“I went to a restaurant that serves ‘Breakfast at any time.’ So I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance.” ~ Steven Wright

French toast is a weekend tradition in our family that began when I first learned how to bake our Shabbat challah. I’ll admit it– I’m a perfectionist. When I tackled the art of making a beautifully braided challah, it took me countless tries before I was happy with my technique. Those first few weeks of challah making resulted in copious amounts of challah piling up in our kitchen. I gave most of the bread away to friends and family, but we were left with plenty to use up ourselves.

Luckily, my husband makes a mean French toast… and no bread is better suited to French toast than eggy, soft, fluffy challah bread. Challah (especially day old or or slightly stale challah) acts like a sponge, soaking up the egg and milk mixture and saturating itself with goodness. My stepdaughter loves her Abba’s French toast, and she loved it even more when we started using challah. What a treat!

The most basic form of French toast is bread soaked in milk and/or eggs, then fried. This simple cooking concept has been around since antiquity. There is a loosely similar recipe to French toast in the oldest known cookbook, Apicius, an Ancient Roman collection of recipes written in the early 5th century CE. Here is a translation of that recipe:

Aliter Dulcia

Another sweet: break grated Sigilines (wheat bread) and make larger bites. Soak in milk, fry in oil, douse in honey and serve.

~Apicius Book VII, XI-3

As you can see, the basic method for cooking French toast hasn’t changed much throughout the centuries. Eggs didn’t appear in a printed recipe until 1870. The practice of soaking bread and then frying it most likely came about as a way to use up bread that had gone stale to make it more palatable. Where the “French” name came from is not exactly clear– there are many theories, but the actual source of the name is a culinary mystery.

My own version of Challah French Toast is very similar to my husband’s. We use lowfat milk in our home, which isn’t as rich as whole milk (or the cream that some recipes call for!). To make the milk mixture for the French toast thicker and richer, I like to add a banana, then blend it together with a little flour for fluffiness. A touch of rum or Grand Marnier is optional, but tasty. The resulting French toast is seriously amazing– fluffy, airy, and not at all soggy. It is somewhat lighter than other recipes I’ve seen that drench the bread in cream, sugar, and butter. I much prefer to give the bread a rich flavor without a ton of sweetness and excess fat– this way, people can add as much syrup or butter as they want and adjust the sweetness to taste. It might not be “health food,” exactly, but it makes your soul happy… and we all deserve a little treat once in a while.

Speaking of treats, I think I might make tonight a “brinner” night. Nothing brings a bigger smile to my family’s faces than serving breakfast for dinner, especially when the entree is an aromatic batch of Challah French Toast. Om nom nom…

A few months ago, our friends Ron and Vanessa invited us over for dinner. Vanessa recently had twin girls – Carmel and Julia – aka the cutest little darlings in the history of children. I was really excited to spend some time with the babies (and Ron and Vanessa, of course!).

After dinner, Ron showed me a family recipe manuscript that his mother had given him. Ron’s family is Hungarian Jewish. When Ron started living on his own, his mom wrote down their family recipes so he could teach himself to cook the food he’d grown up with. He knew this manuscript would be right up my alley.

Traditional Hungarian Jewish recipes? I was thrilled! I took the manuscript home and scanned it, then began to study the dishes. It’s a colder than usual February here in Los Angeles, so a hearty beef stew called Marha Pörkölt seemed like the perfect dish to try.

Ron, Vanessa, and the twins

Marha Pörkölt translates from Hungarian to “Beef Stew.” What sets this dish apart from other beef stews is the paprika. Hungarian cooking is all about paprika; the spice is used liberally in many dishes. This particular paprika dish is quite common in Hungary. It originated with cattle herders, who made the dish in the fields in cast iron kettles and cooked it over an open fire. Marha Pörkölt is similar to another dish you may have heard of – goulash – which has the same origin and ingredients, though the texture of goulash would be slightly more soupy. You can actually make this recipe into a goulash by adding more liquid for a thinner sauce and adjusting the seasoning to taste.

Ron and his mother Eva

I asked Ron to tell me a little about his family background, so we could understand exactly where this recipe came from. Ron’s family tree is pretty fascinating! Here are some of the highlights, in Ron’s words:

My mother was born Eva Neuwirth in Budapest, Hungary in 1929 to an affluent family. Her father Mihaly was a diplomat and in the import export business. Her mother Julia was of the famed Wertheimer family whose patriarch Samson Wertheimber, a wealthy banker, was given a rare title in the year 1510 by King Maximilian I, of the German Holy Roman Empire, for loans he provided the King. This bestowed family crest made the Wertheimbers “Koenigliche Yuden,” meaning “Noble Jews.” My mother, together with her sister Vera, were the embodiment of a happy pre-war Hungarian Jewish family. My father David Kenan was born Ivan Klein in Budapest Hungary in 1926 to Asher and Eta Klein. Eta is from the Schonberger family. Both families have numerous rabbis in their ancestry – the Kleins are Cohens.

