French Hazelnut Meringue Cake

"According to legend, the recipe for this delicious pastry came from a fifteenth-century parchment found among the fallen stones and rubble of a monastery in area of Crocq, in the Creuse - one of the 83 departments created during the Revolution, when so many monasteries were destroyed. The monks cooked this creusois cake in ceramic tiles that were themselves creuses - hollow, concave, or curved…

Sweet Recipe: Apple Tarte Tatin - Reliving the sweet taste of historical success

Prior to the opening of their Hotel Tatin in Lamotte-Beuvron, France in 1894, Stephanie and Caroline Tatin discovered a sweet treat that will soon lead to one of the most favorable desserts in history. It all started when Stephanie was creating an apple pie in 1880. Accidentally, she left the apples cooking in sugar and butter. What she did next changed the history. Stephanie put the pastry on top and baked it down facing, just to save the pie – and that’s how this sweet success story started.

Soon, Stephanie and Caroline opened their hotel that led to the dessert’s solid following. In this post, I want to relive the success of Tarte Tatin by providing you the steps in making one.

Apple Tarte is a great companion to strong Folgers, afternoon tea, or M&S Wine for dessert like their Pink Port NV or Rich Cream Sherry.

Russian Monday: "Kulebyaka" - Authentic Russian Pie with Salmon, Rice, Mushrooms, Onions and Dill

Today in our Russian section we present “Kulebyaka”. This traditional pie is an ideal dish for special occasions and it makes a perfect brunch. My daughter helped me to make it – we’ve been preparing dough, making crêpes used in stuffing and decorated the pie together. As we were cooking, I have shared with her the story of this dish and how it should be served. I hope you are interested too, so here it is.

Roasted Lamb in Herbs and Pomegranate Marinade

This wonderful recipe comes from my dear friend's Carina-Forum



THYME Symbol of Activity from The Spice Cookbook, 1964
Among the attractive accomplishments of proper young ladies of the past was a knowledge of the language of flowers. From the book devoted to the lore, which appeared in 1836, they learned that thyme "is a symbol of activity".
"Beetles of all hues, light butterflies, and vigilant bees, for ever surround the flowery tufts of Thyme,"the author noted. "It may be that to these cheerful inhabitants of the air, whose life is a a long spring, these little tufts appear like an immense tree, old as the earth and covered with eternal verdure, begemmed with myriads of flowery vases, filled honey for their express enjoyment," the author continued.
It is true that bees have never able to resist the fragrance of thyme.The ancient Greeks relished the honey made by the bees buzzing over Mount Hymettus, near Athens, where thyme grew abundantly. So highly esteemed was the delicate fragrance of thyme that "to smell of thyme" was one of the most desirable compliments one Athenian could offer another.
Ladies of the Middle Ages also observed the attraction thyme held for bees. A favorite design that a lady embroidered on the scarf of her knight-errant was composed of a bee hovering over a spring of thyme-which mingled the sweet and amiable with high courage and martial action. To enhance their own charms these ladies included thyme springs in the "tussie-mussies" they fashioned. A tussie-mussie was a demure bouquet of very fragrant flowers and sweet-scented leaves. It was always held tightly by a lady so that the warmth of her hand could release the scent of the lovely bouquet.

ROSEMARY For Remembrance from The Spice Cookbook, 1964

The small flower that is part of rosemary - an evergreen of the mint family - once was white. Legend recounts that one night the Virgin Mary - fleeing with the Christ Child from Herod's soldiers - hung her sky-blue cloak on the rosemary bush. From that day on the color of rosemary blossoms was transformed to blue.

The mention of rosemary will call to mind an ancient symbol of remembrance and fidelity. Shakespeare made this sentiment famous in Hamlet, when the tragic Ophelia speaks the immortal line: "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance."

