The artichoke is actually the bud of a giant thistle, harvested before it blooms. To this day, the bulk of American-grown artichokes are grown in California. They have never been terribly popular in this country. Their outer leaves are largely inedible and the center “chokes” consist of bitter filaments, taking more time to prepare than most home cooks are willing to commit. So, when artichokes began appearing on restaurant menus in California at the end of the 19th century, they were an expensive treat enjoyed by the higher echelons of society.

Artichokes Barigoule appeared on the menu of San Francisco’s illustrious Palace Hotel as early as 1879. Helen Evans Brown published the recipe in her historic 1952 West Coast Cook Book. Barigoule is a classic French Provençal preparation of artichokes which involves stuffing them with a mushroom forcemeat and braising them in wine or broth. Today, you’ll see Artichokes Barigoule on menus stuffed with any number of things including cheese, spinach, ground pork, or bread crumbs, but mushroom forcemeats like the recipe below are traditional.

TIPS AND TRICKS

Preparing an artichoke is one of the more challenging culinary preparations. The leaves are tough and the fibrous choke must be carefully and completely removed to avoid a sickening bitter taste permeating the dish.

Use a sharp chef’s knife to chop off the top of the artichoke, exposing the choke. Use a metal spoon to scoop out the choke into a bowl and be careful that the choke fibers don’t end up getting into any of the other food. You can rinse out artichoke to clean out any remaining fibers.

A good pair of kitchen scissors will help you trim the leaves. While the recipe below suggests dunking them in “acidulated water” after trimming the leaves, you can achieve the same result by rubbing the artichoke with lemon juice. This helps prevent browning. Alternatively you can use 1/4 cup lemon juice to two cups of water.

A forcemeat can be created by passing all of the ingredients into a meat grinder, or alternatively spinning them in a food processor. For a chunkier result, you can chop all the ingredients finely and mix them together by hand.

THE TAKE-AWAY

These are a beautiful labor of love, perfect as a starter for an impressive at-home dinner or on its own for an elaborate but light lunch. While preparation does get faster the more you do it, it is easy to see why artichokes haven’t become a more popular vegetable outside those creamy “spinach artichoke” appetizers so popular today. Just as it was a century ago, preparing this dish for guests is a sign that you care and that you’re willing to go the extra mile to create an experience for them.

And eating artichokes IS an experience – there is a ritual to it akin to the making of a nice pot of tea. Starting from the outside and working your way in, you peal away at the leaves, perhaps dipping them in a bit of melted butter, and you scrape the little morsels of soft artichoke flesh into your mouth with the backs of your teeth. Dipping once in awhile to the meat and mushroom stuffing provides a complimentary flavor and texture that leads you down, finally, to the artichoke heart waiting at the bottom. Much like its preparation, the eating of Artichokes Barigoules takes time. It is leisurely and indulgent, and perfect for those meals where nobody is in a hurry.

Palace Hotel’s “Artichokes Barigoule” from Helen Brown’s West Coast Cook Book (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1952)

4 artichokes
4 slices bacon
1/4 cup minced shallots
1/2 cup minced mushrooms
1 tablespoon minced parsley
salt and pepper
Nutmeg
1/2 cup stock or wine
olive oil

Trim and boil 4 artichokes for 5 minutes, drain, and remove chokes, then put in cold acidulated water. Make a forcemeat with 4 slices of minced bacon, 1/4 cup of minced shallots, 1/2 cup of minced mushrooms, a tablespoon of minced parsley, salt, pepper, and a little nutmeg. Stuff the artichokes, tie a string around each to keep the filling in, and brown on all sides in olive oil. Add 1/2 cup of stock or wine, or a combination of the two, and bake until tender. Remove strings before serving to four persons.

If memory serves, this week’s “Retro Recipe” began as a dare some months ago when a friend and colleague posted a photo of Ham Banana Rolls to my Facebook page. Like many, my first reaction was repulsion. The combination of ham, bananas, mustard and cheese does not appeal to contemporary palates like perhaps it once did.

