One of the many appealing qualities of Forest Park for my family has always been the history of inclusiveness for other cultures and ethnicities. Before I ever considered moving here, I knew of Forest Park on the basis of its cemeteries, both those that catered to Jewish clientele, and as the resting place of the Haymarket Martyrs, whose history I was drawn to as an undergrad.
Purple people eater knish!
In a nod to Forest Park's close connection to the Jewish community, I have made knish in a semi-traditional manner. Prior to this project I had zero familiarity with knish, but it's a potato wrapped in dough. I knew it would be good.
I used a Smitten Kitchen recipe which was easy to follow, producing one of the nicest, most user-friendly doughs I have ever experienced. The filling was purple potatoes from my CSA Purple Leaf Farms, which just ended the season.
I had a TON of leftover dough, so I made a second half batch of cauliflower with farmer's cheese. Here were the knish waiting for the oven:
Since I have no tradition to adhere to, the variations are endless. I can see adding a little meat, greens, cheese, spices. Maybe a samosa-knish? I may test this out for the Forest Park Community Garden potluck, coming up Sunday November 2nd (you are invited!). Come be a mensch and taste for yourself on Sunday!
Today I have muffins. Vira's muffins, to be precise. They come to you by way of the Scandanavian section of the Heirloom Cook Book prepared by the Northern Illinois Gas Company. The occasion was the sesquicentennial, which apparently is a thing? Whatever, it took place in 1968 upon Illinois turning 150. Groovy!
The Housewares Maven, one of my neighbors, kindly lent it to me. The cook book is divided by sections related to the various immigrant and native populations including Southern European and Irish. There's also a recipe for goetta (or scrapple) which involves braising a hunk of pork before mixing it with oats then frying. I would be put off if I hadn't been pleasantly surprised by goetta at Autre Monde recently.
The recipe is called "Vira's Muffins" and was intriguing in its simplicity. The recipe dictated that we layer the ingredients in a mixing bowl in the order listed before mixing "hard" and baking at "good heat". Phew! I did modify slightly by subbing out white for a little whole wheat flour and quick cooking oats. I also added 2 cups of chopped rhubarb which came from my friend Brooke's Forest Park garden.
Here's the muffins under a fluorescent light after a harsh night on the town. All full of gritty reality. Perfect for mornings with coffee and penitence.
They were pretty dang sweet. I'd cut back the sugar by a 1/4 next time. The fruit-muffin ratio was perfect. These were quite moist but lacked the crusty top that is most coveted among quality muffins, emblematic of what's on offer at Blue Max. If anyone knows the trick to producing muffins like that let me know! Vira's Muffins (with Rhubarb) 1 egg 1/2 cup shortening (I used butter) 2 1/4 cup flour (I used 1 cup white flour; 1 cup flour; 1/4 cup oats) 1 cup sour milk (I used 1/2 cup each sour cream and milk) 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup sugar 2 cups chopped rhubarb Put in bowl in the order given (except rhubarb). Do not mix until the last item is added. Then beat hard until mixed. Add rhubarb and stir just to combine. Bake with good heat (I interpreted as 350 degrees). These took approximately 20 minutes in my oven in a standard 12 muffin tin.
The first think you should know is I did serve this over ice cream to cut the sweetness.
The second thing is that this is the first recipe in the Forest Park Centennial Cookbook that caught my eye. Another from Phyllis Orland, this one boasts of Czech / Viennese origin. On paper and in my mouth it seemed like biscotti, which I have made many times, so I was not intimidated even though the basis of the recipe was weights rather than volume. But since I have a kitchen scale this was easy and actually resulted in fewer dirty dishes.
I was also excited by the inclusion of raisins, which I am newly discovering as a parent of a toddler and which are a staple in my home. What was once to my ears an utterly offensive throw-away fruit suggested as a desert substitution from my mother has become a satisfying substitute for gummy candies. Even for me, who knows better.
Raisins and almonds join the party
Like biscotti, this is a twice-baked cookie, which she also refers to as "Bishop's Bread". While a search for suchari yielded no helpful results, there seems to be some traction with Bishop's Bread, though nothing spot on. This recipe is distinct in it's lack of oil, while the other recipes for Bishop's Bread included some kind of butter or oil.
Ready for round 2 in the oven
You don't even wish these were chocolate chips. This is a cookie you AND your mother will love.
Toasted!
There was something about rolling it in powdered sugar, but it was sweet enough as is and I wanted to serve it to people like yesterday.
