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Post by 58limited on May 25, 2015 10:24:25 GMT -5
J.L. Hudson's was a high-end department store in Detroit, similar to Macy's in New York or Nieman Marcus in Dallas. The building was 26 stories high and took up an entire city block. They had a restaurant and several cafeterias. Someone on another appliance forum posted the recipe for J.L Hudson's famous cheese soup. The recipe makes close to 1/2 gallon. I made it last week and it is very good and lends itself to modification very well: add broccoli, ham, peppers, etc. Typical mid-century recipe - 1/8tsp paprika to season 1/2gallon?? Really??
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Post by karitx on May 27, 2015 18:56:56 GMT -5
How funny - I was just reading about Hudson's last week. I'm sad I missed out on those grand old department stores. I do remember the candy counter (primarily the white chocolate) in Montgomery Ward, but that's about it.
I may have to try the soup sometime. I'm really curious if you can taste the bitters!
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Post by mach12 on May 28, 2015 9:07:56 GMT -5
Sounds like some good soup, eh? When my family came to what's now WA State part of the family settled here and part up on Vancouver Island, so we spend a lot of time visiting back and forth. My second cousin, who lives in Port Alberni B.C., told me how they named Canada and it makes sense. Apparently the first Parliament was in session and they were tasked with settling on an official name for the country. Rather than work through the weekend they decided to go fishing for a couple of days and figure it out during the trip. As they were sitting around the campfire (drinking Canadian whiskey, of course) one of them wrote letters on scraps of paper, put them in a hat. They passed the hat around, each taking out a letter, and then they read off the letters, saying: "C, eh?" "N, eh?", "D. eh?"... And that's how Canada was named, Eh?
Jokes aside, I copied the recipe and had everything on hand (even the Angostura bitters) except for the sharp cheddar so picked some of that up yesterday. One of my wife's favorite restaurants has a cheddar soup that they serve every Wednesday and we've tried to find one that's as good so will make this one this weekend. This looks like it might just be the one. I'd have never thought of using the bitters in a million years.
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Post by 58limited on May 28, 2015 18:33:01 GMT -5
The bitters was a new one for me too. I used some homemade bitters a friend made. She got the recipe from Garden and Gun magazine: gardenandgun.com/article/how-make-your-own-bbq-bittersI wonder how the soup would taste using that good Cougar Gold sharp cheddar you have there in WA. I mail order some every couple of years.
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Post by mach12 on May 28, 2015 20:50:28 GMT -5
I wouldn't even have known about the bitters if my daughter hadn't given the bottle of it to me along with a recipe for a Holiday drink. I have enough to do a batch or two of the soup but may need to make some. If I have the patience to zest 3 grapefruits and 3 oranges. Thyme sure isn't a problem. I have so much of it growing around here that I mow it. Makes me hungry for Italian food every time I do the lawn.
I didn't know that anyone outside of WA knew about Cougar Gold. A friend of ours is a veterinarian and graduated from WSU. She worked in the WSU creamery while attending there and has the inside track on Cougar Cheese. When we get together you can always count on her showing up with a tin of cheese. Great stuff. I'd bet it'd be just fine, though I picked up some Tillamook sharp cheddar for the first batch.
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Post by 58limited on May 29, 2015 17:50:20 GMT -5
I have friends from Washington who let me in on the secret of Cougar Gold. I opened my last tin when me and some friends went to the Texas Meadfest last September, great snack sitting on the porch of the rental cabin out in the middle of nowhere that evening.
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Post by karitx on Jun 7, 2015 15:39:16 GMT -5
Typical mid-century recipe - 1/8tsp paprika to season 1/2gallon?? Really?? I was looking at a throw-together baked beans recipe on Taste of Home today and the person who posted it wrote that her husband loves spicy foods and this one was right up his alley. It has 1/2 teaspoon chili powder in a dish that yields 2 1/2 quarts!