But consider that bananas and ham often appear together in recipes of the Pacific and Caribbean. Much like pineapple, bananas represented adventure and far-off exotic places in the American imaginary as early as the 1830s when they began appearing in markets in major cities. The growth of the railway in 1880s allowed perishable imported foods to reach the midwest, at which point cookbooks began including a variety of banana recipes including creams, custards, cakes, pies, and even ice creams.

In Bananas: An American Story, Virginia Scott Jenkins recounts a story from the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. A forty-acre display of tropical plants in the Horticulture Hall included large banana tree. It was so popular that a guard had to be posted nearby to discourage people from tearing the plant apart for souvenirs. Interestingly, it was the same year that bananas appeared in Philadelphia markets, wrapped in tin foil. They were sold at ten cents each, which was equivalent to an hour’s wage for most people. It wasn’t really until after WWII that bananas went from being a luxury food to an inexpensive kitchen staple – thanks in large part to the efforts of the Dole and Chiquita and companies.

The United Fruit Company, parent company of Chiquita, advertised this recipe for decades from the post-war period through the 1970s. This particular advertisement suggests Ham and Banana Rolls as part of a luncheon menu that also includes a mixed vegetable salad and a hot gingerbread with whipped cream.

TIPS AND TRICKS

You need to use bananas that are slightly green, otherwise they will fall apart after baking. Most grocery stores sell them this way. If yours are ripe or over ripe, it will be better to make a banana bread or cake.

The kind of prepared mustard you use is a matter of preference. American “French style” yellow mustard will give more tang from the vinegar, while Dijon or brown mustard will offer a spicier kick.

The kind of cheese you use is also a matter of preference. American cheese, as suggested, melts easier because of the higher oil content – as Velveeta or Kraft. If you’re intending to serve these as an interesting appetizer for a nicer dinner party, I would recommend an aged cheddar. This basic recipe for cheese sauce was a kitchen staple that many cooks and housewives could make without referencing a recipe card. It is useful with any number of recipes.

THE TAKE-AWAY

Once people get over their initial repulsion over the idea of this recipe, their first question is inevitably “What does it taste like?”

First, unripe bananas – even after baking – have a starch-to-sugar ratio of 25:1 (a ratio that changes dramatically to 1:20 when ripened). So if you’re expecting a bizarre combination of savory and sweet, you’ll be disappointed. Unripened bananas and plantains are much more related to potatoes than fruits. A friend of mine described the flavor of the baked banana as being similar to baked artichoke hearts. And so much of what you taste is the sweetness of the ham, a bit of tang from the mustard, and the zip from whatever kind of cheese you use from the sauce.

Much like the others in the Retro Recipes series, this dish captures the flavors, ingredients and cooking methods of the times.

6 thin slices boiled ham
prepared mustard
6 firm bananas
cheese sauce

Spread each slice of ham lightly with mustard. Wrap a slice of the prepared ham around each banana. Place in a buttered shallow baking pan and pour cheese sauce over bananas. Bake in a moderate oven (350F) 30 minutes, or until bananas are tender… easily pierced with a fork.
Six servings.
Serve hot with cheese sauce from the pan poured over each roll.

To Make Cheese Sauce:
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups grated American cheese

Melt butter, add flour and stir until smooth. Stir in milk slowly. Add cheese and cook, stirring constantly until sauce is smooth and thickened. Makes about 1 cup sauce.

I first saw this image months ago on Pinterest, and haven’t been able to get it out of my mind since. The combination of skewered hot dogs and cauliflower screams retro recipe awesomeness. It took a bit of digging, but I discovered the image came from a 1975 Reynolds Wrap cookbook called Carefree Cooking with Aluminum Foil. A bit of poking around on eBay and the volume was soon in my kitchen.

I know what you’re thinking. The very look of it is repulsive. But here’s the thing – it’s just a hot dog, rolled in ketchup, covered with crushed cornflakes, and baked till crispy. The cauliflower is just a creative way to serve all these hot dogs on sticks.

