I first heard of this recipe during an Anthony Bourdain special. The one set at Dufresne’s  WD-50, I think. One of the guests (maybe a camera man) mentioned his mom used to make him Brussels sprouts with mayonnaise and bacon, and everyone said it sounded amazing. I had to agree.  But when I tried to find a recipe I came up empty, the only mention being a show summary on the No Reservations blog. So I improvised the following: Ingredients:

• One package fresh Brussels sprouts
• Three (or more) thick-cut bacon slices
• Mayonnaise (about two teaspoons for each serving)

Directions Begin by salting some water and bringing it to a boil. While the water heats, preheat the oven to 400f, and slice each Brussels sprout nearly through, leaving just a bit on the stem end. Once the water is boiling, toss in the Brussels sprouts and boil them for five minutes. Use this time to chop up the bacon into half-inch pieces. Once the Brussels sprouts are finished boiling, drain them, then spread them in a single layer in a roasting pan or half sheet pan (or any pan with a lip, really). Sprinkle the bacon over top of them, and then set them in the oven for 30 minutes. When they’re done, take them out of the oven, and give them a careful stir to integrate all the bacon flavor. To plate, get a generous helping of sprouts and bacon and top with just enough mayonnaise to mix well. I made mine the other night, and they were so good I laughed out loud when I had my first bite.

Beyond beans, she’s always liked broccoli and potatoes, and when we deign to visit places like Panera or Crispers, she goes for the broccoli-cheddar soup. Seems simple, but all that cheese? Not the healthiest. By working with Yukon gold potatoes, I came up with a fantastic, rich soup that’s so flavorful, you’ll swear it must be bad for you:

Ingredients (serves six)
six medium Yukon gold potatoes, cubed to equal sizes (about 1/2 to 1 inch)
1 bunch broccoli
kosher salt
2 cups cheddar cheese, separated
black pepper (to taste)

Technique
Chop
Puree

Methods
Boil
Roast

Put the potatoes in a large stock pot, approximately 6 quarts. Add cold water until the potatoes are covered by about an inch of water. Add two tablespoons of kosher salt. Place the pot over high heat and cover with a tight-fitting lid.

Turn on the oven, set for 400 degrees F. Chop the broccoli to remove the florets (the top pieces that look like oak trees at a distance). Keep the florets intact and spread on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with olive oil.

When the oven is at temperature and the potatoes are boiling, set a timer for seven minutes. Place the broccoli in the oven and let each cook until the  timer beeps.

Remove the broccoli from the oven and take the potatoes off the heat. Add half the broccoli to the potatoes and puree using an immersion blender. Chop the remaining broccoli and stir it into the soup, then slowly fold in about half a cup of the cheddar cheese. Serve with hearty bread and garnish with a teaspoon of the remaining shredded cheddar in each bowl. Bring the soup to table with the remaining cheese and allow people to stir it into their soups as they see fit.

This soup couldn’t be easier and tastes wonderful. The starch from the Yukon potatoes gives the broccoli cheddar soup a wonderful, rich mouth feel without adding fat, and since it doesn’t use chicken stock like many other soup recipes, your vegetarian conscience remains clear. Just avoid the smugness. No one likes a smug vegetarian (right, Bittman?).

“[T]he primordial condiment that was prepared by the earth billions of years before early humans ever learned to enliven their food with it.”
-Harold McGee

We start with salt. We must. Before history, before tools, before technique. We start with salt, a basic taste. That to which other food is compared. A fundamental descriptor, the basest ingredient. The brine of ocean, the salinity of blood. It is in us, of us. Keeps equilibrium.

There is no other ingredient more important to cooking than salt. It is one of our five or six basic tastes. But salt brings more than saltiness. It livens all flavors, coaxes aromas from food. Damps bitterness. Without salt, our food would taste shallow, less like itself.

And so first we learn of salt. We must use it. It is singularly important, before all else.

“What’s the most important thing for a cook to know in your kitchen?”
[Keller] paused, then said, “Seasoning.”
“What do you mean, seasoning?”
“Salt and pepper.” He paused again. “Salt, really.”
“The most important thing for a cook to know is how to salt food?”
“That’s right,” he said.
-Michael Ruhlman, The Elements of Cooking

Salt is vital to food. It preserves the pickle, melds in complex reactions not fully understood. It textures cheeses, improves the crumb color and grain of bread. I keep a small shallow bowl in my cupboard, scatter salt unafraid. And taste, taste, taste.