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Post by mach12 on Jun 11, 2015 19:09:14 GMT -5
Man 58Limited - you really started something here! A friend of mine is visiting from the Detroit area and I was telling him about this soup. He got all excited and started telling me about the J.L. Hudson's department store in Detroit and eating in Hudson's restaurants. He says it's the same Hudson as the Hudson Automobile Company. A quick search came up with a bunch of info, including this link: Uncle Phaedrus' J.L. Hudson Link.
On that site there are links to the following recipes:
JL Hudson's Chocolate Chunk Cookies JL Hudson Butterscotch Biscuits J.L. Hudson's Cheese Bread Chicken Pot Pie Maurice Salad Dressing
Then he provides a link to more: Detroit Memories
Canadian Cheese Soup Cheery Nut Cake Chocolate Chip Cookies Club Chicken Salad / Hot Bacon Dressing Gazpacho Greek Feta Salad Hot Bacon Dressing Maurice Salad Mushroom Quiche Orange Muffins Sesame Dressing Sour Cream Sugar Cookies Spinach Salad Supreme / Hot Bacon Dressing Vichyssoise (Cold Potato Soup)
The only difference in the Canadian Cheese Soup is the one at the link calls for 1 Tablespoon of onion, where the copy you posted calls for 1/4 cup.
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Post by 58limited on Jun 15, 2015 18:34:53 GMT -5
Glad this stirred up some memories for people. It is sad to see what Detroit has become now.
I may have to try the Vichyssoise but I like it warm personally. I have the complete Maurice salad recipe from the same source as the cheese soup recipe but I'm having issues uploading the jpg file to my server - have to call tech support. The recipe is different than the one on Uncle Phaedrus' page.
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Post by nana on Jun 15, 2015 20:16:04 GMT -5
Last month's National Geographic had a nice article about how things are on the upswing in Detroit, so don't give up on it yet!!
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Post by mach12 on Jun 15, 2015 21:27:29 GMT -5
I worked in Detroit for several years (Warren, actually) and saw some of the decline as it happened. I never understood a lot of it no matter how much I stretched my understanding. Like running around burning down peoples houses on Halloween. Those old places were at one time beautiful, too. I was in Dearborn about a year ago for a U of M class reunion and could see some indications of a turn-around. I hope it does.
I noticed a couple of different variations on some of the recipes when I did some searches. I wonder whether they changed to meet changing tastes, availability of ingredients or something like that. Any idea whether there's such a thing as a J.L. Hudson's cook book?
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Post by pooka on Jun 16, 2015 1:53:50 GMT -5
I can't say any of us could understand what happens to an urban environment like Detroit when that kind of decline occurs. Those that can flee do. Those that are left must try to survive in a world gone mad where the normal rule of civilized society go out the window in a Lord of the Fly's kind of way. The criminal element takes over & make their own laws of the jungle. Burning abandoned houses on Halloween become harmless fun in that world turned upside down. Even human life is devalued where it's every man for himself & only the strong can survive. The police become just another competing tribe for control of that kind of no mans land with no hope of gaining any sense of order. In time, lets hope the madness will subside, & some kind of order will some day return. I did a quick bit of research & found that someone named Shirley Brocker Sliker donated card file box to Michigan State University Library. It contains recipes written primarily by Jessica Meek according to their description that are from J.L. Hudson Co. They aren't online, but I'm assuming they can be accessed on site at the library. Here's the link to where I found them. Michigan State University Libraries - Special Collections - Little Cookbooks: The Alan and Shirley Brocker Sliker Culinary Collection
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Post by mach12 on Jun 16, 2015 12:58:59 GMT -5
Pooka - I just spent an hour going through some of the stuff in the link and there's some awesome stuff there! Thanks for the link!!
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Post by pooka on Jun 16, 2015 22:24:57 GMT -5
You're right. I just spent quite a while looking through it myself. Although a lot of it isn't digitized yet, what is amazes me. When I first came upon it, I was only looking for a source for J.L. Hudson's recipes, but the collection is enormous. I even found brochures for NESCO Electric Cooking Products like that roaster you posted a while back listed under Appliances. They range from 1937 up to 1991. Other stuff seems to date back as far as the 1890s. This is the kind of resource where I'd like to see our Chambers literature find a home. When I am no longer around, I'd like to see what I've collected deposited somewhere like this.
