"Cooking With Spirits" - Martinis In Suspension (Jell-O) for National Martini Day 2017

Date I made this recipe:  June 19, 2017  - National Martini Day

Cooking With Spirits by Ruth Vendley Neumann

Published by Reilly & Lee

© 1961

Purchased at Curious Book Shop, East Lansing, MI

Recipe:  Martinis In Suspension – p. 52

I am a gal who knows what she wants and what she wants in a beverage when out for dinner and drinks is simple:  a dry gin martini, up, with (preferably) pimento-stuffed olives.  The choice of gin depends on where I am and what's available, but favorites include, in order of "toxicity," Tanqueray, Hendricks, Blue Coat (made on the east coast) and local favorite Gunner Ghost which is really paint thinner in disguise.  Gunner Ghost is 114 proof or 57% alcohol – whoa! I save that one for special occasions.  Bombay Sapphire used to be my absolute "go to" for years and years until a few years ago when I started getting headaches every single time I drank it.  It didn't seem to matter if I ate or not, or whether I drank copious amounts of water which I did.  I suspect it has one "botanical" too many as I have sensitivity to those things; "Nature" is not my friend.

And call me picky, but a proper martini is not a proper martini unless and until I see a toothpick skewered with small pimento-stuffed olives resting in the gin bath.  I will accept large green olives sans pimento but rather reluctantly, and I will also accept green olives with pits (as served in a few favorite restaurants) but small pimento is what I grew up with and I want what I want.

Furthermore, and I've said this before:  gorgonzola-stuffed olives are an abomination and are completely and totally unacceptable and yes, I will make the server return to the bar to fetch me a proper martini.  This hasn't happened in a while which is good, but there was a time when these olives were all the rage in martinis and...no.  No.  I am also not fond of a lemon twist in my drink and it's gin, not vodka, period, end of story.

Now the good people associated with the National Martini Day (if they exist—they may not) did not give any guidance to what kind of a martini to make but I have no doubt they envisioned everyone the world over, even expats, making the standard, liquid version.  Could I have made a liquid martini?  In my sleep!  In fact, I enjoy a martini every day during the cocktail hour.  It's just how I roll.  I thought though, that it would be more fun to cook something with gin, and so selected Cooking with Spirits to do the job and it did it admirably.   Fifty-two pages in, I found this spectacular dish -  Martinis In Suspension – and we were ready to roll.

Do we not love this title? Translated, this 1961 recipe for Martinis In Suspension is really an early attempt at a Jell-O shot only fancier. And the Jell-O comes with olives – how sophisticated!  I hear the applause of the good people associated with National Martini Day – if they exist – golf clapping at the brilliance of it all!

  

Not only does this concoction have a great name but the recipe is ridiculously simple:  mix a little lemon gelatin with unflavored gelatin, add your desired mix of gin and vermouth and when that mixture is slightly chilled, insert your skewered olives.   You can, if you want, make a salad garnish to surround the upturned martini glass (ingredients and directions below) but nah—we concentrated our efforts on making sure the mixture itself was sound and it was, and we loved it.  In fact, I may have to repeat this dish every year because when something works, it works.

Now if you like gin but would rather not make the suspended martinis, consider also "Stuffed Celery" (p. 23) with blue cheese and gin, and "Cold Curried Shrimp" (p. 29), also containing gin.  There are likely more gin recipes that followed but once I found what I didn't know I was looking for, I stopped!

If gin is not to your liking, be not afraid because this book has a ton of recipes from soup to nuts made with everything from beer to bourbon and beyond.  Had I not been so singularly-focused, I saw many recipes that likely would have been fantastic. 

The only downside or challenge if you will to this book is that you won't be able to look up a spirit by name (e.g. vodka [recipes] or brandy [recipes]) as neither the table of contents nor the index breaks things out by spirit.  Instead, here are your Table of Content choices :

• Spirited Coffee 'Round the World
• Spirited Appetizers and Cocktail Dips
• Spirited Soups
• Spirited Salads and Salad Dressings
• Spirited Fish and Shellfish
• Spirited Meats
• Spirited Relishes and "Window Dressings" for Meats and Fishes
• Spirited Poultry
• Spirited Egg and Cheese Dishes
• Spirited Pasta and Rice
• Spirited Vegetables and Vegetable Casseroles
• Spirited Sauces and Gravies for Meats, Fish, Poultry, and Vegetables
• Spirited Breads, Waffles, Pancakes and Popovers
• Spirited Cakes, Frostings, and Fillings
• Spirited Pies, Cobblers, and Tarts
• Spirited Desserts (Gelatin and Refrigerator Desserts; Custards and Puddings; Dessert Sauces)
• Spirited Fruits for Cocktails and Desserts
• Cookies and Confections

Now then readers, did you spot an error in the above list?  Note that every chapter titled begins with the word "Spirited" except for Cookies and Confections.  I thought that was hilarious and so of course I had to double-check and am quiet relieved to tell you that cookies and confections are indeed loaded with booze.  In fact, page 199 contains a recipe for "Cognac Butter Cookies," and I think we can all agree that cognac is a spirit, no?  (A very good spirit!).  Two words: editorial error!

If I used this cookbook again, in addition to the above-mentioned cookies, I might make  also "Mexican Arroz Con Pollo with Beer and Tequila" (p. 121), "Cheese and Mushroom Soufflé" made with Dry Sherry (p. 127), or a "Sweet Potato Casserole" with Curacao (p. 157) because they all sounded delicious.  Frankly, most of the book sounded delicious.  Potentially deadly perhaps, but delicious and who doesn't like "delicious?"  That said, do remember that this is adult Jell-O so perhaps it's best if you eat this after the kiddies have gone to bed?  Even then, be warned that these pack a punch!

This concludes my National Martini Day 2017 cookbook and recipe review report.   I almost missed the whole thing (a childhood friend tipped me off), but then again, every day in my house is martini day so there you go!