And besides, just look at it. How can you resist?

TIPS AND TRICKS

One of the hardest parts of this is actually spiral scoring the hot dog. This releases some of the juices when it bakes – keeping it from bursting and making it a bit crispier. Try holding a sharp pairing knife still in one hand, while turning the hot dog in the other.

Use flat plates without the curved edges for your rolling platters. I didn’t, because I wanted it to photograph well, and it made evenly coating the sides challenging.

Put the cornflakes into a ziploc bag to crush them, and really give them a good crushing. You can see in the original picture the crumbs are very fine. Were I to make this recipe again – and who knows, it could happen – I’d crush mine finer.

THE TAKE-AWAY

Falling in line with last week’s retro recipe, there is something so perfectly retro about this recipe. It has the look, the ingredients are prepackaged, and the prep and cooking are quick and easy.

And they’re not bad. Really. The ketchup gives the hot dogs a bit of tang and smokiness, while the cornflakes give it a nice crunch that proves to be a satisfying combination of textures. Kids would love to make and eat these, and it can also make a fun centerpiece for an outdoor picnic or causal dinner party.

“Hot Doggities” from Carefree Cooking with Aluminum Foil by Reynolds Wrap, 1975

1 lb (8 to 10) frankfurters
1/2 cup catsup
1/2 cup cornflake crumbs

Score surface of frankfurters lightly, spiraling from end to end. Insert wood skewers in one end. Roll each frankfurter in catsup, then in cornflake crumbs. Place Reynolds Wrap in a shallow pan. Place frankfurters in pan; do not crowd. Bake in 350F oven for about 15 minutes. Serve with additional catsup or with mustard, if desired.

It’s the Midwest America’s version of sushi. Much like Devils on Horseback, Ham & Pickle Rolls are experiencing a renaissance of sorts and are even appearing on menus as appetizers as a kind of trendy bar food.

Growing up in Ohio, I can remember my mother making these around the holidays when family came over. They work best prepared the day before, which is one of the reasons it has been such a popular cocktail appetizer at parties for so many years.

For the uninitiated, it’s possible that the mere thought of Ham & Pickle rolls can turn your stomach. And indeed, the variety of textures is unlike anything else I’ve ever eaten. But the creamy-ness of the cream cheese, matched with the tart crispness of the pickle and the saltiness of the ham makes this a treat worth trying.

I have found variations on this recipe dating back to the 1920s. During the Great Depression, when ham was an expensive luxury, the rolls were often made with flattened slices of bread – the perfect substitute for those who are entertaining vegetarians.

A few tips: This is one recipe where you  want the most processed kind of ham you can find. You don’t want real sliced ham. You’ll need that perfectly geometric square pressed ham commonly sold as sandwich meat. Trust me. Because the ham you’re buying is largely water, you’ll want to pat each slice dry with paper towels before spreading, or the cream cheese won’t stick. Finally, letting the cream cheese soften at room temperature allows for ease of spreading.

1 jar of dill pickle spears
1 8 ounce brick of plain cream cheese
1 package of sliced ham

Lay a slice of ham out on a flat surface. Spread a layer of cream cheese on the ham. Place a pickle spear at the edge of the slice of ham, and roll the ham around it so that it is completely wrapped. Set the roll aside on a plate, and repeat. Cover the plate with cling wrap and refrigerate at least two hours, or ideally overnight. When set, slice rolls about a half-inch thick and arrange on a platter. Serve cold with toothpicks.

As the holidays approach, I find myself on the hunt lately for tasty cocktail party treats, and one of the many joys of this blog is the excuse it offers to hunt down new old recipes.

In contemporary cooking, ‘deviled’ is usually an adjective applied to eggs. For awhile, though, ‘deviling’ was done to a number of different food items. It usually refers to a sauce that has either red pepper and/or mustard at it’s base. Kidneys were a very popular food to devil. Indeed, one of the earliest references to deviling according to the Oxford English Dictionary comes from 1800, in a journal entry that noted “at half past two, [I] ate a devil’d kidney.” Finely minced deviled ham was also popular, and can still be found in some parts of the country – particularly in areas of the south – where the spicy mixture would be eaten on sandwiches or crackers like egg salad.

