About Town: Sharing the Bounty in Comfort Food Weather

The calendar tells me it is July. Then why am I cooking like it is winter?

Monday night I made a big pot of Mother’s Chili. Sunday it was her recipe for Salmon-Stuffed Potatoes. If this were a typical July, we  would be eating grilled chicken. I’d be planning hot weather dinners such as hamburgers, spinach salads, shrimp kebabs, potato salad and there would be a pitcher of iced tea in the refrigerator. Instead we’re still drinking hot tea and hot coffee.

My husband isn’t complaining. He, in fact, prefers the tummy-filling comfort food. I have been musing all day about why my hot weather recipes are all modern variations on fresh food while the tried and true dishes are ones my mother used to cook.

Ill health has kept my mother off her feet and out of the kitchen for the last couple years. So whenever I prepare these recipes from her repertoire, I do double and triple batches so I can bring jars and plastic containers of leftovers to my parents’ home. Or, when time permits, I pack the ingredients to their home and cook while the four of us – my parents and my husband and I – play bridge.

Which brings me back to the Salmon-Stuffed Potatoes. Not only did they relish them on Sunday, they are fastidious about sharing the leftovers equally.

It probably comes from my husband and my father being good buddies. Their friendship grew when my father had his own business – installing and repairing conveyor systems. Because the work often had to be done on weekends, my husband became a part time employee. My father took my husband’s lobbying for occasional coffee and lunch breaks with good humor – without someone nudging him, my dad often worked 12 or 24 hours straight to get jobs completed. They all needed the breaks for their safety and well-being.

When Sunday’s dinner was over, there were seven potatoes left. Yep, I had to cut one in half and leave 3 ½ in my parents’ fridge and bring 3 ½ home.

So what’s a Salmon-Stuffed Potato? My mother, whose memory neurons don’t always fire these days, can’t recall when and where she got the recipe. Her version used canned salmon. It is ridiculously simple and the next time you have leftover salmon and men to feed, you’ll thank me for sharing it.

The amount of grilled salmon you have leftover – you can always fall back on the canned stuff but that’s so Midwest – determines the amount you make. And this recipe isn’t like a soufflé. You can fudge on the proportions and it will still work.

Sunday I had a good three cups of salmon leftover from a whole sockeye. So I scrubbed six large baking potatoes and put them in a 375 degree oven. Meanwhile, we kept playing bridge. Every time I was dummy, I would head to the kitchen where I flaked the salmon into a big mixing bowl. I cleaned and chopped about a dozen green onions, including the green part. If you don’t have green onions, use a regular onion or two but sauté them in a little oil or butter.

When the potatoes were done, I cut them in half long-ways and then let them cool a good 15 to 20 minutes. Then I scooped the potato out of the skin, leaving about ¼ inch of potato left. I put the skins on a cookie sheet and put them back into the oven which I had turned down to 350 degrees.

Then I smash the potato into smallish chunks. You don’t want mashed potatoes but you don’t want big lumps either.

Add the salmon and onion. Add one stick (1/2 cup) of butter. I know, I know, we’re all dieting but trust me on this. You need the butter. I’ve substituted nonfat yogurt and it wasn’t as good. Break a couple eggs in a small dish and slightly beat them with a fork. Mix them into the potato-salmon mixture. Generously salt and pepper the mess.

Pull the potato skins out of the oven. Heap the potato-salmon mixture into the skins. Put them back in the oven and go play at least one bridge hand or wait about 15 minutes. You want everything piping hot inside those potatoes.

Slice some good cheddar cheese – you could use grated but my family prefers slices – and put a slice or two on top of each potato. My mother’s Midwest version called for Velveeta but trust me, a good cheddar is better. Bake again for a few minutes until the cheese melts slightly.

We served them Sunday with a green salad on the side. If you’re feeding a family or dinner guests, cook some peas or another green vegetable to go on the plate.

Yes, you can prepare this recipe in advance and reheat it later. Just be sure to refrigerate it because of the egg binder in the mix.

We can always hope that the weather finally gets warm and stays warm and you won’t need to make this until fall. But just in case, remember a little Midwest-style comfort food will help you forget the rain.