Women's History Month Dinner

So, March is Women's History Month and I wanted to acknowledge it. My friend and I came up with an idea to entwine women's history with my food blog by doing a meal in honor of the month. But how to do it? Well, I decided to gather five women from history and do a meal in their honor. Have you ever watched those shows where people from different walks of life gather at a dinner table and they just record whatever is said? It's always interesting, and that's what I had in mind. My friend chose Mae Jemison, and from there I assembled a group of women who worked well with her. Then I planned a meal based on the times and locations they were from.

The women at my "dinner party" last night, were:
Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African American female astronaut. Medical doctor, and Peace Corps member, prior to joining NASA. Born 1956, Decatur, Alabama. Still living.
Katherine Johnson, one of the African American women who helped integrate NACA/NASA, and helped derive the mathematical equations needed to send John Glenn into space, and later, to send the first astronauts to the moon. Born 1918, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Still living.
Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in the world to go to space, in 1963. Born 1937, Maslennikovo, Russia. Still living.
Nichelle Nichols, an actress best known for her role as Lt. Nyoto Uhura from Star Trek and the subsequent movies. Born 1932, Robbins, Illinois. Still living.
Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, unaccompanied. Possibly best known for her disappearance during a flight that has never truly been resolved. Born 1897, Atchison, Kansas. No known death date, but based on her birthdate, I doubt she'd still be alive today.

Why these particular five women? Well, this is how I connected them together: Katherine Johnson and Valentina Tereshkova are both part of the Space Race of the 1960's. Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek's success wouldn't exist without the Space Race. She also became an ambassador for NASA and helped draw people of color to the organization. One of those people, was Dr. Mae Jemison, who was so inspired by Star Trek that she actually guest starred on Star Trek: The Next Generation. And none of those women would have been able to do what they did, if pioneers of aviation like Amelia Earhart hadn't started it all with airplanes. I can only imagine that they'd have a fascinating conversation if they'd ever had a chance to get together.

What do you serve a group of women such as these icons? I didn't want to do freeze-dried space food, because it's gross and you can't actually do that much with it. Since most of these women were associated with the Space Race, I thought that focusing on foods of the 1950's-1970's would be best. I scoured the internet and my own recipes and came up with a whopping five recipes! An entree, a starch side, a dessert, an appetizer, and a beverage! And though it wasn't a recipe, I did do a veggie side as well. I was in the kitchen from about 1pm, to 7pm working on all of it! Two of them are my own recipes from my collection, with no sources listed. I will write them out here. The other three are from the internet and I will provide links to those recipes, as they aren't my own.

Sparkling Strawberry Lemonade
1 pt. strawberries, leaves removed, chopped
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, about 4 lemons-worth
3/4 cup superfine sugar(superfine really is the better kind of sugar for this recipe as it dissolves more easily. The mixture isn't heated, so regular sugar wouldn't dissolve in it.)
Seltzer water, unflavored, chilled

Puree the strawberries with the lemon juice and the sugar.

You can refrigerate this mixture until ready to serve. When you're ready to serve it, pour some of the lemonade concentrate into the bottom of a cup and top it off with the seltzer water. Adjust to your tastes by adding more water or concentrate, if needed.

This one is suuuuuuper delish! It's bubbly and tangy and just sweet enough. I was really happy with this recipe.

Next up, is Shrimp Salad on Cucumber Slices
This is a pretty basic shrimp salad recipe. You use celery, dill pickle relish, green onions, chopped shrimp, and mayonnaise. I used the medium-sized, 51/60 shrimp, as opposed to bay shrimp because I don't think bay shrimp has much flavor. My grocery store sells it already cooked, fresh, in the fish section, so I bought a handful and cut off the tails before chopping them up.

I put some of it on cucumber slices, as the recipe calls for, and some on Ritz crackers. Both worked great!

I used dried dill as a garnish and that just made the color pop even more. This is a really simple, but elegant appetizer. Next up, was my entree...

Easy Baked Chicken Kiev

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/3 cup seasoned Italian-style bread crumbs
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. dried oregano, divided
Black pepper
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 Tbsp. finely chopped parsley
1 egg, beaten with 1 Tbsp. cold water
3 oz. low-fat Monterey Jack cheese

1.) Place breast halves, one at a time, between two sheets of plastic wrap. With the flat side of a mallet or with a small heavy frying pan, gently pound breasts until each is about 1/4" thick. Set aside.
2.) Combine bread crumbs, Parmesan, 1/2 tsp. oregano, and a little black pepper. Spread on a plate and set aside.
3.) Mash together the softened butter, parsley, and 1/2 tsp. oregano; set aside. Whisk egg with water, pour onto a plate and set aside.
4.) Cut the cheese into 6 sticks, measuring about 1.5"x2". Set aside.

