Nancy Leson
Claim to Foodie Fame: Seattle Times food writer
Quote: At age 3-ish, I opened the fridge, took out a cube of butter and started eating it. Why? Because everything’s better with butter. Why do I remember it? Probably because I got spanked!
What is your earliest memory of cooking? I can’t recall which came first: cooking “Shrimp à la Schecter” -- named for my grandmother’s best friend (“Aunt” Ann Schecter) and made in an electric frying pan using Campbell’s soup, among other ingredients; or the time I made the Thanksgiving turkey at age 10 (my mother had an aversion to touching raw poultry). I couldn’t find the baster bulb and used my mouth instead to suck up the hot drippings. And yes, my tongue was still burnt at Christmas.
What is your idea of comfort food? A big bowl of Chinese soup-noodles with sui-kau dumplings.
If you were a dish, which one would you be?
According to my husband, I’m already a “kosher ham.”
Sweet or savory? Sour or spicy?
Definitely savory — I’d rather have a half-dozen oysters or a cheese plate than dessert. Spicy —though choosing between a hot pastrami sandwich from Katz’s Deli in NYC and the Szechuan dan dan noodles at Spicy Talk Bistro in Redmond would be a tough call.
Food or meal you would happily die eating, or, what is your last meal and testament?
Omakase sushi prepared by my sushi dream-team: Tomokatsu Takayama (Taka Sushi in Lynnwood), Ryu Nakano (Kisaku near Greenlake), Taichi Kitamura (Tamura on Eastlake), Shiro Kashiba (Shiro’s in Belltown), Hajime Sato (Mashiko in West Seattle), and Yutaka Saito (late of Saito’s, formerly in Belltown).
If you had to eat only one food for the rest of our life, what would it be?
See: Chinese soup-noodles.
What do you consider to be the ultimate flavor?
A fresh-shucked Northwest oyster, pulled from the tide-flats in January.
How did your family honor food traditions in your household?
You mean besides chasing after the ice cream truck?
Who first taught you how to cook?
I’m self-taught, if you don’t count the time my neighbor, Elaine Schwartz, showed me how to roast a chicken when I was in 4th grade. Though I’ll have to give a nod to my Aunt Joan, who regularly said, “Nancy, toss the salad!” then handed me the Seven Seas Italian dressing.
Who do you credit with inspiring in you a love of food and cooking?
In my case, the question would be “What do you credit?” Answer? The time spent in and out of professional kitchens during my first career: the 17 years I spent waiting tables.
Share an example of one of your family food traditions.
My husband Mac, who was born on Christmas Day, always makes a big batch of gumbo to celebrate both occasions, using andouille, chicken, wild prawns, and fresh Dungeness crab. It’s a stunner!
What is your favorite dish or meal to cook?
Roast chicken. Couldn’t be easier — or more delicious.
If you could invite anyone to your holiday dinner — living, dead, or imaginary — who would it be?
My KPLU radio sidekick, jumpin’ jazzoid Dick Stein. Because no one makes me laugh harder, and he’s a great cook.
Nancy Leson's Heavenly Flour-Bread Rolls
Makes 2 1/2 dozen
Adapted from Dori Sanders' Country Cooking and always on my winter-holiday table.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons warm water
5 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
2 cups buttermilk
Preparation:
1. In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until mixture resembles very coarse cornmeal.
3. Add buttermilk to yeast mixture, stir briefly, and add to flour mixture. Stir until mixture is just moistened. The dough, will be very soft. (You may covere and refrigerate it overnight at this point.) Let the dough rest and rise, covered, for at least a half hour, or up to several hours, punching it down as needed during the longer rise.
4. Lightly grease muffin tins. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. (If refrigerated, remove dough from refrigerator and let rise an hour. Then punch down the dough and knead it briefly, about two minutes, on a lightly floured surface.) Pinch off quarter-sized pieces, roll them into rounds between the palms of your hands and put three small balls into each muffin tin. Let rise for 30 minutes and bake about 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden.
