places Archives - Page 6 of 6

Gross’ Coate Stewed Mushrooms

December 23, 2015April 14, 2019

My uncle found a gigantic lion’s mane mushroom and gave me a piece. It was slightly browning, and compounded with the fact that these mushrooms are not exactly beauty queens, the photos are not appetizing. You’ve been warned – scroll down at your own risk.

This recipe was contributed to Eat, Drink & Be Merry in Maryland by Mrs. Charles H. Tilghman of Gross’ Coate. The recipe includes a peculiar instruction:

“Cook a silver spoon in [the mushrooms]. If the spoon becomes black [they] must not be eaten.“

Gross’ Coate, Maryland Historical Trust

I thought I should heed this advice, considering the sad state of my
mushroom. I used a necklace from my jewelry-making days, as I am not in
possession of any silver spoon. The silver remained untarnished, thank
goodness. I later looked into this and found that this advice is a
completely bogus way to detect poisonous mushrooms. Lucky for me, lion’s manes don’t really have a poisonous counterpart.

Gross’ Coate is a historical estate on the Wye River in Talbot County. Built in 1760, the property remained in the Tilghman family until 1983.

The tract of land had been patented by Roger Gross in 1658. Through a sale to Henrietta Maria Lloyd, the widow of Philemon Lloyd, and a subsequent marriage of her daughter, the Tilghman family ownership of Gross’ Coate began.

With additions spanning through 1914, the house once boasted a dairy, a meat house, large kitchen wing, and a new dining room that was built in 1815.

Gross’ Coate outbuilding, Maryland Historical Trust

In Eat, Drink & Be Merry in Maryland, Frederick Phillip Stieff wrote:

“Situated overlooking the beautiful Wye River it requires but little to imagine oneself on the banks of the Thames, excepting that there is not the turbulent river life of the latter although in the humble opinion of the writer far more beauty.”

Stieff may be downplaying the turbulence just a tad.

In 1790, famed American painter and recent widower Charles Wilson Peale paid a visit to Gross’ Coate to paint the Tilghman family, then under the charge of Richard Tilghman. It seems that Peale fell in love with Richard’s sister Mary (aka Molly). Richard forbade such a marriage and locked Molly away.

Peale resorted to taking laudanum to help himself sleep during this stressful ordeal, to no avail. Some say that he spitefully painted a scowl upon Richard’s face in his portrait of the man. As for Molly, she later went on to marry Edward Roberts, allegedly the “scapegrace of the county.” According to “The Big Book of Maryland Ghost Stories,” scapegrace means LOSER.

Molly Tilghman, & ole scowl-face Richard Tilghman, MDHS Museum Dept. 1973.13.3 & 1973.13.2

As for recipe contributor Mrs. Charles H. Tilghman, wife of Robert’s great-grandson, I couldn’t find out much about her except newspaper ads revealing that she’d lost a cow, was selling wheat, and an announcement forbidding trespassing on her property. Because everyone checks the classifieds before trespassing…

I had some extra cheddar-cheese pie crust, so I baked that into little crusts and put the mushrooms in there. Along with those raw carrots [seen in photos], which I did indeed eat, it made a nice lunch.

Recipe:

½ cup mushrooms
1.5 tb butter
½ tb or less white flour
black pepper
salt, ½ tsp

Peel & wash mushroom(s). Heat butter in a skillet or pot, on medium-low heat. Add mushrooms plus dusts of white flour. Season with black pepper and salt. Stir to prevent burning until water from mushrooms begins to collect. Cook for 45 minutes or until tender.

Recipe adapted from “Eat, Drink & Be Merry in Maryland”

Slow-Cooker Sauerbraten, Haussner’s Style

November 5, 2015April 21, 2019

November is upon us, and although the autumnal comforts of the past few posts (biscuits, pies, and cornbread) have been pleasant, I thought I’d better branch out, lest I lose my *edge*. For this week’s installment, I turned to the news for inspiration.

