RHYS BOWEN: Who can possibly think straight today after what we experienced yesterday? To see our country turn into third world chaos with armed terrorists storming our Capitol and putting our lawmakers in jeopardy, egged on by the terrorist-in-chief is beyond alarming.
So I've scrapped the post I was going to put up today and instead I'm reverting to something we all find comforting: FOOD. On one of the morning shows this week there was a discussion on how the pandemic has let us have time to try out new recipes and led to a love of cooking. One of the hosts mentioned that she had found a recipe from her grandmother (or was it great-grandmother) and was going to try it. This led to a discussion of whether recipes should be strictly adhered to or was one allowed to be creative?
We have plenty of recipes from my mother and John's mother and I have made many of them. We have my mother's apple crumble every celebration dinner. The family loves her shepherd's pie. The war-time ones are interesting because they are full of substitutes for good ingredients--mock cream, mock lamb, mock venison etc.Also recipes for things we wouldn't dream of eating now: heart, lungs, kidneys, pigeons??
The pre-war ones are heavy on the butter, cream, sugar. But many are utterly delicious, if time-consuming. When I scan a new recipe if it has more than three stages it gets put aside.
Cooks in the time of my mother-in-law had plenty of time. She had a live-in maid and later a daily woman who did all the cleaning. The laundry was all sent out. So her only task was to make delicious meals for her husband when he returned home.
This she did in abundance. After my father-in-law retired (as one of the heads of international airline) lunch was a full meal with a sauce for the meat and another for the vegetables. There was always a home-made dessert to follow. In the middle of the afternoon there was tea, on the lawn in summer, with homemade cakes and cookies. I have to confess I have never had the time to make cakes and cookies, except perhaps for birthdays and then from a packet.
But if one goes a little further back in time--to Queen Victoria, the food was so completely over-the-top complicated and elaborate that it was quite unappealing. No ,I would not like to try LARK PIE for which the recipe called for 40 boned and skinned larks (little birds smaller than a sparrow). Nor would I like venison surrounded by every kind of fish and fowl imaginable: grouse and hares and crawfish... Dishes that make the turduckin look absolutely boring and bland.
So I'm interested to know what you think about recipes: Do you have any prized family recipes you use on special occasions? How often do you try new recipes? Have you been trying more during this crazy time? Where do you find your recipes?
And just to show you what I mean by a complicated recipe, here is Mah's Christmas pudding recipe:
Where is Joan? Thank you for bringing us back to a topic that soothes us, Rhys. My mother was not an inspired cook, however she did have a deft hand with baking. Her mother prepared cranberry sorbet each holiday season. On Nome street we still back mom's gumdrop cookies. I have never made the sorbet. I disliked it as a child, This might be the time to try it. A recent article in the food section of the NYT spoke to following recipes exactly. The author said following the exact steps creates a link with the original person. As Rhys mentioned, it also opens a door to our past. Food for thought. (sorry couldn't resist)
ReplyDeleteCoralee, I'm wondering if that was the same cranberry stuff my mother made when we were young. I never liked it either and I don't want to try it now, although interesting idea about linking to the past.
DeleteCoralee: I echo your question. Where is Joan????
DeleteI tend to follow the recipe exactly the first time. Then, if I like it, I'll do some personal tweaking as I go forward with second or third iterations. It keeps the link intact, but allows the recipe to grow into the next generation.
DeleteOh, wow, there's a memory, Coralee! My mother made gumdrop cookies every Christmas of my childhood. Do yours use oatmeal?
DeleteMy middle sister is the cook in the family and the keeper of favorite family recipes (my mother's Texas sheet cake) and technique (my father's steaks and ribs). She also has my mother's 1950's Joy of Cooking, which Mom used religiously. Because my Dad was a real meat-and-potatoes man, Mom also developed my absolute favorite comfort food - a hash of ground leftover meat (whatever was in the freezer - ground with a hand-cranked grinder that bolted to the counter), potatoes, carrots, and onions, moistened with a bit of leftover gravy, and topped with her incomparable pie crust. Served with more gravy and a green salad - heaven on a plate.
ReplyDeleteI get my recipes from the internet, and they have to be super simple (bonus points if I can make them in my Instant Pot). I do take liberties once I've tried them, but with caution - I am not anywhere near the cook my Mom was or sister is! And the pandemic, sadly, hasn't changed that 😂
Oh, Kerry, that hand cranked grinder! It seemed like my mother used it all the time for all sorts of things. My favorite was when she ground up some leftover ham and combined it with egg salad. So good!
DeleteOMG Texas sheet cake! Only those of us who lived there in the sixties know about this. I have the recipe somewhere but haven't made it in decades. There is no better chocolate cake anywhere in the universe. It's the boiling water that makes it.
DeleteMy mother and both grandmothers had one of those hand-crank grinders. I have no idea what happened to them, or where they might be now. I don't remember eating anything that my mother used the grinder for.
DeleteWe still use that hand cranked grinder, Kerry. It works perfectly
DeleteI should use our grinder more. We generally only use it to grind venison every fall to freeze for burgers and spaghetti, but there are a bunch of other things we could use it for.
