Al Dente

New Year's: Books and Beans

When I was in my mid-20’s, I lived with someone obsessed with New Years resolutions. I couldn’t escape the plotting which often began in October and ran up until midnight on New Year's Eve. This was a serious quest, and I never felt up to the challenge.

While the concept of looking at character flaws and holes in one’s personal life is of course a noble one, its just not one I’ve ever been able to embrace. I’ve always been much more interested in culinary resolutions. So, rather than being roped in to work on  “private areas of improvement”, over the years I‘ve adopted a much more humane approach to the New Year’s Resolution. I pick a cookbook and cook my way through it throughout the entire year. It’s an incredibly simple way to learn a cuisine, but one needs to be choosy.

Be sure to pick a master. I started with Diana Kennedy’s The Cuisines of Mexico, moved on to Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s The Splendid Table, hit Madhur Jaffrey’s Flavors of India and have not looked back. I could not have had better teachers.

Once you’ve made the commitment to a cuisine and have built the pantry, you are off and running. Be sure to drag your family behind. Believe me, by March they’ll catch up--even the littlest ones.

Recipe:

I’m becoming more superstitious with age, so the one thing I do not fiddle with is the tradition of eating beans on New Year’s Day. Why mess with something so logical? This is one of the first recipes of mine that my partner in crime, Lynne Rossetto Kasper, swooned over, so it has a very tender place in my heart. It is made entirely with canned goods, comes together in a snap, is sensual and lush and redolent with spices. It is also the perfect foil for a slightly too-much-wine-the-night-before stomach.

Refried Beans with Cinnamon and Clove
Excerpted from The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper: Recipes, Stories, and Opinions from Public Radio’s Award-Winning Food Show, by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift (Clarkson Potter, April 8, 2008). Copyright © 2008 by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift

Serves 4 to 6

Cook to Cook:  Melting in a small amount of butter after mashing the beans brings this dish together.  Don’t skip this step.

Good-tasting extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped into 1/4-inch dice
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper
4 garlic cloves, fine chopped
1 fresh jalapeño, seeded and fine chopped
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
One 14-ounce can whole tomatoes, drained
Two 15-ounce cans red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1-1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons butter

1.  Generously film the bottom of a 10-inch skillet with olive oil, and heat over medium-high heat.  Sauté the onions with salt and pepper to taste until they begin to soften, about 3 minutes.  You want to hear a sizzle as they cook.

2.  Add the garlic, jalapeño, cinnamon, and cloves, and cook the mix until it is fragrant, about 1 minute, taking care not to burn the spices.  Add the tomatoes, crushing them as they go into the pan.  Sauté for another minute.

3.  Stir in the beans and water.  Bring to a fast simmer, crushing the beans with a potato masher (or the back of a large spoon) as they cook, and scraping the bottom of the pan as the beans begin to thicken.  Simmer until the beans are thick, about 10 minutes.  Blend in the butter, and taste for seasoning just before serving.

--Sally Swift

Gifts for People Who Like to Eat…and Drink

Every year on our public radio program The Splendid Table, we are inundated with requests for gift ideas. Every year I scratch my head and try to come up with a new gadget, or olive oil, or obscure peppercorn from inner Toledo, and every year I come back to the same thing--a book.

For me, there is nothing more endearing and personal than your pick of something you’ve loved and used over the years. Flag a few recipes and it is becomes even more intimate.

Here is a short list of my most spattered, torn, and well-thumbed. I’m forcing myself to stop at ten.

The Splendid Table, by Lynne Rossetto Kasper. This book was so bewitching I was compelled to call her, and thus the radio show was born. Lynne is a stickler for details and is one of the best recipe writers around. Every single recipe in this book works, I swear.

The Art of Mexican Cooking, by Diana Kennedy. Another obsessive-compulsive like the above-mentioned Lynne. This book is full of history and culture and opinion and she writes recipes and technique in clear precise terms. The new edition came out in 2008

The New Book of Middle Eastern Food, by Claudia Roden. I’m obviously drawn to obsessive types. This is a re-working of Claudia’s original masterwork, Book of Middle Eastern Food.

On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, by Harold McGee. This is a book of science and logic and belongs in every kitchen--I’m not kidding.

Paris Sweets, by Dorie Greenspan. If you ever doubted whether someone’s point of view really matters, take a look at this charming book. Dorie worked with pastry chefs all over Paris and adapted their recipes for American cooks. Pierre Herme’s legendary Korova Cookie recipe alone makes this book worth the money.

The Oxford Companion to Wine, by Jancis Robinson. I am not a wine person. I can’t remember anything about a wine, even when I’ve drunk it 20 times. Is it because I’m drinking? I don’t know, but this book is my savior.

Unplugged Kitchen, by Viana La Place. Another charming book that reminds me of the beauty of small, simple things. The recipes are beguiling, and very wise.

Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, by Deborah Madison. This book is my Joy of Cooking. It is an encyclopedia of information on everything from Jacobs Ladder beans to quinoa to texturized vegetable protein, to aged basmati rice. I use it all the time.

From Curries to Kebabs: Recipes from the Spice Trail, by Madhur Jaffrey. This is  a beautiful book that covers curries and their relatives all around the world. It is filled with history and culture and has a beautiful pink cover so you can find it easily on your shelf.

Moro: The Cookbook, by Sam & Sam Clark. This is the chef book I go back to time and time again. This British couple translates the sensuality of Mediterranean food in their London restaurant Moro (Spanish for Moor), and manage to do it in my kitchen as well.