a modern sweet tooth. The cheesemaking process, however, is a little unappetizing looking, so don’t be surprised if this post makes you want to swear off dairy…

“Cottage Cheese, or Smearcase

The best plan of making this dish, is to set the tinpan of clabber on a hot stove, or in a pot of water that is boiling over the fire. When the whey has risen sufficiently, pour it through a colander, and put the curd or cheese away in a cold place, and just before going to table, season it with salt and pepper to your taste, and pour some sweet cream over it.”

“Cheese Cakes

Take one quart of curd, after the whey has been strained off, mix with it half a pound of fresh butter, an ounce of pounded blanched almonds, the whites of three eggs, a tea-cup of currants; season with sugar and rose water to your taste, and bake in plates with paste.”

Recipes from “Domestic cookery, useful receipts, and hints to young housekeepers” by ELizabeth Ellicott Lea

Brandied Peaches

September 14, 2016January 13, 2019

“Now is the dyspeptic’s time to live well. If a great sufferer let him eat only fruit for breakfast, and peaches with their jackets on. The peach-skin has some quality that is highly useful, in acrid dyspepsia especially… We underrate the nutriment conveyed in fruit… This country is the Paradise for all such sufferers. Nothing strikes a returning traveler from Europe more forcibly than the bounty of our September tables; the affluence of vegetables, the heaped variety of our fruits, the cheapness of both.” – Baltimore Sun, 1883

At the risk of this blog being a little peach-centric (with more to come!), I picked up a big basket of peaches at the Waverly farmer’s market last weekend.

Even with many of us sighing gratefully as the summer heat wanes, it’s hard to resist the temptation to bottle up some souvenirs. Peaches have been a cherished summer fruit since the earliest days of European settlement on North America. Although the fruit originally hails from Asia, peaches had been introduced to the continent by the Spanish and took to the wild so well that later Europeans assumed they were native.

By the 1700’s, most large homes had peach and apple orchards. Farm hogs often grazed the orchards, consuming excess fruit and insects. The wood provided useful fuel.

According to “Gardens and Gardening in the Chesapeake“ by Barbara Wells Sarudy: “Colonial secretary William Eddis, writing home to England on September 7, 1772, related that throughout the whole province of Maryland fruit was not only bountiful but excellent in taste… Eddis reported that Maryland peach trees produced fruit of an exquisite flavor.”

The Cultivation of the Peach and the Pear, on the Delaware and Chesapeake Peninsula

Every one of my old Maryland cookbooks contains at least one formula for brandying peaches; most 19th century sources have two. There is not much variation in the recipes. Many require the use of lye to peel the peaches. I opted for the old-fashioned (new-fangled?) blanching method. Typically, no spices are added, with the exception of Elizabeth Bond of Charles County who throws in “a few cloves, mace and allspice”.

An 1886 book on peach and pear cultivation named 52 varieties suited to the Delmarva peninsula. “Queen of the Kitchen” Miss M.L. Tyson and Mrs. B.C. Howard both strongly recommend Heath peaches.

In 1872, J.W. Fitz described Heath peaches in “The Southern Apple and Peach Culturist” as “the most superb and delicious of all late Cling-stones… produced in Maryland from a stone brought by Mr. Daniel Heath from the Mediterranean.“

I do not know what kind of peaches I got at the market. They are obviously not Heath as they are free-stone. A 1961 survey by the Maryland State Board of Agriculture gives a view into the type of peaches we are likely to see on the market today, ‘Elberta’ by far the most popular in all regions of the state, with ‘Sunhigh’ tailing behind. Our famous Heath peaches are nowhere to be found on the list.

Brandied Peaches for sale in an early 1900′s newspaper ad

I chose trusty old Calvados (apple brandy) for my peaches. Brandy that was itself made from peaches had been very popular in colonial times, but regional production of peach brandy was on the decline by the late 19th century, when most of my recipes are from.

Peach brandy does figure into some old eggnog and toddy recipes found in “Forgotten Maryland Cocktails.” The liquid from these canned peaches might make a good substitute in some drinks – omitting some of the sugar that would otherwise be added. But beware, and proceed with caution:

”A good article of brandy which has its own peculiar properties is made from the peach. Now while any brandy in large quantities is bad for a person peach brandy is said on account of the prussic acid it contains to be a very dangerous tipple if indulged in freely. Formerly a considerable quantity was manufactured on the [Delmarva] peninsula but the stringent excise laws of recent years have caused most persons to abandon its manufacture… I advise mortal man to be chary of this beverage. One indulgence is said to make one feel good. The second makes one feel better and the third makes him feel as though he owned the whole Delaware and Chesapeake Peninsula. But the next day -the awaking- ah, the awaking, surely instead of owning the whole Delaware and Chesapeake Peninsula he finds his possessions… (except his head) shrunken to a size Liliput might spurn.” The Cultivation of the Peach and the Pear, on the Delaware and Chesapeake Peninsula, John J. Black 1886

Baltimore Peach Cake**

September 10, 2016January 13, 2019

This recipe for an alternate version of Baltimore Peach Cake** comes from “Black-Eyed Susan Country,” another popular Maryland fund-raising cookbook.

