A Brown and Polson Fruit Pudding

 I was back perusing Mr. Charles Elmé Francatelli's book, A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Class.  I first wrote about it in this recipe:  Sausage Rolls and Queen Victoria.  The book was published in 1861.

Something that caught my attention was recipe #47:  Brown and Polson Pudding.  In the ingredients list he has "six ounces of Brown and Polson's prepared Indian corn", which he later describes as 

a most excellent and economical article of food, equal to arrow-root, and will prove, on trial, to be both substantial and nutritive, and also easy of digestion to the most delicate stomachs.

My first thought was that he was describing corn meal, and I would expect this recipe to be something like a spoonbread.  But that connection to arrowroot made me rethink it.  

A quick surfing around the internet produced this result from  http://letslookagain.com/tag/history-of-brown-polson/:

John Polson Jr (1825 - 1900) discovered a method for manufacturing pure starch from maize, which he called corn flour.  He patented the process in 1854.  It was the first corn flour to be manufactured in Britain.

In fact, the site says Brown and Polson's is still for sale in Britain!  Here is what the vintage container looked like:

At this point I really wanted to try a pudding made from cornflour, but I moved to recipe #48, 

Brown and Polson Fruit Pudding

Prepare the pudding batter as indicated in the foregoing Number, and when you have poured one-half of it into the greased pie dish, strew about two pounds of any kind of fruit upon this, such as gooseberries, currants, plums, cherries, etc., and then pour the remainder of the batter all over the fruit.  Bake the pudding an hour and a quarter.  Peeled apples or pears may be used for the same purpose.

Here is the foregoing Number:

No. 47.  Brown and Polson Pudding

Ingredients, six ounces of Brown and Polson's prepared Indian corn, two quarts of milk, two ounces of sugar, a bit of cinnamon or lemon-peel, a pinch of salt, three eggs.  Mix all the above ingredients (except the eggs) in a saucepan, and stir them on the fire till they come to a boil; then add the eggs beat up; mix thoroughly, pour the batter into a pie-dish greased with butter, and bake the pudding for one hour.

I chose to do a half-recipe.

 My Redaction

1 quart whole milk

3 ounces cornstarch (not Brown and Polson, sadly)

1 ounce sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch salt

2 eggs, well-beaten

24 ounce jar Morello cherries, drained (reserve the liquid)

The milk went into the saucepan, then I weighed out the dry ingredients.  I whisked them together in the bowl and then whisked them into the cold milk.  

The saucepan went onto the stove over medium heat.  I didn't stir it the whole time, but I did stir it often.  As it heated, the mixture became thicker and foamy.  

When it just started boiling, I took it off the heat, and poured in the beaten eggs while whisking.  This thickened the mixture even more, so I quickly poured half into the greased pie-dish.  Then I spooned the cherries over it (they sank) until they were fairly evenly distributed.

At that point I poured and spooned the rest of the batter over the top.  Some of it was very thick and sticking to the bottom of the saucepan, but it didn't scorch.  I used a scraper to get the rest.

It went into a preheated 350 degree F oven.

After one hour, the top was browning nicely but the center was still very jiggly, so I reduced the temperature to 325 degrees F while it cooked another 15 minutes.

It smelled lovely!

While it was baking, I decided to make a sauce from the cherry juice.  There was about 1 cup juice (my estimation) so I put in two big spoonfuls of sugar, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch.  That all was whisked well and then placed over medium high heat.  I whisked it constantly until it boiled, then reduced the heat and simmered it (while whisking) for one minute.  It cleared and thickened.  Once that minute was over, I took it off the heat and mixed in a splash of almond extract.  It cooled while the pudding continued to bake.

After baking it for one hour and a quarter, I took the now well-browned pudding out of the oven.  It was still very jiggly but a stick put into the middle came out clean.  I left it to cool.

The Verdict

I tasted the batter right out of the saucepan.  It was good!  Thick, creamy, mild in flavor, slightly sweet.  I could have eaten it as it was, with a spoon.  This made me look back at his recipe #49, Brown and Polson Thick Milk, which is very similar to this batter but without the eggs.  He has you boil it for ten minutes to make a dish that "is most excellent for children's breakfast or supper, and would be found both cheaper and better for their health than a sloppy mess of tea."

