No recipe ever calls for anger; many require regret

Last weekend Norman launched two new books. The launch was a little party at Martha and Norman's house in Hamilton, New Zealand. I offered to help with the catering. Norman especially requested bagels with smoked salmon and cream cheese and Martha filled a huge platter of these as bite-sized morsels. I wanted to make something else that would fit in with the book's themes.

One of Norman's new books is about secret Jews living in Mexico and the Southwestern US for the past four hundred years. I decided to evoke the secret Jew in Mexico theme by making chocolate hamantaschen. Hamantaschen are little pastries associated with the Jewish holiday of Purim which actually took place a couple of weeks ago. A sweet pastry is wrapped around a filling (traditionally a poppy seed mixture) in a triangular shape. Hammentaschen represent the ears, hat or pocket of Haman, the wicked villain in the story of Esther which Purim commemorates. Esther spends much of the story keeping her Judaism secret while living in the king's harem, until finally revealing her true identity to save her people from Haman's planned genocide of the Jews.

The chocolate filling in my hamantaschen represents the Mexican component of Norman's book of secret Jews. I mixed cinnamon and ground almonds with very dark chocolate, and if not for Martha's allergies I would have spiked it with a little chilli as well. To keep the traditionalists happy I also made some hamantaschen with poppy seed filling. Both flavours were gobbled up quickly!

The pastry was very fragile and difficult to roll and wrap. I got quite stressed out trying to patch together these little beasts that kept collapsing at every step. I remembered why, much as I love baking, I tend to avoid anything that involves a rolling pin.

A much easier kind of pastry to work with is filo, which somehow manages to be quite sturdy despite cooking to a delicate buttery, paperish wrapping. I made dozens of these Moroccan meat cigars which were easy to make and eat. Both the cigars and the hamantaschen recipes came from one of my favourite cookbooks: The Book of Jewish Food by Claudia Roden.


The other book being launched didn't receive the same culinary attention, though in retrospect we should have served Eskimo pies. Penguins of Ice are Fools is a sweet funny little book of about 200 short sayings by Norman, illustrated with 4 wood prints by Martha. The sayings give more of an accessible insight into Norman's personality than is usually available in his books. They are funny, poignant, cynical and nostalgic. Anyone who has ever enjoyed a conversation with Norman, will like this book which only costs $10. Email him directly, (or contact Meliors via www.meliors.net) to buy your copy now.

"At a certain stage between stew and soup, a fork becomes anomalous.
Why not begin with a spoon."

"Old black-and-white films are like mashed potatoes on cold rainy evenings."

Cigares a la Viande (Moroccan Meat Cigars)
from Claudia Roden's The Book of Jewish Food

2 medium onions
3-4 tbsp oil (plus more to brush the filo)
500g (1lb) lean minced beef
salt and pepper
1 1/2 cinnamon
1/2 ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch of cayenne (optional)
juice 1/2-1 lemon
4 tbsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley or coriander
250g filo pastry

Fry the onions in oil til soft, add the meat, crush and brown, then add all the seasonings except the parsley. Stir well, pour in ab.out 1 cup of water, cover and cook slowly for about half an hour until tender and most of the water has evaporated, Blend in a food processor until smooth then add the parsley.
Cut the filo sheets into quarters, pile on top of each other and cover with a damp towel while you work. Brush the top piece with oil. Take a walnut size piece of meat and roll into a sausage shape. Place along the short end of the filo piece and then roll up like a cigarette, turning in the ends about a third of the way along. Continue until all the meat has filled all the filo (I found the amounts matched almost perfectly).
Brush the tops with oil and bake at 325 degrees for about 1/2 hour until golden and crispy. Serve hot.

Good Garlic

In my current research into happiness, I came across a reference to this study which found that adding garlic bread to a family meal decreased the number of negative interactions by 22.7% and increased the number of pleasant interactions by 7.4%. Apparently it's the garlic, not the bread that has the positive effect, and even the smell of cooked garlic is enough to improve family interactions!

When Louise was about 7, we were living on an organic garlic farm in upstate New York. That's where I learned to roast whole bulbs of garlic. We would slice off the stem end, and place the root end down in a generously oiled roasting dish, rubbing oil over the whole bulb. When roasted until soft and beige (not brown and hard), everyone would get their own head of garlic. We would squeeze each clove out of its skin, the flesh as soft as warm butter. This is delicious spread on bread or mixed in with other roast vegetables as a condiment. Roasted garlic is creamy and mild, without any of the sharpness of raw or lightly cooked cloves.


When I don't know what exactly I'm making for dinner, its usually a safe bet to start by sauteing some chopped onion and garlic, then adding whatever I can find in the fridge. Some of my favourite ways to get the aroma and taste of garlic going include:

• Sliced garlic and chunks of zucchini sauteed in butter or olive oil until the garlic and the corners of the zuccini just start to caramalise and turn brown. Sometimes I'll add tomatoes and fresh basil.
  
