Harvey Girl Special Little Thin Orange Pancakes

**See the bottom of this post for an update!

My most favorite guest taster, WB, has quite a collection of books relating to trains:  their history, their construction, the personalities that influenced their expansion, and much more.  He is the reason my cookbook collection has train-related recipes.  

The other day I was looking at one of his books about one of those personalities:  Fred Harvey, restauranteur extraordinaire.  

Image credit

I think this picture shows a man of pleasant character; he is someone I would like to meet.

Click here to see his article in Wikipedia:

Fred Harvey is credited with creating the first restaurant chain in the United States. He was also a leader in promoting tourism in the American Southwest in the late 19th century. Fred Harvey and his employees successfully brought new higher standards of both civility and dining to a region widely regarded in the era as "the Wild West."

The restaurant chain was the Fred Harvey Company, and was comprised primarily of "Harvey Houses", eating places associated and coordinated with the railroads.  He created it because "Harvey traveled frequently while working for the railroads and found himself deeply dissatisfied with the food served to travelers."

Along with good food and reasonable prices, 

Harvey also gained a boost in business with his incorporation of the "Harvey Girl". He hired women between the ages of 18 and 30 and did not permit them to marry until they had put in a full year of work. Harvey Girls resided in housing adjacent to the restaurants, where they were supervised by the most senior Girl, who enforced curfews and chaperoned male visits. Roughly 5000 Harvey Girls moved out West to work and ultimately marry.

My guest taster had this book in his collection:

No ISBN to be had...

Written by James David Henderson, Meals by Fred Harvey was first published in 1969.  This is a reprinting from 1985.  It chronicles the accomplishments of Mr. Harvey from his arrival in the United States through his development of his company.  It includes correspondence, menus, poetry about the Harvey Girls, and lists of all the businesses associated with the company.  There are also photographs of buildings and china patterns the company used.

What caught my attention was two pages of recipes, found in the photograph section, pages "n" and "o".  There are six recipes listed:  Braised Duck Cumberland, Curry of Lamb, Harvey Girl Special Little Thin Orange Pancakes, Chicken Cacciatore, Lobster Americaine, and Guacamole Monterey.

My orange tree is loaded with fruit so I was inspired to recreate the pancake recipe, from page "n".

Harvey Girl Special Little Thin Orange Pancakes

1/4 cup diced orange sections and juice (1/2 orange)

1 teaspoon grated orange peel (1/2 orange)

1 cup pancake mix

1 cup orange juice (about)

Combine all ingredients.  Bake small pancakes on hot griddle, using 1 tablespoon batter for each pancake.  Serve with maple syrup, honey or jelly.  Yield:  12 servings, 3 (2 3/4-inch diameter) pancakes per serving.

Fred Harvey Restaurants
St. Louis Union Station
Henry Stovall

Don't judge the premade biscuit mix...

My Notes

It took four oranges at about the size you see in the picture to make one cup of juice (about).  The pancake mix called for milk, so I decided to use the canned milk in my cupboard instead of buying fresh.

The griddle was preheated over a low fire on the stove.

First I mixed up the pancake batter, with 8 ounces of milk, 2 eggs, and 2 cups of the premade mix.  Once that was hydrating, I got the zest from the orange.  Yes, it took about 1/2 orange to get the 1 teaspoon zest.

Then I found it took two oranges to get 1/4 cup of diced orange sections.  I cut them fairly small because I thought that thin pancakes would not want thick chunks of orange in them.  Here is what I had:

Note that I had two cups of batter, not one.

Next, I put all the orange components into the batter.  At that point I realized I was supposed to use only half of the batter I had mixed up, but it was too late to change direction.  I decided to keep going and to see how this ratio would taste.

The pancake batter was very thick before I added the orange juice.  I thought it was thinned out by the orange juice to just right.  

After stirring the mixture well, I let it sit while I greased the griddle with a tiny amount of butter and turned up the fire to about 3 on a scale of 10.  I noticed the batter was getting bubbly when I was ready to make the pancakes.

I estimated a tablespoon of batter for each pancake, instead of measuring.  I aimed for small pancakes, 2 to 3 inches in diameter.

Maybe not so many at once.

The diced orange sections were distinguishable chunks but didn't seem to cause a problem with pouring the batter or cooking the pancakes.

The fire under the griddle should have been around 3 1/2 or 4 instead of 3 to get even cooking, but level 3 worked for the first few batches.  I noticed the pancakes were ready to turn when they looked orange and dry on the surface.

Turn them!

