Cook Like a Rock Star (11 page)

This recipe is best when you cook your own beans, so plan ahead.

1
Put the beans, onion halves, celery, carrot, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme in a large pot and cover with water—it should come at least 2 inches above the level of the beans. Bring to a boil (BTB) and reduce to a simmer (RTS); cook until the beans are tender when you taste them, an hour or more. To be sure they’re done, do the
5-Bean Test
.

2
When the beans are cooked through, turn off the heat, season the water generously with salt, and let sit for 20 minutes. Remove the onion halves, celery, carrot, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme and strain the beans, reserving about a cup of liquid to loosen the purée later if needed.

3
Coat a large sauté pan generously with olive oil, add the diced onion and red pepper, and bring to medium heat; season with salt and cook until the onions are soft and aromatic, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the prosciutto and rosemary and sauté for 3 to 4 more minutes, or until the meat just begins to color. Add the beans and some of the reserved bean cooking liquid if the mixture seems dry. Sauté for 2 or 3 minutes or until the beans are just warm.

4
Transfer everything to a food processor and purée until smooth, adding a bit of olive oil or reserved cooking liquid to loosen the purée if necessary. Taste, adding more salt if needed. Serve on bread or wherever bean dip is needed.

BEAN there, done that!

Don’t use your big-money prosciutto here. Ask your butcher to sell you the ends, which are usually the leftover bits they can’t sell.

BEANS, BEANS, THE MUSICAL FRUIT

Bean cooking SHOULD go like this: Toss the beans in a bowl of water and let them sit overnight. The next morning, put the beans in a pot with an onion cut in half, a whole rib of celery, a whole carrot, a couple of garlic cloves, some bay leaves, and a thyme bundle (and yes, you do want to leave all these veggies whole—it makes them much easier to remove later on). Cover everything with about 2 inches of water and BTB, RTS—bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer.

Now, if you didn’t remember to soak your beans yesterday, you can do the quick-cook method (which really isn’t that quick). Toss the beans and all the veggies together in a pot, bring to a boil (BTB), turn off the heat, and let it cool back down. This does the same thing as soaking your beans overnight. By the way, this works for all beans except for chickpeas—I don’t know why, they’re stubborn.

The only way to know for sure if your beans are done is to taste them, because different beans take different amounts of time to cook. To tell if beans are done, perform the 5-Bean Test: Taste at least five beans—if any of them are hard, then they’re not all done! When the beans are tender, turn off the heat, season generously with salt, remove the veg, and strain the beans from the bean cooking liquid. Voilà! Perfectly cooked and perfectly seasoned beans … every time.

Grilled Corn, Bacon & Chili Crostini

SERVES: 4 TO 6 • TIME: ABOUT 30 MINUTES

I always say everything tastes better with bacon. And when fresh corn is at its peak and just screaming to be eaten, this recipe is unbeatable (it also reminds me of summer as a kid because it was always my job to shuck the corn). It’s the perfect combination of smoky, sweet, spicy, and bright—what more could you ask for, except maybe MORE!

MISE EN PLACE

2 ears of corn, shucked

Extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

4 strips of bacon, julienned

2 Fresno chilies, cut into thin rounds, seeding optional

3 to 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar

4 scallions, white and green parts, sliced thinly on the bias

1 baguette, cut into ½-inch slices on the bias

1 clove garlic

1
Preheat a grill.

2
Lightly brush the corn with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Put the corn on the grill and cook, turning every 2 or 3 minutes, until the kernels are charred and soft. Remove and let cool. Once you can handle it, stand the corn upright in a wide bowl and carefully run a knife down each ear lengthwise to cut the kernels off the cob; reserve.

3
Coat a sauté pan with olive oil, add the bacon, and bring to medium heat. When the bacon is brown and crispy, 8 to 10 minutes, add the chili peppers and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes more. Add the corn and toss to combine. Season with salt, stir in the vinegar, and taste—it should be really good by now. Toss in the scallions, remove from heat, and reserve.

4
Toast the baguette slices on the grill; when lightly charred on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes total, remove them and rub each slice with the whole garlic clove. Drizzle with olive oil and top with the corn-bacon mixture.

This is super-corny!

SERVES: 6 • TIME: ABOUT 15 MINUTES

This is a classic that everyone should know how to do well. The trick here has nothing to do with cooking and everything to do with using only seasonal ingredients. When summer tomatoes are pristine and basil is at its peak, that’s when you want to whip this baby up. By the way, it’s pronounced “broo-SKET-ta”—NOT “broo-SHETT-ta.”

MISE EN PLACE

4 large tomatoes, seeded and cut into ¼-inch dice

6 to 8 fresh basil leaves, cut into a
chiffonade

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, or to taste

Kosher salt

2 cloves garlic, smashed and finely chopped, plus 1 whole clove

¼ cup big fat finishing oil

1 baguette, cut into ½-inch slices on the bias

1
Preheat a grill.

2
Combine the tomatoes, basil, vinegar, salt, smashed garlic, and big fat finishing oil in a large bowl, toss well, and reserve.

3
Toast the baguette slices on the grill; when lightly charred on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes total, remove them and rub each slice with the whole garlic clove. Top with the lovely tomato-basil mixture.

This is summer on toast!

A chiffonade is a thin ribbon cut used for fresh basil, mint, and other fragile leaves that can bruise very easily, turn black, and look gross. To chiffonade, you can either cut the herbs with kitchen shears or roll up the herbs and run through them with a very sharp knife. Either way, you don’t want to crash your knife (especially a dull one!) down on top of the leaves or they’ll certainly turn black. Ick.

SERVES: 4 TO 6 • TIME: ABOUT 20 MINUTES

This is another super-cinchy piccolini that packs a big wow factor. Start with high-quality ricotta, mix it up with lots of other yummy stuff, put it in a cute dish, and bake until it’s all warm and melty. Serve this cheesy pot of deliciousness with lots of warm bread, and I guarantee people will call you a rock star!

MISE EN PLACE

2 cups ricotta cheese

3 sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves finely chopped

Grated zest of 1 lemon

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Pinch of crushed red pepper

Kosher salt

Big fat finishing oil

1 loaf of rustic Italian bread, cut into 1-inch slices

1
Preheat the oven to 375°F.

2
Combine the ricotta, rosemary, zest, olive oil, red pepper, and salt in a large bowl and mix well. Taste to make sure it’s delicious and reseason as needed.

3
Transfer the mixture to an ovenproof dish and bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until heated through. Remove from the oven, drizzle with a little bit of big fat finishing oil, and serve immediately with the bread.

Hot and cheeeeesy!