Irish Culture Appreciation Day 2018

I found and tested three recipes on Saturday. Two of the three turned out well and one of them, not so much. I will talk about the two that did, and we'll just forget the one that didn't, because it was that bad...! I was going to write about this earlier but the "luck of the Irish" ran out on me Saturday morning when my internet died and it took until Monday to get it back up and running! So here, at long last, is the post!

Entree: Dublin Coddle with Pearl Barley, courtesy of this website. I don't eat beef, so corned beef and cabbage is out for me. Besides, it's a very popular dish for this day and I wanted something different. Bacon, sausages, potatoes, and barley all cooked in one pot? Now that sounds fantastic to me! I had to try it. It totally worked.

Two kinds of breakfast meat and two kinds of carbs in one entree? Yes, please! Here is the obligatory, "prepped food before it's cooked," shot.

Post sausage and bacon browning. The barley has been mixed in, the onions are on the bottom, and the bay leaf is somewhere in the middle of it all.

The layer of potatoes on the top. Chicken broth is added and it cooks everything! I found it a little dry, the barley absorbed all the liquid. If you want it more "stewy," I would suggest adding more broth than it calls for.

This is the finished product! It's not fancy or that pretty to look at, but it is hearty and tasty! The flavors are simple and not highly seasoned beyond the salty/smoky of the bacon and the spices in the sausages, but it's still good. I ate all the leftovers over the next few days. It reheats well, but I wouldn't recommend freezing it. Potatoes never freeze and thaw well. This is a great change of pace from corned beef and cabbage, if you want something new, yet not complicated for next year!

Now for the dessert: Irish Shortbread, from here. Every year at Christmas, I make Scottish shortbread. It's delicious and impossible to mess up. I was very curious to see how Irish shortbread differs from its Scottish counterpart, so this was the perfect opportunity to try it out. It turns out, they are similar, but also very different, at the same time!

The cornstarch really changes the texture of the shortbread. With Scottish shortbread, you have to knead the dough with your fingers and my hands are so tired by the end of it. The cornstarch in this recipe keeps the dough from really coming together. It runs a little dry, but it's ok. It does come together a little bit, so you can knead it into a ball, but don't put too much effort into it. This is a really easy recipe!

Here it is, post baking. It bakes for a really long time on a really low temperature and one of my coworkers who tried a piece said it tasted caramelized to her, which makes sense with how it's baked. From here, I cut it into pieces while it was still warm and in the pan. I carefully moved them to a cooling rack when they started cooling down a bit.

 I added powdered sugar to the top because I think it's pretty. Here is the post-cut version.

And here's a close-up of the cookie from the side. It's dense, and slightly crunchy. It's really rich and a little goes a long way! I splurged and bought Kerrygold butter for almost $4 for a half pound and that was on sale!!! Normally I would never, ever spend that much money on that small an amount of butter, but I decided that since it was a special day, and this recipe calls for so few ingredients, that I should make those ingredients really count. I don't know for sure if it made it taste better, but it was definitely more yellow than American butter, so it looked prettier!

The leftover cookies were scarfed down very quickly at work on Monday! It was definitely a winner. I want to make these again at Christmas and try them side-by-side with my Scottish shortbreads. So, to those if you go to Christmas Eve/Day with me, look forward to trying this one out!

Both of these recipes were fun to make and eat. I would definitely make them again. If you're looking for something new to try next year on March 17th, give these a try. You won't regret it!

Holiday Soiree: Guy Fawkes Day

 

The Holiday: Guy Fawkes Day/Bonfire Night (England)
So, who is Guy Fawkes, you may be asking yourself right now, and why does he get his own day over in England? Well, Guy Fawkes was what today we would call a domestic terrorist, in England. He was one of a religious extremist group who conspired to blow up Parliament(literally, like with gun powder and bombs and stuff). They were all set to follow through with their plans when they were caught on November 4, 1605. November 5th was declared a day of thanksgiving for the fact that Parliament was well and safe. Guy Fawkes and co. were summarily executed for their planned crimes, and ever since, England has celebrated in some shape or form. These days, it's celebrated with bonfires and fireworks.

