Published: July 26, 2007 11:57 pm            

Recipes inspire creativity in the kitchen

PEABODY, Mass. — People who know good food, know where to find it in Peabody, Mass.: the city Water Department.

The staff regularly brings in treats to City Hall from home, and Peabody's Janis Survilas holds her own in the department of cooks, making treats from jam to clam chowder for her co-workers, and any other hungry person who wanders in.

"Food is meant to be shared," said the 38-year-old water billing supervisor. "Some of my best recipes are from other people."

Sharing recipes with others is something Survilas has been doing as long as she has been cooking. As a child, she got her start in the kitchen baking with her mother and grandmother — making dishes such as apple tarts and chicken pot pies — before moving onto meals.

"My mother always said to me, 'Anybody who can read can cook,'" Survilas said.

She took that information to heart. While she's got a few family favorites in her repertoire, Survilas finds most of her inspiration from her collection of cookbooks — she's got 1,000 of them spread throughout her house.

"I used to be in a cookbook club. Bad idea," joked Survilas. "I love to try new things; that is why I have so many cookbooks."

Her favorite is Julia Child's "The Way to Cook" for its advice — which includes everything from how to boil an egg and stuff it, to making the perfect omelet and an elegant souffle — it's one she goes back to time and time again.

"She is one person I wish I could have met," Survilas said of Child, who died in 2004.

Survilas usually prepares dishes from the recipes as written, at least the first time she tries it. The second time around, she may fiddle with it — adding or subtracting a spice or ingredient. One dish that she experimented on was a basic guacamole dip, substituting some parsley for the usual amount of cilantro, which she doesn't like.

"We have a few recipes that are happy accidents," said Survilas, who makes few dishes the same way twice because she likes to experiment.

Survilas cooks about five times a week for her husband, Kirk, and 4-year-old daughter, Erin, and always has a stock of homemade strawberry jam around for friends and new neighbors.

"Food opens a lot of doors, I think," Survilas said. "The best way to make friends is with food."

She often gets help in the kitchen from her husband — so much so, she almost listed him as her favorite tool.

"I am her sous chef," Kirk Survilas joked.



Five favorite ingredients

Bacon

Kosher salt

Black pepper

Balsamic vinegar

A variety of cheeses: Firehouse Jack cheese, sharp cheddar and plain goat cheese.



Five favorite tools

Lime and lemon juicers

A chef's knife

A tart press

A small measuring cup

Julia Child's book, "The Way to Cook"





Recipes from Janis Survilas

Bread and Butter Pickles

Ingredients:

3 cups sugar

3 cups white vinegar

3 tablespoons mustard seeds

3 tablespoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons celery seed

3 pounds pickling cucumbers, sliced thin

2 sliced onions

Directions:

Mix first five ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine. Add the cucumbers and onions, and mix well. Place in the refrigerator for two days, shaking occasionally. After this they are ready to serve and can last indefinitely.

Note: These pickles make wonderful tartar sauce when diced and mixed with Miracle Whip.



Strawberry Jam

Ingredients:

4 cups washed, hulled and crushed strawberries

7 cups of sugar

2 teaspoons butter

1 pouch liquid pectin (she uses Certo)

You'll also need: double-lidded jars

Directions:

In a saucepan, combine the strawberries and the sugar, stirring well. Bring to a boil over high heat and add the butter to keep the mixture from foaming too much.

Bring to a rolling boil for one to two minutes, then add the liquid pectin and bring back to a rolling boil for another two minutes, skimming the foam off the top.

Pour the hot jam into jars and place two-piece lids on them, tightening carefully (the jars will be very hot). Turn the jars upside down for 10 minutes, and then turn them back to right side up. The jars will seal on their own or you may need to press down on the center of the lids if the seal does not seem tight.

When all the lids are down, the jars can be stored on a shelf. If the jars do not seal, the jam must be refrigerated.

Very nice over softened cream cheese with crackers as an appetizer.



Oil pastry dough (for use in pies, tarts, pot pies, etc.)