Over vanilla ice cream, as Dolly and God intended
These would be great with tea or coffee for breakfast, but as a desert item with ice cream they were excellent. They had an almost creamy interior, despite the toasting (this may not hold up past day 1), with a crisp and sugary crust. This is one I would definitely make again, possibly mixing up the nuts. Since it uses such everyday household ingredients it's also a great emergency recipe to keep on hand. I imagine this would be phenomenal with dried cherries or apricots and maybe pistachios. Suchari (Czech or Viennese cookies aka Bishop's Bread) By Phyllis Orland via the Forest Park Centenary Cookbook & Historical Society of Forest Park
4 eggs (weigh the eggs and then weigh out an equivalent amount of flour, sugar and raisins). 1 Teaspoon baking soda 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract Nuts, approximately 1/3 cup chopped Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 inch pan (circle or square are both fine) and set aside. Beat the eggs and set aside. Combine the flour, sugar and soda. Add the eggs and vanilla and stir til combined. Add the nuts and raisins and stir to combine. Spoon the mixture into your pan and bake for approximately 20 minutes, checking at 15 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes before turning it out onto a cutting board. Cut the cake into approximately 1 inch wide by 3 inch long pieces. Grease a cookie sheet and lay the cookies, cut side down. Bake for approximately 8 minutes, only until lightly browned. The recipe suggests you roll them in powdered sugar but they are good as is.
Forest Park has had several birthday celebrations. A hundred years since the area was settled (1856 to 1956), a hundred years since the town was founded as Harlem (1884 to 1984), and a hundred years since incorporating under the new name of Forest Park (1907 to 2007) were all milestones. Unfortunately I did not live in town when any of this was celebrated, but as a member of the Historical Society of Forest Park I do have access to their archives, which includes a Centennial Cookbook, released in 1984.
I recognized names from the community such as Mohr, Marunde, and Orland. Phyllis T.M. Orland, MD was the spouse of Frank Orland, the founding President of the Historical Society of Forest Park. According to Diane Hansen Grah, Executive Director of the HSFP, "Phyllis was a pediatrician for over 40 years and worked out of an apartment adjacent to their home mostly and performed house calls. She also was the head of the Pediatric Dept. at Macneal Hospital in Berwyn for many years. Frank was a dentist and pioneered the use of flouride at a time when it was controversial and testing needed to happen."
She and her husband also raised 4 children. Huzzah, Phyllis. On top of that, she had many contributions to the cook book, including today's entry of Chicken Paprika. This was a charmingly simple recipe, and the end result was delicious if not particularly attractive. I'm looking forward to trying more of her recipes from the Centennial Cookbook, including Grandmother Orland's Christmas Cookies, which boast of a Swabian origin. As a Swabian gal myself, I can't wait.
Not a particularly pretty dish
There was so much onion. The collateral damage was huge. My husband's trust. My mascara. But I got it done. I made modifications to the original right off the bat, suspecting that we'd want more spice than Dr. Orland, and I'm glad we did. This is totally a dish you can pull off on a weeknight, especially if you did the anti-foodie thing we did and used boneless, skinless chicken instead of the chicken pieces called for. 2014 Chicken Paprika Phyllis Orland's original available at the HSFP archives :)
2 lbs. chicken tenders 1 large yellow onion, diced finely 1.5 cups water 2 teaspoons sweet paprika 1 teaspoon hungarian hot paprika 8 oz sour cream 2.5 tablespoons flour dash cayenne pepper 1/4 cup butter
Melt the butter in a large pot. Add the onion and stir occasionally until soft and fairly brown. Remove the onion and add the chicken pieces in batches so as not to crowd the pan, browning well on each side. Add back to the pan the onion, chicken, paprika, cayenne, a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1.5 cups water. Simmer for approximately 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and tender. While the chicken cooks, add the flour to the sour cream and stir to combine. Set aside.
Remove the chicken and turn the heat down to low. Taste the broth for salt and adjust accordingly. Add the sour cream-flour mixture and whisk to combine. Add the chicken back to the pot and stir to combine. Keep the flame low and cook for 5 minutes, watching carefully to prevent boiling (boiling will curdle the sour cream).
Phyllis recommends serving with dumplings, which if she is Swabian, I suspect means spaetzle (Aldi! Represent!), which is what we did. We also tried it over mashed potatoes.
The raison d'être for this blog is to cook and bake recipes that have some relevance to Forest Park, maybe learning a little history along the way. The Historical Society has been very generous in opening up their archives (really, just a perk of membership) but have also encouraged digging into the Review archives, which is the basis for today's recipe.
