"Churchill's Cookbook" - Pommes de Terre Normande (Potatoes w/onions and leeks) - an accidentally early birthday salute to Winston Churchill!

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 30^th.

So I turned to November 30^th 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 75^th 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 to the Lord Randolph Churchill (a son of the Duke of Marlborough), and Jeanette ("Jennie"), Lady Randolph Churchill, nee Jerome. (Per Wikipedia, Jennie would have been called "Lady Randolph," and not Lady Randolph Churchill.  Did we not just have a conversation about how funky the Brits are about titles and whatnot? And although I feel pretty comfortable discussing royal titles, I remain supremely confused about what the Brits call "peerage" i.e. [non-royal] titles.  There are hereditary titles that are passed down and then there are what they call "life peers" which are appointed and cannot be inherited.  Dear God....what, what?  Happily, Wikipedia contains more information about this topic so if it is of interest to you, have at it!)

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? ;)

"Country Cuisine;" "The Duchess of Duke Street Entertains;" "The Great British Bake Off Big Book of Baking" - for Queen Elizabeth II's 90th Birthday!

Dates I made these recipes:  April 21 – April 27, 2016 – Queen Elizabeth's 90^th Birthday

Country Cuisine by Elizabeth Kent

Published by:  Sidgwick & Jackson – London

© 1980

Recipe:  Carrot Vichyssoise – p. 117 – from Sharrow Bay (hotel) in Ullswater, Cumbria:  Chef:  Francis Coulson; Proprietors:  Francis Coulson and Brian Sack.

The Duchess of Duke Street Entertains – Edited by Michael Smith

Published by:  Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc. New York

© 1977

Purchased at an estate sale

Recipe:  Louisa Trotter's Cheese Straws – p. 69-70

The Great British Bake Off Big Book of Baking by Linda Collister.   Includes recipes by Mary Berry & Paul Hollywood

Published by:  BBC Books

ISBN: 978-1-849-90483-4

Purchased at Barnes and Noble

Recipe:  Paul's Chocolate Volcanoes – p. 310

Right then.  Let me start off by saying that I hope "HM" (Her Majesty) appreciates the efforts I went through to produce some delicious delights befitting HM and her 90^th birthday because folks, finding and making these recipes was a downright horrible exercise, what what!

Let's begin with a few points of culinary interest:  1) In 1994, my husband, Andy, and I went to England and considered ourselves most fortunate to have eaten fairly decent food while there.  This was at a time when the Brits were just getting the hang of edible cuisine.  But that said 2) most of their food is, I'm sorry to say, rubbish and I spent more time for this blog post eliminating food I wouldn't eat on a bet (like ""Smoked Mackerel Hot Pots"—oh me no think so!) than what I would eat.

Then 3) I eliminated recipes that called for hard-to-find ingredients (i.e. native to Great Britain but not here) or recipes that just took too damned long to make.  So there went half of the three book's contents right there.

And then there was this problem:  4) Some books like Country Cuisine had so many usable recipes that I wanted to "cheat" and make a bunch of stuff from that book and that book alone but that would break my own rules of one per cookbooks so I couldn't go down that rabbit hole.  Then other books like The Duchess of Duke Street Entertains was just bereft of anything usable or – dare I say – edible, and I had to work hard to find a recipe – any recipe – that would work.  Best I could do was Cheese Straws and I thought they would pair well with the soup so there you go.  And finally there was dessert which seemed like it would be easy except I had to eliminate anything made with yeast (due to previous efforts at making a doorstop), phyllo dough (I hate working with it) or anything requiring 2,000 or so steps before I could shove the thing in the oven.

So there was that.  And then, and it has to be said, I had to deal with measurements and converting measurements and that was no fun at all.  Not at all.  England uses grams for measures which is why you absolutely need a scale to do some of this stuff.  In fact, the very same day that I made this recipe, my friend, Star Tribune columnist, cookbook author and master baker, Kim Ode, wrote a column for the paper outlining essential kitchen equipment for amateur bakers as well as one for advanced and I am chuffed to say that although I don't bake a lot, I had all but one item from both lists.  As I commented on her Facebook page, I love my kitchen scale and marvel that I ever went without one.