Worcestershire sauce is a typical ingredient in most classic ‘deviled’ recipes. Most people who have never read the ingredients to Worcestershire sauce would be surprised to know that it’s basically a fermented fish sauce – a close relative to what you’d find in China, for example, only Worcestershire uses anchovy fillets. The standard formula used today was developed in the 1830s by two pharmacists in Worcester, England – John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins. Their names still adorn the world’s most popular brand of the sauce. Legend has it that Lea and Perrins were asked to recreate the sauce from a recipe acquired by a local nobleman who had served in India. As with all origin stories, the details are vague, but there is certainly an Eastern influence on the recipe.

Up until flipping through Irma Rombauer’s 1953 edition of the Joy of Cooking, however, I had never heard of Deviled Crackers. The recipe is meant to be included in the busy host or hostess’s recipe repertoire for when unexpected guests arrive. It can be prepared quickly with ingredients commonly found in the American kitchen at the time. It’s very likely this recipe dates back even earlier to at least the Depression years – it’s one of those classic examples of inexpensively ‘doctoring up’ something as simple as boxed crackers.

Today, in the age of Cracked Black Pepper and Olive Oil Triscuits and other such readily-accessible flavored crackers, I would be surprised to ever see something like this at a cocktail party. But it really is a simple trick that doesn’t take long at all to do, and of course, can be done a day or two in advance without issue. The flavor is somewhat surprising. If you use paprika, the result is something almost like what you’d find on classic Chex Mix (not surprising given the prominence of mustard, butter and Worstershire). The red pepper variant definitely packs a punch, so use sparingly. The red pepper referred to here is cayenne, not the red pepper flakes you see in pizza parlors (which would be gritty and unappealing).

Rombauer’s recipes are known for their brevity, which can sometimes be a challenge to the inexperienced cook. The earlier editions (pre-1970s) often omit cooking times, assuming the cook would know when something is done or not. Here, you’ll want to take them out before they darken or they’ll have a slightly burnt taste to it. For this recipe, remember the intention is to bake the spread into the cracker, not to cook it. Once it’s a light brown – roughly 3 minutes – pull them out of the oven and let them cool. You’ll also note that her recipes are written in a style similar to Julia Child, which forces the reader to read through the recipe first, rather than just buying the ingredients from a list and then reading it as they go along.

The type of cracker used is your preference, though try to choose one that is fairly basic to begin with – saltines, club crackers, etc. Don’t spread too much of mixture onto the crackers either, or you’ll run the risk of it going soggy or greasy. Just a thin layer is enough to get the flavor into the cracker. Serve these with Ham & Pickle Rolls, or with an interesting cheese.

From Irma Rombauer’s The Joy of Cooking (1953: Bobbs-Merrill Co.)

A quick and easy canapé made with ingredients one is apt to have on hand.

Work into a paste:

2 teaspoons dry mustard or 1 teaspoon curry powder
Worcestershire sauce

Beat until soft:

3 tablespoons butter

Beat the paste into it. Season it with:

1/2 teaspoon paprika or 1/8 teaspoon red pepper

Spread the mixture on thin crackers. Heat the crackers in a moderate oven 350 degrees until they are light brown.

Followers of the American table will be familiar with my love of bacon. These tasty little treats make perfect appetizers for holiday parties, and indeed are traditionally served in between the period of Thanksgiving and Christmas. I’ve been making them for several months now for client meetings at the advertising agency I work for, and people can’t stop talking about “those amazing bacon things Eric makes.” And even though they’ve fallen out of popularity over the last 30 years, they’re making a comeback – I recently even saw them on a menu at one of my new favorite local gastropubs in Minneapolis, Devil’s Advocate.

