Hi everyone and welcome to the blog. This week’s blog is dedicated to George Washington, the first President of the United States of America, whose birthday is celebrated on 22nd February.
George Washington, (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799) was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander in chief of the Continental Army in 1775–1783, and he presided over the writing of the Constitution in 1787. As the unanimous choice to serve as the first President of the United States (1789–1797), he developed the forms and rituals of government that have been used ever since, such as using a cabinet system and delivering an inaugural address. As President, he built a strong, well-financed national government that avoided war, suppressed rebellion and won acceptance among Americans of all types, and Washington is now known as the "Father of his country". Apocryphal stories about Washington's childhood include a claim that he skipped a silver dollar across the Potomac River at Mount Vernon, and that he chopped down his father's cherry tree, and admitted the deed when questioned; "I can't tell a lie, Pa." The anecdote was first reported by biographer Parson Weems, who after Washington's death interviewed people who knew him as a child. The Weems version was very widely reprinted throughout the 19th century, for example in McGuffey Readers. Moralistic adults wanted children to learn moral lessons from the past from history, especially as taught by great national heroes like Washington. After 1890 however, historians insisted on scientific research methods to validate every story, and there was no evidence apart from Weems' report. Joseph Rodman in 1904 noted that Weems plagiarized other Washington tales from published fiction set in England; no one has found an alternative source for the cherry tree story, but Weems' credibility is questioned.
In Colonial Virginia, Washington was born into the provincial gentry in a wealthy, well connected family that owned tobacco plantations using slave labour. He was home schooled by his father and older brother, but both died young, and he became attached to the powerful Fairfax clan, who promoted his career as a surveyor and soldier. Strong, brave, eager for combat and a natural leader, young Washington quickly became a senior officer of the colonial forces, 1754–58, during the first stages of the French and Indian War. Indeed, his rash actions helped precipitate the war. Washington's experience, his military bearing, his leadership of the Patriot cause in Virginia, and his political base in the largest colony made him the obvious choice of the Second Continental Congress in 1775 as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army to fight the British in the American Revolution. He forced the British out of Boston in 1776, but was defeated and nearly captured later that year when he lost New York City. After crossing the Delaware River in the dead of winter, he defeated the enemy in two battles, retook New Jersey, and restored momentum to the Patriot cause. Because of his strategy, Revolutionary forces captured two major British armies at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781. Negotiating with Congress, governors, and French allies, he held together a tenuous army and a fragile nation amid the threats of disintegration and invasion. Historians give the commander in chief high marks for his selection and supervision of his generals, his encouragement of morale, his coordination with the state governors and state militia units, his relations with Congress, and his attention to supplies, logistics, and training. In battle, however, Washington was repeatedly outmanoeuvred by British generals with larger armies. Washington is given full credit for the strategies that forced the British evacuation of Boston in 1776 and the surrender at Yorktown in 1781. After victory had been finalized in 1783, Washington resigned rather than seize power, and returned to his plantation at Mount Vernon, proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to republican government.
Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention that drafted the United States Constitution in 1787 because of his dissatisfaction with the weaknesses of Articles of Confederation that had time and again impeded the war effort. Washington became the first President of the United States in 1789. He attempted to bring rival factions together to unify the nation. He supported Alexander Hamilton's programs to pay off all state and national debt, implement an effective tax system, and create a national bank, despite opposition from Thomas Jefferson. Washington proclaimed the U.S. neutral in the wars raging in Europe after 1793. He avoided war with Britain and guaranteed a decade of peace and profitable trade by securing the Jay Treaty in 1795, despite intense opposition from the Jeffersonians. Although never officially joining the Federalist Party, he supported its programs. Washington's "Farewell Address" was an influential primer on republican virtue and a stern warning against partisanship, sectionalism, and involvement in foreign wars.
Washington had a vision of a great and powerful nation that would be built on republican lines using federal power. He sought to use the national government to improve the infrastructure, open the western lands, create a national university, promote commerce, found a capital city (later named Washington, D.C.), reduce regional tensions and promote a spirit of nationalism. "The name of American," he said, must override any local attachments. At his death, Washington was hailed as "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen". The Federalists made him the symbol of their party, but for many years the Jeffersonians continued to distrust his influence and delayed building the Washington Monument. As the leader of the first successful revolution against a colonial empire in world history, Washington became an international icon for liberation and nationalism. His symbolism especially resonated in France and Latin America. Historical scholars consistently rank him as one of the two or three greatest presidents.
