TRAVEL/FOOD

Glamorous and globetrotting, Natalie Morales, West Coast anchor for the Today show, could easily be forgiven for ordering take-out for family meals. But Morales, who with her sisters helped her mom cook almost every night when growing up, believes good food can bring a family together.

“I’m a busy mom always on the go and the way we connect is around the dinner table, where we have conversations and talk about what’s going on,” she says.

Morales also finds chopping and sautéing as therapeutic and relaxing after her busy work days which often start at 3 a.m. The meals she prepares are an amalgam of her life experiences, one that she captures in her just released cookbook, At Home with Natalie: Simple Recipes for Healthy Living from My Family’s Kitchen to Yours (Houghton Mifflin 2018; $30).

“I’m Brazilian and Puerto Rican and an Air Force brat–we lived in Central and South America and I spent ages 12 to 17 in Spain,” she says “Now, getting to try new foods is one of the great parts of my job.”

Indeed, Morales who recently was in PyeongChang covering the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, spent her spare time there sampling Korean barbecue.

“For me, food is the foundation of a culture and tradition–you get a real idea of the country when you’re eating their foods,” she says.  “I  remember going to Cypress–best night ever–I ended up dancing on the table and so did whole crew. I went to Chile to report on 33 miners trapped 2,300 feet underground for over two months and was there when they were rescued. There was all this food on the tables waiting for them and sitting and eating helped us break through the barriers.”

Morales says she was inspired to write her cookbook after watching chefs such as Giada De Laurentiis, Bobby flay and Ina Garten demonstrate how to cook on her show.

“Their recipes were easy enough for me to do and that inspired me to create a book with simple, but exciting  recipes,” says Morales. “The book is also  a way of honoring the  legacy of my own family by including dishes I ate when I was young.”

These include her  late grandmother’s recipe for ropa vieja—shredded meat, peppers and onions (she’s modernized it by using a slow cooker) and the chicken empanadas her mom makes.

“These are all part of my heritage,” she says. “I wanted to pass that on.”

Ifyougo:

Ifyougo: Natalie Morales book signing

When: Wednesday, April 18 at 8 p.m. EST

Where: Anderson’s Bookshop, 26 S. La Grange Rd. in downtown La Grange

Cost: Tickets required and can be ordered at nataliemoralesandersons.brownpapertickets.com; $34.00 ($36.18 w/service fee).

This ticket admits one and includes a copy of the new book and admission to the signing line.

FYI: (708) 582-6353; andersonsbookshop.co

Ropa Viejo

Serves 6 to 8

1½ pounds flank steak

Sazón seasoning, such as Goya Sazón (see note below)

1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced1⁄2 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper

½ cup thinly sliced green bel

l pepper

1 (14 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

1 cup beef broth

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon ground cumin

½ bottle beer, such as a pale ale

Tabasco sauce (optional)

1 cup halved pimiento stuffed Manzanilla olives (optional)

Chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish

Season the flank steak with Sazón, then put the meat into a slow cooker. Layer the onion and bell peppers on top. Add the crushed tomatoes, broth, tomato paste, vinegar, garlic, oregano, and cumin, stirring to combine.

Pour in the beer and a splash of Tabasco, if desired. Spoon and stir the seasoned liquids over the beef and vegetables. Cover and cook on Low for 8 hours or High for 4 hours. Toward the last hour, add the olives (if using).

When done, shred the beef using two forks. Top with cilantro and serve.

Notes:

Sazón is a Spanish seasoning found in Latin aisle (Goya makes a popular version)or if you can’t find it, a combination of salt, pepper and garlic salt will do. If you prefer a crispier ropa vieja, you can sear the flank steak first in 2 tablespoons olive oil before placing it in the slow cooker.

