One Big Table Now & Here

We can’t help it. The more difficult the odds, the more idiosyncratic, inspired, and (often) insane is the typical American culinary response.

I was in Ojai, California, last Sunday as rumors of the storm that would paralyze the Midwest and turn the East Coast into snow wall Stonehenge began to circulate. There was still time to outrun the storm. Making that effort would have been the sane response. The roof of my 200-year-old house in the mountains of upstate New York attracts snow as black sweaters do lint. Like many of its neighbors, the roof of the house has been known to collapse under the weight of the glaciers that winter delivers. Its pipes have been known to rebel and burst in the cold. My house resents being left alone. Making a run for New York was the sensible choice. I stayed in Ojai and cooked lunch.

Larry and Kathy Yee and I had, after all, planned to stalk the farmers market and to inaugurate their shiny new outdoor kitchen with a market lunch. Larry, who recently retired from U.C. Davis and is now working on Food Commons, his plan to revitalize local “food sheds” and revolutionize the way that food is grown and distributed in the United States, had been talking about his Peruano beans and greens for days. I was obsessing about the raw kale and lemon juice salad that I’d tasted at the Edible Institute hoedown in Santa Barbara the previous night. Friends were driving from Los Angeles for lunch.

Such were the reminders I recited throughout my subsequent 19-hour flight from Santa Barbara to Washington, D.C., the subsequent four-hour Amtrak journey to New York City, the three-hour train to Albany, the hourlong van ride from the train station to the airport, the 90-minute drive home. To the outraged voice that insisted, “This could have all have been avoided,” I could only reply, “Not without disappointment, not without missing a barefoot Sunday in February, not without missing lunch.”

Larry Yee’s Peruano Beans and Greens with Polenta
Ojai, California

Tiny, yellow-green Peruvian beans (also sold as canary beans or Mexican yellow beans) are the darling of the moment. They are sweet and nutty, require only about an hour’s soaking time, and absorb flavor like parched people at an oasis. The secret to this pot of beans is the slow layering of flavors. Dr. Yee, a former agricultural extension worker who has spent his working life re-imagining the American food-growing and -distribution system, builds the flavors—aromatic vegetables, then big-tasting sausage meat and spices. In the final half hour of simmering, he allows the greens to steam on top of the bean stew, which preserves the texture of the kale and collard, and mustard greens that he prefers. This dish makes a marvelous centerpiece to a winter Sunday lunch. In January, we hunkered down to beans and greens, raw kale salad, and game hens done on the rottisserie in the outdoor kitchen that Larry and Kathy recently completed. A barefoot lunch while snow continued to slam the East Coast. That knowledge may have made this dish taste even better. But I doubt it.

For the beans:

• 2 cups Peruano beans, covered with cold water, soaked overnight
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 onions, minced
• 4 cloves garlic
• 4 celery stalks, cut into 1/4- inch dice
• 4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1/2 jalapeño pepper, minced
• 3 links hot pork sausage
• 4 cups rich chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 cup stewed tomatoes or high-quality canned or fresh tomato sauce
• 4 cups greens, rinsed, dried and shredded (collard, kale, mustard or some of each work best)

For the polenta

• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup polenta
• 1/4 cup semolina flour
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

1. To make the beans, cover them with cold water and soak overnight, drain and set aside. Warm the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Add the onion and garlic and cook over low heat until the onion is translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, and jalapeño and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have begun to soften. Add the pork sausage, stir and cook until browned, about 5 minutes, add the beans, chicken broth, bay leaf, thyme, tomato sauce, and enough cold water to cover, stir, partially cover and simmer on lowest heat until tender, 60 to 90 minutes.

2. Add more cold water if necessary to keep the beans covered with liquid. When the beans are tender, scatter the greens over the surface of the stew, bring to a boil without stirring, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to sit, covered, for at least 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, prepare the polenta by combining the broth and cream in a saucepan and bringing it to a boil. Add the polenta over and then the semolina flour a little at a time, whisking between each addition. Reduce heat to low. Add the nutmeg, salt, and pepper and continue cooking, whisking constantly for 20 to 30 minutes until the polenta is soft.

