Benedictine



When I asked my brother what foods he remembered Grandmommy making when we were growing up, the first that he mentioned was Benedictine.  There always seemed to be a container of the cucumber, onion, cream cheese dip in the fridge to be spread on crackers or bread for a yummy snack or quick lunch.  I think we both thought that Benedictine was something that all of our friends had for a snack as well.  It's only as I've grown up that I realized that this spread was not as popular as say, peanut butter or jelly.

Benedictine was made popular by Jennie Benedict at Benedict's, her Louisville Hotel and Restaurant, early in the 20th century.  It's most often seen spread thinly between two pieces of trimmed white bread as tea sandwiches.  I'm not a fan of tea sandwiches as they are too puny so I was looking forward to spreading this thickly on two slices of whole grain bread and adding some scallions and almonds.  And while many people add green food coloring to their Benedictine, I'm going to stay true to the original and leave mine au naturel.

Benedictine

1 large cucumber
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons grated onion
1/4 tsp salt
1 tablespoon mayonnaise

Pare, grate and drain cucumber. Combine with remaining ingredients in food processor. Serve as is or as a sandwich filling or canape spread.

Creamy Rice Pudding

My initial plan for this Saturday evening was to remain on the couch as long as I possibly could, seeing that my husband has taken our little guy to Indy with him for the weekend and I am left with some rare downtime.  As I was watching "When Harry Met Sally", loving Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan as much as ever, I decided that the one thing that could add even more comfort to my evening would be a warm, creamy, fragrant bowl of rice pudding.  However, I was very sure that comfort did not involve slaving over a recipe that would require any more than about half an hour.  And did I have all of the ingredients?  I went through a rice pudding stage when I was about 11 and made it virtually every day so I was racking my brain to see if I could remember how I made it then.  My rationalization being that if I made it when I was 11, it HAD to be easy enough for me to make 20 years later. 

Rice pudding with raisins is a dish I associated more with my mother, but I'm guessing she may have stolen the recipe from my grandmother.  I pulled up some recipes online to get an idea of measurements.  The one main variation here from the recipe I used growing up is that I replaced the vanilla extract with maple extract because that is what I had in the cupboard.  And I used 1% milk instead of whole, but I did add a tablespoon of butter at the end, so I can't feel particularly virtuous:)  But the pure, rich ingredients in this rice pudding make a small dish go a long way.

Creamy Rice Pudding
3/4 cup uncooked white rice
2 cups milk, divided
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg beaten
2/3 cup raisins
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon Maple extract

1. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 and 1/2 cups water to a boil.  Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

2. In another saucepan combine 1 and 1/2 cups cooked rice, 1 and 1/2 cups milk, sugar and salt.  Cook over medium heat til thick and creamy, 15-20 minutes.  Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk, beaten egg and raisins.  Cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in butter and maple extract

Wheat Berry Waldorf Salad

Waldorf salad was a staple side dish of my grandmother's. It matched her china with the apple design (which I am hoping to someday inherit) perfectly. I very much liked the raisins, apples and walnuts but would pick out every single last bit of celery.  Celery may be the only vegetable I don't particularly care for. Well, in the interest of full disclosure, I don't like celery or lima beans, so you will probably never see those two ingredients in any food that I make on this blog.  So if you are a huge celery or lima bean fanatic, you may be in the wrong place.  But anyways, the traditional, mayonnaise based Waldorf salad is a tried and true standby, which also makes the recipe fairly well known and beloved.  And as much as I like this version, sometimes I feel like something a bit lighter, something that could stand alone as a healthy vegetarian meal.  When I discovered this recipe for "Wheat Berry Waldorf Salad", it had so many of the ingredients I love; gala apples, dried cherries, walnuts...but also incorporated some things I didn't use as often; rice vinegar, wheat berries, mint leaves and orange zest. 

And the best part, NO CELERY.  Although it probably could be added in without too much damage for those of you that just love your celery. 
Wheat Berry Waldorf Salad

4 cups water
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup wheat berries
2 tablespoons walnuts, toasted and chopped
1 Gala or McIntosh apple
2/3 cup fresh mint leaves, washed well, spun dry, and chopped
1/2 cup dried sour cherries
1/4 cup golden raisins
2 scallions, chopped
3 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
3/4 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest

In a saucepan bring water and salt to a boil and add wheat berries.  Simmer wheat berries, covered, 1 hour, or until tender.  Drain wheat berries in a colander and cool to room temperature.

