Moroccan Baked Beans àla Mourad

In my continued quest to cook as much as possible from my pantry, I honed in on two cans of Great Northern Beans, originally bought to stock our summer cottage larder, but never used. I suspect that they were several years old, and had made the trip up and back from NYC to Pennsylvania at least twice, if not more. (We empty the larder at the cottage when we shut things down for the season.) Canned beans have a shelf life of 2-5 years, so I knew I was on safe ground using them, and I was determined they were not going to be traveling anymore, unless it was to my kitchen table. Also calling to me was a jar of homemade toasted bread crumbs, which had been languishing in the freezer for almost a year now. Putting the two together, it seemed like a casserole of some kind would be in order.

I also have a new quest to cook more from my cookbook collection. (I know, I have many quests, just call me Don Quixote…) In this case, I found the perfect recipe in Mourad – New Moroccan. This gorgeous tome was gifted to me by my foodie brother Joe, who became acquainted with the author, Mourad Lahlou, in San Rafael, where Lahlou had opened Kasbah, his first US restaurant. Since then, Lahlou has become renowned across America for his modern take on his native Moroccan food, epitomized at his Michelin-star restaurant Mourad in San Francisco. Also, he is really cool looking, check out those arm tats… His current chef de cuisine at Mourad, Rasika Venkatesa, also has an arm tat – she looks adorable as well as hip.

Mourad is more than just a collection of recipes – it’s a great read. In the first 100 pages, Lahlou delves into memories of food, family and life in Morocco, followed by a primer on tools and ingredients, and then the seven things that “really matter to me about Moroccan cooking and my cooking”. These he gives us as seven separate chapters – spices, preserving lemons (“Dude. Preserved Lemons”. I told you he was hip.), couscous (“Here’s how I roll” ), warqua, harissa, charmoula and “the ingenious tagine”. The chapter on spices alone is pure gold. Then follows the recipes. More gold. A chapter on Moroccan Tea. Recipes for basics – pickled fruits and vegetables, stock, sauces, flavored butters and oils, granolas, and finally a list of sources. This book is a journey.

The original recipe, Corona Beans with Tomato Sauce and Feta, was a popular starter at Lahlou’s other SF restaurant, Aziza, where it was served with a feta foam topping and starts with dried corona beans. Because I used canned instead of dried beans, I missed the opportunity to flavor my beans while cooking them and before adding them to the tomato sauce, as in the original recipe. So I made a mirepoix from the veggies used in cooking the dried beans, then cooked the canned beans with them and a little water and brown sugar. I also added the bread crumbs before baking, rather than when serving. The original recipe called for a firm dry feta, but it got a little chewier than I’d like as it cooked. Next time, I’ll use a wetter feta. I’ve included all these modifications in the recipe below.

I was extremely pleased with how this dish turned out. Though served at Aziza as a starter, we served it as a main dish, with a single sausage and some spinach as sides. Next time I make it, I’ll use dried beans as in the original recipe. I’ll let you know how that goes.

In the meantime, I have to admit I’m wondering now – should I get an arm tattoo?…

Print Recipe

Moroccan Baked Beans ala’ Mourad

Ingredients

Beans

  • 2 15.5 oz cans Great Northern White Beans
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large carrot, minced
  • 1 celery stalk, minced
  • 1 garlic clove minced
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup water

Tomato Sauce

  • 1 1/2 cups canned diced tomatoes (San Marzano preferred) 375 g
  • 3/4 cup tomato puree (San Marzano preferred) 213 grams
  • 2 1/4 cup water 527 grams
  • 1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro 17 grams
  • 1/4 cup coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley 17 grams
  • 1 tbsp granulated sugar 12.5 grams
  • 1 tbsp minced garlic 12 grams
  • 2 tsp kosher salt 6 grams
  • 1 1/2 tsp sweet paprika 4 grams
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin 3.8 grams
  • 1 tsp dried oregano 2.6 grams
  • 3/4 tsp ground coriander 1.3 grams
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper 0.5 grams
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne 0.3 grqms

Onions

  • 1 tbsp canola oil 13 grams
  • 1 3/4 cups thinly sliced onions 185 grams
  • 1 pinch kosher salt
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar 5 grams

To FInish

  • 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled 112 grams
  • 1 cup dried bread crumbs 41 grams
  • 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano 2 grams
  • 3 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil 40 grams

Instructions

For the Sauce

  • Combine all the sauce ingredients, along with 2 cups of water, in a large saucepan. Place the pan over medium heat and simmer until the sauce is thick and reduced to about 2½ cups, for about 50 minutes to 1 hour.

To Make the Beans

  • Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Saute Carrot, celery and garlic till soft. Add beans, 1 cup water and brown sugar. Heat over medium high heat, stirring gently and occasionally, till liquid is gone. Set aside.

For the Onions

  • Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute, stirring very often, for about 10 minutes until they are slightly caramelized, with a light golden brown color. Add the salt and continue to cook another 12 minutes, or until the onions are richly caramelized to a deep golden brown. Add the balsamic vinegar and scrape the bottom of the pan to de-glaze. Add the onions to the tomato sauce.

To Finish the Beans

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Gently stir the beans into the tomato-onion sauce. Spread the beans and sauce in a 6-cup gratin dish or 6 individual oven proof ramekins. Sprinkle the cheese in an even layer over the beans. Mix bread crumbs with dried oregano and sprinkle atop the cheese. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the beans are bubbling and the cheese is melted. Let the beans rest at room temperature for a couple of minutes before serving. Drizzle with olive oil before serving.

TBTAM DIGEST – Nov 30, 2022

Cross-publishing here for those without a substack subscription (Which is free)…

Happy almost December! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving and are enjoying the in-between holiday time. Here’s what’s been going on in my neck of the woods….

What I’ve been cooking on the blog

Where I Ate

  • Valley Green Inn in the Wissahickon Valley.  The perfect location for a lovely Thanksgiving luncheon, capped off with a walk on Forbidden Drive, one of my favorite places in the whole world.
  • White Dog Cafe in West Philly. Founded in 1983 by social activist Judy Wicks, and still going strong today, with several locations around the Philly area. The White Dog was among the very first farm-to-table restaurants in America, and continues to support local farmers, food artisans and brewers with a focus on sustainability and ethical, chemical and pesticide-free practices. Located in three connected Victorian townhouses, the original White Dog is as quirky and charming as ever, though this old timer misses the attached shop, which has been replaced by more dining space. We thoroughly enjoyed our Kennett Square mushroom omelets and Pork Belly Benedict made with Pork Belly from Ironstone Creamery in Pottstown, as well as the uninterrupted, prolonged sit our waitperson allowed us with our dear friends Amy and Noel.
  • Trattoria Moma in Mount Airy, Philly. Well, technically, we ordered in with my dear friend and hairdresser Wendy at her awesomely remodeled apartment after she cut and colored my hair at her salon.  Moma made us delicious pasta, which we washed down with a surprisingly good and affordable red called The Banished from 19 Crimes Wines (great marketing…) and followed with two long and rousing game of Rummikub. Always love seeing Wendy (and beating her at Rumikub…)
  • Charles Pan-Fried Chicken.  Charles Gabriel, famous for his pan-fried, old-school method of frying chicken at his Harlem-based restaurant, has morphed his business post-pandemic to carry-out only and graced us with his presence (and his chicken) here on the Upper West Side. The chicken is delicious, crispy on the outside and incredibly moist inside. The mac and cheese is among the best I’ve tasted. Sadly, the coleslaw was off the menu the night we ordered. We’ll be getting carry-out again, I’m sure!

