Bite This! Sandy’s Culinary Crush

A writer who isn’t writing is like a loaded weapon without a target. For the past decade, I’ve never NOT had a project on the go, but with Yvonne working on a movie in northern Ontario, we’re taking a bit of a break.

Some people would kick back, read books, catch up on the TV she missed. Not me. I’ve got energy to burn and need to directly it wisely, lest I become as neurotic as some people probably already think I am.

So I decided to learn to cook.

Before Writing, there was baking, but I’ve never had much interest in preparing food with nutritional value. Besides, Before Writing, I was a vegetarian and tofu gets boring fast.

Yvonne, on the other hand, has been into cooking—and watching cooking shows—for years. Until recently, when she described her kitchen escapades, all I heard was “wah-wah-wah.” I only tuned in once, when she happened to mention the lemonade for her bourbon sour recipe came from the Barefoot Contessa.

It was a really good bourbon sour.

Now I have a nice kitchen, time to entertain, and a carnivorous appetite. So when Yvonne gave me a Barefoot Contessa (AKA Ina Garten) cookbook for Christmas, my target was clear.

It was love at first recipe. The Contessa is perfect for the novice cook, with short recipes, simple instructions, and pretty pictures. Visit the foodnetwork.com and you can find hundreds of reviews of her recipes, offering helpful tips.

My Contessa highlights: beef bourguignon; roast chicken; roasted vegetables; chocolate layer cake, and squash soup.

My Contessa lowlights: gingerbread cake (spicy goop – have I lost my baking mojo?) and gritty espresso ice cream.

Yvonne probably deletes without reading my lengthy e-mails describing my kitchen feats, but I’m planning a welcome home feast for her return.

Till then, it’s all Contessa all the time. And with Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson on deck, I may never go back to writing. Reaching my word limit on a given day is satisfying, but it doesn’t fill a plate at a dinner party.

My favorite Barefoot Contessa recipe to date is Beatty’s Chocolate Cake. But as this effort is really about cooking, I’ll share instead her recipe for roasted vegetables. Who knew fennel could taste so good?

Oven-roasted vegetables


Ingredients
• 2 small fennel bulbs, tops removed
• 1 pound fingerling or small potatoes
• 1/3 cup good olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound French string beans (haricots verts), trimmed
• 1 bunch thin asparagus, ends removed, cut diagonally into 3-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Cut the fennel bulbs into 6 wedges each, cutting through the core to keep the wedges intact.

Place on a sheet pan. Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise and place them on the pan with the fennel. Drizzle the olive oil on the vegetables, then sprinkle with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Toss with your hands.

Roast the vegetables for 25 to 30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender, tossing once while cooking. Toss the string beans and asparagus with the roasted vegetables and roast for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the green vegetables are tender. Sprinkle on the Parmesan cheese and roast for another minute or two until the cheese melts.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve hot.