Martinis In Suspension (Gin and Vermouth) with a Garnish – serves 4

For the Martinis In Suspension

1 T. unflavored gelatin

1 T lemon gelatin

1/8 tsp. salt

1 tsp. granulated sugar

¾ cup of your favorite martini mix (or ½ cup gin and ¼ cup dry vermouth)*

1 cup boiling water

1 T. lemon juice

Stuffed green olives

For the Salad Garnish

3 cups very finely shredded cabbage

2 T. white vinegar

¼ cup dry vermouth

2 T. granulated sugar, or more, to taste

1 tsp. salt

White pepper to taste

Few dashes of Tabasco

Small stuffed olives

*Ann's Note:  Oh dear god, ¼ cup dry vermouth, what?  No.  No properly made martini on this planet contains that much vermouth ever.  Since I made a half recipe, I added "some" vermouth for good measure, emphasis on "some" as in about an eyedropper full.  But that is my martini preference not yours, so if you want to add that much vermouth, by all means do it.

Combined gelatins, salt, and sugar, then dissolve them in martini mixture.  Add boiling water and lemon juice and mix thoroughly.  Pour into very lightly buttered cocktail glasses (for easy removal at serving time).  When aspic has partly thickened, press a stuffed olive into each glass so that it will remain suspended part way down.  Ann's Note:  "One" olive?  Surely, they jest!  So. Not. Happening.  I put about four olives on a toothpick and stuck that into the mixture instead and it looked exactly as a martini should only it was made of Jell-O. 

Chill until very firm.  To service, run a thin sharp knife around molds, then unmold each in the center of a salad plate; leave the glasses in place, upside down in the center of the plate.  Encircle each inverted martini with a ring of the following:

To Make the Salad Garnish

Marinate the cabbage in a mixture of all other ingredients, except olives.  Drain thoroughly, then make a wreath of it around the martini glasses.  Garnish here and there with the stuffed cocktail olives. Have these martini salads in place as guests are seated.  Then, when the oh's and ah's begin to subside, remove glasses.  This makes for a really dramatic presentation of your edible martinis.

By the way, and for the first time ever - the finished product!  I've had those plastic martini glasses for decades now - aren't they fun?

"June Roth's Indoor/Outdoor Barbecue Cookbook;" "Martha's (Stewart) American Food;" "The Best of Home Economics Teachers Bicentennial Cookbook" - 4th of July food

Date I made these recipes:  July 4, 2016

June Roth's Indoor/Outdoor Barbecue Cookbook by June Roth

Published by:  An Essandess Special Edition

© 1970

Purchased at Arc's Value Village Richfield

Recipe:  Coney Island Hot Dogs – p. 46

Martha's (Stewart) American Food by Martha Stewart

Published by:  Clarkson Potter/Publishers

ISBN: 978-0-307-40508-1; © 2012

Purchased at Barnes and Noble, Roseville, MN

Recipe:  Classic Potato Salad – p. 49

The BEST of Home Economics Teachers BICENTENNIAL Cookbook – 1976 – Favorite Recipes® A Limited Edition

Published by:  Favorite Recipes Press

© 1976

Purchased at BCPA (Bloomington [MN] Crime Prevention Association annual June sale)

Recipe:  Red-White and Blue Salad (Jell-O) p. 39

Every year since I can remember, class reunions are held in my home town of Munising, Michigan, on the 4^th of July.  That may seem odd to those who live in a city where reunions are held at various times of the year, but it makes sense for my small hometown as that it often the one time of year when people return home to be with family and friends.

This year was my 40^th class reunion – the class of '76.  That year was a big deal as our country celebrated its bicentennial and how nice of it to coincide with my graduation year. ;) There are times when I keep thinking that my graduation and that interloper, the bicentennial, were just yesterday but alas, forty years is not "just yesterday."

As is usual and customary in my home town, there is a parade that is always well attended (my parents were frequent attendees, long after my brother and I left home) and in the early years of my childhood, it was usual and customary for a vast majority of the parade units to be surrounding area drum and bugle corps including our very own Silver Echoes.   Oh how I wanted to be a Silver Echo.  So wanted to be part of that color guard; the color guard was most cool. But alas, I was just a tad too young to join and by the time I got around to being of age, they disbanded and were replaced by the Castle Rangers who were fine but not the Silver Echoes.  Not.

The (Wm. G.) Mather High School band also marched and that was a fun thing.  We may have been a small, Class C school but we had one fantastic school band.  Although I hung out with plenty of band kids, I was never in a marching band, not in high school or college and that's a whole other long story best told over cocktails. ( I can though, play a fine Mickey Mouse March on the chimes!)  So just after I got married, I took adult clarinet and saxophone lessons and at the urging of a good friend of mine (who has since passed away), I joined the same community band that she helped found – the Calhoun-Isles Community Band.  I played with them for 20 years, although we shall use the term "play" very loosely (I played the 3^rd clarinet part  which is about all I could handle),"retiring" 2 years ago after serving also as the President of the Board of Directors.  But alas again, this concert band most decidedly did not march anywhere except to and from the parking lot for our Tuesday night rehearsals, especially on cold and dark winter nights ("Double time!")

No parade is complete without floats and the "dignitary" cars although I'm told that there are hardly any floats these days in the Munising parade and that's sad.  I posted some parade pictures my dad had taken in the late 60's/early 70's on Facebook so my classmates and I could reminisce about the good old days.  In previous years, each graduating class had its own parade float but these days, those classmates walk the route handing out candy to the kiddies.

After the big parade, there was usually a pet parade and then in the afternoon, our volunteer fire department held a water fight, the gist of which was to battle each other in a water tug of war before turning the spray on the crowd to cool us off.  Not that it was ever really hot in my home town when I was growing up, but getting sprayed was a big deal.