What I’m Learning

  • Mostly everything on Amazon is now an ad. It’s true. Ads now comprise most of what your search results retrieve on Amazon. Personalized recommendations, sections showing what other have bought who searched for your item or what customers who viewed this item also viewed – Gone. It’s a new income strategy for retailers. But it does not drive sales of products, it just brings in revenue from ad sales. And worse – other online retailers are copying Amazon. Buyer (and Shopper) beware!

What I Saw

  • Matisse in the 1930s – At the Phila Museum of Art. Saw it with my dear artist friend Amy Cohen – I highly recommend bringing an artist along when viewing art! The exhibit was beautiful. Especially interesting were the studies and preliminary work to the mural Matisee painted at the Barnes Estate, and which now lives just across the Parkway.
  • Frank Gehry’s renovation of the Phila Museum of Art is quietly spectacular. One (major) complaint. They moved Jacob Epsteins sculpture “Social Consciousness”, from the back steps of the museum to the U of Penn campus. The statues were the starting point of “Only Connect”, Amy’s performance piece that showed at the Museum (and for which I was proud to provide a voice over for one of the segments). We’ve vowed to go visit the piece at Penn in the near future

  • Photo from Association for Public Art

What I’m Craving

What I’ve been watching, listening to and reading

  • Irene Cara Acapella – Can’t stop listening to this bare vocal version of What a Feeling from Voceaux , who creates acapella versions of iconic live musical performances.  RIP Irene..
  • Somebody Feed Phil visits Philadelphia! A fabulous episode that starts off (where else?) at the Reading Terminal and ends up at Zahav, hitting hot spots new and old in South Philly, Fishtown, Roxborough (Go Dellessandro’s!), the Northeast and Olde City in between. Phil’s wife is from Philly’s suburbs (with an accent to match), so he’s got an insider’s take on the city. Here’s a list of where Phil went. I’ve been to a few. Looks like I’ve got a project when we move to Philly…
  • NPR How I Built This Podcast – Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company. OMG this guy is gonna’ actually rein in the outlandishly over-priced pharmaceutical market. Just shows you what good things can happen when billionaires use their wealth for good. Now if Cuban can just fend off those who will try to stop him… A must listen for everyone. And while you’re at it, check out Mark’s site Cost Plus to see if there are cost savings to be had for your prescriptions.
  • The Best Chef in the World. A brief documentary about Sally Schmitt, original owner and chef at the French Laundry, long before there was Thomas Keller.  She and her husband Don raised 5 kids while starting the iconic farm to table restaurant long before that phrase was even coined, cooking simply, locally and ethically, complemented by local wines. Sally recently left us, but fortunately left behind her memoir, Six California Kitchens, complete with recipes and sage cooking advice. In future blog posts, I’ll be sharing some of it what I’ve learned from reading it.

A SONNET FOR THE BOSS
I thought he would never age.
He seemed a different breed,
Gliding effortlessly, tirelessly across the stage.
Born to run, indeed.

A bard whose biceps and pectoralis strained
The seams of a sweat-soaked, clinging black T-Shirt,
He pulled across a low-slung electric guitar again and again,
Stirring heart, mind and groin in concert.

Now he stands alone on bare stage straining
To pull memories from an acoustic held high against a softened gut,
Black T shirt hung loose, creped skin draped o’er biceps waning
His voice a gravel road bumping ‘oer long worn ruts.

Sans drum and sax and bass, the words, like new, emerge again
He stirs us now with poetry, rewrit with wisdom’s pen

-Margaret Polaneczky

That’s it, folks! Have a great last day of November !

Spanish Stuffed Peppers – The Evolution of a New Recipe

My love affair continues with Sofrito, the Spanish slow cooked tomato-olive oil-mirepoix that’s a staple in a healthy Mediterranean diet. I now make it regularly, storing it in small jars in my freezer and searching for ways to incorporate it into the foods we make. For example, these stuffed peppers, a recipe I am proud to say I came up with all by myself. Well, actually, that’s not entirely true. I had a little help from my friends (and family). Let me tell you how it went down…

Last week, while at the market, a beautiful multicolored fresh pepper medley caught my eye. I knew I had a pound of lean ground beef and one last ziplock bag of this past summer’s corn in our freezer, and decided to make stuffed peppers. I think I’ve only made stuffed peppers once in my life, so obviously, I needed a recipe.

I went home, took the ground beef out of the freezer and called my sister Rosemary, who I knew made a mean taco stuffed pepper. She told me she uses ground turkey in her recipe – much healthier, I know, but my ground beef was already defrosting. Her recipe also called for salsa and taco seasoning mix, neither of which I had. But I did have sofrito, which would be a delicious and healthy substitute for salsa, thus assuaging my guilt for using beef instead of turkey. The sofrito got me thinking that my peppers might lean more towards Spain than Mexico in their seasonings.

My spice cabinet

Consulting my spice cabinet, I chose sea salt, freshly ground Tellicherry peppercorns (Costco is a great source), ground Chipotle powder (from Sahadi’s Lebanese grocery on Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn), Ground cumin (brought back from Morocco by my friend Annette), Pimenton de la vera (Spanish sweet smoked paprika brought back from Spain by our daughter Emily) and Cinnamon (from Penzy’s, a gift from Rosemary). I also snipped some fresh oregano from our windowsill plant that I’d started from cuttings from my friend Paula. Then I got to work.

Consulting a few recipes around the web, I decided I’d precook the peppers, as I did not want them crunchy and did not want to overcook the already cooked meat filling. Baking them wrapped in foil would have been a great option, but I currently have an oven issue (no gas). The counter top oven I’m using is completely unpredictable, and I did not want to be unwrapping and testing the peppers every 5 minutes, so I parboiled them, then let them sit out to cool. Next, I prepared the meat, corn and rice stuffing mixture, adding and adjusting the flavorings as I went.

Tasting the final spiced mixture just before stuffing the peppers, it seemed like something was missing – it needed more umami. How about some fish sauce? After all, fish sauce is a whole thing in Spain, where scientists have reproduced an ancient Roman fish sauce using a recipe found in the ruins of Pompeii. They call it Flor de Garum, and it is said to supercharge dishes with umami. I didn’t have any Flor de Garum, but I did have Red Boat Fish Sauce, which is purported to be the next best thing. So I boldly grabbed the Red Boat from the fridge and added about a tsp to the mix. It worked!

