What's For Dinner?About Family Cuisine When I was young, my mother subscribed to Gourmet, and every so often she would host fancy dinner parties to try out some of the elaborate recipes she had clipped. Of course, these recipes weren't appropriate for everyday meals. They were much too fussy and complicated. So, to feed our family, my mother developed a rotation of simple meals that she could prepare both quickly and easily after work. These recipes had a minimum of ingredients, were reasonably healthful, and satisfied my sister's and my finicky palates. Of course, today's cookbooks and cooking magazines offer many more recipes designed for the hasty amateur chef than Gourmet magazine did during the 1960s. Yet the fussiness remains (perhaps because it's the fussiness that make such recipes "gourmet"). In my experience, most professional foodies simply can't resist adding a few capers here or some roasted red pepper sauce there to smarten up a dish. I don't know about your children, but mine won't go near a caper. Nor do I generally have the time to roast red peppers on a school night. Therefore, as my mother did before me, I have developed a group of recipes for weeknights that I call "family cuisine." The criteria are simple: 1. The recipes are quick and easy--that is, they take no more than thirty minutes of prep time and no more than an hour in all (including cooking time). The only exceptions are meals that I make ahead (usually on Sundays, when there's time to let things simmer or roast slowly). 2. They make use of ingredients that are either easily obtainable or can be purchased well in advance and kept in the pantry. 3. They are nutritious enough to serve young, growing children. 4. They don't have much "spice" (my daughter's word for anything with an unusual flavor). 5. They make use of entire packages of ingredients so that there are no partially filled containers left over to rot in the refrigerator. (Why, for example, do so many recipes call for sixteen ounces of coconut milk when coconut milk typically comes in fourteen-ounce cans?)
Archive10/31/07 Cranberry Sauce Two Ways8/29/07 Clam Chowder, Seared Scallops, Coconut Cake 6/20/07 Anna’s Cauliflower and Chicken Sausage Stir Fry 4/25/07 Linguini with Citrus Shrimp and Basil 2/28/07 Pan-Seared Salmon with Lemon and Onions 12/13/06 Butternut Squash Soup 7/25/06 Potato Salad with Basil, Walnuts, and Gorgonzola 6/14/06 Chocolate Birthday Cake 3/15/06 Orange-Roasted Chicken Thighs 3/01/06 Almost Flourless Chocolate Cake 1/04/06 Reuben Sandwich Casserole 9/14/05 Sesame-Ginger Chicken Pasta Salad 8/03/05 Grilled Tequila Shrimp 6/13/05 Homestyle Barbecue Sauce 5/25/05 Indian-Influenced Tuna Salad 4/28/05 Chinese Restaurant Broccoli Two Ways 4/27/05 Chicken with Cashew Nuts 4/13/05 Spaghetti with Sausage-Tomato Sauce 3/30/05 Braised Chicken Breasts 3/16/05 Sear-Roasted Pork Chops 2/16/05 Southern Fried Chicken 12/22/04 English Currant Scones 12/8/04 Family Brunch Scrambled Eggs 11/10/04 Glazed Butternut Squash with Apples 10/27/04 Thanksgiving Stuffing 8/4/04 Cold Noodles with Sesame Sauce 6/27/04 Ersatz Tandoori Chicken 5/12/04 "Night Before" Waffles 4/28/04 Grandma's Fruit-Nut Bread 3/31/04 Chicken Breasts with Ginger Cream Sauce 3/03/04 Simple Brassica Pastas 1/22/04 Mediterranean Meat Roll 11/12/03 Thanksgiving Turkey on the Grill 10/29/03 Chicken a la Ted Sandwich with Sun-Dried Tomato Mayonnaise 9/3/03 The Bell Pepper Harvest 7/23/03 Side Dishes from the Garden 7/2/03 SalmonFest Redux: On the Grill 6/25/03 Roasted Filet of Fish a la Fisch 6/11/03 Untraditional Jambalaya 4/16/03 Indonesian Lime and Coconut Chicken If you have tried one of these recipes and have an improvement or tip or variation to suggest, please e-mail David at dinner@wamc.org. Also feel free to send along your own family cuisine recipes. You can even request dishes that you'd like David to present in the future. David Rubel is president of Agincourt Press, a book production company in Chatham, New York. He spends his days writing American history, then heads home after work to cook for his wife and two young children. His most recent book is The Story of America (DK, 2002). |
