Cheese, Raisins, Cattle and Cowboys.

San Juan County Road 228 aka South Cottonwood Road, there is a main reason why I specifically wanted to come to this area; my dentist, Dr. Brian Goodwine of San Juan Dental in Monticello (part of the Utah Navajo Health System, Inc).  He is the great grandson of Lemuel Hardison Redd Jr., active in the development of the San Juan Mission in Mexico.  While at my 6 month checkup, Dr. Goodwine asked if I'd ever been to the Cheese and Raisins Hills; "The what?" I asked, and "Where are they?"  He told me the story of Lemuel who had cattle up on those hills; one day his ranch hands asked him if he would like to share their lunch of cheese and raisins with them.  "All you boys ever eat is cheese and raisins, cheese and raisins"; and that is how the hills in the area became so named.  I was able to also verify this story through the book, Utah's Canyon Country Place Names by Steve Allen, as told by Albert R. Lyman.  On the Internet, someone's vacation blog, didn't note the name down though, was a second story on how the hills were named.  There were several mines in the area; the miners often had cheese and raisins in their lunches.  Since the mines were not started till around the early 1930s, the first version of the story is closer to the truth.  A photo of Lemuel and his wives, Eliza and Lucy, and their story can be found in the book, They Came to Grayson put out by the Ridgeway Art Gallery in Blanding.

Lemuel Hardison Redd Jr with wives, Eliza and Lucy

Talking about mining, the ruins of the old Cottonwood Millsite is along this county road which got me to thinking about typical miners’ meals which got me thinking about Cornish Pasties.  Oh my, isn’t that a nice run-on sentence; but that story will be for another article as I’m concentrating on cheese and raisins right now.

Raisins are simply dried grapes, which would stand up well during the long journeys the pioneers traveled to win over the Wild West.  Cheese, however, now where did they get cheese from and how did it keep without refrigeration?  Time to research cattle within San Juan County and I certainly did find a moo-full of information! 

Briefly, when the Hole in the Rockers came to Bluff, they did have cattle along for the trek.  Dunham aka Short Horn which were great milkers, but also provided meat to the settlers.  However, there had already been established, within San Juan County, cattle companies from Colorado and Texas; competition for grazing land became an issue.  Excuse me while I digress a little more; eventually Peters of Peters Hill fame sold his cattle; Howard Carlisle, a British patriot, eventually sold his cattle.  The remaining cattle company was the LC, which remained in the Blanding area…. poor ranch cook Harry Hopkins, may he in rest in peace.  Digging around, I was able to find out that Peters and Carlisle began a new cattle company in Kansas City, MO.  While Peters, whose given name was Quincy, became the company’s accountant; Howard Carlisle got in huge trouble selling stolen cattle. 

Where did I get my information on Peters and Carlisle after they left San Juan County?  Scholars Archive of BYU: The Cattle Industry of San Juan County, Utah, 1875 – 1900 by Franklin D. Day, and United States. Courts; Circuit Court of Appeals, volume 47.

Emma Smith 1884 

Now back to cheese and raisins, and were they only eaten separately, or did those resilient pioneer women combine them into a recipe?   Emma Smith, wife of prophet Joseph Smith baked up biscuits nicknamed “politicians” due to their being so light and full of hot air.  I didn’t make this up; the story appears in Good Things to Eat From Old Nauvoo by Theo E. Boyd.  These biscuits were normally used to make strawberry shortcake, but other variations were: cherry, peaches, warm applesauce, raisins plus cinnamon and honey, chopped dates and nuts, or grated or cubed cheese with raisins.  There you go, cheese and raisins in biscuits; but you can use this combination in scones as well and it is delicious!

Hope you enjoyed my convoluted journey through San Juan County pioneer history, and here is Emma Smith’s Biscuit recipe.

Biscuits

(Good Things to Eat From Old Nauvoo by Theo E. Boyd)

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. shortening

3/4 cup buttermilk

Preparation:

Sift dry ingredients. Add shortening and cut in with a pastry blender or two knives until dough resembles coarse cornmeal. Add buttermilk and mix lightly.

Turn out on floured board.  Pat out to 1/2 to 3/4-inch thick.  Cut, sprinkle with sugar and place on well-greased pan and bake at 425 degrees until golden brown.

Mary Cokenour

The Corning of Beef

My first experience with corned beef was as a teenager in New York; going to a Jewish deli for, what else, a corned beef on rye with spicy brown mustard. Then came the Reuben; corned beef on grilled rye with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing. As an adult I discovered corned beef and hash for breakfast; chopped up corned beef heated up on a flat top grill with diced potatoes, sometimes diced peppers thrown in.

