Ms Cook’s Table

Earlier this week, I scurried over to check on my Father after an entanglement with the leash of his zealous dog and he grinned boyishly. As I narrowed my eyes, instead of the white hair that now crowns his handsome face, I could see him as a boy with a thatch of blond. He had taken great precaution and tried to put safety first that day, but sustained a hard fall on a concrete slab. “It shivered me timbers,” he said.

Popeye lingo has been a favorite of mine ever since I trusted in magical spinach – such phraseology takes the edge off the exacting tasks of everyday life. The pirate slang suggests the wooden support frames of a sailing ship that were lifted up and pounded down onto a rough and stormy ocean. Though initially, surprise and fear may reign, any of us can choose to envision a better way to frame such a picture. That is, when the going gets tough, the tough retell the story to reflect a better future.

Coincidentally, the story of that conviction too reminds me of my Father as he related the elements of a sermon he heard as a boy in Mississippi. Dr. W.B. Selah metaphorically vocalized a distinction between the picture and the frame of life. Through decades of storytelling, the idea resonates for me with validity. Faced with tribulation, the manner in which we frame the picture or occurrence can make generational differences. How to recover after the death of one so dear – how to establish a new identity after a move – how to rebuild financial stability when all is lost or more to the point, how to create anew after a flood?

The answer shows up in the manner we frame the picture. My farmers are in the business this very week of designing such a frame. For years now, they nourished the soil and planted the seed. During the weekend, nature presented an onerous new picture. Years of careful cultivation swept away in a torrent. Stunning really, how such a challenge could present itself to folks who are tender stewards of the land. Yet, who better to reframe a picture for the future than those who are dedicated to feeding people whole food?

I know the new picture will be solidly framed with value and decoratively enhanced in wisdom. In fact they’ll tell you, through the sting of loss – beautiful strawberries are almost ready for market.

• In 1963 when five black students were refused church entry by ushers, Dr. Selah resigned in the pulpit of Dalton’s boyhood church (Galloway Methodist in Jackson, Mississippi). He stated: “Either he (Selah) would be forced to deny the Gospel he was called to preach or he must tender his resignation,” (which he did that very Sunday).

Shiver Me Spring Salad

Fresh strawberries – topped and sliced
Seasonal greens – I planted spinach, arugula and romaine in March and harvested this week
Spring Onions – chopped
Toasted Pecans – chopped

Toss ingredients in the proportions of your choice with a balsamic vinaigrette.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

¼ cup of balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of chopped garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
¾ cup of olive oil
Combine in a jar and shake until well mixed.

I love to make lists. While in the 7th grade, I filled a spiral notebook with the titles and starlets of every movie that I saw that year. Next, I chose to keep a numbered description of the outfits worn for 365 consecutive days. Those weird inventories came to a halt many years later upon discovery of some record keeping on the wall of my 5-year-old daughter’s closet. “What have we here?” I questioned. “Oh, a list of whether or not I liked the weather that day,” she announced. Henceforth, my lists have been mental – better not to leave the hard copy evidence for the bizarre influence of youngsters.

In a prophetic twist, I now maintain a bucket list of sorts and the lead desire for some time has been – learning to fish. While I did know a tadpole about it from an assistantship to my grandmother long ago, by middle age – I sought to know what it felt to get real and rustle up a meal of fried blue gill. My dainty fishmonger of a grandmother was my age now when we would get up from our afternoon naps, grab the silver tackle box and rod, hop into our flip flops and sail via her Cadillac to her friend Helen’s lake for a bucket of brim.

At the time, I’d say that the itinerary was a bit slow for my ADD state of mind as I anxiously perched on a folding chair, (on surveillance duty of a red and white fishing bobber) while holding down the lid of a cricket container as the adult lit her cigarette. No matter, my father’s mother was a wonderful companion and we scored dinner.

In the intervening years, inside my girly world, regretfully – I was oblivious to the fishing travels of my brother on the Bigby Creek. Eventually, destiny would throw me a line as a seeker of quality local foods. When the awakening occurred; a fishing expedition shot to the top of my list. After last week, it will remain for repeated excursions.

Overwhelmed at the personal plight of buying a pole from Ted’s Sporting Goods and trucking over to Williamsport Lakes, I went for consultation with the experts. Thanks to the creator for the blessing of crackerjack anglers with hearts of a teacher, I knew my learning style and located two such men. Travis Jones is a sportsman-like encourager with introductory language that will live until death do I depart; while Roger Witherow has the generous nature to share his scientifically nurtured, beauty of a lake – complete with motor boat, nifty equipment and sterling fillet expertise.

As we toured the mysterious waters with assorted poles in hand, Roger offered different sorts of lures hoping, no doubt, for relief from my infant casting skills. “Now don’t get crazy on me with that fishing rod,” he teased, but with two catches of my very own along with enough blue gill, bass and shell cracker for Travis and me, the best was yet to come.

