Jean Anderson Cooks - The Recipe Doctor presents cookbooks, recipe news and a recipe of the month

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“Harriet’s sister Alice usually arrived carrying a dish of whipped sweet potatoes and raisins . . .”

– Truman Capote, The Thanksgiving Visitor

A Love Affair with Southern Cooking - Click Here to order online

Mail Bag:

• “After reading your liver mush recipe in A Love Affair with Southern Cooking, I had to share the liver puddin’ recipe I grew up with in South Carolina. Every year my grandfather would butcher 4 or 5 hogs -- usually in January or February. His brothers and sisters showed up to help, and we reciprocated at theirs. They scraped, cleaned, and scraped the small intestines for sausage casings, the large intestines for liver puddin’. The noon meal that day consisted of the "variety" meats from the puddin’ pot -- all the edible internal organs with plenty of rice and sweet potatoes and a bit of fresh fried pork. In the afternoon, the remaining puddin’ pot contents were ground along with peeled onions, and everything mixed in a big wash tub with the rice. We used the crackling press with an extrusion tube to fill the large intestines with liver puddin’. These were tied at each end, plunked back into the wash tub to boil, hung up to cool, then refrigerated or frozen. I can remember my mother and grandmother cutting off sections of liver puddin’ like sausage, frying, and serving at breakfast with plenty of hot grits flavored with puddin’ drippings and probably ham or bacon drippings, too. I theorize, but have never researched, that liver puddin’ probably came from Haggis, which Scottish settlers were familiar with, also that rice was substituted for oatmeal and the large intestine for the stomach.”

-- Wes Dukes, Cary, NC

• “Our 1976 wedding gift of The Doubleday Cookbook has brought more wonderful tastes into our home than I'd have imagined possible. It's falling apart but still visited several times weekly, with some pages dog-eared and dirty, but continuing to put awesome flavors on our table regularly. I frequently send its recipes to local food groups knowing they will totally enjoy. Many thanks!”

-- Tom Munsell, Ann Arbor, MI

• There’s a welcome tribute to The Doubleday Cookbook in the latest edition of Elissa Altman’s Poor Man’s Feast blog in which she discusses the problems couples face when merging kitchens. When Elissa moved in with her partner in Connecticut, both had food processors, microwaves, and cast iron cookware. But few cookbook overlaps. Her partner’s bible? “A jacketless, unidentifiable volume cracked down the spine from overuse . . . Whenever Susan cooked, absolutely anything -- it was this book that she turned to.” To read Elissa’s full tribute, click on http://www.poormansfeast.blogspot.com/.

In Brief:

• While in Lisbon last month, I lunched at Restaurante de Castro, a tiny place near the Four Seasons Ritz and Gulbenkian Museum that food-savvy Portuguese friends had recommended. Though it had opened only two weeks earlier and I was groggy after my overnight flight, I was impressed by Chef Miguel Castro e Silva’s tapas-like offerings: tartly dressed chick pea and tuna salad . . . escabeche of quail . . . lightly battered and browned slices of bacalhau (dried salt cod) that cut like butter . . . but best of all, quail eggs and bits of chouriço bounced in and out of a skillet so hot they emerged as thin and crisp as a crêpe but with yolks miraculously intact and runny. As a colleague said, “It looks like a child’s toy.” A few steps down from the street, Restaurant de Castro is minimalist – starkly white walls hung with archival photographs and elsewhere accents as red as massa de pimentão, the salty pimiento paste in which Portuguese cooks like to marinate pork. Before the 1 PM rush hour when an uptown crowd filled the two small dining rooms, Chef Castro showed us his painstakingly planned kitchen – a room barely bigger than the center island of an American kitchen. But he makes every millimeter do double duty. Next time you’re in Lisbon, by all means head to Restaurante de Castro, 180 B Avenida Elias Garcia. It’s open Monday through Saturday from noon until 7 PM. You won’t be disappointed.