No, I'm not a novice to the corning of the beef, but what exactly does that mean, corned beef I mean.  In age old England, grain was called corn; but the discovery and exploration of America introduced the English to a Native American staple which the English settlers named corn.  This "grain" was nothing like the wheat or rye which grew in the homeland; this grain prospered on a tall stalk and had many "ears".  Cooked on its own, it tasted pretty good, but dried and ground up into flour; even better

So back to corning beef though; how did the process of pickling or curing beef come to be called "corning"?  Well, perhaps it was that corn became a major feed source for cattle; cattle ate the corn, so they, themselves, became corned.  When I lived in Lancaster, PA, one of the major crops grown was corn; the other was tobacco.  Most of the crops were harvested and stored as cattle feed; some was sold at the local markets for human consumption.  Those were the days; going to the local markets with paper or plastic bags to fill; 13 ears, a baker's dozen, for only one dollar.

Sorry to keep digressing like this; corned beef refers to "corns" of salt, salt being the major ingredient in the pickling or curing of meat.  It basically comes from an intertwining of languages and cultures to what we know now.  Therefore, depending on which culture you want to rely on will give you the pickling spice recipe and technique to use.  Another ingredient used is either saltpeter (potassium nitrite) or pink salt (sodium nitrite); either of these is a chemical agent which interacts with the meat, giving the meat its red coloring.  You don't have to use either, but then the meat will come out of the pickling process with a sickly grayish coloring; not appetizing to look at.  These ingredients can be found in supermarkets in the home canning aisle, as well as farm/country stores.

The recipe I'm going to post for you here comes from Alton Brown, one of the popular chefs and hosts of Food Network Channel.  On a 2007 episode of his show, "Good Eats" called, what else, "Corn the Beef"; Alton gives you the low down on making corned beef.  By the way, this method can also be used with wild game such as deer (venison) or elk; there's a little tip for our hunter friends.

Corned Beef (Recipe courtesy Alton Brown)

Ingredients:

2 quarts water
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons saltpeter
1 cinnamon stick, broken into several pieces
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
8 whole cloves
8 whole allspice berries
12 whole juniper berries
2 bay leaves, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 pounds ice
1 (4 to 5 pound) beef brisket, trimmed
1 small onion, quartered
1 large carrot, coarsely chopped
1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped

Directions:

Place the water into a large 6 to 8 quart stockpot along with salt, sugar, saltpeter, cinnamon stick, mustard seeds, peppercorns, cloves, allspice, juniper berries, bay leaves and ginger. Cook over high heat until the salt and sugar have dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the ice. Stir until the ice has melted. If necessary, place the brine into the refrigerator until it reaches a temperature of 45 degrees F. Once it has cooled, place the brisket in a 2-gallon zip top bag and add the brine. Seal and lay flat inside a container, cover and place in the refrigerator for 10 days. Check daily to make sure the beef is completely submerged and stir the brine.

After 10 days, remove from the brine and rinse well under cool water. Place the brisket into a pot just large enough to hold the meat, add the onion, carrot and celery and cover with water by 1-inch. Set over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and gently simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until the meat is fork tender. Remove from the pot and thinly slice across the grain.

Now for a quick and easy breakfast item made with corned beef...Corned Beef and Hash.  You have two options here, the seriously easy way is to use 2 cups of defrosted O'Brien potatoes from a package; the potatoes, onions and peppers are already diced and mixed up for you.  Or you can go the strictly fresh route which is the one I'll be posting for you.

 

Corned Beef and Hash

 

Ingredients:

 

3 Tbsp butter

1 cup diced onion

1/2 cup diced bell peppers (green or green/red combination)

2 cups diced potatoes, previously boiled until fork tender

2 cups chopped corned beef

salt and ground black pepper to taste

 

Preparation:

 

In a large skillet, medium-high heat, melt butter; saute' onion and bell peppers together until onions are translucent.  Mix in potatoes and corned beef; press mixture down onto skillet with spatula and let brown.  If needed, add more butter to keep from sticking to skillet.  Carefully use spatula to peek underneath mixture; if browned, flip over and press mixture down again....do not stir!  Let other side brown, use more butter if necessary.

 

Add salt and ground black pepper if necessary.

 

Makes 4 servings.

 

Note:  Each serving goes great with two eggs either over easy or sunny side up.

 

Mary Cokenour