Feasts and Festivals: St. Patrick's Day

Corned Beef and Cabbage, Champ and Soda Bread (and scotch and soda*)

Unlike other Feasts and Festivals, where I usually prepare everything up to a week in advance so I can blog about it (sorry for spoiling the magic), Paul and I had friends over today to share in our St. Patrick's Day celebration, so we actually had our feast on the correct day. Doesn't happen often! We had such a great time--I'm looking forward to next year.

I did as much as I possibly could in advance, since there are always things that come up at the last minute. The potatoes (five pounds!) for Champ were boiled and mashed yesterday afternoon so that was finished along with the Gingerbread Bundt Cake I made Thursday. I used semisweet instead of dark chocolate (because that's what I had) and I used sifted sprouted whole-wheat flour, raw sugar and pasture butter because why not try to get some nutrition into a cake, right? You wouldn't know it to taste it, though.

Tea and Gingerbread Bundt Cake

I "corned" the beef myself, but I couldn't find any saltpetre, so it's not really corned at all. I just spread a brisket with an obscene amount of salt and then topped that with brown sugar and left it in the fridge for several days. Boiling the beef and cabbage had to be left until this morning (although it's very little work) and I still had to make Soda Bread and finish up the Champ, but all-in-all, it was low stress.

However, I did have a disaster with the cake and part of it stuck to the damned Bundt tin. The tin was non-stick plus I buttered it and floured it. I guess it was just meant to be. The cake still tastes good, though. I'll definitely bake it again--in a different pan.

"Corned" Beef and Cabbage

5 lb brisket
salt
brown sugar

4 carrots, peeled
2 onions, peeled
1 teaspoon English mustard powder
a couple sprigs thyme
a couple sprigs parsley
1/2 dozen cloves and handful of peppercorns
2 cabbages, outer leaves removed, quartered

Several days in advance, coat the brisket with 1/4" of salt then top that with a layer of brown sugar. Leave in a covered container in the refrigerator.

Three hours before cooking, soak the brisket in a pot of cold water. This is so you'll be able to use the beef cooking liquid for soups.

Take the brisket out of the soaking water (discard the water) and place in a large dutch oven or stock pot with the remaining ingredients except for the cabbage. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil, skimming off any scum. Turn down heat and simmer gently, covered, for 30 minutes per pound (2 1/2 hours in this case), adding the quartered cabbages for the last hour.

Place the beef and cabbage on a serving platter. Strain the cooking liquid into containers and refrigerate (or freeze) for later use.

serves 10

Adapted from "Corned Beef and Cabbage" in Theodora FitzGibbon, A Taste of Ireland (New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1996), 101 and "Corned Beef and Cabbage" in Darina Allen, The Festive Food of Ireland (Schull: Roberts Rinehart, 1992), 13.

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*I know, I know--totally not Irish. I admit it. However, Paul and I had to drive over to Ace Hardware (time to replace our air filters) and the bar across the street had a bagpiper. He was playing "Scotland the Brave." Totally Irish, right? Then, he followed it up with the Star Wars theme, so I guess it wasn't supposed to be an Irish music performance after all...

Blanche Fury Tea Break: Staffordshire Fruitcake

Picture Show magazine cover featuring Valerie Hobson and Stewart Granger

Blanche Fury is the story of poor relation Blanche Fullerton (Valerie Hobson) who arrives at Clare Hall to be her young cousin's governess. Blanche quickly attracts the attention of her pupil's father, Laurence Fury (Michael Gough) and the two are soon married. However, Blanche can't keep herself away from Philip Thorn (Stewart Granger), the illegitimate son of the former master of Clare Hall, who will stop at nothing to make that grand estate his own.

Blanche Fury is set near Stafford in Staffordshire. Lucky me, I had a recipe I wanted to try for Staffordshire Fruitcake. The terrible thing is that I had to wait two weeks to try my creation. Cruelty.

Staffordshire Fruitcake

1/2 cup sprouted barley flour
1 1/2 cups sprouted whole-wheat flour
1 1/3 cups almond meal
1 lb currants
10 tablespoons soft butter
3/4 cup demerara sugar
4 eggs

1 teaspoon mace

1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon black treacle or molasses
1/3 cup brandy
zest of 1 lemon
1 orange

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Line an 8" square cake tin with parchment paper and set aside.

Sift the barley flour and whole-wheat flour into a mixing bowl, leaving any large pieces of bran behind. If you leave these in, they'll give the cake a sawdust texture. You don't want that. Stir in the almond meal. Set aside.

Pour the currants into a bowl, breaking up any that have stuck together. Toss with a couple tablespoons of flour, just enough to coat the currants. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, following each with a tablespoon of flour mixture. Beat in the rest of the flour mixture in a few additions, adding the mace and baking powder with the last addition. Beat in the treacle, brandy, lemon zest and orange zest. Add juice from the orange, as needed, to make the batter a dropping consistency. Fold in the currants, combining well and making sure the flour coating the currants is mixed into the batter. Spoon batter into prepared tin and level. Bake in the middle of the oven for 1 to 1 1/4 hours or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool completely and store in an airtight container for two weeks before cutting and serving.

Adapted from "Staffordshire Fruitcake" in Laura Mason, The National Trust Farmhouse Cookbook (London: National Trust Books, 2009), 258.

