Vietnamese Market Day and the Beauty of Margins

: Photograph by Hien Lam Duc, from the exhibition Mékong, histoires d’Hommes

When fully ripe, the unopened jackfruit emits a strong disagreeable odor, resembling that of decayed onions, while the pulp of the opened fruit smells of pineapple and banana.

The Jackfruit

I am like a jackfruit on the tree.
To taste you must plug me quick, while fresh:
the skin rough, the pulp thick, yes,
but oh, I warn you against touching —
the rich juice will gush and stain your hands

Ho Xuan Huong, 1772 – 1822,

translated by Nguyen Ngoc Bich

Two acts of generosity led to a delightful day.

The St. Francis dining hall in Portland, Oregon serves dinners daily to “those in need in dignity and peace.” That turns out to be 300 meals per day. At their annual auction, it’s hard to say who is more big hearted: the donors or the recipients. As her auction contribution, Ho Mai Huong, a young accounting student, offered her services as tour guide and chef for a day of Vietnamese cooking. Margo Foeller was the winner and treated me and my friend Trish to a wonderful day.

Visiting the markets

Our first stop: the market Hong Phat where Mai identified and introduced us to a world of fantastic fruits, vegetables, herbs, fish and meats.

Fruits came first. The jackfruit (which can grow to over 80 pounds), banana flower (peel back the outer leaves and slice), four different kinds of mango, litchis, and ‘fragrant fruit’ were just a few. “In Vietnam, there are many more varieties,” explained Mai.

We moved on to a huge assortment of herbs, greens, and vegetables. Many herbs have medicinal applications such as dấp cá or fish mint, used to cure stomachaches, indigestion or, in paste form, for insect bites. The flavor and aroma are strongly fishy. Rau Dắng or bitter herb is used both cooked and fresh. When burned, the vapors are a very effective mosquito repellant.**

Spinach, mustard, and collard? Now these were familiar greens. But hold on! They are not what they seem. Mồng tơi, as an example, sometimes referred to as Ceylon or Malabar spinach, has spinach-like leaves but is a vine and cultivated on a trellis. And might lower your body temperature.

Bitter melon which looks a bit like a cucumber with a ridged dark green skin is used in soups, sautéed or stuffed. Its medicinal qualities are many, including a blood sugar lowering effect for type II diabetics. With each fruit, pod, green, root and fungus, an important therapeutic reason for its purchase was cited.

Will this help my baby grow? Will this cure his cough? Can this ease my pain?

Eat your Gac (gấc)! It is the greatest source of beta-carotene (vitamin A) of any fruit or vegetable. Gac (gấc) has ten times more of the stuff than carrots or sweet potatoes. Did you know that green papaya enhances breast milk production? And, it would appear, that if you have anything wrong at all, just eat a persimmon.

Gac (gấc)

Photograph by Jennifer J Maiser

Moving from vegetables to the grocery aisles, Mai discussed the cross over in cooking techniques and recipes between Asian countries and cultures and their subtle differences. Fish sauce, for dipping, is a good example. In Vietnam, chopped garlic and chilies are added to the sauce which is diluted not with water, but coconut juice, as coconuts are very plentiful in southern Vietnam.

On that same topic, Mai explained that Vietnam is divided culturally and economically into the North, Central, and Southern parts. The North has less fruit and vegetables and the food tends to be salty. The Central part of Vietnam is the poorest. It is subject to severe weather (especially flooding) and the soil is poor. The cuisine in this area is very salty and spicy which adds flavor to the food and warms the body. The abundance of fruits and vegetables are the hallmark of the southern Vietnamese cuisine. Fresh herbs, vegetables, and fruits are used in nearly every preparation in the South.

Pho, the hugely popular beef noodle soup is believed to have originated in the North, where it is made with fresh rice stick noodles (banh pho tuoi) and flavored with star anise in an oxtail broth. Typically, it is not served with garnishes. In the South, however, the soup is served with herb and bean sprout garnishes. Suffice it say, there are many regional varieties of this soup.

A package wrapped with a green leaf and tied with red string turned out to be cha lua or Vietnamese ham wrapped in a banana leaf.

“It’s just like spam. That’s what my mother says” a young customer offered.

Among the huge selection of meats (every possible cut of pork and beef) and fishes (including whole frozen fish and about 30 types of frozen shrimp), I was struck by the two types of chicken:

Walking chicken (not always tender but very flavorful) and
Black chicken (quite a small variety and good for fatigue, back pain and expectant mothers)

Beautiful and mysterious dishes that Mai alluded to:

Coconuts stuffed with Quail
Baby clam meat with Jackfruit

Slightly stomach churning:

Duck eggs with embryos
Pigs’ udders
Silkworm pupae (eaten fried with lime leaves)

Our market visit ended in the household products aisle. Mai showed us two types of brooms. One of coarser fiber for the yard; the other very fine and soft for the house. The market sold all types of cooking pots, pans, including a special crepe pan that looked very like a Swedish pancake skillet. I bought a coffee drip pot for making one serving of Vietnamese coffee which is brewed with sweetened condensed milk.

Our next stop was Bui Natural Tofu. Originally, fresh tofu was the only product of this family business which was conducted from their home. Now, the busy shop makes not only a great deal of fresh tofu but also fried tofu, tofu pudding, red sticky rice (its color comes from the aforementioned gac fruit), fermented rice (a digestive after a meal), sticky rice balls with a mulberry in the center, and much more.

Mai had ordered in advance so as we waited as all sorts of containers and packages appeared at the counter. We staggered out to the car.

Lunch at Mai’s Home

Now came the really fun part: Mai made us lunch at her home.

Step one: she quickly put together some snacks for us to sample.

Using her homemade fish sauce, we sampled the fresh tofu and the fried tofu which contained pieces of fried onion
The Red Sticky Rice with pieces of Vietnamese ham
The Tofu Pudding, served in small bowls over which she poured a sugar syrup with slivers of ginger and coconut milk
A spoonful each of Fermented Rice (the digestion aid)

We were happy to sit and munch but Mai was all business. The fresh spring (or salad) rolls had to be made.

She quickly gathered the ingredients together: lettuce, Thai basil, and mint from her garden, Chinese chives, and slices of the ham. She boiled the dry rice noodles and we helped peel the shrimp. Moistening the rice paper briefly, she showed us her technique for tightly rolling the cylinders with the shrimp with green Chinese chive visible through the wrapper. We each practiced the technique.

The dipping sauce, (which Mai believes is the whole point of eating the rolls) was a fragrant and delectable mixture of flavors: hoisin, peanut butter, and coconut soda. As a final flourish, Mai added fried shallots and a bit of pickled shredded carrot to the dipping sauce. Wow! Completely different from restaurant salad rolls.

As with any unforgettable meal, the food was only a part of the pleasure. As if each morsel stirred up an association, Mai spoke of her family, geography, gardens and poetry. In 1954, Mai’s Catholic family moved from the North to South Vietnam to avoid communism. While she has never been in North Vietnam, her parents and grandparents passed on their northern customs and habits.

“I was named for the 18^th century poet Ho Xuan Huong but my parents replaced Xuan with Mai so as not to shock my grandparents…”

Known for her independence, intellect, and subtle and sexy wit, this famous poet from Hanoi was also was very irreverent. Rather than classical Chinese, she wrote in Nôm, the Vietnamese language that has nearly disappeared. While more than a thousand years of Vietnamese cultural history was written in this language, less than 100 people can read Nôm today. The Vietnamese Nôm Preservation Foundation*** hopes to save the language.

