Chicken Leek Cobbler, Gil French

• 

“There used to be a stone yard at 26th and Charles and in it was a large tool box about 6′ by 4′ by 4′. This the older boys called THE HOT BOX, and they took delight in locking the younger boys in there for a couple of hours, and believe me by that time they were scared to death.” – Marion deKalb Clark in “Charles Village: An Edwardian Memoir,” 1969

For a little over a decade, I’ve lived around the borders of Baltimore’s Charles Village neighborhood. Although I was sad when I had to leave Mt. Vernon, I do enjoy access to lots of different grocery stores, parks and bus lines. I also have come to enjoy the sense of history that permeates the neighborhood spirit.

When “A Brief History of Charles Village” by Gregory J. Alexander and Paul K. Williams came out in 2009, the book was sold all over the neighborhood. The book told the story of the colonial Merryman’s Lott and Huntington land grants, and the neighborhood’s past as a retreat for wealthy Baltimoreans to move to in the summer. The origins of what we now know as Charles Village lie in the 1870s when the Peabody Heights Company acquired the land which was gradually built into the relatively-dense neighborhood.

A lot of the photos and information found in Alexander and William’s book also appeared in Baltimore Sun Columnist Jacques Kelly’s 1976 book “Peabody Heights to Charles Village.” Although that book is slimmer, it contains thorough research including building dates and builder names of almost every house in the neighborhood.

• 

It seems that Charles Villagers’ fascination with the neighborhood’s own history dates back at least to the late 1960s, when the Charles Village Historical Committee compiled volumes of memoirs.

The memoirs are speckled with food – ice cream, penny candy, corner grocery stores. Marion deKalb Clark recalled that the president of the Maryland Biscuit Company would ride his horse-drawn carriage up Charles Street when it was a dirt road.

In an article reprinted from the Sun from 1930, Dorothy Allers Kamen-Kaye recalled a day picnic on a cruise-boat. The family would travel to the wharves by streetcar. “You always had a ham sandwich,” she wrote. “You bought a pep’mint stick in a lemon and sucked lemon juice up through it… I used to wait… for one lady to open her box of deviled eggs. They were pink and therefore much more edible than ordinary ones. Mother’s crab cakes, peppery and utterly delectable, we were allowed to eat, but ‘…only one piece, remember!‘”

• 

The memoirs were later woven into a 1974 “Community Anthology” which included other concerns of the time, such as “Feminism in Charles Village” by Mary Jane Lupton, stories about traffic, and a reprint of a Baltimore Sun article about the cats that lived on 26th street. (The volumes also sometimes reflect a strange but still prevalent attitude in Charles Village – that the residents who moved there in the 1960s and 1970s were “pioneers.” Baltimore was losing population, but in the 1960s the total was still over 900,000 people.)

Also included in the volume is a recollection by Jan French of the process of putting together “Once Upon a Thyme in Charles Village” in the late 1960s. The experience of gathering neighborhood recipes had been hard work, but rewarding. French ended the history by asking “Anyone for ‘A Second Thyme Around’?”

That was in 1974 and I am not sure that the sequel cookbook was ever published… until 2007. It was by coincidence that I chose a recipe contributed by Jan French’s husband Gil French. The Frenches moved to Charles Village in 1959. Gil (Frances Gilbert), who is originally from the Hamilton neighborhood, served as the president of the Charles Village Civic Association and spearheaded some of the neighborhood publications.

The 2007 cookbook has recipes from many neighbors who are still very active around Charles Village. As an added bonus, it features photographs of the neighborhood by local photographer Greg Pease.

I kind of botched the biscuit part of the cobbler. My laziness is a poor reflection of Gil French’s recipe. It looks like “Charles Village Cooks” is still available if you are interested in the original. Like the cookbooks that the Frenches compiled, and their decades of work in the neighborhood whose amenities I now enjoy, the recipe is thoughtful and detailed.

Recipe:

• 

• 2 or 3 leeks
• 1 large red pepper or hot pepper flakes
• 4 chicken breasts, boned and skinned, partly frozen
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 bouillon cube, crushed, or soup base
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• .25 tsp. poultry or other seasoning
• 1.25 cups water
• salt and pepper
• parsley biscuits (recipe below)

Preheat oven to 400°. Cut leeks in half lengthwise and rinse to remove sand and dirt. Cut leeks into 1/4-inch slivers. Mince red pepper. Slice chicken into slivers. In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of butter and brown the chicken. Transfer to a bowl, reserving pan drippings. Sauté peppers and leeks until softened. Stir into reserved chicken. Melt remaining butter, stir in flour and bouillon. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly until thickened. Stir in mustard, poultry seasoning and water. Cook until thickened. Stir into chicken and leeks. Pour into a buttered casserole dish and top with parsley biscuits. Bake for about 30 minutes or until browned and bubbly.

Parsley Biscuits:

• .5 tsp salt
• 1 c flour
• 1.25 tsp baking powder
• 2 tb shortening
• .333 c milk
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in shortening. Stir in milk and parsley and knead until ingredients are combined. Roll to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into 2-inch circles

Recipe adapted from “Charles Village Cooks: A Taste of The Village”, 2007, CVCA

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•