Free Soup for Cold and Colds

Cold temperatures and a family full of runny noses took me to the store in search of chicken soup. I wanted low sodium or salt-free broth. Horrors! Other shoppers had purchased all the broth except for one carton. I put that in my cart and pondered my possibilities. Was it worth a trip to any of the other grocery stores in my neighborhood? I had gone to the store that I knew had the largest supply of low salt products in the first place.

Bingo!  I remembered the bag of leftover roast chicken bones sitting in my freezer. I had tossed them in a couple of weeks ago when I didn't have time to make stock. Frozen chicken bones to the rescue! I put the bones with their clinging shards of meat into a 3-quart pot. Tossed in a couple of chopped carrots, a bit of onion, some celery and covered the ingredients with cold water.

A couple of slow-simmering hours later I drained off the broth. I'll pick the remaining bit of chicken off the bones.I may make it into a small bit of chicken salad, or put it back into the stock. Given the health of the family, I'm pretty sure this quart of soup won't last long.

But it is worth remembering that at the end of every meal we have an opportunity to look over what is left and consider how we can make the best use of our food resources. You never know when you might just need it to keep yourself healthy!

Backyard Chicken

This summer our pear tree finally produced enough pears so that we got many more than the squirrels. Tim, the bee-keeper neighbor up the street, installed a new hive. His bees feasted on our garden blooms all summer long.

The pears ripened all at once, as pears usually do. I had plenty to make a few pints of my favorite Pear Salsa. Tim shared a couple of pints of neighborhood honey.

 Looking out at the snow-covered backyard this morning, I thought about making a dish to bring those "remembering summer" ingredients together. I marinated the chicken for about four hours in the salsa, baked it, and then finished it off with a light summer honey glaze. Even if you don't have a pear tree or a bee-keeper neighbor you could enjoy this dish. There are winter pears in the stores now. It wouldn't take too long to make a half batch of the salsa. It is delightful on chips, too.

Backyard Chicken

2 1/2 pounds boneless chicken parts, breasts and thighs
3/4 cup pear salsa (recipe follows)
1/4 cup honey

 Wash the chicken and combine with the pear salsa in a plastic freezer bag. Let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator for at least three hours, or overnight. Shake the bag every hour or so for the first three hours to distribute the marinade evenly. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil. Pick one large enough to hold the chicken in a single layer without touching and with at least half-inch sides so the baking juices won't run into the oven. Put the chicken on the baking sheet. Bake until done, turning once. The amount of time will vary with the size of the pieces of chicken. Tenders will take about 15 minutes, full breasts much longer. When chicken is done remove pieces to a plate, put a baking rack on the foil and the put the chicken on the rack. Turn the oven to broil. Drizzle the chicken pieces lightly with honey and broil until golden, about five minutes.

Pear Salsa 

10 pears (good-sized and ripe, but still hard)
1 red pepper 1 green pepper
1 red onion
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup lime juice
1 jalapeno pepper (minced)
1 1/2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger root
1/4 cup white vinegar

Peel and core the pears, core the peppers, and peel the onion. Process in a food processor until chopped, do not over process. Put the mixture into a large pot, add the liquid ingredients and ginger. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, add the jalapeno. Cook for ten minutes or until pears just begin to turn transparent. Put into sterilized jars and store in refrigerator for about a month. Or you may seal in pint or half-pint canning jars by processing in boiling water bath for 10 minutes, following USDA recommendations.

Copyright 2013 Rae Katherine Eighmey All Rights Reserved

Best Meatloaf Ever

I'm calling this the Best Meatloaf Ever!" for several reasons, not the least of which is how tasty it is. And for its "Make Ahead Magic."

I hadn't intended to make meatloaf, but the weekend forecast for chilly and damp weather put the idea of warm and cozy dinners at the lake cottage in mind. I wandered about peering at the grocery meat cases. Nothing much inspired until I saw the grass-fed ground beef -- On Special!!! I picked up three pounds of 85% lean and another pound of regular ground beef at 95% lean. As long as I was making meatloaf, may as well make three to have a couple stocked away in the freezer for more cool summer nights.

