Date I made this recipe:
October 30, 2016 – a very early birthday celebration for Winston
Churchill!
Churchill's Cookbook
by Georgina Landemare (Churchill family cook); foreword by Lady Churchill
Published by Imperial War Museums (England )
978-1-904897-73-6; © 2015
Recipe: Pommes de Terre Normande (Potatoes Normande)
– p. 101
Okay, this is a fist.
Months ago, I wrote a note to self in my paper day planner (Yes, paper)
for Sunday, October 30 to cook from Churchill's Cookbook to celebrate the man's
birthday. What I didn't see though, was my
tiny little notation – "(11/30/1874)" which, as it turns out, is the
man's birthday, not October 30th.
So I turned to November 30th and did I put a
follow-up note there? Of course not.
Well this puzzles.
As you may have noticed in this blog, I try to keep up with
observing food holidays and national holidays and international holidays and
current events, but there are so many that I am often behind and sometimes have
to pass up the opportunity. Here though,
I was ahead of the game. That has almost
never happened.
Perhaps it was my giddiness at finally finding this book
which I saw once at Barnes and Noble downtown
and then didn't see again at any other store for eons. And naturally, I didn't get the title right
so my search of Barnes online and in other stores yielded nothing.
I bet you some other collector hid it so I couldn't buy it. (Only slightly kidding.)
And so today, I took to the internet to double-check the
birthday information and...what the heck?
November 30?
Well, whatever.
I suppose we should get this out of the way first
thing: you all know who Winston Churchill
is/was, don't you? I imagine some of you
are fuzzy on this detail, especially since his claim to fame was for his role
as British Prime Minister during WWII, a war that ended 71 years ago. (Another historical fact: On December 7, 2016, we will observe the 75th
anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor . Yowza.)
I think this calls for a walk down history lane, don't you?
Winston Leonard Churchill was born November (not to be confused with October) 30, 1874, in Blenheim Palace , England
Jennie Churchill was an American, born and raised in Brooklyn but met her future husband at a sailing regatta
and was introduced to him by King Edward (who abdicated the throne to Queen
Elizabeth's father). The palace where
Winston was born is now a historic home, is billed as a "country"
house. In the U.S. , we'd call it a super mansion. Oh the Brits—always so understated.
Winston became Britain 's Prime Minister in 1940,
just after the war started, and served until 1945 when it ended, and then again
from 1951-1955. Called "The Last
Lion" (the lion is the national animal of the UK
and defender of the realm), he rallied the Brits to victory over the Axis
countries (Germany , Italy ,
etc.) and pretty much bloody well saved the day.
When talking to the nation (on radio) about the upcoming
Battle of Britain, he uttered one of his most famous lines: "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our
duty. And so bear ourselves that if the British empire and its Commonwealth lasts for a thousand
year, men will still say "This was their finest hour."
Historical note: as these things go, this last phrase is oft
repeated as "This was England 's
finest hour" and I have to say, I kind of like this incorrect phrase
better than the original but it's a minor detail. It's the delivery and the subdued passion and
fervor that I love. And is it me, or
does anyone else think that Winston sounds an awful lot like fellow Brit, Alfred Hitchcock?
What separated Winston from the rest of the prime minister
pack (and Alfred H.) though, was his iron resolve ("We shall never
surrender") and his outstanding oratory skills. When he died, he was
granted a state funeral, usually reserved for royalty.
The above just scratches the surface but suffice it to say,
as a student of history (in high school and college where it was my second
minor), I was always fascinated by him.
My husband though, has taken things one step further, has read countless
books about the man, and is a font of information. Biographies are one thing, but this cookbook
belongs to my cookbook collection and shall never be surrendered!
As far as I can tell, this cookbook was compiled from the
food/recipe diary of Georgina Landemare, the Churchill's long-time personal
chef. The foreword to this book was
penned by Winston's wife of 56 years, Lady (Clementine) Churchill, who
indicated that Georgina was pretty much indispensable to the family,
particularly during his time at 10 Downing Street (or just "Number
10"), home of the British Prime Minister.
She also noted that when Landemare retired in 1954, she was at a loss
and I imagine she was; Lady Churchill hailed from a aristocratic family and
therefore likely had a [personal] cook her entire life.
In the foreword, Lady Churchill heaps praise on Georgina
Landemare, saying her food was "distinguished." Indeed, almost all the recipes in this book
show a French influence, particularly today's dish, "Pommes de Terre
Normande," "pommes" being the French word for potatoes. There are 12 "pommes" recipes in
this book, from potatoes with butter to potatoes with rashers (bacon) so have
at it.
