PASTA, RICE, GRAINS, AND STUFFINGS7 PASTA, RICE, GRAINS, AND STUFFINGS
| —1870s— | • Potato croquettes, rice croquettes. • Bob the Sea Cook contributes a recipe for polenta with a ragout of small birds; Molly O’Neill will run a similar recipe (here) in 1993. |
| —1880s— | • An 1879 macaroni recipe takes a crucial beginning step toward al dente: “The great mistake in preparing macaroni is to overcook it; macaroni should not be soft, so as to drop to pieces.” |
| —1885— | • Italian immigration is at its peak; risotto is mentioned in the Times for the first time. |
| —1887— | • Curried turkey and rice. |
| —1957— | • Craig Claiborne publishes the first of half a dozen paella recipes (see here). |
| —1969— | • An early pesto recipe made with butter and oil (here). |
| —1970s— | • Cold Sesame Noodles (here). • Noodles Romanoff (here), part macaroni and cheese and part noodles with sour cream. |
| —1970— | • Craig Claiborne writes about Marcella Hazan. She publishes The Classic Italian Cook Book three years later. |
| —1977— | • Le Cirque’s Spaghetti Primavera (here). |
| —1978— | • A Perfect Batch of Rice (here)—recommended for inclusion in this book by thirteen readers. |
| —1979— | • Florence Fabricant publishes a recipe for pasta with chilled tomato sauce, a revelation that will spawn a handful of similar recipes over the next two decades. |
| —1980s— | • Stuffing leaves turkey for health reasons and is creatively reborn. • Pasta with Vodka (here) is born. • Athletes carbo-load. • We get excited about couscous. |
| —1988— | • Macaroni with Ham and Cheese (here) puts its hat in the ring; many competing recipes appear over the years. |
| —1990s— | • We get much more excited about risotto. • The Atkins diet sweeps the nation. Babbo, Mario Batali’s flagship restaurant in New York City, introduces a pasta tasting menu; the restaurant becomes known for mint love letters and beef cheek ravioli. |
| —2000s— | • Revival of Bolognese. • Exhausted with risotto, Times writers publish recipes for stuck-pot rice, pittu, hoppers, yogurt rice, and pad Thai–style rice salad. |
PASTA, RICE, GRAINS, AND STUFFINGS
RECIPES BY CATEGORY
Warm Pasta Dishes
Lorane Schiff’s Pesto Genovese
Trenette, Fagiolini, e Patate al Pesto (Pasta, Green Beans, and Potatoes with Pesto)
Spaghetti with Fried Eggs and Roasted Peppers
Ed Giobbi’s Sweet Red Pepper Sauce for Pasta
Malcolm and Kelley McDowell’s Pink Rigatoni
Spaghettini with Vegetables and Pepper Vodka Sauce
Le Cirque’s Spaghetti Primavera
The Way Life Should Be (Fettuccine with Lobster and Herbs)
Hot Penne with Chilled Tomato Sauce and Charred Tuna
Pasta with Yogurt and Caramelized Onions, from Kassos
Eldorado Petit’s Fried Noodles with Garlic Mayonnaise
Farfalle ai Porri e Salsicce (Farfalle with Leeks and Sausages Sauce)
Swiss Chard Casserole with Farfalle and Cheeses
Conchiglie Al Forno with Mushrooms and Radicchio
Cremini Mushroom Pasta with Wilted Arugula, Goat Cheese, and Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Fettuccine with Preserved Lemon and Roasted Garlic
Jean Yves Legarve’s Spaghetti with Lemon and Asparagus Sauce
Spicy, Lemony Clams with Pasta
Pierre Franey’s Pasta with Clams
Spaghetti with Caviar, Scallions, and Chopped Egg
Cold Noodles
Rice and Risotto
Risotto with Radicchio and Sausage
Fresh Morel, Asparagus, and Sweet Pea Risotto
Corn and Yellow Tomato Risotto with Shrimp
Cucumber Risotto with Yellow Peppers and Herbs
Risotto with Lemon and Crème Fraîche
Pumpkin, Sage, Chestnut, and Bacon Risotto
Basmati Rice with Coconut Milk and Ginger
Mi Quang (Rice Noodles with Shrimp, Herbs, and Fried Pork Rinds)
Stuck-Pot Rice with Yogurt and Spices
Maida Heatter’s Cuban Black Beans and Rice
Rice and Peas (Jamaican Rice with Coconut and Red Beans)
Other Grains
Coconut Barley Pilaf with Corn, Chicken, and Cashews
Bulgur Salad with Pomegranate Dressing and Toasted Nuts
Stuffings
Shiitake and Lotus Seed Stuffing
Winter Pasta, Rice, Grains, and Stuffings
Risotto with Radicchio and Sausage
Risotto with Lemon and Crème Fraîche
Fettuccine with Preserved Lemon and Roasted Garlic
Swiss Chard Casserole with Farfalle and Cheeses
Spring Pasta, Rice, Grains, and Stuffings
Le Cirque’s Spaghetti Primavera
Jean Yves Legarve’s Spaghetti with Lemon and Asparagus Sauce
Fresh Morel, Asparagus, and Sweet Pea Risotto
Summer Pasta, Rice, Grains, and Stuffings
Trenette, Fagiolini, e Patate al Pesto (Pasta, Green Beans, and Potatoes with Pesto)
Lorane Schiff’s Pesto Genovese
The Way Life Should Be (Fettuccine with Lobster and Herbs)
Hot Penne with Chilled Tomato Sauce and Charred Tuna
Ed Giobbi’s Sweet Red Pepper Sauce for Pasta
Spaghettini with Vegetables and Pepper Vodka Sauce
Corn and Yellow Tomato Risotto with Shrimp
Cucumber Risotto with Yellow Peppers and Herbs
Fall Pasta, Rice, Grains, and Stuffings
Conchiglie Al Forno with Mushrooms and Radicchio
Farfalle ai Porri e Salsicce (Farfalle with Leeks and Sausages Sauce)
Pumpkin, Sage, Chestnut, and Bacon Risotto
Shiitake and Lotus Seed Stuffing
Bulgur Salad with Pomegranate Dressing and Toasted Nuts
Even in the nineteenth century, food editors felt compelled to run recipes for leftover Thanksgiving turkey. I thought this leftovers solution was particularly appealing. Start with 3 cups cooked rice.
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ORIGINAL RECIPE
“Cook rice; put it aside till wanted; then place a stewpan on fire, add one large spoon of butter, two large onions sliced, and fry the onions till brown. Then add one teaspoon of yellow curry powder or saffron powder, and add the rice which you cooked beforehand. Stir the whole and add a quarter of a pound of raisins (sun raisins without stones) to it, and keep over a hot oven; then fry a few mutton chops or roast a fowl. When serving, dish up the mutton chops or roast fowl (why not our Thanksgiving turkey in convenient pieces?) and cover it with the Pilan rice and sprinkle it over with some fried parsley, mint, and onions.”
SERVES 4 AS A LIGHT MAIN COURSE
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
The leftovers from the Roasted Brine-Cured Turkey (here), Watercress Salad (here), Rum Pumpkin Cream Pie (here)
NOVEMBER 25, 1887: “CURRY FOR THE TURKEY.” RECIPE ADAPTED FROM AN UNNAMED BOOK BY DANIEL SAUTIAGOE.
—1887
PAELLA
For most people, this recipe, which calls for lobster, clams, mussels, shrimp, chorizo, and salt pork, will require a deep dive into grocery-shopping hell. I hate to turn anyone away from an excellent recipe—and this one really is excellent—but unless you live in Maine, or near a great fish store, move on. I waited to make the dish until we were on vacation on Long Island, about a mile from the storied Seafood Shop on Route 27 in Wainscott. The shrimp came cleaned, the lobsters steamed, the mussels and clams firmly shut and sparkling—and because it was the Hamptons, it cost about half my book advance. However, the dinner was worth it.
Craig Claiborne, whose recipe this is, published about half a dozen paellas during his career at the Times. Several of them appeared again in his annual round-ups of “Favorite Recipes” and many readers wrote to tell me which of these they liked most. This paella is the last “favorite” that Claiborne ran, and I chose to make it because it appears to be his perfected version. It’s extraordinarily good, so I hope the fans of his other paellas will reconsider.
———
2 cloves garlic
½ teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
½ teaspoon ground coriander
One 2½-pound chicken, cut into pieces
¼ pound salt pork or pancetta, diced
1 pound medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 links chorizo or hot Italian sausage
¾ cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon saffron threads
2 tablespoons capers
⅓ cup chopped tomatoes
½ cup dry white wine
2½ cups short-grain rice (Valencia or Arborio)
3½ to 4 cups chicken broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
One 9-ounce package frozen artichoke hearts, partially thawed
½ cup freshly cooked or frozen peas
One 4-ounce jar pimentos, drained
20 mussels, well scrubbed and debearded
20 clams, well rinsed
One 2-pound live lobster, cooked (see here) and cut into serving pieces
1 teaspoon anise liqueur
1. Chop the garlic with the thyme and salt. Scrape into a large bowl and add the vinegar, oil, and coriander. Add the chicken pieces and stir to coat with the mixture; allow to stand for 30 minutes.
2. Sauté the pork in a paella pan or very large casserole until the fat is rendered and the pork bits are brown. Remove the pork with a slotted spoon and reserve.
3. Sauté the shrimp in the pork fat remaining in the pan until it’s just turning pink, less than 1 minute; remove and reserve.
4. Fry the chorizo in the same pan until almost cooked through. Slice and reserve.
5. Brown the coated chicken pieces in the fat remaining in the pan. Sprinkle with the onion, saffron, capers, and tomatoes. Return the pork pieces to the pan and add the wine, rice, and 3½ cups chicken broth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer gently for about 10 minutes.
6. Add the artichoke hearts and peas to the chicken and rice. Cook, covered, for 5 minutes. Add the shrimp, chorizo, and pimentos and continue cooking for a few minutes more.
7. Meanwhile, steam the mussels and clams separately in ¼ cup of water each until they open, about 2 minutes for the mussels and 5 minutes for the clams. Remove and reserve.
8. Check on the rice: If all the liquid has been absorbed, add the liquid from the clams or more chicken broth. The rice should be moist but without excess liquid. The shrimp should be just cooked through.
9. Add the lobster and liqueur to the rice. Check and adjust the seasoning. Garnish with the mussels and clams. Serve directly from the pan or casserole.
SERVES 8 TO 10 AS A MAIN COURSE
COOKING NOTES
Paella is all about timing—adding each component at just the right moment so none of them overcook. I made some changes to the original recipe to make it easier to get the sequence right, and also to reduce some of the cooking times, because we tend to cook seafood for less time than we used to (so that it’s just cooked through, as opposed to cooked until rubbery).
If you use dried chorizo, thinly slice it before frying.
According to Colman Andrews in Catalan Cuisine, paella is meant to be eaten warm, not hot, so there’s no need to stress about getting everyone to the table on time. Finish the dish, then start the round-up.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Sangria (here), Rebujito (here), Chorizo Revueltos (Scrambled Eggs with Chorizo; here), Catalan Tortilla with Aioli (here), Fried Chickpeas (here), Pan con Tomate (here), Potato, Ham, and Piquillo Pepper Croquetas (here), Toasts with Chocolate, Olive Oil, and Sea Salt (here), Caramel Custard (here), Strawberry Sorbet (here)
JANUARY 2, 1966: “READERS’ TASTES—EXOTIC,” BY CRAIG CLAIBORNE.
—1966
FETTUCCINE ALLA ROMANA
The instructions to this recipe are noteworthy because they’re all about timing and sequence, about having every step thought through in advance so you can seamlessly assemble the dish and get it to the table before the cream sauce begins to stiffen.
———
½ pound fresh fettuccine (store-bought or homemade)
Salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces, softened
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup hot heavy cream
½ cup freshly cooked peas, preferably freshly shelled
⅓ cup finely shredded imported or domestic prosciutto
Freshly ground black pepper
1. With this recipe, you must have all the ingredients ready. The fettuccine must be tossed with the other ingredients and served within seconds after they are cooked. Heat a serving dish for the fettuccine and have a colander in the sink.
2. Place the fettuccine in boiling salted water to cover and cook until al dente, as preferred by Italians. Test the fettuccine for doneness a strand at a time. Remove the strand with a fork, let cool briefly, and then bite into it.
3. When the pasta is nearly done, add the butter to the hot serving dish.
4. When the fettuccine is done, pour it into the colander. Drain quickly and not too thoroughly. Pour the moist pasta into the serving dish and toss quickly. Add the cheese, cream, peas, and prosciutto and continue tossing. Serve quickly on hot plates. Let each guest season it himself with a pepper mill.
SERVES 2 AS A MAIN COURSE, 4 AS A FIRST COURSE
To save yourself a pan, heat the cream in the same pot you use to cook the peas (after you’ve removed the peas).
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Limoncello (here), Crostini Romani (here), Fennel and Blood Orange Salad (here), Hazelnut Baklava (here)
PERIOD DETAIL
Craig Claiborne included notes about where to find fettuccine, instructions for thinly slicing the prosciutto (almost all of which was domestic at the time), and using fresh Parmesan rather than the faux commercial kind. He also called for “water to cover” the pasta, an instruction that’s now dated. Water to cover means just enough water to cover the pasta once it’s added to the pot. But you should really cook pasta in much more water so that when you add the pasta, the water doesn’t cool enough to stop boiling.
MAY 5, 1968: “EATING LIKE A ROMAN,” BY CRAIG CLAIBORNE.
—1968
LORANE SCHIFF’S PESTO GENOVESE
I’d become so accustomed to bright, feathery pestos made with olive oil and basil that the slab of butter and blizzard of cheese in this pesto—the first to appear in the Times—took me by surprise. Its fragrance is matched by its burliness. (The pesto in Marcella Hazen’s The Classic Italian Cookbook contains butter too.)
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3 cups packed basil leaves (from about 3 bunches)
1 clove garlic
¼ cup pine nuts
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
Salt
1½ pounds spaghetti
1. Put the basil, garlic, nuts, butter, oil, Parmesan cheese, and salt to taste in a blender and blend until pureed, stirring down with a rubber spatula. Blend for 2 or 3 minutes, until the pesto has the consistency of a thick puree.
2. Cook the spaghetti in generously salted boiling water until al dente. Ladle out some cooking water and reserve; drain the pasta quickly in a colander and empty it immediately into a hot serving dish. Add half the pesto and toss quickly, adding more as desired. Also, you may want to sprinkle in a little pasta water to loosen the sauce. Serve with additional Parmesan cheese.
SERVES 6 AS A MAIN COURSE, 8 AS A FIRST COURSE
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Tomatoes Vinaigrette (here), Breaded Veal Milan-Style (here), Lemon Cake (here), Fruit Crostatas (here)
JUNE 15, 1969: “PRESTO, PESTO,” BY CRAIG CLAIBORNE. RECIPE BY LORANE SCHIFF, A READER FROM GENOA.
—1969
NOODLES ROMANOFF
Noodles Romanoff was a satisfying and popular side dish through the 1960s, and it established the model for decades of pasta and cheese eating. It was sometimes made with chopped pimento, grated onion, or cheddar rather than Parmesan (the Parmesan is an early attempt to refine the dish). Next time I make the noodles, I’ll be more aggressive with the Worcestershire and Tabasco, and I might put the noodles under the broiler at the end to get some crisp bits, but these are tiny refinements.
———
½ pound broad egg noodles
2 cups sour cream
1 cup cottage cheese
2 to 4 tablespoons grated onion
1 small clove garlic, finely minced
¼ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
¼ cup finely chopped chives (optional)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook the noodles in boiling salted water until nearly tender, 3 to 4 minutes; do not overcook. Drain.
2. Combine the sour cream, cottage cheese, onion, garlic, parsley, chives, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss with the noodles and pour the mixture into a buttered 8-inch square baking dish. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until bubbling and hot.
SERVES 6 AS A SIDE DISH
COOKING NOTE
Use low-fat sour cream and cottage cheese at your peril; I don’t recommend them. And if you want to take the matter up with me, first read Real Food by Nina Planck, which explains the value of butterfat—it not only contains a full dose of flavor and vitamins but is also the means to help your body digest the protein.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Köenigsberger Klopse (Meatballs in Creamy Caper Sauce; here), Choresh Qormeh Sabzi (Green Herb Stew; here), Haricots Verts with Balsamic Vinaigrette (here), Bosiljka Marich’s Serbian Torte (here)
JANUARY 16, 1970: “MENUS AND RECIPES FOR THE WEEKEND.”
—1970
CORN BREAD STUFFING
No frills here, just a great corn bread stuffing.
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3 cups crumbled day-old corn bread
3 cups cubed white bread
Liver, gizzard, and heart of a 12- to 15-pound turkey
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus extra for the top of the stuffing
2 cups chopped onions
2 cups chopped celery
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
⅓ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil or 1½ teaspoons dried basil
Salt
¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste (black pepper is a vital flavor in this stuffing)
1 bay leaf, very finely chopped
Tabasco sauce
1. Heat the broiler. Crumble the corn bread into a large bowl.
2. Toast the white bread under the broiler, tossing occasionally to redistribute the cubes and let them brown evenly. Add to the corn bread.
3. Put the liver, gizzard, and heart through the fine blade of a meat grinder.
4. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat half the butter in a large skillet and add the liver mixture, onions, celery, green pepper, garlic, thyme, parsley, basil, salt and pepper to taste, bay leaf, and Tabasco (about 1 teaspoon). Cook, stirring, over medium to low heat for about 20 minutes.
5. Add the remaining butter. When it melts, add the contents of the skillet to the bread. Stir to blend well.
6. Spoon the stuffing into an 8-inch square baking dish. Dot with butter and bake for 30 minutes. To brown the top, place under the broiler for about 1 minute.
MAKES ENOUGH STUFFING TO GO WITH A 12- TO 15-POUND TURKEY; SERVES 8
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Red Cabbage Glazed with Maple Syrup (here), Turducken (here), Mashed Potatoes Anna (here), Stewed Fennel (here), Creamed Onions (here), Apple Crumb Pie (here), Sour Cream Ice Cream (here)
NOVEMBER 15, 1970: “TURKEY TALK,” BY CRAIG CLAIBORNE.
—1970
Italians don’t make excuses for what they cook; they just joke about it. Which is why there are almond cookies named brutti ma buoni (“ugly but good”), a potato dish referred to as patati con agnello scappato (“potatoes with escaped lamb,” which contains no lamb) and both a pasta shape and dumplings referred to as malfatti (“poorly made”). The beauty of such derogatory nicknaming is that the pressure is off. You can slap the cookies together and no one’s going to complain. No need to explain where the lamb went or to shape your malfatti to look like hens’ eggs.
In America, the dumpling form of malfatti has come to mean a spinach-and-ricotta ravioli filling without the pasta—sometimes called “gnudi” (or nude). But this malfatti recipe relies on bread rather than ricotta for substance; it is flecked with spinach and bound with Parmesan. It’s a more direct descendent of the cucina povera from which the dish originates, when cooks would make a meal of bread and what few other ingredients they had.
The recipe came from Sylvia Sebastiani, then an owner of Sebastiani Vineyards in Sonoma, California. After shaping the dumplings, she instructed readers to give them a dip in boiling water before nestling them in a baking dish, covering them with tomato sauce and cheese, and broiling them. The tomato sauce was a New World touch.
For a modern, more Italian and less Italian-American spin on malfatti, see here.
———
3 pounds spinach (you’ll need 2 pounds after trimming) or two 10-ounce packages frozen spinach
6 ounces crusty Italian bread (about half a loaf)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ to 1 cup dry bread crumbs
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
½ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
Flour
3 cups tomato sauce, preferably homemade (see here), heated until hot
1. Cook the fresh spinach, if using, in the water clinging to the leaves after washing, or cook the frozen spinach according to package instructions. Drain, squeezing out as much water as possible—do this in small handfuls so you can press out the most water, and do it over a bowl to reserve the water—and chop.
