Don’t want to drag the thread too far off topic, but we did something similar the other day, from VEFA’S KITCHEN, the enormous Greek cookbook published by Phaidon. Absolutely delicious.
Cut pork loin into kebabs, skewer, and season with salt, pepper, and oregano. While they’re grilling, brush some pita or naan with olive oil and set alongside to heat through.
Cut the flatbreads into sections on each diner’s plate, then drizzle with a little hot stock to soften. Spoon a couple tblsp of thick Greek yogurt over the bread, then top with a portion of the grilled pork. Finally, spoon a simple tomato sauce – just garlic, oil, tomatoes, salt & pepper – over all.
Yes, but with French’s French Fried Onions on top rather than crushed potato chips. I don’t make it very often anymore due to the fact that I usually end up throwing half of it out. I need to cut my recipe down by about a third, my recipe just makes too much for me and the husband.
Maybe not your grandparents but it doesn’t apply to all. Some people use the phrase “like your grandmother used to make” as a compliment. That is an insult to me. Both of my grandmothers were horrible cooks. One barely cooked at all because she was usually passed out drunk or fighting with someone and the other was sweet as could be but decent cooking simply wasn’t happening unless it came straight out of a box and, even then, she still misread the directions about half the time. The nice grandmother made me bastardized versions of many foods on that list. I ate them happily because it was the late 70’s/early 80’s and we simply didn’t know any better back then.
Sorry to hear that. My maternal grandmother made the best Pierogi in the world. And that is not just personal opinion, they won awards. Mind you some of her boiled to death “greens” were not so great. Farm cooking, from the Old Country.
One of my favorite movies ever is ‘Dinner At Eight’ (1933) and ‘cook’ labors to make a molded aspic of a British Lion for visiting uppercrust Englishmen. Aspics have long been a feature of classic French cuisine, using truffles and such for decoration. They’re the kind of thing that would be served when the Prince of Wales was visiting, say, Downton Abbey.
I’m going to call bull on this. Anyone who has ever cooked with bones knows about gelatin. Gelatin has been used as a meat preservative for a long time. Fancy “French” aspic was a fad, but meat held in gelatin was always a thing, and it didn’t need powdered gelatin.
Sure, making say, chicken flavored aspic is dirt simple. I’ve done it myself. The problem is making clear, flavorless aspic where you could have non-chicken things floating in it that didn’t taste like they were floating in chicken goo. It required further clarifying (I think egg whites were used, possibly other things) and thus an extra step and labor.
Powdered gelatin had all that labor and stuff already in it. Mix with hot water and go. Which is why modern aspic/gel recipes start with unflavored gelatin.
It’s the difference between starting instructions for roasted chicken with “Go to the butcher and get a dressed, whole chicken” vs. “chase down chicken, kill, pluck, butcher…”
Indeed it was, as confirmed by a book I have that touches on the subject. It’s a wonderful book that is sort of a combination of recipe book and Edwardian culinary history in which the authors provide recipes that try to reproduce the dishes from the surviving menus of the Titanic, relying a good deal on knowledge of the styles and cookery of the era for authenticity. They make pretty much exactly that statement as an explanation for why different kinds of aspics were regarded as such delicacies before the wide availability of commercial gelatin.
sitchensis is certainly correct that various types of jellied dishes are not necessarily difficult to make – there is a type of traditional jellied pork dish that is common in eastern European countries, for instance, that is considered a rustic country food and has been made for ages, but this is not the same as making a refined aspic for other foods, especially delicate ones.
PBS ran Fannie’s Last Supper recently. In which outgoing America’s Test Kitchen host Chris Kimball hosted a dinner based on a menu from Fannie Farmer’s cookbook published at the end of the 19th century. He had a kitchen full of skilled chefs (just like on his show)–who used traditional methods. Including a wood-burning stove. The link includes the gelatin recipe made from calf hooves. Commercial gelatin was invented about that era–for households with smaller staffs. Interesting show.
My own researches extend back to 1961’s edition of the New York Times Cookbook. Including rumaki like Betty Draper served. Some recipes are quite rich–to be reworked with less butter & cream or just served as very special treats. And they certainly cooked the hell out of spinach. Still, it’s got some fine recipes. My Grandma’s cookbooks reflect Depression poverty & Wartime rationing–so, not so fine. Although she was an excellent cook.
Among items mentioned in previous posts–some will not be missed. But quiche is still popular–not as “cuisine”–but as a hearty brunch or lunch dish. Several neighborhood place prepare “fancy” deviled eggs as appetizers; one tops each one with a freshly fried oyster. Liver & onions are served at Luby’s cafeteria; they are popular soul food. Authentic Dirty Rice includes chicken livers & gizzards–alas, blander versions with only sausage or even ground beef are also common. Fancy cocktails? They are several spots featuring them–including that artisanal Tiki Bar…
my grandmother used to make it all the time. I liked it, but looking back she’d overcook it too. not completely dry, but definitely chewy.
basically it’s been pretty common in cities which had large populations of Eastern European immigrants, basically the Coal and Rust Belts. My grandparents were from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. It’s traditionally made of meat scraps/trimmings which could have been anything except usually not chicken. IIRC they hadn’t moved to the ruthlessly efficient and cheap way we raise chickens today, so chicken wasn’t as common or inexpensive as now.
anymore, if you find pre-assembled city chicken in a Polish meat market, it’s typically just cubed pork on a skewer.
Me too growing up. For maximum confusion, at some point in Northern New Jersey Sloppy Joe also came to mean a triple decker turkey sandwich with cole slow and Russian dressing but it will always be the Manwich type to me.
I thought of another one: in the 90s you couldn’t go out to eat without seeing someone get served a Fajita served in a sizzling pan. It was a whole big production. That seems gone for a long time now.
Those dishes were, and to some extent still are standards on the “cheap banquet” circuit. Go to a county Academic decathlon banquet in a “lesser” county sometime and that’s what you will be served. Same-same at the local Oddfellows banquet. There is a trend towards healthier, less “gloppy” food, but catering menus in the hinterlands change slowly.
Oh man, we had pierogies last night – using my grandmother’s recipe. Polish/Slavic food is the best. (Of course, my grandmother also used canned vegetables – yick)
I need to cut my recipe down by about a third, my recipe just makes too much for me and the husband.