After some experimenting with the fire level, I got some good coloring on the pancakes.

Dark but not burnt

Honestly, not burnt!

The Verdict

We had them with butter and our choice of maple syrup or cinnamon sugar.  I tried both toppings, but not both together.

They were little.  They were thin.  They were orangey!  

Really, the pancakes were tasty.  The orange flavor came shining through, and the bits of orange section were a nice texture change as well as a little burst of orange juice flavor when I bit into them.  My guest taster and I thoroughly enjoyed them.  We did not limit ourselves to a serving of three pancakes, though.  

I liked them with the toppings, and just with butter, and, when the extras were cooling off, just plain.  The orange flavor was dominant and just right.  

I have to wonder how strong the orange flavor would be had I not inadvertently doubled the amount of pancake batter.  I also wonder how thin the batter would have been, and how that would have affected the texture of the pancakes.  Well, I still have a little canned milk left over.  Perhaps I should try again.

I deem it a success!  Worth making again, especially for a break in the "usual" pancake routine.

Update, 2024:  I realized that I had misinterpreted the recipe in that I started with pancake batter when I should have used pancake mix that was rehydrated with orange juice.  I tried it again and the pancakes were even better.  Be sure to cut the orange into tiny pieces since these pancakes are so thin.

Chocolate Puffs, a Train Recipe

When I travel, my souvenirs tend to be cookbooks.  Why not?  They are fun and useful memories of the journey, and I can "revisit" the trip when I cook.  

Today's recipe is from a cookbook I bought when in Sacramento, touring the California Railroad Museum.  This book contains recipes from the famed "Harvey Houses", which were a creation of Fred Harvey.  His company provided restaurants located along the train routes, where people could get off the train and have a nice meal in a clean place with pleasant servers:

In the 1870s, people traveling west of the Mississippi were still venturing into the wild.  Loud, smoke-belching trains might have cut across the rough terrain, but the harsh weather, rigid seats, and short breaks for bad food in the middle of nowhere showed that the West was by no means won.  Entrepreneur Fred Harvey had an eye for such problems and a nerve for the impossible.  In 1876, he began establishing high quality dining rooms along the Santa Fe Railroad, and his Harvey Houses helped change the entire picture of the American West. 

... Suddenly, after surging through mountain snow or sweltering heat, rail travelers halted at a surprising sight:  a Harvey House arose out of nowhere and served them like royalty.  Fine china, Irish linen ... and, oh, the "Harvey Girls."  Magical and romantic in a region still rough-edged and rowdy, these polished young servers made the Western rail dining experience a true pleasure.

Some of the sites were developed further into beautiful hotels and resort destinations complete with tours.  It was the advent of air travel, automobiles, and faster trains needing to make fewer stops that is attributed to the demise of the business, which I find sad.  

There are many recipes I would like to try in The Harvey House Cookbook by George H. Foster and Peter C. Weiglin.  Chocolate Puffs, on page 108, is credited to chef George Burnickel, who worked on the California Limited.  

ISBN 978-1-58979-321-7

Chocolate Puffs

1 cup flour

1 oz. melted chocolate

1 cup water

3 eggs

1/2 cup butter

Strawberry preserves

Whipped cream

Boil together one cupful of flour, one cupful of water, and half a cup of butter.  Remove from the fire and beat in an ounce of melted chocolate and three eggs (one at a time).  Bake in a gem pan, and when done cut off the top and put into each cake a teaspoonful of strawberry preserves.  Cover with whipped cream, sweetened and flavored.

And water.

My Notes

I didn't have strawberry preserves but I did have a most marvelous pomegranate jelly made by my friend, MR.  I thought it would go well with chocolate.  Also, I had no whipped cream.

A gem pan is a muffin tin, so I used my regular sized, non-stick muffin tin.  

Mr. Burnickel did not specify an oven temperature, probably expecting that anyone reading the instructions would have experience in knowing the right one, so I did a little reading on the side.  The recipe looked like a choux paste and the word "puff" in the name gave me enough hints on what to do.  I preheated my oven to 400 degrees F.

The chocolate was melted in the microwave (with some left over for nibbling!).  The butter was frozen so I was reluctant to put the flour-water-butter mixture over a high heat for boiling.  I wanted the butter to have a chance to melt.  The three ingredients went over a medium heat, and I stirred it a lot until it all came together and didn't stick to the sides of the pan any more.

Pre-chocolate

Then I turned off the fire and mixed in the chocolate until that mixture looked smooth and well-blended.  After that, the eggs, beating in each one until the mixture looked smooth before adding the next.