The fate of the building once occupied by the famed Haussner’s restaurant has been uncertain for a decade now. It has stood vacant, going through numerous sales and auctions while the surrounding neighborhood of Highlandtown slowly transforms around it. Last month it was finally announced that the building would be demolished to make way for an apartment building.

Haussner’s Menu, 1967, New York Public Library

While I did fortunately have the chance to visit Eichenkranz, the city’s last remaining German restaurant, before it closed this past May, I had never been to Haussners. For the many who have, there has been no shortage of nostalgia stirred as a result of the announcement.

Haussner’s was more than German food. Haussner’s was known for their crab cakes, their beloved strawberry pie, and above all, their fine art collection.

Collected by the owner’s wife, Frances Wilke Haussner over the course of 73 years, the collection sold for ten million dollars after the restaurant’s closing.

Haussner’s interior, Bill McAllen

“Master chef” William Henry Haussner opened the restaurant in 1926 upon emigrating from Germany. It is said that their novel-length menu boasted 112 entrees. William Haussner passed away in 1963 but the restaurant continued for several decades under Mrs. Hausner’s watch.

Mrs. Haussner passed away a year after the restaurant closed.

“Mrs. Haussner was the soul of Haussner’s,” said John R. Dorsey, former Sun art critic and restaurant reviewer. “She had a strong business sense, and her warm, welcoming, kindly presence, together with the comfortable food, made you happy there. She was an art collector both behind and ahead of fashion, and the art made Haussner’s a nationally cited tourist attraction. She is a Baltimore legend.”

Haussner’s “didn’t have a rival in the 1940s, 1950s and into the 1960s, and for years, there was simply no point in going anywhere else. It was one of those rare places,” said Carleton Jones, retired Sunday Sun feature writer and restaurant critic. “Mrs. Haussner was a tireless person who was always there. I admired her as I know hundreds of others did.” – Baltimore Sun

family portrait: findagrave.com

Apparently, Mrs. Haussner was a vegetarian. That didn’t inhibit the fame of Haussner’s food including “sour beef” that was a draw for former governor and mayor William Donald Schaefer.

My first memorable encounter with sour beef was at Crossroads Restaurant, which was not particularly far from where Haussners stood. It was the “house specialty” and when we inquired what it was the waitress crinkled up her nose. “I don’t really like it,” she reluctantly admitted. “It kind of smells weird…” I did not try the sour beef.

inside Haussner’s menu

Although recipes for that legendary strawberry pie persist on the internet, the sauerbraten seems a little more elusive.

It could be that marinating a roast in wine, vinegar, and a load of spices for several days is not appealing, or maybe putting gobs of sugar in addition to gingersnaps in a meat dish seems ill-advised.

I put my reservations aside and stuck close to formula with the exception of adapting the dish for the slow-cooker. This allowed me to enjoy this meal on a weeknight at a reasonable hour. I used a mix of available vinegars (none was specified in the recipe) but I think that cider vinegar would be best.

The result was pretty tasty although I don’t think this is a dish I’d make on a regular basis. I’m told this should be served with red cabbage and spaetzle. We had it with collards and mashed potatoes because that is what I already had on hand. Tart meat takes some getting used to but along with some mellow sides this does make a satisfying cold-weather meal.

Recipe:

1.75 Cup wine, Burgundy, Pinot Noir or similar
1 pint cider vinegar
1.25 Cup sugar
6 lemons halved and squeezed, juice reserved
.5 Lb chopped onion
.25 Cup pickling spice
2 sticks cinnamon
2 Lb beef pot roast
.5 Teaspoon salt
.25 Teaspoon seasoning salt
.25 Lb crushed gingersnap cookies
2 bay leaves
flour

