Food  

SHOW mom LOVE

Cook for her for a change of pace

By JEAN PRESCOTT
jtprescott@sunherald.com

JAMES MERRELL FROM 'FEAST'/

Nigella's chicken and sausages turn brown and luscious in the oven. Serve with the garlicky new potatoes for which we provide a recipe or pair it with a casserole of potatoes au gratin or mac 'n' cheese.

One of the things we like about using one of Nigella Lawson's cookbooks - and, yes, we know some of you find her precious and a flibbertigibbet, but we disagree - is the open-endedness of most of her recipes. She not only leaves you options but suggests ways to change the recipe as written.

That's why we went to her "Feast" book (Hyperion, 2004) for ideas on ways to indulge Mom on Mother's Day.

And though the book is sorted by special events - Easter, a wedding feast, Halloween - parts and pieces are interchangeable. Pick up a main course here, a side dish there, a dessert that could become your signature dish.

We reasoned the parts and pieces of a Mother's Day Feast should be simple enough for Dad and assorted younglings to put together without wrecking the kitchen. That said, we do realize in some families (perhaps many), Dad is the better cook.

We also reasoned that though this being a day to show Mom appreciation for all she does for us, you might find a fancy restaurant dinner the smarter, better way to go, and that's OK, too. We've even offered a couple of suggestions if you choose that route.

In our experience, though, food is as much about love as it is about nourishment, and isn't love a kind of nourishment after all? Food you fix yourself isn't all about the finished product. It's about the care and time invested in it.

So here are a few suggestions for a Happy Mother's Day meal, and we suggest you take a tip from a restaurateur/friend who says this (or words to this effect): "Make it yourself if your recipe is spectacular; let someone else (a purveyor, the supermarket) do it if isn't." Remember this bit when you get to the part where we suggest frozen baby peas as a side dish.

For the main course, we chose Nigella's take on a one-pan dish, this one with chicken and sausages, from "Feast's" Easy Lunch for Six. On the side, we'd serve Sticky Garlic Potatoes (from an Easter dinner) with simple petits pois heated up in a bit of butter, or green beans topped with toasted slivered almonds. Buy either veg frozen; your choice.

For dessert, buy some of the richest vanilla ice cream you can lay hands on and top it with Peanut Butter and Snickers Fudge Sauce.

To quote the author, "I think the title says it all, don't you?"

Now that's love.

SAGE-AND-ONION CHICKEN AND SAUSAGES

Writes the author, "I took it into my head... to marinate and cook some chicken with the flavors of a traditional sage-and-onion stuffing. So onion, mustard, sage and lemon infuse the cut-up bird." The sausages, she writes, may be any fresh (as opposed to smoked) sausage you choose, though probably one that is not fiery hot would be best.