{"id":1331,"date":"2008-01-22T07:51:00","date_gmt":"2008-01-22T07:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elitemporaryblog.wordpress.com\/2008\/01\/22\/tomorrow-tomorrow"},"modified":"2008-01-22T07:51:00","modified_gmt":"2008-01-22T07:51:00","slug":"tomorrow-tomorrow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2008\/01\/tomorrow-tomorrow\/","title":{"rendered":"Tomorrow, tomorrow"},"content":{"rendered":"
I had big plans. I was going to serve you a real whopper of a dessert today. It was going to be the butterscotch budino from Pizzeria Mozza<\/a>, if you really want to know, the dessert that Frank Bruni<\/a> calls \u201ca pudding to shame all other puddings.\u201d (Isn\u2019t that that the single best line of praise ever<\/span>? I want someone to call me<\/span> <\/span>\u201ca pudding to shame all other puddings.\u201d) It was going to be great<\/span>.<\/p>\n Have you heard about it, this butterscotch budino? I first learned of it when Luisa<\/a> wrote about Mozza last March, and then I went chasing the recipe, which, happily, was printed in the New York Times<\/a>, <\/span>the<\/span> Los Angeles Times<\/a>, <\/span>and<\/span> Bon App\u00e9tit<\/a>, <\/span><\/span>each with a drool-inducing description. It sounded heart-stoppingly good: a ramekin of rich butterscotch pudding topped with a warm caramel sauce and a hearty smattering of salt and,<\/span> on top of that, a dollop of cr\u00e8me fra\u00eeche whipped cream. Needless to say, I printed the recipe<\/a> and planned to make it immediately.<\/p>\n Of course, <\/span>\u201cimmediately\u201d turned out to be this past weekend, which wasn\u2019t so immediate, but anyway. I made it, and despite its three separate components, it was really quite simple and painless. (I even made the cr\u00e8me fra\u00eeche from scratch<\/span><\/a>! S<\/span>o much cheaper that way.) But oh, I don<\/span>\u2019t know. I didn\u2019t love<\/span> it. Maybe I did something wrong? Or maybe it requires a pinch of pastry chef pixie dust that the recipe forgot to mention? The pudding was very nice, but it didn\u2019t leave me clawing for more. The caramel sauce was likewise tasty, but it didn\u2019t make me feel like ripping off my clothes and bathing in it, which, let\u2019s be honest, a really good caramel usually <\/span>makes me want to do. It wasn\u2019t bad; I just wasn\u2019t as excited as I wanted to be.<\/p>\n Does this make me a bad person? A picky little twit? Or perhaps I\u2019m just so-so when it comes to making puddings and caramels? Maybe I\u2019ll make it again this week, just to give it the good old college try. Or maybe I\u2019ll dig out another recipe I clipped a couple of years ago, a recipe for butterscotch pot de cr\u00e8me, and try that<\/span><\/span> instead. Would you like that? I certainly would. Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya tomorrow.<\/p>\n Anyway, this is just to say that I had Exciting! Fun! Plans for today, but instead, I bring you an old standby. Not that it\u2019s anything to sneeze at. It\u2019s just less flashy, that\u2019s all. It\u2019s the recipe for Brandon\u2019s quick black beans with cumin and oregano.<\/p>\n I\u2019m going to go out on a limb here, but I really do believe it: that there is great value, people, in knowing how to doctor a can of beans. It\u2019s nothing to be ashamed of. It\u2019s one of those important life skills, like knowing how to make a bed, tie your shoes, or operate a corkscrew. In this case, you just cook an onion in olive oil, add some cumin and oregano and a good splash of hot sauce, and then chuck in a can of beans, juices and all. (I know the can juices can seem kind of yucky, but as Brandon likes to say, think of it as a broth of sorts. Doesn\u2019t that feel better?) It all burbles together for a few minutes, just long enough to warm through, and then it\u2019s ready to go, earthy and spicy and faintly sweet. With a green salad on the side, or some sliced avocado, or some bread and a hunk of cheddar, or, heck, whatever\u2019s in the fridge, these beans make a terrific, easy lunch. Which, if you ask me, is much more important than pudding anyway.<\/p>\n Have a happy week, friends. I\u2019ll see you on the canned beans aisle.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Oh, but wait! One more thing: our cooking class<\/span> on \u201cmisunderstood\u201d winter vegetables – Brussels sprouts, fennel, and cauliflower – is coming up fast! And there are still a few spots available! The class will take place next Tuesday, January 29<\/span>, in Bellingham, and is hosted and organized by In the Kitchen<\/a>, a new production of Ciao Thyme, the lovely and talented people who catered our wedding. To learn more about our vegetable class – and our eggs class on March 18 – please click here<\/a>. You can sign up by e-mailing classes (at) inthekitchenbellingham (dot) com<\/span>, or by calling 360.733.1267. We\u2019re tickled, just tickled<\/span>, to have this chance to teach, and we really do hope to see you there.<\/p>\n Quick Black Beans with Cumin and Oregano<\/span><\/p>\n Canned black beans differ dramatically from brand to brand. Brandon usually uses Trader Joe\u2019s brand, or Bush\u2019s, or Goya, and all are very good. Yesterday we made these beans with Western Family organic brand, and they weren\u2019t nearly as tasty. So be choosy about your beans.<\/p>\n<\/a>
Much like his chickpea salad<\/a>, these beans are something we eat often for lunch, especially on Saturdays and Sundays, when we want to sit down and share a meal but don\u2019t feel much like fussing. We ate them yesterday, in fact, and in mid-chew, I thought, Gosh, I really should tell them about this<\/span>. Which is more than I can say for some things.<\/p>\n