Visions of Sugarplums

There was a bit of confusion earlier, but my Visions of Sugarplums post is on Lovely. Please go check it out there and please stay tuned for more from The Past on a Plate in the new year.

Vincent Price Cookalong

Come check out what I made for Jenny's Vincent Price cookalong:

Dinner and a Movie: Cold Comfort Farm

Remember going to the video rental store? Sometimes Blockbuster could come up trumps. I love the convenience of Netflix but sometimes I miss just browsing. Thanks to browsing, I discovered Cold Comfort Farm in the "New Releases" section back in 1996 and rented it because I recognized Kate Beckinsale from Much Ado About Nothing and I already had a penchant for period pieces.

Cold Comfort Farm is a really good example of when a film adaptation works. I actually think I might like the movie better than the book! The most obvious reason why is the cast, which includes Joanna Lumley, Eileen Atkins, Rufus Sewell, Stephen Fry, and Ian McKellen. Cold Comfort Farm is wonderful fun (Joanna Lumley's character Mrs Smiley would tell me to say it's "amusing" instead of "fun") and still makes me laugh after at least a dozen viewings. I never get tired of watching Flora Poste (Kate Beckinsale) attempt to tidy up her appalling country relatives and evade the advances of Mr. Meyerburg (Stephen Fry), the libidinous Lawrentian.

From Cold Comfort to deliciously warm comfort...

This is the old and oversized, warm and extremely cuddly sweater of supper dishes. Isn't there just something supremely satisfying and enveloping about anything au gratin? I like that this recipe has lovely fresh green herbs, which lend a nice freshness.

POTATO GRATIN

2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 eggs
1 ¼ cups (½ Imperial pint) heavy cream
1 ½ lbs waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into matchsticks
4 oz. hard cheese, grated (I use a mixture of Gruyère and Cheddar.)
1 tablespoon parsley, minced
1 tablespoon chives, minced
2 tablespoons thyme leaves, minced
nutmeg, salt, and pepper

Place a baking sheet in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375º Fahrenheit. Butter a large oval gratin dish and set aside. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook until translucent, stirring occasionally and being careful to turn down the heat if the onions threaten to brown. Stir in the minced garlic and cook just until garlic is fragrant and remove pan from the heat.

Beat together the eggs and cream in a very large mixing bowl. Stir in the potatoes, half the cheese, all the herbs, and season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Add the onions and garlic and stir to combine. Pour mixture into prepared gratin dish and sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top. Place gratin on top of the baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 50 minutes, or until nicely browned.

Serves 4 to 6

Adapted from “Creamy Potato Gratin with Herbs” in Hilaire Walden, ed., Traditional British Cooking (London: Hermes House, 1997), 166.

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Cold Comfort Farm photo source

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Diana Mosley

Madame Yevonde, The Honourable Mrs Bryan Guinness as Venus (1935)

You may know that Paul and I recently bought a house. During our move, we took a bunch of books over to the used bookstore and I happened to come across a copy of Diana Mosley: A Biography of the Glamorous Mitford Sister Who Became Hitler's Friend and Married the Leader of Britain's Fascists. Even though we were actually at the bookstore to reduce the number of books in our house, I had to have it. I love books about interwar socialites. I am a frivolous person.

I honestly didn't much sympathize with Diana (not just the politics, though goodness knows, those were unsympathetic enough) and none of the Mitfords emerge looking like very nice people. Did you know that Nancy Mitford actually supported Diana's wartime imprisonment? Not very sisterly behavior. However, liking the characters doesn't have to prevent one from liking a book. I really found the whole thing quite fascinating. I know the book is titled Diana Mosley but I could have gobbled up more about Diana's Mitford upbringing and her society role as the wife of Bryan Guinness. See? I definitely like the amusing, frivolous bits.

So here's the nit I have to pick: Jan Dalley (the author of Diana Mosley) keeps describing Oswald Mosley's Valentino-esque looks. As if! If we're going to go around comparing him to film stars, Mosley is a total Fairbanks dead-ringer:

Left: Douglas Fairbanks / Right: Oswald Mosley

Aside from the facial features, the only other things the two had in common were fencing skills and marriages to blonde English socialites. Fairbanks's last wife was Sylvia Ashley, who had been married to Anthony Ashley-Cooper. She later married Clark Gable.

*****

I chose this recipe because it seems like just the sort of thing one might be served at a country house--it would look much grander if the fish still had their heads. Being landlocked, we take what we can get.

This is a quite simple (and quick) way to cook fish. Be sure to get trout that still has its skin--the flour coating makes it crisp and delicious--which helps keep the flesh moist.