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Post by mach12 on Jun 17, 2015 10:05:51 GMT -5
I was really disappointed that there weren't any Chambers ads or anything but there's still some great stuff there. I have some of them, like the Auto Vacuum Ice Cream Freezer manual that I've never seen another of around here. It was really cool to see the 1937 Nesco Ad. My roaster has the emblem that's a lady holding an umbrella, which is one of their earliest. If I remember right I dated mine to 1936 (same vintage as my Chambers A Series/Standard Heater). At some point after mine they started using the chef with a steaming tray of food, which is what this ad for the "New 1937" roaster shows, and a lady in a flower garden after that (1950's?). Looks like they must have first started using the chef one in 1937 but I need to go through my other stuff to make sure I'm remembering the date on mine right. I'd reached a dead end on the Nesco so this was some great info to find.
I wonder how the Nesco would work for doing Canadian Cheese Soup?
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Post by 58limited on Jun 17, 2015 14:08:16 GMT -5
Finally got my FTP program working. My host server company changed over to new servers and I had to call tech support to get the new settings for my FTP program. WHILE I WAS ON THE PHONE WITH THEM (Grrrr!), a band of TS Bill blew over my area and knocked my power out for 20 hours - just 26 houses affected and it took 20 hours to restore power (Double Grrrr!). It just came on 30 minutes ago. I'm on the Texas/ Louisiana border on the coast, about 150-200 miles from where TS Bill made landfall. Anyway, here is the Maurice Salad recipe I have. I'll start another thread for it too. Thanks for the link Pooka, I need to look at the Nesco roaster brochures, I have two roasters.
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Post by mach12 on Jun 17, 2015 21:31:44 GMT -5
Sounds like you're not to far from Lake Charles? My last ship, USS Orleck, is a museum there (pretty much makes me an official old dude when my last ship is a museum). I try to get down there every year but I haven't yet made it this year.
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Post by mach12 on Jul 3, 2015 11:23:35 GMT -5
I made the cheese soup again yesterday and it has quickly become a favorite around here. The first time I ended up doing a double batch because I'm an amateur. The recipe calls for 2 pounds of shredded cheese so I bought four 8 ounce packages of cheese since there are 16 ounces in a pound. I got to the end of the recipe and started mixing in cheese and it seemed like way too much so I got to digging and there in the cookbook special helps section it says there are 2 cups to a pound, so the recipe uses 4 cups (16 ounces) shredded cheese. Each 8 ounce package is also labeled 2 cups. The soup was really good even at that point but I had everything I needed to make it right so quickly did up everything to the cheese point in the recipe and mixed it in, then called the kids and told them to bring their families and have some cheese soup. It was a hit. I made up a couple of dozen of the Pigs & Blankets things where you wrap a little smoky in a refrigerator biscuit to go with the soup and that made a nice combination. Last night with the second batch I made ham sandwiches which also went well with the soup. This is a really good recipe.
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Post by 58limited on Jul 5, 2015 12:34:25 GMT -5
I agree, it is a very good soup and lends itself well to modification. Glad I found it and posted it.
I'm in Port Arthur, not far from Lake Charles at all. I seem to remember a news article about the USS Orleck from about 12 years ago, I think it came through this area on the way to its permanent berth. If I recall, wasn't it built in Orange, TX? That might have been what the news article was about.
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Post by mach12 on Jul 6, 2015 1:57:17 GMT -5
I'm glad you did too! I haven't tried any modifications to the soup itself but was thinking it'd be good with broccoli. Mostly I've been working on what to serve with it - or serve it with.