And as a reminder, all of this was to honor "HM" whom I adore and who gets mad props for making it to age 90 (and 63 years on the throne) while looking fabulous to boot.  And all the dishes I made her paid homage to her in some way, shape or form.  "HM" is fluent in French, thus the vichyssoise, Brits love their crackers ("biscuits") and toasts at tea times (cheese straws) and "HM" loves chocolate so hooray!  And with the exception of the cheese straws, all of these turned out to be pretty darned smashing! (Details to follow.)

And now a word about the books:

Country Cuisine is a compilation of recipes from country hotels, inns and bed and breakfasts and it is "delightful" as the Brits would say.  I thought it especially appropriate that the author's name is Elizabeth Kent as Elizabeth II is related to the Duke of Kent; they are first cousins.  Most of the recipes in this book were sounded good and were pretty easy to make while others, as noted, sounded horrible.

The Duchess of Duke Street Entertains is based on a TV show – The Duchess of Duke Street – that aired on the BBC from 1975 to 1976.  The show spotlights Louisa Leyton Trotter a/k/a "The Duchess" who worked her way up from being a servant to a cook to being a Duke Street hotel proprietress.  I didn't watch the series but heard about it (it was Emmy-winning) and so there you have it.  This cookbook gave me the most trouble as most of the recipes just weren't "all that."  Again, I reference dishes like "Creamed Veal Kidneys" and "Kippers with Marmalade."  Ghastly.  The "biscuits" I made were okay but that was mostly my fault – I think.  The recipe said to add the egg mixture to the flour mixture to form a paste but the paste didn't form like it should.  I suspect more liquid was necessary but didn't know how much so left it alone.  I also think the dough sat too long in the fridge but that was my fault.

The last cookbook, The Great British Bake Off Big Book of Baking, got me back on track and thank goodness for that.  Say what we will about British cooking, baked goods – both savory [savoury if you are British) and sweet saved the day.  Baking doesn't usually involve icky ingredients although savory bakes can be dicey. 

Now if you're not familiar with the BBC/PBS show, The Great British Bake Off, acquaint yourself with it ASAP by watching it on PBS or YouTube. I'll wait.  In Britain, this show is several seasons ahead of where we are in America but I don't care because the show is fantastic!

The premise of this show is that several bakers, most of them baking at master or near-master levels, compete to win the show's grand prize.  Each episode has three baking challenges:  the signature challenges i.e. recipes they are known for; the technical challenge where they are given basic instructions for the challenge of the day and the showstopper where they have to make spectacular items like 7-tiered cakes that look good and taste good too.  Each challenge has winners and losers and then at the end of each episode, someone is cut and sent home.

Each challenge is judged by Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood (yes, that's his name), who are master bakers and whose recipes are included in this cookbook.  And each show is hosted by Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc.  Mel is an absolute stitch to watch and you will likely "luff" her.

The thing I "luff" about this show besides Mel is that the contestants are so absolutely polite with each other it's ridiculous.  And so British.  Even though they're in a competition they rally around each other each and every episode and it's touching.  Compare this to some of their American "counterpart" shows where every single day in that kitchen is a thrown down of some sort, sometimes involving knives, sometimes not.  "Uncivilized" is likely what the Brits would say with a good "sniff, sniff" in that way they have.

And I also love the judges and marvel at their own skill of being able to ascertain when someone's "bake" is just not quite on point.  Plus they're funny although Mary is much more quiet compared to Paul.

And with a last name of "Hollywood," it should be no surprise that Paul is the more outgoing.  And out of all the incredible edibles out of this cookbook, supplied by the bakers and the judges, I decided on his Volcano Cakes.  They were easy to make and seeing as how HM loves chocolate, this is as close as I could get to a birthday cake in her honor.

And with that, let's have a "Hip, Hip, Hooray" for HM and then off we go to the kitchen!

