Chocolate Ladyfinger Torte

For someone who often claimed to be "not a baker", my Mom has made some great homemade desserts. Sure, you could cheat and make this with instant pudding and cool whip but I promise you, this tastes much better. This is a great warm weather dessert as it is nice and light and requires no baking. I think it would also be great with some strawberries.

The glue to this dessert is the lady fingers (the soft kind). When I was little I always remember giggling a little over that name - "lady fingers" - because they look like anything but. Man fingers, maybe, but not a lady's. Turns out, many countries originally called them "cat's tongues" which is more descriptively accurate to their size. I wonder why that didn't stick ?

A special shout out to my great friend Lisa for her assistance on this one. Turns out, its a lot easier to take pictures when someone else is doing the cooking !

Ingredients:
8 oz semi-sweet chocolate
3 tbsp water
4 eggs separated
1/4 lb margarine, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
10 double ladyfingers

Mix 7 oz of the chocolate (save the additional ounce for garnish) with the water in a mixing bowl and melt over a pot of hot water (double boiler).

Remove and beat in egg yolks one at a time. Add vanilla.

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and gradually add sugar.

Fold meringue into chocolate mixture.

Beat 1 cup of cream until stiff and fold in.

Yum!

Stand ladyfingers around buttered 8" spring pan.

My Sous Chef, Lisa

Spoon in filling.

Chill overnight. Top with remaining cream (whipped) and grate chocolate over the top.

Cucumber Zucchini Soup

I love soup any day of the year but my favorite soups are the ones my mother made with vegetables from our garden. Now that the farmer's markets have re-opened in Hoboken, I look forward to making huge pots of these to enjoy on even the hottest of summer days.

This particular soup solved an ongoing dilemma in the Schmitt household - what to do with the onslaught of zucchini plucked from my father's garden. In particular, what to do with the extra-large ones that were left to grow a bit too long. Because of their large, inedible seeds, they were assigned to dishes like this one by discarding said seeds and using the flesh alone.

Choose your weapon

Ingredients:

3-4 medium zucchini (or 1 jumbo!), sliced

1-2 medium cucumber, peeled, de-seeded and sliced

3 ribs celery, sliced

2 scallions, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

4-5 cups of chicken or vegetable broth

1/2 tsp dill

1/2 tsp thyme

Salt & pepper

1 cup heavy cream (or milk, yogurt, sour cream)

Simmer zucchini, cucumber, celery and scallions with herbs in broth until soft.

Before

After

Let cool slightly. Puree in blender or food processor.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in cream.



My Favorite Chef

Most of the food I make I learned from my mom. I remember clearly the first thing she taught me to make on my own was scrambled eggs (with a dash of milk and salt & pepper). From a small age, wearing our mother/daughter matching aprons, to present day, I was always eager to help in the kitchen and learn from the Master herself.

 

My mother cooked a balanced meal every day of the week (except for an occasional pizza Friday) and never made the same thing 2 weeks in a row. There were no chicken nuggets or Lunchables in our house - only roast chicken, homemade tomato sauce, brie sandwiches (!), meatloaf, etc, etc.

 

Yet, sometimes its the littlest things that stick with you - little tips and tricks that you learn from Mom. I'll never be as good of a cook as my mom. Everything she makes just seems to taste so much better ! But I like to think there is a little piece of her in everything I whip together.

 

Like a simple grilled cheese sandwich made the way her mother made it with a little bit of mayo spread on the inside of the bread.

 

Or her famous Egg on Bread (which my nephew confirms that she makes better.)

 

 



 

 

Even her tuna fish salad tastes better (onion, celery and a dash of milk!) and always made in the same little bowl that my grandmother made it in.

 

There is something about Mom's cooking that soothes the soul and warms one's inner being. The recipes I've been documenting here are no doubt delicious, but its their passing from mother to daughter - from my grandmother, to my mother, to me - that makes them extra special.

 

Happy Mother's Day to My Favorite Chef !

 

 

 

Nut Cups

This recipe came originally from a family friend. She made my mother promise that she would never make these for any friend or community events and so they always made an appearance at family get-togethers.

These are incredibly easy to make and delicious - like mini walnut pies !

Ingredients (Makes 48 pieces) :

1 stick margarine

1 stick butter

8 oz cream cheese

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tbsp melted butter

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups chopped walnuts

Mix together butter, margarine and cream cheese. Gradually mix in flour. This is the "crust".

Divide the mixture evenly among muffin tins (do not grease the tins).

Using your fingers, spread the mixture evenly along bottom and sides of tins to make the cups.

Mix together the next 5 ingredients. This is the filling.

Spoon evenly into cups.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Let cool slightly and then remove from tins. I use a little paring knife to just pop them out.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and they're ready to go !



Meatloaf

I never understood why people hated meatloaf.