As we cleaned a bucket full, Roger issued a solid recommendation for cooking some of the freshest food, I’ve ever eaten. “Boy, these are good – now don’t cook them too long,” he charged. Since my jumpy nature would never allow such, I soon offered a blessing over my inaugural fried fish dinner – everlasting gratitude for a list of new ambitions and friendships to make it so.
A New Day Fish Fry

Fillets of Blue Gill
A mixture of cornmeal, flour and liberal use of fish seasonings
Fresh eggs, whisked

Heat 1 inch of corn or peanut oil in a black skillet.
Dip fillets into eggs and dredge in cornmeal mixture.
Fry on both sides until crusts are light brown.

Serve with Slaw (Epiphany Soup) and Sweet Potato Fries (Local Sweet Potato Goes Loco) under archives at www.mscookstable.com

In the emphatic words of my great aunt, “believe you me,” – I’ll just add – “I didn’t think it would be my thing, but an incessant longing for fresh food instigated a raised bed vegetable project in my backyard.” Doug White, the original builder of my house and planner of my yard (circa 1950) would approve, I think – that we have ushered a few eatable flowering types into the landscape.

The enterprise began last April when I order various plants and seeds from Oregon’s Horizon Herbs. The reason that I selected their product is summarized in cataloged terms of business: “We are dedicated to providing open-pollinated, untreated, correctly identified, recent, viable, and vigorous seeds, as well as accurate information on the preferred germination and growth habits of these plants.” I surmised… if I’m going to the trouble, why not seek the best of origins? Then on May 3, 2009, along with a variety of other herbs, I planted three tiny Garden Sorrel plants. Pleased, I managed to jot down their birthdays in a spiral notebook positioned near the back door.

What I didn’t manage to do, which I will from this date forward, is register the multitude of times that I harvested from the subsequent healthy adult sorrel plants. While soups are a popular destination for sorrel, I agree with the advice of John Evelyn (English writer and gardener) in 1720 when he said, “sorrel lends so grateful a quickness to the salad that it should never be left out.” To further explain, the leaves have a lemony flavor and can be as delicious as fresh spinach when sautéed. My favorite part, as a neighborhood farmer, is the well-kept secret revealed by Eric Toensmeier in Perennial Vegetables when he says, “The leaves are edible nearly year-round in mild temperate climates, and often are the first greens available in the spring and the last in the fall.” In modern speak-ease – when traveling from the garage to the kitchen – pick a few leaves and you’ve completed a veritable trip to the market.

The use of a handy personal sorrel plant is as subtle a cultural shift as the recognition that homegrown tomatoes supply flavor and their commercial counterparts do not. For me an analogy was inspired by the canny words of Elie Wiesel. Last week, having discovered his upcoming lecture at Vanderbilt, I pursued the Nobel Laureate. In his spiritual classic Night, Mr. Wiesel began a lifetime sharing the utter destruction that he and his people suffered at the Auschwitz and Buhenwald camps. Now at 82, Mr. Wiesel’s peace offerings are timeless as the Garden Sorrel – messages of generosity and civility.

As a youthful forager, I remember outdoor exploration and the taste of wild sorrel leaves – I now hold tight to the plant that supplies delight to my culinary world. Garden Sorrel can be found to be generous (almost a year long supply) – and civil (a cordial addition to any dish). Mr. Wiesel also remarked, “ If a culture is closed, it dries out” – I’m heeding the lessons in a metaphoric garden. Shall we open our senses and bring some sorrel into our lives?

Note: For a fall Sorrel variation, check – mscookstable.com – then click on Archives and scroll to Permaculture, anyone? The recipe included is Lovage and Sorrel Soup. For a spring rendition, Allison Neal of Arugula Star provides the following receipt for salad that is worthy of a sorrel lover’s attention.

Deviled Egg and Garden Sorrel Salad

4 hard boiled eggs, peeled

¼ cup of homemade mayonnaise (or Duke’s) or dressing of your choice

1 tablespoon of Dijon Mustard

Ground pepper to taste

Paprika to taste

½ cup sorrel, finely chopped

Handful of salad greens for each plate

1/3 cup of coarsely chopped roasted walnuts

Cheese of choice, thickly grated

1. Bring to boil and emerge eggs – turn off heat and place lid, keep pot on hot eye of oven. Let eggs remain 7 to 11 minutes.
2. Slice eggs in half lengthwise. Place a few sliced eggs on a hand full of salad greens. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, paprika, chopped sorrel and walnuts. Drizzle with homemade mayo or dressing and grated cheese.

RESOURCES

Sorrel, eggs and recipe bank – Allison Neal of Arugula Star Farm – 931-682-3314 – www.arugulasstarfarm.com/index.php

Eggs – Gwen Malugin – Columbia courthouse on Saturday mornings

Salad greens – The Dysingers of Bountiful Blessings Farm – 931-583-2701 – http://bountifulblessingsfarm.com/