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2009

TODAY's CASES:

Horn & Hardart Coffee

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Melvyn 
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com 
Sent: Saturday, December 12, 2009 8:54 AM
Subject: coffee

Dear Phaedrus:

I'm trying to find the currently available coffee that most tastes like the 
Horn & Hardart coffee I grew up with.  I'm now 70, and spent most of my life 
in the Philadelphia area, dining in both the automats and waitress service 
H & H restaurants. I've yet to find a coffee to match the one served at Horn & Hardart.
Thanks for your help, if possible.

Mel 

Hi Melvyn

I had heard that Horn & Hardart had re-opened as a few coffee shops, and I found these two locations on the Internet. I'm not sure if these locations are open, but since H & H closed in 1991, I don't see how they could be advertised on the Internet if they hadn't been open since then. Maybe they'll sell you some coffee, if indeed their coffee is still as good as the old H & H's coffee. It can't hurt to give them a call:

Horn & Hardart Coffee Comp Tabernacle New Jersey USA 888-550-8020

Horn & Hardart Coffee Co.
(215) 988-9922
Logan Square
1650 Arch St
Philadelphia, PA 19103

There is a 3-page article here that describes the old H & H coffee and tells some of the reasons why it may have been so good:

Urbanspoon

Other than that, I am at a loss as to how I can help. I cannot find an exact decription of H & H's coffee - what kind of beans they used or the brand of coffeemaker they used. I cannot tell you which brand, if any, might taste like H & H coffee because I never had H & H coffee, and I found no comparisons on the web that might help. Sorry

We like good coffee, too, and we buy our coffee beans from Starbuck's and grind them fresh before every pot. Have you tried that? Starbuck's sells many different varieties of beans, and you might find one to your liking there. They also sell small bean grinders.

Phaed


Egg Dumplings in Potato Soup

----- Original Message ----- 
From: ART 
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com 
Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2009 12:21 AM
Subject: Egg dumpling in potato soup

As a child, my mother made potato soup with something extra. They were little firm, 
chewy  bits of various sizes none bigger than a teaspoon. They were sort of a pale 
yellow and were mixed all through the soup. As far as I was concerned, it was the 
best part of the potato soup.  She was making this in the 1940's when I would have 
been old enough to remember things..preschool days.  As we grew up,my mother stopped 
making the soup, and could not remember what or how she did it. It is something I have 
remembered all my life and from time to time have ask people about and no one seems to 
know anything about it. I suspect it was some kind of unleavened egg dumpling. (egg,
flour,etc,etc) They were not fluffy, but firm little lumps that did not float on top, 
but were mixed all through the soup. I did mention it to a pharmacist one time who 
thought it might be something his German grandmother would make.  He was going to try 
to get a recipe for me, but it did not happen.  The term dumpling might not be the 
correct name for it, and might send people thinking off in the wrong direction. Does 
this ring any bells for you?
From time to time, I have attempted to improvise a formula just using eggs and flour 
and making lumps that I would drop into soup.  It just never seemed to be right. I 
suspect that my mother was trying to give us protein in the potato soup during the 
hard world war II years.  Potatoes were plentiful but I think a lot of things were 
rationed, so an egg based addition to the potato soup provided the needed protein 
for the meal.
It would be quite special if you were able to provide an answer to my life long mystery. 
I am 68 now and I was perhaps 4 to 6 years of age when I remembered that special potato 
soup.  I suppose that I could even be wrong about it being egg based, but what ever it 
was, it really stuck with me all these years!  See what you can do and
THANKS.
ARTHUR 

Hello Art,

Potato soup recipes with dumplings are rather common. However, the dumplings are usually spoon-sized "drop" dumplings. Below are three recipes for potato soup with smaller dumplings. The first one is German. All of the dumplings that I saw used in this type of recipe have basically the same ingredients as these recipes.

