Mother's Day always calls for some good old-fashioned pampering for one of the most important women we'll ever have in our lives. Food plays a huge part in that.The order of the day is usually breakfast in bed, followed by a strong cup of tea and some chocolates, then maybe lunch out somewhere nice, and later a dinner where Mum can put her feet up and not have to lift a finger.
Our mums have a huge influence on the way we cook and eat, an influence that lasts all the way through our lives. There would be few among us who don't have fond memories (and often recipes) of the dishes our mums served up during our childhood years.
For me, this means Swiss steaks, beef and oyster sauce, curried lamb chops, and turmeric grilled fish filling the bellies of eight hungry kids every night. They would be followed by jelly with evaporated milk, crème caramels or sour cream cheesecakes. Here are a couple of favourite dishes from that time, with a little bit of a twist.
SWISS STEAKS WITH CAPER GREMOLATA
Serves 6
Swiss steaks – cheaper steak cuts stewed until tender in a creamy sauce – were a staple Aussie dish through the 1970s and '80s. The caper gremolata here adds a little bit of zing.
• 1.6kg thick topside or round steaks, in 6 equal portions
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 50g butter
• 1 brown onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 2½ cups beef stock
• ½ cup white wine (optional)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 150g sour cream
• freshly ground black pepper Caper gremolata
• ½ cup finely shredded parsley
• grated rind of ½ a lemon
• 1 tbsp finely chopped capers
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Heat your oven to 170°C. Season the steaks well with salt extract and pepper. In an ovenproof casserole over a high heat, fry the steaks in a little of the butter until well browned. Remove and set aside.
Add the remaining butter and the onion to the pan and fry until lightly browned. Add the flour and fry for about 2 minutes, then add the stock, wine, soy sauce, mustard and sour cream, stirring to combine.
Return the steaks to the pot, cover with its lid and place into the oven until the steaks are tender, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Adjust the seasoning.
While the steaks are cooking, make the gremolata by mixing the ingredients together in a bowl. Serve the steaks topped with the gremolata and a grind of black pepper.
BAKED CRÈME CARAMEL CHEESECAKE
Serves 8
Baked creme caramel cheesecake. Photo: William Meppem
This is a mash-up of two favourite desserts from my childhood – Mum's crème caramel and her baked sour cream cheesecake.
• 1½ cups wholemeal digestive biscuits, finely crumbled
• ¼ cup finely chopped walnuts
• 125g butter, melted
• 500g cream cheese, softened
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 125g caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp cornflour
• 150g sour cream
Caramel topping
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
Heat your oven to 150°C. Combine the biscuit crumbs, walnuts and butter together in a bowl and mix well. Press this mix into the base and the sides of a 23cm spring-form cake tin.
Using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese, eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, cornflour and sour cream until the mixture is smooth. Pour into the cake tin, leaving a gap of about ¾cm between the top of the mixture and the top of the sides of the biscuit base. Bake for 50 minutes, then turn off the oven. Allow to cool in the oven for 2 hours without opening the door. Remove and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but preferably overnight.
While the cheesecake is cold, transfer it to a serving plate.
To make the caramel topping, place the sugar in a small saucepan over a high heat and bring to a dark caramel. Add one-third of a cup of water and stir until the mixture is a thick liquid. Stir through the vanilla and pour over the cheesecake. Allow to stand for 10-15 minutes before serving.