If you’ve never made cauliflower soup, maybe this will entice you to try it. The recipe came from Pioneer Woman, on one of her recent shows. I think she suggested it be served with a toasted cheese sandwich, or maybe that’s what I thought about as I was making it. But no, I didn’t make a sandwich, as much as I would have liked to!

After watching Ree Drummond make this soup, I immediately bought a fresh cauliflower and then something came up and I didn’t end up making the soup that day. Or the next. Or the next. But a week later the cauliflower was still in perfect condition so I made the soup – it makes a LOT – and froze about 5 single portions and still have two containers in my frig to have this coming week.

The soup does dirty-up two pans – one for the soup and one for the cream sauce. I considered just thickening the soup in the big pot with the cauliflower, but there IS a reason you don’t do that – milk doesn’t like to be boiled – it separates. So, you prepare a cream sauce that’s on the thin side, but still it is a thickened base, and it gets poured into the already cooked and pureed soup and at that point the soup is done. You simmer it for just a very few minutes – not enough time for the milk to separate.

Bacon features in this recipe – chopped up and rendered, then reserved to be sprinkled on top when it’s served. That’s what’s visible, barely, in the middle of the soup bowl in the photo. There’s onion in there too. The cauliflower is chunked up – you don’t have to be meticulous about it – you could cut it up if you’d like, rather than bothering with florets. Most of it gets pureed anyway, so the shape doesn’t really matter here. Cajun seasoning is needed – in fact I think the soup would be a tad bland without it – I used Slap Ya Mama brand. Now I can buy the seasoning at my grocery stores, but back a few years ago it wasn’t available in the West, so my friend Joan bought some when she visited family in Texas. See photo at right.

It may be hard to see, but I liberally sprinkled the seasoning all over the raw cauliflower – you could just as easily add it into the cooking pot – I don’t think it matters. If you don’t have Cajun seasoning, you can use this recipe from the Food Network – it’s a combo of a bunch of herbs and spices. Just don’t make a lot of it unless you plan to use it up – I’ll never use up that can before the flavors are shot – you just use a bit more once the mixture is 6-8 months old. That’s what I did here. I know I used more than 1/2 teaspoon, but use your own judgment. There was some heat in the soup, but not very much – just enough that you knew it was there!

As for the pureeing – Ree likes chunky soup, so she uses an immersion blender, but only whizzes it a little bit so it leaves plenty of texture. I mostly pureed it but left just a little bit of texture. You can also pour it all into a blender – it will take several batches as this makes about 15-16 cups of soup. The cream sauce is made and poured into the simmering soup, then you add the Jack cheese, parsley and sour cream and cook briefly – just enough to heat it through and it’s done. Ready to be scooped into a serving bowl with the bacon, more cheese and parsley added on top. As always, the soup is enhanced if you make it, cool it and chill it overnight. When reheating it, be gentle – don’t let it boil.

What’s GOOD: What can I say about cauliflower soup?  It’s not going to knock your socks off, but it’s delicious. Creamy, and even though it has a bit of half and half in it, it’s not all that unhealthy – 24 grams of fat in an ample serving. I had it for dinner, nothing else with it, just the soup. It was very satisfying and the bacon hits a nice note of texture and saltiness. It’s not overly thick, but it does have some little bit of texture to it. Altogether good soup.

What’s NOT: nothing, really – you do dirty two pans – that’s about the only down side I can think of!

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This might just be the first time I’ve ever written a blog piece about a movie. And I suspect that this one won’t be around all that long as it may not appeal to many. Hence I’m telling you you just have to see this movie.

It’s a biography about a real-life man, Srinivasa Ramanujan, born in southern India in 1887, who had a gift of math, theorums, formulas, but had very little training. Dev Patel (what a fabulous actor he is) plays the part. Here’s just one small part of the body of his work.

During his short life, Ramanujan independently compiled nearly 3,900 results (mostly identities and equations). Nearly all his claims have now been proven correct, although some were already known. His original and highly unconventional results, such as the Ramanujan prime and the Ramanujan theta function, have inspired a vast amount of further research. The Ramanujan Journal, an international publication, was launched to publish work in all areas of mathematics influenced by his work. (from Wikipedia)

Finally, Ramanujan is invited to go to Trinity College (part of Britain’s prestigious Cambridge University) to study. He thinks he’s there to get his works published, but soon he has to confront the staid, old-school professors who insist he must do the “proofs” (remember that from algebra?) to prove his formulas. He’s snubbed because of his cultural differences, and he’s not treated very well. Jeremy Irons plays his mentor at Trinity and he’s a curmudgeon. Ramanujan doesn’t understand him and vice-versa, yet they develop a relationship anyway.