5.) Spread a little of the seasoned butter on each chicken breast. Lay a piece of Jack cheese about 1" from lower edge. Fold lower edge of breast up over cheese, fold in sides and roll up to enclose filling. (Note: I ended up having to use toothpicks to secure them. Just make sure to remove them before serving.)

6.) Roll each bundle in egg mixture, then in bread crumb mixture, until evenly coated. Place bundles, seam-side down, without touching, in a 9"x13" baking dish.
7.) Bake, uncovered, in a preheated 425 degree oven about 20-25 minutes, or until no longer pink in the center.

As you can see, I only did two instead of six, but it turned out really well! If you have never had this dish, as I hadn't, it's the same basic concept of Chicken Cordon Bleu, but without the ham, and a different type of cheese. I chose this dish because I feel it would have been considered the height of sophistication for the time period at which I was aiming. I took the toothpicks out and cut the chicken into slices to display the melty cheese. It felt even fancier that way!

For my starchy side, I chose this recipe: Minute Rice Pilaf. Why Minute Rice? you might ask. Because it's the food of the future! It's science and it's food! And it cuts down on the amount of time it takes to cook, thus giving the average 50's-70's housewife more time to do other things than housekeeping. She can have more time in her day to pursue her interests outside the home! What we today in 2018 might scoff at as "cheapo" or "lazy" food, was revolutionary when it came out. Women didn't have to worry as much about coming home from work(if they were one of the ones who worked outside the house) and having to spend hours preparing dinner for their family(because of course they were still expected to keep house and tend the children).

I must admit, I was skeptical at first of the idea of Minute Rice. I think I'd tried some in the past and haven't cared for it. This particular recipe is a rice pilaf, slightly akin to Rice-a-Roni(don't be a food snob, you know you eat the stuff!) but it actually cooked faster! It had less powdered ingredients, and more natural ingredients. I used chicken broth, but fortified it with a sodium-free chicken bouillon packet to keep in the spirit of the recipe. I also used the dried parsley flakes because I think fresh parsley is generally a huge waste of time that doesn't really add much to the final outcome of a dish, besides being a pretty bit of green on top. I happened to have the slivered almonds on hand, and I threw some in as well. If you have some, I highly recommend it. It adds flavor and texture.

Here are all the elements, prior to being fully cooked. I was really pleased with the outcome of this dish. It was flavorful and the rice tasted just like any other rice. The texture was great. And it only took five minutes!! It's really quite incredible. I highly recommend this recipe.

For my veggie side dish, I had a mixture of green beans and asparagus. I sprinkled them with dried tarragon, salt, and pepper. I poured on a little olive oil and mixed it all on a sheet pan and roasted them. The tarragon works really well with these vegetables. It all just tasted like spring! And it was quick and easy.

Here's the meal, in all its glory! As you can see, I cut the chicken into slices and the cheese is showing. The flavors of all these items worked really well together. It was filling, but not heavy, and it all looked so elegant! I was extremely happy with all of it. I would eat any single one of them again!

Now, onto dessert. So far, everything felt centered on the people from the 60's, so I wanted to have something dedicated to the time era of Amelia Earhart. I turned to the 30's and looked around for recipes, and found this gem: Grandma's Great Depression Cake. This was a fun one because most of it was actually cooked on the stove! And it involved some food science!

 You start by boiling most of the items on the stove. It sounds wacky, but it works!

Post boiling. You can see that the raisins have absorbed some of the liquid.

This is the fun science part! Baking soda and salt are mixed with water before being poured into the slightly cooled mixture and it bubbles and froths! This is where the leavening comes from.

 Baking powder and flour get mixed and then added to the frothy liquid.

 The final batter before it gets poured into the pan to bake. It looks like a cake mix to me!

 Freshly out of the oven! Mine needed only about 50 minutes to bake, so I recommend testing it after 45 minutes and seeing where it stands, baking-wise. When it cooled down, I sprinkled it with powdered sugar.

This was my piece for dessert last night. It's really dense and moist and tasty! It's like a gingerbread cake, but there's no ginger. It was still wonderful the next day when I shared it with my family for Easter dinner. The rest will be going to work with me where it will probably be eaten in ten minutes!

