Category Archives: History of My Culinary Inheritance

1950’s Banana Cake

20th Century Foods, Cake Recipes, Childhood Recipes, Coconut Sugar Recipes, Desserts, History of My Culinary Inheritance Leave a comment
1950's banana cake

1950’s banana cake

My mother let each child choose his own birthday cake while we were growing up.  My little heart worked overtime each year to decide between banana cake and fresh pear pie.  Both are awe-inspiring!

I spell out the wonders of my mother’s banana cake here. The delectable pie will follow this fall in a series of recipes extolling my family’s favorite meal since the 1950’s; until then you will be pleased with this memorable confection.

I grew up in the small tourist village of East Glacier Park, Montana.  It is the east entrance to the spectacular display of Rocky Mountains in Glacier National Park.  I have seen mountain ranges all over the world; none compare with that of my home.

There my young mother was mentored by several “older” women as I was maturing; one was Leone Brown.  She was all of 50 at the time, but she seemed very old to me.  This knowledgeable woman taught Mom much about cooking.  She created many beautiful crafts for her as well; my 93-year old mother still has her handmade Easter eggs, made out of delicate egg shells.

This beloved cake is the fruit of Leone’s bountiful wisdom; personally I have been making it with joy since the early ’70’s.  Believe me, it will knock your socks off!

Banana Cake  Yields: 2-9 inch layer or 2-9 x 5 inch loaf pans.  Total prep time: 2 1/4 hr (with  inactive prep time of 1 hr or longer for freezing cakes to facilitate easy frosting)/  active prep time: 50 min/  baking time: 25 min.

Note:  1 1/2 recipes will be needed for 3-8 inch layers.  I like to make 2-loaf cakes and freeze them separately on paper plates, sealed in gallon-size freezer bags, for cutting off frozen slices as needed.  Dessert is always on hand for unexpected guests!

1/4 c milk, soured with few drops of lemon juice from a squeeze ball

3/4 c butter, softened

1 1/2 c sugar  (I prefer coconut sugar, or sucanat, evaporated cane juice.)

2 lg eggs

2 1/2 c flour  (Bob’s Red Mill unbleached flour is high quality, or grind 1  2/3 c organic soft white winter wheat berries to make 2 1/2 c fresh ground flour.)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt  (Himalayan, pink, or Real Salt is critical for optimum health; Himalayan salt is available inexpensively in fine grind at Costco.)

3 ripe medium bananas  (1 1/2 c mashed)

1 tsp vanilla

Spray oil  (Coconut spray oil is best; Pam is available in most supermarkets; our local Winco brand, however, is cheaper.)

Flour for dusting the sprayed pans

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Sour milk in a med/large bowl with a few drops of lemon juice from a squeeze ball, set aside.
  3. Cream butter in a large bowl, add sugar, and beat until light.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well with each addition.  Set aside.
  4. Shake together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a sealed gallon-size storage bag, or stir all together in a large bowl with a fork.
  5. Add bananas and vanilla to sour milk, mash bananas with a fork, and blend all (set aside).
  6. Mix 1/2 the flour mixture into butter; then, add 1/2 the mashed bananas into this, beating only until all is incorporated, as over-beating toughens cakes and cookies.  Repeat steps, using remaining flour and bananas.
  7. Spray cake pans; dust with flour.
  8. Pour batter in prepared pans.  Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes back clean and cake lightly springs bake when you press with finger.  Do not over-bake (time varies with size of pans).
  9. Cool in pan for 5 minutes.  Then, slide a knife around the edges, gently remove cakes, and freeze these on paper plates for at least 1 hour, to facilitate frosting (this inhibits the crumbling of cake as you frost).

Cream Nut Frosting  (Note: make 1 1/2 recipes for a 3-layer cake.)

2 1/2 tbsp flour

1/2 c cream  (Heavy organic whipping cream is best for health.)

1/2 c butter, softened

1/2 c sugar  (Preferably organic cane sugar; available at Costco or Trader Joe’s.)

