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RECIPE ROUNDUP
Sauerbraten Offers a Taste of the Past
By Isabel Bearman Bucher
Freelance writer Isabel Bearman Bucher has collected her family’s stories and created a book for her daughters. Here is one example of a recipe with a story attached.
I don’t remember your German great-grandmother very well because she died when I was 5. But I do remember smells. Her small house in New Haven, Connecticut, was always pungent with vinegar. She cleaned windows and floors with it; she put it in her large crock of homemade sauerkraut laced with caraway seeds; she made me drink a teaspoon, saying it was good for the health. She boiled it and made me breathe the vapors because it warded off TB.
Born in Wiesbaden, Germany, in 1858, Antonia Marquis Miller was a tall, willowy woman with an acerbic persona and crackling voice. She was out working by the time she was 12 in the town baths, where rich Americans came to soak. She was noticed by a wealthy woman from New Haven because of her cooking skills. That family sponsored her and brought her to America in 1872, where she became the family cook. She later brought her three sisters over, single-handedly.
Grammy Miller’s German Sauerbraten has always been a family favorite of Poppert, you girls and a houseful of Christmas Day guests. Your Grandpa George always followed his mother’s recipes exactly. I’ve always thought that in doing this, we honor that memory. There was always red cabbage, with just the right amount of bacon and nutmeg, and satiny mashed potatoes laced with the rich gravy from that good brisket that had been pickling in spices in the garage for a week. Those recipes are included in other sections.
With the business of Christmas Day, it’s an easy thing to just put Grammy’s sauerbraten on the stove and forget it.
GRAMMY MILLER’S GERMAN SAUERBRATEN
1 large rump roast
8 bay leaves, hand crushed
1 cup red wine vinegar
8 whole allspice
2 cups red wine
Dash cinnamon
Dash ground cloves
Dash salt
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup strong coffee (you can use instant)
1 cup prunes, raisins and dried apricots
3-4 beef bullion cubes
1 tablespoon peppercorns
2 baskets pearl onions
Rump roast has the best meaty taste. Cover the large iron kettle holding the rump with all the ingredients and make sure the meat is totally immersed. Put in the cool garage or the bottom of the fridge for one week. Christmas Day, simply put it on the stove on warm about 11:30 a.m. if you’re having dinner at around 5. Let it go slowly until about 4:30. Do not overcook, as you want it to slice in firm, but tender, slabs. Remove meat from the pot and set aside.
Put two baskets of pearl onions with skins into boiling water for five minutes. You can do this at any time. Cut the bottoms off and squirt them out in a glass bowl for later. Strain all the juices from the sauerbraten into another pan. Coat with ice to skim off all the fat. Remove 1 cup of the thin gravy and mix this with 3 tablespoons of arrowroot thickening. Arrowroot is a health-food herb and is similar to corn starch, except for its benefits, which I’ve forgotten. But the family always used it in gravies.
Heat the gravy, and slowly stir in the arrowroot thickening using a whisk. Add beef bullion cubes. Whisk. Cut the meat in thin slices. Add to the gravy, cover and keep warm until ready to serve the dinner. About 10 minutes before serving, add the pearl onions. Serve with loads of mashed potatoes and red cabbage.
Isabel Bearman Bucher’s website, oneitaliana.com, offers a step-by-step guide to building a family recipe book. She can also be reached by e-mail at nonosmonkey@q.com.
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Writing a Family History in the Kitchen
by Kevin Hargis
Cookbooks can be more than just collections of recipes. The best of them tell a story—whether it’s about the author’s experiences, the cuisine being discussed, or the history and tradition behind a particular dish. The top books give a novice clear instructions about how to prepare food and what ingredients to buy and give an expert advice to hone his or her skills.
Then there are other, more personal cookbooks, preserving a family’s culinary heritage and memories of food and the people who prepared it.
Those kinds of books might not bring you riches, but they can enrich your life by preserving treasured memories and family history that otherwise might be lost.
Publishing your own cookbook takes some effort. You’ll have to collect and organize recipes, stories and photos, but there are plenty of resources out there to help you along. Several small-press publishers specialize in putting together professionally bound copies of cookbooks with your own recipes and photos.
But if you can’t afford such an undertaking, which can run you $30 or more per copy, a local copy center or office supply store can help you produce a simple book that you can put in a three-ring binder or staple together.
In my collection is one of these simpler books, called Recipes and Reflections, which contains recipes, memories, poems and photos honoring my Aunt Ruth on her 80th birthday.
These family collections make wonderful gifts and become treasured keepsakes.
COOKING UP A BOOK
The first step in starting such a book is gathering the recipes—and the stories that go along with them. Poll your relatives. Listen to their tales. Get them to write down their memories and share copies of old photos. Or, write down your own recollections for your descendants.
A computer and a photo scanner are invaluable tools for this process. You can easily gather photos and match them with recipes. If you can use desktop publishing software, you can put together the book yourself.
When you’re entering the recipes, remember that recipe and food styles change over the years. What was commonplace in one generation could be a rare commodity in another. Instead of “a handful of flour,” include a precise measurement (even if you have to make the recipe a couple of times to get it right). If a recipe has been in your family for years, consider updating it to fit the times.
Beyond the personal, groups that are trying to raise money have long turned to sales of self-published cookbooks. There are several companies out there that will help you with every aspect of the process.
Here is a recipe from Recipes and Reflections that was contributed by my mom, Mary. Her note on the recipe says: “Ruth gave me this recipe in lieu of the set of silver spoons promised to me as Mrs. Gilkey’s namesake.”
This gingerbread, especially when served warm and topped with whipped cream, is a treat much more treasured than silver.
MRS. GILKEY’S GINGERBREAD
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons shortening
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup molasses
1 heaping cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup boiling water
Pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients and bake in square 8x8 or 9x9 pan for about 20 minutes. Insert toothpick in center of bread to check for doneness. Cut into 12 slices. Especially good with whipped cream.
Serving size: 1 slice. Per serving: 137 calories, 1.6 g protein, 2.6 g fat, 27 g carbohydrates, 116 mg sodium, 18 mg cholesterol
GREAT-GRANDMOTHER’S ORANGE CAKE
Another old family recipe is just loose in my recipe box. It is for an orange cake my paternal grandmother prepared when the family lived in the Rio Grande Valley in the middle of an orange grove. Perhaps someday I will tackle the family recipe book and include this sweet, moist, sticky treat carrying a full, fresh orange flavor.
2 medium oranges
1/2 cup butter
1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
2 eggs, well beaten
2 cups flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup ground raisins
1 teaspoon baking soda
Lemon juice
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash one orange, cut into sections and remove and discard seeds. Put orange, peel and all, in food processor or blender and chop fine. Cream butter and 1 cup sugar, then blend in eggs. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into greased and floured oblong pan and bake for about 45 minutes. Just before cake is done, juice remaining orange and half a lemon and place into saucepan. Add 3/4 cup sugar. Heat on medium and stir to dissolve but do not allow to boil. Pour over top of hot cake. Makes 10 servings.
Serving size: 1 slice. Per serving: 403 calories, 5.7 g protein, 10.2 g fat, 73 g carbohydrates, 164 mg sodium, 68 mg cholesterol
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