Living in Germany shortly after the end of W.W.II was an exciting assignment. We were actually living in a foreign country for the first time. The Berlin Airlift that Ed had flown in 1949 had ended just a few years earlier and now the U.S. was trying to derail the threat of another shooting war.

The Cold War was on. We were all biting our nails a little as the Russians misbehaved. We, as families with a bag of essentials always packed, were told that if the Russians started to move we were to get in our cars and head for the French coast. When we ran out of gas we were to get out and walk. The seriousness of the situation, especially with two small children, was worrisome. Times were uncertain. None the less, life went on. We kept improving our German language skills, learning more of German culture and art, and shopping with enthusiasm. We did good deeds and participated in charitable activities and we had great times entertaining and being entertained.

Ed and I enjoyed having friends to dinner. I loved to cook and he was a great host and bar tender. From the beginning we knew how important a social life was to us and to others as well. I began collecting good recipes that fit our lifestyle. Here are four potato recipes that made their way in to my personal cookbook from the mid 1930′s to post Air Force years of 1975 and beyond and never left. One of the four was always a perfect fit for every company meal from last minute visitors from another base, to a casual outdoor barbecue, to a planned sit down dinner, to a buffet supper. Each recipe is special in it’s own way. A cut above a baked potato with sour cream, chopped chives and butter although I must admit that a baked potato came to the rescue more times than I care to admit. It was a delicious solution, as well.

We formed close friendships there that have lasted a lifetime. Today, we love to exchange those wonderful old stories that have become such an important part of our lives.

1. Creamed Parsley Potatoes

I had always loved to cook and my mom’s Creamed Parsley Potato recipe was part of my life long before I was married. It was one of my mother’s favorite recipes. She was a superb and experienced cook having co-owned with her sister a very good restaurant in northern Ohio for several years. Mother believed that potatoes and parsley belonged together.

I relied on the recipe a great deal during the years we were based in Germany (1951-1954). It was one I could almost make with my eyes shut. I was young, the children were small, entertaining 12 people for dinner was a challenge that took planning and reliable recipes. On the day when we had a planned party, I would make this recipe in the morning, and refrigerated it. At dinner time it took around 30 minutes or so to heat and brown. It’s a wonderful accompaniment for baked, broiled or barbecued salmon. It works well with Baked Ham and Cranberry Orange Salsa too. Actually it works well with just about anything. Peas with Sautéed Sliced Mushrooms or Roasted Asparagus are fast and easy additions to the menu.

Creamed Parsley Potatoes
Serves 6

•3 large baking potatoes cut in 1/2 inch cubes
•Boil until just underdone in lightly salted water

Sauce
•1/4 cup butter
•1/4 cup flour
•1 tsp. salt
•2 cups half & half or whole milk
•1 tsp. lemon juice
•1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
•Parmesan cheese for topping

Melt butter in a sauce pan, add flour and salt. Stir to blend.Remove from heat and gradually stir in half & half. Cook stirring constantly until thick and smooth. Add lemon juice and parsley. Makes 2 cups of sauce.

Fold sauce in to potatoes and place in a greased casserole. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or so.

2. Mark Hopkins Stuffed Baked Potatoes

I acquired this Stuffed Baked Potato recipe created by the chef at the Mark Hopkins Hotel from a San Francisco newspaper during the time we were based at Travis Air Force Base near Fairfield, CA.

We had been transferred to Travis AFB  just north of San Francisco. It was 1967. The Viet Nam was in full swing. For now we were happy and felt lucky to be close to those wonderful vacation destination towns of Napa and Sonoma. Relatives and friends were always eager to visit and we were eager to take them wine tasting and dining. We had our choice of many incredibly good restaurants and a large number of vineyards to investigate.  It was, of course, an activity that neither your pocket book nor your digestive system would allow you to enjoy every night, as nice as that thought might be.

We had fun cooking and entertaining at home and we kept the pantry, the freezer and the bar adequately stocked. We were  prepared to feed the visiting masses, at least most of the time.

Besides relatives and friends visiting, Ed would often bring home last minute visitors from another Air Force Base. The Stuffed Baked Potato recipe came to my rescue more than once. As long as I kept some on hand in the freezer, the dish could be almost instant. It’s flavors were an impressive complement to broiled lamb chops or a grilled steak. There are few things easier or faster or more delicious.

We kept the martinis in the freezer. The makings for Old Fashioneds were at hand, the Scotch and Soda ready—-in the summer, Gin and Tonics were popular as well. Toasted almonds and pecans were in the pantry and a round of Brie or a wedge of Cambazola was in the fridge. A couple of bottles of Pinot Noir and a bottle or two of a favorite chilled white wine would take us from cocktails through dinner.

A large salad bowl full of fresh crisp romaine and chopped avocados, topped with a creamy oregano-garlic-lemon dressing, was my standby—-with a handful of croutons thrown on top for extra crunch, we were ready. If the romaine didn’t look wonderful I made a Greek Chopped Vegetable Salad dressed with olive oil, red wine vinegar and Cavender’s Greek seasoning. I topped the Greek Salad with crumbled Feta Cheese. Life was simple. Life was good.

Mark Hopkins Stuffed Baked Potatoes with Bacon and Chives
Serves 4 to 8

•4 Idaho baking potatoes, scrubbed and brushed with oil
•Bake at 400 degrees

•Remove potatoes when cooked through but still firm
•Cut in half lengthwise
•Scoop out pulp and mash in a bowl

Add
•4 tsp. chopped chives or green scallion tops
•4 Tbs. melted butter
•4 Tbs. thick cream
•1/2 tsp. curry powder
•Salt to taste and a little cayenne

•Chopped lean bacon, crisply cooked and
•Grated parmesan
Mix well except for bacon and parmesan. Stuff shells and mask first with the crisply cooked lean bacon then top with plenty of grated parmesan cheese. Brown cheese topping in a 400 degree oven just before serving. Serve sizzling hot.

Note: If you’re having lamb chops and you want mint sauce, you can make a quick mint sauce by warming mint jelly and thinning with a bit of water. Add some chopped fresh mint if you have it. Serve warm in a small bowl.

3. Scalloped Grated Potatoes

Ed had retired from the Air Force in 1975. We had built a house on the water in Gig Harbor, WA. I had completed my four year degree in Interior Design, worked in the field including 8 years in Honolulu and taught many classes at local Community Colleges.  We had bought a condo at Waikiki in 1982 and in 1990 when the Japanese rush to buy Hawaaii real estate was slowing down we sold it. During that time we boated, we traveled, we entertained a lot at both the water house in Gig Harbor and at the condo at Waikiki. We decided it was time for a change. All those years of moving from one interesting place to another instilled in us permanent wanderlust. Ed, having been born a raised in Montana had always harbored a desire to buy a summer place there—-”a cabin in the woods”, he said. It’s name was Redgate, although it was simply referred to as “the log house on Flathead Lake”, most of the time. It was the happy wonderful chalet where great simple foods including endless casseroles of Scalloped Grated Potatoes were produced.

Ed and I bought the house on Flathead Lake just south of Bigfork, Montana in August of 1991. We named it Red Gate but the name never stuck. It was simply “the log house on Flathead Lake. We both agreed that we loved the house but it didn’t take long for us to realize that each of our visions of how we would live there was totally different from the other. Ed, having grown up in Butte, Montana, had an idea that it was “a log cabin in the woods” and actually that’s what it was, right at the base of the Mission Mountains. I envisioned “a summer chalet on the lake” and it was that, too. He envisioned returning home with a string of fish just waiting to be cooked with a big skillet full of fried potatoes. My vision, having grown up in Southern California, was of Ralph Lauren arriving on his horse just in time for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, an aura of rugged elegance surrounding us all. Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops, “Round-up”, would be playing in the background.

Each year I could hardly wait for spring when we would return to Montana and that warm wonderful house all done up in soft reds and straw beiges. The happy anticipation of the endless company that we loved was such fun to plan for.

I planted huge pots of red geraniums on the front deck. Black polished cotton clothes, printed with bright red geraniums and trimmed in spring green bias tape, graced the picnic tables.

Every summer we entertained waves of old friends and family. Often, the beds were barely empty from one group when another would arrive at the door. Life was laughing and swimming and picnicking and socializing and theater going and sight-seeing—-and laughing some more.

Normally, we gathered for cocktails at five on the stone patio behind the house. We were surrounded by the fragrance of pine and tubs of colorful flowers. A hammock was hung between two tall fir trees. Cocktails were simple—-martinis, Old Fashioneds, Scotch and Soda, Bourbon and Water, Gin and Tonic, sometimes Margaritas and of course beer and soft drinks. Nibbles were the ubiquitous salted almonds, bowl of pretzels and a nice chunk of cheese or two. Artichoke Spread, Mexican Shrimp Cocktail Dip or Peach Salsa and chips—-or even Caviar and thin lemon slices on a sliced buttered baguette were added when the spirit moved us.

Dinners were, naturally, buffet style and most of the time we moved from cocktails on the patio to dinner on the front deck so we could enjoy the magnificent Bitterroot Range  across the lake while we ate. Sunsets were awe inspiring. If the weather turned bitey, we’d gather around the huge stone fireplace in the Greatroom.