Back in the kitchen I pulled ideas from several family traditions and some healthy-food concepts. I wanted to keep this lean, low salt and satisfying. I began with the binder -- crackers soaked in milk, from my great-grandmother's beef loaf recipe. I added several coarse grinds of black pepper in honor of my grandfather who could never have too much pepper. And a liberal dash of Worcestershire sauce for my dad, who loved it. Mixed in a couple of eggs, although in retrospect I would have used 2 egg whites and one yolk to keep it leaner, and dumped in the beef.

As I started to mix with my hands, I quickly realized this needed some texture. Into the fridge. Out came the jar of medium chunky salsa for a kid-friendly kick. I formed the mixture into three oval loaves and put them in the large baking dish, so they would have room to cook all the way around. I heated the oven to 350 degrees and stirred up the last magic -- the topping. This is straight out of the 1950s and Potluck Paradise -- ketchup, yellow mustard, and brown sugar. I ladled half of it on top of the loaves before baking and the second half midway through. After an hour the loaves were cooked through to a food-safe 160 degrees. I pulled them from the pan juices and let them cool. The next day, I reheated the meatloaf in the oven. YUM! Almost as "beefy" as a perfectly cooked sirloin steak.

A word about the grass-fed beef. It is simply wonderful. Regular hamburger doesn't stand a chance next to the rich flavor of this meat, which is becoming more and more easily available I think the meatloaf would be tasty made with regular beef, but it is so much better giving this taste of our grandparents, or great grandparents, the starring role.

Best Ever Make Ahead Meatloaf

3 pounds 80% to 85% lean grass-fed beef
1 pound 90% lean hamburger
1/2 sleeve unsalted soda crackers, finely crushed with a rolling pin
1/2 to 3/4 cup skim milk
1 teaspoon -- or more -- freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 eggs or 2 egg whites and one yolk
1 cup chunky salsa

For the topping:
1 cup salt-free ketchup
1/4 cup yellow mustard
1/3 cup brown sugar

Mix and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Put the crushed crackers in a large mixing bowl. Add half cup milk and stir. Add more milk if need to have a nice cracker slurry. Stir in the pepper, Worcestershire sauce. and eggs. Add the beef and dump the salsa on top. Then begin mixing with your hands, making sure to bring up the cracker mixture from the bottom of the bowl. Form into three loaves and place in a large baking pan so there is at least an inch between the loaves. Make the topping mixture and spoon half of it over the loaves. Bake for about a half hour and then spoon the rest of the ketchup topping over them. Continue baking until the center of the loaf reaches 160 degrees F. Remove from pan to drain away the excess fat and juices. Cool and refrigerate. Reheat in oven with about 3/4 of an inch of water in the pan. Or microwave.

Copyright 2012 Rae Katherine Eighmey. All rights reserved.

Visions of Summer Harvest

Our plum tree is blooming to beat the band. Only problem . . it is weeks ahead of schedule due to unusually warm weather. Alas, the bees in the neighbor's hive seem to be still sleeping. I suspect we will be fortunate to harvest a handful of fruit.

Stalwart rhubarb has started to burst forth as well. At lest I can toss a towel over the plants should the weather take a sudden frosty snap in the days to come. It will be ready for picking by the end of May. In addition to the crisps, strawberry rhubarb pies, and sauces, I think I'll put up some of this World War I-era jam. I haven't made it in a couple of years. It is mighty tasty and will be dandy poured warm over ice cream when we get our June cold spells to "balance out" this amazing early spring.

World War I Rhubarb Raisin Jam

4 cups rhubarb, cut in 1-inch pieces
1 cup sugar
1 cup raisins, coarsely chopped
2 cups orange juice

Mix the rhubarb and sugar in a three- or four-quart pot and let stand for 4 to 5 hours. Stir the mixture every once and a while to help the sugar dissolve. Then add the raisins and bring to a boil over medium heat, lower and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the mixture is quite thick. Stir from time to time. Add the orange juice, bring back just to the boil and pour mixture into sterilized jars. Keep in the refrigerator for a month, or freeze, You may also process in boiling water bath according to USDA guidelines

A Birthday Cake for Charles Dickens

February 7, 2012 is Charles Dickens 200th birthday. As I was looking for a period-appropriate cake to bake to celebrate, I stumbled on the menu for the dinner held in his honor by the New York City press on April 18, 1868.

