Winning the Rome Derby

Real life offers sadly few opportunities to win things. There are moments that feel like winning—getting a job, say, or getting married. But then you have to live with another person and cannot ever again poop with the door open.

               –Alexandra Petri, A Field Guide to Awkward Silences

This season's first Rome Derby was played on Saturday, September 29, which was the day after Brad's 18th (!) birthday, which was the day after Francesco Totti's birthday. As Wright Thompson pointed out in his excellent piece for ESPN ("The eternal derby reveals why Italian football finds its way into your blood"), the Rome Derby is always played in the afternoon, so police can better deal with the potential of post-match violence between the warring supporters of AS Roma and SS Lazio, the two teams that play in the Italian capital.

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When the game kicked off last Saturday at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time (3:00 p.m. in Italy), I didn't know if either Brad or Dylan (6:00 a.m. Pacific time) would be awake.  But sure enough, when I texted to check they were both watching. And so we had our first three-way Derby della Capitale match-thread text, which was the next best thing to watching the big game with my boys in the room with me. Thankfully, it was well worth getting up for, as Roma thrashed Lazio 3-1 in a thrilling performance spearheaded by the 22-year-old Roman Lorenzo Pellegrini, who was playing in his first Rome Derby and fully understands the significance of this match. Real life may not offer many opportunities to actually win things yourself, but it sure feels like you've won something when Roma beats Lazio in the Derby.


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Later that day, we celebrated Brad's birthday at Andi and Adam's house. At Brad's request, we brought Baked Ziti and his favorite Cranberry and White Chocolate Chip Cookies. I also made a batch of Katherine Redford's Chocolate Chip Cookies so there would be enough cookies to go around and for Brad to have plenty left to bring back to school. Because what can make you more popular in a college dorm than sharing a big sack of homemade cookies? All in all, it was a winning day from start to finish.

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It's not the size, it's how you use it

Brad graduated from high school last week. In a whirlwind week, I went to Brad's sports awards banquet, senior awards night, graduation, and his first soccer game playing in a summer adult league with Dylan. (I thought it would be fun to see them playing their first ever competitive match together, but it wasn't very competitive. Their team could use some practice and a little experienced coaching. 😉)

We used to receive communications from Monticello HS at our old email, but that's been shut down for a while. We didn't hear from any teachers that Brad would be getting any awards on senior night, so we weren't sure what to expect. But Brad ended up getting the same award as Dylan for Outstanding Achievement in Mathematics. We knew the chairman of the math department was describing Brad when he said the recipient of the award is “one of the most humble and intelligent students we have at Monticello, just so smart and kind and funny (if you can get him to talk).” That is Brad in a nutshell!

The plaque they gave Brad has the same design as the one Dylan received, but when I looked at Dylan's to see how I hung it up on his bedroom wall, I noticed they had downsized the plaque from six years ago.

Dylan found this amusing and commented that it must be because the math department only thinks 60% as much of Brad as they did of Dylan. On the other hand, the engraving is much larger on Brad's plaque, so I can actually read it with my old eyes. Anyway, "it's not the size, mate, it's how you use it."

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Burrito bar

Mom and I hosted the annual Walton guidance end-of-year get-together last weekend. Mom thought a Chipotle-style burrito bar would work well, so I set about researching copycat Chipotle burritos. Chipotle helpfully publishes an ingredient statement for every dish it serves. Lots of websites have used the ingredient statement to create their own copycat versions of the Chipotle dishes. I looked at some of those and went to work.

This is the longest recipe I've ever posted on UaKS, but it really wasn't that onerous to put together, and the results were very good (or at least that's what everyone said). Mom always panics that we're going to run out of food, so we made twice as much food as in the recipe below (and more than three times as much meat—over six pounds of chicken and steak), which was twice as much as needed to feed the 11 people who came. So this recipe should be plenty to feed 8 to 10 people, even in our family.

Copycat Chipotle Chicken Burritos

Adapted from various sources, including Mashed, Culinary Hill, and the Chipotle ingredient statement

Here is a copycat recipe for Chipotle sofritas if you want to keep it vegetarian.