The speed with which I could produce a Scalloped Grated Potato Casserole was one that always impressed. I could make it appear like magic. Those beautifully and effortlessly grated potatoes that seemed to come out of no where were, of course, carefully stashed in the freezer. The onions were already chopped and put away earlier in a plastic storage bag or quick to slice scallions were substituted. Putting the casserole together was a no-brainer. By the time the cocktail hour was winding down, the meat and veggies were on the grill and the casserole was almost ready to serve. The bubbling aroma wafting through the air made our taste buds tingle and our mouths water. We were starving!

Scalloped Grated Potatoes
Serves 8
Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

•1–36 oz. bag frozen grated potatoes
•1 cup chopped onion
•3 Tbs. flour
•5 Tbs. butter
•Salt & pepper to taste
•2 cups half and half

Butter a shallow casserole big enough to hold the grated potatoes. Put half the potatoes in the casserole and all of the chopped onions on top. Sprinkle flour over. Dot with half the butter, salt and pepper and add the rest of the potatoes. Warm half and half and pour over potatoes. Add the rest of the butter and seasonings. Cover with aluminum foil. Remove foil after first half hour.

.

ONE POTATO–TWO POTATO–THREE POTATO–FOUR

—-Five Potato–Six Potato–Seven Potato–More. It was the jingle to which you jumped rope as a child. Remember? It came to mind as I read a recipe for Scalloped Potatoes that I found in an airline magazine neatly tucked in the seat pocket.

I was on my way from Kalispell, Montana to San Diego on the 6:30 AM flight for an Interior Design consulting job. Mandatory airport arrival time was 5:30 AM. I was hungry and I needed coffee! The snack bar wasn’t open yet, the security check line was already lengthening and it was way too early to be cheerful. On board the aircraft, cranky, and coffeeless I took the airline magazine from my seat pocket. If I could just get my eyes open and my brain working I’d be ever so grateful.

I sat in my window seat gazing out at February’s  snowy runway and mindlessly fanning through the magazine. A full page ad for Washington State Russet Potatoes flipped into sight and it pictured a  mouthwatering, crusty brown Scalloped Potato casserole. The recipe that went with it was from a Seattle chef. I scanned the irresistible recipe that described 2 rich cheeses, cream, sour cream and 5 pounds of potatoes! What a perfect party recipe this would be. It would make 15 servings. My stomach growled—-If it had been sitting in front of me I could have eaten the whole thing before we touched down in San Diego. The advertisement was the ultimate cruelty to a starving human in need of calories and caffeine!

When ever you want to go beyond baked, mashed or boiled to make something a little special I have four favorite recipes that make perfect partners for traditional meat and potatoes dinners and are absolutely wonderful additions to party menus as well.  They are divine.

You’ll find all four recipes below. Do try every one. They’ll soon be old friends and mainstays in your recipe collection, too. Just remember to leave a little time between tryings—-otherwise you’ll be digging through that old trunk in the attic searching for the jump rope of your youth.  Working off several pounds of potatoes, lots of cream and a variety of cheeses “ain’t easy”.

The first recipe is the one mentioned above—-Scalloped Potatoes—-and puts a rich cheesy spin on what I think of as Au Gratin Potatoes, but the chef chose to call it simply Scalloped Potatoes. It would be perfect with Prime Rib or a sirloin steak. The second, Stuffed Baked Potatoes with Bacon and Chives is a creation of the chef at the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco. It’s an elegant pairing with filet mignon or broiled lamb chops.  Creamed Parsley Potatoes, the third recipe, was one my mother especially liked. She felt that parsley and potatoes belonged together. Serve it with baked or barbecued salmon, roast leg of lamb or roasted chicken. The last, Scalloped Grated Potatoes, is the champion of the fast and easy entertaining circuit—-and delicious with almost anything. It’s perfect when last minute company shows up at your front door. Great for any casual meal. How about cold sliced baked ham and vinaigrette dressed green salad with Mandarin oranges added.

Each recipe is a little treasure that you’ll want to keep handy in your own personal cook book.

VERY RICH & INTENSELY TASTY SCALLOPED POTATOES
(The chef called the recipe simply Scalloped Potatoes)

I was on my way from Kalispell, Montana to Los Angeles on the 6:30 AM flight for an Interior Design consulting job. Mandatory airport arrival time was 5:30 AM. The snack bar wasn’t open yet, the security check line was already lengthening. I was hungry and I needed coffee!

On board the aircraft, cranky, and coffeeless I took the airline magazine from my seat pocket. If I could just get my eyes open and my brain working I’d be ever so grateful.

I sat in my window seat gazing out at the snowy runway and mindlessly fanning through the magazine. A full page ad picturing a gorgeous, mouthwatering, crusty brown casserole flipped in to sight. My stomach growled—-what cruelty to a starving human in need of calories and caffeine!

The ad was for Washington State potatoes—-the recipe that went with it from a Seattle chef. It looked irresistible with 2 rich cheeses, cream, sour cream and—-5 pounds of potatoes! Visualize a 5 pound bag of potatoes. Fleetingly, I could see it on my hips. I kid you not—-5 pounds! In all fairness it will serve 12 people–or more–and you can divide the recipe.

I could hardly wait to get back home and try my new found recipe at our next small gathering. For  six guests I halved the recipe. It quickly disappeared, right down to the last scraping in the bottom of the dish.

Rich and Intensely Tasty Scalloped Potatoes

Makes 15 servings. Can be halved (use an 8 X 8 baking dish).

•5 pounds Washington State Russet Potatoes
•2 tsp. salt        •1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
•1 1/2 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
•3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
•3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan
•1 cup sour cream
•2 cups cream
•1 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9×12 inch glass baking dish.

Peel and slice the potatoes into 1/4 inch slices. Toss them in a large bowl with the salt, pepper and rosemary.

In a small bowl, toss together the cheeses.

Layer half the potatoes in the buttered baking dish. Sprinkle with half the cheese mixture and top with remaining potatoes.

In a bowl, whisk together sauce ingredients (sour cream, cream and salt) and pour over potatoes.

Tap the baking dish on the counter to spread out the sauce and help release any air bubbles. Sprinkle with remaining cheese mixture.

Bake potatoes for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until browned and completely tender all the way through when poked with a knife.

Serve immediately. Recipe can be halved. This is delicious with roast chicken.

SCALLOPED GRATED POTATOES

It’s name was Redgate, although it was simply referred to as “the log house on Flathead Lake”, most of the time. It was the happy wonderful chalet where great simple foods including endless casseroles of Scalloped Grated Potatoes were produced.

Ed and I bought the house on Flathead Lake just south of Bigfork, Montana in August of 1991. We both agreed that we loved the house but it didn’t take long for us to realize that each of our visions of how we would live there was totally different from the other. Ed, having grown up in Butte, Montana, had an idea that it was “a log cabin in the woods” and actually that’s what it was, right at the base of the Mission Mountains. I envisioned “a summer chalet on the lake” and it was that, too. He envisioned returning home with a string of fish just waiting to be cooked with a big skillet full of fried potatoes. My vision, having grown up in Southern California, was of Ralph Lauren arriving on his horse just in time for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, an aura of rugged elegance surrounding us all. Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops, “Round-up”, would be playing in the background.

Each year I could hardly wait for spring when we would return to Montana and that warm wonderful house all done up in soft reds and straw beiges. The happy anticipation of the endless company that we loved was such fun to plan for.

I planted huge pots of red geraniums on the front deck. Black polished cotton clothes, printed with bright red geraniums and trimmed in spring green bias tape, graced the picnic tables.

Every summer we entertained waves of old friends and family. Often, the beds were barely empty from one group when another would arrive at the door. Life was laughing and swimming and picnicking and socializing and theater going and sight-seeing—-and laughing some more.

Normally, we gathered for cocktails at five on the stone patio behind the house. We were surrounded by the fragrance of pine and tubs of colorful flowers. A hammock was hung between two tall fir trees. Cocktails were simple—-martinis, Old Fashioneds, Scotch and Soda, Bourbon and Water, Gin and Tonic, sometimes Margaritas and of course beer and soft drinks. Nibbles were the ubiquitous salted almonds, bowl of pretzels and a nice chunk of cheese or two. Artichoke Spread, Mexican Shrimp Cocktail Dip or Peach Salsa and chips—-or even Caviar and thin lemon slices on a sliced buttered baguette were added when the spirit moved us.

Dinners were, naturally, buffet style and most of the time we moved from cocktails on the patio to dinner on the front deck so we could enjoy the magnificent Bitterroot Range  across the lake while we ate. Sunsets were awe inspiring. If the weather turned bitey, we’d gather around the huge stone fireplace in the Greatroom.

The speed with which I could produce a Scalloped Grated Potato Casserole was one that always impressed. I could make it appear like magic. Those beautifully and effortlessly grated potatoes that seemed to come out of no where were, of course, carefully stashed in the freezer. The onions were already chopped and put away earlier in a plastic storage bag. Putting the casserole together was a no-brainer. By the time the cocktail hour was winding down, the meat and veggies were on the grill and the casserole was almost ready to serve. The bubbling aroma wafting through the air made our taste buds tingle and our mouths water. We were starving!