So this week my recipes have are a tribute to President George Washington, the Founding Father of the United States of America. They are American Cherry Pie, Italian Pork Patties with Potato Wedges, Cherry Manhattan and Plain Egg Nog. The spice of the week is Sumac.
My first recipe is American Cherry Pie, Recipe by Sophie Grigson, courtesy of GoodFood Channel website, first appeared on Market Kitchen.
This recipe serves 6, takes 30mins, plus 1-2 hours chilling time to prepare, and 1hr to cook.
FOR THE PASTRY
300g x Plain Flour
2 tbsp x Icing Sugar
A Large Pinch of Salt
170g x Chilled Unsalted Butter
170g x Cream Cheese
60-80ml x Single or Double Cream
FOR THE FILLING
1kg x Pitted Sour or Sweet Cherries
235g x Caster Sugar (if using sour cherries, 140g if using sweet)
1 Heaped tsp x Ground Cinnamon
1/2 x Small Lemons, juice only
3 Rounded tbsp x Cornflour
For the pastry: sift the flour into a bowl with the icing sugar and salt. Using a pair of knives or a pastry blender, cut the butter and cream cheese into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs, with the odd larger knobble here and there. Pour in enough cream to mix to a soft dough. Gather up the dough to form a ball, knead very briefly to smooth out, divide in two, then chill both portions in the fridge for at least 1 hour. For the filling: mix the cherries with all the remaining ingredients. Let the mixture stand for 20 minutes, then stir once more. Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7. Roll out half the dough to line a 23cm pie plate or shallow tart tin. Roll out the second half of the dough to form a circle to cover the tin. Put the circle on a sheet of baking paper and chill both the dough-lined tin and the circle in the fridge until needed. Pile the cherries into the lined pie plate until it becomes a gently swelling mound. Brush the edges of the pastry crust with water, then lay the pastry lid on top. Trim the edges, then crimp together firmly. Cut a hole in the centre of the pie to allow steam to escape. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 180C/gas 4 and bake for a further 30-40 minutes until the thickened cherry juices bubble up through the central steam hole. If the pastry is darkening too rapidly, cover loosely with tin foil. Serve the pie warm or cold, with cream or vanilla or white chocolate ice cream.
My next recipe is a cocktail for you to celebrate the US’ “Founding Father’s” birthday. Cherry Manhattan, Recipe by Wayne Collins, courtesy of BBC Website take from “Something for the Weekend”.
This recipe serves 1, takes mins to prepare.
4 x Fresh Black Cherries, plus 1 extra, to serve
2 tsp x Cherry Brandy
2 dashes of Angastura Bitters
50ml x Bourbon
25ml x Vermouth
A Scoop of Ice Cubes
A Twist of Pink Grapefruit Peel, to garnish
Place the cherries into a cocktail shaker and crush lightly (muddle) with the back of a long-handled spoon. Add the cherry brandy, bitters, bourbon, vermouth and a scoop of ice. Stir well. Double-strain the mixture into a coupette glass. Hook the twist of pink grapefruit peel and the cherry over the side of the glass.
Spice of the week – Sumac
Sumac (also spelt as sumach) is any one of approximately 250 species of flowering plants in the genus Rhus and related genera, in the family Anacardiaceae. Sumacs grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world, especially in Africa and North America.
Sumacs are shrubs and small trees that can reach a height of 1–10 metres (3.3–33 ft). The leaves are spirally arranged; they are usually pinnately compound, though some species have trifoliate or simple leaves. The flowers are in dense panicles or spikes 5–30 centimetres (2.0–12 in) long, each flower very small, greenish, creamy white or red, with five petals. The fruits form dense clusters of reddish drupes called sumac bobs. The dried drupes of some species are ground to produce a tangy purple spice. Sumacs propagate both by seed (spread by birds and other animals through their droppings), and by new shoots from rhizomes, forming large clonal colonies.The word sumac traces its etymology from Old French sumac (13th century), from Medieval Latin sumach, from Arabic summaq - meaning "red."
The fruits (drupes) of the genus Rhus are ground into a deep-red or purple powder used as a spice in Middle Eastern cuisine to add a lemony taste to salads or meat.[5] In Arab cuisine, it is used as a garnish on meze dishes such as hummus and is added on salads in the Levant. In Iranian (Persian and Kurdish) cuisine, sumac is added to rice or kebab. In Turkish cuisine, for example, it is added to salad-servings of kebabs and lahmacun. In North America, the Smooth Sumac (Rhus glabra) and the Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina) are sometimes used to make a beverage termed "sumac-ade," "Indian lemonade" or "rhus juice". This drink is made by soaking the drupes in cool water, rubbing them to extract the essence, straining the liquid through a cotton cloth and sweetening it. Native Americans also used the leaves and drupes of the Smooth and Staghorn Sumacs combined with tobacco in traditional smoking mixtures.