Cut apples into 1/2 inch chunks and in a large bowl with wheat berries and all remaining ingredients.  Season with salt and pepper.

Stir-Fried Almond Asparagus

While asparagus is not typically thought of in terms of popular Kentucky foods, it is actually a Derby specialty and grows very well in Bluegrass soil.  I have always liked asparagus but my husband is not a fan so I don't buy or prepare it very often.  The recipe I found for "Stir-Fried Almond Asparagus" seemed a bit nontraditional in terms of Kentucky food combinations and modes of preparation but the simple, fresh ingredients were enticing.  My husband looked at me questionably when he saw the asparagus sauteeing in the pan.  I always tell him to keep an open mind:)  In this case, when he tasted the cooked asparagus with lemon juice and toasted almonds, he said "honey, this may be the best thing you've ever made."  I'm not exactly sure how to interpret that considering that this dish was also probably one of the easiest things I've ever made.  Another lesson learned...the best dishes don't always have to be the most complicated! 

Stir-Fried Almond Asparagus

1 lb asparagus spears, trimmed
3 Tbsp olive oil
Juice from one half of a lemon
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/8 tsp salt
Dash of pepper

Pour olive oil in skillet or wok.  Add asparagus and stir-fry over medium heat for 5-6 minutes.  Add cover and lower heat to cook until just tender.  Remove cover and add lemon juice, almonds, salt and pepper.  Toss gently and serve.  Serves 4.

Ham on Buns

Ham sandwiches don't do much for me.  Or maybe it's just the typical ham sandwich on rye with mustard and lettuce that my mom loves and would often eat when I was growing up.  That's what I envision when someone suggests having a ham sandwich.  But as I was flipping through a cookbook from my grandmother's hometown of Lebanon, KY the other day, I found a recipe for "Ham on Buns".  Considering my affinity for ham, (note the sarcasm), I'm not sure why I bothered examining the recipe, but as I did, it reminded me of another ham sandwich that my mom used to make that I had completely forgetten.  She would only make these ham sandwiches if family were visiting or if her friends were coming over to play bridge. But THESE ham sandwiches, now these were right up my alley.  These ham sandwiches were made on soft little white rolls, slathered with a buttery, onion, poppyseed mixture and then baked with a slice of swiss cheese.  My mother would make them with Hawaiian rolls creating a perfect contrast of the oniony mustard mixture with the sweet bread. Perfect for a Saturday afternoon lunch....

Ham on Buns

1 stick butter
1/4 cup mustard
1/4 cup chopped onions
1 Tbsp. poppy seeds

Mix the above ingredients together and refridgerate.  Yield 1 cup.  For a ham sandwich, spread some of the above mixture on a bun.  I like Hawaiian rolls.  Add a slice of ham and a slice of Swiss cheese.  Wrap in aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Spoon Bread

I really only remember having spoon bread at one place during my childhood; at the Boone Tavern Hotel and Restaurant of Berea College in Berea, KY where my family would stop every summer on our way to Dale Hollow Lake.  Each summer for I don't know how many years, my mom, dad, brother and I would go houseboating for a week with my cousins at Dale Hollow.  Seeing that I was anywhere from 7-12 years old, and suffering through the 5 hour drive, fortunately there was the spoon bread as a reward mid way.  It literally sustained me for the rest of the trip.

I am not privy to the Berea recipe so found what I hoped was a comparable version in one of my cookbooks, "Bluegrass Winners".  There were only 6 ingredients; not quite as simple as my jam (or at least that's what I thought), but still seemingly simple enough for me to tackle. That is, until I got to the part where I had to beat the cooked cornmeal, eggs, butter and baking powder for 15 minutes.  15 minutes?  With a hand mixer?  oh to spend 15 minutes standing over a bowl of cornmeal. The more I thought about it, the less tortuous it seemed...in fact, it was really rather peaceful.  How often do I have the excuse to stand over a bowl of cornmeal for 15 minutes and daydream?

