Retro Recipes and Traditional Fare

I’ve made lots and lots of rugelach in my day, but this one takes the cake. I have made my grandma’s, I have made Ina’s, Martha’s and Rose’s. This one, from Cooks Illustrated is by far the best I have ever had. Better than Weby’s bakery (most Sunday mornings, when I was little, you could find me and my dad, waiting in line to buy the fresh baked egg-onion bread). My kids don’t really like raisins or dried fruit in their sweets. I altered the filling. I substituted mini chocolate chips for the raisins.

The dough was super easy to work with. Even though the recipe didn’t ask me to refrigerate the dough after rolling, I did anyways. Only for about 15 minutes. I feel it made all the difference in the world. I baked off a few to taste and then cut and flash froze the rest. Even though they look more like a pinwheel cookies, they taste like rugelach.

Some nights I just can’t decide what to make for dinner - especially when time is short, and I’m not in the mood for recipes that require lots of prep (and therefore lots of cleanup).

This lemon chicken recipe adapted from Ina Garten’s cookbook – How Easy is That? – is perfect when you’re looking for “fast and delicious”.

Lemon, garlic and thyme is a classic combination for chicken – I usually buy chicken breasts with rib bones and skin, I think it adds a lot more flavor to the dish.

My Dad was crazy about this; it's what I recall him craving the most. He always happily obliged my mother as chief taster when she was in the kitchen trying to get the flavors just right.

I know my Dad was smiling down from heaven the other day as he watched us make his prized Sauerkraut.

However, sauerkraut is not what we called this dish, being Polish, we referred to it as kapusta (kah-POOS-tah), a word meaning cabbage. It just sounds wrong.

Anyway, I grew up on this stuff. Just the aromatics alone take me back to my childhood kitchen. I can still see the pot my mother cooked it in and my Dad standing there, waiting to inform her if it was sour enough or needed more salt.

It's a good memory but one that leaves me a bit emotional.

When I lived in Fargo, I used to love going to Santa Lucia restaurant for a big Greek salad. It was a plate filled generously with fresh lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, feta and kalamata olives. The colorful mix was dressed with a nicely seasoned vinaigrette. I could easily make that salad a meal. It’s been several years since I’ve had an opportunity to dine at Sanat Lucia, but I’ve often thought of that delicious salad.

The other day I had cooked chicken in the refrigerator. It was meat remaining from my experiment grill-roasting chicken, one propped on a can of beer, another placed right on the grill rack over a shallow pan of water and lemon juice. I was interested to know how the flavor and juiciness would differ.

My pick is the chicken placed over a pan of liquid and cooked over indirect heat. It really is the juiciest and most flavorful chicken I’ve ever eaten. The rub of spices and olive oil on the skin and under the skin of the chicken certainly helps it along. My husband says it’s just as good as the Greek-style chicken he would sometimes have on our visits to Omega restaurant in Niles, IL — moist and juicy with a hint of lemon.