Washington's Beer Recipe

Today is George Washington's birthday. To celebrate I present to you his beer recipe which is included in one of his notebooks, located in the Manuscripts Division at the Library.

If making beer is too difficult (amateurs!), why not just toast G.W with a round or two at Fraunces' Tavern - the historic inn where Washington bid farewell to his officers at the end of the Revolution.


To Make Small Beer (from George Washington, 1757)

Take a large Sifter full of Bran
Hops to your Taste -- Boil these
3 hours. Then strain out 30 Gall.
into a Cooler put in 3 Gallons
Molasses while the Beer is
scalding hot or rather drain the
molasses into the Cooler. Strain
the Beer on it while boiling hot
let this stand til it is little more
than Blood warm. Then put in
a quart of Yeast if the weather is
very cold cover it over with a Blanket.
Let it work in the Cooler 24 hours
then put it into the Cask. leave
the Bung open til it is almost done
working -- Bottle it that day Week
it was Brewed.

Cabbage, Two Ways

I've always been a fan of the cabbage family. I even had a cabbage family of my own in the 4th and 5th grade. One little girl Cabbage Patch Kid named Angelina Alberta (whose name I changed — but I won't say to what), and my dear little "preemie" Roy Len. I loved those two kids until mildew grew on their cloth limbs. Then, instead of hugging and kissing members of the cabbage family, I started eating them. And I haven't stopped.

Brussels sprouts are still my favorites. From steamed with lemon and butter, to roasted with olive oil and lots of salt, to the magnificent cream braised recipe from Molly Stevens' All About Braising, which will make any Brussels hater into a Brussels inhaler.

Molly Stevens' book is chock-full of wonderful braised vegetable recipes. One of my other favorites is her Braised Cabbage with Saint-Marcellin Cheese. It's pure decadence, and perfect along side some roast chicken during these cold winter months.

Another cabbage recipe I love is from Marcella Hazan's Marcella Says'. It's a raw cabbage salad which is obviously much lighter than Stevens', yet equally satisfying. While I'm the first to admit I've only tried a handful of recipes from Hazan's book, this recipe stood out for its simplicity and ease. So while Angelina and Roy have been sent along to Cabbage (Patch) Heaven, these two recipes should be titled, ahem: Heavenly Cabbage.

Savoy Cabbage Gratin with Saint-Marcellin Cheese
(from Molly Stevens' All About Braising)

3T. unsalted butter
1 head Savoy cabbage, cored, halved, and cut into 1/2" shreds
1 bunch scallions, greens and whites, cut into 1/2" pieces
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
1 ripe Saint-Marcellin cheese

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a large gratin dish. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add cabbage and scallions, season with salt and pepper and saute, stirring often, until the cabbage is just beginning to brown in spots, 10 to 12 minutes. Pour in the stock, and bring to a steady simmer, scraping the bottom of the pan, and cook for about 2 minutes.

Scrape the cabbage, scallions, and all the juices into the gratin dish. Cover tightly with foil, slide onto the middle rack of the oven, and braise for 45 minutes. Remove foil and continue to cook until the liquid is mostly evaporated, another 20 minutes.

Cut or tear the cheese into small lumps (about 1/2") and scatter them across the gratin. Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees and cook until the cheese is thoroughly melted, about 10 minutes. Serve hot or warm as a first course, side dish or on its own as a light supper.

Savoy Cabbage Salad with Avocado
(from Marcella Hazan's Marcella Says...)

3 to 4 cups shredded Savoy cabbage (I've also used red cabbage, shredded finely)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly smashed with the flat part of a heavy knife blade
1/2 large ripe avocado or 1 small, peeled and cut into thin strips
Fine sea salt*
1 1/2 T wine vinegar
2 T extra virgin olive oil
Black pepper ground fresh from the mill.

Put all the ingredients in the salad bowl, toss thoroughly, and let stand at room temperature for 30 to 40 minutes (or longer). Remove the garlic cloves and serve at room temperature.

* I do think sea salt makes a difference here. Maldon entered my life recently and will never leave it.

Happy Valentine's Day

For all those readers who will be enjoying a nice night out for V-day tonight, I would deeply appreciate any menus you can gather that will document this holiday. I'm always on the lookout for good Valentine menus.

This Bug's For You

Edible bugs, according to last week’s New York Times Magazine, are making a comeback. Writer Sam Nejame explores the new fascination (and long history) of eating insects. When asked why Americans don't include more -- or any -- insects in their diet, Florence Dunkel, the current editor of the Food Insects Newsletter, blames simple social aversion.

I’ll be the first to admit that I have a social aversion to them. I have close to zero interest in trying insects. I am, however, fascinated by the fact that a Food Insects Newsletter exists, which yes, we do have at the New York Public Library. The Newsletter, which began in 1988 and is published out of the Department of Entomology at University of Wisconsin, Madison, has helped foster a community of scholars and scientists interested in consuming bugs. They make some valid arguments. According to their first issue, "...the prevailing opinion among those most knowledgeable about the situation in specific regions is that edible insects not only continue to be nutritionally important but could make an even greater contribution to human nutrition if supplies were increased or better distributed seasonally."

While searching through our collection of edible bug cookbooks I came across Creepy Crawly Cuisine by Julieta Ramos-Elorduy, a biology professor from the National University of Mexico. If you only buy one book dedicated to insect consumption, buy this. Even for someone like myself who has no interest in bugs, I thought some of the recipes sounded...edible. Ramos-Elorduy also includes nutritional information on these critters, all of which -- you'll be happy to know -- are very Atkins-friendly. She also describes what the insects taste like, and some sound downright tempting. For example, wasps resemble pine nuts, stinkbugs resemble apples, and Nopal worms taste similar to fried potatoes.

If you’re not interested in preparing bugs at home, try to score a ticket to the annual Explorer’s Club gala at the Waldorf-Astoria. When I went a few years ago, the insects were served atop rice, like sushi. For more of their recipes, try The Explorer’s Cookbook, so that after you’ve perfected insects, you can move onto snakes, lions and giraffes: A regular Great Adventure safari.

Wasp Salad (from Creepy Crawly Cuisine)
1/2 lb. larvae and/or pupae of bees or wasps
1/2 c. olive oil
1/2 c. peanut oil
1/4 c. honey vinegar (or other vinegar)
1/2 lb. mushrooms, finely chopped
1/4 head lettuce, finely chopped
1 can hearts of palm, chopped
1 mango, peeled and cut in pieces
1 t. salt, or more to taste
1/8 t. pepper, or more to taste

Fry the larvae in the olive oil at medium heat until they are crunchy. Place in a serving dish and add the peanut oil, honey, vinegar, mushrooms, lettuce, hearts of palm, and mango. Mix well, adding salt and pepper to taste. This salad makes an excellent accompaniment to the main course dishes.

Fried Katanga Termites (from The Explorer's Cookbook)

Trap them, put them in a jar, and seal with a tight screw top. When they are dead, simply dump in a frying pan rubbed with olive oil. Fry just a few seconds until crisp. Serve while hot. Goes wonderfully well with ice cold tequila.