Homegardens and Margins

Now, this got me to ruminating about the importance of the margins in culture. Home cooking, home gardens, minor languages, poetry..are these not elements of the margin not the mainstream? I don’t want to offend home cooks, gardeners, translators, and poets by using the word ‘margin’. But I’m not marginalizing anyone, simply acknowledging that certain highly important activities exist and thrive on society’s margins.

The reason I write about home cooking is that there’s a dearth.

There are two ways to look at marginal activity.

There’s strength in numbers: A custom or habit dies out when it’s not longer necessary. When an activity is marginal, it’s on its way out. (example: the shirt collar button)
We’re only as strong as our weakest link: When a custom or habit is replaced by a new behavior, the old habit might slip into the margin but will still persist. Sometimes people will attempt a rescue! (example: Nôm)

The second way of looking at this is, to my mind, the optimistic and true approach. Whenever I worry about the ‘branding’ of humanity or fear a dreary sameness leading to decline, I inevitably come across small, disorganized, whimsical powerhouses of marginality.

In Dr. Virginia Nazarea’s book Heirloom Seeds and Their Keepers,**** she speaks movingly about marginality and memory with regards to heirloom gardeners.

“If modernity is ‘forced amnesia’, then there is a need to reinforce the range of dreams and choices that triggers countermemory…Seedsavers pose a subdued but persistent challenge to what those around them take as given and help break the spell of ‘organized forgetting.’…From the margins, seedsavers deploy a message of worth rather than protest wherein the currency is joy instead of anger, the motivation hope instead of frustration.”

In her Germplasm project at the University of Georgia, Nazarea and her associates studied how Vietnamese immigrants arriving in the 1970s reproduced their native gardens with great success. Nhan Couch was a participant in the study and her homegarden below is a delightful example. I love the entire design of the garden, especially the “BBQ pit with pokeweed growing out of it.”

Outside her kitchen door, Mai has a small but robust garden filled with herbs and greens. I asked Mai about the diagram of Nhan’s garden. “This model of garden is very common in rural areas of Vietnam” she said, adding, “I think they do a very good job of organizing their gardens.”

Trying this at home

Back at home, I was all fired up to make a Vietnamese dinner.

With Mai’s instructions, I attempted the black chicken, so called because the skin is a deep purplish black. This fierce-looking little bird was to my surprise, very meaty. The other surprise was the flesh with its dark and light striations. Once cooked, the chicken looked a bit like bluefish and I believe, is an acquired taste.

To make this dish, I had purchased a packet of herbs, lotus nuts (which look something like dried hominy) and red dates. At Hong Mai, there was an entire shelf devoted to special herb packets each for different preparations. “Very practical!”

Black Chicken

I attempted to write down the recipe as I remembered it. Fortunately, Mai made some adjustments. Here goes:

Soak the lotus nuts overnight.
Wash the chicken, removing the head, feet, and innards.
Dip the chicken in a pan of boiling water and then rinse in cold water.
To cook the chicken:

Method #1: Put the chicken into the bowl. Put all of the herbs and lotus nuts around the chicken or stuff the chicken with the herbs, dates and lotus nuts. Personally, I prefer to put herbs and lotus nuts around the chicken. Pour 1 teaspoon of fish sauce into the chicken. And then put the bowl into a steam pot. Cook about 1 hour.

Method #2: You can use slow cooker to cook instead of steam pot. Put chicken into the cooker and spread out all of herbs and lotus nut around chicken. Pour 1 can of coconut soda and 1 teaspoon of fish sauce into the chicken. Cook slowly about 2 hours.)

Cut up and serve with steamed rice.

Mai Huong’s Salad Rolls

It takes a little practice to make these rolls but once you’ve got the hang of it, it goes quickly. If you do this a few times, you will begin to arrange and offset the ingredients so that the rolls will looks very pretty with the shrimp and some greenery showing through the wrapper.

I. For spring rolls: (about 8 to 10 rolls)

Ingredients:

Round rice paper wrappers (banh trang or ‘spring rolls skin’ – Mai used a package with a large red rose on it)
Rice noodle (Mai used a vacuum-packed fresh rice stick noodle -banh pho tuoi in a pink package from the Sincere Orient Food Co.)
Chinese chives
Lettuce, several leaves
Mint, basil, cilantro – small bunch of each
1/2 pound pork belly ( or thinly sliced roast pork)
12 – 15 shrimp (double if the shrimp are very small)

Boil rice noodle until it becomes al dente, drain and rinse with cold water. Boil pork belly until well done and slice thinly. Cook shrimp with salt in a dry pan until red and cooked through. Peel the shrimp and if large, slice into halves. Wash the lettuce and herbs.

How to wrap the spring roll:

Fill a large bowl with warm water. Dip one wrapper into the water just to moisten. (Do not soak)

Lay wrapper flat. In a row across the center, place 3 shrimp, 2 pieces of pork, a handful of rice noodle, the lettuce and herbs, leaving about 2 inches uncovered on each side. Fold uncovered sides inward, and then tightly roll the wrapper, beginning at the end with the lettuce. Set aside.

Continue with remaining ingredients until all the rolls are made.

II. Dipping Sauce:

Shallot, 2 cloves, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon cooking oil
Hoisin sauce (1/2 cup)
Peanut butter (1/2 cup)
Coconut milk (1/2 cup)
Chicken stock or coconut soda (1/2 cup)
Sugar (1 teaspoon)
Chili sauce (optional if you like spicy)

Stir fry the shallots with oil about 2-3 minutes in the pan. Set aside. Mix hoisin, peanut butter, milk and coconut soda (or any broth such as chicken soup or pork broth that we have from boiling pork) in a bowl. Pour this mixture into the pan. Stir well until everything is a caramel colored blend. Pour some sugar into the sauce. Taste. Add some chili sauce if desired. Stir in the shallots.

A promising start to the year.

My experience with Mai led me down some new paths from jackfruit to poetry to heirloom gardens to a photograph on the Luxembourg garden gates to extraordinary humans. Ho Xuan Huong, Hiên Lam Duc and Virginia Nazarea.

Thank you Mai and Margo.

Almost a year ago exactly, I saw an extraordinary exhibit of photographs of the people of Mekong river. The beautiful photograph at the beginning of this piece is from that exhibit and the photographer, Hiên Lam Duc generously permitted me to display it. (Doubleclick to enlarge the image.) To see more of his work, go to http://www.lamduchien.com/

*This description of jackfruit (word for word) is repeated on at least 50 websites. So everyone agrees.

**For information on Vietnamese culinary and medicinal herbs, go to this website: http://vietherbs.com/

*** For more information on saving the Nôm language, go to http://nomfoundation.org/vnpf_new/index.php

****Dr. Virginia Nazarea’s Heirloom seeds and Their Keepers, Marginality and Memory in the Conservation of Biological Diversity , 2005, University of Arizona Press is available through Amazon and other sources.

Word of Mouth or How Recipes Find their Way

Aug10

“What would our lives be like without tradition? What terrible fatigue would overwhelm humanity if it only had to concern itself with the future?

Edouard de Pomiane

“Her last conversation in Sinhala … ended with her crying about missing egg rulang and curd with jaggery.”

from Anil’s Ghostby Michael Ondaatje

At Chronicle Books, Bill Le Blond publishes cookbooks known for their splendid photography. For those hoping to publish however, he has bad news: cookbooks are not the sellers they once were. While there are more writers than ever, readership has dwindled. These days, finding a recipe is just a click away.

