On the topics covered in her new book Kitchen Literacy
Part 1:
Part 2:
Things like this make me excited about food and cooking. Makes me realize, too, how long it’s been since I spent serious time in the kitchen (or on the couch doing prep work).
I wish I had a clever beginning, some pithy line or sage comment that would speak to freshness or seasonality or something. But I don’t. It was a relaxing weekend, and I made some food and and it was mostly good.
But this one thing was great. And simple.
So simple.
Spinach salad with Gorgonzola and balsamic walnut vinaigrette (serves 2, 4 if served as a side salad)
Enough spinach to fill a good-sized bowl (you know how much you want to eat)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
4 tbl crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
4 tbl extra virgin olive oil
2 tbl balsamic vinegar
kosher salt
Tear the spinach leaves and pile them in separate bowls. Divide the crumbled cheese and sprinkle liberally over the spinach. In a small skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. When it develops a slight sheen, carefully add the walnuts. Cook them until they begin to release a rich, nutty aroma (probably about 2 minutes), and the color begins to deepen. Add the balsamic vinegar and let it sizzle and reduce, about 30 seconds. Sprinkle with a couple good pinches of salt, then pour the walnuts, oil and vinegar over the spinach and cheese. Serve warm.
I had the salad for lunch on Sunday, and it was perfect. Seriously perfect. The hot dressing wilted the spinach just slightly and melted some of the cheese. The wonderful nutty flavor of the cooked walnuts complemented the rich, salty flavor of the Gorgonzola and the spinach provided the perfect delivery vehicle.
We’ve gone to a mostly vegetarian diet since my daughter declared her new status this past Christmas. It’s been easy in some respects. I put food on the table, we eat it. Not a big deal. But in many ways it’s like starting from scratch. I’m uncertain, don’t know a thing about ingredients or spices, don’t have the confidence in the kitchen I did when cooking with meat. I began to question myself as a cook.
I understand meat. I know what happens to connective tissue when a roast is braised; I know the flavor bacon fat gives to green beans. I can roast a chicken. I even understand some vegetables. I can roast broccoli now without a second thought. Fresh green beans without bacon fat are delicious when boiled fast in salted water. But the rest of this stuff escapes me. I’m in unfamiliar territory.
So now I guess I need to practice. It’s what a person does when he doesn’t know something. It’s what I do, at least. And I’m telling you this because I’d appreciate it if you bear with me. If you want to learn how to cook vegetarian meals, great. Maybe we can stumble through together. If you’re a seasoned pro, even better. Maybe you can leave me some tips in the comments. I think I’ve been stalled (and stalling) on this blog because I felt like I need to be an expert, but really all I need is time in the kitchen.
Tomato Basil Salad with Tuscan Bread (for two)
1 giant heirloom tomato, locally grown
1/2 loaf of excellent, hearty bread cut into thick slices, at least two per person (the garlic in the bread I used imparted wonderful flavor to the meal)
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (the better the olive oil, the better the dressing)
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (again, the better, the better)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil (or less, to taste)
4 tablespoons shaved Parmesan cheese
Fresh ground pepper, to taste
I’d like to be able to say I make my own bread. Some day that might become a reality, but at this point, I still buy my bread at the local supermarket. This weekend I bought a great Tuscan bread infused with olive oil and garlic. We used half the loaf for garlic bread last night, served next to stuffed shells (I just followed the recipe on the back of the pasta box. For the shells, I mean. For the bread I toasted thick slices and slathered them with butter I melted in the microwave.)
The second half I used for lunch:
First, make the dressing. Combine the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and basil in a container and shake vigorously. Then slice and toast the bread. While the bread toasts, chop the tomato into bite-sized pieces. On a plate, lay out two thick slices of bread for each person, and liberally scatter with the chopped tomato. Shake the dressing again, and drench each plate. Finally top the tomatoes and bread with shaved Parmesan cheese. It’s really that simple.
The key to this dish is fresh, high-quality ingredients. Here in Florida, spring has arrived in full splendor and glory, so we can get things like heirloom tomatoes. And don’t even ask if the extra expense is worth it. It totally is, as is the inconvenience of having to wait for local tomatoes to come into season. The difference is night and day.
So that’s my first step. That’s the commitment I’m making to vegetarian cooking and to this blog. It’s not going to be fancy, not for a while at least, but the ingredients will be as good as I can get given the time I have, and I’ll strive to make them seasonal.