You may not know it, but you know what Guy Fawkes looks like:

That's right, the V for Vendetta comic/movie guy and/or the Anonymous masks are both based on the likeness of Guy Fawkes. Today, some people look to him not as a domestic religious extremist terrorist, but as a folk hero or a freedom fighter. He has gone from historical figure, to mythical figure, which means that his story will change to fit the times. Me? I'm a fan of historical accuracy, so I will probably continue to look at him as an extremist domestic terrorist who was going to use violence instead of words to solve his problems, but you are welcome to think of him however you will! And if you're not in England, you most likely won't think of him at all...Oh, and if you're looking for something with a connection to Bonfire night, try out the Sherlock episode entitled, The Empty Hearse. One of the major plot points takes place then, so you can feel connected to this holiday!
Source: Guy Fawkes History

The Food: Tomato Soup, Bangers and Wedges, and Flapjacks
So, what does one make for Guy Fawkes Day? There isn't a specific dish, so it's sort of up to you. I have a British co-worker, so I asked him for advice. He told me about his family's tradition to eat tomato soup out in the backyard while watching the fireworks. I have always wanted to make homemade tomato soup, so I thought this was the perfect time to try that out. As for the rest, I just looked around for traditional British food that would work well for this time of year. Comforting, homey foods. Bangers and Mash is one of those quintessential British dishes and I've never had it before, so it was a perfect time to try it out. And among the desserts I found, Flapjacks was so intriguing. I mean, for us, "flapjacks" is another word for "pancakes," but for them it's an oat-based dessert. It was a lot of cooking for one blog meal, but I couldn't narrow it down, so it just had to be done. And I regret nothing because they were all awesome!

First up is the tomato soup. I am a purist when it comes to tomato soup. I don't want basil or onions or garlic mixed in with it. I was raised on Campbell soups, so I want mine to taste like theirs, but minus the corn syrup. There is one other brand out there I have found that tastes almost like Campbell's but is dairy-friendly, but making homemade is fun! It wasn't nearly as complex as you might imagine it would be. If you've never done it before, you should give it a try!

Tomato Soup (Source Unknown):
6 ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 Tbsp. butter or olive oil(I used butter because I like the flavor better)
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup milk
Salt/Pepper/Butter(I didn't use this butter at the end as instructed, but you might want to)

Saute the tomatoes in the butter or oil until they are tender. Mix the tomatoes with the tomatoes with the chicken stock, and simmer for 20 minutes. Run the mixture through a blender or puree with a hand-held blender.

(My note: This ended up clogging my hand-held blender with pieces of tomato skins, and there were a lot of seeds, so I poured all of this through a sieve to take these out. It seemed less thick after that, but I didn't care because I didn't want to eat that stuff. But you don't have to do this if you don't want to.)
Put back on the heat, and add the milk and a pat of butter. Heat through. (Season with salt and pepper, to taste. If it tastes too acidic or one-note, regardless of how much salt or pepper you add, try adding a little bit of sugar. It really can help balance out the flavors with tomatoes. I remembered this when I was tasting my soup and couldn't figure out how to get it right, and I tasted it again after eating an orange Life-Saver and it made the flavors balance out! It's funny how you discover/rediscover stuff sometimes!)

Makes 4-6 servings.

Next up, is Bangers and Mash, or Sausages and Mashed Potatoes. Except I had some potato wedges left over from lunch and wanted to use them up so I used them instead. I have renamed it Bangers and Wedges, which I think is just as catchy as a name and I'm actually shocked that nobody makes it like this cuz it's really good this way too.

So, the Bangers are just a type of British sausage that aren't a breakfast sausage. They're rather mild-flavored. My store has them in the fresh meat section, and I would recommend looking around for some because any other sausages will have the wrong flavor profile for the dish. These are pretty good sausages, but as far as sausage goes, I have to give the prize to the Germans. Nobody does it better than them. Sorry, Englishfolk, but you're going to have to take second place on this one.

