THE FORT SLOCUM COOKBOOK

Fort Slocum, New York was where I woke up to the fact that I was ME. Weird experience for a four year-old, to suddenly look at one’s hands and arms and body and realise that one existed as a separate entity.  I lived on the island from the ages of four to six – started school there, nursery school, and then kindergarten and first grade at George Washington Elementary School in New Rochelle. Had to catch the ferry to the mainland, then a bus trip to the school.

We lived on the west side of the island, overlooking the beach… the house we lived in was old and full of history, like the island itself. Fort Slocum started out as a fort, named for  Major General Henry Slocum, A Union corps commander in the American Civil War. Military use of the island dates back to at least 1862 when De Camp General Hospital was located on David’s Island, housing as many as 2,538 occupants in 22 buildings. A prison camp was established on adjacent Hart Island in 1856.

My father is second from the right, in the greeting committee of a visiting politician 

 

 

       (ABOVE) Where we caught the ferry that took us out to the island.

                 (BELOW) Entrance way of  our house at Fort Slocum (circa 2000)

Views of Fort Slocum

The Admiral’s house at the start of Officers’ Row (Fort Slocum)

The ferry boat between the island and the mainland. I rode this every week day to attend school in New Rochelle (George Washington Elementary School).

This is a picture postcard of “Officers’ Row”. We lived in one of the duplexes facing the Parade Ground, maybe three or four houses from the left  (below). I first rode a bicycle on the sidewalks that went around and across the Parade Ground.the second duplex from the left, the porch closest to the camera was ours. The two upstairs windows were my bedroom, on left, and the bathroom, on right (photo circa 1945)

Family Photos from From Slocum

(ABOVE) My sixth birthday party at Fort Slocum (31 August 1953)

(RIGHT) Me – Christmas 1952. Taken in front of the fire place in the dining room of our house.

Me (on right) and a friend (name not known) at nursery school, Fort Slocum 1952

Below: the playground and beach at back of house

   MAP OF FORT SLOCUM (DAVID’S ISLAND) NY

 

http://reference.findtarget.com/search/The%20Pelham%20Islands/

Copyright © 2010 Billy Marshall Stoneking

TO ACCESS THE FORT SLOCUM COOKBOOK, compiled by the wives of men serving at Fort Slocum back in the 1950s and 1960s click here —> http://www.gicco.com/Slocum/IslandFare.pdf

BLUEBERRY JOY

Blueberries belong to a well-travelled family, going back a long way in time and place. Perhaps, who knows, even to the Garden of Eden.

Today, a relative of the blueberry plant is the oldest living thing on earth, estimated by botanists to be more than 13,000 years old.

Skipping ahead from Adam and Eve, it is recorded that Virgil and Pliny recongized blueberries. However, they didn’t call them blueberries – they used the term which still identifies the blueberry plant, VACCINIUM, a word rooted in the Latin “vaccinus” meaning cow. The connection between cow and blueberry is indeed obscure, but perhaps ancient cows were blueberry eaters.

Like the world’s bears, they probably knew that blueberries were a feast, a delicacy. Wild bears will eat nothing except the succulent, juicy blueberries when they are in season. It has been documented that they will travel, with an empty stomach, from ten to fifteen miles per day to sniff out a blueberry patch.

Blueberries grow in many places around the world. Cousins of our native North American blueberries live in Asia, Europe and South America, from the tropics to the land of the Eskimos. But our blueberries did not travel from far-away places to get here. They are not escapees from early Colonial gardens. Nor are they immigrants whose seed came over on the Mayflower.

Blueberries were here when the first wave of settlers arrived in what was to become America. Early explorers noted Wild Blueberries on their expeditions. In 1615, Samuel de Champlain saw Indians along Lake Huron harvesting Wild Blueberries. These were dried, beaten into a pulp/powder and combined with cornmeal, honey and water to make a pudding called “Sautauthig”. Lewis and Clark, while on an expedition found that Indians smoked Wild Blueberries to preserve them for winter use. A meal served to them by the Indians had Wild Blueberries pounded into the meat — which was then smoked and dried.

The American Indian held the wild blueberry in very high esteem, due to the fact that the blossom end of each blueberry forms a five points star. It was believed the “Great Spirit” sent these star berries to relieve the hunger of children during a famine. Indians also used blueberries for medicinal purposes and made a strong aromatic tea from the root. It was used as a relaxant during childbirth. Early medical books show this same tea was used by wives of settlers during labor. Blueberry juice was used for “old coughs” and tea made from Wild Blueberry leaves was believed to be a good tonic to help purify the blood.

