I've written before about our dear friend Estar Hyo Gyung Choi; she and her husband Matt took all the best pictures on our website. To read about how we met, see
http://www.thisvictorianlife.com/blog/focus-on-a-friend-estar-hyo-gyung-choi
Estar and Matt moved back to Seoul a few years ago, but they came back recently for a visit and we were very blessed to spend the day with them while they were here. We had lunch (recipes below!) with them and their two beautiful daughters, and while we were fixing things Estar and Matt had fun snapping pictures of the process. Enjoy!
(For foodies who read Korean, Estar runs a food blog here: http://blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=leeyo711&logNo=220784278041)
http://www.thisvictorianlife.com/blog/focus-on-a-friend-estar-hyo-gyung-choi
Estar and Matt moved back to Seoul a few years ago, but they came back recently for a visit and we were very blessed to spend the day with them while they were here. We had lunch (recipes below!) with them and their two beautiful daughters, and while we were fixing things Estar and Matt had fun snapping pictures of the process. Enjoy!
(For foodies who read Korean, Estar runs a food blog here: http://blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=leeyo711&logNo=220784278041)
Baked Tomatoes (1894)
Recipe from The Ladies' Society of Plymouth Congregational Church
Original recipe by Mrs. Thorpe. Plymouth Union Cookbook, by The Ladies' Society of Plymouth Congregational Church. Los Angeles, California. Rostrum Publishing Co., 1894, p. 28:
"Cut from stem end of large ripe tomatoes a circular piece, remove the pulp and seeds, placing shell of tomato in a deep earthen pie plate. Take the seeds you have removed and thicken with bread crumbs, seasoned with butter, salt and pepper. Fill each shell with the dressing and bake slowly for three-quarters of an hour."
My version, with notes:
For every serving, allow:
1 large tomato or 2 medium-sized tomatoes.
1 thick slice of stale bread, chopped fine to make 2/3 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp crushed black pepper
1 Tbs. fresh chives, chopped (optional)
A few sprigs of fresh thyme (optional)
Basil or parsley for garnish (optional)
Cut the tops off the tomatoes. Carefully cut out the stem stub of each one with a sharp knife and discard it, leaving the tops as O's. Use a teaspoon to remove the pulp and seeds from the tomatoes. If your tomatoes are a variety with fibrous veins in their cores then discard the cores. Save the seeds and juice. (The easiest way to separate the seeds and juice from the cores is simply to scoop them away with clean fingers.)
Put the butter in a heavy skillet with the bread crumbs and salt. If you are using chives and thyme add them to the bread crumbs at this time. (Don't add the pepper yet: frying breaks down the volatile oils that gives black pepper its flavor.) Cook over low heat 3-5 minutes, or until the bread crumbs absorb all the butter. Remove from heat. Now add the pepper and mix the seasoned bread crumbs with the tomato seeds and juice.
Stuff the tomato shells with the bread crumb mixture and replace the tomato tops. Set in a baking dish (the Plymouth... cookbook recommends an earthen pie plate but a cast iron skillet works just as well.) If you have more filling than will fit in the tomato shells, arrange the extra around the tomatoes in the baking dish.
Bake at 350 degrees 45 minutes. Serve hot, garnished with fresh basil or parsley if desired.
Recipe from The Ladies' Society of Plymouth Congregational Church
Original recipe by Mrs. Thorpe. Plymouth Union Cookbook, by The Ladies' Society of Plymouth Congregational Church. Los Angeles, California. Rostrum Publishing Co., 1894, p. 28:
"Cut from stem end of large ripe tomatoes a circular piece, remove the pulp and seeds, placing shell of tomato in a deep earthen pie plate. Take the seeds you have removed and thicken with bread crumbs, seasoned with butter, salt and pepper. Fill each shell with the dressing and bake slowly for three-quarters of an hour."
My version, with notes:
For every serving, allow:
1 large tomato or 2 medium-sized tomatoes.
