Posted on 03/07/2008 6:57:55 AM PST by Alex Murphy
Last fall, my husband's Mormon family invited us over for a potluck. Potlucks are a big deal for Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, and my in-laws are no exception. Naturally, I wanted to impress them. Naturally, I cracked open The Essential Mormon Cookbook, by Julie Badger Jensen.
Unfortunately, no matter where I turned in Jensen's cookbook, I was called to commit atrocities. After flipping past Jell-O recipes that involved suspending melon chunks in a trembling, plutonium-green blob ("Loveable Lime Jell-O"). After skipping everything that called for a can of Campbell’s soup into which meat, noodle or bean was thrown to either sink or swim. After pondering the dredging of chicken breasts in Russian dressing, apricot jam and dry onion soup mix ("Amazing Apricot Chicken"). After mulling the hithering and thithering of salads with mini marshmallows, pineapple tidbits and Craisins. And after toying with, then quickly dismissing, the possibility of making a cheese ball (dry ranch dressing, chopped chives and cheddar strings), I gave up.
(Excerpt) Read more at maisonneuve.org ...
A lot of English cooking use a wide variety of herbs and spices.
Have you ever visited England or had a meal prepared by an English cook.
On the other hand I would say that some of the American and other countries can be over heavy with the use of them to the extent that you cannot actually taste the meat or fish that is supposed to be the main part of the meal.
At the end of the day balance is the key not too little or not too much seasoning and spices should be used to bring out the flavour of the other ingredients not drown them.
I love introducing English mustard to people from other countries they soon loose the misconception that our food does not have hot spicy condiments with it.
Real English mustard as opposed to mustard relish or even some sold as mustard is hot and makes your nose run if you put too much on. Just a smear is all that is needed.
Anyone who reckons English food is bland has never tasted a real English homemade roast.
A roast pork dinner in my house would be served with sage and onion stuffing (dressing).
Roast potatoes and parsnips cooked in either goose fat or if enough fat from the meat cooked with the pork fat.
I put the parsnips and potatoes into boiling fat first though I blanch the potatoes for 5 minutes. The parsnips are put in the water that potatoes were blanched in but no longer boiling for about 3 minutes.
I often serve Yorkshire pudding with any roast.
For Roast Pork apple sauce is must.
Green vegetables sprouts, or beans.
For desert I often do a traditional English trifle or maybe an apple pie and custard.
Cakes and sandwiches in the old days were served at teatime about 5.30 after having the roast dinner at about 1.30 - 2.00pm.
The roast potatoes are seasoned with onion, garlic, and rosemary, my Grandmother would have used Lard, me, olive oil.
All veggies are boiled, in true English fashion, sometimes we steam them and serve with brown sugar and butter, most greens are flavored with lemon.
It is very strange I never had a trifle until I was exiled to NE about 40 years ago.
Chicken-on-the-lawn
That’s called Heavenly Hash
The early settlers of Utah, in this case, were mainly English and Scots and they took their culinary traditions with them, and modified it.
My Family were very early settlers, 1848, so the food was either fresh or canned, there were not a lot of cream dishes, but there were a lot of fruit dishes in season and the ladies dressed up the stuff in the cold cellar as best they could.
I seem to remember we just called it “glop”. Heehehee :p
The American “scone” is not the English scone..
Bacon and Egg Pie
Jam Tart
Shepherd’s Pie
Hi Utah Girl, I used to love Jello, until I found out it is made with (who knows what) cow parts. Guess I still like it, but I always think of that now.
I have wondered about who came up with the idea for jello and what were they doing at the time.
I came up with a theory that seems practical and logical thus boring and of no use to post on this thread.
Napoleon Dynamite alert:
Presbyterians cannot meet unless there is food involved!
And we do not refer to them as Pot Luck, it’s Pot Provedence. (Whatever God has us provide :>)
My friend has been to many Mormon functions (pot luck, weddings, funerals). She says there are the reconstituted mashed potatoes with mayo, ham and rolls and about 4 tables full of ‘salads’ (ie, creative Jello creations). Jello on a lettuce leaf with a blob of mayo is your veggie and Jello with cool whip is your dessert. One such salad was some kind of pudding/Jello combo with the Lucky Charms marshmallows in it. By the time they woke up from their sugar coma, it was a whole new week.
If I’m not mistaken, Utah has the highest per capita sugar consumption. She figures it must make up for no caffeine.
That does sound pretty good. Drop them on the grill for a few minutes...
LOL. Too funny. I think it is cow’s marrow. Yum.
Ick, I remember the Jello salad with mayo. Served on a lettuce leaf.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.