Species including the Fragrant Sumac (Rhus aromatica), the Littleleaf Sumac (R. microphylla), the Skunkbush Sumac (R. trilobata), the Smooth Sumac and the Staghorn Sumac are grown for ornament, either as the wild types or as cultivars. The leaves of certain sumacs yield tannin (mostly pyrogallol-type), a substance used in vegetable tanning. Leather tanned with sumac is flexible, light in weight, and light in colour. One type of leather made with sumac tannins is morocco leather. Sumac was used as a treatment for half a dozen different ailments in medieval medicine, primarily in Islamic countries (where sumac was more readily available than in Europe). An 11th century shipwreck off the coast of Rhodes, excavated by archaeologists in the 1970s, contained commercial quantities of sumac drupes. These could have been intended for use as medicine, or as a culinary spice, or as a dye. Some beekeepers use dried sumac bobs as a source of fuel for their smokers. Dried sumac wood fluoresces under long-wave ultraviolet radiation, commonly known as black light.
Some species, such as Poison ivy (Rhus toxicodendron, syn.Toxicodendron radicans), Poison oak (Rhus diversiloba, syn. Toxicodendron diversilobum) and Poison sumac (Rhus vernix, syn. Toxicodendron vernix), have the allergen urushiol and can cause severe allergic reactions. You may identify Poison sumac by its white drupes. Mowing of sumac is not a good control measure as the wood is springy resulting in jagged, sharp pointed stumps when mowed. The plant will quickly recover with new growth after mowing. Goats have long been considered an efficient and quick removal method as they eat the bark, which helps prevent new shoots.
Sumac is used widely in cookery in Arabia, Turkey and the Levant, and especially in Lebanese cuisine. In these areas it is a major souring agent, used where other regions would employ lemon, tamarind or vinegar. It is rubbed on to kebabs before grilling and may be used in this way with fish or chicken. The juice extracted from sumac is popular in salad dressings and marinades and the powdered form is used in stews and vegetable and chicken casseroles. “The seed of Sumach eaten in sauces with meat, stoppeth all manner of fluxes of the belly...” (Gerard, 1597) A mixture of yogurt and sumac is often served with kebabs. Zather is a blend of sumac and thyme use to flavour labni, a cream cheese made from yogurt.
My non-alcoholic cocktail is for those who prefer the lighter tipple,
Plain Egg Nog, recipe courtesy of
www.drinksmixer.com. An apparent favourite of President Washington.
This recipe serves 1, takes mins to prepare.
1 x Egg
1 tsp x Sugar
Milk
Nutmeg
Shake with ice and strain into a tall glass. Fill with milk and garnish with nutmeg.
My last recipe is Italian Pork Patties with Potato Wedges, courtesy of BBC GoodFood Magazine June 2010.
This recipe serves 4 easily doubled, takes 15mins to prepare & 35-45mins to cook.
4 x Baking Potatoes, unpeeled, Each cut into 8-10 wedges
2 tbsp x Olive Oil
Zest and Juice of 1 Lemon
50g x Fresh Breadcrumbs
500g x Pork Mince
50g x Grated Parmesan
2 tbsp x Fresh Parsley, chopped
1 x Large Garlic Clove, crushed
2 tbsp x Cold Water
Heat your oven to 200C Gas Mark 6. Toss the potato wedges in a large roasting tin with 1 tbsp of oil and lemon juice. Spread out in a single layer. Bake for 35-45mins, turning halfway, until golden brown and crisp. Meanwhile, place the breadcrumbs in a mixing bowl and moisten with 2 tbsp of cold water. Add the mince, Parmesan, parsley, garlic and lemon zest. Season, mix well, then shape into 4 large flat patties. Heat the remaining oil in a pan and cook the patties for 7mins on each side, or until they have a golden crust and cooked through. Serve with the wedges and a tomato and rocket salad, if you like.
If you have enjoyed my blog, or have tried out the recipes I have included and wish to comment, please feel free to comment using the comment button or by visiting my guestbook, all comments and suggestions will be gratefully received.
Hope you enjoy!!..... ChefGarfy =D