It was quite an event. Dickens had been touring the northeastern part of America giving dramatic readings from his books since November, 1867. In all he gave 76 readings over five months and earned the equivalent of more than three million dollars.

The New York City press invited Dickens to a celebratory dinner. As reported in an article in the March 1919 issue of The Bookman, “Dining with Dickens at Delmonico’s” by Kate Dickenson Sweetser, the event was a huge success. The gathering of 200 of the city’s leading writers, reporters, and editors rose to their feet and applauded when Dickens arrived in the room. He was ill and escorted to the head table by Horace Greeley.

Dickens spoke briefly before dinner and made a sort of apology for his critical comments and writing about America based on his experiences on his first tour 25 years earlier. This night he promised upon his return to England to “bear such testimony to the gigantic changes in this country. Also to record that wherever I have been I have been received with unsurpassed politeness, delicacy. Sweet tempter, hospitality, consideration and respect for the privacy daily forced on my by the nature of my avocation here and the state of my health.”

Members of the committee spoke as well and a fine meal was enjoyed by all. The menu was printed in French, but is easy enough to understand. Lorenzo Delmonico, the leading restaurateur of the day paid homage to literature as he named many of his dishes for the evening: cream of asparagus soup a la Dumas, small hors d’oeuvres a la Dickens. stuffed lamb a la Walter Scott, chops a la Fenimore Cooper. The vegetables included small peas, tomatoes, artichokes and braised lettuce. And for dessert fruits, orange ice and two cakes. The “Viennoise” cake I take to be a version of what we now call a “Sachre torte” chocolate cake with apricot jam in between the layers. The Savarin is a yeast-raised cake with syrup poured over it.

This was the cake to make and it sure gave me the dickens. And will give me many stories to tell. The hardest part is getting the cake out of the baking pan. But not to worry, if your cake looks like this one below, or worse, just pour the syrup over and then put pieces of the cake in a decorative bowl or glass, top with berries and cream and serve individually. No one need to know the fiction you are passing off as a glamorous cake. It will taste just as good.

Although there are many modern recipes, I wanted to find one from the era. I found one using Google Books in an 1867 cookbook -- Handbook of Practical Cookery for Ladies and Professional Cooks by Pierre Blot who was a professor of gastronomy and founder of the New York Cooking Academy.

This is a classic cake and the recipe is very similar, if not identical, to modern ones. I have adapted it for modern ingredients. However, there are two important differences. The period recipe calls for buttering the baking pan and sprinkling with finely ground almonds and the syrup you make to pour over the cooled cake is much less sweet than modern ones. It is a nice light taste, not heavy and lets the flavors of the brandy or rum fill the cake.

Savarin Cake a la Charles Dickens

1 package instant yeast – quick rise
1/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 cup milk, warmed to about 100 degrees F.
2 eggs
6 tablespoons very soft butter, not melted
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour

To prepare the baking pan:
1/2 to 1 cup very, very finely ground almonds
soft butter

For the sauce:
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/4 cup rum or brandy


In a large mixing bowl, combine the yeast, water and tablespoon sugar. Let stand until the yeast is “proofed” and slightly foamy. Put the eggs into the warm milk and stir until well mixed. Stir the milk mixture into the yeast and then the softened butter. Add the sugar and half the flour. Mix well until you have a smooth batter. Stir in the rest of the flour. If the batter isn’t perfectly smooth, beat for a minute or so with an electric mixer. Set the batter aside and prepare the baking pans. Savarin is traditionally baked in a tube or ring pan. Pick one that will hold at least 8 cups of batter, or divide between two pans. Butter the pan very well and sprinkle with the ground almonds, or regular flour. Spoon batter into the pan, no more than half full. Set aside in a warm place to rise until not quite doubled. Put into a preheated 350 degree F. oven. Bake until the cake is lightly browned and firm in the center. Cool in the pans on a rack and the gently insert a knife around the outside edges and push cake away from side of the pan, turn upside down, cross your fingers that it comes out.