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

4 c powdered sugar (Trader’s has organic powdered cane sugar.)

1 c pecan pieces (Least expensive when bought in bulk at local supermarket.)

  1. Blend flour and cream in a small saucepan with a wire whisk.  Cook over med/low heat, stirring constantly, until a thick paste is formed.  Set aside to cool to room temperature.
  2. Cream butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer, add 1/2 c regular sugar, beat until light and fluffy.
  3. Blend in salt and vanilla.
  4. Mix in cooled cream paste, beat well.
  5. Add 1 c of powdered sugar, beating thoroughly.  Add rest of powdered sugar, 1 c at a time, beating with each addition until all is incorporated.
  6. Frost the frozen layer or loaf cakes.  Cover top and sides with pecan pieces. (If freezing cakes for future use, be sure to freeze frosting on cakes before sealing in gallon-size freezer bags.)

Curried Pineapple Ahi Tuna

21st Century Foods, Ahi Tuna Recipes, Carrot Recipes, Curry Recipes, Entrees, Fish Recipes, Gluten-free Entrees, Healthy Innovations, History of My Culinary Inheritance Leave a comment
Curried pineapple ahi tuna

curried pineapple ahi tuna

I had a fresh pineapple crying out to be used and a dinner guest about to arrive. This easy, outstanding dish resulted that tantalized my company. The sauce may be prepared ahead of time; you may cook the tuna just prior to serving it.

Nearly every person in my family (parents, siblings, nieces, and nephews) possesses this gift of developing imaginative, delicious recipes. Many are, or have been, professional chefs.  My brother Paul and sister Maureen were the backbone of inspiration behind my family’s restaurant high in the Rocky Mountains, at the east entrance to Glacier National Park in Montana.  This establishment belonged to my family for just over 50 years; it was famous in its day for its cherished food.  Paul and Maureen brought their polished innovations to our eatery.

My sister has taught me so much about cooking with optimum health benefits.   She is a master at creating beautiful foods that nourish body and soul.  I am so indebted to her for her nutritive excellence in my skills.

Intuitive wisdom about the preparation of ailments is in my family’s genes. It’s my fundamental inheritance:  I just know how to cook. My “formal” training in this endeavor is limited to one day, as a visitor, at Cordon Blue Cooking School in Paris, France.  The lesson was taught in French, of which I understood very little, but the dishes looked, smelled, and tasted glorious!  Note: I am the only one in my clan that applied higher education in food history to our joy of cooking.

Curried Pineapple Ahi Tuna  Simple and superb!  Yields: 4 servings.  Total prep time: 1 1/4 hr.

1 1/2 tbsp oil  (Coconut or avocado oil is best, as olive oil is carcinogenic when heated to high temperatures.)

1 med yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced

3 lg carrots, thinly sliced at a diagonal

10 oz frozen broccoli florettes, partially thawed  (Trader Joe’s has a good buy on organic.)

2 tbsp butter

4 tbsp flour

1-15 oz can of chicken, vegetable, or fish broth

2 c of fresh pineapple, cut in small pieces  (May substitute well-drained, canned crushed pineapple.)

4 ahi tuna steaks

salt and pepper to taste  (Himalayan, pink, or Real Salt is critical for optimum health; an inexpensive fine grind Himalayan salt is available at Costco.)

Brown rice, cooked according to directions on package

  1. Caramelize onions, by melting 1/2 tsp of coconut oil in a large frying pan, over medium heat.  When a small piece sizzles in oil, add rest of onion.  Reduce heat to med/low; stir every several minutes until onions begin turning in color; then, stir every minute until they are a dark brown.
  2. Heat remaining coconut oil in another pan; add carrots and broccoli and cook until tender. When done, add cooked onions.
  3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add flour. Whisk and cook over a medium heat for 30 seconds. Slowly add broth, whisking well with each addition. Cook until thickened, stirring with whisk. Add pineapple (sauce will get runny with fruit.) Cook, whisking, until thickened again-it won’t be quite as thick.  Add to vegetables in the large frying pan. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  4. May set aside at this point and finish, by cooking tuna, just before serving.
  5. Wash tuna steaks and pat dry. Salt and pepper generously.
  6. Place steaks in hot sauce mixture and poach. DO NOT OVERCOOK.
  7. Serve with rice.