Phaed


German Knoephle Soup

2 to 3 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 pt. water or chicken broth
1 sm. onion, diced
3 to 4 celery stalks and tops, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. salt
Slices carrots (optional)
Pepper to taste

Prepare your own recipe of chicken soup as for chicken and dumplings or noodles or 
make this German soup.  Cook until the potatoes are tender.
Knoephle:
2 c. flour
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. milk
1/4 tsp. baking powder

Mix the above ingredients together to form a stiff dough.  Take ropes of the dough and 
cut with clean kitchen shears in pieces about the length of the end joint of  your little 
finger and drop into the boiling soup.  Boil about 5 minutes or until the dumplings rise 
to the top.  Some people like to add a little milk just as this is served in the bowls.
----------------------------------------
Grandma's  Potato  Soup

3 to 4 lg. potatoes, diced

Cover with water and cook until tender.  Salt to taste.  Mix 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons 
baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 eggs until mixture resembles moist dough.  Drop by 
small bits into boiling potatoes.  Cook 10 to 15 minutes or until dumplings are well done.
---------------------------------
Potato  Soup  With  Small  Dumplings

4 potatoes, cut in sm. chunks
2 onions, chopped
3 c. milk
1 carrot
Salt & pepper to taste

Boil vegetables until tender.  Drain.  Add milk.  Simmer for 1/2 hour.  Add dumplings. 
Cook 20 minutes.  Thicken with cornstarch (2 tablespoons).
LITTLE DUMPLINGS:
1 egg
3 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. vegetable oil
Pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients.  Spoon into potato soup, boiling beef broth or chicken broth, using 
1/4 teaspoon at a time.  Cook 2-3 minutes.
-------------------------------------
Thank you!  for the 3 recipes.  The last one looks most interesting with the dumplings 
made without the baking powder. Seems most like my memory.  I will try that one first. 
The other two have the baking powder  which sounds like fluffy dumplings,not part of 
my criteria, but which never the less are probably quite tasty and I will try those also. 
By now, you probably got my second email to you about what I found a day later, where 
the unleavened dumplings are cooked apart from the recipe and added afterwards. I actually 
tried that and it was pretty good except the teaspoon sized drops did expand to form larger 
dumplings which I later cut up smaller. If I do that one again, I think 1/4 teaspoon size 
drops will be better. 
I am anxious to try your #3 recipe with the little dumplings made with oil and no water. 
I just have a hunch that might be "the one".
Many thanks to you for finding my OLD recipe.
Thanks  Art

Oregonian Mashed Potatoes

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Teresa 
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com 
Sent: Wednesday, December 09, 2009 11:24 AM
Subject: recipe

Phaed,

I've lost a recipe for mashed potatoes that has a layer of sautéed onions and 
mushrooms in the middle.  These are place in a 9X13 in. pan.  Some sautéed 
onions and mushrooms are also stirred into the mashed potatoes before layering 
potatoes on the bottom, sautéed mushrooms and onions in the middle, and more 
mashed pots on top.

If you have similar version of this recipe, I'd appreciate your sending it to me. 
I think the recipe might have called for 'yellow/gold' potatoes. It was from our 
Food Day section of our local paper the Oregonian. They have not been helpful with 
my search.  They use to have a column which dealt with lost recipes, but not any more, 
and it was a popular column!

Thanks!

Teresa 

Hello Teresa,

Sorry, I could not find such a recipe. I found a few mashed potoes recipes that mentioned The Oregonian, but none that had those ingredients. If the dish had a unique name, there would be a better chance.

Phaed

Timm sent this recipe, but it lacks the mushrooms and has cheese.

I have a similar recipe, but I am not sure it came from the Oregonian.   Timm in Oregon

Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Onions 

Ingredients:

For the Onions:

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
6 cups of sweet onions, such as Walla Walla or Vidalia
Sea salt to taste
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 cup chicken or beef stock
Black pepper, freshly ground to taste

For the Potatoes:

3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into even sized chunks 
3/4 cup buttermilk, warmed
1/4 cup butter, melted
Sea salt to taste
Black pepper, freshly ground to taste
1/2 cup Asiago cheese, grated or more to taste

Instructions:

Heat the oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat until the butter sizzles. 
Add the onions and salt; sauté for 3 minutes or until the onions start to soften. 
Sprinkle with sugar, turn heat to medium low and continue to cook while stirring 
occasionally until the onions turn golden brown, about 20 minutes. Stir in the 
vinegar and stock. Raise the heat to high and reduce until the stock almost completely 
disappears. Remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper and set aside.

While the onions are cooking, place the potatoes in cold salted water to cover and 
bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes or until taters are tender. Drain well and return 
to the turned off burner for a few minutes to dry off.

