Recipe from the 70's is Worth Re-Visiting

If we are fortunate we grow up with a Mother or a Father who appreciates treating you well on your birthday. As in, "you can have whatever you want for dinner." Parents might be a bit more challenged in that area these days because thanks to television children are exposed to many, many things, including Lobster and Filet Mignon.

It's not as if we didn't have a television but in those days it wasn't such a central part of life that it is now. I believe we were allowed a single hour of TV viewing a day. And, of course, TV itself was different in the 1960's and early 70's. There wasn't nearly as much programming. So not much chance of we children broadening our horizons too much. I believe they served big, bright colored squares of replicated food on Star Trek.

No, my Mother could safely expect us to choose our favorite meal from her catalog of well-tried recipes. I ran the gamut of choices. There was one year I was having a Bisquick pancake obsession and that is what we had for my birthday dinner. I had a long love affair with my Mother's spaghetti (you aren't noticing an affection for carbs are you?), and it was my choice for birthday dinner on many occasion.

But in my teen years I settled on a single favorite that I requested every year and that was my Mother's lasagna. It was saucy, delicious and it smelled wonderful cooking in the oven. Over the years I've made lasagna many times but never with my Mother's recipe. I used a McCall's recipe that was detailed and full of original Italian herbs. I actually haven't made lasagna in a long time for a couple of reasons; 1. It takes forever to make from scratch and 2. It makes a lot of pretty fattening food. But as I was talking to my Mom the other day she mentioned that she made her lasagna for visiting family and it was a big hit. I then did what I should have done 25 years ago and asked her to send me the recipe. I made it last night and it was as good as I remembered it. The ingredients are simple but they match wonderfully well together.

MY MOTHER'S SAUCY LASAGNA

1 lb ground beef
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic minced
1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. leaf oregano, 1 tsp. parsley flakes, 1/4 tsp pepper.
2 8 oz. cans tomato sauce w/cheese (they no longer make this, just add a healthy sprinkle of Parmesan).
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
1 5 3/4 oz can mushroom steak sauce
1 2 1/2 jar sliced mushrooms
1 small package of lasagna - cooked and drained
1 pint of cottage cheese
1 egg beaten
1 Tbs. milk
2 4 oz. packages shredded mozzarella cheese

Brown meat, onion and garlic in large skillet; mix in seasonings. Add tomato sauce, paste, mushroom steak sauce and sliced mushrooms; cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Let cool. Cook lasagna noodles according to pckg. instructions, drain. Mix cottage cheese, egg and milk. Layer row of noodles, cottage cheese, meat sauce and mozzarella, then repeat with second layer in 12 x 8 baking pan. (I actually managed 3 full layers and a last layer of noodles, sauce with the remaining mozzarella and some freshly grated Parmesan). Bake at 375 for 45 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes before cutting into serving pieces.

You can play with this recipe with fresh herbs and mushrooms. You can also use no boil noodles but I don't like the results as well. The key ingredient might be the mushroom steak sauce so don't leave that out. You can get it at your grocers. It's Dawn Fresh by Giorgio. I added just a little sugar and balsamic vinegar to the completed lasagna sauce just to taste at the end.

Stories of Bouillabaise

In 1973 my family took the biggest vacation that we had ever had. We were pretty middle class and in those days flying was still considered to be a luxury and was priced accordingly so we hit the road to California in a long 4 door sedan. Driving from Seattle with my sister and I in the enormous backseat, my father carrying with him tickets for Disneyland, one of our first stops was in San Francisco.

Somehow my Dad had specifically been told that we had to eat at the elderly but renowned Aliotos restaurant on the San Francisco waterfront. Open since 1925 you can still find the place alive and well where it has always been. For our family this was a very big treat and it was also the first time I've was introduced to bouillabaise.

Now since I was only 11 years old at the time my memory might be a bit hazy. Reading up on Aliotos today there is no bouillabaise on the menu but apparently cioppino is a long lived specialty of the restaurant. I might have to conclude that it was cioppino that I ate but since the two soups are so similar I can live with that. I remember seeing squid for the first time in someplace other than an aquarium and the rubbery feeling it had in my mouth. Most children would shy away from that, and I could be a very picky eater, but the experience of eating at the fancy restaurant with the gracious waiters and cloth napkins made everything taste delicious.

