#Ruth’s Roast Goose

[papermoonloveslucy]

BALL & THE BUTCHERS!

The Butchers & Meat Markets of the Lucyverse

Before supermarkets and online ordering, consumers visited local buthers and meat markets to shop.  Here’s a look at the butchers of the Lucyverse!

Lucille Ball had a huge imagination when she was a child in Jamestown NY. In order to attempt to control her daughter, her mother made a deal with the local butcher for Lucy to run up and down the street between his shop and their home. It was in his butcher shop that Lucille first made her entertainment debut. In her autobiography, Ball shares details of her first performance on the butcher's counter. Lucy loved to dance and twirl for them, as well as giving her rendition of a jumping frog. She would stick her tongue out and croak. Customers would give her some pennies or a sweet treat to show their appreciation. 

In 1942 Lucille Ball was the subject of a newspaper article titled “Conversation in the Kitchen” by Susan Thrift. The article details how the wartime homemaker can save money and conserve resources.

“If you have a freezing unit in your refrigerator, you can buy meat for the week. You’ve probably learned that you can depend much on a reliable butcher and standard brands. For the rest, remember what your mother taught you about the purchase of meat:”

“Valentine’s Day” (1949)

Katie the Maid (Ruth Perrot), is sweet on Mr. Dabney the butcher (Hans Conried), and Liz (Lucille Ball) offers to help. But when Liz's Valentine to her favorite husband gets switched with her check to pay the butcher's bill, Mr. Dabney gets the wrong idea.

Katie says she has a written a Valentine poem for Mr. Dabney the butcher. Liz calls him “old heavy thumbs”.    

KATIE: “Some people may have better beef, but his liver’s good. And no one has oxtails and pig’s feet like him!”

Mr. Dabney reads the Valentine aloud:

“If you’ll be mine, then I’ll be thyne. You set my heart a-quiver. Say you’ll be my Valentine, And send two pounds of liver.”

Hans Conreid also played Mr. Dabney the butcher in “Overweight” (1949) where a dieting weigh-in is held at his butcher shop.

Mr. Dabney returns in “Reminiscing” (1949), a re-dramatization of “Valentine’s Day” as part of a “My Favorite Husband” retrospective episode. 

When the "Valentine’s Day” script was made for television in 1952 in “Lucy Plays Cupid”, Mr. Dabney the butcher, played by Hans Conried, became Mr. Ritter, a grocer, played by Edward Everett Horton. 

“The Freezer” (1952)

Hoping to save money, Lucy and Ethel purchases a walk-in freezer from Ethel’s Uncle Oscar, a butcher.  When Lucy hears Ethel say that he has a “big cold chest,” Lucy drily replies, “Why don’t you knit him a sweater?”   

After buying the freezer, they buy the meat to fill it at 69 cents a pound. Lucy over-orders two sides of beef from Johnson’s Meat Packing, a wholesale butcher. Lucy tells Ricky that bacon costs 75 cents a pound. The girls end up ordering 700 pounds of meat for a total of $483!  Lucy immediately demands they take it back. 

DELIVERY MAN: “Look, ladies, even if you defrosted it, pasted it back together and taught it to walk, I couldn’t take it back!” 

To shift some of the meat, Lucy and other stake out the local butcher shop, stashing the meat in a baby stroller. 

LUCY (to a customer): “Are you interested in some high-class beef? Are you tired of paying high prices? Do you want a bargain? Tell you what I'm gonna do. I got sirloin, tenderloin T-bone, rump, pot roast, chuck roast, oxtail stump.”

Fred Aldrich plays the butcher who is none too happy about Lucy and Ethel poaching his customers.    

A December 1952 Philip Morris cartoon ad starts with the butcher delivering a side of beef to Lucy and Ethel, inspired by “The Freezer”.

“Together for Christmas” (1962)

The holiday episode opens with Lucy and Viv at the butcher shop, where Ernie the butcher (Joe Mell) is wrapping up Lucy’s Christmas turkey, even though Viv's family traditionally has a goose. 

Ernie the butcher jokingly suggests stuffing the turkey with a goose!  