DeleteMy mother made "poor man's" ham salad, using chunk bologna and sweet pickle relish in the food grinder. That was my favorite childhood sandwich to take for school lunch.
My mother was also in a horrible car accident when I was about 12. The lower half of her face was crushed (no seat belts). She had a very rudimentary version of plastic surgery, and when she finally came home from the hospital it was awhile before her mouth healed enough that she could be fitted for false teeth. My dad decided to make her salad, in the meat grinder. It was more like gazpacho, really.
Oh gosh! My Mother used to make hash like that. It was one of my favourite meals as a kid, though I admit that I smothered it in ketchup.
DeleteOh yes, I remember ham salad sandwiches!
DeleteWe have a hand grinder! We bought it years ago when we were into making a raw diet for our dogs. Hmm. I wonder where it is now?
DeleteMy grinder is attached to my mixer. Grandma had a hand grinder, she used it to make cranberry relish for Thanksgiving. She also would grind up the meat she boiled up and added to bottled mincemeat.
DeleteLike Coralee's mother, mine was an uninspired savory cook, but boy, could she bake. I always make her cookies at Christmas, five kinds, three of which came from her mother and mother-in-law.
ReplyDeleteDuring this pandemic, my cooking is getting boring. Partly because I don't plan out dinners ahead, and if we're out of an ingredient, I can't (won't) just run out and get it. Right now we have a piece of haddock and I'm tired of my usual fish stew. Anybody have a good (not too heavy) recipe for me?
Hi Edith, I suggest Spanish-Style Cod in Tomato Broth - I've always interchanged cod and haddock without mishap:
Delete1T olive oil; 1/2 t smoked paprika; 1/2 t black pepper; cod fillets cut in 8" pieces; 1/4 c thin sliced onions or shallots; 1/8t crushed red pepper; 1 can diced tomatoes; 1/2 cup chicken broth; 1/3 cup white wine (or use all broth); 1 thyme sprig or a sprinkle of dried; 1 T fresh parsley; 1T lemon juice. Combine paprika and pepper and sprinkle over fish. Heat a heavy skillet on high heat. Add oil and swirl. Add fish to pan serving side down and cook for 3 minutes till light brown. Turn fish over, reduce heat to medium-high add onions and red pepper; cook until translucent stirring occasionally; add tomatoes, broth, wine and thyme. Bring to a simmer and cook until fish is done. Add parsley and juice. Stir to combine - remove thyme sprig if used.
Easy peasy, and one pan. My fav kind of cooking!
Edith - I suggest my comfort food - Fish Pie
DeleteIf the haddock is already cooked you're golden, otherwise microwave for 2-4 minutes in a bowl, having covered the fish with milk (faster than it takes me to type).
Boil potatoes and smash for a mashed topping
Hard boil an egg per person
Grate a cup of cheddar, or whatever hard cheese you have around.
Use the milk the fish was cooked in to make a white sauce with 1-2 Tblsp butter or mix butter with oil, enough flour or if GF potato starch to make a roux, probably 2+ Tblsp. Add the cheese and season, s&p, paprika, chilli to your taste, add more milk if necessary. For 2 people 1 1/2 cups milk is plenty.
Flake the fish into the sauce, add chopped hard boiled eggs into an ovenproof baker, top with mashed potatoes sprinkled with a little grated cheese, or use pie crust if you prefer, and bake at 350DF for 20+ minutes or until the top is golden.
I don't usually write recipes on the fly but hope it's not too confusing. I always want fish pie if I feel sick!
Thanks, Kait and Celia, for both of these! I have all the ingredients except for fresh parsley (I have rosemary, though, overwintering in a pot in my cold sunny front entryway), including the most amazing paprika my son brought me from his honeymoon in Hungary.
DeleteHi Edith, I didn't have fresh parsley either, or the parsley that you can buy in the little tubs in the produce section so I omitted it. I won't know if it made a difference until I make the dish with all the ingredients. :)
DeleteCelia, your recipe sounds exactly like one my mother used to make and I had completely forgotten. How wonderful. I'm making this the next time I have haddock in the house!
Fish pie? Put fish, some shrimp into dish. Make white sauce or wine, fish stock sauce, sprinkle with cheese then top with potato and bake
DeleteAnd it's comfort food, too, Rhys! Much needed.
DeleteAll these recipes sound great!
DeleteFish pie : what a great idea. There's a long time I didn't eat that.
Deleteall of these recipes sound great!
DeleteLike Coralee and Edith, my mother was NOT an inspired cook. When she immigrated to Canada in the 1960s, it was a hard adjustment food-wise. Although Toronto is a multicultural city, it was hard to find Japanese ingredients, even in Asian markets.
ReplyDeleteSo I grew up eating Betty Crocker cookbook-inspired dishes for most meals in my childhood. My dad also was NOT an adventurous eater and pretty much kiboshed any ethnic foods. For example, I only ate pizza or spaghetti and meatballs when I was @12 years old and went to an Italian restaurant!