So often the butt of jokes, meatloaf has gotten a bad reputation over the years as a dry lump of meat cooked by some unloving, kitchen novice. This disdain likely comes from the dish's origin as a way to stretch scrapple by mixing it with oatmeal or cornmeal. The meatloaf I grew up on, however, was moist and flavorful and on a rotating list of dishes I requested on trips home from school.

Years ago, an ex-boyfriend made me the version of meatloaf that he grew up on - beef, onion soup mix, saltines and peppers all baked in a loaf pan ("because it's called meat'loaf' not meat'football-shaped'" he told me) - I finally understood the jokes.

Both of grandmothers made their meatloaf in a similar way, beginning with the same basic recipe of meat, fresh bread, eggs and seasoning. My own mother played around with the recipe, trying out different toppings and sauces. In the end, a son's love for "the way Mom used to make it" won over and my Mom began making it exactly the way my paternal grandmother Margaret Hank Schmitt made it - over a bed of golden onions and covered in a tomato gravy.

Ingredients:



1-1 1/2 lbs ground beef (I have also made it with ground turkey)
3 slices of white bread
1 egg
1/4 c grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp chopped dry onion
1 medium yellow onion
1 can tomato soup
1-2 large potatoes (optional)

Moisten the white bread with water, ring out the excess and add it to the beef along with the egg, cheese and dry onion. Mix well (hands work best!).

Slice the yellow onion and layer on the bottom-center of a baking dish.

 

Onion Bed



Form the meat mixture into a loaf shape and lay on top of the onions.

Loaf or football ?

Cut the potatoes into 1-inch chunks.

Scatter the potatoes around the meatloaf.

Bake in a 350 degree oven, uncovered, for an hour.

Mix the tomato soup with equal part water until combined. Pour the mixture gently over the meatloaf.

Return to the oven for an additional 20 minutes. To serve, cut the meatloaf into 1 inch slices and spoon the tomato gravy over the top. Serve the remaining gravy on the side.

If you're so lucky as to have leftovers, this meatloaf makes a great sandwich the next day - sliced and served on a kaiser roll or white toast with a little bit of ketchup. Yum!

Incidentally, I always use Italian white bread for this and when making meatballs because that is what my mother always buys. I particularly like this brand.....it just seems to call my name.



Eddie's Super Shrimp Scampi

On March 22, 1993 Intel shipped its first Pentium chips, World Water Day was established and my father perfected his recipe for Shrimp Scampi.

This dish is easy and delicious and is as good, if not better, than anything you would get in a restaurant.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp butter

3 tbsp margarine

1 tbsp chopped green onion

2 tbsp olive oil

6 cloves pressed garlic

4 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

4 tsp white wine

1 tsp oregano

1 lb peeled, deveined shrimp

1 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp water

2 tbsp chopped parsley

1/2 lb cooked linguine

Melt the margarine and butter in a skillet. Add the next 8 ingredients and cook until bubbly.

Add the shrimp and cook for 5-6 minutes, turning halfway through.

Dissolve the cornstarch in the tsp of water and add to pan, giving it a good stir.

Turn off the heat and add the parsley and linguine.

Toss to coat.

Alternatively, this could be served over rice.

Definitely, it should be enjoyed with a nice glass of white wine.



Shrimp Ring

 

 

Both of my grandmother's were connoisseurs of the jello mold. Jello salads and aspics were so popular in the 1950s that Jello even introduced special flavors to support the trend such as 'celery' and 'tomato'. I imagine that Betty Draper from the popular show "Mad Men" made a jello mold or two. Perhaps when the ladies came over to play cards or when entertaining Don's business partners. (Megan Draper on the other hand, probably never made a jello mold as the only thing I'm sure she ever made was spaghetti.)

 

 

Virginia Martorana

Margaret Schmitt

 

 

 

Betty Draper



My own mother continued the jello mold tradition into the 70s and 80s. I personally abhorred these concoctions of jello and fruit that made their way to the picnic table. Sure, they looked pretty but to me, fruit had no place sitting next to the sausage and peppers (nor a place did pineapple or cherry sauce have on ham).

 

This savory shrimp and tomato mold, however, is delightful. It's like a shrimp cocktail in one soft, creamy bite.



 

 

 

Ingredients:

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup water

1 can tomato soup
8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
2 cans tiny shrimp, drained and roughly chopped
1 cup celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup green or yellow onion, finely chopped

 

 

Heat soup in a small saucepan or in a microwave oven.

In a medium bowl, stir gelatin into cold water. Mix hot tomato soup into the gelatin liquid.

 

In a medium size mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and mayonnaise together. Mix soup mixture into the mayonnaise and cream cheese mixture. Mix well.

 

 

 

Add shrimp, celery, and green onions.

 

 

Spoon the mixture into a 1 quart mold and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

 

 

 

To unmold, soak the mold in hot water being careful not to get any water in the shrimp mixture. Place a plate on top of the ring and invert...carefully! Place back in the fridge for a few minutes to firm up.

 

Serve with Ritz crackers.

 

 

 

Oh, and one final note.....beware of hungry cats !