Presidential Food Favorites
Recently, while touring the hall of presidential portraits at the Smithsonian museum in Washington D.C., it struck me how unique an individual each president was. While in office each president had his own leadership style along with personal preferences. Some presidents were very humble while others were much more gregarious. Many presidents and first ladies, upon inauguration, completely changed the look and menu of the White House depending on their distinct taste.
In the news you often hear about some of the president’s favorite foods, especially those who were recently in office. Who can forget Ronald Reagan’s predilection for jelly beans? Reagan was so associated with jelly beans that mourners included them in his farewell tributes last year. He is commonly quoted as saying “You can tell a lot about a fellow by his way of eating jelly beans.” How about George H.W. Bush’s distaste for the vegetable broccoli? And a memorable image from when Bill Clinton was on the campaign trail was his very public stops at McDonald’s for the purpose of enjoying a Big Mac.
Our current president George W. Bush favors Tex-Mex style food. Love him or can’t stand him, you have to love his favorite meal of tacos! Below is a simple meal of chicken tacos, in which the chicken is slow simmered with chipoltle chilies in the crockpot and then shredded. The fun part is that each person gets to assemble their tacos individually. Serve with mix-and-match bowls of condiments such as shredded lettuce, cheese, salsa, and sour cream, with limes to squeeze over the top.
Presidential palates have varied quite a bit over time but what about our senators? Another governmental favorite is traditional United States Senate Bean soup. According to tradition, this item must be available on the menu every day in Congressional dining areas. This custom is said to date back to the early twentieth century at the request of Senator Fred Dubois of Idaho. However another story gives credit to Senator Knute Nelson of Minnesota who requested the soup daily beginning in 1903. Fortunately, recipes for Senate Bean Soup vary and the specific type of bean is allowed to change. You may want to alter the soup a little to suit your personal taste, using a mix of great northern, pinto or navy beans, and adding sautéed onions to the top. This soup is nutritious— high-protein and rich in B-vitamins, iron, calcium, potassium, and phosphorous, whether you are making decisions that affect the entire country or just your family.
Made with instant mashed potato flakes, dried navy beans, smoked pork hock, onions, garlic, celery, fresh Italian parsley
Serves/Makes: 6
- 2 cups dried navy beans
- 1 smoked pork hock
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 stick celery, chopped
- 1 small handful fresh Italian parsley, chopped fine
- 1/2 cup instant mashed potato flakes
Soak the beans overnight in cold water.
In the morning, rinse the ham hock and place in slow cooker. Rinse the beans and add to cooker along with onion, garlic, celery and parsley. Stir and add enough water to cover the meat.
Cook on low setting for 10-12 hours, or high 6-8 hours.
Remove the hock and cut the meat off the bone. Raise slow cooker setting to high, return the meat to the cooker, and add potato flakes (if desired) as well as additional water if necessary. Stir, cover and cook for another 10 minutes.
Made with whole chicken, onion, garlic, black peppercorns, chipotle peppers, water, salt and black pepper, tortillas, romaine or iceberg lettuce, sour cream
Serves/Makes: 6
- 3 pounds whole chicken
- 1 onion, halved
- 2 cloves garlic, left whole
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 2 dried or canned chipotle peppers (or more if desired)
- 2 cups water
- salt and black pepper
- 16 flour or corn tortillas
- 1 medium head romaine or iceberg lettuce, washed, dried and shredded
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 pound shredded Mexican blend, Monterey jack, or Cheddar cheese or queso fresco, crumbled
- 1 cup salsa
- 1/2 cup diced onion
Place the chicken in a crock pot. Add the onion, garlic, peppercorns, and chipotle peppers. Add the water. Cover the crock pot and cook on low heat for 4-6 hours or until the chicken is completely cooked.
Remove the chicken from the crock pot and place on a platter or cutting board. Let sit until cool enough to handle.
Remove the skin and bones and shred the chicken. Place the shredded chicken in a bowl, season with salt and pepper, and keep warm.
Heat the tortillas as directed on the package.
Assemble the tacos with the chipotle chicken, shredded lettuce, sour cream, cheese, salsa, and onions on the heated tortillas as desired.
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