There was about a cup of garbanzos and a cup of their broth sitting in the refrigerator. I was starving. Well, quite hungry. I added some frozen spinach, olive oil and a teaspoon of our new Smoked Spanish Pimenton Paprika. Once heated through, a drizzle of my best olive oil and a scant squeeze of lemon. Holy cow.
There was a moment when I thought to add some rendered pancetta for body and substance but I didn’t feel like dirtying another pan. Hush! I’m confessing. I will say there was no need to worry. The pimenton adds a little smokiness and good olive oil makes most everything substantial. There is a temptation to add even more pimenton but a teaspoon is perfect. I am not the biggest spinach fan so I only had frozen on hand. I don’t dislike it but I prefer it when other people make things with it. I plopped some of the frozen spinach into the simmering garbanzos and waited while they made friends. I reached for the parmesan but thought, so far so good, let’s make this vegan. The lemon was the kicker.
I don’t know if this is a tradition anywhere in Mexico, but this strikes me as a generous, somewhat easy to execute Christmas dish. I’ve been making trial runs, and my family has loved it. I guessed that this recipe would serve 4-6 people, but this made my mother laugh. I reminded her that not everyone would be having seconds and thirds like she was. I think it would feed 6 normal people just fine.
It’s handy to keep a box of salt cod in your fridge. It needs to soak and be de-salted before you cook but this is easy and only a little time consuming. I’ve seen many different times for soaking but I think 24 hours is plenty.
I used a large, clay cazuela but a small stock pot or soup pot will be fine. Many recipes call for almonds and raisins but for me it’s almost too much. I love the cod-tomato-chile combination as it is.
All of this is approximate and vague. It’s hard to mess this up.
Recipe: Bacalao a la Mexicano
1 pound salt cod, soaked for 24 hours with several changes of water 1 large onion, chopped small 4 cloves garlic, minced Extra virgin olive oil 5 canned plum tomatoes and their juice, roughly chopped 1 teaspoon Rancho Gordo Oregano Indio ¼ cup capers (I use salt-packed Italian capers, soaked for about 20 minutes with a few changes of water) ½ cup green olives (I used Castelvetrano olives with pits, which I smashed with a knife and removed the pits before chopping roughly) 5 cooked potatoes, quartered 2 red bell peppers, roasted and roughly chopped Salt to taste 3 jalapeños en escabeche, chopped 1 bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped Optional and traditional: ¼ cup raisins and ¼ cup slivered almonds
Poach the cod in water with an onion, over medium low heat for about 20 minutes. When cooked, set aside and allow to cool.
Saute the onions and garlic in a pot in plenty of olive oil and saute until soft over medium low heat for about 15 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the oregano and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes.
Remove the cod from the soaking water, reserving the cooking water. Once cool, shred it with your hands to small, bite size pieces. Shred the fish small, not tiny.
Add the potatoes, peppers, capers and olives to the pot. Stir gently and then carefully add the fish and simmer for 10 minutes or so over medium low heat. The dish should be like a thick soup with some broth. If it seems to dry, add a little of the reserved cooking water from the cod. Taste for salt.
The dog didn’t get any bacalao but he was there and I felt it should be documented.
I am very fond of roasted red peppers and I’ve been enjoying the red ones from a jar but Irecently spotted sugar as an ingredient on my favorite Trader Joe’s brand. Why? The mixed pepper version has no sugar but the best solution is buying fresh, organic peppers and roasting them yourself. The skin on bell peppers after roasting and steaming comes off even easier than poblano peppers.
Roasting peppers is easy and I’ve written about it before. Now I tend to only use the burners on my gas stove and I put the peppers in a large mixing bowl and cover it with a plate. No plastic wrap is needed.
This is a bold, meaty salad that I can eat as a dinner.
Recipe: Roasted Pepper Salad with Pepitas
1 each of Poblano, Red Bell and Orange Bell peppers, roasted, skinned and cleaned, then chopped into strips 1/4 cup Manchego cheese, cut into small cubes 1/2 red onion, sliced into very thin skins 1 teaspoon Rancho Gordo Oregano Indio Rancho Gordo Pineapple Vinegar, to taste Extra Version Olive Oil, to taste Salt and pepper, to taste 2 tablespoons roasted Pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
Toss the peppers, cheese, onions, and Oregano Indio together. Add the olive oil and vinegar as you like. Test for seasoning and add salt and pepper. Gently toss and then add the pepitas on top. Serve room temperature or slightly chilled.
