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As you have probably already surmised, if you've read several of these posts, Gran Fran is an awesome cook who uses mostly intuition, learned over decades of cooking, alongside her unquenchable thirst for cookbooks.
Read MoreA version of this recipe is featured on The Fruit Guys website.
Please meet my new favorite way to prepare Brussels sprouts: shredded. What a delightfully easy way to make a very healthy salad, using something other than your standard issue salad greens.
I first came across this method in the Bi-Rite Market's Eat Good Food cookbook. Their version (which I made and wrote about here) includes bacon. Which, in so many ways, makes me so happy. But, I've found that I need to cut back on the pork products (oh wait, I have a rack of pork ribs in the oven right now....). Therefore, I've created a new recipe using the shredded Brussels sprouts in not only a vegetarian recipe, but also a vegan one. A girl's got to keep her sleek physique and all of the lovely recipes I've been writing have begun to add up on the I-think-my-pants-shrunk-in-the-dryer meter.
The potatoes are the only cooked item in the whole shebang. You can either roast them, dice them or fry them, just do whatever you prefer. And, I didn't include how many this recipe feeds. Seems that the shredded sprouts really go on for days. I've taken to shredding a while bunch of them and storing them in a zipper bag in the fridge. That way I can make any kind of salad I want whenever I want to.
Please do make this or the other recipe referenced above. It really tastes great and is a nice change in your salad repertoire.
INGREDIENTS
PREPARATION
vegetables from the ferry building
My friend and I did some more canning this past weekend. Ms. S is a lovely lady from Minnesota with a grandma in Iowa who taught her about all things preserved. I am not much of a measurer (ala Gran Fran), Ms. S measures everything to a T.
Needless to say, our jam session was interesting, what with me just chucking all sorts of stuff in my pot, and her making sure to follow her grandma's instructions to the letter. Of course, Ms. S ended up with a lovely and perfect batch of strawberry jam, which was perfectly set and tasted great.
I ended up with more of a chunky sauce, best to accompany meats. It's not that mine tastes bad, on the contrary, it tastes great. But, it's really hard to classify it. The ingredients are simple enough: oranges, figs, sugar, water, pectin, sage and cinnamon. The end result is really flavorful, just not necessarily for spreading on one's toast.
Mostly, I'm here to boast about how I used my first jar. By spreading it over a pork loin, that was placed atop carrots and new potatoes for roasting. The jam melted into a wonderful sauce. It coated all the veggies and gave the pork a really nice sheen, not to mention the contrast of the sweet orange flavor with the meat.
The greatest part about working with Ms. S, was how we each approached our projects with such different attitudes. We acknowledged that though each of us had her own way, we could totally see the benefit to each of our methods. It's nice to find someone who is different from you, but who gets you so completely.
The recipe that follows is just for the pork loin. I want to refine the chutney recipe a bit more before I post it officially, so, for now, I will recommend that you use a nice orange marmalade instead.
Pork Loin, Carrots and Potatoes with Orange Jam
Ingredients
My friend S. is a Vegetarian 98% of the time, with some fish here or there. But, she has a weakness....ham.
I found this out one evening when I came home (S. was babysitting Ms. Iz) to find her chowing down on a big bowl of my split pea with ham soup. After the shock wore off, she told me that ham is her achilles heel in regards to the meat world. And that, there were some lovely ham biscuits that came from Virginia that she treated me to. Pure deliciousness!
The first time I made the split pea with ham soup, I had a bit of a mishap. The hamhock I chose was subpar, too salty, not enough real flavor, you know, none of Gran Fran's best quality ingredients at the Safeway that day. Sadly, it did not make my soup any better, and nowhere near Gran Fran's. But, I perservered (and started buying nitrate free hamhocks) and am now an expert split pea with ham soup.
When I was little, Gran Fran usually made us a batch around Thanksgiving. As with everything, which I believe I have mentioned before, there was so much that it lasted for at least a week. I cherished every last drop. By watching Gran Fran, I learned that you need to brown the hamhock first, and use cloves, not the powder, the whole ones, for the best flavor.
One thing I've realized is that there is an alternative to the hamhock....left over Honey Baked Ham on the bone. It makes a much sweeter soup (welcome, honey), but it's a nice rich alternative, and a good use of a bit of leftovers.
