Eats For One … or more

… with rice and kale

The New York Times Magazine recipes are often hits, sometimes misses, sometimes rained out. Generally, I save them in my “to cook” file where they can lie in waiting for weeks or months or be deleted (rained out). But sometimes I see one that I just have to cook… right now. This is that.
I had the black beans on hand and I had a ham bone in the freezer from my Super Bowl Party spiral ham. I went out and got a green bell pepper and was good to go. I halved the recipe as we are, after all, two. Not to mention that my ham bone was smallish.
On this day, my car was in the shop and I had to pick it up around 5pm, so I cooked the beans in the afternoon, got the car, did some prep (chop onion, jalapeno, bacon, garlic), sat for a while in front of the evening news with a small Scotch (my normal routine) while waiting for Carol to get home on the bus. I started cooking seriously at 7pm.
The instructions are pretty step-by-step easy. I made the sofrito and got the bean pot going. The recipe said “serve over white rice.” How boring is that? My brilliant idea (I must say) was to cook the rice with kale, providing a hearty body and fiber to stand up and compliment the beans. I used the same spices and herbs as are in the beans in the rice dish (cumin, oregano, black pepper).

By the time the beans came to a boil, the rice was cooking, so they finished at the same time. While that was going on, I made a little side dish of beets and boiled egg. (Should have cut the beets in wedges, rather than slices, would have looked better.)
Dinner at 8. I served the beans and rice in a bowl side-by-side rather than beans-over-rice. Carol mixed hers all up and polished it off in fine style, while I portioned my beans and rice by the forkful. In any case, it made a hearty and tasty meal. That NYTM recipe is a keeper. (more…)

with leek, potato, green chard

Perusing the cooked sausage area at Whole Food, looking for something appealing, I spotted the Fra’Mani Classic Italian Sausage. I respect Paul Bertolli from his years as the chef at Oliveto in Oakland, his book, Cooking by Hand and the many Fra’Mani salumi I have sampled; but I didn’t much like this sausage. I first ate one steamed and fried, with mustard on a bun. It seemed chunky and tough prepared that way. The sausage is ground very coarse, so there are sizable chunks of meat and fat. Taste 10, texture 3, sez I, paraphrasing the song from A Chorus Line. I tried another sausage cubed and hashed with potatoes and celery. Same deal. Cubed in soup… same.

Then I noticed a recipe on the back of the label – Leek, Potato, Green Chard and Fra’Mani Classic Italian Sausage Soup; a rather verbose, but descriptive title. For this, the sausage is sliced thin. I gave that a try. Excellent. Sliced thin, the chunks of meat are broken down and the chunks of fat melt into the soup. What an amazing transformation. I guess I’ll be back for more.

Winter soups with leeks, potatoes and greens are not uncommon, and the addition of the tasty cured sausage is welcome. My addition of the goose stock; oh my… it’s like buttah, smooth and velvety.

Fra’Mani Classic Italian Sausage Soup
from Chef Bertolli (on the back of label)
makes about 2 quarts

2 tablespoons xv olive oil
1 large leek, diced (2c)
1 1/2 pounds whole red potatoes, peeled
1 large bunch green chard, leaves and stems sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 ounces Fra’Mani Classic Italian Sausage sliced into 1/8 inch pieces
7 cups hot chicken broth [I used 4 cups homemade goose stock and 2 cups chicken stock.]
Ground pepper
Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Warm the olive oil in a heavy bottom soup pot. Add the leeks and cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring often until softened.

Add the chard, potatoes, salt and sausage. Raise the heat and wilt the chard. Once wilted, add the chicken broth. Simmer the soup for 30 minutes.

Using a potato masher, crush the potatoes so as to slightly thicken the soup.

Serve in hot bowls with freshly ground black pepper and abundant Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

That was so good. I looked at the label more carefully, seeking more.

“Serving suggestions: Serve with boiled Italian cannellini beans seasoned with onions and sage. Slice thinly and use as a pizza topping. Chop finely and simmer with soffritto and tomatoes for ragu. For additional recipes from Chef Bertolli, visit www.framani.com.”

