Lewis and Clark Cookbook  

Dear Coleen,

STOP! Before you cook that corned beef! Unfortunately the second part of the recipe was removed by an editor because of space restrictions! That is so frustrating as a writer when something is pulled out that is needed to make the recipe special. Following is how the original manuscript had the recipe. The glaze makes this dish and everyone including children devour it.

Since you have the Lewis and Clark Cookbook, would you post some of your thoughts after you try a recipe for me? Thanks!

Leslie

Corned Beef and Cabbage

4 pounds corned beef brisket
2 medium onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
6 whole cloves

3 potatoes, peeled and cut in half
3 carrots, peeled and cut in half
1 cabbage, cored and cut into wedges

Glaze:
¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons mustard
¼ teaspoon ground cloves

Take the corned beef out of the brine and rinse thoroughly. Place the corned beef in a large pot and barely cover with water. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, and cloves. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low, cover pot, and simmer for 2 ½ hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a roasting pan.
For the glaze: In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, mustard, and cloves with a fork until smooth. Transfer the meat to the prepared roasting pan and top with the glaze. Bake for 30 minutes.
Place the potatoes, carrots and cabbage into the simmering stock and raise temperature to medium. Simmer vegetables for about 30 minutes, or until tender.
Serves 6 to 8

That must be really frustrating, having an editor chop up the work you spent so much time on. From an editor's standpoint I can understand having to make cuts, for space (though it still stinks), but I don't understand why they would think it is ok to cut up a recipe. Seems to me that it would totally destroy the integrity of the dish. Seems a bit more neglectful, than cutting out a paragraph somewhere that wouldn't be missed nearly as much. Is this something you have had to deal with often? And how do you deal with it?

Dear Pete,

It may seem that writing a book is a solitary effort but in reality, many people are involved. The most important is your editor and I am fortunate in that I have worked with great people that polish and enhance my work. When you start a project, you rough out the length of a book with the publisher, but occasionally that can change for a multitude of reasons, and unfortunately, it always seems to happen at the last minute! So, with everyone at deadline, changes are made and then the author must try to make things fit. Since most editors are not chefs, they don't realize what is important for recipes, which can be very frustrating.

From your viewpoint as an editor, how do you decide where to make your cuts?

Leslie

My copy of "Lewis and Clark Cookbook" has just arrived!!!

I haven't read the book , I have read the reviews and I am quite familiar with historical cookbooks.

I must say that you did a great job Leslie, you must feel very proud of your self! :)

I will have a good look at it during the week-end and why not? I will try to cook something using mediterranean ingredients :)

I can see the viewpoint of an editor. They are stuck making some rough decisions about another's work (blood, sweat and tears), but as a chef my gut reaction is that they could cut anything I ever wrote, but don't mess with the recipes. Guess that is just my egotisical chef-side coming out!:D

Glad to see that you can take it all in stride!!

Dear Athenaeus,

Where did you get my book in Athens?! Greece is one of my favorite countries. Several years ago, I spent about a month in Crete, Athens and Thera and loved every minute. The food is terrific and the monestaries are beautiful. What do you do in Athens?

Leslie

I ordered the book in a big International Bookstore. Guys, bookstores are stealing you :)

Crete! So you have tasted the glorious Cretan Cuisine and you have had the Santorini(Thera) experience!

Nicko has many things to tell you about Thera, he was working in one of the best restaurants on the island and Santorini's standards are very high but he can tell about those things by himself.

Your book is excellent Leslie. It's a good example for those who would like to deal with History of Food.

Tracing the "Path of Food in the Past" is the most difficult thing, in my opinion.It needs devotion and this is the reason we don't have similar examples in Greek language. All the historians spend time writting about our Anciemt or Political History, they haven't found time for HIstory of Greek Food yet :)

Of course there is a bright exception. Andrew Dalby's , Siren's Feast, a must have for a food historian! But there are many fields that need to be discovered... ( think about it ;) )

Oh Leslie, I spent quite a bit of time beginning the feast of devouring your book today! I took the final copy at the bookstore; it's now being reordered, I'm glad to report. I will postpone the literary meal until I've shared the book with my school's eighth grade social studies teachers, who are now teaching about Lewis and Clark's expedition.

I'm also printing this page to include in the book so that the corned beef recipe is complete....