Felisa Rogers
  • home
  • about
  • portfolio
  • blog
  • contact

The First Ladies Cookbook: Part Two (Cooking with Lucy Hayes)

4/28/2010

21 Comments

 
As described in my previous post, I'm trying some recipes from The First Ladies Cookbook. Are you waiting with baited breath? Hayes triumphed over Jefferson in my roast beef conundrum. Weird, I know. I'm fairly certain Jefferson normally trumps Hayes in any category (pesky slave owning aside) and clearly Jefferson could give all of his presidential cohorts a run for their money foodwise. Half the people in this country (this may be a generous estimate) probably wouldn't be able to name Hayes as a president, and when he is remembered, I'm pretty certain it's not as a foodie. Whereas Jefferson is famous for his devotion to the culinary... However, I'm feeling distinctly lazy and Lucy Hayes' recipe looks easier. Also, this is about first ladies right? Jefferson didn't even have a first lady, so Lucy Hayes would triumph by default in a Hayes/Jefferson first lady smackdown.

So roast beef ala Hayes it is. Because I'm feeling lazy, the aforementioned potato puffs will have to wait for later. Roasted potatoes will do.

Life is full of hidden challenges. I choose a seemingly unchallenging recipe only to feel the cold snap of Lucy Hayes' teeth on my Achilles tendon. Let's get down to brass tacks: restraint is not one of my more evident qualities as a cook. Although I have learned that moderation in spicing can be a good thing, I tend to make up for any (modest) restraint in that area by using tons of flavorful ingredients: garlic, leeks, scallions, wine, capers, olive oil, Parmesan, bacon grease, chicken stock. Did I mention bacon I rarely cook anything that has fewer than eight ingredients. The ingredients for Lucy Hayes' roast beef? Four. Flour, beef, salt, and pepper. Five if you count hot water.

The bland recipe seems fairly in keeping with the Hayes white house. Although Lucy Hayes was the first college graduate first lady, she wasn't exactly a firecracker. The chapter on the Hayes white house is peppered with phrases such as: "Virtue became fashionable, and Lucy was hailed as its defender", "Then to the blue room for family prayers", and "Every night the family gathered in the Red Room to sing old ballads, hymns, and Stephen Foster songs". Lucy became known as "lemonade Lucy" because the Hayes White House had a strict ban on alcohol.

A number of ingredients spring to mind as I ready the roast. Ingredients I have around that really would add to the recipe...Perhaps a sprinkle of smoked paprika? Some fresh rosemary? Leeks couldn't possibly hurt...Do I really have to put hot water in the bottom of the pan? Wouldn't stock or wine be better?

I heat the oven to 450 degrees. For some reason it has never occurred to me to cook a roast at this high of heat. At first I want to consult other recipes, but as I think about it, it begins to make sense. Steaks are good cooked at high heat for short periods of time, after all. Speaking of short periods of time, the recipe claims that a roast this size (3.5 lbs) should be done in 45 minutes, which seems impossible. I am used to making pot roast, which takes all day.

I resist the temptation to add any spices or additional ingredients and dump the floured and salted lump into a pan, ringed only by the potatoes I'm roasting. I do cheat a little and add a splash of wine, my rationalization being this: Lucy and Rutherford B. were teetotalers, so of course it wouldn't occur to them to add wine to a recipe. But probably anyone else cooking this recipe at that time would have added wine as a matter of course, right? Jefferson's recipe calls for wine. I can't be a slave to their inhibitions. Also, I don't want the potatoes to be too dry...

After 45 minutes, I check the roast. It smells good and the outside sizzles crispy, but I am still suspicious of the timing. I like rare (read: raw) meat myself, but my roommate Cornelius (purchaser of said roast) eschews bloody beef. I plunge the meat thermometer into the roast, and the arrow doesn't waver. According to the thermometer, the meat doesn't even qualify as rare yet. I cook until I get a rare reading, another 45 minutes.

And the results? The roast, like the Hayes administration, is unremarkable. It's tender and juicy enough and doesn't seem to suffer terribly from the lack of spices. However, truth be told, the extremities are overdone. I should have listened to Lucy Hayes.
21 Comments
Air Jordan shoes link
8/10/2010 12:04:20 pm

Within you I lose myself, without you I find myself wanting to be lost again.

Reply
kitchens sydney link
8/27/2012 10:23:03 pm

I am glad to read about kitchen , Thank you so much for providing individuals with such a breathtaking opportunity to read from this blog. It is always very enjoyable

Reply
Ajf 4 link
8/17/2010 11:10:18 am

Long absent, soon forgotten.

Reply
Jordan Flight 45 link
8/19/2010 05:34:55 pm

Where there is a will there is a way.

