Meet Mike Diago, Our Newest Staff Writer
Meet Mike Diago, Our Newest Staff Writer
Give him a warm welcome
For my first assignment, I’m sharing four recipes that can be made on weeknights without disrupting the natural order of things. I rely on these often since I work all day as a high school social worker. Usually, I can pick up the kids and get home by 5:30 p.m. and then the dinner rush is on. I pass my six-year-old his tablet and sit my baby in his chair where he can suck on his fist and watch me cook.
A pot of salted water usually goes on the stovetop before I even know what I’m cooking: I cover it, turn the knob until the flame bursts, and then open the fridge and start to think of what to do with it. On one recent evening, I noticed a block of 24-month Parmigiano Reggiano and decided to make a dish I’ve made a thousand times. I shouted, “Alexa, play the Isley Brothers,” so I could get into a rhythm while I grated, then plucked a handful of sage leaves and threw them into a pan with some butter, boiled linguini until almost al dente, and dragged it, dripping with pasta water, into the butter and sage mixture with tongs before stirring in the mound of fine grated cheese to complete the creamy dish — done in under twenty minutes. My wife got home and picked up the baby as he started crying. I plated the pasta, removing all of the green bits from the six-year-old’s, and flung the shallow bowls onto the table exactly at our set dinnertime — 6 p.m.
Of the four dishes, that sage butter and parmesan pasta is the quickest, most intuitive, and least expensive (and is this week’s budget recipe). The earthy mushrooms over polenta can be served for dinner and microwaved and topped with a runny egg for breakfast (though you’ll need to thin the polenta out again with some milk). The ajiaco will take a bit more time and attention, but it will warm every cell in your body and soothe every nerve: Ask anyone from its chilly mountain home: Bogota. The Spanish lentils with spinach are great for smuggling greens into your kids’ mouths as the spinach wilts and hides. You can give them heft by adding meat — in this case, chorizo — or mushrooms along with sides. To me, it’s the foundation of weeknight cooking, the first thing I learned to cook when I was living with my dad around age 15 and managing our weeknight dinner routine.
He’d often call before his forty-minute drive from work so I could have lentils, rice, and patacones (the Colombian word for ‘tostones’) ready when he arrived, also at around 6 p.m. I seasoned the beans with dried cumin, paprika, garlic, and parsley and waited to fry the patacones the second time until just before eating. Mark’s lentils recipe uses fresher ingredients (not to throw shade at the dried stuff, if that’s what you have). They keep for a few days, and they are so easy you can have a kid get them started. — Mike
Spanish-Style Lentils with Spinach
Makes: 4 servings
Time: 45-60 minutes
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 pound smoked chorizo chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon smoked paprika (pimentón) or 1/2 teaspoon crumbled saffron threads
1 cup dried brown lentils, rinsed and picked over
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup fruity red wine
2 cups water or chicken, beef, or vegetable stock, or more as needed
1 pound spinach, roughly chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
1. Put the oil in a large pot over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the chorizo and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and the sausage begins to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and paprika and continue to stir and cook until fragrant, 1 minute.
2. Stir in the lentils, bay leaves, wine, and water; raise the heat to high and bring to a boil. Adjust the heat so the mixture bubbles gently. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally and adding more water if necessary to keep the beans submerged, until the lentils are no longer crunchy but are still a little too firm to eat, 20 to 30 minutes. (You can make the dish to this point up to 2 days ahead; gently reheat the lentils before continuing.) Fish out the bay leaves.
3. Stir in the spinach, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and keep cooking until the lentils are fully tender, the spinach is wilted, and the mixture is saucy and thick, another 5 to 10 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve hot or warm.
— Recipe from How to Cook Everything: The Basics
Polenta with Mushrooms
Makes: 4 servings
Time: 1 ½ hours
Ingredients
1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms (about 1/2 ounce)
2 cups boiling water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound fresh button or cremini mushrooms, sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup red wine
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 cup medium or coarse polenta
1/2 cup milk, preferably whole
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
1. Put the dried mushrooms in a medium bowl and pour in the boiling water. Press them down into the water now and then until they are soft, anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes depending on how dry they were. When it’s time to cook with them, lift them out of the water with your hands or a slotted spoon and chop them roughly. Reserve the soaking water.
