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2014


Homemade Hooch

From: Tucker  
Sent: Friday, July 11, 2014 10:12 AM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com 
Subject: White Lightening

Uncle,

I am looking for a way to produce corn whiskey. I have no current recipes to go off of, but I assume that it would 
include corn, sugar, yeast, possibly cinnamon. Anything you find would be appreciated and if the recipe originates 
from the great state of Kentucky that would be icing on the cake!

I am looking for a fairly quick and easy wasn't for white lightening, or moonshine. I have been told that the process 
is quite complex involving copper tubing and a huge set up, I was going to see if you could find a golden wasn't for 
something a little simpler to make even if it isn't quite as potent.

Thanks!

Tucker

Hello Tucker,

I combined your requests into one, because my reply will cover both.

I don’t have any recipes for these, nor do I have any experience with making homemade whiskey or moonshine. There are websites devoted to this with recipes, instructions and message boards where you can ask questions. See: Home Distiller

This site sells kits for making homemade hooch: Claw Hammer Supply

There are recipes here for small batches:
Corn Whiskey Recipe

How to Make Moonshine

There are several books available on the subject as well. See these:
Making Pure Corn Whiskey

Moonshine

Home Distillers Workbook

How to Make Whiskey Step by Step

Phaed


Normandie Farms Poulet Normandie

From: Lucia
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2014 10:35 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com ; loosh311@aol.com 
Subject: Normandie farms recipe

Dear Uncle Phaedrus-  years ago, I fell in love with a dish at Normandie Farm in Potomac, Md that I believe 
was named "Poulet Normandie".  It was a boned breast of capon lightly tempura fried with a sauce that was a 
Hollandaise made with something other than lemon juice.  It was truly to die for.  I have been in contact 
with the chef who says that he thinks that the recipe is "kicking around" somewhere, but it has been two 
years and have not heard from him.  Do your best please to find this recipe.  
Many thanks-Lucia 

Hello Lucia,

I could not find any mention at all of a “poulet Normandie” dish served at Normandie Farms. This dish isn’t on the current Normandie Farms menu. See: Popovers

There is a popular French dish called “poulet Normandie” or ““poulet de Normandie.” However, it is a casserole-type dish and is dissimilar to your description. There is such a recipe below for your perusal. There is another dish called “chicken sautéed Normandy style", which has a rich creamy sauce, but apples and apple cider are one of the major components of this dish (Normandy is noted for its apples). There are recipes for this dish on these sites.

Chicken Saute Normandie

Chicken Normandy

I don’t think that I have been much help for you, Lucia. I will post this on my site so that perhaps a reader can help.

Phaed

Poulet De Normandie
     
1 pkg. seasoned bread stuffing
1 stick melted butter (1/4 lb.)
1 c. water
Mix together lightly. Put half of mixture in a buttered 12"x8" casserole.
2 1/2 c. cooked, diced chicken
1/2 c. chopped onions
1/4 c. chopped green onion tops or chives
1/2 c. chopped celery
1/2 c. mayonnaise
3/4 tsp. salt
1 can mushroom soup
Mix above ingredients thoroughly. Put in casserole over bread mixture. Top with remaining bread mixture. 
Beat 2 eggs slightly, add 1 1/2 cups milk. Pour evenly over bread mixture. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight. 
Take out 1 hour before baking. Spread 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup over top. Bake, uncovered at 325 degrees 
for 40 minutes. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Return to oven for 10 minutes. Serves 8.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aren't you nice to get back to me so promptly.  Neither of those recipes was it as you rightly suspected.  
I really think that it was called "chicken Normandie", not poulet, but that probably doesn't make much difference.  
I used to think that it was Hollandaise made with orange juice, but some years ago, I tried that and it was 
dreadful-maybe Hollandaise made with calvados?  On the strength of finding your web site, I sent yet another 
e-mail to chef Cary at NF.  We will see-  nothing that is a taste thrill like this dish should just disappear.  
At lunch time, they sliced the chicken in strips and served it over rice with the sauce.  I don't know if you 
have ever been to NF.  They had wonderful food years ago with their signature popovers at every meal, and their 
prices were amazingly low considering where they are. A Greek family owned it, and they rented it to some restaurateur 
with the stipulation that if the public was not enchanted, they would take it back.  I do believe that they were back 
for some time, but the last time I was there was about 20 years ago and no chicken Normandie.  I have even tried the 
food critics in the Washington Post (dog with a bone here is me).  Keep looking please-Lucia 

I searched for "Chicken Normandie/Normandy" as well. No success finding a recipe from Normandie Farms.

Phaed

Hi Phaed,

In your 8-25-14 edition Lucia asked about Poulet Normandie. Poulet is french for chicken and Normandie refers to a 
region in northern France. Normandy is known for D-Day, Calvados, cows, copper pots and Crème fraîche. The cooking 
style 'a la Normande' usually means sauteed in butter with a sauce made with Crème fraîche. It's a soured cream made 
from heavy cream. It's not as sour as U.S. sour cream and has a texture like sour cream that has been well stirred. 

If you can't find Crème fraîche in a local store you can make your own (see recipe below). Sour cream is a viable 
substitute as is adding heavy whipping cream to the pan and cooking it with the drippings on low until it reduces 
and thickens. In a pinch I have used Mascarpone cheese with good results.

When I make a dish 'a la Normande' I dip the chicken or veal cutlets in milk then coat them with flour and saute them 
in butter (no oil, Normandy has a lot of cows and butter). Remove cutlets from the pan and keep warm. Add sliced 
mushrooms to the pan. When the mushrooms are slightly browned I add some Calvados and stir to loosen the drippings 
then add more Calvados and the Crème fraîche and stir to get the pan drippings mixed in well. When the sauce is hot, 
add salt and pepper to taste and voila the dish is ready. Plate the cutlets with rice or potatoes and spoon on the sauce.

