Rhode Island's Deluxe Food by Ruth Paget

Rhode Island’s Deluxe Food by Ruth Paget 

I first learned about what a great state Rhode Island is for seafood lovers from my Portuguese roommate on the Close Up government study program in Washington, D.C. in 1982. 

We both wanted to promote our respective cities that were trying to revitalize downtown areas. My roommate promoted steamers, a steamed clam stew made with Portuguese linguica sausage. I promoted Detroit’s art institute, Greektown, and great concerts. (I had seen Run DMC, Michael Jackson, Prince, and the Beach Boys while in high school.) 

I have learned more about the port city of Providence and the Ocean State in Linda Beaulieu’s cookbook entitled The Providence and Rhode Island Cookbook: Big Recipes from the Smallest State. 

This cookbook contains more than 200 recipes drawn from Rhode Island’s Portuguese, Italian, French-Canadian, and American heritage. I am an Italophile for all Italian seafood dishes and other elaborate fare, which abounds in Rhode Island thanks to Italian grandmothers and graduates of the Johnson & Wales Culinary Institute headquartered in Rhode Island. 

Rhode Island’s famous diners serve breakfast creations such as the following that are worth the trip to Rhode Island: 

-tiramisu pancakes made with instant coffee mixed into the pancake batter and topped with a mix of ricotta cheese, instant coffee, and confectioner’s sugar. 

-eggs Benedict Newport Style made to suit the tastes of the wealthy with eggs, Canadian bacon, and lobster on an English muffin. 

For lunches, Rhode Island visitors can find delicious and relatively inexpensive items such as: -wedge salads made from fourths of iceberg lettuce with blue cheese buttermilk dressing, crumbled bacon, and diced tomatoes. 

-pepper and egg sandwiches made with fried peppers, onions, garlic, eggs, and Parmesan cheese in a baguette sandwich 

-smoked bluefish pâté made with more mushrooms and goat cheese than butter for flavor 

For seafood, Rhode Island visitors can try the following signature dishes of the state: 

-clams casino stuffed with onions, green peppers, and bread crumbs topped with crumbled bacon

-lobster ravioli 

-seafood lasagna made with tuna, flounder, and clams using white and red clam sauce 

-frutti di mare – marinated seafood salad using shrimp, squid, and bay scallops 

-spaghetti alla vongole – clam spaghetti 

For dessert, the people of Rhode Island make use of regional fruit and historical ingredients in dishes such as: 

-applesauce-spice cake 

-Glocester cranberry-apple pie 

-blueberry cornmeal cobbler 

-Portuguese rice pudding, which has Port wine it 

People who are attracted to dishes like the ones above would probably enjoy reading and cooking from the recipes in The Providence and Rhode Island Cookbook: Big Recipes from the Smallest State by Linda Beaulieu 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Tomato Appetizer Cup Recipe by Ruth Paget

Tomato Cups Recipe by Ruth Paget 

Serves 4 

Ingredients: 

-4 hollowed out tomatoes 

-4 cups cottage cheese 

-1/4 cup snipped chives 

Steps: 

1-Cut a small slice off the tomato bottom so that they will stand upright on a plate. 

2-Fill the tomatoes with cottage cheese and top with snipped chives. 

3-Serve with stuffed eggs as an appetizer. 

Source: Rose Pennington – circa 1950s 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click for Ruth Paget's Books

Crabmeat Aspic Recipe by Ruth Paget

Crabmeat Aspic Recipe by Ruth Paget 

Serves 4 

Ingredients: 

-1 (1-ounce) envelope unflavored gelatin 

-1/2 cup cold water 

-1/2 cup hot water 

-1/2 cup Miracle Whip 

-3 tablespoons lemon juice 

-1/4 cup chili sauce 

-1 teaspoon salt 

-1 cup flaked crabmeat 

-lettuce for decorating 

-1/4 cup crabmeat for decorating 

Steps: 

1-Soften gelatin in cold water. When gelatin is soft, dissolve it in hot water. Cool gelatin. 

2-Combine Miracle Whip, lemon juice, chili sauce, and salt. 

3-Gradually add gelatin to the Miracle Whip mixture. Blend thoroughly. 

4-Chill gelatin mixture until slightly thickened. Fold flaked crabmeat into the gelatin and blend well. Pour gelatin into 4 individual mold and chill until firm. 

5-Unmold gelatin onto lettuce leaves on plates. Garnish gelatin molds with crabmeat pieces and watercress, if desired. 