You remember correctly. She was the last WWII destroyer built in Orange and has quite a history. She was eventually transferred to Turkey (1982 if I remember right) and served in their Navy for a number of years. Turkey donated her back to us and we set her up in Orange but when hurricane Rita hit she was severely damaged by barges that had broken loose and ran aground and by the time we got her repaired and paid the attorneys to get the damages covered the organization was broke, so she was sold to the current organization and moved to Lake Charles, where she seems to be doing real well. If you get a chance and are at all interested it might be worth a visit.
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Post by mach12 on Jul 11, 2015 11:42:48 GMT -5
We had some of the soup left over from the batch I made the other day but not enough for a meal, so decided to try a twist and make some macaroni and cheese with it. It was really good. I cooked some elbow macaroni, stirred in the cheese soup, put it in a casserole dish, and then tossed it in the oven at 400F for 30 minutes. I then took it out, stirred it, the sprinkled dried bread crumbs over the top and popped it back in the oven for 5 minutes. I could have added a bit of salt and pepper to taste but that was easy to do on the plate. I love having a good plan for leftovers!
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Post by 58limited on Jul 12, 2015 13:24:17 GMT -5
I decided to make this soup again today, and boy am I glad I did because I had to go to the store for celery and milk. On a whim I looked in the clearance bin at the back of the store and they had fifteen 24oz bags of whole bean Hawaiian Kona coffee marked $10.00. I thought "Yeah right, probably technically Kona but not as good as the $25.00/pound stuff I've tasted in the past." [Just like the "genuine" Blue Mountain coffee you get at the tourist areas in Jamaica for $20/bag - it isn't as good of quality as the $60/pound Blue Mountain they sell here (which I tasted once in my life and it was exquisite)].
So I got to the register with one bag and it rang up as normally $27.00! I thought "Wow, it really is decent Kona." I went back and bought 6 more bags and now have some gifts for friends. I saved $119.00 on this shopping trip. I'm drinking a cup right now and it is definitely a good quality Kona.
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Post by 58limited on Jul 12, 2015 14:35:41 GMT -5
I reread this post today and researched this for myself. I added 8 cups cheddar when I made this the first time. Here is what I found: Online sources I found say that one pound of cheese equals four cups shredded. The recipe calls for 2 lbs by weight so that is what I used, or 8 cups shredded total. It is definitely cheesy. I went and reviewed the video made by the guy who originally posted the recipe that I posted and he uses 2 lbs by weight as well. He has a lot of good food videos on youtube - Cavalcade of Food: www.youtube.com/user/cavalcadeoffoodI made the cheese soup again yesterday and it has quickly become a favorite around here. The first time I ended up doing a double batch because I'm an amateur. The recipe calls for 2 pounds of shredded cheese so I bought four 8 ounce packages of cheese since there are 16 ounces in a pound. I got to the end of the recipe and started mixing in cheese and it seemed like way too much so I got to digging and there in the cookbook special helps section it says there are 2 cups to a pound, so the recipe uses 4 cups (16 ounces) shredded cheese. Each 8 ounce package is also labeled 2 cups. The soup was really good even at that point but I had everything I needed to make it right so quickly did up everything to the cheese point in the recipe and mixed it in, then called the kids and told them to bring their families and have some cheese soup. It was a hit. I made up a couple of dozen of the Pigs & Blankets things where you wrap a little smoky in a refrigerator biscuit to go with the soup and that made a nice combination. Last night with the second batch I made ham sandwiches which also went well with the soup. This is a really good recipe.
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Post by melissaf on Jul 12, 2015 22:22:50 GMT -5
I made the cheese soup tonight and it was fantastic! I doubled the amount of vegetables and just used a 24oz bag of cheese. I watched the video posted above and I thought the soup looked too thick with the full 2 lbs of cheese. The consistency was perfect with 24oz of sharp cheddar. I baked the No Knead Crusty Bread from King Arthur Flour website to go with it.
This is definitely one of my favorite soup recipes now. Thanks for posting it.
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Post by 58limited on Jul 13, 2015 17:42:17 GMT -5
The recipe is definitely thick and cheesy with two pounds of cheese, I had to add some broth when I reheated it. Next time I think I will cut back to 24oz. and see how it turns out.
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