Summer Berry Tarte Tatin

Serves 6 to 8

DOUGH:

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small cubes and chilled

¾ cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

¼ cup whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon sugar

Pinch of salt

1 large egg yolk

2 tablespoons ice water

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (this makes the crust flakier)

FILLING:

¼ cup sugar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

8 ounces fresh strawberries, halved

8 ounces fresh raspberries, half chopped and half left whole

4 ounces fresh blackberries

In a large bowl (or in a food processor, but it’s quick and I think a bit better by hand), combine the butter, flours, sugar, and salt, using your fingers, until the butter is distributed throughout, smaller than pea size. Add the egg yolk, ice water, and vinegar and stir using a spatula or wooden spoon, until the dough has just come together—do not overwork it.

Dump the dough onto a floured surface and form it into a disc; add more flour or water, if the dough seems too sticky or too dry. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Make the filling: In a small saucepan, stir together the sugar, 1 tablespoon water, the lemon juice, and vanilla over medium heat. Stir gently until the mixture simmers and cook until it is the color of a light caramel, being careful not to let the syrup get too dark, about 5 minutes. Carefully stir in the butter and continue stirring until the sauce is smooth. Pour the caramel syrup into an 8- to 10-inch oven-safe skillet, pie dish, or cake form, tilting it to coat the bottom.

Arrange the strawberries, whole raspberries, and blackberries in a concentric pattern over the bottom of the dish. Fill in the gaps with the chopped raspberries.

When the dough is sufficiently chilled, roll it out into a circle that is about 1 inch larger in diameter than the skillet or dish.

Lay the dough on top of the fruit filling, then tuck the sides inside the pan or baking dish. Using a paring knife, cut four 1-inch slits across the top to release steam as it bakes.

Bake the tarte until it is lightly browned and the berries are bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 15 to 20 minutes.

Take a large round plate and place it on top of the tarte tatin. Over the sink, hold the plate and tarte dish or pan together tightly and flip them over quickly. The idea is to keep the juices as much on the plate as possible and the berries in place. Serve with a dollop of crème fraîche, light whipped cream, or frozen yogurt.

The above recipes were excerpted from AT HOME WITH NATALIE © 2018 by Natalie Morales. Photography © 2018 by Alanna Hale.

To find Matt Millar’s new restaurant The Southerner, veer off the beaten path from busy downtown Saugatuck, Michigan with its lovely 19^th century buildings housing a collection of the coolest shops, restaurants, wineries and galleries. Instead follow the curving road paralleling the Kalamazoo River towards a one-story rambling building set far back from the road. Painted an almost too-bright yellow, there’s a large smoker in the side yard and window boxes brim with colorful flowers. It’s here that Millar, a two-time James Beard Award finalist recreates the Appalachian roots of the families like his who migrated north in mid-1900s to work in Michigan’s auto industry.

Millar is famous in this section of Southwest Michigan, known for The Journeyman, his first restaurant located in Fennville about 15 minutes southeast of Saugatuck where his menu was crafted around the foods from this area—whether it was organically raised pork or cheeses made from goats who feed on raspberry brambles. He then was the executive chef at Reserve, the uber trendy and vastly popular restaurant located in an old bank in downtown Grand Rapids.

The Southerner opened about two years ago and the restaurant’s buzz keeps getting stronger with write-ups in the Wall Street Journal and Bon Appetit magazine. The interior is a fun, casual place—think a friend’s summer cottage. Large windows over-look the river as it flows towards Lake Michigan. Tables and chairs don’t match, neither does the delicate china used as dinnerware. An old-fashioned phonograph is set on a table by the entrance to the bar and the kitchen is open so you can watch Matt and his crew works.

Go there in the winter and it’s easy to get a table, warm weather is different and unless you’re really early count on waiting. But that’s okay, they have a great wine, beer and cocktail list.

On a busy summer night, the restaurant sells hundreds of pounds of their wonderful fried chicken (Matt shared the recipe) which takes over 12 hours just to marinate. Two great appetizers to try while it’s cooking are the house-made pepper jelly with locally made goat cheese and a rather spicy pimento cheese spread both served with Saltines.