Source: Rose Pennington – circa 1950s 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click for Ruth Paget's Books

Tomato Aspic Recipe by Ruth Paget

Tomato Aspic Recipe by Ruth Paget 

Serves 4 

Ingredients: 

-1¾ cups tomato juice 

-1/4 cup finely chopped celery 

-1 tablespoon chopped onion 

-1 teaspoon paprika 

-1 teaspoon salt 

-2 whole cloves 

-1 tablespoon lemon juice 

-1 bay leaf 

-1 tablespoon sugar 

-1 (1-ounce) envelope unflavored gelatin 

-1/4 cup cold water 

Steps: 

1-Combine tomato juice, celery, onions, paprika, salt, cloves, lemon juice, bay leaf and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. 

2-Soften gelatin in cold water for 5 minutes in a bowl. 

3-Add gelatin to hot mixture in saucepan and stir until dissolved. 

4-Pour tomato-gelatin mixture into an 8-inch metal ring mold. Chill gelatin in the refrigerator until solid. 

5-Unmold and surround with baby lettuce leaves and olives. Serve with mustard-mayonnaise. 

Source: Rose Pennington – circa 1950s 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click for Ruth Paget's Books

Delaware's Delicious Food by Ruth Paget

Delaware’s Delicious Food by Ruth Paget 

Reading A Culinary History of Southern Delaware: Scrapple, Beach Plums, and Muskrat by Denise Clemons took me back to my Navy wife days in Norfolk (Virginia) when I would gaze at the loamy soiled Delmarva Peninsula across the Chesapeake Bay. 

Delmarva is an acronym for Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, which all have a piece of the peninsula. The Delmarva Peninsula devotes itself to natural (organic) produce and chicken and pork raising according to Clemons. Produce, pork, and chicken arrived daily in Norfolk from the Delmarva Peninsula via trucks that took a tunnel under the Chesapeake Bay. 

I would buy these items at my beloved supermarkets, Hanaford and Harris-Teeter, to make regional specialties that showed up in the recipe pages of the Virginian-Pilot newspaper that I subscribed to in order to learn about my community. 

Clemons lists two recipes in particular that are similar to ones I made when I lived in Norfolk as part of summer harvest cuisine: 

-Strawberry-Spinach Salad- 

Made with white wine vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, mustard, baby spinach leaves, strawberry slices, almonds, and crumbled blue cheese 

-Watermelon-Feta Salad- 

Made with watermelon cubes, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, mint leaves, feta cheese, salt, and pepper 

I would make grilled chicken breasts or pork shops and patatas pobres (a Spanish side dish of thinly sliced potatoes fried in olive oil with garlic and seasoned with sea salt and chopped parsley) to go with these salads that I qualified as dessert. 

As a wine to go with this meal, I would usually serve a Spanish wine like Marqués de Riscal Sauvignon Blanc or Verdejo. The Delmarva Peninsula has a long history of importing Spanish wine that we benefited from when my family lived in Norfolk.

Based on how my family ate in southern Virginia, I could just as easily say that I lived in Delaware and Maryland as well. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Sauerkraut Recipe by Ruth Paget

Sauerkraut Recipe by Ruth Paget 

Serves 4 

Ingredients: 

-2 pounds sauerkraut 

-water to cover sauerkraut 

-1 tablespoon bacon grease 

-1 tablespoon flour 

-1 peeled and chopped potato 

-1 teaspoon salt 

-1 teaspoon pepper 

Steps: 

1-Place sauerkraut in a pan and cover with water. Simmer for 1 hour. Drain the sauerkraut and reserve the pot liquid 

2-Melt bacon drippings in a frying pan. Add potatoes and cook till tender. Blend in flour and brown. 

3-Add sauerkraut to the pan with the potatoes along with the pot liquid. Cook 10 to 12 minutes. 

4-Season with salt and pepper before serving. 

Source: Rose Pennington – circa 1950s 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click for Ruth Paget's Books

Bean and Cheese Sandwiches Recipe by Ruth Paget

Bean and Cheese Sandwiches Recipe by Ruth Paget 

Serves 4 

Ingredients: 

-1 tablespoon chopped onion 

-1 (1-pound) can baked beans 

-4 slices white bread 

-1/4 pound thinly sliced cheddar cheese 

-1 medium sliced tomato 

Steps: 

1-Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

2-Spread beans on white bread and sprinkle with chopped onion. 

3-Place a slice of cheese and a slice of tomato on top of the chopped onion and beans. 

4-Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted – about 15 minutes. 

5-Cut into fourths and serve. 

Source: Rose Pennington – circa 1950s 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click for Ruth Paget's Books