G.H. Hardy (Jeremy Irons) was considered a math genius himself and he went out on a limb to invite Ramanujan to England. I think both of these men deserve an Oscar. At the end of the movie there are a few short lines that explain what happened later on – one of them is that Ramunajan’s theories are still in use NOW to work on black holes. Imagine!

I don’t want to give away the story. I cried at the end – you may do so also. Just won’t you please, go see this movie.

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Know how to pronounce it? Foo-ghass. A bread. A sort of chewy flatbread – not the thinnest type, as we often see in restaurants as a base for a semi-pizza kind of thing. No, this is an actual bread, maybe about an inch thick. This one studded with black olives (cured type).

When my friend Joanne invited me for lunch a few weeks ago I didn’t know she was going to prepare lunch at her home, so it was a special treat when I spotted this bread sitting on her kitchen counter and learned we would have some of it for our lunch. Oh, was it good. Chewy, still almost warm from the oven.

The recipe came from Dorie Greenspan’s cookbook, Around My French Table: More than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours. The dough is mixed (preferably with your stand mixer and the dough hook – makes it really easy). The batter/dough is allowed to rise for a couple of hours, then you turn it over inside the rising bowl, stirring and deflating it, cover, then you simply put it in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, or the next day, you kind of pour it out onto a work surface, roll it out into 2 rectangles, put them on rimmed baking sheets, sprinkling it with flour as you move it. You cut those holes into the dough (all the way through) and allow the bread to rise again out on your countertop (covered). They’re glazed with a bit of oil and sprinkled with kosher salt and you poke it all over with a fork. Then bake it in a hot-hot oven for 10 minutes, turn it and reverse the baking sheets, and bake another 10 minutes and it’s DONE. How easy was that?

The original recipe called for both oil packed sun dried tomatoes, rosemary and olives. Joanne only used the olives plus rosemary from her garden. I read that bacon is a very common addition to fougasse when you eat it in France. But, you can also use some dried fruit and nuts (not with the olives) to make it a bit different. What’s really nice about this is you make enough for 2 breads – you can bake one and leave the other one for another day or so in the refrigerator and bake the 2nd one later. Joanne and Larry had taken the first loaf to a neighborhood gathering and she said everyone raved about the warm bread. I raved too when she baked the 2nd one for our lunch. It was wonderful with the Nicoise salad. You need only plan to let it rise the 2nd time for about an hour or so and bake for 20 minutes. Again, thank you, Joanne!

What’s GOOD: what’s there NOT to like about freshly baked yeast bread. I’m a sucker for fresh bread anytime, anywhere. This one was lovely with the salad lunch. My friend Joanne made this one, but it’s easy and I’ll definitely remember this for some upcoming evening when I’m entertaining. It’s so EASY!

What’s NOT: well, you do have to plan ahead – this needs to be refrigerated at least overnight and allow for two rising times. One at first when you mix it up, then again before you bake it. That’s the only down side to making any kind of yeast bread. But this one’s worth the effort.

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Oh goodness, this is so good. So comfort food, and really quite easy.

My last post I shared with you a delicious Salade Nicoise my friend Joanne had made for me when I was invited to her house a few weeks ago. This post is about the dessert – this lusciously moist apple cake. The recipe comes from Dorie Greenspan, from her cookbook Around My French Table: More than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours. Marie-Helene is a good Parisian friend of Dorie’s, and she’s an editor of a French guide book (and restaurant critic too). But Dorie explains in the copious head notes to this recipe, her friend doesn’t cook from a recipe – everything is in her head and she makes lots of adjustments, so Dorie found it impossible to write down an actual recipe. So, she went home to her own Paris kitchen and tried. And tried. And finally succeeded in making a cake that is as nearly identical to her friend Marie-Helene’s as she could devise. And what a great recipe it is.

One of the lovely things about this cake is that it will keep, out on your kitchen counter, for a few days. Dorie’s husband claims that the cake is even better on day two or three. I can’t imagine it lasting that long. The cake is not overly sweet, and one of the imperatives Dorie explains is that you must use different kinds of apples, so you’ll have some pieces of fruit that are sweet and tart, firm and soft, all mixed up together.

Joanne’s husband Larry served up the dessert for us so I snapped a photo.

