Part 2 (Father Tries Bettina’s Cooking continued)

How It Tasted

Devilled Steak

Filip: Do we have any toothpicks?

I personally was happy with this dish, but my husband and son were dismayed that it left multiple shreds of beef between their teeth.

Still, even they admitted that the steak had a good flavor and was undeniably tender. There was lots of pan gravy as well, and that definitely made the oh-so-boring potatoes (see below) taste better.

New Potatoes in Cream

Frankly, it’s hard to find something to say about a dish that has all the character of Wonder Bread. Even the parsley I sprinkled on top couldn’t really jazz this up much. With beef gravy spooned on top these potatoes were moderately enjoyable, but still I heard some minor grumbling as my family forked their way through these.

Graham Baking Powder Biscuits

Milomir: [eyeing the biscuit plate] I think they’re missing something. Maybe…yeast?

These were the saddest-looking biscuits I’ve ever seen: gnarled tops, irregularly shaped, and undeniably flat.

Nor was the family impressed. DH and son stared at the biscuits and then exchanged looks, obviously wondering if they’d be able to choke down a polite bite or two.

But to everyone’s amazement (myself most of all) these biscuits were GOOD! Despite their refusal to rise they had a wonderful texture and a rich, earthy flavor that helped to cover up the chemical taste of the baking powder.

In retrospect I believe the problem here was I didn’t flour the edges of the cutter and instead had to twist it to avoid tearing the dough. Apparently this pinched the edges of the biscuits together and kept them from rising properly.

But despite their forlorn appearance the biscuits were good, and all save one were eaten by the end of the meal. The fact that this lone biscuit was still somewhat moist the next day (I had it for breakfast) impressed me mightily—graham/whole wheat flour is good stuff.

Jelly

There was a jar of jelly (currant) on the table to eat with the biscuits, but no one seemed interested in it. My husband ate his plain, my son used cream cheese, and I was satisfied with a schmear of butter.

Cucumber and Radish Salad

I expected this salad to be spicy from the radishes, but instead it was sweet—shockingly so. Without a doubt that sweetness was caused by the salad dressing—the cream I used to dilute it completely overwhelmed the vinegar and made the dressing more appropriate for a picnic coleslaw or even heaped on Jello.

As usual I insisted (OK, begged) everyone to take a taste, but the reaction was muted. My son took the tiniest nibble of salad and then spread the remainder around his plate to make it look as if he’d eaten some.

Lemon Pie

This pie was definitely a mixed bag—awful crust (no surprise there), an OK filling, and a beautiful-looking meringue that somehow collapsed on the journey from oven to table.

As I suspected, using flour to thicken the filling rather than cornstarch gave it an odd texture. It reminded me of those lemon cream pies you see in the frozen section of the supermarket. It wasn’t bad, I suppose, but I prefer my own version of the dish.

But surprisingly enough I learned that at corn starch was discovered in 1840. Of course that was well before Bettina’s time, so for the life of me I can’t understand why the editors of the book insist that everything be thickened with flour. Using cornstarch here would have made for a far better pie but, despite this, we all seemed to enjoy it.

Would I Make This Again?

The family is split on this question. DH and Son didn’t care for the steak (I did), disliked the salad (we all agree here), thought the biscuits were funny-looking but tasty (same for me), and enjoyed the pie (which I didn’t like all that much).

And the potatoes? I couldn’t manage to solicit any opinion about them—they were so lifeless and boring they really didn’t make much impression. It’s like a bowl of plain white rice at a Chinese buffet: a bland starch that’s completely eclipsed by the more elaborate dishes.