4. Remove from heat, beat in the Parmesan a little at a time, reserving one tablespoon for garnish. Turn the polenta into a serving dish, sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan. Return the beans to high heat, remove the lid, stir well, and bring to a boil. Adjust seasoning with additional salt, black pepper, and chili pepper flakes, to taste. To serve, place a spoon of polenta in a soup bowl, ladle beans and greens over the polenta.

Serves 8

Sunday Lunch Kale Salad
Ojai, California

Karen Smith-Wagner of Savoir Faire Catering prepared a raw kale salad for the Edible Institute tasting fete that resulted in major gridlock. I couldn’t get enough of it, and the next day I was helpless in front of the kale for sale at the Ojai farmers market. I bought three varieties of kale—dwarf blue curled Scotch, dwarf Siberian, and Russian Red—and, using Karen’s rough guidelines, put together this salad. We had it for a late lunch, outdoors, barefoot in front of a fireplace, with game hens that had been marinated in blood orange juice, olive oil, black pepper, and fresh rosemary. And Larry Yee’s fine beans, sausage, and collard greens. Way too good.

• 6 cups baby kale, thick stems and ribs removed
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Juice from 1 1/2 to 2 lemons
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, plus more to taste
• 1 1/2 cup coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 slices whole-grain bread, toasted

1. Cut the kale leaves into a fine julienne, about 1/8 to 1/4 inch wide. Rinse well and spin dry in a salad spinner. Place in a large bowl with half the olive oil and then massage the oil into the kale until every shred is nicely lubricated. Set aside. Place half the remaining oil in the bowl. Add the juice of one and half lemons, the salt, and the pepper.

2. Use a sharp knife to cut the toast into 1/8-inch cubes. Toss the cubes and the bread crumbs with the remaining olive oil and let sit for 5 minutes. Heat a cast-iron or nonstick skillet over medium high heat. When hot, add the tiny cubes and bread crumbs and toss constantly, until dark gold. Remove from heat, season lightly with additional salt, and set aside until cool.

3. Toss the kale with the lemon juice and olive oil. Taste, and adjust seasoning with additional salt, pepper, or lemon juice. Add 3/4 of the roughly grated Parmesan cheese and toss well. Add half the toasted bread crumbs and toss. Sprinkle the remaining cheese and bread crumbs on top of the salad and serve.

Makes a meal for four, after a hearty soup or with some grilled meat or fish on the side.

Sunday Supper Game Hens with Olives and Orange
Ojai, California

• 4 Cornish game hens, giblets removed
• 2 oranges, quartered with skin
• 8 sprigs rosemary
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup oil-cured black olives, pitted
• 12 garlic gloves, peeled
• 1/2 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
• zest from one additional orange
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Rinse the game hens and pat them dry. Stuff the cavities of each with 2 quarters of oranges, 2 sprigs rosemary, and 1 tablespoon black olives. Use butcher’s twine or skewers to close the opening. Juice the remaining oranges and combine the juice with the orange zest, 4 tablespoons of the olive oil, rosemary, olives, and pepper in a shallow dish. Add the hens and rub well with the mixture. Refrigerate and allow to marinate for one hour, turning often.

2. Prepare a charcoal grill or spit rotisserie, or pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. Remove the birds from the marinade; reserve the marinade for basting. Rub the birds with the remaining olive oil, season liberally with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roast the birds on the grill or rotisserie or in a cast-iron skillet in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until the internal temperature of the thigh joint registers 150 degrees on a meat thermometer and the juices run clear when the flesh at the joint is pricked. If roasting in an oven, begin at 450 and then, after 10 minutes, reduce the heat to 350.

3. Use a cleaver to hack the meat into small pieces and serve as a side dish with a hearty vegetable or bean soup, stewed beans, a hearty winter salad, potatoes, or bread.

Serves 4