The cake can be served plain, adorned only with some powdered sugar. Or with a little bit of heavy cream to pour on it. Or, a tiny scoop of ice cream, or crème fraiche. Dorie explained that her friend Marie-Helene serves it with cinnamon ice cream, which she thinks is a magical combination. I might have to try it that way. If you don’t want to make cinnamon ice cream, use vanilla, allow it to soften just a bit and mix in a bit of cinnamon. Mix thoroughly then refreeze it to allow the flavors to meld a little bit. Ideally, making it from scratch, I would think you would infuse the cream and milk with the cinnamon so it would permeate everything. Optionally, sprinkle the top of the cake with cinnamon. That might work too.

In any case, this recipe is a keeper. Thanks, Joanne!

What’s GOOD: the chunks of apple shine through, which is exactly what you want in this cake. Joanne used Fuji apples, I think she said, and they hold their shape well as you can see the chunks peeking through the top of the cake. There are lots of apples in it and just enough cake to hold it all together. A divine combination. If possible, try it with the a diverse mix of apples. The cake keeps for several days with no adverse effect – just press some plastic wrap against the cut cake sides. A keeper.

What’s NOT: nary a single thing. It’s a great recipe.

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Is there much of anything more French cuisine than a Niçoise salad? I think not.

Recently, a good friend, Joanne (who used to be an employee of mine, way long ago), invited me to come visit her at her home in Rancho Palos Verdes. Those of you not familiar with the Los Angeles region might not have heard of it – it’s a 20+ mile long coastline south of L.A. that’s right on the Pacific Ocean – and about 90 minutes or so from my home further south. The area is big and encompasses several miles inland and is a world apart from the bustling city of L.A. It had been years since I’d been there. Wayfarer’s Chapel is there – a place that’s entertained many weddings. Once upon a time I attended a wedding there – so beautiful. See photo below.

But I was just there to visit with Joanne and her husband Larry this time. It was a beautiful Southern California spring day – warm in the sunshine, but still almost cold without a light jacket. When you drive to Palos Verdes, it’s all city for the approach to the crest of the hills, and then you arrive at the top and it’s suddenly all residential, meandering, curving streets, even some open land, which is hard to come by in our part of the state of California. They live on a bluff overlooking the ocean. It’s ever so peaceful there – no city noises, and no city to view, either. Just the ocean.

When Joanne came to work for the ad agency I owned with my business partner, she was a brand new bride. This was back in the 1980’s. They’d moved from Brooklyn to California where Larry had taken a new position. They’d moved into a small home and she was so happy to set up housekeeping, and to decorate her house. Joanne says that I was her inspiration to learn to cook (she says she didn’t know a thing about cooking when she got married), and indeed, I recall we used to talk a lot about recipes, restaurants, cooking techniques, etc. And probably where to source some ingredients now and then. I‘m sure I shared recipes with her. Her husband is Lebanese by heritage, and he grew up with his mother making lots of ethnic dishes. Joanne brought one particular salad to some of our potluck lunches we had – her recipe is already here on my blog, a Syrian Pita Bread Salad that I posted way back in 2008. I haven’t made that salad in awhile – it’s SO good – very lemony, and delicious with the crunch of toasted pita chips.

Joanne prepared a gorgeous lunch – this salad (recipe below), a fougasse (a yeasted savory bread) and an apple cake. You’ll have the other two recipes within the next week or so. At right is Joanne in her lovely kitchen. Joanne and her family spent many years living abroad – first in Amsterdam, then for several years in Paris, and most recently they lived for 4-5 years outside of Geneva. Their 3 children grew up attending private schools, and learned French for sure. Their twin boys have just graduated from college here in the U.S., and their daughter is attending a university here in California. Larry is retired (gosh, does that make me feel OLD since they were young newlyweds when I first met them!) and enjoying it. Since their children were born Joanne has been a stay-at-home mom.

As Joanne put together the lunch salad, the Niçoise (that’s pronounced nee-SWAZZ), we talked. She mentioned that here in the U.S. sometimes restaurants will serve a Niçoise with seared ahi. Well, that is absolutely a no-no to the French purist, from whence this comes. It’s canned tuna. Period. The components of the salad must be prepared ahead – the green beans must be cooked al dente, the salad leaves cleaned and dried, the dressing prepared and allowed to sit for just a little while, the tomatoes chopped, the potatoes (a waxy type only) cooked and cut, eggs hard boiled, peeled and cut, all artfully arranged either on a large platter for everyone to help themselves, or on individual plates as Joanne did this day. She lightly dressed the lettuce with a bit of the dressing, and passed a pitcher of the dressing at the table. Ideally you’ll have Niçoise olives – they’re a black somewhat bitter olive, but so traditional in this salad. Capers are usually added too, just sprinkled on top. The salad is so satisfying – all good-for-you things. The dressing is piquant and so-very-French (it’s a French shallot vinaigrette) that will keep for a few days.