I stuffed the peppers, topped them with some grated cheddar (Manchego would be more authentic, and next time I will try that instead), baked them and served them topped with a little sour cream. They were delicious!

I now present you with a new recipe I call Spanish Stuffed Peppers. Inspired by Rosemary’s taco stuffed peppers, enhanced with herbs and spices from Emily, Annette, Rosemary and Paula, and umami-ized by yours truly. Enjoy!

Print Recipe

Spanish Stuffed Peppers

A great way to use leftover corn and rice. Use ground turkey instead of beef for an even healthier version. Diced tomatoes are a fine substitute for the sofrito. I've listed spices at about 1/2 tsp of each, but feel free to adjust amounts up or down to your own tastes.

Ingredients

  • 6 bell peppers, of assorted colors
  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 cup cooked white rice
  • 1 cup corn previously cooked or raw
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1 large stalk celery, diced
  • 1 large garlic clove, diced
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 cup sofrito (can substitute diced tomatoes)
  • 2 tsp minced fresh oregano leaves (or 1 /2 tsp dried)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (Pimento de la vera if available)
  • 1/2 tsp ground chipotle powder (can substitute chili powder)
  • 1 tsp fish sauce (Flor de garum if you're lucky enough to have it. If not, Red boat brand if available)
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese Manchego cheese would be a good alternative option
  • sour cream (for serving)

Instructions

  • Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cup tops off peppers and clean out seeds and ribs using paring knife. Dice the tops and set aside. Place bottoms in a boiling water, filling them with water to prevent floating. Simmer 5-10 minutes or till just tender. Drain and cool.
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Saute onions, celery and diced pepper tops over medium high heat till softened, about 5 mins. Add garlic and saute another minute or so, being careful not to brown the garlic. Add the ground meat and continue cooking till just browned. Add sofrito and spices and fish sauce, cook another minute or so to blend the flavors. Taste and adjust seasoning, then stir in rice and corn.
  • Fill peppers with meat/corn/rice mixture and arrange in a lightly oiled baking dish. Top with grated cheese. Place any extra filling around peppers. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or till tops are melted and lightly browned.

A Thanksgiving Sweet Potato Bake-Off

I hope your Thanksgiving was as wonderful as mine. We did our usual back-to-back Thanksgiving dinners, shuttling between mine and Mr. TBTAM’s families, trying not to eat too much or too little at either one.

This year, my family eschewed the homemade turkey and instead had a relaxed luncheon at the Valley Green Inn situated on Philadelphia’s Wissahickon Valley Forbidden Drive, one of my favorite places in the whole world.

I’ve biked, hiked, walked, or run that trail countless times over the years, alone and with friends and family. The place is so special to us that my sister Fran’s ashes were scattered over the waterfalls not far from the Inn, and I can feel her presence in the sounds of the rushing waters. Having our family Thanksgiving on the Wissahickon felt just like coming home for the holiday.

The food at the Inn was great, the service fabulous, and the walk along the trail afterwards a real joy. I think we should do it again next year!

Of course, that was just lunch. Fortunately, I ate lightly, because next up was dinner at Mr TBTAM’s mother’s home. That meal has morphed over the years from a traditional Turkey-centered dinner to a more varied meal with contributions from all the generations, celebrating both meat eaters and vegetarians.

My contribution was, as it has often been, candied sweet potatoes. Unfortunately, on Wednesday afternoon, I realized that I had not purchased enough sweet potatoes. My sister-in-law offered to pick some sweets up for me on her trip to H Mart, the now-storied gigantic Korean grocery that is a great source for well-priced produce and Asian foods. She suggested that we get Korean sweet potatoes instead of more American sweets. I’d never eaten Korean sweet potatoes, but she and her daughter had, and they were convinced they’d be delicious. I was not so sure. We were also not sure how the Korean sweets would behave, so decided not to combine them with the American sweets in the same pan, but cook and bake them separately. Sounds like we had ourselves the set up for a sweet potato bake off.

Now, if there’s anything Mr TBTAM’s family loves, it’s a produce competition. I remember my first family dinner with them, where they spent what seemed like forever discussing the farm stand apples they had gotten that day, anticipating the after-dinner taste test when they would determine if these really were THE best Winesaps ever grown. Who are these people, I recall asking my siblings, who like me, thought that potato chips and dip made from Lipton’s French Onion mix were the ultimate gourmet delight. I mean, ‘cmon – who gets excited about apples? To us, apples were just a second fiddle food, or what my mother would suggest we eat when the answer to “Are there any Pop Tarts left?” was “No, but Daddy gets paid on Thursday. Why don’t you have an apple?” Of course, I’ve since changed my tune, expanded my palate and learned over the years to appreciate real food over processed treats. And, I can now tell you without a doubt that Honeycrisps, not Winesaps, are THE best apple ever grown. But back to the sweet potato taste-off…

What are Korean Sweet Potatoes?

Korean sweet potatoes or Goguma are a sweet potato variety found across China, Japan and Korea. In Japan, they are called Satsumaimo. Despite their name, sweet potatoes are not potatoes. Nor are they yams. Sweet potatoes are in fact a tuber of the morning glory family, thought to have originated in South and Central America, where Christopher Columbus discovered them along with the new world. The sweet potato was brought to Asia either by Europeans after Columbus, or by the Polynesians long before Columbus. Or maybe they are indigenous to Asia, where 57 million year old fossils of leaves from the morning glory family have been recently identified. Who knows?…

Regardless of its history, Korean sweet potatoes are purplish red on the outside with a starchy, cream colored interior that becomes yellow as it cooks. They are drier and sweeter than the American varieties, and are extremely flavorful, taking on what has been described as a chestnut flavor when cooked. Like all sweet potatoes, Goguma are high in fiber and packed with nutrients, and there are many ways to cook them, including a traditional Korean candied version.

The Bake-Off Methodology

For our bake-off, I simply used our traditional Thanksgiving candied sweet potato recipe, which I’ve shared before on this blog. I peeled and cut the American sweet potatoes and the Goguma, then prepared a pan of each for a taste test at dinner time.

The dryness of the Goguma necessitated some adjustments to my recipe. It took a good 10-15 minutes longer to soften the Goguma when first cooked.

American sweets (left) vs Korean Sweets (right) after steaming

In addition, they soaked up the glaze very quickly during the baking phase, so I made some extra glaze and even stole some from the pan of American sweets so the Goguma wouldn’t dry out. This did not appear to put the American sweets at a disadvantage, as they remained moist and caramelized beautifully.

American sweets (right) vs Korean Sweets (left) halfway through baking

The results

The Korean sweet potatoes, though not as pretty as the American sweets, tasted delicious! They were indeed flavorful, and their inherent nutty flavor came though, even with the extra glaze. They were perfectly cooked, neither too soft nor too firm, and had more density and substance than the American sweets. They tasted just as good as the American sweets, and a few preferred them (including me).

