Winner of the 2010 Intergenerational Recipe Hand-Me Down

And the Winner of the 2010 Recipe Hand-Me Down iisss...

Jean Tallcot from West Charleston, Vermont!

Thank you, Jean for submitting your time honored recipe and sharing your memories of your mother's Scalloped Potatoes.

Scalloped Potatoes
by Jean Tallcot

Mother never complained about the weather, about housework or about how little money she had to feed a family of six.  A champion at “making do” and a genius at substituting ingredients for those she didn’t have, supper was on the table every evening at five o’clock, when Daddy wanted to eat.  Growing up in the 1940's, my two sisters, one brother and I never thought of being fussy.  Daddy said, “Take what you want, but eat what you take.”  Mother said if we were still hungry after a meal, we could always have bread and butter.  Daddy pieced together a living, but we were able to pay our bills because we lived without luxury and were thrifty-- patching, mending, glueing-- repairing each thing that wore out in order to use it again.  Mother counted the pieces of bacon in a package and slices of bread in a loaf   In that way, she divvied out the food so we could each have toast at breakfast and a sandwich at lunch.  Mother was creative.  When she made Spanish Rice and found there were no canned tomatoes, she grabbed a can of tomato soup.  It tasted so much better to her, that she used it from then on.  We always had a supply of potatoes because we grew them.
Mother owned an old cookbook filled with recipes for potatoes such as Delmonico; Jeanette Courrangelle; Persillade; Franconia; Potaotes a l’Archiodoise; and Bhugia.  There were Chips; Croquettes and Creamed;  Hashed and Mashed;  Riced and Diced; Julienne; Frittered and Fried; Stuffed on the Half Shell; Atop Shepard’s Pie;  Saratoga; Suzette; Princess; Peasant; Baked and Caked; Bordered and Loafed, Timbales, Dropped; Savory Roast; Dumplings steamed in a Soup; Old or New; Cut into Stew; Lyonnaise; Salad with Mayonnaise; Dutch and Duchess; Omelets; O’Brien; Pancakes; Patties; Belgian; AuGratin.  But the old stand-by was Scalloped Potatoes–sometimes with ham and sometimes not.  There was nothing like a dish of hot, buttered potatoes at the end of the day. 
Mother peeled and sliced about ten pounds of potatoes, layered them in a large roaster with crumbled crackers and butter between the layers. She poured milk, slightly covering the potatoes and dotted them with butter.  She baked it at 350 degrees for about 2 hours because it was such a large dish.

The Flour Garden prepares all submitted recipes. We liked this scalloped potato recipe for its versatility. The addition of carrots and leeks along with the ham gave it a more one-dish casserole meal. We recommend keeping to the method of preparation given in this recipe (and not parboiling the potatoes as some recipes suggest). This will help to create a creamy sauce and allow the potatoes to cook to al dente so that they just resist the tooth.
If you have a time honored recipe you would like to enter in the 2011 Intergenerational Recipe Hand-Me-Down, visit The Flour Garden for more information.

Treasures

I’ve had many responses to my post about baking panettone “out of season". It seems to have struck a cord in many of my foodie friends’ heart, or at least the thought of an intergenerational recipe hand-me-down has.

This impresses me.

Impresses me in that it leaves an impression on me, making me realize how important these traditions are to so many of us. They really are time honoured. I have memorized countless of my mother’s recipes that I could write a cookbook of them. Her recipe for pane (bread) that was passed down from my grandmother with only three ingredients: flour, water and salt, is seared into my brain. Potato gnocchi, risotto, dandelion wine and cheesecake are all swimming in that great wrinkly grey mass in my head.

Sometimes I rework the recipes and other times it seems it would be a crime to tamper with them. Some days I tear through the index in my head in search of a recipe I have never made but I know is there. And then there are those recipes which I have failed to commit to memory. Every year I inevitably call for her crunchy fudge sandwich recipe. Even the infamous Easter Ham and Egg Pie recipe has slipped from my memory warranting a phone call.