“Lucy and the Plumber” (1964)

Lucy’s first talent discovery was made in Mr. Krause’s butcher shop when she saw his German Shepard Beauty “howl like the Beatles” when Mr. Krause (Tom G. Linder) played the harmonica. 

”Lucy and the Great Bank Robbery” (1964)

Reading The Danfield Tribune, Viv notes that Oscar the butcher has a special on rump roast. This may be a throwback to Ethel Mertz’s Uncle Oscar the butcher. 

“Lucy Gets Her Maid” (1965)

When Lucy and Viv take jobs as maids for a wealthy philanthopist, they realize that they not only have to prepare and serve the meals, but they have to act as their own butcher, too!

“Lucy and the Old Mansion” (1965)

A wrong number on the telephone keeps trying to reach Irving's Meat Market.

“Lucy Meets Mickey Rooney” (1966)

The backdrop for the Charlie Chaplin sketch features a sign for a market that has “Low Prices on Meat’s”.  The grammatically incorrect possessive apostrophe is particularly odd. By that logic, the episode should be titled “Lucy Meet’s Mickey Rooney”! 

“Someone’s on the Ski Lift with Dinah” (1971)

Harry feels entitled to approach Dinah Shore because his butcher’s cousin’s son’s best friend is engaged to her manicurist.

“Mary Jane’s Boyfriend” (1974)

Mary Jane’s boyfriend of the title owns a meat market. His name is Walter Butley (Cliff Norton). Harry calls Walter “meathead” because when he walked in the door, Lucy had just plopped a package of ground round on his head.

Possibly the most famous butcher on television was Sam Franklin, played by Allan Melvin on “The Brady Bunch.”  Desi Arnaz Jr. appeared on the show in 1970, although Melvin did not appear on that episode. Also, Eve Plumb (Jan Brady) played Lucy Carter’s niece on a 1972 episode of “Here’s Lucy.” 

Melvin appeared with Lucille Ball in a 1959 episode of “Sergeant Bilko” (aka “The Phil Silvers Show”) titled “Bilko and the Ape Man.” Melvin also appeared in several Desilu series: “Vacation Playhouse”, “The Danny Thomas Show,” “The Joey Bishop Show,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “The Andy Griffith Show,” “Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C.,” “Mayberry R.F.D.” 

[quoteoftheweekblog]

QUOTATIONS - RUTH CLARK’S ‘JENNY SPRING’ (FIRST PUBLISHED 1942)

First sentence:

‘Jenny Spring was an orphan.’ (Clark, 1943, p.1).

On food as verbal expression:

‘ “Talk sense, for the love of a Dover sole!” ‘ (Clark, 1943, p.20).

‘ “You’re a gooseberry fool, without you’re a rum omelette.” ‘ (Clark, 1943, p.21).

‘ “Cheese it!″ ‘ (Clark, 1943, p.21).

‘ “But haddocks ... “ ‘ (Clark, 1943, p.24).

‘ “Give over now and don’t be a pigeon pie ... “ ‘ (Clark, 1943, p.25).

‘ “ ... you’re a couple of rum omelettes ... “ ‘ (Clark, 1943, p.26).

‘ “Bless my pig’s trotters!” ‘ (Clark, 1943, p.164).

‘ “Cod steaks, child!” ‘ (Clark, 1943, p.165).

‘ “Bless yours chops, yes.” ... ‘ (Clark, 1943, p.171).

‘ “Fish and chips, no!” ‘ (Clark, 1943, p.172).

‘ “Buttered toast!” “ (Clark, 1943, p.173).

‘ “Bless your jam rolly, yes,” ... ‘ (Clark, 1943, p.177).

‘ “Never you mind, my kidney bean ... “ ‘ (Clark, 1943, p.180).

‘ “ ... I’ll bet my best banana!” ‘ (Clark, 1943, p.180).

‘ “Stewed eels!” ‘ (Clark, 1943, p.186).

‘ “Well, good-bye, my pigeon pie.” ‘ (Clark, 1943, p.186).

‘ “Bless my treacle tart ... “ ‘ (Clark, 1943, p.253).

‘ “You’re a roast goose!” ‘ (Clark, 1943, p.253).

‘ “Baron of beef!” ‘ (Clark, 1943, p.254).