Scalloped Grated Potatoes
Serves 8
Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

•1–36 oz. bag frozen grated potatoes
•1 cup chopped onion
•3 Tbs. flour
•5 Tbs. butter
•Salt & pepper to taste
•2 cups half and half

Butter a shallow casserole big enough to hold the grated potatoes. Put half the potatoes in the casserole and all of the chopped onions on top. Sprinkle flour over. Dot with half the butter, salt and pepper and add the rest of the potatoes. Warm half and half and pour over potatoes. Add the rest of the butter and seasonings. Cover with aluminum foil. Remove foil after first half hour.

.

Enjoy the recipes—-all four of them—-but, remember, give each one a little space!  Keep your jump rope in the attic where it belongs.

Happy Cooking!

Martha

Ed had been assigned to 12th Air Force Advon–A1 and A-4 (Operations and Intelligence). His job in operations was “Foreign Clearance Officer” for Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. He had arrived there about four months ahead of the rest of the family.

Our port call was for December 19th, 1951, just in time for Christmas. Our actual port call, due to truly lousy weather in Europe with aircraft stranded all over the map became January 2, 1952. Our flight (Westover Field, Massachusetts to Rhein Main, Germany) was in a C-97 cargo plane with those familiar orange nylon web seats running down either side of the cabin. The children, Bill age two and a half and Carol age four, were accommodated for sleeping purposes with pads of folded blankets on top of the webbed seats to make a reasonably comfortable bed. I sat up a la every other G.I. passenger on the airplane. It was my first experience on a military aircraft but not my last and a prophetic birds-eye look at a group of  nine tiny little islands, the Azores, as well. We were assigned there 10 years later (1961-1965).It was early in the morning and most were still asleep. The cockpit door was open and when the aircraft commander looked back and saw I was awake he motioned me to come forward. “We’ll be landing in the Azores in half an hour. Would you like to watch the landing” he asked. I was thrilled. My short and much loved career as a flight attendant for TWA (called Airline Hostesses by TWA in 1947) jumped to the front of my memory. It was a job I had to quit as Flight Attendants were not allowed to be married.—-I stood between the pilot and co-pilot’s seats as those colorful little islands came slowly in to view then got closer and closer on that rare-for-January, sunny morning. They sat like nine sparkling little jewels of blues ranging from aqua to ultra marine in that deepest part of the Atlantic ocean. We made a perfect landing at the U.S. Airbase (Lajes Field) on the island of Terciera. Had breakfast—-with real eggs I might add—-took on fuel and headed for Rhein Main, Germany.

The aircraft approached Rhein Main, dropped into the glide path then suddenly pulled up sharply. The visibility was minimal. We headed for our only viable alternate, Orly field, Paris. Safely on the ground at Orly the ground crew opened the door to reveal a gap of about 12 inches between the aircraft door and the first step—-far too great for a four year old. The tarmack was visible several feet below. Orly had never had an aircraft as large as the C-97 and had no steps high enough to reach the door. Thankfully I had put a harness on two and a half year old Bill and we swung him across to the steps and the ground crew grabbed him. They grabbed Carol as well and placed her on the steps. We went down the steep, slippery, metal steps borrowed from the maintenance hanger and boarded a bus for the Littre Hotel. It was my first time in Paris. I was so excited but so dead tired I literally had to hold my eyes open to see anything. Our beds at the hotel were our first feather beds and again not the last. They were heavenly. We climbed into bed and were awakened—-half awake—-at 6:00 AM to return to Orly for another try at Rhein Main. Breakfast at Orly consisted of reconstituted (powdered) scrambled eggs and toast. My only question was “Where in the heck did they even find powdered eggs in Paris. Surely, no self respecting Frenchman would eat powdered eggs!” Somewhere there must have been a post WWII American military mess lurking! Eggs really are incredible but in powdered form I questioned edible.

The second try for Rhein Main was uneventful and in no time we boarded a train for Augsburg where Ed picked us up in our “new” used, tiny Fiat station wagon which got 40 miles to a gallon of gas. We drove to our new home—-the upper half of a German home in a small village 22 miles from Landsberg AFB. Another Air Force family lived downstairs. The Christmas tree was up, beautifully decorated and patiently waiting with the presents neatly distributed beneath for the belated celebration in our new home.

I was eager to get acquainted with my unfamiliar surroundings in this small Bavarian resort village of Bad Worishofen. The first important thing I learned was that our neighbors, also Americans, were members of the FSU (Field Service Unit, forerunner to the CIA) and not to expect to meet them or try to get to know them in any way—-so much for the next door neighbors. The second thing I learned was to say “Weis brot, bitta”—-White bread, please—-at the local bakery.

We began to make lasting friendships with Air Force members at the base. We would take German lessons, practice the language as best we could, travel, make new friends, entertain and be entertained a lot and realize more and more just how many things we were learning every single day that just a few months earlier, if asked, we would have considered beyond our opportunities or capabilities. Another adventure had begun.

As for food, it was bought at the Air Force Commissary at Landsburg AFB. If it wasn’t my turn to have the car (the guys who lived in “remote housing” car-pooled to work each day), transportation to the Air Base was in the back of a converted weapons carrier that friend John Pesch called “the kidney wrecker”. The truck had wooden bench seats built in to the back; the stacks of full grocery bags crackled, rattled and sometimes rolled on the floor. To put it mildly, it was not a posh shopping experience. As nearly as I can remember the eggs made it home uncracked every time inspite of the bumpy country roads. Happily, there were no more powdered egg episodes.

EGGS—-they must be one of the most versatile foods on the planet. They’re the original fast food! Prepare them boiled, poached, fried or scrambled as part of a quick, hot, healthy and satisfying breakfast. Combine chopped hard boiled eggs, with just enough mayonnaise, quick-to-slice scallions, crunchy chopped dill pickles—-or even faster, dill pickle relish—-and snipped fresh parsley or celery leaves for a creamy egg salad sandwich. Simply delicious. You can create an easy dinner omelet with grated cheese, chopped tomato, and a crumbling of Italian herbs—-add a little diced ham or crisp bacon bits if you’re in the mood. It’s, oh, so good and so quickly done. Top your omelet with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of paprika for flavor and color. Serve it with a warmed baguette loaf, a melt of butter and slightly warm preserves on the side. Add a simple green salad dressed with extra virgin olive oil and a little herb flavored vinegar.

As a late night supper, whether you’re wide awake or half asleep, a skillet full of eggs is a no-brainer. They’re comforting, economical and quick as a wink. At our house we love scrambled eggs with a side of chunked bananas sautéed in butter, a sprinkling of brown sugar and a squeeze of lemon. There’s no doubt about it, eggs are your best friend, be it for breakfast, lunch, dinner or midnight snack. Check any basic cook book if you need omelet lessons.

Eggs in any form make me happy any time. Just be sure the eggs you buy are fresh. Really fresh eggs are delicious. That said, here’s a quote from The Joy of Cooking. “Strange as it may seem after stressing the purchase of fresh eggs, we now tack on an amendment. Do not use eggs fresher than three days old for hard-cooked eggs or for beating and baking. If you do, hard-cooked eggs will turn greenish and become difficult to peel, and cakes may fail to rise properly because the eggs will not beat to the proper volume” So, with that caveat we continue. Be sure you buy eggs that have been kept refrigerated and are not dirty or cracked. Don’t leave eggs in the car on a warm day and do refrigerate them as soon as you get them home.

Eggs can be, nutritionally, an important component in most daily diets. The Joy of Cooking says “–for eggs contain all the balanced nutrients from which a complete organism develops”. Our food industry, long ago, saw fit to develop for us quite acceptable egg substitutes such as Egg Beaters for those with cholesterol concerns–not quite as tasty as a whole egg in the shell but healthier for those who worry.

On the subject of consuming fresh raw eggs, Julia Child comments in her book written with Jacque Pepin, Julia and Jacque–Cooking at Home, that “Raw eggs can contain harmful bacteria, especially salmonella, but since the salmonella scare some years ago egg producers, distributors, and markets have cleaned up and modernized their egg facilities, and the danger now is minimal if you are careful. Whether or not to eat uncooked eggs is entirely up to you, the consumer.” After that somewhat reassuring quote from everyone’s favorite chef Julia Child, you may want to try some flavorful home made mayonnaise or a lemony Hollandaise. Both recipes require raw eggs be used. The recipes are classics. You’ll find them both below.

One last comment on raw eggs for those of you who frequent your friendly neighborhood bistros and take your out-of-town guests there, as well. There is a popular practice in certain “cultural pockets” of  having available a fresh raw whole egg to put in a glass of beer—-as ordered, of course. That must be nutrition at it’s happiest! And when tomato juice is added (called red beer) it even adds a little vitamin C to the mix—-almost a complete meal in a glass! Now what can be better than that?

If you live in a resort community, such as one of the many in our beautiful corner of Northwest Montana, vacation season can be both winter and summer and the arrival of  visitors always seems imminent.  A few fast, easy and delicious egg recipes are perfect, really essential, to have at your fingertips. I’ve included two below, Make Ahead Breakfast Bake and Creamed Eggs and Corn Bread. The ingredients are for the most part inexpensive and usually right in the pantry and fridge. Tape the recipes to the inside of your pantry door. When someone asks “Is there anything we can help with in the kitchen?”, you can point to the pantry door and answer, “Yes, thank you, get cracking!”

