How often do chefs credit their mothers as one of their earliest sources of culinary inspiration?
To find out, we talked with three of Atlanta’s top chefs, women who are mothers themselves and own their own restaurants or helm a kitchen, about dishes they learned to make while growing up at home.
What we found was that all three are still serving some of those first dishes they learned in those childhood kitchens, granted with a tweak or two.
When asked what dish she learned to make from her mom, Marla Adams of Poncey Highland’s Babette’s Cafe, replies without hesitation. “Peach pie.”
She’s still making a lattice-topped variation of the one she learned from her mother.
Adams’ father was in the foreign service and the family had cooks Adams remembers she and her mom learning from. But for a recipe she learned from her mom? The legacy is pies. “As early as I can remember, I helped her roll out the dough. And I remember her instructions, ‘Don’t overwork it. Don’t over roll it.’ ”
Her tip for purchasing peaches is to never, ever buy them where the fruit has been refrigerated. “The chilling process is what kills the peaches, making them mushy. Buy them in baskets at your local farmers’ market.”
And as for that signature lattice topping? The key is to work quickly and keep the pastry cold. Her recipe calls for the dough to be refrigerated at all stages, and she finds that makes it possible to create the beautiful lattice top without the strips breaking.
Di Anthony, executive chef of Buckhead’s 10 Degrees South (owned by her son Justin), was born in England and moved with her family halfway around the world when she was 11. “We emigrated to South Africa and we came to love their totally different cuisine. My mother, Mary Lipman, was a great cook. The first thing I remember cooking with her was cottage pie. It’s very English but when we moved to South Africa and discovered Bobotie, we found a dish that was very similar. Bobotie is really a spicier version of a cottage pie, with a custard topping instead of potatoes. English food, like a lot of South African food, has many Indian and Malay influences, so the similarities aren’t a surprise.”
Anthony thinks her mother probably made it because she wanted to try a new dish from her new country. “But being British, she wouldn’t have made it as spicy. I’ve adapted the recipe over the years. Bobotie is one of those recipes that is very personal … We chose to make ours without nuts because so many are allergic to nuts, and my mom used to make it without nuts as well. Since she recently passed away, it’s nice to share something she taught me.
“If you’re making it for your family, a round Pyrex casserole works great. Or a rectangle, whatever your preference. And serve it with yellow rice, white rice and a sambal of chopped tomato and onion. And don’t forget the chutney. We like it with Mrs. Ball’s chutneys in apricot or peach.”
Growing up in Alsace, France, Benedicte Cooper remember being as little as 2 and helping her two grandmothers, Lucie Kieffer and Lisle Ulsas, in their kitchens. “My grandmothers would be making a quiche or a fruit pie and our job as kids was to poke the rolled-out dough with a fork. At that age, that’s really the only thing you can do. But then we would be given our own dough and a little mold and allowed to make a little quiche. And little by little, as we grew up, we learned to cook.
“When visiting my grandmothers, we were always cooking. There were all kinds of fruit trees and we were always making pies – pears, apples, Mirabelle plums - all kinds of fruit pies.”
It was those desserts that got Cooper into regular cooking. Now Cooper’s teenage daughter is following in the dessert-making tradition. “I want her to enjoy cooking and fix whatever she wants, and kids start with the things they like to eat. And that’s often sweets.”
The recipes chefs learned to make from their moms are often the comfort-food favorites we all crave. Here, three top Atlanta chef/moms offer their versions of dishes they learned to make at home with their mothers.
Marla Adams’ Peach Pie
As with all pie doughs, weather and humidity will determine how much ice water you need to form the dough. Be sure not to add too much. Adams prefers to thicken this filling with potato starch. “I think it’s just nice and clean and light and you don’t get that glossiness from the cornstarch. And it’s easier than using tapioca.”
One more tip for baking pies. Adams suggests always using a glass pie pan and placing it on a preheated baking sheet to ensure a crisp bottom crust.
Crust:
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring work surface
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon iodized salt
1/2 pound cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
8 tablespoons ice water, or as needed
Filling:
8 medium peaches (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, divided
3 tablespoons potato starch or all-purpose flour, or as needed
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pinch freshly ground nutmeg
1 egg
2 tablespoons water
Make the crust: In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, sugar and salt. Pulse until blended. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Move the mixture to a bowl. Strain the ice from the water and slowly add it to the mixture, stirring to combine just until the dough comes together. Move the dough to a lightly floured surface and push together to form dough. Separate into two portions, one slightly larger than the other. Shape the portions into disks, wrap in plastic wrap and chill.
Make the filling: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Have a bowl of ice water available nearby. Slip the peaches into the boiling water and boil them until the skin peels away easily. This will take about 30 seconds if the peaches are ripe. Move the peaches immediately to the ice water. When the peaches are chilled, remove the skins with a paring knife. Slice each piece into 8 pieces. You should have 8 cups of sliced peaches. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place a rimmed baking sheet in the oven while it is preheating.