Reply
Jordan retro 4 link
8/22/2010 10:43:44 am

once we dreamt that we were strangers.
we wake up to find that we were dear to each other.

Reply
nike shox saya link
8/25/2010 01:13:01 pm

The poet's voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props , the pillars to help him endure and prevail. (William Fulkner, American writer)

Reply
Supra TK Society link
8/31/2010 01:25:50 pm

I am surprised to learn how much of information I accomplished on this specific issue. I m so very thankful of you. One thing I can say that, after reading this content I became preserved from the entire worthless search I should have executed on this specific topic. Your post is a genuine true blessing in disguise.

Reply
jordan 11 link
9/1/2010 11:34:14 am

A dress is like a barbed fence. It protects the premises without restricting the view. Do you think so?

Reply
jordan 11 link
9/6/2010 01:19:15 pm

Friendship is both a source of pleasure and a component of good health.Sometimes dmonish your friends privately, but praise them openly.

Reply
Jordan Flight 9 link
9/8/2010 05:13:39 pm

Superb my good friend, what you say is best. I belive your weblog might be accepted by extra citizens and they are going to help you. http://www.twojordan.com/air-jordan-flight-9-108/

Reply
Jordan 11 link
9/14/2010 12:00:56 pm

Knowledge and talent come only from practice.

Reply
Jordan 1 link
9/15/2010 12:25:29 pm

It is my pleasure to read your article, your article is very wonderful. Thank you for sharing!

Reply
UGG 5815 link
9/19/2010 11:20:41 am

Welcome to our UGG 5815 website, we have many highly quality goods but the price is low. Maybe you can find something you like best. Thank you.

Reply
Jordan 11 link
9/19/2010 11:25:01 am

The goal was power superiority at all costs.

Reply
Nike Shox Rivalry link
9/20/2010 10:57:58 am

It really is my 1st time I've went to your internet site. I noticed a fantastic deal of intriguing data inside of your internet site. Inside the tons of feedback inside your subject material posts, I guess I'm not the just 1! Content to share, the happiness of capacity.

Reply
Jordan True Flight link
9/20/2010 11:38:59 am

The wise never marry, and when they marry they become otherwise.《GARFIELD》

Reply
air jordans link
9/29/2010 10:39:00 am

A teacher who is passionate and loves his subject will always have successful students. By<a href="http://www.airjordans.cc/">air jordans</a>

Reply
jordan 21 link
9/29/2010 10:39:22 am

Teachers are the architects of successful societies.

Reply
buy viagra link
12/7/2010 12:36:31 am

People who smoke are more likely to be impotent, diseases caused by smoking are so many, the people have no idea of the damage what done!

Reply
Coach Outlet link
2/21/2011 09:33:02 am

I have read through your current fantastic weblog that post on the net, have a lot of buddies along with me to studying your reports. Regardless of what we are, and what ever we wish, the main idea you've already been shown was satisfied by us. Thank you so much for sharing so best view, and it help make us have a feeling of secure and ease.

Reply
Poker Stars link
3/30/2013 02:30:17 am

If it did, then both the repair service failed to get the job done, or there is a thing physically incorrect with your laptop.|You can then isolate supplemental problems by way of study on the internet to see what other tools may be essential. Other than this the computer system has replaced the previous laptop or computer system thanks to their highly developed characteristics and broad usages in the modern-day earth.}

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Consumption
    a blog

    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    April 2020
    March 2020
    December 2013
    February 2012
    January 2011
    December 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010

    I read:
    winecritic

    homegrown happy
    Adora's blog
    what claudia wore
    nathan bransford
    the stranger/food
    the history blog

    Categories

    All
    Abigail Adams
    Anthony Bourdain
    Apocolypse
    Beef Stew
    Beer
    Beverages
    Book Reviews
    Breakfast
    Budget Shopping
    Chanterelles
    Cheap Food
    Cheese
    Chocolate
    Coffee
    Cooking For Crowds
    Cooking Meat
    Cooks In My Life
    Covid 19
    Covid-19
    Culinary Adventurism
    Delicious New Finds
    Desserts
    Eating Out
    Eggs
    Foraging
    For Beginners
    Gardening
    Groceries
    Hayes
    Herbs
    International District
    John Prine
    Mexico City
    Mini C
    Music
    Product Review
    Published Articles
    Rachel Mercer
    Reasonably Healthy
    Recipes
    Roast Beef
    Salad
    Salad Dressing
    Scotch
    Seattle
    Shopping
    Soups
    Steve Rogers
    Stock
    Thai Food
    The Deadwood Diaries
    The First Ladies Cookbook
    The Glories Of Fat
    Theodore Roosevelt
    The People's Guide To Mexico
    Thomas Jefferson
    Victrola
    Waffles
    Wine
    Winter Food
    Writing News

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.