• Chopped garlic and sliced mushrooms sauteed slowly in butter or olive oil until the mushrooms are very very soft and the garlic has kind of melted into the mushroom juice. This is good with lots of finely chopped parsley and a squeeze of lemon or a dollop of wholegrain mustard.
  
• Chopped garlic and onion sauteed til soft (starting with the onions and adding the garlic towards the end so it doesn't burn and become bitter). Then when the onion/garlic is cooled down I mix in lean minced organic beef, a free range egg, soft bread crumbs and whatever vegetables, herbs and spices I feel like (today it's lots of cumin and and a little cinnamon). I enjoy squooshing the mixture in my hands like playdough, and then shaping into little balls which I bake on a rack in the oven until brown. The cooked meatballs sit in a box in the fridge and get added to spaghetti sauce, cooked vegetables, sandwiches, even salad as I feel like it. When Louise left home and I was only cooking for myself, I stopped cooking very often. This is one of the things I try and make once a week so that I have some proper food to graze on even when I'm not making a whole meal.
  

Pork Chops Royal

Jess, Dad, owned a restaurant, The Treble Clef, in St. Louis as a young man. He was also the chef and, from what I remember, he was very inventive. I believe it was at this restaurant that he invented Pork Chops Royal. My guess as to the year is 1938 or so, maybe someone out there can give me a more accurate date. I believe this picture was taken before Mom and Dad got married, once again corrections are encouraged. This holds 2 recipes, the first is the original recipe by Jess, and the second is an updated, easier, and dare I say, tastier version by Amy Kellerman Armstrong.

Pork Chops Royal
Jess Kellerman, 1930’s

Preheat oven to 350˚F

6 – 8 pork chops or pork steaks
Brown sugar
Ketchup
1 lemon, sliced in thin slices

Place pork chops in pan large enough to hold the meat in a single layer
9 X 13 or 11 X 15 pan
Sprinkle lightly with the brown sugar
Pour ketchup over top – cover sparingly
Place one thin slice of lemon on each pork chop

Bake at 350˚F for 30 to 40 minutes, until all pink is gone from meat

This looks pretty when served with the lemon slice and red sauce

Recipe invented by Jess Kellerman in the 1930’s

Pork Chops Royal, Updated
Amy Kellerman Armstrong, 1990’s

Preheat oven to 350˚F

6 – 8 pork chops, or pork steaks

Mix Together:
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup ketchup
Squirt of yellow mustard
2 teaspoons dried onion
Juice from 1 lemon

Place pork chops in pan large enough to hold the meat in a single layer
9 X 13 or 11 X 15 pan
Spread sauce over meat
Bake at 350˚F for 30 to 40 minutes, until all pink is gone from meat
Serve with thin slices of lemon to decorate

Recipe invented by Jess Kellerman in the 1930’s and revised by Amy Kellerman Armstrong in the 1990’s

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Judy, at work, wasn't she cute? And young!!!

This recipe is from Ada Ruth Kellerman. Mom was given this recipe to bring to a Mother Daughter banquet at her church, Evangelical Free, in Tempe, Arizona, May, 1974. All the women bringing the main dish used the same recipe. It was interesting to see how different each casserole looked. Needless to say, Ada Ruth's, Mom, looked the most appetizing and tasted great.

I was an operating room nurse at Dessert Samaritan Hospital, about 1/2 mile as the crow flies from Mom and Dad's house. On more than one occasion I would call Mom in the middle of the morning and ask if she could bring me the casserole. She always said yes. One time my uncle had to take her to the store to get a chicken to stew so she could make the casserole. Talk about fresh!!! All the nurses, and a few lucky doctors, loved this casserole.

I have given this recipe to many friends over the years, it quickly became a favorite to all of them, the fact that it is easy to make is a real plus.

Now I often get a rotesserie chicken in the deli to make the recipe even easier.


CHICKEN ENCHILADA CASSEROLE

1 whole chicken – boiled, boned and chopped (or get a chicken at the Deli)
1 small ca of chopped green chilies
2 cans Cream of Chicken soup
½ pint sour cream
3 – 4 green onions, chopped
6 oz Doritos, crushed
½ lb cheddar cheese, grated

Place crushed Doritos in bottom of 9 x 13 casserole dish
Combine the rest of the ingredients, except cheese
Mix well
Pour over Doritos crust
Top with grated cheese

Bake at 350˚F for 30 minutes or until casserole is bubbly hot

Let rest for 10 minutes before serving
Serves 6 or so

Delicious recipe
Freezes well, leave cheese off until ready to use
Recipe doubles or triples very well