Over the summer, I was lucky enough to get to spend three days at Georgeanne Brennan’s house while we shot photos for our new cookbook, French Beans. When I wasn’t trying to pretend I was a prop stylist or a food stylist, I was hovering around her kitchen, watching her every move. Mainly, I was just trying so soak up some of her kitchen zen, the way she calmly moved about, checking on something in the oven, stirring croutons that were crisping on the stovetop, chopping herbs, humming quietly to herself.
On the last day of the shoot, chef Sarah Scott was nice enough to come and help with food prep. Cassoulet was on the shot list, and we were all excited. I watched intently as they readied the ingredients: the beans, the aromatics, the pork belly, duck confit, and pancetta. There are so many steps involved in this dish but Georgeanne methodically worked through them, making it all look pretty effortless. And then, three or so hours later, what emerged from the oven was a masterpiece—a bubbly, crusty, masterpiece.
It was torture not to dig in immediately, but first Steve had to take the photos. So. Many. Photos. Finally, it was time to eat. We heaped piles of still-warm cassoulet into bowls. We stood there, shoveling mouthfuls of beans and sausage and duck bits into our mouths. It was not an elegant scene. But it was certainly a glorious food moment that I’ll never forget.
Recently I decided that I wanted to make cassoulet for some of my friends, so they could experience the warm, convivial feeling of gathering around a big dish of bubbling beans and meat and just digging in with wild abandon.
I stocked up on our Cassoulet beans, grown in California but bred from French Tarbais seed stock. I placed an insanely large order with The Fatted Calf here in Napa. And Steve was nice enough to lend me his cassole made in France by the iconic Poterie Not Frères.
Then, I opened up my advance copy of French Beans, and doing my best to harness Georgeanne’s kitchen zen, I got to work making her recipe, “Cassoulet, More-or-Less Toulouse-Style.”
I cooked the beans:
Then cooked the meat and layered ingredients in the pot:
And, of course, dotted the top with pork fat:
While the cassoulet baked in the oven, my daughters helped me with the table settings and flower bouquets.
It was a gorgeous, warm fall evening in Napa and we carved out some space in our backyard for outdoor dining.
Three hours later, just as the first guests were arriving, the cassoulet emerges from the oven!
Steve had warned me not to eat right away, that the cassoulet needs some time to sit. I had this in mind when I went downstairs to socialize, sip Champagne, and enjoy the cheese plate a friend had brought over. Before I knew it, over an hour had passed and I had almost forgotten about the cassoulet! We gathered to eat and even though we may have waited a bit too long, luckily, the cassoulet was still steaming hot.
We had 12 people total for dinner, and with a simple salad and some fresh bread and butter, this was just about the perfect amount of food.
Because the recipe says it serves 8, I actually had doubled it and baked an extra cassoulet in a Dutch oven, using my neighbor’s oven, but it hardly got touched and we had lots of leftovers! We shared plenty with our neighbor, in hopes that she would forgive us for the outdoor party that lasted well beyond bedtime.
Julia Newberry runs Rancho Gordo and was my co-author on The Rancho Gordo Vegetarian Kitchen. We’re lucky to have her for so many reasons, but this post makes it clear why.
French Beans by Georgeanne Brennan (Rancho Gordo Press) will be available late Fall 2018 – Steve
Bread never goes to waste in the Sando household. As the loaf starts to get stiff, I slice it up and lay it on the grates in my oven. In the morning, it’s super dry, and then it gets packed into an airtight tin until it’s ready to help. I have an old gas stove with a pilot light, so the bread dries quickly, but any oven will do, it just may take longer.
Beans and bean broth never get wasted either. In this case, I added some leftover chicken stock to the beans and bean broth, and then there was soup. It was delicious but not so fancy, so I placed a piece of the stale bread and a few crumbles of queso fresco in a soup bowl. The bean mixture got ladled on top, and just for kicks, I added a very few pickled onions on top.
I have to admit, I get a kick out of a dinner that is so delicious and so frugal. The rest of my life is indulgent enough. Really, there was no suffering in this situation.
I’ve said this over and over but when you have something out for your guests to eat and drink, you can mostly take your time with the rest of the food.
My favorite hummus recipe is easy and lately I’ve been topping it with ground lamb and pine nuts, but a few olives on the edge of the plate and a good drizzle of olive oil are just as good.
I’ve been getting my tahini online from Soom Foods and it’s so much easier to work with than a bottle or can from the grocery store that has been sitting there so too long. And it’s delicious and I’ll be re-ordering.