At dusk, everybody gathered at Bayshore Park to watch the spectacular fireworks that were shot off from the boat dock at Munising Bay into Lake Superior. Those fireworks were always top notch and are honestly better than the ones Minneapolis used this year, go figure.

So there I was, within a month of my reunion and the 4^th celebration, when I found The Best of Home Economic Teachers' Bicentennial Cookbook and could not let the opportunity to use it pass me by.  My love of the cooking portion of my Home Ec classes is a big reason why I have this mega book collection, now numbered at 2, 276 cookbooks, and no, I did not plan it so that the '76 in the collection number coordinated with the bicentennial although what timing, right? 

Now when I say that the cooking portion of my Home Ec class was something I loved, I cannot and will not say the same about the sewing portion of our program.  Because, and forgive me this word folks,  when it came to sewing, I "sucked."  (And by the way, while the 7^th and 8^th grade women took Home Ec, the boys took Shop.  Talk about a sign of the times.)

All 7^th and 8^th grade females had to take Home Ec where we practiced our kitchen skills and sewing skills—or lack thereof.  I was pretty darned handy dandy in the kitchen, despite the fact that my mom considered that her territory and only her territory, but until that class, I never sewed anything.  Meanwhile, all my other classmates were already quite skilled and everyone but me had sewn before.  I did not think it a good sign when I broke a needle practicing on a paper pattern.  And I managed to mangle more bobbins than "Carter has pills" (and old advertising slogan that only those my age or older will get.)

And so naturally as these things go, instead of sewing easy aprons, pot holders or tea towels like 99.9% of the Home Ec classes across the country, my 7^th grade project was to make a sleeveless blouse with interfacing and the 8^th grade project was to make a skirt with a zipper and waistband.

All righty then!  Nothing like starting out with the most difficult projects ever.

Worse:  when were finished our projects, we had to wear them to school that day in what I call the Walk of (Sewing) Shame.  All the other gals proudly paraded their outfits as they well should have whereas  I tried to hide in the bathroom.

Reason?  Well, let's see...it might be because I got a D on the blouse as it wouldn't even have qualified as a Project Runway reject.  The interfacing did not flatten out as it should, I had stitches showing everywhere, the fit was off and so the whole thing was bloody was awful.  The only thing saving it was that it was dark navy blue so it hid every single on of the million boo-boos I made. 

The second project – the skirt – looked good on paper but the execution thereafter was most problematic.  Denim was the "it" fabric at the time so I wanted to make a denim skirt but alas, folks, there is denim as in Levi denim and then there is "fake" denim as used by Home Ec students.  Mine was the later.

Still, I was doing okay until this happened:  I put the zipper in (just fine) but the substitute teacher the next day told me it was wrong so I had to take it out.  Then when the regular teacher returned, she told me that was wrong so I had to take it out again.  And when I put it in for the final time, the fabric around the zipper was trashed plus the zipper was about ¼ inch away from the waistband.  And just when things couldn't get any worse, the skirt fabric got bunched up and caught in the sewing machine, causing a huge snag to occur on the back on the skirt and why?  Because it wasn't real denim!

And this is what I wore on the Walk of (Sewing) Shame, Round 2.  And needless to say, both projects ended up in my dad's fire barrel as was right and proper for such abominations. 

But the cooking portion?  Oh my yes – nailed it!  To this day, I still have the recipe cards I wrote for all the food we made those two years.  In seventh grade, we made all breakfast items and in 8^th, soups and salads for lunch.  Some were quite good (potato soup) whereas others were just so kitsch – broiled grapefruit with a Maraschino cherry in the middle.  I think I made those at home exactly once and then I was done with that.  (I am not a big grapefruit fan.)

So tying it all together, that cookbook was just perfect for the day, with Martha Stewart and June Roth filling out my 4^th of July menu.

As always, the bicentennial book had a lot of good recipes making it hard to choose, but these two were easily and automatically DQ'd (disqualified) from the lineup:  "Creamed Brains in Potato Cases" (I am gagging as we speak) and – and I am not kidding –"Squirrel Jambalaya." Oh. Dear. Lord.

Folks, maybe it's me but really Home Ec teachers?  Really?  THIS is what you have your little darlings in Home Ec class make?  No.  Just say no.

In the end, I settled on the Red, White and Blue (Jell-O) salad because it fits the holiday theme and it's "safe."  You cannot really go wrong with Jell-O although as you will read, making mine was a bit challenging (but only a bit so don't fret).

This year's entree—if hot dogs can be considered an entree – came from June Roth's Indoor/Outdoor Barbecue Cookbook.  Roth has the distinction of writing a cookbook – Let's Have a Brunch - with one of the worst looking covers ever: a two-tired ham-salad "cake" that is frosted with something (mayo?) to make it look like wedding cake, that is then further "decorated" with peas and lemon halves to make it more...festive?  That was a definite "no" for me but happily, the recipe I made for my blog (June 30, 2007) from that cookook, "Cinnamon Raison Brunch Bread," was delicious.

You should know that the recipe for Coney Island Hot Dogs is really a recipe for a Coney Island sauce and not really the hot dog itself.  A Coney Sauce is almost like a chili sauce or a sloppy joe filling  and that is a flavor profile I love. And I love that she gives both an indoor and outdoor option for those who may not have a grill handy.

Finally, there's Martha.  Martha's American Food cookbook features all kinds of recipes from coast to coast and the pictures and recipes are glorious well because of course they are. This is Martha Freaking Stewart after all.  Martha is no slouch when it comes to beautiful and mouth-watering photos.

While every single recipe looked fantastic, I was on a mission for potato salad because you can't really have a bona fide Fourth of July celebration without potato salad, not in my book.  But I am not sure Martha and I see eye-to-eye on what constitutes "classic" potato salad.  My mom used potatoes, onions, celery, salad dressing (yes, I know, but that was what she used) and mustard, but not relish, and the whole thing was topped with hard-boiled eggs and radishes. Delicious.  Mom also garnished with fresh parsley from our garden.

