tasting memories

I have a confession to make: I just don't want to cook. Early this week, I started refusing to cook. My attempts at cooking for the past few weeks have been so disappointing that I have lost interest. Going to my favorite market to buy fresh produce sounds like a horrible burden. Doing dishes is outright torture. And standing over the stove preparing unappetizing nourishment is just not the thing I want to do. I am in a food funk, and it's turning into an unofficial cooking strike. My poor family!

I have tried cooking this week and the meals result in tasteless unappetizing messes. I've tried old favorites, searched for new recipes to try out new things. I've even tried to experiment in the hopes of coming up with something a little interesting or exciting, but to no avail. So, Scott and Angelica have taken turns cooking this week or ordered out.

So my solution to this food funk: Junk Food!

A life of potato chips and chocolate is not one I want to advocate (even though during certain times of the month, it's tempting). But, last night, as a last resort, I staged my rebellion by trying some all-American packaged food staples:

• Instant Mashed Potatoes


• Frozen Corn in a Box


• Ready-to-Bake Biscuits in a Tube


• Instant Gravy in a Packet


• Chicken Fried Steak

So, yes, now that I've done this I think I can start trying to cook homemade food from simple fresh ingredients again. Let's call this little episode my 'food fit'. Now that I've had it, I can move on. Maybe this morning I'll make some banana bread...

Photo by Scott Bartolomei Edmonds. Plate by Scott Bartolomei Edmonds.
Ripe banans that become spotted and dark often get neglected in our kitchen. These sweet and fully flavored bananas are the perfect base for banana bread.

There is nothing more comforting than curling up in the couch on a Sunday morning, reading the paper, drinking coffee and enjoying a warm slice of banana bread with just a little bit of butter.

This recipe makes a very moist bread that is sweet, but not too sweet. It's very easy to prepare, but you must bake it for close to an hour, so you need to either plan ahead or be very patient.

Banana Bread
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
3 medium overripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Coat a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with oil. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, eggs and oil and whisk until creamy. Add the mashed bananas and vanilla and blend until smooth. Stir in the dry ingredients until well incorporated.

2. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the middle of the oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top is springy and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning it out onto a rack to cool.

Makes 1 loaf.

Video by Giant Ant Media
I have to start by apologizing to those who might find this dis'tasteful'. This piece by Giant Ant Media made me blush. Chocolate can be so naughty sometimes. But, what can I say? It's chocolate.

When I was fourteen years old, my mom flew out to Rochester, NY to visit me. She stayed in a hotel near Marketplace Mall, and I was going to stay with her for the weekend. My dad dropped me off after work that night. I still remember getting out of his 1980-something light blue Honda Civic. It was cold and wet and he was bundled up with his golfer's cap and scarf. His work shoes had those rubber covers to protect them from the wet. He got out of the car with me. As I approached the door to the lobby, I could see my beautiful mother there in her gorgeous handmade woolen coat. My dad froze right before we got to the door and said goodbye to me. I was a little confused at the time, but I said goodbye right back and stepped through the glass doors and into the lobby. I looked back as the doors closed. My dad was still standing there. I kept walking and jumped into my mother's arms.

That night, we had dinner at the restaurant in the hotel and we ordered some cornbread. It was fantastic. My mom and I were so enthusiastic about it that she bought a 'cornbread' skillet along with some cornbread mix. Since then, cornbread always reminds me of that awkward reunion and the tender but short moments spent with my mom that winter back in 1986.

The recipe I give you today is one I have enjoyed over many years. I scratched it into brown paper about twelve years ago. Every once in a while I adjust the recipe by adding things like blueberries or cut down on the sugar and add chipotle for a kick. Mostly, I like it just the way it is, served with a little butter and honey. This recipe makes a light and moist cornbread that is on the sweet side.

