Dining With Miss Lil: “Miss Irene’s Potato Rolls” (238 hits)
Posted on September 3, 2013 by Harlem World Magazine
By Lil Nickelson
Mrs Irene Nickelson
The late Mrs. Irene Nickelson, my ex husband’s grandmother lived to the ripe old age of 105 years old, and she made the best potato rolls from scratch. I tried them the first time I visited her home on the farm in Virginia, and I fell in love with them and I was not a bread lover before then. I was young and dumb back then because I didn’t ask her for the recipe. I just appreciated eating them whenever we visited her or when she came to NY to visit us. I assumed my sister in laws had the recipe, and when I asked for it years after she was gone I discovered that they didn’t get it either. How many of you have let family favorite dishes slip away with the loved one that made them when they passed on like us?
I know that they are made commercially, but it’s not the same. Too many stabilizers and preservatives are in them for me. For example, when I make chocolate cookies they contain only eight (8) ingredients. Turn to the back of most packages of chocolate chip cookies in the supermarket and count the number of ingredients, some of which you can’t even pronounce.
The Originals can be imitated, but they can’t be replaced. The commitment to fresh quality ingredients is the backbone to good cooking and good eats; it’s “the soul” of every culture and every ethnic group’s cuisine. As more American women entered the work force during the 1960s and 1970s food manufacturers via the wonderful world of advertising convinced us we didn’t have time to prepare nutritious meals for our families any more, and that buying their products would make our lives easier. For a while as a nation our life expectancy increased, but we have gotten fatter, and unhealthier than Grandma and Grandpa.
Chef Gerri Sarnataro, a chef instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education (“ICE”) reignited my liking of fresh baked breads when I worked there on a part time basis in the mid 1990s. I bonded with Gerri as she shared her memories of making breads, fresh pasta and marinara sauce or “gravy” at home during her youth growing up here in NY. I have taken bread baking, fresh pasta making and assorted one session seafood cooking classes with her at ICE. Gerri even owns her own Italian cooking school, Cucina della Terra, in Umbria, Italy (www.cucinadellaterra.com). I can’t wait until my finances get right again so that I can visit, and cook with her for a week while I expand on my knowledge and love of regional Italian food and wine traditions of Umbria.
Go to the best restaurants, pastry shops, food trucks, diners, drive ins and dives across this world and you will note that they all have one thing in common. They have a very loyal customer base because they are taking food from its rawest state to where they want it. They are mainly depending on local ingredients to make their magic. And that’s what anybody that wants to eat healthy has to do as well; organize our lives and homes so that we can get back to the basics and embrace cooking from scratch. I dare you to try it for a month, and write to me to tell me and my readers of your experience.
To start you off here’s my eight (8) ingredient recipe for my Mocha Cookies:
Mocha Cookies
Time: 6 – 8 minutes (for 20 to 24 cookies)
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line two (2) cookie sheets with parchment paper or silipat pads or greased aluminum foil. Using a medium size bowl and big spoon (or an electric mixer), beat until light:
1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
Beat in:
1 large egg
Mix in until just combined:
1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I use Scharffen Berger or Ghirardelli brands)
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Using a tablespoon melon (or ice cream) scooper drop dough 3 inches apart onto the sheets. Bake on middle oven rack 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks to cool.
Variation for you nut lovers is to stir in a 9th ingredient (1/3 cup of walnuts) at the end before drop the dough.
Does anyone have a great recipe for potato rolls they don’t mind sharing? If you do please contact me; I would greatly appreciate it.