Since the recipe is from an online source, I will provide the link here: Bangers and Mash, but describe my process.

For the mashed potatoes, just make them the way you always do. There's nothing out of the ordinary about them. The recipe calls for you to cook the sausages by pan-frying them, but since they are fresh, I boiled them first. Just pan-frying never seems to fully cook fresh sausages and I am more comfortable boiling them first and then frying them.

I cut the gravy recipe down to 1/4th of the original and it turned out just fine. I also replaced the beef broth with chicken broth and was very pleased with how it turned out. It's a pretty simple gravy recipe, so don't feel nervous about it.

Here was the final result for my soup and main dish:

I tried to follow the advice of my coworker who says his family put slices of cheddar cheese on their soup and used pieces of bread to dip into the soup and cheese, but my cheese immediately sank to the bottom of the bowl. I spent a good chunk of money and bought the good cheese too, but it still sank. It was tasty though!

The meal is a bit monochromatic, I will admit, but the traditional vegetable side dish for Bangers and Mash is mushy peas and I don't eat peas. I think they're gross and I refused to have them on the plate. But, if you like peas, feel free to add them to your plate and I'm sure they'll add a lovely splash of color!

And now for dessert, or pudding. I don't know why these are called Flapjacks, but they are. And I was highly impressed with this recipe too. I found a really simple recipe online, here. And I'm going to be extra mean by not translating the amounts to whatever not-Metric is called. I happen to have an electronic scale that does grams, but they have online calculators too that you can use.

All the magic is done in the food processor. I honestly have no idea what you'd do for this if you don't have one. I would recommend buying one if you don't have one yet. It really is an invaluable kitchen tool. It was difficult to mix everything together because it was pretty full and the butter didn't want to move around. I had to shake the machine while it was running to get it to work and even then it didn't work entirely. I ended up pouring it into the prepared pan and mixed it with my hands before pressing it down.

I baked it for 20 minutes but it didn't seem done at the end of that time so I put it back in for a few more minutes. It was nice and golden by that time.

I scored it before baking, as instructed, by as you can see, they didn't hold up while baking and I had to cut them again. It hardens over time, but is still nice and chewy. Today I tried them but microwaved them for a few seconds first. That seemed to revive them perfectly.

These are awesome! They taste just like oatmeal cookies but without any flour. If there is no gluten in brown sugar or corn syrup, then these are actually gluten-free. If you love oatmeal cookies but can't have gluten, you will love these! You could even put raisins or chocolate chips in these too, if you wanted. In fact, the more I think about it, I think everything in this menu is actually gluten-free. There's no flour in anything, except maybe the sausages. You would have to look at the package, but I think mine had breadcrumbs. They might make gluten-free kinds, I'm not sure. At least the gravy is gluten-free.

I recommend all of these recipes. They are all spectacular! Eat them and then set something on fire!

Bratstickers-Fusion Cuisine at it's Finest

This idea came to me last week when I was thinking about how much I love potstickers and have always wanted to make them myself but haven't yet. For those of you unfamiliar with potstickers, they are also called Gyoza and you can find them at most teriyaki places and Chinese or Japanese restaurants. They originated from China but have been adopted by Japan over time. They are basically a round, thin piece of dough with filling inside. They are sealed up, set in a pan with both oil and water, and covered. They are steamed and fried simultaneously until they get soft and crispy. They are absolutely delicious.

As I was thinking about these, I started thinking about the other kinds of fillings that could be used for potstickers and that made me think of how much I love German food. Potsticker filling is basically ground pork, chopped cabbage, vegetables, and seasoning. Cabbage and pork are pretty much the basis of German cuisine. It was a perfect thing to combine into a potsticker. And normally I hate it when people combine two words into one in a sort of cutesy way, like "stoup" or "cronuts" but when you are using Bratwurst in a recipe, and "brat" rhymes with "pot," you sort of have to go for it. It works in this case. So, I present to you:

Bratstickers:
1 pkg. gyoza wrappers(usually found in the refrigerator section near the tofu at the grocery store. You won't use the entire package. Wrap well and use or freeze. These can also be made to make ravioli.)
1/2 can sauerkraut, not drained
2 bratwurts, casings removed (This would work with traditional brats or chicken brats. Safeway makes a fantastic chicken brat. Try it sometime, you won't regret it.)
1 tsp. caraway seeds
2/3 cup beer of choice, German preferably

Combine the sauerkraut, caraway seeds, and beer in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Stir occasionally for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat, drain well, and place in the refrigerator to cool off so you can handle it with your hands. You don't want to cook the meat at this stage, so let the sauerkraut cool off as much as you can to room temperature.

When the sauerkraut has cooled down enough to handle, place it on a large plate. Add the bratwurst and use your hands to mix together. This will take a couple minutes to combine well.

Take a gyoza wrapper and place a teaspoon of filling in the center of it.(A literal teaspoon, like the measuring spoon, not just a regular spoon.) I preferred to do this for as many gyoza wrappers would fit on a standard-size sheetpan, until there was no more room. I like to do all of one step before moving on to the next. I don't know if it really saves time, but it feels more efficient.

When you have no more room, take a small bowl of water and use a finger to wet one half of the gyoza wrapper's edge. Fold up the wrapper, carefully pressing out any air as you go. Press the edges together firmly. The above picture shows the unfolded and folded wrappers. Don't worry if your edges aren't crimped and pretty like a commercially-prepared potsticker, it will cook just fine.

Continue with filling, wetting, and folding the gyoza until you run out of filling. I only needed some of them for my dinner so I left the rest on the sheetpan and froze them. I packed them up and will have them available the next time I crave them!

To cook the Bratstickers, place about a Tablespoon of cooking oil and a half cup of water in a frying pan. Place the Bratstickers in the pan and cover with a lid or a piece of foil, which is what I did. Bring them to a simmer. Let them simmer until the water evaporates and then remove the lid and let fry in the remaining oil. If you have ever made frozen, commercially-prepared potstickers, you will notice that these will look much different. The dough is thinner and turns almost translucent and you have to be much gentler when turning them over to fry on all sides.

Don't crowd the pan too much because the Bratstickers stick to one another, making it difficult to turn them over. When they have turned nice and golden on all sides, they are done. Remove them to a plate and eat up! You can use a fork, but I tend to eat them with my hands.

As I suspected, these were fantastic! They were delicate, yet crispy, and the German flavors really came through. I was highly impressed with them. I will definitely continue experimenting with potstickers, now that I know they are not that difficult to make!

Dining-In: A Culinary Tour of America-Cuba, Kansas

 The Location: Cuba, Kansas

2013 population: 149; 96.8% white, 1.9% two or more races; per capita income: $19,062

Cuba was founded in 1868 by Southerners after the Civil War. It was named after the country in which one of the travelers had spent time and grown to love. In the 1870's, Czech immigrants settled there. In 1884, the town moved from its original location to a location closer to the newly-built railroad. It has since moved one more time to its present day location. The Czechs left a rich cultural heritage behind and today, the city proudly boasts this cultural contribution to America.

Cuba doesn't appear to have a terribly thrilling past, but what I find interesting about it is, it seems to be the perfect example of small-town America. Kansas is in the center of our country, and was once a hub of farming communities. Today, though, big agriculture business has wiped out most of these small towns, making them truly a dying breed. As young people leave in search of more interesting activities or to increase their chances of financial success, and as the older folks who stayed behind begin to die off, these towns are dwindling. Some might think that we should be allowed to die out and move on with the future, but I think it's really quite sad. Some of these towns at least, should be preserved. For so long, states like Kansas were responsible for feeding this nation, and it was the toil and sweat of hardworking people who fed us. I'd say it's time we gave back to them. Perhaps, like the Czech immigrants who came to Cuba so long ago and infused the town with their culture, it's time for a new group of people to come and help Cuba to thrive again. New blood, as it were. I can think of one particular group of people in desperate need of a place to live right now, but that's a topic for my other blog...