So, in closing, enjoy the hammy-goodness as we had more fully into Fall!
Split Pea with Ham Soup ala Gran Fran serves 8 as a side dish
Ingredients:
Method:
"How many more days are we going to be eating this?"Ah, the familiar refrain from many years ago, of me questioning Gran Fran about the never-ending quantity of our beloved Ribollita.
Literally reboiled, this stew-y soup got us through many a cold evening. Gran Fran started making it when I was in college and the last one I made was very recently, seeing as it goes from 90 degrees to 40 degrees from one day to the next, out here in San Francisco lately.
And so, I am now the proprietor of many plastic lidded containers to friends and family of said soup. I cannot make fewer than 15 servings. No matter how hard I try, how small the pot is that I use, or how many ways to Sunday that I reduce all of the ingredients, I always, always end up with a huge pot of soup. The only saving grace in having gallons of this soup is that I have plenty of friends, vegetarian, vegan or otherwise who seem to never get enough of my Ribollita.
I would gladly eat this hearty soup for every meal, especially since you can alter the flavors just by adding or subtracting herbs, changing the kinds of beans you use or sometimes adding a little red wine. But, the issue here, is not the awesome taste of all the ingredients coming together. No, it's the huge amount of carbs included in the recipe, which of course makes the soup even more tasty. Not only are there beans, pasta and potatoes, but also a good hunk of white or Italian bread.
Remember when only doctors or scientists used the term "carbs"? Sometimes you'd hear about it on the news, but it made no never-mind to me. I just wanted me some good, filling soup, you know? Now, I have to worry about all manner of ingredients and how they come together to create some kind of evil within. It was nice to come home and see Gran Fran working on her soup, without a care in the world about whether or not she might be struck down for combining bread with pasta, let alone then adding potatoes.
Well, all I know is that when I moved out to San Francisco 17 years ago, I had to get some recipes stored up for inexpensive, filling meals. And, if they reminded me of Gran Fran and Joe, then all the better. So it was that the Ribollita became my first foray into large scale cooking for roommates and a revolving cast of characters. At 22, I had no worries about weight or nutrition, but plenty to worry about when it came to cashflow.
I kid you not, for a mere $6.00 a pot, you can easily feed 8 people. And, it's veggie and vegan friendly, so as the new one in the house, it made for a great first meal to be able to cook for the varying diets of my roommates. I recall having Gran Fran on the phone (well before my cell phone made an appearance so of course, the phone had a cord, which flowed from my tiny room through the hall into the kitchen) advising me how to make the tomato paste puree with the herbs, oil and garlic.
All the while, Gran Fran would ask things like "Are you making a nice roast beef to go with it? Or, of course you could serve tofu, but, you know, I don't go in for those sorts of things." I knew then, just as much as I know now, how important it is for us to cook "together". All these years later, we still call each other when we're cooking, going over ingredients, temperatures, serving suggestions.
Enjoy your Ribollita tonight, tomorrow night, the next, and maybe well into next week. Oh, and don't think about the carbs, just the excellent goodness of the soup!!
Serves 8
3 large Idaho or other baking potatoes, peeled, sliced, washed and dried 3 carrots, peeled, washed, diced 1 large onion, minced 5 Tbs. Olive oil Salt and pepper 16 to 18 cups boiling water 1 cup elbow macaroni or other small pasta. 1 package frozen corn 1 package frozen peas 1 can chick peas, drained and well rinsed 1 can pink kidney beans, drained and well rinsed 1 can cannelini beans, drained and well rinsed 2 slices country bread
Seasoning Ingredients: 1 large bunch basil, stems removed, finely minced or 1 ablespoon dried basil 2 T tomato paste 6 T olive oil salt pepper crushed red pepper flakes 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
Optional Garnish: Shards of Reggiano Parmigiano or Asiago cheese Additional crushed red pepper flakes
1. Soup: Heat olive oil in a heavy, nonreactive stockpot. Add potatoes, carrots, and onion. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Add bay leaf. Cook vegetables over medium heat, stirring often, until golden. 2. Pour boiling water over vegetables. Bring to a boil over high heat. Stir. Reduce heat to medium low. Partially cover pot and simmer soup for 45 minutes 3. Bring soup back to the boil over high heat. Add pasta. Stir. Reduce heat to medium. Cook for 8 minutes or until pasta is almost cooked. 4. Add corn, peas, chick peas, cannelini, and kidney beans. Stir and cook for about12 minutes over medium heat or until corn and peas are cooked and beans are hot. 5. Break bread into very fine pieces bread .Crumble into soup. Stir, incorporating bread bits into soup by pressing them against the side of the pot. Remove soup form stove. 6. Seasoning: In a small bowl, combine tomato paste, olive oil, basil, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and garlic. Fold seasoning mixture into soup. 7. Serve soup, with grated cheese if desired
Ok, when you grow up in Queens, NY, you hear accents that you may not hear everywhere, which, I guess is true of any regional accents. You know the herb basil, you hear BAY-sil instead of BAH-sil, you get the idea. Well, who knew that the name of one of my favorite Italian dishes would open up a whole world of regional dialect discussion?