I had made white beans and kale the previous night, and there was about a cup left. Before you ask me for the recipe, it’s beans and cooked kale. That’s it. I added some tahini and lemon juice and pureed it with an immersion blender, and then I had this wonderful dip, but not before adding a healthy dose of really good extra virgin olive oil.
I would have called this White Bean Hummus, but I don’t know if there is such a thing and I know how offended I am by creative martini drinks when a martini is gin and vermouth. Not being sure and not wanting to offend hummus purists, I present to you: White Bean, Kale, and Tahini Dip.
I’ve used the recipe in The Kitchn for making ricotta cheese with milk and lemon juice for years. I know that it’s worth it to make it just for the cheese, but I think it’s great for using up extra milk.
This time, inspired by Carlos Yesca‘s recipe in the current Food + Wine, I made the cheese as instructed but afterward, I added some salt and chopped epazote and then placed it in a cheese basket to let all the excess liquid drain. This might be a form of queso fresco or paneer but I’m not sure.
It’s not a decadent gooey cheese. It’s ideal for adding to a pot of beans or a very quick quesadilla. And it’s fun.
I’ve never seen this done in Mexico but I bet there’s a village somewhere that steams fish in hoja santa/acuyo leaves. I’ve done something similar where I steamed fish in a corn tamal wrapper but I had a delicate sole on hand. I also wanted something quick-ish and easy.
I marinated the fish in olive oil, garlic, a small splash of pineapple vinegar, salt, thinly-sliced zucchini, onions, and Oregano Indio. The fish was later wrapped into sloppy packets and tied with butcher twine and steamed for about 10 or 12 minutes. The zucchini really needs to be thin so I used a mandolin.
I bet you could do the same with grape or fig leaves. If the fish were sturdier, you might grill them as well.
Anissa Helou’s Feast: Foood of the Islamic World (Ecco Press, 2018) is a great book and you should have it in your personal library. It’s big, beautiful and full of recipes that are complicated and exotic along with much simpler fare. The common thread is celebrations. I’ve had the book for a while now and it remains a constant inspiration. The recipes work.
I’ve taken a lot of liberties with her Baked Sea Bass with Tomatoes and Olives recipe from Morocco. She calls for a whole sea bass but my market had fillets of halibut. The all green olives were replaced by a mixture of green and black only because this is what I had on hand. I also added a bed of pureed Rancho Gordo Cassoulet beans on each plate to rest on as a starch instead of bread. But the basic dish is chermoula-marinated white fish baked with tomatoes and olives. I did follow that!
A traditional Moroccan clay vessel for fish is a tagra. I’ve been wanting one for a very long time. I’ll get one one day. I used the bottom of my clay, unglazed tagine and it was great. I even used the tagine lid to keep the dish warm as my slow but determined family made their way to the table for a Sunday supper. We all agreed that this was a keeper, especially with so many good heirloom tomatoes at hand in the garden. I’m hoping Anissa won’t mind all the liberties taken with her recipe.
Recipe: Baked Fish with Tomatoes and Olives
For the Fish 1 ½ to 2 pounds of firm white fish, such as halibut or sea bass. Chermoula (see below) Sprigs of flat leaf parsley 4 large firm ripe tomatoes, cut into thick slices sea salt 10 ½ ounces green (or green and black) olives, pitted, preferably by you, sliced in half 2 cups cooked Rancho Gordo Cassoulet beans and some of their cooking liquid
For the Chermoula 5 cloves of garlic, minced to a fine paste or pounded in a mortar 1 small onion, finely grated ½ bunch of cilantro, stems discarded, finely chopped 1 teaspoon ground cumin ½ teaspoon paprika ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil juice of 2 lemons, or to taste sea salt, to taste
Pat the fish dry with paper towels and place on a platter or in a bowl. Gently massage the fish with the chermoula and marinate for at least 2 hours, preferably longer, in the refrigerator.
Preheat the oven to 425F (220C).
Blanch the pitted olives in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain and reserve.
Spread the parsley over the bottom of an oven-to-table baking dish large enough to hold the fish. Lay down the marinated fish and then cover with sliced tomatoes. Season the tomatoes with salt and add any leftover chermoula over the tomatoes. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes. Add the reserved olives and cook for another 10 minutes. Take care to not overcook the fish. A whole fish will take a few minutes longer than fish fillets. Allow the dish to rest for 5 minutes.
Warm the beans in a small pot and puree them with an immersion blender. The consistency should be almost like a pancake batter; thick but still soft and liquid. If they are too runny, turn up the heat to medium-high and stir as the bean puree thickens. If the beans are too thick, add a little water.
Have each guest put a ladle full of the bean puree on each plate and then add the fish.
