Before collegiate journey, cooking up son’s favorite dishes

There was joy in receiving the letter, of course. For Elliot, it was his own letter, long awaited and much anticipated, another thing​​ the youngest child watches everyone else do first. The letter was from the college he most wants to attend, the place he imagines himself in next year.

For days after his acceptance arrived, Elliot would announce pieces of information about the college, extra bits of information, the kind of things that you would have to go looking for.

One day, he came to the kitchen to tell me about a place close by campus, trails where everyone goes to ride their mountain bikes. Elliot loves to ride his mountain bike. 

And he also came to tell me about a restaurant close to the school. They serve steaks and vegan food and Sunday brunch and carrot cake. “Whoa,” I said, impressed. It sounds like our kind of place. Should one choose a college based on a restaurant that’s close by? Probably not, but it sure helps. 

And perhaps the best detail of all, and he shared this news with genuine excitement: There are full kitchens available to students (even freshmen) so they can cook whatever they crave. I was happier about his reaction to this discovery than knowing these kitchens exist. The student kitchens allegedly stock food, real food (like fresh vegetables), for students to cook and eat. And because I always want my children to know how different things are for them, I let him know that there were no food-stocked kitchens available to us 1980s college kids (cue the eye rolling.) 

So what would Elliot cook in this kitchen? I’ve been telling him since forever that one day, he would impress his friends with knowing how to cook. It’s possible there has been a heavy sigh or two at this. But now, the time has arrived. It’s getting real, as my children like to say. 

Here is a sampling of what Elliot might be able to cook and share with his friends upon his arrival at college. This menu is, perhaps, a mother’s wishful thinking. But why not dream about it? September is almost six months away and though what he might choose to make in that dorm kitchen is very different from what I can dream up, for now, I’ll dream. The important thing is having a young person who cares about food, knows how to prepare it, how to enjoy it, and how to share it with friends. So here goes, Elliot’s menu for the communal college kitchen, freshman year. 

We have a deep and lasting love for spanakopita in our house, especially Elliot. If you aren’t familiar, it’s a Mediterranean dish packed with spinach, cheese and herbs. Creating the filling isn’t hard: Sautéed onions and garlic are stirred up with feta cheese, dill and lemon zest. That bright green mixture is folded into layers of phyllo dough and brushed, over and over, with melted butter. The result is sublime and one of the early foods, along with pesto, that convinced my children to put green food into their mouths. I don’t know why, but little kids are distrustful of food that’s green. Anyway, back to the spanakopita: Those buttery layers make it kind of a pain to put together. So I took all of that glorious onion and garlic and spinach and prepared it, as if it was going into the buttery dough, but instead loaded it onto a stretched pizza shell. I added shredded mozzarella, folded the dough over to make a kind of pizza-sandwich-type-thing and poof, our favorite Greek pastry became our favorite Greek pizza. This is good for weeknights, lunches, brunches and party food alike. And Elliot approves. “Awesome,” he called it. It’s easy enough to make and don’t you think it would make good eating at midnight when everyone is cramming for an exam?  

Next, a salad. How cool would it be to have a guy on your dorm floor who is good at making salads? The salad here is super simple and there’s no better way to name it than simply Our Favorite Salad, because that’s what it is. I’ve made this salad hundreds of times over the years, for quick weeknight dinners, for guests, for special occasions and for anytime in between. All three of my children have stood at the kitchen counter and whisked the dressing in the salad bowl, following directions as I watched and requested a bit more of this and another splash of that. The heart and soul of this salad is the dressing, and it’s a simple, cheater-type of Caesar, made with ingredients typically found on hand. I always mix this dressing in the salad bowl, dump the greens on top, and then toss it together. It’s got extra virgin olive oil, lemon, a bit of mayonnaise for creaminess, and Parmesan, grated on a microplane to make it fluffy and melt-in-your-mouth. I doubt those college kitchens have a microplane, and if you don’t either, a box grater does the trick. What’s important is getting the balance of oil to acidity, creaminess and the salty bite of cheese. The tender, soft butter lettuce greens are a great vehicle for getting this dressing into your mouth. And homemade croutons, though an extra step, have both crunch and chew and are delicious. If you don’t want to make them, I would choose toast made from a good loaf of bread, served on the side, over store-bought croutons. 

Would it be strange to pack a crepe pan among the twin sheets and towels bound for the dorm? I have never known a child or adult to not adore crepes, and knowing how to make them is a valuable skill. The batter for these simple little French pancakes is similar to our kind of pancakes, but with no leavening, and it should be thin enough to pour and swirl around the pan. In Paris, you can eat crepes on street corners, where they’re rolled up and stuffed with Nutella and fruits of all kinds. Here, I stack a few crepes together with a juicy schmear of Nutella between the layers, slice it like a cake, and serve it with fresh fruit. The secret to making crepes is knowing how to pour the batter into the hot, buttered pan, and tilting it this way and that, bending at the wrist to evenly spread it before it sets. For some crazy reason, the first crepe is never perfect (it makes a good snack for the chef while cooking up the rest.)  

