Three Things
Turkey meatballs, beginner cook mishaps, a hearty, healthy soup you can make tonight
Greetings eaters and readers! Last week we kicked things off right with Sunday meatballs. And not just any meatballs, Anna Gass’s excellent braised Calabrian meatballs (above, here’s a video on instagram if you don’t subscribe to NYT Cooking), made with the ground turkey that we picked up on our last trip to our favorite Vermont co-op. In viewing news, we are working our way through the Oscar nominees — Tár and The Fabelmans and Banshees of Inisherin (still trying to figure out how I feel about that last one)— and I didn’t think it was possible to love Nick Offerman more than I already do, but wow was he amazing in this past week’s episode of HBO’s The Last of Us. (Officially loving that show.) Lastly, your long reads of the month: Foster, the novella by Claire Keegan and “One of a Kind,” by Beverly Gage, a fascinating first-person story about her experience as a patient with a novel genetic mutation, the only one in the world. And without further ado, your weekly Trifecta…
1. Soup Season
On Sunday, my family came over for lunch at the last minute and Andy made the best chicken salad sandwiches with leftover Harissa Chicken. (I’ll write up an official recipe soon, but the gist of it was: chicken, red onion, chili oil, a little mayo, chopped cilantro, cashews.) I figured I’d also serve tomato and white bean soup, the ultimate pull-it-together-at-the-last-second pantry meal, and make enough to have for dinner, too, maybe watch in front of the games. It was nothing fancy, but my brother-in-law’s reaction made me think otherwise (how awesome is an enthusiastic guest?) and told me I should write it up. (Thanks, Tony!) So here you go — for dinner, I topped it with croutons made with stuffing bread that had been in the freezer since Thanksgiving. Why does a pantry-dive meal make me feel so virtuous?
Smoky Tomato-White Bean Soup
Serves 4
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
small shake of oregano (like 1/4 teaspoon)
1 14-ounce can cooked white beans (such as cannellini or Great Northern), including liquid
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 cup vegetable stock (or chicken stock if you’re not going vegetarian)
Optional toppings: Parmesan, croutons
In a medium soup pot set over medium heat, saute onion, carrots, celery, garlic in olive oil. Add salt, pepper, paprika, and oregano, and cook until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add beans, reserving ⅓ cup, then all of the tomatoes and vegetable stock, and turn up the heat slightly. Cook for about 3 minutes, then, using an immersion blender, blend the soup until it’s smooth, adding water if necessary until it reaches your desired consistency. Turn down the heat to the lowest possible level and simmer for 15 minutes. During the last few minutes, stir in reserved beans and cook until warmed through. Top with croutons and Parm and a good drizzle of olive oil.
Other warm-your-bones soups: Comforting Broccoli or Chicken Tortilla
2. A Birthday Cake for Cheese Lovers
I was so happy when Joanna and her boys came over on Saturday night. Not only because it’s just so energizing to have young kids in the house again, but because it’s her birthday this week, and I’ve been dying to make her a cheese-stacked cake ever since spying a version of one in Marissa Mullen’s That Cheese Plate. (Joanna is a cheese lover of the first order.) Marissa used cross-sectioned figs, but I thought star fruit might would be fun, too. The “cake layers” were a 4-inch wheel of goat brie and a 3-inch wheel of Cowgirl Creamery’s, Mt. Tam my absolute favorite.
3. We were beginners once and young…
I had the best gig when I first moved to New York, right out of college. I knew a guy who guy who knew a guy who ran a restaurant consulting business, and this business paid for people to eat out for free if they wrote undercover reviews of their meals. For someone with ambitious taste buds, but not quite the salary to match, this was like winning the lottery. Every Friday night, I’d slip on my Steve Madden slides, grab a date (usually then-boyfriend, now-husband Andy), and head to the assigned eatery, dashing to the restroom stalls in between courses so I could take notes on things like the exact amount of minutes it took for the server to greet me. The only problem? I knew nothing about food. I mean, I knew a little. But I was only 22 or 23, and I cringe when I think about some wizened veteran restaurant owner pulling up those reports. There was the time I expressed shock and dismay at how bitter the broccoli was (it was broccoli rabe), and the time I was confused by the weird chewy shell on the sugar snap pea starters (it was unshelled edamame). Once, thinking I was the epitome of sophistication, I asked the server for a glass of Rioja, pronouncing the “j,” (as in Jenny). But that was a lot better than the time I almost ordered sweetbreads at a fancy old-school French restaurant thinking they were glazed pastries. “Do you…uh…know what those are?” Andy whispered around his menu, trying to play it cool. I ordered the crab bisque, and we laughed our asses off. The learning curve was just as steep when I was cooking in my own kitchen….[continued ]
Have a great week,
Jenny
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