Maggie's Farm

Moms show their love for their families by cooking, especially those gooey, bland, rib-sticking comfort foods in the winter. They make everybody feel loved, and they're all in Fanny Farmer's cookbook if you have one around.

Mommys of America winter foods are cheap and easy to make. Cheaper than McDonald's, but probably less "healthy" than McDonald's. Whatever "healthy" means.

Here's a classic Mommys of America dish, Creamed Chicken with Peas, best (I think) on top of white rice but it works on toast, mashed taters, and egg noodles. Lots of ground pepper on top.

For one extra Mom point, serve it on Basmati rice. For two extra points, on a brioche. For three extra Mom points, use the pheasant Dad shot instead of chicken because she deserves it for marrying a guy who goes out and shoots the family's food.

Got any favorite Mommys of America dishes? This is first of a sentimental, anti-gourmet, re-posted series.

Having been raised a New England Yankee, I was raised on lots of Clam Chowder. On Cape Cod, we kids would be sent out with a clam rake and a couple of buckets, and return covered with mud with buckets of big quahogs. I've had lots of good Clam Chowders, and a few which were inedible. The best Cod Chowder I've had was on Grand Manan Island. Forgot to get their recipe, but it was thick. 

I suspect that CHAUDRON, CHAUDRÉE, CAULDRON, CHOWDER - and Chowda - are the same word. Technically, it seems to mean a seafood soup or stew which includes potatoes and some cream or milk.

Mrs. BD recently made a chowder with haddock - a Frenchy version - Seafood Chowder. She included chunks of lobster.

Here's a fully French version:  Fish Chowder (La Chaudrée)

Sure, you have to admit that the Frenchy ones are far more subtle, complex, interesting than New England-style Chowders. All good in their own ways. 

Yes, I love Black Bean Soup. I used to dump it on a pile of (white) rice, but now I like a glob of mashed taters in the middle of the bowl.

Everybody has their own recipe, but I just wing it.  What's wrong with this recipe is that it's too low on the beans and garlic, and has no jalapenos. Furthermore, I prefer to just mash a bunch of the beans and leave some intact. I think of it as a meal more than a soup.

Oh, also, I can't eat cilantro. Most can, but not me. 

How about you all?

 Around the HQ, we stick with the un-Yankee, Southern Italian/Sicilian Christmas Eve fast, which means seafood. In past years, I have had the real 7 Fishes with fried baccala, steamed mussels, scungilli,  etc etc. A wonderful fish feast which it would be a stretch to term "fasting." The Catholics are very clever with their concept of fasting.

The best-known Sicilian Primi is Pasta Con Sardi - pasta with anchovies (ie small sardines) - what I term Pasta With Minnows aka Pasta with Bait.

What is an "anchovy"? Never, ever use those tinned brown over-salted anchovies that they put on cheap pizzas. Disgusting stuff, cat food for a cat you hate. If you can't get fresh anchovies (they are white)  at your local fish market, use the canned white anchovies in olive oil. Tasty. Good Italian markets have good fresh or oiled white anchovy filets.

Here's the recipe. Yes, to be authentic it needs the breadcrumbs. And here's another Vigilia favorite: Fried Baccala Balls. I've also had these with mashed potato in the cod mix to hold it all together. Nothing is more delicious.

Traditionally, you have to have Struffoli for dessert even though I find it inedible.

Truth is, in recent years we just make poached salmon with yogurt-dill sauce, to be ready to serve at room temp. after getting home from church.

The juice is great. Good with mashed potatoes.

My theory is to cook it until it falls apart. 

Over the years Mrs. BD has found the recipe for the best-ever meatloaf. Sorry - I don't have the recipe right now, but I know it includes ground pork, lamb, and beef, plus of course mashed on the side. It's the lamb, I feel, that makes it so tasty and crunchy on the edges. Excellent for a sammich later, too.

I was reminded of Lamb Burgers by the menu of a popular midtown Manhattan Irish pub, Connolly's, on 47th St. Irish (not entirely) pub menu. Since our neighborhood Scots/Irish pub closed this year due to crazy rent, we need something like that once in a while. Yeah, a good Shepherd's Pie can be nice but I've had some disappointing ones. Mrs. makes an excellent one.

Everybody on this planet seems to like a burger, but a lamb burger is less routine and has more flavor: Lamb Burger.  I like tomato slices and red onion slices on the side with any burger. Fries (aka chips) of course.

Off-topic, in Scotland they will serve mutton as "lamb". Trust me - it's mutton but you could call it "older lamb." There's an English insult, "Mutton dressed as lamb." Know what it means?

In the mood for a mutton chop? In NYC, it's Keen's (since 1885). 

