Stay-at-home cooking: Try a simple throwback recipe of Curly’s and mashed potatoes

My earliest childhood memories are the smells coming from my grandmother’s kitchen.

I was constantly in the kitchen, underfoot and poking my nose where it didn’t belong. The first time I “helped” her in the kitchen, I added dish soap to a pot simmering on the stove. We ordered pizza that night.

Fortunately, she was forgiving and continued to let me explore the culinary world with her. The time with her lit a passion in me and, in turn, led to a 20-year career throughout the culinary world.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, there are a lot of inconveniences and uncertainties. I find myself reflecting on memories of my childhood kitchen. Daily, my grandmother cooked for an ever-changing number of family members that would stop by at a moment’s notice. Because of this, most of the meals she prepared were simple, delicious, inexpensive and mostly prepared with nonperishable ingredients, because portions could be adjusted on the fly.

Because of my professional experience, I recognize and fully appreciate how difficult it was for her to accomplish this, and her ability to be so flexible on a moment’s notice impresses me.

One of those classic family recipes was created by my great-grandfather during the Great Depression; another time of uncertainty and upheaval, for much different reasons. Everyone called my great-grandfather Curly (due to his curly hair), so he called his recipe “Curly’s.” It was a recipe my grandfather recalled from his childhood and shared later with my grandmother. She made them often and would serve them with mashed potatoes.

This recipe is lighthearted, simple to make, inexpensive, and (most importantly!) guaranteed to bring any family together in the kitchen and around the dinner table.

Curly’s & Mashed Potatoes

Serves: 4

Curly’s

8 hot dogs

½ cup ketchup

¼ cup steak sauce (you could also use barbecue sauce)

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and pepper

Mashed Potatoes

4 pounds potatoes, peeled, ½-inch dice

¼ cup milk (or water from boiling the potatoes)

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons sour cream

1 cloves garlic, grated on a microplane (trust me: get one)

Salt and pepper

Directions:

▪ Peel and dice the potatoes and cover with water in a medium-sized pot. Bring water to a boil over medium-high heat and then simmer.

▪ While the potatoes are simmering, cut the hot dogs in half lengthwise, turn them so the flat side is down on the cutting board and cut them in half lengthwise again.

▪ Heat a sauté pan on medium heat and add the oil.

▪ Once the oil just starts to shimmer, add the hot dogs and cook until they curl up and start to caramelize.

▪ Reduce the heat to low and stir in the ketchup, steak sauce, and Worcestershire sauce.

▪ Bring to a simmer, cover and set aside.

▪ Once the potatoes are fork-tender, strain and transfer back to the pot to mash. (Save some of the cooking liquid if you don’t want to use milk.)

▪ Add the milk (or reserved cooking water), butter, sour cream and grated garlic. Mash until they are as lumpy or not lumpy as you would like.

▪ Taste the potatoes and the Curly’s and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper as you like.

▪ Serve the mashed potatoes in a bowl with the Curly’s on top

Also, it’s 2020 and we eat vegetables now, so make a side salad or any other vegetable. Grandma would approve.

Dan Lindberg has worked in kitchens from coast to coast for more than 20 years. Have a question for Dan? Email jpatrick@sacbee.com.