New Book From Bittman

Mark Bittman has been one of my favorite food writers for a long time, from the many recipes he has published in the New York Times, to his cookbooks and his advocacy for more veggies, less meat. He has a new book coming out May 5th, highlighting how food fits in with our society and the planet, so here are the details from him:

As important as cooking is to me, it's impossible to pretend that there isn't more to food than pleasure and even nourishment. For the last few years, I've concentrated much of my work on how the food we eat gets to our table, because how it's grown, distributed, and marketed affects everyone. That's nothing new, of course, but as more and more people recognize the role of food in culture and politics, it represents an opportunity to change many things for the better. There's a lot to say about this, and I've been lucky to take a crack at it in my New York Times opinion column. I'm also lucky—and thrilled—to announce my latest book: A Bone to Pick, on sale May 5. It's a collection of my columns on agriculture, the environment, policy, health, cooking, and more—and what I believe all of this means for the future of food and, ultimately, the fate of the planet. The conversation about food's effects on our lives will never end. Use #ABoneToPick to chime in on social media and follow along as it evolves. And look for another email from me in the coming weeks—I'll be partnering with the New York Times on a cool giveaway. Mark Preorder Your Copy

A Cleanse For 2015

Happy 2015! After all the overindulgence of the holidays, some folks are looking for ways to dial it back, and cleanses are popular in Boulder. Bon Appetit offers a food lovers cleanse that looks to be far more appealing than a week of nothing but kale juice. You can find all the recipes and instructions for their food lovers cleanse here. I might just follow Mark Bittman's advice and try to add more veggies and lessen the meat.

Bittman Releases New Cookbook

Mark Bittman is continuing his how to cook everything theme with the release of his latest, How to Cook Everything Fast (does no one believe in using adverbs anymore?). I hope this link will take you to more information about it on Amazon. Cooking quickly is an admirable goal in my estimation.

Bittman on Grilling

Want video from an expert on how to grill just about anything to prep for your Fourth of July weekend grilling events? Check out Mark Bittman's The Minimalist Grills at the New York Times for mouth-watering videos, with links to more grilling recipes as well. Remember, the NYT has unfortunately imposed limits to its previously free viewing, but at least your arrival from a blog post like this isn't supposed to count.

Bittman Moves On

Mark Bittman's The Minimalist column in the New York Times has long been a favorite recipe source for me. After 13 years of writing it, here's news that he'll be wrapping it up, turning instead to writing a food opinion column and articles for the revamped NYT Magazine. Fortunately, on Twitter he promises that there still will be many recipes in The Magazine.

The Rest of This Week's Dinner Ideas

Time to get moving with our weekday dinner planning. It has been awhile since red meat has appeared in our menus, and I'm finally in the mood for food suitable to autumn, so I'm thinking about baked potatoes with spiced beef chili from Bon Appetit. You can get a 5 pound bag of organic russet potatoes at Whole Foods for just $2.50 through Tuesday, and burger is always a cheap option (and currently on sale at Sunflower). The vinegar in the recipe adds a nice touch, and I agree with the reviewers who say to lighten up on the cinnamon.

Then of course we made a large dish over the weekend that will serve as a quick midweek reheat, in this case the cod, potato, and fennel casserole. A veggie or salad on the side and you're done.

With winter squash just 99 cents a pound at Sunflower through Wednesday, it's time to start indulging my love of butternut squash, which will get me through the winter. We haven't yet had a rice dish this week, and shrimp are also on sale at Sunflower, suggesting butternut squash risotto with shrimp from Bon Appetit. A $1 bunch of organic kale grabbed at Whole Foods before their sale ends Tuesday would be good sauteed on the side.

For our final weekday dinner before the planning starts all over again, I'm thinking of an experiment, which might be foolhardy for a Thursday evening, but the recipe looks worth it. I've been checking out (literally - thank you library!) Mark Bittman's new book, The Food Matters Cookbook, and there's a pasta dish in it that intrigues me. It's one-pot pasta with zucchini and chicken, and since it's from the new book, it doesn't have a link. With chicken tenders $1.99/lb through Wednesday at Sprouts and organic zucchini just $1 a pound through Tuesday at Whole Foods, this sounds like a winner. The basic idea is to brown chicken chunks, remove them, saute onions and garlic, then put back the chicken and add a lot of zucchini. Then comes the kinky part - instead of cooking the pasta separately, you add some wine and stock, then cook the pasta right in the dish. I've done that plenty of times with soups like pasta e fagioli, but never in a regular pasta dish, gotta try it.

And that will do us for the week.

