Author: Isabel Montclaire

One time when I was house-sitting, my friend gave me permission to look in the kitchen cupboards and help myself to the food there. So I did that. A clear, crispy cellophane bag of dried garbanzo beans with a pretty label that said “Rancho Gordo, Napa, California,” caught my eye. They were larger and a deeper color than the garbanzo beans I usually bought at the grocery store.

I pressure cooked them for twenty-two minutes in my Instant Pot and to my surprise, they had a much richer flavor and a firmer texture than the store bought garbanzo beans. I then made my all-time favorite hummus recipe named “Easy Hummus – Better than Store Bought”, created by Inspired Cooking; you can look it up on the internet. It was more flavorful than ever before. Then I had one of those “ah-ha” moments where life was just . . . good. I felt like a prospector who had just found gold. I felt excited, joyful and nourished.

Now I was curious. Who is this Rancho Gordo? I darted to their website and learned they specialize in growing heirloom beans. I read the description: “Heirloom beans tend to have a lower yield and can be much more difficult to grow but the payoff is in the unique flavors that you won’t find with bland commodity beans.” Ah-ha! That’s it! Even a humble garbanzo bean can explode with flavor. This made me starkly aware about how much of food’s essence has been sacrificed in the name of large scale farming. Over the years, I have heard folks who are in their 80’s or 90’s express in dismay how bland the food is nowadays as compared to what they remembered when they were younger.

I moseyed around on the website and viewed the colorful pictures and vivid descriptions with delight. Most of the beans I had never seen in a grocery store, like King City Pink, Santa Maria Pinquito, Eye of the Goat, Good Mother Stallard, Whipple. I was amazed, there are forty in all, some so popular there is a waiting list. A bean with a subtle chocolate and coffee flavor named Rio Zape – wow! A humble dish like refried beans could become a festive, special occasion treat when made with those. The recipe is on their website – www.ranchogordo.com. There’s also a waiting list for the “Bean of the Month Club”. Yes, you read that right and I put my name on that list. When you join, you get rare beans that are limited in production.

Even a humble staple ingredient like a garbanzo bean can go from ordinary to extraordinary in just one quick click on their website.

Recently, the world witnessed the mother of all parties – the royal fanfare of Queen Elizabeth’s platinum celebration. She has been on the throne for seventy years – such a spectacular display of pomp and circumstance! This led me to wonder which products, especially food, have received the Queen’s “Royal Warrant of Appointment” over time. This is a highly coveted award given to companies who regularly supply goods to HRM the Queen and her households. A company can then proudly display this prestigious appointment on their products with the Queen’s logo of the British Royal Coat of Arms. This award has been ongoing since the 15^th century. Here are some of the foods that have been granted the Queen’s Royal Warrant of Appointment:

Twinings of London: Of course, the Queen would grant a royal warrant to a tea company. Her favorites are English Breakfast and Earl Grey. Queen Victoria stamped her seal of approval on Twinings in 1837.

Cadbury: This company is known for their infamous chocolate Easter eggs and Dairy Milk bars. Rumor has it that they produce a unique line of dark chocolates for the royal family every Christmas. They were granted this award in 1955

Heinz: They received the HRM approval in 1951, most likely due their Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce.

McIlhenny: The family-owned company makes the world famous hot pepper sauce. Tabasco arrived in the UK in 1874 and the Queen granted the honor in 2009.

Schweppes: Founded in the UK in 1792, it was granted a Royal Warrant of Appointment in 1836. They are well known for their tonic water and their lemon and lime natural mineral water.

Maldon: I wrote about this sea salt in a recent column titled “The Queen’s Salt”. The 130 year old company received the warrant in 2012, two years after the Queen visited their salt works in Essex.

Walkers: The Scottish company received the stamp of approval for their shortbread cookies in 2017. Pair them with Twinings Tea for a delicious afternoon pick-me-up.

Carrs: This manufacturer is well known for their Table Water Crackers (what the heck is table water anyway???) They are perfect with cheese because they don’t compete with the flavor. The company received the award in 1841.