For a while, everyone was reading cookbooks for fun. Salsas! Chocolate! Slow Cooking! The I-Can’t-Chew Cookbook! You name it, there’s a book all about it. But this hobby may have run its course. True collectors of cookbooks are a special and passionate group. A bit like stamp collectors. My friend Vikki says, “For me, going to eight or nine sources to answer a cooking question is pure pleasure. That these sources are on my bookshelf is icing on the cake.” For the majority of home cooks, however, one or two all-purpose cookbooks, newspaper clippings, and a couple of local compilations sufficed until recently.

I risk sounding disingenuous. After all, I myself have written a nifty little cookbook and am always thrilled when someone buys it. Nevertheless, just as Wikipedia and Google are today’s reference tools, Internet cooking sites are where you find recipes. And from TV chefs. Cooking shows have filled the gap for the entertainment minded cook just as Epicurious is there at day’s end when you’re standing in the kitchen wondering what to do with one onion and a package of chicken.

But is that the whole story? Have we simply abandoned the crusty old tomes for (equally) sticky keyboards and remotes? What about word of mouth?

Word of mouth is stronger than ever; its voice perpetuates food culture, memories, and practical know-how. Thinking over the past few weeks, I come up with at least six situations which could have been resolved through a book or other source but in fact, were imparted word of mouth. These include:

explaining why sometimes eggshells stick (a heartbreak when you’ve signed on to bring devilled eggs to a picnic)*
asking a friend for her really good soup recipe
passing on two simple things to do with fresh figs
learning that putting a mound of stiffish herbs, such as thyme and rosemary, under a piece on fish helps avoid sticking to the pan or grill

“How did you make that?” Dedicated cooks love that question and most will go out of the way to share. Even the pros. When I had doubts about a fish recipe from Happy in the Kitchen by Michel Richard, I called his restaurant, got the sous-chef and explained my concern. He reassured me the recipe would work. “10 minutes! Not more! Call anytime!” he said and I believed him. The fish turned out perfectly. A word of caution: if you are an adventurous cook and want to call a chef, remember the hours of service are frantic. Call only in the morning or late afternoon if you want to get some attention.

Asking how a dish is made is perfectly acceptable in a restaurant and, if your waiter is not run off his feet, the information is gladly given. You may not be able to replicate the dish but you will know the ingredients. Skill and imagination, not a recipe, make for glorious food. Which explains why recipes ( that is, the ingredients and measures) can not be copyrighted because you can’t claim ownership of a fact. Apple Pie and Beef Stew are public property. However, the language of recipes is considered original so you can not simply copy and publish someone else’s take on a recipe.

Those How do you make that? conversations are not just about cooking. My father would call regularly asking for the same two recipes: fried chicken and Hollandaise sauce. I remember thinking, “Why doesn’t he write it down?” but I came to love those requests. It reminded us both of my grandmother (a Hollandaise maker extraordinaire) and of the days when fried chicken was a once-a-week meal. Now, when my grown children request a recipe, I am equally touched.

During World War II, my friend Monna remembers the meager meals at her school outside Paris. “Once a week we’d have a treat of fresh bread from the local baker. With each bite, we’d pretend it was something we really loved. Roast chicken! Chocolate cake!” Longing for full stomachs, the girls dined on their food memories. Her experience brought to mind the poignant In Memory’s Kitchen: A Legacy from the Women of Terezin, an extraordinary collective memoir by starving prisoners at a Czechoslovakian ghetto/concentration camp. Written by a number of different hands, the original manuscript (now in the Holocaust museum in Washington, DC) contained remembered recipes from their former lives. Attempting to resurrect those lives, these women nourished and somehow sustained themselves through memory. The writing of this collection was no quiet activity either: arguments flared over the correct way to make a certain dish. “We never used eggs! There was much more sugar!” And thus time passed.

My folklorist friend Miriam first told me about interleavings. These are scraps of paper, ticket stubs, old envelopes, receipts, and all manner of jottings found in cookbooks. A treasure trove of information for anyone curious about a family, a community or an area. I knew immediately what she was talking about having gone through many old family cookbooks. In one old book belonging to my mother-in-law, there were letters between friends containing recipes but also plenty of news and gossip. Putting some pieces together, I realized these folks lived no farther than 30 miles apart but rarely used a telephone. Word of mouth via the pen.

Cookbook Interleaving: A French hotel bill with dried flowers

I found the interleaving pictured above in Leslie Forbes’ beautiful book A Table in Provence. I might not have remembered that my friend Rolf gave me the book if I hadn’t seen his hotel bill (and the dried flowers). A social scientist might find it interesting that in 1987, an American couple spent the night at the Hotel Beaurivage in Cros-de-Cagnes, had breakfast, and it cost less that $25.00.

Asking questions (Where do you shop? What about farmers’ markets? Where are the bargains?) eases you into a new neighborhood. If you’ve just moved, word of mouth information gives you a jump start in the process of feeling at home. For new parents, the world of baby food is much more compelling to talk about than to read about. Dieters, folks cooking for one, heart patients, party givers, in short, everyone benefits from direct talk about food.

So, don’t forget to ask your Aunt Tilly for that chocolate cake recipe before she gets any older.

Here are a few recipes I pass around frequently.

And happy cooking! xoxo, Mary

* Eggs shells will stick to very fresh eggs. After about a week, the interior of the egg and its membranes will shrink slightly, creating an air space. After hard boiling, the egg is plunged into ice water which slightly contracts the contents and when cracked, it’s shell slips off.

Zucchini salad

I really like zucchini raw and came up with this salad and it’s gotten a lot of raves. I do not add the dressing until just before serving – the salad should remain cool and crisp!

8 small zucchinis cut into a small dice
1 bunch cilantro, chopped without the stems
½ cup cashew nuts, coarsely chopped
1 small shallot, minced
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons olive or canola oil
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Pepper
Optional: 1 clove garlic minced

In a bowl, toss the zucchini, cilantro, nuts, and shallot.

Combine the remaining ingredients, whisk thoroughly, and mix into the salad.

Variation: Zucchini and Chard Salad

1 bunch Swiss chard
4 small zucchinis cut into a fine dice
¼ cup cashews, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons canola or other oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Strip the stalks from the Swiss chard leaves and cut them fairly finely. Put in a saucepan with a small amount of water. Cover and bring to a boil. In the meantime, cut the leaves into fine shreds and then crosswise (so that the shreds are not too long). Add these to the pot with the stems and cook a few minutes or until just tender. Drain and cool.

Toss the chard with the zucchini and nuts. Combine the remaining ingredients to make a vinaigrette and pour over the salad. Toss well.

Spicy Peanut Dip

I have been asked for this recipe more than any other. I got the recipe from my sister-in-law Debbie and changed it a little, using peanuts rather than peanut butter. That’s the secret!

1/4 cup tea, cooled
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 cups salted peanuts
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon chili paste (or more, to taste)

In a food processor, grind nuts until fine. Add everything else. The dip will become quite thick and can be thinned with water or tea.

Serving suggestions or Are you ready for this?

Snacks: spread it on celery sticks, apple slices, crackers and flatbreads

Appetizers:to accompany a raw vegetable platter

Wraps: spread on lettuce or rice paper wrappers with various fillings such as rice, chicken, shrimp, fish and bean sprouts

Sandwiches: the PB and J using a jam such as rhubarb, guava, or lime marmalade ; the PBB and J which is the same plus a little crispy bacon

Main dish: as a sauce with cold soba, udon, or rice noodles. Thin the spread with a little water or cold tea just to a pouring consistency. Garnish with chopped peanuts and mint. Also, as a dressing. Thin the spread with tea or water and add diced cooked chicken or turkey, chopped red peppers, carrots, and green onions. Serve on a bed of shredded napa cabbage.