My mother is an exceptional cook. Her recipes are renown throughout the state of Vermont and probably still in Virginia. She has never been afraid to try something new. Never been afraid to create disasters in the kitchen. Never bragged when her attempts were enormous successes. She always accepted the challenges her Italian mother-in-law threw in her direction and scoffed at the thought that she couldn’t make it better. (Which, by the way, is exactly how you handle an Italian mother-in-law!) And she always, always baked something special for each person she knew when it was their birthday.

When I think of the enormous kitchen in the old farmhouse in which I grew up, I am reminded of how it smelled. Always of fresh baked bread and chocolate cake. On Thanksgiving and Christmas the aromas of a roasting turkey would break through the wall of bread and chocolate. Oftentimes a lasagne or even bacon and eggs in the morning would spread their joy throughout the house. But there was always the underlying sensation of bread and chocolate. After all, she did bake bread twice a week and made on average a chocolate cake every three days in that kitchen for over 20 years!

She has no idea the impression she has left on me. She is the woman who created me. She fostered not just my love for food, but my desire to try any food that is presented to me. Her patience allowed me to experiment with ingredients, encouraged me to make a recipe my own, and gave me the space to develop my own interests that would enable me to excel in the kitchen. Her demeanour taught me that it is perfectly acceptable to make mistakes and create disasters. And that I should never be afraid to try something new.

I have grown into who I am today because of the impression my mother left on me as well as the impressions all of those recipes passed down for generations. I am part Italian, part English and 100% inspired to be the best I could possibly be not just in the kitchen but in life.

Here’s to making every day the best we can, remembering the people who inspired us to grow into who we are, surrounding ourselves with wonderful food and sharing our most treasured recipes.

*Photo of sweet potato gnocchi courtesy of  Jill Brown

Caponata - Antipasto at it's best!

When the weather changes from bitter cold to mild, spring flowers begin to bloom and the sun starts to break through the grey sky, it's time to get back outside to work in the garden. The work is long, can be back breaking and is the most satisfying of any.


Cleaning off the cobwebs from the garden tools, turning over the soil, planting, raking and fixing all of the things broken by winter's winds and harsh weather builds an appetite in me like no other. Of course, it's nearly impossible to immerse myself in these projects and prepare a meal that can satiate this appetite. Thankfully there are delicious antipastos and tapas that can be easily prepared and are even better after allowing to meld for a day or two. Caponata is one of my favorite of these antipastos! Recipes vary as with most cultural cuisines. I made mine without pine nuts (because my husband "thinks" he doesn't like them) or parsley (because I did not have any). Some times it can be made with only roasted red peppers and no melanzane (aubergines or eggplant). However, regardless of the recipe you choose to prepare, there is no doubt it will be savoured, satisfying and filling. 

Caponata
2 medium melanzane
2 large Romano red peppers, diced
2 small onions, thinly sliced
4 firm but ripe Italian tomatoes, peeled and diced
12 black olives (I used olives stuffed with chili), sliced in half
2 1/2 tablespoons capers
2 cloves garlic
6-8 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup very good quality balsamic vinegar
smoked sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

In a deep cast iron pan heat the olive oil. Cube the melanzane and fry in the hot oil until browned and soft. Remove the melanzane and set aside. Add the peppers to the pan and sauté until soft then return the melanzane to the pan. Add the onions and tomatoes and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the capers and olives and cook for a minute to two before adding the vinegar. Simmer for another 15 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. Transfer to a glass jar and allow flavors to meld in refrigerator for at least 2 hours, preferably one to two days.

What I love about this recipe is that when you first try it you are initially hit with a spicy, salty, balsamic vinegar flavor. Then slowly the individual flavors of the ingredients begin to show. You can pick out the melanzana and sweet pepper as much as the capers and olives. It is a complex antipasto best served with a warm focaccia or crusty sour dough bread and a variety of cheeses. My favorite cheese with this is Embriago, a semi-hard, fruity cheese. Of course Taleggio or even a soft Gorgonzola would pair wonderfully with this as well.

I enjoyed my caponata with a crisp, fruity glass of 2008 Chapel Down Flint Dry. It is a nice dry wine with enough fruity flavor to break through the complexity of flavors of this amazing antipasto!