Carrot Vichyssoise – serves 8 – from County Cuisine

2 potatoes

4-5 carrots

2 onions

2 leeks

Ham bone or 2-3 rashers of bacon (Ann's Note:  thin slices of bacon)

2 bay leaves

2 ½ pints chicken stock

1 dessertspoon sugar

Salt and pepper

½ pint single cream (Ann's Note:  The Brits have "single cream" and "double cream" and best I can tell, half and half is probably the closest although I used regular cream without any problems."

Carrot cut in fine strips to garnish

Peel the potatoes, carrots and onions, then chop into small pieces.  Trim and shred the leeks.  Put all the vegetables into a large saucepan with the ham bone or chopped bacon, bay leaves and stock. Cover and simmer over low heat until the vegetables are tender.  Remove the bay leaves and ham bone and liquidize until smooth (or put through a sieve).  Add the sugar, then season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.  Blend in the cream, the slowly reheat (taking care not to let it boil) or chill thoroughly.  Just before serving (hot or cold), garnish with fine strips of carrot.

Louisa Trotter's Cheese Straws – serving size not given – from The Duchess of Duke Street Entertains

 5 ounces plain flour (Ann's Note:  plain flour is all-purpose flour)

4 ounces unsalted butter

2 egg yolks

2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Good pinch of salt (about ¼ teaspoon)

Pinch cayenne pepper (optional)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon cold water

Mix yolks, lemon juice and water together.  Rub fat into flour until sand-like texture is arrived at.  Toss in grated Parmesan cheese.  Season lightly, tossing well in.  Make well, pour in the liquids, mix quickly and form deftly into a paste.  Leave for 1 hour in a cold place.  (Ann's Note:  My mixture did not form a paste and I suspect it was because there was not quite enough liquid in the mix but I followed the directions given so....)

Roll out dough ¼-inch thick and then cut into 2-inch wide strips.  Place these onto a buttered baking sheet, mark out the strips into ¼ to ½ inch sticks.

Dredge with more grated Parmesan cheese if the budget permits!  Bake at 400 for 7 to 8 minutes, or until crisp and golden brown.

Remove with the aid of a palette knife to a cooling tray.  Divide when quite cool.  Store in airtight tin.

Ann's Notes:  Because the dough did not form into a paste, the rest of the instructions were difficult to follow.  I did my best to roll out the dough into a ¼-inch piece but failed and gave up trying to cut the dough into strips and sticks and just sort of threw the mess onto a baking sheet and hoped for the best.

The result was not half bad in the taste department but horribly awful in the looks department.  And I baked them for about 10 minutes as 7-8 didn't cut it.  If I had time I would make these again to see if I got different results but I didn't so there you have it.

Paul's Chocolate Volcanoes (Signature Bake) – makes 6 – from The Great British Bake Off Big Book of Baking

Unsalted butter and cocoa powder for the moulds

165g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), chopped into small pieces

165g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3 medium eggs

3 medium egg yolks

85g caster sugar (a/k/a "Baker's sugar," "Superfine," or "Fast-melting" sugar)

2 tablespoons plain flour

6 small pudding moulds

Grease the pudding moulds with butter and dust the inside with cocoa powder.  Chill for 30 minutes.

Gently melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.  (Ann's Note:  or use a double boiler).  Remove the bowl from the pan and stir until the chocolate mixture is smooth.

Combine the eggs, egg yolks and caster sugar in a bowl.  Using an electric mixer, whisk together for several minutes until thick, pale, and mousse-like in consistency.  Carefully fold in the chocolate mixture, then fold in the flour, trying not to knock any air out of the mix.

Divide the chocolate mix equally among the 6 prepared moulds.  Place in the fridge and chill until firm. (You can make the puddings up to 24 hours in advance and leave them in the fridge until you are ready to cook them.)

