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A Visit to The Market At Gracious Hall

When I set out to create this blog, I wanted to  chronicle my food adventures in and out of DIGITAL CAMERAthe kitchen. Mama D loves to cook, but all cooking adventures  and no out and about adventures make for a boring Mama D. I began to remedy that this week. I just returned from my first field trip. Always liking to support local merchants I went to check out the Market at Gracious Hall.

DIGITAL CAMERAGracious Hall is a catering company owned by Rebecca Colburn in Geneva, Illinois. Rebecca has been catering large and small events for several years and has just expanded to a retail gourmet market.  The small space in front of her kitchen features foods and cheeses, many from local purveyors. The market also features “Grab and Go” items that Rebecca creates.

Rebecca trained at the French Baking School in Chicago and DIGITAL CAMERAbakes all of the breads and rolls sold at Gracious Hall along with preparing all the carry out lunch items not to mention the exquisite food she creates for her clients. When I arrived she was on the phone arranging a catering job. Catering is the backbone of Gracious Hall but the addition of a gourmet market will give her more flexibility in running her business.

I was there on their first official business day. Still very much a catering company, the retail space was furnished with the usual coolers for perishable food DIGITAL CAMERAbut the space was warmed by wonderful eclectic furniture pieces for display. Even though there were limited items available, everything was artfully displayed…I can envision the wonders the future will hold and look forward to the product expansion to come. Gracious Hall carries an impressive selection of cheeses.

This is possible through a partnership with Curds and Whey a local Fox Valley merchant.  Along with domestic and imported cheeses, there are sausages, salami, and lox. It was hard to choose, but the beautiful fresh mozzarella bocconcini sang to come home with me. These bite sized bits of heaven paired beautifully with what is officially the last of my garden tomatoes ( the cold night and my husband put an end to it) and basil to create an Autumn Kissed Bruschetta.DIGITAL CAMERA

So my field trip was informative and enjoyable. I have to do this more often.  The change of scenery was much-needed, and being able to talk to someone who is passionate about food and living their dream was inspiring.  Hmm…where to next?

Baking with Fruit in the Kitchen of Love

As my food adventures continue, I’ve discovered that I really do love to bake. Baking has always been around my kitchen, but when i was working it was relegated to holidays or special occasions. Now with more time to spend in the kitchen, baking is happening at least once a week.  Chocolate makes for good baking in brownies, cookies, and cakes which have appeared in the kitchen of love. but along with re-discovering baking, I’ve discovered that baking with fruit is quite wonderful.DIGITAL CAMERA

It all started when I found a recipe for a Peach Cake. It was summer and peaches were plentiful and it just sounded so yummy. Lots of fresh peaches happily residing in a moist buttermilk cake. A topping of cinnamon sugar and almonds that baked into a crunchy golden crown. It was really amazing and good enough to bake twice.DIGITAL CAMERA

So I had entered into the world of fresh fruit baking. What delight would be next? Blueberries were in season. The good ones from Michigan that are bursting with flavor, not the bland ones that seem to be available all year. Blueberries are one of my favorite fruits, but I wanted to do something other than muffins. I found a blueberry cake recipe that sounded perfect. Another buttermilk cake, this one topped with streusel. Blueberries were laced through the cake whole and as a thick syrup. This was worthy of being baked on three seperate non-occasions.DIGITAL CAMERA

Peaches and blueberries had their individual moment in the sun or should I say oven, but what would happen if they came together in one baking masterpiece? Presenting for your delight, the Blueberry & Peach Pie. The peaches and blueberries were lightly sweetened with brown sugar, enhanced with a little almond extract and sprinkled with tapioca to thicken the juices. The streusel topping was almonds, butter, brown sugar, and a little flour. It baked to a golden brown oozing juicy goodness.018

So there you have it …my summer of fruit love. As fall creeps in, apples, pumpkin, pears and cranberries beckon to be transformed into fruity baked delights…Stay tuned. More goodies will be coming out of Mama D’s Kitchen of Love.

Mama D’s Harvest of Love

Basil in the yardDIGITAL CAMERAFall is harvest time everywhere and here at Mama D’s Kitchen of Love we have our own mini harvest festival. I am harvesting from what can be loosely called a kitchen container garden. It’s some herbs and the amazing colossal tomato plant.

If you follow my Facebook page Mama D’s Kitchen you know that I have a Grape Tomato plant that was over 6 feet tall at maturity. The plant continues to produce fruit and if the frost holds off, we may be eating homegrown tomatoes at Thanksgiving. I also have Basil which I’ve written about twice (but I don’t play favorites). It had a rough go midsummer. But some love and a small dose of Miracle Grow gave it a new lease on life.