On making custard:

‘Making custard was an anxious business.” ‘ (Clark, 1943, p.106).

“ “I’d rather plough an acre than make a custard,” she said.’ (Clark, 1943, p.106).

On spring:

‘ ... a blackbird began to sing in the cedar above them. It sang a full, clear, continuous song, as if spring had come again.‘ (Clark, 1943, p.258).

REFERENCE

Clark, R. (1943 [1942] ) ‘Jenny Spring’. London: Dent.

[askwhatsforlunch]

Ruth’s Roast Goose

“‘Well,’ said Phryne expansively, taking another slice of breast, ‘that was the best goose in all the world.’

‘Never tasted better,’ beamed Miss Eliza.

‘Delicious,’ agreed Lady Alice, holding out her plate for more goose, brussels sprouts (and who would have thought they did taste that good with chestnuts? Even Jane had eaten some, Ruth marvelled, resolving never to doubt her texts again), potatoes, gravy, chestnut stuffing and peas. Ruth was delighted. not by the spoken compliments, though they were very nice, but by the second and even third helpings everone was asking.

Oh, I’ve longed to have a roast goose at Christmas for ages! Ever since I saw this old Sherlock Holmes episode where one of this birds had ingested sapphires... or other precious gems! I’ve wanted a Victorian Yuletide for years, and even more so when I read how the otherwise thoroughly modern Miss Fisher feasts in Kerry Greenwood’s Murder in the Dark! Well, there is heaps of outrageous partying in Roaring Twenties Werribee in this novel, but Christmas Day for the St. Kilda household is rather traditional, although Phryne’s guests, her socialist sister The Honourable Eliza Fisher, and her girlfriend Lady Alice, are not. And Ruth is happily in charge of the kitchen. So, it might just be the two of us this year, but I made Ruth’s Roast Goose, with all the sides, I flambéed a deliciously moist Pudding and made a pavlova where the velvety cream contrasts with sharp and tangy fruit, I sang carols, and Jules and I had a very merry feast indeed! Happy Christmas again, and I hope you all have a wonderful Boxing Day!

Ingredients (serves at least 6):

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion

1 sprig fresh rosemary

350 grams/12.35 ounces good quality pork sausage

250 grams/1 cup cooked chestnuts (bottled, canned or sous-vide)

1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

2 tablespoons brandy

1 Spring onion

4 sprigs flat-leaf parsley

1 (3.5-kilo/7.70-pound) fresh goose

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 freshly cracked black pepper

nutmeg

Heat olive oil in a large, deep skillet, over medium-high heat.

Peel onion, and chop finely. Add to the skillet and fry, a couple of minutes. Remove leaves from the rosemary sprig, and chop finely. Stir into the skillet. 

Remove sausage casing, and add sausage meat to the skillet. Cook, stirring often, until browned. Stir in chestnuts. Cook, 3 minutes. Pour in brandy, and reduce heat to medium. Cook, crushing the chestnuts slightly with the back of your wooden spoon, to mash them a bit. Remove from the heat.

Finely chop Spring onion and parsley, and stir into the sausage mixture. Let cool completely.

Preheat oven to 240°C/465°F.

Remove pockets of fat inside the goose. Season the inside and outside of the bird with salt and black pepper. Grate a little nutmeg on top, rub the seasoning gently all over, and stuff with the chestnut and sausage stuffing. Tie the legs with twine, if necessary, so the stuffing doesn’t spill out.

Sit stuffed goose into a large roasting dish, and place in the middle of the oven. Cook, at 240°C/465°F, 10 minutes. Then, reduce oven temperature to 190°C/375°F, and cook, 1 hour and forty-five minutes*. Regularly baste the goose with its fat, which will seep from the roasting bird steadily. Be careful as it will be piping hot. Collect some of the fat in a bowl each time you baste it, and use it to make Ruth’s Roasted Potatoes.

Once cooked, carefully remove from the oven, and cover with foil. Let sit, a quarter of an hour, before serving and carving.

Serve Ruth’s Roast Goose with  Cranberry-Apricot Sauce, Ruth’s Roasted Potatoes and Brussels sprouts sautéed with chestnuts and bacon, and feast merrily!