Aside from food products, I was surprised to see Yardley London soap on the royal’s list because I’ve seen it at the Dollar Store. When I mentioned this to my friend Linda, she exclaimed “I wonder if the Queen knows it’s only a dollar! This just goes to show that you can live like royalty no matter how much money you have. Curious to know which other products have received the Royal Warrant? Check out www.royalwarrant.org/directory.

I’m always thinking of ways to simplify a recipe, but not change it so much that it becomes an alien to its original character. It’s usually easy to eliminate or consolidate steps and dial back the number of ingredients and still have it turn out much the same. It may take me a few tries to get it right, but that’s half the fun! I also try to minimize the number of dishes to wash. Most of the time my revised creation is as good, or almost as good, as the original version.

I usually share this fun discovery with my friend Anna. She has a four year old daughter who loves to bake with her mother. One day I had extra bananas so I was inspired to create something that Anna and her daughter could bake together. I modified a banana bread recipe by substituting unsweetened applesauce for the refined sugar and tweaking a few other things. You only use one mixing bowl, some measuring cups and spoons, a spatula or wooden spoon to mix.

Banana Bread
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
⅓ cup melted butter or oil (I use grapeseed or rice bran oil when I can find it)
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Mash the bananas with a fork until most of the lumps have disappeared. Add the applesauce, egg, oil or butter and vanilla, mix well. Add the flour, and then sprinkle the baking soda and salt evenly over the top. Mix well and put into an oiled loaf pan or a muffin tin. The deeper the loaf pan, the longer it will take to bake. Bake at 350⁰ for 30-40 minutes until a knife inserted comes out clean.

If you use frozen bananas, they will soften when thawed and become much easier to mash. Be sure to peel them before freezing. The price of pure vanilla extract has escalated recently, but some of the imitation vanillas are surprisingly good. Vanillin – the name for imitation vanilla – while synthetic, is identical on the molecular level to real vanilla, and so tastes the same. In a recent vanilla tasting contest conducted by Cook’s Illustrated, Baker’s Imitation Vanilla Flavor won at about ⅓ the cost of real vanilla and actually has a bolder vanilla flavor.

If you have a sweet tooth like Anna’s daughter, add raisins or diced figs or prunes or even chocolate chips or chunks and nuts. Make it tasty and yummy to your liking. Taking the time to modify a recipe is FUN! Play a little, mix and match ingredients, and develop a unique to you creation. I like to call this joyful and creative approach to baking and cooking “un-recipes”!

Occasionally time gets away, and you just don’t know what to eat in such a limited amount of time. Consider creating a repertoire of recipes that you can whip up on a moment’s notice on those hectic days. I have a recipe box called “SOS Recipes” that contains recipes written on index cards (I guess I’m old fashioned). I can make a meal on the fly in less than thirty minutes, including the cleanup time. These are not gourmet meals but have a nourishing and comfort food feel. It’s okay to dial back expectations about what dinner is.

I keep a list of all the ingredients necessary to make the SOS Recipes on hand, referred to as a “Master Ingredients List”. My pantry is always filled with these items. Most of these recipes don’t have specific measurements; they are just combinations of ingredients. I call these “un-recipes”, a recipe used as a guide rather than a formula. Relying on your senses versus measuring cups and spoons saves a lot of time and is amazingly accurate.

These recipes come to your rescue whether you are home or on your way home and trying to figure out what’s for dinner.  They come in handy when unexpected events arise and you don’t have the time or energy to assemble what you already had planned for dinner. Knowing you can make a quick, warm meal will deter you from wolfing down freezer food or standing in front of the fridge eating ice cream or cheese whiz on a cracker! You can master these recipes so that preparing them becomes second nature, almost automatic because you have memorized most of them.

A favorite recipe in my “SOS Recipe Box” is Ramen Egg Drop Soup:

Ramen noodles
Sesame oil
Braggs amino acids or soy sauce
Broth powder or concentrate
Egg
Green onions

Cook the noodles, drain but save some of the water, enough to make a soup. Put it back on the stove, add the broth concentrate or powder, then a beaten egg and stir. Add in a splash of the oil, and the amino acids or soy sauce. Top with green onion (you can use them frozen as mentioned in a recent column).

