Edith's Cake That Thrilled the FrenchWritten by Janette Blackwell
Twenty-three chefs who cooked for world royalty and heads of state (The Club des Chefs des Chefs) were, during their 1987 visit to U.S., wined and dined with best our finest chefs had to offer. What impressed them most? Lunch at an Amish farm in Pennsylvania, where they ate homegrown new potatoes, string beans with cream sauce and corn, charcoal-grilled chicken, and baked ham, washed down with homemade root beer and peppermint tea, served by family in a barn lined with handmade quilts.They were stunned. Happily so, it seems. The chef for president of France said, “Cooking has evolved so much. Nobody presents true product as it is, and all of a sudden we were presented that.” But desserts impressed them most. Especially one they couldn’t name. One they described as a light “pain d’epices” (spice cake) with a layer of chocolate filling. Gilles Brunner, chef to Prince Rainier of Monaco, was so taken with cake, which he described as a chocolate gingerbread, that he tried to get recipe. His request was refused. The Amish family did not want their identity revealed, which refusal greatly hampered efforts to identify cake as well. Research by Phyllis Richman, then food editor of Washington Post, seemed to show that mystery dessert was Amish applesauce cake with chocolate frosting, and Post printed a version of it contributed by Betty Groff, a cookbook author from Pennsylvania Dutch country. Which applesauce cake turned out to be pretty much what our family had been enjoying since my father married Edith Kennedy in 1977, and which Edith’s family had been enjoying long before that. Her daughter, Lorenelle Doll, who gave me recipe, says that it was a favorite of my father and Lorenelle’s husband Arnie. (So far as I know, Edith didn’t actually feed any to a French chef.)
| | How to Brew Your Own BeerWritten by Bill Kaplan
Beer brewing has become increasingly popular because it produces a large amount of beer for a very little amount of money. There are three things to consider when brewing your own beer from home - equipment, ingredients and procedure. Equipment Needed:Ingredients •A 20 quart brew pot● Water •Large stirring spoon● Malted Barley •A basic tablespoon● Hops •Measuring cup● Yeast •Glass jar •Fermenter (plastic bucket) •Air lock • Sanitizer •Thermometer •Rolling pin Procedure: 1.Preparing Ingredients – Crush malted barley into suitable sizes using your rolling pin. This will break grain into pieces and will extract goodness of grain when it’s inserted into hot water. 2.Boil Wort – The ingredients for wort are mixed with amount stated on beer recipe. This is called “mash”. The mash is mixed together in boiler and hot water is added. The mash is brought to a boil for approximately half an hour. Once it’s finished boiling, you must filter out grains and add hops. Boiling hops will eliminate its bitter flavor. Boil hops for approximately 10 minutes.
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