V is for vegetables : inspired recipes & techniques for home cooks- from artichokes to zucchini

560 Pages·2015·51.27 MB·English

by  Michael Anthony

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DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to cooks of all kinds who incessantly
search to create vibrant, healthy, and memorable meals
every day.
“This ABC is the way I wrote it. There is room between its lines, and even
its words, for each man to write his own gastronomical beliefs, call forth
his own remembered feastings, and taste once more upon his mind’s
tongue the wine and the clear rock-water of cups uncountable.”
—M.F.K. Fisher, An Alphabet for Gourmets, 1949

Introduction

ON COOKING VEGETABLES
THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER PLACES TO GO for botanical classification of
vegetables and for information about how to grow them. This is a book about cooking. My
cooking. And here’s what I believe: I celebrate local foods grown close to home; I like to
share the backstory of the foods I cook, the people who grew them, where they’re grown,
and how they got to our kitchens. I cook with a particular point of view. Nature leads, but
a cook’s job is to create delicious flavors and healthy meals. That’s what my recipes are
all about.
When you look at a basket of just-picked, garden-fresh vegetables, it’s sometimes
hard to imagine dinner. You may look at a piglet and see bacon, but it’s less natural to
envision how fresh vegetables can become a meal, or many meals. I want you to look at
that market basket and see crispy composed salads, fresh herb sauces, satisfying warm
gratins, thick pureed soups, sautéed greens over a bowl of grains. Yet this book is
emphatically not a call to vegetarianism. I do not cook that way, I do not eat that way, and
I do not want to suggest that you should. Rather, this book is a celebration of vegetables
in their greatest glory. Often that glory is not immediately obvious; you need a bit of
technique, a little knowledge, and a whole lot of courageous exploration.
EATING WELL, LIVING WELL
WHAT’S REALLY IMPORTANT TO ME is this new, exciting, and sensible way of eating
that puts vegetables in the spotlight and consciously reconsiders the role that proteins
play. I do not want to give up fish or meat, and you’ll find recipes that include them here.
To have a healthy farm, you need a healthy cycle of elements that includes livestock. It is
only in meat-centric America that we think loving vegetables inevitably means hating
meat. But I like eating well, I like living well, and I do not believe in a cuisine of
deprivation. I believe in finding a better balance. For me, cooking with vegetables is not a
political act; it’s an enlightened way of thinking.
I support farmers who are committed to rebuilding their soil and who think holistically
about pest management but somehow cannot manage the long process necessary to
become certified organic. Generally, in the argument of local vs. organic, I look for what’s
growing close to where I’m cooking, rather than what’s simply labeled organic.
This book is the next step in the evolution of American food. These recipes are
directional. They suggest a more healthy and luxurious way of eating: intense vegetable
purees stirred into flavorful broths, the bright surprise of a carrot pickle, how roasting
brings out the delicious caramelization of root vegetables, the fun of a dish where shaved
raw vegetables appear with their cooked version. I’m thrilled to help you master ways to
make veggies shine. I really want you to feel excited about cooking vegetables; I want to
share techniques so you can translate that excitement into finished dishes of your own.
NAME IT & TAME IT
FIRST, IDENTIFY that vegetable. Look it up in a book (such as this one!). Is it a turnip or a radish,
kale or Swiss chard? Our photographs will help you with that. Then, I’ll help you figure out what to
do with it: how to clean it and peel it and chop it. Next, I’ll help you make it taste wonderful. I
promise this book won’t suggest you slip the skin off each English pea. Being a cook is a
discipline though. It’s like playing music. It doesn’t have to be difficult; you just have to want to
hear it.
People in the farmers’ market ask me all the time, “How do I know which vegetable is good?” I
answer, “You can’t make a mistake!” It’s pretty simple: Just get yourself to the market and you’ll be
fine. Trust your senses, and follow your hunger. You’ve got to taste it to know it. There’s nothing
wrong with asking a neighbor, or the farmer. Even if you are not sure what it is (a luscious head of
tatsoi, a gnarly Jerusalem artichoke) or what to do with it, be unafraid.
I started a program at a local elementary school where I’ve experienced the wonder of
handing a first-grader a whole head of cauliflower. When they get their hands on it, they see
cauliflower as important and new, something magnificent, a wonderful sculpture, a piece of art.
That thing could be a Martian’s brain! I want to convey their sense of innocence and discovery.
Without being pretentious about it, I want you to see vegetables as important. You do not have to
be a food historian or a botanist or a health food nut to appreciate the magic of vegetables. All you
have to be is hungry!
VEGETABLES A TO Z
THIS BOOK IS ABOUT VEGETABLES in the most generous sense; that is, neither
animal nor mineral. My choices are personal, sometimes fanciful. Spend a moment
leafing through my alphabet and you’ll discover the idiosyncrasies. Yes, I know that
avocados, tomatoes, nuts, and mushrooms are not vegetables in the strict botanical
sense. But what matters more is how delicious and healthy they are and the distinctive
flavors they bring to our meals. Yes, quince is a fruit, but I do love to cook with it in savory
dishes, and, well, we needed a Q. U for “upland cress”? V for “Vidalia onion”? Sure! Just
turn to those pages for my rationale. If you think X for “extra-virgin olive oil” is a stretch,
that’s exactly what this book is for—to stretch our imaginations, to stimulate fresh ideas
for exciting eating. I’ve been holding forth on why I only cook with extra-virgin olive oil
since we began developing recipes, but it was only when our editor suggested we use X
for that spot that I realized it gave me an eXcuse (sorry) to explain my conviction that
pure extra-virgin olive oil is the only olive oil to use. And Y reveals why all yams sold in
this country happen to be sweet potatoes.