Ingredients:

2<1/4> cups all purpose flour

<1/2> teaspoon salt (she uses kosher salt)

<1/2> cup oil

6 tablespoons very cold milk

Directions:

Measure flour into a bowl and add the salt. Make a well in the center of the flour.

Pour the oil into a measuring cup, and then add the cold milk into the oil. Add this to the flour and stir with a fork, the mixture should come together easily.

Separate into two pieces for a two crust pie or leave a whole batch for tarts. Roll out between two sheets of wax paper, and use fresh wax paper for each piece of dough you roll out.



Tarts

Ingredients:

Any pie filling (apple, lemon, raspberry, cherry)

2 batches of oil pastry dough (see recipe)

Egg wash (1 egg yoke mixed with 1 teaspoon water)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Roll out one entire batch of oil pastry dough between two sheets of wax paper.

Remove the top sheet of wax paper and using a tart press, make indentations in the dough where the tarts will be — do not cut all the way through the dough. You can place them very close together to get the most out of your sheet of dough.

Place a teaspoon of filling in the center of each tart outline in the dough.

Roll out the second batch of dough between two fresh sheets of wax paper, trying to make it a bit larger than the first sheet of dough.

Remove the top sheet of wax paper from the second batch of dough. Then, use the bottom sheet of wax paper to transfer that and place it on top of the filling and first batch of dough.

Push the tart press straight down around each mound of filling, and then twist gently, cutting and sealing the dough around the tarts. When they are all done, transfer to a greased cookie sheet.

Cut three slits in each tart to let the steam escape, then brush each tart with egg wash. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. These can be stored in the freezer.

If you don’t have a tart press, you can use two different size drinking glasses — a smaller one for the bottoms and a larger one for the tops. Cut out circles of dough using the smaller glass and place them on a greased cookie sheet, then place a teaspoon of filling in the center of each round.

Then using the larger glass, cut out a round of dough and place it on top of the filling. Use a fork to crimp the edges of the dough, cut three slits for steam, and bake as directed.



Homemade apple filling (for tarts)

Ingredients:

3 apples (Cortland, McIntosh or any type of apple)

<1/4> to <1/2> cup sugar depending on the flavor of the apples

1 teaspoon apple pie spice

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions:

Peel the apple and finely dice or pulse several times in a food processor. Add the apples to a bowl and add the lemon juice, tossing gently but thoroughly. Add the sugar a bit at a time, tasting the apples as you go so they aren’t too sweet. Add the apple pie spice and blend well. The filling is now ready to go into a tart or pie.



Clam chowder

Ingredients:

1 51-ounce can clams (available at warehouse stores)

6 cups clam juice (available in cans)

3<1/2> pounds russet potatoes peeled and diced to medium-size cubes

2 12-ounce packages salt pork, trimmed and diced to medium-size cubes

2 large onions diced

1 cup butter

1 cup flour

2 pints half and half

Several dashes Worcestershire sauce

Several dashes hot pepper sauce

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Drain the clams, and reserving the clam juice, set the clams aside. In a large stock pot, bring the reserved clam juice plus 6 cups of clam juice and the potatoes to a boil, and cook the potatoes about 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how large they are cut. Add the clams, cook five minutes more.

Meanwhile, in a large frying pan, cook the salt pork until cooked through, removing the liquid and fat as it cooks, so the salt pork gets crispy and doesn’t steam in the fat.

Remove the salt pork and place on some paper towels to drain and cook the onions in the bit of remaining fat. When the onions are transparent, remove them from the pan and place with the salt pork.

Add the butter to the same pan and let it melt fully, then add the flour and cook until it is a light brown and the flour taste is cooked out, creating a roux.

Bring the clams and juice back to a boil and add the roux gradually to the boiling chowder. Add the half and half and season well with the Worcestershire sauce, the hot pepper sauce and freshly ground black pepper. (Survilas doesn't use any additional salt in this recipe as the salt pork is salty enough, but you may choose to salt it a bit to taste.)

Serve with traditional oyster crackers. This is also delicious in a bread bowl. Recipe can easily be doubled for a big crowd as Survilas says she does for family reunions.



Rosemary Ford writes for The Eagle-Tribune of North Andover, Mass.

        

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