The dish in question was always known in our house as Pasta Fazool. Essentially, it’s a nice mix of garbanzo beans (chick peas) or cannelini beans, garlic, and pasta. Being quick, inexpensive, and easy to make, it was a family pleaser that appeared often on Gran Fran’s table.
The first time I realized there was some sort of issue with the name, was in my Italian language class in 11th grade. I was sitting there when Signora asked me what the word “Fagioli” meant. Immediately, I answered “Beans”, having studied the vocabulary list the night earlier. Good work, I was told, and class ended.
That night, we had Pasta Fazool for dinner. I told Gran Fran about Italian class, and she said, “Oh yes, that’s what we’re eating.” Huh? “The word I learned in school was Fagioli,” I said, somewhat bewildered. “Right,” she said, “Fazool.” Okay, now it was becoming an Abbott and Costello routine and I was waiting for my Dad to chime in with “What’s on second!” As the meal progressed and I became more befuddled, Gran Fran finally got to the root of the issue, which was really the root of the dialect, I should say.
Gran Fran’s family emigrated from the region of Campania, from towns near Naples, in Italy in the early 1900’s. They brought along with them a Neapolitan dialect, which was then mixed with Brooklyn English. Hence, words like fagioli became “fazool.” Making the soft “gio” sound into a harder “double z” sound. For some words, they left the end off completely: mozzarella became “mozzarel”; ricotta, “ricot.” Who would have thought that high school Italian would shed light on this, and shatter a family-wide identifier for a much-loved dish?
The years have gone by now, and we all still call it Pasta Fazool, when we’re together, but have given in to calling it Pasta Fagioli if in public, so as to be better understood. I know Gran Fran’s shoulders are raised and she is slightly abashed at my admitting the above, but someone had to tell her.
Pasta Fazool (or Fagioli)
Serves 6
(You can use fresh beans for this recipe, but allow an extra 24 hours for soaking and rinsing. If using canned beans, look for ones with little or lower sodium.)
You will need 1 heavy non-reactive skillet and 1 pasta or stock pot with a lid
Ingredients:
• 1 pound pasta (elbows, ditali, or any small pasta)
• 2 carrots diced
• 2 stalks celery diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can beans (cannelini, chick peas, or kidney)
• ½ cup olive oil
• generous sprinkle of dried rosemary
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and freshly ground pepper
Method:
• Bring five quarts of well-salted water to a boil in a covered pot.
• Heat olive oil in a wide, shallow non-reactive skillet. When oil is hot, add carrots, garlic, celery, salt pepper, and spices. Sauté over medium heat until all ingredients turn golden.
• Toss the pasta into the rapidly boiling water and stir. Do not cover.
• Drain beans in a colander (use the same one to drain the pasta) and rinse under cold, running water. Shake colander to remove excess water from beans.
• Gently fold beans into carrot/celery sauce. Cook over medium heat until beans are heated through.
• Test pasta for doneness. Add 1/4 cup pasta water to bean mixture. Drain pasta and fold into the bean mixture. Cook about 4 or 5 minutes over medium heat, shaking the pan until all ingredients are distributed. Serves 4 as a main dish, 6 as a side.
The Pasta Fazool can be served warm or cold. It’s great with salad, and also with broccoli rabe on the side.
