Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Thomas Jefferson's Favorite Pet

So did you know that in the fall of 1772, when Thomas Jefferson was newly married and had a one-month old child, he purchased a family pet? "For five shillings he bought a mockingbird...the first in a procession of singing birds that would always be part of Jefferson's household."

Of all the feathered friends that Jefferson purchased, his favorite was a little mockingbird named Dick. In The First Forty Years of Washington Society, Margaret Bayard Smith, a prominent Washington socialite who was frequently invited to dine at the President's House, noted that Jefferson "cherished this bird with peculiar fondness, not only for its melodious powers, but for its uncommon intelligence and affectionate disposition, of which qualities he gave surprising instances."

According to Mrs. Smith, this unsually intelligent little bird

was the constant companion of [Jefferson's] solitary and studious hours. Whenever he was alone he opened the cage and let the bird fly about the room. After flitting for a while from one object to another, it would alight on his table and regale him with its sweetest notes...Often when he retired to his chamber, it would hop up the stairs after him, and while he took his siesta, would sit on his couch and pour forth its melodious strains.

So what in the world does this have to do with presidential history and food? Well, not a whole lot, except that Jefferson was so fond of Dick that he would often let him "perch on his shoulder and take its food from his lips!"

Although Jefferson didn't record the types of food he fed to his little feathered friend, experts say that mockingbirds generally feed on insects, wild fruit, weeds, and seeds. During the spring and summer, caterpillars, grasshoppers, ants, bees, and other insects make up most of their diet, and, during winter, they primarily eat vegetable matter. Because of their insect-eating habits, most people consider mockingbirds more helpful than harmful, and no one can dispute the fact that these birds "truly sing for their supper," something that Jefferson took great delight in throughout most of his extraordinary life!

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Elizabeth Monroe Baked Apple Charlotte


From all accounts, the dinner parties hosted by James and Elizabeth Monroe were very formal affairs. Large dinners had an especially “cold air,” according to novelist James Fenimore Cooper, who was frequently invited to dine at the Monroe White House. Describing a particular dinner, Cooper wrote:

The whole entertainment might have passed for a better sort of European dinner party, at which the guests were too numerous for general or very agreeable discourse and some of them too new to be entirely at ease. Mrs. Monroe arose at the end of dessert, and withdrew...

No sooner was his wife’s back turned than the president reseated himself, inviting his guests to imitate the same action. After allowing his guests sufficient time to renew in a few glasses...he arose, giving the hint to his company that it was time to join the ladies. In the drawing room, coffee was served and everyone left the house before nine…


Cooper didn't comment on what was served at that particular dinner, but the Monroes were known for serving elaborate French dishes which they had been become accustomed to during their years in Paris while James served as U.S. Minister to France. Still, James retained a childhood taste for Spoon Bread, Chicken Pudding and other simple foods of his Virginia youth.

Apple Charlotte was another Monroe family favorite, so much so that Elizabeth passed a recipe for it along to Martha Washington, who added it to her enormous recipe collection. Although Elizabeth's recipe has been lost to posterity, you can prepare this quick and delicious recipe from The Food Network:

1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoons mace
5 Granny Smith apples, pared, cored and sliced thin
3 fresh lemons, zested
6 tablespoons butter, cold
1 stick butter, melted
1 loaf French bread shredded into crumbs, reserve 1 cup
Butter

In a bowl, add brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and mace. Mix together. Reserve 1 cup of mixture to be used for topping. In a separate bowl, mix together apples and lemon zest.

Cover the bottom of Dutch oven pan with bread crumbs and bits of butter. Layer bottom with some sliced apples and brown sugar with a few pats of butter on top. Repeat with another layer until the pan is filled.

For the top layer, combine reserved cup of bread crumbs, melted butter and 1 cup reserved mixture. Sprinkle on top and top with more butter. Bake for 30 minutes until the golden brown. Serve warm and enjoy!

FAST FACT: James Fenimore Cooper is most well known for his historical novels known as The Leatherstocking Tales, featuring a frontiersman named Natty Bumppo. Among his most famous works is The Last of the Mohicans, which takes place during the French and Indian War and was made into a popular movie starring Daniel Day Lewis.

Credit: Elizabeth Monroe, oil on canvas, by John Vanderlyn

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

William Henry Harrison, the Election of 1840, and "Tippecanoe and Burgoo, Too!"

