How the White House celebrated Washington's Birthday #PresidentsDayRecipe

Happy President's Day.  I remember when we celebrated this day as Washington's Birthday and also celebrated Lincoln's Birthday.  Now we set aside this day to honor all of our Presidents.

I received this cookbook as a gift and was very excited when Sue of A Palatable Pastime and a fellow member of our Holiday Fun with our Food Bloggers group decided to host a President's Day event. Sue asked us to share  a recipe that was President's Day related by theme, a POTUS family recipe or perhaps a recipe served to the POTUS by White House Staff.

This book was perfect for this event.  It not only includes tons of recipes, it also includes menus for special occasions such as Washington's Birthday!  This book contains an index of "Varieties of Seasonable Food to be obtained in our markets during the year" along with instructions on how to butcher, process, prepare and obtain said foods.  Much of the meat is game as is indicative of the times.

They also have a section for "Menus: Breakfast, Luncheon and Dinner for the Holidays and for a week in each month in the year".  I, of course, turned to February and discovered this menu for Washington's Birthday.  As you can see I had a huge selection of items I could make and they all came with recipes, even for coffee and tea.

I had some pork stew that I had taken out of the freezer for a dinner that didn't get cooked so when I saw the recipe for Country Sausage, I knew I was golden.  I adapted this recipe to use the two pounds of stew meat which eliminated the need to add any chine fat.  

If I lived in 1887 when this edition of this cookbook is dated, I would have minced the meat as instructed.  Fortunately, I live in 2017 and have a handy dandy Kitchen-Aid.  I ground my meat twice, first using the large grinding plate and then again using the smaller grinding plate.  I mixed in the seasonings with my hands as instructed but instead of encasing it in intestines or muslin, I simply made them into patties and fried them up.

To be honest with you, this pork sausage could have used a little bit of the chine fat.  I would definitely use country ribs or pork shoulder with a little more fat content next time I make this sausage.

But we enjoyed it none-the-less.  I served it up with a Tortilla Espanola that I had made for this month's FoodnFlix.  They are spicy and wonderful.  I ended up with 12 patties from 2 lbs of meat. Served two each with this dinner and put the rest in the freezer.  We have been enjoying them on breakfast sandwiches and mixed in with scrambled eggs.

I am linking this post to Foodies Read.  You can see what other foodie books people are reading by clicking on the link.  I am also excited to see the other recipes that my blogger friends made for this event.  You will find links to those recipes right below mine.

Country Pork Sausage

adapted from The Original White House Cook Book, 1887 Edition.

2 lbs pork stew meat

1 T. salt

1/2 T. black pepper

1 T. rubbed sage

1 t. ground savory

Run the pork stew meat through your meat grinder twice, using the large plate the first time and the small plate the second grinding.  Add the salt, pepper, sage and savory to the ground pork and mix in thoroughly using clean hands and 1/4 water to the mixture and continue to knead with your hands until water is absorbed and the seasonings are evenly distributed.  Form into patties of desired size. Place patties in a dry skillet over medium heat and cook for 3-4 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the patty, until golden brown and an internal temperature of 150-160* is met.  Print Recipe

Happy #President's Day We are sharing recipes that honor our past presidents and their birthdays.

• Bush Family Cowboy Cookies from Palatable Pastime
• Country Sausage from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Extra Creamy Stovetop Mac and Cheese from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• President Nixon's Secret Meatloaf Recipe from Frugal Pantry
• Presidential Blueberry Bundt Cake from Cooking with Carlee
• President's Day Cherry Almond Squares from Family Around the Table
• Washington's Cherry Breakfast Cobbler from The Tip Garden