After spending over 30 years cooking for her extended family of 19 at their summer home on an island off the coast of Maine, Acton resident Nancy DeAngelo, 62, has decided to share her recipes with the world by compiling them into a cookbook titled "Nancy Jane's Cooking by the Sea."
The book is meant to assist vacationers on small islands or beach towns with food stores that offer little variety.
"A lot of times these places are without specialty stores," DeAngelo said. "I love hamburgers, but I don't want to eat two weeks worth of them."
To aid the hungry vacationer, DeAngelo suggests travelers buy ingredients before leaving home, and includes a shopping list of ingredients needed for the recipes in her cookbook. And don't forget the local and fresh food you can find at your destination.
DeAngelo and her family travel to their Maine summer home twice during the season: for the Fourth of July and two weeks in August.
Though she is not the head of the family - DeAngelo's mother accompanies them on their biannual treks north - the role of family chef has always fallen to her.
"The only difference my mother sees between a meatball, a meatloaf and a hamburger are the shape," she said, "so my sisters and I have to be in charge of the cooking."
Being in charge of feeding 19 people for three weeks has also lead DeAngelo, who owns her own catering company, Short Order Gourmet, to get creative.
"There was a time when one of the little cousins would only eat food that was white," DeAngelo said. "So my goal every summer was to introduce her to another color by making the food so pretty she would just have to eat it."
And DeAngelo's food is certainly colorful. Photographs of the finished meals printed in her book sport vibrant reds, bright greens and sunny yellows representing food from a variety of locals such as Texas, Colorado and Maine.
Though the instructions in DeAngelo's recipes are quite detailed, she said she encourages food lovers to experiment - something she does all the time.
"I love gathering food and just seeing what I can do with it," she said, adding that she often digs her own mussels, and once incorporated periwinkle into a recipe after coming upon it on a hike.
Because she is accustomed to cooking for large numbers of people, DeAngelo said her recipes are easily prepared in under two hours, no matter the size of the guest list.
"Especially when you're on vacation, there's a ton of things to do - like reading, jogging, sailing - I don't want to be left out because I have to cook," DeAngelo said, "And neither should you."
MUSSELS STEAMED IN WHITE WINE, GARLIC & LEMONGRASS
INGREDIENTS:
5 pounds mussels, scrubbed clean and debearded
Cornstarch
Olive oil
5 garlic cloves, minced
3 shallots, minced
1 tablespoon lemongrass
1/2 cup mint leaves, chopped
1 cup white wine
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup light cream, optional
Cooked pasta for 8 people
DIRECTIONS:
Lightly sprinkle the mussels with cornstarch.
Lightly cover the bottom of a large frying pan with olive oil. Saute the garlic and shallots until soft. Add the mussels, lemongrass, mint and red pepper flakes. Saute for 2 minutes. Shake the pan frequently to rotate the mussels and cook evenly.
Pour the wine in the pan and cook for 8 minutes, or until all mussels are opened (if there are too many mussels to fit in your pan, work in batches until all mussels are cooked).
Spoon the opened mussels onto a platter. Continue to cook the broth until slightly reduced to intensify the flavor.
Optional: Add 1/2 cup light cream to the broth, and gently simmer the sauce until thickened, about 15 minutes.
Serve over pasta with a green salad and warm crusty bread.
Makes 8 servings.