The Food: Klobasnek and Kolache
Kolache is a Czech food, and Klobasnek is an American invention that is a savory take on the Kolache. Though the Klobasnek hails from Texas, I am using it for the state of Kansas because I wanted to focus on Czech food and wanted a savory item to balance out the sweetness of the Kolache. Kolache are a cross between a cookie and a bread. Its bread dough that is rolled thin and filled with some type of sweet filling and then baked. They come out of the oven looking a bit like a cookie, but still have a bread-like texture. Klobasnek are sausage and cheese rolls made with a savory Kolache dough. The recipes I used came from the internet and are so long that I won't put them here. I will include the links in the sources section and write up my experience in making them.

I made both recipes concurrently, so I will write up the experience all in one section, rather than one recipe at a time. First up was the Kolache-or, the trouble-maker dough.

So, this was a trouble maker from start to finish. First off was the adventure of buying poppy seeds for one of the fillings. I made three fillings for these: a poppy seed, an apricot, and a blueberry filling. I have never cooked with poppy seeds before, but have seen them used in a lot of Eastern European baking that I knew I wanted to try it out. I went to Fred Meyer and luckily they had poppy seeds in their bulk spice section, so I got a small bag, about one cup worth. Now, these run a little expensive, about $13 a pound, which makes sense because poppy seeds are so light. I bought a few other items at the store and when the checker told me the amount right as I ran my credit card through, I knew $41 was way too much for the poppy seeds, the lemon, the orange, and the croissant I had purchased. It was too late though, the transaction had gone through. I thought maybe they were more expensive than I had though, maybe I'd misread the label. I looked at the receipt though, and noticed they'd come in as nearly three pounds of poppy seeds! There was no way that small bag was three pounds. Luckily the customer service area was empty and the woman there was very nice. She reweighed the bag, which actually came in at a third of a pound, and discounted me the $32 overcharge! Easy peasy, and then I was on my way.

Fast forward to the afternoon when I'm finally going to start these blog items, to about 3:30pm. You know, there's a reason people make bread earlier in the day, but I thought, how bad can it be? This is plenty of time! Wrong! I did not pull the last set of Kolache out of the oven till about 9:30pm last night...The moral of that story is, you don't have to get up at 2 in the morning maybe, but do start a bit earlier in the day than I did. You'll thank yourself later.

So, first off, the yeast wouldn't dissolve in the milk. I think I let the milk that I heated cool off too much because I was afraid it was too hot. So, I pour most of the milk, minus the chunks of yeast, back in the pan and heat it up again. Then I put it in the bowl with the yeast and it still won't melt! I have never had this happen before. It wasn't expired yeast, I checked the date. I finally used my fingers(with gloves on) to sort of mash the yeast into the milk and force it to dissolve. Fun, fun, fun!

After that time, I went about the recipe exactly as it was written. I had set the stick of butter on the stove to soften. It was perfectly soft and ready to use. The only problem? I forgot to put it in the dough! So, I am kneading this dough that is stiff as heck and would only let about half the flour absorb into it. I finally gave up trying, greased the bowl, covered it, and moved it to the stove to let it get warm for the first rise, and see the stick of butter sitting there! What do I do to fix this? I was pretty sure that leaving it out with be an absolute disaster, so I had to figure out a way to get that butter into an already-formed dough. I was not about to start over, so I took the bowl back to the counter, unwrapped the butter and smashed it into the dough. Literally. And then I kneaded it as best I could, while sort of tearing the dough from the inside and letting the butter incorporate all the way into the center. I didn't want it to turn out like a croissant dough, where the butter layers remain distinct from the dough. I just worked and reworked it, while adding more flour to absorb the extra fat. Finally, it looked halfway decent, but I'm afraid it never quite recovered. That plus the earlier yeast issue meant that I could never get it to rise quite as much as I had hoped it would.

While that dough was rising, I started on the Klobasnek dough, or, the well-behaved dough. This dough was a dream, and everything the Kolache dough was not. It rose easily and fully and was soft and easy to handle.