2. Soak the bread briefly in the reserved spinach water plus more hot water as needed, and squeeze dry.
3. Sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil in a large skillet until tender, 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Mix the spinach, bread, and onion and garlic and put through the finest blade of a meat grinder, or pulse in a food processor until chopped, then scrape into a bowl. Add ½ cup bread crumbs, the cheese, parsley, salt, pepper, and basil. Stir in the eggs. With lightly floured hands, gently shape the mixture into sausage-like links, 1 inch thick by 3 inches long. If they do not hold together, add more bread crumbs. Lay on a baking sheet.
5. Heat the broiler. Drop the malfatti, one at a time, into a pot of boiling salted water. Reduce the heat to a bare simmer and cook until the malfatti float to the surface, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, drain on paper towels, and place in a greased baking dish, large enough to hold the malfatti in a single layer.
6. Spoon the tomato sauce over the malfatti, sprinkle with lots of cheese, and reheat under the broiler.
SERVES 10 TO 12 AS A FIRST COURSE
COOKING NOTES
Squeeze every last drop of water from the spinach, or your malfatti will not only be “poorly made” but watery.
If you happen to have homemade tomato sauce in the freezer, this is the moment to use it. I resorted to store-bought, which, thanks to brands like Rao’s, is no longer a disappointment.
VARIATION
Skip the tomato sauce and, after poaching the dumplings, dot with butter, sprinkle with Parmesan and nutmeg, and broil.
Green Goddess Salad (here), Panna Cotta (here), Bittersweet Chocolate Semifreddo (here)
JULY 18, 1971: “TUSCAN DUMPLING,” BY JEAN HEWITT. ADAPTED FROM SYLVIA SEBASTIANI.
—1971
MANICOTTI WITH RICOTTA CHEESE
This is not what you think it is: the manicotti are actually Parmesan-flecked crepes, airy veils that encase the ricotta filling without burdening it with the weight of pasta.
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2 cups ricotta cheese, drained
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Salt
⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
Parmesan Cheese Crepes (recipe follows)
2 cups tomato sauce, preferably homemade
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine the ricotta cheese, egg yolks, parsley, salt to taste, nutmeg, 1 cup Parmesan cheese, and pepper to taste and blend well. Spoon equal portions of the filling down the center of each crepe and roll it up.
2. Spoon about 3 tablespoons tomato sauce over the bottom of a baking dish (a rectangular dish measuring about 8 by 14 inches would be appropriate). Place the rolled crepes seam side down in the dish. Spoon the remaining sauce over the crepes and sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons cheese. Pour the melted butter over all.
3. Bake until heated through, about 20 minutes.
SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE
PARMESAN CHEESE CREPES
¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 large egg
Salt
1 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Unsalted butter for the crepe pan
1. Scoop the flour into a bowl and add the egg and salt to taste. Add the milk while stirring with a wire whisk. Add the melted butter and cheese. Let stand for at least 30 minutes.
2. Heat an 8-inch crepe pan over medium heat. Butter the cooking surface. Pour a scant ¼ cup batter into the pan and spread over the base. Cook until browned on the bottom. Turn and brown the other side. Transfer to a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining batter, buttering the pan as needed. Do not stack the crepes.
MAKES ABOUT 8 CREPES
COOKING NOTES
It’s important to drain the ricotta well before adding it to the filling—a small but crucial step that prevents the filling from becoming watery.
I used Rao’s Homemade Marinara Sauce, a good store-bought option.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Garden Minestrone (here), Poivrons Verts Farcis (Stuffed Green Peppers; here), Salade à la Romaine (here), Tortoni (here)
JUNE 12, 1977: “FOOD: THE CREPE CULT,” BY CRAIG CLAIBORNE AND PIERRE FRANEY.
—1977
LE CIRQUE’S SPAGHETTI PRIMAVERA
I see you rolling your eyes at the thought of spaghetti primavera. The dish, rarely seen now, became a cliché of 1980s “seasonal cooking,” the raspberry coulis of its day. Meant to be an expression of spring, the mad jumble of vegetables over pasta was mostly an expression of the death match between French and Italian cuisine (cream versus olive oil, lots of sauce versus scant sauce).
But in the late 1970s, when New York’s Le Cirque popularized spaghetti primavera, Craig Claiborne and Pierre Franey called it “by far, the most talked-about dish in Manhattan.” It was also the most controversial, with at least three people laying claim to its creation. According to David Kamp, who attempted to get to the bottom of the issue in his excellent book The United States of Arugula, spaghetti primavera was the brainchild of either Ed Giobbi, an artist and cook, who prepared it for Sirio Maccioni, the owner of Le Cirque, and Jean Vergnes, the chef; Maccioni’s wife, as Maccioni claimed in his memoir; or Vergnes, who doctored up Giobbi’s version with French touches like cream and more vegetables. (Despite his claim to have invented it, Vergnes apparently hated the dish so much that he forced his cooks to prepare it in a hall outside the kitchen.)
It is probably the brainchild of all three cooks, as no recipe evolves in a vacuum. In Giobbi’s book Eat Right, Eat Well, the Italian Way, he described his version: when Maccioni and Vergnes came to visit him before they opened Le Cirque, he served them what he called pasta primavera, but it was a dish much like Pamela Sherrid’s Summer Pasta (here): a union of ripe tomatoes, basil, parsley, garlic, and oil. He claims that that recipe, along with one additional ingredient—pine nuts—became part of Le Cirque’s original menu. Over time, cream and other vegetables crept into the mix.
Regardless, the dish flourished, infiltrating the menu of every mediocre Italian restaurant in North America, until the pasta, as Giobbi put it, “looked as though it had been dragged through the vegetable garden.” I encourage you to make the Le Cirque version—all twelve pain-in-the-neck steps of it—because, despite its tempestuous origins, it’s wonderful.
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1 bunch broccoli
2 small zucchini
4 asparagus spears, trimmed to 5 inches
1½ cups green beans, cut into 1-inch lengths
Salt
½ cup fresh or frozen peas
¾ cup snow peas
1 tablespoon peanut, vegetable, or corn oil
2 cups thinly sliced mushrooms
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon finely chopped hot red or green chile or about ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
¼ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
3 cups ripe tomatoes cut into 1-inch cubes
6 fresh basil leaves, chopped (about ¼ cup), or about 1 teaspoon dried basil
1 pound spaghetti or spaghettini
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons chicken broth
Approximately ½ cup heavy cream
⅔ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
⅓ cup toasted pine nuts
1. Trim the broccoli and break it into bite-sized florets.
2. Trim off the ends of the zucchini. Cut the zucchini into quarters. Cut each quarter into 1-inch or slightly longer lengths. There should be about 1½ cups, no more.
3. Cut each asparagus spear into thirds.
4. Cook each of the green vegetables separately in boiling salted water: the essential thing is to cook each so that it remains crisp but tender. The broccoli, zucchini, asparagus, and green beans should take about 2 to 3 minutes. Drain well in a colander, then run under cold water to chill, and drain again thoroughly. Combine the cooked vegetables in a bowl.
5. Then cook the peas and snow peas: about 1 minute if fresh, 30 seconds if frozen. Drain, chill under cold water, and drain again. Combine with the rest of the vegetables in the bowl.
6. Heat the peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the mushrooms. Add salt and pepper to taste, shaking the skillet and stirring, and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms to the other vegetables. Add the chopped chile and parsley.
7. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a saucepan. Add half the garlic, the tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste and cook for about 4 minutes, stirring gently so as not to break up the tomatoes any more than necessary. Add the basil, stir, and set aside.
8. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil to a large skillet, along with the remaining garlic and the vegetable mixture. Cook, stirring gently, just long enough to heat through and soften the garlic.
9. Drop the spaghetti into boiling salted water and cook until almost but not quite tender; that is to say, al dente. The spaghetti must retain just a slight resilience in the center. Drain well. Return the spaghetti to the pot.
10. Select a pot large enough to hold the spaghetti and all the vegetables. To this, add the butter and melt over medium-low heat. Then add the chicken broth, ½ cup cream, and the cheese, stirring constantly. Cook gently, moving the pot on and off the heat, until smooth. Add the spaghetti and toss quickly to blend. Add half the vegetables and pour in the liquid from the tomatoes, tossing and stirring over very low heat.
11. Add the remaining vegetables and, if the sauce seems too dry, add 3 to 4 tablespoons more cream. The sauce should not be soupy. Add the pine nuts and give the mixture one final tossing.
12. Serve equal portions of the spaghetti in warmed bowls. Spoon equal amounts of the tomatoes over each serving.
SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE, 8 AS A FIRST COURSE
COOKING NOTES
While this recipe uses broccoli, zucchini, asparagus, beans, and peas, you could mix in any spring vegetables you like—artichokes and ramps, for instance.
Don’t settle for a mundane supermarket pasta. The spaghetti’s flavor and texture are crucial to the dish—and after chopping all those vegetables, why cheap out on a primary ingredient? Try Rustichella d’Abruzzo, for instance.
Pasta is done when biting into it feels like biting into a fresh stick of gum—when it’s firm but pliable.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Rhubarb Bellini (here), Fried Olives (here), Toasts with Walnut Sauce (here), Hearth’s Fava Bean Salad (here), Puntarelle with Anchovies (here), Angel Food Cake (here), Strawberry Ice Cream (here), Le Cirque’s Crème Brûlée (here)
READERS
“. . . we still eagerly await the ripening of our home-grown tomatoes and fresh basil for the dish.”
Judith Thomas, Nashville, TN, letter
OCTOBER 2, 1977: “SPAGHETTI WITH A FRENCH ACCENT,” BY CRAIG CLAIBORNE WITH PIERRE FRANEY. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM LE CIRQUE IN NEW YORK CITY.
—1977
A PERFECT BATCH OF RICE
One part rice, one and a half parts liquid, cooked for 17 minutes in the oven. I’ve been using this formula for fifteen years and it has never failed.
———
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup finely chopped onion
2 cups long-grain white rice
Salt
Cayenne pepper or Tabasco sauce
3 cups chicken broth
A few parsley sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in an ovenproof saucepan. When it melts, add the finely chopped onion. Stir and cook until the onion wilts. Add the rice and stir until the grains are coated. Add salt to taste and a pinch of cayenne pepper (or a dash or two of Tabasco sauce).
2. Add the chicken broth. Make a bouquet garni with the parsley sprigs, bay leaf, and thyme; tie the bouquet garni with a string. Add to the rice and let the broth come to a boil.
3. Cover the pan and place it in the oven. Set a kitchen timer for 17 minutes.
4. Remove the pan from the oven and remove and discard the bouquet garni. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and toss to blend.
SERVES 8 AS A SIDE DISH
COOKING NOTE
Craig Claiborne and Pierre Franey said this recipe can easily be halved, adding that, “The basic formula is 1 cup of rice for each 1½ cups of liquid.”
For Saffron Rice, use 1 teaspoon loosely packed saffron threads. Crumble it, add it to the saucepan, and stir just before adding the rice.
For Cumin Rice, use 1 clove finely minced garlic and 1 teaspoon ground cumin. Add it to the saucepan and stir just before adding the rice.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Paul Prudhomme’s Cajun-Style Gumbo (here), James Beard’s Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic (here), Chicken à la Marengo (here), Fricassee of Chicken with Tarragon (here), Ed Giobbi’s Rabbit Cacciatora (here), Spicy, Garlicky Cashew Chicken (here) Blanquette of Veal (here), Choresh Qormeh Sabzi (Green Herb Stew; here), White Veal Stew with Mushrooms, Corn, and Sherry (here)
PERIOD DETAIL
Claiborne and Franey suggested serving the rice with “creamed dishes such as chicken, crab, shrimp, scallops, and so on.”
MAY 28, 1978: “FOOD: PRECISE RICE,” BY CRAIG CLAIBORNE WITH PIERRE FRANEY.
—1978
PASTA WITH VODKA
You’ve probably never had a vodka pasta like this. Most are overwrought, jammed up with too much tomato and cream and lacking any indication of why they’re called vodka pasta. This version realigns the components in a simple ratio of essentially equal parts vodka, tomatoes, cream, and cheese. Also, unconventionally, the recipe has you add the vodka at the beginning rather than the end.
Vodka pasta was born in Italy, according to Arthur Schwartz, the author of Naples at Table (and of the Spaghetti with Fried Eggs and Roasted Peppers here), where it was dreamed up as part of a vodka marketing campaign. But it only became a hit here. What Italians dismissed as gimmicky and expensive, Americans embraced as sophisticated.
The Italian version was made with hot pepper vodka, unavailable here at the time, so American recipes separated the alcohol and heat, calling for plain vodka and red pepper flakes. Which is just as well, because the spiciness is in your hands.
A slightly more complex version can be found here.
———
Salt
1½ pounds pasta, such as penne or ziti
7 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons Polish or Russian vodka
1 cup canned Italian plum tomatoes
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente.
2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a casserole or saucepan large enough to hold the cooked pasta. Add the pepper flakes and vodka and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and let simmer for 2 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes and cream and bring to a boil. Let simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt.
4. When the pasta is cooked, drain it and add it to the hot sauce. With the heat on low, add the cheese and mix thoroughly.
SERVES 6 AS A MAIN COURSE
COOKING NOTE
It’s particularly important in a recipe this subtle to add enough salt to the pasta water (the water should taste salty) and to cook it to truly al dente.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Fried Olives (here), Puntarelle with Anchovies (here), Veal Chops with Sage (here), Escarole with Pan-Roasted Garlic and Lemon (here), Filbert Torte (here), Balducci’s Tiramisù (here), Tortoni (here)
DECEMBER 5, 1982: “FOOD: GOING BY THE BOOK,” BY CRAIG CLAIBORNE WITH PIERRE FRANEY. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM ITALIAN COOKING IN THE GRAND TRADITION, BY JO BETTOJA AND ANNA MARIA CORNETTO.
—1982
ED GIOBBI’S SWEET RED PEPPER SAUCE FOR PASTA
In 1984, with nouvelle cuisine in full career, red peppers, the riper version of green peppers, were the ingredient—there wasn’t a salad or a coulis to be found without them in it. Nor, according to Craig Claiborne, could you avoid them at stores and markets. He might be surprised to know that red peppers have returned to the land of passé, replaced by Peppadews, piquillos, and pimientos de Padrón. But this sweet, quite spicy red pepper sauce deserves to live on.
———
3 very red unblemished sweet red peppers (about 1 pound or slightly more)
1 or 2 onions (about 1 pound)
¼ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
¼ to ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups chicken broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup finely chopped basil
1. Cut the peppers in half. Cut away and discard the cores, veins, and seeds. Coarsely chop the peppers. There should be about 4 cups. Coarsely chop the onion. There should be about 1 cup.
2. Heat the oil in a fairly large deep skillet or casserole and add the peppers. Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Add the onions, garlic, and ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes and cook, stirring often, for about 2 minutes. Add the broth and salt and pepper to taste. Cover, and cook for 15 minutes. (After 5 minutes, taste and see if you like the amount of heat—if you want more, add more red pepper flakes.)
3. Pour the mixture into the container of a food processor or blender, in batches if necessary, and blend thoroughly.
4. Pour the sauce into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Let reduce, if needed, to cook off the water and tighten the sauce a little. Stir in the basil.
MAKES 5 CUPS
COOKING NOTE
I served this sauce on angel hair pasta, which was superb. There’s enough sauce for at least a pound of pasta, if not 2.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Crostini Romani (here), Yettes Garden Platter (here), Eggplant Involtini (here), Cornmeal Biscotti (here), Almond Granita (here)
JUNE 17, 1984: “FOOD: A GROWING TASTE FOR SWEET RED PEPPERS,” BY CRAIG CLAIBORNE WITH PIERRE FRANEY. ADAPTED FROM ED GIOBBI, A COOKBOOK AUTHOR AND ARTIST.
—1984
SAFFRON RICE WITH PINE NUTS
———
⅓ cup pine nuts
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
⅓ cup finely chopped onion
½ teaspoon finely minced garlic
1 teaspoon loosely packed saffron threads
1 cup basmati rice
1½ cups chicken broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1. Put the pine nuts in a skillet and cook them over medium-low heat, shaking the skillet and stirring so that the nuts cook evenly, until they are golden brown or slightly darker, about 2 minutes, depending on the intensity of the heat; do not overcook. Pour the nuts onto a cool surface.
2. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a saucepan and add the onions. Cook briefly, then add the garlic and saffron. Stir and add the rice. Add the broth and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil. Cover closely and let simmer for exactly 17 minutes.
3. Stir in the remaining tablespoon of butter and the parsley. Stir in the pine nuts.
SERVES 4 AS A SIDE DISH
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Crab and Coconut Curry (here), Bombay Curry (here), Rabbit Soup with Garlic, Peppers, and Chorizo (here), Madeleine Kamman’s Apple Mousse (here), Coconut Loaf Cake (here), Revani Verrias (Semolina Cake; here)
AUGUST 11, 1985: “FOOD; SPICING UP VERSATILE RICE,” BY CRAIG CLAIBORNE WITH PIERRE FRANEY.
—1985
JEAN YVES LEGARVE’S SPAGHETTI WITH LEMON AND ASPARAGUS SAUCE
Like a lemon carbonara, the sauce on this pasta is delicate and creamy with a penetrating citrus fragrance. When you first combine the pasta and sauce, it will seem too loose; heating the sauce thickens it visibly. But take the sauce off the heat before it gets too tight, and don’t be tempted to add more cheese, cream, or lemon. The proportions here are just right.
———
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 thick asparagus spears, stalks peeled and cut into 1-inch lengths
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 large eggs
¾ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
4 gratings of nutmeg
3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Salt
½ pound spaghetti
Freshly ground black pepper
1. Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the asparagus and cook until just tender, about 6 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, combine the lemon zest, half of the lemon juice, the eggs, cream, Parmesan cheese, nutmeg, and parsley in a bowl and blend well. Taste the sauce. The lemon flavor should be subtle, but not overpowering. Add more lemon juice if needed.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Stir in enough salt that the water tastes salty. Add the spaghetti, stir, and cook, stirring often, until al dente, 5 to 7 minutes.
4. Drain the spaghetti well. Immediately return it to the pot, and add the asparagus, with the butter, and lemon sauce. Toss well.
5. Turn the heat to low and gently toss the pasta over the heat for about 30 seconds, until the sauce thickens slightly and adheres to the pasta. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
SERVES 2 AS A MAIN COURSE, 4 AS A FIRST COURSE
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Hearth’s Fava Bean Salad (here), Roasted Salmon with Herb Vinaigrette (here), Fried Radishes (here), Rhubarb-Strawberry Mousse (here), Macaroons (here), Rhubarb Orange (here)
NOVEMBER 9, 1986: “FOOD; GETTING AWAY FROM IT ALL,” BY MICHELE EVANS. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM FASHION DESIGNER JEAN YVES LEGARVE.
—1986
MACARONI WITH HAM AND CHEESE
Entire cookbooks could be made of the macaroni and cheese recipes in the New York Times archives. They are numberless, going back to “Macaroni au Gratin” in 1904 and many claim to be the best. In the article accompanying this recipe, Pierre Franey admitted that the ham and mushrooms are unusual touches. But he was French, and we can cut him a little slack, particularly as his recipe is fantastic. I won’t dare say it’s the best, but it’s certainly going to stay in my rotation.
———
Salt
½ pound macaroni (about 2 cups)
¾ pound sliced cooked ham (½-inch-thick)
⅓ pound mushrooms
½ pound sharp cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
3⁄8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper
½ cup finely chopped onion
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1. Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add salt to taste. Add the macaroni and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, or until tender. Drain and return to the pot.
2. Meanwhile, cut the ham into ½-inch cubes. There should be about 2 cups. Set aside.
3. Slice the mushrooms. There should be about 2 cups. Set aside.
4. Cut the cheddar into slices about ¼ inch thick. Stack the slices and cut them into ¼-inch-wide strips. Cut the strips into ¼-inch cubes. There should be about 2 cups.
5. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour, stirring with a wire whisk, and cook for about a minute, then add the milk, whisking rapidly. Let simmer for about 1 minute, and add the nutmeg, cheddar cheese, and salt and black pepper to taste, whisking until smooth. Remove from the heat.
6. Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in a skillet. Add the onion and mushrooms and cook, stirring, until the mushrooms are wilted, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the ham and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Add the cheese sauce, cayenne, and cream and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Taste, adding more cayenne if needed.
7. Add the macaroni to the sauce and mix well. Transfer to a buttered 3-quart baking dish. Sprinkle the top with the Parmesan cheese, and bake for 10 minutes.
8. Turn the broiler to high. Brown the macaroni and cheese under the broiler until the top is nicely browned, 2 to 3 minutes.
SERVES 6 AS A MAIN COURSE
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Mezzaluna Salad (here), Tangerine Sherbet (here), Brownies (here)
JANUARY 6, 1988: “60-MINUTE GOURMET,” BY PIERRE FRANEY.
—1988
SPAGHETTINI WITH VEGETABLES AND PEPPER VODKA SAUCE
I’ve learned a lot about recipe writing from Pierre Franey, who collaborated with Craig Claiborne on a cooking column from 1974 to 1988 and then had his own column, “The 60-Minute Gourmet,” from 1976 to 1993. Almost every one of his recipes that I’ve tried has been a hit. One reason is that Franey never left anything to chance. He didn’t call for “a small bunch” of parsley or two “large” tomatoes; he gave you a weight and an additional measurement once the vegetable or fruit was chopped.
We tend to think of precise cooks as uninspired, but I believe Franey understood that by giving readers the means to re-create his dishes exactly, he could encourage them to later take his recipes in further interesting directions. Which you may want to do with this pasta dish, a cross between pasta primavera and penne alla vodka. You could replace the broccoli and snow peas with zucchini and young green beans, add ramps instead of garlic, etc.
Franey could have been a cook on a ship, because he assembled his recipes as if he had a foot of counter space and one burner. “I always reserve the poaching liquid from the vegetables and cook the pasta in it, which adds extra flavor,” he wrote, noting, “A bit of the vegetable poaching liquid is set aside after the pasta goes in, to be used at the very end to bind the finished sauce.” The flavors are layered and the whole thing is performed in a pot and a skillet. The sauce is light and brothy, rimmed with the perfume of basil and vodka.
———
1 bunch broccoli (about 1¼ pounds)
¼ pound snow peas
5 ripe plum tomatoes (about 1 pound)
Salt
¾ pound spaghettini
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
¼ pound sliced prosciutto, cut into ¼-inch-wide strips
⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
⅓ cup Absolut pepper vodka
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
12 basil leaves, coarsely chopped
⅓ cup chopped chives
1. Cut the broccoli florets off the stem and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Peel away the stem’s outer skin. Cut the stem into 1¼-inch lengths, then lengthwise into ½-inch-thick slices. There should be about 6 cups of stems and florets.
2. Trim the snow peas.
3. Core the tomatoes. To peel, drop the tomatoes into boiling water for 10 to 12 seconds; do not overcook. Drain immediately and peel. The skin should come off easily if you use a paring knife. Cut the tomatoes into ½-inch cubes. There should be about 2 cups.
4. Bring 3 quarts salted water to a boil in a large pot. Add the broccoli, bring to a simmer, and cook for 1 minute. Add the snow peas and bring to a boil. Cook for 2 minutes. Do not overcook; the vegetables must remain crisp. Drain, reserving the cooking liquid.
5. Bring the reserved cooking liquid to a boil in the same pot and add the spaghettini. Stir and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving ½ cup of the cooking liquid.
6. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the garlic and prosciutto and cook, stirring, briefly without browning. Add the tomatoes and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the vodka, cream, and salt and pepper to taste, bring to a simmer, and cook for 1 minute.
7. Add the pasta to the skillet. Add the broccoli, snow peas, cheese, basil, chives, and reserved ½ cup cooking liquid, bring to a simmer, and toss well for 1 minute.
SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE
COOKING NOTE
If you like spicy food, add a dash more red pepper flakes. Taste first before deciding.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Fried Artichokes Azzurro (here), Fried Zucchini Blossoms (here), Balducci’s Tiramisù (here)
JUNE 29, 1988: “60-MINUTE GOURMET,” BY PIERRE FRANEY.
—1988
COUSCOUS SALAD
This well-crafted recipe is simple on the surface, intricate beneath. The cinnamon melds with the ginger and saffron to give the salad an unaccountable yet inviting boozy aroma. Use the best cinnamon you can find—I had some Saigon cinnamon, which I’d recommend for this and any other recipe that calls for the spice.
———
6 cups chicken broth
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon saffron threads
3 cups couscous
¾ cup currants
¾ cup dates, pitted and chopped
2¼ cups finely diced celery
1½ cups finely diced carrots
1 cup minced scallions
½ cup minced flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ cup toasted pine nuts
1. Bring the broth, 6 tablespoons oil, the ginger, and saffron to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the couscous and boil until the liquid begins to be absorbed. Remove from the heat and fold in the currants and dates. Cover and let stand for 15 minutes.
2. Add the celery, carrots, and scallions to the couscous. Mix well.
3. Combine the parsley, lemon juice, salt, cinnamon, and remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil in a small bowl. Toss well with the couscous, breaking up any clumps. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
4. Bring the couscous to room temperature. Adjust the seasoning and sprinkle with the pine nuts.
SERVES 16 AS A SIDE DISH
COOKING NOTES
Use Medjool dates if possible.
When it says to finely dice the celery and carrots, this really does mean fine, about ⅛ inch. That way, the exterior of the vegetables will be softened by the steam but the interior will retain a little crunch.
This makes an enormous amount. You can easily halve the recipe.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Beet and Ginger Soup with Cucumber (here), Steamed Fennel with Red Pepper Oil (here), Veal Chops Beau Séjour (here), Buttermilk Roast Chicken (here), Lemon Bars (here), Moroccan Rice Pudding (here)
MAY 15, 1988: “SUMMER PASTIMES: AN AFTERNOON BY THE POOL,” BY NANCY HARMON JENKINS.
—1988
HOT PENNE WITH CHILLED TOMATO SAUCE AND CHARRED TUNA
This recipe belongs to the family of uncooked tomato sauces that were wildly popular during the 1980s. Charred tuna was another popular dish of the time. I’d never seen the two combined, but this recipe came recommended by three readers, so I had to at least try it. I’m so glad I did: the addition of capers, olives, and balsamic vinegar give it the appealing punch of a salade Niçoise, and more complexity than the equally delicious Summer Pasta here.
———
4 large ripe tomatoes (about 3 ½ pounds), cored and quartered
3 cloves garlic
½ cup basil leaves
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and patted dry
16 black Niçoise olives, pitted
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 strips lemon zest
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound penne
One 12-ounce to 16-ounce fresh tuna steak
1. Place the tomatoes, garlic, basil, capers, olives, ½ cup olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon zest, and salt and pepper to taste in a food processor. Pulse on and off until roughly chopped. Pour the sauce into a bowl, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot and add 1 tablespoon salt, or to taste. Add the penne, stirring with a fork, and cook until al dente.
3. Meanwhile, place a cast-iron skillet over high heat and sprinkle the pan with 1 tablespoon salt. When the salt begins to sputter, add the tuna steak, sprinkle the top of the steak with more salt, and cook, turning once, until lightly charred, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the tuna to a cutting board.
4. Drain the pasta and toss with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Divide the pasta among 4 shallow bowls. Slice the tuna into ¼-inch-thick slices and place over the pasta. Serve immediately.
SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Ricotta Crostini with Fresh Thyme and Dried Oregano (here), Fried Zucchini Blossoms (here), Basic Corn Chowder (here), Peach Salad (here), Jean Halberstam’s Deep-Fried Peaches (here)
AUGUST 7, 1988: “FOOD: HOT TOMATOES,” BY CHRISTOPHER IDONE.
—1988
RISOTTO WITH RADICCHIO AND SAUSAGE
Although risotto recipes have appeared regularly in the Times since 1942, no one seemed to notice them until the 1980s, when Americans suddenly became smitten with all things Italian. Bryan Miller, then the restaurant critic of the Times, declared that there was a “risotto craze” in New York restaurants that was beginning to spread across the country. Food crazes often lead to unfortunate dishes, and this craze was no exception. The River Café even served up a risotto with oysters and horseradish.
Risotto with radicchio and sausage, a recipe from the popular Manhattan restaurant Arqua, proved more lasting. Like most traditional Italian cooking, it’s economical. With a cheap, filling ingredient like rice, a modest amount of meat—eight ounces—is stretched to serve eight. You mince the sausage and add it to the aromatics at the beginning of cooking, so its fat and flavor permeate the entire dish. Next you combine this rich, rib-sticking foundation with a wash of bitterness from the radicchio and endive: you add half of the radicchio in the beginning, letting it melt into the flavor base, and the rest at the end, allowing it to merely wilt.
Many people overcook risotto. You should take it off the heat just before the rice is cooked through. Like pasta, risotto is done when biting into it feels like biting into a stick of gum. Five minutes before the end of cooking, invite your family or guests to the table. If you wait until the risotto is finished to call them, it will be mush when you sit down.
———
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ cup olive oil
2 sweet Italian sausages, preferably without fennel seeds (about 8 ounces), casings removed and minced
½ medium onion, chopped
Pinch of ground cloves
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
½ cup dry white wine
1 large head endive, shredded
2 large heads radicchio, shredded
3 cups Arborio or Vialone Nano rice
8 to 10 cups chicken broth, heated until hot
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1. Melt 2 tablespoons butter with the olive oil in a large heavy saucepan over high heat. Add the sausage, onion, cloves, and nutmeg and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the onion wilts. Add the white wine and cook until the alcohol evaporates, about 2 minutes. Add the endive, stir well, and add half of the shredded radicchio. Stir well until the radicchio wilts.
2. Add the rice and stir to coat it thoroughly with the oil. Lower the heat to medium-low and start adding the chicken broth 1 cup at a time. Add the next cup only when the previous cup has been absorbed by the rice. It should take about 3 to 4 minutes for each cup to be absorbed, and this process should take 20 to 25 minutes. When the last cup of broth is absorbed, taste to see if the rice is cooked yet al dente. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the remaining 4 tablespoons butter and remaining radicchio. Blend well. Add the Parmesan and blend well. Serve immediately.
SERVES 8 AS A MAIN COURSE
COOKING NOTES
The recipe calls for sweet sausages without fennel seeds, but those can be hard to find, and I don’t think the fennel makes a big difference.
Miller noted that many chefs prefer Vialone Nano rice over Arborio, for its more even cooking, but in the two decades since this article appeared, Arborio has won out. (I prefer Carnaroli, which maintains its texture best.)
The original recipe called for 8 cups of broth. I found mine needed 10 cups. This may vary, so be flexible on the amount of liquid.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Crostini Romani (here), Fennel and Blood Orange Salad (here), Tortoni (here), Canestrelli (Shortbread from Ovada; here)
JANUARY 11, 1989: “CHEFS SEARCH FOR THE PERFECT VERSION,” BY BRYAN MILLER. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM LEONARDO PULITO, THE CHEF AT ARQUA IN NEW YORK CITY.
—1989
CATALAN VEGETABLE PAELLA
I have no idea what makes this Catalan (“imported” paprika?), but it’s so good I’ll take Perla Meyers’s word for it. Meyers, who wrote about this paella for the Sunday Magazine, suggested serving it at room temperature, sprinkled with lemon juice and olive oil. That should be an instruction rather than a suggestion.
———
¼ cup olive oil, plus (optional) more for drizzling
1 small green chile pepper, finely minced
1 large Bermuda onion, quartered and thinly sliced
1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and thinly sliced
1 large green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and thinly sliced
2 large cloves garlic, finely minced
1½ teaspoons Spanish paprika
1 tablespoon thyme leaves
4 large ripe tomatoes, peeled (see Cooking Note, here), cored, seeded, and chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 medium zucchini, cut into ½-inch cubes
1¼ cups Arborio rice
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Finely minced flat-leaf parsley for garnish
Fresh lemon juice for serving (optional)
1. Heat the olive oil in a large deep cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chile pepper, onion, and bell peppers, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and the onion is lightly browned.
2. Add the garlic, paprika, thyme, and tomatoes. Season generously with salt and pepper. Cover the skillet and simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Add the zucchini and simmer for 10 minutes more.
4. Stir in the rice and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the rice is tender. Taste and correct the seasoning. Garnish with minced parsley. Serve the paella hot, directly from the skillet, at room temperature, doused with lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil.
SERVES 6 TO 8 AS A MAIN COURSE
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Málaga Gazpacho (here), Deep-Fried Soft-Shell Crabs (here), Coffee Caramel Custard (here), Almond Granita (here)
JULY 30, 1989: “FOOD: SKILLET SKILLS,” BY PERLA MEYERS.
—1989
ELDORADO PETIT’S FRIED NOODLES WITH GARLIC MAYONNAISE
This sublime noodle dish, which is made by toasting noodles in oil, braising them in fish broth, and then tossing with a garlic mayonnaise, appeared in an article on Catalan food by Patricia Wells. She appealed to readers to give Catalan cooking a chance, arguing that although the cuisine “is made up of just a dozen or so ingredients,” she never felt bored. Spanish cuisine was just stepping onto the world stage: Colman Andrews had published his groundbreaking book Catalan Cuisine: Europe’s Last Great Culinary Secret in 1988, and the year this recipe appeared in the Times was the year El Bulli, under the direction of Ferran Adriá, gained its second Michelin star.
———
3 large fresh cloves garlic
¼ teaspoon salt
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ pound fideos (or angel hair pasta, capellini, or vermicelli) broken into 2-inch lengths
2 cups fish or chicken broth
1. Peel the garlic and halve lengthwise, then remove and discard the green sprout-like germ.
2. Pour hot tap water into a mortar to warm it. Discard the water and dry the mortar. Place the garlic and salt in the mortar and mash together evenly with a pestle to form a very smooth paste. (At this point, you can transfer the mixture to a bowl and whisk in the remaining ingredients.) Add the egg yolk. Stir, pressing slowly and evenly with the pestle, to thoroughly blend the garlic and yolk. Very slowly work about 2 tablespoons oil into the yolk, drop by drop, until the mixture is thick and smooth. Gradually whisk in 6 more tablespoons oil in a slow, thin stream until the sauce is thickened to a mayonnaise consistency.
3. Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Toss the pasta with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large bowl. Spread evenly on a nonstick baking sheet. Bake, shaking the pan from time to time, until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes; do not allow the pasta to burn. Remove from the oven.
4. Bring the broth to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Add the browned noodles, stir well, and cook over medium heat until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes.
5. Stir in several tablespoons of the garlic mayonnaise. Serve immediately, passing the remaining mayonnaise.
SERVES 4 AS A SIDE DISH
COOKING NOTE
Garlic mayonnaise (aioli) is easy to make and easy to ruin. Garlic, if not fresh, can add a bitter edge to the sauce, as can cheap olive oil. If you don’t have great olive oil, hedge your bets by using half olive oil, half canola or vegetable oil. And if your garlic isn’t fresh and juicy, use less of it.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Patricia Wells noted that the noodles should be served with fish or steamed clams. So, how about Sautéed Cod with Potatoes in Chorizo-Mussel Broth (skip the potatoes; here)? Begin with Potato, Ham, and Piquillo Pepper Croquetas (here) or Raw Artichoke Salad with Cucumber (here), and end with Chocolate Caramel Tart (here).
PERIOD DETAIL
A 1949 headline read: “New Vermicelli: Cooks in 2 minutes; ‘Hair of an Angel,’ Italians call it.”
MAY 13, 1990: “SPAIN: A CATALAN OLÉ,” BY PATRICIA WELLS. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM JEAN-LUC FIGUERAS, THE CHEF AT ELDORADO PETIT IN BARCELONA.
—1990
ORZO WITH PINE NUTS AND BASIL
This can be served warm or at room temperature. Either way, don’t add the basil until just before you carry it to the table.
———
1½ cups orzo
1 cup pine nuts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
⅔ cup tightly packed basil leaves
1. Bring 3 quarts of salted water to a boil in a large pot. Add the orzo and cook until it is just tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain thoroughly.
2. Meanwhile, place the pine nuts in a large dry skillet and cook, stirring, over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from the heat.
3. Mix the toasted pine nuts with the orzo in a bowl, season with salt and pepper, and toss with the olive oil.
4. Just before serving, finely chop the basil and fold it into the orzo.
SERVES 6 TO 8 AS A SIDE DISH
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Poivrons Verts Farcis (Stuffed Green Peppers; here), Baked Zucchini with Herbs and Tomatoes (here), Crab Cakes Baltimore-Style (here), Lobster Roll (here), Butterscotch Pudding (here), Fresh Raspberry (or Blackberry or Blueberry) Flummery (here)
PERIOD DETAIL
The recipe included this note, invoking that staple of late 1980s cooking, the dreaded timbale: “For more formal service, the finished orzo can be packed tightly in 4-ounce cups or ramekins and unmolded onto each plate.”
JUNE 3, 1990: “THE GREAT OUTDOORS: SETTINGS FOR AN ALL-OCCASION MENU,” BY FLORENCE FABRICANT.
—1990
CONCHIGLIE AL FORNO WITH MUSHROOMS AND RADICCHIO
George Germon and Johanne Killeen, the owners of Al Forno in Providence, Rhode Island, are often credited with introducing Americans to pasta as it’s prepared in Italy. Not that there’s anything wrong with Italian-American dishes like spaghetti and meatballs or lasagna (see here), but before 1980, when Al Forno opened, “Italian” pastas were dishes created and popularized by immigrants who lacked the raw materials of their homeland. They made do with inferior tomatoes, ground meats, and a dearth of vegetables.
At Al Forno, they did things differently. Pastas contained just enough sauce to coat the noodles, cheese was used judiciously, unfamiliar shapes like pappardelle and penne rigate were added to a landscape of ziti and linguine. This is not to say that Al Forno claimed to be authentic. As with most imported cuisines, the food at the restaurant was (and still is) interpretive, and it bears the stamp of Germon and Killeen, who loved their wood-fired oven and created a menu around it.
Carol Kramer and Lori Longbotham, who wrote about this recipe, pointed out that baked pastas go back at least to the days of Pope Pius V, who relished his favorite timpano, a mammoth layered and baked pasta dish that contained pasta, prosciutto, mozzarella, the “meat of a young heifer,” and white truffle. Even until relatively recently in Italy, baked pastas were reserved for the rich, the only ones who had ovens in their home kitchens.
In America, by contrast, baked pastas were often just a way to repurpose leftovers. So Germon and Killeen’s highly calibrated technique marked a genuine departure. Here the pasta is half cooked in heavily salted water, then blended with sliced radicchio, sautéed mushrooms, cheeses, and a shocking amount of cream. Don’t skimp on the cream; they’ve calculated its measurement precisely. The pasta is then baked at 450 degrees, and the cream and cheese form a loose sauce that’s pungent with cheese and yet not gooey. The mushrooms contribute nuttiness to the dish and the radicchio a note of bitterness. But the key detail is in the top layer. The high heat of the oven browns and toasts the tips of the pasta, giving it the flavor of a gratin and the crunch of a perfect potato chip.
———
Salt
6 ounces shiitake mushrooms (about 18 medium), cleaned
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 pound imported conchiglie rigate (ridged pasta shells)
1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)
2½ cups heavy cream
2 small heads radicchio, cored and finely shredded (about ½ inch wide)
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup shredded Bel Paese cheese
½ cup crumbled Gorgonzola
Coarse salt
6 sage leaves (optional)
1. Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil.
2. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and discard. Slice the mushroom caps ¼ inch thick. Melt 6 tablespoons butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 4 minutes, until they are softened. Remove from the heat.
3. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook for 5 minutes. Add the olive oil, if desired, to keep the pasta from sticking together. Drain the pasta. Run cold water over it to stop the cooking process, then drain again.
4. Combine the cream, shredded radicchio, Parmesan, Bel Paese, Gorgonzola, and mushrooms in a large bowl. Add the pasta and toss. Stir in salt to taste and the sage leaves, if desired.
5. Butter a glass or earthenware baking dish, about 13 by 9 by 2 inches. Transfer the pasta mixture to the dish. Dot with the remaining 2 tablespoons butter.
6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the pasta is bubbly and crusty brown on top. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
SERVES 6 AS A MAIN COURSE, 10 AS A FIRST COURSE
COOKING NOTE
Of the optional ingredients, I would not add the oil to the water. This is an old cooking myth: the oil does not prevent the pasta from sticking—it just makes a mess of your pot. But don’t skip the sage, which adds dimension and a musky aroma to the dish.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Bagna Cauda (here), Diane Forley’s Arugula Salad with Artichoke, Ricotta Salata, and Pumpkin Seeds (here), Mezzaluna Salad (here), Pine Nut Cookies (here), Zabaglione (here), Olive Oil and Apple Cider Cake (here), Bolzano Apple Cake (here)
PERIOD DETAIL
The first appearance of Parmesan cheese in the Times was in 1866; the first for Parmigiano-Reggiano was in 1985 in a recipe for pumpkin risotto by Nancy Harmon Jenkins. Al Forno wasn’t mentioned until 1987.
SEPTEMBER 16, 1990: “PASTA’S PAST,” BY CAROL KRAMER AND LORI LONGBOTHAM. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM GEORGE GERMON AND JOHANNE KILLEEN, THE OWNERS OF AL FORNO IN PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.
—1990
In 1990, America was on the brink of recession and home cooking was on the upswing. Molly O’Neill claimed that the 1990s would be “the Epoque de la Maison.” And home cooking wasn’t the meat and potatoes of yore, but something more “organic” and “politically correct.” She even used the emergent term “whole foods.” Nearly twenty years later, the terms have evolved a bit—“politically correct” is now “sustainable,” “organic” is more legal and detailed in meaning, and Whole Foods has become a household brand name. And we’re still at it, still searching for the perfect feel-good way to feed ourselves. This barley risotto feels and tastes good.
———
1 carrot, cut into 4 pieces, plus 3 tablespoons minced carrots
1 stalk celery, cut into 4 pieces, plus 3 tablespoons minced celery
1 onion, halved, plus 3 tablespoons minced onions
1 clove garlic, mashed
5 sprigs parsley
1 teaspoon peppercorns
5½ cups water
½ cup barley
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 small sprig rosemary
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1. Combine the carrot and celery pieces, halved onion, garlic, parsley sprigs, peppercorns, and water in a medium saucepan, bring to a simmer, and simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour. Strain the broth and set aside.
2. Toast the barley in a heavy skillet over low heat, shaking the pan frequently and adjusting the heat as necessary, for 20 minutes, or until the barley turns light brown and smells nutty. Remove from the heat and set aside.
3. Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-low heat. Add the minced carrots, onions, and celery and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, or until the onions are soft and translucent. Add the barley and stir to coat the grains. Add the rosemary, bay leaf, 1½ cups of the reserved vegetable broth, the salt and pepper, bring to a simmer, and simmer, covered, until the barley is tender and the liquid is absorbed, about 35 minutes; add more broth if the risotto is too dry (reserve any remaining broth for another use).
SERVES 2 AS A MAIN COURSE, 6 AS A FIRST COURSE
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Roast Quail with Sage Dressing (here), Spoon Lamb (here), Stewed Fennel (here), Fresh Mushrooms Stewed with Madeira (here), Cumin-Mustard Carrots (here), Poached Pears in Brandy and Red Wine (here)
DECEMBER 30, 1990: “FOOD: WHAT’S COMING UP,” BY MOLLY O’NEILL. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM LUMA IN NEW YORK CITY.
—1990
FRESH MOREL, ASPARAGUS, AND SWEET PEA RISOTTO
This year was the peak moment for vegetable risottos, and this recipe is the consummate example: creamy rice inflected with spring.
———
6 thick asparagus spears
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 ounces morel or cremini mushrooms, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
2¼ teaspoons kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
6 to 8 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound Arborio rice
½ cup dry white wine
¼ cup cooked tiny peas
3 tablespoons minced chives
¼ cup chervil leaves
1. Cook the asparagus in boiling salted water until tender, about 4 minutes. Drain and refresh under cold running water to stop the cooking. Cut diagonally into ¼-inch-thick slices and set aside.
2. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and sauté until soft, about 10 minutes. Season with ⅛ teaspoon salt and pepper to taste, and set aside.
3. Bring the broth to a boil in a medium saucepan; reduce the heat and keep at a low simmer.
4. Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons butter with the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the shallots and garlic and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice with a wooden spoon, turning to coat well. Cook, stirring constantly, for 4 minutes. Stir in the wine, raise the heat to medium, and cook until the wine is absorbed, about 1 minute.
5. Begin adding the broth ½ cup at a time, stirring constantly and adding more broth as it is absorbed by the rice. Adjust the heat so the rice and broth cook at a steady simmer. After about 15 minutes, the rice should be somewhat tender, and there should be some broth left. Cook for another few minutes, adding more broth as needed, until the rice is al dente.
6. Stir in the asparagus, mushrooms, peas, chives, and the remaining tablespoon of butter. Season with salt and pepper if needed.
7. Divide among 6 shallow bowls and garnish with the chervil.
SERVES 6 AS A MAIN COURSE, 8 AS A FIRST COURSE
COOKING NOTES
My fresh peas were uncommonly large and plump, so I used ⅓ cup rather than ¼ cup.
I couldn’t find chervil, but the dish was still delicious. You can substitute tarragon for chervil, but use half the amount, and chop it.
If fresh morels are difficult to come by, you may also use ¾ ounce dried. Soak them in warm water for 20 minutes, then drain well and roughly chop.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Rhubarb Bellini (here), Fish Poached in Buttermilk (here), Elizabeth Frink’s Roast Lemon Chicken (here), Chiffonade Salad (here), Marjolaine (Multilayered Chocolate and Praline Cake; here), Fontainebleau (here), Rhubarb Orange (here)
MARCH 12, 1995: “AN EDIBLE COMPLEX,” BY MOLLY O’NEILL. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM ALFRED PORTALE, THE CHEF AND OWNER OF GOTHAM BAR AND GRILL IN NEW YORK CITY.
—1995
CORN AND YELLOW TOMATO RISOTTO WITH SHRIMP
5 to 6 cups vegetable or chicken broth
2 teaspoons olive oil
½ cup chopped onion
1 cup Arborio rice
½ cup dry vermouth
Salt
½ pound ripe tomatoes, preferably yellow
10 ounces cooked shrimp, cut in half
2 cups corn (from 3 ears)
¼ cup chopped basil
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons coarsely grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
Freshly ground black pepper
1. Bring the broth to a simmer in a medium saucepan; keep at a low simmer.
2. Heat the oil in a nonstick pot. Add the onion and sauté until it takes on a little color. Add the rice, stirring until it is well coated and lightly toasted. Stir in the vermouth and cook until it has evaporated, a couple of minutes.
3. Add about a cup of the broth and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until the liquid has been absorbed (if it becomes difficult to manage, turn the heat down to medium). Repeat until the rice is tender but firm, seasoning with salt as you go.
4. While the rice simmers, core and coarsely chop the tomatoes. About 2 minutes before the rice is done, add the shrimp, corn kernels, tomatoes, and basil and stir well. (You may not need to add all of the broth.)
5. Stir the cheese into the risotto. Season with salt and pepper. Serve, passing more cheese at the table.
SERVES 3
COOKING NOTE
It’s better to buy raw shrimp and half-cook it yourself in the simmering broth (it will finish cooking later in the risotto). This way, you can control exactly how long it’s cooked, and the shrimp infuses extra flavor in the broth.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Fried Zucchini Blossoms (here), Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Crab Salad (here), Baked Zucchini with Herbs and Tomatoes (here), Cold Nicarde (Yellow Squash Soup; here), Fresh Raspberry (or Blackberry or Blueberry) Flummery (here), Raspberry Granita (here), Summer Pudding (here)
SEPTEMBER 13, 1995: “PLAIN AND SIMPLE; A RISOTTO DISH GAINS BRIGHT ACCENTS WITH YELLOW TOMATOES,” BY MARIAN BURROS.
—1995
FARFALLE AI PORRI E SALSICCE (FARFALLE WITH LEEKS AND SAUSAGES SAUCE)
This is one of two recipes recommended by readers that come from product ads within the paper (the Allegretti Chiffon Cake here is the other). The recipe is from Lidia Bastianich, an owner of Felidia in Manhattan and the author of many cookbooks.
Many of the best pasta dishes are scraped together from a few forlorn ingredients. Here a small lump of sausage fattens up shallots, leeks, and peas. Chicken broth stretches the meager sauce. Add a little farfalle, and you have a perfectly tempered dish.
———
2 large leeks
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 sweet Italian sausages, casings removed
1 teaspoon minced shallot
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup young peas, blanched in boiling water until just tender, 2 to 3 minutes
1 cup chicken broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound farfalle (bow-tie pasta)
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, trim the leeks, discarding the top one-third of the rough green portion, and slice into ½-inch rounds. Rinse in several changes of cold water to remove all soil and grit; drain well.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the leeks and sausages and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the shallot and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the butter, peas, and broth and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and keep warm over low heat.
3. Add the farfalle to boiling water and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain well and return to the pot.
4. Add the sauce to the pasta and toss well to coat. Add the cheese and toss well. Serve with additional cheese on the side.
SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Fried Olives (here), Bagna Cauda (here), Toasts with Walnut Sauce (here), Wallace Seawell’s Spinach Salad (here), Pistachio Cream (here), Apple Galette (here)
FEBRUARY 25, 1996: “PASTA FOR PRIMAVERA”—A DISPLAY AD.
—1996
PAMELA SHERRID’S SUMMER PASTA
It took us a long time to arrive at cacio e pepe and spaghetti with crab and sea urchin. In the Dark Ages of pasta, we understood it to be a small and inconsequential category, containing only lasagna and spaghetti and meatballs. Then came the false spring of pasta salads. Remember those? Those efficient ’70s dishes that combined pasta—cooked ahead of time! served cold!—and exotica like broccoli, pine nuts, and sun-dried tomatoes? Eaten straight from the fridge, you got both that chilled gumminess and the wan crunch of broccoli.
Then, when we were discovering Italy in the ’80s and early ’90s—just before Mario Batali thoroughly reprogrammed the Italian section of our brains around 1998—the Times published a number of recipes for pasta with room-temperature tomato sauce. (Hot Penne with Chilled Tomato Sauce and Charred Tuna, an early example, can be found here.) They were a revelation akin to the discovery by women in the 1930s that they could wear pants. After years of thinking that all pasta sauces were long-simmered affairs, cooks were relieved to learn that they could simply chop a few tomatoes, add some seasonings and hot pasta, and—voilà!—dinner.
Pamela Sherrid’s summer pasta is a quintessential crossover dish: part tomatoes and warm pasta, part pasta salad. It includes ripe summer tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, basil, and cubes of fresh mozzarella. Her recipe relies on prudent technique and a slacker’s sense of pace. First you combine the garlic, basil, and oil and let the mixture marinate. Many hours later, you add tomatoes and let it sit some more. Next, you pour the cooked rigatoni over the tomatoes, scatter the cubes of mozzarella over the rigatoni, and gently mix the cheese into the pasta, coating it with a buttery veil of fat, before tossing it with the tomatoes at the bottom. If you have great tomatoes and mozzarella and you don’t overcook the pasta, it is a remarkably good dish. A puddle of sweet and salty tomato broth will form at the bottom of your bowl, so be sure to have some bread on hand to soak it up.
———
5 large cloves garlic
½ to ¾ cup olive oil
12 or more basil leaves
6 to 8 large ripe tomatoes
Salt
1 pound rigatoni
1 pound mozzarella, packaged or fresh
Country bread for serving
1. Take out your largest bowl. Cut into the bottom of it 5 cloves of nice, fat, juicy garlic. Pour over that ½ to ¾ of a cup of your favorite olive oil. (Start with half a cup and add the rest later if you think you need it.) With scissors, snip a dozen or more basil leaves into shreds over the bowl. Let this sit all day. The aroma in your kitchen will be as tantalizing as it is when you’re grilling steaks.
2. About 2 hours before dinner, chop 6 to 8 large ripe tomatoes into the bowl.
3. When you’re ready to eat, boil enough salted water to cook a pound of rigatoni. Add the pasta. While it is cooking (and you’ll naturally want it to be al dente), cut 1 pound of mozzarella into cubes. In this instance, I actually prefer packaged to fresh, but if you use fresh, add salt (maybe a teaspoon) to the mixture of oil, basil, and garlic.
4. Now, here’s where you must follow directions: Drain the pasta. Pour it on top of the tomato, garlic, basil, and oil mixture. Do not stir. Toss the cubed cheese onto the hot pasta and toss only the pasta and cheese, so the hot pasta melts the cheese. When all the cheese is melted, stir up from the bottom.
5. Serve with bread to mop up the olive oil. This pasta is delicious when you make it and even better the next day, when the ingredients have had longer to marinate.
SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE, 6 AS A FIRST COURSE
COOKING NOTES
Set out the mozzarella in advance so it can warm to room temperature.
Tear the basil rather than cut it; chop the tomatoes however you want; and use any stubby tube-shaped pasta you like.
You should eat this as soon as the rigatoni is cooked.
Supermarket tomatoes don’t have enough flavor or juice to make the dish sparkle, so unless you can get great local tomatoes, skip this one.
Cook the rigatoni in water that contains enough sea salt to taste salty. The pasta is done when it feels like biting into a piece of gum—you want some resistance when you eat it.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Fried Zucchini Blossoms (here), Eggplant Involtini (here), Roasted Salmon with Herb Vinaigrette (here), Brine-Cured Pork Chops (here), Zucchini with Crème Fraîche Pesto (here), Italian Roast Potatoes (here), Summer Pudding (here)
MAY 26, 1996: “FEASTS ALFRESCO,” BY FRAN SCHUMER. RECIPE BY PAMELA SHERRID.
—1996
TRENETTE, FAGIOLINI, E PATATE AL PESTO (PASTA, GREEN BEANS, AND POTATOES WITH PESTO)
On the September day in 1997 when this recipe appeared, the Times’s food coverage had gone through a major transformation. Until then, food stories had been sprinkled throughout the Living section, which also featured fashion and home stories. Those sections were now divided into stand-alone sections. Dining In/Dining Out was essentially a weekly food magazine containing everything from short briefs about restaurant openings and new products to long features and restaurant reviews. The paper also switched to color that week, illuminating pages that for more than 130 years had been in dim black and white. An apple turnover looks luscious in color; in black and white, it is easily mistaken for an old baseball mitt.
The story that featured this recipe was the cover story in the Dining section’s debut and was itself groundbreaking, because it once and for all demystified the cooking of pasta.
“We all know what pasta al dente means, or think we do,” Nancy Harmon Jenkins wrote. “It’s pasta that is tender through and through but that still retains a pleasant, slightly chewy texture.” You can see when it’s cooked correctly by cutting into a piece of the pasta, she said. Jenkins added, “It will appear cooked through, except for a white ghost, a tiny spot of not-quite-rawness, at the center of the strand,” what is called by some “the anima, the soul of the pasta.”
Jenkins also noted, “The point of the dish is not the sauce but the pasta. Like butter on bread, the sauce is there simply as a counterpoint. There should be sufficient sauce to lightly coat each strand of pasta and no more—no puddles of sauce congealing in the bottom of the dish, no oily emulsions from the corkscrews of pasta. In Italian, the word for sauce, salsa, is rarely used with pasta. Instead, Italians speak of the condimento, the condiment, that dresses the dish.”
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2 cups packed tender young basil leaves
¼ cup pine nuts
1 teaspoon salt
2 plump cloves garlic, crushed
½ cup extra virgin olive oil, or more to taste
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, or more to taste
Salt
½ pound small potatoes, peeled and sliced about ¼ inch thick
¼ pound tender young green beans, cut into 1-inch lengths
1 pound trenette or other long thin pasta
1. Add the basil, pine nuts, salt, and garlic to a food processor and pulse until the mixture is coarse and grainy. With the motor running, add the oil in a slow, steady stream. Add the cheese; process just enough to mix well. If the sauce is too dry, add a little more oil. Taste and add more cheese and or salt, if desired.
2. Bring 6 quarts of water to a rolling boil. Add at least 2 tablespoons salt and the potato slices. Cook for about 3 minutes, or until the potatoes have started to soften but are not cooked through. Add the green beans and continue boiling for another 2 minutes.
3. Add the pasta, and stir. Start testing the pasta at 8 minutes. When it’s done, and the potatoes and beans are tender, drain (reserve about ¾ cup pasta water and then add as needed) and immediately turn the pasta and vegetables into a heated bowl. Add the pesto and mix thoroughly. Add cheese as needed.
SERVES 8 AS A FIRST COURSE
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Vitello Tonnato (here), Squashed Tomatoes (here), Panna Cotta (here), Fruit Crostatas (here)
SEPTEMBER 17, 1997: “FROM ITALY, THE TRUTH ABOUT PASTA,” BY NANCY HARMON JENKINS.
—1997
CUCUMBER RISOTTO WITH YELLOW PEPPERS AND HERBS
Other than the rice and the slow addition of liquid, this lean and not-so-mean risotto isn’t very Italian. In place of broth, you use cucumber juice to cook the rice, which keeps the dish disarmingly light. And the dish is seasoned with shallots, yellow pepper, jalapeño, lime, and coriander.
———
10 large cucumbers, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
4 to 6 jalapeño peppers
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 teaspoon kosher salt
⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1¾ cups Arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
¾ cup chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1. Heat the broiler. Place the bell peppers on the broiler rack, 2 to 3 inches from the heating element, and roast, turning occasionally, until the skin bubbles and blackens. Let cool, then peel, core, and seed the peppers. Cut into ½-inch dice. Reserve.
2. Using a food processor or blender, process the cucumbers to a smooth puree, about 3 minutes. Do this in batches if necessary. Strain the puree through a fine-mesh strainer into a large bowl, stirring and pressing on the puree to extract as much juice as possible. Measure 6 cups cucumber juice; supplement with water if needed.
3. Place the juice in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil, then remove from the heat and reserve.
4. Halve, seed, and mince the jalapeños. Heat the olive oil in a 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the jalapeños and sauté for 2 minutes. Remove the peppers with a slotted spoon and reserve. Add the shallots, salt, and pepper to the saucepan and sauté for 2 minutes, or until the shallots are soft.
5. Add the rice and stir for about 2 minutes. Lower the heat to medium, add the wine, and stir until the wine is absorbed. Begin adding the cucumber juice ½ cup at a time, stirring constantly. Allow each addition of juice to be absorbed before adding more. Continue until the risotto is creamy and the rice grains are al dente, 25 to 30 minutes.
6. Stir in the jalapeños, bell peppers, and butter. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and stir in the cilantro and lime juice, and serve immediately.
SERVES 6 AS A FIRST COURSE
COOKING NOTE
When mincing the chiles, wear rubber or latex gloves, if possible, to avoid burning your fingers—burns from peppers are no more fun than burns from the oven.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Spicy, Garlicky Cashew Chicken (here), Seared Tuna in Black Pepper Crust (here), Ice-Cold Tomatoes with Basil (here), Peach Salad (here)
SEPTEMBER 24, 1997: “THE CHEF: MICHAEL ROMANO,” BY AMANDA HESSER. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM MICHAEL ROMANO, THE CHEF AT UNION SQUARE CAFE IN NEW YORK CITY.