Dessert: use a dollop on top of vanilla or coconut ice cream. Garnish with mint. Or spread a thin layer on ginger cookies and fill with ice cream for ice cream sandwiches.

My Fried Chicken

What I can tell you about fried chicken is that if you make it often, it becomes very easy. The problem is that virtually no one eats fried chicken every week so it’s a bit harder to get practice. I learned this method of frying chicken from Margaret Miles, now in her nineties. She has lived most of her life in Kentucky and her recipe is, I believe, as genuine as it gets for southern fried chicken. She always drained her chicken on newspaper and I still do that but you may prefer paper towels.

Serves 4 – (8 pieces)

Ingredients:

1 fryer
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or oregano and basil mixed
2 cups, approximately, oil for frying or Crisco (see note below)

Method:

Cut up the fryer into 8 pieces (2 breast halves, 2 thighs, 2 drumsticks, 2 wings), reserving the wing tips, the back, and the giblets for another use. (Such as chicken stock)
In a paper bag, combine the flour and seasonings. Margaret only used salt, pepper and paprika but I like a bit of dried herb which I rub between my fingers as I add it.
In a large heavy skillet (cast iron is best), heat oil to a depth of about ½ inch. Heat up to nearly smoking.
As the oil heats, shake several pieces of chicken in the flour mixture. Carefully, slide a piece into the oil. If it immediately starts sizzling, the oil is hot enough and you can add the rest.
Cook about one or two minutes just to ‘seize up’ the chicken pieces and then turn them. Again, cook one to two minutes.
Turn again, lower the heat to very low, cover the pan and cook for 15 minutes.
In the middle of the cooking time, carefully turn the chicken (the coating will be soft and fragile).
After the cooking period, turn up the heat all the way, remove the cover and cook on each side until it is as browned and crispy as you like. This will take about a minute per side. Don’t walk away during this step.
Remove and drain on paper towels. Salt each piece and serve immediately. Also good cold.

Just a few caveats:

A fresh good quality chicken does make a difference in taste and is worth spending a little extra on.
In the US, the thinking now is don’t wash chicken – it just spreads bacteria around the sink. If you do wash it, it should be lightly patted dry (not bone dry!) before shaking with the flour.
Frying: Never drop food into hot oil – always slide it and take care turning it to avoid splashing. I use metal tongs so that the meat isn’t pierced when I turn it.
The oil: it must have a high smoke point such as peanut or canola. Margaret used Crisco and that’s what I use. Crisco is now trans-fat free.
Covering the chicken: leave the lid a bit askew so the steam can escape. Otherwise when you remove the lid and turn up the heat, you risk a lot of painful grease popping.
Cooking time: 15 minutes covered time is an approximation. Don’t overcook it or it will be dry. If I’m cooking a lot of chicken, I use two pans and cook the thighs and drumsticks separately from the breast as dark meat takes longer to cook.

Added bonus…..Cream Gravy

Also called milk gravy, this stuff puts you over the top in every way imaginable… it’s good on biscuits, mashed potatoes, or rice. You can also make this gravy using chicken stock (it just won’t be cream gravy).

Ingredients:

Crunch and dripping from the frying pan
¼ cup of the seasoned flour from frying the chicken
2 cups milk
Salt and pepper

Drain the oil out of the fried chicken pan reserving all the crunchy bits. Add the flour and stir over low heat for a few minutes to cook the flour.

Add the milk, stirring until thick with a whisk or wooden spoon, adding a little more if the gravy is too thick. Taste and season with salt and pepper

Home Cooking IV: Fire up the Stove!

Aug20

“Lack of time is not the issue. It’s a question of priorities. Look in the mirror and ask yourself, “Am I worth 30 minutes? Is my family worth 30 minutes?” That’s what it takes to make a good meal.”

Joyce Goldstein, author, teacher, chef, restauranteur, and home cook

“When I was raising my kids, cooking dinner was the worst part. The question, “What’s for dinner?” still makes me shudder.”

Becky Howe, weight lifter, teacher, and personal trainer

On those occasions when she’s home alone, Joyce Goldstein not only makes herself a tasty dinner, she’s written a book about it (Solo Suppers: Simple Delicious Meals to Cook for Yourself.)

Becky Howe’s idea of a fine solo dinner is a protein bar, a banana, and a good book.

Well, friends, there’s a middle road.

Jessica Glenn, who happens to be my daughter, cooks for a growing family on a daily basis and has this to say:

“With a tight budget, cooking at home is the only choice and I’ve found it gets easier with practice. I can come up with 30 minute meals and also, 15 and 20 minute ones. Everything in my refrigerator is spoken for because I buy only what I need. I think we eat well and lots of times, I get cheers from the crowd, which feels good. But many of my friends don’t cook and for them, the whole process seems horrible.”

Cooking does get easier with practice and easier still once it becomes a routine. If you’re ready to rattle the pots and pans, summer is a great time to get started. There’s a lot less cooking and more salad making. The fruits and vegetables available now make for quick suppers without a lot of kitchen time.

When the first dog days of summer rolled around in Washington, D.C. (often in May), my sister-in-law Debbie Giese would announce, “That’s it! No more cooking for the summer.” Twenty years ago, what this meant was “I’m not going to use the oven.” Dinner still made it to the table on a nightly basis but there were salads rather than stews and we used the charcoal grill rather than the stove.

Even as recently as fifteen years ago, most people I knew made dinner every night and worked full-time. We used processed convenience foods but more often than not, they constituted a small part of the meal, such as bottled salad dressing or a can of soup. Slowly but surely, what was an insignificant part of a home-cooked meal began to take over and from there, it was a quick road to take-out or going out.

I mention all this not to wag my finger at the current state of dining culture but simply to point out that home cooking didn’t go into decline all that long ago and for thousands, it never went away at all.

In other words, the system is not broken or antiquated; it just needs a little dusting off.

So even though we all know that day’s end can be especially chaotic, let’s creep into the kitchen and cook dinner.

Consider the evening meal a set part of every day. Put another way, identify the after-work routine as the reverse of the morning routine. Does it take an hour to dress, have breakfast, and leave the house? Morning activity in most households is focused. In the same way, allow for focused time when you get home. Perhaps you need 15 to 20 minutes when you come in the door to do some or all of the following: check the mail, change clothes, listen to messages, supervise homework and baths, walk the dog, or water the garden.

After that, head for the kitchen. Here are 6 steps, 7 tips and A Week of Menus to ease your way. Bonus section: Equipment and 4 How-Tos.

A Weekly Menu circa 1980 with Shopping List and 5 year old daughter’s additions

Step 1: The Preliminaries. Write up a Week’s Menus and do your Shopping in advance.

When you get home after a long day, dinner can be quickly put together if you have your ingredients and know what you’re making. Son-in-law JB says:

“On Sundays, I write down menus and Rachael helps with the list. Since I’m the cook, I do the shopping. We usually have one take-out meal and one with leftovers and end up making a stop at the store once during the week.”

Not so different from my 1980 menu (see photo above) which is a little hard to read but Sunday is “Out” and Thursday is called “Potluck” (i.e. leftovers.) Hmm, that week we had roast chicken, steak, and hold on! Is that Ranch Dressing on my shopping list?