For the chicken
1 tablespoon finely chopped chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
1 tablespoon sunflower, olive, or rice bran oil
½ teaspoon distilled white vinegar
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 large garlic clove, minced
water, as needed
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

For the guacamole
¼ cup finely chopped shallot, red onion, or white onion
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons finely chopped jalapeno or serrano pepper
½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
4 ripe avocados (~2 pounds)
freshly squeezed lime juice to taste

For the cilantro-lime rice
3 rice-cooker cups (2¼ cups) white or brown rice (brown takes longer to cook; I like jasmine rice)
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 bay leaves or ¼ teaspoon laurel bay leaf powder
1 teaspoon sunflower, olive, or rice bran oil
water
Juice of ½ lemon, freshly squeezed
Juice of 1 lime, freshly squeezed
¼ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

For the beans
2 15-ounce cans black or pinto beans, or one of each
2 teaspoons sunflower, olive, or rice bran oil
1 small or ½ medium yellow onion (~3 ounces), finely chopped
1 medium garlic clove, minced
Juice of ½ lemon, freshly squeezed
Juice of 1 lime, freshly squeezed
1 tablespoon finely chopped chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
2 bay leaves or ¼ teaspoon laurel bay leaf powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salt to taste

For the fajita vegetables
4 green bell peppers, trimmed and sliced into 1-centimeter-thick strips
2 red onions, trimmed and sliced, pole-to-pole, into 1-centimeter-thick strips
¼ cup sunflower, olive, or rice bran oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon fine sea salt

For the build
8 or more burrito-sized tortillas
1 pound Monterey Jack cheese, grated
good store-bought salsa or Fresh Tomato Salsa (recipe below) or Best-Ever Smoky Red Salsa
shredded romaine lettuce
sour cream or whole-milk yogurt

    1. For the chicken: Place the chipotle chilies in adobo, oil, vinegar, salt, oregano, cumin, pepper, and garlic in the bowl of a blender or a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Process until smooth. Pour into a 1-cup measuring cup. Add enough water to make ¼ cup of marinade.
    2. Pour the marinade into a ziplock bag. Add the chicken, seal the bag, and press with your hands until the chicken is evenly coated with the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 90 minutes.
    3. Cook the chicken on medium-high in a grill pan or on an outdoor grill until charred and cooked through, 8–10 minutes total. Allow the cooked chicken to rest for a few minutes, then cut it into bite-sized pieces.
    4. For the guacamole: Place the shallot or onion, cilantro, and jalapeno or serrano in a mound on a cutting board. Sprinkle with the salt. With a large chef's knife, cut and mash together until everything is very finely chopped or pureed. (You can also do this with a mortar and pestle if you have one.) Transfer to a small bowl.
    5. Halve the avocados and remove the pits. Cut the flesh in a crosshatch pattern. Using a large spoon, scoop the pieces out of the skins and into the bowl. Add lime juice to taste. Stir everything together gently with a silicone spatula, leaving chunks of avocado. Taste, and add more salt and lime juice as needed.
    6. For the rice: Place the rice, salt, bay leaves, and oil in the rice cooker pot. Add water and cook according to the manufacturer's directions.
    7. Transfer to a large bowl. Remove the bay leaves. Stir in the lemon and lime juice and the cilantro.
    8. For the beans: Drain one of the cans of beans, but not the other. Place the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onions and cook until softened and translucent but not browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
    9. Stir in the beans (including the liquid from one of the cans), lemon and lime juice, chipotle in adobo, bay leaves, oregano, cumin, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to maintain a steady simmer. Cook until heated through and the liquid has reduced some, about 10 minutes. Taste for salt. Remove and discard the bay leaves before serving.
    10. For the fajita vegetables: Stir all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. 
    11a. Transfer the vegetables to a large skillet (not nonstick), and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are charred and softened, about 8–10 minutes.
    11b. Alternatively, heat the oven to 425 degrees. Transfer the vegetables to an 18-by-13-inch sheet pan. Roast until charred and softened, about 20 minutes. You can switch to the broiler in the last few minutes of cooking to help get a good char.
    12. For the build: Serve burritos (or bowls without burritos) with your choice of chicken, rice, beans, fajita vegetables, guacamole, grated cheese, salsa, lettuce, and/or sour cream. Serves 8 to 10.