These SOS home cooked meals that are simple and easy to make create a deep sense of physical well-being. It’s pure pleasure to eat well, especially when feeling hurried, jangled, or out of sorts. You can stir up something comforting to eat and immediately feel settled.

Everyone has chaotic days or weeks. Knowing you can make dinner when under stressful circumstances provides comfort. Do you have a favorite SOS recipe? If so, I’d love to share it with our readers.

A family recipe handed down for generations is truly a happy thing to treasure. These recipes are tried and true, having proven they can withstand the test of time because they are sooooo good. When I was little, I often visited my grandmother and the first thing I did was to make a beeline for the round pink glass cookie jar in the kitchen. It was always filled with sugar cookies, never any other kind, but they were sweet and crisp and topped with big crunchy sugar crystals. I have her recipe, handwritten in cursive on lined paper. The recipe has aged and yellowed but it still warms my heart and then I recall the joyful memories of my visits there. I keep a notebook of recipes handwritten by my friends and relatives and it is one of my most favorite possessions.

Another favorite recipe is from my Aunt Bee who had a quaint small restaurant with a limited menu but everything was homemade. Working there was my first job and the recipe was a secret until her death. Now I have it and I’m giving it to you! This is a one-pot meal so you don’t have to spend precious time cleaning up.

Mrs. B’s Special

1 pound ground beef
1 onion chopped
1 cup chopped celery
½ cup green pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
3-4 cloves garlic or heaping teaspoon garlic powder
½ tsp dry mustard
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup ketchup
8 oz tomato sauce
Beef bouillon

Cook the ground beef in a pot big enough to hold all the ingredients. Remove and drain the beef after it is browned. Add olive oil and sauté all the vegetables until they are soft. Add remaining ingredients including beef and simmer for 10-15 minutes, diluting with beef broth to your desired thickness. Serve over toasted hamburger buns.  Squirt some yellow mustard on the top, if you like.

I keep green peppers frozen in halves so those are always on hand, also beef bouillon concentrate. You can substitute garlic salt for the garlic and the salt. One time I was out of ketchup so I used tomato paste and brown sugar. This is one recipe you can play around with to make it your own. You can easily double the recipe. Once I made it for a gathering of 18 people and it was delicious and satisfying.

Do you have a favorite heirloom recipe? If so, consider writing it down and giving it as a present to someone. Who knows, maybe your recipe will be unforgettable and give joy and nourishment to people down the road for many generations to come. I’d love to hear about yours!

I love the constant procession of the little joyful things in life, those small sweet moments that could quietly slip by unnoticed, if you weren’t paying attention. Because they are fleeting, we can sometimes disregard them as being insignificant. But I like to remind myself that “big is just a whole bunch of little”, then I can be alert and watching for these lovely small things that make such a big contribution to life. When I was young, I remember lying awake just after having gone to bed and been aware of myself as being infinitely small and infinitely big all at the same time so I have been aware that big things are made of lots of little things.

This concept holds true in your cooking, too. Sometimes the addition of just one tiny flavor can kick your creations up a notch or even two. They can go from good to extraordinary in just one small sprinkle. I call these powerful small additions “flavor bursts”.

One such flavor burst is chopped green onions. They are so versatile and just a few can add a punch of flavor and texture to many dishes, such as baked potatoes or scrambled eggs with cheese. But how often do you keep fresh green onions in the fridge? My friend Denise recently told me that they can be chopped and frozen, so you can have them on hand. I decided to freeze some to see how well this works. I bought a few bunches of green onions, chopped them and spread them out on a small cookie sheet (to keep them from sticking in one big lump), then popped them in the freezer. Once they were frozen, I put them into an airtight freezer container. I then took out a spoonful and they maintained their color and flavor. Some of their crisp texture was lost but I made a tuna salad with dill weed and capers and the green onions were a wonderful addition to the overall flavor.

You can even freeze lemon and lime juice, heavy cream, and chicken and beef broth. Freeze these in ice cube trays and then store the cubes in airtight containers. This way, you can use just a small amount at a time. Last year, I bought a half gallon of organic cream on sale after the holidays and froze it. It lasted almost a year. I do the same thing for lemon and lime juice; I buy the whole fruits in the winter when they are inexpensive and then make the juice and freeze it.

