The Daily Feast: Everyday Meals We Love to Share

Introduction

THE WOMEN IN OUR FAMILY utterly love to cook! There are seven of us – mother, five daughters, one daughter-in-law – and although none of us is professionally trained, we all have a love for cooking. We create, experiment, and share our best recipes with each other, always striving for that perfect meal. Over the years we have produced several photocopied collections that are constantly in use in all of our homes, functioning as our primary cookbooks. Because of the positive response we’ve had from friends and guests who have shared our tables and requested recipes (the meals that get the wow! response), we’ve arranged our best-loved recipes and menus into a book that we hope will be helpful, easy, and a pleasure for you to use.

Our food memories and experiences as a family go back more than 80 years, to the days of pap, cambric tea, and impossibly hot curries. Our heritage is rooted in Amish and Mennonite cooking that unites families and friends around the shared pleasures of the table, but our tastes have expanded through a love of travel. That began with Grandpa Joe and Grandma Minnie Graber, who spent many years in India and brought us their love for Indian cuisine, which Grandma prepared with great skill.

From left to right: Ellen, Sibyl, Susan, Esther Rose, Jane, Ann, and Yvonne.

Our immediate family lived and worked in Puerto Rico, where husband and dad, Ronald Graber, was a surgeon for 35 years, so our children developed a special fondness for the local dishes of the Caribbean. Since then, Ron and I, our children and their spouses, and our grandchildren have lived or spent significant time in many places, including Italy, Spain, England, Germany, Cambodia, China, the Dominican Republic, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Mexico. From many of these countries come some of our favorite recipes for fabulous dishes, which we’ve included in this book.

In this collection, each of us cooks shares three complete menus – one for a Soup Meal, the second for a Family Weeknight Supper, and the third for a more elaborate Guest Dinner.

If you have ever wondered what to serve with a particular dish to round out your menu, we have some ideas! Each meal takes into account the ease of preparation, balance of textures and flavors, and eye appeal. Partly because we’re a family of artists – watercolorists, book illustrators, potters, designers, musicians – we know these meals will look as beautiful as they taste.

In addition to our cooks’ special meals, we also offer our favorite Special-Occasion Meals. Our family reunions always feature an Indian or Puerto Rican meal, with each family preparing one or more of the dishes on the menu.

For us, it’s not only about the eating, but also preparing the meal, a collective and delightful process when we’re all together. Because many of these dinners have particular memories attached to them, we tell our stories here, too, all bits of our family legacy.

In our homes, the men cook, too. When I was a little girl, the only times I remember seeing Papa in the kitchen were when he was passing through, after washing up at the porch pump, heading for the dinner table. But one day, there was Papa in the kitchen, sitting on the kitchen chair with Mama on his lap! I can still remember the wonderful feeling, after all these years (that was back in the 1930s when I was a very small child), of the loving warmth of their arms welcoming me into the middle of their embrace.

Ann and Esther Rose

The roles of men and women were clearly defined in those days. Mama’s place was in the kitchen, the home, and garden. Papa’s was out in the world where he worked on cars and trucks and brought home a paycheck. And on Sundays he preached at the small Mennonite country church where he was pastor.

In Ron’s and my home these roles were a given. I took care of the home and children, while my husband was a busy doctor and surgeon.

Then our daughter Ellen got married (she was the first of our six to marry), and we visited the newlyweds in their home in Vermont. Imagine my surprise at seeing Nelson in the kitchen, wearing an apron, working at the stove with total aplomb. As other men came into the family, we quickly discovered they were quite adept in the kitchen. Now we count on them to do the grilling, and on occasion, to produce a complete meal.

Following family tradition, the grandchildren are developing their own specialties in the kitchen, and they may someday produce a cookbook of their own. But that will be another story.

In the meantime, don your aprons and join us. We hope you have as much fun in the kitchen as we do! And we wish you great success in creating beautiful meals to be shared and enjoyed by your family and friends.