1960s French Dinner

20th Century Foods, 20th Century French Recipes, Childhood Recipes, Entrees, Historical Recipes, History of my Business, History of My Culinary Inheritance, Meat Recipes, Pork Recipes, Time-Life Books: Foods of the World Leave a comment

Cotes de porc braises a la moutarde

cotes de porc braisees a la moutarde

I have a repertoire of what I call my childhood recipes, of which the following is one of my favorites.  It stretches my imagination every time I eat it: I can hardly believe that food tastes this good!

My Culinary Heritage

My mother taught me so much about cooking; she was excellent at this endeavor in her day.  My mentor exercised her expertise with hospitality in our home, rather than in our family restaurant, inspiring me to follow in her footsteps with her extensive gourmet preparations.

The passing on of tradition from generation to generation is so important.  I’ve never married, but I have a vast quiver full of spiritual children-more than I can count!  Thus, I have a desire to give them what was so freely given to me, which is wisdom.  I gaze at this precise diamond through the perspective of food, with all its joys and health-providing benefits.  I am so grateful to God, my parents, and my entire family for this knowledge that was birthed in me.

Childhood Comfort Foods

We all identify with comfort foods, especially those from our youth.  I will offer numerous ones, with which my mother nurtured our family’s souls.  Cotes de porc braisees a la moutarde is my first choice in this marvelous journey into the past.

Time-Life Books Foods of the World

Time-Life Books put out a series of cook books entitled Foods of the World, showcasing the cuisines of numerous countries in the mid-twentieth century.  Mom subscribed to these superb sequel; my family and our guests experienced incredible pleasure as a result.  Hence I grew to appreciate the world, through its food in the confines of my home at a very young age.  This instilled an appetite in me, which was gratified in my twenties and thirties, when I went to the nations to study their eating habits.

Receipts for Braised Pork Chops

For another great pork recipe, using cream and mustard, inspired by Julia Child, see Cotes de Porc Sauce Nenette.

I have greatly simplified the following recipe for pork loin chops from its original complex detail in Time-Life Books.  My version is uncomplicated and literally explodes with unforgettable flavor!  Enjoy…

Cotes de Porc Braisees a la Moutarde  Yields: 4 servings.  This recipe is adapted from Foods of the World: The Cooking of Provincial France, M.F.K. Fisher and the Editors (New York: Time-Life Books, 1968).

4 center-cut, boneless pork loin chops, about 1 1/4″ thick

salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste  (Himalayan, pink, or Real Salt is critical for optimum health; an inexpensive, fine grind Himalayan salt is available at Costco.)

flour for dusting meat

2 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp oil  (Coconut or avocado oil is best, as olive oil is carcinogenic when heated to high temperatures.)

1 lg yellow onion sliced, about 2 c of 1/8″ slices

3 tbsp wine vinegar

3/4 c heavy cream

2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp lemon juice

Serve with brown rice  (My favorite is brown basmati rice; available at Trader Joe’s.)

  1. Heat butter and oil in a large, heavy skillet, over medium heat.  Wash pork chops and lightly pat dry; salt and pepper generously.  Dredge in flour, shaking off all excess.  Sautee in hot oil for 2 minutes on each side; do not overcook. Remove from pan; set aside.
  2. Add onions to pan, stirring in pan drippings well.  Sweat onions (cook until translucent).  Add vinegar, scraping the bottom of the pan; cook until most of moisture is gone.
  3. Add cream.  Stir well and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Place pork chops in onion mixture, coating well with onions/sauce.
  4. Cook until pork chops are hot; do not overcook.
  5. Take off heat; stir in mustard and lemon juice, mixing into the onions by moving around the chops with a spatula or spoon.  Adjust seasonings.
  6. Serve immediately with steamed rice and be wowed!