The Klein family, 1927. Ron’s great grandmother is holding his father on the left, and his grandparents are the third and fourth adults from the left.

Both of my parents are Holocaust survivors. My father escaped out of a Nazi labor camp, joined the partisans and made his way to Israel where he was in the Hagana and then had a long career in the Israeli Air Force. My mom survived the Nazis by hiding with false papers (she and her sister Vera had the same papers so they separated, one hiding in Buda and the other in Pest). She stayed in Budapest into the Communist era. There she married Dezso Steiner, the father of my brother Michael. After their divorce, she received permission to emigrate to Israel but when she got to the border, her name was crossed off the list and only her mother Julia, sister Vera, and son Michael were able to leave. She was left behind and couldn’t get out for several years until she escaped Hungary underground. This was extremely rare and dangerous. To this day she will not reveal the circumstances of her escape in order to protect a highly placed accomplice. She arrived in Israel where she met my father.

Ron as a baby in Israel

I was born in Tel-Aviv Yafo Israel in 1960, though we lived in Haifa most of my years there.  My brother Michael, 12 years older, moved out of the house when I was 4. With my father generally in another city or country for military service and later his company, it was mostly me and mom and her cooking. In 1974 we moved to the US, 6 months in Columbus, OH, then 6 months in Bolivia where my father was working, and back to Columbus. Again in Columbus, it was me, my mom and her cooking.

Little Ron enjoying his Ima’s food

When I was 20 I joined a carnival to head out west to Los Angeles to pursue my music career. A few months before leaving, I had my mom write all of her recipes into an old Israeli school notebook (called a “machberet”). Every time she would make something, it had to go in the notebook.  She adorned them with illustrations of steaming pans and pots to show the correct sized cookware. So cute! Fortunately, 20 years later, mom joined me in LA and the cooking celebration continued. To this day, she’ll grace my wife and I with an occasional fabulous creation of hers. Just this week she cooked her chicken liver recipe for our 1 year old twin girls Carmel (named after Carmel Mountain in Haifa where we lived) and Julia (after my grandmother). They liked it!

Of course they did! I’m not at all surprised. Little Carmel and Julia have very sophisticated taste.

Here is the original Marha Pörkölt recipe in Eva’s handwriting:

Click here to print the original recipe

I transcribed the recipe below, giving amounts and cooking times where needed. The original recipe said 1/4 green pepper and 1/4 tomato– I took that to mean a 1/4 lb. of each, since using only a quarter of a tomato and a quarter of a pepper wouldn’t add much flavor to the dish at all. 1 large tomato would be about 1/4 lb., and 1/2 a medium green bell pepper would be about the same. I used the remaining bell pepper and some sliced fresh tomato to garnish the stew. The resulting dish was tender and flavorful, the perfect dinner for a winter evening. I served it over rice and garnished it with parsley. It would also be great over egg noodles. It’s a pretty mild dish. For more heat, you could add a touch of spicy paprika or cayenne.

For some reason I can’t find the step-by-step photos I took of this recipe, but it’s pretty self explanatory– you shouldn’t have any problems. Next time I make it I’ll take pics and post them here.

Thank you to Ron Kenan, Eva Kenan and family for this wonderful taste of traditional Hungarian Jewish cooking!

The White House State Dining Room b/t 1900 and 1906, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Over the past month, I’ve been researching the food history of our American presidents in anticipation of President’s Day. Today, I thought it would be fun to share some of the more strange and interesting food facts I’ve come across in my research. Enjoy!

PRESIDENT’S DAY FOOD FACTS

One of President George Washington‘s favorite foods was fish and nuts. He also had a fondness for cherries, particularly Cherry Bounce, a brandy-based drink popular in the eighteenth century. He enjoyed the drink so much that he packed a canteen of it for a trip across the Allegheny Mountains in 1784.

President John Adams, while known for disapproving of culinary excess, had a soft spot for Madeira wine. While attending a feast associated with the first Continental Congress, Adams wrote, “I drank Madeira at a great rate and found no inconvenience in it.”

The town of Cheshire, Massachusetts presented a massive 1235 lb. block of cheese as a gift to President Thomas Jefferson in 1802. The cheese was produced by combining the milk of every cow in Cheshire. The cheese became known as the Cheshire Mammoth Cheese; it was allowed to ripen at the White House for over two years.

Jefferson was passionate about food, and often collected new ingredients and recipes on his travels abroad. In 1787, on a trip to Italy, Jefferson enjoyed the rice of the Piedmont region so much that he smuggled two sacks out of the country. The crime of smuggling at that time carried the death penalty in Italy– thankfully, Jefferson got away with his passionate food crime.