After the 15 minutes were up (ok 14, I gave up), I spread the mixture in a greased baking dish and stuck it in the oven for 30 minutes.  Below is the spoon bread right out of the oven:

The recipe (courtesy of Bluegrass Winners):

3 cups milk
1 and 1/4 cups white cornmeal
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 eggs, well beaten
1 and 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Bring milk to a rapid boil; add cornmeal, stirring until smooth and free from lumps. Continue to cook over low heat until mixture becomes very thick. Remove from heat and allow to cool and stiffen. Place cooked cornmeal in a large bowl; add butter, eggs, baking powder and salt.  Beat with an electric mixer for 15 minutes. Pour into a greased casserole and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.  Serve hot from the casserole.

Dinner at Mom's

The night before Valentine's Day, my husband, son and I headed over to my mom's house for a Valentine's Dinner.  The thing I typically like best about eating my mom's food is that I can rely on the fact that it will be whole, natural and nutritious foods, put together in a way that make me realize how much I love whole, natural and nutritious foods. In my day to day life I often find myself forgetting this fact and putting foods into my body that I don't really like, don't make me feel good and in hindsight, don't taste very good either.

This time, my mom took traditional foods that my grandmother may have prepared; macaroni and cheese made with milk and egg, waldorf salad, and meatloaf, and made even these homey comfort foods feel fresh, healthy and light. I couldn't stop eating the meatloaf- it looked gorgeous, the green peppers and onions stood out, and it was even made with oatmeal instead of breadcrumbs!  Can it get any healthier? 

I have yet to try out this macaroni and cheese recipe myself but the milk and egg added to the normal noodles and cheese makes one realize why it's better to cook homemade food rather than pull a box of Kraft out of the cupboard.  It tasted as good as it looks!

Blackberry Jam

I would say that my grandmother Ruth's most popular request was for her Black Raspberry Jam.  My brother and I would typically each receive at least two jars of the jam every Christmas that we would savor as long as possible.  If my goal is to learn how to make her famous Jam Cake, I first needed to master one of the main ingredients. 

Since it's February and black raspberries are hard to come by in Northern Kentucky this time of year, I picked up some fresh blackberries instead. My grandmother's recommendation was that the best amount of jam to make at one time is four cups so that is what I would do; four cups of blackberries and four cups of sugar.  Seems easy enough.  I dump the ingredients in my pot and wait for the boiling to begin. 

After about five minutes, the blackberries and sugar had sufficiently blended together to settle down into the pan.  However, as the boiling picked up, the mixture became extremely foamy and airy and I realized that I may not have selected a large enough pot. That, or I needed to turn the temp down to reduce the boiling. I had to take the berries off of the heat a few times to keep it from boiling over. The recipe that I have simply said to "cook until done".  Well, that was easier "said" than "done".  It's deceiving how long the berries need to cook because once removed from the heat, the mixture will thicken up considerably.  I ended up cooking for about an hour, which turned out to be a bit too long and the jam was too thick and stuck to my spoon.  To attempt to remedy this, I added about a quarter cup of water to the pot after I removed it from the heat but it still retained a bit of a burnt sugar taste. 

Lessons learned:
1. When making jam, cook on the lowest setting that will still retain the boil.
2. When making jam, do not think that you can go sit down and watch TV while the fruit boils.

The Comfort of Home

I have always thought of myself as a Kentucky girl.  Despite sometimes saying that I'm "from" Cincinnati, having lived for five years in Northern California, and having traveled the globe from Malaysia to Germany to Russia, I have ended up back here; in Covington, KY, about ten minutes from the house where I grew up.

Deep down, I identify strongly with my Kentucky roots.  I also love food, which I think I have inherited from both of my grandmothers.  My maternal grandmother Ruth, a native of Lebanon, KY, is truly the impetus for this exploration as she created many of my memories around homemade Kentucky favorites like derby pie, benedictine, and bourbon balls.  But my paternal grandmother Barbara Ann, was, I believe, blogging about food before the internet was even a thought.  She would send out a monthly "Powers Prattle" to her extended family, in which she would detail many of the great meals in which she had recently partaken.  I was fascinated by these descriptions.  Probably the only 10 year old that would have made it past the first course. 

Hence, my interest in delving into the history of Kentucky cooking and where it is still alive and well today.  I plan on testing my own skills at following some of my grandmother's best recipes, learning from my family members, and searching around the state to find the type of food that makes me find such comfort in this state and the food that it offers.