Thanks to Squanto, the Pilgrims had a decent harvest of corn and squash (pumpkins mostly, I think) in the autumn of 1621. Also, thanks to Squanto, the friendly neighboring Wampanoags visited bearing venision. Indians likely outnumbered the English at this feast day.

It seems Turkey, roasted pumpkin, mussels, eels, cod, roasted or stewed venison, corn meal mush, and maybe lobster were on the menu:  First Thanksgiving Meal.

There seem not to have been a lot of oysters nearby (maybe the Indians ate them all), but plenty of Cod. Ever heard of Cape Cod Turkey?

They had to learn to fish and how to plant. They had no milk (no livestock on Mayflower unless you count the 2 dogs), and any sugar or flour on board had been exhausted during the voyage. The Mayflower crew (30 men) returned home on starvation rations in Spring, 1621. Mayflower was an 80-foot leaky old cargo vessel which was barely suited for anything.

He's back from 9 days in a mountain villa overlooking the Adriatic in Abruzzo. He'd only been to Italy once, as a kid. Naturally, I had questions:

Any mishaps? Just left my backpack with money and passports in a cab. Luckily, he soon noticed and caught up with us as we entered the Rome airport. 

How was the house? Gorgeous, but hard beds. Nice pool with mountain views.

Like the women? Dangerously sexy and well-dressed.

Natives in Abruzzo speak any English? Not really.

See any relatives? My 85 year-old aunt had her driver take us around to see my Mom's relatives.

Go to the beach? Twice. 

Eat any pizza or pasta? My daughter did.

Have some vongole? Yep, raw and in sauce.

Grilled octopus? Of course. That's a dumb question.

Any risotto? They don't make risotto in southern Italy.

Calamari? Yep, raw on toast and in sauces.

Fresh white anchovies? Of course.

Mussels?  We had a mussel pie.

Swordfish or tuna? No. 

Cinghiale? Looked, didn't see it on a menu. 

Breakfasts? Just espresso. 

Wine? Too much, usually. 

See any gyms in the towns? Nope. 

Would you return? I'd just stay there. 

I told you that in Sicily last Spring we had Parsley Pesto (with grilled swordfish) and Pistachio Pesto (with grilled pork), but we never saw a Basil Pesto. They do love their Pistachios in Sicily - they use them with everything. We brought a small, overpriced jar of pistachio pesto home, but it's fairly easy to make.

"Pesto" means something that is pestado - pounded or ground up, as in English "pestle and "paste" or French "pate". Walnut-Parsley is a popular combination. Also, fresh mint pesto. The Cuisinart is what made Pesto easy. 

More: Move out of the way, basil. Cheese + nuts + olive oil + garlic + whatever the hell you want = awesome pesto.

Pesto is for seafood, vegetables, noodles.  

These treats used to be called Frankfurters. Sausages in Frankfurt, of course.

I've eaten plenty of sausages in Germany but there is nothing like an American baseball game hot dog. Or anywhere else during the summer. Not a dirty-water hot dog on an NYC street - a grilled one. As with any sausage, never think about the ingredients.

A bit about the history of hot dogs. 

Love them? How do you like 'em? I like some mustard.

Maine- Versus Connecticut-Style

Much as I love a Wellfleet Oyster, I'll draw a line at Oyster Ice Cream. Or any seafood-flavored ice cream.

A History of Ice Cream

Yes, I know the ancient Egyptians made sorbets. Ice from Lebanese mountains.

That Pompeii fresco could never have been pizza as we think of it. Sure, humans have put stuff on breads since bread was first made because bread alone is boring. It probably was like focaccia with stuff on it. No tomato or mozzarella though. Maybe fruit, oil, herbs.

Pastry stuff less boring, as in our galette post yesterday. Looks like a pizza.

While the typical Italian-American "tomato pie" is what Americans tend to think of, pretty much anything can be cooked on a pizza crust. In Southern Italy and Sicily, the menu will have 40-50 choices, most without tomato. Consider figs with goat cheese.

Or, in my photo from Sicily, egg and olive with pureed red pepper. 

It's like a fruit pizza, with pastry dough.

As reader commented, "easier than pie." 

Recipes here. 

You always wondered what those baby corncobs were, mostly in Asian foods in the US. You never bothered finding out.

Baby corn is real baby corn. Mainly imported from Thailand. Corn (maize) of course spread around the world from Central America after Columbus. Like so many things we consume, baby corn is crunchy and fun to eat but has no nutritional value. Who cares?

I like them. 

If you even need breakfast other than a medium Dunkin (if Irish, a Guiness mixed with a raw egg), lots of people go for various cereals. 

