Archive for November 2009
Ode to Uncle Joe
November 30, 2009 | 
Author The period from the Civil War to 1912 was defined by the Legislative branch of Federal Government. It starts with our first impeachment of a President, and ends with the election of a President that would begin the ascending power of the Executive branch. During this era Congress would wield its greatest power ever in history. The 20th century would be defined by its slow loss of power to the Executive branch. Never again, after the election of Woodrow Wilson, would Congress ever wield such power.
If the Congress was all powerful, who, therefore, in Congress, would have been the most powerful? Well, that would be the speaker of the House, of course, or didn’t you stay awake in government class? And of all the speakers of this era, none had the power and used it like Joseph Gurney Cannon of Illinois.
The Man, The Myth, The Legend
Known as Uncle Joe, he used his power as a tyrant over the House. No bill saw the light of day without him allowing it, as he was also head of the Rules Committee. Nothing in Congress happened without his permission. At times, things came to a standstill, loggerheads being broken only on his whim. Finally, the situation became intolerable, something had to give.
Like Humpty Dumpty, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. As the story goes, Uncle Joe got up from his speakers seat to relieve himself due to “nature calling”. When he left the chamber of the house, the members present, both Democrats and Republicans, quickly put together a resolution to remove him as Speaker. Upon his return, his supporters initiated a filibuster to block the resolution. After 26 hours, the filibuster ended, but the damage was done. Uncle Joe was no longer speaker of the house, and the era that was born in the tragedy of the Civil War came to an end. The rise of the Executive’s star was to begin, and we would enter an era defined by regulation. In history, even the greatest changes can come about for the simplest of reasons.
You must be asking yourself “What’s with the history lesson? Isn’t this a food blog? Well, Uncle Joe is famous for something else, and that’s Senate Bean Soup. Apparently one day he entered the dining room, looked at the menu, and exclaimed “Thunderation, I had my mouth set for bean soup! From now on, hot or cold, rain, snow or shine, I want it on the menu every day.” And it’s been that way ever since, never has a day gone by without it on the menu.
Dedicated cooks doing a daily routine
I love this recipe; it has become a staple at our house, our children call it “so good bean soup”. It is great on a cold winter night, and is pretty much a meal in itself. I try to make it as authentic as possible, which means making like they do in Washington, so I follow this recipe:
- 1 pound dry white beans, soaked overnight
- 1 meaty ham bone or 2 smoked ham hocks
- 3 quarts water
- 3 onions, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 4 stalks celery, with leaves, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
- 1 cup cooked mashed potatoes
- salt and pepper to taste
To begin: soak the beans overnight. In the morning, rinse beans, add to a stock pot with 3 quarts of water and the ham bone or hocks. Cover and simmer 2 hours.
Stir in the mashed potatoes and cook over low heat until the beans are almost tender, about 30 minutes. Add onion, celery, garlic and continue to simmer about an hour, or until the beans are tender. Remove the bone or hocks, clean of meat, dice it and return meat to the soup (I always add more ham to it than the bone will have). Salt and pepper to taste, and then serve. It’s very hearty and a wonderful meal. It also goes well with a salad tossed in a strong vinaigrette.
A great legacy left by a man of power, almost forgotten in our history books. Though, like Humpty Dumpty, he fell, the difference is in his case the king had no desire to use his men and horses to put him together again.
Posted in Dishes, Recipes | 
Tags: bean soup, ham, ham bone, joe cannon, navy bean, recipe, Senate, senate bean, soup, white bean | 
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Produce stands, part 1
Battle Ground, Washington is a small town just north of Vancouver, Washington. It has seen a flurry of growth, both good and bad, in the last ten years. It has a main strip, called Main Street (believe it or not) that most of the city’s growth has been focused on. It just got its own exit finished off of I-5, exit 11 (11 miles from the Oregon border), so now it is really on the map.
Like I said, the growth is, as I see it, both good and bad. Malls, parking lots and congestion due to increased traffic , is, in my book, bad, yet virtually inevitable. But growth can also give rise to new things that expand an areas opportunities. It now has a brewpub (a branch of Laurelwood Brewing in Portland), a new library and community center. See, it’s not all so bad!
At the end of Main Street is a little produce stand that opened up around the end of summer, 2009. Its named, surprisingly, Battle Ground Produce Co.
We’ve gone there a lot since it has opened, and each time we go there it seems to get better and the reasons to go there get greater. The produce is great; most of it is locally grown. What can’t be grown locally is of a high quality and brought in from reputable sources (for example, in three days they will have Blood Oranges. These come from the hot areas of Southern California, and it gives me the opportunity to make Blood Orange Marmalade). The bread is from local bakeries, as are the honeys and preserves. They even carry locally made candies!
It was started by Lorne Alacano, who has 20 years experience in the green grocer trade, both wholesale and retail. And believe me, it shows. The shop is clean, immaculate and well stocked. If that weren’t enough there’s more good news.
The stand is a cross between a green grocer and a wine shop. There is a wine room, full to capacity, with an excellent selection. Focused mostly on wines of the Pacific Northwest, they are of the low price range to about the higher middle of wine overall. They range from red and white dinner wines to aperitifs to desserts. I am sure that anyone selecting a wine to match a planned meal will not come away disappointed nor empty-handed.
I love the concept of this market, and I hope to see more of them in the future. In marrying the wine and the produce, he has combined what food lovers want: great grocery supply and great wines to go with it, purchased in a single location. He doesn’t carry beer, and I neglected to ask him if this is something that he plans on doing in the future. Ill ask next time and update.
And there’s more; behind the wine room is another, currently under construction area. It will be the home of a classical (old style) butcher shop. Oregon and Washington raised beef and pork and Washington chickens. He has a butcher with 40 yrs experience who is setting it up and will be the man in charge.
My wife contemplates the emptiness of her bag amongst plenty
Scarlet contemplates the alien look of a ginger root
If you live in the area, do yourself a favor and stop in and check it out. It is yet one more reason that makes it possible to stay north of the Columbia. They’re at 925 E. Main St., Battle Ground WA., Phone: 360-687-1718.
Enjoy!
The Steckel family goes to the Hogs
One of the great things about living out in the country, or in areas where farmland dominates the landscape, is that you have the opportunity to get closer to your food and its sources. Carrots? No problem, ask around and find a guy who is growing them and you’ll have Beta-carotene by the truck load. Tomatoes? Peppers? Scallions? Turnips? Beets? Apples? Pears? Same thing. Where we live we have found sources for much of what we eat.
About 1 month away from being ready
However, the opportunity to “get close to the source” for some foods may not be ideal for everyone. I imagine that one of these is pork. Yes, I am talking about the whole hog, standing shank deep in mud, its attention constantly on what it is going in the front end, with little regard of what comes out the back end. If one is used to pork only as a pretty cut of meat, on a diaper and shrink wrapped on Styrofoam, seeing pigs au natural may be a bit of a shock. From the cute piglets to the giant sows and boars, they are a site to behold.
Always on the lookout........
Ahh, but what is contained therein? One of the finest of meats, the complete foundation upon which the French art of Charcuterie is built! Hams, bacons, sausages in their multitudes, country to country, around the world. Smoked meat and fresh meat, pickled pig’s feet and liver sausage. Some won’t eat it; that’s ok, that just means more for us that do!
Just doing what comes naturally
Once a year, we buy ourselves a whole hog. They’ll weigh in at just around 200 lbs, hanging weight for the butcher. Digging around, my wife found a source not far from where we live. They are called “Pigs R Us”. Really though, we call them Randy and Betty. They raise hogs year round, some goats also, but mostly swine. This morning the family went on a little trip to pay for our hog. It was killed and slaughtered on Thursday, and is currently at our butcher, Wards meats, hanging. I could send a check, but I wanted to get some photos. Also, since I am one of the few people that take the offal, I have to head on over to pick this up.
They are cute when they're young!
Randy and Betty use no hormones in raising their pigs, and the pigs are raised on a diet of soured milk, barley and cracked wheat. That’s it. It’s an old-fashioned way of raising, as it guarantees the quality and taste of the meat.
They raise a mix of breeds: Hamshire, Duroc and Landrace. But you’ll buy each individually. They’ll set up the slaughter, and it will then go off to the butcher to hang and be sectioned. It’s all very easy, it can be done over the phone, and the real problem we have found is making sure you have enough freezer space.
Future Charcuterie
If live in the area, and want to buy your own pig for meat, I highly recommend them. They are in Brush Prairie, just northeast of Vancouver Washington. Their phone is 360-892-2913, or 360-931-4427
The Vegetable people love to hate….cooked my favorite way!
Deviled Brussels sprouts
Old King Cole has a very large, old and diverse family. Of all its members, only the Brussels Sprout can elicit such an emotional reaction in people. Tight-head Copenhagen’s, Non-heading Collard Greens, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Kale, BokChoy or even Kohlrabi, none come close to the reaction that one feels when they hear Brussels are “on the menu”. Either one loves them or hates them; there seems to be little middle ground. Each must make their own decision; eat or not to eat.
The ground I stand on is firmly in the camp of “Hell Yes! Bring Them On.”! I love the little green guys, all smelly when cooling and sublime when eaten. Usually, I just steam them, toss in melted butter and salt and serve. However, on special occasions, like Thanksgiving, I like to make my favorite: Deviled Brussels Sprouts.
Actually, it’s very simple and easy. Here are the ingredients:
½ to 2 lbs of Brussels Sprouts
One tsp. of butter
One cup of heavy cream
Two Tbls. of Grey Poupon Mustard
Salt and pepper to taste.
So, now, what to do? Rinse the Brussels in cold water and remove any leaves that are loose and falling off (BTW, if you have chickens, they love these, but they WILL fight over them)
After rinsing, they need a little bit of prep work. Take the Brussels and cut an “x” in the bottom of each one. I do this differently than most people do. I take the point of a paring knife and insert it straight into the stem of the sprout, like so:
Then rotate the knife 90°, and make the second cross cut, thus:
Now, steam the Brussels sprouts in a double boiling steamer. They will become bright green when done. Don’t overcook, when bright and tender to a knife poke, they are done.
This is what they look like when done, notice how “Bright Green” they are. Delicious!
As the sprouts are steaming, start the deviling sauce. It is very simple. Place one teaspoon of butter into a pan. When melted, add one cup of heavy cream and two Tbls. of Grey Poupon mustard. (Sometimes, when I am feeling even more daring and devilish than usual, I’ll use Coleman’s mustard. I will leave this decision to your discretion).
Whisk till smooth and thick. When thick, add the Brussels to the serving dish, and pour the deviling sauce over the sprouts and toss. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
If you are a lover of the lowly sprout, I highly recommend trying this recipe. They are wonderful served deviled.
(Oh, hey, if you aren’t going to eat yours, I’ll take them. Put’em here…..where mine were!)
Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem……Beef Bones
I remember when I was a child my mother joined a book club. You remember these, they send you the first 5 or 6 real cheap (10 cents), and then you are committed to full price on the remaining ones of your contract. Well, amongst the original cheap ones was a copy of Graham Kerr’s Cookbook, “The Galloping Gourmet”.
Cover of said book:
His show was very popular in the late sixties/early seventies, and basically had the same format each time: Graham would cook extremely rich concoctions, all the while drinking wine till tipsy. At the end of the show he would go out into the audience and select a giggling Fräulein to join him at a table set for two. There they would feast upon the incredible calorie-laden meal he had just created, in-between gulps of wine. And all this within the half hour allotted by the format of television.
Well, the book, I think, was a bit of a minor best seller. I see it all the time at used book stores, if that’s an indicator. I loved looking at the pictures in this book, and I loved catching the end of his show when I got home from school. Hours were spent on such photos as boiling lobster to hand raised pork pies. But there was one recipe that always stood out due to is simplicity: Billabong Soup (it’s on page 28). It’s basically beef stock, onion and parsley.
I mention it because I always think of that picture each time I make beef stock. It’s one of those childhood memories that get stronger with time. It is also the basic recipe I follow each time I make beef stock. Having recently found myself with about 4-5 lbs of beef bones, I set out to make some fresh beef stock, and to think again of Mr. Kerr.
Beef stock is very simple. Basically roast bones till brown, defat, place roasted bones in stockpot with selected vegetables and herbs and simmer till done. So, here goes:
- Pre-heat oven to 400 °F
- Take 4-5 lbs of beef bones, give them a quick rinse and place in a roasting pan.
- Roast the bones for about 1 hour, or until all they are browned. It will be very fragrant and fill the house with the smell of roasting beef (sometimes I wonder if this is the real reason that I do this!)
- Once brown, remove from oven, drain fat (Keep this! It is Light and clear. There are no better potatoes than those fried in this fat!) Scrape the pan of all burnt-on, and add it to the stock pot.
- Place the roasted bones in a large stockpot. Add carrots, celery, onions, garlic and a couple of Bay Leaves (avoid brassicas, they’ll get bitter) and water to cover.
- Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer. I will simmer this stock over a three day period, at least three times, a couple of hours each time. The longer you simmer, the more gelatin-like it will become, and that’s what we’re shooting for. Add water as needed due to evaporation.]
- After boiling comes the straining. Strain and discard all solids in the stock. (I’m passing it through a sieve with 4 layers of cheesecloth)
- Place in Quart jars and allow to cool; I don’t put lids on at this point, as there will be more of that beef fat that will float in each jar as it cools. Remove and retain this fat.
- When done, you can use immediately, or you can process (can sterilize) for later use. If you choose to can it, process in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes.
Off you go now, a wonderful French Onion Soup awaits you……………..or perhaps that shall be a post of mine in the future!
Oh, and pictures of Billabong soup? Since I lack the ability to scan such a picture out of my book, it’ll have to wait till I have the scanner, or off to a used bookstore near you. Oh, it’s on page 28