Christopher Kimball wants you to use more salt. Recently, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution spoke with the food media mogul about the biggest cooking mistake home cooks make, how Italians whip up risotto in a fraction of the time, and the latest cookbook in his portfolio, “Milk Street: Tuesday Nights Mediterranean” (Voracious; 2021; $35).
“Tuesday Nights Mediterranean” offers fast, relatable recipes, full of flavors as diverse as the Mediterranean itself. More than chickpeas and pita bread (although both make delicious appearances), the Milk Street team draws upon culinary traditions from Northern Africa, Southern Europe, and the Middle East. Yet the dishes only require pantry staples commonly found in a comfortably stocked kitchen.
Credit: Kellie Hynes
Credit: Kellie Hynes
Helpful recipe notes include thought-provoking explanations on everything from geography and history to cooking techniques. And the recipes themselves provide a culinary education as well. For example, many of the recipes call for salting the meat and vegetables separately, and then seasoning the dish again when finishing. “If you want to pick one thing that is the home cook’s biggest mistake, it’s that they don’t salt enough,” Kimball said. “If you salt or season things independently, you get much better flavor ... each ingredient has time to absorb the salt.” Does he worry about over-salting the food? Kimball pondered the question. “CAN you over-salt your food?” he asked.
Credit: Connie Miller
Credit: Connie Miller
All of the “Tuesday Nights Mediterranean” recipes are on the table in less than 45 minutes, with many clocking in under 25 minutes. To get the job done, the recipes occasionally call for some prepared ingredients, like the canned beans and ready-made pesto stirred into the Soupe au Pistou. “If you’re doing a pistou, where you’re just adding some to the soup, jarred (pesto) is fine. Look, whatever is going to get people in the kitchen, if that makes it easier to make a soup, there’s no problem,” Kimball said.
Credit: Channing Johnson
Credit: Channing Johnson
Few recipes are easier than the Lombardy-Style Rice with Chicken, which transforms the ubiquitous chicken and rice combo into an elegant weeknight event. It tastes like risotto, but it’s made without the tedious add-a-quarter-cup-of-broth-and-stir technique. “If you see people making risotto in Italy, they make it in about 10 or 15 minutes. They stir it like crazy (at the end) and they get it over with and they’re done. Risotto should not be hard,” Kimball explained.
If there is one takeaway from this cookbook, it’s that gourmet meals don’t require gourmet effort. This writer threw together the Flank Steak with Tomato-Eggplant Ragu, and my 17-year-old son announced, “It tastes like a holiday!” With “Tuesday Nights Mediterranean,” we can celebrate every night of the week.
RECIPES
“Milk Street: Tuesday Nights Mediterranean” offers fast, relatable recipes, full of flavors that are as diverse as the Mediterranean itself. Like the other recipes in this book, the following dishes deliver exciting and unexpected results using ingredients you already have on hand.
Credit: Connie Miller
Credit: Connie Miller
Flank Steak with Tomato-Eggplant Ragu
Don’t skimp on the mint in this flavorful vegetable ragu. It makes the vegetables taste light and bright, yet not particularly minty. “Mint is one of the greatest underused herbs,” Kimball told the AJC. “Mint is a game changer, like lemon juice. It perks something up.”
Recipes excerpted from “Milk Street: Tuesday Nights Mediterranean.” Copyright © 2021 by CPK Media LLC. Photographs by Connie Miller. Used with permission of Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company, New York, NY. All rights reserved.
Credit: Connie Miller
Credit: Connie Miller
Lombardy-Style Rice with Chicken
Unlike chicken breasts, which can easily overcook and dry out, chicken thighs retain their flavor and moisture while the rice cooks. Beat the Arborio rice at the end to make a creamy risotto texture without the usual risotto work.
Credit: Connie Miller
Credit: Connie Miller
Seared Pork Tenderloin with Smoked Paprika and Oregano
For this recipe, the Milk Street team advises: “Don’t use a heavy hand when pounding the pork, which can result in tears and uneven thickness. And when pounding, work from the center of the piece outward to the edges.” Kimball prefers to use the bottom of a 2-quart saucepan, rather than a mallet, to achieve an even thickness. “If you have something that’s bigger, you hit the entire surface all at once,” he explained.
Credit: Connie Miller
Credit: Connie Miller
Soupe au Pistou
Why use a combination of broth and water for the soup base? “I think it allows other flavors to come through if you’re not so stock-heavy,” Kimball told the AJC. The beans are added in the last few minutes of cooking because canned cannellini beans are already soft and only need to be warmed through.
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