The Body in the Moonlight (26 page)
Read The Body in the Moonlight Online
Authors: Katherine Hall Page
Faith's bedside tableâand mineâare piled high with mysteries, of course, but also with cookbooks. In Faith's case, cooking is a vocation as well as an avocation, so she is reading for business and pleasure. I've always enjoyed reading cookbooks the way I read novels, picturing the meals, creating settings in much the same manner that characters and plots come to life in my imagination as I turn those pages. It is important to approach the reading of cookbooks with the firm resolve that actually cooking anything from them is not necessary; otherwise, guilt creeps in like a boring dinner guest and you're reaching for pad and pencil instead of simply having fun.
There are a number of mystery cookbooks that pleasantly combine the genres. Three of my favorites are:
The Nero Wolfe Cookbook,
Rex Stout and the Editors of Viking Press, 1973;
The Lord Peter Wimsey Cookbook,
Elizabeth Bond Ryan and William J. Eakins, 1981; and
Madame Maigret's Recipes,
Robert J. Courtine (collected in honor of Georges Simenon's seventieth birthday), 1975.
In his novel
A Duet, with an Occasional Chorus,
Arthur Conan Doyle refers to Mrs. Beeton as “the finest housekeeper in the world,” and he notes that her book “has more wisdom to the square inch than any work of man.”
The Book of Household Management
contained over eighty thousand square inches of information, so this was high praise indeed. Mrs. Beeton is a fine place to start for recreational cookery reading. Besides recipes, Mrs. Beeton provides “instructions for servants who wait at table,” lovely diagrams for napkin folding, specific instructions for laying a tableâtwenty-four inches for “each person's accommodation”âand not only supplies a chart for the housewife's work week, starting with Monday washing, but instructs her on how to select said house or flat, furnish it, and obtain letters of introduction to the neighbors.
In this country, we had Fannie Farmer. My oldest copy is from 1915, and, like Mrs. Beeton, it contains illustrations that are a window into a time when women, Martha Stewart not withstanding, had the time to garnish and frill. Besides such interesting items as “Broiled Oranges on Toast” and “Sweetbreads à la Root” (truffles, carrots, onions, celery, pureéd chestnuts, mushrooms, and, somewhere in all that, the sweetbreads), the author provides a surprisingly tasty-sounding recipe for chicken à la king, that staple of my high school cafeteria. I think they must have left out the butter and cream, but I do remember those canned pimientos.
Library book sales and yard and rummage sales are treasure troves for old cookbooks, and aside from their historical interestâthe way we ateâthey also offer more intimate connections with the past. Inscriptions to brides, mothers, daughters, and new homeowners give us a sense of connection, especially if the recipients have annotated the book. I recently picked up a gem, Marian Tracy's
New Casserole Cookery
. The original
Casserole Cookery
went on sale the day after Pearl Harbor, I learned recently. It was still my mother's mainstay in the late forties and early fifties. We would never have dared to criticize her nightly offerings, but the words
dish of infamy
accurately describe some of the attempts. The previous owner of my
New Casserole Cookery
was a scribbler, and a pithy one. Next to “Roquefort Meat Loaf,” she (her name is in the front) wrote, and underlined, “Lousy.” “Turkey and Apple Casserole” was “nasty”; “Turkey and Cranberry Roll,” “awful”âto describe a few. “Baked Peppers with Macaroni and Sausage” rated a “very good,” with a note to be sure to “really parboil the peppersâit's all the cooking they get.” For whom was she writing these notes? Reminders to herself? For posterity? I wish I could meet her. Old cookbooks often have recipes clipped from magazines or recipes on index cards tucked in the pages like messages in a bottle.
Cookbooks that combine reminiscence or personal reflections with recipes are especially appealingâparticularly poignant when the author is goneâCraig Claiborne's
A Feast Made for Laughter,
Laurie Colwin's
Home Cooking
and
More Home Cooking,
and everything M. F. K. Fisher wrote.
The favorites march on: all of Elizabeth David, Sara Kasdan's
Mazel Tov Y'All;
Calvin Trillin's Tummy Trilogyâ
American Fried, Alice, Let's Eat,
and
Third Helpings;
Sylvia Woods's
Sylvia's Family Soul Food Cookbook;
Mimi Sheraton's
From My Mother's Kitchen;
Peg Bracken's I Hate to Cook books; Jane Grigson's
Food with the Famous.
After reading my last book,
The Body in the Big Apple,
a friend called, not to talk about the mystery but to ask if by chance I had the recipe for the Horn and Hardart Automat's macaroni and cheese I so lovingly described. Reading about it had instantly taken her back to her childhood and the excitement of putting the nickels in the slot, then lifting up the little glass door to remove the small dark green casserole filled with the fragrant dish. I didn't have the recipe, but tracked it down in Molly O'Neill's
New York Cookbook
. Nach Waxman, of Kitchen Arts & Letters in Manhattan, who helped me find it, said people ask for Automat recipes all the time. Food is a powerful mnemonic in our lives and reading about it surrounds us with both comfort and desire. When you add mystery as an ingredient, the result takes the cake.
HAVE FAITH
IN YOUR KITCHEN
BY
Faith Sibley Fairchild
A WORK IN PROGRESS
CHÃVRE, ROASTED PEPPER, AND RED ONION SANDWICH
Fresh chèvre (goat's milk cheese)
Roasted red and yellow
peppers
Thinly sliced red onion
Extra-virgin olive oil
Bread: sourdough, country or peasant bread, focaccia
To assemble the sandwich, first drizzle a small amount of oil on both slices of the bread, unless you are using focaccia, which already has plenty of oil. Then spread a generous amount of the chèvre on the bread, and add a layer of peppers. Slice the onion into thin rings, add them on top of the peppers, and top with the remaining slice of bread. Press down gently, wrap in Saran wrap, and keep cool, unless you are eating it immediately. An herbed fresh chèvre is also delicious in this sandwich.
