WGBH - Cooking Style RSS

Slow Foods in Twenty Minutes

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:06 PM +0000

March 29, 2012

One of Ana Sortun's new Chef Sets /Brand New Partners

BOSTON — What if all the taste and nutrition of a pound of fresh carrots could be in a 3oz packet in your cabinet? What if you could have all the subtlety and richness of “slow foods” in a jiff – five nights a week? Two prominent area chefs – Barbara Lynch and Ana Sortun – are stepping out of the kitchen trying to change the way we eat.

Ana Sortun, chef and owner of Oleana and Sofra, has created a meal system called Chef Set. It requires you to "chop three fresh ingredients" and combine them with her pre-packaged herbs and grains for a meal in minutes.

Barbara Lynch is chef and owner of six Boston restaurants, including No. 9 Park, the Butcher Shop, and Menton. Her new startup product, BLinc, consists of dehydradted, vegan foods dehydrated and packaged, without additives, for the cook in a hurry to open and add to soup stock or toss with vinegar for an easy salad.

Both women were inspired to work with nutritionists and find solutions that meet their own standards for packaged food--taste, quality and low-calorie.

Lynch insists it couldn't be easier to have eggplant for dinner with her new system. Hardly any skill is required, but she warns, "If you don't know how to boil water, don't buy it!"

The Mad World Of 'Mad Men' Food

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:13 PM +0000

Prepare your aprons and your rye — Mad Men is back — and with it an unofficial cookbook inspired by the food of the popular AMC show set in the 1960's.

Pasta E Fagioli By Annie Copps

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 16:37 PM +0000

When the stars make you drool, just like a pasta fazool, that's amore… Or so the big Dean Martin song goes. Once you try this recipe for pasta e fagioli, a hearty and delicious soup made from pasta and beans, I think you'll find some love in a bowl.

This take on the classic soup comes from by dear friend Anthony Giglio, who is a bit of a renaissance man with an encyclopedic knowledge of wine, story telling abilities of a bard, and the generosity of a saint. His recipe comes from his Neapolitan grandmothers who made this cucina povera staple when cranberry beans were fresh in the markets, or for Friday suppers that weren't during meatless Lent.

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1/2 medium red onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 rib celery, diced
4 pork spare ribs
1 cup crushed plum tomatoes (peeled and seeded)
2 8-oz cans cranberry or red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups beef broth (low sodium)
kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound tubettini or small shells pasta
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, plus extra for garnish
Garnish

Directions
In a large soup or sauce pot over medium high heat, saute onion in olive oil until golden, then add carrot and celery, stirring to coat well. Cook 2 to 3 minutes.

Push vegetables to the edges of the pan and add pork chops, browning them gently on all sides, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and stir well, scraping up any stuck bits from the bottom of the pan.

Bring to boil, then lower heat to simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Add beans, stir well, and cook for 5 minutes. Add broth, bring to gentle simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove meat from bones, roughly chop, and return to soup.

Scoop out half the beans and pass through food mill over the pot, or pulse in blender and return to pot. Season with salt and pepper.

Before adding pasta to soup, make sure soup is liquid enough to handle the pasta (if somewhat thick, add a half cup of water, bring to boil), then add pasta and stir frequently to prevent sticking. (Soup will thicken as pasta absorbs the liquid). Remove from heat just before pasta is cooked through, al dente—about 6 minutes.

Add butter and cheese and stir well. Ladle soup in to warmed soup bowls and let rest at least five minutes; it will thicken more as it cools.

Swirl olive oil in a circle over each bowl and served with a pepper mill and bowl of cheese to pass at the table.
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Annie B. Copps is a senior editor at Yankee Magazine. Annie oversees the magazine's food coverage, both as an editor and as a contributor of feature stories and columns.