Homemade Crème fraîche 
1 cup heavy whipping cream 
2 tablespoons fresh buttermilk (fresh buttermilk only, doesn't work with powdered)

Combine 1 cup whipping cream and 2 tablespoons buttermilk in a glass container (I have a small pyrex dish with a 
plastic cover that I use). Cover and let stand at room temperature (about 70°F) from 8 to 24 hours, or until very thick. 
Stir well before covering and refrigerate up to 10 days. 

Regards,

Lisa

P. S. I went to high school in Cherbourg which is in Normandy.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Phaed,

The Crème fraîche makes a Hollandaise type sauce. It has the same consistency as Hollandaise when used in cooking. 
If you don't know about Crème fraîche and its Normandy connection, it's easy to mistake it for Hollandaise.

Regards,
Lisa
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Again,

Currently on their menu, Normandie Farms has a https://www.popovers.com/content/view/21/31/

Escalopines de Veau Calvados $24.50
Milk-fed Veal with Shiitakes, Calvados Cream Sauce

The Calvados Cream Sauce is more than likely the sauce she is looking for and recipe I gave you before.

Lisa

Highland Park Cafeteria Hen Chicken and Baby Dumplings

From: "gwen" 
To: "Phaedrus" 
Subject: Re: Thin layer cake
Date: Thursday, July 10, 2014 3:02 PM

Hi Phaed,

In regards to the search for Highland Park Cafeteria's Rice Pudding
requested here: https://www.hungrybrowser.com/phaedrus/m0616M14.htm#3

While I could not find the recipe, I did find information about the
restaurant detailing names changes which may help if you or the requestor
continues to search, and a recipe.

In the Dallas Morning News, I found an article from 1989 stating that the
newspaper had not been successful in getting any recipes from the
restaurant because they are "very secretive," and another article from 2013
with a recipe and restaurant history. The latter is copied in full below:
"Linda Boshek lost a favorite recipe and wondered if we could help. She
wrote, “Years ago the Dallas Morning News published a recipe from The
Highland Park Cafeteria for Hen Chicken and Dumplings. It was a great
recipe that has become lost over the years. Would you be able to locate it?
Thank you.”

I searched at length on my own and came up empty-handed. That's when I
contacted my friend Cathy Barber, food editor at the Dallas Morning News,
to see if she might be able to locate it in the newspaper's files. “Found
your recipe,” she responded. “Can you believe (it was published in) 1991?”

Barber said the late Waltrina Stovall originally ran the recipe in an
article in Dallas Life magazine, which the newspaper no longer publishes.
In the article, Stovall wrote that “at the Highland Park Cafeterias, only
fresh hens - more than 50 a week - are used for Hen Chicken and Baby
Dumplings, a dish that's been on the serving line since the first cafeteria
opened in the late 1920s.”

Though there is still a Highland Park Cafeteria at 1200 N. Buckner Blvd.,
in Dallas, the cafeteria no longer serves Hen Chicken and Baby Dumplings,
as the cafeteria called the recipe.

Here, as explained by Highland Park Cafeteria general manager Chris Ingram
and the cafeteria's website, is a short history lesson on Highland Park
Cafeteria , which in 1981 was called “America's cafeteria ” by the New York
Times in a review.  The cafeteria got its start when Sallie Goodman opened
it in 1925. The original cafeteria located on Knox-Henderson closed in 1984
and relocated to Casa Linda Shopping Center, where the location remains
today. In 1992, the cafeteria was renamed Casa Linda Cafeteria.  Soon after
the move in 1984, the son-in-law of the Goodmans decided to open several
Highland Park Cafeterias, Ingram said. He went bankrupt, and the property
was bought by Lincoln Properties, which closed some of the cafeterias
before going bankrupt in 2006 and shuttering all the restaurants.

That's when current owner Jeff Snoyer, who'd been going to the cafeteria
since he was 2 years old, bought the cafeteria, reopening it six months
later and changing the name back to Highland Park Cafeteria.

When making this recipe, it isn't essential that the poultry be marked a
“hen.” Any plump chicken will work.

Hen Chicken And Baby Dumplings

Makes 6 servings
1 (5- to 6-pound) hen
2 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided use
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk, divided use
1 egg
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
Chopped parsley, for garnish

Instructions: Place hen in stockpot. Cover with water and add 1 teaspoon
salt. Bring to boil and simmer, uncovered, for 2 hours or until tender.
Remove hen from broth and drain, returning liquid to stockpot. Return
stockpot to heat and cook until broth is reduced to about 2 quarts. Strain.
When hen has cooled slightly but is still warm, remove skin, debone and
separate the meat, discarding skin and bones. Mix 5 cups of the reduced
chicken broth and 1 cup water. Pour into a deep saucepan and begin heating.
Meanwhile, mix flour, 11/4 teaspoons salt, pepper and baking powder in a
mixing bowl. Make a hole in the middle of the flour mixture and pour in
half the milk. Add egg and melted butter and stir together, then add
remaining milk. Mix until dough resembles biscuit dough. Pour dough onto a
floured surface and roll out to a thickness of 11/2 inches. With pastry
cutter or knife, cut into 1-inch squares. When broth boils, add dough
squares a few at a time, stirring to keep them from sticking together. When
all the dumplings have been added, bring to a boil and cook 15-20 minutes
or until dumplings rise to the top. Add reserved chicken meat. Stir well
and return to a boil. After 15-20 minutes, dumplings will sink; if the
mixture seems too thick, add additional chicken broth. Garnish with finely
chopped parsley."

Best,
Gwen

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