With chocolate and eggs.

I used a ladle to scoop the batter into each pan.  I wasn't sure how much they would puff so I filled the cups about halfway to 2/3 full.  That left me with one empty cup, which I filled with water.  (This is recommended to keep balance in the way the pan heats.)

My reading suggested cooking them at 400 degrees F and then reducing the temperature to 350 degrees F.  I cooked them for 12 minutes at 400, which made them puff nicely, and then 23 minutes at 350.  The recommendation was to remove them only after they were "very firm."

I managed to keep the over door closed until about 20 minutes into the 350 degree cooking slot.  Then it was briefly opened for me to poke it, checking for firmness.  They browned well and didn't burn, and they smelled lovely.

I wanted to take them from the pan immediately so they could cool on a rack.  They all stuck to my non-stick pan!  So I let them cool completely in the pan and pulled them out later with the help of a small metal spatula.  

The Verdict

Some of the puffiness had left my cooled chocolate puffs, but they didn't sink down to anything embarrassing.  The bottoms tore when I took them from the pan, so I didn't cut off the tops for serving, I just turned them over.

The texture inside looked just right.

The interior was visibly moist and the "feel" of the puff was delicate and tender.

I served it with a spoonful of pomegranate jelly on top.  The jelly looked like a jewel.

My guest taster noted that the exterior was a little crispy and the interior was moist and tender - very nice!  The chocolate flavor was subtle but pleasantly there, and the pomegranate jelly (tart and sweet) went very well with the chocolate.  I agreed with him completely.

We both enjoyed it as a simple and yet satisfying dessert.  It was pretty and it was tasty.  When you include how few ingredients it required and how easy it was to prepare, I think it gets very high marks.  

Success!  I would do it again if I can have chocolate in the house that isn't already consumed for being, well, chocolate.  

Be sure to grease the pan!

 

Pork Chops Normandie -- A Train Recipe

I have several cookbooks pertaining to U.S. railroads.  Some I got at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento.  Others I found at various other railroad museums around California.   My travel companion often finds these for us to visit, and I love looking through the museum stores to see what cookbooks they might have.

ISBN 978-0-8018-9323-0 

This one, Dining on the B&O, by Thomas J. Greco and Karl D. Spence, I probably got at the Sacramento museum, but I honestly can't remember right now.  In case you don't already know, the Baltimore and Ohio (B & O) Railroad took special pains to offer its customers excellent food, as an enticement to bring in more customers.  From the inside front cover:

Passengers who dined on the Baltimore and Ohio during the heyday of American railroading received five-star service:  white tablecloths, china, and silver; food cooked from scratch; and the undivided attention of skilled waiters.  The B&O's cuisine won wide acclaim as the finest railway food in the country.  Passengers enjoyed it as the slightly swaying dining car clicked along over the rails.

The authors, "captivated by the romance of the subject", researched the original sources of the recipes.  Most of them were from the 1940s and 1950s.  In this book, they give the original recipes along with modern interpretations, and photographs of the dining cars from the period.

The foreword is particularly fun to read as it describes your experience as a passenger, from beginning to end, as it could have been in autumn, 1957.  Written by the last Director of Passenger Services, William F. Howes, Jr., so you know it is authentic!

Most of the recipes remind me of the food my grandparents from the U.S. Midwest would have fixed and enjoyed.  Most of the spicing is with salt and pepper; many recipes include cream, butter, tomato sauce, bell peppers.  For me, who doesn't normally cook these types of dishes, this is a reminder of my childhood.

I would not label the recipes as unusual or surprising.  They are solid meals, some with a bit of flair, that could be "prepared from scratch in a kitchen that occupied a space about 16 feet long and only 7 1/2 feet wide."  (page 3)  If you get this book, take the time to read pages 3 and 4, which describe how they managed to prepare all this food as well as store it and all the utensils, pots, china, crockery, glassware, and silverware in that tiny space.  Truly impressive.

One recipe that appealed to me, because I love meat combined with fruit flavors, is on page 80.

Pork Chops Normandie

When ordering chops for this item show on requisition number of chops desired.  These will be furnished ready cut and four to the pound.  To prepare, place in a greased baking dish.  Season with salt and pepper.  Pour apple cider over chops until juice is even with chops.  Pare and slice firm tart apples over the chops.  About two applies to six chops.  Over the apple sprinkle cinnamon, a little ground clove and ground nutmeg.  Add two bay leaves and bake in a moderate oven about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

The apple cider, apples, and spice flavor impart a most delicious flavor to these chops and is something different from the average pork chop dinner.  Two chops are to be served to the order.



