Embellishing Frozen Vegetables #2
I think many of us have bought frozen vegetables of kinds and in amounts that we normally wouldn’t, just to make sure we will always have some vegetables in the house, and, with that thought in mind, the other day I shared my grandmother’s recipe for frozen peas. Today, I’ve got some ideas about how to dress up frozen corn.
The real seasonal treat, of course, is fresh-picked corn on the cob, steamed or boiled. But in the middle of winter frozen corn can give you a little taste of summer, and yet I found plain frozen corn a bit lacking. Thinking about how corn has a wonderful natural sweetness and works well with butter, I improvised and discovered how much better it is when you sauté the kernels in butter, rather than just putting butter on top of steamed corn.
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What Am I, Chopped Liver?!
I never quite understood that saying. Said with the correct Yiddish inflection, it means something like, “Why don’t you think I’m worthy of more attention?” meaning that chopped liver would get less attention than other items on the table. But I love chopped liver! In fact, I’ve always liked liver. When I was a baby, my mother tells me, she would go to the meat counter at the small Gristedes that was around the corner from the entrance to our building, and buy one fresh chicken liver at a time, which she would feed to me with the tiniest portion of instant mashed potatoes and my grandmother’s homemade applesauce. But I know not everyone likes liver, so I hope you will indulge me this post.
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Nena’s Peas with Mushroom & Water Chestnuts
Pearl was my mother’s mother, whom we grandchildren called Nena (something the eldest cousin came up with, I suppose) and she was a phenomenal cook. I still have a tiny little notepad holding some of her recipes, with some random slips of paper tucked inside scribbled with more recipes, most with the sort of skeletal instructions for someone who is so skilled she doesn’t need to be told what to do. In fact, these recipes are not even her favorites, the ones she made for us over and over, for which she needed nothing written down.
One time, some years ago, my mother was watching me prepare vegetables for some recipe or another – I have no recollection what. She said I reminded her of Nena, they way I was paying attention to each piece before cutting it, noticing and removing any damaged areas. To me, that was such a treasured compliment – to see a reflection of Nena, such a wonderful cook in what I was doing, and to recognize my appreciation for my produce, just like Nena.
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Home Fries – Cheater’s Version
On the one hand it’s a bit disingenuous to suggest a recipe is easy – by calling it a cheater’s version – when you have to start cooking the night before. But it really is easy!
If you have the oven on for something else, toss in a couple of medium potatoes to bake. When they’re about three-quarters of the way done, take them out, let them cool, and put them in the fridge overnight. That way you won’t be starting with raw potatoes when you want to cook home fries for breakfast or brunch the next morning.
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Roast Sausages
I broke down yesterday and used the penultimate package from the freezer of Fike’s maple-brown sugar sausage. And we ate those sausages with both joy and sorrow – joy because they were so good, and sorrow because we only have one package left.
For the past few summers when we’ve rented “our” cabin on a quiet lake in Maine, we’ve been able to get all our meat at Fike’s Custom Cutting, a small butcher shop on a quiet country road in Readfield. Brandon always had such outstanding meat – steaks, burger meat, chops – and out of all the sausages he made, the maple-brown sugar sausage quickly became our favorite. Every summer we would bring home several packages to ration over the winter. These sausages have a deep, complex flavor from the maple and brown sugar, and a nice hint of spicy heat that complements the sweetness.
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Easiest Potato Gratin
A gratin of creamy, cheesy potato slices, baked in the oven until bubbling and brown on the edges, has always been a family favorite. And despite what you might think, it’s really easy, and even easier if you have a food processor. This recipe can certainly qualify as pantry cooking, since potatoes store well, as do hard cheeses. We always keep several 8 ounce bricks of Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar in the fridge. While heavy cream doesn’t last forever, it can be frozen. When I don’t use an entire container of heavy cream, I freeze the rest in small containers, measured out and labeled. Although defrosted cream isn’t good for whipped cream, for something like this it works fine.
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Shabbat Shalom
Sometimes you just need the comfort of a fresh-baked challah and a roast chicken in the oven, and what better day to smell, taste, and feel that comfort but Shabbat.
