Exploring our Culinary History

 Food in the context of family is often more than just sustinance. It is celebration, care, love, joy, comfort, or mourning. The table is a place where people gather, and a meal prepared with time and love opens the mind, loostens the tongue, breaks down the walls and creates space for connection.

Throughout my life many people have cooked for me, my mother and grandmother most often. 

Last year we moved my mother from my childhood home in New Jersey to California. In the process of packing up her things, she packed a box for me filled with the recipe boxes of my elders. I have my mother's recipe box, her mother's recipe box, and full notebook from Le Cordon Bleu cooking school, my great grandmother's recipe box, and my father's mother's recipe box. 

Looking through these hand written cards and magazing clippings feels sacred. It is fun to see the cultural trends that have changed, and some themes that tell me more about these chefs. My Nana really liked dates, there are so many recipes in her box that use dates. I would never have known that about her. 

I also found a hand-written recipe for Dandelion Wine from my dad's grandmother! When I started makeing dandelion wine he told me that he remembered going with his grandmother to pick dandelions for wine and that he hated the job because it took so many flowers. I guess as a kid he didn't get to taste how amazing Dandelion Wine is so he would not have appreciated all the long harvesting work via the end product. The fun thing is...her recipe is the same as mine! What a treasure to have that connection. 

My great-grandmother Campbell was super trendy and progressive, and while her box includes a good amount of dinners involving canned soup, she was ahead of her time with her salad recipes. No joke, she was using avocado in the 70's way before avocado toast was cool. 

Gotta love the typewriter throwback

I also found recipes for homemade hard  soapusing beef tallow and lye. 😳 We probably will skip this one.

Thanks Mrs. Davis

As we have looked through these, the boys have had to learn how to disciper cursive. 😄 Some of them are hard to read anyway because they are scrawled on the back of dry cleaning receipts or on napkins. Others look like they were carefully written in pen and ink. I can't imagine how old these ones are.

It is also surprising how many are lacking important details like pan size, oven temp and cooking time!

Where was this when I was cooking for Boston Project?

It has been fun to explore these small family time capsules. The boys and I have decided that we are going to work our way through them and try a sampling of the recipes. Some recipes we chose because we know they will be delicious: sweet potato pudding, spice cake and lemon coconut cookies made it on the list easy. Others made it on the list because I have no idea what we are making and how it will turn out: spiced grapes & tomato mincemeat will be fun. We are working through 2-3 recipes a month, so keep an eye out for some fun coming your way soon. The boys are also hoping to add a video component. More info on that as it develops. 

We are heading on a tasty adventure, it should be fun!

...even if Pennywise Pot Pie sounds terrifying!!!

Grilled Brioche with Mediterranean Layer Spread

 

My son Joseph works in a fantiastic little restaurant in Dorchester. This weekend the baker was on vacation and Joe got to make all the bread for the weekend. He brought home a beautiful braided brioche to share. 

This is my cute chef who got to bake this weekend

Naturally, we grilled it up with a fancy spread for dinner. The Mediterranean spread is a combination of things easily found in our refrigerator. Simply layer, spread and enjoy. It was delicious. We served it with spicy grilled chicken and grilled summer squash.

Grilled Brioche with Mediterranean Layer Spread

Ingredients:

10 slices of brioche bread

1/2 cup pesto (we made homemade pesto with celantro from our garden, but you can use store bought too)

1 cup of hummus

1/2 cup smoky spiced yogurt (season the yogurt with 1/4 tsp smoked paprika, salt & pepper)

1/3 cup muffaletta (you can make a mix of olives, capers and banana peppers)

1/2 tomato diced

Salt & Pepper

Directions:

1. On a medium plate, layer the pesto first, then hummus. Gently drop tablespoons of the yogurt on the hummus and smooth gently. Spoon the muffaletta over the hummus. Sprinkle diced tomato over the top and season with salt and pepper.

2. Grill the brioche lightly on both sides. Be sure to scoop through each layer when you spread it on the toast. 

Enjoy!

There were also beautiful flowers on the table tonight

Three Bean Salad

 Three bean salad is something I associate with my mother and cookouts in the 80's. It is kind of on the level of seven layer salad (also a pretty good cookout offering). Letely we have had a lot of green beans in our life. I really like greenbeans better fresh and not cooked. In my mom's 80's version of this "convenient" salad canned green beans were traditionally used. I decided to try it with fresh snapped beans, and I think it works even better. The recipe below is the traditional combination, but I often substitute or add depending on what I have on hand. Tonight I made the dressing with scallions instead of red onion, and I didn't have any celery, but I did have a poblano pepper, which worked great for that nedded veggie crunch. I also love to add any fresh herbs I can grab from the garden. Parsley is called for, but basil, oregono, chives or tarragon work well too. 

This salad is a great way to get fresh veggies and protien. It is easy to put together and leftovers are great for lunch the next day. 

Three Bean Salad

Ingredients:

1 lb fresh greenbeans, snapped into 1-inch pieces

2, 14-oz cans of beans, your choice, red, pinto, black or garbanzo work great

1 cup finely diced celery

1 cup chopped parsley

Dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 cup cider vinegar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons whole grain mustard

1 cup diced red onion

2 garlic cloves diced

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1. Combine greenbeans, canned beans, celery and parsley in a medium bowl. Stir to combine.

2. In a small bowl, whisk all the dressing ingredients until well combined. Pour dressing over the beans, toss and enjoy. 

