Recipes

Ruth was my mother’s older sister. Their father died when my mother was in college, their mother was prostrate with grief and Ruth gave up her life (as was often done by daughters in time past) in the wider world to be her mother’s companion...and the high school guidance counselor. Her mother, a hard-working little cast-iron Irish lady with a heart of marshmallow, outlived them both and died at age 102.

Set griddle to medium high heat. It should be ready to cook by the time you’ve mixed the ingredients

Pour wet ingredients into dray and mix so that batter is slightly lumpy (do not overmix). Add the blueberries if you want them after the wet & dry ingredients are mixed, but stir only slightly

If the griddle is at the right heat, the pancakes will cook quickly and be golden brown with a soft center. Serve immediately…they are light and fluffy and will fall if delayed.

One time when in college I went to visit my grandmother, then in her 80's. Ruthie had by then died of cancer' she moked and it killed her, as it later did my mother. The next morning, Nana asked what I wanted for breakfast. I said. 'The pancakes Ruthie used to make'. Nana was a marshmallow.....she began to cry...and make pancakes all the while. She didn't measure anything. 'Oh golly', I thought to myself, 'these pancakes won't be right...but I'll eat them and smile.' They were perfection.

William Wynant Dean, Jr.

Bill was the handsome one and dressed snappy as our father. Here he is in 1975 at my daughter’s baptism doing, as he said, “a watch ad”.

He was my older brother, a passionate chef, bon vivant, man of international banking....and gay. He spent his time in Thailand in the Peace
Corps cooking his way through Julia Childs, then did refugee relocation of Hmong hill people (our proxy warriors in Vietnam), finally lived in Japan.
He was was deeply engaged by the Orient, where being gay didn't then carry the freight it did in the Western world.
In the 80’s, he lost his job (A RIF closed the NY office of his bank), his lover and learned he was AIDS positive all in the same month...
when such a diagnosis was the the Black Spot of Doom... and so he lived this end to his life:

“My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends — It gives a lovely light!”

Brother Bill’s Failproof Cheese Souffle

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, have on hand straight-sided soufflé bowl(s) Plan evening to serve soufflé immediately after in comes out of the oven!

Ingredients:

Serves 8	Serves 4	Ingredient
8	6	Separated eggs
1	¾	Pound sharp cheddar
¾	½	Stick butter
½	1/3	Cup flour sifted
1-3/4	1-1/2	Cup milk

Spices: dry mustard, ginger, cream of tartar (optional) ½ onion, minced Optional) can of minced or whole plum tomatoes, chilled, as topping

Preparation

Set aside egg whites in mixmaster bowl in fridge to chill (will assist the whipping)
Beat egg yolks together and set aside
On medium high heat

Melt butter in big saucepan
Add minced onion, cook until reduced and transparent
Add flour & milk, cook until it begin to thicken (will happen in a rush)
Add ½ tsp of ginger & mustard, shake salt & pepper

When mixture thickens, turn heat down

Add cheese and stir until melted in
Beat egg yolks and combine

Remove mixture from heat and let cool…it should still be warm for the last step

All the above can be done well in advance

Final step and cooking
done just before you’re to put the soufflé in the oven:

Beat egg whites until stiff, optionally adding a pinch of cream of tartar
Pour half the egg whites into the still slightly warm (not cold, it will stiffen) cheese mixture and fold in until it is largely mixed in
Add in the remaining egg whites, but only fold in until a somewhat piebald (yellow and white) mix is achieved
Pour into the soufflé dish, no more than 3/4s full as it will rise.
Hold a knife vertically and run in around in a concentric circle in the dish(s)
Turn the oven down to 375 degrees, cook for 40 minutes or until the top is golden to dark brown on the peaks. Don’t open the oven to look...
it will make the soufflé fall (it will rise as it cooks and go from below the rim to flowering over the top).

Serve immediately, alternately top with the tomatoes (an old family tradition). If the soufflé is undercooked it will be runny in the middle.

Biddy Homan Dean

Biddy was my widowed father’s second love and a gracious, good, tolerant, loving and talented woman.
My mother was a hard act to follow, but Biddy was shone with her own light.

Biddy’s Boursin (Cream Cheese with herbs)
Makes a pound

3 cloves garlic – chopped , 16 oz cream cheese , 3 oz (6 tbsp) unsalted whipped butter

½ tsp each salt, basil, majoram & diced chives , ¼ tsp freshly coarsely ground pepper , ¼ tsp thyme , 1 tsp dill , 1 tsp parsley

Mix together in a Kitchen Aid or maybe a Cuisinart...takes a mixer with guts. Note: if you’re using fresh herbs, triple their amounts (so the wisdom goes, according to some).

My Own Recipes

Killer Brownies Cheat

The simple way to jazz up a brownie mix

Make these substitutions:

Use Coconut Oil (it's a white solid below 76ºF, you'll have to nuke it briefly in the microwave.) for the oil called for in the receipe on the box. It's available at healthfood stores and the organic aisle of supermarkets.
Use buttermilk in place of water or milk
Use one egg instead of two....one eggs gives you fudge brownies, two eggs, cake brownies. Your choice
A handful or two of chocolate chips

I also cover the top of the brownies with a sprinkling of roasted dry almonds and pistachoes. Again, your choice.

>>>>> Below are Word documents to download

My wife Carol's Banana Bread, soemwhat modified, Rx

Bread recipes made in a Zojirushi Virtuoso bread machine

My basic everyday bread, wheat, barley & buckwheat. Recipe here.

My whole wheat raisin-nut bread. Delish. Recipe here.

Wet	Dry
2 cups (16 oz) buttermilk	2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg	1 teaspoon baking soda
2-3 tablespoons of oil or melted butter	1-1/3 cup flour (6 oz all purpose, 1 oz buckwheat...or just 7 oz all purpose flour)
	(Optional) blueberries and wheat germ

Family Recipes