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A NOTE ON ROASTING PEPPERS:
For years, Faith roasted peppers either on a grill or by placing cored and seeded peppers, cut in half, skin side up, under the broiler until the skin charred. Then she put them in a plastic bag, shut it tightly, and after about fifteen minutes took the peppers out and peeled them. Now she roasts, rather than broils, them in the oven by first pre-heating to 350°F, then seeding and quartering the peppers before tossing them with 1â8 cup of olive oil and kosher or sea salt to taste for every four large peppers. The peppers are placed in a single layer in a baking dish and
covered with aluminum foil before they are placed in the oven for about an hour to an hour and a half. They need to be turned occasionally so that they don't burn. When they are removed from the oven, Faith often adds a dash of balsamic vinegar and does not peel them. Having a container of these in the refrigerator means you have one of the ingredients for this sandwich, but also the start of an antipasto platter or a sauce for pasta.
COQ AU VIN
1 roasting chicken, cut into pieces
All-purpose flour for dredging
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ to ¾ pounds carrots cut into 1-inch chunks
1 large yellow onion, peeled and cut into 8 wedges
1½ cups red wine
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 to 1½ tablespoons dried thyme
Dredge the chicken in the flour and brown, skin side down first, in the oil and butter. The best pan for this is a large, deep frying pan or a casserole large enough for a single layer of the chicken. After the chicken has been browned on both sides, add the carrots and onion to the pan, pour the wine on top, and season with the salt, pepper, and thyme. Turn the heat down slightly, cover, and cook until the chicken and carrots are done, approximately 45 minutes to an hour. The beauty of this dish is that even if it cooks longer, it still tastes wonderfulâmaybe even better. You can also add mushrooms or brown some bacon in the pan before adding the chicken, elements of the more traditionalâand more complicatedâcoq au vin, but this one is sinfully quick, easy, and delicious. Serve with rice or egg noodles. Makes 4 portions.
SALAD WITH WARM CHEESE TOASTS
Chèvre (goat's milk cheese), a log or small disks
Baguette (French bread)
Extra-virgin olive oil
Fresh or dried thyme
Mixed salad greens
Vinaigrette dressing
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut the bread into rounds, two for each portion. Faith likes to use a very thin bread called a
ficelle,
which means “string” in French. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil on the top of each piece of bread. If you are using a log of cheese, cut approximately 1â3-inch rounds and place the cheese on the bread. Disks of goat cheese are available in specialty storesâcrottin de Chavignol, Rocamadour, and Picodon are several wonderful varieties. If you are using these, place one on each piece of bread. Drizzle a bit more oil on top of the cheese and sprinkle with a pinch of fresh or dried thyme. Place the rounds on a baking sheet and bake for 5 to 7 minutes or until the cheese is soft. While they are cooking, assemble the salads. Toss the greens with the dressing and divide among the plates. When the toasts come out of the oven, put them on top of the greens and serve immediately. This dish can serve as either a salad or first course.
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A NOTE ON VINAIGRETTE:
Faith finds many recipes too tart for a number of her customers' palates and relies on a simple ratioâone part vinegar to three parts
oil, with a small amount of prepared mustard, salt, pepper to taste, and whatever herbs she has on hand. The vinegar can be red wine, balsamic, raspberry, or any of the myriad available. The oil can be olive oil, nut oil, safflower oil, canola oil, or a combination of these.
DOUGHNUT MUFFINS
From Lily's Cafe, Stonington, Maine
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup minus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1½ cups plain low-fat yogurt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until fluffy. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Add the eggs to the butter mixture one at a time until mixed well together. Add the vanilla and mix; then add the dry ingredients, alternating with the yogurt. Divide the batter among twelve greased muffin cups and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
While the muffins are cooling, melt one stick of unsalted butter and set aside. Combine ½ cup of sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. After the muffins are cool, dip the tops into the melted butter, then into the sugar and cinnamon mixture.
BETTY'S OATMEAL LACE COOKIES
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3 sticks unsalted butter
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups quick-cooking oatmeal
½ cup chopped walnuts
Cream the butter and sugar together thoroughly. Beat the eggs and add them and the vanilla to the mixture. Sift the flour, salt, and baking soda together and add to the mixture. Mix well. Add the oatmeal and the nuts. Mold the mixture into three logs, wrap in Saran wrap or waxed paper, and refrigerate for 24 hours. These will keep in the refrigerator for two weeks, or the dough may be frozen. To bake, preheat the oven to 375°F and slice the log into ¼-inch rounds. Placed on greased baking sheets, at least 2 to 3 inches apart, as they spread. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until brown, checking after six minutes. Remove from the sheets immediately, before they start to cool and harden. Faith cuts up brown paper bags for the crispest cookies. Store in a tin or cookie jar. Makes 9 dozen.
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Note on recipes:
As always, Faith's recipes may be modified, substituting low-fat cheese, Egg Beaters, and margarine, particularly in the cookie recipe, which is equally delicious with margarine or a combination of half butter, half margarine. The coq au vin also is as mouth-watering if the skin has been removed from the chicken.
I would like to thank Dr. Robert DeMartino for his continued help on medical details; Kyra Alex, Lily's Cafe, Stonington, Maine, and Elizabeth Bledsoe for treasured recipes; the Lizzie Borden ladies: Barbara Boiden Morrissey and JoAnne Giovino; my editor, Jennifer Sawyer Fisher, on this first voyage together; and, as always, my friend and agent, Faith Hamlin.