2. Put the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the soaked dried and fresh mushrooms and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are tender and have released all their liquid, 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Add the wine and let it bubble away for 1 minute, then stir in the garlic, 1/4 cup of the parsley, and 1 cup of the reserved soaking water. Cook until the liquid thickens a bit, another 2 or 3 minutes, then taste, adjust the seasoning, and turn off the heat under the skillet.
4. Put the polenta in a medium pot with 1cup water and whisk to form smooth slurry. Whisk in the milk and a large pinch of salt and set the pot over medium-high heat. Heat until the mixture boils, then lower the heat to medium and cook, whisking frequently and adding more water a little at a time to prevent lumps and keep the mixture somewhat soupy. Expect to add another 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups of water before the polenta is ready. The polenta will be done in 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the grind. It will be thick and creamy, with just a little grittiness, and the mixture will pull away from the sides of the pan when you stir. When the polenta is done, turn the heat under the mushrooms to medium to warm them quickly.
5. Stir the butter and cheese into the polenta, then taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve the polenta topped with the mushrooms and garnished with the remaining 1/4 cup parsley.
You want to reserve the soaking liquid but leave the grit behind, so lift out the mushrooms rather than pouring to drain them.
— Recipe from How to Cook Everything: The Basics
Ajiaco
Makes: 4 servings
Time: 1 ½ hours
Ajiaco is one of Bogota’s most famous dishes, perfect for warding off the cold in the cool city at the base of the Guadalupe and Monserrate mountains. Normally it is made with an herb called ‘guascas’—which you should use instead of the thyme if you have some — and three contrasting potatoes, most famously, papas criollas, which are delicious little buttery guys. You can substitute with red potatoes, Yukon golds, and fingerlings, but don’t sweat it too much. Use whatever potatoes you have. Potatoes that break down will help to thicken it: The cream makes it silky, the avocado lends it freshness, and the occasional tang of a bursting caper keeps everything in balance. Yesterday, my family went to see Encanto, the new Disney film about a magical family in the Colombian mountains, and I was pleased — after having just eaten ajiaco with my family — to see the Madrigal family passing around the cream and avocado for the one in the dinner scene.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon neutral oil, like corn or grapeseed
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried (or guasca)
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Salt and black pepper to taste
5 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade (page 160)
2 ears yellow corn, shucked and cut crosswise into 2-inch pieces
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons drained capers
1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced
Instructions
1. Combine the butter and oil in a large flameproof casserole or saucepan over medium-high heat. When the butter foam subsides, add the chicken and brown it, turning the pieces as they brown, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
2. Stir in the cumin and thyme, followed by the potatoes and a liberal sprinkling of salt and pepper; stir until the vegetables are coated with oil and spices. Add the chicken stock, bring the mixture to a boil, then turn the heat to low, cover partially, and let the stew cook for about 30 minutes.
3. Add the corn and cook just until tender, about 10 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to crush some of the potato pieces against the side of the casserole to thicken the soup.
4. Divide the cream and capers among 4 serving bowls. Ladle the soup over the cream and capers, top with avocado slices, and serve immediately.
— Recipe from The Best Recipes in the World
Pasta with Butter, Sage, and Parmesan
Makes: 4 servings
Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound cut pasta, like ziti
2 tablespoons butter
30 fresh sage leaves
1 cup or more freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Instructions
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil; salt it. Cook pasta until it is tender, but not quite done.
2. Meanwhile, place butter in a skillet or saucepan large enough to hold the cooked pasta; turn heat to medium, and add sage. Cook until butter turns nut-brown and sage shrivels, then turn heat to a minimum.
3. When the pasta is just about done, scoop out a cup of the cooking water. Drain the pasta. Immediately add it to the butter-sage mixture, and raise heat to medium. Add 3/4 cup of the water, and stir; the mixture will be loose and a little soupy. Cook for about 30 seconds, or until some of the water is absorbed and the pasta is perfectly done.
4. Stir in cheese; the sauce will become creamy. Thin it with a little more water if necessary. Season liberally with pepper and salt to taste, and serve immediately, passing more cheese at the table if you like.
— Recipe from The New York Times
I loved this dish. Super simple to make and packed with flavor! Perfect dinner for a "coldish" nigh in Houston.
These are all keepers. Thank you and welcome to the B P!
Making Spanish lentils very soon....as I was wondering what to do with the pound of spinach that didn't make it into a salad this past weekend. I love learning of herbs I'm not familiar with.