The Mother Lode: 2000s Recipes + Menus : gourmet.com

Caviar Pancakes

My mom ate a lot of things—frogs’ legs, escargots, sweetbreads—that horrified me as a child, but I took to caviar right away. She didn’t use the good stuff, but even made with supermarket roe, this dish makes an elegant impression. —Zanne Early Stewart, Executive Food Editor

Cajun Chicken Stew

When I was growing up in Louisiana, nothing made my mouth water like the smell of onion, bell pepper, and celery cooking in my mom’s dark Cajun roux. —Alexis M. Touchet, Associate Food Editor

Manicotti

It just wouldn’t be a holiday without my mom preparing a pasta course, whether it precedes the turkey at Thanksgiving or follows antipasti at Easter. My mom’s manicotti recipe (which comes from her Italian mother), feeds our immediate family of 40, but I’ve scaled it down to feed a smaller group of 6. The tender manicotti wrappers are made by quickly cooking a batter to form a pastalike crêpe. —Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez, Food Editor

Hazelnut Cookies

My mom worked full-time as a physical therapist, yet prepared dinner each night for our family of five. By necessity, she was the queen of the shortcut. Mom served these quick and simple hazelnut cookies when we had company. The dough freezes well, so the recipe can easily be doubled to keep on hand for entertaining. —Maggie Ruggiero, Food Editor

Banana Nut Bread

My mother learned to cook this bread during the Depression, when nothing was wasted—especially overripe bananas. We clamored for this treat so often that she frequently bought extra bananas and let them get almost black. I’ve discovered that overripe bananas can be peeled, mashed, and frozen, then defrosted whenever I want to bake up this memory. —Ruth Cousineau, Food Editor

Bacon and Cheddar Toasts

These toasts have been served for at least 28 years at the house where my mother still lives. One Thanksgiving, my mother and grandmother underestimated their popularity and left them out of the feast, causing a near riot among our extended family. Happily, that mistake was never repeated. —Paul Grimes, Food Editor/Stylist

Passion-Fruit Fool

When my Scottish stepmother married my father, in 1963, she had a lot to learn about cooking. Once she made my father what she thought was a charming American variety of onion for dinner; they turned out to be bulbs of garlic. She’s come a long way since then, providing our family with increasingly exotic taste memories influenced by years of living in Mexico and Brazil. The secret to a good fool, whatever the fruit, is to taste as you go. Some need more sugar; any fruit with little acidity benefits from a smidgen of lemon or lime juice; and more delicate flavors, like mango, require less cream. —Shelton Wiseman, Food Editor

Vegetable Casserole with Tofu Topping

Healthy eating was always a priority in my mother’s kitchen, and this colorful, delicious dish continues to be a staple at our Thanksgiving and Christmas tables. Using dried bread crumbs will create a crispy topping, while fresh bread crumbs produce a more tender result. —Ian Knauer, Recipe Cross-Tester

Tuna Noodle Casserole

My mother came from a long line of New England women who cooked from scratch, but with four kids in the early 1950s, she quickly embraced canned cream of mushroom soup as the all-purpose binding sauce for casseroles, which were the backbone of her meal planning. Tuna noodle was the hands-down family favorite, which was a boon to my mother because she could make everyone happy with the contents of two cans (tuna and soup) and a partial box of egg noodles. When I’m feeling nostalgic, I make it for my own family. I have to admit I now prepare it with my own sauce, embellishing it with extra mushrooms and a little Sherry for flavor. —Kemp Minifie, Senior Food Editor

Rugelach

My mother’s inspiration for these traditional Jewish cookies came from her great-grandmother, who owned a small Catskills hotel. Even after Bubbe Sarah retired, she’d turn out enough rugelach to feed a hotel full of people. —Melissa Roberts, Food Editor

Velvet Chicken

As a working mother with four daughters, my mom had very little spare time, yet she always managed to turn out meals reminiscent of her native Canton, China. This dish, one of her specialties, takes its name from the moist, velvety texture the chicken gets from being poached at a low temperature. My mother loved the short preparation time (the chicken finishes cooking through heat retained in a covered pot) and that the poaching liquid can be strained and then chilled or frozen to be used again. —Lillian Chou, Food Editor

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