With the world in a worse mess than usual, I have an overwhelming desire to retreat from everything strange and current. After all, there’s something comforting about eating a dish I first ate eons ago and have enjoyed many times since. Given that it’s summer, I’m especially drawn to the dishes that work well when the temperature climbs over the 80-degree mark or maybe not…
None of the recipes are complicated, but in a pinch, my fall back is a bowl of chicken soup made with low-sodium Swanson’s chicken broth enhanced with carrots, parsnips and a carb like rice or noodles. Adding a few slices of whole grain toast spread with slices of ripe avocado makes it a meal, especially if I add some ice cream and/or fruit for dessert.
Cold Chicken in Oyster Sauce
1 lb. chicken breast
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1/8 teaspoon five spice powder
3 tablespoons finely chopped scallions
3 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
To cook the chicken-put the meat in a saucepan with cold water to cover. Bring slowly to a boil . Cover and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the chicken to cool in the liquid. Then remove the skin and bones and slice the meat thinly.
In a bowl, mix together the honey, oyster sauce, soy sauce, salt (if using), and five spice powder. Spoon the sauce over the sliced chicken. Cover and leave for 30 minutes. Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve. Before serving, sprinkle the chicken with the scallions and ginger mixed together and then with the sesame seeds.
To toast the sesame seeds, put them in a dry frying pan and shake or stir constantly over medium low heat for 5 minutes or until seeds are golden brown. Remove the seeds from the pan immediately.
Note: I always double or triple the recipe. You can also use a mix of light and dark meat chicken. Hot rice and/or corn on the cob are good accompaniments. I have also made the dish with a rotisserie chicken. It works, as long as the chicken isn’t too aggressively seasoned.
Adapted from a recipe in “The Complete Asian Cookbook” (McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1976) by Charmaine Solomon.
Cold Mango Soup
4 ripe mangoes, peeled and diced
1 quart orange juice
1 quart unsweetened yogurt (don’t use Greek yogurt)
1/2 cup honey
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon dried coriander
1 teaspoon dried green cardamom
Puree the mangoes, orange juice and yogurt in a blender or food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and puree. Chill, covered, for at least two hours before serving. Add more sugar, if necessary.
Adapted from a recipe by Chef Michael Tsonton.
Banana Bread
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 stick butter
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1teaspoon vanilla
3 very ripe bananas
3 eggs
Mix the sugar and the bananas, using a food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth. Bake in a greased, 9 x 5-inch pan in a pre-heated, 350-degree oven for 55-60 minutes. Let the banana bread rest in the pan for a few minutes. Remove from the pan. Cool on a rack.
The bread, which is more dessert than bread, freezes well. I have tried making it with Splenda. The substitution works, but the bread doesn’t brown like it does when it’s made with real sugar.
Zucchini/Parmesan Bread
3 cups flour
1 cup shredded zucchini
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan
5 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons grated onion
In a food processor, mix the sugar and the butter. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth. Bake in a greased 9x5-inch pan, in a pre-heated 350-degree oven for 55-60 minutes.
This bread is more bread than cake. And like the recipe for the banana bread and the next three recipes, it’s been part of my repertoire since my now middle-aged children were in pre-school.
Perusing the recipes, I’m struck by the amount of sugar in some of them. There’s, undoubtedly, a connection between craving something sweet and familiar when the world seems dark and threatening, but I’ll leave that discussion for another time and place. The last three recipes are sugar-free, but I doubt that anyone would classify them as “health-food.”
Salmon Salad with Green Peas
1 14.5-ounce or 16-ounce can salmon, drained
1 10-ounce package green peas, thawed
6 hard-cooked (boiled) eggs
1 cup thinly sliced celery
1/3 cup sliced green onions
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
2/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
Combine all of the ingredients. Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve.
Despite my offsprings’ claim that no-one eats canned salmon anymore, this dish has become a favorite.
Butter Sauce for Fish
Combine 1/4-cup melted butter with 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon white or black pepper. Pour over fish. Broil the fish until done. This recipe works especially well with whitefish.
Clam Sauce
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
3 (6 1/2 ounce) cans chopped clams
1 teaspoon each- dried oregano and dried basil
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1 1/2 cups chopped parsley
1 pound cooked and drained spaghetti
Saute the garlic in the oil and butter.
Drain the liquid from 2 cans of clams and reserve. Drain the third can and discard the liquid.
Add the reserved liquid, mixed with the oregano, basil and pepper to the oil, butter and garlic.
Simmer for five minutes. Add the drained clams and heat the mixture.
Toss the sauce with the spaghetti and the parsley and serve immediately.
Enjoy!