My other bouillabaise story occurred in the Canadian Rockies if you can believe it. When my husband and I were pretty newly married, and very young, I worked as a travel agent. My husband was a big skier and we were always looking for new travel adventures to have with my travel agent discount. I wrote to VIA rail and requested a discount on travel between Vancouver and Banff and they were kind enough to offer me half off. Since it was an overnight trip we reserved a cabin for 2 on the train.

We are so grateful for that experience now because you can no longer do it without selling some of your assets. The train still runs but it is a tourist train and is priced like the Queen Mary. Our double cabin consisted of 2 leather benches facing each other with an enormous picture window. While we were being served our lovely dinner in the dining car the porter turned our benches into wide beds, one top and one bottom, with heavy curtains that snapped shut to give you privacy. It felt like being in a Western movie! The experience of waking up to stare at the incredible view of the Rockies out my window as we click clocked along is probably not something I'll have again.

Now for the bouillabaise. Whenever my husband and I have a hankering for staying at a castle we find an old Canadian Pacific Hotel to stay in. The Empress in Victoria with it's super fantastic Bengal Room and the Chateau Lake Louise with it's spectacular view of the lake. But our favorite is the Banff Springs Hotel. On this trip as we toured it's giant halls our noses tripped over something delicious. We followed our noses to a small wine bar on the premises that normally did not serve much in the way of food. Apparently on the day we were there they had received a fresh load of seafood and so they were in the process of cooking a large batch of bouillabaise. Unfortunately for us it wasn't ready yet so we were never able to taste their concoction but I will never forget it's wonderful aroma.

So for me bouillabaise has always meant fancy and special. It also meant that I never considered making it myself. Something on the order of garlicky escargot - you only get it at a restaurant where they know what they're doing. But I ran into a recipe a year or so ago and I thought of a way that it might be done at home easily and inexpensively. I do the exact recipe except I cut it in half and the only seafood I add is Trader Joe's seafood mix ($5.99). It is frozen and includes shrimp, bay scallops, and calamari rings. I then purchase about 6 clams and 6 mussels from the fishmonger ($2.50) and throw them all in to finish the soup. It couldn't be simpler or tastier. Here is the recipe as I originally found it.

BOUILLABAISE - FRENCH SEAFOOD STEW RECIPE

1 LB Fin Fish (red snapper, flounder,trout)
1/2 to 1 LB Shrimp, lobster, scallops, crab meat, any or all
18 small Clams, mussels, or lobster claws, any or all
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lg onion finely chopped
2 shallots minced
4 cloves garlic finely chopped
28 oz can tomatoes (coarsely chopped) with liquid
2 Cups fish stock, claim juice, or chicken stock
1/2 cup dry sherry
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp each thyme, basil, saffron
Pepper to taste
Fresh topped parsley for garnish

Cut boneless pieces of fish into bite size pieces. Remove shells from shrimp, lobster, crab. Scrub clams and mussels. Saute onion, garlic and shallots in oil on low heat until lightly golden. In a large pot, put in all liquids and seasonings except parsely. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 15 minutes. Add all seafood, mix and simmer 10 minutes. Serve hot in large bowls with crusty bread and a tossed salad.

Soup for Dinner

I can think of few things that stretch a budget longer than a big pot of soup. In the days when cooking was done with food from your own garden and barn it was even more important. In the old large fireplaces a cooking pot hanging over the fire might remain there the entire week while the cook of the house continually replenished it with additional ingredients as they became available. I imagine that they obtained some deep flavor profiles with that method!

I have a copy of the original "Housekeeping in Old Virginia" written in 1877 by Marion Cabell Tyree. It is frightening in many ways because it constantly refers to how to get your servants to do the things that she describes in the book. We know, of course, that these servants are really slaves and it isn't pleasant to think about. There is also the inherent sexism of the time. A message of how to best be a good house wife so your husband will be happy with you. But then again you can find that message stated just as clearly in "Good Housekeeping" magazine as late as the 60's and 70's, long after slavery had been abolished. But if you can overlook that stuff the book really gives you a window into the kitchens of the past and soup was a big part of it.

