Cooking my way through Texas history, one First Lady at a time. I am chronologically following the recipes in Carl McQueary's "Dining at the Governor's Mansion" Background photo credit https://txfgm.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/STATE-DINING-ROOM.jpg
Peel, devein and cook 1.5lbs shrimp. Shrimp are ready within 2 minutes boiling, they turn a nice pink. Slice the shrimp.
Skin and deseed 2 cucumbers (1.5 lbs). Finely dice the cucumbers.
Combine shrimp and cucumber. Add 1 tbsp. diced dill and 1 tbsp. diced chives. I used dried seasonings, so I doubled the quantities to bring out more flavor.
Bailey Square Chocolate Cake, iced with Chocolate Pecan Icing
48 governors have served the State of Texas to date. Only 6 governors were members of the Republican party. Governor Clements’ term began in 1979, ending a 106 year gap between Republican governors. The last Republican Texas governor was Edmund Davis, in 1873.
The following recipe will make two pans of 9×13 inch cake or one large 2.5x 10.5 x 16 inch cake.
4 cups all purpose flour
4 cups granulated sugar, 1 tsp salt are combined with the flour
Add 1 cup salad oil to wet ingredients over medium heat. Here I used grapeseed oil for “salad oil.”
In a deep pan, heat 8oz butter (substituted with Crisco), 8 oz baking chocolate and 2 cups water. Bring ingredients to a boil, stir until well mixed, then remove from heat.
Add 4 eggs to the chocolate mixture
Add 1 cup buttermilk. Here the buttermilk looks grainy as I used the same measuring cup for the pecans in the chocolate pecan frosting.
Cake batter will fill one 2.5x 10.5 x 16 inch pan, or two 9x13x1 inch pans (the latter used for this blog)
Pour chocolate batter in 2 well greased baking pans. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes. The author advises a shorter baking time for the two smaller pans, yet I found that 45 minutes was sufficient for the bottom rack pan, 50 minutes for the top rack pan.
The cake tastes like a very rich chocolate fudge. Coat the cake with Chocolate Pecan Frosting and garnish with toasted pecans. The chocolate pecan frosting is sweet and crunchy with its toasted pecans!
I feel this is the hardest chocolate cake I’ve ever baked, yet was terribly rewarding, as it was well received at work. The office ate one whole pan in 6 hours!
Pasta, onions, celery, tomatoes and ground beef steaks
Prepare the Vegetables
Dice 2 medium onions and chop 1 cup celery. Sautee vegetables in 3 tbsp cooking oil (olive oil) until they turn yellow (not translucent, they need to cook more with the meat).
Diced celery and onions sautéed in olive oil
3 tbsp. olive oil
Prepare the Pasta
Cook 16 oz elbow noodles (which I substituted with ziti).
Add 1 pound ground steak and cook until brown. I am not sure if the steaks were to be further chopped, as the recipe doesn’t specify. Steaks were ready within 10 minutes with the sautéed vegetables.
Add 2 cups diced tomatoes (6 roma tomatoes, preparation not specified), ziti and seasonings.
In a large pot add: 1 cup juice from watermelon or spiced peach preserves, 1/2 cup vinegar, 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1tbsp cinnamon, 1 tbsp. ground cloves, 1 tbsp. curry powder and 1 tsp white pepper.
Boil the pot, then add the solids: 1 cup watermelon preserves, 1 cup pineapple chunks, 1 cup seedless raisins, 3/4 cup diced green or red bell peppers, 2 large diced apples (color not specified) and 1/2 cup candied orange peel.
Boil all ingredients until thick, then seal the chutney in jars.
Meringue layers with a whipped cream and vanilla wafer crumb filling, whipped cream and maraschino cherry topping
McQueary states this cake was one of Mrs. Shivers favorite, (McQueary, 189).
I’m not sure why this dessert is a cake, as the only flour is in the crushed Nilla Wafers. I refer to this recipe as a meringue. Meringues crack, I do hope mine stays intact.
5 egg whites are beaten into a froth. 5 tbsp. powdered sugar is added, followed by 1/2 tsp vinegar, 1/8 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp vanilla.
Egg whites are beaten to stiff peaks.
Egg whites spread even over an 8x8x1 inch square pan.
8x8x1 inch square pan is greased and lined with wax paper, making sure the paper extends past the sides. Bake meringue at 275F for 20-25 minutes, until browned, the let cool in the pan.
Meringue on wax paper to help remove the sticky layer from the pan. Meringue is baked once it turns brown.
The meringue is very spongey, with a marshmallow texture. I re-bake the first meringue for 5 minutes, to no avail. It comes out of the oven firm, yet turn to marshmallow as it cools at room temperature.
Bake and cool second meringue as directed in the above paragraph.