Martha's "classic" involves mayonnaise because of course it would—Martha likely never, ever substituted salad dressing for mayo because she's Martha.  My mother did because her doctor advised her to way back when in order to lower her high cholesterol (which ran in her family.  And by the way, my mother was quite petite and skinny so "who knew?").  As these things go though, salad dressing is almost 10x worse than egg-based mayo but nobody knew that at the time.  At any rate, Martha also adds cornichons instead of pickle relish as well as scallions.   This is so very Martha, is it not? But I'm not sure cornichons is a standard addition to a "classic" potato salad.  Southern cooks, for instance, seem to favor pickle relish in potato and macaroni salads, but sweet pickle relish, not dill or even cornichons.  This recipe was good and it was definitely a "Martha" moment, but if I made it again, I think I'd switch things up and add sweet pickle relish.

So that was the repast and all in all, things worked out except for the following little quibbles:  (Please note, I made half recipes of each one.)

1)     Thank goodness once again for Google.  The Coney sauce did not say which type of pickle relish to add but internet recipes showed that most cooks favored sweet pickle relish so that is what I used in the Coney sauce.

2)     The middle layer of the patriotic Jell-O didn't quite set and I have no idea why.  It might be because I used only one half of the unflavored gelatin since I was making a half recipe.  Some recipes – perhaps this one – don't halve very well.  The entire thing was good but soupy.  Very soupy.  I recommend using a whole packet of the unflavored gelatin.

3)     Potato salad is tricky because you don't want mushy potatoes but you do not want undercooked ones, either.  Martha says to cook for 25 minutes and Martha is probably short by another 15.  The thing is that Martha says to use a medium potato but these days, everything is gargantuan and that's all that you can find unless you grow your own.  Martha may grow her own, but I most certainly do not.  Been there, done that.  If you use a larger potato, plan to add a bit more time to the cooking schedule.

So there you go, everyone.  Some food for the 4^th, some food for a bicentennial class reunion and just some good food, period.  Enjoy.

"Oh let us cheer, for Mather High, we want our team to win this game....."

Coney Island Hot Dogs (sauce) – makes 12 servings – from The Best of Home Economics Teachers Bicentennial Cookbook

¼ pound ground beef

1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

1 ½ cups water

¼ cup pickle relish (Ann's Note:  Google "survey sez" sweet pickle relish)

1 tablespoon instant minced onion

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon prepared mustard

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 dozen frankfurters

1 dozen frankfurter rolls

Outdoors:  Cook ground beef in a medium-size saucepan on the edge of grill, stirring t break up meat into small particles.  Add tomato paste, water, relish, onion, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, chili powder, salt, and sugar.  Simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Makes about 2 cups of sauce, enough to spoon over 1 dozen grilled frankfurters on rolls.

Indoors:  Make sauce in saucepan on range.  Cook frankfurters under broiler and warm rolls in the oven.

Classic Potato Salad – serves 10 to 12 from Martha's  American Food (Ann's Note:  Even a half recipe made a lot.)

4 pounds russet potatoes (about 8 medium)

Coarse salt

3 tablespoons cider vinegar

3 large eggs

1 cup mayonnaise

½ teaspoon cvelery seeds

1 teaspoon dry mustard powder

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

3 celery stalks, cut into ¼-inch dice

1 small onion, cut into ¼-inch dice

10 cornichons, cut into ¼-inch dice

3 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

In a large saucepan, cover potatoes with water by several inches.  Bring to a boil, then add 1 tablespoon salt.  Reduce heat and gently boil until potatoes are tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, about *25 minutes.  (Ann's Note: *as noted above, most potatoes these days are pretty large and need more time to cook.  Although the potato surface was tender, the middle needed more time.)  Drain.

Peel potatoes while still hot, using paper towels to protect hands; cut into 1-inch pieces.  Transfer potatoes to a bowl and drizzle with vinegar; let cool.

Place eggs in a small saucepan; fill with enough cold water to cover by 1 inch.  Bring to a boil; turn off heat.  Cover; let stand 11 minutes.  Transfer to a bowl and cover with cold water; let cool and peel.  Cut 2 eggs into ¼-inch dice.  Slice remaining eggs into ¼-inch-thick rounds; reserve for garnish.

Combined diced eggs, mayonnaise, celery seeds, and dry mustard in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper, and whisky to combine.  Stir in potatoes, celery, onion, cornichons, scallions, and parsley.  Refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day.  Just before serving, garnish with paprika and egg rounds.

Red-White and Blue Salad – Yield:  15 servings or one 9 x 13 pan – from The Best of Home Economics Teachers Bicentennial Cookbook

2 packages raspberry gelatin

2 c. boiling water

1 envelope unflavored gelatin (Ann's Note:  I halved this recipe and in retrospect, should have probably used the entire package instead of ½ package as the middle layer did not set very well.)

1 c. cold water

1 c. half and half

1 c. sugar

1 8-oz package cream cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ c. chopped nuts

1 can blueberries (Ann's Note:  I used fresh blueberries and raspberries and made a simple syrup to substitute for the canned blueberry liquid.)

To make a simple syrup:

1 ½ c sugar

¾ cup water

As noted above, sometimes making a half recipe does not yield the results you are looking for; I think this was one of those instances.

The first layer of this Jell-O set up fine.  The middle layer did not set up as well and I suspect I likely needed to add the entire package of unflavored gelatin.  If you make this, try adding the whole thing.

As to the blueberries, sure, I could have purchased a can of blueberries at about $5 a can, but this is summer and that means fresh fruit.  So instead of using the canned berries and their liquid, I used about an equal amount of fresh berries and then made a simple syrup and added that instead. 

To make the whole recipe, dissolve 1 package raspberry gelatin in boiling water; pour into 9 x 13-inch pan.  Chill until firm. 

Combine unflavored gelatin and cold water; set aside.  (Ann's Note:  even if you are making just a half recipe, try using the entire package instead of a half package like I did.)