Corn Bread
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup unbleached flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
1/2 cup brown sugar (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter over low heat in a 9" cast iron skillet, set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, stir the brown sugar into the buttermilk until any lumps of sugar dissolve. Add the egg and vanilla and lightly stir. Then, stir in the cooled melted butter.

2. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and lightly mix until any lumps of flour disappear. Do not over mix. Pour the batter into the buttered skillet and bake until golden, about 30 minutes.

Makes 1 loaf.

Photo by Scott Bartolomei Edmonds. Bowl by Roger Baumann.

This simple dish can be prepared in under fifteen minutes. I love to serve it with rice and a slice of avocado drizzled with olive oil. It's the kind of meal we make when "there's nothing to eat" in the house. We always keep a few cans of beans and rice around for just such days.

To get the most flavor out of this dish, watch the onions as they cook. Cook them over moderately low heat until they get soft and clear. If they start browning, the pan is too hot. Treat the garlic with the same care and don't allow it to brown. Browning garlic will make garlic bitter. By letting these ingredients develop slowly, you will find meals to be much more flavorful and needing little or no salt to season.

Black Beans with Caramelized Onions
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 cups of cooked black beans (or one can black beans, liquid strained)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
chopped fresh cilantro (for garnish, optional)
salt to taste

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium cast iron skillet over medium-low heat until it begins to ripple. Add the onions and gently cook until the onions become soft and clear, about 5 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and stir to caramelize. Push the onions to one side of the skillet and add the minced garlic to cook for about a minute.

2. Stir in the black beans and cumin and cook over medium heat until the liquid begins to bubble and thicken, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and salt to taste. Garnish with cilantro.

Makes 4 servings.

Photo by Scott Bartolomei Edmonds. Plate by Jim Shack.

Ten years have passed since I first came across a recipe for herb and onion pizzettes in Food and Wine Magazine. Since then, I have been carrying a cut-out of this recipe in a folder where I keep all my favorite recipes. It's a bright pink folder with an old rubber band holding all the papers together. Back when I started the folder, my good friend Marcie had sent me a gift in cardboard tube. On it, she scrolled this quote by Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli:

"A good cook is like a sorceress who dispenses happiness."

A piece of that tube still survives taped to the folder along with some old stickers of pheasants and squirrels that Angelica added. The folder has grown fatter, torn, and stained as time passes, so, slowly, I am working on transferring these recipes to the web.

I have been faithful to this recipe since it was first published back in 1998. This one is a simple, basic pizza dough recipe yielding a light crust to compliment any topping. Kneading by hand is the way to go, but if you are short on time, simply use the dough hook on your standing mixer at medium speed. I often like to substitute some of the flour with whole wheat flour for a nuttier, heartier crust. Also, you can prepare the dough through step 1, cover and refrigerate overnight for the next day.

Photo by Scott Bartolomei Edmonds.

Pictured here are pizzettes topped with white truffle oil, thinly sliced yukon gold potatoes, onion, rosemary, parsley and a slice of white truffle pecorino. We served these last Saturday as an appetizer for dinner with Tausha, my sister in law, who was visiting us during her trip to New York City.

Pizza Dough
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 cup lukewarm water (105° to 115°)
salt
olive oil
1. In a large bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the flour with the yeast and 1/4 cup of the water. Let stand in a warm place until foamy, about 30 minutes. Stir in 2 1/4 cups of the flour, the remaining 3/4 cup of water and 1 teaspoon of salt to form a soft dough. Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until silky and elastic, about 5 minutes; add just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
2. Punch down the dough, cover and let rise for 30 minutes longer. Turn the dough out onto the work surface and let the dough rest for 10 minutes before shaping it.
3. Meanwhile, set a pizza stone on a rack in the bottom third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 500°.
4. Roll out or stretch dough into desired shape. Set the dough on a lightly floured pizza peel or baking sheet and top with your favorite toppings. Slide the pizza onto a pizza stone in the oven and bake for about 7 minutes, or until golden and crisp.

Makes 1 large pizza pie.