Heat your oven to 400F.  Place the moulds on a baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes* until the puddings are risen but not cracked.  Ann's Note:  at 8 minutes*, the dough was raw so I added 5 more minutes to the timer and they were almost done.  Five more minutes got me closer but still not quite there so I added 5 more and after a total of 23 minutes, they were perfect.  I don't see how on earth they would be done in 8 minutes unless he used the tiniest "pudding" moulds on the planet.  I used small soufflé molds and still had to bake them for quite some time.

Also, I've had similar "volcano" cakes in Hawaii at Roy's and theirs differed from these because they need 45 minutes to bake and they flowed chocolate "lava" when cut open.  These do not and from the looks of the photo, they were not supposed to.  Instead, we got a lovely moist center and that was good enough for us.  Whether they were up to Paul Hollywood's or even "HM's" standards is another story for another day.

"Len Deighton's Action Cook Book" - Minestrone

Date I made this recipe:  April 19, 2015

Len Deighton's Action Cook Book by Len Deighton

Published by:  Penguin Books (England and Australia)

© 1965

Purchased at Arc's Value Village Richfield

Recipe:  Minestrone – p. 112

People often ask me what prompts me to buy a certain cookbook and I often say that it's the cover art, or in this case, the cover photo.

I mean here we have a James Bond-looking guy and behind him is a woman in a lace negligee stroking his hair while he's removing pasta noodles from a pot.  Well, at least that's what it looks like, right?  Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.  But that's just the front cover.  On the back, the roles are reversed and he's hugging her while she's the one removing the pasta from the pan. Right then, right there, this book was mine!

Then there was the intrigue:  who was Len Deighton?  Thank goodness for the internet or I would not have learned the following:  he's a "British military historian, cookery writer (translated to American English that means "cookbook writer"), graphic artist, and novelist."  Quite. 

Still, I hadn't thought about cooking from this book anytime soon until one day last week when this happened: there I was, scrolling through the "New [Cookbook] Releases" section of Barnes and Noble's website, and suddenly, this book appeared as an upcoming new release.  I mean – what?  Why would this book, published in 1965, suddenly be on a "new release" list?

So I pulled the book off my shelf and believe I found the answer in this statement on the back cover:  "For copyright reasons this edition is not for sale in the U.S.A."  And a quick perusal of the book's details on Barnes' website shows a release date of March 2015.  So hooray, hooray, it now looks like the copyright reasons are no longer in play.  Smashing.

Also smashing?  In addition to resembling somewhat "Bond, James Bond," our man Len could also pass for protagonist Don Draper, on TV's Mad Men.  I made this dish on Sunday and wouldn't you know, Mad Men is on on Sunday nights.  I mean, if Don can't distract you from finishing your pasta, can anybody?

The recipes in this cookbook run the gamut – "Cassoulet," "Caneton (Duck) a l'Orange" to "Chili con Carne," "Low-Calorie Lunch" to my choice, "Minestrone."  All recipes are illustrated, likely by Len himself since he is also a graphic artist and are all fairly easy.  We quite liked our minestrone, especially since the weather turned colder yesterday and it felt like a soup kind of day.

What I liked best about this recipe though, is that he recognizes that minestrone can be a hodge-podge of ingredients, especially vegetables, so you can add things like potatoes, turnips, tomato puree and sweet corn if you want.  You can also use 2 large onions or 1 onion and the white part of 1 leek.  I went with the onion and leek combination for something different.  I also decided to use a mix of chicken and beef broth just to mix it up a bit.  The result was great and made for a great Sunday night dinner before we got down to the business of watching Mad Men.  As the Brits would say – "It was bloody brilliant!"

Minestrone – serving size not given but likely enough for 4

¼ lb. haricot (navy) beans

2 ½ pints stock (veal, chicken or beef)

1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

2 large onions – or – 1 onion and white part of one leek, chopped small

1 cup shredded cabbage

½ cup green beans

½ cup celery

Thyme (handful)

Salt, pepper to taste

Basil (handful)

2 cloves garlic, crushed

5 tablespoons olive oil

¾ pound tomatoes

1 cup peas

Pinch sugar

1 – 1 ½ cups tiny pasta (optional)

Optional:  potato, turnip, potato puree, sweet corn (if using potato or turnip, chop small)

Parmesan cheese for serving

Soak the ¼ haricot (navy) beans overnight, strain, cook until they are tender.  Ann's Note:  I decided to make this dish at the very last minute so I didn't use the beans because I didn't have time to soak them.  There are so many other vegetables in this that it didn't really matter.

