Mark Bittman serves up dinner ideas in new cookbook
Cookbook author and food activist Mark Bittman is known for tackling big topics. His 1998 “How to Cook Everything,” revised for a 10th anniversary edition in 2008, is an award-winning encyclopedia of 2,000 recipes. It’s considered a “Joy of Cooking” for a new generation, a hefty, one-stop reference with a style that’s relaxed, thorough and flexible.
Since then, he’s written 15 other cookbooks, including “How to Cook Vegetarian,” “How to Bake Everything” and last year’s “How to Grill Everything.”
His new cookbook takes on the challenge of getting dinner on the table. “Dinner for Everyone” is organized by 100 iconic dishes – Bittman prefers to call them “concepts” – that are done three ways: easy, vegan and “all out.” For paella, there’s Shrimp Paella Under the Broiler (the easy dish), Vegetable Paella with ripe tomatoes, green beans and eggplant, and the more complex Mixed Paella With Mussels. The Korean barbecue concept has an easy Roasted BBQ Brisket, Seared Rice Cakes as the vegan dish, and a 10-hour project, Korean BBQ at Home.
In a recent phone interview, I asked him how he arrived at dinner as his next topic.
“The meal that people are going to cook most often is dinner,” he said. “It seemed like a good idea at the time. As we got deeper and deeper into it, we had this idea for a kind of umbrella with three things underneath it. It started as good, better, best, or something like that. We ultimately decided that instead of going from good to better to best, we would do these three different things.
“I think here are the three things that people want: They want fast and easy because everybody claims they don’t have enough time, and a lot of people don’t know how to cook, and obviously learning how to cook fast and easy is the way to start.
“People know they need to be eating more plant food, so they want to know how to eat more plant food.
“And then there’s cooking for friends and family … relaxing and cooking over time and doing things the right way, in a leisurely and sometimes more luxurious fashion. It’s a show of nurturing, a show of love. Not that cooking fast isn’t. But you know, it’s a social occasion with really good food that you have spent some time on. It’s something to celebrate. I haven’t done recipes like that in a while and I wanted the opportunity to do those.”
Bittman said it wasn’t easy to come up with vegan versions for all 100 concepts, but those are the recipes he’s most proud of.
“You know, I think the vegan recipes are the most exciting part of this book, frankly,” he said. “They are the best vegan recipes you’ll find. I think they are really good.”
Leaning toward vegetables
Bittman’s philosophy about food is largely flexitarian, a diet that is high in plant foods but includes some meat and fish. He said he doubts he’ll ever be a vegetarian, but he advocates adding more plant food to our diets, for both health and environmental reasons.
His distinguished career has included many years as a food writer and columnist at the New York Times. His “Minimalist” recipe column ran in the Times’ Dining section for 13 years and he also was lead food writer for the New York Times Magazine. Then, in 2011, he became a columnist for that paper’s op-ed page. It was said to be the first “food-focused” opinion column at a major newspaper.
In those columns and two essay-style books, “Food Matters” in 2009 and “VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00” in 2013, Bittman explored difficult topics about food politics, such as the deterioration of the American diet with the rise of convenience and nutrient-poor foods, and how global livestock production is hastening climate change.
“I think around 2000, even in the late ’90s, I could see that food was going in a less-than-wonderful direction,” he said. “Right after I wrote ‘How To Cook Everything,’ I started to think about ‘How To Cook Vegetarian.’ That was really an important moment. … I thought the writing was on the wall and we were going to be eating more plant foods, and that it was important to be able to cook them. It was kind of a 10-year journey. And it hasn’t let up, really.”
A decade after the publication of “Food Matters,” he said he feels people are getting the message. Watching the Super Bowl, he noticed commercials promoting sustainability and denouncing junk food.
“This is ridiculous to say – it sounds self-congratulatory – but I think ‘Food Matters’ and even to some extent ‘VB6’ were before their time,” he said. “But they weren’t wrong. There’s a lot being said about this stuff now. To the extent that they were influential, great. I think that now is the time.
“I think that the awareness level is really, really high. I’m more hopeful and optimistic than I’ve been for a long time.”
He said he believes the “eat local” movement – eating food that’s grown or produced close to where you live – should be considered “more of a direction than a religion,” but added: “I think it’s important to look for and support local food.”
No longer writing for the New York Times, Bittman is a member of the faculty at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. He’s currently living in a small town 60 miles north of New York City. Although he said he’s not able to cook every day, he cooks when he’s at home.
“I was home all weekend so I cooked all weekend,” he said. “We made a lasagna for Super Bowl. I don’t know the last time I made a lasagna, but there you go. That was really fun.”
Skillet Teriyaki
Makes 4 servings
1 1/2 pounds skirt steak
2 tablespoons good-quality vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 scallions, sliced, for garnish
If you have time, put the steak in the freezer for up to 30 minutes. Put a large skillet over medium-high heat. Slice the steak against the grain as thin as you can manage. When the pan is smoking hot, add 1 tablespoon oil and swirl to coat. Add half the beef to the skillet, sprinkle with salt and pepper, turn the heat to high, and cook undisturbed until it’s browned on the bottom and releases easily from the pan, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and repeat with the remaining tablespoon oil and the beef.
