The Minimalist Cooks Dinner (3 page)
Read The Minimalist Cooks Dinner Online
Authors: Mark Bittman
with Garlic
TIME:
40 to 60 minutes, plus time to chill
MAKES:
4 servings
In its traditional form, this cold potato-and-leek soup borders on boring: potatoes, leeks (or onions, or a combination), water or stock, salt and pepper, butter, and cream. What little complexity the soup has comes from lightly browning the vegetables in the butter, using lots of salt and pepper, good stock, and, of course, the cream. But if you add other vegetables, like garlic and carrots, things become more interesting. And you can nudge the soup over into gazpacho territory by adding a tomato to the mix, along with basil. Some protein, like shrimp, makes it even more of a whole-meal soup.
4 cups water, stock, or a combination
1 pound potatoes, peeled and cut into slices or chunks
1 pound leeks or onions or a combination (leeks well-washed and onions peeled), cut into slices or chunks
1 whole head green garlic, plus its stem, chopped into pieces, or 3 garlic cloves, peeled
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ to 1 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
Chopped parsley, chervil, or chives
Combine the water, or stock, potatoes, leeks, garlic, salt, and pepper in a saucepan, cover, and turn the heat to high. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat so the mixture simmers steadily but not violently. Cook until the potatoes are tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Cool or chill, then season to taste.
Purée in a blender, then chill fully. Stir in the cream, then taste and adjust the seasoning and serve, garnished with parsley.
| WINE | Good Chardonnay, preferably Chablis |
| SERVE WITH | 60-Minute Bread or good store-bought bread |
BE FLEXIBLE AND GO
with what is available. The basic technique is sound and universal: Cook the vegetables in water or stock, then cool, puree, and chill. The initial browning in butter makes a pleasant but not highly significant difference, so I skip it.
IF YOU CAN GET
young (green) garlic, use it, and in quantity. Otherwise substitute regular garlic.
IF YOU HAVE
homemade stock, by all means use it; it will add a great deal of complexity. But if the option is canned stock or water, this is a place to save your money: Use water.
Vichyssoise with Tomato and Basil
: Core 2 medium tomatoes (cut a cone-shaped wedge out of the stem ends), then cut them in half horizontally. Squeeze and shake out the seeds, then cut the tomatoes into chunks. Substitute the tomatoes for the garlic and proceed as above. Purée with about 20 washed basil leaves. Do not use cream. To serve, garnish with chopped basil.
Vichyssoise with Carrot
: Peel and chop 4 medium carrots, and add to the liquid, along with the potatoes and leeks (garlic is optional but still good). Add 1 cup more liquid and proceed as above, puréeing, stirring in cream and garnishing with parsley.
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Simply add some cold grilled or steamed shrimp or cubed cooked chicken to the soup before serving.
TIME:
About 15 minutes
MAKES:
4 servings
This ultra-simplified miso soup is delicious and, if the reigning wisdom is correct, good for you because it is soy-based. It can be used in place of stock in many recipes, although you have to take care, because it has much more character than most stocks.
“Real” miso soup is a little more complicated, and begins with dashi, a basic Japanese stock made with kelp (kombu) and flakes of dried bonito (a relative of tuna). I simply whisk or blend a tablespoon of miso into a cup of water, and turn the soup into a meal by adding cubed tofu and some vegetables at the last moment. Instead of tofu, you might cook shrimp or boneless chicken in the soup for acouple of minutes.
½ cup dark miso
½ pound any tofu, cut into ½-inch cubes
¼ cup minced carrots
¼ cup minced scallions
Bring 6 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Turn the heat to low, then mix about ½ cup of water with the miso in a bowl or blender; whisk or blend until smooth. (If you have an immersion blender, the fastest and easiest tool here, carry out this operation in a tall measuring cup.)
