Posted by
matricook on Tuesday, October 17, 2006 1:09:48 AM
Family Dinners
Cooking, Kids, Culture, Current Events & Common Sense
Family dinners are generally cacaphonous affairs. Everyone talks
at once, Despite the manners the children have been carefully taught,
they begin eating the moment they see food. If people actually wait
for everyone to be seated and for grace to be said, it is in another
universe than the one we inhabit. There are generally grandparents,
friends, kids’ friends at the table, in addition to the essential family. This
is a good thing; it makes the adults and the children better behaved
than they might be without witnesses!
The shape and tenor of the conversation depends on which
grandparents are present, the radical Lefties or the conservative
Republicans. If aunts and uncles are at the table, it could get
dicey. As the children became teens, everyone had an opinion about
what they should and should not be allowed to do. “Well in my day…..”
and so it went. The teen-agers got annoyed, clammed-up, left the
table, came back for dessert, etc. etc. Later they complained that
“they (granddparents) aren’t our parents. Don’t listen to them!” In
the meantime, they were driving our cars without our knowledge, cutting
school, drinking kegs and kegs of beer, doing no homework, all under
our watchful eyes! And all the while, we thought we are strict and
observant parents. How naïve we were.
But they survived, for which we are eternally grateful, and so did
we. They are each fabulous adults and parents. We began as a family
of five, two parents, three children. In addition were two sets of
grandparents, three siblings collectively, aunts, uncles, cousins,
etc. Now we are an essential grouping of fifteen; there are three
spouses and eight grandchildren, including a set of twins, two
great-grandmothers and assorted aunts and uncles and cousins! Each and
every one of them is fabulous, spectacular, brilliant, amazing,
especially the little ones. It’s true! And there is another baby on the
way! Humankind improves itself generation after generation, if only our
universities don’t get in the way.
So like all families, the culture of the age intrudes upon each one
of us. It collides with who we were as children and takes over as we
parent. If we are lucky, we can ignore the politics that shape our
era. Many of us actually are that lucky. But we cannot escape the
culture. It runs over most of us, even the Amish. None of us can
avoid, nor do we even want to, the speed of technology, the information
age in which we are assaulted by news from around the world twenty-four
hours a day, the manner in which we are all connected by the internet.
It is exciting, as all-consuming and addictive as the most dangerous
and/or therapeutic of drugs. It informs, it teaches, it corrupts, it
frightens, it entertains. One must learn when to stop being led by
it. So to family dinners we retreat, in joy and gluttony. As a family
cohesive, it works.
Tonight is chile night. Here’s my recipe. It’s taken years to
perfect it. It’s a crowd-pleaser. The little kids might not like it.
Make them cheese sandwiches.
Chile
3 – 5 lb. Tri-Tip or brisket – Preheat oven to 275. Lay meat on sheet
of heavy foil. Sprinkle with chile powder, cover with sliced onions
and 5 or 6 halved jalapenos. Seal tightly; it may take two sheets to
insure no leakage of juice. (Or place in heavy pan with heavy lid.
Cover pan with foil, then lid to insure no juisces escape).
Cook 3 -4 hours in convection oven; longer for regular heat. The
meat should be very tender and almost fall apart. Shred and reserve.
Strain and save juice, remove fat. This will be added to chile.
3 - 5 lb. Pork butt roast – - Wrap roast in heavy foil; seal
tightly. Roast 3-4 hours at 275 in convection oven, longer for regular
heat, until meat is very tender and cuts into chunks easily. Alternate
method: place in heavy pan with lid. Roast 12 hours at 175. Put in
at night. Let cook overnight. Save any juices, remove fat and reserve.
Pinto Beans – Rinse 1 lb. Beans; cover with 10 C. water; add one brown
onion, chopped and 2 tbl. Butter. Bring to a boil, lower heat and
simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Do not stir. Add 1 tbl. Salt and 2 sprigs of
epazote; simmer for another 30 minutes. Set aside, reserving all
liquid.
For Chile
8 best-quality tomatoes (hot-house or vine-ripened), peeled and chopped
3 C. water
2 large brown onions, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
6 serrano chiles, seeded and chopped
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
Simmer the tomatoes, onion, celery, chiles, salt & pepper in the 3
C. water 30 min. covered and another 30 minutes uncovered. Meanwhile,
in a large, heavy pan, saute in 2 tbl. Butter and 4 tbl. Olive oil:
2 brown onions, chopped
4 poblano (pasilla) chiles, seeded and chopped
8 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
Add 2 tbl. Flour and blend well.
Add: 10 tbl. Chile powder (ancho, chipolte, etc.)
4 bay leaves
2 tbl. Salt
2 tbl. Dark brown sugar
2 tbl. Oregano
2 tbl. Red wine vinegar
Add the tomato sauce. Cover and simmer for 2 hours. Then add:
Reserved cooked meat
2 c. coarsely chopped black olives
1 C. jack cheese, grated
Simmer for another 45 minutes. Add the cooked pinto beans.
Rice: 3 C. brown rice
1 C. wild rice
3 tbl. Butter
2 tsp. salt (1/2 tsp. per cup of rice)
Bring 8 C. water with salt and 3 tbl. butter to a boil. Add rice;
when water returns to a boil, lower heat to simmer and cook 45 minutes.
Serve the chile on rice. Garnish with chopped red onions, sour cream,
freshly grated cheddar cheese and lime wedges. Can also be served
without rice, on fresh tortillas with onions, cheese, sour cream and
lime.