Mix half and half and the sugar in saucepan; bring to a boil.  Remove from heat.  Add cream cheese; beat until smooth.  Add vanilla, nuts and unflavored gelatin; stir until gelatin is dissolved.  Cool.  Pour over chilled layer; chill until firm.

Drain blueberries; add enough water to blueberry juice to make 2 cups liquid.  Bring to boiling point.  (Ann's Note:  if using fresh berries, make a simple syrup and use two cups of that instead of the blueberry juice.  The ratio above of 1 ½ cup sugar and ¾ cup water makes plenty of "juice.")

When liquid is on the brink of boiling, add remaining raspberry gelatin; stir until dissolved.  Cool.  Stir in blueberries; pour over cheese layer.  Chill until firm.

Ann's Note:  So because the middle layer didn't really set correctly, the entire dish ended up kind of soupy but the taste was great. 

"Flavors of Italy - Sicily" and "Made In Sicily" - "deconstructed" Lasagna and Blood Orange Jelly (Jell-O) for Father's Day

Date I made these recipes:  Sunday, June 28, 2015 – a belated Father's Day repast

Flavors of Italy – Sicily by Mariapaola Dettore

Published by: Time Life Books

ISBN:  0-7370-0012-0

Purchased at Arc's Value Village Thrift Stores

Recipe:  Lasagni a Palermitana – Pappardelle Palermo-Style – p. 30

Made in Sicily by Giorgio Locatelli with Sheila Keating

Published by:  Ecco – An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

ISBN:  978-0-06-213037-2

Recipe:  Gelatina di arance sang-sang – Blood Orange Jelly – p. 377

As often happens, Father's Day and other holidays, fall on days when I have something planned that prevents me from making dinner on that exact day.  This year, the first day of summer fell on Father's Day as well making for a double angst moment.  Luckily, cookbooks and their recipes, keep for a long time without spoiling!

This Father's Day, my husband and I spent the afternoon watching bicycle races in the nearby town of Stillwater.  This pro racing series comes to town at this time every year and we often take in several events over the course of the weekend.  But the one in Stillwater, the last day of the North Star Bike Festival (formerly Nature Valley), is very cool because all the bikers – pro women, elite amateurs and pro men (and this year one pro woman raced with the men – woot!), have to ride up this killer hill in Stillwater – Chilkoot Hill (18% grade) 22 times over the course of the course.  Every year we go, we walk up that hill maybe 4 times max, never mind riding up it = whataminuts?

Well that was all very exciting and I could not help but think of my dad that day because one of our family's favorite movies is Breaking Away, about a young man who is obsessed with Italian bike racing and so talks his friends into forming a team – The Cutters – so they can compete against the Italians when a bike race comes to town.  This movie is just so cute and so funny and we just hooted when we watched it.  The best thing about this movie though, is seeing Dave, the leader of the Cutters, and the one who is obsessed with the Italians, pretend to be and speak Italian so he can impress people.  When he rides through the town on his bike and yells "Ciao Papa!" to his dad, played by the late Paul Dooley (Sixteen Candles), my dad really laughed because in our later years, I called my dad Papa or Pop, in the same way my Sicilian-American father addressed his dad, my grandfather, Arcangelo. 

So in memory of Pop and (Grand) Pop, I made some Sicilian dishes from two of my Sicilian cookbooks and took yet another walk down memory lane because as I read through these books, laden with all kinds of fish recipes (Sicily is an island after all), I thought about how much I hate fish and how this pained my dad.  In fact, much about my attitude about Nature and Nature's bounty (my motto: Nature is NOT your friend) pained my dad.  My dad loved nature was a noted wildlife research biologist, specializing in white tailed deer.  Although fishing wasn't exactly his deal, that didn't mean he didn't appreciate fish and seafood; visits to my grandmother in dad's home state of NJ, were not complete without a major raw clam feast.  But me?  Nah.  Most fish is either too bony (go figure) or tastes like fish (go figure, part 2).  I particularly hate smelt which is fun to catch but just inedible if you ask me and you didn't!  I'll eat shrimp and scallops and lobster (kind of boring) or crab but it takes a lot to convince me to go with fish.  My dad would just sigh every single time we ate out and worse, would rail against my delicate (?) palate to these rest of the family thusly:  "Daughter of a wildlife biologist and you hate [insert item here]?  I can't believe it."

Disclaimer:  Although I am not fond of anchovies, my grandmother would put them on half a pizza, cut into tiny pieces, and I would eat one slice of it to satisfy her and my dad.  Many recipes in this book called for anchovies and while tempted, I didn't want to buy a can just to have the rest of it sit for...decades?...before I got around to using them.

Anyway, clearly my dad thought that because he was in love with Nature and Nature's bounty, I should be too.  Silly dad.  Also on the list of "Not touching it" was Swiss chard (so bitter and yet so ingrained in the Italian/Sicilian culture); lamb (gah!  That smell!!); tripe (I mean what?! Ew!); any other part of an animal that offended me and my stomach like offal.  Being a farm boy, my dad ate the fruits of that farm and that meant using up all parts of the animal.  Plus, he grew up during the Depression so there you go.  But I didn't and so no need to go down these roads, right?

Still, dad's voice was prominent the day I started perusing these books, making it damned hard to find something both he (in absentia) and I would like.  Page after page, I mouthed "No, no, oh hell no," until finally, I decided on the recipe for basically deconstructed lasagna and the blood orange jelly.  And let me tell you, I think I deserve the "Make Papa happy" merit badges that the Girl Scouts hand out.  Wait...what?  They don't.  Oh.  My bad.

Whatever you want to call the pasta dish, it was delicious.  It's basically pappardelle noodles or other fat noodles with ricotta cheese and a meat sauce.  Easy, peasy.  Shopping though, was a challenge.  I've only found one grocery store in town, Kowalski's, that sells ground veal (a travesty that I likely will never be able to remedy), but they sold it prepackaged in a one pound container and I only needed 5 ounces (1 ½ cups).  And so I substituted the veal for grass fed ground beef and it was fine. 

