rachel ellner

Family Recipes: New England Pot Roast

Photograph by Rachel Ellner

I’ve come to realize that many of us have been bequeathed a cherished family recipe. Be it simple or elaborate to prepare, it’s a dish so fiendishly delicious that it is the unmistakable star of the family meal, whether celebrating triumphs, comforting woes, or keeping family traditions alive. Withholding such heirloom recipes from the world seems almost cruel. Hence, I am championing the family recipe. I will entice the people in my universe to share favourite, nostalgia-infused family recipes, and I will give one of them centre stage in this very space on a monthly basis. In the end, we are all family, and these recipes represent the legacies of our shared passions. This month’s post is written by my good friend Rachel Ellner, a lifestyle reporter working out of Boston and New York City. Enjoy!

ODE TO MY MOTHER’S POT ROAST
By Rachel Ellner

I used to tell my mother that the back seat of the boat I take into the afterlife will be filled with her pot roast. Like the wealthiest of ancient Egyptians, I’ll also take my favorite cats, husbands, servants and pottery. But I’m not going anywhere without the tantalizing taste of her roast beef thoroughly drenched in wine gravy. I assume that mashed potatoes, the standard pot-roast accompaniment, are available anywhere.

The response from my mother? “Make sure it’s a brisket.”

My mother was well aware of the popularity of her pot roast. When I was a child, she would allow us a few minutes of talking through stuffed mouthfuls before shushing us.

“I want everyone to be quiet and concentrate on how good this tastes,” she’d say. And we obediently complied.

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Book Review: 10 Superb Granola Recipes

10 Superb Granola Recipes

Recipes often say much about a place and time. And let’s face it, Granola will forever be associated with the hippie generation and a youth movement that placed emphasis on natural foods.

In 10 Superb Granola Recipes, author Rachel Ellner recounts that during the Free Love Era in the 60 and 70s, commune food was to be shared, and granola was made in big batches. It was an expression of wholesomeness, and an alternative to processed ingredients.

The food consciousness of that era has made a reemergence and this book conveniently provides 10 granola recipes that have an emphasis on health and are free of gluten or refined sugar.

The cookbook is succinct and in no way intimidating, concentrating on ingredients that are found in most kitchen cupboards while expanding the granola palette with new flavour combinations. You’ll find granola recipes for cocoa cherry, banana chia coconut, pistachio golden raisin, tahini date and apricot nut, and the classic old fashioned, to name a few.

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