Three Things

Sunday feasts, broccoli dinners, a great deal on great knives

Greetings eaters and readers! New England was absurd this weekend, so beautiful it was like we were living in an amusement park version of autumn. We hit our first apple orchard of the season, which translated to warm apple crisp made from hand-picked macouns and empires, and now I think I need to make a tradition out of it for as long as the harvest allows. In other news, I’m heading down south for a little writing retreat and packed two good books for bedtime reading to keep the juices flowing: Liberation Day (George Saunders fans, rejoice!) and Catherine Newman’s We All Want Impossible Things the novelization of the story about her dying friend that ripped everyone’s hearts out a few years ago. (But since it’s Catherine of “Yay It’s Wednesday Cake” fame, I know it will be equal parts life-affirming.) And now, Three Things I’d like you to know about this week…

1. Dinner Starts with Broccoli

When I was growing up, broccoli graced my dinner plate almost every night — steamed, buttered, and salted, it felt like the sidelined, homework portion of the program, not something that was supposed to actually be enjoyed. Fast forward a few decades and I’ve gone in the other direction, often looking at a head of broccoli and seeing center-of-the-plate dinner ideas. Here are a few of those: Broccoli Melts, inspired by my favorite sandwich at Daily Provisions; a classic Spaghetti with Broccoli Pesto; and two soups: one simple and comforting and pureed, and one Thai-influenced version that my friend Sonya bottled up for me last year, then dropped on my doorstep during a week I really needed some soup-shaped comfort. That one tasted extra good…

or…

If you’re looking for a side-dish treatment, let me remind you that if you simmer broccoli for 4 to 5 minutes, immediately plunge the stalks in an ice bath (aka, “shocking”), they will be glowing green. Then you can chop the stalks finely (stems and all) and treat them the way you’d treat lettuce in a salad, tossing with pickled minced onions and peppers, and your favorite vinaigrette or just a drizzle of olive oil and red wine vinegar.

Cuban-Style Black Beans; credit: David Malosh

2. Fall Sunday Dinners are the Best Sunday Dinners

Is it even fall if there isn’t a big pot of something braising in the oven or simmering on the burner, permeating the house with onion-infused happiness? Fall soups and braises and stewy beans (like Sam Sifton’s, shown) are the kinds of meals that practically beg to be cooked for Sunday dinner, the kind of recipes that make you want to text everyone you know and say “Hey! There’s a big pot of Texas Chili on my stovetop! Come on by!”

Here’s what Sifton, author of See You on Sunday and steward of one of my most favorite newsletters, once wrote about his long-standing Sunday dinner ritual:

“Word got around. And the calls or texts would start coming. ‘There dinner on Sunday?’ Yes. See you then. Bring wine or a cake, a friend, some flowers, nothing at all. People are lonely. They want to be a part of something, even when they can’t identify that longing as a need. They show up. Feed them. It isn’t more complicated than that. The point of Sunday dinner is just to have it. Even if you don’t particularly like entertaining, there is great pleasure to be had in cooking for others, and great pleasure to be taken from the experience of gathering with others. Sunday dinner isn’t a dinner party. It is not entertainment. It is just a fact, like a standing meeting or a regular touch football game in the park. It makes life a little better every time.”

How great is that? Why wouldn’t we all follow Sifton’s lead this weekend and chef up a pot of his homey Cuban-Style Black Beans — feels like Franks & Beans with a Ph.D — and text a friend or two to come by. Feeding vegetarians? No prob: Below are the baked beans from How to Celebrate Everything that we used to make every Halloween for neighborhood friends.

Baked Beans (Vegetarian)
Inspired by Victoria Granof. Makes 8 to 10 half-cup portions.

1 pound dried navy or Great Northern beans
1 small onion, chopped
1⁄2 cup pure maple syrup
1⁄4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
2 tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1⁄4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 thick strip bacon (omit if you’d like it to be vegetarian; or serve bacon crumbles for toppings)
5 to 6 cups boiling water
Suggested toppings: cornbread (store bought or homemade), Fritos (!), shredded sharp cheddar, fresh herbs like parsley or chives.

In a large pot, cover the beans with water. Bring to a boil and simmer until tender, about 1 hour. Drain. Return the pot to the stovetop.

Preheat the oven to 300°F. In the large pot, over low heat, combine all the ingredients except the boiling water. Stir in the cooked beans.

Add just enough of the boiling water to the pot to cover everything. Cover the pot with aluminum foil, then cover the foil with the lid. Bake for 5 hours, adding more warm water as necessary to keep the beans submerged. Uncover completely for the last 30 minutes to brown the top.

3. Deal of the Day!

It’s that time of year again. Nakano, makers of affordable high-quality Japanese knives — many of which I own and love and use everyday — are offering DALS readers a 20% discount on the entire store with code DINNER. Don’t you feel special? I have my eye on that new 8-inch AOS series chef knife. Thanks, Nakano!

P.S. A little something to think about from one of my favorite instagram follows, Alessandra Olanow. Tattoo contender?

Have a great week!

Jenny

P.S. Housekeeping

Whether you are a veteran reader or a newbie, please take a second to click here so you can see that every post and every recipe I write about in this newsletter lives permanently on my substack website. I hear from so many of you that my recipes get buried and lost in inboxes. They are never lost! They are there to be searched for (yes, there’s a search function) and browsed and loved and cooked. As always, if you can’t find something, please reach out to me: Jenny at dinneralovestory dot com and I will point you in the right direction.