The recipe came from one of Joanne’s favorite cookbooks, Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table: More than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours. Joanne has prepared many of the recipes in that cookbook and had raves for each and every one. I own the cookbook too – I don’t remember if I’ve shared any of the recipes from it or not. It’s a beautiful cookbook – almost worthy of a coffee table book, but it’s a practical and entertaining guide to many homespun recipes, the kind the French would eat any normal day, not necessarily for entertaining. I love to read Dorie’s headnotes – the stories she writes about the origin of the recipe or about the ingredients.

What’s GOOD: all the mix of ingredients are sublime – the potatoes even, the tuna mixes with everything, and the dressing just brings it all together. It’s a keeper of a recipe for sure. (Thank you, Joanne.)

What’s NOT: the only thing is the time it takes to prepare some of the ingredients – cooking the potatoes, the eggs and the beans and giving them time to chill. The dressing is easy enough, though. Try to prep the potatoes, eggs and beans the day before.

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If you’re a chocoholic, well, this cake is right up your alley. Light sponge cake with only 2 T. of flour in the whole thing. A little bit of pecans ground up to give it some substance (but not much – the cake is as light as a feather), folded with whipped egg whites and loaded with good chocolate and dried cranberries soaked in bourbon.

When I write up these posts, usually I have some reason I’m baking a dessert. Someone’s coming to dinner; or I’m making something to take to a friend; or most often, I’m serving dessert to my bible study group. This time, there was no reason whatsoever. Do I need a chocolate cake to serve 10? Absolutely not! Did I need chocolate cake at all? Nope. But for whatever reason, my head said I should bake something. My bible study group is coming here in a few days, so maybe tomorrow I’ll freeze it and defrost it then. There’s plenty!

The recipe came from Tarla Fallgatter, a caterer and cooking instructor here in the county where I live in California. My friend Cherrie and I have taken innumerable classes from her, but she’s only teaching private group classes these days. Maybe we’ll wangle an invitation to one of them. Occasionally, Tarla posts a recipe on her website and that’s where I got this one.

The cake was really easy to make, although you do have to grease and parchment-line a 10-inch springform pan (or a fluted tart pan with a removable bottom). Eggs must be separated and yolks added to brown sugar. Chocolate and butter must be melted and cooled slightly, then mixed in with the eggs. The whites are beaten to firm, with sugar, and gently folded into the chocolate batter, along with the flour/ground pecan mixture. And the dried cranberries. It bakes for 25 minutes, rests briefly, then is removed from the pan and cooled a bit more on a serving platter. I ate a slice warm with sweetened whipped cream on top (see photo). Oh gosh – did it ever satisfy my chocolate cravings. I will tell you, however, it dirties up a whole lot of bowls, pans, measuring cups and spoons. I’ve set them to soak in my sink and will wash them tomorrow . . .

What’s GOOD: the ultimate in chocolate (use good chocolate) and the sponge-factor. I prefer light, spongy cakes anyway (lighter) so this certainly satisfied my cravings. And I almost never turn down chocolate. If you’re going to serve 10, you’ll be serving fairly small servings – just so you know. Loved the texture and the flavor. Altogether delicious. It is a fairly thin cake – just enough, really, as you can see from the photo.

What’s NOT: the only thing I can say is that it uses a lot of dishes, bowls and pans. Maybe I’ll pile them into the dishwasher and be done with it! But, there’s nothing to dislike about the taste of this cake. A keeper.

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Oh my goodness, was this stuff delicious. Mostly it’s eggplant (see it on the bottom?) – with tomatoes, almonds, garlic, some good Italian cheese and crispy bread crumbs. Lick the plate good! It’s vegetarian (no protein) and the eggplant is the star of the show.

As you know if you’ve read my blog for a long time, I don’t post pasta recipes very often. Not that I wouldn’t like to, but I convince myself that pasta’s not good for me when I’m trying to eat lower carb. But then, a month or so ago I posted a delicious recipe for linguine with cauliflower and peas. It was SO good too. Now, here I am, a month later and I’m craving pasta.