Finished American sweets (above) vs Korean Sweets (below)

If this were a scientific publication, I’d say that our un-blinded, non-randomized, not-entirely-controlled taste test suggests that Korean sweet potatoes are equivalent and non-inferior to American sweet potatoes when baked using a traditional American Thanksgiving candied sweet potato recipe. Further research, of course is necessary.

Happy Holidays to all!

Print Recipe

Candied Korean Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds Korean or Japanese sweet potatoes
  • 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 6 tbsp water
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 1 Tsp salt
  • freshly ground pepper to taste (optional)

Instructions

  • Peel the potatoes. Cut them lengthwise in half. Place cut side down on counter and cut lengthwise into 1/2 inch slices.
  • In a steamer set over boiling water (I use a pasta inset w/ my 8 quart calphalon boiler) steam the potatoes, covered, for 15-25 minutes, or until they are just fork tender. Let them cool, uncovered.
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Arrange the potato slices in one layer, overlapping them slightly, in a buttered shallow baking dish. (I find my vintage Dansk 10 1/2 x 7 1/2 inch baker to be the perfect size for a single recipe.) Combine the remaining ingredients in a small pot, bring the mixture to a boil and cook it over moderate heat for 5 minutes, stirring while cooking. Drizzle the syrup evenly over the potatoes, and bake the potatoes in the middle of the oven, basting them with the syrup mixture every 15 minutes, for 1 1/2 hours, or until the syrup is thickened and the sweet potatoes have deepened in color.
  • May be made 1 day in advance, kept covered and chilled, and reheated.

Notes

NOTE – Korean sweet potatoes can be very thirsty, and may absorb all the glaze before they are fully cooked. The amounts in this recipe are optimized for how my potatoes acted, but yours may act differently. Make sure they are softened well from the initial steaming. While baking, watch them closely, and if the glaze absorbs long before optimal caramelization or before they are fully cooked, add a little water to the bottom of the pan to thin out the glaze so you can continue basting, or make some additional glaze to use.

Farro with Oyster Mushrooms & Onions

One of my goals in retirement is to shop more at the farm markets, in order to support local farmers and eat more seasonally. It’s something I could never find the time to do when I was working. (Though I have friends who managed to do so even with full time jobs, so really, what was my excuse?…)

Although I adore the Union Square Green Market, it’s a bit of a schlep to visit on a regular basis. Thankfully, we have a wonderful farmer’s market every Sunday here on the Upper West Side, on Columbus Avenue just behind the Museum of Natural History. That’s where some lovely-looking oyster mushrooms caught my eye last weekend. Actually, they were the only variety the mushroom guy had left by the time we reached the market late afternoon. I brought them home in a brown paper bag. Then they sat in the fridge for a day or so while I wondered what to do with them.

I decided not to make this mushroom-broth infused farro, or this mushroom risotto with those oyster babies. Rising food prices have led us to commit to cutting out food waste and working first from the fridge, freezer and pantry when planning dinner. So instead, I reached for the leftover farro I discovered in the fridge, and concocted a little mushroom-onion delight. We served it alongside some sausages we found in the freezer and a salad made with greens and leftover homemade lemon dressing from the fridge. It was a delicious and satisfying dinner.

I’m really enjoying shopping the farm markets and looking for meal inspiration in my own fridge and pantry. Not to mention the upside of seeing our overcrowded, impossible-to-find-anything shelves take on a Marie Konda-like serenity as we begin to work our way through their contents. And the gratitude of realizing that these are the first-world problems of a life lived in abundance.

In that vein, I’ve committed us to use our food dollar savings towards a monthly donation to City Harvest, whose goal is to rescue NYC’s excess food so it doesn’t go to waste, distributing it to food pantries and soup kitchens across the five boroughs. They also run free neighborhood mobile markets, teach healthy cooking, and work with corner markets and groceries to encourage and support them in selling fresh produce and other healthy foods in their neighborhoods. Check out their App and online map that folks can use to find free food across NYC. A cause worth your contribution!

Print Recipe

Farro w/ Oyster Mushrooms and Onions

A great use for leftover cooked farro or rice. To make using uncooked farro, you can add the uncooked farro to the mushroom and onions just after they've sauteed, along with the recommended amount of water (or better yet, mushroom broth), and cook them all together till the farro is done. Serve as described.

Ingredients

  • 2 large clumps Fresh Oyster Mushrooms
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Onion, large, large mince
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 sprig Fresh thyme, minced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • sun dried tomatoes packed in oil for garnish
  • Grated Parmesan cheese for the table
  • 2 cups Leftover Cooked Farro or Rice

Instructions

  • Clean oyster mushrooms with a dry brush or paper towel. (Do not wash, as they will suck up all the water.) Chop the mushrooms into largish bite size pieces. They will be all sorts of shapes. Use all of the mushroom, even the stems.
  • Heat butter and oil in a large skillet or cast iron pan. When hot, add onions and saute over medium high heat till translucent. Add garlic and thyme and stir for a minute or so.
  • Add mushrooms and saute, letting them sit for spells so they brown, but being careful not to let them get too dry. (Oyster mushrooms don't have much water to give off, unlike other mushrooms you may be used to using. Although mine stayed nice and moist, if yours seem dry, at this point you can add a little mushroom, chicken or beef broth – but be careful the mushrooms will absorb it all if you let it cook too long.) Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Add farro and cook till heated through.
  • Plate and garnish with thinly sliced sun-dried tomatoes. Pass the Parmesan.

Thanksgiving Recipe Roundup

I’m often asked to recommend recipes for Thanksgiving, so here’s a few suggestions for you all.

I’ve never actually cooked a turkey, so this will just be sides and desserts. To be honest, that’s pretty much are all I care to eat at Thanksgiving dinner anyway.

Noticeably missing from this list are recipes for cranberry sauce (I use the one on the cranberry bag – no need to mess with perfection), mashed potatoes (there is no recipe, it’s instinctual if you’re Patsy’s daughter), and stuffing (I’ve never made it, that gets assigned to someone else).  

Hope these are helpful. Happy Holidays!

Sides

Veggie and Gluten-Free Options

Desserts

Orecchiette with Basil Pesto, Fennel & Sausage

As the weather turns towards winter, the basil plant on my windowsill begins to worry me. Sure, it has sun in that spot, but less and less with each day, and eventually not enough to keep it alive when cold winds pummel the adjacent glass. Time to harvest what basil remains before it’s lost. I had just enough basil for a batch of pesto, but no pine nuts. What I did have was a tiny jar of walnuts in my freezer – exactly the amount I needed! So I made a batch of pesto using my recipe for basil pesto, substituting walnuts for pine nuts.