One seventeenth-century preacher urged at a wedding: "Let this Rosemarinus, this flower of men, ensigne of your wisdom, love and loyaltie, be carried not only in your hands, but in your heads and hearts." It was the custom then for bridesmaids to present the bridegroom with "a bunch of Rosemary, bound with ribands" on the morning of the wedding.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 leg of lamb sirloin, 3-4 lb.
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 250 ml pomegranate juice, natural and unsweetened
• 8 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1/3 cup very finely chopped shallots
• 2 Tbs. fresh thyme leaves or 8 thyme sprigs, each 6 inches long
• 4 Tbs. finely minced fresh rosemary
• 1 Tbs. ground coriander
• 2 Tbs. peppercorns, bruised
• 1 1/2 tsp. sea salt

Combine the minced rosemary, fresh thyme, ground coriander, garlic, finely chopped shallots, peppercorns, salt and olive oil to make a paste. Rub over all of the surfaces of the meat.



Place the meat in a shallow glass dish and add pomegranate juice to cover.



Marinate for 24 hours in the refrigerator, turning once. Bring the meat to room temperature before roasting.



Directions:
Preheat an oven to 375°F.
Put the lamb into a large roasting pan and drizzle the lamb with the olive oil. Cook for 25 minutes per pound for medium plus an extra 25 minutes for well-done, spooning the meat juices over the lamb once or twice during cooking.
Transfer the lamb to a carving board or platter and cover loosely with aluminum foil. Let rest for 10 minutes.
To serve, cut the lamb across the grain into thin slices and arrange on a warmed platter. Serve immediately, spooning some of the accumulated juices over each portion.

A Glimpse at Recipes of The Past: Lumberjack Cookies

I have a small but very treasured collection of cooking books. I have Russian cooking books with recipes prepared for the Czarist family and recipes cooked for the French Aristocracy, as well as a collection of recipe books that I bought here in America, dating back to our American ancestors.
Why do I like these old books so much?
Firstly, the illustrations found in these books are a rare sight indeed nowadays, because each illustration is beautifully drawn in detail, giving insight to a modern-day person of the dedicated and personal atmosphere that emanated from that time period.
Secondly, each recipe in these books has its own story. It’s not just a list of ingredients thrown into a pot and boiled---it’s an entire experience beginning from the detailing of the recipe’s origination to its eventual passage from generation to generation. This is why I have decided to begin a column on this blog dedicated to posting and discussing recipes taken from these books. There’s something very sentimental about making history come back to life.
Feel free to add to our historical recipe collection.



From "Favorite New England Recipes" 1972

Lumberjack Cookies
Lumbering is a unique occupation and projects a day-to-day life unlike any other. In the upper reaches of the rivers, when spring freshets deepen the water enough to float the logs, men of a particularly courageous breed shepherd the raw wood down the rivers, sometimes for hundreds of miles, to the sawmills. They spend many days on the logs and on a raft with a shanty on it that brings up the rear. In the shanty is a man at whom the others characteristically jeer but deeply value - the cook.



One morning early in this century, such a log drive was moving along the Muskegon past a riverside farm, when a dignified little woman marched to the water's edge and waved to them. She wished to parley with the lumberjack cook. Just why is explained by Mrs.Paul V.Bretz of St.Paul, Minnesota. "The great lumbering industry of Michigan was beginning to wane, but there was still some lumbering along the Mu. When the logs where being floated down the river to the mills, there was always a cook shanty on a raft following the log drive. It was a great treat for children to have a meal with the lumberjacks on this river raft. They could look forward to fried salt pork, boiled potatoes, boiled beans, hot breads, cookies, and strong black coffee. Good hearty fare.
"These were molasses cookies and so good that my husband prevailed upon his mother to go to the river and learn the recipe from the cook. We always called them 'Lumberjack Cookies,' and here is the recipe:"

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup shortening
• 1 cup molasses
• 1 cup sour milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ginger, vanilla, and mace (or nutmeg) to taste
• flour enough to make a soft dough

Directions:
Drop by tablespoons on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake in a moderate oven (350F) until done, about 10 minutes.