Rachael Ray prepared this on her show. I’ve been recording her show for awhile now, and I glance at the show notes to see if the recipe looks interesting, or the guests. Half the time I delete before I’ve even pressed the “play” button. This one, though, I watched to get to this recipe. Rachael explained that this is Sicilian (her heritage). And it’s not only prepared a bit differently, but it’s also served differently. The PESTO isn’t pesto like we know it – ground up mushed stuff – no, the “pesto” is just a cooked mixture of fresh tomatoes, herbs, almonds, and garlic. And oil, of course. But first, you prepare the eggplant – Rachael specifically mentioned that you need a very FIRM eggplant, so I sought out one. I used more eggplant than the recipe indicated – I wanted this to be more about the eggplant than the pasta. The eggplant is cut into small bite-sized planks – about 2” long by 1/2” wide, and browned in just a tiny bit of oil, it was just cooked through to the soft, silky stage. The other difference in this dish was the serving – you put the eggplant into the pasta bowl first, then the mixed up pasta on top, then garnished with cheese and toasted bread crumbs.

From the photo, you can hardly tell the pasta was mixed with anything – there isn’t much sauce, as we might be used to. Almonds are toasted (she used whole almonds – I used slivered ones) and set aside, bread crumbs are toasted and set aside, then you cook some fresh tomatoes with olive oil, herbs, crushed red pepper flakes and basil. The almonds are added back in and cooked briefly – THEN you add in some of the cooking water from the pasta – it helps spread the flavors of the tomato almond pesto. Next time I make this I’ll add in more tomatoes. Rachael’s recipe calls for 4 plum tomatoes – I just think it needs a bit more than that.

But, you see, as an American, I probably like the sauce more than I like the eating of the pasta. Italians eat pasta to savor the flavor and texture of the pasta itself. The sauce is an aside! Only there to slightly enhance the pasta. This dish has quite a bit of eggplant in it, however, so since you serve it with the eggplant on the bottom of the bowl, it seems more likely the eggplant is the star of this dish. It sure was for me. I didn’t have any Pecorino cheese – only Parmigiano – but they’re very similar.

And whatever you do, don’t eliminate the bread crumbs. I used panko, and they were toasted in olive oil and they add such a different dimension to the dish. No flavor particularly, but with every bite I got a little bit of crunch. Loved it all.

What’s GOOD: As I said – I loved the whole dish. Love-loved the eggplant. Wanted more of it, so next time I will nearly double the amount – just cuz it was so delicious. The whole dish came together in about 30 minutes, even with the cooking of the eggplant and heating the water for the pasta. I also loved the crunch of the toasted panko crumbs.

What’s NOT: There is a bit of chopping and mincing, and brown this, and brown that, removing, setting aside, etc. But IF you have everything set out and ready when you start, it comes together very quickly.

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Lovely little cups of pudding made with ricotta cheese, eggs, sugar and cream. Then garnished with a strawberry sauce (fresh strawberries, please) that has some strained sauce and some strawberry pieces.

A dear friend is just recovering from dreadful surgery, chemo and radiation of a tumor on his tongue, but deep down in the throat. He’s only just begun to be able to swallow again. For weeks he couldn’t even do normal swallowing at all, and when I made this a couple of weeks ago he was just beginning to be able to eat puddings and soft, loose things like oatmeal and smooth soup. So I promised him, and his wife, that I’d bring them a pudding of some sort. I kept out two little cups (the above photo) so I could taste it myself. Since he’s lost a lot of weight through this, I thought it would be good to give some kind of protein substance to the pudding I’d make, so I found this old recipe for a ricotta pudding, but lightened up with a soufflé-like preparation.

This definitely is not a custard – you know what I mean – the kind that is almost silky in the mouth – this pudding has much more mouth-feel than that, but it’s not chewy. It’s light (because of the egg whites mixed to a peak, then folded into the pudding) yet the pudding does have substance to it. Hard to explain.

The strawberry part can be made really easily if you bought frozen berries, defrosted them, then just pushed them through a sieve (or whizzed them up in the blender, then drained them through a sieve). My friend has difficulty with acidic things (they still sting his healing, but tender throat tissues) so I made the sauce two ways – part of it whizzed up completely with pulp and all (the liquid part you see in the photos) and then some added small pieces of berries added in. I cautioned them to add some more sugar to the sauce as I thought it was way too tart – and especially for him with his tender throat. I suppose the sauce depends on how sweet the berries are. We should be mid-season with strawberries now, but in this case, the ones I had, although sweet enough for me, didn’t taste so sweet in the sauce. So you can use your own judgment with the addition of more sugar.