As the pudding cooled, the top sank and the center firmed up nicely.  

I tried to serve it by cutting it into wedges, but only the top crust cut; the interior was soft and would not hold a shape.  I ended up serving it with a spoon.  It was still warm when we tried it.

The flavor was mild, slightly sweet, and the cherries were prominent.  My guest taster wondered if there was cheese in it.  I wished for more cinnamon to add some complexity to it.

Overall, it was good.  We both felt it was "a keeper."  

After we tasted it thoroughly as it came out of the pan, we tried it with the cherry sauce I had made.

Oh, my!  That added a lot more flavor and interest to the dish!  It was a hit and my guest taster said, "I think I'm hooked on this."  We ate our fill and enjoyed it very much.

Success!

I tried the leftovers the next day.  This dish chilled had a texture that reminded me strongly of bread pudding.  And it was still tasty!  I'm so glad I made it with cherries.

Playing with Pumpkins, Part Two

My last post was taking a pumpkin and filling it with a stuffing made of pork sausage, apples, onions, bread, and spices.  It was tasty and the pumpkin had a mild flavor that was, fortunately, not bland or bitter like previous pumpkins I have cooked.

Now I want to cook with the other pumpkin I bought at a farmer's market.  The vendors said this would be such a sweet pumpkin and I was hoping they were right.

I decided to try it with a custard inside, studded with fruit and nuts.

I decided not to use the cream

I used Michael Ruhlman's book Ratio to help me plan the custard.  I chose the 2 to 1 ratio of half-and-half to eggs for a creamy but firm custard as the base for my dessert.

Ingredients

1 pumpkin, washed and rinsed
12 ounces half-and-half
3 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 ounces sour cherries, coarsely chopped
1/4 ounce slivered almonds, chopped

My Notes

Before I knew how much half-and-half and eggs to use, I had to prepare and measure the pumpkin.

I cut off the top, putting the knife in at a slant, to make a lid and to leave as much of a bowl-like interior as I could.  Then I scraped out the seeds and strings from the inside and off the bottom of the lid.

When I rinsed the inside of the pumpkin, I filled it with water and measure how much it comfortably held.  It seemed like 15 ounces was about right, so I planned on a total of 18 ounces to work with Ruhlman's ratio:  12 ounces of half-and-half with 3 large (so 6 ounces) eggs.  I knew that could overfill it but I didn't worry about it.

I just guessed on the amount of sugar, extract, cherries, and nuts.  I wanted it mildly sweet and I thought the extract would compliment the cherries more than vanilla extract would.

Ruhlman suggested putting the half-and-half, eggs, sugar, and extract into some sort of blending device to make it smooth.  I used a stick blender.  I put the pumpkin into my Dutch oven.

Then I poured the custard mix into the pumpkin and stirred in the cherries and nuts.  This made the pumpkin very full so I put the lid on the side instead of on top.  Then I poured boiling water around the pumpkin, put the lid on the Dutch oven, and put the whole thing in a preheated 325 degree F oven.

After one hour, I took the lid off the Dutch oven to let the custard finish baking.  I notice the custard had risen and occasionally leaked out over the edge of the pumpkin bowl but I didn't worry about it.

It took another hour before I felt the custard had set enough to remove from the oven.  It wasn't entirely firm and I saw a lot of liquid around it, which I assumed was from the pumpkin itself.

I used two slotted spoons to remove the pumpkin from the baking pan and placed it in a bowl.

I then covered it with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator overnight.

The Verdict

The next day I tasted it.  The custard was firm, the pumpkin was tender, and the whole thing sliced beautifully.  It all stayed together when moving a slice to a plate for serving.

As I had expected, the cherries and nuts were mostly on the surface, but there was enough of them that it was easy to get a bite of them even when scooping up custard from deep in the pumpkin bowl.

And the flavor? 

First, the custard was just right.  Creamy, smooth, lightly sweet.  I couldn't taste the almond extract but that was okay by me.  The cherries weren't as sour as they were uncooked but still flavorful and added a nice bright sparkle of flavor to the mild custard.  The almonds did exactly what I wanted:  they were a bit of crunch that was much needed to balance the texture. 

The pumpkin was absolutely the best, sweetest pumpkin I have ever eaten.  No bitterness, sweet without being cloying, tender and smooth.  Even the rind was tender and easy to eat.  It worked so well with the custard that each mouthful was a pleasure. 