*count half an hour of roasting per kilo (2 pounds)

Goose Fat: Once the roasting juices and fat have cooled, place the roasting tin in the refrigerator, covered with cling film. The following day, remove from the refrigerator and, with a tablespoon, gently scoop out the white goose fat and spoon it into a clean, sterelised jar, making sure not to scoop the congealed juices of the goose. Close tightly, it will keep for a few months (up to six) in the refrigerator, and will make delicious Roasted Potatoes!

[deanky]

Squeeze Me Macaroni Kidz Bop Version I know it

I wanna

Let Betty Crocker in my kitchen And make her a nice tasting supper Cover it up in some butter Hostess Ding Dong wrapped an egg roll around a gong While Dolly Madison proceeded to play ping pong Your Milky Way is bringing you many riches And I tell you Baby Ruth it looks mighty delicious Keep blowin some gum cause here I come I am getting all sticky in some Bubble Yum yeah

Knick Knack Paddywhack And give your dog a bone baby Knick Knack Paddywhack And give your dog a bone baby

I was eating some bread it was french bread Put some syrup on it Now there's crumbs on my bed Also eat french fries In my Fruit of the Looms I place things inside of my mouth with a fork and a spoon

I got yogurt meat loaf smeared all of over some guy I stick a sausage in 2 buns and then tell it goodbye Sour cream from my spleen into levi jeans Gonna put whipped cream on my refried beans

Ronald McDonald just loves to mcdonald With his Big Mac he'll pluck it like a Chicken McNugget Colonel Sanders got a goose in the loose caboose It's gotten a boost from the Kentucky Fried Juice Sooper doop poop scoop loop de loop chicken coop Top sirloin from some coins Topped with string cheeze sneeze wheeze From the Easy Cheese woo!

Hello there lady Pour some gravy Pour it on some mashed potatoes Make it brown and runny Give a little Flavor Flav, back from the grave Gonna burn some toast Make a soup from rump roast

Knick knack paddywhack jump in the sack in fact Jerky smack say hi Jack from the back Bananarama or Ramabanana Freaking Barry Manilow's on the Copa Cabana

Squeeze Me Macaroni I will now eat some bologna Squeeze Me Macaroni I will now eat some bologna Squeeze Me Macaroni I will now eat some bologna Squeeze Me Macaroni I will now eat some...

Tikitikitootikitktiktkktitit HOO HOO HOO Tikitikitootikitikitikitooti HOO HOO HOO

You gotta siphon the spinach, you gotta cream the corn Birds scramble the eggs and a meal is born Cooking like a beginner but I feel like a winner Had fritos for lunch, having eggs for dinner Chef Boyardee and the Three Muskateers Love Charleston Chews and their ears can hear Holy moly guacamole said my Chips Ahoy I'm gonna go to a nice party with the Pillsbury Dough... BOY

Knick Knack Paddywhack And give your dog a bone baby Knick Knack Paddywhack And give your dog a bone baby

[askwhatsforlunch]

Luxury Goose Sandwiches

The Right Honourable John Montagu was onto something! One of the Christmastime tradition my sister and I have, is playing 221B Baker Street after our Christmas Lunch -or sometimes in the middle of it, to allow our appetite to be restored for the rest of the meal- and in the following days, whilst we’re both on holiday. It started five years ago, when Jules visited me in Toronto for the Festive Season, and gifted me the aforementioned board game. That’s when Lord Sandwich comes into play, as it were, since you can focus on the game -and this one needs your attention- better when eating a sarnie than something that requires a fork. But a sarnie can, and should, be a delicious affair as are those truly beautiful Luxury Goose Sandwiches! 

Ingredients (serves 2):

leftover Ruth’s Roast Goose, with plenty of meat on the carcass

4 strips smoked streaky bacon

4 large slices Soft White Bread

about 2 heaped tablespoons Honey-Fermented Carrot Jam

4 leaves fresh lettuce

2 fluffy sprigs fresh parsley

2 heaped tablespoon Apricot and Ginger Chutney 

Remove the Roast Goose from the refrigerator at least one hour before you intend eating your sandwiches. It will allow the meat to warm a bit and become more tender, as goose meat tends to be tougher when cold. 

