You can buck up the personality of a bowl of pasta by merely switching the order of how grated cheese and tomato sauce are blended with the noodles. Bring in smoky flavors and a snap of chile, and you have a modern improvisation.
Fish is easily overcooked, which makes it a strong candidate for slow cooking and an easy night's work for the cook--unless of course you complicate matters by throwing something tricky into the mix. I love a culinary dare. Rich fish like salmon and mackerel are delicious served with beans, but the two cook at such different rates, they typically can't be cooked together. By using red lentils, which are the softest of dried beans, and a forgiving fatty fish, like farm-raised salmon, I found I could trim the difference to about 10 minutes. A brief simmering of the lentils on their own does it; then the salmon is added and everything slow-bakes together in a low oven.
We all need a great beef stew in our cooking back pocket, and this one’s mine. It’s fairly classic in its preparation — the meat is browned, then piled into a sturdy pot and slow-roasted with a lot of red wine, a splash of brandy, and some onions, garlic, carrots, and a little herb bouquet to keep it company. It finishes spoon-tender, sweet and winey through and through, and burnished the color of great-grandma’s armoire.
Nothing could be simpler than makin' bacon, the king of all fried meats. How many "vegetarians" have you known who just eat the periodic slab of crisp sautéed hog fat? I rest my case. Bacon is God. To cure your own bacon, plan and shop for ingredients well in advance. You might need to special-order the pork belly from your local butcher or grocery store. You can order curing salt from online retailers such as www.sausagemaker.com; I recommend Insta-Cure #1. In this recipe, I offer three ways to smoke the bacon. If you go the liquid smoke route, use only the real stuff: fake liquid smoke has an unappealing chemical taste. If you choose to smoke the meat on the grill, you'll need some hickory sawdust, which is available in smoking stores or through online retailers. Once the bacon is ready to eat, note that it will be easiest to slice thinly — a must if you like crispy bacon — when it is partially frozen and your knife is very sharp.
Make this hash for a weekend brunch or as an easy weeknight supper. I like to serve it with a tossed green salad or a steamed vegetable and a crusty loaf of bread. Pass Tabasco or other hot sauce at the table; the vinegary, smoky flavor of hot sauce complements the rutabagas, bacon, and chiles. Poach eggs to place on top of this hearty hash. The runny soft-cooked eggs are a perfect accompaniment.
Collards must boil for at least two hours. Whatever nutritionists might say, collards were not made for quick cooking.
Paleron is a cut of beef from the shoulder, called chicken steak or flatiron steak here in the United States. It’s a very beefy, hardy cut for braising, and it gives a nice rich broth for the sauce. In France, paleron de boeuf is a staple, the kind of dish someone’s grandmother would make in the winter when she needed to warm up the family. If you are cooking for a crowd, double this recipe (you’ll need a really big pot). There’s no shame in leftovers, since it reheats so well. If you are short on time, you can skip the marinating.
This is Lynne’s favorite baked bean recipe. They’re unlike any baked beans we know. Sticky, sweet-tart and smoky, the beans are nearly candied as they bake with bacon, brown sugar, garlic and vinegar. A spoonful served alongside a Farmers’ Market Salad makes the perfect summer lunch.
When we walk in the door in the evening beyond tired and crunched for time, this salad has stepped up for dinner so many times we've lost count. It's made for improvising with what you have on hand: toss in coarsely crushed salted almonds, dried cherries, or Craisins; add slices of leftover chicken breast or grilled shrimp; anything goes.
I love hash so much I've even served this diner staple at The French Laundry. It's a great Sunday brunch dish, with poached eggs, but could also be served as a side dish at dinner. Don't hold the cubed potatoes in water—cut them just before cooking so that they are very dry and will become very crisp. The cooked potatoes are tossed with bacon and melted onions.