Many years ago I was invited to be a distinguished visiting professor at Wichita State University. I taught there for four weeks while staying with family friends.
My hosts, Dr. and Mrs. George Rogers, had two daughters and the first microwave I had ever seen. The daughters were very clever teenagers, who cooked everything they could find in the microwave oven.
I elected to cook some special dishes for the family. I prepared a beef bourguignonne one night, and a beef stroganoff a few days later. On a Sunday I cooked curried lamb and served it with mango chutney, cucumber, cashew nuts, raisins, and diced tomatoes.
While the adults enjoyed my creations, the young ladies could barely choke them down.
My husband, Paul, visited from California for a weekend, and he offered to cook his version of a London grill. He fried steak, liver, bacon, a beef kidney and pounds of sliced onions in butter. The Rogers girls loved the fried dinner. They ate bites of everything and then as we sat around the table they said, "We know who the real cook is in your family, Auntie Maya. Your meats were OK, but the gravies were horrible, and it took you so long to cook everything. Uncle Paul has come and within an hour he has us all sitting at the table eating a gourmet dinner."
I kicked Paul under the table.
MAYA ANGELOU'S MIXED LONDON GRILL
Ingredients
1 lamb or veal kidney, halved
2 teaspoons salt
1 whole bratwurst or other sausage
2 lamb chops
2 thin slices pork loin
2 pounds top sirloin, sliced
2 pounds veal cutlets, sliced
2 pounds calves' livers, sliced
1/4 teaspoon pepper
8 strips bacon
1/2 pound onions, sliced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
1. Wash the kidney halves and remove all the veins and fat.
2. Soak in water with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt for 1 hour and pat dry.
3. While the kidney is soaking, season the bratwurst, lamb chops, pork loin, beef, veal, and livers with pepper and the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt.
4. Grill the pork loin in a grill pan on top of the stove until cooked all the way through. Then grill the kidney, bratwurst, lamb, beef, veal, and liver until medium done. Set aside in a warming dish.
5. In a large skillet, fry the bacon until crispy, turning frequently. Remove the bacon and add to the dish with the grilled meats.
6. Return the skillet to the stove, and fry the onions in the oil.
7. Mix all the meats and the onions together and put over low heat for 5 minutes or until all are warm and cooked through.
8. Serve on a warm platter with a 1-inch-thick slice of grilled or toasted sourdough bread.
Serves 6
Excerpted from Great Food, All Day Long: Cook Splendidly, Eat Smart by Maya Angelou. Copyright 2010 by Maya Angelou. Excerpted by permission of Random House.
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