Fresh Tomato Salsa

Adapted from The Quick Recipe (2003)

½ chipotle chile in adobo sauce or ½ small jalapeño chile, minced
¼ small red onion, peeled, root end removed, and coarsely chopped
1 small garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 teaspoons lime juice
2 small, ripe tomatoes (about ¾ pound), cored and cut into eighths; or one 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained

Place all of the ingredients except the tomatoes into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Process until minced, about 5 one-second pulses. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the tomatoes and process until roughly chopped, about 2 one-second pulses. Transfer to a sieve to drain the excess liquid, about 1 minute. Makes about 1 cup. (The salsa can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days.)

Trying to rehabilitate a philistine

Until recently, I thought my biggest failure as a food-loving-make-it-from-scratch parent was Dylan's insistence on having me use store-bought frosting on his homemade birthday cakes. But not long ago, Brad sheepishly admitted that he likes brownies made from a Ghirardelli mix more than my homemade brownies, even after I came up with a chewy brownie as an alternative to our usual fudgy brownies. Still not cake-y enough for Brad, he said at the time. Another nail in my heart from philistine #2.

This weekend, though, I tried a different recipe, and even Brad had to think hard about whether these are better than his favorite boxed Ghirardelli brownies. On further reflection, he now thinks it might be the chocolate chips in the Triple Chocolate Brownies that are tipping the scales in favor of the boxed mix. Maybe, but I also did some research of my own and discovered that the first ingredient in these brownies is sugar (if you combine the weights of the brown and white sugars), which is also true of the Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownies, but not of our Fudgy Brownies and Chewy Brownies. So Brad probably just likes a sweeter brownie than I do, which isn't surprising, given that I don't like super-sweet desserts. Anyway, that'll be my secret (since Brad doesn't read UaKS), and next time I make these I'll throw in some chocolate chips and see if I can't slay this dragon once and for all.

[5/13/18 update: I made these again for Mother's Day, with the chocolate chips added, and Brad now prefers them to all other brownies. My skills are complete.]

NB: These brownies are gluten free, so Mom's sense of entitlement definitely applies, and she will finish these off the next day while you're not looking. (Actual quote: "Brad could've had more after his breakfast. Stinks for him.")

Crushed hazelnuts

Double Chocolate Hazelnut Brownies

Adapted from Fast Food My Way (2004) by Jacques Pépin

Time: 47 minutes total (22 minutes prep, 25 minutes baking)

To more closely approximate the experience of Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownies, use a mixture of bittersweet, semi-sweet, and milk chocolate chips. 

60 grams (½ cup) hazelnuts (I use Trader Joe's Dry Roasted & Unsalted Oregon Hazelnuts, which lets me skip step 2 in the recipe)
170 grams (6 ounces) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces (I use 14 squares of Trader Joe’s Pound Plus 72% Cacao Dark Chocolate)
70 grams (5 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 5 pieces
a pinch of fine sea salt
2 large eggs (~57 grams each in the shell)
100 grams (½ cup) light brown sugar
100 grams (½ cup) granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams) vanilla extract
60 grams (~⅓ cup) chocolate chips (see note)

  1. Place a rack in the center of the oven, and heat to 350 degrees. You can make these in an 8-inch square glass or metal pan. If you're using a glass pan, grease it with butter or vegetable shortening. If you're using a metal pan, tear off a 12-by-12-inch sheet of aluminum foil. Turn the pan upside down, center the foil on it, and fold the excess evenly over the sides of the pan. Fold and crease the corners like you're wrapping a present. Slip the liner off the pan. Turn the pan right side up and insert the liner, carefully working it into the corners of the pan. Spray the liner with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. If you’re using raw hazelnuts (you don’t have to take the skins off), toast them in a small baking pan until lightly browned and fragrant, about 5–6 minutes. Watch carefully. Cool for a few minutes.

  3. Place the chocolate, butter, and salt in a small bowl. Microwave on full power for 1 minute. Let the bowl sit in the microwave for 5 minutes. (You can work on the rest of the recipe while you're waiting.) Zap on 50% power for 1 minute. Whisk until smooth.

  4. Crush the hazelnuts using a mortar and pestle, or by placing them in a ziplock bag and smashing them with a rolling pin or the bottom of a heavy skillet. You’re aiming to make very small pieces, not hazelnut flour or paste (see the photo above).