You probably know that the Brits refer to Dessert as "Puddings"
(starting at page 105) and Cookies are "Biscuits" (starting at page
139) and there are plenty of those recipes as well. Andy loves saying the word
"Pudding" (Pink Floyd fans
know that it's used in the song "The Wall" – "If you don't eat
your meat, you can't have any pudding!"), and was very interested in
having pudding until he looked at some of the recipes for actual pudding and saw
the word "suet."
"SUET???????"
Yes, darling, suet. Once upon a
time, suet was melted and used as the base of puddings and from what I've read
it made for a deliciously rich and creamy dessert. "Tempting" as it was to try it, we
passed. (When I grew up, suet was
something we put out for the birds!)
In the end, I just wanted something simple and so we made
the potato recipe and it was great—after a fashion. You'll see below how I tweaked it a bit, not
that it would not have been delicious on its own merits but just because I
could. My blog, my rules!
Most of the recipes in this book are simple to make but do
know that many recipes lack cooking temperatures and cooking times. What I would do without the internet, I do
not know.
I must say that I am rather disappointed that the book did
not contain a "recipe" for a martini, purportedly one of Churchill's
favorite drinks – mine, too! Instead, I
will share the story I have heard about Churchill which showcases my own
philosophy about what constitutes a great dry
martini: According to legend, Churchill
poured the gin and then looked across the room at the vermouth.
For those folks who have not read their martini primer, most
martinis are made with gin and vermouth, the amount of which (vermouth) is
subject of great, heated debates. The
more vermouth that is added to the gin, the "sweeter" the
martini. If you're like me and like a
very dry martini – which is to say without vermouth – then you'll know what I
mean when I say that gin is "just a concept."
At any rate, although the only narrative in this book is at
the front, I liked paging through this cookbook and catching a glimpse into the
dining life of Winston and Clementine Churchill.
So Happy Early Heavenly Birthday, Dear Winston!
Pommes de Terre
Normande – the cookbook version – serving size not listed but even a half a
recipe served two generously
6 medium-size potatoes
2 onions
1 leek, white part only
2 oz butter
½ pint milk (1 cup)*
(Left out:
breadcrumbs that are browned in butter)
Ann's Additions:
¼ chicken broth/vegetable broth/water
¼ heavy cream
*1-2 cups milk. A
full recipe calls for ½ pint which is equal to 1 cup. I made a half recipe which means I should
have used ¼ pint or ½ cup milk but that wasn't enough so I used a full cup.
Peel and slice 6 medium-sized potatoes, 2 onions and the
white part of a leek. Melt 2 oz of
butter and cook all together, season well, add about ½ pint of milk and
transfer to a fireproof dish to finish cooking in the oven. Finally sprinkle over some breadcrumbs which
have been browned in butter.
Okay, I've got to tell you that this itty bitty
simplistic-looking recipe was frustrating as hell. First, "finish cooking in the oven"...
at what temperature? For how long? I had to Google similar recipes but still
ended up guessing, and so I'm going to recommend 40-60 minutes at 350F or, as I
did, 40 minutes in the oven, 10 minutes in the microwave.
Second, what is the serving size (besides "a
lot")? A half recipe made an awful
lot of potatoes; good thing we liked them.
Next, and in my (uninformed) opinion, the liquid called for
in this in this dish (1/2 pint for a full recipe or 1 cup) was insufficient to
cook the potatoes and so I made these adjustments.
- I added about ¼ cup of chicken broth to the mixture while it was cooking in the skillet to keep everything from sticking and to help the potatoes cook faster. If you don't want to use chicken broth, use vegetable broth or water. I'm not sure this made a difference, but given that we don't know how long to finish cooking the potatoes in the oven, I wanted to help them along.
- If you have heavy cream on hand like I did, add about ¼ cup (I loved what this did to the flavor.)
- As to the milk, I added half a cup to the mixture while on the stove and then the other half to the mixture before I popped it in the oven. I believe it kept the potatoes moist but I could be wrong on that.
I should note that I almost never futz with recipes, making
them as written, but this time around, I just envisioned a mess on my hands if
I didn't add some more liquid to the recipe.
I'm glad I did because the result was great – moist and flavorful
potatoes that were perfectly cooked (if not a teensy, tiny bit overdone). The leeks added a lot of flavor to the onions
and potatoes, especially when I sautéed the mixture for quite some time before
putting it in the oven. And the cream
also added a bit of punch but I added it only because I had it on hand. Same with the chicken broth.
As to the bread crumbs, I bought one roll from the grocery
store, ground it into crumbs in my mini food processor and then added a little
over a tablespoon of butter to a sauté pan.
I think the amount it made was perfect for the size of this dish.
All in all, this dish was a winner and I'd make it
again. Maybe on Churchill's actual
birthday? ;)
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