The small Wild Blueberry, to the original settlers, was less foreign to them than the land. Some had known a similar berry in Scotland, the blaeberry. Blaeberry jam, the story goes, was invented in the court of James V, who became King of Scots in 1513. His French wife brought her own cooks when she arrived at the castle in Scotland. They harvested the local wild blaeberries and in typical inventive French gourmet fashion, devised a delicacy which still delights Scottish palates.

English immigrants related the New World blueberry to their whortleberries: the Danes, to bilberries; the Swedes to their blåbär. People from northern Germany recognized their bickberren; those from southern Germany, blauberren. Later arrivals from Europe, such as the Russians, also had a frame of reference for these berries whose blue reflected the promising blue skies of the New World. The first commercial venture involved canning Wild Blueberries for the military.

ICE CREAM PIE with WARM BLUEBERRY SAUCE

Ingredients

• 1 store-bought refrigerated pie-crust
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 pints vanilla ice cream
• special equipment: four 4-inch tart pans

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375° F. Coat the bottom and sides of the tart pans with cooking spray, vegetable oil, or butter.
2. Divide the pie crust into 4 portions and roll them out so they’re slightly larger than the pans. Press the dough into the pans. Run a rolling pin over the tops to trim the excess dough. Line the dough with parchment paper or foil, fitting it up the sides. Fill with pie weights, dried beans, or uncooked rice. Place the pans on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the weights and paper and let cool.
3. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, over medium heat, cook the berries, sugar, water, cornstarch, and cinnamon until the sauce thickens slightly, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Remove the crusts from pans and transfer to serving plates. Place 1/2 pint of ice cream in each tart. Spoon some sauce on top.

STONEKING’S QUINOA OATMEAL

My mother: “Don’t give me that ‘I don’t eat breakfast’ routine. It’s the most important meal of the day.“

After years of ignoring her advice, I’ve come to see the wisdom of what she said, but only since discovering this amazing alternative to stock-standard bacon & eggs, toast, and/or cereal/museli.

What’s great about this dish is the taste and the fiber (of course), which  helps control your blood sugar and keeps you feeling full until lunch.

The quinoa gives your morning a little extra protein too. 

Here’s how:

QUINOA OATMEAL

1 cup steel cut oats (they aren’t all mushy like regular oatmeal)

½ cup quinoa (I used scarlet quinoa but you grab whatever you can find)

1 teaspoon olive or coconut oil

4 cups water

½ cup almond milk (or whatever milk you prefer)

Heat up the water in a kettle on the stove top or in the microwave until it is near boiling. Put the quinoa in a strainer and rinse so it isn’t bitter after you cook it. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat and add the steel cut oats. Stir them around and cook until they smell kinda toasty, like 1-2 minutes. Add the quinoa and the water and bring it all to a boil (this won’t take long because the water should already be hot as fuck). Turn down the heat on the pot and let it simmer. Go check your tumblr or Facebook while it cooks for about 20 minutes. It should taste done now, not hard but still a little chewy. Add the milk and turn off the heat. Serve with fresh fruit, nuts, maple syrup, brown sugar.

Serves 4 (love to hit snooze? double the recipe and heat up the leftovers all week)

YES! EVEN YOU CAN BE “DONUT” QUEEN FOR A DAY!

I am about to reveal how you can easily make Krispy Kreme donuts (doughnuts?) AT HOME (and make you the most popular person in the neighborhood).  Kiss your diet goodbye, because once you try this super easy recipe, you’re going to be hooked.   It’s the time you put in to the double rise, and the added ingredient of evaporated milk to the glaze that really make this recipe sing!

So if you’re addicted to Krispy Kreme donuts (like me), but don’t have one near you (like me) or just want a fun project to do (like me!), you’re going to love this Krispy Kreme Donut Recipe.

This recipe makes 3 baker’s dozen donuts (that’s 39!).  You can scale it down – or up – as you need!