Cooking with eggs is great fun. You may even want to try your hand at a light and elegant soufflé, or a luscious Creme Brulee—-and if you want to be loved by all, you can make a plate full of deviled eggs. They’re the first things to disappear at any picnic or from any party tray.

COMPANY’S COMING!

When we were living on the water in Gig Harbor, Washington and during the time I was still interior designing I designed a small Bed and Breakfast. The house was in a lovely, quiet spot with a lush inviting green lawn that sloped gently down toward the beach. The property was bordered by privacy hedges of rhododendron and azaleas creating an oasis of tranquility. Guests would often visit for the weekend just to get away from the bustle of Seattle’s lifestyle.  A more relaxing spot would be hard to imagine and breakfasts at the B & B were hard to beat.

My friend/client was a member of the local Bed and Breakfast Association. They met once a month and along with the busy conversations regarding local activities and town gossip they traded recipes that would be memorable for their guests.  Here is one of those recipes. Where it originated I haven’t the foggiest. All I know is that you can make it the night before and that it’s substantial and really good. It serves 8 to 10 people–and maybe more–uses 10 eggs and a lot of other yummy ingredients and is truly rich and delicious. I adopted the recipe when we owned a log home on Flathead Lake where we often had back to back summer visitors. I used it many times. It’s a crunchy visual delight as the star of your breakfast/brunch buffet with tantallizing aroma floating from the steaming casserole. Serve with Mimosas (Champagne and orange juice) or just plain orange juice, warmed bakery Croissants with warm jam and butter. Coffee, of course!

Make-ahead Breakfast Bake

Serves 8 to 10

• 2 cups frozen grated hash brown potatoes
• 1 cup seasoned croutons
• 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
• 1 cup diced ham
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms, sauteed
• 1 1/2 cups grated Swiss cheese
• 10 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 cup crushed potato chips

Spray a  9 x 13 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle frozen grated potatoes evenly over the bottom of the pan. Top with layers of croutons, Cheddar cheese, ham, mushrooms and Swiss Cheese in that order. In a large bowl, beat eggs, milk, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, until frothy. Pour egg mixture over layers. Cover pan and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, sprinkle crushed potato chips over top. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven 1 hour,  or until eggs have set. Cool slightly before serving.

Perfectly Wonderful Creamed Eggs and Corn Bread
Brunch or Supper
Serves 12
Now, y’all, does that sound southern or what? This is actually a recipe I was given while living in San Antonio, Texas. It’s a delicious brunch or supper recipe—-and fits well into “food for the unexpected guest” category. You can make the recipe the night before and refrigerate it and make the corn bread ahead and freeze it. Serve some spiral baked ham slices or cold roast chicken with it if you’d like.

Add a large salad of crisp cool mixed greens and lots of thinly sliced fresh pears or other seasonal fruit. Dress it with raspberry or orange vinaigrette.

If you’re serving this dish for supper, Bloody Marys, Old Fashioneds, Scotch on the Rocks or a nice wine, red or white, all work well.  For pre-supper nibbles, add something simple such as, salted toasted almonds and pecans and a few raw veggies with a light Ranch Dressing dip for nibbling. Dessert? Angel Food Cake with Sweeetened Strawberries and Whipped Cream (Add orange liqueur to the strawberries for delicious Strawberries Romanoff) is perfect. And freshly brewed coffee, of course.

Creamed Eggs

• 1 large onion chopped  (3/4 cup)
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. dry mustard
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 3 1/2 cups milk
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese(8 oz)
• 1 -10 oz. pkg. frozen peas
• 12 hard-cooked eggs, sliced
• 1 (2.2 oz.) can sliced ripe olives (about 1/2 cup)

Cook and stir onion in butter in a 3 quart saucepan over medium heat until onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour, mustard, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until bubbly: remove from heat. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Add cheese, cook and stir until cheese is melted. Rinse peas under running water to separate, drain. Stir peas, eggs and olives carefully into cheese sauce.

This recipe can be covered and refrigerated for up to 24 hours. Reheat over medium low heat, about  25 minutes. Serve over corn bread. Makes 12 servings.

Corn Bread

• 1 1/2 cups cornmeal
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 cup shortening, softened
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 2 eggs

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Mix all ingredients; beat vigorously for 30 seconds. Pour into a greased  9 x 9 inch square pan. Bake until top springs back when lightly touched in center, about 20 minutes. Can be frozen ahead and thawed overnight in refrigerator. Reheat at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Cut warm bread into 12 pieces.
Note:  If you use a boxed corn bread mix look for one with very little sugar. Most mixes are too sweet and cake like for this Creamed Eggs and Corn Bread combination.

DEVILED EGGS

I couldn’t possibly end this story without at least a few recipes for the most popular item on any hor d’ oeuvre or snack tray—-those magically disappearing Deviled Eggs. The hand is quicker than the eye. Now you see them, now you don’t.

The number of Deviled Egg recipes is almost infinite. Every cook has her own favorites. Here are three of mine.

I loved these for picnic suppers in Montana or on lazy August afternoons on the deck in Gig Harbor, WA.—-and for  cocktail gatherings, any where we’ve ever lived.

Classic Deviled Eggs

6 servings

• 6 eggs, hard cooked
• 3 to 4 Tbs. mayonnaise
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• Dash of pepper
• 1/8 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp.Dijon mustard
• 1 Tbs. each finely chopped celery and chopped scallions

Cut eggs in two lengthwise. Put yolks in a bowl and mash well. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well and fill egg whites. Garnish with minced fresh parsley or paprika.
Note: I look for small eggs when making deviled eggs for a cocktail party and up the egg count from six to nine.

Olive Deviled Eggs

12 servings

• 12 Eggs, hard-cooked
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise or more
• 1/2 tsp. oregano, crushed
• 2 Tbs. minced pimiento stuffed green olives
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 1/8 tsp. garlic powder
• A pinch of sugar

Cut eggs in half lengthwise. Put yolks in a small bowl. Mash. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well. Fill whites with mixture. Garnish with stuffed olive slices. Cover and refrigerate. Place egg halves on a lettuce lined serving plate.

Pungent Stuffed Eggs
8 servings
This recipe is from an old James Beard cookbook, Menu’s For Entertaining. It’s part of a menu called “A Beer Picnic For A Large Gathering” in which, interestingly, three different deviled egg recipes are suggsted. This one was my favorite. It’s delicious with robust Asian flavors. If you love cookbooks Menus For Entertaining is worth a search on Amazon or in a used book store.

2 cloves garlic, minced        1 Tbs. curry powder              1 Tbs. butter
8 eggs, hard-cooked and halved    1 to 1 1/2 Tbs. Mango chutney, finely chopped if necessary
4 Tbs. sour cream and/or mayonnaise or a little more    Chopped Honey Roasted Peanuts for garnish

Cut eggs in half lengthwise. Put yolks in a  bowl and mash. Cook garlic and curry powder in butter over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Combine chutney and mayonnaise/sour cream with egg yolks. Mix in curry and garlic mixture. Fill egg halves with mixture and garnish with chopped peanuts. Cover and refrigerate.

TWO SAVORY SAUCES

Home made mayonnaise is, to me, the ultimate sandwich spread. It’s better than even the best commercial mayonnaise available. From-scratch Hollandaise (no package mix here) is the most perfect partner on earth for green vegetables such as broccoli and asparagus. It’s essential for poached eggs in an Eggs Benedict and heavenly on broiled or roasted meats. Because both recipes require the incredible egg to construct I would be remiss if I didn’t include them here. They’re too perfect and important to leave out. Either can be made quickly in a blender or food processor.

Mayonnaise

• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• Pinch of salt
• 1 to 2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice or vinegar
• 1 cup salad oil or partial olive/salad oil

Put egg, lemon juice , mustard, salt and 1/4 cup oil in blender. Blend for about 5 seconds. Remove cover and add remaining oil gradually. Run blender for a few seconds after the last of the oil is added. Scrape down sides of blender and transfer mayonnaise to a clean jar.

Hollandaise Sauce

• 4 egg yolks
• 2 Tbs.lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
• A dash of Tabasco Sauce
• 1 cup butter heated almost to the boiling point

Place egg yolks, lemon juice,and seasonings in blender and blend for a few seconds. Do not overblend as eggs will liquify. Remove cover and pour in bubbling hot butter in a steady slow stream. Blend until smooth and creamy. Do not overblend. Makes approximately 1 1/2 cups

I hope you’ll try all of these recipes as the need arises.  They’re wonderful. Keep them at your fingertips. You’ll use them often.

Enjoy!
Martha

Patio containers of my favorite herbs seem to me to be a summer necessity. Not only are they fresher and more convenient than the grocery store but they’re far less expensive. It’s a triple play!

My patio at my summer place in Bigfork, Montana is small. My container garden is simple. I start with two gorgeous big geraniums – not for eating, just for the bright cheerful blossoms and put one on either side of my patio bench/planter. Additionally, there’s a hanging basket or bowl of glistening green parsley, my most used herb, and sometimes a long planter box of soft muted green Rosemary for a hedge-like effect.