  5. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugars, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the hazelnuts and chocolate-butter mixture. Beat well with a wooden spoon until the batter stiffens up a bit, about 30 seconds. Stir in the chocolate chips. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

  6. Bake until the brownies are just set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few wet crumbs, about 25 minutes (check sooner). Transfer the pan to a wire rack, and allow the brownies, still in the pan, to cool completely. Cut into 9 large or 16 small brownies. Serve with Orange Whipped Cream, if you really want to gild the lily.

Orange Whipped Cream

1 cup (232 grams) heavy cream

1½ tablespoons (19 grams) granulated sugar

1 tablespoon orange liqueur such as Grand Marnier, Triple Sec, or Cointreau

1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest

Place all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Whip, by hand with a whisk or using an electric mixer, until the cream holds firm peaks.

Lentil man

I was going through some old emails recently and came across this one from Brad to Mom on March 16, 2012 at 12:46 PM (when Brad would've been 11):

Will you please pick me up? I am INCREDIBLY Bored

 BBBBBBBBBBB                       BBBBBBBBBBB
         OO                                      OO 
     O        O                              O       O
     O        O                              O       O
         OO                                      OO
                             
                               R
                               R
                               RR
                                 R
                                RR      

EEEEEE                                             DDDDDDDD
              EEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDDDD       

I don't know if this counts as a success or a failure on the part of our public school system.

Sexy peppercorns

Two years ago I brought Cassie to a bassoon day at VCU in Richmond. It was a good excuse for me to have breakfast and spend a beautiful morning wandering around Carytown with my buddy Ed. One of the stores we stopped in was Penzeys, a great spice shop. Being a fan of all things pepper, Ed looked through the selection of peppercorns and bought some of his favorites, the Tellicherry Peppercorns.

Fast forward to about a month ago, when I got a cryptic email from Ed with no text, just the subject line "so you don't like the tellicherry pepper, eh?" I emailed back that I was confused, but no clarity was forthcoming from Ed, who told me only that it would come to me as I mulled it over, but that it "could take days."

Within a week, I got a package from Ed with this inside:

I called Ed and he explained that these are Kampot peppercorns, which are grown only near Kampot, Cambodia. Kampot pepper is apparently prized by chefs like Anthony Bourdain, who says "[i]t's got a floral dimension that's really something special," and Michael Laisknois, a pastry chef who uses the pepper in desserts because it has "a certain sweetness to it rather than straightforward heat."

I was intrigued and wanted to try it in some dishes that really showcase the pepper as a star ingredient. The first thing that came to mind was obviously pasta cacio e pepe. So one night last week when Mom and Cassie were both eating out, I made a big pot of spaghetti for Brad and me. I put a good handful of the Kampot peppercorns into my mortar and pounded them lightly with the pestle until they were just cracked:

The bouquet wafted up immediately, spicy but quite floral and very interesting. I dosed the finished pasta heavily with the cracked pepper and it was fabulous: strong, but complex and not at all overpowering. I looked forward to the next dish I could feature the pepper in.

In a wonderful bit of serendipity, last week's edition of "Genius Recipes," one of my favorite columns on Food52, featured a "genius, speed-demon method for crispy pork shoulder" in a recipe that uses a lot of black pepper. Yesterday, I swung by the Timbercreek Market and picked up some pork shoulder (aka butt or Boston butt), which is actually a cheap ($6.99 a pound; that's cheap for anything at Timbercreek), "surly" cut of meat:

It was morning when I went to Timbercreek, so I had to treat myself to one of their yummy biscuits, too. 😉 When it was time for dinner, I pounded the Kampot peppercorns in my mortar, along with some Sichuan peppercorns and a pinch of red pepper flakes, and tossed the cubed pork with it. You can see from the raw meat just how much pepper is in this dish:

But it was so good. Again, spicy, but very flavorful and not overpowering. It's times like these I'm thankful for you vegetarians in our family. More for me (or Mom and me, in this case), as Grandpa Guy likes to say. Mom and I scarfed it all in one sitting, and will happily do so again the next time I make it. Dylan loves pepper, so this is definitely one for him to try, especially since it's quick and simple, too. (The original recipe is from Nigel Slater as one of his "midweek dinners" for The Guardian.)