While both doughs were rising, I worked on the three fillings for the Kolache. I made half batches of what the recipe calls for and ended up with extras for the poppy seed and the apricot fillings. The blueberry filling was just enough. I recommend making quarter batches for the apricot and poppy seed fillings, unless you plan on using it for all the Kolache. For all of the fillings, I replaced the sugar with an equal amount of unsweetened applesauce and I think all of them turned out just fine. You would never know unless I told you. The blueberry filling was very straight forward and cooked up very nicely. The poppy seed filling was interesting because I had to grind the seeds up first, using my spice grinder. Did you know that poppy seeds are filled with oil? I did not, and found this out when I ground them up and they started clumping together. The oil has a very distinct smell and scent, one that I am sure most of us are unfamiliar with, since most of us only eat them on our everything bagels or mixed into muffins. The apricot filling was boiled for a while and then I used my hand-held blender to puree it into a sauce.

In this picture, you can see all the fillings, and the doughs while they rise. The blueberry is on the left, and the poppy seed filling is on the right. The Kolache dough is in the metal bowl, and the Klobasnek dough is in the blue bowl. You can clearly see the difference in how they are rising.

For the Klobasnek dough, you mix a few of the dough ingredients first and let it sit for a half hour before adding the next set of ingredients and letting it sit for it's first rise. After that first rise, I punched it down and divided it up into 8 equal pieces. You roll them or stretch them out into small rounds, like little pizza doughs, then place a Tablespoon or two of shredded cheddar cheese in the center. Top that with a piece of sausage. I had Polish sausages that are basically in the shape of hotdogs, so I thawed two of them and cut them up into quarters, once lengthwise, and once widthwise so there would be a good amount of sausage in each one. Then you roll them up, pinch the edges to seal them, and set them on a greased sheet pan to rise the second time.

I managed to stick all of them on one sheet pan. The sides on some of them did end up touching some of the others, but it all baked up just fine.

For the Kolache dough, after its first rise, I punched it down and kneaded it some more, while adding more flour, because of all the mishaps it had had, it was still a little greasy. It looked much better after adding more flour. This dough is divided in half and each half is rolled out as thinly as you can get. Then you use a cookie cutter, or I used a glass, and cut out rounds. It's supposed to make 24, and mine might have if it had cooperated better, but mine only made 21, and the last few times of rerolling it were really difficult. The dough did not want to stretch out anymore, so some of them were pretty sad-looking. Those rounds were placed on greased baking sheets and set aside for their second rise. I did seven on each pan and did not want to dirty yet a fourth pan, so I only put two sets on the pans first and let the last set sit on the counter to rise.

After their second rise, I used my hands to press down the center of each Kolache and make a space for the filling to go. I made 7 of each flavor, putting the filling in before you bake, so that it all bakes together.

I didn't follow the egg glaze or the posipka recipes for these exactly, but made it work for what I had on hand. The Klobasnek dough called for two egg yolks, so I had two egg whites left over, so I threw some milk into them and mixed them and used that as the glaze and I think it worked just fine. And my sister had some sugar and cinnamon mixed for toast, so I just sprinkled some of that on over the glaze and it was perfect.

After the Klobasnek had finished their second rise, I finally was able to bake them, while working on the Kolache. Before you put the Klobasnek in the oven, you brush them in melted butter. When they're done and you've taken them out of the oven, you brush them in more melted butter while they're still hot.

OMG, these things were fantastic! The bread dough was the softest I think I've ever had in my life and the cheese and sausage were ridiculous. I ate two of them last night! I ate them while I was baking the Kolache, which I did one batch at a time, rather than trying to use two racks and hoping the bottom one didn't burn. They each took 12 minutes to bake and turned out amazing! I liked the blueberry and apricot ones the best. I didn't care for the flavor of the poppy seed filling. It was just too strong of a floral flavor for me. Since I don't have any experience with this filling, I have no basis of comparison, so I don't know if it's supposed to be that way, or if I did something wrong. Maybe if I had been raised with that flavor, I would like it more. But I am very excited that I tried it out and got to see just how that filling is made! I had no idea they grind up the seeds.

