Christopher Ranch

M is for the millions of words already written about moms, O is for the outrageous stories you probably have about yours (I have a few!), and lastly, M is for my mom whom I miss very much for so many reasons. Since this is, for the most part, a food blog, I will concentrate on one of the things my mom did best, cooking.

She was, simply, a great cook and I say simply because she came from a large family of meager means, and the food she learned to cook was modest, down to earth, almost humble… and very good. So good – and I sometimes feel guilty about this – that even on Mother’s Day we (my bro and I) wanted her to cook. After we moved to our own homes, we still gathered at Mom’s because, let’s face it, she spoiled us. One year, I finally learned to make one of her favorites, Sopas (pronounced soopash), a traditional Portuguese dish served during Festas (festivals) and it became our customary Mother’s Day meal. This made her very happy and gave her a proper Mom’s Day, no cooking, no cleaning, just eating and enjoying herself.

These thoughts make me aware of just how much moms and food are tied together. You may have your own memories, but mine involve Mom bringing me chicken soup when I was sick in bed, all of the family laughing around the table after devouring her scrumptious and distinctive holiday dinners (we made a table game out of counting the sizable number of garlic cloves she inserted in a pot roast), her coaxing me to try “just one bite” when she made a new dish (I’m not afraid to try anything because of this), singing happy birthday around a four layer, rainbow colored birthday cake (one of her specialties) and her staple, a simmering pot of hearty Portuguese beans which warmed up the kitchen, and us, on many winter days. I wish I could share that recipe here, but in my naive inaction, I thought that delicious pot of beans – and my mom – would always be around.

 In many ways, she is still with me, in the memories, the heritage, the little eccentricities I inherited from her (I’ll never tell), and in her recipes that season my life. If you have a favorite Mom recipe, write it down now, don’t let it slip away. And if you’d like to share it with me, please send it along, especially if it’s for Portuguese beans. I’d be forever grateful.

Just received some great feedback from Jennifer Armentrout, Senior Food Editor of FineCooking.com about our new Green Garlic. She also happened to mention in her latest blog that the appearance of green garlic reminded her of raw leeks -exactly what popped into my head last night when dreaming up new recipes instead of counting sheep.  

Thanks for jump-starting my memory, Jennifer, because I wanted to give our garlic lovers some food for thought: CR Green Garlic can be used instead of leeks – or onions, cilantro, chives, scallions, shallots, elephant garlic, parsley, basil – in any recipe. It’s a fresh, fresh, fresh alternative (or addition) to the tried and true… the ordinary. On a practical note: CR Green Garlic is easier to prep than leeks! Just trim roots, rinse in cold water, pat dry and try your own version of Jennifer’s aglio e olio (pasta with garlic and olive oil.) To give you a jump-start, here’s a vintage recipe from the Christopher Ranch vault updated with a generous infusion of Green Garlic. Buono mangiare! 

SPAGHETTI AGLIO VERDE

2/3       cup extra virgin olive oil (or half oil and half butter)
8         shoots (3 oz. bag) Christopher Ranch Green Garlic -trimmed and chopped into
½”        pieces (or julienned as Jennifer did)
1         clove fresh garlic - finely chopped
1         tsp. fresh basil - finely chopped
2         pinches or more red pepper flakes
1         lb. thin spaghetti or vermicelli -cooked al dente and drained
          Salt and pepper to taste
½         cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

 Heat oil in large skillet over low heat and lightly sauté Green Garlic with the regular garlic until limp. Do not brown. Add basil and pepper flakes, blend well and lightly heat through. If skillet is large enough, add pasta to oil mixture, salt and pepper to taste and toss until well blended. Or place pasta in large serving bowl, add oil mixture, salt and pepper and toss until well blended. Sprinkle with Parmesan if desired. Serve immediately. Yields 4 to 6 servings.