015: Coming Home Beans

On occasionally tuning out the inspo

Borlotto Beans dressed with olive oil, lemon zest, parmesan, and sea salt

Leandra Medine Cohen said something in her newsletter that resonated with me recently. It was about losing sight of your intuition when preoccupying yourself with what others are doing, and by consuming social media. In other words: when observing the practices of others, does the influence overwhelm your own instincts? She was speaking in the context of personal style, but I feel this with cooking too. My desire to become a more intuitive home cook often feels at odds with my almost compulsive desire to keep up with the recipes that my favorite cooks/chefs/writers are publishing. At what point am I stifling my own intuition in the kitchen by closely adhering to recipes, line-by-line, detail-by-detail?

This has been on my mind more since getting into Molly Baz’s Cook this Book, which I referenced in the last newsletter on making chicken soup from scratch. She designs her recipes to be instructional, in the sense that steps are more detailed, and organized for maximum efficiency. Rather than assuming the cook will begin with a mise-en-place, she prioritizes efficiency by telling you when to chop the onion (for example) in the order of things, to maximize your time and effort. It’s fantastic. I find myself wishing that all recipes were written this way, but then I wonder: is this training me in how to develop this skill or is it just making me lazy by taking out a bit of the brainwork? Will I rely too much on these instructions and forget to rely on what I already know?

So too with social media (more directly to Leandra’s point). Am I confusing inspiration for the stifling of my own creativity in the kitchen? I would like to grow into the kind of home cook that doesn’t always need to rely on a recipe, and develop my own methods and preparations in addition to the creations of others. I think I’m partway there, but that’s sort of beside the point.

I would love for this to unfold into my own carefully crafted and wholly original recipe, but alas I’m not there yet. This isn’t going to be about successfully cutting out the noise and creating something of my own—and I can’t say I’ve figured out how to ignore instagram yet—still working on that. ;) but Leandra’s piece came to mind as I was trying to decide what to cook yesterday, wishing I had the right ingredients on hand to make something I’m excited about. Instead, I ignored my mental queue of recipes I’m dying to try, in favor of something simple and comforting, which is exactly what I needed this week.

Yesterday, our first full day home after a road trip to Michigan for Thanksgiving, I assessed our empty fridge. I made a mental note of the aforementioned recipe queue, and decided to stop obsessing and just put on a pot of beans. Which I usually do after being away from home. I always think of Fanny Singer’s Coming Home Pasta from Always Home. I have my Coming Home Beans (actually Chickpeas, most of the time). Will I ever stop writing about beans*? Probably not. I assessed my inventory and decided on Borlotto Magnifico Beans** from the RG bean club, and remembered Marcella Hazan’s Pasta e Fagioli, which I decided to make for dinner. In the meantime, we would have beans simmering, and that would yield a much needed hearty lunch for me, and also food for Tycho throughout the week, to accompany whatever else I can rustle up for him. Today for lunch he had sliced tomato, the last of the mozzarella, mashed beans, and some sardines.

Borlotto Beans about to be prepared according to Marcella Hazan’s instructions from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking (no aromatics or fat).

Planning to make pasta e fagioli later I took a look at Marcella’s instructions for cooking beans. I had never followed hers before because they are quite simple—perhaps too simple for my taste, but a reminder that bean preparation doesn’t require anything at all. She doesn’t add any aromatics or fat to the pot. Just water—specifically 3 inches to cover the beans (which is a lot)—and then salt once the beans are tender. I decided to try it this way, not least because I was tired and Tycho was needing a lot of attention. I recommend her basic method for when you want your beans to be a blank canvas for other dishes, but I think it falls short if you want them for snacking all by themselves. The aromatics add so much flavor, not to mention aroma that will envelop your home all afternoon. Half the reason for making them, I admit.

For lunch I dressed about a cup-full of the beans with lots of olive oil, more salt, lemon zest, and Parmesan—an easy snack recommended on the Rancho Gordo label. They needed more salt and more olive oil since they were cooked without any bells and whistles. I currently regret not adding a few dashes of mushroom vinegar. That would have provided an additional kick of umami. Regardless, heaven.

The pasta e fagioli was the perfect comforting meal after a long road trip. I made a vegetarian version, since I didn’t have any pork or bone broth on hand, both of which figure into the recipe. It was perfectly flavorful, prepared with only water, two teaspoons of vegetable Better Than Bouillon, and proper seasoning throughout the process. Her recipe is funny in its economy. As I cooked I couldn’t fathom how a base of 3 tbsp onion and 2 tbsp each of carrots and celery, 2/3 c tomato, and 1 c beans could yield a whopping six servings, even after adding the macaroni. Did people consume wildly smaller portions in the past? Regardless, Reed and I devoured the whole pot. A rare no leftovers meal for us.

Marcella Hazan’s Pasta e Fagioli

I would say that pasta e fagioli is more a pasta than a soup, since the macaroni absorbs a lot of liquid after the requisite 10 minutes rest. I love this dish. Next time I need to try it with the pork. I’m also curious about this recipe from Harry’s Bar at NYT Cooking.

*since I find myself devoting yet another newsletter to beans, I would like to amend something I declared quite vociferously last time. I said that it wasn’t possible to screw up beans, but actually I have since discovered that it is possible. The oven method requires more tending. I ended up with a mess of very bad refried beans (that were not meant to be refried) the other week when I wasn’t able to check on them or pull them out of the oven on time. That’s what I get for making such bold declarations.

**this specific bean is no longer available, but any Cranberry Bean or Borlotti Bean will do.

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While I have you…some recommendations:

*shopping for vintage cookware on Etsy: for a long while now I have been wanting to add a smaller Le Creuset Dutch Oven to my batterie de cuisine, but have not been loving the options on sale (never pay full price, dear god). The standard size (the 26) is often a bit too large for many two-person meals. I found the sweetest chocolate brown Enzo Mari-era Le Creuset, size 25, on Etsy and it is the thing bringing me joy in the kitchen right now. This is not a revelation, but Etsy has everything and I am grateful.

*Ethel Cain’s Preacher’s Daughter: I heard about this album on NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour in a recommendation from critic Stephen Thompson, and I cannot stop listening. I’m terrible at describing music so I will paraphrase him: “At first it sounds like Lana Del Rey but gets weirder and darker.” Sign me up.

*Red Chair in Hudson, NY: an antique shop devoted exclusively to cookery-ware. I could spend all day there turning over each object. Not exactly affordable but a feast for the eyes. I bought two silver butter knives, a seashell night light, and an adorable metal pot with a Le Cordon Bleu insignia and Fleur de Lis stamped on the bottom. 😍 after you go, have a savory crepe and un Kir Royale at Le Gamin Country across the street.