This receipt for Royal Eggs with Mushroom Sauce comes not from a crafty housewife or an area restaurant but from the recipe book of... musician Zez Confrey. Obviously.
Questlove has his chicken, and Zez has his 'shrooms. Apparently, Zez's particular flavor of bachelorhood included playing line cooks for his musician friends during "midnight meals". Zez was just that kind of guy.
Zez was also the kind of guy who named songs after kittens.
And Zez is also the kinda guy who keeps mushroom bouillon on hand.
What this has to do with Forest Park I have no idea (do you? If so, do tell). Whatever the reason, it was included in the January 1, 1926 edition of the Forest Park Review, which goes to show that newspapers were always creative when they needed to find content.
I made this for Monday night dinner in what turned out to be a stressful scene due to toddler teething. I think Zez would have handled things better. Perhaps because he would've been a bit sauced himself. This meal screams post-drinking repast and was pretty durn simple to put together. Good for parents. Good for drunken musicians.
This was a nice change of pace from other egg preparations we tend towards that are more acidic. It was comforting and rich but not overboard on calories. We had this atop toasted homemade white bread the texture of velvet courtesy of my mother-in-law. If I made it again I'd be looking to pair it with a bright and acidic salad or perhaps some hot sauce. I could also see this paired with biscuits or a sourdough bread.
Royal Eggs with Mushroom Sauce
4 Eggs
Salt & Pepper
1 lbs mushrooms, approximately (we used a mix of button and shiitake)
1 sliced pimiento I forgot this!!!, but what is pimiento, anyway?
4 T butter (total)
4 slices toast
1 ½ cup evaporated milk
1 ½ cup mushroom stock (I used chicken)
1 T flour
Saute the mushrooms in 2 Tablespoons butter until browned. In a separate pan, melt 2 Tablespoons butter and add 1 Tablespoon flour. Whisk until the flour is cooked, which will mean a slightly tan color. Add the evaporated milk and whisk to combine. Add the stock and whisk again, continuously stirring as it thickens. When it looks like a thin sort of gravy, add pepper and taste for salt. Adjust as needed. Add the sauce to the mushrooms (or the other way around) to combine. Taste it all together for seasoning.
Make toast. Top with eggs fried, preferably over easy. Pour mushroom sauce over all. Top with chopped parsley.
We kick off with a griddle cake recipe found in the Forest Park Review from October 1, 1917. It was prefaced by the statement that readers were living in an era in which "every housewife is entreated and implored to conserve food" and that "meatless and wheatless days have become a fixed habit". Hmmmm.
I'd follow this guy into battle
This stems, I imagine, from the Food and Fuel Control Act of 1917. The goal of this law as it pertains to the whole wheatless situation was to conserve bread and meat for soldiers fighting in World War I. Like veggie-paleo for the flapper era. Off-shoots of this law included all sorts of awesome things like something United States School Garden Army - armed, I presume, with pitchforks and carrots. We made griddlecakes according to the recipe this past Sunday, topping them with (alternately) sorghum syrup, buckwheat honey and brown sugar. In other words, we were out of maple syrup. The sorghum syrup to add a nice hyper sweetness and depth of flavor that is reminiscent of molasses. These griddlecakes were quite grainy, which would be off-putting for someone expecting a silken-textured pancake. But they were hearty and delicious in their own way. We were inspired to pour a little milk over the top, in a nod to both tres leches cake and Laura Ingalls Wilder who I swear did something similar. This made a lot of batter. More than we needed for 2 adults and one toddler.
Griddle cakes with sorghum syrup and brown sugar
Griddle Cakes
The link to the recipe can be found here, or via the digital archives of the Forest Park Public Library. Thanks to the Historical Society of Forest Park for the inspiration. Notes of caution: for me, there was more of the milk-egg-oil mix than the corn flour could absorb. So act accordingly, adding half the wet mix to start. I didn't have buttermilk, so I just added a few tablespoons of vinegar to the measuring cup before I added the milk, thereby souring it a bit. Two cups corn meal Two cups sour milk or buttermilk Two tablespoons fat Two tablespoons sugar Two teaspoons baking powder Two teaspoons soda One teaspoon salt One egg I typed out the numbers. Why did I do that? Method: Mix dry ingredients (corn meal, powder, sugar, soda, salt) in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat together the egg with the sour milk or buttermilk. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes. Add more liquid as needed. Make the pancakes. :)
