a children's treasury of my mom's culinary staples (or: why i go home)

so i've been inactive on the blog for a little while, because i was home for a long weekend, and while i'm there, i like to pretend that there is nothing but walks on the shore, reading on the couch, beers at grumpy's, and my mom's cooking....

...especially the cooking. for a woman who will happily eat unspeakable, week-old leftovers all mushed up together in a bowl, my mom is an incredible cook. the best. and we never really stop eating in my house. we're a family of grazers; i would wager that most of our calories are consumed just before dinner, with the eternal cheese and roasted veggie and hummus and toast and deliciousness that goes out before we actually consider ourselves ready to consume the real meal.
below is a collection of her old standards (or variations on them), with my pictures and instructions in her own words.

roasted red peppers
ellen sez: "wash and dry them. Put them on a baking sheet (I line it with foil, since sticky juice leaks out when the peppers cook, and it's hell to clean up. Broil them, turning until all sides are charred but not so charred that the meat is all desiccated. It's fine if the charred skin cracks. Let them cool completely. Peel and remove seeds. Juice will come out, and it--or at least some of it--is yummy to keep the peppers in. Cut, douse with some good olive oil, and balsamic if you want, and a slice of garlic if you want, and some basil leaves if you want"
molly sez:"eat with everything, especially soft cheeses and toast."

rumanian eggplant
ellen sez: "wash, dry, prick a couple of times on all sides. Broil, again on foil and again until charred all over and collapsed. remove from oven, make a slit from one end to the other, squirt plenty of lemon juice in, and let cool. Scrape into a bowl, chop, add olive oil, salt and pepper, and in the true rumanian style, some very finely chopped oninons, but I don't like the onions."
molly sez: "ONIONS. and yeah, kinda looks like boogers, but as someone who missed out for the first 20 year of her life due to squeemishness, i can tell you: sack up."

roasted tomatoes
ellen sez: "Buy the Roma (Plum) tomatoes. Cut in half the long way and with your index and middle fingers (or in my case, kielbasas), dig out the seeds and the juicy stuff the seeds are in; leave the pulp, though. Line a baking sheet w/parchment, put tomatoes cut side up, drizzle with olive oil, balsamic, salt, pepper, and chopped garlic. Roast at 275 for 2 hours."
molly sez: "new favorite."

salmon
ellen sez: "get a slab of salmon fillet, put it on a baking sheet on top of parchment. Brush with olive oil and salt and pepper. Cover with another sheet of parchment and press so it sticks to the fish. Bake at 400-ish --maybe 10 minutes--until fish flakes and is as done as you like it. I don't know how to determine that except dig a fork into the middle and look. The rule of thumb seems to be 10 minutes/inch of fish."
molly sez: "not her usual preparation, but just as good. serve with tsatsiki"

fruit pie
ellen sez: "4 cups of fruit, 2/3-ish cup of sugar, 1/4cup flour, lemon juice and peel (but not pith, of course), 1/4 tsp cinnamon, anything else (nuts? craisins?) and if juicy, 2 tsp quick-cooking tapioca sprinkled over the top. Stir gently. Let sit 15 min. Preheat oven to 450. I use the Pillsbury or store brand pie dough that comes in the long rectangular box in dairy sections. Put fruit filling in shell, dot with butter, put top layer of crust on. Brush top crust with milk or cream and dust with sugar. make several slits. bake at 450 for 10 minutes, lower heat to 350 for 35-40 min. If the edges start to get too brown, you can do that tin foil trick."
molly sez: "i put a little half and half on, but if you wanna be all european, finish with cheese"