A Cookbook I’m Loving Right Now

Sometimes it’s fun to revisit an old cookbook! Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time with The Marshall Field’s Cookbook which includes many of the classic menu items from the department store’s legendary restaurants as well as “fresh takes” on these cherished dishes from a group of famous chefs known as Field’s Culinary Council. 

Published in 2006, the book also shares the history of how Marshall Field’s was the first department store to serve food on its premises (in the 1890’s) and how it eventually became the backdrop for so many family’s special life moments and traditions.💕

I got this book shortly after it came out when I was just beginning to cook for my young family and searching for tried-and-true recipes. Revisiting it now, and spending more time reading it in its entirety, has been a welcome trip down memory lane taking me back to the many shopping trips with my mom and Grandma Frances over my lifetime where it was always more about “lunching” than shopping.

Ladies’ Lunches 

When I was a young girl, my grandma would pick me up on Saturdays in her very large, silver Caprice Classic with plush, velvety seats. We’d head to Duluth to shop at such downtown treasures as Glass Block, Wahl’s and Oreck’s and have lunch at Duluth dining institutions such as the Black Steer, the Normandy or the Jolly Fisher where my grandma would enjoy a Manhattan (or two!) and I would sip on a kiddy cocktail!

In later years, when our shopping adventures took me, my mom and grandma to the Twin Cities, we would always make our way to a restaurant within Marshall Field’s (formerly Dayton’s) and more often than not it was the Boundary Waters (later called the Lakeshore Grill) restaurant within Southdale. 

We looked forward to the warm popovers served before the main course, asking for extra butter and trying our hardest to eat slowly and savor each buttered bite. My mom and I would proceed to order a cup of the Boundary Waters Wild Rice Soup and then split a Mandarin Chicken Salad—the one with the little mandarin orange slices, fried wontons and toasted sesame dressing. These delicious lunches spent in the company of two of my favorite ladies in the ambiance of the esteemed restaurants are some of my best memories.

Popovers (makes 12 to 14)

From the Marshall Field’s Cookbook

Ingredients

5 large eggs

1 2/3 cup whole milk

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Lightly coat popover pans or muffin tins with nonstick spray and heat in the oven for 15 minutes.
• Crack eggs in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until frothy. 
• Add the milk and butter and mix well. 
• Add the flour and salt;  mix to combine.
• Divide the batter among the preheated pans, filling each cup about half full. 
• Bake for 30-40 minutes, until puffy and golden brown. The finished popovers should pull away from pan easily and feel light to the touch.
• Remove and serve immediately.

Food at Field’s

I know I am not the only one who holds these restaurants and their signature menu items dear to my heart! It was fun to flip through the introduction to this book and learn how it all started from humble beginnings.

Apparently, in the 1890s there was a clerk from the millinery (aka hat department) at the Chicago Field’s named Mrs. Hering who heard some customers complaining that they had nowhere to eat. Mrs. Hering offered her own chicken pot pie she brought for her lunch, setting up a table and serving her pie. Before long, Mrs. Hering had a following and started selling her pot pies at a counter in the store. Management soon caught wind and recognized the potential of serving food to hungry guests! 

Eventually,  a space was set up in an upper floor of the department store (and later expanded to the Walnut Room) where they served Mrs. Hering’s Pot Pie alongside the specialties of other cooks who prepared their own cherished family recipes in their home kitchens and brought them in each morning.

Fast forward to the 1940s and Minneapolis-based Dayton’s was opening its own culinary institutions to serve its shoppers with the Oak Grill, the Sky Room (both in Minneapolis) and the River Room (in St. Paul).  In the 1990s, Fields and Daytons joined forces (along with Detroit-based Hudson’s) to bring together their flagship restaurants and signature menu items. Those were the days! 

I realize now that this cookbook came out at a pivotal time before everything went to hell in a handbasket, as in when Marshall Field’s stores transitioned to Macy’s. For those in the Twin Cities, you may remember the earlier painful evolution, when our beloved Dayton’s stores were folded into the Marshall Field’s brand. But at least Marshall Field’s remained committed to the traditions tied to the popular restaurants and also kept the stores pretty much intact. Once Macy’s took the helm, it was only a matter of time before each of these treasured culinary institutions throughout the Twin Cities bit the dust.

I guess I am still a little salty about the demise of these culinary treasures and all the traditions and memories that went with them, but at least I have this cookbook so I can return to some of these cherished food memories and make our favorite recipes like the Boundary Waters Wild Rice Soup, Mrs. Hering’s Famous Chicken Potpie and Popovers in my own kitchen! 

Sweet Memories

Following is one of the many recipes from the cookbook I am loving right now that includes the famous Frango Chocolate Mints that (thankfully!) are still available today at Macy’s. I tweaked the recipe slightly to use more chocolate. Wouldn’t this make a nice Valentine’s Day treat?!

Frango Rice Krispy Bars 

Adapted from the Marshall Field’s Cookbook

Ingredients

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

18 ounces of mini marshmallows

9 cups of Rice Krispies (or another crispy rice cereal)

 1 package (1-pound size) of Frango Mint Chocolates or Dark Chocolate Mints, chopped up into small pieces

Directions

• Butter a 9 x 13 pan.
• Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.
• Add the marshmallows and stir constantly for about 5 minutes until the mixture is melted and smooth.
• Remove from heat, add cereal and stir to combine.
• Butter your hands and pat the mixture into the pan.
• In a separate saucepan, melt the chocolate over low heat stirring constantly to prevent from scorching.
• Once chocolate is melted, pour over the cereal mixture.
• Let sit for several hours, or place in refrigerator, to set before cutting.
• Store at room temperature in an airtight container.