Peanut Butter
Peanut butter! Sometimes that is all that needs to be said. Or eaten.
Aside from those with peanut allergies, I know of very few folks who don't enjoy indulging in peanut butter, and there are probably even fewer of us that don't have memories of enjoying peanut butter as a kid. There's something basic about peanut butter, and that classic nature probably stems from the simplicity of the food.
As great (and tempting) as it is to be able to stick that spoon into the jar of peanut butter and lick it clean, there's no reason not to reach for peanut butter that's even better; peanut butter is incredibly easy to make at home and will make your taste buds even happier. When I made my first batch, I quickly asked myself why I hadn't done it sooner.
Trusting Alton Brown's experiments in recipe formation, I knew that his recipe would be a great starting point. When I concluded my early attempts, I made very few changes. I roast the peanuts without adding salt and peanut oil as Alton does, instead sticking to those ingredient in the later stage of processing. In addition, I find it necessary to increase the amount of oil necessary when making the butter. In all other ways, the recipe is as he presents it. (Click here to go to the original recipe on the Food Network web site.)
While homemade peanut butter can be made with purchased roasted peanuts, roasting is incredibly simple and provides an amazing aroma in your kitchen that makes the whole project worth the price of admission. And how else can you ensure a fresher end product? In my area, the local Weis grocery store chain sells 15 ounce bags of raw peanuts (Pardoe's Perky Peanuts, in this case) that are perfect for this recipe. The peanuts are spread in a single layer on two cookie sheets lined with parchment paper or silicone mats. I've found that 15 to 20 minutes of roasting time at 400℉ is a reasonable roasting time, stirring once or twice in the middle. I'd suggest experimenting with how dark or light you'd like the peanuts; darker roasting pushes the nutty flavor even more forward, but there is a "too dark" line. (In the photographs in this post, I'm using a roast that probably is about as dark as I'd recommend. A few dark peanuts are perfectly fine, but you may want to roast to a slightly lighter color on your first attempt.)
The roasted peanuts are placed in a food processor with the salt and honey. I use a smoked salt and a dark, thick, local honey for interest, but feel free to use what is available to you. This mixture is processed for several minutes until the peanuts are quite crumbly. Crumbly... a great word!
Three tablespoons or so of peanut oil (That makes sense!) is slowly drizzled into the peanut mixture as it is further processed, and gradually the magic that is peanut butter will form before your eyes. How smoothly would you like your peanut butter? Your call!
I'll note that I increased the amount of peanut oil substantially over Mr. Browns' suggestion. Feel free to play with the amount until you come up with your preferred texture.
This incredibly flavorful butter will knock your socks off. The difference between it and the commercial variety is quite substantial. Eat it in a sandwich or place it in your favorite recipes, as I did in the foods shown below. Want to be a radical? Grab that spoon and eat it right out of the food processor.
Download a one page printable pdf file of my slightly adapted version of the peanut butter recipe by clicking here.
Seasoned Corn Chips
A slightly healthier (olive oil) seasoned corn chip, prepared easily in a cast iron skillet, with equally easy cleanup.
While making homemade tortilla strips for salads, I stumbled upon a method that reminded me more of a commercial corn chip than either fried or baked tortilla chips. By combining both processes and adding seasonings, one can end up with a nice snacking chip that would hold up to a dip or be flavorful enough to skip the dip completely. While the steps start with frying, only three tablespoons of olive oil is used in the pan.
While any oven-proof pan can work, this process seems made for a cast iron pan, which also cleans easily afterward. I will note that these pick up moisture easily, so store in an airtight bag or container.
This recipe lends itself to experimentation with various seasonings.
Click here for a link to a printable recipe download.
Adams County's Rettland Farm
Rettland Farm serves as an example of a family-owned business meeting the needs of growing expectations for quality products in the world of food.
Rettland Farm, made up of several area lots of land owned and leased by the Ramsburg family, is the type of farm/business that people that like to support. Small businesses want to succeed, and their owners appreciate being able to see customers enjoying the end product of the family’s work.
The Ramsburgs and their staff focus on chickens, pigs and sheep in the livestock area, and are also expanding into various grains that are now allowing them to offer items such as warthog flour, milled just down the road right below the Maryland/Pennsylvania border at Union Mills, shown immediately below. This water-powered process stone-grinds the grain, providing a suitable final step in bringing us flour that is cared for closely throughout the process.
Union Mills, Maryland
I visited one of the most recent areas of land used by Beau Ramsburg and family, located right along Route 97, connecting historic Gettysburg to Westminster (Maryland) and the Baltimore area. In addition to being the home of the larder, where individuals in the community can come on Saturday afternoons to purchase their products, this Baltimore Pike farm is where you’ll find many of the chickens and pigs.
Rettland Farm is currently using Cornish-Rock chickens; we often think of these as our broiler chickens. After about two weeks in the warmth of a brooder house on land near the Ramsburg home, the chickens are brought to the Baltimore Pike location, where they are allowed to move freely in and out of the shelters, foraging on the barley, oats, clover, rye and other grasses planted for their sake.