Just as these as small moments bring so much joy to my life, these small and mighty frozen flavor bursts can add zing to your cooking as well – so delightful!!!

We have been so isolated these past two years and missing the satisfying connection that face-to-face contact can bring. When we meet in person with another, we use all our senses to communicate. We can see that person’s body language which accounts for a large part of communication. Now that many of us are not wearing masks we can see smiles and give hugs again. Isn’t that refreshing?

It’s always a welcome event when I hear that a VIP is coming, which can also mean a “Visitor-in-Person”. What do you do when you want to welcome your guest with a delicious treat but are unprepared for their visit? You could dump a few store bought cookies on a plate and call it a day. But wouldn’t it be so much more gratifying if you surprised them with something special? Then when your guest walks in, you can greet them with a smile and the irresistible aroma of a baked good in the oven. This is a way to convey how much you appreciate their presence.

I have a go-to recipe for a chocolate cake that gets rave views from everyone who eats it. You can whip it up without making a special trip to the store, if your larder is well-stocked. This recipe was developed during World War II when eggs and oils were in short supply, but mayonnaise was readily available which is mostly oil and eggs.

Chocolate Cake

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½  cup cocoa, (Dutch processed preferred – makes it taste more chocolaty)
2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped fine
1 cup hot coffee
⅔ cup mayonnaise (I like Best Foods)
1 tbsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350⁰.  Grease an eight inch square baking dish. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine cocoa and chocolate; pour hot coffee over cocoa mixture and whisk until smooth; let cool slightly. Whisk in mayonnaise, vanilla. Stir flour into mixture until combined. Scrape batter into the pan, bake 30-35 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out with few crumbs. Let cool. Dust with confectioners’ sugar. This cake doesn’t need frosting!

One of my favorite memories about this cake is making it for my son, then a hungry teenager. I usually kept aerosol whipped cream in the fridge. I shot little dabs on the pieces of cake, then sprinkled the whipped cream with cocoa powder and minced candied ginger. William then took the can, tipped his head back and with glee, sprayed the whipped cream in his mouth. In person visits are so lovely, especially when silly little spontaneous moments like these happen.

While I was staying at the monastery, I made sourdough bread. My friend Rachel had recently learned how to bake with a sourdough and sent me beautiful pictures of her golden brown artisan style loaves, of the kind seen in a fancy bakery. I was inspired.

My first task was to make a sourdough starter. My first two tries were unsuccessful and produced a raunchy smelling mass that couldn’t possibly make a fragrant loaf of bread. Fortunately, to my rescue, came a woman who had some starter and was willing to share. Poof! That was easy.

I followed her instructions about how to feed it and eagerly anticipated my first loaf of sourdough bread. Watching it transform from sleeping beauty to this frothy and bubbly thing was very exciting. It looked like a living being as it bubbled away to twice its size. I photographed it like it was a new baby and sent the image to a few friends. I then proceeded to make my first loaf, using rye flour. The bread turned out surprisingly well for a first try and it was difficult to refrain from devouring the whole loaf all at once. The irresistible aroma of hot baked bread had definitely whetted my appetite.

The next day, I set about to make another loaf, this time with whole wheat flour. The sourdough starter, once fed takes 4-5 hours to become active enough to make a good loaf of bread. However, when I calculated the amount of time required from start to finish, it couldn’t happen that day due to time constraints.

The solution! Coax the starter to hurry up. The warmer the temperature, the faster the starter will activate. The monastery had a “proofing box”, an appliance that heats air from 72⁰ to 120⁰ so a person can accelerate the speed of the rise. I cranked it up to 120⁰, fed the starter, and went on to do other things.

I checked it about an hour later. Nothing happened. Not one bubble, not even a little tiny one. After that, I peered at the starter with increasing frequency, each time issuing a powerful command “Hurry up! Can’t you see I’m pressed for time?” But noooo, it just wasn’t having it, no matter how much I demanded performance. Judging it for not accommodating my schedule didn’t work either. I finally gave up after six hours. I bombed it. Then I nonchalantly washed the starter down the drain after giving it a good scolding. Oh well.

