Elizabeth Williams, culinary institution
Regina Murphy
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Elizabeth Holt Williams of Emporia and her husband Rex started cooking for others in 1953 and didn’t stop catering until 1997—about 45 years!
The Williamses cooked for just about everyone in town who was anyone, large groups or small, during that time. They helped cater Barbara White’s wedding which was covered by Life magazine.
I got a peek at some of her recipes while we were working on the Sesquicentennial Recipe Series, and asked her to to meet with me. We had a great time talking, and Ms. Elizabeth put together these tried and true recipes to share with all of you.
This quiche was made for the actress who portrayed Sallie White in the movie “Mary White”, Fionnula Flanagan. There will be a community screening of that movie early next year, so keep your eyes open for the announcement in the Gazette. Elizabeth said Fionnula “loved it.”
QUICHE LORRAINE
1 1/2 cups Swiss cheese, grated
8 slices crisp bacon, crumbled
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell
3 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1 Tbsp. onion, grated (optional)
Sprinkle cheese, bacon and onion in pie shell. Beat remaining ingredients and pour into shell. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until brown. Serves five to six.
Kathrine White sent Elizabeth a postcard (judging by the postage, around 1976) congratulating her on one particular holiday meal: “Dear Rex and Elizabeth — lovely birds — delicious pudding — lethal hard sauce and the prettiest poinsettia that ever was — Happy New Year.” Rex had been hunting for game birds, and Elizabeth had prepared a carrot pudding with hard sauce.
This recipe came to Elizabeth’s mother-in-law by way of Welsh settlers named Morris. Until pressure cookers came along, she said the way to cook this was to submerge the mold in a feed pail full of boiling water. It took three hours to cook! The Morrises and Sloans shipped Elizabeth’s pudding to family overseas for years. Elizabeth still ships them to her children (one time the dog got to it first!) and to family friend Mike Stubbs.
The pudding mold, dating back about a century, is still used today. It’s in two sections, each with its own handle so you can pull it apart when its done. Using a pressure cooker makes a big time savings. The reason you put vinegar in the water, Elizabeth says, is to keep the pressure cooker from becoming stained.
CARROT PUDDING
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup grated potatoes
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening, melted
1 cup flour
2 cups seedless raisins
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. soda, dissolved in 2 Tbsp. warm water
Sift dry ingredients with the exception of baking soda. Peel and grate potatoes and carrots. Add the vegetables and raisins to the dry ingredients.
Pour in the cooled, melted shortening. Add vanilla and stir in the baking soda that you dissolved in water. Spray a 5-cup mold and lid with nonstick spray, or etc. Pour pudding into mold and seal.
Set mold on a rack in a pressure cooker. Pour 6 cups of cold water over the mold and add 1 Tbsp. of vinegar to the water. Close the pressure cooker and bring to a steam. Let the steam flow for 20 minutes, then put the weight on and let the steam raise to “cook position”. Cook for 50 minutes.
Unmold the pudding onto a serving platter and ring it with hard sauce, with additional sauce for each serving.
HARD SAUCE
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1 Tsp. nutmeg
Combine butter and sugar; beat until it is as light as whipped cream. Gradually add vanilla and nutmeg and continue beating. Store in a covered jar in refrigerator. Do not freeze.
Ms. Elizabeth recounted making this brisket for a 30th Wedding Anniversary buffet, where they set the meat on one platter and the buns on the other. Well, the meat was so good the guests doubled up on their servings and there was a ton of buns leftover. Rex and Elizabeth would prepare this brisket for the Blue Key fraternity at ESU, much to their delight. In fact, the actress Joan Fontaine specifically requested this recipe, and Elizabeth traded it for her autograph.
BARBECUED BRISKET
OF BEEF
5 lb. beef brisket
1 (3 1/2 oz.) bottle liquid smoke
1 (5 oz.) bottle Worcestershire
1 (18 oz.) bottle hickory barbecue sauce
seasoning salt
garlic salt
celery salt
Marinate the brisket in the liquid smoke overnight in the refrigerator. Drain, sprinkle both sides of the brisket with the three salts. Pour Worcestershire over top. Bake at 275 degrees, covered, for 4 hours.
Remove cover and pour half the barbecue sauce over the meat. Ms. Elizabeth says that if there’s a lot of fat on the brisket trim it off before you put the sauce on. Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees for one hour or until tender. Slice across the grain of the meat and serve with the remaining barbecue sauce.
Elizabeth mentioned that you need to pay attention when slicing across the grain, because in a brisket that could change at any minute. If you see the grain slipping, reorient your meat to keep up with it. If you don’t, it will be tough and stringy. She knows what she’s talking about, so pay attention!
She had another great story, this one about W.L. White. He wanted to treat his dinner guests one night by tossing and serving the salad himself, so he asked Elizabeth to bring the bowl to the table. He tossed and tossed, and suddenly his monocle dropped off his face and into the salad bowl. She said he fished it out, gave it a wipe, popped it back on and started serving.
I sure appreciate Elizabeth Williams sharing all these wonderful recipes and fun stories from her rich cooking experiences. It’s very generous of her. Thank you!
Hope you’re ready for the end of the year! Next week we’ll have the fabulous “Best of 2007” recipe collection. If you still need a stocking stuffer, come by the gazette or go by the Town Crier and pick up “Foods of the Flint Hills” or “The Best of Murphy’s Menu”--two great books, if I say so myself. Let’s get cooking!