Comfort Food and Family

When my husband and I were first married, we ate the usual newlyweds-type food: a lot of soup and sandwiches, spaghetti, more soups, toast. . . whatever didn't take a lot of time or money to create. We were both good cooks but we were young and on a very tight budget.

Later, we grew into fancier foods. My husband came from California so we ate burritos and enchiladas before they were common fare for people. We bought a wok and stir fried all kinds of dishes. We tried dishes from other countries after joining a supper group and the simpler meals vanished from our kitchen.

About this time, we added two children to our lives. We'd been married a while by then and money wasn't quite as tight. Every now and then, we'd have mac and cheese for the boys but most of our meals required a cookbook and fresh ingredients. Shopping meant we'd try out a new fruit from the produce section -- we knew the produce manager by name.

When our youngest son was in preschool, he came home one day all excited. "Guess what, Mom? I got to help in the kitchen for lunch today. We took some hamburger, smashed it together with an egg, added some oatmeal, and made it into a ball we cooked in the oven. Then we put catsup on it and gave everybody a piece."

I stared at him in shock. My mom would serve a simple salad, a baked potato, and the slabs of her meat loaf at least a couple times a month. It was a great way to stretch the meat for a family with four growing children. Here was my son, who had tasted all kinds of exotic fruits, describing in detail how to make what had been a constant in both his dad and his mom's family growing up.

Later that week, I made a meat loaf with him. I told him how I used to help Grandma make meat loaf for his uncles and aunt. There was a comfort in watching the meat loaf bake in the oven, with paprika potatoes spread around the pan. We made a simple tossed salad and warmed up some green beans. And now, every once in a while, I make a meat loaf for supper as a reminder of the family that I come from and the family that I now have.

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An Oven Meal with Meat Loaf and Paprika Potatoes

This is a variation of the recipe my mom used. I found the recipe in a cookbook we received as a wedding gift and our family loves it. I did adapt a few things, using some of my mom's 'tricks.' The amount for the glaze ingredients, for instance, was always done without true measuring. She would just pour and scoop until she had the right consistency. You'll have to see what works for you.


1 3-ounce can chopped mushrooms
Milk
1 slightly beaten egg
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups soft bread crumbs or crushed crackers
2 tbsp catsup
2 tbsp brown sugar
orange juice
Dash of pepper
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
3 medium baking potatoes
2 tbsp butter, melted
Paprika

Drain the chopped mushrooms, saving the liquid. Add enough milk to the mushroom liquid to make 1/2 cup. Combine liquid, egg, Worcestershire sauce, seasonings, and bread crumbs (crackers). Let stand about 5 minutes. Stir in beef and chopped mushrooms. Mix lightly but thoroughly.
Shape into loaf in 13x9x2 inch baking dish. Halve the potatoes lengthwise. Make diagonal slashes in cut surfaces of the potatoes. Layer around the meat loaf. Brush the potatoes with the melted butter. Season with salt and pepper.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Sprinkle potatoes with paprika. Combine brown sugar, catsup, and orange juice to make a glaze. Spread over meat loaf. Bake 15 more minutes. Serve with salad, green beans, and ice cream for dessert.

Tessa McDermid

Feeding the Family

I'm deep in the midst of a new book about three generations of Italian-American women for whom food means more than physical nourishment. As I moved from my writing table to the kitchen table this week, I was struck by how much food connects my own family.

My daughter, who’s been living in Scotland for the last four years, recently returned home to do a post-baccalaureate program at a nearby college. Like my other two children, she’s a vegetarian and an athlete. On Sunday, she’ll be running the Portland Marathon, so we are eating a lot of carbs this week at our house. We both love to cook, but our schedules are particularly hectic right now and we sat on Monday evening to plan out a week of simple meals that will provide her with the fuel she’ll need to run her race. One of the easiest, and a staple at my mother’s table when I was growing up, is baked ziti. It can be thrown together in about twenty minutes, and while it bakes in the oven, you can make a salad (or sip a glass of wine).

When I went looking for this recipe, I remembered that I had put together a collection of "classics" for my daughter when she first left home and was cooking on her own. Many of the recipes, like this one, were passed on to me by my own mother.

Baked Ziti

1 pound ziti
½ pound ricotta
1 egg
1 quart tomato sauce (my mother, of course, made her own; but after an hour on the Mass Pike driving home from work, I reach for the glass jar in the pantry)
4 ounces shredded mozzarella

1. Boil the ziti until al dente. Drain.

2. Blend ricotta with egg.

3. Toss the ziti with tomato sauce in a baking dish.

4. Blend in ricotta-egg mixture.

5. Add more tomato sauce if it looks dry.

6. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

7. Sprinkle top with mozzarella and bake for 5 more minutes until mozzarella is melted.