—1997
PASTA WITH BONES
This is a great reminder of how little effort it takes to prepare a succulent and concentrated meat sauce—even with only a scrap of meat. It can be difficult to track down a veal shank, but do make the effort. Veal shanks have just the right fat content and the teaspoon or so of marrow that you scoop out and stir into the sauce at the end makes itself felt.
I was skeptical about Mark Bittman’s insistence that a sauce like this doesn’t need cheese. He’s right, though. Cheese would make the dish too fatty and would take away from the sweet-tart quality of the cooked-down tomatoes.
———
1 piece meaty veal shank (½ to 1 pound)
¼ cup olive oil
2 small dried hot red chiles (optional)
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
One 28-ounce can plum tomatoes, with their juice
1 pound ziti, penne, or other cut pasta
½ cup or more roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley or basil
1. Place 2 tablespoons olive oil in a small heavy sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the veal shank and cook, turning as necessary, until the meat is nicely browned, 10 minutes or more. Remove the meat to a plate.
2. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium saucepan. After a minute, add the chiles, if using, and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the veal, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. When the garlic has softened a bit, crush the tomatoes and add them, with their juice. Turn the heat to medium-low to maintain a steady simmer. If you are using a broad pan, partially cover it. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is tender and just about falling off the bone, at least 1 hour.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Cook the pasta until it is tender but firm. Meanwhile, remove the veal shank, coarsely chop the meat, scoop out any marrow from the bones and return it and the meat to the sauce (discard the bone). Remove and discard the chiles, if you used them.
4. Drain and sauce the pasta. Sprinkle it with the herb and toss.
SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE
COOKING NOTES
I recorded the first steps of this recipe so that you brown the shank in a sauté pan and then transfer it to a saucepan for the rest of the cooking. When I made it, following the original recipe, which had you browning and cooking all in one pan, the oil and chile burned before the shank was browned. Since I used a small Le Creuset pot—one of the heaviest and most evenly heating pots around—I figured this could be a problem for others as well. Not to worry, Mark, my tweaks don’t change the fundamental flavor or character of the dish.
I partially covered the pot, as instructed, and the veal took 1 hour and 15 minutes to become tender.
VARIATION
Six years after Bittman published this recipe, he ran a variation made with ribs that called for 6 to 8 spareribs (about 1½ to 2 pounds), penne rather than ziti, and no olive oil (ribs have plenty of fat). The rest of the ingredients are nearly identical. You pile all the ingredients except the pasta and parsley into a Dutch oven and put it in a 250-degree oven for an hour or two, until the rib meat is fork-tender. Boil the pasta, then spoon over some ribs and sauce (removing the bones). I’ve made this at least a dozen times, each time marveling at its ratio of ease to pleasure.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Puntarelle with Anchovies (here), Steamed Lemon Pudding (here), Tortoni (here)
OCTOBER 8, 1997: “THE MINIMALIST: TOMATO SAUCE WITH A LITTLE MEAT TO IT,” BY MARK BITTMAN.
—1997
THE MINIMALIST’S PAELLA
In technique, this recipe bears a strong relationship to the Conchiglie Al Forno with Mushrooms and Radicchio here. Both use the power of an extremely hot oven—in this case, 500 degrees—to quickly reduce the cooking liquid, finish the rice (pasta in the other recipe), and add a vital crunch to the edges of the dish, all without overcooking the most delicate ingredients (here, shrimp; there, radicchio). This is a brilliant cheat on paella and a multi-textured alternative to risotto.
———
4 cups chicken broth
Pinch of saffron threads
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
2 cups Arborio rice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups peeled shrimp cut into ½-inch chunks
Minced flat-leaf parsley for garnish
1. Heat the oven to 500 degrees. Warm the broth in a saucepan with the saffron.
2. Place a 10- or 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat and add the oil. One minute later, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until glossy—just a minute or two. Season liberally with salt and pepper, and add the warmed broth, taking care to avoid the rising steam. Stir in the shrimp, and transfer the pan to the oven.
3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is dry on top. Garnish with the parsley and serve.
SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE
COOKING NOTES
Use the best chicken broth you can get your hands on. Ask your fishmonger to give you the shrimp shells, and simmer them in the broth with the saffron before straining out the shells and adding the broth to the rice.
If you have a baking stone, put it in the oven to preheat, and place the cast-iron skillet on top of the stone when you bake the paella.
Mark Bittman’s original recipe called for just shrimp, and he suggested alternatives in the accompanying story. Next time, I’d add ½ pound fresh chorizo, sliced ½ inch thick.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Rebujito (here), Sangria (here), Fried Chickpeas (here), Lightly Smoked Salt Cod Salad (here), Rabbit Soup with Garlic, Peppers, and Chorizo (here), Catalan Tortilla with Aioli (here), Caramel Custard (here), Toasts with Chocolate, Olive Oil, and Sea Salt (here), Grapefruit Granita (here)
JANUARY 6, 1999: “THE MINIMALIST: THE HOMEY JOYS OF SIMPLE PAELLA,” BY MARK BITTMAN
—1999
CREMINI MUSHROOM PASTA WITH WILTED ARUGULA, GOAT CHEESE, AND EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
If the cooking of the 1990s had to be summed up in a single dish, this would be it. And if it had to be summed up by a single person, Alfred Portale, the chef and owner of Gotham Bar & Grill, who came up with this recipe, would be a pretty good choice.
The trick to the dish is to not overcook the pasta—a point that sounds dumb, because you should never overcook pasta. But some sauces—Bolognese, for instance—are more forgiving of soft noodles. This one will punish you to the last sticky bite. Goat cheese can be clingy, especially when warmed, and once it goes into the dish, the cheese begins melting and melding the strands of pasta. The recipe calls for adding some of the pasta water, which loosens up the sauce but which also gets absorbed by the pasta, so if you overcook the pasta, you end up with mush.
If you get it right, though, you’ll be rewarded with a creamy, tangy sauce interwoven with bits of mushroom and pieces of arugula that are as delicate as tissue paper—all flavors that epitomized 1990s cooking. Portale suggested some alternatives for the dish: he said you could use another pasta shape, like penne or farfalle (I’d try penne rigate next time), grated aged goat cheese (half the amount) instead of fresh, and radicchio or watercress if you couldn’t find arugula—which,—thanks to the 1990s, is now in every supermarket.
———
Salt
1 pound spaghetti
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 pounds cremini mushrooms, trimmed and very thinly sliced
Freshly ground white pepper
2 tablespoons finely minced garlic
3 cups tightly packed arugula, cut into thin strands
¾ pound soft fresh goat cheese, crumbled, at room temperature
¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the spaghetti, and cook until it is al dente, about 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, warm 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large nonstick sauté pan over high heat. Add half the mushrooms, season to taste with salt and white pepper, and cook, stirring often, for about 3 minutes. Add half the garlic and cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant and the mushrooms have softened, another 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the mushrooms and garlic to a bowl, cover to keep warm, and cook the remaining mushrooms and garlic in another tablespoon of oil.
3. When the spaghetti is cooked, reserve about ½ cup of the cooking water and drain the pasta. Return the pasta to the pot and add the sautéed mushrooms, arugula, goat cheese, remaining ½ cup olive oil, the reserved pasta water, and parsley. Toss gently until the arugula wilts and the goat cheese melts into a creamy sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE
COOKING NOTES
Your instincts will tell you not to cook the mushrooms over high heat, but do. It prevents them from stewing and later making the pasta sauce soggy—just keep them moving in the pan, and they won’t burn.
I’d save 1 cup of the pasta water, and after adding ½ cup to the sauce, I’d put the rest of the water on the table to be added as desired. The sauce tightens up as it sits.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Fresh and Smoked Salmon Spread (here), Gazpacho with Cucumber Granita (here), Chilled Corn Soup with Honeydew Polka Dots (here), Coffee Caramel Custard (here), Warm Soft Chocolate Cake (here)
JANUARY 13, 1999: “THE CHEF,” BY ALFRED PORTALE AND DORIE GREENSPAN.
—1999
SWISS CHARD CASSEROLE WITH FARFALLE AND CHEESES
Eating this, you realize that pasta with cheese really benefits from the astringency of a green like chard.
———
1 pound Swiss chard
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup chopped scallions
1 cup finely chopped well-drained canned plum tomatoes
Salt
½ pound farfalle (bow-tie pasta)
½ cup crumbled goat cheese
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more if desired
Freshly ground black pepper
1. Rinse the chard, drain it, and chop it fine.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until tender but not brown. Stir in the garlic, add the scallions and tomatoes, and then add the chard. Cook for about 8 minutes, until the chard has wilted.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the farfalle until al dente. Drain it and toss with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil.
4. Remove the chard mixture from the heat and stir in the goat cheese and half the Parmesan. Fold in the farfalle and season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Spoon the chard and farfalle mixture into a 1½-quart casserole. Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan on top, adding more if you like. Bake until heated through, about 15 minutes.
SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE, 6 AS A FIRST COURSE
COOKING NOTE
Chopping the chard is an onerous task, but keep at it because the little bits will integrate well with the farfalle.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Bagna Cauda (here), Fennel, Orange, Watercress, and Walnut Salad (here), Shaved Artichoke Salad with Pine Nuts and Parmesan Cheese (here), Fried Artichokes Azzurro (here), Chocolate Cake with Bay Leaf Syrup (here), Lemon Cheese Pie (here)
JANUARY 31, 1999: “ADDING MEATY FLAVOR FROM SWISS CHARD TO PASTAS AND FRITTATAS,” BY FLORENCE FABRICANT.
—1999
FETTUCCINE WITH PRESERVED LEMON AND ROASTED GARLIC
This is Molly O’Neill at her best. She’s an ingredient fanatic who loves to take a plain-Jane recipe like pasta with lemon and garlic and electrify it with an unusual flavor. Here that flavor is preserved lemon.
———
2 heads garlic
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons olive oil
Salt
1 pound fettuccine
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 preserved lemon, pulp and rind finely chopped
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Freshly ground black pepper
1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Chop the top third off each head of garlic and discard. Drizzle the heads with a teaspoon each of olive oil, wrap in foil, and roast until the garlic is very soft and golden brown, 50 to 70 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.
2. Squeeze the garlic out of the skins. Set aside.
3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the fettuccine until al dente. Toward the end of cooking, scoop out about ½ cup of the pasta cooking water and reserve. Drain the pasta and place in a serving bowl.
4. Meanwhile, combine the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and the butter in a small pan over medium-low heat. When the butter melts, add the roasted garlic and preserved lemon and cook for 1 minute.
5. Toss the fettuccine with the preserved lemon mixture. Toss again with the Parmesan and parsley, and season generously with salt and pepper. Add a little of the reserved pasta water if needed.
SERVES 4 AS A LIGHT MAIN COURSE, 6 AS A FIRST COURSE
COOKING NOTES
For a preserved lemon recipe, see p. 00.
You can leave out the cardamom if you wish, but I really liked it with this pasta.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Breaded Chicken Breasts with Parmesan Cheese (here), Watercress Salad (here), Roasted Cauliflower (here), Almond and Buttermilk Sorbet (here)
MARCH 7, 1999: “FOOD: CURIOUS YELLOW,” BY MOLLY O’NEILL.
—1999
SPICY, LEMONY CLAMS WITH PASTA
This recipe had me at spicy, lemony clams. And it did not disappoint.
———
Salt
1 pound spaghetti, linguine, or other long pasta
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
36 littleneck clams, well scrubbed
¾ cup dry white wine
½ to 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
Juice of 1 lemon, or to taste
½ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Fresh ground black pepper
1. Fill a large pot with water, add 1 tablespoon salt, and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and boil until the pasta is al dente, 7 to 8 minutes; drain well.
2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and sauté just until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the clams and wine, cover immediately, and raise the heat to medium-high. Shake the pan often, and check the clams after 4 minutes. If any have opened, transfer them to a bowl so they do not overcook. Simmer the remaining clams until all have opened.
3. Combine the clams and the broth from the pan in a large serving bowl. Add 1½ teaspoons pepper flakes, the lemon zest, lemon juice, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Add the pasta and, using tongs, toss well. Add more red pepper flakes and lemon juice, if desired. Serve in soup bowls.
SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE
COOKING NOTE
One problem with spaghetti and clams is that long strands and small round bits don’t like to mix evenly. You can accomplish the task in a large bowl with tongs in each hand, but it’s like trying to mix beads into a pile of yarn. As an alternative, mix the spaghetti with the sauce, then scatter the clams on top.
Fried Olives (here), Ricotta Crostini with Fresh Thyme and Dried Oregano (here), Artichoke Salad with Anchovy and Capers (here), Watermelon and Tomato Salad (here), Chopped Salad with Lemon Zest Vinaigrette (here), Strawberry Sorbet (here), Fontainebleau (here), Rhubarb Orange (here)
AUGUST 11, 1999: “WHY DIG FOR GOLD, IF THERE ARE CLAMS?” BY ELAINE LOUIE. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM THE LOBSTER CLUB IN NEW YORK CITY.
—1999
WILD MUSHROOM STUFFING
This stuffing ran with the recipe for Roasted Brine-Cured Turkey here. See that recipe for the turkey cooking instructions and serving suggestions.
———
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 shallots, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound chanterelles, trimmed and cut crosswise in half
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup finely chopped onion
¼ pound smoked bacon
1 turkey or chicken liver, diced
1 day-old baguette, crust removed and cut into 1-inch cubes (you need 4 cups)
3 cups whole milk, or as needed
1 teaspoon finely chopped thyme
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 large egg, lightly beaten, if desired
1. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and one-quarter of the garlic and sauté until soft, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper to taste, and sauté until soft, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate and let cool slightly, then coarsely chop and place in large bowl.
2. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in the same skillet. Add the onion and the remaining garlic and sauté until softened, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and add to the bowl of mushrooms.
3. Return the skillet to medium heat and add the bacon. Cook until crisp, then remove the bacon (save for another purpose), leaving the fat in the pan. Add the diced liver and sauté until browned, about 2 minutes. Drain well, season with salt and pepper to taste, and add to the mushrooms.
4. Combine the bread cubes and enough milk to saturate them in a large bowl. Drain the bread, squeezing it gently; add to the mushrooms, and mix gently. Add the herbs and mix again. If desired, add the egg to bind the stuffing.
MAKES ENOUGH FOR A 12- TO 14-POUND TURKEY
NOVEMBER 17, 1999: “NEW AMERICAN TRADITIONS: IN A BERKELEY KITCHEN, A CELEBRATION OF SIMPLICITY,” BY R. W. APPLE JR. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM ALICE WATERS, THE OWNER OF CHEZ PANISSE IN BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA.
—1999
SPAGHETTI WITH CAVIAR, SCALLIONS, AND CHOPPED EGG
I served this on New Year’s Eve 2000, and it was a good way to end the millennium—pasta and caviar had reached their peak of popularity and together they clearly summed up Americans’ penchant for both high brow and low at the table.
———
Coarse sea salt
4 large eggs
1 pound spaghetti
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
Freshly ground black pepper
6 scallions, thinly sliced
1½ ounces osetra caviar, or more to taste
1. Fill a large pot with water, season generously with sea salt, and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, fill a small pan with water and bring to a boil. Add the eggs to the small pan, reduce the heat to an active simmer, and cook for 9½ minutes. Drain. When the eggs are cool to the touch, peel and finely chop. Set aside.
2. When the large pot of water boils, add the spaghetti and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving ½ cup of the cooking liquid. Add the butter and a few tablespoons of the cooking water to the pot and place over medium-high heat. When the butter is melted and bubbling, add the spaghetti and toss to coat. Season with salt and a generous amount of pepper.
3. Divide the spaghetti among 4 plates. Sprinkle the chopped egg and scallions on top. Spoon the caviar in the center. Serve immediately; guests will mix the spaghetti as they eat.
SERVES 4 AS A LIGHT MAIN COURSE
COOKING NOTE
If possible, try to buy sustainable caviar from farm-raised white sturgeon or paddlefish. Both are available from U.S. producers such as California Caviar and The Little Pearl.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Nicole Kaplan’s Gougères (here), Caesar Salad (here), Lora Brody’s Bête Noire (here)
DECEMBER 29, 1999: “THE ULTIMATE NIGHT, AT HOME,” BY AMANDA HESSER.
—1999
MALCOLM AND KELLEY MCDOWELL’S PINK RIGATONI
A tomato sauce, whose rough acidic edges are planed with salted butter and a dash of sugar.
———
10 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
6 tablespoons olive oil
10 ripe plum tomatoes, quartered (canned may be used off-season)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup dry red wine
1 pound rigatoni
6 tablespoons salted butter, cut into pieces
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon sugar
1. Sauté the garlic in the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until it begins to brown. Add the tomatoes, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes, or until the tomatoes break down and the sauce thickens.
2. Pour in the wine and cook for 20 to 30 minutes, until the sauce is thickened. Remove from the heat and let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cook the rigatoni in boiling salted water until al dente; drain.
4. Fold the butter, Parmesan, and sugar into the sauce until it turns the famous pink. Dump in the rigatoni, mix, and serve.
SERVES 4
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Poivrons Verts Farcis (Stuffed Green Peppers; here), Veal Chops with Sage (here), Spinach Roman-Style (here), Ricotta Kisses (here), Cornmeal Biscotti (here), Balducci’s Tiramisù (here)
OCTOBER 22, 2000: “FOOD: MEAT LOAF: THE MUSICAL,” BY JONATHAN REYNOLDS. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM MALCOLM AND KELLEY MCDOWELL.
—2000
SHIITAKE AND LOTUS SEED STUFFING
This stuffing ran with the recipe for Roasted Brine-Cured Turkey here. See that recipe for the turkey cooking instructions and serving suggestions.
———
¾ cup dried lotus seeds
½ cup sliced dried shiitake mushrooms
3½ cups ground chicken (breast and thigh)
Giblets from 1 turkey or chicken, chopped
1 cup chopped shallots
1 cup chopped onion
¾ cup chopped canned water chestnuts
1 cup dried sweet rice flakes, preferably green
1 tablespoon mushroom powder
1½ tablespoons Asian fish sauce
Freshly ground black pepper
1. Place the lotus seeds in a bowl with water to cover. Soak for 2 hours.
2. Drain the seeds and transfer to a saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until the seeds are slightly firmer than cooked chickpeas, about 1 hour. Drain well, and allow to cool.
3. Split the seeds in half, discarding any bitter green shoots in the centers. Set aside.
4. Meanwhile, cover the mushrooms with hot water and allow to soak until softened, about 15 minutes. Lift the mushrooms from the water, leaving any grit behind.
5. Combine the lotus seeds, mushrooms, chicken, giblets, shallots, onion, water chestnuts, rice flakes, and mushroom powder in a large bowl. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Season with the fish sauce and black pepper to taste.
MAKES ENOUGH FOR A 12- TO 14-POUND TURKEY
COOKING NOTE
Lotus seeds, dried sweet rice flakes, and mushroom powder can be found in Southeast Asian grocery stores.
NOVEMBER 15, 2000: “AMERICA CELEBRATES: HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIF: ADD A LITTLE VIETNAM, FRANCE AND CALIFORNIA, AND MIX,” BY AMANDA HESSER. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM ALICE WATERS AND BAO-XUYEN LE.
—2000
BASMATI RICE WITH COCONUT MILK AND GINGER
———
2 cups basmati rice
1½ cups unsweetened coconut milk, or as needed
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup water
1 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste
3 scallions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
1. Place the rice in a fine-mesh strainer, and rinse with cold water until the water runs clear. Transfer to a medium saucepan. Add the coconut milk, chicken broth, water, and salt, cover, and place over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender, about 15 minutes.
2. Remove from the heat and stir in the scallions and ginger. Add a little more coconut milk if the rice is too dry. Season to taste with salt.
SERVES 4 AS A SIDE DISH
FEBRUARY 7, 2001: “GINGER, IN FULL FLOWER,” BY AMANDA HESSER.
—2001
SPAGHETTI WITH FRIED EGGS AND ROASTED PEPPERS
One of my favorite home-alone dinners. You could also skip the roasted peppers and capers, paring the recipe down to the essentials: pasta with eggs and a little seasoning.
