Imagining Cooking

There is a frost warning tonight and that means one more garden gleaning before sundown. I expect to get kale, parsley, and maybe some tomatoes. I also expect this will be a hard frost, unlike previous nights that turned deciduous trees into paintbrushes full of color. Evolving what used to be cooking into a kitchen garden has been engaging and fulfilling. It changed — in a substantial way — how I cook meals with what grows on our property.

I have been a collector of cookbooks yet no more. These days I cook for weeks without opening one or consulting a recipe. When I make something sensational it is often unlikely the dish can be repeated. The reasons are many, whether it be living in the moment, freshness of ingredients, temperature and distribution of cooking heat, or how seasonings blend together. We bought a new range in May. It cooks differently from the previous one and continues to take time to understand settings, temperatures, and uses of the five cook top burners and oven.

A couple of posts ago I wrote about cooking grits and posted the photo on social media. People replied with variations I could make to improve the recipe. Thing is, the bowl of grits is rooted in ingredients already in my pantry and refrigerator. It is also rooted in my cooking process, which in this moment was to stand over the pot stirring constantly. The boiling liquid I used was half made by me vegetable broth and half two percent cow’s milk. I used Cabot’s extra sharp cheddar cheese I keep as a staple in the refrigerator. This particular bowl of grits was also rooted in that moment of creation and it seems unlikely I will get the same results the next time I make it.

Canned salmon was a big deal back when we had five digits in our private (as compared to party line) telephone numbers. In our 1950s and ’60s household, salmon patties were a once in a while treat on Fridays when we fasted from eating meat. The school I attended published a cookbook that lists multiple dishes to be made with this innovation found in the canned goods aisle at large grocery stores. Then, large grocery stores were also an innovation. Salmon salad, moist salmon loaf, salmon and vegetables in a dish, salmon custard, salmon in rice nests, salmon loaf, and other recipes were listed on the pages of the Holy Family School P.T.A. Cook Book. These days there is an abundance of fresh salmon available so the idea of using canned salmon is outdated. In 2010, when I was in Montana visiting friends, we went to the store and bought salmon steaks for a family meal. The meal was memorable. Canned salmon was revolutionary, as are the modern industrial salmon fisheries and farms. As a mostly ovo-lacto vegetarian, salmon wouldn’t be a part of any meal we prepared at home today.

People I know use recipes as a jump point in meal preparation. They search the internet, use a single purpose recipe application, or look through magazines and cookbooks to find something for dinner. They then modify the recipe to match personal preferences or ingredients on hand. I think most home cooks follow one of these methods.

I use internet searches when I have an abundance from the garden. For example, I recently searched garlic, tomatillos and chili peppers and came up with several ideas about how to preserve them as a condiment until the next crop is available. My home made apple cider vinegar is used as a preservative, making the dish ultra local. There are currently about a dozen jars of chili sauce in the refrigerator and pantry, no two of which are the same. It keeps things interesting while also using the harvest.

Another spontaneous aspect of cooking is using “my recipes,” meaning personally developed dishes, the recipe for which resides in memory or is written down in a notebook, 3 x 5 index card, or in the margins of cook books. We all have dishes like this. In our case, they form the framework of a weekly menu. Stir fried tofu with vegetables and rice is a complicated undertaking and we do that every week or two. Big batches of home made soup and chili stored in quart jars in the refrigerator are go-to meals when we don’t feel like cooking. Tacos are another mainstay. We use uncooked flour tortillas from the wholesale store and on hand ingredients from the garden and pantry for filling. The ingredients follow the seasons year-around with fresh tomatoes when they are available and frozen greens in winter. When we cook like this, there are few reasons to consult with a cookbook or recipe unless we’re understanding how to cook a new dish.

Morning has turned to afternoon and I haven’t been to the garden yet. I’d better get going. Thanks for reading.