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You don’t have to use tomato sauce from a jar!
What a difficult time we are in right now. I am sure many of us are cooking from the pantry, and perhaps you are trying to figure out what to do with that can of whatever you once bought for a recipe you never ended up making, and you can even remember what that recipe was!
It’s also a strange feeling to have two unplanned weeks off. All the schools in my area are closed until at least March 30, and there is no distance teaching for the time being. While I always like a surprise day off for a snowstorm – or maybe even two for a real honest-to-goodness blizzard – it’s weird to be faced with available time and nothing pressing to do.
So in an effort to give structure to my days and to offer some ideas for meals with things I hope people have in the house, I’m starting a series of Pantry Recipes!
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Leftover Veggies = A Second Dinner (or Side Dish)
A few weeks ago, I met a former student, A.J., for a cup of coffee. I love keeping in touch with former students, hearing what they are doing now! Among other things, A.J. recently got married, and as we talked about cooking, he mentioned how he and his wife, Grace, lead very busy professional lives and often don’t have time to cook. Even when they do cook, he said, they find themselves with random leftovers and don’t know what to do with them, and he suggested I post some easy ideas for that.
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Vibrant Food
Put on your sunglasses – this beet risotto is bright, hot pink!
I recently got a thank-you note from my niece, Sophie, and she told me I should write a blog post about the beet risotto she remembers eating at my house. To be honest, I can’t believe she remembers! She must have been quite young (she’s now 17), and it’s not often these days that children like beets! I know, I know, many people are not keen on beets, but do give this a try – it’s not like the usual plate of beets!
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Alva's Meatloaf
I never knew Alva Rollins. But her memory continues to be a blessing for our family. Alva is the reason we have cake for a breakfast treat after a special occasion. And Alva’s meatloaf is the first recipe my kids asked me to send them when they first were out on their own.
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Kitchen Creativity
Right now, among the nine cookbooks I currently have borrowed from the library, I’ve been reading through Ruffage: A Practical Guide to Vegetables by Abra Berens. Her recipe for caramelizing onions suggests deglazing the pan with white wine or hard cider. I immediately thought of the Johnny Mash hard cider from Hilltop Orchards in Richmond, MA, my go-to for making gravy. Then a little bit further on in Ruffage, there was a recipe that caramelized onions before adding parsnips and cream to make a luscious purée. There were no parsnips in fridge, but I did have a Cape Cod turnip.
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When the Freezer is Full...
We had no space left in the freezer. Or should I say in either freezer. We have a second refrigerator in the garage, and both freezers were packed without an inch to spare. I told Hank we couldn’t have any meal that didn’t involve at least one item from the freezer.
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Thanksgiving. It’s complicated.
I would guess that for many, the complications surrounding Thanksgiving often involve difficult family members, like the uncle who won’t stop arguing about politics or the sister-in-law who insists on bringing a salad that includes canned cranberry sauce, mini marshmallows, and mayonnaise. (Apologies to all who like this combination and to those who like to argue politics at Thanksgiving.)
When we zoom out beyond the stress of our own family dramas, we find Thanksgiving is also complicated in the same way that Columbus Day / Indigenous People’s Day is.
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What Is “Authentic” Food Anyway? The Case of General Tso’s Chicken
We Americans readily and eagerly enjoy foods we believe to be from other cultures. But there’s the sticky problem that so many of such dishes we enjoy have never been served in the countries from which they are said to have originated!
It’s pretty clear that General Tso’s Chicken is not something you would ever find in China. But just because General Tso’s Chicken may not be an authentic Chinese recipe, does not mean it should be discarded and disregarded.
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Second-Best Brownies Ever
I used to make the best brownies ever, back when Hershey’s made raspberry-flavored chocolate chips. Back then I would use 1 Tablespoon of Chambord in place of the vanilla and add ½ cup of raspberry chocolate chips to the recipe below, and they were my absolute favorite ever.
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Rachel's Za'atar Chicken
A reliable, easy favorite, even on a weeknight, is my lemon chicken recipe — which once was featured in a Penzey’s Spices catalogue. However my step-daughter, Rachel, doesn’t like olives, but she loves za’atar!
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