Annie Glenn's Ham Loaf

Some time ago, I was impressed by something that Brook wrote in his introduction to his Syrian poached chicken recipe:

quote:

It’s kind of astounding, the number of recipes I’ve flagged when first acquiring cookbooks, but which I haven’t gotten around to trying. I mean, let’s face it; after a while everything sounds good, and goes on the to-do list.

http://foodsoftheworld.activeb...icken_topic4065.html

Reading this passage was like having a lightning bolt strike right next to me, as my cookbooks (and this forum) are filled with recipes that I've come across and would really like to try, but just haven't been able to for some reason or another; there are far too many to list, but I would like to relay one of those experiences here.

When I was young, I saw the movie, The Right Stuff, a film about Project Mercury and the the first steps that our nation took into space. The movie started a life-long interest in the history of America’s aviation and space programs, particularly during the age of the test pilots and through Projects Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. To me, it was a magic time in America, when we were able to achieve much in spite of the domestic turmoil that our nation came to face as the tumultuous 1960s progressed.



As usually happens to me, once I saw the movie, I had to read the book - written by Tom Wolfe - and came across an intriguing literary reference: after John Glenn's historic orbital flight, Vice President and Mrs. Johnson visited the Glenns for a dinner party. When the wives of the other astronauts asked her what she would be cooking, Annie Glenn replied that she would be serving her ham loaf. The other wives are flabbergasted that she would choose such a lowly, humble dish, but Annie nonchalantly predicted that Lady Bird would enjoy it so much that she (Lady Bird) would ask her (Annie Glenn) for the recipe.

Sure enough, at the conclusion of the dinner, Lady Bird did indeed request the recipe.



So there I was, a junior high school student, reading this passage...and even then, i wanted to find and try that recipe!

It took me almost 30 years, but eventually I did exactly that - here's how it turned out.

The recipe comes from the 10 May 1964 installment of a column titled How America Eats, by Clementine Paddleford, and appeared in a number of newspapers across the country on that date, including the Milwaukee Journal and the Salt Lake Tribune. The heading for that date, “Potluck with the Famous,” reflects the intense, widespread celebrity that American astronauts enjoyed at that time, a phenomenon that cannot be understated as being fundamental to that yeasty, innovative period in America’s cultural history. A recurring theme throughout Wolfe’s book portrays the astronauts - especially during the Mercury Program - as the America’s “single combat warriors,” challenging the dark Soviet empire for control of the heavens during a time when anxiety over the possibility of world-wide nuclear armageddon was a daily reality. The citizens of America took this aspect of the Cold War to heart, and the “Mercury Seven” were hailed across the country as national heroes.



As if to to underscore this combination of patriotism and celebrity, Clementine Paddleford (this simply has to be a pen name) included this recipe from the Glenns alongside contributions from Lucille Ball, Leontyne Price, Mrs. Nelson Rockefeller, Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower and even the former dinner guests of the Glenns: President and Mrs. Johnson. With each recipe, Paddleford included a brief background and description of each dish, as though from an interview with each featured personality; as part of the section for the ham loaf, she (?) writes:

quote:

The Glenns eat plain but good home-style Middle Western vituals. Annie seldom uses a cook-book. She likes to borrow recipes from friends and then improvises to suit the family.

Indeed, Annie Glenn’s ham loaf is the second recipe featured in the article, right after LBJ’s spoon bread, a testament to the national attention that the Glenns (and the space program) were getting.



To my knowledge, the recipe is indeed authentic, and it has been cited in other works as being from Annie Glenn. During my research, I did come across one or two other recipes that were purported to be hers, but they just didn’t quite seem right; this recipe struck the right chord - considering Paddleford’s mention of Annie’s penchant for improvisation - so it was the one that I chose.

With that, let’s get started! Here is the recipe:

quote:

Annie Glenn’s Ham Loaf

2 eggs, beaten
1.25 cups milk (scant)
2/3 cup cracker crumbs
1/3 cup quick-cooking tapioca
1 tablespoon minced onion (optional)
1 pound ground smoked ham
1 pound ground fresh ham
1/4 pound ground beef
Brown Sugar Sauce (see below)

Combine eggs, milk, cracker crumbs, tapioca and onion. Let stand until mixture thickens slightly, about 30 minutes.