This whole meal was incredible! I loved every bite of it and every moment of preparing it. I have plans for more meals next March to do this again, hopefully at least twice. So, if you liked this post, stay tuned for next March where I will do more posts like this!

Looking for something to watch while you eat this amazing meal? Here are a few suggestions:
-Hidden Figures, the story about Katherine Johnson.
-Night at the Museum Two, featuring Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart.
-Any episode of the original Star Trek series.
-Episode 6.24 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, guest starring Dr. Mae Jemison.

And if nothing else, watch this hilarious Drunk History story of Nichelle Nichols and how she integrated not only science fiction, but all of space!

I hope everybody had a lovely Women's History Month. I'll see you next year!

Dining-In: A Culinary Tour of America-Hallowell, Maine

The Location: Hallowell, Maine

2013 population: 2,343 people; 94.6% white, 1.6% two or more races. Per capita income: $35,148.

Prior to the European invasion, the land around Hallowell was home to the Penobscot, or Panawahpskek, tribe. Hallowell was named for Benjamin Hallowell, a merchant from Boston. It was originally part of the city of Augusta, but it became its own town when Augusta broke off from it in 1797. The entire area was a part of the state of Massachusetts to begin with, but in 1820, Maine seceded from Massachusetts, and became its own state.

From 1815 to 1908, granite was the major industry for Hallowell. Ice was also a large part of their economy. Today, though, the city is known for its antique shops and pubs. For the most part, Hallowell has been a town relatively untouched by the major events of American history, though they did send many men to fight for the Union during the Civil War. The city today leans more liberal, in terms of politics, as it did then. Many people joined the war in order to help abolish slavery.

Why Hallowell? Because it's Halloween, of course! What a perfectly named city for this holiday!

The Food: A Duo of Desserts
I haven't done an all dessert post since Washington state's trio of apple desserts. Maine has a lot of seafood dishes it's known for, but as with last week with Maryland, there are so many kinds of seafood I don't eat that it wasn't very practical for me to feature them. This meant I had to get a bit more creative. With the fact that I would be doing this on Halloween, I decided to go in the dessert direction. Maine is also known for blueberries, and I opted for a recipe that heavily featured blueberries in their honor. Further research revealed a dish I have heard of, but never tried. I knew this was the time to try it!

First up is a recipe I found in my own collection. It comes from the Taste of Home magazine, unknown date.
Blueberry Oat Cake
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup packed brown sugar(I used 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce and I think it turned out just fine)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups quick-cooking oats
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, unthawed
1 cup chopped walnuts(I used pecans because they are naturally sweeter in taste than walnuts), optional
Powdered sugar

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, buttermilk, brown sugar(and applesauce, if using) and egg. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; add to batter. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes(or by hand, which is what I did). Fold in oats, blueberries and walnuts(or pecans), if desired.

Transfer to a greased and floured 10" fluted tube pan(Bundt cake pan). Bake at 375 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.(Note, this cake is way too thick for a toothpick to do any good. I used a bamboo skewer since it was long enough to get to the bottom.) Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar.
Makes 12-16 servings

This is what happens when you didn't see the part about flouring the cake pan until you just typed up this recipe 30 seconds ago, and try to remove it while it's still too hot. This was a literal hot mess, but it tasted good. I was able to dislodge the top half of the cake and sort of put it back together, but unfortunately it definitely crumbled when I cut pieces from it. Again, the flavor was fantastic and I'm sure if I'd floured the pan and had let it cool longer than the 10 minutes it called for, it would have done better. I have used my Bundt pan many times and have rarely had this bad of an issue.

Next up, a New England staple called Indian Pudding. I don't know about you, but I am not necessarily comfortable eating a dish with the word "Indian" in it, when it isn't actually Indian food. This dish has an interesting history. In England, it is made with wheat and is known as Hasty Pudding. You may have heard of this. It's pretty well-known, and even has its own club. When people started traveling to the New World, they discovered new ingredients, such as corn, that when dried and ground, was a grain that could be used in a variety of ways. The Europeans referred to it as "Indian meal," and from there comes the name of this dish.

I would argue that Indian Pudding is one of the first, if not the first Americanized recipe. Or to be even more historically-accurate, the first New Englandized recipe. America, of course, wouldn't be in existence for a little while longer. Taking a well-known recipe from England and substituting ingredients available in the New World, though in a very simple and humble dish, was the beginning of what would become American food culture.