Buttered Trout

2 trout, cleaned and gutted
2 tablespoons flour
salt and pepper
nutmeg
pinch of dry mustard
2 tablespoons butter
juice of 1/2 lemon

Sprinkle the trout (inside and outside) with a generous amount of salt. Cover and place in the refrigerator for an hour.

Mix the flour, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and mustard together in a shallow dish. Set aside. Wipe the interior and exterior of the trout well with a damp paper towel.

Dredge the trout in the seasoned flour and then fry in a large skillet in which the butter has been melted over medium-high heat. Cook the fish about 5 minutes per side, turning down the heat if the butter starts burning. The fish is ready as soon as the interior becomes opaque.

Place the cooked fish on warmed plates and pour the lemon juice into the hot pan. Stir into the butter and pour over the fish. Serve immediately with boiled potatoes and a green vegetable.

Serves 2

Adapted from Favourite New Forest Recipes.

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Katharine Hepburn's Super-Amazing Brownies

I love Katharine Hepburn's brownie recipe. I tried a KH brownie for the first time a few years ago at the café at Watermark Books and keep an eye out for them every time I'm there. I finally decided to make some at home. I've been meaning to share my Katharine Hepburn brownies since this summer when I took them to an Occupy Wichita meeting and pot-luck dinner* (where they were gobbled) but hadn't gotten around to it until I was reminded by Jenny and her KH brownies post. Frankly, they're too good to waste on strangers. Keep them all to yourself. They're crisp on top and ridiculously gooey in the middle. It's how brownies are supposed to be, otherwise you've just got chocolate cake on the one hand or fudge on the other. I've made a slight alteration from Miss Hepburn's original recipe and subbed sprouted whole-wheat flour for the all-purpose. It's only 1/4 cup so you'd never notice, but I figure it makes them much healthier. Right? Am I right?

Katharine Hepburn's Brownies

¼ lb unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 eggs, at room temperature, beaten
1 cup walnuts, chopped
¼ cup finely-milled sprouted-wheat flour

Preheat oven to 325˚ Fahrenheit. Grease an 8” x 8” pan, line with parchment paper, and then grease the parchment, as well. Set aside.

In a heavy-bottomed 2-quart saucepan over low heat, melt together the butter and chocolate, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. As soon as most of the chocolate is melted, remove from the heat and continue stirring while the remaining chocolate melts.

Stir in the vanilla, sugar, and salt. Beat in the eggs then stir in the walnuts and then the flour. Pour into the prepared pan and even out with the back of the spoon. Bake about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool brownies, in pan, on a cooling rack then cut into 9 squares. Enjoy!

Adapted from Saveur magazine's recipe.

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Movie poster from Wikipedia

So, while the brownies were in the oven, I had a chain thought to "I should really watch The Lion in Winter one more time before I decide whether to sell it back to the used book store." So, I watched it. I have to say that it's really not the greatest movie ever. I haven't taken it to the used book store, but I probably should go ahead and do that. Thing is, the movie always seems like a good idea but then I watch it and think, "why did I just bother to sit through that?" Now you know I love Katharine Hepburn, but there it is. The movie has its moments, but I really enjoyed the play more. (I had a friend in high school who played Prince John in the production, so I'm sure that made it more fun, too.)

Edwardian illustration of Eleanor of Aquitaine

I think the real-life Eleanor of Aquitaine was much more interesting than how she's portrayed in The Lion in Winter. I've had a soft spot for her since reading A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver as a pre-teen. If you'd like to know more about Eleanor, she's featured in the first episode of historian Helen Castor's She-Wolves: England's Early Queens, which is a nice rundown of medieval and Tudor political wrangling. I spent so much time studying British politics in school but I still get a kick out of it. I really like watching Parliamentary debates, too, especially when they get all heated and call each other things like "semi-house-trained polecat" and "pig's bladder on the end of a stick." Paul and I call each other those things all the time, typically with English accent and in a public place. Lord knows what the people at the hippie grocery store think of us.

I do love that between Netflix and my Amazon prime account, I can watch pretty much any British comedy or drama I want (just a few months later) but they need to get with it when it comes to educational programming. I'm tired of having to watch Lucy Worsley on YouTube! The last time we were in London we were flipping through channels and there was a guy who was getting paid to go around France and see how things were now compared with the write-up in an old guidebook. That is seriously my kind of television.

*What a disorganized mess! I say "dinner" but it was really just a few slices of watermelon, a very sad crudité platter, and a very very sad antipasti platter, if it could be called that. The contents of the "meat" and "cheese" appeared predominately petroleum-based. We were really only there for a film co-sponsored by the Sierra Club but the video quality was so bad that it gave me a migraine AND there was no air conditioning (it was 95 degrees!). I told Paul when we left that I wasn't surprised that conservatives seem to have the upper hand around here. Maybe it's just that they run the A/C?