Stir gently for 5 minutes over low heat the following items:  parsley, onions/leeks, cabbage, green beans, celery, garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, basil.

If using potatoes or turnips (optional ingredients), add them into the pot at this time. 

Add the stock, tomatoes, peas, pinch of sugar and (for me) tomato puree, and simmer for 45 minutes.  Ann's Note:  He didn't say what to do with the tomatoes, so after seeding them, I cut them into small pieces and added them to the soup.  Seemed to work!

Once the soup is done simmering, add the beans and the pasta and cook until the pasta is done.  Ann's Note:  it is far easier to cook the pasta separately like I did than to add it.  And if you add it, to the soup uncooked, be sure to keep an eye on it so it doesn't overcook.  The author suggests 15 minutes.

Serve with a sprinkle of chopped parsley and lots of grated Parmesan cheese.

"1980 Olympic Games in Moscow - Cookbook and Schedule of Events" - Stir-Fried Chicken

Date I made this recipe:  July 29, 2012 (for the Olympics)

1980 Olympic Games in Moscow – Cookbook and Schedule of Events – Favorite Recipes of Prospective U.S. Participants

Published by:  Wm. C. Brown Company Publishers

© 1979

Recipe:  (Cheeseman’s) Stir-Fried Chicken – p. 62

*Note:  This is one of my longer blog posts but just like the Olympics, it will (likely) only come around every four years so hang in there!

Right then.  So the 2012 Olympics got underway in London on Friday, July 27, with a right smashing Opening Ceremony that included a hilarious James Bond spoof featuring none other than HM, The Queen of England.  That’s right, the Queen of England.  Like most viewers, I must have played that scene back 3 times utterly stunned that it was the Queen, the real Queen and nothing but the Queen.  Who knew that HM had such a sense of humor?  Oh, and Daniel Craig (as James Bond) wasn’t too bad, either. (By the way, in an uncanny coincidence, my community band played music from the James Bond movies as well as John William’s Olympic Spirit this summer.)

So OBVIOUSLY with the Olympics at hand, I needed to find myself an Olympic cookbook, right?  Quite.  Well find it I did in of all places, the charming café/bookstore in my hometown in Michigan – Falling Rock Café – last April and yes, I’ve been holding on to it ever since.  I am nothing if not prepared for the global events!

For those of you who were around in 1980, you might recall that this cookbook is a bit of a head-fake as the Olympic team did not participate in the 1980 Olympics that year.  U.S. tension against the former Soviet Union was already on red-alert when Russia invaded Afghanistan and in response, President Carter decided to cancel our appearance at the games.  (Naturally, the Soviet Union followed suit and canceled its appearance at the 1984 games in Los Angeles and so tit for tat and phooey on all that!)  Let me just say that to this day, I believe this was the wrong decision. Aspiring Olympic athletes devote their whole lives and their bank accounts to make the team and punishing them on behalf of a nation is just wrong – on both sides.

Harrumph.  Any who…so here we are at the 2012 Olympics already and some of the 1980 athletes are now providing commentary on various events, like former swimmer Rowdy Gaines and gymnast Bart Conner.  And since I was a high school swimmer I was all set to make one of Rowdy’s recipes but changed it up at the last minute.  And here’s why:  about the same time that I pulled this cookbook off my shelf as a “must use,” the U.S. observed the 40^th anniversary of Title IX, allowing for equality for women in sports. And again, I can only shake my head and marvel how time flies.  And so I decided that this blog would be better served by a recipe from a female athlete and with that, let’s go “off-road” for a bit to talk about Title IX.