Then there's the pappardelle noodles and those can be hard to find as well.  Trader Joe's carries them so that worked out, but if you can't find them, I suggest cooking lasagna noodles and cutting/breaking them in half.

Then there's the "salted ricotta cheese" which I know to mean "Ricotta Salata" but if you can't find it, use feta or queso fresco instead.  As it is, while I didn't have any trouble finding it, I sadly found more than I needed in each package and at a price I didn't want to pay.  Same thing with the Pecorino Romano.  You only need a bit of it for the topping and yet everybody sold it in big blocks.  If I had a larger family, we would polish this off easily in one sitting but I don't but Whole Foods once again saved the day.  You should know that you can get your cheese sliced to order at Broder's Cucina Italiana in south Minneapolis where I used to work, but that was out of our way this particular Sunday.

Okay, once I got over those hurdles, I had to shop for the Blood Orange Jelly and you should know folks, that timing is everything as it is now nearing the end of the blood orange season and nobody had them.  Nobody.  Nobody even had frozen blood orange juice –oh wait, someone did and it was something like $13.00.  I don't think so!

Once again, Whole Foods – amazingly – saved the day.  Mr. I Know My Oranges at Whole Foods told us that if we were looking for flavor and a brighter color (not blood orange but oh well), then Valencia oranges would do the trick and he had one bag left of organic Valencia oranges at $5.99 a pop.  I tell you what, I regret that we didn't just stay in Spain when we last visited and for a split second thought it might just be easier to fly there, get the damned oranges (blood oranges as well) and leave!  But no.  But we checked out the juice section and they had a jug of freshly squeezed Valencia orange juice at a decent price so we bought it and used that instead.  Okay then, we're off and running.

So I set out to make this jelly and folks, once again, instructions stymied.  For this recipe, you need two envelopes of gelatin.  The instructions then say "Soak the gelatin in a bowl of cold water and ice for about 10 minutes, then squeeze."  Lacking here is any indication of how much water to use, plus it seemed that they wanted me to use gelatin sheets even though the instruction said "2 envelopes gelatin."  So I used about a cup of water and added ice cubes and what a mess.  There was no way I could "squeeze" the gelatin as it was just too liquidy.  So I tried again, this time using two new envelopes and about a half cup of water and it was better – still not perfect – so I used that.  When it set up, it was still rather springy which is perhaps how it should have been but I wasn't sure.

As to the rum - wow!  This recipe calls for 2 ounces plus two teaspoons and that was a lot of rum.  My first taste after it sat overnight just about knocked me back.  Besides, I was somewhat surprised that this Sicilian recipe called for rum, seeing as how that is not something I suspect many Sicilians or Italians enjoy on a regular basis but what do I know?  We ate it anyway because "When in Rome Palermo..."

So that's my Father's Day story and I'm sticking to it.  By the time I got around to writing this, the 4^th of July is looming.  What can I say, summers are busy!  Enjoy.

Pappardelle Palermo-Style – Serves 4

In a fairly large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, sauté the meat in the oil over a moderate heat, using a fork to break up any lumps.  When the meat is lightly browned, add the tomato paste mixed with the wine.  Cook for 4-5 minutes, then add the tomatoes with salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer of a  low heat for 40 minutes. 

Bring plenty of salted water to a boil and add the pappardelle.  While the pasta is cooking, use a fork to break up the salted ricotta into fairly small, crumbly pieces.  When the pasta is nearly done mix the fresh ricotta with 2 tablespoons of the cooking water in a large heated serving dish.

Drain the pasta and toss with the fresh ricotta and meat sauce.  Sprinkle with the salted ricotta and pecorino cheese and serve.

Blood Orange Jelly (Jell-O) – serves 4-6

2 envelopes (2 scant tablespoons) gelatin (Ann's Note:  you might want to try two sheets of gelatin)

2 2/3 cups blood orange juice (Ann's Note:  we are nearing the end of blood orange season so substitute Valencia oranges instead)

Juice of 2 lemons

1 cup plus 2 teaspoons superfine sugar

3 ounces plus 2 teaspoons rum

Pistachios (to decorate – optional)

Orange slices (to decorate – optional)

Ann's Note:  the author does not tell you how much water to use.  After starting with 1 cup – to no avail – I threw that out and used ½ cup instead and that seemed to work better.

Preheat oven to 350F.  Lay the pistachios you are going to use for decorating in a single layer on a baking sheet and put into the oven for about 8 minutes.  As long as they are in a single layer, you don't need to turn them.  Keep an eye on them to make sure they don't burn.

Soak the gelatin in a bowl of cold water and ice for about 10 minutes, then squeeze.  (Ann's Note:  good luck with that!  I did not squeeze.)  (The ice helps retain the properties of the gelatin.)  Mix the orange and lemon juice together, then measure ¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon of this and put into a pan with the sugar.  Heat (to 176 degrees F if you have a thermometer) until the sugar dissolves and remove from the heat.  Then add the squeezed gelatin, stirring until it melts, and mix in the rest of the juice and the rum.

Pour into a mold and put into the fridge until set, then turn out onto a plate and garnish with orange slices, if using, and the toasted pistachios.

"The New Joys of Jell-O" - Under-the-Sea-Pear-Salad - Celebrating the introduction of Jell-O to the marketplace

Date I made this recipe:  May 28, 2015 – the 118^th anniversary of the introduction of Jell-O to the world!

The New Joys of Jell-O Brand Gelatin Dessert by General Foods Kitchen

Published by:  General Foods Corporation

©1973; 3^rd edition 1975

Recipe:  Under-The-Sea Pear Salad – p. 69

Well was I excited or what?