Once I left home at 19 to go to university in Waterloo ON (100 km/60 mi) away, I discovered other ethnic cuisine. German, French, British foods were all new to me. I traveled on my own for 2 months throughout Europe after that first year of university and that again broadened my taste buds tremendously.
So, suffice it to say, I became an eclectic, adventurous eater. I have over 100 cookbooks on my bookcase and of course, I have a bunch more recipes from the Internet. Some recent food allergies (chilies, nightshades) have limited what I can cook at home and eat out.
But during the pandemic, I was NOT limiting myself to my familiar comfort food recipes.
One goal was to cook at least one NEW recipe every week to keep my COVID brain-fogged mind engaged and to enjoy food since I was stuck at home.
Those of you who are friends on FB know that I post regularly about meals and my balcony garden (now indoor winter edible garden), so I am a bit food-obsessed, LOL.
I also do NOT plan my meals in advance, so I usually go with my mood and what is in the fridge, freezer and pantry.
Where I get my new recipes every week:
DeleteSMITTEN KITCHEN weekly email every Monday and archive https://smittenkitchen.com/recipes/
FOOD52 daily email and website https://food52.com/recipes
MILK STREET (thanks DEBS for that tip last week, I just subscribed)
AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN/COOK'S ILLUSTRATED daily email (I have an annual subscription)
Listed above but forgot website:
Deletehttps://www.177milkstreet.com/recipes (world cuisine)
You're inspiring, Grace. Wow. More than 100 cookbooks on your shelf. Amazing!
DeleteAMANDA, thanks but at least my cookbook collection is not out of control, like my mystery book collection which is over 14,000 books and counting, LOL. About 9000 of these are ebooks, thank goodness, but I still have over 20 bookcases in my apartment.
DeleteHoly cow, Grace! I'm hoping your floors and structure are sound. I remember the days when rental apartments had mentions of 'no waterbeds' due to their weight; I wonder if books are similar?
DeleteI’m impressed, Grace. Have you found a new favorite?
DeleteRhys, I posted the crispy Asian whole duck recipe I made on New Year's. I also made the hoisin-scallion pancakes from scratch since I could not be premade moo shu style pancakes in the Chinese supermarket. It tasted amazing and had a few more steps in soaking the duck and air drying but it was not that much more difficult than roasting a whole chicken. I plan to make this again since all our restaurants are closed this month for a province-wide lockdown. The recipe was shared by author Tori Eldridge who has been on JRW last fall.
DeleteAMANDA: No, I live in a solidly built 3-storey apartment building that was built @50 years ago so I don't worry about the weight of the books and bookcases in my apartment. My dread is there will be a time when I have to PACK AND MOVE these books myself. When I was working with the federal government, my employers paid for all my moves. The professional movers pack and unpacked everything and I just instructed them. The biggest job last time (2014) was to put the books back IN ORDER on my bookcases.
DeleteGRACE: I am impressed! I think I have about 41 cookbooks including the homemade cookbook put together by parents at my first school.
DeleteDiana
20 bookcases?
DeleteMy mother was a gourmet cook so I grew up eating all kinds of things. She was also a slave to the recipe and if the ingredients called for eye of newt - those newts better beware. I think she thought the recipe police would show up at the house and arrest her for any variations. My father, on the other hand, was a taste once and cook type of cook. He was truly inspired, but for all that he was an engineer, he never heard of standard measures when it came to cooking. He was the keeper of the family recipes. One I cherish, and should make as it's comfort food to me, is manast - it's the Italian version of beans and greens with sausage added. Yummy.
ReplyDeleteI will tackle anything once. For holidays I don't mind the more involved recipes, but for ease of life - give me one pot cooking every time!
I cannot find comfort is distraction after yesterday.
ReplyDeleteYes Elisabeth, comfort is far away today.
DeleteThank you, Ann. I found some in a tide going out walk on a nearly deserted beach. May some come close to you, too.
DeleteI played with my dogs and then watched them romp with each other. Their tug of war is so funny, one positioned on the living room rug and one on the dining room, with a stretch of hardwood between. Whoever gets on the wood floor loses.
DeleteWhat in the world has happened to our country over the past four years? I hope things can be repaired but it's so discouraging.
ReplyDeleteAs for food, I spend a lot of time looking at the NYTimes cooking app, but I will check out Grace's list since she makes the most amazing meals!
Roberta, I am glad you enjoying seeing my meal posts!
DeleteI forgot to add my newest COOKBOOKS bought in 2020:
DeleteOTTOLENGHI FLAVOR by Yotam Ottolenghi
YUM AND YUMMER by Greta Podleski (Taste Canada Gold Award winner)
GOLDY KITCHEN"S COOKBOOK by Diane Mott Davidson (I own only a few of her Goldy mysteries so it was nice to get the recipes all togather + the book is part memoir about Diane's cooking journey)
THE JOYOUS COOKBOOK by Joy McCarthy (a Toronto certified holistic nutritionist) whose blog I follow
I have Goldy's Cookbook, too, Grace. It's nice to have them all in one place, instead of trying to find the right recipe in her many books.
