Menus, June 4, 2014

“Happiness is having a large, loving, caring,

 close-knit family in another city.” 

George Burns

Anthropologists have a word for knowledge that's passed directly from one generation to another: vertical transmission. It's a different sort of learning than that which we receive horizontally from our peers- it's a straight line, because I said so transmission of tradition and.... oh, how about instead of talking, I tell you one of my favorite old stories......
Once upon a time, there was a brand new bride.

Not long after she'd purred her way into her new home, she decided to make a ham dinner. In a moment of love-struck insanity, she decided to do this while her dearly beloved was home, slinking around the kitchen, doing a little back seat cooking. 
What he saw amazed him.
His adorable honeybun had taken a sharp knife and was sawing away at the end of the ham- like this:

"Why are you doing that?".
"Doing what?", she asked.
"Cutting the end off of the ham. Why are you doing that?"
"Because this is the way to cook a ham."
"It is? Why?"
"Because it is. This is the way to cook a ham. That's what my mother taught me."
"Hmmm." Said her beloved. 
Her curiosity aroused, she phoned her mother....

"Mum, could you explain a couple of things to me?
Why do I look like a cat, and you look like a human?
Also, why do we cut the end off of the ham?"

Her mother answered, "Well, Kitty darling, first, remember when we told you that you were adopted? About the ham, hmmm....I don't know. That's the way my mother taught me to do it. I'll ask her"
And so, in the home of the aged relative, the phone rang....

"Hello?" said the aged relative. 
"Mother", said the Mother, "What is it about cutting the end off of the ham that makes our baked hams so delicious? Why do we do that?"
"Oh, honey", answered the grandmother, "It was never about the flavor. I always cut the end off of the ham because I just never had a roasting pan big enough

to fit a whole ham..."

We'll leave off any jokes that compare faulty transmission of knowledge to a faulty transmission in a car, ok? Because the point is, for better or for worse, the knowledge of what to eat and how to eat it is transferred in a straight vertical line like few other things are. Food can tie you to a group of people with bonds that are stronger than those of love or matrimony. You may have a difficult time relating to the relatives, yet still hold as the proverbial gold standard your mother's cornbread, your Dad's grilled steaks, your Nana's banana pudding. And chances are that the way you yourself eat and cook is a reaction to, or an imitation of, the food knowledge that was vertically transmitted to you. 

These five sisters, for instance
grew up eating spaghetti in a house with only one fork.

Like allergies, thoughts of family come in seasonal waves. Christmas, Mother's Day, Thanksgiving, and June. Why June? Because right now, at my mother's house in the Piney Woods of East Texas, this is happening:

Which means that before too long, this will be happening:

It's my plan to drive down and collect a basket full of the fruits of her labor sometime this week, before she labors to transform them into jams and pickles and relishes (and then in the fall wander on down for a basket full of jams and pickles and relishes....) so naturally, my mind is hovering on both the people I'm a child of, and the people who are children to me.

The ties that bind cling as tough as a blackberry vine this time of year, and since I was a little hungry, I got in touch with each of my adult children, just to say 

"Hey....Love ya....Miss ya...
What cha eatin?"

Upon their suggestions, menus for a week were built. And though I may not be able to see my all-grown-up children this week, I think that maybe we can still have dinner together.

 Here's how it'll (maybe, probably) work out:

Wednesday: Potstickers and Asian Salad.

This is my son Robert's plan for at least one meal this week, and it's one of my favorite fast and easy dinners. Grab a bag of frozen potstickers and cook them just as the package directs. Robert will be dipping them in Whole Foods peanut sauce, but you can stir up a peanut sauce of your own with 5 ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry. Or try this always fantastic Ginger Scallion sauce. Remember the Asian slaw topped with ramen that took every communal dinner by storm in the nineties? This is a lightened up version of that salad that will be great with either of the sauces as a dressing.



Thursday: Grilled Burgers and Carrot Slaw

Our grill master Daniel was flipping burgers as we spoke, and told me that in his opinion, using anything leaner that an 80/20 ground beef guarantees a dry and chewy burger. The hunt for a lean yet flavorful burger will continue around here anyway. I'll be trying out the Texas 2Step Rub that I got last week on these, and taking some of the suggestions in the best burgers link above.  Carrots seem to multiply in our fridge faster than any other vegetable- once again there are two bags of them in there, and this slaw looks like a great mayo-free way to use them up.


Friday: Pan Fried Tilapia and Blackberry Salad

With any luck at all, this summer-in-a-bowl type salad with feature a handful of hand gathered blackberries from the woods around my mother's house. The fish will be ready for the plate even faster than the salad- we'll just stir together a mix of cornstarch and dry rub, press it on to frozen tilapia fillets, and fry  them in coconut oil. Coconut oil's not as hard on the body as some other oils, it gives such a nice crispy edge to things, and can take the high heat of frying in a way that olive oil can't.  The dressing recipe here would be great on Sunday's salad too, so how about making enough for two meals and putting in a container til Sunday?


Saturday: Chicken and Roasted Cauliflower

My daughter Liz says she's cooking "something Indian, maybe cauliflower" this week, and that's the perfect reason to try this amazing baked brain looking thing that the internet showed me a few weeks ago! I know, not very summery. But very awesome! Since the oven will be on anyway, we'll bake some chicken, and throw in an extra piece or two for tomorrow.





Sunday: Chicken, Avocado and Mango Salad

Avocados. One of the best arguments in the world for planning dinners days in advance. By the time they're called upon to give their creamy all in this salad, they'll have been ripening for days in the avospado....aka, a paper bag. So much easier than trying to find a ripe avocado for a dinner that needs to happen in an hour.. If, that is, I remember to put avocados in the shopping cart on Wednesday. Mango and avocado together make a delicious start to any summer salad- this recipe uses chicken as the protein, but shrimp and even ground beef are delicious too. If there's any goat cheese left from the blackberry salad, crumble it on, and you'll think you died and went to tropical salad heaven...


I hope that this week, once or twice
you have a chance to be fed with the food 
that ties you to the people you love,
Whether it's prime rib or pizza.
And I hope you know that it matters-
the way you work to put good things
in the minds or hearts or hands or tummies 
of the people around you.
It matters.
 Because when you work hard
to feed the world good things
you just may find 
that you have, in an unexpected 
and unlikely way, made for yourself

a wonderful new family all your own.