Lauren McKinney is a foodie who likes a challenge. Some people might think having a vegetarian staying with them for the summer would be an inconvenience. Lauren saw it as an opportunity to work on her vegetable dishes. (She’s also just one of those really good-hearted people who open their homes to guests and in this case, a church intern). Perched on a wooden bench in her kitchen, I watched Lauren, and her new “kitchen assistant” Hannah, work on a dandelion salad to accompany our meal of Country Captain (chicken) followed by a dessert of strawberry shortcake, made with biscuits. Want another reason to invite a vegetarian to spend a summer with your family? Having Hannah around helped the family use up their allotment from the local CSA. Almost a locavore, (she likes coffee, lemons and ginger too much), Lauren and her family are big supporters of CSAs and buy their produce from Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-Op.
From L to R: Hannah, Will, John, Jack, Lauren
Lauren and Hannah used recipes passed down through generations. Sitting on the floor of the dining room is a crate of old family recipes, filled with books and small boxes of recipe cards. Lauren’s grandfather and father were army officers so the family moved around a lot collecting recipes along the way. Lauren stored the recipes in the crate. Sorting through it all, Lauren found 5 different French dressing and 4 different pineapple cake recipes from her grandmother. The Country Captain and Strawberry Shortcake Biscuit recipes came from Lauren’s maternal grandmother, Genevieve Carne, who lived to be 102 years old. Lauren remembers her grandmother making the strawberry shortcake recipe on special occasions and when company would come over.
An epicure with a PhD in English, Lauren writes the Dream Kitchen blog. One afternoon, while working at Moore College of Art, her co-worker, Cecily Kelloggsaid she should start a blog and thus Dream Kitchen was born. In the beginning, Lauren wrote about her life. Food is one of her passions so the writing turned into a food blog. Lauren wrote a memoir as part of her MFA in Creative Nonfiction at Goucher College and is in the process of looking for an agent. Called The Last Curtsy: A Memoir of an Uncommon Girlhood, it’s a coming of age story framed by etiquette and recipes. Each chapter has a quote from Emily Post and recipes from her mother or grandmother.
Earning the Cooking Badge during Girl Scouts started Lauren on the culinary path. For Christmas each year her mother gave her a subscription to Gourmet Magazine and the knowledge began to add up. Between Junior and Senior year of college, she lived in London and began cooking with her flatmates. However, it was living in Philadelphia in the 1980s that she began to focus more on food. She and her roommates would go to Reading Terminal Market, buy ingredients and then cook up lots of food for parties. It was then that she realized she liked the act of cooking. “You can make great things and you don’t have to keep them around forever, like paintings,” she said. “It’s an art that’s expendable, something to be shared with people.”
Lauren asks a lot of questions when she eats, not because she’s picky, but because she has a natural curiosity about food. This love of food has spread to those around her. “I’ve turned my husband into a foodie and my kids even a little bit,” she said. Lauren met her husband John, a software engineer, while teaching at Eastern Mennonite University. Zucchini pizza was the first meal she made for John. Distracted, she scorched the cookbook. In their Swarthmore home, the book now sits on a shelf next to BBQ Secrets, PA Breweries, the Gourmet Today Cookbook and License to Grill. Her sons, Jack, 10, and Will, 8, are young food lovers and enjoyed watching Chef Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution television show. They even started inventing their own recipes (see Will’s Soft Biscuits and Jack’s Thyme Cracker recipes below).
Lauren believes in a fresh and relaxed way of cooking, avoids fussy dishes and tends to be more free-form. Her Country Captain was a little spicy and a little sweet. Golden-brown, plump chicken rested on perfectly cooked basmati rice. The savory sauce had a tomato base with a trace of raisins and a slight edgy bite from the jalapeños. I ate a modest portion, trying to show some restraint at the dinner table.
For dessert, sweet strawberries were served on top of homemade biscuits and lavishly garnished with whipped cream made from scratch with heaving whipping cream, sugar and a little triple sec which enhanced the flavor of the fruit. I’ve never eaten strawberry shortcake made with biscuits and it was a pleasant surprise. The biscuits had a delicate crunch to the crust which encased a soft interior. They weren’t too sugary which contrasted the toothsome fruit and whipped cream. I realized that past strawberry shortcakes tended to be layers of sweet upon sweet whereas this version provided more of a distinction between the taste and texture of the fruit versus the biscuit versus the whipped cream, making me appreciate each layer even more.