Remove the larger dough portion from the refrigerator. If it is too hard to roll out, leave it at room temperature until pliable. Roll the dough to fit a 9-inch glass pie pan and fit it into place. Leave the sides hanging over and refrigerate.
Roll out the smaller portion of dough into an oblong shape. Place it on a parchment-lined baking sheet and cut the dough into 1/2-inch strips. Place baking sheet in refrigerator.
Put the sliced peaches in a large bowl and add 1 cup sugar, potato starch, lemon juice, salt and nutmeg. Let sit for 1 minute. If the peaches are very ripe and juicy, add another tablespoon of potato starch. Pour filling into the pie plate. Working quickly, remove the baking sheet with pastry strips from the refrigerator. Form the lattice by laying strips across the center of the pie at right angles to each other. Add strips, moving to the edge of the pie and crossing the strips over and under each other. Using kitchen scissors, cut the edges of the pie dough to 1/2-inch from the edge of the pie plate. Fold the edge back over itself and pinch to seal. Crimp edge by pressing one finger on the edge of the pie plate and using two fingers from the other hand to make a flute on either side of the first finger. Continue around the edge of the pie.
Whisk the egg and water together and then lightly brush the mixture on the lattice and the fluted edge of the pie. Make sure the wash is applied thinly and evenly. Sprinkle the egg-washed dough with the remaining tablespoon sugar. Reduce the oven heat to 400 degrees and place the pie on the heated baking sheet. Bake until the crust is lightly browned, about 25 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake until crust is nicely browned and juices are bubbling up through the lattice, another 20 or 25 minutes. Allow the pie to cool 2 hours before serving. It can be refrigerated after 1 hour. Serves: 8
Per serving: 538 calories (percent of calories from fat, 40), 6 grams protein, 76 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams fiber, 24 grams fat (15 grams saturated), 89 milligrams cholesterol, 413 milligrams sodium.
Benedicte Cooper’s Quiche Lorraine
Cooper finds this is an easy dish to vary, substituting chopped broccoli, asparagus, crab meat, goat cheese, Brie or a host of other ingredients for the ham, but always keeping the grated Emmenthal sprinkled on the bottom of the crust. She also makes an onion version filling the crust with 2 chopped onions, sauteed in butter, and scattered on the crust instead of the cheese.
She uses the same crust to make pies with fruits such as apples, pears, rhubarb, blackberries or blueberries. “Use two cups of fruit and a half cup of granulated sugar, then make the same egg custard but with all cream instead of half milk and half cream.”
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small pieces
5 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 cup grated Emmenthal or Gruyere cheese (about 3 ounces)
1 cup diced Black Forest ham, diced (about 5 ounces)
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
3 eggs
Salt and pepper
Make crust: put flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add butter and mix until butter is broken up. Add water and mix just until the dough forms a ball. Remove dough from bowl, form a disk, wrap and refrigerate if time permits.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. If dough was refrigerated, remove from refrigerator and roll out to an 11-inch circle. Use oil to coat a 9-inch pie plate and lay dough in pie plate. Cut off excess dough and crimp edge. Prick crust with a fork. Sprinkle Emmenthal on bottom of crust. Then sprinkle with ham.
In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, cream and eggs. Season with salt and pepper and pour into prepared pie shell. Bake 45 minutes or until center is just set. Remove from oven and allow to cool 10 minutes before serving. Serves: 6
Per serving: 504 calories (percent of calories from fat, 72), 17 grams protein, 19 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 40 grams fat (24 grams saturated), 239 milligrams cholesterol, 336 milligrams sodium.
Di Anthony’s Bobotie
When Anthony makes Bobotie for the kitchen at 10 Degrees South, she starts with 10 pounds of ground beef. She’s scaled back the recipe for a home-size version, and suggests using the same 80/20 ground beef they do at the restaurant, although she says it also works fine with more lean ground beef. If you find a great deal of liquid left after cooking the beef, drain it before proceeding with the recipe.
For the curry powder, she uses a South African brand of hot curry, and suggests you use the curry powder you prefer.
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion (about 1 large onion)
2 minced cloves garlic
2 pounds 80/20 ground beef
Salt and pepper
1 cup apricot jam
1 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons curry powder, or to taste
1 tablespoon turmeric
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and grated
1 cup raisins
1 cup milk
1/2 cup cream
3 eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and saute until translucent. Add ground beef, salt and pepper and cook until meat is cooked through. Drain mixture if desired. Add jam, brown sugar, curry and turmeric and mix thoroughly. Taste for seasoning. Stir in grated apple and cook mixture 5 minutes. Add raisins and cook 10 minutes more. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Pour mixture into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and smooth into an even layer.
In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, cream, eggs and cinnamon. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over meat layer. Bake 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Serves: 12
Per serving: 485 calories (percent of calories from fat, 45), 16 grams protein, 52 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 25 grams fat (10 grams saturated), 128 milligrams cholesterol, 104 milligrams sodium.
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