Kate Connally > wrote in
:

> In anticipation of my upcoming vacation in Vermont
> I was perusing my "Yankee's Main Dish Church Supper
> Cookbook" in the hopes of finding some good traditional
> New England fare to make to get me in the mood. ;-)
> (Like I need to be in the mood for Vermont!) Anyway,
> came across the following recipe, quoted verbatim.
> I have posed my questions below.
>
> OLD-FASHIONED BOILED DINNER
>
> A classic dish known outside of New England as "corned beef and
> cabbage". Quantities as you like it; schedule given for dinner to be
> ready at noon.
>
> 7:00 A.M. Rinse 4-lb. piece of corned beef in water and place in
> bottom of large kettle. Cover well with cold water. Add 2 T. sugar,
> 1 t. pickling spice, and 2 bay leaves. Bring to boiling point and
> boil 5 minutes. Skim scum off top, turn down heat, and simmer,
> covered, until tender.
>
> 9:30 A.M. Scrub fresh beets within an inch of their lives and add to
> kettle, leaving skin and a good 4 inches of stem on each beet to
> prevent bleeding.
>
> 10:00 A.M. Add peeled turnips, cut coarsely.
>
> 11:00 A.M. Add peeled carrots and onions and a fair-sized cabbage cut
> in quarters. Add water as necessary to keep liquid level up.
>
> 11:30 A.M. Add peeled, cut-up potatoes.
>
> NOON. All should be cooked by now. Peel beets and arrange dinner on
> one large platter. Serve with hot corn bread or johnnycake, egg gravy
> (a regular white sauce with 1-2 chopped hard-boiled eggs added),
> horseradish, and a cruet of vinegar. Apple pie is the perfect
> dessert.
>
> (P. Grimes, First Congregational Church of Pembroke, Pembroke, New
> Hampshire)
>
> Okay, here's what I don't get. Egg gravy???? I thought
> that was Southern or Midwestern or something. So, okay,
> egg gravy, but what do you do with it??? Put it over
> everything? Just the meat? Just the vegetables? Just
> the cornbread? Meat and vegetables but not cornbread?
> Now I'm not worried about the horseradish because I just
> wouldn't eat it. Blecch! But what's up with the vinegar?
> What do you do with that??? I just can't see pouring
> vinegar on any of this stuff. Especially if you already
> have egg gravy all over everything. What up wi' dat?
> And I guess I also wonder about the cornbread. I've never
> heard of eating corn bread with corned beef and cabbage.
> Is that really a New England staple?
>
> Kate
>

Never heard of the egg gravy or the vinegar, but then, I'm not from New
England. Although I do occasionally make a NE boiled dinner.

--
Wayne in Phoenix

unmunge as w-e-b

*If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.
*A mind is a terrible thing to lose.