DeleteKAREN: Exactly! Much easier and I liked reading her memoirs, too.
DeleteYes, she's so engaging. I've met her at a signing, years ago, and she was just like that in person, too.
DeleteKAREN: Yes, I also met Diane at more than one event (Bouchercon probably), and she is lovely. I remember Her husband brought in the cookies for us to share, yum!
DeleteLUCY: I often cut out wonderful recipes from the NYT Sunday papers. I found a wonderful recipe for lasagna with kale. Tum!
DeleteDiana
GRACE: the bookseller at one of my favorite independent bookstores raved about the Otterghi (sp?) cookbook.
DeleteDiana
Diana,
DeleteYes, I really like eating all types of Middle Eastern foods, so it was a natural choice for me to choose Ottolenghi.
He has 3 cookbooks:
Ottolenghi, Ottolenghi Simple and now Ottolenghi Flavor.
My mom was the cook in the family and passed it down to my youngest sister. Me, I don't like to cook. Give me a good restaurant, which I sorely miss, and take-out for me meals.
ReplyDeleteMy DC-based daughter emailed yesterday and asked for the recipe for a favorite family cookie. She needed comfort food in the worst way.
ReplyDeleteI've tried new recipes from the Washington Post during our enforced time at home. My fav is pork chops cooked with cider vinegar, apple cider, shallots and chopped apple.
I cook in bulk once or twice a week and we eat leftovers.
I like to cook in bulk too. Living alone a batch ( like soup) of 4-5 portions will leave leftovers to eat : half in the freezer, half in the fridge.
DeleteI'm a "please make it easy" kind of cook. One of my pork chop faves is to lightly brown the chop on both sides, in my cast iron braiser. Once I've flipped it onto the second side to brown, I smother it in salsa. I'm a weenie, so I use mild salsa, but go for as much fire as you like. Once the salsa is on the chop, I turn the heat down to low, put the braiser cover on, and let it do its thing for the 20 minutes or so that I need to cook the rice and steam the veggies. Good stuff!
DeleteGigi, here's a pork chop recipe that I picked up from Regis Philbin, of all people, and it's very easy:
DeleteBrown both sides of the chop. Remove from pan. Deglaze pan with red wine. Return chops to the pan to finish cooking, just a couple minutes per side. Yummy.
I've also made a kind of sauce using herbed mustard with the red wine, and it elevates the chops to gourmet status.
It's just me here and so usually I can't be bothered to cook much of anything special. But I love to get away from it all by reading cookbooks! Maybe an odd choice of escape literature but whatever puts me in a calm and peaceful state of mind.
ReplyDeleteJUDI, browsing through the pages of cookbooks is absolutely calming, and for me, inspiring.
DeleteJudi: I browse through cookbooks, too; and also watch videos about food. I especially love watching Jamie Oliver and Ina Garten. He is so enthusiastic and she is so calm.
DeleteAMANDA: How do you watch cooking shows? The biggest disappointment when I moved to Ottawa was that my cable TV provider at the time (Rogers) dropped the Food Network from the cable package! That was another reason why I cancelled my cable subscription about 4 years ago.
DeleteI like Jamie Oliver a lot but am not a huge Ina Garten fan.
Grace, we lost the Food Network (and HGTV) when we went all streaming. Those are the only things I miss about not having cable or satellite!
DeleteDeborah, I’m a total Luddite but have seen a new Discovery Streaming service advertised on HGTV and Food Network websites. Perhaps a way to bring them back into your life?
DeleteDEBS: Sad to learn that you also lost access to the Food Network when you switched to streaming! I was definitely a Food Network TV junkie in Toronto. I suppose some of the older programs are available online?
DeleteGRACE: I watch either on YouTube on my laptop or via CBC's GEM app on my iPhone (would also work on a tablet, which I don't have). I haven't had cable TV for decades, and have been happy to find that oodles of things are available online or onscreen.
DeleteAMANDA: Thanks, I should use CBC GEM more often. And I watch plenty of other Youtube videos but never thought to look up food shows!
DeleteGRACE: The YouTube algorithm will ensure that you keep being fed (pun intended) other food-related shows to watch once you start. I discovered Alison Someone (can't remember her last name) that way; I think she's in New York and does amazing cooking in her small apartment kitchen.
DeleteI completely understand your need to turn to comfort food.
ReplyDeleteLike Rhys, I don't like recipes with too many stages. I like very simple meals and soups so I don't make a lot of recipes from my youth. However, when needing comfort, I'll cook chicken pot pie. The making being as comforting as the eating.
My favorite too!
DeleteYes indeed, crazy times. Not conducive to a good night's sleep.
ReplyDeleteI was just reading an article about bread making being calming. I don't bake bread but now the prospect tempts me. I think: sticky buns. Calming to make, calming to inhale, calming to eat.
