Listen To Your Mother - at least in the kitchen

Happy Mother's Day! In the spirit of the holiday, today's piece is a shout out to my two mothers - my mom and my mother in law. Elaine & Ellen. Two women who have had a big impact on my cooking and eating through the years.  I've learned so much from both.
I asked them both to submit to me a 3 course meal, that I would write about. I am reprinting their recipes below, exactly in their words. I wish I came up with feathery to describe the herbs, but that is all Ellen. and noone but my mother in law would start a recipe with "NYTimes maybe 20 years ago...."  
Both menus are lovely and filled with delicate beautiful ingredients, as well as some cooking tips. For example, if you roast the salmon on foil it transfers intact to the serving plate and you cut away the extra foil to keep the fish shape. Ingenious!  There are similarities: they both chose soups for the first plate, both chose fish for the entree. Ellen's cookie recipe sounds really easy. So does my moms...but she's trying to out-pie me. And I won't let that happen - not on my own blog! Her single response to my blog piece was that I should have included her rustic tart. Positive feedback or a compliment would have been nice, but I guess my blog about my cooking should also be about my mom. Well, luckily for her Mother's Day is here so today, mom, today you are the subject and the chef! tomorrow, it goes back to being all about me!

Elaine's Kitchen 
I loved to watch my mom cook as I grew up. She encouraged me at an early age to experiment in the kitchen. I remember making blueberry ice cream at age 9. I mixed crushed berries with milk & sugar and stuck it in the freezer. My early tinkering with Tollhouse cookies, spinach omelets, apple pizzas and onion dip in "Elaine's Kitchen," as the sign above the dinner table overlooking the redwood deck so clearly spelled out, laid the foundation for a lifelong love of cooking. I spent a lot of time working on catching the spaghetti (before it was pasta) at that perfect al dente chewiness. We also went out for dinner a lot, and I totally credit my parents for developing a love of dining out, fresh food, etiquette and experimenting. I loved pizza burgers at Don's, lobster at Sammy's Pizza at Star Tavern and Clams Casino and Portuguese food in Newark. Growing up in Roseland, and later Mendham, gave us access to a diverse culinary landscape. 


Today Elaine will be preparing chilled carrot ginger soup, chilean sea bass soffritto, and a rustic fruit tart. 

Chilled Carrot and Ginger Soup

2 Leeks, thinly sliced, 3 Tbsp Olive oil, 6 Carrots, thinly sliced, 1 Red potato, peeled and diced, 1 1/2 tsp Ginger, peeled and grated, 5 Cups Chicken stock, 1/2 Cup Orange juice, 2 tsp Orange zest, Salt and pepper to taste, Thin orange slices and mint sprigs for garnish

Directions

In large saucepan warm the oil and sauté leeks about 3 minutes. Add carrots, potatoes, and ginger and sauté 5 minutes more. Add chicken stock and simmer till all vegetables are softened, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat. Purée soup in blender and leave some texture. Add orange juice and zest and salt and pepper to taste.

Chilean Sea Bass SoffrItto4 Pieces Sea Bass, 1 Can readi cut tomatoes, Julienned strips of leeks, fennel and carrots, EVOO, Salt and pepper to taste
The Italian version of mirepoix is called soffritto (not to be confused with the Spanish sofrito). According to the American reference work The Joy of Cooking, an Italian soffritto is made with olive oil rather than butter, as in France, and may also contain garlic, fennel,leek, and herbs.[8] From Tuscany in central Italy, restauranteur Benedetta Vitali writes that soffritto means "underfried", describing it as: "a preparation of lightly browned minced vegetables, not a dish by itself". (Remove the dark green parts from the leeks and discard them. Slice the white parts of the leeks paper-thin. Wash the leeks well, making sure to remove any dirt. Pat the leeks dry with paper towels.) 2. Cover bottom of saucepan with julienned vegetables (the soffritto) Sprinkle with olive oil and salt and pepper Place fish in single layer on top of soffritto Sprinkle with salt and pepper Pour can of readi-cut tomatoes over fish. Cover and simmer (steam) for about 15 minutes until fish is tender and opaque. Plate fish and cover with vegetables. Serve with rice casserole and steamed asparagus. Makes a great first course as well. Just cut fish into smaller pieces, cook the same way and serve as an appetizer, garnish with baby greens. (Recipe from Family Recipe)

