Tag Archives: recipe

Dutch Hutspot: Smashed Potatoes Plus

It is time to follow my Dutch ancestors into the kitchen and make some Hutspot.

 

Dutch House

Dutch House, Newcastle Delaware

See the history of this charming house in Newcastle Delaware here.  While it has undergone many “updates” during its long history, the kitchen was restored with loving care to its early roots.

Dutch Kitchen

The kitchen of the Dutch House in Newcastle Delaware

As I browse the Internet looking for some typical Dutch food, I am reminded of the close connection between Holland and Indonesia.  Those sturdy Dutch burghers had some decidedly spicy foods in their repertoire.  But the Dutch American pioneers who settled Nieuw Amsterdam–some at the same time that my Puritan ancestors were populating New England–were up against the same constraints that the Puritans were when it came to exotic ingredients. So they probably stuck with mixing smashed vegetables with some cured meat.

Interestingly, one of the most popular group of dishes in the Netherlands today would not have existed in Europe prior to the settling of the Americas.  Potatoes made the trip from America to Europe in the 17th century, and the Dutch threw them into the pot to make a hearty supper that they had previously made with parsnips.

The one-dish meals, known as Stamppot, get their protein from cooking meat to make a broth, then cooking the vegetables (always including potatoes) in the broth. What makes it different than English stew is the fact that the vegetables are smashed–not left whole, and not finely mashed. The sliced meat is served on top or alongside the Stamppot.

According to Wikipedia (and numerous other sites), there is a legend that comes with the dish.

According to legend, the recipe came from the cooked bits of potato left behind by hastily departing Spanish soldiers during their Siege of Leiden in 1574 during the Eighty Years’ War, when the liberators breached the dikes of the lower lying polders surrounding the city. This flooded all the fields around the city with about a foot of water. As there were few, if any, high points, the Spanish soldiers camping in the fields were essentially flushed out.

So the Spanish soldiers fled, leaving a pot of parsnip (or potatoes) and carrots behind. The Dutch invaders unsheathed their forks and ate the “spoils of war”. The legend includes a holiday on October 3, when the victory over the Spanish is celebrated by eating a lot of hutspot.

The Dutch word Hutspot (shaken pot)  becomes Hotchpot in English, which leads to the word hodgepodge–an indiscriminate mixture of unrelated things.

Did you know that carrots used to be white or perhaps other colors, but when carrots arrived in Holland in 1740, they were bred to a bright orange color to honor the royal house of Orange
Hutspot

Colorful carrots in Hutspot

Hutspot is just one of an array of similar dishes that collectively are called Stampot–cooked potatoes smashed up with some other vegetables.

  • Hutspot: Potatoes and carrots and onions (with beef).
  • Boerenkool: potatoes and kale (with sausage).
  • Hete Bliksam: potatoes and apples (with salt pork).
  • Zoorkoolstamppot: potatoes and sauerkraut (with smoked sausage or bacon).
  • Andijviestampot: potatoes and endive (with bacon).

And on and on.

When I cooked Hutspot, I deviated from the traditional by leaving out the beef. Instead I served chicken with a Gouda cheese sauce, which allowed for dribbling some cheesy sauce over the Hutspot. Yum.

Gouda Cheese

Smoked Gouda shredded for cheese sauce

Dutch Hutspot

Serves 2-4
Prep time 5 minutes
Cook time 1 hour
Total time 1 hour, 5 minutes
Allergy Milk
Dietary Gluten Free
Meal type Main Dish
Misc Child Friendly, Serve Hot
Region European
Hutspot is one of many Dutch one-pot meals smashing vegetables with potatoes and flavoring with meat.

Ingredients

  • 1lb carrots (cut in small chunks)
  • 1lb potatoes (cut in quarters)
  • 1lb onions (diced)
  • 2 heaped tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • dash pepper
  • 1/2 cup evaporated milk

Directions

1. In large pot, cover onions and carrots with water. (If using bacon or salt pork, place chunk on top). Cook about 35 minutes--until carrots are soft.
2. Remove bacon and vegetables and set aside. Cook potatoes in same liquid until falling apart.
3. Drain liquid and reserve. Add carrots and onions back to potatoes and mash just until chunky. Stir in butter and salt, adding some reserved liquid if mixture is too thick.
4. If using bacon, slice and serve on top or alongside vegetables.