Spiky green chive plants to snip into omelets and salads are a must. They can line up like little soldiers on the top shelf of an outdoor French bakers rack, command attention in a long narrow planter box or join a large round pot of friends such as sage, thyme and tarragon. Eventually they’ll have beautiful purple – and edible – flowers. Cut them, pull the petals apart  and scatter them over a green salad. The taste is like the chives but with a little more authority – delicious!.

I give mint a large  private pot because of its aggressiveness – like some people it tends to take over. Plant a pot of tarragon to use in a vinaigrette or a skillet of Chicken Dijon.

When the plants are in their containers they’ll be beautiful, green and healthy additions to any outdoor area and we’ll be ready for summer. All is right with the world.

THE RECIPES

I’ve chosen a few recipes you may find interesting this summer. They’re a little out of the ordinary and pretty darned good.  I hope you like them.

CHEDDAR DILL SCONES
(Dill)

These are great with scrambled eggs and fresh fruit. A dab of lemon marmalade is good with them too.

• 3 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
• 2 Tbs. sugar
• 3 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh dill
• 1 1/3 cups finely shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 2/3 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Sift the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Whisk together to combine. Add the dill and 1 cup of cheese, and whisk to combine. Add the cream and, using a wooden spoon, stir until the dough comes together but is still lumpy.

Knead the dough gently, pressing it against the side of the bowl about 10 times. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and pat it into a slightly domed 10 inch disc. Cut into 12 to 16 narrow wedges and transfer to an ungreased baking sheet. Place about 1 inch apart. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining cheese and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned on top, Transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Yields 12 to 16 scones.

GREEK CHEESE SPREAD
(Parsley, Mint, Chives and Oregano)

This recipe is from Fresh Herb Cooking. Author unknown.

Wonderful served with a favorite red wine and Toasted Salted Almonds

• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
• 2 oz. crumbled Feta cheese
• 1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions or chives
• 1 Tbs. chopped fresh mint
• 2 tsp. chopped fresh oregano
• Pinch nutmeg
• Pinch cinnamon
• Salt to taste

Bring all ingredients to room temperature and combine with hand mixer. Taste for salt. Allow time for flavors to blend. Serve with crackers, toast or hot bread. Serves 12.

MINTED RADISH SANDWICHES
(Mint and Lemon Zest)

You can use the following recipe for Minted Radish Sandwiches as an interesting part of a sandwich luncheon trio.

The second part of the trio might be sliced chicken breast on lightly buttered bread with an accent of Durkees Sauce (at your local grocers). A deviled ham, crushed pineapple and toasted pecan filling could be the third sandwich. Add a little mayonnaise to the well drained pineapple, deviled ham and chopped pecans  to moisten and bind the filling. Again, spread the filling on lightly buttered bread to keep the sandwich from getting soggy. Press the sandwich down gently, trim the crusts and cut in triangles. Make ahead. Wrap and chill. They’ll be delicious and ready to serve when you’re ready to eat. Great for an afternoon  gathering of friends.

Strawberries with Minted Yogurt Cream (see below) served in wine goblets would be a delightful light dessert.

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 Tbs. sour cream
• 1 1/2 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
• 12 slices, thin sliced, homemade type bread
• 1/2 cup mint leaves
• 8 radishes, trimmed and very thinly sliced
• salt and pepper to taste

In a bowl stir together mayonnaise, sour cream, zest, mustard, lemon juice,  salt and pepper to taste.

Spread bread generously with lemon mayonnaise. Top half of the slices with a thin layer of mint and top mint with overlapping rows of radish. Top radishes with remaining bread and press together gently. Trim crusts and cut sandwiches in half diagonally.

Make sandwiches 2 hours ahead, wrap and chill. Makes 12 triangles.

ROSEMARY REFRIGERATOR COOKIES
(rosemary and lemon zest)

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg yolk beaten
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbs. fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 3/4 tsp. grated lemon zest
• 1/8 tsp salt
• Confectioners sugar

Combine flour and butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add sugar, mixing well. Add egg yolk, vanilla, Rosemary, lemon rind and salt. Blend well and shape into oblong rolls. Wrap in wax paper and chill overnight. Slice into 1/4 inch slices.

Sprinkle with Confectioner’s sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Yields 5 dozen cookies.

STRAWBERRIES WITH MINTED YOGURT CREAM
(mint)

• 1 cup plain yogurt (no gelatin added–Mountain brand works) for yogurt cheese
• 2 (3 0z.) pkgs. cream cheese, softened
• 2 Tbs. confectioners sugar
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla
• 10 or more large strawberries, core removed, sliced
• 1/4  cup mint syrup or high quality mint jelly
• 2 Tbs. water, as needed to thin mint jelly to proper consistency
• 1 Tbs. sugar

In the morning put 1 cup of yogurt in a sieve lined with a coffee filter. Place over a bowl to catch the liquid that drains off. Cover, refrigerate and allow to stand until yogurt is thick and reduced to about half–about 4 hours.  Yogurt will not reduce if it contains gelatin.  Pour off liquid and mix yogurt cheese and cream cheese together with powdered sugar and vanilla. Chill. If you plan to use mint jelly rather than making mint syrup, warm the mint jelly and mix with a little water to thin. Chill. Slice berries and toss with 1 tablespoon sugar.

To serve place a little yogurt cheese mixture in the bottom of each of 4 glass serving dishes or goblets. Top with berries and mint syrup and more yogurt cheese. Drizzle a little more mint syrup over top. Garnish with a mint  sprig. Serves 4.

Mint Syrup–To make mint syrup from scratch, boil 1/3 cup water with 1/4 cup granulated sugar stirring until sugar is dissolved and reduced to 1/4 cup. Add 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves. Remove from heat and steep for 10 minutes. Pour syrup through a sieve into a small bowl pressing hard on mint to extract all liquid. Chill.

From Broadway Central Market Cooking School, San Antonio, Texas. A great school  and an unbelievably good market.

ENJOY YOUR SUMMER – PLANT HERBS!

Martha

The new issue of Sunset Magazine had arrived in the morning mail and I strolled back from the mailbox slowly flipping the pages as I went. We had just moved to Arizona and I was hoping to find a brilliant Southwest landscaping idea, one that would transform our under-designed back yard into a Mediterranean masterpiece.

As I browsed through the magazine, searching for an answer to my backyard design  dilemma, up popped the devil in the form of an eye-stopping, mouth-watering, full-page ad for Super Moist Chocolate Mayo Cake. I was totally distracted.  My mind jumped from cactus flowers to chocolate fantasies in a nanosecond. It had been years since I’d made a Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake! Ed  was still an active duty Air Force pilot and we were based at Lajes Field, in the Azores, Portugal.

If you’re geographically curious, Lajes Field is a U.S. air base on the island of Terciera, the third largest – hence the name Terciera—-of nine tiny islands in the mid Atlantic Ocean, about 800 miles off the coast of Portugal. From the air, as you approach Terciera, if the weather is clear, you can see all nine islands sitting like extraordinary jewels in a setting of vivid, sparkling-blue waters that range in color from brilliant turquoise to deep ultra marine.

In the summer, it’s warm and sunny with a temperature that never gets above 85 degrees. Santa Maria and San Miguel, the two largest islands are destination resorts for European tourists. In the winter, the rains come to stay and the winds blow constantly. While 100-mile-an-hour winds were not the norm they were not unexpected. We were always prepared. We tied down our garbage cans, endured the weather and enjoyed life. I loved our easy lifestyle and the warm and gentle Portuguese people.

When you live on a small island you make your own entertainment and you entertain frequently. That means you plan party menus and you cook with creative exuberance. There were dinner parties, card parties, cocktail parties and theme parties – “He wore a handsome Greek toga made from silver gray bed sheets and she, a purple satin floor length creation trimmed with braid and roped at the waist. The gown, when not being admired at a theme party, reverted to it’s more mundane life as  sleepwear”.

We filled our leisure time with backyard picnic parties and boat parties and poker parties and beer busts and a large number of charity fund raising events from dances to bake sales to golf tournaments to spaghetti dinners and anything else we could dream up. Food, to a varying, degree, was involved in each.

When you live on a small island you covet any great-tasting new recipe you can dream up, then immediately claim ownership by naming it after yourself i.e. Martha’s Marvelous Meat Loaf  or Shirley’s Saucy Pork Chops. Shirley actually submitted her pork chop recipe and had it accepted for publication in a best-selling cookbook.

You especially coveted any recipe made from ingredients that came in boxes, cans and jars as our only grocery store was the base commissary and reliable commodities came in boxes, cans and jars. Fresh meats, tough or tender, and vegetables, fresh or wilted,  arrived from the U.S. courtesy of our Air Force and the whims of the weather. We learned quickly to  disguise almost anything, tough or tender, fresh or wilted in a casserole—-and that a successful dinner party was often helped by the addition of a gallon of Portuguese wine liberally applied both inside the casserole and inside the dinner guests. Innovative recipes often developed due to unexpected circumstances.