Then, with a sharp knife carve the Roast Goose, cutting, preferably from the breast, thin slices, as much as you wish!

In a medium, nonstick frying pan, fry bacon strips over medium-high heat, about 2 minutes on each side until well-browned (but not crispy.) Remove from the heat.

Toast Soft White Bread slices. Place one on each serving plate, and generously spoon Honey-Fermented Carrot Jam onto each. Top with lettuce leaves,  Pile up Roast Goose and bacon rashers on top. Sprinkle  with parsley leaves. Spread a heaped tablespoon Apricot and Ginger Chutney onto each of remaining toasted White Bread slices and place on top of the sandwiches, pressing slightly. Cut both of the sandwiches in half.

Serve Luxury Goose Sandwiches immediately, with a hot cuppa, and enjoy both your meal and your game!

[askwhatsforlunch]

Ruth’s Roasted Potatoes

“An hour later she was wiping her forehead and licking her pencil for the thirtieth time. The list was almost at an end. The shelled peas were in their colander, waiting to be cooked. The brussels sprouts likewise. Ruth had yet to be convinced that brussels sprouts were food, the bitter morsels having been a mainstay of her scullery days, but the cookbooks said that with chestnut purée they were superb, and Ruth was not about to start second-guessing Ma Cuisine. The potatoes were in the oven, basted in goose fat. To her probing skewer, they were already tender.”

My mum made dessert -a delicious Chestnut Parfait- and appetizers yesterday, but I was in charge of the main course for Christmas Lunch. We didn’t have goose -roasting goose for Christmas is still on my wish-list!- but it was a rather traditional affair with roasted and alll the trimmings. Including Ruth’s Roasted Potatoes, generously basted in goose fat, and flavoured with rosemary garlic and pearl onions. Nothing beats a good roasted potatoes, and those were really delicious, and allowed me to indulge in a bit of re-reading of Murder in the Dark, a favourite Phryne Fisher Mystery. Now I shall see, if I let myself try one of Mrs. Truebody’s festive meals for New Year’s Day!

Ingredients (serves 8):

30 medium and small potatoes (about 8 medium, and the rest small)

1 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter

3 1/2 tablespoons goose fat

2 garlic cloves, peeled and halved

4 pearl onions, peeled and halved

1 large and fluffy rosemary sprig

2 teaspoons coarse sea salt

Preheat oven to 410°.

Peel the largest potatoes, and rinse them and the smaller ones thouroughly. Pat them dry. Set aside.

Place a large baking dish over medium-high heat on the hob, and melt butter with goose fat. Once hot, add the potatoes, garlic and pearl onions. Tear in rosemary, saving a few leaves for garnish. Finally sprinkle coarse sea salt all over the potatoes.

Carefully shake the dish, to toss the poatoes evenly in duck fat, salt and rosemary, over the heat, until they just color.

Place baking dish in the oven, and roast potatoes, at 410°, one hour to one hour and a quarter, until beautifully golden brown and crispy. Occasionally give them a stir, so they roast evenly.

Serve Ruth’s Roasted Potatoes hot, garnished with remaining rosemary, with Rosemary and Thyme Honey Turkey with Cranberry and Herb Stuffing, Honey Gravy and Apple-Cranberry Sauce.

Happy Christmas!!!

[askwhatsforlunch]

Sautéed Brussels Sprouts and Chestnuts

I made a version of these Sautéed Brussels Sprouts and Chestnuts, following Ruth Fisher’s menu as a side to our Roast Goose for our Christmas Lunch. I made it all the more festive with the addition of bacon. But you don’t need it, and you don’t even need them to be the side of a roasted bird; they make an excellent vegetarian lunch on their own!

Ingredients (serves 2):

450 grams/1 pound fresh Brussels sprouts

1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 tablespoon unsalte butter

1/2 tabelspoon olive oil

1 shallot

250 grams/1 cup cooked chestnuts (jar, can or sous-vide)

sea salt flakes and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Rinse Brussels sprouts thoroughly under cold water.