Add the garlic and ginger to the pan and cook, stirring frequently until soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the honey, soy sauce, and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat so the mixture bubbles gently and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and lightly coats the back of a spoon, 2 to 3 minutes.
Return the steak to the pan and toss to coat with the sauce. Garnish with the scallions and serve right away.
Substitution ideas: This recipe also works for boneless, skinless chicken thighs or pork sirloin steaks, cut into narrow strips.
Vegetable Paella
From “Dinner for Everyone” by Mark Bittman
Salt
8 ounces ripe tomatoes, chopped
Pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil, or more as needed
1 1/2 cups short-grain brown rice
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
8 ounces green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, cored and sliced
1 small eggplant, chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons paprika
Large pinch saffron threads
2 to 3 cups vegetable stock or water
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil and salt it. Put the tomatoes in a medium bowl, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and drizzle them with 1 tablespoon olive oil; toss gently to coat.
When the water boils, stir in the rice and adjust the heat so that the water bubbles steadily. Cook, stirring once or twice, for 12 minutes, then drain thoroughly.
Put the remaining 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Add the green beans, bell pepper and eggplant to the skillet, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring once in a while, until browned in spots but still crisp, 5 to 10 minutes; add more oil if the mixture looks too dry. Transfer to the bowl and toss to combine; taste and adjust the seasoning.
Add the rice to the pan and stir until shiny and toasted, about 1 minute. Add the tomato paste, paprika and saffron and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute more. Add 2 cups stock; stir gently to combine. The rice should be submerged by 1/2 inch; if not, add a little more liquid.
Scatter the browned vegetables on top, followed by the tomatoes; drizzle with any accumulated juices. Put the pan in the oven and cook, undisturbed, for 15 minutes. Check to see if the rice is dry and just tender. If not, return the pan to the oven for another 5 minutes. If the rice looks too dry at this point but still isn’t quite done, add a small amount of stock or water. When the rice is ready, turn off the oven and let it sit for at least 5 and up to 15 minutes. Garnish with the parsley and serve.
Yield: 4 servings
Korean BBQ at Home
Makes 6 to 8 servings
1 pound skinless pork belly
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
1 Asian pear, peeled and grated
1 3/4 cups soy sauce
4 tablespoons dark sesame oil
3 to 5 pounds spareribs, cut into 1/2-inch slices across the bone (flanken style)
1 cup mirin
Salt and pepper
1 cup boiling water
3 dates, pitted
1/2 cup gochujang
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon soju or vodka (optional)
1/4 cup chopped scallions
Heat the oven to 300 degrees. Put the pork belly in an ovenproof skillet and roast, uncovered, until at least 1/4 inch of fat has accumulated in the skillet, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours, depending on how fatty the belly is.
Meanwhile, whisk 1 tablespoon of the garlic, the ginger, pear, 1/4 cup soy sauce and 1 tablespoon sesame oil in a large bowl. Add the spareribs and toss to coat. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to overnight.
Reserve the rendered fat for another use and let the pork belly cool slightly, then cut it into slices 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick. Whisk together 1 cup soy sauce and the mirin and sprinkle with salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Add the pork belly and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to overnight.
Prepare a gas or charcoal grill for direct and indirect cooking. Or heat a large grill pan over 2 burners until smoking hot. Make the two sauces: Pour 1 cup boiling water over the dates. When they’re soft, chop them and add to a blender or food processor with the gochujang and 1 tablespoon sesame oil. Puree until smooth. Put the sesame seeds in a dry medium skillet over medium heat. Toast, shaking the pan occasionally, until they are golden and fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. In a bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 cup soy sauce, the rice vinegar, remaining 2 tablespoons sesame oil, the sesame seeds, sugar, soju if using, 1 tablespoon garlic, remaining tablespoon ginger and the scallions; whisk until the sugar dissolves.
When the grill is ready, cook the meat: Let any excess marinade drip off the ribs, then put them directly over the heat. Cook, turning them as soon as they release easily, until both sides are charred and the meat is just barely cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and brush the grill grates. Shake off any excess marinade from the pork belly slices and put them directly over the heat. Cook, turning occasionally and transferring the pieces to the cool part of the grill during any flare-ups, until cooked through and the edges are charred, 10 to 20 minutes. (The exact time will depend on how often you have to move the belly.) Serve the meats hot, with both sauces for dipping.
Controlling flare-ups: Be vigilant so you char without burning. Prepare hot and cool sides of the fire, and turn the meat often, moving it to the cold side of the grates (or to the edges of the grill pan) if any fat drips down and ignites or the sweet marinades threaten to burn.
Reprinted from “Dinner for Everyone” by Mark Bittman. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.