A collection of luscious dessert recipes was very important. Who among us doesn’t look forward to dessert?  We had Dessert Bridges, Sunday Brunches, Salad Luncheons, Sit Down Dinners and Midnight Suppers. A decadent dessert was an anticipated and almost mandatory finale to each.  In addition we periodically invited the Officers’ wives from Portuguese Air Base Four for tea at our Officers’ Club. The ladies loved anything sweet–very, very sweet–and we obliged them with an impressive selection of tiny pastries full of sugar and spice and fruits and whipped cream together with a wonderful assortment of little finger sandwiches a la British high tea. While our Officers’ Club kitchen prepared all of these mouth-watering tea goodies, our Officers’ Wives Club prepared the tea menu, often contributing a favorite recipe.

Brazilian Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake, a spin off of Chocolate Mayo Cake, was often a popular part of the menu. The O Club used the recipe to make a sheet cake that they cut in small squares topped with a Chocolate Glaze (Ganache). At home it was most often baked in a bundt pan for casual bridge parties and buffet suppers.  We drizzled the top with Chocolate Glaze or simply sprinkled the top with powdered sugar. Either way it’s delicious. It is fast and easy to make and quick and simple to slice and serve. It’s rich, dense and moist and one of the best chocolate cakes I have ever eaten. It is also wonderful served, plated, with tiny scoops of coffee ice cream drizzled with a little chocolate sauce.

BRAZILIAN CHOCOLATE MAYONNAISE CAKE
Serves 12 to 16
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

• 1 box chocolate cake mix (I use Duncan Hines Devil’s Food)
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup cold coffee
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla

Blend all ingredients according to package directions. Bake in a greased and floured Bundt pan for 40 to 45 minutes. Cool in the pan for 20 minutes; remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or frost with Chocolate Glaze.

—And from the September, 2005  issue of Sunset Magazine—-
—-more than 40 years later—–

SUPER-MOIST CHOCOLATE MAYO CAKE

• 1 box chocolate cake mix
• 1 cup Best Foods Mayonnaise
• 1 cup water
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. cinnamon (opt.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Blend all ingredients.
Bake as directed on box

If you’re so inclined, here is a simple chocolate glaze recipe that is especially delicious and very quick to complete.

CHOCOLATE GLAZE (Ganache)

• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 6 Tbs. half and half
• 2 Tbs. Kahlua (optional)

Melt over low heat stirring until well blended. Let cool until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Spread on top of cake and allow to dribble down the sides. Sprinkle with slivered toasted almonds if you’d like. Sunkist brand in the produce department is good.

Note: If you’d rather not own a large bottle of Kahlua, a miniature bottle can be found at your local liquor store.

Everything old – really is new again!

ENJOY–ENJOY–ENJOY

Martha

Sometimes recalling how a recipe was acquired is more than a bit nostalgic and can make for great light chatter over coffee, as well. This Beer Bread recipe is one of those.

New Orleans was a great city for a whirlwind three day vacation with friends. We were living proof of that. We had taken a river boat cruise, eaten our weight in oysters on the half shell, gone crazy over a jazz combo in a Bourbon Street bar and ended up in a night club drinking Brandy Alexanders and watching some scantily-clad show girls. We had inhaled the powdery sweet goodness of warm, puffy beignets at Cafe Dumond, bought the obligatory souvenir mugs and quaffed enough chicory/coffee to float a battle ship. We’d made a valiant effort to try every famous dish that New Orleans had to offer – even sharing bites we just couldn’t do it. We were mellow, we were stuffed and much too quickly it was time to leave.

Granted, three days was not long enough but for Ed and me New Orleans was just a brief pleasurable interlude on our way to Galveston, Texas. It was, for Ed, a trip back in time to a place where he had flown B-24’s during World War II. We drove leisurely out of New Orleans, enjoying the country side, visiting a majestic aging plantation house – Visitors Welcome – and stopping long enough for an amazing southern lunch that undoubtedly added an instant five pounds. The weather forecast was for intermittent rain but given the time of year, October, we should have suspected more. Arriving at the elegant old Galvez Hotel after that long lazy day we checked in, took a hot shower and fell in to bed. We awakened in the morning to the introductory notes of a full blown – not in the forecast, I might add – tornado! The palms whipped, moaned and bowed to the powerful winds. The rains hammered at the building as rapidly as a jazz drummer beating the heck out of his snare drums. The rock solid old Galvez didn’t move, even the windows were determined shields standing guard with out so much as a rattle. A quiet morning stroll along the water front was obviously not an option.

Food! Breakfast! We were starving. The power was still on thanks to a back up generator and the dining room was open. We were ready for a hearty southern breakfast. Eggs, grits, a generous slice of ham with fluffy biscuits and home made jam sounded about right. With the local newspaper in hand we looked for a comfortable spot, I, to read the mid week food section and Ed the sports pages. We were waiting for a soothing, melodious Southern voice to say “May I take your order?” Instead a frantic, high pitched little voice was saying, “Attention, every one, put down your forks and follow me – NOW!” We followed—-quietly, like obedient sheep. The tornado had rapidly picked up speed and was about to strike. Through it all the building stood fortress-like. Amazingly, the windows remained unshattered. The palms survived to wave another day and the entire dining room contingency endured mother nature’s awesome performance in the basement, sitting on the floor. No ham, no eggs, not even a cup of coffee, just quiet conversations and the rattlings of the morning paper.

Interestingly, Ed with his pilot’s instincts and perhaps his experience flying in Gulf weather had parked our car behind the hotel instead of in the designated side parking lot. After the tornado passed we were to discover that every car in the side lot had imploded windows. Our car sat smugly behind the hotel, smiling and unscathed. We drove off, happily on our way west to visit my sister. I would finally find time to read the rest of the newspaper.

The lasting souvenirs of our Southern experience, other than mugs from Cafe Dumond, were two great simple recipes from Galveston’s local paper – Beer Bread and a muffin recipe my daughter renamed Tornado Two Step Muffins. I still use them both. Stay tuned. Heeere’s Beer Bread! As for the muffins, the recipe is a perfect one to know about when  you have ice cream that has thawed beyond all recognition. Just mix together equal parts self-rising flour and melted ice cream. Bake in greased muffin pans at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Serve with butter and your favorite jam. Delicious.

BEER BREAD

• 1-12 oz. bottle of beer, room temperature
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 3-cups self rising flour
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted

Pour beer into a large bowl and allow to de-fizz for a few minutes. Add sugar and stir. Add flour and stir until blended, dough will be a bit lumpy. Put dough in to a greased 4×9″ loaf pan. Set aside 15 minutes to rise. Pour melted butter over all. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes before slicing.

Note – to convert regular flour to self rising flour add 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt per cup of regular flour.

Leftover Beer Bread makes delicious breakfast toast.

Enjoy!

Martha

I was on a search – on the prowl. I was browsing through our local bargain book store looking for some affordable/disposable light reading to take along on a much anticipated trip.

We were almost packed – almost ready to take off to visit old Air Force friends at their summer place in Molasses Pond, Maine. Delta would get us from Seattle safely—-not quietly, not hassle free but safely—-to Boston. From there a smaller plane would take us on a slightly more bumpy, and a little more exciting flight to Bangor. Our friends would pick us up for the one hour drive back to their beautiful little slice of tranquility at the lake (Molasses Pond).

Past experience had taught me that I needed reading material for the trip – and a head set – not for the music but to muffle the high pitched demands of the ever present gatherings of two year olds – surrounding our half-butt size seats. And considering the aircraft’s sardine can ambience requiring elbows be tucked inside the seat arms, knees be together and ankles uncrossed in some contorted fashion, my expected comfort for the trip was just a hair above zero. Light reading would be about as much as I wanted to concentrate on. —- Oh, yes, I digress, light reading….

As luck would have it I came upon Kate Remembered by A. Scott Berg. Standing in the book store I quickly previewed it. Excellent light reading indeed. (For those too young to remember Katherine Hepburn was a hugely popular movie star of the 1940′s and beyond.)  Suddenly my mind flashed from Kate Remembered to Brownies Remembered. I had Kate’s Brownie recipe! I had found it and cut it out of a magazine years earlier. I had made it hundreds of times but like all recipes, maybe due to a change of lifestyle or a vow to lose weight, the recipe had been tucked back into one of my cooking notebooks – somehow put aside. How could this be? The BEST Brownies I had ever eaten and I had forgotten them? There were times when I had been known to devour several of them for breakfast in lieu of corn flakes.

I dug through my Desserts notebook. Voila, I now had Kate Hepburn’s recipe in my hand. No more Katherine or Ms. Hepburn for me. When you’ve eaten as many of these sensational brownies as I have you feel you know her on a personal level.

Visits to Maine were always filled full of adventure and deliciousness. We explored, lazed around, shopped, picked blueberries – and made pies – and because we were in Maine ate lobster like there was no tomorrow. Visits to the lake house were special for another reason – JOHN COOKED! Things like Lipton Soup Pot Roast and Mashed Potatoes, Sour Dough Pancakes and Bacon, and home made bread. It was down home, rib stickin’ country fare! Life couldn’t get any better than that.

I had a bright idea! I’d put the Brownie recipe and the critical ingredients, the chocolate and the nuts, in a Zip-loc bag (just in case they weren’t on hand at the cottage) and take them with me to Maine. Could I smuggle walnuts and chocolate squares across the country in my carryon? Of course I could.