Mash the potatoes with a potato masher and beat in the warmed buttermilk and butter; 
season well with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 375F degrees. Butter a large gratin dish; layer in 1/3 of the potatoes 
and then 1/2 of the onions. Repeat the layering, finishing with a layer of potato. 
Sprinkle with the grated Asiago cheese and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until top is 
browned and potatoes are hot.
------------------------------------------
Phaed,

I finally got the Oregonian newspaper to help me with this lost recipe!  The public 
doesn’t have access to their archives, but if you can get hold of them, they will 
help you!!  Thanks for the other version of this recipe.  I will try it out soon! 
Timm in Oregon might want to try this recipe…

~Teresa, Oregon

Mashed Potato Casserole With Mushrooms

Makes 6 servings

This is a family favorite that my mother often prepared for Thanksgiving. 
We love the layer of sautéed mushrooms and onions hiding inside. --Faye Levy

2 1/2 pounds boiling potatoes, unpeeled and left whole 
Salt
3 tablespoons olive oil, vegetable oil or butter
2 medium onions, chopped
8 ounces small fresh mushrooms, quartered
Pepper
1/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth, milk or whipping cream
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon paprika

Put potatoes in a large saucepan with water to cover and a pinch of salt and 
bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat for 35 minutes or until very 
tender. Drain and leave until cool enough to handle.

In a large skillet, heat oil or butter, add onion and sauté over medium heat 
until light golden. Add mushrooms and salt and pepper to taste, and sauté over 
medium-high heat for 7 minutes or until brown.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Peel potatoes while still fairly hot. Put in large bowl, cut each in a few pieces 
and beat with a mixer at low speed until coarsely mashed. Beat in broth, milk or 
cream, then eggs, just until blended. With a spoon, stir in 1/2 cup of sautéed 
mushroom mixture. Add 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, or to taste.

Grease a 6- or 7-cup casserole and add half of potato mixture. Top with remaining 
sautéed mushroom mixture, then with remaining potato mixture. Smooth top and sprinkle 
with paprika. Bake, uncovered, for 50 minutes, or until top is firm and light golden 
at the edges.

From Faye Levy, published in FOODday November 14, 2006

Norwegian Cruise Lines Bread Pudding

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Elaine 
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com 
Sent: Wednesday, December 09, 2009 11:51 AM
Subject: NCL Bread Pudding

Uncle Phaedrus,
We have just returned from a Norweigan Crusie on the Spirit and my husband really, 
really like the bread pudding served on the buffet line, 12th deck.  It was more like 
an egg custard with a small amount of bread on top rather than a lot of bread and very 
little pudding.  He did not care for the sauce with it just the pudding.  Any chance 
you have the receipe or can find it for me.
Elaine 

Hello Elaine,

Sorry, I had no success locating a bread pudding recipe from Norwegian Cruise Lines.

Phaed


Nutty Cornbread Stuffing

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Michelle 
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com 
Sent: Saturday, December 12, 2009 4:47 PM
Subject: Cornbread Stuffing

Hi, I used to make this delicious cornbread stuffing for my turkey but in the wake of 
several moves I seem to misplaced it.  It took me years to get the recipe from a friend 
of the "Ludwig" family, which has since deceased.  This was not your run of the mill 
cornbread stuffing.

What made this stuffing so unique were the ingredients; I'm just not sure if I remember 
everything.  The recipe call for baked cornbread, of course, and then several types of 
nuts, i.e., brazil nuts, pecans, roasted cashews and I think roasted chestnuts. The spice 
"cumin" and shallots were also used.

I have searched the Internet but have not had any luck.  Maybe you will. 
Thanks and good luck.

Michelle 

Hi Michelle,

I was not able to find this recipe either in our files or on the web. I'll post your request on the site so that perhaps a reader can help.

Phaed


"My name is Archie Goodwin, and I came here by invitation to bring fourteen things: parsley, onions, chives, chervil, tarragon, fresh mushrooms, brandy, bread crumbs, fresh eggs, paprika, tomatoes, cheese, and Nero Wolfe. That's only thirteen, so I must have left one out. They are the ingredients of baked brook trout Montbarry, except the last; Mr. Wolfe is not exactly an ingredient."
Immune to Murder by Rex Stout

Copyright (c) 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Phaedrus