Recipe(tried): Spoon Bread, Garlicky Green Beans, Two-Sauce Halibut, and Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

SUNDAY DINNER MENU:
Al's Spoon Bread
Aunt Mame's Garlicky Green Beans
Halibut with Zucchini Tomato Sauce and Butter Vanilla Sauce
Rhubarb and Strawberry Pie

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Sunday dinner is so much more fun when there's a crowd. We recently visited our son's home in San Diego and shared supper with his wife, their kids, another son and his wife from L.A., and friends who dropped in - it all made me miss those days when the kids were around and always hungry. Here's one meal for Sunday supper, with some family history:

AL'S SPOON BREAD

That's Floyd Allen Moore to you! My Dad came from south of the Greasy-Greazy line (just say the word to yourself to see if you're a Southerner.) Al just loved green beans cooked with pork until they were limp, spoon bread, and greens. I first made this dish for him when I was learning how to cook, about age 11. Poor man - he ate it, and even smiled. This recipe is from his mother, and on it, he wrote "Tops!"

2 cups milk
1/2 cup corn meal
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
3 eggs, separated
Butter and/or maple syrup (for serving)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Heat milk to scalding in heavy saucepan. Add corn meal gradually, stirring constantly. Add 1 tablespoon butter, salt and sugar. Stir until butter is melted. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly until thickened, about 10 minutes.

Beat egg yolks until light. Add a small amount of corn meal mixture to yolks, stirring well. Then combine yolk mixture with corn meal mixture, stirring until well blended.

Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold into corn meal mixture, off heat, until only a few white streaks remain. Pour into buttered 1 quart casserole.

Bake 45 minutes. Serve with butter. (Some like maple syrup on this bread.)

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AUNT MAME'S GREEN BEANS

Aunt Mame didn't like too many green things on her plate. I don't know what possessed her, but she tried making these once for the "rest of us", and everyone liked them. I also don't know if they became part of her cooking repertoire, but I've made them many times since. This called for turkey bacon from the era when it was first available (as a health food!), but I use thin cut regular bacon, too.

3/4 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
3/4 lb green beans, halved
2 cloves garlic, minced (or use pre-minced garlic from jar, 1 teaspoon)
4 slices bacon (turkey or pork), cooked crisp, crumbled into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp olive oil or canola oil

Toast walnuts: spread on a piece of foil and bake 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees F. Stir every 2-3 minutes. Remove from oven and crumple up foil to cover and keep walnuts warm.

Place beans and salt in 10-inch skillet with 1/4 cup water. Cover tightly and cook over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until beans are tender-crisp, shaking the pan occasionally.

Drain skillet of any extra water. Add garlic, oil, bacon, and walnuts to beans. Cook uncovered 3-5 minutes, tossing frequently until steaming hot. Serve immediately.

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HALIBUT WITH BUTTER VANILLA SAUCE

This recipe came from one of my husband's students at the University of Alaska. We never knew if the kid just liked to cook or it was an attempted grade bribe - hmmm. Either way, it's amazingly good, and can be used with red snapper or salmon, too. You make 2 simple sauces and then very quickly cook the fish without any fuss.

1 1/2 lb fresh fish, cut in 1/2 to 1-inch thick filets
FOR THE VANILLA BUTTER SAUCE:
1 (4-inch) piece vanilla bean, split lengthwise
4 tbsp butter, divided
5 tbsp olive oil, divided
FOR THE ZUCCHINI TOMATO SAUCE:
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp crushed garlic
2 1/2 cups zucchini, cut in matchsticks
1 cup chopped tomatoes (canned is OK, fresh is better - try Roma tomatoes)
2 tbsp fresh basil leaves, torn (or 1 tsp crushed dried basil)
1 tsp fennel seed, crushed
3/4 tsp salt
5 large pinches freshly ground black pepper
vanilla bean, cut into slivers, and thin lemon slices (optional, for garnish)

TO MAKE THE VANILLA BUTTER SAUCE:
Scrape seeds from bean into a small saucepan. Add bean and 3 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Heat until butter melts and oil is hot. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand 1/2 hour. Remove bean and set aside.

TO MAKE THE ZUCCHINI TOMATO SAUCE:
In a medium skillet, heat 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, decrease heat to medium and cook until tender, about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Be careful not to let garlic burn or it will be bitter. Add zucchini, cook and stir one minute. Stir in tomatoes, basil, fennel seed, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir until tomatoes are soft, about 3-5 minutes. Cover and let stand.

TO PREPARE THE FISH:
Heat a 12-inch skillet over medium high heat, add 2 tbsp olive oil. Add filets, then cook over low heat until opaque and fish is just beginning to flake when opened with a fork, about 2-4 minutes per side.

TO ASSEMBLE:
On 4 plates, spoon equal amounts of Zucchini-Tomato sauce. Top with fish portion. Pour Vanilla Butter sauce over. If desired, garnish with vanilla bean, cut into slivers, and thin lemon slices.

This recipe doubles easily.

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RHUBARB AND STRAWBERRY PIE

My Dad loved strawberries with rhubarb, the latter growing in abundance out by the garage. This pie didn't get made often, but it was greeted with delight, and forks scraped the plates for every last crumb.

3 cups rhubarb, rinsed well and sliced 1/3 inch thick
1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced thin
2/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp salted butter
One double (9-inch) pie crust

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine rhubarb with berries in a bowl. Mix together flour, sugar, spices and stir into fruit. Let stand 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Pour fruit mixture into unbaked bottom pie crust in a (9-inch) pie pan, and dot with butter. Make a lattice crust on top of the pie, or just add a top crust and crimp edges, as well as slashing a few steam vents on top.

Bake 45-60 minutes or until fruit is bubbly and tender and crust browns. Watch carefully - this pie can over bake in a moment if you have an oven that runs hot. I usually put the pie tin on a rimmed baking sheet to prevent spills on the oven floor from the bubbling pie.

Enjoy!