Sure, tasty, but pure carbs. Might as well have a donut or two. 

Mrs. BD tells me that the ladies like a teacup of Cold Oatmeal for breakfast.   No cooking.

Readers know that Maggie's has a preference for rare Ribeyes (especially those thick Costco ones which can dine 4 people), cooked on an iron pan over a hot gas flame. Olive oil and butter, salt and pepper. Hard crust on the surface, but almost alive inside.

Burgers and hot dogs on the outdoor grill? Excellent. Also, marinated butterflied legga lamb.  But a good steak? Nope.

I know others have different opinions. 

They go by several other names too (Miniature Watermelons, Mouse Melon), but I never had them until last week in Georgia. They cut them in half and put them in salads at our inn along with the cherry tomatoes, etc. Crunchy, refreshing little cucumber-like things about an inch long. Grow prolifically on vines. Be the first in your neighborhood. I ordered some seeds right away.

Another good thing they grew in their gardens was a tangy peppery green which is new to me, Curly Mustard, or Mustard Mizuna. Use it when the leaves are young.

And lots of Mache, of course. Down there, you must do many sequential plantings of greens, but in summer they must be shaded.

I like it for noodles, or as a salad dressing. I like a little hot pepper sauce in it too, sometimes.

Thanks to the Spanish for spreading the peanut around the world.  

How to make Asian Peanut Sauce 

Another menu I just found from our October hiking trip in Provence. No choices - it was what the Chef wanted to do that night. Olive Oil Ice? Yeah. Quite amazing. But for me, it's all about the cheeses.

Mrs. BD and her dad ventured out today to the real Italian market a few towns away. Everybody there speaks Italian or Sicilian, including most of the customers. Place smells amazing from all of the cheese and salumi and pickled vegetables. And, next door, is an Italian pastry shop. All of it, the best food on this planet. 

We tend towards the Italian on religious holidays. Mrs. BD is 50%; her dad is as Irish as can be. However, trust me, Italian blood beats celtic or anglo-saxon every time. 

She needed candied citron for Easter Pie (Wheat Pie). Naturally, they brought home a bunch of arancini for lunch. They were the size of baseballs. I've never seen them that big in Sicily. Also, baccala for tonight. Hard as wood at first.

For today, baccala to keep with her family tradition. For Easter dinner, a Nice Legga Lamb. That's the Irish part. Just 4 of us, sad to say this year. Distancing, for what it's worth. I miss the whole BD family but I miss church a lot too. It doesn't feel right. I love our congregation.

My buddy and I had Aile de Raie for dinner last night. I think poached, with a nice sauce. (Our wives had pork osso buco.)

Have you ever caught a Skate? I've caught a couple over the years on Cape Cod while fishing for Stripers. Released them. Felt like you hooked a log. Should have cooked them. 

I've had Joue de Raie once, years ago in France. Like a scallop. The "wings" are the more usual menu thing. A nice sweet white meat, and a first time for me.

Everybody who visits Atlantic beaches has seen their blackened egg cases ("mermaid purses") washed up. Skates lay those egg sacks, while Sting Rays bear live young. People eat Sting Rays, but do not step on one.

Cooking skates 

Types of Rays 

There are too many routine uses of cheese in the US to list them all - just think cheeseburgers, nachos, cheese and cracker appetizers,  McMuffins with cheese, grilled cheese, ham and Swiss sandwiches, salads with gorgonzola. There are many more.

The big supermarket sellers in the USA seem to be "American cheese" (which is a food-like substance), sliced Swiss (made in Wisconsin), Dutch Gouda, and Cheddar-type cheeses (often made in Vermont - but the best of that type imo is Irish Kerrygold Dubliner). Gorgonzola too if there are a lot of Italians around, and goat cheese has become basic these days. Cottage Cheese and Cream Cheese are not really cheeses. Yeah, and Brie is a popular party cheese.

Amazing cheeses (often French) are due respect. The frogs can be as fussy about cheese as about wine, and for good reasons: they go from sheep to cow, from gooey to hard, from intensely stinky to nutty, plenty of complex blues, etc.

Our experience in France is that a charcuterie board (supposedly an aperitif) is a meal in itself - sliced hard cheeses, cured meats, nuts, olives, bread, etc. 

We also had excellent and interesting cheeses at breakfast buffets. 

However, the special cheeses are reserved for the Cheese course, before dessert. If you don't know the names, you just point to 3 or 4 that you want, and the slices are put on your plate. Some jam, sliced apple or pear. No bread to dilute the intensity.

Links:

 Cheese or Dessert First? Short answer: the cheese. 

 How To Serve A Cheese Course For Dinner