Salt and Pepper Pork

Adapted from Dinner (2017) by Melissa Clark via Food52 (adapted from Nigel Slater in The Guardian)

If you can't find the Sichuan peppercorns, skip them or use some more black pepper—the dish will still be good, just not as aromatic or tongue-tingling. Food52's adaptation of this recipe says not to use a nonstick skillet, but I think that's a mistake. The second time I made this, I used a nonstick skillet and 99% of the pepper remained on the pork, rather than having a lot stick to the bottom like it did when I made this in a stainless steel skillet.

1 tablespoon black peppercorns
2 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorns, or to taste (see note)
a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
1 pound boneless pork shoulder/butt, trimmed of tough gristle (keep most of the fat) and cut into 1-inch cubes
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 tablespoons peanut, canola, or sunflower oil
1 teaspoon flaky sea salt, like Maldon
a few crisp iceberg or romaine lettuce leaves, shredded
a few torn cilantro or mint leaves
lime wedges

   1. Using a spice grinder or a mortar and pestle, coarsely grind together the peppercorns and the red pepper flakes. You can also put everything into a ziplock bag and pound it with a meat pounder or the bottom of a heavy skillet. Whatever method you use, don't overdo it; you want everything to be only coarsely ground. In a medium bowl, toss the pork cubes with the pepper mixture and fine sea salt. Let rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.
    2. Heat the oil in a wok or 12-inch nonstick skillet (see note) over medium-high to high heat. When the oil is shimmering, swirl it around the pan, then add the seasoned pork. Sprinkle the flaky sea salt over the pork. Stir-fry until the pork cubes are golden brown all over, moving them quickly around the pan so the pepper doesn't burn, about 5 minutes.
    3. Serve the pork over rice, or on its own, with the crisp lettuce, a few torn leaves of cilantro or mint, and a squeeze of lime. It's also good tucked into a piece of warm, soft flatbread with the lettuce, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime, sort of like a taco. Serves 2 or 3.

How to remember me

We'd gotten in a rut lately. We've been so busy that I've just been throwing things on the table at the last minute (and lots of Brad's beloved Bodo's) rather than planning things out. But I pulled it together in the last two weeks and planned some meals and made lots of good food for everyone to enjoy. Until last night, when I had to work a little late to get a brief out. So I left Mom in charge of dinner—and she fried you up some frozen gyoza from Trader Joe's. Just sayin'.

One of the things I made this week was this chickpea curry from the Made in India cookbook I got for my birthday. This is the second time I've made it, so we obviously liked it a lot the first time. Meera Sodha says "[y]ou could use canned chickpeas to make this curry, but the dried ones when cooked become so soft that I urge you to try them." I took her up on it the first time and used dried chickpeas, soaking them in the morning so they'd be ready to cook for dinner. And they were really outstanding, soft and creamy just like she said.

I wanted to compare, so this week I used canned chickpeas, and what a difference! It was still good, but the canned chickpeas were a little crunchy and not nearly as delectable as the dried chickpeas [but see the updates below]. I read an interesting article at The Guardian about "how to make the perfect chana masala," where the author suggests a "clever compromise" of simmering the drained, canned chickpeas in water for just 5 minutes to soften them, and then using the cooking water in the curry. I would definitely do that if you're going to use canned chickpeas, but at that point you're not saving much effort, since you're still getting out an extra pan to simmer the chickpeas before cooking the curry. But you do save a little time on the simmering, and you can still make the curry if you forget to soak dried chickpeas in the morning. Of course, a little planning ahead makes for better eating all week long anyway.

Update (4/15/18): I've discovered that softening canned chickpeas is even easier in the microwave. I revised the recipe below to reflect the new method, though you can still boil the chickpeas if you don't have a microwave.

Update #2 (8/17/20): I now have an even more reliable method to ensure that the canned chickpeas are plenty soft: use more liquid and cook the chickpeas longer, part of the time with a lid on. This method has the added benefit of making the dish a little saucier, so there's plenty to soak up with the rice and/or naan you serve it with.