There are recipes for every type of soup you can imagine in this ancient cookbook and some that you can't - i.e. Brown Calf's Head Soup. There is oyster soup and economical oyster soup, vegetable soup, okra soup, chicken soup, pea soup, four recipes for turtle soup, and six recipes for calf's head including the brown one already mentioned. You are covered on your calf's head recipes. Fortunately we have other options now and it is still a great value to make a big pot of soup. The first recipe that I'm going to give you lasted us over a week. The good thing about this soup is that it actually improves with time! I found this recipe in Bon Appetite and it was copied from a restaurant in Cape Cod called Siena.

BLACK BEAN SOUP WITH CHORIZO AND CHICKEN

2 T Olive oil
1 LB fresh chorizo sausage
2 cups chopped and peeled carrots
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
2 bay leaves
6 garlic cloves
2 T chopped fresh thyme
5 cups of low-salt chicken broth
3 15 ounce cans of black beans, drained, rinsed
1 LB skinless boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 3/4 inch cubes

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add chorizo and next 4 ingredients. Saute until sausage is cooked through, breaking up sausage with back of spoon, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and thyme; saute 2 minutes. Add 5 cups broth; bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer 20 minutes. Add beans and chicken; simmer until chicken is just cooked through, about 10 minutes, adding more broth if desired. Discard bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper.
(If you want to make this a day ahead it will only taste better. The chorizo adds the spice in this soup.)

Recipes worth Checking out from Bon Appetite and Gourmet March Issues

My association with Conde Naste magazines has left me with a number of treasured subscriptions. Two of them are Bon Appetite and Gourmet magazines. My mother in-law introduced me to Bon Appetite many years ago and I've been a fan ever since. Between the two of them I prefer Bon Appetite while my sister prefers Gourmet.

Clearly they have the same publisher and their formats are quite similar but they stress different things. Gourmet really loves to travel and explore flavors that are sometimes a bit too far fetched for my taste buds while Bon Appetite offers perhaps more familiar flavors and experiences. But they are both great and I always find things in them that I want to try. Whether I ever get around to actually doing so is another story all together.

So for those of you that aren't fortunate enough to get these magazines delivered to your door once a month I will provide a list of some of their more interesting looking recipes. The March issue of Bon Appetite came with comfort food on the cover. Always a good strategy. It is a Lamb and Eggplant Shepherds pie. I'm not a big eggplant fan though.

One of my favorite sections in the magazine is the part where readers write to BA about a meal they had at a restaurant and then BA tries to get the recipe and then prints it for them. This week a recipe from Tracht's in Long Beach, CA. caught my eye - Short Rib Sandwiches with Creamy Horseradish Sauce. BA makes a point of saying that the Sherry Braised Short Ribs are fantastic on their own and I'm definitely willing to test that.

Also since I'm always looking for delicious vegetarian recipes these two recipes caught my eye - Baked Brie with Mushrooms and Thyme and Mashed-Potato Casserole with Smoked Gouda and Bacon(take out the bacon for veggie). I think either of these appetizer and side dish could work as a main course for two people. We have a tiny place in the Methow Valley and I'm thinking I'll try the Baked Brie recipe when the morels are here. There is also a dessert in BA's March issue that I believe I'll be re-visiting in the fall - Caramel - Apple Crisp.

Gourmet's March issue cover displays a fantastic looking - Monte Cubano! I'm currently on a kind of Cuban sandwich kick so they grabbed me with this one. They make it easy by using sliced deli meets and then an easy egg dip. The sandwiches are then pan friend until golden brown and melty. Okay, that sounds good! Doesn't look particularly low-cal though so it will have to be a special occasion sandwich.