The pudding itself was simple enough to make – I used full-fat ricotta which has quite a bit more flavor. As an aside here, I just watched a program on TV today, as I’m writing this, about diets and “low fat” or “lower fat” and the nutritionist on the program said don’t bother buying low fat milk, or low fat ice cream, or low fat cottage cheese, because the amount removed is so minor and it drastically changes (lowers) the flavor. I’ve been buying full fat for quite awhile because I’d read this a year or so ago. Anyway, so you mix up egg yolks, ricotta, sugar (only 1/4 cup for the entire batch), heavy cream, salt and vanilla. How easy is that? Then you fold in beaten egg whites and pour the mixture into ramekins or a baking dish and bake for about 45 minutes in a water bath. Do fill up the dish or ramekins all the way to the top – it doesn’t expand; in fact, once removed from the oven, the pudding deflates a bit – it was quite noticeable in the ramekins – so much so that I only had one worthy of photographing. You can see the 2 ramekins in my photo – and one of those deflated so much it only had about 2 bites of pudding in it. Perhaps it was mostly egg white.

The sauce is comprised of fresh strawberries, sugar and lemon juice. Be cautious about using too much lemon juice – that will also make the berries too tart. That may have been my problem too, since I didn’t measure – I just guessed as I squeezed. If your eggs are large – like really large – the resulting pudding could be pretty sturdy – in which case you might want to have a little pitcher of pouring cream (half and half) at the table.

What’s GOOD: this is a bit of a different pudding – it has a different texture for sure with the ricotta cheese in it – and it’s very mild in flavor. Makes a pretty presentation. It’s comfort food, for sure, and the nicer the strawberries, the better the overall pudding will taste.

What’s NOT: nothing really – it’s pretty easy to make and tastes quite nice. No negatives.

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Visiting the library some weeks ago (getting books on tape to play in the car while I took a 5-day road trip to Northern California to visit family) I decided to look at new books on the shelves. And here was this book with an unusual title, The Thousand Dollar Dinner: America’s First Great Cookery Challenge by Becky Libourel Diamond. She’s a journalist and food historian.

On Saturday evening, the 19th instant [1851] thirty gentlemen sat down to a dinner at J. W. Parkinson’s, South Eighth St. below Chestnut [Philadelphia], which for magnificence outvied anything ever seen in the United States. . . . Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, April 1851.

Perhaps the richest, most elegant, elaborate and poetical entertainment ever gotten up in this country, was achieved in this city last week by the accomplished confectioner and caterer, James W. Parkinson. . . . American Courier, April, 1851.

At 6:00 am, the morning of April 20th, the satiated group of men finally decamped. It had been an extraordinary evening, with 17 courses served. [I can’t imagine sitting down for an all-night eating of that many courses.] It had come about as a bet, a wager, that no Philadelphians could possible prepare as sumptuous a meal as New Yorkers (the guests were half from each city).

1 – OYSTERS – Raw,  on the half shell – Nearly every first class dinner back then started with oysters, and the Philadelphia area was loaded with oyster reefs. They would have been served with bottles of sweet Sauternes. Since the early to mid-1900s, as many of you know, the oyster business disappeared. So very sad. My DH’s (dear husband’s) family was from Bivalve, New Jersey, (also Mauricetown, pronounced like morris-town) which was one of the hubs of the oyster business back in the day (20s, 30s and 40s). In the 1950s the oyster population developed a deadly parasite called MSX, which wiped out nearly all the oyster business in the Delaware Bay.

2 – SOUPS – Green Turtle and Potage a la Reine [a type of French chicken soup] – The book goes into much detail about the purveyors of turtles (mostly the Caribbean) and in what high demand they were. Over-fishing also nearly ended turtle soup as a delicacy except perhaps IN the Caribbean. Some restaurants in Philadelphia still offer turtle soup made from a local snapping turtle harvested on Pennsylvania shores. The turtle soup was usually served with sherry or Madeira; Parkinson apparently served both soups with Cognac.

3 – FISH – Fresh Salmon with Lobster Sauce and Baked Rock [a striped bass], a la Chambord – the salmon came from Maine. The bass was caught by privately hired anglers who were sent to Virginia the day before and rushed the fish back to the restaurant; it was stuffed with forcemeat, larded with bacon, braised in white wine and seasoning, finished off with decorative skewers of fish quenelles and cooked crawfish, then served with a rich Chambord and Espagnole sauce. Apparently James Beard described this recipe as one of the most elaborate dishes in all of cookery. This course was served with a Riesling from the area of Steinberg, Germany (founded by Cistercian monks mostly).