Crush 6 oz (half box) vanilla wafers in a food processor. Spread the crumbs on a plate. Maneuver the first meringue atop the crumbs by holding the ends of the wax paper. Spread whipped cream atop the first meringue. the sprinkle more wafer crumbs.
First meringue layer is delicate, not hard, due to today’s 66% humidity. Although the layers are intact, the edges peel off when I attempt to transfer the to the plate.
Maneuver the second meringue atop the whipped cream by grasping the edges of the wax paper. The layers are very flimsy. I flip the layer onto a plastic cutting board, carefully remove the wax paper, then flip it over onto the serving plate. The plastic board is flexible and with the aid of a spatula I’m able to peel off each sticky meringue.
Vanilla wafer crumbs spread atop the whipped cream
Whipped cream spread atop first meringue layer
Refrigerate the meringue before serving.
Wafer crumbs atop the whipped cream and the final layer
I’m supposed to spread crumbs atop the second meringue, instead it is covered with whipped cream, then the crumbs are dusted over, followed by rows of maraschino cherries.
Governor Jester is the only Texas governor who died in office. Jester was traveling to Houston by rail to visit his physician. On July 11, 1949, aboard the rail car, DPS troopers knocked on the his door to wake him: he didn’t answer. Texas lore spices up the scene: he was bedded with his mistress.
The following recipe leads credence to the cause of his heart attack.
First, toast a loaf of Rye bread on one side. I don’t have access to a toaster oven, yet I envision it will be ideal for this dish. Slices were lightly toasted in the toaster.
Cut the toast into 3 equal sections. Lay the toast on a broiler tray or baking sheet.
Topping
8 oz shredded “aged cheese” (176). 2 eggs, 1 diced medium onion (I used Bacon a sweet onion) and 8 oz bacon bits. Bacon slices are microwaved for 5 minutes, then chopped and added to the rest of the ingredients. The bacon seasons the topping, so no seasonings were a necessary for this dish.
Chopped bacon bits
One baking sheet is lined with the lightly toasted rye sections. Dollops of topping are ladled atop. Toast is broiled until the cheese melts. I broiled the toast by placing the sheet on the highest oven rack and baking at 450F for 15 minutes.
I honestly love the texture of cheddar cream cheese, followed by the onion’s kick of an aftertaste!
While the recipe called for grated onion, I diced the onion
Boiled spinach is drained in a colander
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter melodied with 5 tbsp. flour to form a rue over low heat for 20 minutes. Recipe called for a double broiler. -2 cups of whole milk are mixed into the rue until it forms a thick Béchamel sauce, along with 1/2 tsp red pepper for seasoning. The recipe calls for 4-5 tbsp. flour, depending how thick the cook desires the sauce.3 Eggs are separated into two bowls3 beaten egg yolks are added to the béchamel sauce to soften the texture and make it creamier.. 2 cups shredded Monterey and Colby Jack cheese are melted over low heat. Spinach and diced onions are stirred into the sauce. Egg whites are beaten into curled peaks (stiff peaks). The whites will rise to the top of the casserole and firm into a soufflé topping.I found it difficult to blend the whites with the rest of the ingredients without hurting their air pockets.TheThe soufflé is cooked in a hot water bath so the oven heat can distribute evenly throughout the dish. Recipe advised pre-heating the oven to 400F, heating the water bath in the oven, then reducing the heat to 300F. I feel tis approach is time consuming and wastes energy.
The soufflé is baked at 300F for 1 hour. Today I used my workplace oven, that refused to preheat past 275F. Compensating for low temperature, the dish was baked an extra 15 minutes.
Patience Candy is so rich its hard to eat one piece in one sitting
The Moody family lived in the mansion with a menagerie of pets: a Persian cat, canary and Tex the white border collie.
Candy making unnerves me, I purchased a candy thermometer for this recipe, as I don’t feel experienced enough to use the “hard ball” test.
Milk, sugar and syrup heated over medium heat
Candy mixture begins to boil
Mr. McQueary claims this recipe is time consuming, yet I was able to completely boil the candy to the right temperature within 20 minutes in a Dutch oven. Candy is made with 2 cups granulated sugar, 1 cup milk, 2 tablespoons white syrup. The recipe recommends boiling the mixture in a kettle, I use a Dutch oven on a stovetop.
1 cup sugar boiled into caramel
On a separate burner, in a cast iron skillet, 1 cup sugar is caramelized. Once the mixture starts bubbling on medium heat (boiling temperature), he caramel is stirred into the candy mixture and a candy thermometer is placed midway in the pot.
Patience Candy earns its name for the long time it takes for the candy to reach 265F. Here the temperature lays stagnant at 200F.
Hard ball describes the temperature 265F, as it is labeled on the thermometer. The liquid’s temperature likes to stagnate at 220F, then will shoot up, so it is imperative to watch the thermometer, lest the sugar burns. The mixture behaved honestly as it rose to 265F, while I stirred it occasionally with a wooden spoon.
