posts by Debra Samuels

Something old, something new

Recipe collections hold treasures — in the food itself and between the lines. Isn’t it time to organize all those cards?

From Barbara Rotger, Melrose, Ma

Hand written recipes from beloved relatives are our treasures. This recipe for Asparagus roll ups came from Barbara Rotger, a woman I interviewed for the article Something old, something new. It is from her grandmother, Marion Griswold Doane, who lived in Essex, Conn., and entertained a lot. “Grandma’s recipe box is full of appetizers and dips. My grandfather, Charlie, had a large vegetable garden and small farm stand. He would have grown the asparagus that Grandma used in this recipe,’’ says Rotger. Combined with cream cheese and blue cheese, the toasted bread asparagus roll-ups make elegant finger food.

Chopped Liver

Makes 2 cups or enough to serve 6 Chopped liver is served during the Passover holiday with matzo. The basic ingredients are chicken livers (or a mixture of chicken and beef liver), onions, and hard-cooked eggs. At one time, the onions were cooked in schmaltz (rendered chicken fat), and mixed with boiled, broiled, or sauteed …

A side dish served with matzo and memories

‘I had hoped to be greeted by the taste of schmaltz,’’ announces one in the group, using the Yiddish word for rendered chicken fat. Her octogenarian husband arrives with his mother’s well-worn wooden bowl and single-blade chopper. When he was a boy, he says, “Every Sunday my job was to chop the liver. My father …

Baked Winter Fruit

This baked winter fruit dish falls somewhere between a crisp and a compote. It uses some dried fruits, which are usually simmered in liquid. But whatever fresh fruits you have on hand can go into the dish, even those starting to show brown spots.

The Wooden Bowls

Love at First Bite? Not Exactly.

Whole-wheat spaghetti may be better for you, but will it go over well at home? Maybe with sauce. By Debra Samuels Globe Correspondent / February 9, 2011
Whole-wheat bread entered the mainstream long ago. Now brown rice has displaced white in many bowls, and whole-wheat pasta has become nightly fare in many households — even in Italy.

Fine Cooking

PRESERVING THE SEASON Cabbage This Winter vegetable easily becomes kimchi, a bright, robustly flavored condiment that will last for weeks. BY DEBRA SAMUELS

Passage to India

In January Dick and I went to India for the first time. Everything was new: the crush of people, the smells of spices, the constant beeping of horns, and sharing roads with livestock like camels, cows and goats. The green and yellow jitney – auto rickshaw – is the standard, taxi-like mode of transportation for …

Jaffa/Yafo at Dusk

After a long day at my desk, Dick and I took a walk to Jaffa/Yafo. It is just 10 minutes from Neve Tzedek, where we are staying and is one of the world’s oldest cities. It is very hot here, even at day’s end. We made our way up the hill and to look down …

A classic, any way you slice it

When it comes to pound cake, traditional flavors count By Debra Samuels, Globe Correspondent | July 14, 2010 There are few better accompaniments to fresh berries than a slice of pound cake, that perfectly balanced classic originally made with one pound butter, one pound sugar, and one pound flour. Now the formulas vary, but it’s …

SHALOM from Tel Aviv, Israel

It has been an age since I last posted on my blog. I have been AWOL! We have since been in China and Japan in January of 2010. But now I am in Tel Aviv, Israel for 2 weeks and then one week traveling to Haifa and Jerusalem. It is my first time in the …