If I was to rename this dish, I would propose calling it "Yankee Pudding," because it refers to the region in which it was invented, and acknowledges its American-ness. Though we were introduced to corn from the Native Americans, they never ate it in this form.

The recipe I used is from the internet, but I will type it out here, along with any changes or notes of my own.

Maine Indian Pudding
2 cups milk
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup milk, cold(Note, the website lists this as 1/4 cup, but the instructions say 1/2 cup. I used 1/2 cup, so I changed the quantity in this section to match because it was confusing otherwise.)
1/2 cup dark molasses, not blackstrap(I am not the biggest fan of molasses. I cut this down to 1/4 cup and did 1/4 cup of raisins to give it additional sweetness. I still found it to be overwhelmingly sweet and if I was to do this again, I would probably have cut it down to 1/8 cup, which is 2 Tablespoons of molasses and the rest raisins. With molasses, a little really does go a long way.)
1 tsp. salt(Because I did cut down on the amount of molasses, the salt came through a bit more than it should have. If you reduce the quantity of molasses, I would cut the amount of salt in half.)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
4 Tbsp. butter
1 3/4 cups milk, cold

*Scald 2 cups of milk in a double boiler.
*Mix the cornmeal and 1/2 cup cold milk until smooth. Stir into the hot milk and cook over the hot water for 20 minutes, stirring frequently.(When you do this, you will be wondering what, if anything, is happening with your mixture. The milk will get frothy as you stir it but not much will change until about the last 5 minutes when it starts to thicken. Just keep faith in what you're doing and know that it will turn out ok in the end.)
*Add the molasses, salt, sugar, cinnamon, and butter; mix well.
*Pour into a buttered dish.

Pour the last 1 3/4 cups cold milk over the top of the pudding.
*Bake at 250 degrees for three hours(I started this about 4.5 hours before I wanted to serve it. The dish is based on something called Hasty Pudding, which is ironic, because it takes hours to prepare. Go figure!) Remove from oven and let sit for 30 minutes. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.
Makes 4-6 servings.

As you can see, the cake was better-looking once I dug the top half out of the pan. It's just a facade though, it's definitely a chunky cake. The pudding is really interesting. The milk poured on the top sort of soaks into the pudding and also evaporates and creates a skin. Normally I don't like skin on pudding, but this was different. Because of the sugar and molasses, it was almost like the top of a burnt creme where you have to break through the caramelized sugar topping. It provided the majority of the texture. The rest of the pudding is very soft, but that gave you something to bite into and chew. The raisins also were really good in this. And not only is this something that doesn't call for a lot of cornmeal, which means your cornmeal goes a long way, it's also properly gluten free! So, all you gluten free eaters can partake of this and not worry about it! I cannot vouch for using an alternate non-dairy milk. It may or may not turn out the same. Try that out at your own risk, but do let me know if it works for you!

I really liked both of these desserts. Even though the pudding was a bit too molasses-ey for my tastes, it was still tasty. It was cool to use cornmeal in a completely different way too. I have used cornmeal a lot in this project. It's a New World ingredient after all, so it should feature highly in a project about American cuisine. For some reason, the pudding evoked images of the past. You can feel the history in it. The cake was delicious as well, but a much more straight-forward dessert. Both of these also make a lot. These would be good for groups. I had enough for tasting tonight, and to try tomorrow, and still had enough to share with my parents, my grandparents, and still have enough of the blueberry cake to take to work on Monday to share with my coworkers! You should definitely give these recipes a try!

Sources:
City Info

City Pic

City Map

Indian Pudding Recipe

Indian Pudding History

City History

Reine de Saba Cake

This weekend I made Julia Child's Reine de Saba, or Queen of Sheba cake from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It's the first recipe I tried from that book and I made it because we ended up watching Julie and Julia last night where the cake is featured. I thought it would be fun to actually eat the cake we were seeing in the movie while watching it. This is the first cake I've ever made from scratch and while it was a bit of work, I think it was well worth it. It was moist and unbelievably delicious. I don't think I'll be able to bring myself to make a cake from a mix ever again.
I also made the icing for the cake. I've never made homemade icing before either, and this turned out smooth and chocolatey and amazing! The only problem I had was that the rum I put in it didn't burn off the alcohol before finishing, so it had that bitter alcohol taste to it. It's not my thing, so I'd definitely let the alcohol cook off before adding the chocolate the next time I make it.
You're supposed to put the sliced almonds on the side like this, but I had left over ground almonds from the batter so I scattered them on top to use them up and add more flavor and color. I am really happy with how this turned out. Definitely will make it again.