Mixing toffee and caramel in the Dutch oven
The mixture was removed from the stovetop, then quickly poured on wax paper, as close to the middle of the paper as possible so that all of the toffee may evenly roll. 1 cup chopped pecans are sprinkled atop the taffy, then the waxed paper is tightly rolled up. The rolled toffee is allowed to cool, then sliced.
This candy is simply amazing, the toffee is too rich to be consumed in one bite!
Rolled Patience Candy ready to slice. The ends are lopped off as they don’t form a perfect roll
“Laws are like sausages, it’s better not to see either be made,” Anonymous, date unknown.
Miriam Ferguson’s administration saw the passage of the KKK unmasking law. Under this new law, people who gathered to rally in public were not no longer allowed to cover their faces. The law targeted Klan members. Ferguson’s opponent during the 1924 gubernatorial election was Klasman Felix Robertson.
Chopped asparagus heads
Jambalya is any dish with rice, meat, vegetables. The sausage in this recipe reminds me of a jambalaya with its Milan sausages, slice of ham, 8 oz bacon and rice. Minestrone is any soup with vegetables, particularly tomatoes, onions and celery. The recipe’s vegetables include shredded cabbage, chopped tomatoes, two handfuls of string beans, green peas, asparagus heads and 4 tbsp. and diced celery. The recipe’s ingredients are not listed, rather they are described in a paragraph.
1 piece of raw ham and 1 shredded cabbage are cooked in a stew pan. 2-3 “handfuls” of string beans are added, followed by 3 qt broth and “placed on hot fire,” high heat (p. 114). Ma Ferguson was a larger stature than me, I assume had bigger hands, so I used 4 handfuls of string beans (the entire bag).
Italian Dry sausage shown to the right of the board and Italian salami is in the foreground.
The vegetables are cooked for 10 minutes, then 4 tbsp diced celery roots, some green peas and asparagus heads (quantity not specified), 1 chopped tomato, 12 oz uncooked rice (I used brown rice) and 2-3 Milan sausages. I wasn’t able to find packaged “Milan sausage” at the deli, so a variety of meat was included. 8 Boar’s Head beef salami, 1 Italian dry sausage and 1 Italian salami substituted the Milan sausage. The salami’s spices added fragrance and flavor to the soup.
Soup boiling for 10 minutes until the rice is thoroughly cooked
The soup finished cooking within 10 minutes, enough time to cook the rice. The recipe’s next step is to remove the ham and sausages to slice them up, then return to the pot. Finally, Parmesan cheese is added. The bacon is boiled, not fried, which I consider unsightly. Next time I cook this dish, I plan to use fried bacon.
I’m a fan of this soup’s spices and heartiness. This is a great, quick dish to use up leftover vegetables.
I am excited to make this recipe for breakfast. I make two mistakes out of the starting gate. I buy three tomatillos at the supermarket, mistakenly thinking they are green tomatoes. I’m wrong, green tomatoes are unripe tomatoes. I still enjoyed the taste of this dish. The tomatillos are sour and the fried layer on top makes them taste sweet and buttery. Second mistake I make: attempting to fry moist vegetables.
I fry a packet of bacon in the cast iron skillet. The recipe calls for me to use 3tbsp bacon grease to fry the green tomatoes. I dry the bacon strips on paper towels, then prepare the vegetables. I slice each of three tomatillos into four sections, for a total of twelve slices. Next, I work on the topping.
I make a cup of crumbs out of some week old wheat bread. I add 1/4 cup flour, pinch of salt, pinch of pepper and 4 tbsp. butter to the crumbs. I combine the ingredients with my hands. I crack 2 eggs and lightly whisk them in a bowl. I set up an assembly line for the fried tomatillos: crumb topping, egg, then frying pan.
I place the slices in the egg yolk, flip them over to let the opposite side absorb the yolk, then dump the slice into the crumbs. I flip the slice over again, then place the slice in the skillet, cooking on medium heat. I fry four to eight pieces at a time, flipping the vegetables’ sides after four minutes. I notice that for the first two tomatillos the topping isn’t binding. I dry the rest of the slices, realizing that that the water in the vegetables are preventing the topping from sticking. The second half of the tomatillos hold their toppings well.
I dry the fired tomatillos on paper towels, letting the grease absorb, then transfer the fried tomatillos to a pie pan. I lay the bacon strips over the fried tomatillos and cover the pan. I place the Houston corn pones in a bowl and a fresh batch of Houston buttermilk biscuits into a Tupperware container. The bowls and pan are lain atop the apple crisp in my picnic basket. Finally, I text work to let them know to ditch the coffee run, as I’m serving them a Houston family breakfast!
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