I also had about 2 cups of homemade chicken broth in the freezer. So I scouted around for a good way to use both the broth and the pesto and discovered this recipe from NYT Cooking. I substituted the basil-walnut pesto for the broccoli-rabe pesto in that recipe and Viola! A new recipe. It was delicious!

I love it when ingredient availability drives cooking invention.

Print Recipe

Orecchiette with Sausage and Basil-Walnut Pesto

Ingredients

  • 1 generous cup basil-walnut pesto Recipe link in instructions
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 cup finely chopped fennel bulb
  • 1 cup finely chopped onion
  • 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casing removed
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 500 grams orecchiette about 1 1/4 pounds dried, or fresh (made with 4 cups flour)
  • Sun dried tomatoes, thinly sliced, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

  • Make a batch of Basil pesto, substituting walnuts for pine nuts, using this recipe.
  • Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan on low. Add fennel and onion, and cook until soft but not brown. Add sausage and cook, mashing it to a fine crumble, until it is no longer pink. Add chicken stock and cook until the stock has mostly evaporated and just glazes the sausage. Transfer sausage mixture to a food processor and pulse until finely ground (But Not too much! ). Return sausage mixture to the pan. Fold in a generous cup of the pesto.(Can be made ahead and held here.)
  • Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Add orecchiette and cook until al dente. Reheat sausage mixture and add 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Drain pasta and add to pan with the sausage mixture. Toss until pasta is evenly coated. Fold in remaining ½ cup cheese, check seasoning, add more pasta water if needed, and serve topped with grated Parmesan and thinly sliced sun-dried tomatoes.

Basil Pesto

Posting this recipe for easy reference in an upcoming post. Enjoy!

Print Recipe

Basil Pesto

Ingredients

  • 2 cups loosely packed basil leaves
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts
  • 2 large garlic cloves, peeled
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

  • Combine the basil, garlic, and salt in the bowl of food processor and grind till the mixture forms a paste. While running the food processor, slowly drizzle in the olive oil.  Fold in grated Parmesan. (If freezing, hold the Parmesan till just before using the thawed pesto.)

Eleven Madison Park Granola

They don’t offer this granola on the menu at Eleven Madison Park, New York’s award-winning, 3-star restaurant serving only plant-based food, with a tasting menu that will run you $365 a pop. Instead, all diners get a jar of the granola as a parting gift at the end of their meal, to serve at tomorrow morning’s breakfast. It’s actually a nice touch…

The restaurant wasn’t always vegan, and not everyone was happy when chef Daniel Humm decided to eschew all but plant-based foods when he re-opened the place in 2021 after a Covid hiatus. Although Eleven Madison was once purported to have a waiting list 50,000 people long, I found plenty of available seating for dinner in December in their online system when I checked today. But the restaurant has kept its 3 Michelin stars and its granola remains a star of the show.

The granola is rumored to be both delicious and addictive, with an unusual saltiness. If you want to try it, you can buy a trio of 10 ounce jars online for just $69.

Or you can make it yourself, using the recipe published in Humm’s pre-vegan Eleven Madison cookbook and on the New York Times website. It’s delicious.

I’ve modified Humm’s recipe to make just 3 cups of granola, because we just won’t go through more than that before it starts to go stale. I’ve also reduced the salt as Sam Sifton of the Times suggests. I love how salt enhances almost anything, but Humm seems to have overdone it a bit in my opinion. (And that’s even after using Diamond kosher salt, which is the least salty per weight of the two Kosher salts) I also over-browned this batch a tad – still getting used to the countertop oven we are using while our gas is shut off. Humm states he cooks it at 350 degrees, but the Times recipe says 300, and when I tried a first batch at 350 it burnt. So stick with 300 degrees, and watch the granola closely while cooking.

Print Recipe

Eleven Madison Park Granola (Modified)

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 Cups Rolled Oats
  • 1/2 cup shelled raw pistachios
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut chips, chopped into bite size pieces
  • 1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp Diamond Kosher salt More or less to taste, but do add some salt.
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 cup dried sour cherries

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 300. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, pistachios, coconut, pumpkin seeds and salt.
  • In a small saucepan set over low heat, warm the sugar, syrup and olive oil until the sugar has just dissolved, then remove from heat. Fold liquids into the mixture of oats, making sure to coat the dry ingredients well.
  • Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, and spread granola over it. Bake until dry and lightly golden, watching closely and stirring granola every 10 minutes, for somewhere between 20 and 35 minutes, depending on your oven and desired browning. Granola will still be soft when it's finished, and will crisp up as it cools.
  • Remove granola from oven, and mix into it the dried sour cherries. Allow to cool to room temperature before transferring to a storage container. Makes about 3 cups.

Repurposing My Defunct iPad Mini

I hate Apple.

Everything they make becomes useless over time.

Take my iPad Mini. I purchased it in 2013 so that I’d have an easy-to-carry device to showcase our mammogram decision aid at the MedX Conference, where I had a poster presentation. It’s been rarely used since then. But yesterday, as I was squinting at a movie on my iPhone’s little screen while working out at the gym, and wondering if I needed new readers, I remembered that iPad mini. I could use it at the gym!

When I got home last night, I pulled it from the back of the desk drawer. After charging and resetting it, I was thrilled to see it turn on and even connect to the internet!

And that was about it.

The bluetooth could not find my earbuds. Even after upgrading the OS to the latest version. And other than Safari (pre-installed), no Apps I’ve tried to install are compatible. Not a one. That means no Kindle reader, no Netflix , Hulu or HBO. No Outlook, Gmail, Chrome or Google Docs.

Nothing.

I was ready to throw the damned thing out – correction, recycle it. Then, while making granola today, I was consulting the recipe on my iPhone when my daughter called. As I was switching back and forth between the phone and the NY Times Cooking App, it hit me. As long as I have internet access, I can use the iPad as my recipe screen in the kitchen!

It was easy. I just mounted the iPad with double sided mounting tape on the wall near the stove. I disabled the pass code because there’s nothing on the iPad that I need to protect, and nothing I hate more than that damned pass code. I have an extra-long iPhone charging cord and a nearby outlet, so I won’t even have to take the iPad off the wall to charge it.

The other thing we do in the kitchen is listen to NPR while we cook. Annoyingly, our old battery operated radio is starting to drift off station way too often these days. Happily, both NPR stations we love (WNYC and WHYY) are accessible on Safari and don’t require an App to live stream on an iPad.

I had a great time using the iPad to read the recipe while listening to WNYC and making Madison Park’s Granola. (I’ll post that recipe tomorrow) And I was even able to take a call on my iPhone without having to switch screens!

I still hate Apple, but I love my new wall-mounted kitchen recipe reader and radio.

And I love technology.

Enlightened Cream of Tomato Soup

Warning – The story behind this soup is a long one. A melodrama in three acts as it were.

Act I

It all started with a chicken that I purchased some weeks ago, in order to get a single chicken liver to use in a Bolognese ragu. After removing the liver from the little packet stuffed inside the chicken, I put the neck back in the cavity, put the chicken in the freezer and made the Bolognese.