According to  Food Network magazine's May culinary calendar showed that Jell-O was introduced to the world on May 28, 1897, a day that will live in infamy right along with Pearl Harbor Day.  That's 118 years of Jell-O salads, folks.  One hundred and eighteen years.

Faithful readers may recall that last summer, my husband, brother and sister-in-law visited the birthplace of Jell-O in LeRoy, NY.  My brother and sister-in-law live nearby and yet had never been – amazing, right?  After that visit, dubbed by my sister-in-law as "the trip of a lifetime," I just had to make a few Jell-O recipes from my collection.  And then of course, once I used those up, I had to replenish by Jell-O recipe book collection and found this one within days.  Remember, "There's always room for Jell-O."  (And by the by, the other day an ad for Jell-O aired and it was just like the days of old where they used to sing and spell out Jell-O:  "J-E-LL-O!"  I honestly needed a moment to compose myself after that.)

Just days before I made this dish, I talked to my Aunt Mary, who, at age 93, remembers well Jell-O's popularity.  Really, no table was complete without a Jell-O salad back in Jell-O's heyday and my mother's table was no exception.  I have and use, all of her fabulous Jell-O molds.  It's the gift that keeps on giving.

As to recipes, this book contains both sweet and savory Jell-O, and by savory I mean vegetables plus Jell-O and trust me when I say I have enjoyed both in my day.  You can find recipes for savory Jell-O throughout the book, like "Garden Soufflé Salad" on p. 70; "Turkey-Soufflé Salad," p. 71 and "Molded Vegetable Relish" on p. 99, just to name a few.  Mind you, I'm not exactly advocating that you make these (I can already see the look on some of your faces and it isn't pretty) but rather I'm just pointing out that you have options.  Jell-O is a very versatile product so why limit yourself to just the sweet stuff?

When it comes to sweets, Jell-O once again saves the day as you have recipes galore for Jell-O parfaits, Jell-O pies, and Jell-O salads like the one I made.  My mom made a version of this salad using cottage cheese instead of cream cheese and it was one of my favorites.  In fact, due to my own ineptitude at following directions, my cream cheese, which should have been softened until creamy, came out looking more like cottage cheese.  Perhaps I was channeling mother?

I loved this recipe and in fact, have probably eaten most of it.  My husband, Andy, doesn't mind Jell-O but I don't think his family embraced it like mine did and so it wouldn't occur to him to just have a small bowl of it to finish it up.  Thankfully, I am more than up to the task of polishing it off.  In fact, when we got a turkey dinner takeout from one of our favorite restaurants the other day, it almost made me cry to pull out my Jell-O creation as it was just the thing to go with a Thanksgiving meal.  I should talk to Key's Cafe about this combination....

So here you go, a quick and easy recipe for J-E-LL-O!  Enjoy.

Under-The-Sea Pear Salad – makes about 3 ½ cups or 6 servings

I can (16 oz.) pear halves in syrup

1 package (3 oz.) Jell-O Lime Gelatin

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup boiling water

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 packages (3 oz. each) cream cheese

1/8 teaspoon ginger

Drain pears, reserving ¾ cup of the syrup.  Coarsely dice pears and set aside.  Dissolve gelatin and salt in boiling water.  Add pear syrup and lemon juice.  Measure 1 ¼ cups into an 8x4-inch loaf pan or a 4-cup mold.  Chill until set, but not firm – about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, soften cheese until creamy.  Very slowly blend in remaining gelatin, beating until smooth.  Blend in ginger.  Stir in pears.  Spoon over set gelatin in pan.  Chill until firm – about 4 hours.  Unmold and garnish with chicory or watercress.  Serve with mayonnaise, if desired.  Makes about 3 ½ cups or 6 servings.  Note:  Recipe may be doubled, using a 9x5-inch loaf pan.
 

"Jell-O: A Biography" & "Amazing Magical Jell-O Desserts" - Sweet Raspberry Chicken and Sink and Swim (Jell-O)

Date I made these recipes:  July 20, 2014

Jell-O: A Biography – The History and Mystery of "America's Most Famous Dessert" by Carolyn Wyman

Published by:  A Harvest Original/Harcourt, Inc.

ISBN:  0-15-601123-9

Recipe:  Sweet Raspberry Chicken – p. 139

Amazing Magical Jell-O® Brand Desserts (Plus:  Magic Tricks by Marvello the Great) by the General Foods Corporation

Published by:  General Foods Corporation

ISBN:  0-671-24649-6-199

Purchased at Hennepin County Library Used Book Sale 2013

Recipe:  Sink or Swim (Jell-O) – p. 13

So this is how the conversation about what to serve for dinner tonight went down:

Me:  "So, we're having a Jell-O and chicken dish for dinner tonight."

Andy:  "Say WHAT?"

So went the conversation with my husband when I decided, after a very recent visit to the Jell-O Museum, to make something out of my two Jell-O cookbooks.  He was not initially amused.  In fact, the incredulous look on his face kept my laughing for at least 10 minutes.  But although the dish might not have looked or sounded attractive, it was actually pretty decent.

But first, let's talk backstory!  My brother and sister-in-law live near Rochester, NY, and we visited them recently.  Several years ago, when scoping out things to see and do near Rochester, I discovered the Jell-O Museum was located in nearby LeRoy, NY.  And just like that my (imaginary) bucket list was complete.

So on this recent trip, I told my family that come hell, high water, or Jell-O, we had to make the trip so we did.  It was fraught with peril.

First, I think we all have learned (again) that not all online map websites are made alike and whatever my sister-in-law used (she was driving) had us driving all over hell's half acre.  So we pulled over and she once again put in "LeRoy, NY" and the map website she used came back with "LOL Toy."  OMG, it's a good thing we were pulled over or I think we'd have crashed the car from laughing so hard.