———
2 red bell peppers
1 tablespoon salt-packed capers, thoroughly rinsed, coarsely chopped if large
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
¼ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 rounded tablespoons coarse dry bread crumbs
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
¾ pound spaghetti
2 large eggs
Freshly grated Parmesan and Pecorino Romano cheese for serving
1. Roast the peppers under a broiler or on a gas burner with the flame on low. Turn them regularly so that they char all over. When they are fully blistered, place them in a paper or plastic bag and let cool.
2. Peel the peppers. When you cut them open, catch any pepper liquid in a small bowl. Trim off the stem end, scrape out the seeds, and cut out the ribs. Slice the peppers lengthwise into ¼-inch-wide strips.
3. Combine the peppers, capers, garlic, and parsley in a small baking dish. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the bread crumbs on top. Set aside.
4. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Just before it boils, sprinkle 2 tablespoons olive oil over the red peppers and place in the oven for 10 minutes.
5. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente.
6. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. When it shimmers, crack in the eggs and fry, sunny side up, until the whites are set and the yolks are still runny. Remove from the burner.
7. Scoop out a cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta. Pour it into a large warm serving bowl. Using 2 forks, toss in the baked peppers and fried eggs, adding some of the egg-cooking olive oil. As you toss, break the whites into pieces and let the yolks act as sauce; they will spread over the pasta and cook further from the heat. Add a little reserved pasta water if it gets too thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve, passing the cheese on the side.
SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Puntarelle with Anchovies (here), Licorice Ice Cream (here), Grapefruit Granita (here), Marcella’s Pear Cake (here)
READERS
“I love this because of its simplicity and richness at the same time . . . I also love watching the egg yolk flow over the spaghetti . . . it’s pretty cool that an egg yolk can act as spaghetti sauce.”
Andrea Wallach, New York, NY, e-mail
FEBRUARY 14, 2001: “A MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE,” BY AMANDA HESSER. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM NAPLES AT TABLE BY ARTHUR SCHWARTZ.
—2001
POTATO GNOCCHI
If you want to understand the difference between recipes a hundred years ago and now, this one provides a handy primer. Potato gnocchi, a simple country dish, becomes, in Tom Colicchio’s hands, an obsessively detailed project. The owner of Craft and its many satellites laid out even more pointers in the accompanying story. He noted that standard potato ricers do not shred the potato fine enough; that you should not add salt to the gnocchi, or it will trap moisture and weigh them down; and that you should add as little flour as possible, because you want to taste the potatoes and only the potatoes.
If you follow the instructions to the letter, you will be amply rewarded. These gnocchi taste only of potato, delicious potato, and are as weightless as down.
———
Kosher salt
5 pounds baking potatoes (10 to 12, uniform size), scrubbed
3 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
Freshly ground white pepper
Approximately 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
8 cups ice cubes
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup water
¼ pound Parmesan cheese, grated
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Cover a jelly-roll pan with a 1-inch layer of kosher salt. Place the potatoes on the salt and bake for 1½ hours.
2. Remove the potatoes and cut lengthwise in half. Deeply score the flesh in a crisscross pattern. Place the halves on racks; let cool to room temperature, at least 30 minutes.
3. Scoop the potato flesh into a large bowl. Force the potato flesh through a fine ricer or sieve. Weigh it! you need 2¼ pounds.
4. Spread the riced potatoes on a work surface and shape loosely into a flat mound. Drizzle with the egg yolks. Sprinkle with pepper to taste. Cut into the potato mound at 1-inch intervals with a pastry scraper, spatula, or cleaver to incorporate the egg yolks; sprinkle with the flour as you go. Work the mound by cutting and folding, not kneading; sprinkle on the flour in handfuls until the potato mixture feels fairly dry and is no longer sticky and a small piece can be rolled easily into a ball.
5. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Lightly dust with flour. Clean the work surface with a scraper and lightly dust with flour. Shape the potato mixture into a loaf about 1½ inches high, 4 inches wide, and 12 inches long. Cut a 1½-inch-wide slice from the loaf with the scraper or a knife. Roll it into a rope about ½ inch thick and 30 inches long. Cut at 1-inch intervals. Smooth the ends of each piece lightly with your fingertips, and place the gnocchi on a paper-lined pan. Repeat with the remaining dough.
6. Bring a large pot of water, with 1 heaping tablespoon salt for each quart of water, to a boil. Place the ice cubes in a large bowl, add 4 quarts cold water, and put a large colander in the bowl so that it fills with ice water.
7. Slide the gnocchi from 1 baking sheet into the boiling water. After about 1½ minutes the gnocchi will begin floating to the surface. Remove to the colander with a slotted spoon or skimmer. Repeat with the second batch.
8. Line the baking sheets with fresh parchment. With a skimmer, transfer the gnocchi to the baking sheets. The gnocchi can be served at once, set aside for several hours, or frozen for future use; frozen gnocchi can be heated in butter without thawing.
9. To serve, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Whisk in the water until emulsified. (If not using the entire batch of gnocchi, make proportionately less butter sauce.) Transfer the sauce to 1 or 2 skillets large enough to hold the gnocchi in a single layer. Add the gnocchi and heat over medium heat until the butter starts to bubble and the gnocchi are warmed through. Dust with the cheese and serve.
SERVES 8 AS A MAIN COURSE, 16 AS A FIRST COURSE
COOKING NOTE
You need a scale for this recipe. If you don’t yet own one, this recipe is a great excuse to indulge.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Italian Beef Stew with Rosemary (here), Coda alla Vaccinara (Oxtail Braised with Tomato and Celery; here), Roman Lamb (here), Osso Buco alla Milanese (here), Steamed Spinach with Balsamic Butter (here), Panna Cotta (here), Tortoni (here)
JULY 18, 2001: “THE CHEF: TOM COLICCHIO,” BY TOM COLICCHIO AND FLORENCE FABRICANT. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM LAURA SBRANA (THE MOTHER OF MARCO CANORA; SEE here).
—2001
PASTA WITH YOGURT AND CARAMELIZED ONIONS, FROM KASSOS
Since I wrote about this surprising and delightful dish from Kassos in Greece, many of my friends have cooked it and raved about it to me (for the record, I have nothing to do with its greatness—that is all due to Diane Kochilas, whose recipe it is). So this comes to you with multiple recommendations.
———
2 cups sheep’s-milk yogurt
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
6 cups coarsely chopped onions
Sea salt
1 pound tagliatelle
1 cup coarsely grated kefalotyri or Pecorino Romano cheese
1. Line a colander with cheesecloth and set over a bowl or in the sink. Add the yogurt and let drain for 2 hours.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are soft and golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Season with enough salt so that you can taste it. Add the pasta and cook until soft (not al dente).
4. Combine the drained yogurt with ½ cup of the pasta cooking water in a large bowl and mix well.
5. Drain the pasta and toss with the yogurt mixture. Divide among 4 bowls. Sprinkle generously with the cheese, and top with the caramelized onions and their juices.
SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Fried Artichokes Azzurro (here), Hearth’s Fava Bean Salad (here), Lemon-Almond Butter Cake (here), Tangerine Sherbet (here), Hazelnut Baklava (here)
SEPTEMBER 26, 2001: “BY THE BOOK: AN OLD-WORLD EXPLORER,” BY AMANDA HESSER. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM THE GLORIOUS FOODS OF GREECE, BY DIANE KOCHILAS.
—2001
There are no surprises in this lasagna—just a traditional recipe that produces a perfect baked dish. Some of you may be disappointed that I didn’t include Ed Giobbi’s Lasagna from 1973, but I tried it and decided that this one edged Giobbi’s out. I hope you’ll make it and judge for yourself. If you don’t agree, tell all your friends I don’t know what I’m talking about.
———
For the Sauce
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 medium red onions, finely diced
4 large cloves garlic, 2 minced, 2 left whole
½ pound sliced (¼-inch-thick) pancetta, diced (¼-inch cubes)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1½ cups dry red wine, preferably Italian
Two 28-ounce cans Italian plum tomatoes
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups lukewarm water
¾ pound ground sirloin
¼ cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
2 large eggs
10 sprigs flat-leaf parsley, leaves only, washed and dried
Approximately ½ cup all-purpose flour
1 pound Italian sausage—a mix of hot and sweet
For the Lasagna
One 15-ounce container ricotta cheese
2 extra-large eggs
2 cups freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
½ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 pound mozzarella, grated
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
16 fresh lasagna noodles
1. To make the sauce, heat ½ cup oil in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over low heat. Add the onions, minced garlic, and pancetta and cook, stirring, for 10 minutes, or until the onions are wilted. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Raise the heat slightly, add the wine, and cook until it has mostly evaporated, about 20 minutes.
2. Crush the tomatoes into the pan, and add their juice. Add the tomato paste and lukewarm water and simmer for 1 hour.
3. Combine the sirloin, cheese, and eggs in a large bowl. Chop the parsley with the whole garlic cloves until fine, then stir into the beef mixture. Season lavishly with salt and pepper. Using your hands, mix until all the ingredients are well blended. Shape into meatballs and set aside.
4. About 20 minutes before the sauce is done, heat the remaining ½ cup oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Dust the meatballs lightly with the flour, shaking off excess, and lay in the hot oil. Brown the meatballs on all sides (do not cook through) and transfer to the sauce.
5. Brown the sausages in a clean skillet over medium-high heat. Transfer to the sauce. Simmer for 1½ hours. Remove from the heat.
6. To make the lasagna, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the ricotta, eggs, Pecorino Romano, parsley, and all but 1 cup of the mozzarella in a large bowl. Season well with salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly.
7. Remove the meatballs and sausage from the sauce and let cool slightly, then coarsely chop. Spoon a thick layer of sauce into the bottom of a 9-by-12-inch baking pan. Cover with a layer of 4 noodles. Spoon more sauce on top, then add a third of the meat and a third of the cheese mixture. Repeat for 2 more layers, using all the meat and cheese. Top with a layer of noodles and cover with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella evenly over the top.
8. Bake until heated through and bubbling, about 30 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
SERVES 8 TO 10 AS A MAIN COURSE
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Caesar Salad (here), Brown Sugar Ice Cream (here), Balducci’s Tiramisù (here), Chocolate Rum Mousse (here)
OCTOBER 31, 2001: “THE NOODLE AND I: A FACE-OFF AT THE OVEN,” BY REGINA SCHRAMBLING. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM GIULIANO BUGIALLI.
—2001
This is a brilliant recipe, the kind of dish that every single beginner cook should learn. There are infinite variations too. You could add hot red pepper flakes, vodka, roasted mushrooms . . .
———
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
½ pound sweet Italian sausage, removed from casings if necessary
1 cup whole milk, or as needed
¼ cup tomato paste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound pasta
At least ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1. Set a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Put the oil in a 10-inch skillet and turn the heat to medium. A minute later, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it softens, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage in bits, turn the heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sausage is nicely browned, 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Add the milk and tomato paste, along with some salt and pepper; stir to blend and simmer until thickened but not dry, a minute or two. Keep the sauce warm if necessary; if it becomes too thick, add a little more milk or water.
3. Meanwhile, salt the water and cook the pasta. When the pasta is tender but not mushy, drain it. Toss with the sauce and Parmesan; taste, adjust the seasoning, and serve.
SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE
COOKING NOTES
I made this with orecchiette, and it turned out great.
Pasta is done when you bite into it and it feels like biting into a new stick of gum.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Salade à la Romaine (here), Papa’s Apple Pound Cake (here), Ricotta Kisses (here), Coupe Lena Horne (Coffee Ice Cream Sundae; here)
NOVEMBER 28, 2001: “THE MINIMALIST: BONDING, TENDERLY,” BY MARK BITTMAN.
—2001
PASTA WITH TUSCAN DUCK SAUCE
Mark Bittman’s “Minimalist” column requires that his recipes use a handful or fewer of ingredients, be short and succinct, not require a trip to Chinatown (at least not every week), and must be easily cooked up on a weeknight. Creating fifty-two such recipes every year is no enviable task.
So when Bittman comes up with a great recipe—and he has come up with many since he began the column in 1997—it’s like someone inventing pound cake.
While writing this book, I cooked more than 100 of Bittman’s recipes. I planned to offer a healthy sample of his work, yet not so many that it would leave other writers feeling neglected. But there were so many winners I started to refer to him as “Goddamn-Bittman.” Bittman’s brilliance lies in his attention to technique; he has taken many classic dishes and reengineered them in ways that make cooking them easier and result in better flavor. This is the reason people around the world count his paella (here—baked at high heat in a cast-iron skillet), no-knead bread (here—Jim Lahey’s recipe, which Bittman codified), and steamed fish (here—the fish is steamed directly on top of the vegetables) among their favorite recipes.
This duck sauce doesn’t have the mass appeal of the aforementioned recipes, but it has the ingenuity. Bittman, in attempting to replicate the dark, rich pasta sauces you find in Tuscany, came up with a method of cooking the duck in its own fat, then building the sauce on this fat and a red wine reduction. Using a small amount of meat—just two duck legs—and a single pan, he produced a robust, succulent sauce, like something from the Old Country.
———
2 duck legs
Salt
1 medium onion, chopped
1½ cups dry red wine
One 28-ounce can plum tomatoes, drained and chopped
1 pound pasta, like penne
Freshly grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese for serving
1. Trim any visible fat from the duck legs, then lay them skin side down in a 10-inch skillet. Turn the heat to medium; when the duck begins to sizzle, turn the heat to low and cover. Cook undisturbed for about an hour (check once to be sure the legs aren’t burning); the skin should be golden brown.
2. Turn and cook until the duck is very tender, at least 30 minutes more.
3. Set a large pot of salted water on to boil for the pasta. Remove the duck from the pan and set aside. Add the onion to the skillet and turn the heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes.
4. Add the wine to the skillet and raise the heat to high; cook until the liquid is reduced by about half. Add the tomatoes and some salt and pepper and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is saucy, about 15 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
5. Meanwhile, shred the duck from the bones and add it to the simmering sauce. A few minutes after adding the tomatoes to the sauce, start to cook the pasta.
6. When the pasta is tender but not mushy, drain it and serve it with the sauce, along with some cheese.
SERVES 3 AS A MAIN COURSE, 4 AS A FIRST COURSE
COOKING NOTE
I suggest cutting the pasta from 1 pound to ¾ pound.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Carrot and Fennel Soup (here), Butternut Squash and Cider Soup (here), Chestnut Soup (here), Almond Cake (here), Huguenot Torte (Apple and Pecan Torte; here)
FEBRUARY 13, 2002: “THE MINIMALIST,” BY MARK BITTMAN.
—2002
RIGATONI WITH WHITE BOLOGNESE
I learned this recipe from my friend Giuliano da Empoli’s mother, Heidi. She is sylph-like—and Swiss—so you don’t expect her to cook such rich and succulent food. Yet she served this hearty Bolognese as a prelude to veal cutlets.
It’s called white Bolognese because it lacks tomatoes. In their place are dried porcini, which you reconstitute in warm water, and then use that water as a broth, infusing the sauce with a lovely earthiness. My husband asks me to make this for him every year on his birthday.
———
Extra virgin olive oil
½ sweet white onion, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound mild Italian pork sausages, removed from casings
1 pound ground beef (not lean)
1½ cups dry white wine, preferably Italian
1 beef bouillon cube, dissolved in 2 cups simmering water
1½ ounces dried porcini mushrooms, rehydrated in 3 cups lukewarm water
⅓ cup heavy cream
1 pound rigatoni
¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1. Add enough oil to a large deep sauté pan to coat the base and place over medium-high heat. When the oil shimmers, add the onion, carrots, and celery and sauté until glassy and just tender, about 5 minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Add the sausage and beef to the pan, breaking it into walnut-sized pieces, and brown well.
2. Pour in the wine and keep at a rapid simmer until the pan is almost dry. Then pour in 1½ cups beef bouillon and lower the heat to medium (reserve the remaining bouillon for another use). Simmer gently, uncovered, until the bouillon is nearly gone, stirring now and then. Meanwhile, chop the rehydrated porcini into small pieces; reserve the liquid.
3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, add enough of the mushroom liquid to the sauce to cover the meat halfway (about 1 cup), along with the porcini, and continue simmering until the sauce is loose but not soupy, about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper; the sauce should be highly seasoned. When the consistency is right, fold in the cream. Remove from the heat and cover.
4. When the pasta water is at a full boil, add the rigatoni and cook until still just firm but not hard in the center. Scoop out 1 cup of the water and reserve. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Pour the pasta sauce on top and fold in with a wooden spoon. The pasta should not be dry. Add a little pasta water or mushroom liquid to loosen it if necessary. (It will continue to soak up sauce on the way to the table.) Serve in one large bowl or in individual bowls, passing the cheese at the table.
SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Fried Olives (here), Fried Artichokes Azzurro (here), Bagna Cauda (here), Almond Cake (here), Cherry Spumoni (here), Transparent Pudding (here)
FEBRUARY 17, 2002: “FOOD DIARY: LOCAL HERO,” BY AMANDA HESSER. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM HEIDI DA EMPOLI.
—2002
RISOTTO WITH LEMON AND CRÈME FRAÎCHE
Italians, avert your eyes—I’m about to put crème fraîche into risotto. The rest of you: get out a saucepan, you’re in for a treat!
———
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound Arborio rice
5 cups chicken broth, brought to a simmer
Grated zest of 1 lemon
⅓ to ½ cup crème fraîche
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Sea salt
1. Melt the butter in the oil in a large deep skillet and heat until foamy. Add the rice and stir well until all the grains are coated. Cook for a few minutes, until glassy, then begin adding the hot chicken broth a little at a time, just enough to loosen the rice without making it sloshy. Continue stirring and adding more broth as it’s absorbed. When you’ve added half the broth, stir in half the lemon zest. You may run out of broth before the rice is done; if so, add ladles of hot water, one at a time, cooking until the liquid has been absorbed before adding more. The rice should be al dente, not at all mushy.
2. Stir in the crème fraîche, Parmesan cheese, and the remaining lemon zest. The risotto should be loose and creamy. Season with salt if needed.
SERVES 4
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Asparagus Mimosa (here), Veal Chops with Sage (here), Rhubarb Orange (here)
SEPTEMBER 22, 2002: “FOOD DIARY; STOVE-TOP SEMINAR,” BY AMANDA HESSER.
—2002
MALFATTI
The first time I ate malfatti at Al Di La Trattoria in Park Slope, I got very worried. The tender egg-shaped gnocchi transcended all my impressions of what a good pasta dish should be. They were robust but light, and as you ate them, you could pick out the many flavors inside: fresh ricotta, chard, grated nutmeg, nutty browned butter, and sage. I worried that I might not get back for more before the menu changed.
Others worried too, apparently, because Anna Klinger, the chef, has never been able to take them off the menu. Not a bad response to a dish whose name actually means “misshapen.” (They are also sometimes called gnocchi gnudi or ravioli gnudi, “nude gnocchi” or “nude ravioli,” respectively.)
While most versions call for spinach, Klinger favors Swiss chard, which yields more volume and sweetness. She blanches the chard, squeezes—really squeezes—it dry in towels, chops it—and dries it again. Wet chard makes for sodden malfatti. The other crucial element is the ricotta, and Polly-O won’t cut it. (Klinger prefers A & S brand or Calabro.)
Then comes the fun part: shaping the malfatti. You drop a spoonful of the chard mixture into a floured wineglass and swirl it like a 1982 Bordeaux. A quenelle forms before your eyes. (If you have kids around, they’ll love doing this, plus you’ll simultaneously be prepping them for 4-star dining.)
Klinger freezes them by the dozen, then drops them into boiling water when an order rolls in. (You can do the same when friends come to dinner.) Then she slices sage and tosses it into a pan of bubbling butter. The best nonpasta pasta you have ever tasted is only seconds away.
For an earlier malfatti, see Mrs. Sebastiani’s here. Hers are heartier and are nestled in a warm tomato sauce.