President Andrew Jackson loved fresh milk… he loved it so much, in fact, that he kept a cow on the White House grounds to ensure a constant supply.

When President Abraham Lincoln was a young man living in Indiana, he worked as a cask maker for a local man making applejack brandy. Working with apples probably agreed with the future president; Lincoln was known to like apples, and often ate the fruit with milk as a light lunch at midday.

President Lincoln’s wife Mary Todd Lincoln hosted a number of “Strawberry Parties” in Washington during the spring and summer months. She even had a gown made for the occasions in 1861– a black silk day dress decorated with clusters of red berries.

President Theodore Roosevelt was very fond of Russian Caravan tea, a blend of oolong, keemun, and lapsang souchong teas. The aromatic tea has a sweet, malty flavor; it’s named after the 18th century camel caravans that facilitated tea trade between Asian countries and Europe via Russia.

President William Howard Taft enjoyed an enormous breakfast each morning. His normal breakfast menu would include a twelve-ounce steak, two oranges, and several pieces of buttered toast.

President Woodrow Wilson embraced the concept of Meatless Mondays long before Sid Lerner did. As the U.S. entered World War I, Wilson worried about domestic food shortages. In an effort to set an example for the country, he ordered the White House kitchen staff to adopt Meatless Mondays and Wheatless Wednesdays.

President Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower sold hot tamales on the streets of Abilene, Kansas as a young boy to help his family’s income.

President John F. Kennedy almost always had soup for lunch. Chowder was a particular favorite, a nod to JFK’s New England roots.

President Richard Nixon banned soup from being served at state dinners because, according to National Security Council staffer Roger Morris, “he almost invariably dribbled it on himself at the table.”

President Ronald Reagan was known to love desserts and high-calorie American fare. His wife Nancy didn’t approve, preferring that her husband dine on healthier fare. But when Nancy was out of town, all bets were off– the President dined on steak, macaroni and cheese, and chocolate mousse.

On ABC 7Live San Francisco with host Lizzie Bermudez

You might have noticed that I featured quite a few Colonial/Presidential recipes this week. I made them in honor of the upcoming President’s Day holiday (I love American history), and also to prepare for a TV segment I did earlier this week in San Francisco. Today, as we head into the weekend, I thought I’d share all of my historical Presidential recipes with you in one post. I also wanted to show you the video so you can learn a little about the background of each dish. There are more historical background details in the blogs I’ve posted, but this video will give you a nice overview of why I chose each dish.

The show is called ABC 7Live in San Francisco, and it was super fun– what a terrific production team! You can watch the show as a live stream every weekday on their website. The recipes I discussed on air are linked below. Check out the video clip here:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Shabbat Shalom, and Happy President’s Day weekend!

PRESIDENT’S DAY RECIPES

What George Washington Ate: Preserved Cherries

What Thomas Jefferson Ate: Monticello White Bean Soup

What Thomas Jefferson Ate: Marinated Asparagus

What Abraham Lincoln Ate: Apple Bread Pudding

Here is another recipe inspired by our Founding Fathers. Asparagus became widely available in America during Colonial times, and was a particular favorite of Thomas Jefferson. This is a common French preparation of asparagus that dates back a few centuries. Jefferson enjoyed this recipe for asparagus while he was Minister to France. Given how much asparagus grew in his gardens at Monticello, he surely would have instructed his enslaved French-trained chef, James Hemings, to prepare it this way for his American guests.

This recipe appears in The City Tavern Cookbook, a collection of historical recipes compiled by Walter Staib. Staib is executive chef at The City Tavern Restaurant in Philadelphia. The City Tavern opened in 1773, and played host to the Founding Fathers of our country during the late 18^th century. The original City Tavern structure was destroyed in a fire and demolished in 1854. In 1948, Congress commissioned the historically accurate reconstruction of the building on the original construction site. The Tavern reopened in 1976, and in 1994 Restauranteur Walter Staib took over as chef. Food continues to be prepared at the Tavern in the traditional colonial style.

The City Tavern, Philadelphia, PA. Photo courtesy of Concepts by Staib.

City Tavern was the unofficial meeting place of the First Continental Congress. The dishes in this cookbook were enjoyed by the likes of Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and even Benedict Arnold. Many of the recipes are French in origin. At that time, the upper classes aspired to emulate the French in many ways. Colonial Americans favored French food, serving styles and social graces. Given Jefferson’s preference for vegetable-based cuisine, and his particular love of French food (as outlined in my previous Jefferson post), this dish would likely have been high on his list of favorites. Jefferson had a square in his Monticello garden reserved for asparagus; it was one of the few vegetables for which Jefferson documented a cultivation technique (the plants were mulched with tobacco leaves). Jefferson recorded its seasonal arrival at his Monticello table 22 times, usually in early April. City Tavern prepared many French-style dishes to please its patrons, which makes this an appropriate seasonal choice for the Tavern menu as well.