So we finally backtracked to LeRoy (pronounced "Luh Roy") and almost zipped our way right past the museum. Let's just say the town in rather small.  But finally, Nancy spotted a tiny little lawn sign that said "Jell-O Museum" and we had arrived.  Woo hoo! (By the way, the nearby town of Chili, NY is pronounced Chai-Lai.  Okay...sure.)

The museum itself is tiny but interesting and before your tour, you are given a little History of Jell-O 101 tutorial by a museum worker.  At the start of our self-guided tour, we had a young lady but when the next wave of people came in, she was temporarily replaced by an older woman I called "Helen" (not her real name).  "Hele" took the job of Guardian of the History of Jell-O very seriously, such that when my sister-in-law, Nancy, asked Helen for more information about how Jell-O was made, Helen clammed up and just glared at Nancy.  Well, folks, it's not like how Jell-O is made is a big secret and in fact, there's a tiny little display about it in the museum but what it still really didn't tell you is that Jell-O is an animal by-product and the Jell-0 folks are just a tad sensitive about this topic.  As in, they asked us (and they weren't exactly kidding) if we were from PETA.  Ha!

Nancy, startled by this hostile reception then dubbed poor "Helen" the Jell-O Nazi and all efforts to engage her in a conversation were for naught.  Under "Helen's" glare, Nancy started leafing through the Jell-O: A Biography book (containing the Raspberry Chicken recipe) in the gift shop and lo and behold, on page 81, you will find "Jell-O Science 101" which breaks out the chemistry of how Jell-O is made and formed (while still skirting the issue of the "animal" involvement."  Well, as a physician, Nancy found this not only fascinating but just what she was looking for and so she couldn't wait to share this with "Helen":  "Oh...ma'am?  What I was talking about is right here on p. 81.  See?  (Points out the page to Helen...) It talks about the chemistry of Jell-O...."

"Helen" was not amused but I sure was.  Nancy is nothing if not most sincere but "Helen" set her laser beam eyeballs on "incinerate" and did not appreciate being told that the Jell-O science was all laid out on page 81.  No sir!

But if I was a betting person, I'd put money on the fact that "Hele" went home and studied page 81 just so she could point out to the inquiring minds that the chemistry story was all there for the taking if you cared to read it instead of listening to "Helen" who had more important things to tell you about Jell-O than that!

But despite everything, we enjoyed our tour of the Jell-O Museum and LeRoy (and places in between) and I vowed when I got home that I would make a recipe out of the Jell-O biography book that I already owned and I did.  But finding a recipe was a challenge in that I didn't exactly want to make the same old, same old and that's in part why I went with the Sweet Raspberry Chicken.

Fair warning:  this is not the most attractive dish you'll ever eat but if you get past the Jell-O sauce, it'll remind you of Chinese chicken that is often served in similar fashion with the signature screaming red coating.  If anything, I would have liked a bit more of the soy sauce to offset the sweetness of the marmalade and the Jell-O.

And since I was on a roll with Jell-O books, I also pulled out the Amazing Magical Jell-O® Brand Desserts cookbook, mostly intended for kids, and made the Sink or Swim (Jell-O) recipe with fresh peaches and a mix of fruit cocktail.  It's simplicity made me smile as it reminded me of the Jell-O recipes my mom used to serve us as kids.

Although the Jell-O: A Biography book contains more stories than recipes, the recipes included are classics and I was tempted to make the Lime Jell-O Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Surprise (p. 111) but thought better of it when I saw it included more ingredients than I remembered and that I didn't think went well with each other, like pimento and marshmallows.  But hey, if your palate thinks that's a great combination, then go for it.

And that, kids, concludes the history of Jell-O as I interpreted it, with a little help from my sister-in-law, Nancy, and a tad bit of assistance from our friend, "Helen."  If you get a chance to get to LeRoy, NY, outside Rochester, do stop in because the museum, although small is very interesting and very fun.  In the end, I think I saw "Helen" waving goodbye along with the rest of the staff and with a smile on her face...although that could have meant anything from "Okay, I learned something" to "Don't let the door hit you on the way out, girlie."  And we're okay with that.

Sweet Raspberry Chicken – serves 6 to 8

8 tablespoons butter

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 (24-ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained

1 green pepper, diced

1 small yellow onion, diced

1 (18-ounce) jar orange marmalade

¼ cup soy sauce

1 (6-ounce) package raspberry Jell-O gelatin

Sliced or slivered almonds (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 9 x 13-inch glass casserole dish with 1 tablespoon of the butter.  Place chicken breasts in dish.  Cover with pineapple, pepper and onion.  Melt 7 tablespoons of the butter.  Microwave uncovered marmalade jar on high for 15 to 30 seconds.  In a bowl, mix butter, softened marmalade, soy sauce, and dry Jell-O powder.  Pour ingredients over chicken.  Bake 40 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Let sit 5 minutes before sprinkling with almonds (if desired) and spooning over cooked rice.

Sink or Swim – makes 5 servings

1 package (3 oz.) Jell-O brand strawberry flavor gelatin

1 cup boiling water

1 cup cold water or ginger ale (Ann's Note:  I used ginger ale)

1 cup (about) fruit combination* (Ann's Note:  see below.  Use ½ cup fruit that sink and ½ cup fruits that float)

*Fruits that sink:  Mandarin oranges; seedless grapes; drained canned fruit cocktail (packed in heavy syrup) such as:  peach slices, sliced pear halves, crushed pineapple or pineapple chunks, cherries or apricots.

*Fruits that float:  Banana slices; apple wedges or diced apple; strawberry halves; fresh orange sections; fresh sliced peaches or pears; marshmallows or coarsely chopped nuts.

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water in heatproof glass bowl.  Add cold water.  Then add fruits that will sink then fruits that will float.

Chill until firm, at least 3 hours.  Garnished with whipped cream or non-dairy whipped topping, if desired.

 

Ann's Note:  I got carried away with my fruit and so everything sort of jumbled together instead of sinking or swimming properly but I did not care.  This is easy and tasty and that's all you need to know about that!