TURNER – Nancy Youland remembers enjoying cooking ever since she was a child. “I sat on the counter and watched my grandmother cook,” she said. Nancy’s mother also taught children how to cook as home economics teacher at Leavitt Institute during the 1930s.
When Nancy and her husband, David, bought The Bradford Camps in northern Maine in 1972, she cooked for all of the guests and staff, seven days a week. “I made all the bread, pastries and pies,” she said.
They sold the camps and retired 10 years ago, but Nancy still loves to cook. It must be in her blood since she tells of a brother who is a chef and a sister who was a dietitian. Today, Nancy enjoys cooking for her four grown children and 11 grandchildren on holidays and other special occasions. This can be as many as 23 people.
“The grandkids like anything,” she said. One of their favorites is a special family treat – chocolate bread pudding with hard sauce.
While cooking at the camps, Nancy met many interesting people from different parts of the United States and from foreign countries. She would invite them into her kitchen and have them observe a meal being prepared, and also get ideas from them and their culture. “It was interesting to see how other people prepared different meals,” said Youland.
Most of the meals were cooked on a Round Oak wood stove and a large six-burner Garland gas range.
“That was pretty warm duty, especially during July and August,” she said. Today, she cooks on a range with gas burners on top and a convection/electric oven. She also relies on her mixer and likes to have sharp knives.
The best part of cooking, she said, is “having people enjoy it.” People are always telling her husband, “Your wife’s a good cook.” Her husband says she should give the grandchildren cooking lessons on weekends, and he has been prompting her to write her own cookbook. “They’re always calling and asking, ‘Nana, how do you do this?'”
Nancy gets many of her recipes from her large, tattered and well-used collection of cookbooks. “I like Fannie Farmer’s … you can always go there and find out how to do something. … It has a good reference section,” she said.
Nancy and her husband still travel to northern Maine to their personal camp in their free time. She also likes to do things with her grandchildren and attend their school activities and sporting events. She enjoys bird hunting during the fall, cross-country skiing during the winter months, gardening and watching the Boston Red Sox games on TV.
Pan roasted beef tenderloin
Ingredients:
1 3-pound cut of beef tenderloin
¼ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon coarse-ground black pepper
Method:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Trim silver skin and fat from tenderloin; wash it and dry well with paper towels. Truss (tie) the meat with cotton string at every inch to create a round profile. Tie firmly but not too tight. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over high heat.
Rub meat with olive oil, salt and pepper. Sear on all sides until browned in about three rotations – one minute for each. Roast in oven for 20 to 30 minutes, turning tenderloin over halfway through cooking for even browning. When temperature in the tenderloin reads 130 degrees (medium rare) on a meat thermometer, remove from oven. Cover the roast with aluminum foil and let it rest 10 minutes before cutting into 1½-inch slices.
Oysters and spinach casserole
Ingredients:
1 10-ounce package frozen spinach, chopped
½ pint oysters, drained
¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon pepper
3 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Method:
Cook spinach, omitting salt, drain well. Place spinach in a lightly greased casserole. Arrange oysters over spinach. Sprinkle with cheese, garlic powder and pepper. Top with crumbled bacon. Combine butter and lemon juice. Pour over oyster mixture. Bake at 450 degrees for 4 to 7 minutes. Yields: 4 appetizer servings or 2 entree servings. Recipe can easily be doubled.
Italian tomato and sausage soup
Ingredients:
3 teaspoons oil
¼ pound sweet sausage
¼ pound hot sausage
1 cup onions, chopped
5 cups beef broth
½ teaspoon Italian seasonings
½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup orzo or rice
1 quart tomatoes
Method:
Heat oil. Add sausage and brown. Remove sausage from pan. Add onions, sauté until tender. Add broth, Italian seasonings and sugar. Bring to boil. Add rice and tomatoes. Simmer until rice (or orzo) is tender, about 20 minutes. Add sausage, heat through, about 2 minutes.
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