These chickens live together in their flock until approximately 7-9 weeks of age, before being processed for our use by the farm staff, just down the road at their original farm. Every step is done in a way to minimize stress, allowing for the best flavor, as well as providing ethical treatment for the animals throughout their lives.
Beau feels, as many do, that the ability of the animals to move and roam freely outside also leads to a product that is of the highest quality. This belief is backed up by numerous local restaurants who are purchasing Rettland Farm meats.
In order to maintain the best quality of the land for long term use, and ultimately to provide the best foraging for the chickens, the shelters and fencing are moved throughout the season.
One can’t help but notice one creature of a different shape living amongst the chickens: Ween, a laid back Pyrenees guard dog (one of several the family has) that befriends and protects the flock. Beau noted that the young chickens soon learn that she is their protector, and they move toward shelter at her bark or even cuddle nearby Ween when resting.
Further from the highway is the area where the Berkshire/Tamworth pigs live and forage for about ten months, once again eating the vegetation planted for them, as well as supplements of sorghum, barley and soybeans. As with all of the Rettland Farm products, the Ramsburgs follow an antibiotic-free and non-GMO philosophy for their animals.
As with the chickens, the foraging area is moved on occasion, in this case in a rotating “wedge” though the field. There is also a separate area for the pigs that are farrowing, with an A-frame shelter for each pregnant sow.
Beau is part of a farming family, having grown up on his father’s dairy farm, once again just down the road. When we buy food locally, we’re supporting families and our communities directly, and continuing the prosperity for many individuals tied to the agricultural economy.
In addition to his direct experiences on his family farm as a youth, Beau graduated from Penn State with a Dairy and Animal Science major. His farm’s efforts to bring us the best possible product has been rewarded with some of our best area restaurants buying and serving his products, including the historic Inn at Herr Ridge, the newly opened and upcoming York favorite, Tutonis, Baltimore’s famed spots, Woodberry Kitchen, Fleet Street Kitchen, and Bottega, Elizabethtown’s Rooster Street Provisions, the restaurants at Hotel Hershey, and Harrisburg’s Mount Hill Tavern.
In addition to supporting these great places with our dinners out, feel free to stop by the larder (for your own dinner table) on Saturday afternoons at 2776 Baltimore Pike, Gettysburg PA. Follow the farm’s Facebook page here, or visit the blog.
Thanks to Beau Ramsburg and family for allowing me to spend some time on their wonderful farm. Remember to support local businesses and farms.
Woodberry Kitchen at First Light
Baltimore's Woodberry Kitchen is not only a wonderful place to eat, but also quite a place to enjoy its visual character.
Woodberry Kitchen, an excellent restaurant in Baltimore, Maryland, finds itself nestled in various layers of interesting communities.
The area is referred to as Hampden, itself part of Woodberry. The building that the eatery calls home is near a series of mills known as Union Mill and sits in the current Clipper Mill Park. Eleven mills were originally in the area of Jones Falls, settled in 1661 by David Jones.
Woodberry was based around 19th century mills which brought beautiful stone homes and a thriving industry. Frederick County grain was processed here as early as 1802. Today, various mills are repurposed as shops, offices and ling spaces.
Union Mill was built in 1866 as the world’s largest producer of cotton duck, a heavy, woven cotton fabric. Its uses range from sneakers to painting canvas.
Clipper Mill (originally known as the Union Machine Shops) shares the remains of the former Poole and Hunt Foundry, dating to the 1850s. The site manufactured steam engines, boilers, saw-mills and railroad cars. Rail siding and track helped move materials in and products out. The columns that support the U.S. Capitol dome were cast at Clipper Mill, and cannon barrels and balls were cast during our own Civil War.
After a 1920s bankruptcy, the Franklin Balmar Company took over, manufacturing airplane wings and parts for the Manhattan Project during World War II.
A substantial fire in 1995 changed the building forever, but allowed completely new uses via redevelopment. Early in the new century, it evolved into the Clipper Mill Park. The restaurant sits in what was once the foundry building, a stone structure constructed in 1870 with additions added during the remainder of the 19th century. Its neighbors now include several artistic studios.
The Poole and Hunt buildings are registered with the Maryland Historical Trust as a Maryland National Register Property.
Woodberry Kitchen, Baltimore, Maryland
http://www.facebook.com/WoodberryKitchen
http://www.woodberrykitchen.com/
Molasses Milo (Sorghum) Cake
The local Union Mills Homestead offers their own stone-ground flours, and spotting milo flour put me in pursuit of a worthy baked item with the flour. I think we've come up with one.
I'm fortunate, living in the southern part of Pennsylvania, to live near many sites linked to early America and its history. In some cases, there are related links to older or different products dealing with the foods we eat. The milo flour in the attached cake recipe is one such exmple.
Just over the Mason-Dixon line in Maryland is the Union Mills homestead, complete with an operating brick grist mill that provides the area with stone ground cornmeal and flours. On one visit, I picked up a small sample of milo flour, a new item they were experimenting with. Milo is a drought-resistent sorghum grain. Sorghum cereals are used for livestock feed and syrup-like sweeteners. Its flours are gluten-free and high in protein and fiber. While it can have a bit of a gritty texture in baked goods, this can be used effectively in the right recipes.