The original Chickpea Curry

The improved Chickpea Curry 1.1: softer chickpeas and more sauce

 

Chickpea Curry 1.1

(Chana Masala)

  

Adapted from Made in India (2014) by Meera Sodha (also available on her website), with some help from Melissa Clark in the New York Times (for my take on making Quick Caramelized Onions)

Time: ~1 hour (using canned chickpeas)

Sodha says the fresh chiles she uses are long, slim, and green (unripe), and are often called "Indian" or "finger" chiles. I have no idea where to find them here, but serrano chiles seem like a good substitute, since they're hotter than jalapeños and Sodha says the Indian chiles are pretty hot. She also says it's easy to figure out how much fresh chile you like by using just a quarter of a chile (with the seeds) the first time you make the recipe, and seeing how you tolerate the heat level. If you want it hotter, add another quarter of a chile the next time, and so on.

227 grams/8 ounces dried chickpeas; or 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans) 

1 teaspoon baking soda (only if using dried chickpeas) 

1 3-centimeter piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1 fresh green chile, roughly chopped (see note)

kosher salt

2 large onions, thinly sliced from pole to pole

3 tablespoons (40 grams) neutral-flavored oil such as sunflower or canola

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes 

1 tablespoon (15 grams) tomato paste

1 teaspoon garam masala

¾ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder or 1 teaspoon paprika 

¼ teaspoon ground turmeric 

Cooked rice and/or naan, for serving

    1a. For dried chickpeas, put them in a medium saucepan, cover with cold water by a few inches (they’ll expand as they soak), and stir in the baking soda. Soak for at least 6 hours. Ideally, you would start soaking the chickpeas the morning of the day you’re making them for dinner. When you’re ready to cook, drain the chickpeas, rinse and drain them again, then cover them with more cold water. Boil until they’re soft but not falling apart, 30 to 45 minutes, occasionally skimming the scum off the top. Set aside.
    1b. For canned chickpeas, drain the chickpeas, reserving the liquid (aquafaba) from the cans. Place the chickpeas in a medium bowl with 1 cup (235 grams) of the aquafaba, and microwave on high power until very warm, about 1:30 depending on the power of your microwave. 
    2. Meanwhile, use a mortar and pestle to pound the ginger, garlic, green chile, and a pinch of salt into a paste. You can also do this using a chef’s knife if you don’t have a mortar and pestle.
    3. Set a large stainless steel skillet or sauté pan (that has a lid) over medium heat for 1 minute. Add the onions and increase the heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring occasionally (a wooden spoon with a flat edge works well here), until the onions begin to soften and darken (but don't burn them), about 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the oil and a pinch of salt. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the onions are soft and caramelized, about 8 to 10 minutes more. (Longer is better here, if you have the time and patience.) When the bottom of the pan is glazed with a brown fond, add 1 tablespoon of water and scrape up the browned bits. Repeat as necessary until the onions are caramelized.
    4. Lower the heat to medium. Stir in the ginger, garlic, and chile paste (from step 2). Stir in the canned tomatoes with their juice, tomato paste, and the chickpeas and aquafaba (use 1 cup of the chickpea cooking liquid if you started with dried chickpeas). Adjust the heat to maintain a steady simmer, then cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
    5. Meanwhile, stir the garam masala, cumin, chili powder or paprika, turmeric, and 1½ teaspoons salt together in a small prep bowl. Stir the spice mixture into the chickpeas. Continue to cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until the chickpeas are softened and the sauce is thickened some, about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Serve promptly over rice and/or with naan bread. Serves 4.

Green is good, episode II

I've made plenty of guacamole in the big-ass mortar and pestle I got for my birthday last year, but I've been waiting nine months to put it to its highest use: making pesto with all of the beautiful basil that's available in the summer. Since having trofie with pesto in Genoa a few years ago, I've tried to make it as close as possible to the Ligurian way, both in the making of the pesto and in serving the pasta with potatoes and green beans, which is how I had it in Genoa. The pesto really does come out a lot better using a mortar and pestle, but I've also included instructions for using a food processor. It won't be as “magical and beautiful” as pesto made the traditional way, but it will still taste good.

Pasta al Pesto Ricco

Adapted from a variety of recipes and articles, including Italian Food (1987) by Elizabeth David, Food52, Serious Eats, Samir Nosrat, and Cook's Illustrated #123, July/Aug 2013

Time: ~45 minutes (using a mortar and pestle)

Here is an updated version of the instructions for making pesto in a food processor.

