David Tanis - One Good Dish: The Pleasures of a Simple Meal

Merci mille fois to the team at Artisan for their unwavering friendship, support, and expertise: Ann Bramson, Trent Duffy, Judith Sutton, Nancy Murray, Michelle Ishay-Cohen, Kara Strubel, Bridget Heiking, Allison McGeehon, and Lia Ronnen.

As always, a huge thanks to Katherine Cowles.

I especially thank Dorothy Kalins, Joan Simon, and Betsy Klein for their invaluable assistance. My sincere gratitude goes to Andrea Gentl and Marty Hyers.

Grazie mille to Randal Breski, Barbara Tanis, Fabrizia Lanza, Ignacio Mattos, Carl Paganelli, Charles Kaiser, Russell Moore, the Gilberts, the Gordons, Bob Cannard, Tony Oltranti, Robert Carrau Jr., Alice Waters, Emily Weinstein, the Chino family, Amy Dencler, Maggie Trakas, B&S, and Davia Nelson.

Thanks a million to Emma Lipp, Jeremiah Stone, Stephanie Sugawara, Alexandra Schmidt, Megan McDiarmid, and Emma Cline for recipe testing, countless sundry tasks, and for their good cheer.

I am happy to share this little collection with you, and hope that perhaps in some way the book has inspired you to explore some of your own favorite dishes as well.

I also hope you dont follow the recipes slavishly, since improvisation and ad-libbing are always part of a good cooks processthey make life in the kitchen much more interesting. Feel free to personalize these dishes, and use them as templates for versions that express your own idea of pleasure.

One word of counsel, though. A few ingredients and a sure hand can produce wonderful results. Most cooks tend to overcomplicate. Restraint can be admirable. Often, a dish needs less instead of more; sometimes just a squeeze of lime at the last minute is the perfect solution.

Also by David Tanis

A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes

Heart of the Artichoke

David Tanis is the author of A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes and Heart of the Artichoke and Other Kitchen Journeys. His weekly column, City Kitchen, appears in The New York Times.

My Kind of Snack

nibbles for any time of day

You might think this section is all about hors doeuvres or tidbits to go with drinks before dinner, and in a way, you would be right. Indeed, any of the following little dishes would be welcome served that way. But I imagine them for the kind of informal, sitting-around-the-table nibbling that happens at other times of day, whenever friends and family gather. After all, a gathering is not a gathering without a little something good to eat.

The verb to snack, for some reason, has a negative connotation these days. Constant admonitions: No snacking between meals. No snack food, which is presumably the same as junk food. But didnt a snack used to be something good? As in, are you hungry? let me make you a little snack. Or, better have a snack, dinner is hours away. Even the proverbial midnight snack doesnt have to mean something bad. A good snack, for me, should generate a little excitement, and if theres something communal and hands-on about it, so much the better.

I recently served these nuts to friends. Fabulous, they marveled. Where did you get them? I didnt get them, I made them, I responded. And so can you. My two favorite oven-roasted nuts are Salted Almonds with Rosemaryutterly simple, but they taste meaty, and a bit smokyand Cashews with Indian Spicesbuttery, piquant, and aromatic. Chinese Boiled Peanuts, on the other hand, are not at all crisp or crunchy, but they are quite flavorful from simmering with star anise, chiles, cinnamon, and soy. They make a fine snack with a cold beer and are also delicious sprinkled over steamed rice. Makes a small bowlful (about 1 cups)

salted almonds with rosemary

pound natural (unblanched) raw almonds

2 or 3 rosemary sprigs

Sea salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

Pinch of pimentn (optional)

Heat the oven to 400F. Put the almonds in a shallow baking dish, sprinkle with 1 tablespoon water, and toss to moisten. Strip the rosemary leaves from the stems and add them. Add a generous pinch of sea salt and mix with your fingers to combine. Drizzle the almonds with the olive oil, toss once more, and spread in an even layer.

Roast the almonds for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally for even browning. Take care not to get them too darkcheck them frequently, since you dont want them on the verge of burnt. The interior should be golden brown. Sprinkle with a little pimentn, if you wish. Serve warm or at room temperature.

cashews with indian spices

teaspoon coriander seeds

teaspoon cumin seeds

pound natural raw cashews

2 tablespoons melted butter

teaspoon cayenne

teaspoon turmeric

Sea salt

Heat the oven to 400F. Toast the coriander and cumin seeds in a small dry pan over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Coarsely grind in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle.

Spread the cashews in an even layer in a shallow baking dish. Roast for 7 to 10 minutes until barely golden. Drizzle with the melted butter, then sprinkle with the toasted spices, cayenne, and turmeric. Season generously with sea salt and toss to coat. Serve warm or at room temperature.

chinese boiled peanuts

pound shelled raw peanuts

cup soy sauce

cup packed dark brown sugar

2 or 3 whole star anise

2 or 3 dried red chile peppers

A 1-inch piece of cinnamon stick

Put the peanuts in a small stainless steel or other nonreactive pot, add the soy sauce, sugar, star anise, chile peppers, cinnamon, and 2 cups water, and bring to a boil, then adjust to a gentle simmer. Cook, covered, for 2 hours.

Turn off the heat and let the peanuts cool in their liquid. Drain before serving, but reserve the liquid to store any leftovers (keep refrigerated).

A common British pub snack is an egg boiled and served in its shell with celery salt. Of course, the better the egg, the better the snack. Recently I was served a perfect version at St. John, Fergus Hendersons restaurant in London, where they pounded their own aromatics for the flavored salt.

I like to do something similar with quail eggs, using a salt mixture brightened with cumin and cayenne pepper. Quail eggs are quite beautiful served in their speckled shells, so just have everyone peel his or her own, and pass the salt for dipping. The spicy cumin salt is also delicious sprinkled over raw vegetables or any number of other things. Serves 4 to 6

18 quail eggs

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

cup coarse sea salt

Large pinch of cayenne

Bring 4 cups water to a rapid boil in a medium saucepan. Add the quail eggs and cook for 2 minutes. Immediately cool them in a bowl of ice water for 5 minutes, then drain well and put them in an attractive serving bowl.

Toast the cumin seeds in a dry pan over medium-high heat until fragrant, a minute or so. Coarsely grind the cumin in a spice mill or with a mortar and pestle. Transfer to a small dish, add the salt and cayenne, and stir together.

Pass the eggs and the cumin salt at the table, so each diner can peel and season his or her own.

This luscious juxtaposition of sliced tomatoes and hard-cooked egg with well-seasoned handmade mayonnaise reminds me of two classic old-school dishes. One is a traditional Russian salad, a mixture of cold cooked vegetables lightly bound with mayonnaise and sometimes spooned into halved tomatoes. The other is the French oeuf mayonnaise, the simple bistro standby of hard-cooked egg with mayonnaise and nothing more, except perhaps a lettuce leaf. When well made, both are sensational.

You must have sweet ripe tomatoes and good, fresh farm-raised eggs. And as for the mayonnaise, its well worth learning how to make, and not nearly the chore you may imagine it to be. Store-bought really doesnt compare and ought not be substituted here. Serves 4 to 6