Act II

Two weeks later, I took the chicken out of the freezer, put it in a pot with some veggies and water and cooked it, giving me a meat to make soft tacos for the a couple of dinners and lunches. And also a gorgeous chicken broth, which I froze to use later.

Print Recipe

Chicken Broth and Cooked Chicken

Instructions

  • Wash chicken. Place it in a big soup pot along with chicken neck; an onion studded with 2 cloves and cut in half; a large leek, a large carrot and stalk of celery each cut into thirds; a turnip and parsnip cut into halves; a few sprigs of fresh thyme, and a handful of fresh parsley. Cover it all with cold water and for good luck add a small box of chicken bone broth (optional). Add a sprinkling of salt and pepper, simmer over low heat for a couple of hours till chicken is falling off the bone. Strain the broth, saving the chicken for later use, and refrigerate the broth overnight. De-fat and freeze in 3 cup batches.

All week I wondered what I should make with that broth. Motza ball or chicken noodle soup? Not in the mood for that. Risotto? Too heavy. White bean soup? Nah, not cold enough yet.

Act III

This morning, I sat down to get my costume ready for my friend’s birthday/Halloween bash tonight (sit down dinner, music and dancing). Its a big birthday for him, and I was excited to go. I was also kind of excited about our costume. We were going as a couple of idioms. I planned to tie apples, oranges and bananas from the bottom of my dress (low hanging fruit). Mr TBTAM would be a Catch 22 (No 22 pasted into a baseball glove, go Phils! ). Cute, right?

But first, as requested by our host of his guests, I did a rapid Covid test. And then I did another.

The results? Lets call them equivocal. (Here, see what you think, but know that the line in the pic is fainter than it looked in real life…)

I sent a pic of the results to my daughter, who works as a Covid liaison for the Department of Health, and her friends. It was unanimous – I was “positive”. I then uploaded the pic to the enormous text stream I have with my brothers and sisters and their spouses. They were unanimous. I was “negative”.

I had woken up feeling fine, but now, I was sure that I was starting to feel a little feverish, so I took my temp – normal. I did a third test, a different brand. An unequivocal negative.

What to do?

I think I’m probably negative. But, if I went to the party tonight and I’m an early positive, I’ve exposed a lot of folks to Covid, many of whom are in high risk groups. If I stayed home and I’m truly negative, the only evening that gets ruined is mine. I’d never forgive myself if someone got sick because of me, so I emailed our hosts my deep regrets. And immediately started to feel sorry for myself.

By this time, it was getting close to lunchtime. Mr TBTAM suggested grilled cheese – true comfort food for the woe begotten.

And then I knew what I had to make with the chicken broth. Cream of tomato soup.

But not rich, over buttery, cream-laden tomato soup. Something lighter, but with just a touch of creaminess. I didn’t have time to roast the tomatoes the way Cooks Illustrated and Ina Garten do, and as I will try next time I make this soup, but figured the home made broth more than made up for that. And I was right. The soup was wonderfully light but immensely flavorful.

The cheese sandwiches Mr TBTAM made us were also enlightened, using just and ounce or so of cheese for each, layered with tomatoes, red onion and a little mustard. He did toast them a little too dark, but I’m not complaining.

As we ate our delicious lunch, the warmth of the soup bathed my innards and I began to feel a little less morose. I sent some soup downstairs with Mr TBTAM to give to my daughter, who stopped briefly by on her way to Brooklyn with friends. She had it for her lunch, declared it a success and requested the recipe. That was all I needed to turn it into a great afternoon.

And tonight? Well, after all, it’s game 2 of the World Series, and the Phils won last night.

I think I’ll be fine.

ADDENDUM

Here’s my test from the next day. Unambiguously negative.

Print Recipe

Enlightened Cream of Tomato Soup

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 stalk celery, diced
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 2 28 oz can San Marzano Tomatoes, chopped
  • 3 cups Chicken Broth Preferably homemade
  • 1 Tsp Sea salt Add more to taste
  • 1 generous pinch saffron threads
  • Ground pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup 2% milk
  • 1/4 cup Half and half

Instructions

  • In a large stockpot, melt butter over medium heat. Saute onions, garlic and celery till soft. Add flour and cook a minute. Add tomatoes, both and spices. Simmer uncovered for 40 mins.
  • Remove from heat and puree with immersion blender till smooth. Stir in milk and half and half and return to heat. Heat and serve.

Philly Block Party Lemon Bars

We’ve owned our house in the Fairmount section of Philly for almost three years now, in anticipation of the day when we are ready to trade money for time, give up the daily grind that is the price for life in New York City, and move back home.

Well, I’m here to tell you that day has come.

A little sooner than anticipated.

You see, our landlord has decided to sell our Upper West Side apartment, and is not renewing our lease. Though I adore the apartment (small, but airy and sunny and the nicest kitchen I’ve ever had), we’re not going to try to buy it. Now is not the time to sink any part of our life’s savings into a building whose infrastructure seems to be crumbling around us.

Since we moved in, the hot water supply in the apartment has been anemic and erratic – it takes almost a half hour to heat up the water in the shower in our apartment line. (Old pipes…) Thankfully, our upstairs neighbor gets up earlier than we do, and runs her shower while she’s working out so that by the time we wake up, we can all take a hot morning shower. (I love New Yorkers…)

Four weeks ago, the building failed a Con-Ed inspection and our gas was shut off. (Old gas lines…) That means we have no working stove or oven. And probably will not have for the duration of our lease, which ends in four months.

Don’t feel sorry for me. It’s not the end of the world. We have heat and hot water (as it is). I’m making do for now with a cheap hot plate, but our landlord is getting us a larger countertop burner and oven. (I’m praying it will accommodate a Dutch oven for bread making…)

We’ve taken all this – the hot water, the gas, the unexpected lease non-renewal – as a sign that it’s time to leave. Not just this apartment, but New York City. We’ve been dragging out this goodbye for almost three years, and now it’s time.

Truth be told, I think we needed the push. ‘Cause you know, I do so love New York.

But I also love Philly.

I love the fact that we won’t need to keep working to afford to live there.

I love that I’ll be so close to family. (My sis and I share an alley and my daughter lives a few blocks away and did I tell you she’s engaged???!!!).

I love that I have a little brick row house with a backyard and it’s all my own, on the VERY BEST BLOCK in Philly. It’s a few blocks away from where we lived when we first were married, just around the corner from an amazing coffee shop, a bodega and local grocery, the best Bahn Mi sandwiches sandwiches and burgers I’ve ever eaten, and the great Irish bar with music on Friday nights. A stone’s throw from the Schuykill River and the excellent biking on the river drives. (Although I’m still puzzling out where to store the bikes…)

This past Friday, my daughter, sis and her hubby joined us and our dear out-of-town friends for drinks at our house, which is still sparsely furnished and awaiting our move here early next year. After drinks, we walked a few short blocks for a delicious Italian dinner on an outdoor table bathed by a warm heater. We closed the place after 11 pm, stopping on our walk home to watch the last play of the Phillies-Padres game on the outdoor big screen at the Irish bar. To top off the evening, the Phils won.

