Cooking with Mom

Cheese Soufflé

Kelly’s new column recounts time spent in the kitchen with her mom.

Garcia Marquez wrote, “Memory is where you put things for safekeeping.” But in my case I keep my memories with my mother. She reminds me of things I have forgotten or wished I could forget. She is always the one I want to spend time with, especially in the kitchen.

We have been fortunate to have spent time with one another recently and we have rediscovered how much fun it is to cook together. But before we even get to the kitchen we pour over countless cookbooks and reminisce about past meals. Of course one recipe leads to a story. She tells me how her mother measured everything with a teacup. She recounts the story of how, as a young bride, my grandmother, who wanted so much to please her husband that she baked biscuits and with the help of a neighbor. The resulting biscuits didn’t turn out well; they were flat and didn’t look appetizing. My dear grandmother must have looked heartbroken because the neighbor traded her delicious flaky, buttery biscuits for my grandmother’s deflated disks. Grandfather was ecstatic that his new bride could make such heavenly biscuits, but grandmother came clean. (I have a feeling that the neighbor’s husband wasn’t pleased to find hockey puck biscuits).

Going through these cookbooks has been like reconnecting with old friends. One of her cookbooks by Jacques Pepin is lovingly splattered, especially the recipe for one of my father’s favorites, Scaloppini of Turkey with Scallions from The Short Cut Cook. I also came across a cookbook written in the late 1940’s, The Alice Bradley Menu Cook Book, a treasure trove of menus, marketing lists (grocery lists) and recipes. Mother and I made the “Hot German Potato Salad” from the book and it was amazing.

As mother and I looked through her vast collection of cookbooks it was interesting to see how many pages were dirty. Mother says that if people want to identify a really good recipe, look for the pages that are the most stained!

This month I want to share one of the treasured recipes Mother and I came upon from an old friend, a dear Irish lady, for a very easy cheese soufflé.

• 3 Tbs butter, softened
• 4 slices thin bread
• dash of dry mustard, more to taste
• ½ lb. sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
• 4 eggs
• 3 cups milk
• dash of salt & pepper

On 4 slices of thin bread, spread 3 tablespoons butter and sprinkle with dry mustard and place in a baking dish. Sprinkle Cheddar cheese over bread slices. In a large bowl, beat 4 eggs; add 3 cups of milk and a dash of salt and pepper. Pour liquid mixture over bread and let stand 1 hour or preferably overnight covered in the refrigerator. Once ready to cook, allow the dish to reach room temperature. With a large spoon, break up bread, which will have come to the top, and bake uncovered at 350 for about 1 hour. It will puff up and brown beautifully. Serve immediately.

Enjoy cooking with a friend or with family - it is truly a lost art. Enjoy!