I swear, it’s just like starting over.
I relish the weekend’s slow time, morning minutes spent dicing vegetables, rendering fat and crisping bacon. The luxury to dawdle in the kitchen, allowing eggs to come to temperature, to linger moments over a sizzling pan and get a bearing on the day. And I love the decadence of a perfect omelet.
This past Saturday afforded me such luxury, and I took a few selfish minutes to cook up a four-egg omelet for one. I had a busy day ahead and needed my strength (plus, grilled onions, bacon, and cheddar cheese–I get selfish when faced with pure deliciousness).
Ingredients (serves one, two, if you have a side item)
2 strips of bacon, diced
1/4 medium onion, diced
1/4 red bell pepper, diced
4 eggs, beaten
grated cheddar cheese (to taste, but you’re probably going to want a quarter-cup)
kosher salt
ground black pepper
Note: you’ll also want a good non-stick pan (trust me on this one. Non-stick pans are perfect for cooking eggs, and this is no exception)
Technique
dice
Method
low heat
First, set out four eggs. Let them warm a bit. Eggs closer to room temperature cook more evenly and more predictably than cold ones. So set out the eggs and brew your coffee. Then place the bacon in a cold skillet and set the skillet on a burner, medium heat. Let the pan come to temperature. When the bacon begins to sizzle, let it go for about a minute, then add the diced onion. Stir occasionally for three minutes or so, then add the bell pepper. Stir occasionally for another five minutes. You can also use this time to beat the eggs. Once the onion has gone translucent and browned a bit, the bacon has crisped some and the peppers are soft, remove all the ingredients to a bowl.
Place the pan back on the heat and add the eggs. Leave them be. If you need to, swirl the pan gently so the eggs cover the bottom completely, then let them cook a while, approximately four minutes.
What to look for: the gentle heat should prevent the bottom from burning. The omelet will be ready to fill and fold when the eggs on the top achieve a jelly-like consistency in just a thin layer above a pale, custardy layer. Now it’s time to fill the omelet.
Place 1/3 the filling ingredients near the center of the omelet, but slightly off center and top with half the cheese. With a rubber spatula, fold over the right third of the omelet, then the left third (or vice-versa, depending). Working quickly, slide the omelet to a plate and top with the remaining bacon, onion, pepper and cheese. If you let it stand for another 30 seconds, the eggs inside will heat through and firm up, and you’ll be able to enjoy your perfect omelet with the sun streaming in through the living room windows and the sounds of a house waking into itself around you.
This morning I put my son in the stroller and took him for a walk. The air was a little chill (for Florida), but we walked anyway, up our street, a right at the corner, then wandered the bumpy asphalt sidewalk through our neighborhood.
My intent was to snap a few photographs, get Aiden out of the house for a while and let him see the outside world. He’s four months old. It’s important to understand there’s an outside, a world beyond the four walls of our living room. And it’s important for everyone, not just four-month olds.
And so we walked. We said hello to joggers, watched motorcycles rumble past. We heard dogs bark behind slat-wood fences, and I took a photograph of the Texaco star at the station up the street.
Sometimes, life is perfect. In those slim moments, a singular action transports you to a time and place that’s just right, that becomes exactly what you need. So we found Northwood Bakery, stickers on the door showing credit cards accepted and a neon sign in the window: OPEN. I could smell the donuts from across the parking lot.
Long ago one of my New Year’s resolutions had been to buy local when possible, to eschew large chain stores in favor of local businesses. It’s been easy when eating out. Pick a local burger place like Louis’ over one of the fast-food giants, pick pizza from Satchel’s over any other kind. Lunch at Buddha Belly, dinner at Mildred’s Big City Food.
Other things are harder, though. Polaroid film, a non-stick skillet–these things come from large stores. And until this morning, donuts came from one of two places: Dunkin’ Donuts or Krispy Kreme.
No longer. I bought half a dozen donuts, placed the box in the low-slung cargo area of the stroller and walked them back home. They were still slightly warm when I opened the box on the counter, and their sugary aroma wafted through the kitchen. My wife and daughter and I each had two, light and airy and sweet.
Northwood Bakery
4917 NW 34th Street
Gainesville, FL
32605
(352) 376-5599