Then on Saturday, as If I needed any more convincing to move to Philly, our block had a party. (Didn’t I tell you I live on THE VERY BEST BLOCK in Philly?). The weather was perfect.

They blocked the ends of the street off to cars and set up chairs and tables, a moon jump for the kids and a big screen TV for the game.

There was even a band!

And lots of food.

We contributed our wooden folding table and benches. And I made lemon bars. In my WORKING GAS OVEN.

We met the most interesting, lovely people. Everyone was warm and welcoming. I can’t wait to get to know them all!

At the end of the night, we gathered around the TV to watch the Phils win the game that put them into the World Series. A perfect Philly way to end the day. Or as my sis put it “…watching the Phils’ at a block party? You gotch’er bona fides!”

Philly, I’m coming home.

Print Recipe

Lemon Bars

This recipe is from Ina Garten. Be sure to use the correct sized pan (9x13x2in). My pan was small, so the bars were a little too high, though they tasted delicious!

Ingredients

Shortbread Crust

  • 8 ounces Butter At room temperature
  • 2 cups Flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/8 tsp salt

Filling

  • 6 Extra large eggs At room temperature
  • 3 cups Sugar
  • 2 tbsp grated lemon zest (4-6 lemons)
  • 1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 cup flour
  • Confectioner's sugar, for dusting

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit
  • Cream the butter and sugar until light. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed and gather into a ball. Press it into a 9 x 13 x 2-inch baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill for 30 mins. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.
  • Whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.
  • Cut into triangles and dust with confectioners’ sugar. Serve.

Blistered Shishito Peppers

Thanks to my daughter for turning us on to Blistered Shishito Peppers – a simple, fast, delicious and fun appetizer.

The Shishito is mild pepper brought to the US from Japan and now widely available here in the United States. We got ours from Trader Joes, but you can easily grow them in your home garden.

The Shishito pepper likely came to Japan from Spain, where it is called a Padron pepper and is much hotter. It is believed to have mellowed after generations of selective breeding in Japanese soil.

The fastest and most fun way to get to know Shishito is to toss them in a little olive oil,

blister them in a cast iron skillet on the stove top

toss with lime and salt and eat ’em while they’re hot !

Despite its mild Scoville score of 50-200, it’s said that every batch of Shishitos will have at least one really hot pepper. Ours had more than a few hotties. Not that we complained. We like it hot!

Once you’ve mastered the blistered Shishito, don’t stop there. There are many ways to serve these bites of delight beyond just scarfing them down as they come out of the skillet. You can make a Shishito Salsa and serve it with steak. Or serve the blistered peppers atop a Corn and Japanese Curry or with charred cauliflower in a picada sauce. Or simply serve them with a dipping sauce.

As for me, next time I make blistered Shishito peppers I plan to double down on the Japanese – I’ll cook them in sesame oil and toss them with furikake and lime.

Print Recipe

Blistered Shishito Peppers

An easy, fast, fun and delicious appetizer.

Ingredients

  • 6 ounces Shishito Peppers
  • 1 scant tbsp olive oil
  • Sea salt Or finishing salt such as Maldon
  • 1/2 lime, cut into wedges

Instructions

  • Rinse peppers then dry them well. Toss with just enough olive oil to coat, without any excess.
  • Heat cast iron skillet on med high heat till hot enough that a drop of water tossed into the pan bounces, sizzles and evaporates. Add peppers, distributing them evenly on the pan. Allow them to sit a few minutes to start to char, then begin turning them one by one so they char evenly on all sides. As they heat up, the peppers will expand and pop. This can be a little scary and cause burns, so avoid the popping by piercing the peppers with a tooth pick or tip of a sharp paring knife as they expand. As they become charred, they will loosen and shrivel down a bit, but should still retain their bright green color in non-charred spots. Remove them one by one as they become perfectly charred and place in serving bowl. The smaller peppers will cook and blister faster than the larger ones.
  • Toss with salt to taste. Serve warm with lime wedges.

Maccheroni alla bolognese

Before there was Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy, there was Regional Italian Cuisine, a cookbook tour of Italy’s regions through its foods and recipes. While Stanley’s show is a light aperitivo, this book is the ten course meal, with recipes for dishes that will make you feel like you’re one of the Famiglia.

Each chapter of Regional Italian Cuisine focuses on a different region of Italy, summarizing in sequential, gorgeous two-page spreads of perfectly balanced text and photos its climate, crops, food specialties, regional events and sights to see. It then follows with short, well-written recipes of dishes native to the region. Every single recipe has an accompanying photograph, and some have photos of the recipe in progress. The recipes presume some knowledge of cooking, but I’ve never found them lacking in needed detail.

I don’t know where or when I bought this gorgeous tome, or when I annotated its regional map of Italy with notes to summarize the foods made there (I’m always prepping for an exam…). I do know that for years, it’s been my go to for all dishes Italian. The book (and it’s update in 2008) is out of print, but available used at a reasonable price.

Craving Ragu Bolognese

Recently, I found myself craving a ragù bolognese and remembering the light bolognese lasagna my friend Fabrizio had served us some years back. Unfortunately, Fabrizio was in Rome and not immediately available to give me his recipe. So I turned to my mainstay Italian reference, where I found a recipe for Maccheroni alla bolognese.

The first thing I noticed was that this Bolognese has no milk or cream, an ingredient that seems to be ubiquitous in most ragù bolognese, including the one officially notarized in 1982 by the Bologna Chamber of Commerce. Nor does it have tomatoes, though tomatoes are offered as a variation for those who just cannot imagine a ragù without them. (I used a small amount of tomato paste). And it has a single chicken liver!

So is this really a Bolognese?

Yes! In fact, it is closer than many to the most famous early recipe for ragù bolognese, published in 1891 by Pellegrino Artusi in his book La Scienza in Cucina e l’Arte di mangiar bene (Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well). The translated recipe is below.

Maccheroni alla Bolognese (Macaroni Bolognese)

For this dish the people of Bologna used a medium-sized pasta called denti di cavallo (horse’s teeth), and I agree that this kind of pasta is best for cooking in this style. … The following proportions are approximate for seasoning 500 grams (a pound) or more of pasta. 150 grams lean veal (better if in fillets.) 50 grams pancetta. 40 grams butter. One quarter of a regular onion. Half a carrot. Two palm-length ribs of white celery or the herb portion of a green celery. Just a little pinch of flour. A little pot of broth. A small amount of salt, depending on the saltiness of the pancetta and broth. Pepper and nutmeg to taste.