Freestyle Fruit Tart1 Box Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts ( if using both crusts, double other ingredients and make two tarts), 4 oz Phillie cream cheese, softened, 3 Cups Sliced fruit (plums, apples, nectarines etc), 1/4 Cup Granulated sugar, 2 Tbsp Flour, 1 tsp Cinnamon sugar (3/4 tsp sugar and 1/4 tsp cinnamon), 1 Cup Topping or ice creamDirections

Preheat oven to 450. Place pie crust in greased 10 inch pie plate. Carefully spread cream cheese in 6 inch circle in center of crust set aside. Toss fruit with sugar and flour. Spoon over cream cheese. Gently fold edge of crust about 2 inches over fruit, leaving center uncovered. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar evenly over tart. Bake 25 min or just until crust is golden brown and fruit juices are bubbly. Cool slightly before lifting out of pie plate. Cut into slices and top with whipped cream or ice cream. If making two tarts, freeze one for another occasion. Use any fruits you prefer... seasonal or in combinations. This tart is meant to be rustic, so don't worry about making it look perfect. That's what makes it a perfect tart to make!

Chez Ellen
My in-laws are also crazy about cooking, eating and consuming all things delicious. Ellen had six kids to feed so she had to cook huge amounts of food daily, requiring ingenuity, resourcefulness and economy of scale. She entertains exquisitely and loves to throw a party. She figured out how to make gourmet food on a budget by being crafty. Clam chowder and a whole side of salmon feed a family efficiently. They eat every part of the lobster. They had a whole goat on a spit this past Thanksgiving. I'm pretty sure my nephew Owen still sleeps with the lights on.... Well, to quote the chef herself, her food leaves people always wanting more.  So true!


Today Ellen will be preparing a curried crab soup, whole roasted salmon and pecan dainties. 

Curried Crab Soup

NYTimes maybe 20 years ago. 

4 T butter, 1/2 cup fine chopped onion, 1 clove garlic, fine minced, 1/2 cup peeled, fine diced apple, 1 T curry powder, 3 T flour, 1/2 cup chopped ripe tomato, 3 cups chicken broth, S & P 1/2 lb lump or backfin crabmeat, 1/2 cup heavy cream (or half and half, you decide), Tobasco sauce, Chopped parsley for garnish

Melt butter, add onion and cook stirring till wilted. Add garlic and apple. Stir briefly, sprinkle with curry and flour. Add the tomato and broth, stirring rapidly with a wire wisk. When thickened and smooth, add S & P to taste, then crab meat. Simmer 10 minutes, add cream and bring to boil. Add touch of Tobasco. Serve hot with parsley garnish.  (I double the recipe which is supposed to serve 6. People always want more.)

Whole Salmon Side

I place aluminum foil on a jelly roll pan (like a cookie sheet but with sides), sprinkle it with olive or canola oil depending whether I want the olive oil flavor or not, and place the whole side of salmon in the pan. (Some fishmongers remove the skin for you, a convenience, but there are cooks who want the skin left on for enhanced flavor.) I smear a good flavored mayonnaise like Ojai (my favorite)---lemonaise or chipotle---over the surface of the salmon. Sometimes I sprinkle cumin or garlic powder or a fine minced herb like dill or basil on top.  I roast the fish in a 400 degree oven, maybe 20 minutes.  Keep track of the time: Do Not Overcook.  I like my fish a little underdone. I usually slide the whole foil base with the fish in place, onto my serving platter, and then trim the foil away to the fish edge: that saves the hassle of trying to get the intact fish from cook pan to plate. Then decorate with cucumber and lemon slices, and maybe some feathery dill.  

Pecan Dainties

1 cup soft butter, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 cups sifted flour, 1 t  vanilla, 1 T water,  2 cups ground pecans (more or less fine) 2 cups pecan halves

Cream butter and sugar till light. Add remaining ingredients except the pecan halves.  Mix well. Chill till firm. Shape into 3/4 inch balls. Top with a pecan half. Bake in 325 degree oven 20 minutes.  (Roll in confectioners sugar when cooled, if you like.) Store in airtight containers.  Makes 6-8 dozen.

Where to Shop the Blog:
Chilean Sea Bass, lump crab meat (frozen is ok) - Westfield Seafood Market
Whole salmon - Costco on Route 22, Union
Pecans - all sizes at Trader Joe's
Feathery Dill, Leeks, Carrots, Fennel, Ginger, Oranges - Kings or Westfield Farms
Pillsbury Pie Crust - Stop & Shop or Kings.