Tour of Fifty States: Washington, D.C.'s meal

Washington, D.C. was this weekend’s “state” meal.  Senate Bean Soup, prepared with traditional early American ingredients of dried white pea beans, onions, and a ham bone, has been on the menu in the United States Senate restaurant since the early 20th century, possible longer. It is the most popular item on the menu and is usually recommended by members of Congress when entertaining guests there for the first time.

Bean soup, a favorite of Speaker of the House, Joseph G. Cannon (1836–1926) of Illinois, was omitted from the menu on one hot, humid day in 1904. When speaker Cannon arrived for lunch and learned he could not order it, he was more than a little upset. "Thunderation!" roared the speaker. "I had my mind set for bean soup. From now on, hot or cold, rain, snow, or shine, I want it on the menu every day."   A resolution was introduced in 1907 by Senator Knute Nellson of Minnesota, chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, who decreed that while the Senate is in session, no day shall pass without Senate Bean Soup. From that time on, Senate Bean soup has appeared on the menu in all eleven Congressional dining rooms every single day, regardless of the weather. This tradition has endured for over 100 years.

A recipe for Election Cake, also what I chose to represent Washington, D.C., appears in the second edition of the first American cookbook published in this country – Amelia Simmons’ American Cookery (1796.)  The cake is actually a classic English fruitcake and was baked to celebrate Election Days at least as early as 1771.  Election Cake, as all cakes baked in colonial homes, was yeast-leavened, as there was no commercial baking powder, and they were baked in brick fireplace ovens.

The centerpiece of Election Day festivals, when everyone was given the day off , was a very large cake, which would traditionally be made of roughly 15 pounds of flour, two pounds of butter, 10 pounds of dried fruit, a dozen eggs, milk, yeast, spices, and a bit of sugar. Too big to fit any pan, it was a kind-of free-form bread baked directly on the floor of a wood-fired oven. The size of the cake depended largely on the size of the town and the available resources – both financial as well as a large enough oven. One cake, for example, was measured at over a yard in diameter and over a foot thick. The purpose of the cake, of course, was to have something hearty that would sop up the large amounts of ale and cider consumed that evening after the polls had closed.

I read also that slices of Election Cake were provided as an incentive to vote a straight ticket or for a particular candidate, and were handed out by women (who weren’t allowed to vote) as the men lined up at the polling sites. 

Menu:  Senate Bean Soup, Election Cake

Outcome:  The soup was good, but a little too thin for my taste when I made it according to the directions, so I added another cup of prepared mashed potatoes to thicken it up.  The Election Cake was okay, but none of us were really over-the-top thrilled with it.  It was quite too “bready” for our tastes – having been made with a yeast starter –  and in my opinion, it needed a lot more dried fruit.  Being quite dry, we remedied it with a scoop of ice cream on top and a little drizzle of caramel.  The minimal glaze didn’t add to the cake and I would think that omitting it and serving slices with whipped cream would have been much better. 

Next up:  Ben’s turn!  He chose New York!   Wait, you say??  Didn’t you already have New York?  Like in 2015?? YES !!

Explanation:  we had New York’s meal the weekend we moved into our house.  We were sleeping on the floor that Friday evening before everyone arrived on Saturday morning to help us move.  We didn’t even have the propane turned on yet, so quickly we heated up some Nathan’s hot dogs (from Coney Island, NY) on the electric griddle and opened a couple bags of potato chips (first made in Saratoga Springs, NY).  For dessert, we had some Entenmann’s  (Brooklyn, NY) Black and White cookies (a NY tradition.)  We needed a re-do!

Senate Bean Soup 

Prep time:  20 min.  Cook time:  2 hr.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dried white pea beans, sorted, rinsed, and drained
• 3 qt. water
• 1 (¼ to ½ lb.) thick slice of ham or ham bone with meat
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 3 medium onions, finely chopped
• 4 stalks celery (including tops), finely chopped
• 2 carrots, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 cup prepared mashed potatoes (I added 2 cups)
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. white pepper
• ¼ cup finely-chopped fresh parsley leaves

  

  Senate Bean Soup served with warm croissants

 Directions

1. Place beans in a large soup pot, cover with cold water, and let sit overnight. Drain and rinse beans. A quick-soak method: cover dried beans with cold water; bring just to a boil. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 1 to 2 hours. Drain and rinse beans.
2. In the same soup pot over medium-high heat, bring the 3 quarts of water to a boil. Reduce heat to low; add beans and ham bone or ham. Cover pot and let simmer 1 hour.
3. In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, melt butter. Add onions, celery, and garlic; sauté until vegetables are soft. Add vegetables and mashed potatoes to the cooked soup and let simmer an additional 1 hour or until beans are thoroughly cooked.
4. Remove ham bone or ham piece. Cut ham into small pieces, removing bone and fat; return to soup pot. Add salt and white pepper.

Serve in soup bowls and garnish with chopped parsley.

Serves 6.

Election Cake

Prep time:  35 min.  Inactive Prep:  3 hr.  Cook time:  45 min.

Ingredients

• Two .25-oz. envelopes dry active yeast
• 1 cup warm, but not hot, water (about 105 º F)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ sticks butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the pan
• 1 cup mixed dried fruit, such as golden raisins, cranberries and pitted prunes, chopped if large
• ½ cup plus 2 Tbsp. packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup American whiskey, bourbon or rye
• 1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
• ¾ tsp. ground allspice
• ½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• ½ tsp. fine salt
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 ½  tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 Tbsp. milk

Election Cake

Yum!

Directions

1. Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a medium bowl. Stir a few times and let stand to allow the yeast to dissolve and begin bubbling, 1 to 2 minutes. Sift 1 ½ cups of the flour into the bowl and stir until mostly smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for about 30 minutes. The mixture will expand, loosen in texture and will have large bubbles on the surface.
2. While that sits, generously butter a 12-cup Bundt pan and set aside. Place the dried fruit, 2 Tbsp. of the brown sugar and all of the whiskey in a microwave-safe bowl. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Heat in the microwave until hot and bubbling, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir and set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, whisk the remaining 1 ½ cups flour with the cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and salt.
3. Beat the butter with the remaining ½ cup brown and the granulated sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until combined (the mixture may look slightly curdled at this stage), and then add 1 tsp. of the vanilla. Beat in the yeast mixture and then reduce the speed to medium-low and gradually beat in the flour mixture. Add the plumped dried fruit with any remaining liquid and beat on medium speed until the fruit is well blended. The dough should be soft and elastic at this point.
4.  Transfer the dough to the prepared Bundt pan and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until the dough fills the pan about three-quarters of the way, about 2 hours. When is the cake is almost done rising, preheat the oven to 375 º F. If you let the dough rise for much longer than the 2 hours indicated, the center of the ring sinks when baking.
5. Bake the cake until golden brown and a skewer inserted comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Loosen the sides with a small metal spatula and turn onto the wire rack to cool completely.
6. Before serving, stir the confectioners' sugar with the remaining ½ tsp. vanilla and 1 Tbsp. milk. Gradually add as much as needed of the second Tbsp. of milk to make a thick glaze that will just gently run. Spoon over the top of the cake, allowing the glaze to slowly run down the outside and inside of the cake.
7. Note: This cake is great made a day or two in advance. Just hold off on the glaze until you are ready to serve.

Makes 12-14 servings.