Add meats; mix well. Place in a baking pan. Shape into a loaf. Pour on Brown sugar Sauce.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 hours, basting frequently.

Yield: 8 portions.

Brown Sugar Sauce:

1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1/3 cup vinegar
1/4 cup water

Combine ingredients, boil 3 minutes.

Here is everything that I used to prepare the ham loaf:



A couple of notes on the meats: “fresh ham” is something that is really not seen in supermarkets these days, so I simply used ground pork from our local grocery, which tends to be on the lean side; it is pictured on the top-left of the “trio of meats” above. To the right is the ground ham, left over from a previous ham supper a few days before. In the foreground is the ground beef, which was from our own local beef. I will admit that I was perplexed by the beef’s inclusion in the recipe, but it seemed to work quite well.

The recipe notes that the non-meat ingredients for the ham loaf need to stand and thicken for about half an hour, so I got started with that first. To begin, I pulverised some crackers:



Next, I measured out 2/3 cup of cracker crumbs, 1/3 cup of tapioca and a scant 1.25 cups of milk:



The cracker crumbs and tapioca, of course, absorb moisture from the milk and the juices of the meats, keeping the ham loaf from becoming dry and crumbly.

Then, I added these ingredients to 2 eggs and 1 tablespoon of minced onion:



Normally, I would be inclined to use the entire onion; however, I wanted to experience the dish that inspired the wife of the Vice President of the United States of America to ask for the recipe, so I stuck to it.

I then mixed these ingredients with a fork and left them alone for half an hour so that the dry ingredients could soak up the moisture from the eggs and milk before getting integrated into the ham loaf mix. Together, the ingredients in this mixture will work as a binding agent for the ham loaf, holding it together and keeping it moist.

Meanwhile, I took the opportunity to prepare the brown sugar glaze, which was very easy and ended up adding a wonderful element to the dish. To start, I combined 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1 tablespoon of dry mustard, 1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar and 1/4 cup water into a saucepan:



The recipe didn’t specify whether to use white or apple cider vinegar, but considering pork’s universal association with apples, I went with the latter.

From here, it is just a simple matter of bringing the ingredients to a boil, stirring often:



I continued the boil for 3 minutes, reducing the heat a bit as necessary and stirring often, then removed the glaze from the heat.

By this time, the half-hour of waiting was over, so I added the meats - 1 pound each of ground ham and ground pork, with 1/4 pound of ground beef - to the binding mixture:



I then mixed all of the ingredients thoroughly and shaped the mixture into a round flat loaf in my cast iron pan, pouring the glaze on top:



After that, I popped the pan into the pre-heated oven and baked the ham loaf for about 2 hours; every 20 minutes or so, I basted the ham loaf with the glaze that was in the pan.

When the ham loaf was finished, I took it out of the oven and was really happy with what I saw:



Not bad at all, for “plain, home-style” food!



The family was hungry, and in no mood to stand there and admire this delicious-looking time-traveler from the 60s, so I served it up; keeping it home-style, I accompanied the ham loaf with mashed potatoes, gravy and cut corn:



I could have cut the loaf into nice, even slices, I suppose - but we never have done so in my family, so I saw no reason to start now.

In a word, this was simply outstanding! I greatly enjoyed it and immediately decided that this would be on the menu rotation in our home. It is easy, it is economical and it tastes great - what more could one ask for?



The ham loaf itself had all of the rich, smoky goodness of its namesake, with a pleasant, smooth texture and excellent moisture retention due to the tapioca and cracker crumbs. The glaze was especially nice, creating a sweet/tart, piquant crust that was “baked on,” adding a wonderful layer of texture and flavour. Experiencing this for the first time, it was easy for me to see why Lady Bird asked for this recipe: because it makes a great ham loaf!



With autumn approaching, it seems like an especially good time to make this ham loaf, so please give it a try and see if you don’t agree that it truly is out of this world. As you can see, there is nothing complicated about it, and the results are excellent any night of the week.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and as always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reply.

Ron

Wow! That looks soooooooooooooo good!

The basic premise for me is that pork is complimented by fruit. Instead of sugar I'd like to have some fruit .You're choice but a fruit that's a bit tart.

Looks darn good.

Any thoughts on whether this would work in a Dutch oven over a campfire? Could be a dandy family dinner at elk camp.