Dr. Roderick Prior realized at an early age that the best way to learn something is to get right in and do it. “When I was 8, I figured out that the best way to get to eat food that I really liked was to learn to make it. My first ‘dish’ was instant chocolate pudding. I quickly moved to my mother’s chocolate cake (included here), which is still my favorite chocolate cake recipe.”

Mom made sure that when her sons went out on their own, they had a good foundation in cooking. “When my brothers and I left home, my mother gave each of us a recipe box full of her favorite recipes. I still use that recipe box. It’s a treasure trove of ideas.” Prior also discovered “The New York Times Cookbook” and Julia Child. “I started watching her shows in the early 1970s. I feel like it was her TV show which really taught me how to cook. I have most of Julia’s books, and even have one autographed by Julia and Paul Child.”

Recently, Prior attended “Boot Camp” at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., one of the best culinary arts schools in the country. That experience “was a week of immersion in professional cooking for ‘food enthusiasts,’ as they term us ‘foodies’.”

For newer cooks looking for great recipes, Prior recommends two cookbooks, “The Best Recipe” and “The Best Recipe: Grilling and Barbecuing,” both published by Cook’s Illustrated, which also publishes a magazine for cooks. He also stresses the important of good equipment. “Buy a good knife, learn how to sharpen it and learn how to use it properly. Buy good equipment sparingly and one item at a time. A KitchenAid stand mixer and a Cuisinart or KitchenAid food processor are both very handy if you can afford them. I bought my KitchenAid mixer for $72 in 1972, and it’s still going strong.”

Prior grills many of his meals. “It’s quick, flavorful and low-calorie. I’m on a diet, so meat and grilled vegetables, or a chef’s salad including grilled vegetables, are getting to be a very common dinner.” He does love sweet things though. “I love to bake bread and desserts,” he confesses. “But my waistline prevents me from doing much of it.

Prior lives in Farmington with his wife, Holly Price. They have two children: Alison, age 20, and Chris, 16. He is medical director and chief information officer at Franklin Memorial Hospital. When not working or cooking, Prior enjoys woodworking, playing the clarinet and sailing.

Garnett’s mother’s chocolate cake
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar

4 to 5 tablespoons butter, softened

1 egg

5 tablespoons cocoa power, dissolved in ½ cup hot water

½ cup sour milk or cream

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Method:
Set the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour an 8-by-8-inch square or 9-inch round cake pan. (I often cut a round or square or waxed or parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan. Butter the pan first. Then insert the paper. Butter and flour the paper. It really helps the cake come out cleanly.) Measure the flour, salt and baking soda into a flour sifter and sift the dry ingredients together. Cream the butter, add the sugar and cream the two together. Add the egg and the cocoa in water, mixing thoroughly. Then fold in the flour mixture and the sour milk or cream in two or three batches, just folding or mixing slowly in a mixer until blended. The secret to a tender cake is to not over-mix it!

Put batter into pan(s) and cook for 30 to 40 minutes. The cake is done when it begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Rod’s note:
My mother’s good friend, Garnett Seifert, gave her this recipe in about 1950. It had been Garnett’s mother’s.

For the sour milk, I sour my own milk with vinegar. Buttermilk or yogurt work well in this recipe, as well.

You can double the recipe, put half the batter into each of two 9-inch cake pans and make a layer cake with this cake. Raspberries, sieved to remove the seeds, sweetened and thickened by cooking with a little cornstarch, makes a wonderful filling, topped with whipped cream or ice cream. It’s also delicious with a simple sugar-milk-butter frosting, flavored with peppermint extract.
Chicken with pasta and pesto
Ingredients:
3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 large onion, cut into strips

1 large green pepper, cored, seeded and cut into strips.

1 large garlic clove, minced or put through a garlic press

¼ cup or more of pesto

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper

Olive oil for cooking.

½ pound pasta of choice. I like rotini.
Method:
Cook the pasta in salted water according to package directions, and drain.

Heat a saute pan over high heat. Add olive oil, then add the onion and green pepper and sauté briefly until the onion is translucent and brown at the edges, and the green pepper is bright green (two to three minutes). Remove the vegetables.

Reheat the pan, add a little more olive oil. Dry the chicken with paper towels just before adding it, then add it and saute four to five minutes, tossing to cook all sides. Don’t crowd the chicken. The heat should be high enough to brown the chicken. The secret to juicy chicken is enough heat, not crowding and not overcooking.

Remove the chicken. Turn the heat down to medium-low, or partially remove the sauté pan from the heat. Add a little more olive oil (2 teaspoons is enough). Add the garlic and “sweat” it, just until it’s aromatic, but not until it’s brown. Then add the pesto. Stir. Add the vegetables, chicken and cooked pasta to the pan. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir, and serve.


Rod’ notes:
I stole the idea for this recipe from Tom Whalen, who was director of food service at Franklin Memorial Hospital. Tom used to do occasional demonstration cooking at the hospital. This was one of his favorites.

To cut the onion into strips, do this: Peel the onion. Cut it in half through the root. Put the cut side down onto your cutting board. Using a sharp knife, make a series of horizontal cuts through the onion half ¼ inch apart, leaving the root end of the onion intact. Then make a series of vertical cuts through the onion, once again leaving the root end of the onion intact. When you’re done in both directions, cut off the root end and release the strips.

We grow basil in the summer. In the early fall, before the first frost, we make big batches of pesto in the food processor. We freeze it into ice-cube trays, and then put the cubes into ziplock bags to keep. Fresh pesto, any time. If you don’t have the ability to do this, you can often buy pesto in supermarkets or gourmet food stores. Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Mango Salsa.

Ingredients for dry rub for barbecue:

4 tablespoons sweet paprika

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons ground cumin

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons salt

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 tablespoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon ground white pepper

1-2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

Ingredients for the pork:

1 pork tenderloin

1½ tablespoons table salt

¾ cup sugar.

Oil

Method:

Make a brine by dissolving the sugar and table salt in 2 cups hot water. Then add 2 cups cold water and bring the brine to room temperature. Add the tenderloin(s), cover with plastic rap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Remove the tenderloins from the brine and dry them. Rub with oil and generously with the spice rub and let sit for 15 minutes while your grill preheats.

Preheat your grill on high for 15 minutes. Clean the grill with a brass wire brush. Cook the tenderloin(s) for 3½ minutes on each of 3 sides. On the final side, cook until an instant-read thermometer reads 145 degrees. Transfer the tenderloins to a cutting board, cover with foil and let sit for five to 10 minutes before carving.

Rod’s note: I make this dry rub mixture in big batches and use it for everything. (The amounts given here will make 1 cup of the dry rub, enough for this recipe and future use.)

One pork tenderloin will serve two to four hearty eaters, or four smaller eaters.

Mango salsa

Ingredients:

2 mangos

¼ red onion

Juice of 1-2 limes

½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Method:

Peel, core and dice the mangos. Dice the onion. Mix both ingredients with the lime juice and cilantro and serve with the grilled pork tenderloin.

Rod’s note: Recipes for this barbecue rub, grilled pork and salsa come from “The Best Recipe Grilling and Barbecuing” by the editors of Cook’s Illustrated magazine.

This cookbook has a large number of wet and dry rubs for barbecues.