Getting Started on This Week's Dinners

Okay, with fresh corn gone, rain possible, and temperatures headed only into the 70s (and even 60s), I'm finally ready to acknowledge some of the joys of fall cooking. Making big, comfy casseroles in the oven is one of them, so that will be our starting point for the week, with cod, potato, and fennel casserole from Gourmet magazine. This suggests itself from three directions: the gorgeous fennel bulbs I picked up at the Boulder Farmers' Market two days ago, the organic russet potatoes currently on sale at Whole Foods for $2.50 for a 5 pound bag, and in a twist, the haddock on sale at Sprouts for $4.99 a pound. I'm hoping haddock will work as well as cod in the dish based on its interchangeability (is that a word?) with cod in an old New England classic, scrod. Tradition has it that if it is spelled scrod, it's made with cod, and if schrod, it's haddock. A little asparagus from the sale at Lucky's will go on the side, either steamed or roasted along with the casserole.

Then, no surprise, we'll take advantage of Saturday's clear weather to get in at least one more grilling of fresh, wild salmon, with just a squeeze of lemon to top it off. Since eggplant and tomatoes are still abundantly available, we might turn back to grilled eggplant salad from Cooking Light, since the grill is going anyway. More likely we'll return to our fall thinking and therefore to the oven, roasting an assortment of veggies (no recipe required, although there are many). The rest of my fennel from the Farmers' Market could go in, along with cubes of some of the organic squash on sale at either Sunflower or Lucky's, tossed with a bit of olive oil and herbs.

To finish off the weekend, I'm sure there are plenty of other people in Boulder like me who are looking to use up the fresh herbs in their gardens and pots, since temperatures in this coming week are going to be dipping dangerously low for delicate herbs. One of my solutions will be penne with asparagus and basil from Bon Appetit. This uses the asparagus available for cheap at Lucky's, some organic tomatoes from the Farmers' Market, and plenty of my own herbs. In addition to the basil and parsley called for in the recipe, I bet it would benefit from some of my fresh oregano, too. It could either be left vegetarian as written, or given a little omph with the addition of something like prosciutto or pancetta. Using a touch of meat as a flavoring is a technique heavily championed by Mark Bittman in his new cookbook, The Food Matters Cookbook, which I'm currently checking out. A bit of prosciutto could be sauteed in the pan before starting the recipe, removed from the pan, then crumbled into the finished dish.

That will get us through the weekend, with more planning to come.

New Bittman Cookbook Out Tomorrow

Mark Bittman fans are noting that his new book, The Food Matters Cookbook: 500 Revolutionary Recipes for Better Living will be released tomorrow. This is presumably the cookbook sequel to his book Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating, in which The Minimalist got religion of a sort regarding sustainable eating, espousing the virtues of veggies and whole grains, while limiting meat consumption. Since Bittman's stamp of approval typically only goes to recipes that are totally delicious and usually easy to prepare, this new cookbook could be a most welcome guiding light towards healthier cooking.

Bittman on the Today Show

Mark Bittman will be a guest on this morning's Today Show on NBC, demoing from yesterday's New York Times column, 101 Fast Recipes for Grilling that I mentioned yesterday. Might be on around 8:45 our time, or they'll probably have the video available to stream anytime after that. Just in time for some 4th of July grilling ideas!

Mark Bittman Does It Again

Just in time for our 4th of July barbeques, Mark Bittman has released another in his fabulous "101" ideas series, this time 101 Fast Recipes for Grilling in the New York Times. I'll be referring to this one again and again. Way to go, Mark!

Bittman for Cheap

Such a short life cycle books can have these days. Mark Bittman is my hero for his minimalist cooking approach, and his How To Cook Everything cookbook (a bit presumptuously titled) really gets a workout in my house. He's published a number of spinoffs, and one from last year, Mark Bittman's Kitchen Express, has hit the bargain bin at Amazon, selling for $10.40. (It ships for free if you have a $25 purchase or sign up for a trial of Amazon Prime.) I love Bittman's 101 ideas columns that he publishes in the New York Times, and it sounds like this book is along the same lines: 404 ideas for seasonal dishes that can be prepared in less than 20 minutes (which for me usually means 30 or 40 minutes), using concepts rather than exact measurements. At $10.40, I might have to indulge.

Brussels Sprouts Sliders!

Finally, I have a chance to try Brussels sprouts sliders, which conjure up such a cute image of roasted sprouts with ham and mustard tucked in the middle. Mark Bittman listed these as number 42 in one of his brilliant "101 things" articles in the New York Times, this one on 101 Head Starts on the Day, initially published for Thanksgiving. It fits perfectly, as I have leftover Brussels sprouts to use up (from Christmas, not Thanksgiving!), and the oven will be going anyway with the turkey breast roast (today's the last day to get it at Whole Foods for $3.99/lb!). I like cooking that is quick and easy but really, really good, so Bittman, who styles himself as The Minimalist, is totally my hero. He's done other "101" lists that have created a feeding frenzy, so to speak, when they've come out, and I'll get a list of them together when I have more time. I also like a guy who can spell correctly, or at least has a good editor. Never occurred to me that it's Brussels sprouts, not Brussel sprouts, but duh, of course it is.