4 – BOILED – Turkey, Celery and Oyster Sauce; Chicken and Egg Sauce; and Beef Tongues – Much of this chapter of information was about the early-times methods of cooking meat (boiling), even tracing back to the Pilgrims. This course was served with Champagne, Haut Brion and Cote Roti.

5 – COLD DISHES – [this one’s a lot to read . . .] Galantine de Dinde a la Gelee; Jambon Decore; Salade a la Russe en bordure de Gelee; aspic huitres; Boeuf a la Mode; Mayonnaise of Lobster, Salad de Volaille, a la Mode Anglaise; Aspic de Volaille aux Truffles. What all that most likely says is: tenderloin of beef garnished with vegetables, boned turkey and capon, ham stuffed with pistachios and truffles, aspics, pates and terrines of all kinds, foie gras, smoked tongue well glazed and dressed in pyramid form, chicken mayonnaise, ducks’ livers a la Toulouse, young rabbit a la mode, and salad a la russe. Everything was sculpted and presented in high form (mostly prepared by the young chefs), and prepared some in advance. All these were served with an Amontillado (pale sherry) from Spain.

6 – ENTRÉE #1 – Filet of Beef with Mushrooms; Vol-au-vent; Veal with Tomato Sauce, Lamb Cutlets; and Chicken Croquettes – Although it was designated as an entrée, meals back then weren’t what we’d would call an entrée (the main course) but a side dish, really. And they probably weren’t served with anything else – maybe just a bite of two of each with its own sauce or gravy.

7 – ENTRÉE #2 – Braised Pigeon with Madeira Sauce; Lamb Chops Milanaise; Chicken; Turtle Steak, Chicken Fricasee; and Calipash, a presentation of turtle hearts and livers – most often all the entrees served all together, but Parkinson veered off course here. Wines served with both of these entrée courses was champagne by Moet.

8 – ROAST – Spring Chicken on Toast, Spring Lamb with Mint Sauce – it seems that all the food up to this point was leading up to THIS, the most important course of all, the roast! The meat was likely roasted on a spit. Wine served here was a Moselle from Scharzberg, Koblenz.

9 – PIECES MONTEES and VEGETABLES – [elaborate sugar sculptures served alongside garden vegetables] – seems very odd to our modern sensibilities, but it was all high art of the time

10 – COUP DU MILIEU – Sorbets – made from nothing less than Hungarian Tokaji wine. It was a sorbet never eaten before, Parkinson’s idea, and was noted as quite magical by the diners.

11 – GAME – Jack Snipe; teal duck, woodcock, plover, rice birds, celery hearts and Saratoga potatoes – all the small game birds were done on an early version of a rotisserie, and they’d have been studded with lard. This course was served with a pale rose wine.

12 – DIAMONDBACK TERRAPIN – the terrapin was a common enough turtle found in brackish waters along the Eastern Shore. They were also called “bay tortoise.” It was probably a sort of stew with a creamy sauce. And it was served with roasted potatoes. This course was again, served with Amontillado sherry from Spain.

13 – PASTRY – Puddings, Pies, Meringues, Cakes, Creams and Cookies – too many to name here. Parkinson was quite fond of both lemon pudding and coconut pudding, both served at this meal. There are pages and pages in this chapter about the style of preparing and serving all kinds of special sweet treats from that era. The sweets were served with old, mellow sherry, Madeira and Port.

14 – CONFECTIONERY – Mint Drops, Raspberry Balls, Chinese Almonds, Nougat, Cream Candy, Burnt Almonds, Port Wine Drops, Sugar-Coated Celery Seed and Brandy Drops – all things to showcase Parkinson’s skill in the kitchen.

15 – ICE CREAMS AND WATER ICES – Biscuits Glace, Caramel, Harlequin, Lemon, Buttercream, Vanilla, Strawberry, Orange Water Ice, Champagne Frapee – all innovative items (so the book says) from Parkinson’s kitchen. He was most definitely ahead of his time

16 – FRUITS AND NUTS – Apples, Figs, Walnuts, Pecans, Orange, Raisins, Almonds and Filberts – some of the explanation in this chapter is about the etiquette of eating fresh fruit at the table. Kind of hilarious, really. The wines served here were Rhenish Marcobrunn and a Medoc (highly tannic).

17 – CAFÉ NOIR – Black Coffee, Maraschino and Curacao (liqueurs) – back in this time, in a fine restaurant, only really strong, robust coffee was served using a French Press (still a highly prized method – I had some that way just last week). It was thought that a strong cup of coffee at the end of a meal enhanced digestion.

