Celebrations start in the kitchen.
“Every culture reveres its mothers, setting aside special days for commemoration,” writes Sheila Lukins in “Celebrate!” (Workman, $19.95), my go-to resource when I’m thinking…let’s party! Mother’s Day “comes mid-spring, when days are long, gardens are lush with flowering bulbs, and the promise of summer is in the air.”
Lukins, who died in 2009, was most famous as the co-author, with Julee Rosso, of “The Silver Palate” cookbooks. Riding the adventurous, trendy food wave of the 80’s, the pair opened the Silver Palate, a gourmet food shop on New York’s Upper West Side in 1977, and by the publication of “The Silver Palate Cookbook” in 1982, the transformation was complete. Cooking had morphed from a drudgery endured by stay-at-home wives who couldn’t afford help into a fine art cultivated by a newly emerging army of educated working women – and, yes, even men. In 1989, with “The New Basics Cookbook” the pair introduced Mediterranean and Eastern European cuisine to the American public. Together, their books sold more than seven million copies and helped change the way Americans cook by offering easy ways to prepare restaurant quality food, featuring interesting flavor combinations, using accessible ingredients and minimum skill. “I believe the most memorable celebrations take place at home,” Lukins writes. “In mine, all celebrations begin in the kitchen, and part of the fun is deciding what to prepare, creating a menu with appeal, start to finish.” Her Mother’s Day menu “is a meal for very special people, created from the heart to be served with love.”
“Celebrate!” features 43 menus for 43 reasons to celebrate: from traditional holidays to a birthday bash, housewarming and bridal shower; even an Oscars party, cozy dinner for two and new job celebration. With over 350 recipes and 200 color photos, Lukins presents the entire party with music and drink suggestions as well as ideas for linens, flowers, props and backdrops.
For our Mother’s Day brunch I turn to Lukin’s Festive Tuna with Pineapple Salsa. “Tuna recipes are a standby for luncheons,” she writes, “but I guarantee that none of them is as full of party spirit as this one using freshly seared steaks. Bonneted with a salsa made from pineapple, tomatoes, and jalapeños, the tuna looks as festive as confetti. And the varied and powerful flavors of the salsa beautifully punctuate the flavor of the tuna.”
Of course, you’ll want to toast mom with champagne, and then, Lukins suggests, “bring out a pitcher of freshly made raspberry lemonade. There is nothing lovelier. The raspberries give the lemonade just the right blush.”
One of my favorite Food Network stars (from the days when cooking shows actually taught cooking) is Gale Gand, James Beard awarded pastry chef and host of “Sweet Dreams,” Food Network’s first daily show devoted to baking. I found the delicious frittata featured here in “Gale Gand’s Brunch!” written with Christie Matheson (Clarkson Potter, $27.50), a grand slam addition to our Mother’s Day menu. “I make my frittatas nice and thick so they can be cut into wedges,” she suggests, “and I flip them onto a platter before serving to show the golden brown underside. A frittata is another great way to use up leftover bits of vegetables, meats, and cheese so feel free to deviate from my suggestions, depending on what you have in your fridge.”
The idea of brunch, a portmanteau of breakfast and lunch, has a hazy origin story. One theory holds that the concept emerged from England’s lavish multi-course hunt breakfasts. Others point to the practice of Catholics fasting before mass and then enjoying a large midday meal. The first appearance of the word “brunch” in print was an 1895 article “Brunch: A Plea,” by British author Guy Beringer in Hunter’s Weekly in which he favored a lighter alternative to those heavy, post-church Sunday repasts. ‘’Brunch is cheerful, sociable and inciting,’’ Beringer wrote. ‘’It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.’’
By the early 1900’s brunch had spread to the United States, especially in big cities like New York and Chicago. With the rise of the automobile in the 1930’s, brunch increased in popularity as more and more people enjoyed leisurely Sunday drives, stopping at restaurants for a late morning meal. With the economic boom after World War II combined with flagging church attendance, dining out became more popular, with Sunday brunch menus expanding to include cocktails and more innovative menus.
Fresh Raspberry Lemonade
Yield: 10 cups
3 cups fresh raspberries, gently rinsed
1 cup sugar
6 cups cold water
3 cups fresh lemon juice (from about 12 large lemons)
8 large mint sprigs, for garnish
1. Purée raspberries in blender or food processor. Strain purée through a fine-mesh sieve to remove seeds. Set strained purée aside.
2. Place sugar and water in saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature.
3. Combine reserved raspberry purée and sugar-water mixture in large pitcher. Stir in lemon juice. Serve over ice and tall glasses, garnished with mint sprig.
Source: “Celebrate” by Sheila Lukins
Festive Tuna with Pineapple Salsa
For the salsa
1 cup diced peeled hothouse (seedless) cucumber (1/4-inch dice)
1 cup diced seeded ripe tomato (1/4-inch dice)
1 cup diced fresh ripe pineapple (1/4-inch dice)
3 green onions, including 3 inches green, very thinly sliced
1 tablespoon very finely diced red jalapeño pepper, or other chili pepper, seeds and ribs removed
6 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 3 large limes)
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the tuna and garnish
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 large lemon)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
8 tuna steaks (6 to 8 ounces each), cut 1 inch thick
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish
1. Combine all salsa ingredients in medium-size bowl. Refrigerate, covered, for up to 1 hour.
2. Tuna: Combine olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper in large shallow bowl. Add tuna steaks, turning to coat, and let sit 15 minutes. Turn once as they sit.
3. Heat nonstick skillet over medium heat. Sear tuna steaks 4 to 5 minutes on first side, adding any remaining marinade, or extra oil, if necessary, to prevent sticking. Turn tuna, and sear 3 minutes on second side for medium-rare.
4. Using a spatula, transfer tuna steaks to 8 dinner plates. Spoon salsa, with juices, over tuna, and garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve immediately.
Note: If cooking in batches, transfer cooked steaks to a platter and loosely cover with aluminum foil to keep warm while you cook remaining ones.
Source: “Celebrate” by Sheila Lukins
Cheddar, Broccoli and Red Pepper Frittata
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
6 large eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream or whole milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 to 4 grinds freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup cooked broccoli, chopped
1/3 cup sautéed diced red bell pepper (1/2 pepper)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1. In medium bowl mix eggs with a fork. Blend in cream, salt, pepper, and Parmesan. Add cheddar, broccoli, and red pepper and stir together to blend.
2. In 8-inch nonstick sauté pan, heat butter over medium heat until it foams. Pour in egg mixture and start to cook it. After about 2 minutes, stick a wooden spoon into egg at edge of pan, lift up cooked egg, and let some of uncooked egg mixture seep underneath. Cook 2 more minutes. Then insert wooden spoon into egg in middle of pan, making a hole in cooked egg to let some of uncooked egg seep under. Turn heat down to low, place a rounded lid on pan (make sure you allow room for egg to puff up), and cook until egg mixture is completely set, 5 to 10 minutes. Once frittata is cooked all the way through, flip it out onto a serving platter, using a spatula or knife to loosen it from pan and letting it fall onto platter browned side up. Serve hot, cut into wedges
Adapted from “Gale Gand’s Brunch!”
Jlife Food Editor Judy Bart Kancigor is the author of “Cooking Jewish” (Workman) and “The Perfect Passover Cookbook” (an e-book short from Workman), a columnist and feature writer for the Orange County Register and other publications and can be found on the web at www.cookingjewish.com.