In a glass or ceramic bowl (do not use metal), mix together 1.5 cups wine, vinegar, 1 cup sugar, lemon juice, lemon halves, onions, pickling spice, and cinnamon. Add meat and let it marinate in a cool place for a few days, turning occasionally. Be sure the marinade completely covers the meat.Remove the meat and place it in a slow cooker with about 3 cups of marinade. Cook for 6 hours on low. Skim off extra fat from pot liquid and/or roast and place it in a saucepan. Add enough flour to make a smooth roux. Cook over low heat for 3 to 4 minutes.Into the roux, strain about 1 cup of oil and juices from the top of the cooking liquid and add reserved uncooked marinade. Add remaining ¼ cup wine, remaining ¼ cup sugar, salt, seasoning salt, gingersnaps, and bay leaves. Whisk together as mixture starts to bubble. Lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. If gravy is too thick, add water; if too thin, simmer a little longer to reduce. Slice meat and place on individual plates. Pour gravy over meat and serve.

Recipe adapted from “Maryland’s Historic Restaurants and their recipes”

Old Wye Mill Spoon Bread

September 11, 2015January 13, 2019

Recently, en route to Chincoteague, we made a stop at the “Old Wye Mill” in Wye Mills. We arrived just as this historic mill was winding into production, producing the week’s run of corn meal, grits or flour.

This mill has been “nearly
continuously grinding grain since 1682,″ and nearly a century after that produced flour
that fed George Washington’s army during the
Revolutionary War.

The mill changed hands many times amidst all the turmoil and growth in the region, grinding wheat, rye,
corn, oats, barley and buckwheat. Damage from hurricanes threatened the structure in the 1950s. By this time, the mill’s historical significance was recognized and the mill has since been supported and/or operated by government, community, Chesapeake College, the Maryland Historical Trust, finally passing into the hands of the Friends of Wye Mill who operate it now.

According to the miller, they have supplied corn meal to various nearby restaurants including the historic Robert Morris Inn. Although they also sell wheat flour, buckwheat flour, and grits, the corn meal is the most irresistible to take home. To really enjoy the taste and texture of this milled corn meal, I opted to make a spoon bread as a dinner side.

Wye Grist Mill exterior

The gears of the mill just starting up in the morning

Images from Wye Grist Mill

Recipe:

1 Cup water-ground cornmeal
2 Cups cold water
2 tb butter
1 Teaspoon scant salt
1 Cup half & half
3 eggs

Put corn meal and water over low heat and stir until quite stiff. Melt butter into hot meal then add salt and milk or cream. Beat eggs until very light. When batter is slightly cooled, beat in the eggs. Bake in a well greased baking dish in 350° oven for 45 minutes or until firm.

Recipe adapted from “Maryland’s Way”

*there is no beer in this cornbread. I was on vacation.

Mrs. Kitching’s Clam Chowder

September 3, 2015January 13, 2019

To further emphasize my status as an unqualified Maryland food appreciator, I will confess that of all the seafood offerings at crab houses, I’ve consumed “New England” clam chowder the most in my lifetime.

My love of crab came slowly (and I still haven’t caught the craze for oysters) but I will never turn down a cup of clam chowder.

I finally had the chance to visit Smith Island recently. On a beautiful day we took a ferry ride from Crisfield to the Ewell community. The ferry passed by bird-inhabited marshlands, abandoned fishing shacks, and osprey-crowned channel markers. Finally we pulled in through clusters of boats and crab pots, past a bakery advertising Smith Island’s famed eponymous cake, and disembarked to wander the island and provide a novel feast for isolated mosquitoes.

In many ways, Smith Island feels much like an Eastern Shore fishing
community in the summer. Waving at passing cars (or golf-carts as the case may be) is mandatory.
The air is infused with the soothing yet faintly fishy salty marsh
smell, plus heaps of humidity. Island cats either duck under porch steps
or glare back with indifference. Mosquitoes and biting flies descend eagerly.

It is the quietness that gives
indication at the isolation of Smith Island. This is a place that has
been losing population and land for decades, for environmental, economic
and cultural reasons. The tourism industry provides what is surely to some a reluctant alternative to the booming seafood industry that once supported nearly all of the families here.