The "Chef's Comments" (modern interpretation) gives specific measurements for three chops, but I think the original recipe is easy enough to follow.  I already knew that a moderate oven is 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  I used one bay leaf for three chops.

My Notes

I greased the baking dish with olive oil. Salt and pepper went on both sides of the chops, which were at least 3/4" thick and weighed about 1/2 pound each.

It took about 1/3 of the bottle of apple juice you see above to get it "even with the chops", meaning to their tops.  Between 2 and 3 cups of juice into the baking dish I used.

I only needed about 3/4 of the green apple to cover the chops, so the rest was cut smaller (unpared) and put into the apple juice next to the chops.  I decided to place the apple slices decoratively on the chops, with a hope they would stay there and look good when I served the chops.

A slight dusting of cloves, a heavier dusting of cinnamon, and a medium dusting of nutmeg were applied.  The bay leaf went into the juice.

The air was scented with the spices and apple juice while it was baking.  Heavenly!

Ready for the oven!

This how they were after one hour at 350 degrees.  The recipe called for 1 1/4 hours, but when I tested them with a thermometer, the interior was over 180 degrees, which worried me.



The Verdict

These chops were two to a pound, so I only served one per person.  They were joined by a tossed green salad and sourdough bread.



It was easy to move the chops from the baking dish to the plate without losing the decoratively placed apples on top.  I chose not to include the apple juice as part of the serving.

First let me say that the flavors of apple and spices was present in every bite, and I loved it.  I thought the spices would be more in the meat than they were, but that didn't make sense because they didn't touch the meat much.  The apple flavor had penetrated the meat, which was wonderful.

My guest taster felt the same, and we both noticed that the meat was drier than we wanted.  I believe that one hour in the oven was too long.  If I do this again, I would check the internal temperature after 30 minutes.  But it was not bad or too dry -- we still ate every bite and enjoyed it!

Success!  I think my grandparents would have liked it and my grandmother would have fixed it more than once.  I recommend it, as it was easy to put together and fun to eat.

I am tempted to reduce the apple juice baking liquid to make some sort of sauce to serve with the chops, though, or to use it with some other dish, or to cook more meat in it (pork or chicken) before tossing it out.  It just seemed like a waste of a beautiful thing.

Dueling Cantaloupes, The Return Fire

The first recipe for Cantaloupe Pie from Dining in the Diner did not work out the way I think it was intended.  Now is the chance for the second recipe, this one from The Historical Cookbook of the American Negro, to have its shot.

On page 90 and dedicated to Mary Church Terrell, one of the first African-American women to earn a bachelor's degree in the United States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Church_Terrell), is the recipe.

Cantaloupe Pie

1 large canteloupe [sic]
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large pastry shell

I didn't put the pastry shell in the picture

Cut canteloupe [sic] in halves, remove seeds, cut up pulp and put into a double boiler with sugar.  Mix cornstarch with a little cold water and add to canteloupe.  After mixture thickens add beaten egg yolks and salt and cook a little longer.  Cool  Pour into baked pastry shell.  Spread with meringue made from egg whites and 1/4 cup sugar, flavored with lemon.  Brown meringue in oven at 325 degrees.  Cool before serving.

My Process
Instead of cutting up the pulp, I put the peeled, chunked cantaloupe through the shredder of my food processor.  After all, it worked so well for yesterday's recipe!  It takes very little time and I appreciated that.


When I added the sugar, I stirred until it was all dissolved before I added the cornstarch solution.  Also, I had the double boiler already simmering before I put in the cantaloupe.

It took a long time to cook the mixture in the double boiler.  About an hour, with me occasionally giving it a stir and checking on the temperature.  It was the longest thickening-with-cornstarch experience I have had!  The nice part is I didn't have to worry about overcooking the cornstarch and losing the thickening feature.

It was a little hard to tell when the mixture was thick enough to add the egg yolks and salt.  When I looked at the pictures it was obvious -- before it was thick it looked juicy and afterwards it looked creamy.  The cornstarch, when first added, made the mix look cloudy but that only went away a little bit once it was cooked since the cantaloupe juice is somewhat cloudy on its own.

Getting hot but still liquidy

It looks thicker

But I guessed when it was thick enough and then cooked the mixture about five minutes longer once I added the yolks.  Then I put the whole thing out on the counter to cool before I put it into the refrigerator.