So, back to the harvest. I checked on the tomato plant yesterday and  there was another pint of tomatoes ready to pick. I already had almost 2 pints in the house. When the plant gives you tomatoes, make sauce! I decided to try a roasted tomato sauce. I thought the sweetness of the Grape Tomatoes would work well.DIGITAL CAMERA So I tossed them with garlic, onions, oregano, basil, and olive oil.DIGITAL CAMERA They spent a little over an hour in the oven and once cooled , were blended until fairly smooth. It was so beautiful that I had to make something with it.DIGITAL CAMERA                        Enter some Italian Sausage and Cavatapi and there was dinner.

Basil is a delicate plant. It likes lots of sun and a good amount of water and it’s not too crazy about cold nights. It also has a number of insects that like to call it home, most damaging being the Japanese Beetle. I was feeling like the basil may be on borrowed time so a batch of Pesto was in order.  I make Roasted Garlic Pesto ( see What Is It About Garlic? posts). Aside from roasting the garlic it’s a pretty traditional cast of characters. DIGITAL CAMERA All are pictured here except for the pine nuts which were toasting in the oven when the photo was taken. Once the pesto is prepared it can be frozen for several months. DIGITAL CAMERA I divide it out in 1/4 cup portions, put it in zip top bags and freeze it. When I’m ready to use it, I thaw the bag and cut a corner off the bottom. I can then squeeze the pesto out into whatever I’m preparing. Everything comes out and my hands stay clean. A little pesto goes a long way so the amount in each bag is just about right. It’s just the right amount to toss in a sauce or soup, add to scrambled eggs, or grilled vegetables. And there isn’t a law that says you can’t use more than one bag in a recipe. Best of all it’s a little taste of summer in your freezer.

What’s next on the harvest agenda? There’s at least one more batch of pesto, and the Oregano, Rosemary, and Thyme are still going strong. As for the tomato plant, who knows. As long as it is producing fruit, I’ll keep finding ways to use it. Does anyone have a recipe for Tomato Cranberry Sauce?

 

 

More Memories from a Kitchen of Love

Scan_Pic0004Like many children of the 50’s I spent more time with my stay at home Mom than my Dad. My Dad owned his own business and until his heart made him slow down, put in 10 hour days.  He was home on the weekends and we seemed to cram all our family time into those 2 days.

Saturdays were a flurry of dance classes, grocery shopping, and in the afternoon Dad and Daughter Date Time. When I was small Kiddieland was my favorite destination. I’d ride the ponies, go on all the rides ending on the Little Dipper with my Dad. A chocolate/ vanilla frozen custard was the culmination of the day. As I got older, miniature golf became the new favorite. Whatever we did, the time I spent with my father was very special.Scan_Pic0003

Sunday morning was church for me and Mom and golf for my Dad. He had a regular 6:00AM tee time which got him home about the same time we got back from church. At least once a month he would make his “gravy” (the all purpose tomato sauce that is the backbone of every Italian family’s cooking) and meatballs. His recipes were simple, but they used quality ingredients the most important of which was love.

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He let me help in the kitchen before my mother did. I would use the special chopper that minced the onions, garlic, and parsley on a wooden cutting board. These went into a large pot with a good amount of olive oil. Tomato puree and paste were added along with some water and dried herbs. Sometimes he added pork neck bones and his homemade Italian sausage (more on that later). No matter what else was in the pot, he always added his meatballs.

He would blend beef, veal, and pork with bread that he soaked in water,  the onion, garlic, parsley  mixture that was also in the gravy. Eggs and Romano cheese were about the only other ingredients. He’d mix it by hand and roll it into golf ball size portions.  I would help him roll the meatballs because he said my hands were just the right size. We’d wind up with several platters of meatballs that he would brown in a cast iron skillet filled with olive oil (I still have the skillet.) The meatballs would  go into the gravy and simmer away for what seemed like half the afternoon. Periodically he would let me dip a piece of bread into the gravy to see if it was ready. Finally it would be “done” and we’d have it for supper over pasta adorned with whatever meat was in the pot. It’s still the best gravy I’ve ever had.