Oh my, Success!

I am saving the seeds in hopes of growing more of these pumpkins.  I wish I could remember what the vendors at the farmers market had called the variety!  I've done more reading on tasty pumpkins and I wonder if this is the variety called "Cinderella's Carriage."  It looks a lot like the description and it is soooooooo tasty. 

I wish more farmers grew this pumpkin.  It could start a trend for pumpkin-eating!  Like the nursery rhyme:  Peter, Peter, Pumpkin-Eater! 

Dried Cherries -- more like glacéed

In my last post, I showed how I pickled cherries using a recipe from the 1887 White House Cook Book.  Today I am drying cherries, but because they are cooked in a sugar syrup, they are what I would call "glacé" instead of just dried. 

The recipe comes from the 1844 edition of The Lady's Own Cookery Book, by Charlotte Campbell Bury.





I want to quote from the preface, which has parts I find amusing:

Moving in the first circles of rank and fashion, her associations have qualified her to furnish directions adapted to the manners and taste of the most refined Luxury; whilst long and attentive observation, and the communications of an extensive acquaintance, have enabled her equally to accommodate them to the use of persons of less ample means and of simpler and more economical habits.

In other words, you can be assured these are classy recipes that you can afford!

Also,

The professed Cook may perhaps be disposed to form a mean estimate of these pages, because few, or no learned, or technical, terms are employed in them; but this circumstance, so far from operating to the disparagement of the work, must prove a strong recommendation to the Public in general.  The chief aim, in fact, of the noble Authoress has been to furnish such plain directions, in every branch of the culinary art, as shall be really useful to English masters and English servants, and to the humble but earnest practitioner.

So don't worry, Dear Reader, that the recipes don't look complicated.  The author's goal was to make it simple for you to follow. 

I am grateful for the author's efforts. 

The recipe is from the Confectionary section:

Cherries, to dry

My Redaction

3 pounds cherries, stoned
1 pound white sugar

That's all, folks!

Mix the cherries and sugar in a container.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Shake occasionally if you can, to mix them some more.

Just mixed and looking dry

The sugar pulls the liquid from the cherries, so when they are very wet and the sugar is dissolved, put into a pan big enough to hold them comfortably.

Juicy and ready to cook

I brought them to a boil and them simmered them until I worried that they might cook too much and fall apart.  The sugar syrup had a chance to penetrate the cherries.

Cooked and soft but still whole

I really didn't know what the Authoress meant by "scald them" so I just drained them -- I kept the syrup! -- and placed them on a grid over a pan.



This is as packed as I was willing to go because I thought it important the cherries shouldn't touch.  So the extras went right on to another pan, without being raised up on the grid.  In both cases, chop sticks were super helpful in handling the sticky cherries.

Preparing to dry

I put them in a warm oven and let them dry overnight.  The next morning I turned all the cherries over and dried them some more.

The Verdict

The result was a flatter, slightly sticky dried cherry.  It was not too sweet and the cherry flavor really came shining through.  My guest tasters were surprised the cherries had been cooked in a sugar syrup. 

Pre-turning

They were delightfully chewy.  We enjoyed eating them as they were but I also think they would be wonderful in a bread, or tossed on a green salad, or sprinkled over oatmeal. 

To store them, I decided to dust them lightly with powdered sugar and toss them until coated.  That way they didn't stick together into a big ball and I could keep them all in a lidded container.  This worked well!

They look like big raisins, but reddish

Success!  Ms. Bury did well with these instructions.  I wish I had the time and cherries to make more as I think they would keep a long time. 

As for the sugar syrup that I drained from the cherries, I added the rest of the fresh cherries and some finely minced, fresh ginger, then cooked them until they formed a thick jam.  I canned them for future use.  The part I tasted was very spicy from the ginger, which went well with the sweet from the cherries and sugar.  Even though the ginger fire mellowed after a week or so, it was still strong enough that most people (not me!) would not want to put it on toast.  I loved it but I think it would be wonderful as a topping on some grilled pork chops. 

Pickled Cherries

Sometimes you just need to go outside and do something yourself.  I visited the Mile High Ranch recently to pick cherries off their 60+ year old trees.  It was fun and felt like I was getting in touch with nature and history.  Sure, I could have gone to the store and bought cherries, but why not have an adventure?