Q & A

Q Am developing recipes for my monthly column and need to come up with ideas for buttermilk. Paging through your Love Affair with Southern Cooking, I saw buttermilk pie. Do you think I could make this a savory with perhaps cheese and some herbs -- like a quiche? Your notes say it may boil over a bit and wonder if the extra stuff would add to that. Just wanted your input – may give it a quick test this weekend.

-- Cyd McDowell, New York, NY

A A buttermilk quiche would surely be good, Cyd, but I'd use a quiche recipe as a template. The main prob will be to keep the buttermilk from curdling (but mixing in several tablespoons of flour should help). Good luck!

Q I received The New German Cookbook as a gift and was wondering which recipe is featured on the cover? I can't seem to find it?

-- Tina Giles, Lynnwood, WA

A It's the Leek Stew with Bockwurst, p. 173. Food Stylists always "pretty up" recipes for the camera. In this case, more carrots for color, more bockwurst slices and chunks of celery, too.

Q Thank you for you wonderfully informative cookbooks! I have a few questions and thought if anyone could answer them, that would be you! I recently got a copy of the Lambeth Method of Cake Decoration and Practical Pastries. I'm fascinated with that intricate art of cake decorating. As an ingredient for his Decorative Icing, which he says is commonly called "Royal Icing," the author lists an ingredient called "whip powder." Do you know what this could be? I've never read of a royal icing recipe that called for a dairy product, but it maybe it is something similar to Dr. Oetker's Whip It, which I believe has gelatin and cornstarch in it. What do you think? Here is the complete recipe:
4 oz whip powder
1 lb XXXX sugar
1 pint cold water
4 lb XXXX sugar (approximately)

Mix the whip powder and 1 pound sugar thoroughly together, add water gradually, and thoroughly dissolve. To this amount add approximately 4 pounds XXXX sugar and mix together in small machine kettle. Set kettle in machine, attach paddle, and beat on second speed until thoroughly light. It should stand up clear and sharp. The amount of sugar given is approximate. Various consistencies of decorative icings are required. Use your judgment and keep a surplus of dissolved whip powder always on hand.

I'm assuming XXXX sugar is powdered sugar. I also find it interesting that he writes: "Never use this hard icing on cakes to be eaten." I've read everywhere that cakes with borders and decorations done in the Lambeth style are to be made with royal icing! In other recipes he also calls for "milk powder," which I'm guessing would be the same as powdered milk, and "neutral shortening," which I'm guessing would be the same as vegetable shortening.

I'm so hoping that you will know the answer to these questions! Thanks so much for your help.

-- Bridget Klein. Louisville, KY

A Sorry not to get back to you sooner, Bridget, but I, myself, am not into cake decorating and wanted to run your questions by Joanne Lamb Hayes, a New York colleague who is. Alas, some of your questions stumped her as well.

We both think that "whip powder" is either meringue powder or powdered egg whites. Joanne also thinks the recipe proportions you give are not right. Here's what she says:

"I think you are right about whip powder being some sort of meringue powder but a pint seems to be a lot of water. The basic formula that I use is 3 tablespoons meringue powder, 6 tablespoons water and a pound of confectioners' sugar. I think "Whip It" is something like Dream Whip, a powder that whips up like cream. I have been seeing Dr. Oetker's products in the grocery stores here recently."

The sugar called for in the recipe you gave is definitely confectioners’ (10X) sugar and neutral shortening would surely be vegetable shortening though butter would give far better flavor. The reason for refrigerating these frostings is to keep them from spoiling and possibly making people sick. Anything containing egg powder should surely be kept cold, ditto anything made with gelatin or milk powder (probably nonfat dry milk).

I hope this info is useful, Bridget. Again, thanks for writing.

Calling all Cake Decorators: If you have any answers or advice for Bridget, please send them my way and I’ll forward to her. Thanks! ja

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