For the pesto
30 grams (¼ cup) raw pine nuts
1 garlic clove, any green center removed
a good pinch of kosher or coarse sea salt
55 grams/2 ounces (2 cups tightly packed) Genovese basil, rinsed, patted dry, and roughly chopped
43 grams/1½ ounces grated Parmesan or Grana Padano cheese (~6 tablespoons grated mechanically, more grated on a Microplane)
14 grams/½ ounce grated pecorino Romano cheese (~2 tablespoons grated mechanically, more grated on a Microplane) 
¼ cup (53 grams) extra-virgin olive oil, more if needed

For the pesto ricco
1 to 2 tablespoons fine sea salt
1 pound dried pasta such as linguine, trenette, bavette, strozzapreti, or trofie
140 grams (5 ounces; ~2 small) organic Yukon Gold or red potatoes, peeled, quartered, and cut into ¼-inch slices
115 grams (4 ounces) green beans, trimmed and cut into 1½-inch lengths
2 tablespoons (1 ounce; 28 grams) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
freshly ground black pepper

    1. Bring 4 quarts of water to a rolling boil in a large pot over high heat.
    2a. To make the pesto in a mortar and pestle: Pound and grind the pine nuts to a fine paste. Add the garlic and salt and pound and grind into the paste. Add the basil a handful at a time, pounding and grinding until the basil is completely broken down. Stir in the cheeses. Drizzle the olive oil over in a thin stream, working it in with a wooden spoon until you have the “consistency of creamed butter.” Use a little more oil if needed. Taste, and adjust for salt as needed. If you are not using the pesto right away, transfer it to a glass jar and top with a thin film of olive oil. Store in the fridge for up to 2 days, or freeze. Makes about ⅔ cup (155 grams).
    2b. To make the pesto in a food processor: Add the pine nuts, garlic, and salt to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal "s" blade. Process until pulverized. Add the basil and 2 tablespoons (27 grams) of the oil and pulse until all of the basil is finely minced, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Transfer the basil oil to a medium bowl. Stir in the cheeses and the remaining 2 tablespoons oil, working them in until you have the consistency of creamed butter. Use a little more oil if needed. Taste, and adjust for salt as needed. If you are not using the pesto right away, transfer it to a glass jar and top with a thin film of olive oil. Store in the fridge for up to 2 days, or freeze.
    3. To make the pesto ricco: When the water boils, add the fine sea salt and stir to dissolve. You are trying to have the pasta, potatoes, and beans cooked at the same time so plan accordingly, depending on how long it takes the pasta you choose to be cooked al dente. Figure on about 8–9 minutes for tender potatoes and 6–7 minutes for slightly crunchy beans, adding the pasta in when appropriate. When the pasta is al dente, reserve a mugful of the cooking water, then drain the pasta and vegetables in a colander.
    4. Return the drained pasta and vegetables to the empty pot (or transfer to a large serving bowl). Add the pesto, butter, ¼ cup (a 2-ounce ladleful) of the pasta cooking water, and a grind or two of pepper. Stir or toss vigorously until well combined, adding more pasta water 1 tablespoon at a time as needed to achieve a creamy consistency. Serve promptly. Serves 4.

A new favorite: unleashing the umami

It's hard to come up with meals that work for everyone in our family, which includes two vegetarians and a gluten-free eater. I thought a vegetarian chili might be good, but I went through all our recipes and there was nothing suitable (e.g., a black bean chili with beef and a vegetarian chili with bulgur wheat). So I searched the Internet and found a "black bean and espresso chili" that looked fairly promising. But I could tell it wouldn't work for us as written so I broke my own rule and made a bunch of changes to the recipe the first time I made it. (Sorry, Jacques.) But it worked out fine and everyone liked it, especially Mom, who declared it "exceptional." Still, I thought it was somewhat bitter despite cutting back even more on the espresso powder relative to some of the other ingredients. Plus, your Mom didn't sleep well that night. The caffeine maybe?