One night when the summer neighbors would come over for ice cream I’d surprise everyone with a mouth watering, chocolatey, warm and crunchy pan of Brownies. I’d wow the crowd, saying “This is Katherine Hepburn’s personal recipe you know.” Will they be impressed with my name dropping? Probably not, but they’ll love the brownies.

P.S. I baked the Brownies. I wowed the summer crowd and I would have had Brownies for breakfast but, alas, when I went to the kitchen the next morning the pan was empty. It was even crumbless.

Back home, having been reacquainted with Kate’s Brownies, I baked. The next morning I had A Two Brownie Breakfast. It was yummy.

KATE HEPBURN’S BROWNIES

This recipe is so simple and delicious. It is rich, fudgy, chewy-soft and packed with walnuts. When you can make Brownies this good, this fudgy and this easily from scratch why would you ever use a box mix. This recipe tops every box mix on the planet, no question about it!

Here’s the recipe

• 1 stick (1/4 pound) butter
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2 squares unsweetened chocolate
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. salt

In a pyrex bowl melt the butter and chocolate squares in the microwave, one minute at a time until just melted. Let cool for a couple minutes. Stir in the sugar, salt and eggs. Mix well. Add the flour and vanilla. Mix. Stir in the walnuts.

Bake in a buttered and floured 8 inch square pan at 325 degrees for about 40 minutes.

Eat the whole pan full and pretend you’re Katherine Hepburn! Not really. If you do you’ll be as sick as a dog. They’re rich!

Enjoy!

Martha

This is a story about our early Air Force years. In retrospect they were such great years in our lives. They were full of adventure, uncertainty, worry, learning–lots and lots of learning including all necessary moving skills and, most important, the forming of close friendships that have lasted over the years.   If you’re a fan of military lifestyle trivia read on. If your interest first and foremost is in some wonderful old recipes scroll down. You’ll find some that you’ll love – delicious yesterday, just as delicious today and wallet friendly too, I might add.

Early in our marriage, courtesy of the U.S. Air Force, we moved to Charleston, South Carolina. We arrived there from Ramstein AFB, Germany in May. The azaleas had exploded in masses of bright pinks, reds, blues and dazzling whites – spectacular! The gardens both public and private were beautifully manicured and unbelievably inviting and the Charlestonians warm and welcoming. What a great first – and lasting – impression. It was our family’s introduction to a southern lifestyle. It was my indoctrination into Southern cooking.

We were learning southern-eze, the etiquette of the deep south and how to eat foods that were new to us. Foods with strange names like Hoppin’ John and Hush Puppies. Corn pone, grits, and collard greens were additions to our culinary vocabulary, as well.

As we settled in to our new home we began – as we always did – to explore all of the interesting new places. The beaches around Charleston and surrounding islands were just wonderful, offering a wide variety of adventures from fishing, swimming and boating, to shell gathering, to catching those tasty little crabs with blue claws. On one of our first beach outings we discovered Andre’s, a funky little roadside oyster bar in near by Folly Beach. Their specialty – roasted oysters. They were heavenly. The oyster beds were right out side the back door of the restaurant. When supply got low the owner simply walked out the back door and gathered more. He shoveled them in to a red hot open oven that sat right inside the restaurant. They couldn’t have been fresher. Delicious beyond imagination.

They were roasted just long enough for their shells to open, then brought, steaming hot, to the table in large dish pans. To eat them, one held the oyster in a gloved hand (the glove, a cotton carpenters glove, was supplied by the restaurant). If further prying, to open the oyster, was necessary you were supplied with a railroad crossing spike that had been flattened on the end, resembling a crude screwdriver blade. Empty water buckets, where you deposited the shells, were placed on the floor beside each chair. The oysters had a salty, tangy succulence that no taste bud could resist.

Served with the oysters were side dishes of Hush Puppies (a deep fried seasoned corn meal fritter) and cole slaw. That was the menu, plain and simple. Take it or leave it. With these we drank lots and lots of ice cold beer and sodas. We laughed, told stories and enjoyed all of that warm, relaxed southern hospitality.

Oh, yes – let’s not forget another memorable Southern experience, collard greens. I’m in total agreement with food writer Laurie Colwin, Home Cooking and More Home Cooking, who said that, “Only southern men and southern children like collard greens.” Collard greens were to me (a northern woman) a decidedly nasty tasting green vegetable that was cooked and cooked until it lacked any resemblance to a vegetable at all. It was simply a limp dark green blob slumped sadly on my plate. The first remark to come to mind when it was served to me was, “What is this!” I said nothing, lest I reveal my lack of southern charm.

A close southern friend promised me she could cook collards that I would like. She tried. She couldn’t. I didn’t.

We continued on through that first adventurous summer and fall—-settling in, making new friends, sightseeing, trying new restaurants, entertaining at home and learning new foods and Southern lingo for familiar foods.

What in the world was Hoppin’ John? and was it catching? Hoppin’ John, we quickly learned, was seasoned black eyed peas served over rice. As eating it was considered good luck it was a necessary part of welcoming in the New Year. It was a menu-must for the mandatory New Years Day Commanders Call at Charleston Air Force Base. This traditionally began around 9:00 AM. It’s hard to imagine a more disturbing cruelty after a very late night of New Years Eve revelry than having to stand in line, wearing white gloves and a silly little hat, at a formal reception—-with bleary eyes and an unstable stomach—-first, to face the Wing Commander and his wife then to come eye to eye with the star of the buffet table—-the symbolic, good luck, hog’s head (no good luck for the hog, of course). The apple enhanced, leafy green fringed, smiling hogs head occupied the platter of honor on a seasonally decorated table. This was followed by a larger platter of small pieces of sliced Roast Pork and a chafing dish piled high with Hoppin’ John. Breakfast any one?And all I really wanted was a big tall glass of ice water and a nice soft chair.

I’m not including my favorite recipe for Hoppin’ John with this story although I could. And I won’t be including a recipe for collard greens. I simply wouldn’t. If you’re personally curious consult The Joy of Cooking by Rombauer but take my word for it, collard greens are no joy!

In spite of the dubious pleasures of tasting collard greens for the first time or gazing at a festively decorated hog’s head, I found Charleston to be a charming city full of remarkable historic sights, exceptional restaurants and warm hospitable people. Charleston likes to think of its self as the epitome of elegant, polite society and indeed it is. During our seven years there I learned many things—-except, of course, how to look a hogs head squarely in the eye and how to appreciate collard greens.

A Perfect Southern Supper

Years later when we moved south again, this time to San Antonio, Texas I was reintroduced to southern cooking, and that all time favorite throughout the south, Corn Meal Encrusted Fried Cat Fish. It became, along with Maque Choux (mock shoe) and Honey Lemon Cole Slaw, my favorite southern supper, be it in San Antonio, Texas or Charleston, South Carolina.

Maque Choux was a new experience for me when we moved to San Antonio and it was love at first bite. As nearly as I can figure out, it was a creation of the deeper south, the Louisiana Bayou country that migrated in to Texas. The perfect time for Maque Choux is in summer when fresh, juicy, sweet corn and luscious red, ripe tomatoes are plentiful and full of flavor. But any time of year is just fine with me.

Fried Cat Fish, Maque Choux, and Honey Lemon Cole Slaw are, in my opinion, a perfect southern meal. If you’d like bread, the only answer is  Corn Bread. It’s so perfectly southern. The recipes that follow are simple to prepare and wonderful to eat. Choose one of the two excellent Maque Choux recipes. One recipe uses bacon for the flavoring; the other oil and butter. I prefer using the more flavorful bacon recipe and use Apple wood Smoked Bacon. As for the corn bread, an excellent, fast and easy recipe is right on the Quaker corn meal box. I cut the sugar quantity to 2 tablespoons and use brown sugar instead of white.  I use buttermilk in place of sweet milk. Choose which ever sounds good to you.

Finish the meal with a bowl of creamy Banana Puddin’. What could be more southern and what could be more wonderful comfort food. Pour the coffee and serve the puddin’!

THE MENU

• Fried Cat Fish
• Maque Choux (mock shoe)
• Honey Lemon Cole Slaw
• Corn Bread
• A Large Banana Puddin’ and
• Coffee or Iced Tea

THE RECIPES

Fried Cat Fish

Serves 4

• 1 lb. cat fish fillets
• Lemon pepper and garlic powder
• Buttermilk
• Fine ground corn meal and salt to taste
• Canola oil

Arrange cat fish fillets in a flat pan or dish and sprinkle them with lemon pepper and garlic powder. Pour in enough buttermilk to cover fillets.

Marinate fish for at least one hour or longer.

When ready to cook dredge them with fine ground corn meal and fry them in very hot canola oil until they are nice and brown and crusty. Serves 4

Serve with lemon wedges and your favorite Tartar Sauce with a little Cajun seasoning such as Zatarain’s added.

By the way, I’m happy to report that the cat fish in San Antonio was much tastier than the cat fish of my youth in northern Ohio where it always tasted a little like the muddy river bottom where it had been caught. Good news! Cat fish is now farm raised, not mud flavored and darned good eating.

Cajun Maque Choux

Serves 4 to 6

• 2 strips of thick sliced smoked bacon
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 small green pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 cups fresh sweet corn kernels
• 2 medium ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 tsp sugar
• Salt and pepper to taste

In a medium skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat. Remove bacon when it is crispy, drain on a paper towel and crumble. Keep 2 Tbs. drippings in the pan. Add onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Add the corn, tomatoes and sugar, and season to taste. Cook, covered, over low heat about 5 minutes or until vegetables are heated through. Add bacon and serve.