Note

Because I cannot eat onions, I left them out of my Hutspot. It would definitely be a different dish with onions, but I thought my version was very tasty. Since the Dutch use many varieties of this dish, the only "must" being the potatoes, feel free to experiment. Hutspot with potatoes, carrots and onions is just one possibility.

I also diverged from the traditional Hutspot by not preparing this with beef. The Dutch use a cut of rib that is not generally available in the U.S., but you can substitute Chuck. If you want to use it, cook the meat in water until tender, set the beef aside,keeping it warm, and use the broth to cook the vegetables. Serve the beef alongside the vegetables.

Do you want to learn more about Dutch cooking? I can see that as I investigate the lives of my Dutch ancestors, I will be returning frequently to a website called The Dutch Table.

This post is dedicated to my grandfather “Daddy Guy” (to the far left in the picture at the head of this page) and his mother, the all-Dutch Mary Brink Anderson.

 

Cream Tea and Scones

I’m sure you have no trouble knowing what scones are, but there seems to be quite a bit of uncertainty about who first made them.  Was it the Scots in the 16th century? Was it the English? Is the name Gaelic, German or Dutch?

Whoever came up with the little cakes first, the British firmly embraced them for afternoon tea, perhaps as early as the 18th century , and then the British region of Devon came up with clotted cream from their Jersey cows, and although there’s no cream in the tea of a Cream Tea–the afternoon ritual generally includes scones, clotted (or Devon) cream. and strawberry jam.

I made AMERICAN scones.

tea and scones

Tea and Cranberry Scones and Lemon curd served on my wedding china.

Read how WRONG the scones are when made with dried cranberries (an American fruit, for one thing. Horrors!) and dusted with cinnamon sugar–the way I made them.  PLUS. I served lemon curd instead of clotted cream. And no strawberry jam. Heaven forbid.  The Guardian’s article about “How to eat a cream tea” had me laughing out loud. Perhaps I should be watching out for those “hounds of fury” that will be unleashed upon me by a afternoon tea purist!

However, the article writer at the Guardian is not a stickler for traditon. He does not like clotted cream, and much prefers double-whipped cream anyway.  I concur, having dumped a jar of clotted cream because it tasted “off.” Whoops–that’s how it is supposed to taste!

So make the scones or not–your choice.  But DO read the Guardian’s article on how to eat a cream tea. You’ll be glad you did.

And just a personal word of thanks to my daughter-in-law Rene for presenting me with a variety of teas and clotted cream, lemon curd and raspberry curd which inspired this article.

For more about my ancestors and tea, see this post.

Buttermilk Drop Scones

Serves 12-14
Prep time 10 minutes
Cook time 15 minutes
Total time 25 minutes
Allergy Egg, Milk, Wheat
Dietary Vegetarian
Meal type Bread
Misc Child Friendly, Freezable, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold
Region British
From book Joy of Cooking (1997 edition)
The history of Scones may be a bit fuzzy, and the toppings may be controversial, but this all-American version, drop scones using buttermilk and cranberries, is easy to make and palate pleasing.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
  • 3 1/2 tablespoons butter (melted)
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries (or substitute raisins, currants or other dried fruit)
  • sugar and cinnamon (for topping)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees
2. Melt butter in microwave, or by putting it in an oven-proof ramekin in the oven as the oven heats.
3. Whisk together all dry ingredients (including sugar)
4. Beat egg, add and beat buttermilk and melted butter (cooled slightly)
5. Mix in the dried cranberries or other fruit
6. Mix together the moist ingredients and fruit into the dry ingredients. Mix just until no dry ingredients show. Do not overmix.
7. Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, place mounds of 2 to 2 1/2 inches in diameter at least one inch apart on a lightly greased baking sheet.
8. Sprinkle tops with sugar and cinnamon
9. Bake at 400 degrees until tops are golden brown about 15 minutes. Cool on rack.

Note

Unless you are a stickler for tradition, your scones do not have to rolled and cut in triangles, and scones do not have to be served with clotted cream.  In fact, the scones with dried fruit (of your choice) do not need anything on top--although Irish butter would never be amiss, and I enjoyed my scones with lemon curd.