This particular book, first printed in 1987, raised money for St. Agnes Hospital. Onetime St. Agnes Auxiliary president Mary Parga was a volunteer at the White House, and used her connections to compile the book’s notable “VIP” section. Barbara Mikulski’s crab-cake recipe makes an appearance, as well as [William Donald] “Schaefer’s Wafers.” The book also contains recipes from famed restaurants Tio Pepe, and the defunct Rudy’s 2900 and Chez Fernand. Recipes were also contributed by First Lady Nancy Reagan, and wife of then-Vice President George Bush.

This peach cake recipe was contributed by Mary Jo Krebs, an Arbutus resident who passed away in 2014. Both Mary Jo (born Gibson) and her husband Alcuin had Baltimore city roots going back many generations. Alcuin served in World War II before returning to Baltimore, graduating from Loyola and teaching in Baltimore public schools.

** So, no, this so-called “Baltimore Peach Cake” is not the yeast-risen, glazed cake we hear so much about. This was another beast entirely; a delicious, moist, cinnamony beast. By any other name it would taste just as sweet.

Recipe:

1 Tablespoon softened butter
1 Cup sugar
2.5 Cup flour
3 Teaspoon baking powder
1.5 Cup milk
.75 Cup sugar
2 Teaspoon cinnamon
5 peeled and sliced peach, fresh
2 Tablespoon melted butter

Preheat oven to 350°. Blend first five ingredients with electric mixer. Spread in greased and floured 13 x 9 inch inch cake pan and sprinkle with one half of cinnamon-sugar. Arrange peach slices in rows on top of the dough. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon-sugar and drizzle with melted butter. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Recipe adapted from Black-Eyed Susan Country: A Collection of Recipes by St. Agnes Hospital Auxiliary Committee

Free State Oyster Omelet

September 4, 2016January 13, 2019

This recipe comes from a popular cookbook produced by the Maryland Seafood Marketing Authority.

First produced in 1974, the book was developed with the aid of “state seafood home economist” Beverly Butler in order to “expand the role of the Chesapeake Bay seafood industry as a major contributor to the state’s economy.”

At the time, the seafood industry was reeling (oops no pun intended) from 1972 Hurricane Agnes’ devastating effects, particularly on the clam population.

Early editions of the book feature a 70′s looking cover that shows a pot brimming with uncooked mixed seafood sitting in the sand on a beach, and a sexy lady standing in the water in the background. Throughout the book she can be found clamming in short shorts, posing in the surf, and finally relaxing by a beach bonfire.

The 1980s reprints did away with this lady and created a unified design scheme throughout the first book and the two slightly-less-popular follow-ups. They also discontinued encouraging people to consume rockfish, since it was banned – instead, consumers were guided towards bluefish, shark and even squid.

All three books are available in a bundle on Maryland DNRs website, currently for $15. If you want the 1970s eye candy, you could always find a used copy online. The slim volumes don’t take up too much space on a bookshelf and make a decent reference. Maryland Seafood Cookbook is how I learned about steaming shad so you could eat the bones.

There is some very useful information in these books, but for the love of god, please PLEASE don’t consider the microwave a viable way to cook a crab cake.

Recipe:

1 pint shucked oysters (preferably selects), drained
9 large eggs
¼ cup flour
2/3 cup dry breadcrumbs (I used House Autry spicy & it was great!)
6 slices bacon
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp lemon & pepper seasoning
1 heaping teaspoon chopped chives
Paprika, for garnish

In a small bowl, beat 1 egg. Put flour in a separate bowl. Spread ½ of breadcrums onto about a square foot of waxed paper. Dip each oyster in flour, then in egg, then place on breadcrums. Sprinkle remaining breadcrumbs over top of oysters and set aside.

Fry bacon until crisp, in 12″ skillet. Remove bacon & drain off most of the grease. Add oysters to the pan in a single layer and cook on each side until golden brown, about 5 minutes.

Beat remaining eggs until foamy and add chopped/crumbled bacon, plus remaining seasonings. Pour mixture over oysters and cook until eggs begin to set. With a spatula, lift up the edges of the omelet and tilt the skillet to allow uncooked egg mixture to run under omelet. Cook until all eggs are set but moist.

Garnish with paprika, serve in slices.

Recipe adapted from Maryland Seafood Cookbook I