This light asparagus preparation is flavorful and dairy-free. I have adapted it just slightly by recommending a few minutes for marination (to allow the flavors to soak in) and an extra garnish before serving. I’ve also recommended using olive oil for the dressing, rather than the vegetable oil called for in the original recipe. According to paperwork found in his archives, Jefferson had olive oil shipped to him from Bordeaux after his time in France, so it would not be out of place to use it in this recipe– it suits this dish well. The vinaigrette dressing is mild and infused with fresh thyme; the flavor improves with time. It can be prepared a day ahead if desired– if you do this, the egg pieces will “pickle” in the vinegar and turn a pretty purple color. An additional garnish of hard-cooked egg and fresh chopped parsley gives it a special touch. This is a very unique vegetarian side dish, and a lovely taste of history… perfect for celebrating President’s Day.

Four Dishes for President’s Day – 7Live Segment

I presented this soup and three other historical Presidential recipes on ABC’s 7Live in San Francisco. Check out the video clip – click here!

Recipe and Research Sources

Staib, Walter (2009). The City Tavern Cookbook: Recipes from the Birthplace of American Cuisine. Running Press Book Publishers, Philadelphia, PA.

DeWitt, Dave (2010). The Founding Foodies: How Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin Revolutionized American Cuisine. Sourcebooks, Inc., Naperville, Illinois.

Fowler, Damon Lee (editor) (2005). Dining at Monticello. Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Wulf, Andrea (2011). Founding Gardners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation. Knopf, New York, NY.

Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, has a firmly rooted role in American food history. A naturally curious and creative individual, Jefferson embraced the relationship between garden and table. His Virginia plantation Monticello was a place of horticultural creativity and ingenuity; his gardens were home to a number of unique (what would now be considered heirloom) vegetables and fruits. As Minister to France, Jefferson learned a great deal about French cuisine and cooking methods, often recording recipes in his own hand. While in Washington, he became know for throwing the finest dinners the President’s House had ever seen. Jefferson’s Monticello kitchen blended Southern Virginian cooking styles with Continental cuisine, while also incorporating the African cooking influences of his enslaved staff. He had an important impact on the national culinary consciousness, combining food traditions from the Old World and the New World to create a uniquely American approach to cooking.

Portrait of Thomas Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale, 1800. Courtesy of the White House Historical Association

While living at Monticello, Jefferson kept a detailed notebook about his kitchen garden, recording the planting of hundreds of varieties of fruits, vegetables, and herbs. He was always in search of new additions to his garden collection. He planted all kinds of things, from Italian grapes to French tarragon to Texas peppers to Irish wheat. He was known to admire Continental gardening styles, and used the book “Observations on Modern Gardening” by British author Thomas Whaley as a resource when planning his own gardens at Monticello. Jefferson was drawn to Whaley’s description of the ferme ornée (ornamental farm) concept, a style of garden that combined the agricultural working farm with the beauty of a pleasure garden. The style is reflected in the ornamental yet functional design of the gardens surrounding Monticello. The records he kept of the various vegetables and fruits he planted have proven extremely helpful to food historians, providing insight into the burgeoning culinary identity of the newly formed American colonies.

The gardens at Monticello

Jefferson was intellectually curious about many subjects, and food was clearly a particular passion. He recorded at least 10 recipes by hand, including a classical French cooking practice which he titled, simply, “Observations on Soup”:

Always observe to lay your meat in the bottom of the pan with a lump of fresh butter. Cut the herbs and roots small and lay them over the meat. Cover it close and put it over a slow fire. This will draw forth the flavors of the herbs and in a much greater degree than to put on the water at first. When the gravy produced from the meat is beginning to dry put in the water, and when the soup is done take it off. Let it cool and skim off the fat clear. Heat it again and dish it up. When you make white soups never put in the cream until you take it off the fire.

Jefferson was appointed Minister (plenipotentiary) to France from 1785 to 1789. While in Europe, he spent a good deal of time exploring French cuisine and cooking methods. He became an expert on French wines, and he even brought a slave from Monticello named James Hemings with him to learn French cookery. When Jefferson took the Oath of Office in 1801, one of his first priorities was finding a suitable French chef for the President’s House kitchen. During Jefferson’s time, and for several decades after, French food, serving styles and social graces were considered the ultimate in refinement. We can still see this fondness for French food styles in America today.

Jefferson’s House in Paris, courtesy of the University of Virginia.