One downside to milo in baking is its tendency to make crumbly cakes and cookies. The great folks at Union Mills warned me of the issue, and suggested that I mix the flour with another, rather than using only the milo. In addition, they found that adding coconut oil in recipes with the sorghum was beneficial. While coconut oil is high in staurated fat, its lauric acid seems to have much less of a negative impact than many other saturated fats. Milo flour is shown beside more traditional flour in the photograph below.
Recipes utilizing a high proportion of sorghum flours are not overly abundent, but I found a cookie recipe on the Whole Grains Council web site that looked enticing:
http://wholegrainscouncil.org/recipes/snacks-desserts/molasses-sorghum-cookies
The recipe originated in Sara Baer-Sinnott's "The Oldways Table." It was excellent, although as expected, crumbled quite easily; definitely worth working with for its nice, dark flavor and unique texture offered by the milo flour.
My first attempt was to add the coconut oil and try it as a bar cookie; the effort was again tasty, but difficult to hold together. It was very light and cake-like, so I went with its strengths and moved to a cake format by adding another flour: both cake and/or bread flours worked suitably, and created a low-rising cake that can be eaten as a finger food, as are most brownies. No icing is needed, although a dusting of confectioner's sugar is a nice touch.
If served with no powdered sugar, each of the twelve suggested servings yields 227 calories. Yeah, saturated fat is high. Splurge!
I've become a fan of the cake, and it's become a regular snack item here in the house. Feel free to download the recipe in pdf form here:
http://visualrealia.drupalgardens.com/sites/g/files/g389126/f/201511/MiloCakeRecipe.pdf
If you can't find sorghum flours locally, those in the area will enjoy a visit to Union Mills to pick up some directly.
Hanover's "Caged" Lion
Herman Miller, architect for Hanover’s well-known Sheppard and Meyers homes, was also the architect for the grand, four column PNC Bank found in the first block of Carlisle Street, just a few footsteps away from our square. Traffic, both by car and foot, passes by this building daily, with very few knowing about Hanover’s “caged” lion. Read more and view our favorite feline by reading the complete post.
Hanover Saving Fund Society's Lion
Herman Miller, architect for Hanover’s well-known Sheppard and Myers homes, was also the architect for the grand, four column PNC Bank found in the first block of Carlisle Street, just a few footsteps away from our square. Traffic, both by car and foot, passes by this building daily, with very few knowing about Hanover’s “caged” lion.
Originally known as the home of Hanover Saving Fund Society, the institution was chartered on April 14, 1835, by “Matthias N. Forney, Henry Meyers, Peter Muller, Henry C. Wampler, David Diehl, Daniel Barnitz, William Bair, Daniel P. Lange, Peter Winebrenner, William D. Gobrecht, George Gitt, John L. Hinkle, Benjamin Welsh, Adam Alt, Samuel Trone, Jacob Hilt, and David Slagle of Hanover Borough and Samuel Hornish, George Eichelberger, and Charles Cremer of Heidelberg Township, York County…” (Source: Immigrant Entrepreneurship) Why include this list here? Hanover residents will note the familiarity of many of these surnames.
The cash capital at the time of charter was $10,000. Records show that deposits held in August of 1875 were $590,228, which received 5% interest. Interest in 1884 was listed as 3%.
The published “Reports of the Several Banks and Savings Institutions and Banks Organized under the Free banking Law of Pennsylvania,” published by the State Printer in Harrisburg in 1891, includes a report for the Hanover Savings Fund Society. The 1890 assessed value for the previous property in 1890 was $7,000. Bonds held and owned by the Society in 1890 included ones for various railroad companies and Western Union, as well as gas and water companies.
Originally known as the Hanover Saving Fund Society
Architect Herman Miller was born in the Roxborough area of Philadelphia, and helped design numerous respected facilities in that area. He went on to set out on his own by 1898, with a noted specialty in the design of hospitals and banks. In addition to Hanover’s, he is also the architect of our neighbor’s Gettysburg National Bank a few years later. The Philadelphia Architects and Buildings institution holds five drawings from Miller’s work on the Hanover project.
The Neoclassical concrete and brick structure we see downtown was erected in 1906 for approximately $100,000. It features Barre Vermont granite and American Pavanaza marble. The bank later was known as the Bank of Hanover, and is now owned by PNC Bank. The structure features a lion sculpture above the doorway, but later changes at the front have altered the view so the glass-encased figure is difficult to see by pedestrians at ground level. The photograph included here was captured from the roof of the Heritage and Conference Center, enabling a rare view of Hanover’s hidden feline.
Sources:
http://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/ar_display.cfm/27059
http://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/ho_display.cfm/57125
http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/york/history/gibson/hanover-sav-fund.txt
http://www.livingplaces.com/PA/York_County/Hanover_Borough/Hanover_Histo...
http://immigrantentrepreneurship.org/entry.php?rec=197
https://books.google.com/books?id=JQYWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121&dq=han...
“York’s Historic Architecture” by Scott D. Butcher, The History Press, 2008
http://amzn.to/29D59vy