Donuts
3 (1/4 ounce / 7g) packages yeast (3/4 oz / 21g total) – I used “Rapid Rise” but traditional is fine too – it just affects the rising times
1/2 cup (120ml) water  (105-115F / 40-46C)
2 1/4 cups (530ml) milk, scalded, then cooled
3/4 cup (169g) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup (113g) shortening
7 1/2 cups (940g) all-purpose flour
canola oil for frying

Glaze
1/2 cup (113g) butter
3 cups (375g) powdered sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
6 -9 tablespoons (90-135ml) evaporated milk (can substitute regular milk or water for milder flavor)

Procedure

Proof your yeast by adding it to the warm water.  Mix it up and let it rest.

Scald the milk in your microwave or on top of your stove, and let cool.

Combine yeast, milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening and 3 cups (375g) flour.

Beat on low for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly.

Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.

Carefully (not like me), stir in remaining flour until smooth.

Cover and let rise until double, 30-60 minutes, depending on the yeast you used.  I went the full 60, and you can see in step 4 what happened!  (I would do it again, they were great!)

After the dough has risen, turn dough onto floured surface; roll around lightly to coat with flour.

Gently roll dough 1/2-inch thick with floured rolling pin.

Cut with floured doughnut cutter.  Separate donuts and holes, as they take different frying times (but are equally delicious).  Save your scraps – they are both great to test your fry time and to snack on while you’re making the rest!

Cover and let rise until double, 30-40 minutes.

I like to make up the glaze at this point because it can sit at room temp until the donuts are fried and ready to be dipped.

Melt the butter and stir in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.

Add milk (or water) until desired consistency is reached.

Use a deep pan to heat the oil.   I used a shallow one to be able to take better pictures, but this provides a real fire hazard.  So be safe!

Heat your oil to 350F (180C).  A thermometer makes this part fool-proof, and you can monitor the heat to make sure it stays in this prime frying range.

I like to use a scrap of donut first to test different frying times.

Even after you take the donut out of the oil, the remaining oil on it is hot enough to continue cooking it!

Carefully place the donuts in the oil.  Cook on each side for about one minute.  Use chopsticks to flip the donuts and remove them from the oil.

Place donuts on a rack or paper bags or paper towels to drain.

*** to make chocolate glaze, melt 6 ounces of chocolate along with the butter!***

**If you want to make these donuts for breakfast, let the donuts rise in the refrigerator overnight!***

KHATTA ON A HOT TIN ROOF

Kadhi Chawal (“yogurt curry with rice”) is an Pakistani and Indian popular meal originating from India. There are several variations of this food that can be found in states such as Uttar Pradash, Punjab, Rajastan and Gujarat.  The Punjabi variation, which was a favorite of the playwright, Tennessee Williams, is more popularly known as ‘khatta’.

Punjab – the land of milk and butter, is also India’s wheat-bowl. Punjab has always been proud of its tall and strong puttars (sons). These brave sons (and daughters) of the soil have grown up on a diet rich with milk, butter, and other dairy products.

Punjab derives its name from its geography – punj: five (from Hindi/Sanskrit: panch – pronounced punch), and aab: Persian/Urdu for water – the land of the five rivers.

The rivers Jehlum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej  are the tributaries of the mighty Indus river, or river Sindhu, its Vedic name. It is from this river that Indians get their name: Sindhu → Hindu or Hindi.

The fertile plains combined with the hot and dry climate provide ideal conditions for Punjab to produce the bulk of Indian wheat. Wheat is the main staple of Punjab.

Though it is rare for a Punjabi to yearn for rice, there are a few Punjabi dishes that are best served with rice: kadhi-chawal is one of them.  And for the truly adventurous, use sour buttermilk. Buttermilk imparts a unique flavour to the kadhi. Using sour yoghurt is only second best.

Ingredients

for the kadhi

• Sour Curd – 3 cups
• Gram flour/besan – 1 cup
• 2-3 cloves
• 3-4 peppercons
• 1 badi elaichi
• 1 tsp methi seeds
• 1 tsp mustard seeds (sarsoon not rai)
• 2-3 green chillies
• 1 tsp turmeric
• salt and chilli powder to taste
• 2 tsp oil
• handful of coriander leaves to garnish

for the pakoras

• 1 cup gram flour
• 1 chopped onion
• 1/ cup chopped mix vegies (optional, traditionally they are made of just onions but me and mom both like to add a little bit of veggies to it)
• 1/2 tsp dhaniya powder
• 1 /2 tsp garam masala
• salt and chilli powder to taste
• oil for frying