I like Epicurious for recipes - because you can judge the recipe based on feedback often from LOTS of other cooks which can be very helpful. Tried and tested. And I have my mother's copy of Joy of Cooking which is falling apart... for any of the basics like apple pie (VERY calming.)
Hallie, yes I forgot EPICURIOUS in my list. I use the website and I have one cookbook.
DeleteAmerica's Test Kitchen is my fave since the recipes have been tried and tested and they give hints on where home cooks mess up recipes.
Goodness, I'm on before 8:30, I did wake early today. First, I did share The Age of Aquarius predictions with my memoir class yesterday morning and they loved it. Such a peaceful morning with my class then a noon Zoom service for Epiphany. The afternoons violence and anarchy was a despicable sight so I quite understand your need for a calming post Rhys and of course how could I not write about recipes and food. My mum's parents did have a cook and a maid in the house by the time I came along - Edith and Violet. When they finally retired my grandparents had Mrs. Webb, who was a single mum with a son, Martin, who was younger than me but the age of my sibs so someone to play with during my family's return to the mother ship. My first attempts at cooking didn't come until I was a teen living in Ghana with the family. We were on the University Campus where coffee mornings were popular with the faculty women and I started to bake for my mum's coffee mornings. I do remember making profiteroles, chocolate topping and all in the heat. People were always very nice about my offerings but as I watch the Great British Bake Off now, I realize I that I really had no idea of what I was doing. Plus no fresh cream but something out of a tin (can), which could be whipped and doctored up with some sugar and vanilla, but really I remember a rather metallic taste. Still it was what it was, fresh was unavailable. My father, ever the tinkering inventor, took the ballon whisk and attached it to his electric screw driver to help me whip the cream. It did go fast, and thirty seconds later, motor in my hands and whisk parted company leaving a spray of cream over me and the kitchen. It was a good idea and rather ahead of its time. I love reading cookery books, blogs, etc. Robin Ellis has a lovely blog which he writes about twice a month so no overfilling ones inbox. I love David Lebovovitz blogs from Paris too. But I am not really the cook that Sam Shifton wrote about in the NYT yesterday, following every step to the letter, though it does work well for baking, I love to create my own dishes and seldom write them down.
ReplyDeleteCELIA: I recently subscribed to David Lebovitz's monthly newsletter and have visited his blog.
DeleteI'd like a nice fish pie for dinner tonight. Your recipe up above somewhere sounds wonderful
DeleteThank you
Celia, I also baked with confidence rather than skill as a teen!
DeleteCelia, I love Lebovitz and subscribe to his blog, although I've never actually attempted to bake from any of his recipes! I do love Robin Ellis, though, and have quite a few favorite recipes from his blog and books.
DeleteMy mother was a wonderful inspired and inspiring cook. She could eat something and come home and reproduce it. So when my parents were able to travel (after educating the three of us), she would come home and make paella or something en croûte. I never had a bought salad dressing in my life until I left home.
ReplyDeleteI have her cookbook from the war years and it's a treat, Modern Guide to Better Meals with calendar of dinner and abstinence schedules 1940-1946. The chapters have January dinners with meat and January dinners without meat.
My favorite recipe and one my sisters and I still make is for Lemon Custard Soufflé. You put all the ingredients in one baking dish and when it's done you have a light soufflé-like cake on top with the custard underneath. We loved it hot or cold. The recipe gives the temperature at which to bake it but not the time needed! The page it's on in the book is covered with old drip stains. Of course because it's calendar based, all the menus are seasonal, but you couldn't get anything out of season then anyway.
Lucky you to grow up with good food. My mom was a school principal so no time for cooking
DeleteMother taught 6th grade for years but she loved to cook plus remember I grew up in the South so she had help for the housework at least a couple of days a week. Not all meals were fancy but they were good plus in the summer my father had a big garden so we had tons of vegetables and there were apple trees in the back yard.
DeleteAtlanta, you should share the Lemon Custard Souffle recipe with us!
DeleteMy mother was another uninspired cook (just get dinner on the table). She could bake, but when she needed something special, she called her mother or mother-in-law. She couldn't make a pie crust to save her life. So I think if you sat down and compared us, I'd be the more varied and accomplished chef.
ReplyDeleteI find recipes everywhere - the internet, old recipe books, new recipe books. The Girl likes pilfering the NYT food pages. She's not much on cooking, but she's a mean baker (especially cakes and cookies).
But some of those old Victorian recipes? Yeah, too much for this girl.
Good food is a good topic for today, the morning after yesterday's afternoon. Sheesh. 'nuff said.
ReplyDeleteMum served delicious food at our table and my brother and sister and I are all good cooks, as a result. I love to eat and enjoy cooking when there is ample time for the enjoyment. Daily meal-making is less fun, of course. While I love reading cookbooks and foodie writing, I don't often search for new recipes. We just cycle through about half-a-dozen tried-and-true recipes; we had our standard veggie pasta dish for supper yesterday. I guess that could count as comfort food, right?
Yesterday I had a spoon and a jar of Nutella. No recipe needed. Comfort food in a time of unprecedented stress.