Vegetarian Maque Choux

Serves 6 to 8

• 6 ears of sweet corn
• 1 Tbs. vegetable oil
• 1 Tbs. butter
• 1 large tomato, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/2 bell pepper, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 tsp. hot sauce

Cut corn kernels off the cob and into a bowl. Using a knife, scrape milk and remaining pulp from corn cob in to a bowl. Set aside.

Combine oil and butter in a large skillet; heat until butter melts. Add corn, tomato, and remaining ingredients; cook, stirring constantly, 5 minutes. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes, stirring often. Yields 4 cups.

The vegetarian recipe source suggests that you place the Fried Cat Fish on toasted French bread in an individual pasta bowl; top it with Maque Choux and serve it immediately as a one dish meal. That’s a interesting idea but I’ll probably just stick to the old fashioned way – a piece of golden Fried Cat Fish with a dollop of Tartar Sauce and a serving of Maque Choux side by side on a dinner plate with a beautiful square of golden corn bread.

Honey-Lemon Slaw

Serves 8

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 Tbs. honey
• 1/2 tsp. grated lemon rind
• 2 Tbs. lemon juice
• Grated fresh ginger root, to taste or 1/4 tsp. dry ginger
• 4 cups shredded cabbage
• 1/2 cup golden raisins

Stir together first 5 ingredients. Add cabbage and raisins; toss. Cover and chill.
Makes 8 (about half cup) servings.

As for that big bowl of southern comfort “A Large Banana Puddin”, all you really need is a large box of Cook and Serve Vanilla Pudding mix and a banana or two. Add 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract and a tablespoon of real butter.

Enjoy these classic recipes from the “deep south”. They’re simple to make and delicious to eat.

And from an unknown source on my E-Mail came these words of wisdom.

Only a Southerner knows how many fish, collard greens, turnip greens, peas, beans, etc., make up “a mess”.

AND – Only a Southerner knows instinctively that the best gesture of solace for a neighbor who’s got trouble is a plate of hot fried chicken and a big bowl of cold potato salad. If the neighbor’s trouble is a real crisis, they also know to add a large banana puddin’.

Enjoy!

Martha

Come on. As a kid, didn’t you think that was a funny joke? Below is the Chili part. You’ll have to work out the Tamale part for yourself.

Here are two recipes using good canned chili. You can make a fast and totally satisfying lunch or dinner so easily you could prepare either one with your eyes closed – providing, of course, you know how to operate the can opener blindfolded.

Neither recipe is new. If you already have the recipes in your personal cook book as I do, consider this a reminder of something quick and delicious. Neither is chic, elegant or exotic and will probably never appear on the menu of your favorite upscale restaurant. Each is just great tasting, simple food.

Originally, my copy of the Chili Pie recipe came from the fellow who was painting our living room in San Antonio, Texas. He used my oven to heat the lunch he had brought in a colorful pottery pie dish. The aroma was irresistible and the recipe, I thought, must have come from his venerable Mexican grandmother – actually it came straight from the Wolf’s Chili can. So much for old family recipes. Easy, simple foods catch on fast. Later I found the recipe in a 1981 Favorite Brand Name Recipe Cookbook I had bought at a bargain books store. It had been there all the time.

As for Chili Stuffed Baked Potatoes, they make common sense when you’re in the mood for simple comfort food. What’s more comforting than a baked potato with all sorts of yummy toppings’ If you’re in the mood for Mexican, a Chili topping makes perfect sense. An enhanced Chili topping, sour cream, onions, cheese, makes even more sense.

On a windy, rainy night when you’re super tired and really hungry the recipe is a no-brainer. Put the scrubbed and oiled potatoes in the oven, set at 400 degrees, and set the timer for about 40 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes. Give the carton of sour cream a stir. Slice the scallions, get the shredded cheese out of the fridge and relax.

You can open the mail, watch Wheel of Fortune or if you’re in the mood to be depressed listen to the news. Enjoy a cold beer, that will help – or a crisp wine or a comforting cup of hot tea and listen for the timer.

Oops, jump up, better add a healthy salad. Do a quick chop on some crunchy romaine, wedge a small tomato or two and add what ever other vegetables the crisper drawer has to offer. Dress it with a little olive oil and wine vinegar and sprinkle with Cavenders Greek Seasoning. Fresh cold Ranch Dressing works well with the Mexican flavors, too. Dinner’s almost ready. For dessert cubed cantaloupe with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream would be perfect or during the winter months a beautiful sliced navel orange sprinkled with sugar, coconut flakes and topped with a dollop of creme fraiche is simple and wonderful.

Sit down to a steaming Chili Stuffed Baked Potato, inhale the delicious aroma and feel that all is right with the world – and even if it isn’t – who cares? This is delicious!

CHILI PIE CASSEROLE

4 to 6 servings

• 3 cups Fritos corn chips, slightly crushed
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 (4-ounce) can diced green chilis, drained (optional)
• 1 (15-ounce) can chili, I use Wolf’s
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Spread 2 cups of Fritos corn chips in a baking dish. Arrange chopped onion, diced green chilis and half the cheese on the Fritos. Pour chili over onion and cheese. Top with remaining Fritos and cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes until hot and bubbly.

CHILI STUFFED BAKED POTATOES

Makes 4 servings

• 4 large baking potatoes
• 1 (15-ounce) can chili
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1 cup sour cream
• 4 green onions, chopped or sliced

Bake potatoes until tender. Heat chili according to directions on can. Slice open hot potatoes. Fluff with a fork. Top with chili, cheese, sour cream, and green onions.

Note: A baked potato is better than one microwaved so unless you really don’t have the time or don’t have the oven, bake the potato. The skin of a baked potato is delicious eaten with some of the toppings.

Enjoy,

Martha

I was rummaging around through the peaks and valleys of fresh vegetables in my favorite local produce store, awaiting the Ah-ha moment to strike me. I wanted, no really needed, an idea for a warm and comforting quick fix meal. Admittedly, I didn’t really know what I was looking for. I just knew that I was hungry, really hungry. Then–there they were. Beautiful bright green ears of dewey fresh corn sporting the plumpest, juiciest kernels imaginable. Now—-I needed the perfect recipe for a sensational Corn Chowder.

Motivated, I returned home–just a short dash down the street–and dug into my cookbooks to do a little quick chowder research. I wanted this chowder to be perfect. I scanned at least a dozen great recipes for fish and clam chowders, some very good vegetable chowders and even one for Eel Chowder in James Beard’s American Cookery that graphically described how to prepare an eel for chowder. Having carefully read the instructions I decided that by the time I got the eel prepared, not that I was planning it any time soon, I’d be in no mood to cube the potatoes and chop the onions. Besides, where would I catch an eel? Guess if I can’t catch and prepare an eel I’ll never be declared chef of the year. So much for eels.

Having discarded any thought of ever preparing Eel Chowder, as good as I’m sure the finished dish is, I returned  my focus to corn. Corn has no lengthy preparation requirements and unlike an eel it can be easily skinned. I put together my recipe by selectively combining the most inviting parts of recipes from three different cookbooks.  I returned to my favorite store with it’s gorgeous fresh veggies and gathered together all the ingredients for steaming bowls of corn chowder. Three cheers for our local fresh produce store.

Try the chowder. It’s  thick, rich and delicious. It fits our New Economy Cooking mandate, too – delicious and wallet friendly!

Corn Chowder

• 4 to 6 slices lean bacon, diced
• 1 can (16 oz.) chicken broth
• 1/2 a medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1 can (15 oz.) cream style corn
• 1 small red bell pepper, diced (1/2 cup)
• 2 cups fresh corn (2 lg. ears) or frozen
• 2 medium potatoes,cubed
• 1 1/2 cups half & half
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Chopped fresh parsley garnish (optional)

Note: In a pinch you can substitute evaporated milk (although I don’t) for the half and half.

Sauté the bacon until crisp in a soup pot. Pour off the excess fat and remove the bacon to a paper towel and crumble. Sauté the onion and bell pepper in the bacon fat. Add the potatoes and pour on the chicken broth to cover the potatoes. Add a little water if there’s not enough broth. Cook on medium heat until potatoes are barely tender, about 10 minutes. Add the cream style corn. Cut corn kernels from the cob (scrape the cob for the last bits of corn and corn milk) and add kernels to chowder or add 2 cups frozen corn. If necessary you can substitute 1 can of whole shoe peg corn but its not as crisp as fresh or frozen. Stir to combine. Add half and half and salt and pepper to taste. Add butter and crumbled bacon at serving time. Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley if you have it on hand. This soup is thick and rich and full of flavor.

Serves 6

Serve with French Bread and a crisp green salad dressed with 3 parts Extra Virgin Olive Oil (the greener the better) to one part vinegar. Season with Cavender’s All Purpose Greek Seasonings which is available at most grocery stores. Garnish with pitted Kalamata olives, sliced scallions and small vine ripe tomato wedges.

Now that beats cleaning an eel any day. Enjoy the chowder.

Enjoy!

Martha