After a day spent walking around Ewell, visiting the museum there, and viewing a short film about life on Smith Island, we went to the Bayside Inn Restaurant to have a soft crab and of course a slice of cake.

Pomegranates, Smith Island

On our way out, I inquired about where Mrs. Kitching’s Restaurant used to be. As it turns out, the building that housed it had burned down.

Frances E. Kitching closed her famous restaurant in 1987, and passed away in 2003, but her book, “Mrs. Kitching’s Smith Island Cookbook” can still be found everywhere in that region and her legacy and her cooking are very much a part of the tourism industry of Smith Island.

“[Mrs. Kitching] began preparing food in her home for linemen installing electricity in
the 1950s and ended up operating a world-famed boardinghouse where
guests and islanders ate Maryland tidewater cuisine.

Food critics from The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer and
The Washington Post, along with writers from travel and food magazines,
beat a path to her table, but Mrs. Kitching remained unfazed by all the
fuss.

There in her old-fashioned dining room, they ate platters of
french-fried jimmy crabs, crab loaf, clam and oyster puffs, pan-browned
wild duck, baked rock fish with potatoes, stewed crab meat and
dumplings, corn fritters, broiled flounder, fried apples, broiled red
drumfish, pickled carrots, oysters and, of course, crispy fried crab
cakes…

Mrs. Kitching spent all but three years of her life on her native Smith
Island, 10 miles off Crisfield in the Chesapeake Bay, where she was born
Frances Evans.

[She] often puffed a cigarette before going to work in her
kitchen and never wore an apron. And she offered simple, straightforward
advice for the novice when sauteing soft crabs: Use a well-seasoned and
oiled cast-iron skillet.” – Baltimore Sun

“The best thing you can do to a crab is let it be,” according to Mrs. Kitching. And that tells me she is a cook after my own heart.

And so I decided to entrust Mrs. Kitching with these clams we picked up at the Chincoteague Farmers Market. I’m a big fan of Chincoteague clams (to hell with the oysters) but these are a little different.

These clams were farmed on Chincoteague. I proceeded with caution, knowing the high salinity of Chincoteage Bay clams. Usually, no additional salt is required when using clams and their liquor. When it’s Chincoteague Bay clams you may need to leave the liquor out altogether (or save it to use sparingly.) I used these clams and their liquor, adding no salt.

We paid a visit to the aquaculture farm. The role of shellfish farms like this is an interesting topic which we’ll have to explore further soon. This is the new food system and therefore a part of Maryland cuisine.

I liked this recipe and its light use of milk as opposed to cream. I did not feel the need to add extra salt. A dash of Maggi might have been nice. I had some greens and some corn so I chopped them up and added them. As a result, the chowder tasted strongly of corn.

“Why bother,” you may ask, “making these authentic recipes and adding random things to them?”

My answer is that there is nothing more authentic than using what you have.

Recipe:

24 clams
2 large onions or shallots
water for boiling potatoes
4 large potatoes
1 quart milk
1 Tablespoon butter
salt (optional)
black pepper

Before using any clams, discard clams that do not close their shells when tapped. Soak the clams in clean water, changing the water a few times, then place them in a plastic bag. Put the bag into the freezer for a few hours. Before use, thaw clams for about 30 minutes. This facilitates opening the clams. When the shells are open, slip a paring knife inside and cut the meat out and discard the shells. Chop up the clams finely reserving the juice. Dice the onions and add them to the clams. Boil the potatoes and mash thoroughly. Add the mashed potatoes to the clams and onions. Heat the quart of milk just short of boiling and add to the clams, onion and potatoes. Simmer in a soup pot and salt to taste. Just before serving add pepper to taste and stir in the butter. Serve piping hot.

Recipe adapted from “Mrs. Kitching’s Smith Island Cookbook”