Christmas 2014

     From my table to yours, best wishes of the season!  May your table always be festive and may your menu be varied and healthy as we end the year.  And in the New Year that is about to be may your culinary adventures be many!



Fuel for the Flight

     I had some time at PHL after successfully passing through the TSA check point and before my flight was scheduled to take off for Orlando a few weeks ago.  So I decided to fuel my body for a long day ahead.  Even though it was very early in the morning many of the fast food franchises at the airport were already up and running.  But I felt that I needed something more substantial than a calorie laden breakfast egg and cheese McSandwich.  So I perused the menu of a sit down place and noticed that they had hot oatmeal on their menu.  That seemed like just the thing to keep me feeling full and energized when I hit the ground for a full day at Downtown Disney.

     But after I ordered I wondered, what exactly is in oatmeal?  It's been cultivated in various parts of the world for over two thousand years and was introduced into North America in the 17th Century by Scottish settlers.



     All the oats we eat, no mater how unprocessed, have been cleaned, toasted, and hulled.  The most nutritious are actually the least refined and are called groats.  They are the ones most often found in health food stores and take the longest to cook, according to an article in the most recent issue of Cuisine at home magazine.

     Steel-cut oats, sometimes called Irish oatmeal, are groats cut into 2 or 3 pieces with a sharp metal blade.  They take considerably longer to cook than rolled oats.

     Old Fashioned (or rolled) oats are groats that are steamed and flattened with huge rollers.  They take about a quarter hour to cook.

     Quick Cooking oats are groats taken through the same process, but they're first cut into several pieces, to become much thinner flakes.  They cook in just 5 minutes.

     Turns out it was a wise choice for me.  Oats contain an insoluble fiber that stays in the stomach longer and helps you feel fuller, longer.  There is also a special fiber, beta-glucen. that lowers high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, helps prevent heart disease, stabilizes blood sugar and enhances our immune response to infection.

     Though old-fashioned and quick-cooking oats are almost always interchangeable, the texture and flavor of quick-cooking oats aren't as satisfying.  But that can always be overcome with some brown sugar, raisins and warmed cream!



Disney by the Numbers

     Walt Disney World is big business, that's for sure.  It's also very expensive, especially for a family to stay there, enjoy the rides and attractions, and be fed.  But considering all that there is to see and do and experience it is an amazing place.  

   

Consider these numbers:

     There are over 40 themed attractions where food is served.  They include:
4 Major Parks: The Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom
2 Water Parks: Typhoon Lagoon & Blizzard Beach
3 Hotels: The Contemporary, The Dolphin, and The Swan
2 Lodges: Animal Kingdom & Wilderness
2 Spas: Grand Floridian & Saratoga Springs
2 Villas: Animal Kingdom & Boardwalk
14 Resorts (too many to list here)
3 Adult Theme Locations: Boardwalk, Downtown Disney & ESPN
1 Inn: Boardwalk
1 Campground: Fort Wilderness



And at all those venues there are no less than a combined 326 food options.  Everything from  food trucks, popcorn stands and fast food to fine dining with a 7 course prix fixe meal.  ...and lots in between.





Now consider that the menu in most places has at least 6 entree choices, which is reasonable.  That would add up to nearly 2,000 different options for a single diner.  That's almost 2 years of eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at Walt Disney World without duplicating a single meal!



After Christmas I will give you my picks and pans of culinary Disney.

World Showcase

     It was a daunting challenge.  But I managed to sample meals from around the globe last week.  Breakfasts were at places as near as the Jersey shore and as far away as Polynesia.  Lunches were diverse: a bowling alley, a seafood shanty and the lux Brown Derby.  For dinner I dined at an African buffet, an Irish pub and an Italian trattoria.  How was all this possible?  I was the guest for all of this courtesy of Walt Disney and his friends Mickey and Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Jiminy Cricket.  Yes, I spent the week in Disney World in Florida where in a matter of a few minutes I could walk from Canada to Mexico, Morocco to Japan, and practically every place in between.  If you are wondering, yes I did also enjoy some of the rides and attractions in between meals.  But no, I did not do Space Mountain or the log flume or the Tower of Terror. No need to recall the meal I had just eaten.

