Lost Recipes Found – Page 23 – Where Food Memories Matter

Vintage Veg

Whitehall Club Creamed Spinach

September 20, 2016

Established as a private-dining club in Chicago’s boutique Whitehall Hotel in 1956, The Whitehall Club was a fine-dining fixture for 40 years before it closed. That left LRF reader Dave Lauer with an insatiable craving for Whitehall Club creamed spinach. Fixable : ) I reached out to now-Colorado-based Jason Rogers–one of the last sous chefs at the Club–who was happy to share the recipe. Built with an Escoffier-styled bechamel (white sauce steeped with onion, veal, nutmeg, clove and thyme,) this home-cook-sized version of the dish yields both creamy spinach, plus a serving of milk-braised veal–delicious mixed with orzo, or Israeli couscous. For another kick-ass creamed spinach, try our Texas-style Jalapeno version. Continue Reading…

Cake Walk

Very Airy No-Bake Cheesecake

September 8, 2016

Cheesecakes come in dozens of flavors and textures. Contrasting with the dense, baked cheesecakes many know, this vintage 1959 no-bake version is so light and airy, it about levitates above the plate. If you have cheesecake lovers in your crowd, definitely try this one. You can make it two days in advance–keep it well-covered in a domed cake-keeper in the fridge until service.

Baked Treats

The Original Chocolate Fudge Brownie (Palmer House)

September 8, 2016

The Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 was a chocolate-lovers dream: Boston-based chocolatier Walter M. Lowney brought the first American chocolate bars. America’s oldest chocolate maker, Walter Baker & Company, handed out samples and showed visitors how chocolate was made. And the Palmer House introduced the first chocolate brownie, because Bertha Palmer wanted a portable dessert that ladies could have in boxed lunches at the fair.

Unlike other brownie recipes which started appearing in 1904 and specified that butter and sugar were first creamed before being combined with a small amount of melted chocolate, the Palmer House brownie is made with more than a pound of melted chocolate and a pound of melted butter. The finished brownie is also glazed with apricot jelly. A combination of chocolate fudge and brownie, crispy-chewy on the edges, ultra dense and chocolatey, we think it’s best served frozen, or very cold…otherwise, gooey things happen. (Not sure how this worked in a boxed lunch…) Chef Stephen Henry says for cleanest slices, freeze the brownies for three hours after glazing. Then cut, and serve while very firm and cold.

Savory Pies

Empanadas Picadillo

September 4, 2016

This recipe search started with a request from a reader looking for a meat filling that included raisins, spices and olives. Picadillo! Popular in several Latin countries, this very flavorful, piquant filling can fall anywhere on the sweet/tangy/salty/spicy continuum. This one’s on the spicy side. Some versions include tomatoes and sweet green peppers in the mix; others have minced hard-boiled egg in them. Whatever the exact mix, the filling tastes delicious rolled in a tortilla, or, as we’ve done here, spooned into dough and fried to make a little hand-held pie.

Savory Pies

Hoosier Mama’s Frito-Chili Pie

September 2, 2016

Born and schooled in Texas, I ate traditional Frito-Chili Pie with the best of them (aka bag-o-corn-chips with chili ladled in.) But by comparison? This Frito-Chili Pie kicks butt! It’s a real pie, for one thing–with an easy, press-it-in-the-tin piecrust that includes corn-chips and cheese. And even though the chili has some beans in it (anathema to Texans) it’s also got a pile of fresh peppers, melted cheddar, sour cream and fresh snipped oregano. I’m including this vintage-made-better recipe as an example of 120-more that pastry-chef and Hoosier Mama Pie Company owner Paula Haney has included in her “Hoosier Mama Book of Pie“.

Soda Fountain

Summer Girl Soda

August 26, 2016

Still hot? Me too! How about this vintage soda fountain creation? Raspberry, orange and vanilla in frothy foam…with all those pastels, it’s no wonder the Pacific Northwest, Meier & Frank department-store chain called this the Summer Girl Soda. According to fourth-generation Frank family-member Gerry Frank, Continue Reading…

Featuring Fruit

Fig Cake made with Fresh Fig Preserves

August 14, 2016

It probably wasn’t an apple. Apricot, pear or pomegranate…maybe. But mythologists suggest that the eye-opening, original-sin-ushering fruit Eve plucked from the Tree of Knowledge was likely a fig. “Ancient Hebrews wouldn’t have known an apple from a hole in the ground,” sums Alan Ridenour, writing in his Offbeat Food: Adventures in an Omnivorous World, “They knew figs however and specifically mentioned fig trees growing in Eden,” leading scholars to suggest that the fig was the fruit intended. And honestly? With its lush fecundity, tender fruit and beguiling fragrance, it’s hard not to give a fiddle for a fig. Continue Reading…

Canning Corner

Zucchini Relish

August 2, 2016

Like bread & butter pickles? Then you’ll like the taste of this relish. I’ve received requests for what to do with all that home-grown zucchini beyond sautes and quick breads–this relish recipe will make it possible for you to enjoy zukes year round. It’s credited to Lori Leeann Martin of Oak Harbor, WA., and was included in a Royal Neighbors of America flipbook 40 years ago.

Featuring Fruit

Creamy Nectarine-y Cheesecake

July 30, 2016

Creamy cool and sunny as the summer nectarines it includes, this light, fruit-flecked cheesecake was requested by reader Marge. Marge remembered making it for her mom’s 70 birthday. Now, she’s looking forward to having her daughter make it for her. The old-fashioned not-too-sweet crust is made with zweiback toast instead of graham crackers. We’ve included a recipe for zweiback, in case you can’t find store-bought.

Southern Stylings

New Orleans Okra Giardiniera

July 29, 2016

When Liz Williams, director of New Orleans’ Southern Food & Beverage Museum was little, her mama couldn’t stand okra. “So, I didn’t eat it either,” says Liz. But Liz’ Louisiana-born-and bred daddy loved the stuff. He bought a jar of pickled okra on a picnic outing and won Liz over with the crunchy spears. “When I figured out what it was, I couldn’t wait to get home to tell my mom that she was wrong about okra,” Liz laughs. “Eventually, she grew to like it.” For anybody else out there who is skittish about okra, pickling it is the way to go. This vibrant, crunchy and lightly spicy giardiniera–a Williams family favorite–is a showcase for pickled okra. Continue Reading…

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