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About ingredients:

• If you use non-sprouted flours, you'll probably need less liquid. Sprouted flours are drier. Be sure not to skip the sifting of the sprouted flours. Yes, it removes some of the nutrients but I think it's worth it for the improved texture. No one likes sawdust! The sprouted wheat and barley flours I used are from To Your Health. Bob's Red Mill makes (not sprouted) stone-ground wheat flour and barley flour. The barley flour isn't required--you could use all wheat.
• I found the almond meal in the refrigerated raw nut section of my local health-food store.
• If you can't find currants, use raisins.
• The butter I used is a pasture butter which is salted.
• If you can't find mace, use nutmeg. (You may need less.)

Valerie Hobson takes a tea break on the set of Blanche Fury

Valerie Hobson and Stewart Granger take a tea break; this time on the Dunstable Downs

Blanche Fury is currently available on Netflix streaming.

Reading and Recipes: Life and Death of the Wicked Lady Skelton

Yet again at the Wichita recycling center's book section, I found a copy of  Magdalen King-Hall's The Life and Death of the Wicked Lady Skelton, not even knowing it was the source material for the Gainsborough film The Wicked Lady. The book is in really disgusting shape and felt damp the entire time I was reading it (hopefully it hasn't given me some dread mold-borne disease). However, it was free and actually entertaining. How I love going to the recycling center. The Life and Death of the Wicked Lady Skelton is a about a bored 17th-century noblewoman who seeks excitement as a part-time highway(wo)man.  It's a quick read and a lot of fun. Shelve it between Frenchman's Creek and Forever Amber.

So what I really wanted to make was a pigeon pie. It's mentioned several times in the book, along with lots of possets and syllabubs. King-Hall frequently tells her readers what's eaten in a particular scene. As you might guess, I like that about her. It kept me busy making notes the entire time I was reading. Unfortunately, there were no pigeons to be found save for those in my yard and it's illegal to shoot them, although I guess I could have wrung their necks but I'm not quite ready for that. So, I moved on to Plan B--something with rosemary, which is a recurring theme in the novel.

"...rosemary for the bride, rosemary for the corpse, symbol of the unity underlying all life and death" (269).

Brussels Sprouts with Rosemary Cream

1 lb Brussels sprouts, trimmed and outer leaves removed (large sprouts halved)
1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1 sprig rosemary
juice from 1 lemon
salt
pepper

Boil the sprouts in salted water for ten minutes. Drain.

Meanwhile, heat the sour cream in a small saucepan over low heat. Mince the leaves from the rosemary and add them to the sour cream along with the lemon juice. Stir and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over the sprouts.

Serves 4

Inspired by "Sprout Tops with Cream, Lemon and Rosemary" in Rose Prince, The New English Kitchen (London: Fourth Estate, 2005), 341.

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 Clockwise from top left: Margaret Lockwood publicity photo, Margaret Lockwood on horseback, Margaret Lockwood and James Mason, Margaret Lockwood and Patricia Roc

The film version, The Wicked Lady (1945), is quite a bit different from the book, but the changes actually do work pretty well. To my knowledge there's never been a U.S. video release of the movie (on VHS or DVD), but I didn't have too much trouble finding it on--ahem--YouTube. If you're lucky enough to have a region-free DVD player, there are three region 2 releases (one is part of the Margaret Lockwood collection and another is part of a Rank 70th Anniversary collection). I keep telling Paul I need a region-free DVD player. How else am I supposed to get to see The Man in Grey? Doesn't it look ridiculous yet awesome?

Go check out this 1980 interview with Margaret Lockwood--she's a hoot. There's quite a bit about The Wicked Lady.

 Michael Rennie and Margaret Lockwood

Life This Week: March 6, 1939

 

Stills from Doctor Macro

This week's "Movie of the Week" is actually a film entitled Café Society, which I can't locate anywhere. No problem--there are several other movies mentioned in this issue. However, the only one that isn't a future "Movie of the Week" is The Little Princess. I'd been avoiding Shirley Temple movies since I subjected myself to The Little Colonel. I don't think The Little Princess was quite as bad as The Little Colonel, although I did fast-forward through the "ballet" and found myself sympathizing with nasty headmistress Miss Minchin. Excepting The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, I'm refusing to watch any more Shirley Temple movies. Sorry folks, there's an end to it.

As usual, I can't resist the Baker's Chocolate ad. Remember--"if you're baking a cake to please the men in your family, you can't go wrong with this recipe of Sue's." As dated and sexist as it seems, it's not too difficult to impress a group of men with a homemade chocolate cake. It's their wives you have to worry about...

No offense to Sue, but I didn't try her recipe--just her idea. Remember I had half a cake in my freezer? Well, I just whipped up some coffee frosting to go with it. I used half of this recipe:

Coffee Frosting

3 tablespoons very soft butter*

2 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons brewed coffee (I just used what was left from breakfast.)

Cream butter then sift in sugar a bit at a time, beating well after each addition. Thin out with coffee. Use more sugar if frosting is too thin and more coffee if frosting is too thick. It should be "spreadable."

Enough for an 8" square cake or two 8" round layers

Adapted from "Coffee Frosting" in All About Home Baking (New York: General Foods Corporation, 1933), 109.

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*I've been using an organic, pasture butter which is only available salted. If you use unsalted butter, you'll need to add a pinch or two of salt. 

When Paul and I were cleaning out our kitchen cabinets a few weeks ago, we found one bag of powdered sugar and three boxes. I assure you I am not a buy-in-bulk-it's-on-sale kind of grocery shopper. The only thing I can figure out is that I was convinced I was out of powdered sugar on three separate occasions! When home economists say to check the pantry before making a grocery list, I guess they know what they're talking about!