Today's Cases:

From: Melanie
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 10:57 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com 
Subject: Chicken Consomme

I have searched in vain for the recipe for Helen Corbit's Chicken Consomme.  
She was the chef at Neiman Marcus for many years, and this consomme is 
described as 'her signature consomme'. It is served in the Neiman's restaurants, 
in tiny tea cups, as a starter before you eat your meal.  
To the best of my knowledge, it is still served, although it's been a long time 
since I've eaten in one.
I have Googled this recipe, and it is not in my one and only cookbook of hers, 
which I received in 1967 as a wedding gift.  

I can attest that the little sips whet your appetite for about a gallon of it.

Thanks for your successful help in the past.

Melanie 

Hi Melanie,

Helen Corbitt’s cookbooks include: "Helen Corbitt’s Cookbook", published in 1957, "Helen Corbitt’s Potluck" (1962); "Helen Corbitt Cooks for Company" (1974); "Helen Corbitt Cooks for Looks" (1967); and "Helen Corbitt’s Greenhouse Cookbook". There is also a digest cookbook called "The Best From Helen Corbitt's Kitchens" compiled by Patty Mcdonald. Many of the recipes that she created while at Neiman Marcus may be found in "The Neiman Marcus Cookbook" by Kevin Garvin, John Harrisson, Neiman-Marcus.

The chicken broth that was served to Neiman Marcus customers in the Zodiac Restaurant at the Downtown Dallas store is in the Neiman Marcus book, where it’s called “chicken broth” rather than “chicken consommé”. The idea of serving a demitasse cup of something other than coffee to diners as soon as they were seated was that of Mr. Stanley Marcus, who was worried that drinking coffee before the meal affected his customer’s tastebuds negatively. He presented the idea to Ms Corbitt, and she came up with the chicken broth. See below for the recipe.

Phaed

Neiman Marcus Chicken Broth 

Makes 6 to 8 servings (about 3 quarts)
5 pounds mixed chicken parts (from 2 fryers)
2 cups coarsely chopped celery
1 cup peeled and chopped carrotS
2 cups onion wedges
3 garlic cloves
5 black peppercorns
1 dried bay leaf
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bunch fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley stems only
2 chicken bouillon cubes, crumbled

Rinse the chicken pieces under cold running water and place in a heavy-bottomed stockpot. 
Add the celery, carrots, onions, garlic, peppercorns, bay leaf, thyme, parsley, and bouillon powder. 
Add about 1 gallon of cold water or enough to cover the ingredients by about 2 inches. 
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, turn down the heat to medium-low, and let simmer for 3 or 4 hours; 
skim the surface occasionally to remove fat and impurities. Partially cover the pot with a lid but do not 
let the stock cook above a slow simmer; this ensures a clean stock. Pass the stock through a fine-mesh 
strainer into a clean saucepan and skim again. To serve, ladle the broth into warm soup bowls.

CHEF'S NOTE: 
Don't be hesitant to use bouillon cubes because they enrich the flavor of the broth. 
Use a brand you like-the level of salt added varies quite a lot. 
This broth is the building block for many of our soups and sauces at Neiman Marcus, 
as well as the starting point for our stocks. 

Recipe from: "The Neiman Marcus Cookbook"
by Kevin Garvin, John Harrisson, Neiman-Marcus 

From: marina 
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2012 7:17 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com 
Subject: Heavenly pineapple cake

This is a cake from the goodhousekeeping magazine cookbooks published in the early 1980s.  
It is a chiffon/sponge type cake make with pineapple. Have tried looking for it but don't seem to find it.  
The name is Heavenly Pineapple Cake.  

Hello Marina,

There is a recipe with that name right on the Good Housekeeping website. See:

Heavenly Pineapple Cake

Phaed

From: Bob 
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 1:08 AM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com 
Subject: Slovenian easter dish

I'm looking for a dish my deceased mother made for Easter morning: 
smoked and fresh slovenian sausage, ham, sliced hard boiled eggs 
and shaved horseradish root.
Can you help?
Bob

Hello Bob,

I’ve checked all of our Eastern European & Balkan, etc., cookbooks. I looked at websites with Slovenian recipes, and I looked for Slovenian Easter recipes. I also searched by ingredients. I did not find any Slovenian or other Eastern European recipe for a dish with those ingredients. However, I found a lot of information about Slovenian Easter traditions, and what I found leads me to believe that what you recall might not have been a single dish, but rather the different components of a traditional Slovenian Easter meal. Look at these quotes from different sites about Slovenian Easter traditions:

“A typical Easter meal in Slovenia includes ham, horseradish, bread and a special type of nut cake called "potica." Easter eggs are also included, of course, but will look different depending on what part of the country you're enjoying your meal.”

“Traditional Slovenian Easter plate: All sliced cold after boiling, Ham, summer sausage, salami, polish sausage, hard boiled eggs and shredded horseradish root served on krofe, potica or buns.”

“The [Easter] meal is cold ham (sliced in chunks), Slovenian sausage (sliced) and sliced hard boiled eggs layered on top of each other on a platter with bread cut up in chunks, served with horseradish”.

Note the last quote in particular – it sounds very much like your description. It seems that this is not a “dish”, but a traditional meal. As such, it may not even have a unique name in itself. Originally, the eggs were always dyed red and they represented drops of Christ’s blood shed at the crucifixion. The ham represented the body of Christ, and the horseradish represented the nails used to nail Him to the Cross. In some parts of Slovenia, these ingredients of the meal were put into a basket, covered with a cloth, and taken to the church on Easter morning, where the baskets were blessed by the priest before being taken home and eaten for the Easter meal.

Phaed

From: Arthur 
Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2012 10:58 AM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com 
Subject: Searching BBQ Spoon burgers

Greetings ,

My name is Arthur Sulenski and I am looking for a recipe from a crockpot cook book. 
The crockpot was from Sears made by Rival. 
The recipe was called BBQ Spoon Burgers which consisted of hamburger, celery, onions, 
bell peppers, dry mustard, Worchester sauce
and either catsup or tomato sauce. Perhaps there was other condiments in the recipe. 
The one thing I do remember was it was the best when made in a crockpot, the taste if 
you made it on the stove was different. It was not only great at the time it was made 
but could be frozen if you were going to have a party and would taste the same. 
It was a big hit at any gathering. 
Thank you for any help with this recipe and I am sure other folks will find it as delicious as 
I did.

Art

So much to do so little time!

Hello Art,

I cannot find a bbq spoon-burgers recipe that mentions either Rival or Sears. However there is a BBQ Spoon-Burgers recipe for the crockpot that is given in multiple places. Perhaps that is it. See:

Food.com

Yummly

Group Recipes

Phaed

Hello Phaed,

Thank you for the very speedy reply. These seem like the recipe that I remember. 
I will try the recipe and send an email back with my comments as well as go to 
these sites and make comments there as well. 

Art

So much to do so little time!

FYI, we retired in Costa Rica and it is my aim to treat some of the locals to this awesome dish, 
they don’t do things like this here.