If all goes according to plan, Elliot will pack up and head to SUNY Oneonta in the fall. He’ll study music industry and it’s hard to not be excited for him. This excitement and any mixed emotions about sending our youngest child off to college is a package deal over here, and his enthusiasm is overriding the other stuff. The vision of Elliot, heading off happy, with clothes, towels, mountain bike and crepe pan packed in, helps to keep any sadness at seeing him go, in check.


Greek Spinach Pizza

Makes one 12-inch pizza

Olive oil

1 pound fresh pizza dough (store-bought works well)

Spinach topping (recipe follows)

1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella (or more, depending on your taste)

For the topping:

1 1-pound bag frozen leaf spinach, thawed

Olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

Kosher salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup chopped fresh dill

Zest of 1/2 lemon

1 cup crumbled feta

1 tablespoon sesame seeds (optional)

  • Use a few tablespoons of olive oil and gently stretch the pizza dough to fit either a 12-inch round pan, or a 9×12 baking sheet. Coat the pan generously with olive oil and place the dough on the pan. Set aside. 
  • Prepare the filling: use a clean kitchen towel to squeeze out all the moisture from the spinach. Do this over the sink or a big bowl (there will be a lot of liquid.) Set aside. 
  • Set a large skillet over medium heat and add a few tablespoons olive oil. Cook the onion until translucent, then add the garlic and cook for another minute. Season with salt. Add the oregano, crushed red pepper, a few turns of black pepper and the spinach. Cook, stirring, until the spinach is warmed throughout and any excess liquid has cooked off. Turn off the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Stir in the dill, lemon zest and feta. Taste and add more salt if desired. 
  • Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Spread the spinach mixture evenly over half of the dough, leaving a 1-inch crust around the edge. Top the spinach with the mozzarella cheese and fold the pizza dough over. Use a sharp knife to score the top of the dough a few times, then brush with a bit of olive oil. Top with the sesame seeds, if using. Bake on the lowest rack in your oven, for about 12 minutes. Check at about 6 minutes and rotate the pan. 
  • Allow to cool for a few minutes, cut into wedges, and serve. 

***

Our Favorite Salad with Homemade Croutons

Serves 4

Lemon-Parmesan dressing (recipe follows)

One head Boston or Butter lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces

2 cups homemade croutons (recipe follows)

Parmesan, for serving

  • Make the dressing in the bowl of a large salad bowl. Add the salad greens and toss to coat, scraping up the dressing as you toss. Add the croutons, top with more Parmesan and serve immediately. 

Lemon-Parmesan Dressing

Makes about 1 cup

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Juice of ½ lemon (about 2 tablespoons)

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

Pinch kosher salt

¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (see note)

Black pepper

  • Whisk together the olive oil, lemon, mayonnaise, garlic and salt until smooth. Add the Parmesan and season with black pepper. 
  • Note: if you have a microplane, use it to grate the Parmesan into fluffy, light shreds that melt into the dressing. If you only have a regular box grater, use the smallest holes and it will still be good. 

Homemade Croutons

Makes about 4 cups

½ loaf of stale bread, cut into cubes

Olive oil

Pinch salt

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, toss together the bread cubes with a drizzle of olive oil. Toss well, and drizzle again. Repeat until the bread cubes are all lightly coated. Spread out on the baking sheet in a single layer, season with salt and bake until golden brown all over, about 15 minutes. Check halfway through and rotate the pans. Keeps in an air-tight container for three days. 

***

Stacked Crepes with Nutella and Fresh Fruit

Adapted from a recipe given to me long ago by my friend Mary

Makes about 12 crepes

1 cup flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 eggs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup milk, plus more, for thinning
Butter, for greasing the pan
Nutella, for serving
Fresh fruit, for serving (raspberries, blueberries, pineapple, etc)

  • Combine the flour, salt, eggs, melted butter and milk in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour into a glass bowl and allow to rest for 15 minutes. The batter should be a thin pancake-batter consistency, so if it’s too thick, add milk, a tablespoon at a time, until it’s pourable. 
  • Use a stick of butter to grease a crepe pan or small frying pan set over medium heat. Pour in about ½ cup batter (this depends on the size of your pan, but it should be enough to cover the bottom of the pan.) Immediately tilt the pan in all directions, spreading the batter evenly. If the batter doesn’t spread, it’s too thick. 
  • When the bottom of the crepe is golden brown, flip and cook for another 30 seconds. Slide it onto a serving plate and continue making the remaining crepes. While the second crepe is cooking, spread a few tablespoons Nutella over the first crepe. Layer the crepes with Nutella as they come out of the pan. 
  • Stack 4-5 crepes with the Nutella, then slice into wedges and serve with the fruit. 
  • Note: The batter can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator for one week. It will need thinning with a bit of milk after being in the fridge. 

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