From the kitchen / ‘Old Country’ food with a twist

My grandparents really knew how to cook. It seems to me that everyone born in “the Old Country” (in this case, Transylvania) was born with built-in cooking intuition. Somehow they could create the most scrumptious meals using no fancy equipment, and not even measuring spoons. I recall that they hosted every holiday humbly, turning out the expected delicacies with what seemed like the simplest, most relaxed effort. No exotic flavor profiles, nor any food combos and wine pairing, because when the food is that good—no, make that superb—there’s no need to reinvent the wheel.

But since recipes evolve with each generation, I present some of my favorite traditional recipes with a few of my own twists.

Poppy’s sour cr. potato soup 

My grandfather, Poppy, was nicknamed “Chefu,” Romanian for chef. A butcher by trade, he was amazing in the kitchen. He and my grandmother each had their specialties. Anytime we stopped by their house off Philadelphia’s Northeast Avenue, there was something tasty and fresh for us to eat.

I  loved sitting at their tiny kitchen table enjoying sour cream potato soup. Poppy’s original rendition of this soup consisted simply of potatoes, water, salt, pepper, sour cream, and small square luckshen. (It may sound like Chinese, but it’s Yiddish for noodles.) I’ve beefed up his recipe by replacing the water with vegetable broth and substituting small red-skin potatoes (eye appeal) for his peeled, diced russets. This rich soup immediately transports me back to his kitchen table with my legs dangling above the floor.

Prep Time: 8 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 10 cups

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons butter

1 large onion, finely diced

1 quart vegetable broth, such as Manischewitz all-natural vegetable broth

1 pound very small red-skin potatoes, quartered

One 16-ounce container sour cream

Kosher salt

Ground white pepper

2 1/2 cups cooked small pasta (such as square noodles, ditalini, or orzo)

Directions:

1. Heat the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring continually until translucent, about 10 minutes. Do not let the onion brown.

2. Add the broth and potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are fork tender, 10-15 minutes.