The French-inspired recipe for White Bean Soup in today’s blog appears in a Monticello cooking manuscript compiled by Jefferson’s granddaughters, Virginia Randolph Trist and Septimia Anne Randolph Meikleham. In their notes, they write that the recipe was brought over by their uncle, Gouverneur Morris, from one of his trips to Europe. It is a simple and classic white bean soup, pureed and served over warm grilled bread croutons. The dish is vegetarian; it makes a delicious and healthy winter meal. At Monticello, it would have been served as one of several appetizers in a multi-course meal. Thomas Jefferson was known to have a fondness for vegetables and kept meat consumption to a minimum—in his words, “I have lived temperately, eating little animal food, and that is not an aliment, so much as a condiment for the vegetables which constitute my principal diet.” This soup is a great example of a meat-free dish that surely made an appearance on Thomas Jefferson’s dinner table.

I first read this recipe in the book “Dining at Monticello,” a beautiful hardback volume (now out of print) that combines scholarly essays, illustrations, and recipes to give a broad overview of what food was like at Jefferson’s colonial-era Monticello. I have not yet been able to obtain the original recipe verbatim (I have a request pending at the Jefferson archives), so I’m relying on editor Damon Lee Fowler’s transcription. He notes in the introduction to the recipe section that he had help from noted food historian Karen Hess, so no doubt this is a very accurate transcription. I’ve added pepper to the soup according to taste; pepper was widely available at the time, and I don’t think it would be out of place in this type of soup. While the soup was nice with salt alone, the pepper definitely improved the flavor. Otherwise, the recipe remains untouched from Mr. Fowler’s transcription.

Four Dishes for President’s Day – 7Live Segment

On Monday, February 13, I presented this soup and three other historical Presidential recipes on ABC’s 7Live in San Francisco. Check out the video clip – click here!

Recipe and Research Sources

The Meikelham and Trist Manuscripts as printed in Dining at Monticello (2005), transcribed and edited by Damon Lee Fowler. Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

DeWitt, Dave (2010). The Founding Foodies: How Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin Revolutionized American Cuisine. Sourcebooks, Inc., Naperville, Illinois.

Wulf, Andrea (2011). Founding Gardners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation. Knopf, New York, NY.

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 in a one-room log cabin on Sinking Spring Farm in Hardin County, Kentucky. From humble pioneer beginnings, Lincoln rose to become one of America history’s most celebrated Presidential leaders. He guided our nation through the resolution of the Civil War. His leadership helped bring an end to slavery and peace to our war-torn nation. With his birthday and President’s Day approaching, I couldn’t help but wonder… what kind of food fueled this legendary man, the savior of our Union?

Abraham Lincoln, at age 54 – November 8, 1863. Photographed by Alexander Gardner. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated on March 4, 1861 as the 16th President of the United States. When Abraham and his wife Mary Todd Lincoln moved into the White House, Mary owned a cookbook– “Miss Leslie’s Complete Cookery”– that she had purchased while living in Springfield, Illinois. This book, written by Eliza Leslie and originally published in 1837, was considered the most authoritative American cookbook of the time period. It was also the most widely read. Miss Leslie’s straightforward approach to cooking made her recipes popular with both urban and rural families.

Though born into a wealthy family from Lexington, Kentucky, Mrs. Lincoln’s tastes were frugal and simple. Growing up, she’d been taught social graces and etiquette at finishing school, never learning domestic tasks like cooking. When she married Lincoln, then a Springfield lawyer from a simple country background, Mary ran her household on her own. It seems that Mary took her new domestic role to heart. She taught herself to cook from the recipes found in “Miss Leslie’s Complete Cookery,” and regularly prepared meals for her husband and children. In “Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography,” Jean H. Baker talks about Mary’s life in the kitchen:

Even with improved technology and help with marketing, cooking took up the largest part of Mary Lincoln’s day. By 1851, after nearly ten years of housekeeping, Mary Lincoln had progressed to an advanced version of Miss Leslie’s Cookery… there were recipes for everything from family soup to invalid cookery of beef tea and blackberry preserve… Because she had not learned the vices of sugar and, like everyone in Springfield, innocently believed it the “most nourishing substance in nature,” she spent hours making puddings, cakes, candies, and cookies.

Knowing how much Mrs. Lincoln relied on this cookbook, I felt it safe to assume that President Lincoln tasted many of the recipes in the book during his lifetime. It was also likely referenced by Mary when she coordinated meals and social events at the White House after President Lincoln’s inauguration. Because of this, it seemed fitting to make a recipe from the book in honor of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.

The Lincoln Family (ca. 1865). Francis Bicknell Carpenter, 1830-1900, oil on canvas. Image courtesy of the New York Historical Society.

There are hundreds of recipes in Miss Leslie’s book. When choosing one to honor Abraham Lincoln, I settled on a dish made with apples. President Lincoln was known to like apples, and often ate the fruit with milk as a light lunch at midday. He once explained his affinity for apples to a fellow Illinois lawyer, Charles S. Zane: “Apples agree with me; a large percent of professional men abuse their stomachs by imprudence in drinking and eating, and in that way health is injured and ruined and life is shortened.” Lincoln was not known for excess, and tended to graze at his meals rather than indulge in large portions. This apple bread pudding would have been in keeping with Lincoln’s dietary habits, and it can easily be replicated in a modern kitchen. While there is no way to know with certainty that Lincoln enjoyed this particular dish, the recipe is a historically accurate glimpse at the way food was approached by Mary Todd Lincoln and other women of her social standing during Abraham Lincoln’s lifetime.

