Saratoga Grazing: Cookbook

By Tricia O'Hara

Executive Chefs from famous restaurants and resorts have sent in their most wanted recipes. B&Bs have shared their homemade favorites. The community of Saratoga Springs and the surrounding counties sent in award winning recipes. Its all here throughout the pages of this extraordinary cookbook; Saratoga Grazing!

As you begin to read and prepare the delicious recipes, you may well experience a taste of history in Saratoga Grazing. The authors mission is to take the readers back to the nineteenth century and introduce them to the chefs, their secret cooking techniques, their claims to fame, and the extravagant manner in which the cuisine was prepared for the blue bloods of the racing society, movie stars, politicians and high-ranking officers.

How did the Travers Stakes get its name? What filly won the first race? What colt won the first Travers? The author could not resist listing the horses that grazed, ran, and won the Travers stakes; while incorporating intriguing history of the racetrack and the three turf experts who formed a racing association and made the first racetrack in America what it is today; a Saratoga institution, the oldest stakes race in America!

Tricia OHara will take you through the Gay Nineties, Saratogas golden years. Part of Saratogas legend was the quality of its dinners and the famous people who came to Saratoga to dine and play. These personalities are in the book. How does the author bring you back to the present? Take this fascinating journey, read and enjoy Saratoga Grazing!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 6, 2010
• ISBN: 9781477167922

Book preview

Copyright © 2010 by Tricia O’Hara.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2010910482

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4535-4015-2

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4535-4014-5

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4771-6792-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

69850

Contents

Acknowledgment

Preface

Introduction

CHAPTER I – APPETIZERS

CHAPTER II – BEVERAGES

CHAPTER III – BREADS

CHAPTER IV – DESSERTS

CHAPTER V – MEAT

CHAPTER VI – POULTRY

CHAPTER VII – SALADS

CHAPTER VIII – SAUCES & EGG DISHES

CHAPTER IX – SEAFOOD

CHAPTER X – SOUP

CHAPTER XI – VEGETABLES

Glossary

Bibliography

Endnotes

IN LOVING MEMORY

OF MY MOTHER AND FATHER

SARATOGA GRAZING HAS BEEN STAMPED

WITH THE

CAVANAGH SPECIAL SEAL OF APPROVAL *

* Irish John Cavanagh (leader of the bookies). The Cavanagh Special was his seal of approval.

Acknowledgment

I want to thank the following people for their many valuable contributions. For providing their administrative and editorial skills toward the success of Saratoga Grazing: Tamara Lynn Frost, Darby Jones, Eileen Jones Ladny; Ed Manning, Jr., Shirley Mueller, Darleen Pardoe Knight, Joseph Reyes, and Raymond P. Watts. And a special thank-you to my best friend Lyn Cooper for recommending the title of my book as we were traveling to Saratoga to attend the races and for helping to gather updated information for this publication. Also, Larry J. Thompson for his tireless efforts in converting my entire manuscript from Apple to Word.

The news media in upstate New York for publishing the terrific articles about Saratoga Grazing: Keena Lykins with the Post-Star; Jessica Smrtic, Gloversville Leader-Herald; Beverly McKim the Saratogian; Heidi Williams, the Record; and Kathy Collins with the News Herald.

Tom Bilcoyne with the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame for confirming the list of horses that ran at Saratoga and Allan Carter for updating the list.

Greg Dixon, vice president, Tourism, Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, for his 2010 updates. Jean Stamm, local history librarian, Saratoga Springs Public Library, our talks about the history of Saratoga Springs were invaluable; for providing a copy of the Saratoga Union, from the McClellan Collection in the Saratoga Room of the library, and the news article dated Tuesday, August 8, 1865, reporting details of the Cup won by Kentucky and details of the first Travers Stakes on Monday, August 7, 1865. Michael Noonan, photographer, for providing data for the vintage photographs. James Parillo, Director, Saratoga Springs History Museum, for identifying and providing additional vintage photos.

My personally appointed sous chefs, i.e., family and friends: Angi Dressler, Kern Frost, Darleen Pardoe Knight, Margi McCarthy, and Ella Thomas.

To everyone who submitted their specialties, award-winning and favorite recipes; the photos and history relating to the B&Bs, hotels, and restaurants. The community for sharing recipes passed down from generation to generation. My family and friends, although not from upstate, for sending in their favorite recipes. For the chefs that sat with me during our interviews. Without their participation, this cookbook would not have been possible.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart!

Preface

Writing a cookbook that focuses on selected regions of the United States generates an authentic sense of intimacy. This one concentrates on the northeastern part of the United States, specifically, Saratoga Springs, New York, and the surrounding counties.

