Souped up

Eighty-two years ago fast food was unheard of and locally grown wasn't a high-minded trend, it was a necessity for many Depression-era families.

The year was 1925 and Jean Rybicki was 10 years old, learning how to cook from women at a community center on Chicago's North Side. They had no ovens, just small burners on which the students prepared scrambled eggs, oatmeal and other simple dishes that they took home in a little pail.

"When I got older I went to health lectures downtown," says Jean. "I got interested in using whole wheat and bran; I had to go to the health store for it."

It was the beginning of a lifelong devotion to homemade, nutritious food that continues today in South Barrington, where 92-year-old Jean lives with her daughter, Gloria Kittelson, and son-in-law, David.

"Her whole legacy to us is her cooking," says Gloria.

Says Jean: "You've got to work; you can't lay around."

That's a philosophy Jean honed while raising a family during hard times. She grew produce on a government-donated plot of land and prepared meals with creativity rather than luxury ingredients.

Liver and spinach were standards as was fish on Fridays and big pots of Jean's comforting, from-scratch soups made with homegrown vegetables and herbs.

"I was a home mother, I had plenty of time for everything, I just kept cooking," she says.

Pop, sweets and snack foods were a once-a-week treat for her children on Saturday night because "you couldn't afford that" and because it wasn't healthy.

After her children grew up Jean went to work in food service, preparing meals for an executive dining room and later employee cafeterias. She enjoyed creating interesting presentations, even for her children.

"It makes everything a little more appetizing," says Jean. "I would take a carrot, make a little curl out of it, twist it and put it in cold water" to set.

Gloria remembers that her mom cut their sandwiches into fancy shapes.

When Jean moved in with her daughter's family years ago she took over all the cooking.

"Believe me, that was a blessing for me," says Gloria. "I am not a Betty Crocker."

Today the nonagenarian still cooks several times a week, typically those hearty soups she perfected over decades of practice.

"Nothing is canned," says daughter Gloria. "She boils down oxtails and chicken for stock, and uses dried beans that she soaks overnight."

Last November Jean prepared Thanksgiving dinner, including homemade stuffing and hard boiled eggs with homemade horseradish, a Polish tradition.

Already she is looking forward to tending her vegetable and herb garden, drying the herbs by the jarful for year-round use.

As active as she can be, Jean pitches in with laundry, crochets decorative hooks on dish towels, exercises to PBS' "Sit and Be Fit" and watches Rachael Ray's cooking shows. She keeps the refrigerator stocked with soup, like her dried mushroom topped with sour cream and dill, or black bean soup with smoky bacon and a hint of vinegar.

Simple stuffed cabbage is quick and easy, a taste of her Polish heritage.

"I don't cook modern," says Jean. "I'm satisfied with what I had; new things I don't care for, like capers."

Jean calls herself old-fashioned, but that's debatable. Today's top chefs still believe in slow-simmered soups, fresh vegetables and herbs and locally grown, seasonal ingredients.

Everything old is new again.

Dried Mushroom Soup

½ ounce dried mushrooms

2½ cups water or chicken broth

1 tablespoon butter

1 onion, finely chopped

1 large carrot, chopped

1 rib celery, chopped

3 tablespoons flour

Salt and pepper

1 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons chopped dill

Simmer dried mushrooms in water or broth for 10 minutes. Cool. Remove mushrooms with slotted spoon and strain broth through fine sieve. Chop mushrooms. In a soup pot melt the butter and brown the mushrooms with the onion, carrots and celery, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour, salt and pepper and cook a few minutes, stirring often. Add broth and simmer about 30 minutes. To serve, top each bowl with sour cream and dill.

Serves six.

Nutrition values per serving: 140 calories, 9 g fat (6 g saturated), 10 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber, 3 g protein, 30 mg cholesterol, 35 mg sodium.

Black Bean Soup

1 pound dried black beans

6 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

2 tablespoons olive oil

2-3 strips bacon, chopped

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 large bay leaf

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons vinegar

Lemon wedges, for garnish

Cilantro, for garnish

Wash beans and soak overnight in enough water to cover them. Drain.

Add beans and broth and 2 cups water in large pot and cook about 45 minutes or until soft.

In the meantime, heat olive oil in frying pan and sauté bacon with onion, garlic. Add mixture to the beans and broth. Add sugar and vinegar and continue to cook about 15 minutes. Serve soup topped with lemon wedge and/or cilantro.

Serves 10 to 12.

Nutrition values per serving: 180 calories, 3 g fat (0,5 g saturated), 27 g carbohydrates, 3 g fiber, 10 g protein, 15 mg cholesterol, 70 mg sodium.

Stuffed Cabbage

8 large cabbage leaves

1½ pounds ground beef

Salt, optional

Pepper to taste

1 small onion, chopped

½ cup cooked rice

1 can (14-16 ounces) diced tomatoes

Fresh dill, for garnish

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Put the leaves in a shallow bowl and pour boiling water over the leaves. Set aside to soften.

In a separate bowl combine meat with salt, pepper, onion and rice. Divide mixture among the eight leaves, roll up and place in 9-by-13-inch baking dish.

Pour tomatoes over, cover pan and bake about 1½ hours. Serve sprinkled with fresh dill.

Serves six to eight.

Nutrition values per serving: 130 calories, 3.5 g fat (1 g saturated), 7 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 18 g protein, 45 mg cholesterol, 75 mg sodium.