So I said at the end of my Noodle Chicken story. Well, I have now cooked the beef. As a bonus, I cooked another batch of chicken during the first three hours of beef cooking. Both went in the fridge.

I used boneless beef short ribs from Golden Gate Meats. The meat poaches for eight hours at 170°F. I learned to control the water temperature by cracking the lid on the pot to a greater or lesser degree to keep the temperature in the acceptable range of 165 to 175. Although 8 hours is a long time, the cooking doesn’t require much attention. I checked every 30 to 45 minutes.

The poached beef was almost as tender and velvety as the chicken, but there was no mistaking the rich beef taste. Once cooled and shredded, the beef and its broth can be kept in a covered bowl in the refrigerator for a week or so.

The next day I made the Noodle Beef. The method is the same, but the ingredients vary to go with the meat — red bell pepper and Napa Cabbage to complement the chicken, carrots and bok choy for the beef — along with the common ingredients; scallions, garlic, ginger, chile paste and noodles.

When cooking the chicken version I found the recipe hard to follow. It’s written as though John Thorne made it up as he went along and prepped his vegetables while he was cooking. Maybe he did make it that way, but I’m not seasoned enough to cook like that. I have learned that if I get my mise en place together before starting to cook I don’t forget stuff. What one does with the carrot, for example, (2 medium to large carrots, peeled, cut into thirds and sliced vertically into wide thin strips.) I would note in the ingredients, rather than in the instructions. So I altered the recipe for the way I work. (more…)

Chicken Noodle Soup
… without the soup

I was browsing the cooking section of my local Books Inc on Chestnut Street in San Francisco. I had a list of potential books on cooking, but none appealed to me at the time. I spied a copy of Mouth Wide Open by John Thorne and bought it without looking inside. I know John Thorne, not personally to be sure, but I have his books Outlaw Cook and A Serious Pig and I once received his Simple Cooking newsletter, a gift from son Eric. Sadly, I allowed the subscription to expire. I guess I’d rather read books… newsletters tend to get misplaced. And I’d rather read books about cooking than cookbooks.

John Thorne writes the way I write — except way better. He takes a subject and explores it and usually invents something to suit his whims. In Mouth Wide Open, he addresses subjects such as Cod and Potatoes, The Grist on Grits, Go Fry an Egg, Swedish Meatballs, and my current delight, Noodle Chicken… comfort food, but comfort food with wit, substance and personality. He cooks the way I cook when I do breakfast or lunch for myself… I’ve got this and that… I wonder how those would go together? And what else might go with them?

One doesn’t necessarily read his books from cover to cover, but by skipping around, seeking out what’s interesting, or landing on a subject you know nothing about. I came upon his Two With the Flu chapter… what’s that about… probably chicken soup. I was right, but he took an entirely new approach. Regular chicken soup is a time tested method handed down from grandmother to mother to daughter or son: poach a chicken in a pot of water, pick off the meat and put back in the (now) broth, add carrots and celery and sometimes potatoes and noodles. There, chicken soup.

Tom Colicchio in the Stock Making chapter of his book, Think Like a Chef, has a twist where he puts his chicken in water, brings it to a boil and then pours off the water and starts over. “Pouring off the original water after the first boil will remove all of the blood and a lot of the coagulated protiens, which form a gray scum on the surface. Don’t worry that you’re throwing out flavor, you’re not. The bones need to cook a good deal longer to extract flavor.” His method — I call it “the Colicchio method” (duh!) — works well and I get a nice clear broth without scumming. I hate scumming, it’s never ending.

John Thorne takes an entirely different approach. He cooks his meat in a Ziplock plastic bag at relatively low temperature for a long time. Sort of a poor man’s sous-vide. “The method … has three unique advantages: (1) The meat’s juices and flavor are neither diluted nor lost during the cooking process; (2) the scum produced in the cooking clings to the side of the bag, eliminating the need for skimming; and (3) the meat can be cooked in a small amount of liquid with no worry that it will overcook or dry out.”

Bingo. I’m hooked. I have to do this. (more…)

Pappa al Pomodoro

Marlena Spieler is one of my favorite food writers. Her stories and recipes appear in the SF Chronicle from time to time. Her recipes are always imaginative, reliable and not dumbed down. Her stories are entertaining, often coming from Europe, most often from Italy.

