The South’s Best Chef on Cooking What You Love to Cook

Plus: Cooking in Quarantine’s very first scoop.

Nina Compton likes to stay busy. Last year, The New York Times followed her around over the course of a dizzying week—during which she’d wake up at 5:30, start puréeing cauliflower by 7, and fire off emails until 1 a.m. A few hours later, she’d do it all again, making Hunter Thompson’s sleep schedule look like Arianna Huffington’s. 

Needless to say, Nina’s life is about to slow down. Two years after being named the South’s best chef at the James Beard Awards, Nina is preparing to whip up more of her meals not at one of the country’s finest restaurants, but in her own kitchen. “I can actually focus on cooking at home again,” she told me, “which I don’t do a lot.” 

What’s she gonna cook? That’s what we’ll cover at the top of today’s newsletter. 

As for the bottom? Well, you’re gonna have to keep reading to find out, though I can tell you I’ll be reporting on Cooking in Quarantine’s first big scoop. (Yes: I am the Maggie Haberman of apocalyptic food newsletters.)

But first, here’s Nina Compton, showing us how, even as we socially distance, food can bring us closer together. 

Rapid Fire: What to stock your pantry with—and what to leave at the supermarket

Onions and Garlic

Nina: Onions don’t really go bad. So they’re always good to have. Garlic is shelf-stable, too. 

Bouillon Cubes

Nina: You can also get stocks—or bouillon [cubes]. Those actually stretch very far and give you a stock flavor, without having to make a stock or take up room in your fridge with one. 

Greens You Can Braise

Nina: Stay away from delicate things like soft lettuces that will wilt in a day or two. Definitely get sturdy greens that you can braise: Collard greens; kale, which you can make a pesto with; cabbage, which you can roast whole or prepare as a side of coleslaw; brussels sprouts, which you can roast or serve raw in a salad. 

ICYMI: Alex Guarnaschelli also has Thoughts on sturdy greens, which you can read in yesterday’s newsletter.

Evaporated Milk

Nina: When I went to the grocery store, this woman had all these cans of evaporated milk. That’s something I grew up in the Caribbean, because we didn’t have the most dairy on the island. So that was always the back up. Milk is not very shelf-stable, so dig into things like evaporated milk that last a while. 

Fish

Nina: Don’t fill the fridge with a bunch of fish. I wouldn’t buy fish right now. 

Bread

Nina: I have all this flour. I have all this yeast. I can make bread. 

Editor’s Note: A reader (and friend) named Sean Butler sent over a bread recipe, and an anecdote from New York’s final day of restaurant service, which I’m including in full, because it made me smile.  

“In times like these, the dutch oven is the real MVP in my kitchen. For my fellow unmarried folks out there who have not been so fortunate to have been gifted a le creuset, the lodge enameled 6qt is a quality dutch oven available on amazon at a good price. I plan to really lean on the Sullivan St Bakery's recipe for no-knead bread for the foreseeable future. The key here is patience. An undercooked loaf is a soggy tragedy. Wait for the crust to elicit a hollow sound and what awaits you is crusty goodness that can be churned out as frequently as needed. You can find the recipe here.”

“A quick shoutout to my favorite coffee shop—Abraço on E 7th St—for not only opening on a Monday for the first time ever, but for my guy Jamie over there expressing the sort of joie de vivre we all need in these times when I asked him how he was feeling: ‘Kumbaya Motherfuckers.’”

Here’s a link to a recipe for Abraço’s olive oil cake, which is unconscionably delicious. If you can get your hands on a cup and a half of flour, make it. 

Why you should make meals you can transform the next day

Nina: We don’t have the luxury of going to the grocery store every single day or going to restaurants—so you need to go for stuff you can turn into multiple meals. 

Make roasted chicken one day. The next day it becomes chicken pot pie. That’s the stuff you really have to go for, stuff that can be multifaceted. 

READ: Nina Compton’s Recipe for Roast Chicken Thighs

Mondays are a big red beans and rice kind of day in New Orleans. But the next day, rice and beans become taco night. We add sliced avocados, spicy pickles, whatever roasted meat we have—whether it’s chicken or beef. 

Editor’s Note: Nina didn’t share a specific red beans and rice recipe, but she did say you’ll want to include:

1) “Really good andouille sausage,” which can last in the freezer for months;

2) Spices like paprika and cayenne, as well as dry herbs;

3) “A trinity of onions, celery, and bell peppers.”

Here’s an NYT Cooking recipe for New Orleans style red beans and rice.

ICYMI: In Saturday’s newsletter, Bobby Flay shared a recipe for a dish that can be risotto one night and then rice cakes the next. In other words, you get the Best of Both Worlds // chill it out take it slow // and then you rock out the show.

Why you should cook what you love to cook... for those you love most

Nina: If I’m stuck here for two weeks, I want to make cooking more of a family thing. I’ll bring my husband into the kitchen and say, “Today, you’re gonna be cutting the carrots and roasting the chicken and I’m gonna be making the sauce.” It’s about spending time together.

My best friend, who’s a chef as well, came to surprise me recently, and we were talking about how, at this moment of time, it’s all about being with the people you care about and reconnecting with your family and friends. 

That’s why we need to get back into the kitchen. Yes, we’re locked down. Yes, it’s scary. But cook something that you love to cook. And make it simple. And invite your family to be part of that process as well. That’s really important now. 

What charities she hopes you support

Nina: Son of a Saint and Roots of Music.

Bonus Recipe

Kenji López-Alt, who I mentioned in yesterday’s newsletter, posted a video of a beautiful blueberry muffin cake to Instagram, which he says can be made with “frozen blueberries and pantry staples.” Here’s the recipe from Stella Sparks of Serious Eats. 

kenjilopezalt

Stuck at home? Got frozen blueberries and some pantry staples? Do what we did: make @bravetart’s upside down blueberry muffin cake. Link in my bio.

March 17, 2020

[Kenji and Stella: Come on Cooking in Quarantine!]

SCOOP: Facebook’s “Sad WFH Meals”

Alright, I’m not Maggie Haberman. I’m not Ronan Farrow. I’m not even Glenn Greenwald. And, if we’re being honest, this isn’t technically a scoop, since I tweeted about it two nights ago. But I am obsessed with this story, so I’m sharing it again: Facebook employees have started a support group—in which they post pictures of their “sad WFH meals.”

For context: If you work at Facebook, you normally have access to catered meals, as well as micro-kitchens filled with millions of calories worth of the best snacks. So, under ordinary circumstances, they never need to cook, which is why, since quarantine began, they have been posting shit like this: 

If this were the whole story, it would be funny. But no, friends, this isn’t a comedy. This is a tragedy. So Facebook employees aren’t really being left to fend for themselves. Instead, the company’s chefs from around the world are bailing them out—with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert recipes posted every single day. 

It’s like they have their own internal version of this newsletter. Only, it’s not written by me. It’s written by people who actually know what the fuck they’re talking about. 

Sorry, all, Facebook employees are the Marie Antoinette of this quarantine—and they’re letting all of you eat cake. Or, rather, cabbage, which, for some reason, has been praised by three of my first four guests... raising the question: Bobby Flay, what’s your problem with the ne plus ultra of sturdy greens?

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Until next time…