During William Henry Harrison's presidential campaign, hard cider flowed so fast that he became known as the “Hard Cider Candidate.” To feed his many rowdy supporters, Harrison's cooks served an election dish called Burgoo which was made by dropping chopped vegetables into warm squirrel stew.

Hailing his victory over Tecumseh thirty years earlier, Harrison’s supporters came up with the slogan, TIPPICANOE AND TYLER, TOO!” With its shrewd and heavy use of slogans, poems, ditties, and songs, and organized picnics, rallies, bonfires, and parades, the Election of 1840 is considered to be the first modern American presidential campaign!

Of course, the custom of plying potential voters with food and drink has been practiced by politicians since George Washington's day. But it reached its zenith in the campaign of 1840, when Harrison and his lieutenants "wined and dined the populace throughout the West."

The first step, according to historian Poppy Cannon, was to erect a log cabin, then "invite all eligible males to a feast of cornbread, cheese, and hard cider." Little by little, the feasts became more elaborate, "culminating in a spread in Wheeling, West Virginia, in which 30,000 hungry voters were served 360 hams, 20 calves, 1,500 pounds of beef, 1,000 pounds of cheese, 8,000 pounds of bread and 4,500 pounds of Burgoo."

Perfected in Kentucky and popular throughout the western territories, Burgoo was the perfect election dish since it could be easily expanded to feed large crowds simply by adding more water, vegetables and squirrel meat to it. Although squirrel was once deemed essential to this classic American dish, most modern recipes, like this one for Kentucky Burgoo from Emeril Lagasse, call for beef, lamb and chicken.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 pounds boneless beef shank, trimmed of excess fat
2 pound boneless lamb shoulder, trimmed of excess fat
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 medium onions, quartered
4 cloves peeled garlic
1 medium fresh hot red pepper, quartered
Water, to cover
1 (3 to 4 pound) whole chicken or hen, cut into 8 pieces
2 cups chopped onions
2 cups medium diced carrots
1 cup medium diced green bell peppers
1 pound baking potatoes, like russets, peeled and medium diced
2 cups peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes
1/2 pound fresh green beans, strings removed and cut into 2-inch pieces
2 cups fresh corn kernels
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
Serving suggestions:
8 fresh cornbread muffins, hot
8 fresh biscuits, hot

In a large, heavy pot, over medium heat, add the oil. Season the beef and lamb with salt and pepper. When the oil is hot, sear the meat, in batches, for a couple of minutes on all sides. Add the onions, garlic, cloves, and pepper. Cover with water. (about 3 to 4 quarts). Bring to boil, reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer until tender, about 3 hours.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. During the last 1 1/2 hours of cooking, add the chicken. Remove the meat, chicken and vegetables from the pan, set aside and cool. Discard the vegetables. Add the remaining vegetables and brown sugar to the pot of hot liquid. Continue to cook for 1 hour.

After the meat has cooled, cube the beef and lamb into 1-inch pieces. Remove the skin and bones from the chicken and discard. Dice the chicken into 1-inch pieces. Add the cubed meat and chicken to the vegetables and continue to cook for 30 minutes. Re-season if necessary. Ladle the stew into serving bowls. Serve with hot cornbread or biscuits. Garnish with parsley.

A LITTLE BACKGROUND: “Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too!” was originally a song written for Harrison and his running mate, John Tyler. Harrison was known as “Old Tippecanoe” for his military victory over the Shawnee chieftan Tecumseh at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. Thirty years later, Whigs used Harrison’s nickname in a campaign song that portrayed Harrison as a “simple, homespun hero” in contrast to the Democratic candidate, Martin Van Buren, who was depicted as a wealthy elitist. Here are some of the lyrics:

Sure, let 'em talk about hard cider
and log cabins too
't'will only help to speed the ball
for Tippecanoe and Tyler too
and with him we'll beat Little Van, Van
Van is a used up man
and with him we'll beat Little Van…


Although Harrison wasn't born in a log cabin, he was the first to use one as a symbol to suggest that he was a man of humble origins. Other candidates followed his example, making the idea of a log cabin (and a non-wealthy background) a recurring theme in presidential elections for the next half century.

Credit: William Henry Harrison, oil on canvas by Rembrandt Peale (National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.)