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Johnnycake Queen: Johnnycake and Chowder Recipes
Barbara Stetson's kitchen rules when it comes to these Rhode Island specialties.
by Edie Clark
The scents of a hot griddle and sautéed onions fill the kitchen of Barbara Stetson's 18th-century North Scituate house. Barbara is known locally as the Johnnycake Queen, which, in a state in love with johnnycakes, is tantamount to being the queen of all.
Barbara calls herself "a good plain cook" who wants to show people how they can make good things fast. She is in the midst of making chowder, a very good thing. "People don't have the time," she says. "They want to be able to make something that's quick with ingredients they have on hand. They want something that's good."
She already has the onions jumping at the bottom of a Dutch oven. To her left, a row of johnnycakes sizzle on the griddle.
Hers is a life of food, a life in service to food. Barbara's house is crammed with some 2,000 vintage cookbooks. "Who's counting? I just know I've never seen a cookbook I didn't want." Once, she and her husband went into a bookstore and she came out without buying a cookbook. "There weren't any in there I didn't have," Barbara told him. "It's time for you to write one," her husband replied.
Barbara's Island Cookbook is a collection of her favorite recipes. It has sold 40,000 copies, many mailed out to stores and other venues from her kitchen table. "I started just doing Rhode Island, but I went on to the rest of the islands -- Prudence and Patience, Block Island, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket. People on the islands like to cook, and they're creative with what they have."
Her chowder is salty and of the sea. The johnnycakes come smothered in a creamy white sauce laden with smoked salmon and peas. (She whipped this up at the same time she made the chowder and the cakes.) I leave the house well satisfied, lugging bags of food offerings. "No one ever leaves here empty-handed," she says. Or hungry.
The Queen's Johnnycakes
Bread Recipes
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Start to Finish Time: 30 minutes
Yield: about 1 dozen cakes
In Barbara's kitchen bible, the johnnycakes (sometimes spelled “jonnycakes”) are thick and the chowder is thin. Barbara claims that the best purebred white flint corn variety for johnnycakes -- Narragansett whitecap -- can be grown only in Rhode Island, "like Vidalia onions only grow in Georgia." Her brands of choice for cornmeal are Kenyon's, Gray's, and Carpenter's.
- 1 cup white flint cornmeal
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1-1/2 cups boiling water
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil (or bacon grease)
In a medium bowl, whisk together cornmeal, salt, and sugar. Whisk in boiling water until it becomes the consistency of loose mashed potatoes. Whisk in milk. The batter will thicken as it cools. Heat and grease a griddle to medium-high heat (Barbara uses an electric griddle, set at 365°). Place large spoonfuls (about 3 tablespoons) of batter onto the griddle and brown, about 5 minutes on each side.
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Little Compton Mussel Chowder
Soups, Stews, Chowders Recipes
Preparation Time: 40 minutes
Start to Finish Time: 3 hours
Yield: about 6 hearty servings
- 1/4 pound salt pork, diced
- 1 cup thinly sliced onions
- 2 cups chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned)
- 1 cup thinly sliced green peppers
- 2 cups diced new or Yukon Gold potatoes
- 2 cups corn (fresh or canned)
- 1/2 peck (6 pounds) mussels in their shells, scrubbed and debearded
- Kosher or sea salt and
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
In a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, fry pork and onions until onions become light brown, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and peppers; simmer on low 2 hours. Add potatoes and corn; cook until tender, about 10 minutes.
In a large stockpot, bring 1 quart of water to boil. Add mussels and steam until shells open (discard any that do not open). When shells open, transfer mussels to a colander, saving any liquid. Strain liquid and add to pot with vegetables. (If desired, remove mussels from their shells; discard shells and reserve mussels.) Season vegetables (be sure to taste first -- the mussel broth will be naturally salty) with salt, pepper, cayenne, and paprika. Add mussels to pot just before serving.
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Reader Comments
Comment from S. Wagner on March 3, 2008
Dear Sir, Could please send info. regarding how to order the "Island Cookbook" by Barbara Stetson?! Thank you so much. :-)
SusanWagner
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