1 thick slice of stale bread, chopped fine to make 2/3 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp crushed black pepper
1 Tbs. fresh chives, chopped (optional)
A few sprigs of fresh thyme (optional)
Basil or parsley for garnish (optional)
Cut the tops off the tomatoes. Carefully cut out the stem stub of each one with a sharp knife and discard it, leaving the tops as O's. Use a teaspoon to remove the pulp and seeds from the tomatoes. If your tomatoes are a variety with fibrous veins in their cores then discard the cores. Save the seeds and juice. (The easiest way to separate the seeds and juice from the cores is simply to scoop them away with clean fingers.)
Put the butter in a heavy skillet with the bread crumbs and salt. If you are using chives and thyme add them to the bread crumbs at this time. (Don't add the pepper yet: frying breaks down the volatile oils that gives black pepper its flavor.) Cook over low heat 3-5 minutes, or until the bread crumbs absorb all the butter. Remove from heat. Now add the pepper and mix the seasoned bread crumbs with the tomato seeds and juice.
Stuff the tomato shells with the bread crumb mixture and replace the tomato tops. Set in a baking dish (the Plymouth... cookbook recommends an earthen pie plate but a cast iron skillet works just as well.) If you have more filling than will fit in the tomato shells, arrange the extra around the tomatoes in the baking dish.
Bake at 350 degrees 45 minutes. Serve hot, garnished with fresh basil or parsley if desired.
For our special company we set the table with my mother's Currier & Ives dishes (which she passed down to me when I got married), my grandmother's drinking glasses, and our family silverware from Gabriel's great-great aunt. There's kind of a cute story behind the silverware: It's meant to be service for twelve, but there are only eleven table knives in the set. When Gabriel's mom passed it down to us we assumed one of the knives had gotten lost over the years but she told us that no, this was how the set had always been. Her great-aunt had been buying it one piece at a time, and she ran out of money before she could complete the set. This always struck me as a touching story...
Maccaroni A La Creme (1896)
Original recipe from The Capitol Cook Book, The Werner Company, 1896. p. 193.
"Boil one-quarter of a pound of maccaroni in plenty of hot water, salted, until tender; put half a pint of milk in a double-boiler, and when it boils stir into it a mixture of two tablespoonfuls of butter and one of flour. Add two tablespoonfuls of cream, a little white and cayenne pepper; salt to taste, and from one-quarter to one-half pound of grated cheese according to taste. Drain and dish the maccaroni; pour the boiling sauce over it, and serve immediately."
Notes:
After adding the sauce I like to sprinkle on fresh chives and bake the dish about 20 minutes to brown the cheese on top.
Original recipe from The Capitol Cook Book, The Werner Company, 1896. p. 193.
"Boil one-quarter of a pound of maccaroni in plenty of hot water, salted, until tender; put half a pint of milk in a double-boiler, and when it boils stir into it a mixture of two tablespoonfuls of butter and one of flour. Add two tablespoonfuls of cream, a little white and cayenne pepper; salt to taste, and from one-quarter to one-half pound of grated cheese according to taste. Drain and dish the maccaroni; pour the boiling sauce over it, and serve immediately."
Notes:
After adding the sauce I like to sprinkle on fresh chives and bake the dish about 20 minutes to brown the cheese on top.
Nasturtiums and thyme from my herb garden. Matt liked the nasturtiums; he said the flavor reminded him of daikon.
We were amazed at how much Matt and Estar's beautiful daughters had grown since the last time we saw them. They were perfect little ladies throughout the whole visit and utterly delightful company.
After lunch we had whipped cream and peaches for dessert.
Estar's older daughter helped me whip the cream!
The peaches and cream were a big hit with the girls!
After our peach dessert we all went out to Fort Flagler State Park on Marrowstone Island, where Gabriel and I showed off our bikes. It was a perfect day and we hope our friends can come back soon —we miss them already!
RSS Feed