Pour the miso mixture back into the hot water and add the tofu and carrots; stir once or twice and let it sit for a minute, just long enough to heat the tofu through. Add the scallions and serve.
| WINE | Sake or not-too-dry Riesling |
| SERVE WITH | Easy Rice ; grilled tofu or chicken breasts brushed with soy sauce |
BUY TRADITIONAL
, unpasteurized, even organic miso, which is common enough, inexpensive enough (it’s tough to spend more than eight dollars on a pound of miso), and better than quick-made miso, which is comparable to quick-made parmesan or wine. All miso has a long shelf-life, keeping for at least several months in the refrigerator with little or no loss of quality.
TRADITIONALLY
, thick, dark brown hatcho miso is used to make soup; but the lighter varieties, which are more often used to make dressings and sauces, are fine as well.
FIGURE ABOUT
1 tablespoon of miso per cup of water, which means about ⅜ cup to serve four people: you may like the soup more or less intensely flavored, though the tendency is to use too much miso. The only trick lies in getting the miso to dissolve properly creating a smooth, almost creamy soup rather than a lumpy one. But this is in fact a snap: You just whisk or blend the miso with a few tablespoons of hot water before adding the rest of the liquid. Any cooking from that point on must be gentle to preserve the miso’s flavor and aroma.
Instant Miso Soup for One
: Put 1 tablespoon miso in a mug. Add a couple of tablespoons of boiling water and whisk or stir until smooth. Fill the cup with hot water.
Miso Soup with Shrimp or Chicken
: Substitute ½-inch cubes of peeled (and deveined, if you like) shrimp or boneless, skinless chicken for the tofu. Cook for 2 minutes, or until nearly done. Add the carrots and, when the soup is done, the scallions.
TIME:
30 to 40 minutes
MAKES:
4 servings
Anyone who’s ever had a garden or raided a cornfield knows that when corn is young you can eat it cob and all, and that the cob has as much flavor as the kernels. That flavor remains even when the cob has become inedibly tough, and you can take advantage of it by using it as the base of a corn chowder—a corn stock, if you will. Into that stock can go some starch for bulk, a variety of seasonings from colonial to contemporary, and, finally the corn kernels. The entire process takes about a half hour, and the result is a thick, satisfying chowder that is best made in late summer.
4 to 6 ears corn
1 tablespoon butter or neutral oil, like canola or grapeseed
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tomatoes, cored, seeded, and chopped, optional
1 cup milk
½ cup chopped fresh parsley leaves, optional
Shuck the corn and use a paring knife to strip the kernels into a bowl. Put the cobs in a pot with 4 cups water; bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, put the butter or oil in a saucepan and turn the heat to medium-high. When the butter melts or the oil is hot, add the onion and potatoes, along with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens, about 5 minutes; add the tomatoes if you’re using them and cook, stirring, for another minute or two.
After the corn cobs have cooked for at least 10 minutes, strain the liquid into the onion-potato mixture. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down so the mixture simmers. When the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes, add the corn kernels and milk and heat through. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, garnish with the parsley and serve.
| WINE | Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, or any fresh, crisp white |
| SERVE WITH | Simple Green Salad , or any green salad, or Tomato Salad with Basil |
STRIP THE KERNELS
from the cob with a sharp knife, and make sure to catch any liquid that seeps out during the process.
TO MINIMIZE COOKING TIME
, chop the potatoes into ¼-inch pieces. Leave them larger if you’re not in a hurry.
AS LONG AS
your corn is young and tender, the kind you can just about eat raw, the kernels should be held out of the mix until the chowder is just about ready, so they don’t overcook. But the new supersweet hybrids, which retain much of their flavor in the refrigerator for a few days, are not as tender, and their kernels should be cooked for a few minutes at least. Just keep tasting and stop cooking when the texture seems right.
Corn Chowder with Bacon and Cream
: In step 2, substitute ½ cup chopped bacon for the butter or oil; cook over medium heat until it renders some of its fat, then add the onion. Proceed as above. In step 3, use heavy cream or half-and-half in place of milk.
Curried Corn Chowder
: In step 2, use oil and add 1 tablespoon curry powder, or to taste, and 1 tablespoon peeled and minced ginger to the onions as they cook. Proceed as above. In step 3, use sour cream in place of milk; garnish with minced cilantro in place of parsley.
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If you use the tomatoes, you can also leave out the milk (think of it as “Manhattan corn chowder”).