Since it’s tomato season and I was working on my third flat of tomatoes – this one Early Girls – I dug into my “to cook” files and pulled out this story that I clipped two years ago, but hadn’t got around to trying. She spun a yarn of the bakers of Napoli, their fabulous breads and tomatoes.

“Slice up a tomato or two, lay them on a slab of sourdough bread, douse with olive oil and various aromatics. This is lunch to get you through a summer, or to take to picnics, to eat alone, or to prepare for 100.”

Being a soup guy, rather than a sandwich guy, I was more interested in her simple bread and tomato soup creation.

“I’ve also been making pappa pomodoro, a savory tomato soup thickened with chunks of flavorful, stale bread that one can actually prepare with canned tomatoes and it’s surprisingly good. But you can’t prepare it with bad bread; you’ve got to have the good stuff.”

Well, I had my good Early Girl tomatoes from Mariquita Farm and good Acme bread, herbs and plenty of garlic… all set.

Since I had great tomatoes, I used 4 cups of tomatoes rather than add the juice. I had some tomato water as well, so I used a cup of that and 3 cups chicken stock. Rather than the ubiquitous basil, I used arugula – I like its spice – to finish the soup.

Other tomato bread soups I’ve made are thick and rich – not a bad thing – but this is tasty and light, thanks to the added broth.

Another reason to like this soup is that the tomatoes are not processed, neither before nor after cooking. The texture of the tomatoes is a perfect accompaniment to the bread chunks. And yet the soup is so light and flavorful, its good anytime: as a soup course at dinner, or as a lunch – maybe with some cooked shrimp thrown in. The last cup, I had for breakfast, heated and poured over good buttered toast. Yum, yum and yum.

Here’s Marlena Spieler’s recipe with my [notes]:

Pappa al Pomodoro with Basil or Arugula

1 onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced + 2 whole cloves garlic
3 to 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil + more for drizzling
About 3 cups chopped fresh ripe flavorful tomatoes [just under 3 pounds = 4 cups]
1 cup dry white wine (or substitute water)
1 quart vegetable or chicken broth [used 1C tomato water, 3C chicken stock]
6 to 8 slices (about 1/2 loaf) sour country-style
bread, cut into bite-size chunks
1 cup tomato juice; if your tomatoes are amazing, omit and add another cup of tomatoes
Sea salt
Chopped fresh basil or arugula [1C arugula]

Instructions: Lightly saute the onion and sliced garlic in the 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil until softened, then add the tomatoes [be patient, cook onions until caramelized, otherwise the onions are crunchy]. Raise the heat to medium or medium-high, letting the tomatoes cook into a saucelike consistency.

Pour in the wine and raise the heat to high, letting the alcohol burn off and the liquid reduce, then lower heat again and add the broth and bread. Bring to simmer and ook over a low heat for a few minutes while the bread falls apart and thickens the soup. Add the tomato juice (if using).

Meanwhile, crush the whole cloves of garlic with a pinch of sea salt using either a mortar and pestle or a knife on a cutting board. [Add 2t salt plus ground pepper.]

Just before serving, stir the crushed garlic into the soup, and add the basil or arugula, then ladle the soup into bowls, with a drizzle of olive oil.

I’m a fairly regular subscriber to the Mariquita Mystery Box and it’s all my wife and I can do to use it up in two weeks. We ate out a couple times, so I recently had a plethora of carrots from two installments of the Mystery Box. I needed something to use up a LOT of carrots.

Janet Fletcher did a piece on Simple Spring Soups for the Chronicle a few springs ago (2006) including Carrot, Fennel & Potato Soup. I made that soup a couple of times, but thought, while good enough, it needed some oomph. I decided curry might do the trick so I modified her recipe to suit my taste thoughts.

Curried Carrot and Fennel Soup
Based on Janet Fletcher’s Carrot, Fennel & Potato Soup
Serves 4 to 6

INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 yellow onion, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons good curry powder
3 to 4 medium carrots, peeled, in large dice
1/2 large bulb fennel, cored and chopped
1/2 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, in large dice
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock, plus more if needed

Heavy cream or half-and-half, optional
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Well, judging from what I had on hand in my onion basket and vegetable drawer – the Mystery Box again – here’s what I actually put together: (more…)

A Birthday Treat

Carol was being very mysterious about my birthday. She kept saying she would take me out, but she said she wouldn’t say where. Then, “The place I wanted to take you closed, but I have another place in mind, but I won’t say where.”