For inspiration, there are websites to help with the menu planning: At Epicurious.com, go to Articles and Guides and under that Everyday Food. Select ‘Weekly Dinner Planners.’ There’s a different seasonal menu every week plus a shopping list. At This Week For Dinner (www.thisweekfordinner.com) , the author of this blog posts a menu every Sunday and invites anyone to comment or post their own menus. The New York Times now has a cooking newsletter than shoots rapid encouraging recipes to your inbox a few times a week. They are usually quick to make and very tasty.

If you know in advance what’s for dinner, that question doesn’t seem so bad.

Step 2: In the Morning, check the Menu and locate the Ingredients. Defrost any food you will use later.

Run the dishwasher at night and empty it in the morning. That way, everything will be clean for the evening rush. If you have a delay button on your dishwasher, program it for after midnight (you’ll save $$ on energy bills.)

If you have even 5 minutes to spare in the morning, do one small job to make the dinner preparation go faster. This might be peeling some potatoes (leave them in a bowl of cold water), or hard-boiling a couple of eggs. Some advance preparation can be done days in advance such as washing and spin-drying the lettuce.

Step 3: When You Come in the Door, put a large pot of water onto boil and/or light the grill.

In other words, don’t waste time waiting for the grill to heat or water to boil. Start in right away and you’ll save time. If speed is your goal, the week-night meal is not the time to try a new recipe. In fact, don’t use a recipe at all. Use techniques such as grilling, boiling, steaming, chopping, sauteeing, and tossing. Season well, add a little butter or a dash of olive oil, and your food, while perhaps a bit plain, will taste very good.

Step 4: Set the Table (or enlist a member of your household to do this task every night.)

Put out everything you need including salt and pepper, water, plates, glasses, drinks, and condiments. This means that when dinner is ready, the table will be ready too, and the food won’t get cold.

Step 5: Triage or Who gets attention first?

If you have a screaming toddler, this question doesn’t need asking. But don’t be sidetracked. Throw your offspring a piece of fruit, a cracker, or a carrot, and carry on. Believe me, children are impressed by a show of fierce concentration. Likewise, once you begin the cooking, don’t answer the phone, do the laundry, or check your e-mail. We’re only talking about a half hour of concentration.

Step 6: Multi-tasking or How to Cook Everything at Once

It takes practice, but several operations can be done nearly simultaneously in the kitchen. If you’re having something grilled and a salad, get the cooking started first. For example, slap the chicken on the grill, dash back into the kitchen and put the lettuce in the salad bowl. Drizzle with oil and vinegar, salt and pepper, find the salad servers, and put it on the table. Turn the chicken. Slice some tomatoes, arrange on a plate and onto the table. Yell at everyone to come to dinner. (Time: 15 minutes, give or take a few.)

For a cold dinner of salads and cold meat or fish, do all the prep work first. Arrange everything on a platter or in bowls, putting the dressing on last. Vinaigrettes and dressings keep very well refrigerated. Make double portions and save the extra for the next meal.

Now to fine tune the process, here are 7 tips.

Tip 1

Don’t get discouraged. If nightly cooking seems like a terrible chore, keep in mind that repetition and practice will reward you.

Tip 2

Don’t get bogged down by recipes. Start with some dishes that you can cook without running back and forth to check what to do next. “if I use a cookbook, dinner takes 5 times as long.” again from Jessica.

Memorize how to cook rice, how to bake and boil potatoes and how to hardboil eggs. See below *.

Tip 3

Don’t buy too much food. You’ll use what you buy, your refrigerator won’t be bursting, and you’ll save money.

Tip 4

Clear the decks. Try to get some room on the counter to work. Get rid of the mail, your backpack, and anything else that is cluttering up that space.

Tip 5

Trust your own common sense. Don’t be a slave to timing instructions. Pasta is a good example: the box may instruct you to cook the pasta 9 minutes but don’t stand around waiting for it. At about that time, taste a strand. If it’s done, drain it. Otherwise, hold off a minute or two and taste again.

Tip 6

Learn to use high heat when you cook. It is one of the hardest things to convince newer cooks to do but turning up the heat on the stovetop will improve your cooking. Without a hot pan, you can’t sear, stir-fry, saute, or brown foods successfully. Foods will absorb less fat if sauteed in very hot oil.

Tip 7

Use salt and pepper. Plenty of it. Butter, olive oil, and herbs as well. Season your food and taste it before serving.

A Week’s Menus

Monday

Jessica says this dinner take 20 minutes tops! And no complaining from the young ‘uns either.

Pork Chops with Rosemary
Corn on the Cob
Tomato and Cucumber Salad
Cookies

Preheat oven to 400. Bring a big pot of water to a boil. Salt and pepper thin sliced pork chops (1 per person, maybe 2 for Dad), sprinkle with rosemary, and put in a baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes turning once.

Chop up a couple of tomatoes and a cucumber, season, and drizzle with olive oil and vinegar.

Meanwhile, shuck corn (1/person, maybe 2 for really hungry folks.) Cook in boiling water 2 minutes only. Have butter and salt on the table.

Tuesday

Salade Nicoise is a composed salad which means lettuce is the bed, the other ingredients are arranged on top in clumps, and the dressing goes on last.

Salade Nicoise for 4 or 5 people
French bread
Cherries

Ingredients: 1 head romaine lettuce, a can of tuna, 2 hardboiled eggs, a big handful of fresh string beans, 4-6 small potatoes, some cherry tomatoes, a can of anchovies, if you like them.

In the morning, boil the eggs and peel the potatoes.

As a first step, boil or steam the potatoes for about 6 minutes. Add the beans to the same pot and cook 5 more minutes. Check the potatoes for doneness. Drain, cool down, and cut the potatoes into halves or wedges. Quarter the eggs. Put the lettuce in a big bowl and strew all the ingredients over the top.

Make a vinaigrette with garlic, olive oil, and vinegar or lemon and drizzle over the salad.

Wednesday

Pasta with Pesto
Zucchini salad
Watermelon

For the salad, use raw zucchini, very thinly sliced or in little cubes. Drizzle with basalmic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Fast pesto: Can be made in advance! 2 packed cup of basil leaves, 3 tablespoons of pine nuts (or walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds – whatever you have on hand), 1/2 cup olive oil, pinch salt, a garlic clove, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 3 tablespoons butter. Puree all these ingredients in a blender or food processor. At serving time, stir in a few spoonfuls of the hot pasta cooking water.

This can also be frozen in small containers for super quick suppers!

Thursday

Use the grill or a hot oven to roast chicken. I like skin-on chicken with bones; it’s so tasty! It should take about 20 minutes. Mash a few tablespoons of butter with a minced garlic clove. Slice partway through a baguette and drop in some of the butter mixture. Wrap in foil and put to the side of the hot grill (or in the oven) until hot (about 10 minutes or so.)

Grilled Chicken
Green Salad
Garlic Bread
Blueberries with ice cream

Friday

You made it through the week! Don’t cook – just put this on a big plate and enjoy your dinner!

Hummus, olives, sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, pita bread
Green yogurt with honey and walnuts

Fast hummus that’s cheap too: 1 can chickpeas, 2 tablespoons (or more if you like it) sesame tahini, 1 small garlic clove, salt, pepper, juice of 1 lemon, 2 – 4 tablespoons of water. In the food processor or blender, add all the ingredients and puree. Taste for seasoning. Put in a bowl and drizzle olive oil over the top.

Saturday

I’ll write the recipe below but this takes only a few minutes of concentration and the rest is nearly automatic. Relax! It’s the weekend.