Impatience and forcing my will on the starter killed it. Sometimes things have to be given the freedom and space to gently unfold on their own sweet time, especially sourdough bread.

While staying at a Buddhist monastery recently, I was told that the Abbott (the head of the monastery) liked pizza. So I set about to learn how to make pizza during my month long visit there. Fortunately, I had access to a state-of-the-art kitchen and everything necessary to do this task: a pizza stone, a peel, a proofing box, a Kitchen Aid mixer and a commercial gas range that could get hot enough to make a crispy crust. Also in the kitchen were six 30-something aspiring monks who might be able to assist me.

I connected with one in particular, a handsome young lad named Artem, who had been at the monastery for several months. We decided to undertake this project together and since neither one of us had any prior pizza making experience, we developed a methodical joint approach. I researched and ordered different kinds of flour: pizza, bread, artisan, and several kinds of all purpose. We watched YouTube videos; one had 20 million views.

For our first try, we diligently followed the instructions on the back of the pizza flour bag: combine the ingredients, mix together lightly, and stick the dough in the fridge for 24 hours. The dough was like a rubber band that would always pull back no matter how far we stretched it. The result was a big lump. On our second try, we followed the instructions in the YouTube video.  We made two different pizzas exactly as instructed, but the result was a far cry from the perfect pizza. Oh-oh, another big, thick wad. Darn! Where on earth did we do wrong even though we tried our best and followed the instructions?

My time at the monastery was up and I was quite disappointed that I was unable to make perfect pizza for the Abbott. On my way home, I reflected on the experience. Our desired outcome did not happen but the journey along the way was immensely gratifying. We had so much laugher and fun playing with the dough. Here we were, confident that we would reach our goal of making a perfect pizza and then – we didn’t. On the surface, it seemed that our best efforts failed. But did they?

On the way out, I said goodbye to the Abbot. I told him that I gave pizza making my best shot, but failed, and I tried to explain why. He invited me back and underneath a very kind and gentle smile said “I’ll give you a second chance on the pizza”. Even though the end result was not a perfect pizza, the sharing of joy, heart, and connection with others was splendid. What could be better?

Life. I love the unpredictably of it, especially when it is full of pleasant surprises, that is. Surprises keep it interesting and fun! A couple of weeks ago, I was unexpectedly invited to accompany a friend on a trip to a Buddhist monastery in southern California. That was certainly not on my agenda and would definitely be a new experience.

The day after our arrival, we attended the Sunday service and pot luck provided by the congregation mostly of Thai people. I was amazed at the vivid display of foods: noodles, roasted vegetables, salads, rice, meat, fruit, fancy pastries, breads, and condiments and so on. Imagine 60 or maybe 70 dishes spread out on 50 foot long table. Each dish was thoughtfully prepared and was a visual feast as well as a culinary one. I’ve never seen anything so . . . over the top of the top. I was beyond impressed by the explosion of creativity and outpouring of loving generosity from the community.

While I was waiting my turn in line, I started a conversation with another guest. She proudly told me about her “Burmese Rice”, a recipe that had been in her family for many generations. I told her how taken aback I was about the display of carefully prepared foods. I asked her “What is different about this than, say, an elaborate buffet at a nice restaurant, club, cruise, or casino?” I loved her sense of humor. She replied “No cheat and heat here”.

Over the next few days, I contemplated that question and I believe I have the answer. Love. Love was definitely the common ingredient. The food was filled to the brim with the spirit of love, almost as if the food absorbed it, much like a sponge would. We don’t tend to think of “love” as being an ingredient, because it is intangible and cannot be measured. For instance my friend Rachel, who is learning how to bake with sourdough starter, said that heat is a key ingredient in the fermentation process. And although heat is invisible, the effects it creates are tangible and real. In the case of sourdough starter, warmth makes lots of bubbles that cause the starter to expand and come to life.

While I was in the library at the monastery, I read these quotes, attributed to Buddha: “If anything is worth doing, do it with all your heart”. And, “When you like a flower, you just pluck it. When you love a flower, you water it daily.” Love is abundant, powerful, not subject to food inflation and can be used freely in big amounts. Go for it!