Gourmet also spent some time with the perfect roasting of a chicken. I took an interest in this because just two weeks ago my incredibly talented sister prepared for us the best roast chicken any of us had ever had. Her technique and Gourmet's are basically identical. Cook at high heat for about an hour and baste. I've got an organic, whole chicken in the freezer that I'm trying to keep my hands off of until Sunday where I'll give this technique a try.

The other recipe that I can't wait to try is one of their easiest and simplest - Panfried Smashed Potatoes. I'm always looking for a new way to present a potato and this one looks terrific. Using red potatoes cooked until tender they are placed on a baking sheet and lightly crushed with a potato masher. Leaving the potatoes relatively in one piece they are then cooked in a skillet of hot oil until they're golden brown. They're served with a sprinkle of Parmigiano - Reggiano and lots of pepper. What a great way to serve up a simple side dish.

Any of these recipes can be found at their website at epicurious.com. I suggest you check it out or go to your nearest magazine stand and buy a copy. After all the pictures are half the fun and you'll be doing our economy a favor.

Special Breakfasts for Cold Mornings

I was recently watching an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives where they mentioned but did not prepare a breakfast of Bananas Foster French Toast. I've always had a fondness for Bananas Foster, the dessert, so this sounded pretty good to me. I didn't look up a recipe but just whipped up something that fit the description last weekend and it turned out deliciously.

Now I will offer a caveat on this recipe and that is that I rarely use bananas in anything anymore. If you've read anything about the banana industry you will feel the same - unless, of course, you have no conscience. Slave wages and terrible working conditions are just a part of the problem. The amount of fuel engaged in bringing these modern bananas from Central America to a grocery store near you is astronomical. There is also the fact that we've created a sterile banana (the Cavendish), and halted it's evolutionary growth allowing it to become less and less resistant to disease. Already it is being attacked by a soil fungus that makes the banana the most pesticide sprayed fruit on the market. Women working in the packing houses in Central American have double the average rate of leukemia and birth defects, while the men in fields suffer from sterility because of the pesticide. These problems may correct themselves if the modern banana goes extinct which is a very real possibility.

Okay, so now we can talk about this recipe. I found small, green, organic, and Mexican bananas at Trader Joes thus allowing myself to feel better about the whole banana thing. I tried to keep the calories down by reducing the amount of butter, etc. The recipe is for a breakfast for two.

BANANAS FOSTER FRENCH TOAST

6 slices stale french bread or very crusty firm bread
1 egg
1/2 cup 2% milk
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 bananas, peeled and sliced
2 T butter, plus a T for cooking french toast
1 T brown sugar
1/2 cup real maple syrup
2 tsps lemon juice (or to taste)
2 T rum (if desired)

Preheat oven to 250. Mix egg, milk, and nutmeg in pie plate. Place bread slices in mixture until thoroughly soaked. Cook bread in butter in frying pan until golden brown on both sides. Place french toast in oven to stay warm.

Add 2 T butter to same frying pan until melted, add brown sugar, bananas, maple syrup, lemon juice, and rum. Cook until sauce is slightly thickened and bananas are soft. Pull french toast out of oven. Place 3 slices on plate and then pour 1/2 of banana mixture over toast. Repeat for 2nd plate. Enjoy!

Clementine Paddleford a Pioneer of Food Writing

I just finished reading "Hometown Appetites: The Story of Clementine Paddleford, the Forgotten Food Writer Who Chronicled How America Ate" by Kelly Alexander and Cynthia Harris. The story started as an article for Saveur magazine with the same title and won a James Beard award for journalism. This along with the encouragement of friends and colleagues are what motivated Alexander and Harris to turn the article into a book.

Alexander had been a food writer for many years and was a highly placed Editor at Saveur. Harris on the other hand was a Kansas State archivist who had spent many thankless months going through Clementine Paddleford's extensive papers that had been rotting at the Dept. of Special Collections at Kansas State University. Between the two of them they manage to bring back to life this amazing, and trailblazing food writer.

