We all know the Achilles heel in my blog concept by now: cookbooks from Baked in Red Hook (Baked Explorations and Baked: New Frontiers in Baking). So, without further ado, Root Beer Cupcakes, adapted from the Baked recipe for Root Beer Bundt Cake.
PS – More food porn to come soon from my travels in LA this weekend!
PPS – The candies are Haribo Cola Bottles. I <3 gummies: Haribo Peaches were largely responsible for my middle school chubby days…
When I cook from old recipes, I often change them for one of two reasons: 1) to make the food more amenable to 21st century palates, 2) to make it healthier. In this case, I took a classic Szechuan dish – a noodle dish called “Ants Climbing a Tree” – and went with the latter approach. I’ve been making this dish for a while, but this post from The Kitchn prompted me to share: my version of Ants Climbing a Tree is a great, spicy, flavorful way to get into vegan-friendly, gluten-free shirataki noodles.
If you are about to furnish a house, do not spend all your money, be it much or little. Do not let the beauty of this thing, and the cheapness of that, tempt you to buy unnecessary articles. Doctor Franklin’s maxim was a wise one, ‘Nothing is cheap that we do not want.’ Buy merely enough to get along with at first. It is only by experience that you can tell what will be the wants of your family. If you spend all your money, you will find you have purchased many things you do not want, and have no means left to get many things which you do want. If you have enough, and more than enough, to get everything suitable to your situation, do not think you must spend it all, merely because you happen to have it. Begin humbly. As riches increase, it is easy and pleasant to increase in hospitality and splendour; but it is always painful and inconvenient to decrease. – Mrs. Child, The American Frugal Housewife
I have a confession: I have kitchen gadget lust. When I moved to New York, my grandmother was heading down to Florida, so she gave me her entire kitchen. I was lucky enough to start my adult like with a full complement of pots and pans. And french fry slicers, melon ballers, icing spatulas, and vintage Corningware. The real kicker: metal sporks. I’m not kidding. Here’s a snapshot to prove it:
So, I took contented myself for a few years with what I got for free. Then my hand mixer broke and I splurged on a purty buttercup-yellow Kitchenaid. Beginning of the end: my increased baking abilities led to increased baking which led to pastry tubes, more pans, cake carriers. All in a New York kitchen so tiny I can’t get a decent angle to show you a picture: Mark Bittman’s, which actually has a full-size stove, is luxurious by comparison.
I was recently thinking, as my acquisitions slowly started to encroach on my roommate’s designated cabinet space, about the days when I traveled lighter – just pots and pans. And sporks. Mrs. Child makes a good point: very often, with a little more work, we can get results by hand that cooks now accomplish with utensils and machines. So, I’m putting a moratorium on gadget-buying. I’m going to try to stay humble, per Mrs. Child, and separate “want” and “need” when I go to Sur La Table and Broadway Panhandler. Any thoughts on the line between these two?
OK, this isn’t from an old cookbook, but it was inspired by one. One morning I was flipping through books and ogling cheesy grits recipes, when I thought, why can’t I have this every day? So, I took grits and substituted oatmeal and healthed everything up a little, adding lots of protein. I was inspired to share by this post from Recipe Girl: this breakfast is one of my diet secrets, since it’s got just enough carbs (in whole grain form!) to satisfy cravings, and a ton of protein to keep you going strong until lunch. I also took the idea of adding more water from some old porridge recipes: more volume keeps you full longer – always a key for diet foods!
You may have noticed that my recipe page is currently a little short on meat recipes. I tend to eat a lot more fish and eggs than red meat – but when I go for meat I really go for it. So, when I saw that Food 52 is having a Short Rib Contest, I thought…what better time than the present for going seriously carnivore? There are a lot of amazing recipes in my collection – and many of them have the “something I wouldn’t usually do in the 21st century” quality that I go for. The one I picked out of The Gold Cook Book is billed as “barbecue” but it turned out to more of a braise, cooked in tangily flavored beef broth. I figured another Gold Cook Book recipe – for Acorn Squash Rings – would add a little sweetness, freshness, and yummy winter flavor. Besides, I got a squash today at the farmer’s market…
PISUM INDICUM. Pisum coques. cum despumaverit, porrum et coriandrum concidis et mittis in caccabum ut ferveat. et accipies sepias minutas, sic quomodo sunt cum atramento suo, ut simul coquantur. Adicies oleum, liquamen et vinum, fasciculum porri et coriandri. facies ut coquantur. cum coctum fuerit, teres piper, ligusticum, origanum, carei modicum, suffundis ius de suo sibi, vino et passo temperabis. sepias minutatim concidis et in pisum mittis. Piper asparges et inferes.
– Apicius, De Re Coquinaria V.iii.3
I’m honestly really not sure what makes these peas “Indian.” As a purely historical matter, there was trade between Rome and India (I’m lazy – if you want more info, check out this reputably-researched and -sourced Wikipedia article). The weird thing about this dish, though, is that it really isn’t very different from other dishes in Apicius’s collection: the typical Roman flavor profile is based heavily on leeks, cumin, coriander, sweet wine, pepper, garum, and garlic. These Indian peas have a good number of those ingredients, and not a ton of others. But then, I don’t know what 4th century Indian cooking was like – or what regions the Romans dealt with. I’m guessing they weren’t bringing takeout containers of chicken tikka masala back to Italy, though. Anyone know more about ancient cooking on the subcontinent?
Anyway, just a few things about Roman cooking. First, I always grind my spices by hand when I do it, to give the right taste and texture. Here are my cumin, coriander, oregano, peppercorns, and anise (I substituted the last for lovage, which I don’t have).
The true economy of housekeeping is simply the art of gathering up all the fragments, so that nothing be lost. I mean fragments of time as well as materials. Nothing should be thrown away so long as it is possible to make any use of it, however trifling that use may be; and whatever the size of a family, every member should be employed either in earning or saving money. – Mrs. Child, The American Frugal Housewife
I’m not big on new years retrospectives or resolutions: I find it counterproductive to make grand decisions which I’ll inevitably not live up to – instead I’ve been trying to take on bite-sized resolutions all through the year. But maybe the idea of taking on small resolutions is itself a big resolution…Ack! Well, before I get tangled up in philosophical conundra, I’ll get back to the original reason for this post: my current mini-resolution is to post more, and to restart my “Sunday Tips” section. My mom gave my a copy of The American Frugal Housewife, from which the above quote is taken, for Christmas (along with a couple of other books which will probably show up soon). This book was published in 1833 by Mrs. Child:
