Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | October 26, 2011

THE Boston Cream PIe

Boston Cream Pie

Even though I live in Pennsylvania, I have always considered myself a New Englander (born and raised in the state of Maine).  And there is not much more home to me then eating Boston Cream Pie. And last evening I partook of  the ultimate piece of Boston Cream Pie at its home in Boston at the Omni Parker House  (operating since 1855).  Pudding-cake pies were a tradition in New England and a Boston Cream Pie is one.  It is a sponge cake with vanilla custard and the ingredient that makes it a Boston Cream Pie is the chocolate

 
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Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | October 24, 2011

A Marchpane Experiment

Marchpanes in the Oven

What is pictured going in the oven represents hours of work.  On the baking sheet are two small marchpanes.  Each one is made from an almond paste ( many hours of grinding almonds, sugar and rose flower water into a paste) which sits on a wafer (a two person process using a wafer iron).  The marchpanes will stay in the slow oven until you see it white, and hard, and dry. 

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Posted in 17th century foodways, Bake oven, confectionery, culinary history, food, food history, wafers | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | October 22, 2011

Spanish Potato Buns

Spanish or Sweet Potato Buns

These Spanish potato (sweet potato) buns baked nicely with the heat from those glowing embers in my tin baker.  The sweet potatoes were boiled and mashed (the equivalent of one large potato) and rubbed into the mash was as much flour as will make it like bread.  Spice (cinnamon in this case) and sugar were added to your taste.  A spoonful of yeast was added.  The buns rose well and baked

 
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Posted in 19th century foodways, culinary history, food, food history, receipts, recipes, sweet potato, tin baker | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | October 20, 2011

Jerusalem Artichoke Balls

The Garnish-Jerusalem Artichoke Balls

Instead of focusing on the pumpkins in this picture, look at the garnish-the small balls that look almost like meatballs.  These are Jerusalem Artichoke Balls (or sunchoke balls) made by boiling and mashing the sunchoke, forming balls, rolling them in egg yolk, then bread crumbs and “broiling” them in butter.

The receipt did not call for any other seasoning and the flavor of the sunchoke was delightful.
 
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Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | October 17, 2011

Potato Pumpkin Receipt

Potato Pumpkins

One of the receipts that the participants prepared at my hearth cooking class at Historic Speedwell was Potato Pumpkin with forcemeat.  It was important to “get one of a good colour and seven to eight inches in diameter, cut a piece off the top and take out seeds, wash and wipe the cavity and fill the hollow with a good forcemeat”.  The pumpkins appearance was like a glossy ceramic and  it was a treat to eat.  I am cutting myself a slice in the picture.

 
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Posted in 19th century foodways, culinary history, food, food history, Hearth cooking classes, receipts, recipes | Tags: , , , , , , ,

Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | October 16, 2011

This was a Class Act!

Class at Historic Speedwell

Yesterday’s hearth cooking class at Historic Speedwell was very productive and very tasty!  The class did a magnificent job with the meal that consisted of receipts of the 1820’s. Pictured from the left are:  Sweet potato buns, To make a white fricassee of chickens garnished with Sweet potatoes broiled and corn flatbread, Potato pumpkins with forcemeat garnished with Jerusalem artichoke balls, Apple pie, and another plate of Sweet potato buns.  The pumpkins shined like jewels on the table!

 
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Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | October 14, 2011

Drying for Flour

Drying Sunchokes

After slicing the sunchokes, I placed them on a piece of bark on my drying rack.  The public thought they were parsnips so I placed one of the tubers on the bark with them.  The thoughts of parsnips subsided but now it changed to ginger!  I had some sunchoke plants with me so people could see how the tubers grew.  The sunchokes dried very quickly even though it was not full sun. Now they are ready for grinding into flour.  Also in the picture, is the trade kettle with hominy corn, squash, beans and sunchoke scrapings.  Corn flat bread is on the rock greased with bear grease.

 
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Posted in culinary history, drying, food, Lenape, Native American, sunchoke flour, Sunchokes | Tags: , , , , , ,

Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | October 12, 2011

Flour from Sunchokes-Two

Preparing the sunchokes

After harvesting the sunchoke tubers, I scraped them and sliced them so the sun-drying process would be accelerated.  Nothing was wasted as the scrapings went in my kettle with the hominy corn, beans and squash.

 
 
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Posted in culinary history, food, food history, Lenape, Native American, sunchoke flour, Sunchokes | Tags: , , , , ,

Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | October 9, 2011

Flour from Sunchokes

Sunchokes

My elm bark basket of sunchokes is resting on the sunchoke plants laying on the grass.  Yesterday I started the process of preparing flour from sunchokes.  The sunchoke tubers are plump and full of starch at this time of year as the plant is getting ready for winter.  For more information on the Sunchoke-A Native Food see my blog posted with the same name under the category Sunchokes.

 
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Posted in culinary history, food, food history, Lenape, Native American, sunchoke flour, Sunchokes | Tags: , , , , ,

Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | October 5, 2011

Only Five for Seed

Lenape White Flour Corn

The Lenape white flour corn has a much better appearance with the kernels exposed to dry.  From my entire harvest, I had only five cobs that I will save for seed to plant.  There is a silk for each kernel and if the silk is not pollinated, a kernel does not develop and the misshapen kernels surrounding it will not germinate!  I also only save seed from the corn that has eight rows as has been documented at the time of European contact.  Most of the cobs had 10 rows.  So I have five cobs with eight rows and complete pollination that I will save to plant in the spring.

 
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Posted in Corn, culinary history, food history, Lenape, Native American, Native American Seeds | Tags: , , , , , ,

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