———
1 pound ricotta
Kosher salt
4 bunches Swiss chard (about 4 pounds)
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
¼ cup all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 large egg
4 large egg yolks
Freshly ground black pepper
24 sage leaves
A chunk of Parmesan cheese for serving
1. Drain the ricotta overnight in a sieve lined with cheesecloth in the refrigerator.
2. Measure out 1¼ cups ricotta; reserve the rest for another use.
3. Bring a large pot of water, heavily seasoned with salt, to a boil. Trim the chard, removing all stems and large ribs. Add half the chard to the boiling water and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Fish out with tongs and plunge into a bowl of ice water. Repeat with the remaining chard.
4. Squeeze out the chard with your hands. Spread the chard in a circle the size of a pie on a dish towel. Roll up the towel and have someone help you twist the ends to squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Pulse the dried chard in a food processor until finely chopped. Squeeze out in a dish towel once more, until very dry.
5. Melt half the butter. Mix the chard and ricotta in a bowl. Add the melted butter, flour, 1 heaping teaspoon salt, and the nutmeg and mix again. Drop in the egg and egg yolks; season with pepper, and stir again.
6. Sprinkle a cutting board with flour. Shape the ricotta mixture into 1-ounce balls, about 1 tablespoon each, dropping them onto the board; you should have about 24. Put a teaspoon of flour into a narrow wineglass. Drop in a ball and swirl until it forms an oval. Repeat (you may need to change the glass). You can freeze the malfatti at this point.
7. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in the malfatti and cook until they float, about 8 minutes (10 minutes if frozen).
8. Meanwhile, put the remaining butter in a small sauté pan and heat until bubbling, shaking the pan. When it smells nutty, add the sage and cook for 30 seconds. Season with salt.
9. Drain the malfatti and arrange on plates. Spoon on the butter and sage. Grate Parmesan over each plate.
SERVES 4 TO 6 AS A LIGHT MAIN COURSE, 6 TO 8 AS A FIRST COURSE
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Ricotta Crostini with Fresh Thyme and Dried Oregano (here), Artichoke Salad with Anchovy and Capers (here), Sea Bass in Grappa (here), Canestrelli (Shortbread from Ovada; here), Chicken Canzanese (here), Panna Cotta (here), Pruneaux du Pichet (Prunes in a Pitcher; here)
NOVEMBER 17, 2002: “FOOD: NAKED CAME THE PASTA,” BY AMANDA HESSER. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM ANNA KLINGER, THE CHEF AND CO-OWNER OF AL DI LA IN BROOKLYN.
—2002
RED WINE RISOTTO
This is a great recipe to turn to when you need a rice dish to round out a winter menu.
———
2½ cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 cup Arborio rice
2 cups dry red wine
Kosher salt
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons thinly sliced chives
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
1. Bring the broth to a simmer in a small saucepan. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. When it foams, add the onion and garlic; cook until softened. Pour in the rice and stir to coat. Cook, stirring slowly, until the rice is lightly toasted, about 3 minutes.
2. Pour in 1 cup wine and reduce over medium-high heat until almost gone. Add the second cup and reduce once more. When the pan liquid is syrupy, begin ladling in the hot broth ½ cup at a time, stirring the rice and adjusting the heat so that the broth is just bubbling at the edges. Continue stirring and adding broth as needed. Season with salt as you go. The rice is done when it is tender but still firm to the bite in the center. (If you run out of broth before the rice is cooked, add hot water.) The mixture should be creamy and loose, not soupy. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
3. Stir in ½ cup cheese and the remaining tablespoon of butter. Fold in the chives and thyme. Serve, passing the remaining cheese at the table.
SERVES 4 AS A FIRST COURSE
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Raw Spinach Salad (here), Crisp-Braised Duck Legs with Aromatic Vegetables (here), Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Sablés (here)
MAY 28, 2003: “PAIRINGS: COOKING RISOTTO WITH AN INEXPENSIVE AND DECENT RED WINE,” BY AMANDA HESSER.
—2003
PIERRE FRANEY’S PASTA WITH CLAMS
Sam Sifton, my former boss and the man behind “The Cheat” food column in the Magazine, insisted I include this recipe. Yes, he conceded, it does contain an ocean of cream. Yes, it does contain just a lot of everything. But, he promised, it’s fantastic. And it is.
———
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons thyme leaves
1 cup fresh clam juice
¼ cup dry white wine
1 cup heavy cream, or more as needed
1 cup tightly packed basil leaves, plus more to taste
1 pint shucked chowder or cherrystone clams, coarsely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound fresh fettuccine
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, or to taste
1. Heat the olive oil in a 10- or 12-inch skillet over medium heat and sauté the garlic until fragrant, taking care not to burn it. Add the thyme and clam juice and simmer until reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Add the wine and reduce, by half, about 2 minutes. Add the cream and simmer until the mixture thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
2. Combine 1 cup basil leaves and the clams and add to the sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside, loosely covered to keep warm.
3. Cook the fettuccine in boiling salted water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water, then drain. Add the pasta to the sauce and stir to coat. Add Parmesan to taste. Correct the seasoning. If the sauce is too thick, add some of the reserved pasta water or additional cream, sparingly. Simmer the pasta, stirring until the sauce is the desired thickness. Add more basil to taste.
SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE
COOKING NOTES
I added ¼ cup of the reserved pasta water in Step 3, but I could have added a bit more.
A little freshly grated lemon zest over each plate would be a great touch.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Caesar Salad (here), Strawberry Sorbet (here), Coupe Lena Horne (Coffee Ice Cream Sundae; here)
JULY 13, 2003: “FOOD: CLAM DIGGER,” BY JASON EPSTEIN. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM PIERRE FRANEY.
—2003
PUMPKIN, SAGE, CHESTNUT, AND BACON RISOTTO
Jamie Oliver, the British celebrity chef, doesn’t stint on ingredients. So when he made this autumnal risotto for a column I was writing about him, he threw in just about every emblem of fall except dry leaves.
You can use butternut squash if you can’t find pumpkin, and you can roast it and the bacon ahead of time. (A little advance planning helps with this recipe.) And, like Oliver, you can buy vacuum-packed chestnuts. Plan for a 2-minute pause before serving the risotto. “The real key,” Oliver told me, “is to take it off the heat, stir in your butter, seasonings. Then you put the lid on and let it sit 2 minutes. That’s what I learned from the old Italian birds. Lid on top, 2 minutes, let it relax.”
If you’ve achieved the right texture, the risotto, once plated, will spread like melting ice cream.
For some recipes by Oliver’s mentors, Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray, see the Strawberry Sorbet here, Sformata di Ricotta here, and Rhubarb Orange here.
———
1 small sweet cooking pumpkin or large butternut squash (about 2½ pounds)
Olive oil
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 slices bacon or pancetta
2 ounces peeled chestnuts (vacuum-packed are fine), about ⅓ cup
15 sage leaves
4 cups chicken broth
3 shallots, finely chopped
5 small stalks celery, finely chopped
1 cup Arborio rice
½ cup dry white wine or dry vermouth
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
About 1 cup mascarpone cheese (optional)
1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Halve the pumpkin lengthwise and peel it. Remove the seeds, rinse and drain them, and reserve. Cut the pumpkin lengthwise into thick slices and spread in a layer across a large baking sheet. (If using squash, cut it into quarters.) Sprinkle the pumpkin with olive oil.
2. Using a mortar and pestle, pound the coriander seeds until crushed. Sprinkle over the pumpkin, along with salt and pepper. Bake until soft, about 40 minutes.
3. Remove the pumpkin from the oven (leave the oven on) and lay the bacon over it. Combine the reserved pumpkin seeds, chestnuts, sage, and salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and mix well. Sprinkle over the pumpkin and bacon. Bake until the bacon is crisp, 10 to 15 minutes.
4. Remove the pumpkin from the oven. Scrape the bacon, chestnuts, sage, and pumpkin seeds onto a plate; reserve. Finely chop about half the pumpkin. Chop the other half so that it is slightly chunky; reserve.
5. Bring the chicken broth to a simmer in a small pan over medium-low heat, then reduce the heat to very low to keep warm.
6. Place a large saucepan over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil, the shallots, celery, and a pinch of salt. Stir, cover, and cook for 3 minutes. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the rice, and stir constantly until the rice is translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the wine until it is absorbed, 1 to 2 minutes.
7. Begin adding the broth to the rice a ladleful at a time, stirring constantly. Allow each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next; this process will take about 20 minutes. When ready, the rice will be soft with a slight bite. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
8. Remove the rice from the heat, add the finely chopped pumpkin, and stir vigorously until mixed. Fold in the pumpkin chunks. Mix in the butter and Parmesan. Place a lid over the saucepan and let sit for 2 minutes.
9. Place a portion of risotto on each of 6 serving plates. Top each portion with crumbled bacon, and sprinkle with the mixture of chestnuts, sage, and pumpkin seeds. Add a dash more Parmesan cheese. Garnish each plate with a dollop of mascarpone, if desired, and serve immediately.
SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE, 6 AS A FIRST COURSE
COOKING NOTE
When eating risotto, you’re supposed to start at the outer perimeter of the rice and work your way toward the center. This way you eat the coolest parts first.
Fennel, Orange, Watercress, and Walnut Salad (here), Saffron Panna Cotta (here), Apple Galette (here), Marcella’s Pear Cake (here)
OCTOBER 22, 2003: “THE CHEF: JAMIE OLIVER: EVER MADE RISOTTO, MATE?” BY AMANDA HESSER. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM JAMIE OLIVER.
—2003
HOPPERS (COCONUT CREPES)
Stands selling “hoppers” abound in Sri Lanka, and I fell in love with them on a trip there. Called appa in Sinhalese, these bowl-shaped crepes are crisp on the edges and have a gentle whiff of coconut. Roadside cooks mix a batter of rice flour and coconut milk fermented with toddy, a spirit from the kitul palm, and cook the batter in small woks swabbed with coconut oil. Hoppers come plain or with an egg cracked into the center and are sometimes sweetened with honey. They were once a fixture of Sri Lankan breakfasts, served with curries. Now they’re eaten any time of day. I would happily eat one right now.
———
1½ cups rice flour
¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
6 tablespoons tepid water
Coconut or vegetable oil for frying
12 large eggs, at room temperature (optional)
1. Stir the rice flour, yeast, sugar, salt, coconut milk, and water together in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.
2. Stir the batter. It should have the consistency of paint; if necessary, add water to thin it. Place an 8-inch wok or a crepe pan over medium-high heat. Using paper towels or a brush, lightly swab the surface of the pan with oil; there should be a very thin film. Using a ladle, pour about 3 tablespoons of batter into the center of the pan, then quickly tilt and turn the pan so the batter spreads across the surface and up the sides. The hopper should be as thin as paper at the edges and no thicker than cardboard in the center.
3. Crack an egg in the center (hoppers may also be made without the eggs), cover the pan, and cook until the white of the egg is just cooked through and the hopper is crisp and browned on the bottom, about 4 minutes. Loosen the hopper using a knife and slide onto a platter. Repeat with the remaining batter (and eggs).
SERVES 6 AS A SIDE DISH
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Ceylon Curry of Oysters (here), Tuna Curry (here), Katta Sambol (here), Country Captain (here), Bombay Curry (here), Pineapple Carpaccio with Lime Sorbet (here), Cantaloupe–Star Anise Sorbet (here), Sticky Rice with Mango (here)
NOVEMBER 7, 2004: “THE SPICE ROUTE,” BY AMANDA HESSER.
—2004
MI QUANG (RICE NOODLES WITH SHRIMP, HERBS, AND FRIED PORK RINDS)
On a trip to Vietnam, I spent most of my time eating street foods. In Hoi An, I became smitten with mi quang, a rice noodle soup prepared by a shy, rather round woman named Sao. She had reduced her kitchen to two bamboo baskets carried over her shoulders on a wooden yoke. One basket was lined with metal and topped with a box of burning charcoal. On this she warmed the broth. The other basket brimmed with fresh ingredients. When customers stopped her, she set down her portable kitchen and began warming noodles in the broth, arranging them atop lettuce and basil, spooning tiny cooked shrimp and eggs over them, and then scattering the top with scallions, ground peanuts, and fried pork rinds. Sliced green chile and half a kumquat were served on the side.
———
1½ teaspoons turmeric
1 pound rice noodles (as thick as spaghetti)
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 teaspoon tamarind paste
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon chili powder
Sea salt
½ pound small shrimp
6 quail eggs, hard-boiled for 5 minutes and peeled
A handful of small watercress leaves
A handful of Thai basil leaves, or Italian basil
½ cup bean sprouts
1 scallion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons coarsely ground peanuts
4 handfuls fried pork rinds, crushed into pieces the size of a quarter
4 kumquats, each halved like a grapefruit
2 teaspoons finely sliced green chile
1. Fill a large pot with 3 quarts water, add the turmeric, and bring to a boil. Add the rice noodles and cook until tender, about 12 minutes. Drain, and return the cooking water to the pot.
2. Meanwhile, combine the oil, fish sauce, tamarind paste, sugar, chili powder, and a pinch of salt in a small sauté pan and place over medium-high heat. When the oil bubbles, add the shrimp and cook for 2 minutes on each side. Remove from the heat and stir in the quail eggs.
3. Divide the watercress, basil, and bean sprouts among 4 large rice bowls. Quickly dip the rice noodles into the hot cooking water and then divide among the bowls, so they are slicked with some of the cooking water. Spoon over the shrimp and quail eggs with their cooking oil. Then sprinkle with the scallion, cilantro, peanuts, a pinch of salt each, and the pork rinds. Serve, passing the kumquats and chile at the table.
SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Pork Belly Tea Sandwiches (here), Mango Ice Cream (here)
NOVEMBER 7, 2004: “THE SPICE ROUTE,” BY AMANDA HESSER.
—2004
PORCINI BREAD STUFFING
I’d hate for people to associate this stuffing only with Thanksgiving. It’s an excellent cold-weather side dish, like a savory bread pudding without the pudding. Serve it with any kind of game, and especially with pork.
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1 cup dried porcini or morel mushrooms
2 cups warm water
1 cup Calvados or Cognac
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 onions, thinly sliced
Salt
10 to 12 cups torn sourdough or regular country bread (1 large loaf)
¼ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary
2 tablespoons finely chopped sage
1 cup applesauce
¾ cup raisins or dried cherries
½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
1 to 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
Freshly ground black pepper
1. Soak the mushrooms in the warm water for about 30 minutes. Drain, reserving the liquid, and thickly slice the mushrooms.
2. Meanwhile, simmer the Calvados in a saucepan until reduced to about ⅓ cup.
3. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with a teaspoon or two of the butter. (The oven can be anywhere from 350 to 400 degrees, if you need to cook both the stuffing and the turkey in it.)
4. Melt the remaining butter in a large deep pot. Add the onions and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes; sprinkle with salt if the onions are browning too fast. Add the sliced mushrooms and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the bread, reserved mushroom liquid, parsley, rosemary, and sage. Stir in the reduced Calvados, applesauce, raisins, nuts, and enough stock so the mixture is moist but not wet. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Turn into the buttered baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until firm and crusty.
COOKING NOTES
I used a regular loaf of country bread, not sourdough—I worried that the flavor of sourdough would overpower the mushrooms and Calvados.
If the onions are browning, too fast in Step 4, add some salt, which releases their juices and slows their cooking.
I only needed ½ cup of stock—play it by ear.
I used large Flame raisins, which soaked up the Calvados and puffed up like cold birds.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Roast Lemon Pepper Duck with Honey Lemon Sauce (here), Slow-Roasted Duck (here), Pork Arrosto with Prunes and Grappa (here), Roasted Brine-Cured Turkey (here), Ralph Vetter’s Sweet Potatoes with Lemon (here), The Most Voluptuous Cauliflower (here), Molasses Cup Cakes with Lemon Icing (here), Apple Crumb Pie (here)
NOVEMBER 17, 2004: “THERE’S ONLY ONE STUFFING: ASK ANY COOK,” BY JULIA MOSKIN. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM JULIAN M. COHEN.
—2004
STUCK-POT RICE WITH YOGURT AND SPICES
“Those of us who learned how to cook in the ’60s and ’70s heard as many lies about rice as we did about sex,” Mark Bittman, “The Minimalist” columnist, wrote. “While prudence forbids me from elaborating on the second, I have plenty to say about the first.” And indeed he did, debunking the notion that cooking rice requires skill or constant vigilance. “Most of all,” he concluded, “rice is not ‘ruined’ when it sticks to the bottom of the pot.”
The crisp grains that stick to the base of a rice pan are beloved in many parts of the world, just as the crusty bits that form on the bottom of a pan when roasting potatoes are relished here.
Making stuck-pot rice is a two-step process. First you boil the rice, then you fold it together with seasonings—here, yogurt, curry powder, and lime juice—and cook it once more. The best part is that you can throw this together, then blithely retreat from the stove.
And when you return to the stove, you’ll have a spectacular treat, with chunks of crunchy, caramelized rice strewn through the tangy, moist grains.
———
Salt
1½ cups basmati rice, well rinsed
Freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup peanut oil or neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn oil
¼ cup plain yogurt, preferably whole-milk
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon good curry powder
1. Fill a medium pot with lightly salted water and bring to a boil. Stir in the rice and return to a boil, then lower the heat so the water is at a lively simmer and cook undisturbed for 5 minutes; drain. The rice will be only partly done. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Whisk together 2 tablespoons oil, the yogurt, lime juice, and curry powder in a large bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper and whisk until smooth. Add the rice and toss gently to coat with the yogurt mixture.
3. Put the 2 remaining tablespoons oil in a large heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid and turn the heat to medium-high. Add the rice mixture, pressing it down in the pot with a fork. Wrap a clean kitchen towel around the pot lid so it completely covers the inside of the lid; gather the corners on top so they do not fall anywhere near the heat, and place the lid on the pot, sealing it tightly. The mixture will sizzle immediately. When the rice and spices are fragrant—3 to 5 minutes—turn the heat down very low. Cook undisturbed for about 30 minutes; the rice should smell toasty but not burned. Remove from the heat and let sit for 5 minutes.
4. Carefully remove the lid and cloth, and turn the pot upside down over a platter. If the rice comes out in a single crust, terrific. If not, use a spatula to scrape the crisp pieces out of the pot and onto the remaining rice. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.
SERVES 4 TO 6 AS A SIDE DISH
For extra flavor, lightly toast the curry powder in a small pan over low heat, before beginning the recipe.
The first time you make this, you’re bound to have some scorched rice. Don’t give up—you’ll eventually figure out the right pot and temperature, and then you’ll be very happy indeed.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Tibs (here), Broiled Lamb Leg Chops on Eggplant Planks with Mint-Yogurt Sauce (here), Almond-Carrot Salad (here), Baked Mushrooms (here), Hazelnut Baklava (here), Tapioca Pudding (here)
JANUARY 11, 2006: “THE MINIMALIST: RICE, LIES, AND VIDEOTAPE: A CELEBRATION OF DARKNESS,” BY MARK BITTMAN.
—2006
RABBIT RAGU WITH PAPPARDELLE
———
1 rabbit (2½ to 3½ pounds), cut into 8 pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup olive oil
1 anchovy fillet (optional)
1 medium onion, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 stalk celery, diced
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 cup dry red wine
1 cup seeded, chopped canned San Marzano tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs thyme
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
¾ pound pappardelle
Freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese for serving
1. Pat the rabbit pieces dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and brown the pieces, working in batches if needed to avoid crowding. Transfer to a plate.
2. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the anchovy, if you choose, and mash it until it dissolves into the oil. Add the onion, carrot, and celery and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes, garlic, and tomato paste and stir for another minute. Deglaze the pan with the wine, scraping up the browned bits, turn the heat to high, and boil to burn off the alcohol, about 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes, broth, bay leaves, and thyme. Return the rabbit pieces to the pot, spacing them evenly so they are partly covered by the liquid. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the rabbit is falling off the bone, about 1½ hours; turn the pieces at least once.