Cut the meat into small cubes, chop the pancetta, onion and herbs with a mezzaluna, and put them under the heat with the butter. When the meat has browned add the pinch of flour and broth and continue cooking until it is done.

Drain the pasta thoroughly and toss it with Parmesan cheese and this sauce, which you can make even better by adding some dried mushrooms, or sliced truffle, or a bit of chopped cooked chicken liver. Finally, you can add a half cup of cream to the sauce at the end of the cooking to make it more delicate. In each case, it is best that the macaroni arrive at the table not dry, but bathed in a bit of sauce..

Note that Artusi does suggest adding a half glass of cream at the end of his recipe, but this is only a suggestion and is entirely optional, according to Thomas Gwinner, who published an impressive history of the ragù bolognese.

Let us remember for comparison with later recipes that Artusi uses twelve ingredients and offers three optional ingredients for his ragù bolognese recipe. The twelve ingredients are veal, pancetta, butter, onion, carrot, celery,flour, broth, salt, pepper, nutmeg and Parmesan cheese. The three optional ingredients are dried mushrooms or sliced truffles, chopped cooked chicken liver, and cream.

Gwinner goes on to cite an even earlier related recipe from Alberto Alvisi in the 18th century. that uses chicken gizzard and cinammon, but never mentions milk or cream.

Ragù per li maccheroni appasiciati (Sloppy Macaroni)
Put well-rendered lard, an ounce of butter, a finely chopped onion, and veal, pork loin or even some finely-minced chicken gizzard in a pot, and cook the mixture over high heat until nicely browned. Add the broth little by little along with an ounce of flour to give body to the sauce as it reduces. Be aware that this ragù must be neither too watery nor too thick, but perfectly cooked, and sufficiently flavored with salt, pepper, cinnamon or other spices. The pasta must then be perfectly cooked in meat broth or well-salted water before serving with the above mentioned ragù.

Drain the pasta thoroughly and put it into a large bowl. Add the ragù and give it a stir. It will suffice at least for a first course at lunch. It is essential that the dish be hot and well mixed before bringing it to the table. Please note that in order to give the above mentioned ragù more substance it may be necessary to unify the savory flavors by adding some finely chopped mushrooms or truffles.

Eataly and Lydia Bastianich have published ragù bolognese recipes without milk, so I think I’m in good company with this recipe. And check out Massimo Bottura’s ragù bolognese – not only does he omit the milk, he chops the meat himself ! (Well, his assistant chops it …)

While my recipe uses tubular pasta, these days it is considered traditional to serve ragù bolognese on tagliatelle (preferably homemade). Like Artusi, Bottura cooks his tagliatelle in the same broth he uses in his ragù, and then finishes the pasta off in a pan with the ragù. I think that will be my next iteration of this incredible dish.

Ragù bolognese is not your mama’s spaghetti sauce

It’s a whole different dish, a true meat sauce. Unlike your mama’s tomato sauce, it does not take hours to make and is light yet rich in flavor. You must try it.

Don’t be put off by the clove in this recipe – it’s there, but it’s not. Or the chicken liver – you cannot taste it individually, but it really enriches the flavor. Not to mention that you now you have something to do with the some of the giblets inside that chicken you just bought!

Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Maccheroni alla bolognese

Macaroni with meat sauce, Bologna style (Emilia-Romagna)

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound ground beef
  • 1 chicken liver (1 ounce)
  • 2 thick slices bacon, minced (3 ounces)
  • 1 carrot, minced
  • 1 celery stalk, minced
  • 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
  • 1 lb Pasta I used pasta al ceppo
  • 1/2 cup beef stock Warmed, plus more to thin the sauce later if need be
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 tsp flour
  • 1 onion
  • 1 whole clove
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Freshly ground nutmeg to taste I used about 1/2 tsp
  • 1 pinch cayenne pepper
  • salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 3 tbsp tomato paste

Instructions

  • Melt butter in a large frying pan. Add carrot, celery and bacon and stir-fry lightly
  • Add ground meat and brown. Dust the meat with flour and add beef stock and tomato paste. Season w salt, pepper and freshly ground nutmeg. Add the clove and bay leaf. Simmer, covered, about 20 mins.
  • In a large pot bring 8 cups of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook al dente.
  • Mince the chicken liver and add to the ground beef. Cook 3-4 mins. Season again with salt and pepper and a pinch of the cayenne. Remove the bay leaf (and the clove if you can find it).
  • Drain the cooked pasta. Plate and top with the meat sauce. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

Notes

Variation – Peel and seed 11 ounces tomatoes, chop and cook together with the sauce.
Note – If you mistime the pasta and ragu, and the sauce thickens while you’re waiting for the pasta, just add some warmed beef stock or pasta water to thin the sauce out.
 

I was a poet and didn’t know it…

My poem entitled “Then and Now”, written at the height of the Covid Pandemic, has been published in Ascensus, the Weill Cornell Medicine Journal of the Humanities. It’s an in-house publication, started in 2013 and run by medical students to showcase the humanities at our medical school.

I was privileged to give a reading of my poem at the Ascensus 11th edition launch reception last evening. It was a joy to be with so many artistically minded medical colleagues, whose works ranged from poetry to prose, photography, painting and music. A special shout out to Courtney Lee for her moving poem “Hoarder”, to Koianka Tencheva, whose poem “My Dowry” brought tears to my eyes and to med student J Lind , whose emotional song lyrics were backed by some serious geetar playing. (You can find more on Spotify…)

Congrats to the Ascensus editorial team for another great edition of this wonderful journal, and to all my colleagues on their submissions.

THEN AND NOW

Then 
We lived in sweet, willful ignorance.
Nanoscopic particles bent on our destruction existed, surely, 
But attacked predictably, and only once a year
Allowing us to plan and fortify
With protein shields delivered through ethanol swabbed skin.
Few fell
But those who did
Passed within the soft embrace of love
Untainted by fear. 

Then
We lived and moved in shared spaces
Breathing the same air, 
Voicing the same songs,
Touching without fear, 
Hands grasping hands, 
Arms linking arms, 
Lips grazing lips, cheeks, foreheads. 

Then 
We blithely squeezed together in metal tubes beneath the streets,
Lined up tightly in shared anticipation,
Marched shoulder to shoulder on grand boulevards,
Brushed past one another in narrow halls and passages and
Mingled sweat and smell in crowded theaters and packed arenas.

Now
We live in isolation, 
Faces masked and drawn,
Warily walking along emptied streets
Past boarded stores and vacant food halls. 
We line up uneasily,
Pass gingerly,
Stand separately
Love guiltily.

Now 
We live and move in fear
Of this new predator 
And of one another. 
Those among us who fall
(And there are many)
Do so alone
Or at best, 
Watched from afar by faces on blue lit screens,
Witnessed by swathed strangers
Who stroke limp arms through gloved hands 
And whisper words of comfort
That pass between layers of three-ply polymer
And ricochet off polyurethane shields.

Margaret Polaneczky 11/19/20