Here is the recipe exactly as it appears in “Miss Leslie’s Complete Cookery”:

Pare, core, and slice thin, a dozen or more fine juicy pippins, or bell-flowers, strewing among them some bits of the yellow rind of a large lemon that has been pared very thin, and squeezing over them the juice of the lemon. Or substitute a tea-spoonful of essence of lemon. Cover the bottom of a large deep dish with a thick layer of the sliced apples. Strew it thickly with brown sugar, then scatter on a few very small bits of the best fresh butter. Next strew over it a thin layer of grated bread-crumbs. Afterwards another thick layer of apple, followed by sugar, butter, and bread-crumbs as before. Continue this till you get the dish full, finishing with a thin layer of crumbs. Put the dish into a moderate oven, and bake the pudding well, ascertaining that the apples are thoroughly done and as soft as marmalade. Send it to table either hot or cold, and eat it with cream-sauce, or with butter, sugar, and nutmeg, stirred to a cream. This pudding is in some places called by the homely names of Brown Betty, or Pan Dowdy. It will require far less baking, if the apples are previously stewed soft, and afterwards mixed with the sugar and lemon. Then put it into the dish, in layers, interpersed (as above) with bits of butter, and layers of grated crumbs. It will be much improved by the addition of a grated nutmeg, mixed with the apples.

I’ve transcribed the original recipe below, adding measured amounts, cooking times and temperatures where appropriate. The original recipe remains otherwise unchanged.

Puddings of this kind were nearly always served with some sort of sweet sauce– and, as you can see in the original recipe, Miss Leslie recommends a cream sauce or a butter sauce. To make this recipe period-accurate, I referred to the only sweet “Cream Sauce” recipe featured in Miss Leslie’s cookbook. The sauce is optional, but fitting– it adds moisture and a subtle sweetness to the Apple Bread Pudding. I found the sauce to be a bit lacking in sugar, and it is not thick the way bread pudding sauces are today. That said, it worked well to moisten the already sweet pudding and added another layer of flavor. It’s also very easy to put together.

The original Cream Sauce recipe in “Miss Leslie’s Complete Cookery” creates quite a bit of sauce, so I’ve cut down the recipe by a third while keeping the sugar content the same to increase the sweetness just slightly. Here is the recipe as written in the book, you can use the original amounts/proportions if you prefer:

Boil a pint and a half of rich cream with four table-spoonfuls of powdered sugar, some powdered nutmeg, and a dozen bitter almonds or peach kernels slightly broken up, or a dozen fresh peach leaves. As soon as it has boiled up, take it off the fire and strain it. If it is to be eaten with boiled pudding or with dumplings send it to table hot, but let it get quite cold if you intend it as an accompaniment to fruit pies or tarts.

You’ll notice the rather unusual ingredients mentioned– bitter almonds, peach kernels, and fresh peach leaves. Bitter almonds can be toxic in their raw state, and it’s illegal to sell them unrefined in the U.S. Refined bitter almond oil can be found in some gourmet markets, but it’s not easy to come by. Likewise, peach “kernels” (aka “pits”) are not available in abundance at this time of year, nor are peach leaves… most of us don’t have an organic, pesticide-free peach tree growing in our yard. To add the nutty flavor that these ingredients would provide in the sauce, I’ve subbed a teaspoon of almond extract. Use bitter almond oil if you can find it, it will be a more accurate flavor– but only use 1/4 tsp, or to taste. True bitter almond oil is very potent.

This pudding is simple to make and surprisingly lovely… while baking, the apples do indeed become “soft as marmalade” below the surface. There isn’t much “bread” in the pudding– the breadcrumbs add some texture, but the real star here is the abundance of sliced apples caramelizing with brown sugar and butter. What a fun way to celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s birthday and the upcoming President’s Day holiday!

Four Dishes for President’s Day – Live Segment

On Monday, February 13, I presented this pudding and three other historical Presidential recipes on ABC’s 7Live in San Francisco. Check out the video clip – click here!

A Special Dinner Honoring President Lincoln

My blogging friend Lori Lynn over at Taste With The Eyes wrote another terrific post for Lincoln’s birthday, click here to read!

 Recipe and Research Sources

Leslie, Eliza. Miss Leslie’s Complete Cookery: Directions for Cooking in its Various Branches. Forty-ninth edition, 1853. Originally published in 1837. H.C Baird, Philadelphia.