Add bicarbonate of soda to a medium saucepan of salted boiling water, then plunge in the Brussels sprouts. Blanch, 5 minutes, then drain thoroughly. Set aside.

In a large nonstick skillet, melt butter  with olive oil over medium-high heat. 

Peel and finely chop shallot. Add chopped shallot to the skillet and cook, 1 minute.

Halve Brussels sprouts, and add to the skillet. Sauté, to coat them in butter and oil. Finally, stir in chestnuts, coating them in butter and oil as well. Cook, shaking the skillet occasionnally, about 4 minutes. Season with sea salt flakes and black pepper, to taste.

Serve Sautéed Brussels Sprouts and Chestnuts hot on their own or as a side to Ruth’s Roast Goose!

[askwhatsforlunch]

Pine Nest Roast Capon

After proudly cooking .Ruth’s Roast Goose last year, this gorgeous Pine Nest Roast Capon was the centre piece of our Christmas Lunch Table, and I’m also very proud of it. Its flesh was juicy and fragrant with the pine flavour. And as, once more, it was just for Jules and I, there are plenty of leftovers for today, and perhaps until the New Year! Happy Boxing Day!

Ingredients (serves at least 6):

1 Chicken Stock Cube 

1 cup boiling water

5 rashers smoked streaky bacon

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion

250 grams/1 cup cooked chestnuts (bottled, canned or sous-vide)

2 tablespoons brandy

1 fluffy sprig fresh rosemary

4 sprigs fresh thyme

4 leaves fresh sage

3 thick slices stale bread

½ teaspoon freshy cracked black pepper

½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

1 (3.5-kilo/7.70-pound) fresh capon (preferably free-range)

½ teaspoon salt

½ freshly cracked black pepper

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 cup pine needles (foraged or collected and stored from last year’s tree)

the tip of a couple of your Nordman Christmas tree (provided it hasen’t been treated or sprayed on with fake snow)

Place Chicken Stock Cubes  in a medium bowl. Cover with boiling water, and let melt. Stir well to mix. Set aside.

In a large, deep nonstick skillet, cook bacon rashers over medium-high heat, a couple of minutes. Transfer bacon rashers to a plate; set aside.

Add olive oil to bacon fat. Peel and finely chop onion, and add to the skillet. Cook, 1 minute. Stir in chestnuts. Cook, 3 minutes. Pour in brandy, and reduce heat to medium.

Finely chop rosemary, thyme and sage; stir into the skillet. Finally, cut stale bread into dices, and add to the skillet. Stir in Chicken Stock. Season with black pepper. Once almost all the Chicken Stock is soaked up, remove from the heat. 

Preheat oven to 240°C/465°F.

Remove pockets of fat inside the capon. Season the inside and outside of the bird with salt and black pepper. Rub the seasoning and butter gently all over, and stuff with the chestnut and bacon stuffing. Tie the legs with twine, if necessary, so the stuffing doesn’t spill out.

Sprinkle pine needles at the bottom of a large roasting dish. Top with Nordmann branches. Sit stuffed capon onto that nest in roasting dish, add water, and place in the middle of the oven. Cook, at 240°C/465°F, 10 minutes. Then, reduce oven temperature to 170°C/340°F, and cook, 2 hours and thirty-five minutes*. Regularly baste the capon with its pine-needle-fragrant fat .Collect some of the fat in a bowl each time you baste it, and use it to make Ruth’s Roasted Potatoes.

Once cooked, carefully remove from the oven, and cover with foil. Let sit, a quarter of an hour, before serving and carving.

Serve Pine Nest Roast Capon with Apple-Cranberry Sauce, Ruth’s Roasted Potatoes and green beans, and feast merrily!

*count three quarters of an hour of roasting per kilo (2 pounds)

Capon Fat: Once the roasting juices and fat have cooled, place the roasting tin in the refrigerator, covered with cling film. The following day, remove from the refrigerator and, with a tablespoon, gently scoop out the cream-coloured capon fat and spoon it into a clean, sterelised jar, making sure not to scoop the congealed juices of the capon. Close tightly; it will keep for a few months (up to six) in the refrigerator, and will make delicious Roasted Potatoes, Confit Duck or make a tasty, hearty alternative to olive oil all Winter long!