Quick dinners as a kid were often baked beans on toast, smothered in cheddar and stuck under a hot grill until all melty. I could never be patient enough to wait either, and would burn my tongue on hot cheese lava and tomato sauce (worth it). It’s not uncommon to find some kind of white bean at a Middle Eastern breakfast table, stewed in a tomato-based sauce. This recipe is a happy amalgamation of the two. You can scoop it right out of the pan with warm pitas, or spoon it onto sourdough or baked potatoes and serve it for breakfast, lunch or even dinner.
A total winner of a Tuesday dinner. What takes the longest is the marinating of the shrimp—the rest happens in 5. How can you beat that?
This is real carbonara—pasta coated in an impossibly creamy but very much cream free sauce made from egg, guanciale, pepper, and pecorino.
Historically, jollof rice was a one-pot dish made with protein and carrots, peppers, and leafy vegetables. Today, it’s all about the rice; the vegetables tend to show up as a side, à la Nigerian Salad . A seasoned tomato base spiced with curry powder gives this rice its orange-red color. For great jollof, the tomato mix for the stew base is cooked twice—first to soften and round out the raw, tart flavors, and a second time to fry and season it, concentrating the flavors.
To get grains that are “one-one” (fluffy) and well seasoned to the core of each grain, start with parboiled (not parcooked) or converted rice (husk-on rice that is partly cooked before dehusking). The result is golden grains of raw rice that are sturdy and capable of absorbing stews without turning to mush. Cook the rice over low heat so it absorbs the sauce properly and doesn’t scorch on the bottom. Stirring occasionally ensures evenly cooked rice.
Serve with Dòdò, Mọ́ínmọ́ín Elewe, an assortment of meat or fish, and Nigerian Salad.
Serves 6 to 8 | Prep Time: 25 minutes | Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes | Total Time: 2 hours 55 minutes
My mom adapted this from her Italian mother-in-law’s whole steamed artichoke recipe (see page 232) to make a dish that easily feeds a crowd. It uses the same flavors but eliminates the prep work required for whole artichokes and capitalizes on that mid- twentieth-century game-changer—frozen food—in the form of a package of frozen artichoke hearts. As in many ethnic families who have added their personal flavor to the standard Thanksgiving meal fare, this is my family’s “Italian” staple side dish and the first leftover scavenged the next day.
This recipe is essentially buttered noodles for adults (even though buttered noodles are also for adults but . . . you get what I mean). And if I’m going to flex how easy they are, they’re the same commitment as Kraft macaroni and cheese, give or take a noodle. Since tahini occasionally stiffens up if it sits too long, you’ll need to include a generous scoop (or two) of pasta water to keep things smooth and saucy. And while it’s always tempting to skip a garnish, a few sprigs of mint beautifully break up the richness of the nutty sauce
We’ve put this recipe here because, unlike the pot pies in the first chapter, this is a traditional pot pie with a bottom crust and a top crust, making it a double-crusted pie. This pot pie uses the carcass of the holiday bird to make a rich turkey stock. Making stock is a very flexible process, so use common sense rather than precise measurements. Of course it’s fine to use store-bought turkey stock, but homemade is so much better and takes less than 10 minutes of active time. It’s well worth the small effort, since the turkey is abundance itself and shouldn’t be wasted.
On the day a priest is ordained at Saint-Wandrille, committing to a life of poverty, obedience, and chastity, he is allowed to choose what the dinner menu will include that evening. Pork loin is a favored choice. It’s a good day for everyone since all of the priests and monks indulge collectively. A little more wine is served than usual that evening, and the meal often concludes with a glass or two of Calvados. This recipe is much easier to prepare than its nuanced flavors might suggest. Be sure to select a dark beer such as a stout or porter because it will result in an irresistible caramelized glaze that’s rounded out by the honey and tempered by the tanginess of the apples. Serve with your favorite comforting carb; at Saint-Wandrille, fluffy mashed parsnips or roasted celery root are the vegetables of choice.