I thought about how to get more flavor into the chili without using the espresso powder. Then the light bulb went on and I decided to try unleashing a tsunami of umami (Brad's line). A lot has been written about umami in the past decade or so, but here's my primer for you. Umami has been recognized as the fifth taste—in addition to sweet, sour, salty, and bitter—especially after scientists discovered a specific receptor for umami in human taste buds in 2000. The taste is usually described as savory or meaty, which makes sense given that meat is loaded with umami flavor—perfect for amping up a meatless chili or vegetarian gravy.

If you want to add umami flavor to a dish, the key thing to know is that pairing ingredients high in glutamates with ingredients high in certain nucleotides significantly increases the sensation of umami beyond what you'd get using just one or the other. In essence, you need to pick at least one ingredient from the glutamate list and one from the nucleotide list and use them both in your dish to get the most bang for your umami buck. Here are some of the more common things you can keep in your pantry or fridge to choose from:

Glutamates
Anchovies/sardines
Dried mushrooms (shiitake or porcini, but shiitakes have meatier flavor and cost half as much)
Sun-dried tomatoes
Tomato paste
Parmesan cheese
Soy sauce, including tamari
Fish sauce
Miso

Nucleotides
Anchovies/sardines
Dried mushrooms (shiitake or porcini)

That explains why anchovies show up in so many dishes, including Broccoli Pasta.

If you want to read more, I'm linking three articles here (and there are plenty more out there on this subject). The first is more scientific and includes a much more exhaustive list of foods containing natural umami, with specific numbers. The second is from Cook's Illustrated and gives you just the basics. The third is from Cook's Country and takes a closer look at 12 "umami powerhouses," with some tips for how to use them.

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Feasting before the Rome derby

Dylan came home for a surprise visit this weekend so we could watch the Rome derby together this morning (a sweet 2-0 Roma victory) and binge-watch Star Wars movies before the new one comes out next month. Last night, I threw together an impromptu dinner for Dylan and Andi, who joined us, too. We had guacamole, Spaghetti all'Amatriciana (with house-made pancetta from the Timbercreek Market), and "Boring" Apple Cake.

Dylan said it was the best guac he's ever had, which made my whole day. (And he didn't tell me I have a bald spot.) The key to this recipe is making a paste out of onion, cilantro, chile, and salt, which coats the avocado, so that "every bite starts with a pop of heat, salt, and herbs, and ends with the mellow, buttery flesh of the" avocado, as Roberto Santibañez says in describing his recipe. I've made the paste successfully with a chef's knife, but it works a lot better with the big-ass granite mortar and pestle I got for my birthday this year. By the time you're done pounding the ingredients with that thing, you really do have a paste. Plus, it's fun, you get an arm workout, and you have a conversation piece to serve your guacamole in.

Guacamole

Adapted from Truly Mexican (2011) by Roberto Santibañez (you can also see the original recipe on Food52)

Time: ~17 minutes

Santibañez explains that the Mexican way to chop cilantro is to start at the stem end and cut off the first two inches of the stems. Then chop your way up toward and through the leaves, making the cuts ⅛-inch apart and using your free hand to keep the leaves close together as you chop.

2 tablespoons (~20 grams) finely chopped white onion
1 tablespoon minced fresh serrano or jalapeño chile (~1 two-inch chile), including seeds, or more to taste
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup (10 grams) chopped cilantro, divided (see note)
3 medium (about 8 ounces each) ripe but firm Hass avocados
a squeeze or two of lime

    1. Mash the onion, chile, salt, and half of the cilantro to a paste using a mortar and pestle. You can also make the paste by using a large chef's knife to mince and mash the ingredients together on a cutting board. If you use that method, transfer the paste to a small bowl when you're done.
    2. Halve each avocado lengthwise with a large chef's knife. Carefully whack the knife into the pit, twist the knife, then lift and remove the pit and push it off the knife from the blunt side. Use a knife to score the flesh of the avocados with ¾-inch cross-hatch incisions, cutting down to but not through the skin. You can see how to halve, pit, and chop an avocado in this video. Use a large spoon to scoop the flesh out of the avocados and add the chunks to the mortar or the bowl. Gently but thoroughly fold the avocado into the paste, leaving the avocado in large chunks. Add the rest of the cilantro and mix gently. Don't mash it to mush, it should be chunky! Squeeze some lime juice over the top and stir gently. Taste and adjust for additional lime juice, chile, and/or salt. Serve with tortilla chips.