Method

for the kadhi

• beat the sour curd and the besan together, u can use a blender or mix them using the whipper
• heat the oil and add mustard seeds
• when they start to crackle add methi seeds and the rest of the sabut masalas
• fry for about 2 minutes and when they start to brown add chilli powder and turmeric
• add the sour curd and besan mixture and keep stirring for 5 mins
• Let it simmer for about 30- 45 minutes stirring in between till it leaves a nice aroma
• in the meanwhile get ur pakoras ready

for the pakoras

• mix all the ingredients together and deep fry in hot oil

Interestingly this is where I have found a way to keep this healthier and avoid the deep frying …

Make the batter a little thicker than normal and instead of deep frying them fry them using a non stick paniyaram pan… uses much less oil…

• Now add the pakoras to the kadhi simmer for about 2 mins
• garnish with corriander leaves and serve with steamy hot rice

and did I tell u guys that one day old kadhi tastes absolutely yummilicous with hot paranthas… try it if you haven’t….

WHIP UP A LEGENDARY, RAMOS GIN FIZZ

A Ramos gin fizz (also known as a Ramos fizz or New Orleans fizz) contains gin, lemon juice, lime juice, egg white, sugar, cream, orange flower water, and soda water.  It is served in a large glass, such as a Zombie glass (a non-tapered 12 to 14 ounce glass).

The orange flower water and egg significantly affect the flavor and texture of a Ramos, compared to a regular Gin Fizz. As Cleveland bar chef Everest Curley points out “a big key to making egg cocktails is not to use ice at first; the sugar acts as an emulsifier, while it and the alcohol ‘cooks’ the egg white.” Even so, many bartenders today use powdered egg white because of the possible health risks associated with consuming raw eggs.

Henry C. Ramos invented the Ramos gin fizz in 1888 at his bar, the Imperial Cabinet Saloon on Gravier Street, New Orleans, though there are some in Piedras Negras, Mexico, that claim Ramos as a local and assert that he first made the drink in a bar there.   It was originally called the New Orleans Fizz, and is one of the city’s most famous cocktails. Before Prohibition, the bar was known to have over 20 bartenders working at once, making nothing but the Ramos Gin Fizz – and still struggling to keep up with the demand. During the carnival of 1915, 32 staff were on at once, just to shake the drink. The drink’s long mixing time (12 minutes) made it a very time consuming cocktail to produce^.

The Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans also popularized the drink, as did governor Huey PO. Long, who had an abiding fondness for it.  In July 1935, Long brought a bartender named Sam Guarino from the Roosevelt Hotel to the New Yorker Hotel in New York City to show the staff there how to make the drink, so he could have it whenever he was there. The Roosevelt Hotel group trademarked the drink name in 1935 and still makes it today.

STONEKING’S CHICKEN & POT-STICKER DUMPLINGS

Ingredients

200g chicken mince

8 green prawns, tails removed, finely chopped

225g can water chestnuts, drained, chopped

2cm piece ginger, finely chopped

3 green shallots, thinly sliced

1 Tbsp oyster sauce

½ tsp sesame oil

1 Tbsp light soy sauce

6 shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced

500g packet white gow gee wrappers

240ml canola or vegetable oil

1.2L hot water

Dipping sauce

3 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 red chilli, thinly sliced
2cm piece ginger, cut into fine batons
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp sesame oil

Preparation time:  30 mins  Cooking time:   25 mins

Makes:   48

Preparation

1. Put mince and prawn in a medium bowl and stir to combine. Add water chestnut, ginger, shallot, oyster sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce and mushroom. Stir well.

2. Lay 4 of the gow gee wrappers on a clean, dry surface. Wet 1 side of each with a little water. Put 1 tsp of the filling in center of each wrapper, then fold edges together and press into pleats to seal. Repeat to make 48 dumplings.

3. Put dumplings on a tray and keep, covered, in the fridge until ready to cook (put any leftover wrappers in freezer for later use).

4. Heat 60ml of the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add about 12 of the dumplings, pleat-side up, and cook for 2-4 minutes or until deep-golden on bottom. Pour in 300ml of the water and cover pan with a tight-fitting lid. Cook for 5-6 minutes or until water has evaporated. Repeat, in batches, to cook remaining dumplings.

5. Meanwhile, to make dipping sauce, combine all ingredients in a small bowl.

6. Serve dumplings immediately with dipping sauce on the side.