ReplyDeleteFlora I just laughed for the first time since yesterday morning. That's the best line ever. I think you win the internet!
DeleteThis is perfect, Flora!
DeleteAfter hours in front of the televised mob scene at the Capitol yesterday, Julie offered to skip our usual home made dinner, finding something in the pantry. Neither of us even thought about the veggie lasagna buried in the freezer. But I said no. I made enough of our favorite Jacques Pepin tuna and orecchiette recipe, literally double the usual, to last us until the next Ice
ReplyDeleteAge. I didn't even look at the recipe, which I usually follow. It was wonderful, just the comfort food we needed, being permanently out of Nutella.
My mother and grandmother were great cooks, simple food made with whatever was seasonable and affordable. They certainly had no help. I'm more adventurous than they are, usually looking at a recipe for ideas, making note of what I'd change or add or substitute, and taking off from there.
Peace out
I had to look up the tuna orecchiette recipe, Ann. That's going in my menu rotation, for sure!
DeleteDebs, you can substitute something else green for the green peppers. I think your husband doesn’t eat them. Maybe a handful of turnip or collard greens?
DeleteAnn, I usually just leave them out and up the other ingredients a bit. Funnily enough, I use jalepenos in things all the time and he doesn't have the same allergic reaction to them as to green bell peppers.
DeleteMy mother was a terrible cook. She could turn a nice pot roast into shoe leather, and seems to have feared all seasonings, including salt. Bland was the by-word in our house when I was growing up. Italian food was "too spicy" for my mother. I learned most of what I know about cooking from my grandmother and my late husband, who were both improvisational cooks. I have picked up other tips from Jamie Oliver, and books like Samin Nosrat's "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat." I mastered the pot roast by actually looking at the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, rather than simply owning a copy and hoping the knowledge transferred, which seems to have been my mother's method.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong. I loved my mum. She was a wonderful woman with a big, generous heart and an instinctive talent for teaching and inspiring creativity in others. But she was not a cook, and I don't think I make anything these days that was a favorite recipe from my youth. Not even a fried bologna sandwich.
Omigod, Gigi, your second sentence gave me a flashback! My aunt, my mom's older sister, was a nurse who worked for our family doctor in the evenings. She would cook all day in the most incredibly messy kitchen ever, usually putting a roast in the oven earlier in the day. What came out of the oven barely resembled meat at all, it was stringy and tough and flavorless. We went there after school every day and at least once a week we ate dinner with them. Ugh.
DeleteGIGI: Bland food is just so wrong, and sad. My dad had the same reaction about Italian food: too spicy and foreign so we never ate it at home.
DeleteI have heard about Nosrat's book but have not read it.
Nosrat's book goes deeper into food science than I really want to go at the moment, but if you really want to understand how the chemistry of cooking works, it's a treasure.
DeleteKaren: I think my mom's problem was that she used an electric skillet, but never enough liquid, so there would be an impenetrable crust on the bottom of the roast. Sometimes she used a pressure cooker, and that just turned the meat an unappetizing beige, with no better flavor. The day I discovered that I could salt the meat myself was a revelation.
DeleteAn electric skillet!! My mom had one, too! What a throwback to the 60s--and best left in the past!
DeleteI wonder where my electric skillet is. I've lost track of it since we moved.
DeleteAn all-time family favorite, made in the electric skillet, was Swiss steak. With mashed potatoes, so good.
No joke about an appliance that goes unmourned, Deb. Karen, my grandmother made delicious Swiss steak, which I can more or less recreate in my braiser on the stovetop. Done right, it's yummy!
DeleteI haven’t made Swiss steak like I used to since I lost the electric skillet in the settlement. I’d love to have another one but it would have to be as good as the old one. But I’d have to get rid of something. Space issues.
DeleteWe had some wild weather blow in with a cold front yesterday evening to match that craziness in the capitol. I’m afraid I don’t derive comfort from cooking or baking. But sometimes a mysterious urge will crop up to try something new in all those recipes I’ve clipped or copied.
ReplyDeleteMom’s cooking was quite plain to begin with but got fancier over time as she was exposed to new things. She’d get the recipes from friends and family whenever she ate something she liked. Our moving to New Orleans really upped her game!
Do they even let bad cooks move to New Orleans? Isn't there a city ordinance against bland food there?
DeleteI work in a big, silent bubble, no one knew in the office knew what was happening until noon, California time. We were trying to pick up pieces of information from our phones. We all went home as soon as possible.
ReplyDeleteMy mom was a great cook. She was cooking for large groups at a young age because grandma worked outside the home. While married to my dad, she wasn't very adventurous with her cooking but once dad walked out, she was free to spread her wings. My poor step-father was her found recipe Guinea pig for years. Only thing she couldn't figure out was vegetarian diets. Like Judi, its only me, so recipes can be too big and since I since I'm notorious for losing food in the refrigerator....
