Simple Elegance

Day 4 of The Advent Calendar of Cookbooks

Day 4’s door for the Advent Calendar of Cookbooks opens on my favorite food writer, Nigel Slater, and his fantastic book, Greenfeast, Vol 2: Autumn/Winter. He is considered one of the best food writers in the world because his prose is refreshing and pulls you in to imbibe more.

Mr. Slater does all his writing from his home in London. He cooks for his partner and himself and then journals about it. In his humble, centuries-old abode, Mr. Slater thinks, cooks, and writes about food in ways I can only aspire to. Instead of boring you by telling you how wonderful he is, here’s a taste of his writing.

“Dinner is different in winter. The change starts late on a summer’s evening when you first notice the soft, familiar scent of distant woodsmoke in the sudden chill of the evening air.” ~Nigel Slater, the opening of Greenfeast, VOL. 2

CONTENTS

Today, I chose two of his recipes from Greenfeast. Volumes 1 and 2 are very vegetable-forward. More importantly, they both focus on minimalist cooking. This is cooking at the bone—at its essence. Although written for the home cook, if you can think outside the box and season to your taste, you’ll find these recipes enchanting.

Note about the book’s graphics. Calligrapher Tom Kemp supplied them. They are sparsely elegant and perfectly reflect Slater’s intent to make this book a simple guide to cooking more vegetables for dinner.

Rating: 6 out of 5 pears.

Bonus: The music I’m listening to today is Keith Jarret’s THE KÖLN CONCERT.

CABBAGE, BERBERE SPICE, CRUMB (courtesy of Nigel Slater)

serves 2

INGREDIENTS

• 300 grams of cabbage, cut into ½-inch steaks

• 12 Tablespoons of olive oil. (Yes, you read that correctly.)

• 80 grams of fresh white bread crumbs

• 1 teaspoon of Berbere spice mix

• 100 grams of frozen peas

• 12 mint leaves

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F,

2. Place the sliced cabbages onto a foil-lined sheet pan.

3. Drizzle 6 Tablespoons of the oil over the cabbage. (I sprinkled some salt over the pieces too.)

4. Bake for twenty-five minutes.

5. Warm 3 Tablespoons of the olive oil in a pan.

6. Add the crumbs and toast them until they turn golden, tossing them from time to time.

7. Stir in the Berbere spice blend.

8. In a food processor, blend until lightly chopped the frozen peas and mint with the last 3 Tablespoons of oil.

9. Stir the pea mixture into the crumbs and allow the residual heat to gently warm them.

10. Plate your cabbage and sprinkle the crumb mixture over the top.

SWEET POTATO, JALAPEÑOS, BEANS

serves 2

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large sweet potato

• 4 each radishes, cut into match sticks

• 1 jalapeño, thinly sliced or small diced

• 50 grams butter

• 1 400-gram can of black beans, drained

• 100 grams of mozzarella (or a sharp cheddar)

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2. Pierce the sweet potato’s skin with a fork.

3. Bake it for forty-five minutes to an hour. It’s ready when it is soft and melting on the inside.

4. Slice the potato in half and carefully scoop out the filling with a spoon. Try to keep the skin as intact as possible because it is fragile.

5. Mash the filling with a fork.

6. Melt the butter in a frying pan.

7. Add the jalaeño and fry for two minutes.

8. Add the drained beans and mashed sweet potato to the jalapeño.

9. Season with salt and pepper,

10. Cook for three to four minutes to heat the beans and sweet potato through.

11. Tear pieces of the cheese and stir into the mixture, (or cut strips to lay on the top of the stuffed potato.

12. Spoon the sweet potato mixture into the sweet potato shells.

13. Scatter the radishes over the top and serve.

14. (Adding a lime squeeze is a nice touch.)