John Philip Sousa's Favorite Food

One of the most enjoyable aspects of history for me is the little tidbits of trivia you discover along the way that when taken together help enrich your understanding of the past.  In fact the word trivia comes from the Latin word "trivium" which was the place where three roads met.  In the same way, trivia is the intersection of information.

John Philip Sousa was obviously best known for the stirring marches he composed, but perhaps, if you are so inclined, you might like to try his favorite meal as reported in the Chicago Herald on July 23, 1916.  It's pretty much spaghetti and meatballs, but for a 1922 cookbook contribution, he titled the dish:

Pelotas á la Portuguese
Tomato sauce: one quart can of tomatoes; put in kettle on top of stove, simmer or let boil slowly for one and a half hours. Add pepper, salt, two onions cut in fine slices, four allspice and four cloves, the cloves and allspice to be added after it starts to boil. After one and a half hours add:

• Pelotas (meat balls) – Two pounds chopped meat (beef, as hamburger steak). Add one onion chopped fine, one cup bread crumbs, a little parsley, salt and pepper. Make into meat balls about the size of a plum. Put into sauce and boil one and one-half hours slowly. This makes fully three hours’ slow boiling for the sauce.

• Spaghetti – use a package or a pound of spaghetti (not macaroni). Have a large pot of boiling water with about one table-spoonful of salt. Slide the spaghetti into the water, Do not break it. Boil exactly twenty minutes. Must be tender, not tough, not doughy.

To sauce add three bay leaves one hour before taking off the stove. Serve spaghetti on large platter, pouring tomato sauce over it. Serve pelotas on smaller platter, allowing a small quantity of sauce to remain. Serve grated parmesan cheese on side. Use the piece of cheese to grate, not bottled cheese.

Mr. Sousa was quoted in 1916 and again in 1922 as saying, "This serves from six to eight people and is my favorite dish."

Grilled Vegetable Salad

Okay, I'm not a big salad guy, but Mrs. Nate Maas made this one the other night and it tasted more like something from the grill than any salad I had ever tasted.  The kids even ate it!

Grilled Vegetable Salad


1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard
2 Cloves Garlic, coarsely chopped
1 cup Olive Oil
Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper
2 Zucchini, quartered lengthwise
1 Japanese Eggplant (about 1 lb.) cut across, 1/4" rounds
6 Asparagus Spears, trimmed
12 Cherry Tomatoes
1 Small Red Onion, sliced 1/4" thick (or 1/2 a large red onion)
1 Red Bell Pepper, quartered and seeded
1 Yellow Bell Pepper, quartered and seeded
1/2 cup Feta Cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup Fresh Basil Chiffonade (stack leaves, roll in cigar shape and cut crosswise into thin strips)
8 cups Red Leaf Lettuce, washed and torn into bite size pieces
Roasted Pine Nuts

Marinade/Dressing:  In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard and garlic, slowly add the olive oil and whisk until combined.  Season with salt and pepper.  Pour marinade over the vegetables and let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.  Preheat the grill.

Remove the vegetables from the marinade (reserve the marinade, it is also the dressing) and grill the vegetables until just cooked through.  Grill the vegetables in batches until both sides are nicely charred and the vegetables are just tender, about 10 minutes for the peppers, about 8 minutes for the eggplant and asparagus and about 6 minutes for the zucchini.  When the vegetables are cool enough to handle, cut into 1/2" pieces or bite size pieces.  Cut the eggplant, asparagus, zucchini and peppers into bite size pieces, cut the tomatoes in half.  Place all the vegetables in a large bowl and toss to combine.

Plate the salad individually or in a wide, flat serving bowl:


Lettuce on the bottom
Grilled Vegetables
Basil
Drizzle dressing over (reserved marinade)
Crumbled Feta Cheese
Sprinkle with Pine Nuts

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

I hope you had as much fun as I did yesterday.  It seems like our first Person-of-Mystery™ contest was a smashing success.  It was nice to see so many familiar faces and even a few new ones!  I'm still trying to figure out how PJM gets anything done while managing a blog.  I'm guessing it must be an army of henchmen housed in underground barracks.

Thanks for your patience while this website is being improved.  If you'll recall, one of the first posts to our website complained that we had no recipes (like some other websites).  Okay, if recipes you want, recipes you'll get.

Here's one my wife tried the other day for Baja Fish Tacos, provided by a friend of hers.  Now before I give it to you, I don't want to hear, "oh, this is a recipe from such-and-such."  It probably is.  As far as I know, it came from her friend Julie.

One final note, I understand there may be some rather discerning food critics among our readership.  I like good tasting food, but things that are easy to prepare.  Here's one that meets my criteria and one that our three rather picky boys all seemed to enjoy:

Baja Fish Tacos

2 T.  taco seasoning

1 T.  fresh lime juice

1 T.  fresh orange juice

1 lb.  mahi mahi, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 T.  canola oil

2 cups  shredded cabbage

1/2 cup  chopped green onion

1/2 cup  guacamole

1/2 cup  chopped cilantro

8  corn tortillas

8  lime weges

1.  Combine first 3 ingredients in a bowl.  Add fish and toss to coat.

2.  Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add fish; sauté 5 minutes or until fish is done.

3.  Combine cabbage, green onion, guacamole and cilantro.

4.  Warm tortillas in a pan on high, one at a time.

5.  Spoon about 1/4 cup of the cabbage mixture down the center of a tortilla, top with fish and a squeeze of fresh lime.

Enjoy!