 

Family Heirlooms

Heirloom china Forest Rose

Forest Rose pattern Inside of cup and on salad plate

The plate and teacup in the picture above are from my wedding china, purchased in 1960.  The china is Hutschenreuther Forest Rose pattern, made in Germany.  Little did I know when we picked it for our wedding registry that it was made in Bavaria, the home country of many  of my ancestors.

This pattern is no longer in production. As of 2000, the Hutschenreuther line as been part of Rosenthal.   There is a very similar one called Continental made by Rosenthal, but mine has the hallmark and the distinctive pattern of the Hutschenreuther Forest Rose, with its gold leaf stem and leaves.

Heirloom china Forest rose pattern

Forest Rose pattern on salad plate

Description: A single white rose shadowed in gray, with stem and leaves in brown with gold leaf.  The hallmark Is a CM in a shield with 18 on one side and 14 on the other. Hutschenreuther and Hoenberg are inside an oval surround all of this, with Germany below the oval. This would indicate it was made in the original Carl Magnus Hutschenreuther (later merged and expanded several times). A more detailed history here.

china hallmark

Hutschenreuther mark on bottom of salad plate

This has been another in my occasional posts on family heirlooms–in this case family collectibles rather than more valuable antiques.

Other bloggers doing Family Heirloom stories:

 

The Truth About Peanut Butter Cookies

I haven’t made my mother’s peanut butter cookies for a long time because my grandson is allergic to peanuts.  It makes me so sad that so many kids in the younger generations can never enjoy peanut butter cookies and milk–not to mention that staple of school lunches, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

After School Peanut Butter Cookies

After school snack of peanut butter cookies and milk. Harriette Kaser’s china, vintage Daffy Duck glass and Grandma Vera Anderson’s apron*

A recent conversation with my sister, who has very firm ideas about what is and is not allowed in cookies, reminded me not only of oatmeal cookies with raisins, but also peanut butter cookies with crisscross marks on top made by a fork.  Where did that particular form come from? After all, you can just put a ball of dough on a cookie sheet and let it spread, or you can press it flat with a glass or the heel of your hand. But fork-made crisscross means peanut butter cookie, doesn’t it? Why?

And are peanut butter cookies a strictly American thing?  I don’t imagine that our British and German ancestors had access to peanut butter. And when did peanut butter become such a big deal in the U.S. anyhow?

Peanut Butter History

So, off to do some research. And first thing I found? A website called PeanutButterLovers.com . But of course!  Their handy timeline held some surprises, and a couple reasons we Ohioans might particularly be addicted to peanut butter.

  • Like many foods that became popular, peanut butter started out as a benefit for health in 1890 when a doctor marketed a peanut butter paste for people with bad teeth. According to another source, he described it as “providing protein for toothless elderly people.” (Wonder how that turned out?)
  • At the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, peanut butter was sold in a booth and thus introduced to the rest of the world.
  • At that point peanut butter was made by boiling in a process patented by Kelloggs in 1895. Now it is roasted for a much better flavor.
  • The oldest existing peanut butter company, Krema, was established in COLUMBUS, OHIO in 1908 (two years after my mother was born).
  • In 1922 Joseph Rosefield invented a method of churning that resulted in a smoother peanut butter and a shelf-stable product which he sold in California.
  • Other early peanut butters were one produced (1928) by Swift and Company (later called Peter Pan), using Rosefield’s methods. Rosefield retaliated by creating Skippy, and produced the first crunch peanut butter in 1930. Jif was a latecomer, first made in 1958, and Jif is now owned by Smucker company of ORRVILLE OHIO.

Although this timeline does not take us into the 2000’s, Peanut Butter has become a trendy food, with small batch peanut butter sold at farmer’s markets and peanut butters in many flavors manufactured by lesser-known brands. You can even grind your own nutbutters at the store in many natural foods markets. (Right beside the coffee bean grinders.)

And more peanut butter is exported from America than any other country. China is the other big exporter.

Peanut Butter Cookie History

More than you ever wanted to know about the history of peanut butter cookies (unless you’re a cooking nerd) appears on the website New England Recipes.

At first, peanut butter cookies were made with ground peanuts instead of peanut butter. George Washington Carver, father of peanuts, published 105 recipes for peanuts that had the first peanut cookies. Then it was discovered that peanut butter could substitute for all or some of the shortening in a recipe.

