He Cooks, She Cooks

Just after the James Beard Award semifinalists were announced, I decided it was time to learn more about Beard himself. I made a special trip to the university library to check out one of his books. I’ll add that in seven semesters at Missouri I never needed a library book for class, but since starting this blog, I have checked out nine books and browsed many others on the second level of the West Stacks.

Anyway, back in February I picked up Beard on Food (an unpleasant title to anyone unfamiliar with the man who might have been the first celebrity chef). The book is a collection of his favorite columns and recipes, starting with the perfect hamburger and ending with Saltimbocca all’Emiliana, a delicious-sounding dish with spinach, veal scaloppini, prosciutto, sage and Marsala.

The essays were all written before 1974, which means they are filled with reminders of how much has changed over the years. We’ve come a long way since the time when wasabi needed to be called “green Japanese horseradish.” Today nearly anyone will answer “yes” to Beard’s query, “Have you encountered pita?” And let’s be thankful that avocados are no longer called “alligator pears” and are not “a very expensive delicacy.”

At times Beard is quite funny. My favorite line being: “Two of my best friends are a stripper and a zester. In case that raises some pretty wild visions, let me hasten to say that they are not girls but gadgets, and I couldn’t do without them in the kitchen.”

You can tell Beard was a man who had profound appreciation for food. Many of his columns are dedicated to a particular ingredient, and he kept his recipes simple enough for each to shine. One essay was called “The Sardine, a Small Miracle.” He talked about one of his favorite sandwiches, “homemade bread, well-buttered, spread with mashed sardines, a few drops of lemon juice, and a thin slice of onion, eaten with a glass of beer or wine.”

I thought about sardines. In my head I didn’t think I liked them, but then I wasn’t sure if I ever really had them. Did I actually dislike them? I decided to buy a tin and find out.

I followed Beard’s recipe for wined sardines on toast. If I was going to like sardines, it was going to be with butter, onion, garlic, wine and lemon, that’s for sure. Turns out all those things are delicious with the little fish, and my friend Marissa agreed. She didn’t think she liked sardines either until actually tasting them this way on homemade bread. So if you’re on the fence, as we were, I feel this could open your horizons. And it would probably make the late James Beard proud.

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Most of the recipes we offer on He Cooks She Cooks are more like guidelines. We know we don’t have the authority to tell you how exactly to make something. We barely listen to the great chefs whose recipes we look at. The way we see it, there are infinite ways to make great food. As long as you have an idea how you want something to taste in the end, you can keep adding till you get there — or somewhere close.

This chili, for instance, is unbelievably forgiving. Beans, vegetables, meat (or not) and spices. Throw varying amounts of those in a pot, simmer for a while, then serve.

We had ours with homemade cornbread. I finally made the New York Times recipe I’d been wanting to try all year: Brown Butter Cornbread with Thyme and Farmer Cheese. How could you go wrong with those ingredients, right? Well the result wasn’t bad. It just…wasn’t how I like my cornbread. I guess I, like Deb in the Smitten Kitchen, like my cornbread on the sweeter side, but didn’t know it until I had this much more savory version. If you’re in the camp that would prefer something like this, then by all means, go thyme and brown butter crazy.

In the meantime, here’s a list of what we put in the chili. Add and subtract ingredients as you wish.

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If you were to tell me there are people in this world who don’t love warm fresh bread, I wouldn’t believe you. Even if you have dietary restrictions that prevent you from having it, I bet you want it. My sister is allergic to wheat, but bread is probably her favorite thing ever.

This no-knead bread recipe is the opposite of labor intensive, but you have to decide 6 hours ahead that you want it. That’s a pain, but it’s great for weekends when can you wake up a little later, mix all the ingredients together in 3 minutes, let it rise for four hours while you do whatever you do on the weekend, then come back, fold it over a few times, let it sit 30 minutes more while the oven heats, then start to cook it before you prepare dinner.

Can’t wait that long? Tell us, what’s your favorite bakery?

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I know, who buys ground goat, right?

Well, we did. The Mizzou Meat Market is an amazing place run by students in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. They butcher high quality meat and sell it at great prices. One time they had ground goat, and we said ‘Yes, please.’ (If you eat lamb, you will like goat just as much.)

This is a meal that can be a lot easier than I made it, but I wanted to treat that goat right so I made my own hummus, tzatziki and pita bread. I didn’t have classes that day, what can I say?

I was most inspired by a New Zealand Herald recipe because I figured Kiwis know what’s up with lamb/goat. Then I added dried coriander and mint because the flavors seemed to match, and bulked up the meatballs with breadcrumbs and egg, as you would Italian meatballs.

Goat is great, and the spices stood up to the meat. Hummus and tzatziki go so naturally with the Greek/Middle Eastern spices, and well, let’s call the addition of fresh pico de gallo “fusion.”

While I had trouble getting air pockets in some of the pita, the meatballs taste just as good on top, eaten with a knife and fork.

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I love carbs of all kinds, but Indian naan has to be one of my favorites. Last year my mom and I went on a naan baking binge, trying to find the right recipe and technique. There is quite a lot of variation. Some call for yeast, others just use plain yogurt. Some are baked, some cooked in a pan on the stove. My mom and I had lots of good bread, but nothing quite like the naan served in Indian restaurants.

Finally I found something that compared. This is a yeast recipe, and though naan is meant to be baked in a high-heat tandoor oven, I prefer to make it on the stovetop because it’s easier to flip. Ghee is a clarified butter that you can get from some markets or make yourself by simmering butter until all the water evaporates and you can separate the fat from the milk solids. I used simple melted butter, and that was just fine.

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