The recipes in this cookbook originate from some of the finest restaurants, bed and breakfasts, and hotels located in the Saratoga Springs area, including Albany, Berlin, Burnt Hills, Gansevoort, Glens Falls, Gloversville, Guilderland, Hadley, Lake George, Lake Luzerne, Northumberland, Schenectady, Troy, Warrensburg, and West Sand Lake. One of my goals in writing Saratoga Grazing was to reach out to the community to include the residents of Saratoga Springs and the surrounding counties. Many great recipes have been found tucked in a recipe box or hidden in a trunk in the attic. The local media was very effective in getting the word out to the community about my upcoming cookbook, and as a result of the news articles, I received several award-winning recipes from residents that had participated in events such as the Culinary Cornucopia Competition, the King Arthur Flour’s National Baking Competition, and several local competitions. Area chefs, residents, as well as tourists at the famed Saratoga Racetrack, were interviewed for Saratoga Grazing. While most of the recipes in the book originate from the northeastern section of the state of New York, a few came from outside the area. Some of my friends shared their recipes, and I also included a few of my favorites. Each recipe in the book is personally identified and indexed for quick reference.

Testing the recipes was a delightful experience and a wonderful opportunity to bring family and friends together. Very few changes were made to the recipes when I tested them, and in such cases, the changes were noted accordingly. During the testing period, there were times when I was tempted to use a less fattening or a low-calorie ingredient. Many of us are concerned about the fat content and calories in foods. Keep in mind that substitutes work very nicely. For example, when a recipe calls for sour cream, use plain yogurt; cream cheese, use fat-free cream cheese; sugar, use a sugar substitute; and so forth.

Cooking is an enjoyment and an exciting challenge for me. I read cookbooks like some people read novels. My library consists of hundreds of books; more than half are cookbooks and/or gourmet magazines. When a gourmet magazine arrives at my house, I open it to the index and check for recipes that whet my appetite. I study the recipes and visualize their presentation. Will it be a formal intimate dinner for six served on my finest china or a casual buffet for twelve served on my finest china? Mentally, I taste the herbs and spices and the aromas they create when sizzling in a pan, simmering over the stove, or baking in the oven. When the food selections are made (and it’s usually a recipe from each category), the end result is a gastronomical dining experience.

Saratoga Grazing is not only a cookbook that includes fabulous recipes, some of which have been passed down from generation to generation, it is also a warm and cozy book that drifts back in time to the good old days, depicting bits and pieces of history from the early nineteenth century through the twentieth century. For example, the introduction includes intriguing stories of Saratoga Springs’ famous chefs and the discovery of the potato chip. Some of the recipes in the cookbook have been footnoted because of their association with the Saratoga Racetrack or famous personalities. At the beginning of each chapter is a copy of the famed Union Hotel menu dated June 23, 1865. The dates on the menus were carefully selected to convey a special message. For example, a Union Hotel menu dated August 7, 1865, was the day the famous Travers Stakes ran, named after turf expert William R. Travers, the first president of the New York Racing Association. You will notice a number, written by hand, located to the right of the date on the menu; this is thought to have been the number of dinners served that day.

I was very pleased to receive pictures of some of the restaurants, inns, and bed and breakfasts. This facilitated my composition of The Past and The Present series. Many hours were spent at the Saratoga Springs Public Library, researching the history of famous chefs and legendary personalities that lived, played, and worked in Saratoga during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Many restaurants were named after illustrious personalities—for example, Madame Jumel Restaurant, Lillian’s, and the Olde Bryan Inn. A few of the restaurants listed in the cookbook have since closed their doors or changed hands, but their wonderful recipes are captured among the pages of Saratoga Grazing.

As you begin to prepare the recipes, take a moment, close your eyes, and visualize what it must have been like living in that time of the horse and buggy, the grandeur of Victorian architecture; envision the refined ladies dressed in haute couture parading along Broadway, the affluent and decadent lifestyle of Diamond Jim Brady, and the cornucopia of gourmet cuisine skillfully prepared and extravagantly served.

You are about to embark to another era, Saratoga Springs in the nineteenth century.

Bon appétit!

TRICIA O’HARA

Author

Introduction

During one of my trips to New England, I stopped over at Saratoga Springs, New York, to join the aristocrats of horse society for the traditional August running of their racing colors. If you have not yet visited Saratoga Springs during the racing season, you simply must put it on your list of places to see (perhaps at the top of the list) and visit one of the oldest racetracks in the country.

After four days of this wonderful madness of wagering, breakfasting on the Club House porch at 7:30 a.m. while watching the thoroughbreds work out, observing the parade of horses adorned with red coats as they trot from the paddock to the starting gate, and feeling the adrenaline racing through me during the Travers Stakes as my favored horse neared the finish line (and won, I might add), I decided to venture downtown to Broadway for a change of pace.

Broadway, one of the most famous streets in America. I could sense the history all around me as I walked past the splendor of Victorian mansions and the quaint cottages. The Rip Van Dam and the Adelphi Hotel are two of the few lodging houses that remain from the past. If their walls could only speak, what tales could be told! Shall we drift back in time for a little history and some interesting culinary tales?

I’ll begin with the origin of Saratoga’s name. Saratoga was named by the Mohawk, Sarachtogoe, which means hillside country of a great river. However, the accepted meaning, place of the swift water, was derived from Sir William Johnson, superintendent of Indian Affairs for the British monarchy. He attributed it to the pairing of two Iroquois words—saragh (swift water) and oga (place of). The English produced the word Saratoga.

Saratoga was well-known for its bubbling mineral springs. Around the mid 1700s, Sir William Johnson claimed that the springs’ water contained medicinal powers because it had partially restored his strength and enabled