Esther Rose Graber

From left to right: Sibyl (partially hidden), Ann, Ellen, Esther Rose, and Jane, cooking together in Sibyl's kitchen.

CHAPTER 1

Esther Rose Graber

BORN DURING the Great Depression and raised on simple country cooking (I loved Mama’s Sunday pot roast, fried chicken, and mincemeat pie), I discovered beautiful food at a friend’s table in Scottdale, Pennsylvania, where I was working as an illustrator for the Mennonite Publishing House. Not only was it my first taste of shrimp and avocados (heavenly!), but the colorful and luscious arrangement on the salad platter opened my eyes to food as an art form. That dinner was an epiphany of sorts, setting me on a lifetime course of recipe-collecting and cooking.

My mother-in-law, Minnie Graber, whose pies were unparalleled, set standards for guest meals that were a challenge to a young bride-to-be. I didn’t want my new husband, Ron, to be yearning for his mother’s cooking. But she generously shared her recipes and techniques. Now, after all of these years, I’m still trying to impress Ron, and he’s my best critic and fan combined.

ESTHER ROSE'S MENU

Favorite Soup Supper

Potato, Kale, and Sausage Soup

Pear and Gorgonzola Salad with Orange Dressing

Rustic Italian Bread

Mrs. Rohrer’s Lemon Sponge Pie

Potato, Kale, and Sausage Soup

Serves 6 • Prep. Time: 20 minutes • Cooking Time: 50-60 minutes

½ lb. bulk sausage (spicy, hot, sage, medium, Italian, – whichever you prefer)

1½ cups chopped onion

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

4-5 small, new red potatoes, scrubbed, quartered, unpeeled

4-6 cups chicken broth, depending on the consistency you like

1-3 cups kale, ribs removed, leaves thinly sliced, according to the amount of vegetables you like

1 cup milk

2 Tbsp. cornstarch, dissolved in ¼ cup water

½ tsp. salt, or to taste

freshly ground black pepper

1.   Fry the sausage until brown and crumbly. Set aside.

2.   In a medium soup kettle, sauté the onion in the vegetable oil until soft.

3.   Add the potatoes and the broth and bring to a boil.

4.   Add the kale and the browned sausage. Cook until the potatoes are tender.

5.   Stir in the milk.

6.   Bring just to a boil. Stir in the cornstarch mixed with water. If you want a soup with more body, use an additional tablespoon of cornstarch.

7.   Add salt and a generous grind of pepper. Taste and adjust the salt.

COOK’S NOTE

I like to cook a whole pound and freeze half for a quicker soup later.

COOK’S NOTE

Optionally, use one large, red potato, scrubbed, quartered, and thinly sliced or cubed. Do not peel. In a pinch you can substitute other potato types, peeled and thinly sliced, but your soup will lack the lovely bits of color.

EVERYONE in our family loves this hearty soup. The sausage and kale are a great flavor combination, and the red skin of the potato adds an extra note of color.

THIS IS A great salad combination, plus the dressing is suitable for any salad that includes fruit. We think it goes especially well with D’Anjou pears.

Pear and Gorgonzola Salad with Orange Dressing

Serves 6 • Prep Time: 30 minutes

THE ORANGE DRESSING

¼ cup raspberry, or red wine, vinegar

⅓ cup olive oil

¼ cup frozen orange juice concentrate, undiluted

½ tsp. grated orange rind

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon, or lime, juice

1-2 tsp. sugar, to taste

½ tsp. hot pepper sauce, or more, to taste

¼ tsp. salt, or to taste

1.   Combine all dressing ingredients in a small jar with a lid. Shake well.

2.   Transfer to a small pitcher. Give the dressing a stir before pouring.

COOK’S NOTE

Use your favorite combination of available greens. Fresh lettuce leaves and baby spinach make a beautiful background for the pears.