Title IX, enacted in 1972 (I was in 8^th grade) is a portion of the Education Amendment that established, in part, No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.  This applied to about every level of education including, thank goodness, sports.

And to my absolute amazement, my tiny junior high/high school, jumped on the bandwagon and started women’s sports.  I mean, we are talking about class sizes of just over 100 people per class; by contrast, my husband’s high school class was over 600. We probably barely qualified for Class C sports designation but there we were, in it to win it.  So bravo, William G. Mather High School, bravo!  (And yes, I know that the law said we must comply, but there’s “compliance” and then there’s “compliance!).

Well, this prompted me to go back to my yearbooks to track our women’s sports progress.  In 1972, there weren’t any women’s teams but in 1973 (freshman year), a Girls’ Tennis Team started.  A friend of mine joined the team that year and I joined a year later.  By 1974, we added the Girls’ Swim Team although unfortunately, I was sick the day the photo was taken and so you’d never know I was on it.

So a mere year after Title IX, we had ourselves two bona-fide girls’ teams.  By 1975, we added basketball and by 1976, we had a track team.  Not too shabby!  (For the record though, there is no word that sends me flying faster than someone calling me a “girl.” But that’s another story for another day.).

Now, before you pull out your pom-poms, let me just stress to you that equal opportunity to participate in sports did not equal an equal opportunity to get funding or support.  Oh no – in fact, quite the opposite.

The first year I was on the tennis team, we carpooled to our meets.  Yes, carpooled.  We didn’t have uniforms, we didn’t have managers, we barely had a locker room and you should have seen our city tennis courts – two of them, both with blacktop surfaces and set down by Lake Superior so flyaway tennis balls soon became swim-away tennis balls.  Our second team coach (the first coach was a woman), was also the boys’ wrestling coach and never, ever ceased to compare us weakling “girlz” to his he-man boys team.  He let us borrow his team’s warm-up jackets for meets but otherwise we were on our own.  The coach who followed him was a nice guy but I don’t know: is it a good thing to advise high school athletes that if you’re going to drink, drink Scotch?!!  Mind you, I was all for that but it did crack me up. 

As to the swim team, hahahahaha….well, we tried.  The good news was that our school had one of the very first school pools in the Upper Peninsula.  The bad news was that our school’s pool was not regulation and there were always weird drain problems that caused the pool water to turn various shades of green.  And I am not exaggerating at all.  In fact, when I think about swimming in that pool back then for gym class and swim team and lifesaving classes, I about turn green myself.

So anyway, for every one lap we did at a meet in a regulation pool, we had to do double or triple the laps in our pool.  We could not do a flip turn in our pool because the shallow end was truly shallow but we were allowed at meets to do kind of a half turn above water.  (So dorky and embarrassing but there it is!).  Although we got team swimsuits, for some inexplicable reason, we chose green and gold suits (Go Pack Go) even though our school colors were orange and black.  We did not get to use the wrestler’s warm-up jackets and so had a collection of various and sundry sweat shirts at our disposal.

We did not lift weights or do anything that modern athletes do to build strength and endurance and didn’t care.  In fact, and I say this with fondness, our attitude was pretty much cavalier then entire time we were swimming because we always knew we were outnumbered:  all the other schools had bigger pools, bigger staffs, and bigger athletes.  So we swam for fun and in some ways that made the experience all the more enjoyable.

As to funding, well, my first response is “What funding?” All the boys’ sports (football, basketball, etc.) got $10 a day for food; we got $5.  All the boys were properly attired, we were not.  All the boys went to meets by bus – the big kid’s kind – while we were eventually allowed to use a smaller half-bus to go to meets.  There was no booster club, no parental support (seeing as how our meets were during the day so parents could not attend) and very little interest.  I will however, give props to most of the male athletes in our school as they ended up embracing us in their own way and found many of our antics and experiences hilarious.  In fact, and it’s a long story, but my swim team nicknamed me “French Fries” and when the guys found out about that, they called me that as well.  I was never as popular in high school as I was that year.