I do like to bake but can't share with the office right now. I love to bake James Beards Brownies for the office. Sugar, butter, chocolate, eggs and a little flour.... Like others - is Joan okay? I'm so used to seeing her name up at the top. Take care and remember to take a slow deep breath once in while.
We are having issues with our Internet provider . . . who promised to send someone out to fix it sometime next week :(
ReplyDeleteSo we end up connected for a short while at unpredictable times, but mostly we have no service . . . .
Cooking is great for calming frazzled nerves! [Something I definitely need today!]
I bake bread [my mother’s recipe], but my go-to comfort food recipe is an easy-to-put-together macaroni and cheese, also my mother’s recipe.
Despite the butter and cream, when I'm looking for a recipe, my go-to cookbook is my old falling-apart Joy of Cooking [the new one has updated “healthier” recipes, but they just aren’t the same].
I’ve yet to find a recipe I wasn’t willing to try . . . .
I figured you were having internet problems. That's happened before, right? How lovely everyone is concerned when you don't post first thing!
DeleteYes, it is lovely, thank you . . .
DeleteAnd, yes, we've had this problem before ::sigh::
So relieved to see you! And so sorry about the internet problems.
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DeleteJOAN: Glad to see you online!
DeleteIt was a bit startling to NOT see your comment at the top of the page this morning!
Oh thank goodness it's only internet trouble, Joan. Happy to see you here now.
DeleteVery glad to know you are OK ! Internet can be fixed.
DeleteRhys, have you seen this book?
ReplyDeleteWomen in the Kitchen: Twelve Essential Cookbook Writers Who Defined the Way We Eat, from 1661 to Today by Anne Willan
I listened to it while gardening this fall. It's fascinating! All the cookbook writers are women, and the author delves into how each of them affected generations of cooks through four centuries. Fannie Farmer, Irma Rombauer, Julia Child, Edna Lewis, and Marcella Hazan, plus several cooks who are fairly lost to the dim recesses of time. The book includes many recipes, both the original version, and "for the modern cook". The ultimate tweaking of recipes.
I cook almost every night, and always have. For a long time I chafed against it, especially when the kids were small and "hated" a dish I cooked because they loved it last week. And Steve used to complain about certain dishes. Now I cook whatever *I* want to eat, and he's welcome to do the same. Most of the time I feel that what comes out of our kitchen is vastly better, in taste, quality, and healthiness, than what we would order out, anyway.
Last night I used some of the eggs from our farm tenants to make a Quiche Lorraine in the microwave, a recipe I've been making since 1976 when I got my first microwave oven. It's so darn good. This time I jazzed it up a little. I only had one onion in the pantry, and I want to save it for something else, so instead I used the same amount of preserved spicy sweet onions I canned last summer. It's delicious.
How does pastry crisp in a microwave?
DeleteThe recipe uses a blind baked crust, and it's possible to make it in the microwave, amazingly, and that's what I usually do. Yesterday, though, I baked it in the oven first. We couldn't tell the difference.
DeleteMy youngest daughter had a cooking blog for a couple of years, while her husband was in Afghanistan, and she was working on her PhD in microbiology. She used cooking to soothe her nerves, and as a way to share goodies with her lab mates.
KAREN: I had the same question tht Rhys had about how to make a good quiche in a microwave?
DeleteThe key is a long cook at a low power setting. It takes 30 minutes on 30% power to set the quiche. The key to making the egg mixture creamy is to drizzle the hot cream into the eggs, using a small wire whisk.
DeleteBake the pie crust at 425 for 12 minutes, or blind bake in the microwave with weights for 7-9 minutes at 50% power. Either way, prick the bottom of the crust before you cook it.
Here's the recipe:
Quiche Lorraine
1 (9-inch) pre-baked pie crust
½ pound bacon
1 cup shredded cheese of your choice (Swiss & Gruyere are traditional)
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup light cream (or milk)
3 or 4 eggs (depending on size)
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Place bacon slices between layers of paper towel in 2-quart (12 x 7) glass baking dish.
Microwave on HIGH (100% power) for 8 to 9 minutes or until crisp; cool. Crumble into bottom of 9-inch pre-baked pie crust in glass pie plate. Sprinkle cheese and onion on top; set aside. Pour cream into 1-cup glass measure.
Microwave cream on HIGH for 1 to 1 ½ minutes or until cream is hot. (If you pour it in too fast, the hot cream will cook the eggs.) In small bowl beat eggs and seasonings; slowly blend in heated cream, stirring the whole time with a whisk. Pour over bacon, cheese and onion in pie crust.
Microwave quiche on 30% power for 30 to 35 minutes, or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Makes six servings.
KAREN: Thanks for sharing!
DeleteKAREN: thank you for sharing another cookbook. I love cookbooks. I also look for recipes in culinary mysteries like Lucy's.
DeleteChildren often do not like adult food. I never liked bell peppers until I was living in England for my junior year abroad and ever since then I love, love, love bell peppers.
I can eat almost anything now except for dairy and wheat.
