With all the hype about Meryl Streep's new movie, Julie & Julia (about famed chef, Julia Child), and the success of shows such as Bravo's Top Chef and Food Nework's Iron Chef, it's no wonder that food is on my mind! I've recently begun typing of the recipes of Nana, my amazing and adorable grandma, who I'm fortunate enough to live with at home. After a few years of—okay, more like ever since I've been able to type—her asking me to take the time to learn her dishes and write them down, I figured if not now, then when? You see, my grandma is not just a grandma who cooks because my father cannot (because he's actually great, especially on the grill), but because she loves to cook and because she's unbelievable at it. This woman is an old-school cook, one who makes the créme de la créme of all of the homemade favorites, the italian classics, the french treats. The woman just does it all. She can whip up anything from the most simple of ingredients, without any of those bullshit garnishes and herbs, to the most decadent of dishes. Her best include an out of this world chicken cutlet, spinach, and prosciutto combo, mean braised lamb shoulder chops, the most authentic baked ziti or meatballs and sausages (with tomato sauce made from scratch) you've tasted from here to Sicily, and tomato tarts. She even slaves in the kitchen for hours every two weeks to make homemade SOUP. Chicken, beef, or vegetable soup. From scratch. I have eaten her soup almost once a day since I was old enough to eat and hands down, with all of the amazing restaurants I've been in around the world, this soup is the best damn soup I've ever had in my life. But, even so, I couldn't name you a favorite dish if I tried. The only ingredient she always uses, without fail, is…love. Seriously, she would tell me time after time as a child that her food tastes so good because she not only loves to cook for people, but she loves the people she cooks for. I was always reminded to "add a pinch of love" with every meal. And, going through her cook book to type it up so I'll always have it, I realized just how serious she was about adding love. At the end of every recipe written in her half french, half broken english, is the phrase, "Serve with love," or simply, "Enjoy!" And it's the truth. Over the past few years, I've really started to enjoy cooking and creating my own delicacies from scratch (although they are almost always out of her cook book) and I noticed that nothing makes me happier than to cook for my friends, who at school, have even dubbed me "Chef Steph." I've gotten so into her recipes that I've decided to take this project a whole step further: Instead of just copying them, I'm going to actually publish a book for her on LuLu.Com, complete with all of her best recipes, photos of her dishes, and little stories about us cooking together. I can't wait until it's complete and I can give it to her because I cannot imagine how happy it will make her, knowing that her granddaughter is finally taking an interest in one of her true loves in life.
My grandma and I last week in Corsica:
Once I put everything together and try out each dish for myself, I'm going to post some of my favorite recipes for all of you to try! I am really not biased when I say you have not eaten until you've had Nana's cooking. xxxx and with a little love thrown in,
little monster