My Dad’s sausage had no peer. He used a meat grinder that bolted onto the table. He started with pork butt that he ground twice. Then he added salt, pepper, fennel seeds and red pepper flakes. My Dad didn’t have a fancy sausage stuffer attachment. He used a wide mouth funnel that he slid the hog casings on and then pushed the meat through with his thumbs. I had a very special job in this process. I used a large safety-pin and poked air holes in the sausage as it snaked out of the funnel. I occasionally poked my dad’s fingers which would result in a good-natured scolding.

The sausage was wonderful in the gravy especially after simmering for an hour or two, but I liked it best when it was grilled or fried and put on an Italian roll. The sausage was topped with my mom’s fried Melrose peppers. The simple purity of the sausage ingredients lets each one stand out. The crunch of the bread and the almost creaminess of the peppers and oil were a perfect complement. It was and is a sandwich for the gods and I like it , too.

The time I spent with my Dad in and out of the kitchen is very precious to me. It was far too short and I still miss him. I know that when I cook something  from his recipe or my own that the love I put in comes from him.         Thanks, Daddy.Scan_Pic0002

 

 

Memories from a Kitchen of Love

Mama D’s Kitchen of Love came to be because of the cooking  I witnessed growing up.  It was the 50’s. My father went off to work every morning and my mom stayed home and took care of the house. Monday was laundry day, Tuesday was for ironing. I don’t remember what specific tasks were assigned to the rest of the days, but I know that everyday at around 4 o’clock it was time to make “supper”.

My mother was a great cook. She was creative and took great pride in the food she created. My father was an amazing cook in his own right and loved to eat. My mother cooked the dishes my father loved. That combination of love and pride are the memories that are foremost in my mind and have influenced how I cook today..

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Every weeknight, except Friday, we’d have meat. Lamb chops, sirloin steaks, and hamburgers were prepared in our electric broiler. This was state of the art for the time. It sat on the counter and had a cast iron broiler tray with a separate rack that fit inside. The plug was a massive three-pronged affair that had to use more electricity than the TV. My mother’s broiling technique was unique. Meat went into the broiler frozen. The seasoning was garlic salt and little else. As strange as this seems to me now, the meat was always perfectly cooked, juicy, and delicious.

I loved summer because the vegetables were always fresh either from my grandfather’s garden or the produce bus that came down our street twice a week. Yes, a bus full of fruits and vegetables. It was a converted school bus that boasted a large bell that announced its arrival and wooden bins heaped with produce where the seats should be. You walked through and chose your produce which was weighed on a hanging sale and put in brown paper bags. My mother brought it home and that’s when the food memories began.

My mother did wonders with those vegetables. The green beans would be cooked and then tossed with olive oil, garlic and fresh mint from the garden to create a beautiful salad.file4021339082680 Melrose peppers were fried in a large saucepan that I still use. file0001269469362They started with the cover on  with a little olive oil and a good dose of salt. Then they were  fried uncovered until tender and slightly golden.

 

 

Tomatoes, OMG the tomatoes! Sliced and served in carpese style (without the cheese). Tomatoes (5)She made the salad early enough so that it would have time to get happy in the refrigerator resulting in a generous amount of olive oily, vinagery, garlicky juice. This juice was the best part because you could bagnare bread. That’s dip in Italian. Italian was not routinely spoken in our home but certain things could only be described with the Italian word.

My mother was an excellent baker. She made pies and cakes and enough Christmas cookies to keep our holiday table loaded for the entire 2 weeks of the season. She made the best buttercream frosting in the world. It was a cooked frosting that was creamy and not too sweet.I have tried for forty years to make this frosting . I can’t do it. I’ve flushed more failed frosting down the drain then I’ve put on cakes in my entire baking career.

The first real food preparation I did was baking Christmas cookies. I started with sifting flour and chopping nuts and gradually worked into cracking eggs and finally running the mixer. We would make at least 10 kinds of cookies  Pinwheels, Candy Canes, Chocolate Chips and the oddly named but delectable Rocks so named because that’s what they looked like.

Rocks    

1 1/2 C Brown Sugar                                           2 1/2 C Flour                                                         1/2 C Butter                                                         3 Eggs                                                                   1 t. Cinnamon                                                      Pinch of Salt                                                       11/2  t Baking Soda –                                          1 large box Raisins                                              mix in 1/4 C hot water                                      1 pound Walnuts

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs. Add cinnamon, soda, salt and flour and blend well. Stir in raisins and nuts. Drop by small balls on cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 7 minutes. This recipe makes a ridiculous amount of cookies. Fortunately they are very good.

Like most little girls I learned a lot about cooking from my mother but I learned even more about cooking from my Dad.

To be continued…