There was more filling than would fit the crust so I tasted the leftovers.  Oh my!  What I got was a fresh cantaloupe flavor, lightly sweet, and very appealing.  The previous recipe was sweeter and a little more cloying and, although I originally liked the nutmeg flavor in it, in a re-taste, the nutmeg was more of a shocking flavor than nice.  I definitely liked this version's flavor better.

After an hour or so in the 'fridge the mixture was cool enough and thick enough I was willing to put it into the crust.  Then the entire pie went into the 'fridge with hopes it would get solid enough to be viable.  I figured I would put the meringue on later.

It took several hours but it looked thick enough to warrant putting on the meringue.

Then I browned the meringue first in the 325 degree oven (for ten minutes) as suggested, which dried it nicely but did not do more than brown the tips.  So I switched it to under the broiler and was pleased with the results.

It went back into the 'fridge to chill out before the grand taste-test.

The Verdict
I would call it a "success"!  Although the filling was not as thick as I'd like it to be, it was still thick enough to cut and maintain its shape.  It took another day before I felt like the juicy part was starting to soak through the crust, although that was not a bad thing.

I liked the flavor -- still fresh and not too sweet -- much better than the first recipe.  There was more filling than would fit in the crust, so I got to eat that separately (another treat!).  My guess is that our modern cantaloupes are bigger on average than what was available in the 1940s to 1950s and that is why I had so much trouble getting the filling to thicken correctly.  If I made this again, I would add more cornstarch.  I would would also consider using a puree of cantaloupe to see if I liked the smoother texture better.

Either way, the flavor was lovely, especially if you like cantaloupe, and I do.

I would recommend this recipe over the first unless you really love the flavor of nutmeg.

Dueling Cantaloupes, The First Shot

I recently reread one cookbook (see the Feb 2013 post, "Lemon Smothered Chops") and acquired a new old cookbook.  Both had their versions of a recipe that caught my eye, cantaloupe pie.  Doesn't that just sound weird/intriguing/curious?  I decided the only thing to do would be to make them both and compare their processes and results.

I started with the recipe out of this book, a new one to my railroad cookbook collection, Dinner in the Diner by Will C. Hollister.  It was published in the early 1980s and discusses many rail lines including the Texas and Pacific Railroad which was first organized in the 1870s.  The text on page 127 says, "Among the delicious dishes favored on Texas and Pacific dining cars has been cantaloupe pie, the recipe for which is given here." (Page 128)

ISBN 0-87046-011-0

 Cantaloupe Pie a la Texas and Pacific

1 well ripened cantaloupe
2 tablespoons flour
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup cold water

The eggs are for the meringue

Strain juice from seeds of the cantaloupe and put meat of cantaloupe through a ricer.  Preserve both the meat and juice.  Pour this mixture into a sauce pan and add the cup of cold water.  Place on stove and boil for five minutes.  Mix flour and sugar together and slowly add to the hot mixture, stirring constantly.  Add the butter and nutmeg.  When the mixture is cool, pour into ready-baked pie shell and cover with meringue.  Brown in oven.

For Meringue:  Whiles of three eggs (well beaten) with one teaspoon sugar.

My process
I don't have a ricer so I put the peeled and chunked cantaloupe through the grater of my food processor.  I think it achieved the same goal.

There wasn't much juice with the seeds until much later, after I had already started cooking the mix. 

The recipe wasn't clear about how to handle the heat after the cantaloupe had boiled for five minutes, so I turned it down to low for the rest of the steps.

I'm not sure how slowly I should have added the flour/sugar mix but I did make sure each part was well-mixed before I added another.

After getting the whole mix cooked and blended, I let it sit on the stove top to cool.  It never got any thicker than soup.  This would not do for a pie filling.  One cut and it would all leak out over the pan, if it hadn't already soaked through the crust!

Soupy.  Not good.

I thought perhaps I needed to cook the filling longer, to give the flour a chance to thicken it.  So I brought it to a boil for three minutes and then let it cool again.  I even put some of it in a little dish into the refrigerator to see how it would thicken.  Again, it didn't get thick, not even the chilled portion.

At this point I would call the recipe a failure!

Not wanting to just toss the whole thing out -- after all the flavor was lightly sweet and cantaloupe-y with just enough texture from the shreds -- I mixed in one tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with 1/8 cup of water, and brought it to a boil again, this time for two minutes.

The mix was definitely thicker.  But even after having it sit in the refrigerator overnight, it did not get thick enough to put into the pie crust.  Perhaps I should have used two tablespoons of cornstarch.

I think it would a wonderful topping over vanilla ice cream so it won't go to waste.  Tomorrow I will try the other recipe!