Baker, Jean H. (1987). Mary Todd Lincoln – A Biography. W. W. Norton & Company, New York, NY.

McCreary, Donna D (2008). Lincoln’s Table: A President’s Culinary Journey from Cabin to Cosmopolitan. Lincoln Presentations, Charlestown, Indiana.

Ferenbacher, Don E. and Ferenbacher, Virginia (1996). Recollected Words of Abraham Lincoln. Stanford University Press, Palo Alto, CA.

On Monday I’ll be cooking up some historical recipes in San Francisco on ABC 7Live on KGO-TV/DT during the 3:00 hour. Hope you can tune in! If you aren’t local to the Bay Area, you can watch a live stream of the show by click the link below (video will not be active until show airs). The recipes I discuss on air will be posted this week on my website. Make sure you subscribe to my newsletter for weekly updates and free recipes!

Watch Tori’s segment here

A couple of months ago, I got a email from a reader named Donald Meissner. Donald is the Community Outreach Coordinator at the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry in St. Louis, Missouri. He had an intriguing request– the pantry needed help developing some affordable, easy, meat-free recipes for their clients.

One of the troubling aspects of our business is that some clients don’t really know how to cook. Recently, I suggested that we take rice and beans more seriously… educate people how to make various dishes with rice and beans, which constitutes a complete protein. Add a vegetable, and you are done.

This challenge was right up my alley! I eat a combination of rice, beans, and vegetables for lunch almost every day. I only eat meat occasionally, when my body craves it (which is seldom). At lunchtime, I prefer to eat a healthy, low calorie vegetarian meal– I find it energizing and exactly what I need to get me through the day. So when Donald emailed me his request, I knew I could help.

Before I started working on a recipe, I read up on the organization. It’s quite a place! Established in 1991, The Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry serves clients of all faiths and backgrounds living in the Greater St. Louis area. Here are a few facts that Donald emailed me…

- In 2010 the pantry helped to feed clients from over 89 different zip codes throughout St. Louis City and County.

- 5,021 families visited the food pantry in 2010, comprising 13,816 individuals. 1,273 new families became clients of the pantry in 2010.

- Over 1,214,703 food and personal care items were distributed in 2010.

- The pantry made 8,661 deliveries in 2010 to homebound older adults and the frail elderly.

- No one is ever turned away.

Here is a video of Donald doing outreach for the pantry with local preschool students:

Click here to view the embedded video.

For more information on the pantry and to learn how you can help, visit their website: The Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry.

After learning about the good work that the pantry does, I wanted this recipe to be extra special. I used simple, affordable ingredients that are widely available at any grocery store. I made sure that it’s a quick-cooking dish that can go from stove to table in 30 minutes or less, and I kept the cooking steps short and easy. The flavorful, fresh ingredients combine to create a delicious one-skillet meal that can feed a family of six for less than $15. It’s a complete entree with protein, healthy carbs, fiber, and vitamins– a terrific option for Meatless Mondays. I think some of you carnivores out there might actually enjoy this one. I’m putting it into my regular rotation!

How do you make veggies, beans, and rice sound exciting? Call it a Garden Vegetable Medley, that’s how! This recipe is vegan (if you don’t top it with cheddar cheese), gluten free, all natural, low in fat, low in calories, and pareve. It also happens to be really tasty! This is clean eating, the kind you can feel great about. Enjoy!

On this day in history, on February 9, 1894, the Hershey Chocolate Company was founded in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. While the Hershey brand is known worldwide for its chocolate products, the company’s creator, Milton Hershey, actually found his first success with a different kind of candy… caramels.

Milton Snavely Hershey as a young boy. Image courtesy of the Hershey Community Archives, Hershey, PA.

Milton S. Hershey was born on September 13, 1857 in an old stone farmhouse built by his great-grandfather near Derry Church, Pennsylvania. His parents were part of a peace-loving religious group called the Mennonites; their ancestors were Swiss immigrants who had come to Pennysylvania inspired by William Penn’s promise of religious freedom. While Milton’s father, a farmer, was somewhat flighty and unreliable, his mother Veronica “Fanny” Hershey was solid and true. She was a stable force in Milton’s life, and his main influence growing up. She taught him the value of hard work, and the Golden Rule: “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Milton valued this advice and followed it throughout his life. He learned to work hard for what he wanted… and more often than not, as a child, what he wanted was candy. He would save pennies he made running errands for his parents on the farm, just so he could make a special trip to the candy shop once a week.

As a young boy, Milton did not do well in school. His father, pursuing one unsuccessful business scheme after another, moved his family from place to place. At thirteen, Milton had been enrolled at seven different schools, and he had trouble keeping up with his studies. His parents decided it was best that he withdraw from school and learn a trade. After a failed apprenticeship to a newspaper editor, Milton found work as a confectionery apprentice. He learned how to make all kinds of candy, from hard candies to peppermints to fudge. This job suited Milton well, and he excelled at it. After four years, Milton felt ready to go into the candy business for himself. He was only eighteen years old, but he had big dreams indeed. With his mother Fanny and his aunt Mattie to help him, Milton struck out on his own.