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Feasts and Festivals: Harvest Home Seedcake

So, we're pretty much moved in to our new house. As I write this, I am waiting on delivery of my refrigerator. The house's previous owner wanted to sell me hers for $750! It was moldy and didn't even fit in the space. We're lucky she didn't expect us to pay separately for the rest of the appliances! Anyway, we've learned very quickly that owning a house is an adventure. Paul and I are still getting everything sorted and decorated, so I hope to show you some photos soon. I did take some time out this weekend to make a seedcake for tea in honor of Harvest Home. Seedcakes were traditional for Harvest Home festivities in Sussex,¹ so it seemed like a good idea to try my hand at one. It's my first time to use caraway seeds for something sweet. Paul and I like it, but I don't know if I'd spring it onto unsuspecting guests. (You can definitely just leave out the caraway seeds and you'll have a nice, lightly spicy pound cake.) I have to overcome my taste buds immediately screaming, "rye bread! rye bread!" It's weird but I like it and seed cake goes so well with a cup of tea.

The inspiration for this recipe is from an 18th-century "receipt" in Dorothy Hartley's Food in England.² It actually called for caraway comfits, which are basically caraway seeds inside a sprinkle. When I read what was involved with making them I said, "screw that!" Thankfully, I also have a copy of Peyton and Byrne British Baking which has a Madeira Cake recipe with optional (uncandied) caraway seeds. The brandy and spices are from the 18th-century version.

HARVEST HOME SEEDCAKE

6 oz. (¾ cup) very soft butter
6 oz. (¾ cup) turbinado or demerara sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
½ teaspoon brandy
¼ lb (1 cup) self-raising flour*
¼ lb (1 cup) sprouted whole-wheat flour**
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon caraway seeds

Preheat oven to 335º Fahrenheit. (If you have an older oven, set to 325 and bake a bit longer.) Butter a loaf pan and line with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time until well-combined. Stir in the brandy and set aside.

In a smaller mixing bowl, stir together the self-raising flour, sprouted flour, cinnamon and cloves. Mix into the butter/sugar mixture a bit at a time, being careful to fully incorporate the flour without over-mixing. Stir in the caraway seeds and spoon batter into prepared loaf pan.

Bake in the middle of the oven about 50 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack then slice and serve.

8 to 10 slices

Inspired by 1744 seed cake recipe in Dorothy Hartley’s Food in England and adapted from “Madeira Cake” in Peyton and Byrne British Baking.

*Or substitute 1 cup all-purpose flour + 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder + ½ teaspoon salt
**I used King Arthur Flour’s sprouted whole wheat because it’s very finely milled. If you don’t want to bother with it, just use another cup of all-purpose flour.

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From Sussex to Wessex... (That's Thomas Hardy's fictional county, which is based on the Saxon kingdom, in case you were wondering.) So why are we talking about Thomas Hardy and Wessex? I actually picked Far from the Madding Crowd to go with this post because an important scene in the book occurs during the Harvest Home celebrations on Bathsheba Everdene's farm. Seemed perfect. Not that I've read Far from the Madding Crowd recently (well, "read," at any rate--actually Nathaniel Parker read it to me while I knitted an Aran sweater for Paul which actually turned out to be way too big, but that's another story) but the 1967 film adaptation of the novel seemed pretty faithful (if not terribly inspired--I LOVED the book and felt the movie was pretty good) except that Julie Christie doesn't look like how I pictured Bathsheba. I'm pretty sure the character is supposed to have really dark hair.³

Julie Christie as Bathsheba Everdene and Alan Bates as Gabriel Oak

Reading Thomas Hardy is great because everything is pretty and bucolic and then it all goes to hell. Far from the Madding Crowd is, thankfully, not nearly as bleak as some of Hardy's other novels, though. I love Hardy because it's like he was writing directly to silly teenage girls. It's totally important to know the warning signs of undesirability in a potential romantic partner. If he's anything like Sergeant Troy, run in the other direction!⁴ If you haven't read Far from the Madding Crowd (or maybe seen the movie if you've only got three hours to spare), I recommend it. Anyone seen the 90s TV movie? What did you think?

Terence Stamp as Frank Troy and Julie Christie as Bathsheba Everdene

Notes

1. Anna Franklin's Autumn Equinox
2. Did you happen to see Lucy Worsley's documentary on Food in England? Highly recommended.
3. P.S. Found this at sparknotes.com: "Gabriel had reached a pitch of existence he never could have anticipated a short time before. He liked saying "Bathsheba" as a private enjoyment instead of whistling; turned over his taste to black hair, though he had sworn by brown ever since he was a boy..."
4. However, Sergeant Troy on Midsomer Murders is adorable.

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