Norman has been cooking ever since his mother, Bessie Baugh Everton Lambert taught him how to scratch bake cakes in 1943 at the age of eight. He cooks a wide variety of ethnic cuisines ranging from Mexican to Thai. He worked his way through Jacques Pepin’s books, La Methode and La Technique, making brown stock, half-glaze and meat-glaze, white stock, fish stock, white butter sauce and, of course Hollandaise sauce.
For those of you with a copy of Jacques’ La Methode go to page 306 and make a Granite de Pomplemousse (Grapefruit Ice) it is heaven on earth and has been a staple of Norman’s five course dinners for twenty-five years.
When Norman and Mary sold their business and their home in 1969 and moved from Visalia to Richmond, California, Norman took over the household duties and began doing all the cooking for the family. In keeping with the times, he utilized the Campbell’s Soups recipes of those days and cooked chicken breasts and pork chops in myriads of ways with Campbell’s soups to keep the family energized and healthy.
Some years later in Maryland, Norman discovered Julia Child and the Great Chef Programs on Public TV and took another step into creative cooking. Since that time he has learned to bake bread, make homemade sausage, can homemade jams and jellies and make homemade cheese.
Scrambled Eggs With Cream Cheese (UPDATE: AUGUST 4, 2009)
Mary and I served this one dish breakfast meal for many years. We always accompanied it with toasted English muffins, orange marmalade and orange juice.
Serves 6
12 large eggs, beaten
1-10 oz. Pkg. Sliced mushrooms
1 large onion chopped
1-l6 oz. Slice ham cut into ¼” cubes
1-8 oz. Pkg. Cream cheese at room temp. cut in eighths
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
6 English muffins split, toasted and buttered
Orange marmalade
Orange Juice
Melt butter in a 12” frying pan over med/high heat. Saute onions three minutes, add mushrooms. Cook until they begin to brown and most of their liquid has cooked off, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the ham and then stir the salt and pepper into the eggs and add them to the pan. Use a spatula to keep the eggs at the bottom of the pan from browning before the rest of the eggs set. As the eggs begin to set add the cream cheese chunks and stir them in. When the eggs are well set and the cream cheese has melted and blended with the egg mixture turn the eggs out onto a serving platter. Serve them with the toasted English muffins, orange marmalade and orange juice.
Lambert Family Tostadas
Serves 6
1pkg. (10) Corn Tortillas
½ cup cooking oil
1 lb. Ground beef (80/20 or 85/15)
1 20 oz. Can refried beans (refritos)
½ lb. Sharp cheddar cheese grated
1 medium onion diced
6 scallions chopped
1 large tomato diced
¾ head iceberg lettuce finely sliced
1 avacado chopped
¼ cup italian dressing ( put the bottle on the table for additional if desired)
¼ cup mayonnaise
Hot Sauce (if desired)
Salt and pepper
Fry the hamburger in one or two teaspoons of the cooking oil until it is browned. Salt and pepper the meat, drain it on a paper towel and put it on a plate in a warm oven.
Put the rest of the oil in the frying pan and heat on medium high. Cook the tortillas one a time on both sides until just starting to brown. Place between paper towels to drain and put in a plate in the warm oven.
Put the refried beans in a saucepan with several tablespoons of water. Heat over medium heat until the beans are hot. Stir regularly so they don’t burn on the bottom.
While the beans are warming mix the lettuce, tomato, ½ of the chopped onions, all the scallions and the avacado together with the Italian Dressing and the mayonnaise.
Grate the cheese and put it, the chopped onion, the hot sauce, Italian dressing, heated refried beans, fried ground beef and fried tortillas on the table.
Order of service:
Place a tortilla on your plate, slather some hot refried beans on the tortilla, sprinkle some grated cheese on the beans, sprinkle some grated onions on top, now spoon some salad on top of that. If you like hot sauce sprinkle hot sauce on top of the salad and finish with a shake of Italian dressing. Otherwise just a shake of Italian dressing is all it takes. Dig in and enjoy!