Milton Hershey as a candymaking apprentice at Royer’s Ice Cream Parlor. Image courtesy of the Hershey Community Archives, Hershey, PA.

Milton’s first years of struggling to start a business are an inspiration– he never gave up, no matter how many challenges he encountered along the way. After several failed attempts to start a candy business– first in Philadelphia, then in Colorado, then New Orleans, then New York City– Milton found himself penniless and discouraged. He moved back to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where his extended family turned their back on him. They had given loan after loan to Milton as he tried to make his business work, and they were unhappy that he hadn’t found success. Of his family, only Milton’s mother Fanny and his aunt Mattie stuck by his side, loyal and supportive of his candy-making ambition.

Milton Hershey as a young man. Image courtesy of the Hershey Community Archives, Hershey, PA.

In Pennsylvania, Milton reconnected with an old friend named William Lebkicher (Lebbie for short), who had worked for him briefly in Philadelphia. Lebbie believed in Milton, and helped him to restart his business in Lancaster. Milton set up shop in an old factory building. He focused on making caramels using a special process he’d learned in Colorado. Adding milk to the caramels added flavor, chewiness, and extended their shelf life. He first sold his milk caramels off of a pushcart, until his product was discovered by an English candy importer. Before long, Milton’s business expanded, and his “CRYSTAL A” caramels were in demand all over the world. He built a caramel factory, and named his business “Milton Hershey’s Lancaster Caramel Company.”

The Lancaster Caramel Company. Image courtesy of the Hershey Community Archives, Hershey, PA.

At 37 years old, Milton took a trip to England to see how his caramels were being sold. He discovered that the English candy company was cutting his bulk caramel into bite-sized pieces and dipping them in chocolate before selling them. Milton was intrigued by the chocolate concept, and decided to turn his attention back in the U.S. to chocolate-making. Soon, he had created three “signature” chocolate products… Hershey’s Cocoa, Hershey’s Baking Chocolate, and chocolate-dipped caramels. Milton had bet on chocolate, and the bet paid off big time. Before long, Milton was able to sell his caramel factory for $1 million dollars (the equivalent of close to $25 million dollars today!) and focus solely on chocolate products.

The Hershey Chocolate Factory, 1095. Image courtesy of the Hershey Community Archives, Hershey, PA.

In 1894 Milton established the Hershey Chocolate Company, which allowed him to grow and expand his business to keep up with his ever growing dreams. It was an eventful few years for Milton. In 1898 he married the love of his life, Catherine “Kitty” Sweeney. Unable to have children together, Kitty and Milton started a charitable boarding school for orphan boys near their home in Pennsylvania. The school still exists today. In 1900, Milton introduced the iconic Hershey’s milk chocolate bar. In 1903 he began construction on a chocolate-themed town surrounding his factory in Derry Township, Pennsylvania, to provide affordable housing for his hundreds of employees. The town was eventually renamed Hershey, Pennsylvania. In 1907, Hershey’s Kisses were introduced to American consumers. The Hershey brand had become a household name, an American tradition that continues to this day.

Interesting Bit of Trivia: In 1912, Milton and his wife Kitty booked a $300 first class ticket aboard the newest, most extravagant ship in the British luxury White Star fleet– Titanic– on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England. They were forced to cancel their trip, and instead booked passage on the German luxury liner Amerika. A lucky coincidence indeed!

Milton and Catherine “Kitty” Hershey. Image courtesy of the Hershey Community Archives, Hershey, PA.

In honor of Milton founding the Hershey Chocolate Company, I wanted to bake something special using Hershey’s chocolate products. I found a recipe on the Hershey’s website and immediately fell in love. Hershey’s calls them Double Chocolate Kisses Cookies, but they’re not exactly cookies. They have a cookie-like shape and size, but the texture is soft and cake-like, similar to the sandwich part of a whoopie pie. I decided to call them Hershey Kiss Cakelets– it seemed a more fitting name. Instead of the store-bought frosting the recipe calls for, I made homemade vanilla buttercream frosting; homemade tastes so much better than the stuff from the store, and it only takes a few minutes to whip up a batch. Top the frosting with a chocolate kiss, and you’re created a fitting tribute to Milton Hershey’s candy empire… not to mention a sweet treat that is just perfect for Valentine’s Day!

Research Sources

Burford, Betty (1994). Chocolate by Hershey. Millbrook Press, Minneapolis, USA.

D’Antonio, Michael (2006). Hershey – Milton S. Hershey’s Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire, and Utopian Dreams. Simon and Schuster Paperbacks, NY, USA.