And so, back we go to the budget-busting Olympics and my, my how times have changed.  While today’s athletes have their own financial struggles, I think they are nothing compared to what we went through.  Olympic teams nowadays have sponsors and endorsements and even, in many cases, professional athletes.  Can you imagine telling any female swimmer today that she gets $5 bucks for food?  No. 

And so I must confess that the times that I’ve heard women whining about being treated as second-class citizens compared to the men’s team, my blood boils.  In fact, I still recall the whining done by several high school girls’ hockey teams a few years back when they weren’t allowed to use the Xcel Energy Center where our professional hockey team plays for their games like the boys’ teams were.  WHAT?!!!  This is where my age is showing:  “In my day young lady, girls weren’t even allowed to play hockey.  We had to drive to our meets in the SNOW and then walk five miles to the arena….” (Actually true story:  my swim team was on its way to a regional meet in a nearby town that required us to drive along Lake Superior in blizzard conditions.  The famous “lake effect” was such that everything was just a sea of white including the white semi that was jackknifed across the highway.  Our bus driver swerved to avoid hitting it at the last second and we ended up in the ditch and had to wait for a bus tow-truck.  So much for that swim meet.  You want to talk about hardship, I’ll talk about hardship!)

So all this brings me back to why I decided to make a recipe from this book for this blog submitted by a female athlete instead of a male athlete, not only to kill two stones (the Olympics and Title IX) at the same time but also to talk about a subject that is near and dear to me.  And so today’s recipe is all about Gwen W. Cheeseman, a 1980 Olympic field hockey player, and her recipe for (Cheeseman’s) Stir-Fried Chicken.  And to really tie it to this year’s London events, the former Kate Middleton, now the Duchess of Cambridge was a field hockey player back in the day AND the last Olympics were held in Beijing, China and so it’s all good.  Women then, women now – hooray! (I am also happy to report that Gwen made the 1984 Olympic team and her field hockey crew won the bronze that year.  Well done!)

Despite my rants about the early years, I was quite “chuffed,” as the Brits would say to be a part of those high school teams and am glued to the set this year as I am every Olympics (save for the 1980 Olympics), reliving my almost-glory days!  I swam the backstroke for my team (first one in the water at every meet) both in the individual event and the 400 Individual Medley Relay (back, breast, butterfly, freestyle) and also swam the 400 Freestyle Relay, my absolute favorite event and sometimes anchored it.  They were fun times and the thrill of that competition never goes away even though the younger generation is now having all the fun in the pool.  And seeing all these young ladies on the podium?  Well…pass the Kleenex.

  

(Cheeseman’s) Stir-Fried Chicken – serves 4

2 large, whole broiler-fryer chicken breasts, skinned, halved, boned and sliced diagnolly into ¼-inch thick strips

2 tablespoons peanut oil

1 cup thinly sliced celery

1 medium green pepper, cut into think strips

¼ teaspoon ginger

1 pound fresh bean sprouts

1 5-ounce can water chestnuts, drained and sliced

½ pound fresh mushrooms, sliced

1/3 cup raw cashews, halved

1 chicken bouillon cube, or 1 teaspoon instant chicken bouillon

½ cup water

2 teaspoons cornstarch

¼ cup soy sauce

3 cups hot cooked rice

In a wok over high heat, heat peanut oil.  Stir-fry celery, pepper, onion and ginger in oil until tender-crisp, about three minutes.  With slotted spoon, slide vegetables up onto side of wok to keep warm.  To remaining oil, add chicken and stir-fry until meat turns white, about three to five minutes.  Slide vegetables back down and add bean sprouts, water, chestnuts, mushrooms, cashews, bouillon and water.  Blend cornstarch with soy sauce; gradually stir into wok and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is heated through and thickened.  Serve over hot rice.  Serves 4.

Ann’s Note:  for some inexplicable reason, my grocery store was out of bean sprouts and so I used canned.  Do not do this at home!  I might as well have opened a can of La Choy Chop Suey, the taste was that bland.  Live and learn, people, live and learn.