When it was all said and done, the diners smoked cigars, probably groaning, and were eventually escorted to their carriages and off to their homes or to a local hotel to sleep off the calories. Oh my.

A really interesting book – each of the courses comprised a chapter in the book, and each chapter is about 5-12 pages long, depending on the complexity of it. You learn history, the how and wherefores of acquiring such food then and now, and about the presentation itself. Astounding meal for sure!

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As I keep saying, I never have enough recipes for chicken breasts, making them some new or different way. I have dozens and dozens of tried and true recipes, but I get tired of repeating them. So, here’s a new recipe for a boneless, skinless chicken breast stuffed with Boursin cheese, then oiled, coated in Panko and baked. Then served with a really high-profile sauce or salsa.

This recipe has been residing in my to-try file for a long time. I changed it up just a little bit, but only to make it easier, I think. The original recipe was given to me by an old friend, Karen B, and she found it in a Sacramento Bee article in 1988. So, see, it’s “old.” As I read the recipe, I concluded that maybe Boursin cheese didn’t exist in 1988. You think? I don’t really know, but instead of using soft goat cheese and making the herb and garlic filling with freshly bought or harvested herbs and minced garlic, I just bought one of the little round discs of Boursin (the garlic & herb one) and used it! To make 4 servings (4 breasts) you’d use the whole 4-ounce container. I halved the recipe, and actually I ate only half of the chicken breast pictured above, so will have 3 more meals out of the 2 breasts.

First you need to make the sauce, or salsa, so it has time to marry the flavors. It was easy – chopped up fresh tomatoes, basil, cilantro, green onions, red wine vinegar, EVOO, salt and pepper, and a little bit of minced jalapeno chile. To give it some zip. I didn’t refrigerate it – but you could easily make it a few hours ahead. I have some left over, but am not sure the cilantro will last very long sitting in the sauce.

The chicken breasts are boneless and skinless. I removed the chicken tenders for another use (no, I don’t know what – maybe I’ll treat my kitty-cat to some in his dinner). The breasts then were flattened (pounded) gently, between pieces of plastic wrap, until they were uniformly about 1/4 inch thick. I cut the Boursin cheese to fit down the middle, lengthwise, of the breast, and folded it on itself, kind of pinching the edges together. If you’re concerned – or have difficulty – fork-whip an egg and use it as glue on the edges to hold them together. I also lightly salted and peppered the interior of the chicken.

Then, I lightly oiled the outside of each of these sort-of rolls and gently dipped them into a bit of Panko crumbs. I didn’t truly coat the outside, but used just enough to give it some crunch. Then I placed the rolls on a rack on a baking sheet – see photo at left – (lined with foil, although there weren’t any drips – but there could be and it might not be very easy to clean up). Put the seam side up and gently press the ends in so the cheese doesn’t ooze out the ends. Into a 375° oven it went and baked for about 30-40 minutes. The chicken didn’t slump or open up at all – I was almost surprised, but it didn’t. I tested the chicken with an instant-read thermometer, and once it reached 155° in the thicker part (inserted into the chicken, not the cheesy interior) I removed the pan and let it rest for just a couple of minutes.

Since each breast was rather large (the Costco ones are pretty big), you could slice the chicken on the diagonal and fan them out onto a heated platter (but then the cheese would ooze out, I think) or serve a half of one, or a whole one to hearty eaters, with the sauce spooned over the top. It made a lovely, juicy, cheesy (but not overly so since there isn’t all that much cheese in each portion) entrée. I loved the sauce – wish I’d had more of it. Next time I’ll probably make more, so I’ve increased the amount of sauce in the recipe below, just so you’ll have plenty. If you know you’re going to have leftovers, my suggestion is to hold out the cilantro and add it only when you’re ready to serve, and only use enough of the sauce that you’ll use at that meal. That will preclude the cilantro from becoming gooey in the sauce if you keep it a day or two.

What’s GOOD: A lovely presentation. Very juicy, as long as you don’t bake it past 155°F. Loved the sauce/salsa. I liked the crunch of the little bit of panko crumbs on the outside. Easy to put together, easy to bake. Would be nice for a company meal.

What’s NOT: pounding the chicken is really very easy, although not to everyone’s taste. It does take just a bit of fussy work to get the cheese down the middle, sealed, oiled and panko-crumbed. But only a few minutes, really. Worth doing according to me! IF you check the temperature while baking the chicken, you’ll be assured of a juicy entrée. If you don’t, it could very easily get over-cooked and dry.

printer-friendly PDF and MasterCook 15/16 file (click link to open recipe)

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