Retro Recipes and Traditional Fare

When I think of casseroles, I imagine layers and layers of meats and vegetables slowly cooking together until fork tender. Baeckeoffe is that casserole; it beats all other casseroles. Beef, lamb, and pork are combined with onions, leeks, and carrots, then drowned in wine, and slowly braised for hours in the oven until just perfect. Baeckeoffe, which translates to baker's oven, originates from Alsace, France, a region that has changed hands many times between France and Germany. In many ways, especially gastronomically, it maintains a German identity. Here you will find beer, sausages, sauerkraut, and vineyards growing typical German grapes like Riesling and Gewürztraminer. Many dishes are specific to this region, Baeckeoffe being one of its most famous traditional foods.

The most appealing features of the dish are its minimum supervision to make and ability to feed a large, busy family—of particular interest in olden times. As the story goes, Alsatian women would drop off their casseroles with the local baker on Monday, which was the day set aside for doing laundry. The baker, who may have had many casseroles in his oven at one time, used a rope of dough between the rim and lid of each casserole to form a tight seal and keep in moisture. The low, steady temperature of the baker's oven was the ideal environment for cooking the Baeckeoffe.

My friend Chris was recently visiting LA and I decided to surprise him with one of his favorites - Banana Cake. He lives in NYC and loves to stop by Billy’s Bakery and pick up a whole Banana cake to take home. They have great homemade baked goods and it’s definitely worth stopping by when you’re in the city. Their version of Banana Cake is quite dense with a sugary sweet frosting but I prefer a lighter more tender cake with smooth silky cream cheese frosting.

The trick is to not overbeat the cake batter, especially when adding the mashed bananas which can make the cake gummy and dense. The frosting has lots of cream cheese but the mixing method maintains a billowy fluffy finish.

Leave it to my grandmother’s generation to have a delicious dessert with gelatin. A standby ingredient of the “greatest generation,” gelatin is often forgotten these days. Yet, this one ingredient provides a fantastic texture and appearance for dessert dishes. Strawberry Charlotte Russe is an “oldie but goodie,” for its name is derivative of Russian royalty and French culinary prowess.

With strawberries coming into season here in the Deep South, this Farmer is exploring a few old faithful recipes. A Charlotte Russe is delicious with any in season berry (black, blue or rasp) but especially good with strawberries. Though there are methods of ringing the mousse like dessert with additional lady fingers, tying with ribbons, and presenting in more formal fashions, I simply prefer to mound this delicacy in a pretty serving dish, scoop onto lovely dessert serving pieces, eat and enjoy the very essence of the season. There is something special about using family pieces, and my Mimi’s great Aunt Mamie's china is just the token for a dainty dessert. Though highly elegant, this dessert is severely easy to prepare and it's sure to be a hit with you and yours.

Fall is definitely in the air here in the Willamette Valley. The night temperatures have been in the mid-40's and the leaves are turning orange and brown to mark the season. The kids are already asking for flannel sheets to be put on their beds. I don't blame them, it's cold at night.

Well nothing screams Fall more than Apple Pie baking in the oven. I also like to top it off with Maple Whipped Cream.

Everyone makes their own version of apple pie and of course we all think ours is the best. I believe it's one of the most satisfying comfort foods around and I love it any time of the year.

Hopefully it has cooled off in your neck of the woods so you too can put an apple pie in the oven.