Diana
My Mother was an adventurous cook when she had time. She thought we, me and my 3 sisters, should be exposed to lots of different kinds of food and that we should learn to try things. She believed in Betty Crocker and Irma Rombauer. As she ironed, she would watch Julia Child on PBS and roar out loud at anyone who could say "Do not be afraid" and then whack a great piece of meat with a giant cleaver. She loved that Child would just dump detritus seemingly on the floor. I didn't learn to cook from my Mother, but I learned to love food and where to go when I wanted to learn how to do it myself.
ReplyDeleteMy mother was a pretty adventurous cook, too, so I was not brought up on Southern staples like fried chicken. My parents loved to travel, and my dad loved seafood. My mom's star recipes were things like seafood gumbo and crawfish etouffee, dishes I have made but don't do often as they take lots of time and serve lots of people. Nothing was too spicy for my dad, so we did not eat bland food! In her later cooking years, my mom was very into Atkin's, so there was lots more cream and butter in her recipes than I would ordinarily use now, as we tend to eat a more Mediterranean style diet.
ReplyDeleteRhys, What a WONDERFUL post on my birthday. It has been a week since my surgery to remove a piece of food from my throat. I am drinking lots of fluids and eating soft food. I just finished eating soft custard this morning for breakfast.
ReplyDeleteMy mom is an amazing cook. When my mom was a kid, my grandfather's doctor put him on a special diet (NO white flour, for example). The family maid refused to make soy bread so my mom taught herself how to make soy bread. My cousin is am amazing cook too. Her gravy for the Thanksgiving turkey is the ONLY gravy that I like and I am NOT a fan of gravy.
Cookbooks are wonderful. I still have the cookbook that the parents of my preschool put together when I was about two years old. Yes, Deaf children had to start school as early as possible. This was more like a very small private playgroup than a formal school setting.
My babysitter went on to become a chef at Cafe Beaujolais in Mendocino and she wrote several cookbooks. Her name is Margaret Fox.
There is a cookbook with a foreword by Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex.
Favorite foods? I love crispy tofu from Asian restaurants. I never could master the sane quality. A friend in England sent me a recipe for gingerbread cookies and I modified it to gluten free dairy free version and it came out delicious! I learned how to make dairy free gluten free lasagna and it was very good. When I lived in England, I loved the vegetables there!
Diana
Happy birthday, Diana! I'm so glad to hear you're on the mend from your health scare.
DeleteKAREN: Thank you so much! I feel grateful that I am still here. It was a health scare - my life flashed before my eyes! I cannot use my vocal cords for a while so I have gratitude that I know the basics of Sign Language. I am having a Zoom birthday party with my family who knows Sign Language.
DeleteGradually getting better every day.
Diana
I can't believe I am just getting here in mid-afternoon. Completely unrelated to the emergency situation in the world, I had a work emergency that consumed every minute of my day until now. I haven't even read everyone else's comments yet!
ReplyDeleteI don't have any prized family recipes except some Christmas cookies. I'm a fairly adventurous cook, though, and try new recipes all the time. In years gone by I liked to browse cookbooks, but now I mostly get them from the internet. In some cases I go searching based on an ingredient I want to use or an appetite I want to satisfy, but just as often I see them posted on Facebook or in this blog or otherwise stumble upon them.
Young friends of ours are getting married next month and I am putting together a recipe notebook for them. As I plan to say in my cover note, it is easy to find recipes but not so easy to find ones that can be made quickly after a long day's work, and that have been home tested. I plan to separate the recipes I include by prep time, because I think for young people (when not living in the world of covid) time is the big driver on food decisions.
I was so exhausted from yesterday, I slept ten hours. Thinking about food today is a good distraction. Rhys, I have to agree with you on Queen Victoria's Lark Pie. Yuck! I enjoyed reading about the different dishes in Above the Bay, one of many reasons it was on my Favorite Reads List for 2020. And, such large quantities of a dish had to be made.
ReplyDeleteI have definitely tried more new dishes since the pandemic started, both baking and main dishes. The other day I tried a deep skillet chicken lasagna, which was pretty good. Of course, I've relied on old favorites, too, as those seem to offer so much comfort. Chili and roast and baked spaghetti and meat loaf and salmon patties are ones we love that I've turned to. I was more experimental with my baking during the first of the pandemic. I've reverted to regular favorites now.
Sorry I've been absent for a few days. I will try to be back on now and earlier.
This is fascinating, Rhys. Thank you so much for sharing and making me appreciate 1) Hub does all the cooking and 2) Modern refrigeration.
ReplyDeleteJENN, your Hub is a gem and a keeper! Wonderful to have someone cook for your family. Modern refrigeration is wonderful when it works.
DeleteDiana
I'm late to comment, Pacific time zone and top much CNN. I can't believe none of you mentioned recipes with a can of Campbell's soup. My aunt went to a cooking class sponsored by the local newspaper in the 1950's and brought home a recipe using cream of mushroom soup as a base for a wine and cheese sauce for pearl onions. Still a fixture at family holiday meals. Delicious and so easy. One of my early kitchen chores was turning the handle on our grinder to make hash.
ReplyDelete