Fish tacos
Mango floats

To make quick fish tacos: Make the slaw and dressing first. Cook fish right before serving.

Slaw: 1 small green cabbage, shredded finely; bunch of cilantro, chopped; a shredded carrot, and a bunch of radishes (optional), chopped. Mix this together, add salt and some squeezes of lime juice.

Sauce: Mix together juice of 1 lime, a couple of tablespoons each of yogurt (or sour cream) and mayonnaise. Pinch salt. Pinch sugar. Garlic clove minced. Hot sauce or a minced chipotle chile.

Fish: Cut 1 pound of white fish filets (I use frozen) in strips. Toss in a bowl containing 2 tablespoons flour and 4 tablespoons cornmeal, several big pinches of cumin, pepper, and salt. Heat a thin layer of vegetable oil in a frying pan and cook until light brown on both sides (about 5 minutes.)

Corn tortillas (flour is ok): Spread with dressing, top with slaw and fish. Put on plates or a big platter. Serve hot sauce on the side. 4 – 5 servings.

Mango (or peach) Floats: slice up the fruit, put in tall glasses with ice cream and club soda. Eat with a spoon.

Sunday

I knew a surgeon who used to save leftover salad, add some tomatoes and presto! he had gazpacho. I don’t often have leftover salad but I still think it’s an original idea.

Soup (from leftovers) – Gazpacho!

Crackers and cheese
Peaches

Fast gazpacho: use any leftover salad vegetables for this soup or gather up the ingredients in the recipe below.

6 ripe tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
1 small onion
1 cucumber, peeled
1 green or red pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
salt, pepper
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups water or tomato juice or V-8, approximately

In a blender or food processor, blend the vegetables until they are in small chunks. Add enough water or juice to thin slightly. Season with salt, pepper, cumin and vinegar. Add a few spoonfuls of olive oil. Let the soup sit a while to develop more flavor. Taste for seasoning before serving.

Knives and Chopping Board

Equipment:

Knives: Equip yourself with 3 good knives. In the photo above are the knives I use nearly exclusively. They are (from top to bottom) a small paring knife (serrated, in this case), an all-purpose chef’s knife, a bread knife (used for slicing meat and tomatoes too) and my new favorite a santoku knife. This last replaces my chef’s knife for most purposes and is a reasonable purchase (between $30 and $60). The serrated bread knife and paring knife are dirt cheap but when they get dull (and they will!), you must replace them. The key here is sharp. If you know how to sharpen knives, you are way ahead of the game. It’s easy to chop when you have a sharp knife. I can’t emphasize this enough.

Cutting Board: The knives in the photo are sitting on my cutting board which measures 15 by 20 inches and is made of rubber that is pleasant to chop on and easy to keep clean. No, I can’t fit it in my dishwasher but it is indispensable. Not easy to find in stores but restaurant supply stores have them. These stores are open to the public) and you can find sources on line.

When using a cutting board, anchor it to the counter by setting it on a damp towel or wet paper towel. Small boards that slip around as you chop are an invitation to the First Aid station.

The Everyday Useful Tools

Salad spinner, sieve, metal bowls, tongs, and box grater: I use these all the time. The bowls are very thin and light. I get them in several sizes at my local restaurant supplier for next to nothing. They are so much easier to use than heavy glass bowls and if one drops, so what?

A big pasta pot, a big heavy stew pot, a big frying pan and a medium-sized frying pan: I have assorted other pots and pans but the four mentioned are the ones I use all the time. I’m not too crazy about non-stick or otherwise coated pans but I do have a big one that comes in handy now and then. I like heavy duty stainless steel frying pans because you can really heat them up without damaging them.

2 baking sheets with rims, a roasting pan and a couple of baking dishes:Baking sheets (cookie sheets) can be used for all sorts of baking and lined with non-stick paper, they are a snap to clean. An 8 inch square and a 9 x 13 inch glass pan is a kitchen standard. A heavy duty ceramic or enamelled cast iron baking dish is very useful for roast chicken, potatoes au gratin, and all kinds of baked dishes from leftovers.

Food Processor: In the world of small electronic gadgets, a heavy duty food processor is my favorite. Small one or two cup processors are a waste of money, in my opinion, because they are usually not sturdy and don’t chop well. If you hate chopping onions, this will be a godsend. Likewise, if you have a lots of chopping, slicing, or grating to do (coleslaw, as an example), it will take seconds using a food processor. It’s great for soups sauces; fantastic for pie crusts and currently, I use it to make ground beef. I’ve used a Cusinart model with a lot of success. Ask for one for Christmas. It is so much better than a blender.

*HOW TO….

Bake potatoes: Scrub a russet or other baking potato (yes, there’s a difference! Ask your vegetable person at the store). Bake at 425 (you don’t need to preheat the oven) for an hour. For extra crispy skin, take out the potatoes after about 50 minutes of baking and let them sit a few minutes until the skins are soft and wrinkly). Put them back in the oven for an additional 5- 10 minutes.

Boil potatoes:Scrub boiling potatoes. Peel if desired and cut in halves, quarters, or leave whole. Put in a pan with cold water to cover and a spoonful of salt. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until done – which will take about 15 minutes or so depending on how many potatoes you have. Test for doneness by plunging a knife into the side. Drain.

Make rice: Here it depends on the rice. Again, don’t be a slave to the timing – check your rice and taste a grain or two; when the water is absorbed, it’s done.

For long grain: 1 cup rice, 2 cups water, 1 tsp. salt. Bring the water and salt to a boil. Add the rice, stir once, cover and cook at low heat for 20 minutes.

For basmati, jasmine or Thai: 1 cup rice, 1 1/2 cups water, 1 tsp. salt. Rinse off the rice thoroughly in a strainer. Cook as for long grain but only about 10 minutes.

Hardboil eggs: Put eggs in a pan with cold water to cover. Bring to a boil, lower heat and cook for about 8 minutes. Drain and cover with cold water (I use ice cubes too sometimes). If an egg cracks during the boiling process, add salt – it will seal the crack.

Have fun in the kitchen!!

xoxo, Mary

Thanksgiving – Yikes!

Nov20

It’s just a few days away and you’ve been asked to bring ‘something’… I suggest my friend Pat Devine’s potato dish. One of the least exciting elements of getting the feast to table is how to keep things hot. On Thursday, in thousands of households, there will be nail biting over last minute mashed potatoes. But hold on there, pilgrims!

Pat’s potatoes can actually be made in advance and while you’re sawing through that turkey, her ‘souffle’ can be quietly heating up. Try it!

I’m also including my sister Claudia’s turkey roasting method in case you misplaced it. It does require that you stick around the house but that’s part of the holiday, right?

Careful readers will immediately scream “Retreads!” at these recipes but be charitable:

Right now, I’m in Paris and cooking Thanksgiving dinner for 100 people who come to Jim Haynes’ house. Jim has dinners every Sunday night for about 100 people and has been doing it for the past 30 years. The cooks are volunteers and anyone can come for a modest contribution. Thanksgiving is a lot of fun with a huge crowd of American, French, English and assorted other nationalities who either are homesick, hungry, curious or a mixture of all three.

Jim admits he’s no cook but at Thanksgiving, he does have a favorite and this will appeal to the Southerner in all of you… If you’re having a hundred folks in your cozy living room, this should feed them nicely. (But I’ll cut down the recipe just to be fair.)

Following are the recipes. Gotta go and find some cranberries in this town! Happy Thanksgiving!