So that's all of it, in its glory, about six hours after I started...My feet and back were so sore and then I still had to deal with packaging it all up for people! Many of the Kolache were placed on a plate and I froze them to take to my family's Thanksgiving dinner this week, so they will get a chance to taste them all! Some are being shared with my parents today and some will go to work tomorrow for a few people to try them out, but the rest of the Klobasnek are mine!! I froze them so I can have them whenever I want!

During the last part of this, I of course had to watch The Wizard of Oz. I mean, Toto and Dorothy might not have been in Kansas anymore, but that's where I was visiting, and so it was a must.

This was quite an adventure, trying to make two completely different bread-dough based items at the same time. I have never tried that before, and I have never started it so late in the day before, either. I would highly recommend starting a bit earlier in the day for these, especially if you are making both. They were both fantastic, though, so if you feel confident in your bread-making skills, and have never made these before, you really ought to try them out. You'll come away from it asking yourself where these have been your whole life!

Sources:
Klobasnek Recipe

Kolache Recipe

Cuba City Website

City Map

City Pic

City Info1

City Info2

City Stats

Dining-In: A Culinary Tour of America-Bristol, Rhode Island

 The Location: Bristol, Rhode Island

2010 census: 22,954; 94.0% white, 2% Hispanic. 2013 per capita income: $30,527.

Today, the city is home to large Italian, Azorean, and Portuguese-American populations, but prior to the European invasion, the land was home to the Wampanoag and Narragansett Native American tribes. Bristol was where the first battle in the King Phillip's War, a war between the Native population and the European settlers, took place in 1675. The Native Americans eventually lost this war, and this would lead to more wide-spread colonization of the area by Europeans.

Bristol was originally part of Massachusetts before being transferred to the Rhode Island colony in 1747. Despite being a northern town, due to the fact that it was a successful port town, it became a center for the slave trade. During the Revolutionary War, Bristol was attacked twice by the British navy.

Claim to Fame: Bristol is the home of the oldest 4th of July celebration in the United States. It was started in 1785 by Reverend Henry Wight of the First Congregational Church. The parade that still happens today, was started in the early 1800's. Today, the celebrations begin on Flag Day in June, and last through Labor Day weekend. You might be asking me, why didn't you do this place for 4th of July? What a perfect opportunity that you missed! Well, there are two very good reasons. One, I didn't do a 4th of July post. And two, I didn't know about this until afterwards. This would have been a perfect location to do a 4th of July post. The other option was Delaware, which was the first colony of the United States. But I ended up skipping the 4th, so it doesn't matter now!

The Food: Rhode Island Johnny Cake with Raspberry Syrup, and Green Onion and Apple Sausage
Besides seafood, the one item I kept coming across for Rhode Island, was the Johnny cake. For those of you who are not familiar with the term or have never read the Little House on the Prairie books, a Johnny cake is basically a cross between cornbread and a pancake. They are a very simple, very basic, humble food that can be made quickly and with very little preparation. I had my pick of recipes, but chose one from a cookbook I have never had the opportunity to use before. One of the things I like to collect from used book stores is the Time/Life cookbook collection that came out in the 60's and 70's. Each one is a large, hardback book with various regions of the United States and the world. The one I used was specifically for Northeastern foods of the United States. These are fun books. If you can get your hands on them, I highly recommend them. I will write out the recipe the way the book says, but will add some notes based on my experience.