THE SALAD

6 cups salad greens

3 ripe D’Anjou pears

½ cup, or more, Gorgonzola cheese crumbles

1 cup toasted pecans or Honey Cayenne Pecans (see page 238)

chives or green onions, optional

1.   Divide the greens evenly among 6 salad plates, or place on one large platter.

2.   Peel and remove cores from pears. Slice into quarters.

3.   Arrange pears atop the greens.

4.   Sprinkle the Gorgonzola over the pears.

5.   Scatter the pecans over the salads.

6.   Sprinkle with snipped chives or green onions, if desired.

7.   If serving individual salads, pass the dressing to let persons serve themselves. If arranging one platter, drizzle dressing over the salad just before serving.

Rustic Italian Bread

Makes 1 loaf • Prep Time: 10 minutes • Rising Time: 2 hours • Baking Time: 25-35 minutes

3½ cups bread flour

2 tsp. sugar

1 scant tsp. salt

1 package (1 Tbsp.) active dry yeast

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 cup, plus 2 Tbsp., warm water

You’ll also need 2-4 Tbsp. cornmeal, part of an egg white, and some coarse salt for the finishing

1.   Place all ingredients (except cornmeal, egg white, and coarse salt) in your bread machine. Process on dough setting.

2.   Meanwhile, sprinkle an ungreased baking sheet with cornmeal.

3.   When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. If it’s sticky, knead in a little additional flour. Let it rest for 15 minutes, then shape into a long loaf.

4.   Transfer to the baking sheet, cover with a towel, and let rise in a warm place until doubled, 30-40 minutes.

5.   Heat oven to 375º.

6.   With a sharp knife, make several diagonal slashes across the loaf. Brush with beaten egg white. Sprinkle lightly with coarse salt.

7.   Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until loaf is lightly browned and gives a hollow sound when tapped lightly.

A BREAD MACHINE makes this so easy. Just put everything into the machine, turn it to dough setting, and let the machine do the work. This recipe produces a chewy, crusty loaf that is great alongside hearty, rustic Potato, Kale, and Sausage Soup.

Mrs. Rohrer’s Lemon Sponge Pie

Serves 6 • Prep Time: 30 minutes • Baking Time: 35-40 minutes • Standing Time: 15 minutes

1 cup sugar

3 Tbsp. flour

1 large egg, separated

1 tsp. grated lemon rind

2 Tbsp. lemon juice (a little extra won’t hurt!)

2 Tbsp. melted butter

1 cup milk

pinch of salt

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust (see page 15)

COOK’S NOTE

I like to partially bake the pie shell before filling in order to avoid a doughy bottom. To pre-bake the crust, prick all over with a fork and bake at 400° for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, and reduce the oven temperature to 350°. Immediately fill the crust with the prepared filling and return to the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until puffy and slightly browned on top.

1.   Combine the sugar and flour in a medium-sized bowl.

2.   Beat in the egg yolk, lemon (or lime) rind, and juice.

3.   Add the melted butter. Stir in the milk.

4.   In a separate bowl, beat the egg white with a pinch of salt until fairly stiff. Fold into the lemon mixture until no streaks of white show.

5.   Pour into an unbaked 9" pie crust.

6.   Bake at 350º for 35-40 minutes, or until crust is lightly browned and filling is puffy and touched with brown. Let cool for about 15 minutes before cutting.

COOK’S NOTE

When we had a productive lime tree near our house in Puerto Rico, I would substitute limes for the lemon in this recipe with great success.

WE’VE NEVER MET Mrs. Rohrer, a Mennonite woman who was featured, along with her recipes, in a Family Circle magazine article many years ago. This is one of her recipes that has become a family favorite, not only for its simplicity and economy (only one egg!), but because it is always delicious.

Whether you make it with lemons or limes, serve it still warm from the oven or chilled, the fresh, light, custard-bottom pie is simply delectable. Dress it up with a dollop of whipped cream and a scattering of raspberries or blueberries if you’re