Speaking of appreciation, if you ever get a chance to eat dinner with Lauren and her family, take them up on it. My family used to fight at the table and when I was in grade school, I would imagine dinnertime with other families. Supper at Lauren’s house is how I always envisioned the ideal family dinner. Everyone gathered around a beautifully set dining room table, in a room filled with gorgeous hand-made wooden furniture crafted by John’s dad. Conversation was light, yet interesting and everyone was nice without being boring. It inspired me that one day I might have my own happy family dinners. (Thanks Lauren for the awesome chicken, sweet strawberries and also for being such a great role model).
Lessons Learned:
–Dandelion greens are delicious! I had no idea they would taste so good. I assumed it’s partially due to John’s vinaigrette talents, and partly due to the fact that they tasted like sunshine.
–It’s never too early to encourage kids to be foodies. Jack and Will are on their way to becoming great chefs.
–I applaud Lauren’s family for their pre-dinner grace. Without knowing my religious preferences, they chose a non-denominational prayer that was spiritual, thankful and inclusive. I am continually grateful to those who teach and practice acceptance.
– I normally procrastinate while writing up blog postings for Amiable Life, but Lauren’s post took an extra long time to write, mostly because it was incredibly intimidating to know that it would be read by an English professor/author. I cleaned my house instead of writing the post. For those of you that know me, that tells you just how talented Lauren is and how intimidated I was.
Country Captain Recipe
Note: When Lauren makes the recipe, she increases the ingredients by 1 ½ times. This recipe is adapted from James Beard’s American Cookery © 1972. He got it from Cecily Brownstone who was the NY Times food writer in the 1960s. Note that the jalepenos were Lauren’s addition to the recipe.
Ingredients:
1 frying chicken (about 2 ½ lbs)—Lauren recommends the Bell & Evans chicken
¼ c flour
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
4 Tbs butter
1 clove garlic crushed
1 ½ tsp curry powder
½ tsp dried thyme
½ large jalapeño pepper, chopped with seeds removed (approx 1 Tbs)
1 large green pepper, chopped
1 medium white onion, chopped
1 can (1 lb) stewed tomatoes
3 Tbs dried currants – Lauren used dark raisins (washed and drained)
A handful of blanched toasted almonds (for garnish)
Served over basmati rice
Directions:
Coat chicken with mix of flour, salt and pepper
Heat butter in large skillet
Brown the chicken
Remove chicken and add onion, jalapeño, green pepper, garlic, curry powder and thyme to skillet
Stir over low heat to loosen the browned particles
Add stewed tomatoes including the liquid
Return chicken to skillet, skin side up
Cover and cook slowly on medium/low heat until tender (20-30 minutes)
Stir currants (raisins) into sauce
Serve accompanied with almonds
Note: after chicken is browned and sauce is made, dish may be baked, covered in 325 degree oven until tender (45 minutes)
Mammy’s Baking Powder Biscuits
Note: When Lauren makes the recipe, she increases the ingredients by 1 ½ times. This recipe is adapted from the Southern Cook Book © 1938
Ingredients:
2 c flour
4 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
2 Tbs shortening (Lauren uses butter instead and advises that the butter should be really chilled)
½ c milk (Lauren uses skim milk)
Directions:
Sift dry ingredients together
Work in shortening with fingertips
Add milk slowly stirring the batter until it is smooth. Lauren uses a fork to combine the milk with the flour and butter because she believes the fork helps lift the milk into the flour. If the dough looks too dry, add more milk. Lauren added an extra ¼ cup of milk and mixed it in.
Roll the dough on a floured surface until it is ½ inch thick. She used a French Rolling pin. (I’m not sure how it impacts the quality of the dough, but it just looked so cool!)
Cut with circular cookie cutter (or drinking glass) and place on greased cookie sheet
Bake in hot 450 degree oven for 15 minutes
If using for strawberry shortcake: cut each biscuit in half, layer with strawberries and whipped cream
Will’s Soft Biscuit Recipe
Use the leftover dough from Mammy’s Baking Powder Biscuits.
Add a little more milk to the recipe
Microwave it for 23 seconds
It should taste similar to Mammy’s version, but the finished biscuit will be softer and chewy
Jack’s Thyme Crackers
Cut up a piece of multigrain bread into 2 inch squares (Jack said you can use any type of bread)
Sprinkle on some Thyme and Pepper
Layer a small piece of pepper jack cheese on top
Microwave for 15 seconds
Amiable Life wants to interview you. Yes, you! If you have a story and recipe to share, email me at amiablelife@gmail.com.