Rhode Island Johnny Cake
1 cup white cornmeal(I used yellow because that's what I had on hand. Some will say this isn't as authentic, but that's ok.)
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. butter, softened, plus 1/4 cup butter, melted, plus 4 butter pats
1 cup boiling water
1/4-1/2 cup milk
Syrup

Combine the cornmeal, salt, and softened butter in a deep bowl. Stirring constantly, pour in the water in a thin stream. When the butter melts and the liquid is absorbed, add 1/4 cup milk. (I made a half batch of this and noticed that the liquid didn't absorb very well into the cornmeal. I ended up having to add more cornmeal to absorb it all. It probably ended up being a 2:1 ratio of cornmeal to liquid, rather than 1:1.) Beat until the batter holds its shape lightly with a spoon. If necessary, add more milk by the teaspoonful.
Heat a skillet or griddle over moderate heat until hot. Brush the skillet lightly with melted butter. To form each cake, ladle 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan. Cook 1-2 cakes at a time, leaving enough space so that they can spread into 5" rounds. Fry them for 3 minutes on each side, or until they are golden and crisp around the edges. As they brown, transfer the johnny cakes to a heated plate and drape with foil to keep them warm while you cook the rest, brushing the pan with melted butter as necessary. If the batter thickens, thin it with an additional tablespoon of milk.

Top each cake with half a pat of butter and syrup. Serve at once.
Makes 8 cakes

These were so easy to make. There is no leavening agent in them, so I suppose technically, a person could make and eat these during Passover if they wanted to. They are also gluten free, and I would imagine you could use any alternative milk you wanted and use oil instead of butter to make them vegan. You could probably also fry these in bacon grease if you wanted to impart more flavor to them. They're a very plain, very basic food and I definitely think they were better with the syrup I made.

Raspberry Syrup
Ok, I'll admit, this was more of a sauce than a syrup, but it was really delicious! I just made it up as I went, so this is actually one of my own creations! Here is the recipe:
1 pt. raspberries, washed
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Wash the raspberries, but don't drain all the excess water off. Keep some of it and place all of the berries in a small saucepan. Combine with the applesauce and heat on medium until the raspberries are hot enough to break apart when stirred with a spoon. Once they are broken apart, turn off the heat and add the cinnamon. Mix well and set aside until ready to serve the johnny cakes.

This was really good. Just sweet and tart enough but not overpoweringly so. This could probably also act as jam for toast if you have any leftovers, like I do. Or over ice cream, if you like.

To go with the johnny cakes, I made homemade sausage. I found this recipe in my card collection, but I don't know the original source. It turns out it's not that hard to make sausage from scratch! I had ground pork last weekend that needed to be used before this week, so I actually made the sausage, formed the patties, and froze them last weekend, but didn't try them until tonight. Here's a tip I learned the hard way: When freezing them in one large package, put a layer of foil or plastic wrap between each patty or you'll have to thaw all of it and chisel them apart to use...

Green Onion and Apple Sausage
1 1/2 lb. ground pork
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp. white pepper(I don't have white pepper, so I left this out.)
1 1/2 tsp. dried sage, crushed
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 cooking apple, cored, peeled, and finely chopped
1 Tbsp. butter

In a large bowl, combine pork, salt, peppers, sage, green onions, and chopped apple. Mix thoroughly and form into six 3/4" thick patties. (At this point, they can be wrapped and frozen, if you want.)

In a large, heavy skillet, melt butter. Cook patties in butter until sausages are brown on both sides, and centers are no longer pink (10-12 minutes total).
Makes 6

This recipe is also easy to cut in half, which is what I did. Since I had to thaw all of them, I will be having the rest over the next couple days, which is fine, because this was really rather tasty! I do think it could have used a smidgen more salt than it called for, and my sage is rather old, so it could have been "sagier" if I'd had fresher.

I served this with scrambled eggs topped with cheese for a really decadent and fancy breakfast for dinner. Making breakfast food is difficult because timing is so important. Everything has to be done all at the same time in hopes of serving it all hot on the same plate. The cakes were finished first, so I kept them under foil. A few minutes later, the eggs were done and then the sausage at the last minute. and it was all pretty darned delicious! I definitely don't have time to cook like this during the week for my breakfast, so this is a special weekend treat. I cooked everything in its own pan, so it does create several dishes to wash, but it was worth it!

I definitely recommend these recipes, but honestly, the real stand out was the raspberry syrup. It was ridiculously easy to make and tasted so good! You really do need to try it out!

Sources:
City Map

City Pic

Johnny Cake History

4th of July History

City History-This has some really amazing pictures in it