Grilled Plantains

 

This night we served the grilled plantains with curry chicken and grilled cabbage with smoky/spicy yogurt

It is patio season. The season where our family's living space doubles because we can go outside. Patio season also means it is grilling season. Thus far, Riddles have grilled and smoked a lot of interesting things, but shokingly enough, it was not until a few weeks ago that we tried to grill plantains. We have fried them and made pastelon, but it had never occurred to me to try grilling them. They are amazing grilled! Now we snatch them up any time we get to the store. Grilled plantains pairs well with pretty much anything else you are throwing on the grill. We have had them with bratwurst, jerk pork loin and curry chicken. They are savory, spicy and sweet and pair excellently with a side of guacamole. Both the prep and cook time are short. Grilled plantains are a huge winner.

Picking your plantains: If you are unfamiliar with plantains, learning how to select them when purchasing is important. Plantains are sweeter the darker their skin gets, but you don't want them to be moldy. It is pretty rare that I find plantains ready to eat at the store. Usually, we have to buy them green or yellow and wait patiently while they ripen up on the kitchen veggie cart. For this kind of grilling, you want them ripe and the skins to have dark streaks and spots.

Grilled Plantains

Ingredients:

Ripe Plantains (see note above)

Olive Oil

1 Packet Saizon con azafran

Chili Powder

Smoked Paprika

Cumin

Oregono

Salt & Pepper

Instructions:

1. Cut the ends off all your plantains, then slice your plantains in half lengthwise .

2. Brush all the flat, flesh sides of the plantains with olive oil, then sprinkle with all the seasonings.

3. Grill the plantains over a hot grill. Start the plantains flat, seasoned side down first for 4-6 minutes. Then turn the plantains over to the skin side and let them continue to cook until the flesh begins to come away from the peel.

4. Remove from the heat and eat with a side of guacamole or cucumber salsa. 

Grilled Plantain served with jerk pork, grilled zucchini and jerk pineapple.

Gingersnap Bars

 

Our family likes things spicy! I found this bar cookie recipe and we are all in LOVE. A batch of these doesn't usually last the day, especially if Papa Riddle is visiting. We like these because they have a crunchy outside and a soft, sweet spicy inside. Also...being a bar recipe it is easy to execute.

Gingersnap Bars

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 cup unflavored oil (I use avocado but vegetable, canola or grapeseed also work)
• 1 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon coarse decorating sugar, for sprinkling on top

NSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line a 9×13 glass baking dish with parchment paper.
2. In medium bowl, sift together flour, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda; set aside.
3. In a large bowl add the oil and sugar; whisk to combine. Whisk in egg and molasses, taking are not to over mix. Stir in the flour mixture just until flour is combined.
4. Spread the cookie dough evenly into the prepared baking pan. Use your hands to push the dough into the corners and evenly press the dough into the pan. Sprinkle evenly with coarse sugar.
5. Bake 22-25 minutes just until the cookie bars are cooked through. The edges will be golden and crispy and the center will be just sent. Take care not to over bake. Remove the bars from oven and let cool completely on a cooling rack. The bars will continue to cook in the pan while they cool. Cut into 24 slices.

Karidopita, Greek Walnut Cake

 

There was so much baking this Easter. We really got excited! One new recipe we tried this year was Karidopita, or Greek walnut cake. We had purchased a bulk bag of walnuts a while back and they really needed to be used. This recipe is a great way to feature walnuts without being overwhelming. My walnut-averse son loved this cake. The key is to really pulverize your wallnuts into a fine crumb. It keeps the cake moist and lends the beautiful nutty flavor. 

That is my finished soaking karidopita in the back :)

Karidopita, Greek Walnut Cake

Ingredients   

1 cup sugar
2 cups self raising flour
1 cup walnuts crushed coarsely (option to add another 1/4 of chunky walnuts pieces if you like more crunch)
6 eggs
1 tsp vanilla 
1 tsp cinnamon & 1 tsp clove ground
30 ml brandy
1 cup olive oil

Syrup
1.5 cup sugar
1.5 cup water
1 cinnamon stick
3 cloves
1/2 lemon juiced and the other half sliced

Directions:

1. To prepare the syrup, combine all the ingredients, bring to the boil and remove from the heat after 5 minutes. Allow to cool completely. Please note the sugar syrup must be completely cold to be used on the hot cake.
   
   
   
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. Grease a  10 inch round cake tin with a little olive oil.
4. Combine eggs, oil, sugar, spices, brandy, walnuts and vanilla sugar, then gradually add flour. Mix for a few minutes until well combined.
5. Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes or until a golden colour.
6. Once the cake is ready, make some small holes on its surface with a skewer and pour the cooled syrup over the hot cake bit by bit, allowing each spoonful to be absorbed before proceeding with the next. It is essential that it absorbs well. The longer it stands, the better the result as it will soften even more.
7. Serve with ice-cream or a Greek coffee.

Guinness Chocolate Cake

 

We have a few things we do for St. Patrick's day as a family. Ironically, while we live in Boston, we have never been to the St. Paddy's Day parade in Southie. We are much happier to bake yummy things and stay at home. 😆

We always make Irish Soda Bread, and have for a long time. And a Guinnes stew is standard. Recently, we started baking this Chocolage Guinness Cake. It is a delicous, moist and flavorful cake. You can eat it straight, or dressed with some whiskey butter cream.

Chocolate Guinness Cake:

• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup Guinness stout beer (drink the rest while you cook)
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons instant coffee
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 9-inch springform pan by greasing and laying a parchment circle in the bottom. 

2. In a saucepan heat the butter and Guinness over low heat until the butter is just melted. 

3. In a medium bowl combine eggs, sour cream, and vanilla. Set aside.

4. Combine the brown sugar, instant coffee and cocoa powder to the beer and sugar. Whisk to combine. 

5. Slowly add the butter/beer/cocoa mixture to the eggs/sour cream/vanilla mixture. Add the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir until just combined.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50 - 55 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Let the cake rest for 10 minutes, then eat or ice to your liking. Enjoy!