Okay by me… as long as I know I won’t have to cook.

When she got home from work, she said, “I couldn’t get a reservation, but maybe we should just go anyway.”

“It’s your party,” I said. Clearly, she couldn’t wait to surprise me.

“Well… let’s go,” she said, “I’ll drive. It’s someplace we’ve never been before.”

“So we’re driving,” I said, “That rules out about 20 places.”

As she crossed Van Ness, I said, “I smell Fillmore Street.” She grunted. She turned left on Fillmore. Where haven’t we been on Fillmore, I wondered. She drove on. “Hmmm, maybe Yoshi’s?” I said. She said no, but when we got to Yoshi’s, she said to look for parking. A space opened up on the other side of the street. She made a quick left into it, a three-point turn and parked… a very city-like maneuver. In the near corner of the glass Yoshi’s building, we could see a restaurant looking place. No sign, but a big wooden door welcomed us. We went in. (more…)

Feel like you don’t get enough email? You want more? Subscribe to cooksillustrated.com. I get four or five emails a week from them, mainly shilling their books or magazine subscriptions, but maybe one a week will have kitchen tips and recipes.

Recently, an email touting Cook’s Country, CI’s “down home” magazine, featured Cincinnati Chili. That got my attention! Cincinnati Chili is one of my Top Five chili recipes. I got my version from a neighbor in Newton back in the 70’s, we’ll call it “Sally’s” Cincinnati Chili. Years — hell, decades — later, I experienced the “real deal” at a Skyline Chili franchise outside of Cincinnati on a trip to find the Ohio Heartland. I’ve got to check out this Cook’s Country version.

I downloaded the recipe and made it the next day for dinner. Of course CC had to put their “best way” spin on it, but it’s pretty good. It has the distinctive sweet-sour taste and the five ways and the ground beef. I polished off my dish and was pleased and satisfied, but sorry CC, I like the Sally version better. (more…)

Ravioli to Noodle Soup

We got these humungous winter squash in our Mariquita Farms Mystery Box.

Mariquita Farm was my go-to for many vegetables at the Farmers Market, but they left the market to concentrate on supplying restaurants and CSA.
Just when I was about over missing them, I got an email from Julia that she would bring vegetable boxes a couple times a month to distribute at one of their restaurants where they deliver. Just make a $25 order by email. They call these deliveries Mysterious Thursdays, as they also offer a “mystery box” made up by Andy.

The squash sat outside for a week or so until one Saturday morning Carol just hacked up one of the big ones and baked it. Now what to do? We weren’t excited about making pie or soup or gratin.

SQUASH ONCE

Well, I hadn’t made pasta for a while, how about Squash Ravioli?

For basic research I tend to consult with Cook’s Illustrated online. We’re sure of finding a basic, proven recipe and we can go from there. Their Pumpkin, Prosciutto, and Parmesan Filling for Pasta looked good, interesting and easy. Just mix your baked squash with a little minced prosciutto and fresh sage leaves, grated Parmesan cheese, an egg yolk and freshly ground nutmeg.

The already made sheets are under the green towel. (more…)

Bean Vegetable Soup (mine)

I love beans. I love most any kind of beans, but as with any food I like to know if they’re fresh, and where they come from. The heirloom beans from Rancho Gordo are fresh and clean. For my all purpose needs, I usually get the Marrow beans, but those are out of season just now, so I’ve been using Cranberry Cargamanto, a worthy substitute, lately.

My wife, Carol, does not share my pleasure in beans. Oh, she’ll eat them as a small side accompaniment to a main dish if they are disguised with greens or radicchio or some such. But I will be eating the bulk of the beans, so when I cook up a pot of beans, I need some good ideas on how I’ll be eating them.

I’ve devised a great lunch fall-back of bean and vegetable soup. It doesn’t take long to prepare and tastes really good. (more…)