Favorite Home-Cooked Dinners
This was really hard for me! Less so as both my grandmothers died before I was a year old, and my mother died nearly two years ago. So now I only have my siblings, aunts and in-laws’ feelings to consider. Fire away!
Years after making turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas, my mother decided to go back to her British roots. Normally I’d shudder at the thought of grey lamb and dreaded mint jelly, but this was, as “Martha” would say, a good thing.
Medium rare prime rib studded with garlic; golden roasted potatoes from the pan, Yorkshire pudding from some of the pan juices and beef gravy. Sure we had brussels sprouts or carrots or spinach (cooked the German way) or another vegetable but wow! What a meal! It was crowned with dessert, mincemeat tarts, lebkuchen (German, of course), Scandinavian cookies, apple shortbread cookies and whatever cookies my sisters decided to make. I was the sous-chef, prepping and cooking all the sides. To this day I’ve never made a prime rib in my life!
A perfectly roasted chicken, with stuffing or without. I truss it a certain way (majored in chicken bondage and even taught the chefs I apprenticed for) and while it’s not traditional to my family, I like my “seat of the pants” sausage and apple stuffing. My mother always used beef consomme to moisten her bread stuffing and to make gravy so that’s normal for me and I believe it gives the chicken more flavor. Add some garlic mashed potatoes and veg of choice and that’s a stalwart meal for me.
Jacques Pepin gave me, via a recipe, a way to delight my family with his Lamb Robert. I believe it’s my brother’s favorite dish (he calls it “Sheep Bob” but I’ve never made it for my husband or for guests because one never knows whether folks like lamb. I certainly do, and not grey and covered in mint jelly. This recipe calls for a boned, butterflied leg of lamb. I’m a terrible butcher but have worked my way through this probably ten times. Marinate it in a mixture of soy, garlic, ginger, jalapeno, I don’t have the recipe here but you can find it online. Cook it rare to medium-rare. It is delicious. With it I like green beans, even a cold green bean/vinaigrette, and rosemary roasted potatoes.
My latest favorite is a rosemary-maple marinated beef flap done on the grill. That comes courtesy of Don, my butcher. I believe I’ve given you his marinade recipe.
Once I made cassoulet from a recipe from Simone “Simca” Beck, of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I told you the story of living in a one-room cabin with no lock on the door, freezing after the store-bought bundle of wood burned out of the wood stove. In that month I spent $10 frivolously in a used bookstore, buying Simca’s book. Many of the recipes I cooked in school were hers, including lettuce timbales and a wonderful chocolate-raspberry pudding/cake that I made every day of my apprenticeship. My father loved it. I probably would have learned to love it but it took two days to make! Now I hear there’s a kit you can buy with the perfect original beans and saucisses de Toulouse to make a classic cassoulet. The one thing I really love about cassoulet is that it’s like fish stew, everyone has the “perfect” version and there remain heated arguments about what’s best. Don’t you love serving controversy along with a meal? That way people don’t have to talk about politics or the economy.
Salmon is probably my favorite fish, en papilotte with braised leeks and grainy mustard, microwaved with lemon and soy, smoked on a sesame bagel. But I made an entire side of salmon covered in a scallop mousse with zucchini slices as “scales” for my family the day after cooking school graduation. My cousin deep-fried parsley for me as a garnish. Don’t worry, I don’t cook nearly that fancy anymore! It was the late 80’s, give me a break! I was probably wearing a shirt with shoulder pads.
That’s it. If I’ve offended anyone, sorry. I’m sure I’ll come up with five items I forgot later on, which I’ll share with you. Thanks for reading and have a great weekend! Cheers, Dee
Cooking with Dee 