So here are some of the photographs I took on my world tour.  And in the coming weeks I will review the food venues that I visited.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Around the World

     For the next week I will be traveling to places like Japan, Italy, China, France, Morocco, Germany, Canada, the UK, Norway, & Mexico.  Oh, and I'll also make some domestic stops as well to places like Hollywood, New York City, Yellowstone, The Jersey shore, the wild west and down the Mississippi River.  On the itinerary is a planned safari into Africa, too, after breakfast in Polynesia.   It should be a fun week.

     So while I'm away please be patient and wait for a full report on my adventures when I return.

Vinny

A Tradition of Long Standing

     This recipe for an old fashioned mincemeat pie is a version of one featured in the classic 1861 volume "Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management." It involved some advance planning since she recommends that the mincemeat filling should be prepared at least two days and preferably two weeks prior to the making of the pies so that the fruit can soften and the flavors can meld.

TRADITIONAL MINCEMEAT PIE 

FOR THE FILLING

2 cups finely chopped beef suet

3/4 cup currants

3/4 cup finely chopped rump steak

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

2 Tbsp brandy

1 1/2 tsp chopped candied citron peel

1 1/2 tsp chopped candied lemon peel

1 1/2 tsp chopped candied orange peel

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 1/2 Granny Smith apples, cored and finely chopped

Grated zest of 1/2 lemon

1. In a bowl, combine beef suet, currants, rump steak, raisins, brown sugar, brandy, citron peel, orange peel, lemon juice, spices, apples, and lemon zest.  Mix well.

2. Transfer mixture to a 1 quart jar.  Cover and refrigerate for 2 days to 2 weeks.

3. Heat oven to 350 F.  Make a pie dough, prepare crust and add filling.  Bake until golden, about 1 hour.

Christmas Pye

     There are many culinary traditions associated with the Christmas holiday.  But perhaps none are older than that of eating mincemeat pie.

     

     Mincemeat was first created as a way of preserving meat -- usually mutton -- without having to salt or smoke it.  The term "mince" is derived from the Middle English mincen and the Old French mincier which are both from the Vulgar Latin minutiare meaning "smallness."  Mincemeat is an adaptation of the earlier name minced meat, that is, finely chopped meat.

     English recipes from the Middle Ages describe a mixture of meat and fruit and included vinegars and wines, and by the 18th Century distilled spirits like brandy were used.  But the tradition goes back much further than that.  Mincemeat became associated with Christmas when the Crusaders returned home in the 12th Century bringing with them spices from the Middle East: cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.  Those three spices were symbolic of the three gifts of the Magi given to the Christ Child.  The spices also happened to contain antimicrobial properties that helped preserve the meat.  They also no doubt masked any flavors of old meat.  Mincemeat Pie, sometimes referred to as Shred Pie, Mutton Pie and Christmas Pye, was baked during the Christmas season and was originally shaped in the form of a cradle, another reminder of the birth of Jesus.  They were not very large and it was considered good luck to eat one on each of the twelve days of Christmas that concluded on Epiphany.



     
     But over the years and centuries things began to change.  The shape was modified from oblong to round and the meat content was gradually reduced. Thus mincemeat pie was less of a savory dinner course and more of a dessert offering.  In England Oliver Cromwell, the self-proclaimed Lord Protector of the Kingdom abolished the celebration of Christmas all together in 1657.  His decree forbade the consumption of mincemeat pies which he considered a guilty, forbidden pleasure.  Fortunately at his coronation in 1660 King Charles II restored Christmas festivities.  But the edict had already spread to some of the Colonies and Christmas was banned in Boston from 1659 until 1681.  Those caught celebrating the holiday during that time were fined.

     By the 20th Century beef suet had replaced the meat, and fruits took center stage.  And it is not uncommon to find contemporary versions that lack any meat or suet at all.  In her diatribe against such a practice Lauren G. Fink in her essay Old World Christmas Pie writes:

     "Modern day mincemeat pie contains no meat, sometimes no alcohol, and is a wimpy salute to the manly, beefy pie of mincemeat history.  The real thing comprises several classic Christmas elements --goose, venison, or beef, seasoned apples, dried fruit, cider, molasses, and candied peel -- diced, spiced, and doused in brandy, then baked in a golden crust."

     If you would like to make your own mincemeat pie, be aware that the list of ingredients is formidable, but the end result will be worth the effort and you will then be a part of a long standing Christmas culinary tradition.