While the cake is cooling, make the syrup. In a small saucepan combine the sugar and water. Cook over low to medium heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Continue to cook for about five minutes until the syrup thickens slightly. Allow to cool and add the rum of brandy.

Spoon the syrup over the cooled cake gradually so that it is absorbed into the cake. Serve with whipped cream and berries. Or as they did at the Dickens’ dinner – with orange sherbet.

Theatric Treats

The historic Hennipin Theatre Trust in Minneapolis celebrates the 90th anniversary of two of the city's cultural gems. The Orpheum and State Theatres opened in 1921. The staff asked if I would research and recreate some treats, I found these wonderful cupcakes and a tasty tea biscuit.

The Trust Open House is Saturday October 1, 2011 at both venues from 4-6 in the afternoon. There will be historical photos, books and programs, a treasure hunt at both theatres and live music and vaudeville acts. All fun and all Free! Theaters are located at 910 Hennipin Avenue and 805 Hennipin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis, Minnsota. The Trust's website has more information and fabulous pictures of these amazing theatres -- a vision of the Roaring Twenties. http://www.hennepintheatretrust.org/front

These cupcakes won't be served at the event -- so you'll have to make your own Taste of the Twenties. They are light and easy to make. No doubt you'll roar with delight.


1921 Chocolate Cup Cakes
Makes 12-14 regular-sized cup cakes

1/4 cup butter
2 1-ounce squares unsweetened baking chocolate
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners or grease and flour. Melt the butter and chocolate together and set aside. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder into a medium mixing bowl. Stir the egg and vanilla into the milk. Pour these liquid ingredients along with the butter and chocolate mixture into the dry and stir until blended with a spoon or spatula. Fill cupcake cups about 2/3 full and bake until firm in the center, 20 -25 minutes.

1921 Coffee Raisin Cup Cakes
Makes 12-14 regular-sized cup cakes

1 cup raisins
1 tablespoon flour
1/4 cup butter
2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup strong coffee
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners or grease and flour. Chop the raisins roughly into quarters and mix with the tablespoon of flour. Set aside. Melt the butter and set aside. Sift flour, sugar, and baking powder into a medium mixing bowl. Stir the egg and vanilla into the milk and coffee. Pour these liquid ingredients into the dry, including the raisins, and stir until blended with a spoon or spatula. Fill cupcake cups about 2/3 full and bake until firm in the center, 20 -25 minutes.

Cucumber Ketchup

In today's New York Times Julia Moskin writes how chefs in New York and other cities have discovered the diversity of ketchups our 19th-century cooks made with abandon. As I read through early American cookbooks it almost seems as though the attitude was "when it stops growing, pickle it or make it into ketchup." I have many favorite recipes including Strawberry Pickles Cucumber Vinegar, Tomato "Figs" and this one for Cucumber Ketchup adapted form 1875 Prairie Farmer magazine.

It is easy to make and keeps well in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. Great on ham or chicken sandwiches and it adds a fresh "bite" along side salmon or even lamb or pork.

Cucumber Ketchup

3 large cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and grated
1 small to medium onion, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups white vinegar

Combine the cucumber and onion with the salt in a cheesecloth-lined colander and let stand over a deep bowl for one hour. Then pour off the drained juices and gently squeeze the vegetable mixture. IF you wish to reduce the salt content of the finished ketchup, you may rinse the vegetables in water and squeeze it dry.

Mix the vegetables iwth the pepper and vinegar in a heavy stockpot. Cook gently until the mixture is hot and has turned somewhat pale or yellow, about 10 minutes. Be sure the onions and cucumbers are fully cooked and tender. Cool and then carefully process in a food processor or blender until smooth. (Our great-great-great grandmothers would have forced them through a sieve) Return to the stockpot and simmer until thick, stirring to prevent sticking and burning as it reduces and thickens. Pour into clean jars and store in the refrigerator, Or you may process in sterilized jars according to USDA rules.