3. Turn off the heat and discard the thyme and bay leaves. Remove the rabbit from the sauce and let cool.
4. Pull the meat from the bones. Shred some pieces and leave others large. Simmer the sauce until thickened, 10 to 15 minutes, then return the meat to the pot. Stir in the butter piece by piece. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pappardelle and cook until al dente. Before draining, save a cup of the pasta water.
6. Toss the pappardelle with the sauce over low heat, adding pasta water as necessary if the sauce is too thick. Divide among pasta bowls and top with the grated cheese.
SERVES 6 AS A MAIN COURSE
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Leeks Vinaigrette (here), Crostini with Eggplant and Pine Nut Puree (here), Fennel and Blood Orange Salad (here), Almond Cake (here), Figs in Whiskey (here), Lucas Schoormans’s Lemon Tart (here)
MARCH 12, 2006: “THE WAY WE EAT: RABBIT IS RICH,” BY RANDY KENNEDY, A TIMES REPORTER.
—2006
THE WAY LIFE SHOULD BE (FETTUCCINE WITH LOBSTER AND HERBS)
“Since the invention of license plates, the humble state of Maine has been burdened with two fairly onerous slogans,” Heidi Julavits, a novelist and part-time Maine resident, wrote in the Magazine. “During the ’90s, ‘Vacationland’ was followed by ‘The Way Life Should Be,’ a motto that has been interpreted by former Vacationlanders not as an exhortation to be poor, addicted to coffee liqueur, or permanently swaddled in thermals, but as a God-given right to be served boiled lobster for dinner every single night of their holidays.
“These slogan believers, also known as my friends, spend a night or two at my house en route to Acadia, arriving at my doorstep demanding The Way Life Should Be,” Julavits continued. “I accommodate the first guests of the summer with a weary smile. By the fourth, fifth, ninth visitor who specifies boiled lobster, my husband starts to become inhospitable.” To preserve their sanity, she and her husband came up with this pasta dish (as well as a lobster salad, see here), which allows you to cook and shell the lobsters ahead of time, and marinate them in oil and herbs. All there is to do at dinnertime is boil up some fettuccine.
The marination is a little like that in Pamela Sherrid’s Summer Pasta here, in which tomatoes soak in oil and aromatics before you add the hot pasta. Here the marination is particularly potent. The lobster and herbs scent the oil and, later, the whole dish. I was smitten.
———
Six 1¼-pound live lobsters
⅓ cup fresh lemon juice (from about 2 lemons)
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 dried red chiles, crumbled
A small handful of mint leaves, chopped (optional, but really good)
A small handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped (optional, but also really good)
A small handful of basil leaves, chopped (optional)
2 large pinches salt
1 pound fettuccine or spaghetti
2 garlic scapes or garlic chives (optional)
1. Boil the lobsters according to the recipe that follows. Let cool.
2. Remove the meat from the shells and cut into large chunks.
3. To make the marinade, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, chiles, and mint, parsley, and basil, if using, in a large bowl. Season with the salt. Add the lobster meat. Let sit at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes; do not refrigerate.
4. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and return to the pot.
5. Pour the entire bowl of lobster and marinade onto the pasta, toss, and serve garnished with snipped garlic scapes.
SERVES 6 AS A MAIN COURSE
FAILPROOF WAY TO BOIL LOBSTER
Julavits wrote, “This recipe comes from Paul Brayton, a priest at the Universal Life Church, who helped to develop the small Maine Bouchot mussel (and who also performed my wedding ceremony).
“Bring a very large pot of salted water (or, ideally, ocean water) to a boil. Add the lobsters to the pot—in batches if necessary—and wait until the water returns to a rolling boil. Watch the lobsters: when they turn bright red, tug on one of the feelers. If it comes loose with very little resistance, the lobsters are done. Drain and let cool.”
COOKING NOTE
I took a “small handful” of each herb to mean ½ cup loosely packed (of each).
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Thomas Keller’s Gazpacho (here), Eggplant Involtini (here), Strawberry Sorbet (here)
JULY 2, 2006: “THE WAY WE EAT: BOILING POINT,” BY HEIDI JULAVITS.
—2006
BULGUR SALAD WITH POMEGRANATE DRESSING AND TOASTED NUTS
———
2¾ cups quick-cooking bulgur, preferably coarse-ground
Salt
¾ cup olive oil
7 tablespoons pomegranate molasses (available at Middle Eastern markets), or more to taste
Juice of 4 lemons, or more to taste
6 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
2 cups walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
¼ cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
1. Put the bulgur in a large bowl and cover with lightly salted cold water. Let soak until tender, for 2 hours, depending on the coarseness of the bulgur.
2. Drain the bulgur in a sieve, firmly pressing out excess water, and transfer to a serving bowl.
3. Whisk the olive oil with the pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, tomato paste, and spices in a bowl. Add salt and pepper and taste; the mixture should be pleasingly tangy. Add more pomegranate molasses and lemon juice if needed. It will taste as if it has too much tomato paste at first, but this mellows once it’s mixed with the bulgur. Pour half the dressing over the bulgur and mix well. Set aside for about 10 minutes to let the bulgur absorb the dressing.
4. Taste the bulgur for salt, adding more if needed. Add half the remaining dressing and all the nuts and parsley and mix well. Taste again and add more dressing as needed.
SERVES 8 TO 10 AS A SIDE DISH
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Epigram of Lamb (here), Steamed Fennel with Red Pepper Oil (here), Roasted Cauliflower (here), Huntington Pudding (here), Plum Fritters (here)
JULY 12, 2006: “WHEN THE SOUR NOTE IS JUST RIGHT,” BY JULIA MOSKIN. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM CLAUDIA RODEN, A COOKBOOK AUTHOR.
—2006
JASMINE TEA RICE
Daniel Patterson, the chef and owner of Coi in San Francisco, writes occasional pieces for the Magazine in which he translates for the home a technique or idea that he’s pursuing in his restaurant kitchen. In a piece on teas, he showed how to use brewed tea “like a quick, flavorful stock”—in this case, jasmine tea as the stock for cooking rice. Once you’ve tried it, it seems a natural technique. We probably once had the same hesitation about combining salt and chocolate.
———
2½ tablespoons jasmine-tea pearls
1½ cups jasmine rice
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1. Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Place the tea in a heatproof bowl. Cover with the hot water and let steep for 5 minutes. Strain through a sieve set back into the saucepan and let cool.
2. Rinse the rice with cold water in a large bowl until the water runs clear. Drain and add to the cooled tea. Stir in the salt and let sit for 30 minutes.
3. Cover the saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer for 17 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes.
SERVES 6 AS A SIDE DISH
COOKING NOTE
Jasmine tea pearls can be found in Asian markets and at specialty tea stores. If you can’t get your hands on the pearls, you can use jasmine-scented tea leaves.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Warm Eggplant Salad with Sesame and Shallots (here), Rhubarb-Soy-Marinated Duck with Rhubarb-Ginger Compote (here), Lemon Lotus Ice Cream (here)
DECEMBER 17, 2006: “THE WAY WE EAT: STEEP INCREASE,” BY DANIEL PATTERSON.
—2006
It took me forever to decide which sesame noodle recipe to include in the book. There was Emily Tom’s Cold Noodles in Sesame Sauce from 1978 (simple, light, and not too oily), Marian Burros’s Chinese Carryout Noodles from 1994 (textured with chicken and bok choy), and a whole constellation of others sprinkled across the archives. But then Sam Sifton, then the culture editor and a food columnist at the Times (now the restaurant critic), did the work for me. He pored over these old recipes, talked to Chinese food experts in New York, and also got to work in the kitchen, developing a recipe that borrows ideas from other sesame noodle recipes as well as from his own childhood memory of the dish.
Sesame noodles first showed up in the 1970s. “Bright with flavor, slippery against the plastic chopsticks,” Sifton wrote, “they represented one of the great steps forward for Chinese food in the United States in the post–chop-suey era: away from bland monotony and toward real complexity of flavor.” The dish is often attributed to Shorty Tang, a Chinese immigrant who cooked his way around Manhattan. Sifton offered a Twitter-like history of the dish’s path to America: “The Communists took over China in 1949. Tang and other great chefs began to slip and slide toward the United States soon after, riding to Taiwan with banquet crews loyal to Chiang Kai-shek—and from there to Hong Kong, India, Brazil, East Broadway, and the Upper West Side.”
In Sifton’s perfected recipe, he left out the chicken and broccoli, an addition considered blasphemous by some. He minimized the sugar to keep the flavors clean, and while he added ginger, he omitted the scallions. What you get is a full-court press of flavors: sweetness, spice, ginger, sesame, garlic, peanuts, and the occasional cooling flash of cucumber.
———
1 pound Chinese lo mein egg noodles (⅛ inch thick), frozen or, preferably, fresh (available in Asian markets)
2 tablespoons Asian sesame oil, plus a splash
3½ tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons Chinese rice vinegar, or other unseasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons Chinese sesame paste or tahini
1 tablespoon smooth peanut butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons chile-garlic paste (sambal oelek) or to taste
½ cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and cut into ⅛-by-⅛-by-2-inch sticks
¼ cup chopped roasted peanuts
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook until barely tender, about 5 minutes; they should retain a hint of chewiness. Drain, rinse with cold water, drain again, and toss with a splash of sesame oil.
2. Whisk together the remaining 2 tablespoons sesame oil, the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame paste, peanut butter, sugar, ginger, garlic, and chile-garlic paste in a medium bowl.
3. Pour half the sauce over the noodles and toss. Add more sauce as desired. Transfer to a serving bowl, and garnish with the cucumber and peanuts.
SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE
COOKING NOTES
Sifton observed:
“The ‘Chinese sesame paste’ . . . is made of toasted sesame seeds; it is not the same as tahini, the Middle Eastern paste made of plain untoasted sesame. But you could use tahini in a pinch. You need only add a little toasted sesame oil to compensate for flavor, and perhaps some peanut butter to keep the sauce emulsified.
“On which subject, the whole point of cold sesame noodles is what’s called in the food trade its ‘mouth feel,’ the velvety-smooth feeling of perfectly combined ingredients. That’s why you find so much peanut butter in preparations of cold sesame noodles. Peanut butter emulsifies better than sesame paste.
“Hey, where are the Szechuan peppercorns? Szechuan food depends on their tingly numbing power! Perhaps, but the little fruits were banned from the United States from 1968 until 2005 by the Food and Drug Administration because they were feared to carry citrus canker, a bacterial disease. And while you could always find them in Chinatowns somewhere (sitting, dry and baleful, in a pile), there are few in the true cult of sesame noodles who use them in their recipes. By all means, add some if you like: toast a tablespoon’s worth in a dry pan, crush lightly, and whisk the resulting mess into your sauce.”
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Shrimp Toast (here), Oriental Watercress Soup (here), Chinese Barbecued Spareribs (here), Chinese Pork Balls (here), Hunan Beef with Cumin (here), Clams in Black Bean Sauce (here), Chinese-Style Steamed Black Sea Bass (here), Sugar Snap Peas with Horseradish (here), Lemon Lotus Ice Cream (here), Tea Ice Cream (here), Poached Pears with Asian Spices (here)
APRIL 1, 2007: “THE WAY WE EAT; NEW YORK NOODLETOWN,” BY SAM SIFTON. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM MARTIN YAN, MARIAN BURROS, AND MEMORY.
—2007
SAVORY RICOTTA PUDDING
Yes, I know, it’s strange to put this recipe in this chapter, but where else should it go? It’s an orphan pudding, and even orphan pudding deserves a loving home. Plus this sublime ricotta version—somewhere between a savory custard and a soufflé—is a boon companion to the chapter’s other hearty side dishes.
———
2 extra-large eggs
1 extra-large egg yolk
2 cups whole-milk ricotta, drained overnight in a refrigerator in a strainer set over a bowl
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1½ teaspoons thyme leaves
2 teaspoons kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 dried chile de árbol, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking dish. Whisk together the eggs, egg yolk, and ricotta in a bowl. Whisk in the cream, milk, 1 teaspoon thyme, the salt, and pepper. The batter will be a little lumpy.
2. Pour the batter into the baking dish. Sprinkle the top with the chile and remaining ½ teaspoon thyme. Cover the dish with foil and place it in a roasting pan. Add enough tepid water to come halfway up the sides of the baking dish. Bake until the custard is just set, about 1½ hours.
SERVES 8 AS A SIDE DISH
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Roast Chicken with Bread Salad (here), Zucchini and Vermouth (here), Lamb Shoulder Chops with Anchovy and Mint Butter (here), Grilled Hanger Steak (here), Raspberry Granita (here), Pine Nut Cookies (here)
MAY 13, 2007: “THE WAY WE EAT: THE CHEESE STANDS ALONE,” BY AMANDA HESSER. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM SUNDAY SUPPERS AT LUCQUES, BY SUZANNE GOIN.
—2007
YOGURT RICE
The real name of this dish, which comes from India, is Thayir Choru, but I have a feeling you’ll end up calling it yogurt rice. I love this dish as much as I love my children and my husband.
———
4 cups cooked long-grain white rice, at room temperature
1½ cups plain whole-milk yogurt, drained overnight in the refrigerator in a cheesecloth-lined strainer set over a bowl
Salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon brown or black mustard seeds
1½ teaspoons urad dal (split hulled black lentils)
1½ teaspoons chana dal (split hulled yellow peas)
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped raw cashews
3 fresh green Thai or serrano chiles (or 1 jalapeño pepper), thinly sliced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
15 to 20 fresh curry leaves
Pappadums for serving (optional)
Indian pickles for serving (optional)
1. Combine the rice and yogurt in a bowl, mixing well, and season with salt to taste.
2. Heat the oil in a small skillet. Add the mustard seeds. When they sputter, add the urad dal, chana dal, and cashews. When the dal and cashews turn golden brown, turn the heat to low, add the chiles, ginger, and curry leaves and stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Remove the spice blend from the heat and pour over the rice mixture. Mix well and adjust the seasoning if needed. Serve at room temperature with, if desired, pappadums and/or Indian pickles.
SERVES 4 TO 5 AS A SIDE DISH
COOKING NOTE
The dals, curry leaves, pappadums, and pickles are available at Indian markets, or on line at www.kalustyans.com.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Curried Zucchini Soup (here), Bademiya’s Justly Famous Bombay Chile-and-Cilantro Chicken (here), String Beans with Ginger and Garlic (here), Tapioca Pudding (here), Mango Ice Cream (here)
JULY 18, 2007: “TRANSLATING INDIA, SOMETIMES FLUENTLY,” BY ANNE MENDELSON. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM GRAINS, GREENS, AND GRATED COCONUTS, BY AMMINI RAMACHANDRAN.
—2007
RICE AND PEAS (JAMAICAN RICE WITH COCONUT AND RED BEANS)
———
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 scallion, thinly sliced
2 cups jasmine rice
One 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk, well shaken
1½ cups water
1 sprig thyme
1 Scotch bonnet or other hot chile (optional)
About 3 cups cooked small red beans or pinto beans (start with 1½ cups dried beans or use two 15-ounce cans, drained and rinsed)
1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
1. Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan with a tight-fitting lid over medium heat. Add the garlic and scallion and cook, stirring, just until softened, about 3 minutes; reduce the heat if necessary to prevent browning. Add the rice, coconut milk, water, thyme, Scotch bonnet, if using, beans, and the salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then stir well, reduce the heat to very low, cover tightly, and cook without disturbing for 25 to 30 minutes, until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is very tender.
2. Add the black pepper and, if desired, more salt. Fluff before serving.
SERVES 8 AS A SIDE DISH
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
North Carolina–Style Pulled Pork (here), Beer-Can Chicken (here), Brined and Roasted Pork Belly (here), Fennel and Apple Salad with Juniper (here), Cucumbers in Cream (here), Molasses Cup Cakes with Lemon Icing (here), Fresh Ginger Cake (here), Clove Granita (here)
JULY 2, 2008: “SWEET HEAT: FOR JAMAICANS, IT’S ABOUT JERK,” BY JULIA MOSKIN. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM JERK BARBECUE FROM JAMAICA, BY HELEN WILLINSKY.
—2008
PAD THAI–STYLE RICE SALAD
I’d like to have this in my refrigerator at all times—the perfect working-at-home lunch.
———
1½ to 2 cups long-grain white rice, preferably jasmine
Salt
5 tablespoons peanut or neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 cloves garlic, minced
¼ pound shrimp (about 5 large), peeled and chopped
¼ pound chicken meat (about 1 small boneless, skinless thigh), chopped
4 scallions, cut into 1-inch lengths
1 cup bean sprouts, rinsed and trimmed (optional)
2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce, or more to taste
2 chiles, preferably Thai, seeded and sliced (optional)
1 tablespoon plus 1½ teaspoons tamarind paste or ketchup
2 teaspoons sugar (if you use tamarind)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
¼ cup chopped peanuts
¼ cup chopped cilantro
1 lime, cut into wedges
1. Cook the rice in abundant salted water, as you would pasta, until it’s just done, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain, spread in a thin layer on a baking sheet, and refrigerate to cool. When cool, transfer to a large bowl.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a wok or a large skillet, preferably nonstick, over medium heat. Add the eggs and scramble quickly for the first minute or so with a fork almost flat against the bottom of the pan; you’re aiming for a thin egg crepe of sorts, one with the smallest curd you can achieve. Cook just until set, and remove the crepe to a cutting board. Cut into ¼-inch-wide strips and add to the bowl.
3. Raise the heat to high and add the remaining 3 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp lose their raw gray color; transfer to the bowl with a slotted spoon. Add the chicken to the wok and sauté until just done. Transfer with the slotted spoon. Add the scallions and half the bean sprouts to the wok and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. Transfer with the slotted spoon.
4. Add the fish sauce, chiles, tamarind, and sugar (or ketchup), lime juice, and a little water (start with ¼ cup) to the wok. Stir just to combine and deglaze the pan (add a little more water if necessary), then drizzle the warm dressing over the salad. Toss, taste, and adjust the seasoning, then top with the peanuts, cilantro, and remaining bean sprouts. Serve with lime wedges on the side.
SERVES 8 AS A SIDE DISH, 4 AS A LIGHT LUNCH
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Pork and Watermelon Salad (here), Laotian Catfish Soup (here), Thai Beef Salad (here), Mango Ice Cream (here), Tapioca Flamingo (here), Sticky Rice with Mango (here)
JULY 30, 2008: “THE MINIMALIST: A WHITE, OR BROWN, CANVAS,” BY MARK BITTMAN.
—2008
COCONUT BARLEY PILAF WITH CORN, CHICKEN, AND CASHEWS
———
1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 10 ounces), patted dry
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ cup salted roasted cashews, roughly chopped
½ medium onion, cut into small dice (about 1 cup)
1 jalapeño pepper, diced
2 cups pearl barley
One 15-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
2 ears corn, shucked and kernels sliced off the cobs (about 1½ cups)
2 tablespoons chopped mint, cilantro, or parsley
1. Cut the chicken into 1-inch chunks; season with ½ teaspoon salt and pepper to taste.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until light golden and almost cooked through, about 4 minutes. Stir in the cashews and cook for 1 minute more. Transfer to a plate.
3. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pot. Stir in the onion, jalapeño, and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until the onion is slightly softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the barley and ½ teaspoon salt; cook for 1 minute. Add enough water to the coconut milk to yield 2 cups liquid and add to the pot. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low and cook, covered, until the barley is almost tender, about 40 minutes.
4. Stir in the corn. If the mixture looks dry, stir in 1¼ cups more water; cover and cook until the barley and corn are tender, 10 to 15 minutes more.
5. Return the chicken mixture to the pot and stir well. Fold in the herbs and add more salt to taste.
SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Watercress and Basil Soup (here), Lemon Bars (here)
SEPTEMBER 23, 2009: “A GOOD APPETITE: THE COMFORT OF COCONUT,” BY MELISSA CLARK.
—2009