But cookbooks did not carry the peanut butter cookie recipe we use today until the 1940s. In 1947 the Boston Cookbook School Cookbook finally switched to today’s standard recipe using half brown and half white sugar and equal amounts of shortening and peanut butter.

It appears that Mary Ellis Ames, who worked for Pillsbury, is responsible for our associating fork hash marks with peanut butter cookies, according to the What’s Cooking America website. 

The 1933 edition of Pillsbury’s Balanced Recipes by Mary Ellis Ames, Director of the Pillsbury Cooking Service, contains a recipe for Peanut Butter Balls. It instructs the cook to roll the dough into balls and press them down with the tines of a fork. This practice is still common in America today.

Peanut Butter Cookie Recipes

You can find numerous variations on peanut butter cookies on the Internet, but for purists, the recipe below is very close to the first recipes published in America for  peanut butter cookies.

Since I don’t have a recipe card from mother’s recipe box, I guessed that she used the recipe in the Better Homes and Garden’s Cookbook. But I had one problem. Mother’s cookies were a little soft, and following the recipe from Better Homes and Gardens, I got very crispy cookies. In the notes to the recipe, I address how you can convert the same recipe to get a softer cookie. (Ironically, by reverting to the one measurement where Better Homes differs from the first recipes published.)

I also trampled on tradition with half of my batch of cookies, by melting dipping chocolate and either dipping part of the cookie in the chocolate, or spreading some on top. (My husband think every cookie in the world is improved with chocolate, and the chocolate lovers of the world must be served.)

Peanut Butter cookies with chocolate

Contemporary Chocolate dipped peanut butter cookies with tea

Let me know where you stand on peanut butter cookies. Crispy or soft? With additions or not? Do your have crisscross fork marks?

ONE MORE TIP:  Mother always put a slice of apple or a piece of bread in the cookie jar to keep the cookies soft. And by golly, a piece of bread even made my crispy cookies nice and soft!

Family Favorite: Peanut Butter Cookies

Serves 8 doz cookies
Prep time 20 minutes
Cook time 50 minutes
Total time 1 hours, 10 minutes
Allergy Egg, Peanuts, Wheat
Meal type Dessert, Snack
Misc Child Friendly, Freezable, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold
From book Better Homes and Gardens (1960)
Traditional peanut butter cookie with crisscross fork marks on top.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup shortening (softened but not liquid)
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 eggs (beaten)
  • 1 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
  • 2 1/2 cups sifted flour ((see note))
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • dash salt

Optional

  • 2 cups Dipping chocolate wafers

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Using an electric mixer, beat butter until smooth, add sugars and vanilla and beat until creamy
2. Beat eggs in small bowl, and add to butter/sugar mixture and beat on medium setting just until combined.
3. Whisk or stir soda and salt into flour. Add to other ingredients and stir just until combined.
4. Line cookie sheets with parchment, or use ungreased cookie sheets. Form balls of a tablespoon of dough and place on cookie sheet.
5. Press each ball down by making a crisscross design on top with a fork that has been dipped in water or flour.
6. Alternatively, roll dough into log and wrap tightly. Refrigerate until ready to use, then cut 3/8" slices and press each with fork as above.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for ten minutes. (Original instructions say 375 for ten minutes.)
Chocolate coating
8. Melt dipping chocolate according to directions. The wafers melt very quickly, stirred over boiling water.
9. When cookies are entirely cool, dip and set upright with chocolate on top, wedged into a cooling rack, or lay on a waxed paper-lined cookie sheet. Then chill in refrigerator for ten minutes to set the chocolate coating. Or for a simpler procedure, spread chocolate on top of cookie and cool on a wax-paper lined cookie pan before putting in the refrigerator.

Note

The original recipe, calling for 3 cups of flour, and baking at 375 degrees for ten minutes, resulted in a very crispy cookie.

If you prefer a softer cookie, use my recipe, which reduces the flour by 1/2 cup and the baking temperature to 350 instead of 375.

In either case, remove the cookies while they are still slightly soft on top, as they burn on the bottom quite easily, and will finish baking, even on a cooling rack.

If you store the dough "log" in the refrigerator before baking, it may take as much as an hour at room temperature to soften enough to slice and bake.

If you choose to use the chocolate coating, consider storing the finished cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator, particularly in summer.

*A note about the family heirlooms in the first picture can be found in my next post.