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Comfort Cooking

As we get older, nostalgia takes over in many areas of our life, and we often yearn for things from the past.

By: Dvora Waysman
Wednesday, January 17, 2007 at the JewishPress.com

As we get older, nostalgia takes over in many areas of our life, and we often yearn for things from the past. We are all to some extent encumbered by memory. We can’t totally recreate what was, and is no longer, because these memories usually encompass a person we once loved and who is, perhaps, gone from our lives.

Sometimes though, it is possible to recapture some elements of that nostalgia. If I’m feeling low, I find cooking certain foods from my childhood that seem to have disappeared from our menu, comforts me. As I savor them, I can see my mother in our old-fashioned kitchen and I feel her love in the taste and flavor of the past. Here are some of her recipes that you might enjoy to warm you during the cold days of winter.

Shepherd’s Pie

Cold, winter days remind me of Shepherd’s Pie, and coming home from school to find this marvelous dish waiting for me. For some reason, when I read the Biblical story of Esau selling his birthright for “a mess of potage,” I always imagine it must have tasted like Shepherd’s Pie.

Ingredients

17.6 oz. lean minced steak

2 chopped onions

1½ Tbs. flour

1 can (14.8 oz.) tomatoes

4 large cooked potatoes mashed with pareve margarine

Pinch of salt

Diced carrots, turnips, sweet potatoes and celery

Method

Brown the meat and onions, stirring. Sprinkle flour over them. Add the tomatoes (broken up) and all the vegetables, with just enough water to cover. Simmer until all the vegetables are soft (approx. 45 minutes). Place in a deep pie dish, cover with mashed potatoes dotted with margarine. Bake in moderate oven until the top is golden brown. Serve with ketchup.

Rice Pudding

Do you remember the A.A. Milne poem that goes on about, “What IS the matter with Mary Jane? And it’s lovely rice pudding for dinner again…?” I always thought her a spoilt brat because rice pudding was one of my childhood favorites and I still enjoy this simple, creamy dessert. I also have a very happy memory of visiting The Jewish Press’ Naomi Mauer’s lovely mother Irene Klass once in New York, and she made this favorite dessert for our lunch.

Ingredients

1cup soft, cooked rice (moist – not dry)

13.3 oz. milk

2 eggs

½ cup sugar

½ tsp. vanilla

Nutmeg to sprinkle

Method

Beat the milk, sugar, eggs and vanilla well. Add the rice. Place in a greased pie dish and sprinkle top with nutmeg. Stand in a dish of cold water (to prevent curdling) and bake in a moderate oven until set (about 45 minutes.)

Delicious as is, but it’s superb with cream or ice cream.

Trifle

No party was ever complete without a trifle for dessert. It’s a great way to use up stale cake and makes a festive centerpiece for your table for a party meal.

Ingredients

1 stale sponge cake

8 small macaroons

Raspberry jam

½ cup sherry or sweet red wine

1 packet instant red gel dessert

16.6 oz. custard

Whipped cream

Method

Cut stale sponge cake into fingers, and spread with jam. Place them vertically side by side to line a deep glass bowl (peeping over the top). Arrange macaroons in the bowl and pour wine over them. Make gel dessert and chill till firm. When cold, cut into squares and cover cake and macaroons. Pour custard over everything and top with cream. You can decorate the trifle with sliced strawberries, almonds, bananas, kiwi fruit or chocolate and silver sprinkles. It’s a simple dessert, but your guests will think you worked on it all day.

Apple Crumble

Everyone loves this, and it’s quick and easy.

Ingredients

4 large Granny Smith or green cooking apples, water

2 Tbs. golden syrup or honey

1cup self-rising flour

½ tsp. cinnamon

½ cup brown sugar

Juice from ½ lemon

Lemon rind (zest)

1 pinch salt

2 oz. margarine

2 Tbs. dried, shredded coconut

Method

Simmer sliced apples in a little water until soft. Mix with golden syrup, lemon rind and lemon juice. Place in pie dish. Mix flour, salt, cinnamon and sugar and rub (blend) in margarine until it is the texture of breadcrumbs. Sprinkle over the apples, and then sprinkle with coconut. Bake 30 minutes at 350° degrees F. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Scones

(An Australian and English delicacy)

These were my mother’s standby, if unexpected visitors arrived and we were out of cake. In England, Devonshire Tea consists of scones, strawberry jam and cream. We preferred them piping hot with just butter and a good, strong cup of tea.

Ingredients

1 Tbs. butter

Pinch salt

Equal parts milk and water

2 cups self-rising flour

Method

Rub the butter into the flour and salt. Add liquid slowly − enough to form a soft dough. Work quickly without kneading. Place on a lightly floured board and pat to a thickness of 2.5 cm (1 inch). Cut into shapes with a floured scone cutter (or use a wine glass). Bake on a greased tray in a hot oven for 12 minutes. You can add chopped dates or raisins to the dough for sweeter scones, or grated cheese and rosemary for savory ones.

Bernard Shaw wrote that there is no love sincerer than the love of food. I find that its aroma, taste, and texture can take me back to the comfort of my mother’s kitchen and bring back sweet memories that make me smile.