Favorite Recipes that Cover Our Roots

“No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers.”

LaurieColwin

December 17^th  2016 

For several years we have been attending the December International Christmas Dinner, organized and hosted by one of the families in our block of the street.  They turn their house upside down to accommodate 20 or more people . We are contribute to the meal. For many years I made a double lot of Boeuf a la Bourguignonne  from one of my old cookbooks because we like it but with a couple of changes, Ketchup for tomato paste and beer for the wine :D.  It has always been a hit at the dinner and some have asked for the recipe. However, last year when I sprained my left ankle decided to do something a little easier especially to transport the short distance down the street as the Boeuf a la Bourguignonne was hot so needed good padding to keep it that way and to protect the person carrying it.   

Decided to make another favorite.

Dad’s Greek Salad not sure if I had this at a meal with our daughter-in-law’s family, they are Greek Orthodox or found it on-line myself  at  http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/dads_greek_salad/

It was also a hit so that is what we are bringing again tonight. I’ve been busy between writing today, chopping vegetables. crumbling Feta cheese and making salad dressing. 

One thing I did differently this year was buy slices Kalamata olive instead of pitting and cutting them myself , it took forever to do last year and my hands were stained afterward. 

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The recipe has been copied from the Simply Recipes site.

Dad’s Greek Salad

This Greek salad is a favorite of my father’s to make during the summer. We usually have plenty of tomatoes and cucumbers growing in the garden, and all you have to do is toss in some red onions, olives, bell pepper, feta cheese, a few herbs, and some olive oil and vinegar and you have beautiful, cooling, fresh, Greek salad.

    Prep time: 15 minutes Yield: Serves 6.

Tip from my mom: to take some of the bite away from the onions, after you chop them, soak them in a little vinegar or lemon juice.

Ingredients

    6 Tbsp olive oil

    2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

    1/2 teaspoon fresh chopped garlic

    1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

    1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano

    1/2 teaspoon dill weed or 1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill

    Salt and freshly ground black pepper

    3 large plum tomatoes, seeded, coarsely chopped

    3/4 cucumber, peeled, seeded, coarsely chopped

    1/2 red onion, peeled, chopped

    1 bell pepper, seeded, coarsely chopped

    1/2 cup pitted black olives (preferably brine-cured), coarsely chopped

    A heaping half cup crumbled feta cheese

Method

1 Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, vinegar, oregano and dill weed together until blended. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. (Can be prepared 3 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Re whisk before using.)

2 Combine the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, bell pepper, olives in a bowl. Toss with dressing. Sprinkle cheese over and serve.

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Read more: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/dads_greek_salad/#ixzz4T7ga1vxt

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That’s about half of our roots and those of our grandchildren covered. Didn’t realize when I start contributing the Boeuf a la Bourguignonne that yes we live in Quebec and my mother-in-law was French Canadian but both my husband and I have roots back to Nouveau France. My ancestor via my maternal grandmother came in the early 1600’s and my husband’s through his maternal grandfather, not many years after mine. Only found this out about three years ago :D

Now Maybe I should think of a food for our British and Irish roots.  Maybe Eccles Cakes which originated in Manchester Lancashire where my paternal grandfather was born and the family owned the Parsonage Nursery/ Green Grocers in Lostock not far from Manchester.  Coronation Street fans might remember Eccles Cakes as one the tea break goodies the girls from the factory would pick up.

Dinner with Julie has a recipe for Eccles Cakes very close to the one I have made

http://www.dinnerwithjulie.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Eccles-Cakes

Perhaps Irish Stew would cover my hubby’s roots . It seems his paternal grandmother and grandfather had Irish – a new find that come though my genealogy. The later mentioned ancestors came over towards the end of the potato Famine, what a lot to research as they seemed very leery to trust anyone. So the facts and names etc. were always changing or was it a lack of them not reading or writing – some of the census takers had the same problems but another player in the mix was they lived in predominately French areas and some of the poorest in the city.  

Simply Recipes where the Dad’s Greek Salad was found has a simple Irish Stew that looks delicious.

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/irish_beef_stew/

And then there are our Nova Scotia grandchildren, one of my favorite recipes is Hodge Podge.  A Truro friend since 2001, when we met via a birding site, introduced it to me one time when I was staying with her and her husband for a couple of days. . It is best in the summer when vegetables are fresh out of gardens but hey no need to tell my neighbors that :D  

The Wile's Lake Farm Market and Bakery Web site has changed since I got  Pheter's Hodge Podge recipe but it is the same recipe not sure about the name of the market though.  The market is near Bridgewater and could likely be why my friend is familiar with Hodge Podge as she grew up around there, I have yet to find another person in Nova Scotia that knows about is delicious side dish.

 http://wilesfarmmarket.com/main-courses/peter-s-hodge-podge-recipe