Mary

MASHED POTATO SOUFFLE

I got this originally from Pat Devine, my neighborhood friend. It isn’t really a souffle but I call it that because it does puff up and get nice and brown on top. It’s unusual to find a hot potato dish that can be made in advance and actually be reheated. In fact, Pat used to freeze this. A great dish if you have to bring something for Thanksgiving dinner. Don’t overdo the garlic.

10 (about 2 ½ lbs) medium red potatoes
8 oz cream cheese
8 oz sour cream
Garlic – 1 clove, minced
Chives (optional) – 1 – 2 teaspoons minced
1 teaspoon baking powder
Butter

Cook and mash potatoes. Mix the cream cheese and sour cream and add to the hot potatoes. Add the garlic,chives and baking powder and put the mixture into a greased 8 inch baking dish or round souffle pan. Dot with butter. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. This can be made in advance.Serves 4 – 6

LARGE RECIPE

To make the peeling simpler, I sometimes use russets instead of the smaller red potatoes.

12 large baking potatoes or 5 pounds of medium red potatoes
1 lb. cream cheese
1 lb. sour cream
Garlic – 1 large clove, minced
Chives (optional) – 1 heaping tablespoon, minced
2 teaspoons baking powder
Butter

Proceed as above using two pans or one large oblong baking dish (13 x 9).

This will serve at least a dozen people. It’s rich so just a spoonful will do if there are other vegetables.

CLAUDIA BUSHEE’S MOST DELICIOUS ROAST TURKEY

(Also, gravy)

Claudia’s method – which was her father, Derak Ward’s method first – is suitable for any size turkey. It produces a beautifully browned bird that is perfectly moist. A package of Cheesecloth is an essential purchase.

In her own words…

Clean and stuff bird. Fold a large piece of cheese cloth so that it completely covers the turkey. If the cloth is triple, that is fine. Remove cheesecloth but keep it in its form.You are going to need at least a pound of butter, if not more. Melt ½ pound in a little bowl. Spread some on the naked uncooked bird. Then immerse the cloth in the bowl o’ butter. Slap the cheesecloth on the bird.

Every half hour, you must do some thing. At the first half hour check, baste with butter on top of the cheesecloth. Don’t be stingy with the butter. The next half hour interval (so the bird has been in an hour), remove the cheesecloth. Dip in water. Get fairly wet but don’t wash all the butter out of the cloth. Pour more butter over the cheesecloth once the cloth has been draped over the bird again.Alternate between just basting and pulling the whole thing off on the half hour. Remove the cloth the last half hour to allow turkey to brown.

I follow the New York Times cookbook low temp roasting method to know how long to cook.

Mary’s note: The low temp method is 325 degrees throughout; length of time depends on whether your turkey is stuffed or not (stuffed is usually an extra ½ hour cooking) and its weight.

Turkey Stock

Plan to make this stock the day before Thanksgiving so that you can use it for the gravy.

Neck, giblets, liver of the turkey

2 large onions, peeled and chopped in a rough dice

2carrots, peeled and chopped in a rough dice

3 stalks celery, chopped in a rough dice

Handful of celery leaves

A few garlic cloves

2 bay leaves

3 sprigs fresh thyme

5 sprigs fresh parsley

4 or 5 pepper corns

Place all ingredients in a large stock pot and cover with cold water. Bring just to a boil and skim the accumulated foam from the surface. Reduce heat and simmer very slowly for two hours. The broth should have a robust taste but will be somewhat insipid due to lack of salt. Strain and discard the meat and vegetables. Stir in several spoons of salt or to taste. Cool and refrigerate. When cold, skim off the fat.

Turkey Gravy

Turkey stock (see preceding recipe) – about 6-8 Cups

Pan drippings

¾ to 1 Cup flour

Salt and pepper

Bring the turkey stock to a simmer in a large pot and keep warm. Combine the accumulated pan drippings from the turkeys into one roasting pan, warm the pan over medium heat and add the flour (shaking it in through a sieve to remove lumps) whisking continuously. Cook this mixture – the roux – until the flour is cooked (about 8 to 10 minutes, approximately). Add the heated broth several cups at a time stirring with each addition. When the gravy reaches the desired thickness, lower the heat and simmer several minutes. Check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper as necessary. Let cool and reheat for serving.

Jim’s Glazed Carrots

This is less of a recipe and more of an engineering marvel. Jim Haynes somehow perfected a method of packing a large pot with row after row of carrots, standing on top of each other end to end. Once that’s done, the rest is easy.

For 100 servings For 25 servings

22 lbs carrots 5 ½ lbs carrots

2 lbs light brown sugar ½ lb light brown sugar

1 lb butter, unsalted 4 oz butter, unsalted

5 cinnamon sticks 1-2 cinnamon sticks

Salt and pepper Salt and pepper

Water Water

Wash and peel the carrots. Slice into julienne strips about 3 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. (Another general way to think of it is: cut the carrots in half, then each half in eighths) They will not all be the same but take care not to cut the carrots too thinly or they will be too soft when cooked.

Now, the engineering part. In the large pot, (we use a very tall-sided pot, but a fat will one do as well), stack the carrots in bunches on end. Continue until the bottom of the pot is covered with a tight row of carrots. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Repeat with a second row on top of the first. Continue in this manner until all the carrots are tightly pack in the pot. There should be about 2 to 3 inches remaining at the top.Add water to the pot just to the top of the carrots. Strew on top of this: the butter, sugar, cinnamon sticks, and a generous amount of salt and pepper.Bring the contents to a boil. (This will take quite some time) Immediately turn off the heat. Keep the pot covered, leaving the carrots to cook as they cool down. They can simply sit there stewing in their juices for a couple of hours. Reheat before serving if necessary but they stay hot quite a long time.

Feeding Our Young

Nov2

Close encounters with my children and grandchildren have gotten me thinking about how we humans feed our young. From the helpless newborn (except for their amazing lung power) to the gobbling toddler to the picky nursery schooler, children need feeding.

Just how and what we feed our children is a hot topic. Here’s how I see it:

Cook fresh food for yourself. Extend this effort to your babies and children.

Recently, an acquaintance spoke of her sister who made her own baby food. This, she felt, was a dreadful act of drudgery and a waste of time. Hmm. That seemed odd. I called my dear friend, Katy Bayless, the next day. We were new mothers together some 35 years ago.

“Was making baby food all that hard?”

“No”, she said firmly. “They just ate what we ate and we used the Happy Baby food mill.”

The Happy Baby food mill is still made and is a great little gadget small enough to fit in a purse or diaper bag. The food is pureed and comes out the top so that you can feed the baby right from the mill at the table. Of course, Katy was not suggesting that babies eat exactly what adults do but rather that when you cook, small portions, plainly cooked, are set aside for the baby.

The introduction of solid food to my babies was an exciting milestone, filled with new communication and a lot of comedy. I followed the La Leche League advice on holding off on solids until 5 or 6 months to avoid allergies and then slowly added fruits and vegetables.

This advice has completely changed. Feed babies anything, the experts urge. As it turns out, the long drawn out introduction of foods exacerbates allergies rather than the reverse.

This makes things a lot easier.

How about a 21st century opinion? At the eye doctor’s office a few weeks ago, I recalled that Dr. Jennifer Ballantine has a 6-month-old baby (as well as two school age children).

“Say, Dr. Ballantine”, I asked, “Do you make your own baby food?”

“Absolutely”, she replied. “And I do not have one extra minute in my day so if I can do it, anyone can.”

