Ginger Cookies

I discovered Clementine Paddleford in an article about the culinary pioneer back in 2002 when Saveur featured her recipe for Sweet Potato Tipsy, now a holiday go-to for me and mine. Hers is a strange case. Unlike Amelia Earhart, she didn't vanish entirely; she merely disappeared into near obscurity. Similar to Earhart, Paddleford too piloted her own plane. But among other means of transportation as well, her purpose was to cover thousands and thousands of miles of American territory over the course of 12 years to explore the courses of its regional home cooks. The results may be found in 1960's considerable, culinary tome, How America Eats. Ms. Paddleford also has the enviable credit on her C.V. of being the New York Herald Tribune's food editor for 30 years. I am delighted to report that I recently won a bid for a first edition, autographed copy of How America Eats in mint condition on eBay.

While the collection features a host of gripping, curious recipes that may threaten to pull at the palate of today (cabbage and scrapple, pretzel clam soup, cheese muff, fish balls) there are also gems such Dr. Coffin's Lobster Stew, Mrs. Dull's Perfection Sponge Cake and homespun comforts such as baked beans, butterhorn rolls, Southern fried chicken (with charmingly archaic 'broilers'), and ginger cookies. I went for the latter first, adapted here, in my own personal exploration cutting the recipe in half (full recipe below). I didn't want to roll out 8 dozen cookies! The note included says that the  cookies are 'very hard' and I found that to certainly true, too hard in fact. Unsatisfactory! I let them sit out for a few days to get stale, I suppose you'd say, to make them more malleable, so they may actually be enjoyed without a notion of cracking the teeth. Delicious with a slather of softened cream cheese and a sprinkled  flurry of confectioners sugar for the kids--or a casual Champagne and tea party for adults!

Cream the butter with the spices to get started...



18th Century Ginger Cookies
Ingredients
1 cup butter/margarine
4 TB ginger
1TB nutmeg
1 TB cinnamon
Dash of salt
1 cup sugar
2 cups dark molasses
1/2 pint light cream/evaporated milk
8-9 cups sifted flour
Method
Blend butter, spices and salt. Add sugar and cream thoroughly, Warm together molasses and cream; add gradually to butter mixture, mixing well. Stir in flour until a moderately stiff dough is formed. Roll out on a floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutter. Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 375-degrees F. for 10-12 minutes.

Yield:
About 8 dozen 3-inch cookies.

Note: This recipe makes a very hard cookie.

Add the warmed molasses and cream together with the creamed mixture...



Finally, mix in the sifted flour!



I made a fine mess rolling out the dough on a floured counter but at least I was armed with Baby's great grandmother's rolling pin! It was the only thing she took, fleeing Belaruse at the turn of the last century, possessing the forethought to carry a kitchen tool and possibly a weapon as well; both for the sake of her family.

Couldn't you just abandon civility, embrace depravity here and lick this deep chestnut-colored confection right off of the counter?

Now, the little buggers stuck, so I would recommend working quickly (ie don't pause for a photo shoot) flouring liberally both counter and rolling pin, and chilling the mixture first. Continue to do so while each batch bakes until lightly browned--I don't have the capacity nor the inclination to bake eight dozen cookies, so as I mentioned, I made four dozen, a dozen at a time in the oven.

Another suggestion: line a trifle dish with these cookies to enhance your banana pudding. Now, onto the pretzel clam soup!

Turkey in Turks!

Baby whisked me away to Turks and Caicos islands for an incredible Thanksgiving vacation this year. We stayed in Provo with friends for a few days and also shacked up at the breathtaking, sprawling Grace Bay Club resort. While our hosts assumed their respective posts working on a holiday that is not necessarily celebrated there, Baby and I hit the supermarket for groceries and set to work ourselves, to create our Thanksgiving candlelit midnight supper! The chalkboard with the menu above is my handiwork, and the price per person listed on the lower right hand corner was merely foolishness.

Here's our table in the glorious sunshine garden, before we set up and descended for the feast.

While our neighbor created Jamie Oliver's Dinner Lady Carrots and Soldier Leeks with Bacon next door, Baby injected our 22 pound turkey with sherry and melted butter and stuffed it full of onions, oranges, lemons, tangerines, rosemary, parsley and thyme. I got a good handful of softened butter and gently rubbed it underneath the skin and yes, I tore a bunch of parsley apart and further placed it under the skin as well to form a heart shape.

We trussed our Tom with kitchen twine...and into the oven it went to ruminate for a few hours!

Having acquainted ourselves with the kitchen and putting out plates, utensils, serving ware and the cooking tools we'd need ahead of time, I made my usual Sweet Potato Tipsy and went out to set the table, while Baby made his mashed potatoes with herbed butter and Alouette creamy cheese and amazing cranberry-cherry-orange compote.

When guests arrived, Baby served a sentimental platter of Pigs & Blankets, the way his mother used to make, with the dogs wrapped up in Pillsbury puff pastry. Yellow and grainy mustards went alongside with a sort of ketchup sauce that I made up from a carton of sensuously red Kumato tomatoes that also veer toward black pearls in color, some balsamic vinegar and crystallized pineapple that was on hand.

Behold the beast with the parsley heart gracing its proud breast!

How quickly it was ravaged! And it was so tender, I daresay it was the best turkey I ever had. For me, the injection of sherry and butter is essential, and the bird also must be monitored with a meat thermometer.


Our table at night! And what a flurry it was!

The tryptophan clearly kicked in somewhere around here.

Our guests delighted in lemon and coconut Pepperidge Farm cakes, the old store-bought dressed up with some fresh blackberries and raspberries.

For leftovers the next day, we pored over turkey sandwiches wedged into local rolls and I pureed the Lady Carrots and Soldier Leeks with gravy and heavy cream for a marvelous soup.

And somehow we managed to keep Coco away from raiding everything until it was time for her to have leftovers of her own, which she devoured!

Sweet Potato Tipsy

When I was going to school in London (22 years ago!) my friends and I hopped a ferry and went to Paris for Thanksgiving. Given my New England upbringing, I somehow had no problem foregoing turkey and stuffing for a rare filet mignon with grilled potatoes and a few glasses of cheap red table wine. This year I'll be in London again where I plan to spend Thanksgiving at my favorite restaurant in the world (at least what I know of it), Rules, that specializes in game cookery.

I've only made Thanksgiving dinner once, and actually my friend brought over the turkey. I had planned to make a bunch of side dishes, so many in fact that I forgot about some of them, the peas and pearl onions left uncomposed in the fridge--and I discovered the stuffing still in the microwave about a week later.

Here's one of the dishes that I did manage to make. I learned about Clementine Paddleford, the pioneer of American food writing, in the pages of Saveur magazine that year and chose to make her Sweet Potato Tipsy. Although she is largely forgotten today, I like to keep her memory alive by pulling out this wonderful dish every now and then.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Sweet Potato Tipsy
Serves 6-8

8 medium sweet potatoes

2 pinches of salt

7 tbsp. butter

1⁄2 cup half and half

1⁄4 cup dry sherry

3 tbsp. brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Put 8 medium sweet potatoes into a large pot, cover with cold water, and add 2 generous pinches of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to medium, and cook until soft when pierce, 30-40 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.

2. Peel potatoes and transfer to a large bowl. Coarsely mash potatoes with the tines of a fork, then add 5 tbsp. softened butter, 1⁄2 cup half-and-half, 1⁄4 cup dry sherry, and 3 tbsp. brown sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

3. Transfer sweet potato mixture to a buttered medium baking dish, dot with 2 tbsp. butter, and bake until top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

First published in Saveur in Issue #62; photo by James Baigrie