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Bring Tradition Back to Your Kitchen

"The Boston Cooking School Cook Book," written by Fannie Farmer and published in 1896, was the best-selling cookbook of its age and the American kitchen was a very different place. In his new book, "Fannie's Last Supper," Chef Chris Kimball, founder of "America's Test Kitchen," immersed himself in the ways of Fanny Farmer and cooked his way through history investigating the ingredients and the techniques of late 19th century America. The final test was a stunning 12-course dinner party prepared using only the traditional ingredients, techniques and tools used by his contemporaries. On "The Early Show" Kimball shared some of his favorite recipes from his new book.

"Early Show" Recipes Galore

RECIPES:

Onion-Cherry Chutney Filling with Blue Cheese
Of the three, this is my favorite filling, since the balance of sweet and pungent marries well with the blue cheese. It knocks your socks off when served in a thin, crisp, hot shell of fried puff.

INGREDIENTS:
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, diced medium, about 1 1/2 cups
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 ounce blue cheese, broken into 12 small pieces the size of peas

METHOD:
1. Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat until it begins to shimmer; sauté onion until soft, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add salt, pepper and sugar and cook until bottom of pot begins to brown, about 6 to 8 minutes, then deglaze with vinegar and cook until pan is dry. Add thyme and cherries and cook until softened and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Transfer mixture to plate. Refrigerate.
2. Once onion mixture is chilled through, finely chop. Check for seasoning. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Grilled Salmon with Caper Vinaigrette
It is true that Fannie did not offer any grilled fish recipes - they were mostly boiled, roasted, or poached - and the cooking times were ridiculously long. In addition, canned salmon was available at this time and was often used in cold salads. However, a few contemporary cookbooks did offer grilling salmon as a common preparation method, so we followed that advice. We used our wood-burning cookstove with a grill insert to cook the salmon indoors, not a charcoal grill. When grilling salmon, we find that ten separate coats of oil on the hot grill will create a nonstick surface. Brush the oil using tongs and a wad of paper towels.

INGREDIENTS:
Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon whole-grain mustard
1 tablespoon minced shallots
2 teaspoons capers, rinsed, dried, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon caper juice
1/4 teaspoon thyme, minced
Salt and pepper
6 tablespoons canola oil
6 tablespoons high-quality extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
2 lemons, cut into wedges

Salmon:
12 3-ounce salmon filets, cut into rectangles
1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt and Pepper

METHOD:
1. For the vinaigrette: Combine lemon juice, mustards, shallots, capers, caper juice, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste in small nonreactive bowl. Whisk until thoroughly combined. Combine oils in small measuring cup so that they are easy to pour. Whisking constantly, very slowly drizzle oil into lemon mixture. If pools of oil are gathering on surface as you whisk, stop addition of oil and whisk mixture well to combine, and then resume whisking in oil in slow stream. Stir in parsley. Vinaigrette should be glossy and lightly thickened, with no pools of oil on its surface.
2. For the fish: Prepare a hot fire for grilling. Pat salmon dry with paper towels. Make two or three shallow slashes along the skin of each piece of fish, being careful not to cut into the flesh. Brush both sides of fish with thin coat of oil and season with salt and pepper. Place fish skin side down on grill diagonal to grate, and cook without moving until skin side is brown, well marked, and crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Flip fish to second side and cook, until centers of fillets are still translucent when cut into with a paring knife, or register 125 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 2 to 4 minutes longer.
3. Serve fish skin side up, and drizzle vinaigrette around and over each piece of fish, with 2 to 3 teaspoons vinaigrette. Serve with lemon wedges.

For an Orange Snow recipe, go to Page 2.

Orange Snow
Snow was a very popular dessert and had many variations. The Boston Globe was full of similar recipes throughout the 1890's. I prefer to make it with fresh-squeezed orange juice for a very light, refreshing dessert. Note that the egg whites will lose their shape and structure as they are gently whisked into the fruit juice. This is not a mistake.

INGREDIENTS:
2 3/4 cups fresh-squeezed chilled orange juice, plus 2 teaspoons zest
1/4 cup lemon juice, plus 1/2 teaspoon zest
1 cup sugar, plus 1 teaspoon (for whipping egg whites)
1/2 ounce powdered gelatin (2 envelopes)
3 cups boiling water
2 egg whites, whipped to soft peaks
Pinch salt
8 to 10 wine glasses for serving

METHOD:
1. Combine citrus juice and zest with 1 cup sugar and whisk until sugar is almost completely dissolved. Sprinkle gelatin on top. Let stand 5 minutes. Add 3 cups boiling water and stir. Strain and chill to 45 degrees; mixture should just being to set up.
2. Beat egg whites and salt until very soft peaks start to form (peaks should slowly lose shape when whisk is removed.) Add 1 teaspoon sugar and continue to beat until soft peaks have formed (and hold their shape.) Add egg white mixture to gelatin and fold whites into gently with whisk until incorporated. Transfer to mold or wine glasses and chill.

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