Paddleford wrote for the New York Herald as food editor from 1936 to 1966. She was best known though for her weekly column in This Week magazine which was a Sunday supplement that was distributed all over the country. Her national exposure gained her fame and allowed her to travel the country as a well-respected food writer. Clementine was a bold traveller and that included visiting a nuclear submarine where she reported on what the sailors ate on the USS Shipjack. I'd like to see Rachel Ray do that!

I enjoyed the early chapters of the book where Alexander and Harris write about her childhood with her Mother Jennie. If you are like me then you will find a lot to admire in Jennie Paddleford's world. A great anecdote in the book recalls how her father insisted on building the hog run within eye shot of their big front porch. Unable to dissuade him Jennie proceeds to dig up sod, turn soil, and plant an enormous hedge of lilacs between her porch and the hogs. She then says to Clementine; "Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be." Now those are some words to live by. In memory of Clementine and her Mother Jennie here is one of Jennie's favorite recipes.

JENNIE PADDLEFORD'S STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

3 cups all purpose flour
5 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 cup sugar, plus more to taste
1/2 cup plus 2 T cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup whole milk
3 quarts fresh strawberries from the fields
1 pint whipping cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Sift together flour, baking powder, nutmeg, salt, and 1/2 cup of the sugar into a large bowl. Combine with the 1/2 cup butter in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal with lumps the size of small peas. Transfer dough to bowl. Make a well and add to it the egg and milk. Word dough very gently with fingertips or pastry spatula; knead until it just holds together, about 10 seconds. Dots of butter should be visible; do not overwork dough. Generously flour work surface, then roll dough out to form two circles that are 1/2 inch thick and 8 to 10 inches in diameter. Wrap the disks tightly and chill.

Set aside 16 of the best looking berries. Hull the rest, then halve and place in a bowl with the remaining 1/2 cup sugar or more, depending on the sweetness and ripeness of the fruit. Let strawberries macerate for at least 15 minutes but no more than 45 minutes.

Remove dough disks from refrigerator. On 2 ungreased sheet pans, bake dough rounds 12 to 15 minutes, until golden on the outside and just cooked through in the center. Remove from oven and cool 10 to 15 minutes.

Slather the remaining 2 T of butter evenly on each disk. Transfer large disk to a plate that will accommodate it and the juicy berries running off it. Pile macerated berries on top and then cover with the other disk. Garnish with reserved whole berries and serve with whipped cream if desired. Yield: 8 servings.

Thai Yellow Curry Sauce from Trader Joes

My husband and I don't have a lot of options when it comes to dining out near our cabin in Twisp, WA. In the past few years the place to be has been the Twisp River Pub. They always have live entertainment on the weekends and they are very involved in the community. Their food, on the other hand, has always been average at best.

The past couple of times we have eaten there my better half has ordered the vegetable curry. He thinks it's the tastiest item on their menu. I can't agree with him about that because it is full of zucchini and I can't stand that particular squash. But as I was perusing the shelves at my Issaquah Trader Joes the other day I spotted their Thai Yellow Curry Sauce and grabbed a bottle.

I cooked it for dinner last night and I can report that it is delicious. I used what I had available in my pantry and refrigerator and the resulting curry couldn't have been tastier. I used some pretty interesting food in my curry. I love raisins in curry but all I had was dried cranberries. I chucked them in their anyway. They worked perfectly. I'll put my recipe down but feel free to improvise with your own ingredients.

Thai Yellow Curry with Chicken

4 skinned and boned chicken thighs cut into bite appropriate chunks
1 T Cumin
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
2 T Olive Oil
1 Bottle Trader Joes Thai Yellow Curry Sauce
1/4 cup golden raisins or dried cranberries
1 Medium Tomato cut into chunks
1 Cup Frozen Petite Peas
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Mix first four ingredients until chicken is covered with spices. Heat olive oil in skillet on medium to high heat. Add chicken in batches for a quick sear that adds good color but leaves them tender. When chicken is done reduce heat to medium low and add entire bottle of sauce to chicken along with the raisins. Cook until chicken is heated through, about 5 to 7 minutes, and then add tomato and peas and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes until done. Serve curry over jasmine rice and adorn with cilantro leaves. Serve to appreciative audience.