She went on to explain that growing up in the South, she had three choices at her school cafeteria: hot dog, hamburger, or chili Frito pie. “I had one of these choices every day with a soda from the vending machine. My kids aren’t going to eat that way.”

So how does she do it? Much the way Katy and I did. She makes a little extra of what the family is eating and then grinds it up.

“I use a food processor and small Tupperware cups which I can freeze. If the baby doesn’t eat it all, it’s literally a few pennies I’ve wasted. I introduce each new food slowly – one over three days.”

Making Simple Baby Food

Finally, I asked Melissa Voorhees, mother of four, a recent grandmother and in my book, a champion in feeding children. (My son, at age 6, used to go to her house to eat Brussels sprouts!)

Her warm words are better than recipes:

I always preferred kitchen duties to other household chores. So cooking for my children was easy and I learned by doing as I went. One thing is that they begin eating food so gradually that there is plenty of time to figure it out! A food mill, a blender and fork to mash and the dailyness of it.

My mother raised us all in Brazil which in those days was decades behind the US in convenience foods so by necessity ,all of our food was made at home. Her idea was to make a “little soup” of some bit of meat, potato, carrot and a green vegetable in broth and then whir it up in the blender. There there was mashed banana, mashed avocado with lime, stewed fruit mashed with a fork or blended. Then there was a morning oatmeal, milk mash, and that was pretty much it. Not a lot of variety.

I, on the other hand, was on a mission to introduce lots of different foods so I went week by week adding something new. I remember answering Dr. McDowell when he asked what foods I had given the baby up to that point. He was dumbfounded by my long list and I felt like a star! I used to make porridge out of different grains: oatmeal, or brown rice or millet and run it through the food mill. also, all kinds of vegetables, fish tofu, lentils, beans. Chicken or meat had to be a part of the little soup because by themselves, they were too grainy. Legumes had to be run through the food mill with brown rice or they were too rough.

Babies love sweet potato, applesauce and banana. It is so natural to just give them a chunk of this or that to gum while you are preparing, although you have to be near because they can choke! I always tasted what I gave them. Homemade soupy brown rice run through a food mill is pleasant and sweet.

I think the whole feeding thing is a great place to interact with a baby, playing with them, experimenting…. You get the picture!

As Babies Grow Up

There are two goals for feeding babies:

They eat enough good food to thrive
They join the family at meals

The second goal may not seem obvious but I think it’s extremely important. From a parent’s arms to the high chair to a place at the table is an important early journey.

To prepare the path, involve the baby in the feeding right from the start. When you’re spoon-feeding, give the baby a spoon of his or her own to practice with. (Incidentally, wear a raincoat). Introduce finger foods early on that the baby can chase around the high chair tray. It’s all pretty messy but worth it.

By age 3 or 4, children can use forks and spoons correctly, by 6 or so, they can cut their food (it’s easier if you provide them with a small steak knife) and by 12, they can be taught to carve the Thanksgiving turkey.

The skills learned early on extend to helping with meals and then to learning to cook. Two year olds can help set a table and tear up lettuce for a salad; three year old can beat up an egg, sift flour and much more. My friend, Molly Layton’s children could make wonderful quesadillas at age 7.

“It took patience and holding my breath as they learned to use the stove but it was really worth it.” said Molly. “It’s easier and faster just to do it yourself but whenever I took the time to teach my kids a skill, I never regretted it.”

Picky Eaters

Past the toddler stage, children can get set in their ways when it comes to eating. I learned recently that children need to taste a new food between 15 and 20 times before they will accept it willingly. No wonder mac ‘n cheese is the route most tired parents take!

Expanding their repertoire is the role of parents but how to achieve it?

Bring the kids to the dinner table and have them eat what you eat. Not 5-alarm chili and raw onions but what my sister Claudia calls the ‘brown-green-white thing’ or protein/vegetable/carbohydrate. Don’t give them too much and do ask them to have at least one bite. Twenty times later, they may actually ask for more spinach. Prepare to hear howls of “Oh, no! Not squash!” but don’t put up with a lot of complaints. Dinner should have some semblance of civility.

School and beyond

The now celebrated Chef Ann Cooper, the ‘Rengade Lunch Lady’ is a former chef who took on the school lunch program. Her aim, in fact, what she calls her ‘life’s work’ is to feed kids well in an institutional setting. Lack of money, public policy that ignores school food and children’s health, and the commodity based food service providers are some of the issues she has tackled. As a startling counterpoint, the French school system is often cited in terms of their budget (much larger) and the food itself (healthier and fresher).

I decided to see for myself.

A part-timer in Paris, I am just across the street from an elementary school. As it turned out, my visit coincided with ‘La Semaine du Gout’ (The Week of Taste). Every year in France, a week is devoted to teaching children about food and how it’s produced. Some years, chefs go to the schools and give cooking and tasting lessons. Last year, the kids visited a chocolate factory. This time, a cow named Marguerite was brought in from Normandy and installed right in the school grounds.

“This is to teach our city youngsters how the milk gets into bottles!” one of the teachers explained. La Semaine du Gout is about more than that, however. The program promotes good eating habits, the development of taste and appreciation of food and of course, the preservation of a very important aspect of French culture.

My American friend, Lee Hubert, who has lived over 30 years in France, added this:

“The French have seen the rise of obesity in the States and now in England. They don’t want to wait 30 years before addressing the problem. Fast food and processed food is popular in France so it’s a real concern.”

The diverting sight of Marguerite peacefully chewing her cud temporarily stalled my plan to see what French kids eat for lunch. But it was easy enough to find out: the weekly menu is posted online and at the school door. No surprise: dairy products were in the spotlight. The children sampled French cheese, yogurt, milk and custard. For each day’s menu, the specific food group (dairy, meats, raw and cooked vegetables, cereals, beans, and sugared products) is printed in a particular color, making it easy to see how the meal is balanced. Each lunch has a starter, main dish and dessert.

My favorite was Friday’s meal:

Hearts of Palm
Cod in Lemon Sauce with Steamed Parsley Potatoes
Yogurt with a ‘fruit of the season’

Sounds healthy to me! But back at home…

“The reason we don’t cook is because we don’t need to.” was the honest and realistic assessment I got from a young adult friend a few years back. And it’s hard to argue that we need to cook in a country where prepared food whether it’s for babies, children, adults, dieters, or the elderly is cheap and available. An intelligent, attentive young mother told me recently that organic processed baby foods were ‘better’ for babies than home prepared food. Really?

The flip side of not cooking for ourselves is that we’re bombarded with alarming news about processed and prepared foods. We have marvelous resources: bountiful food supplies and tremendous choice for modest cost. Feeding ourselves and feeding our young is basic, healthy, sensible…

And fun! Well, not always fun but worth the effort? Definitely!

xoxo, Mary

Cooking with Mary Bartlett

in your very own kitchen

Tag Archives: Home Cooking

Vietnamese Market Day and the Beauty of Margins

Ho Xuan Huong, 1772 – 1822,

translated by Nguyen Ngoc Bich

Visiting the markets

Lunch at Mai’s Home

Homegardens and Margins

Trying this at home

Black Chicken

Mai Huong’s Salad Rolls

I. For spring rolls: (about 8 to 10 rolls)

Ingredients:

How to wrap the spring roll:

II. Dipping Sauce:

A promising start to the year.

Thank you Mai and Margo.

Word of Mouth or How Recipes Find their Way

Home Cooking IV: Fire up the Stove!

Thanksgiving – Yikes!

Feeding Our Young