Luscious, sweet cherries

I came home with 9 pounds of cherries, so of course I had to find something historical to do with them.  I decided against making wine or infusing liquor with them.  I was tempted by desserts and may end up doing one of the boiled or steamed pudding recipes I found.

Today's recipe appealed to me because of the pickled loquats I made while my tree was in full production.  They were tasty to eat and the leftover liquid was good in my tea.  Pickling cherries was high up there on the "Ooooo!  I want to try this!" scale.

I found it in my digital copy of the The White House Cook Book, 1887 version.



The authors, Fanny Lemira Gillette and Hugo Ziemann, have impressive credentials.

Hugo Ziemann was at one time caterer for that Prince Napoleon who was killed while fighting the Zulus in Africa.  He was afterwards steward of the famous Hotel Splendide in Paris.  Later he conducted the celebrated Brunswick Cafe in New York, and still later he gave to the Hotel Richelieu, in Chicago, a cuisine which won the applause of even the gourmets of foreign lands.  ...

Mrs. F. L. Gillette is no less proficient and capable, having made a life-long and thorough study of cookery and housekeeping, especially as adapted to the practical wants of average American homes.

(Publisher's Preface)

The books starts off with directions for carving.  Then it covers a wide range of recipe categories and includes menus for the various seasons, months, and holidays.  It concludes with helpful household management ideas, ranging from "Housekeepers' Time-Table", to dyeing, etiquette, giving dinners, and even measures and weights. 

Today's recipe is from the Pickles section.

Ground spices, not whole

My Notes

I was completely out of whole cloves and never had whole blades of mace, so I chose to use ground spices.  Unfortunately, I didn't see their note about putting the ground spices into a bag, so I put them right into the vinegar/sugar mix for cooking and for pouring over the cherries in the jar.

I chose apple cider vinegar and white sugar.  The authors suggested either apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar for pickling.

The recipe did not specify removing the seeds, so I left the cherries unstoned.  I picked through my haul and chose only the cherries that were firm and unblemished.  I decided to make one quart's worth.

Sure enough, one quart in my measuring cup fit a one quart canning jar!



As per directions, I used "a large cupful" of vinegar, measuring just over 8 ounces.

The vinegar, sugar, and spices went into a small saucepan, brought to a boil, and then simmered for five minutes.

Some spices stuck to the walls.  I did not worry about this.

Once it had cooled, I poured it over the cherries.  It did not fill the jar up; it only filled to about halfway.

Not enough!

So I estimated it needed another 6 ounces of the vinegar/sugar mix, which I made but did not add any more spices to it.  Once that was boiled and cooled, I poured it over the cherries.  It still wasn't enough and I was out of apple cider vinegar, so I topped it off with some white wine vinegar.  I poured straight from the bottle, without adding any sugar or spices.  It only took a few tablespoons to nearly cover the cherries.

Close enough

Then I put on the lid and put it into the refrigerator to pickle.  Lately I have been making refrigerator pickled vegetables, so I know they need at least a few hours for the pickling juice to have an effect on them.  I decided to let them sit overnight.

The Verdict

To recap, I needed twice as much of the vinegar/sugar/spice liquid to cover the cherries.  Roughly 16 to 20 ounces of vinegar.

I tried them the next day.  My reaction was this:  they need more time to actually taste pickled -- mostly they tasted like cherries with a vinegar coating.  Another day is needed for the process.

The next day they were more pickled but were too sour from the vinegar.  I added more sugar, shook the jar, and waited more.

A week later it was still too sour except for a guest taster who REALLY loves vinegar/pickled foods.  I added more sugar and waited again.

A few weeks later, I thought it was almost right.  The liquor is still very sour but the cherries themselves are slightly translucent and pickled all the way through.  The spices add a light note and were not dominant in flavor.



I like them!  Success!  I think they would be good over vanilla ice cream or mixed into a fruit salad (remove the pits first), and they are also good just out of the jar.  I think the liquor would be a good base for a shrub, to have a syrup of some sort mixed into it and then diluted with water.

They were still somewhat sour (that made them "almost right") so I added more sugar.  I'll keep doing that until I am happy with the sweet-sour balance.   I have probably used more than 1/2 cup of white sugar to get it this far.