The history of Devils on Horseback dates back roughly to the late 19th century with its close sibling Angels on Horseback, which are oysters wrapped with bacon and seasoned in some way. The angels were popular at Victorian dinner parties as a way to end a dinner. The idea is likely French in origin, though the Devils on Horseback spin is decidedly British. Indeed, the first time I heard of Devil’s on Horseback was on an episode of one of my favorite television cooking programs, the now-cancelled Two Fat Ladies, who made these treats for a cocktail party at the Brazilian embassy in London (Clarissa Dickson Wright unquestionably ranks up with James Beard and M.F.K. Fisher in my pantheon of food heroes). In fact, it was from this program that I learned the trick to soak the prunes in black tea first. It softens them, making it easier to stuff, and imparts yet another subtle flavor. Plus, it’s one more way I can use up those large gallon size tea bags I bought awhile back.

Devils on Horseback became immensely popular in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s as Americans turned their attention to exotic finger foods, and our ever-present love of bacon. There is something very retro even about its smokey flavor. It’s hard to imagine why any bacon-wrapped treat would fall out of favor, but I imagine it had to do with the perceived labor involved (it’s really not that difficult or time consuming) and the national aversion toward prunes.

Indeed, so great is the aversion toward prunes in the United States that a few years back, the California Prune Board spent a small fortune on market research. They learned their target audience of women 25-54 saw prunes as something their grandmothers ate. They board spent another small fortune petitioning the FDA to allow them to use the term “dried plums” instead of prunes, and now they are known as the California Dried Plum Board and market the fruits as such. Whatever you want to call them, though, they are really quite tasty, relatively inexpensive, and good for you to boot. Generally, Americans could use a bit more fiber in their diets anyway.

Recipes and variations on this theme abound, but generally one begins with a pitted date or prune. It is stuffed with something – often blue cheese, but sometimes smoked or roasted almonds, lightly sauteed chicken livers, or savory fruit chutneys. The whole lot is wrapped in bacon, pierced with a toothpick, sometimes glazed, and baked until the bacon is crispy. A light pinch of cayenne pepper on top can kick the recipe up a notch for the brave.

Don’t let the prune scare you off though. If you find you don’t generally like them by themselves, you might find this more than acceptable. You kind of have to pop the hole thing in your mouth when it slides off the toothpick, and the flavors all meld together in deliciousness. Also, any recipe involving stuffing and wrapping seems to make people think the recipe is overly laborious. Really, it couldn’t be easier. You’ll develop a little assembly line, and soon you’ll find yourself with hundreds of these treats… well, maybe not hundreds, but why not? It’s the holidays, after all.

Give them a try and post your thoughts below!

20 prunes or dates, pitted
1 gallon-size teabag or 5 standard tea bags
1 liter hot water
1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
4 healthy dashes of Worstershire sauce
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 ounces blue cheese
10 slices of good bacon
20 toothpicks

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, pour the hot water over the tea bag. Let tea steep about five minutes. Remove bag, and add prunes to tea, letting them soak for five minutes.

While prunes are soaking, combine soy sauce, Worstershire sauce, ground ginger and brown sugar in small saucepan. Place over medium heat and stir until sauce reduces enough to thinly coat a spoon.

Slice the bacon in half, and using the back of a large knife, draw it along each slice of bacon to flatten and lengthen it.

Drain prunes from the tea. Take one prune, and find the opening where the pit was removed. Work your finger into it to make a gap. Crumble the blue cheese and work as much of the cheese into the prune as you can without tearing the flesh of the fruit. Wrap the stuffed prune with a slice of the flattened, halved bacon, and secure with a toothpick.

Place the prune in a large glass casserole dish – don’t use a cookie sheet, as the grease from the bacon will need to collect somewhere. Using a pastry brush, glaze each of the stuffed prunes, reserving the remaining sauce.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes. They are done when the bacon is brown and crispy. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before arranging on a platter. Drizzle reserved sauce over them, and serve warm or at room temperature.

If making ahead of time, the can be baked, refrigerated, and allowed to come to room temperature. Alternatively make the bundles and sauce ahead, and then glaze and bake them shortly before needed.