The following recipes are courtesy of Matt Millar.

Nana’s Fried Chicken

Marinate the chicken:

1 fryer chicken, about pounds, cut into 8 pieces

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons fried chicken rub (recipe below)

Toss everything together in a container which will hold everything in close quarters.

Refrigerate for 12 hours.

Make the dredge:

3 cups White Lily flour (not self-rising)

3 tablespoons fried chicken rub

Stir together well. Place the rub in a large bowl. Remove the chicken from the buttermilk, shaking off excess, then coat in the dredge.

Move the pieces to a pan fitted with a cooling rack and let them rest for a half hour to give the flour a chance to adhere.

Heat about an inch of peanut oil in a cast iron skillet to 350 degrees. Add the chicken pieces and fry without fussing for about 12 to 15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked about two thirds of the way through. Flip the chicken and continue frying until it reaches 170° degrees. Remove to a pan fitted with a cooling rack and rest 10 minutes before eating.

Fried Chicken Rub:

This makes more than you will need for the recipe but keeps well in a sealed jar.

2 tablespoons Cayenne Pepper

1 tablespoon granulated onion

1 tablespoon granulated garlic

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon mustard powder

2 teaspoons dried savory

Pepper Jelly

Makes 1 quart

3 medium bell peppers

2 red serrano peppers

4 1/2 cups white sugar

1 cup apple cider vinegar

Puree the peppers in a food processor and add them to a medium, non-reactive sauce pan.

Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, then turn the heat down enough to avoid burning or boiling over, but enough to still maintain a gentle boil.

Cook until the mixture thickens to the consistency of a fruit jam, about 45 minutes.

You should be able to run a spoon across the bottom of the pan and leave a clear trail behind it for a moment. Strain the solids out and chill completely.

Serve with cream cheese or, use one of Matt’s favorites our favorite, chevre or fromage blanc from Evergreen Lane Creamery in Fennville, Michigan. This works great with Saltines.

The pepper jelly is perfect on laminated biscuits (that’s why I’m sharing the recipe below), the type where you can just pull apart the layers, meaning more area to spread butter and jam.

Laminated Biscuits

2½ teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons sugar

¼ teaspoon baking soda

3½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface

1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces, plus more, melted, for brushing

1 cup chilled buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425°. In a food processor, pulse baking powder, salt, sugar, baking soda, and 3½ cups flour to combine. Add chilled butter and pulse until largest pieces of butter are the size of a pea. If you don’t use a food processor, use your hands to mix the flour mixture and then add the butter and mix quickly until the butter/flour mixture is the size of peas. Be careful not to handle the dough too much.

Transfer to a large bowl and gradually drizzle buttermilk over top, tossing with a fork as you go to incorporate. Knead mixture a few times in bowl until a shaggy dough forms (mixture will look a little dry), then turn out onto a clean surface and pat into a 1″-thick square.

Using a knife or bench scraper, cut dough into 4 pieces. Stack pieces on top of one another, sandwiching any loose dry bits of dough between layers, and press down to flatten. Lift up dough with bench scraper and dust surface with flour. Roll dough into a 1″-thick rectangle, trimming the border so the edges are clean. Divide into a 4×3 grid to make 12 biscuits (don’t reroll scraps). Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing 2″ apart; freeze for 10 minutes.

Brush the tops of biscuits with melted butter and the place in hot oven. Reduce temperature to 400° and bake biscuits until they’re deep golden brown on the bottom and golden on top about 20–25 minutes.

Note: Unbaked biscuit dough can be made one month ahead. Freeze, uncovered, on baking sheet until solid, then transfer to a resealable plastic bag. Do not thaw before baking but add a few minutes to baking time.

Choose Chicago, in partnership with the Illinois Restaurant Association, announces the return of James Beard Eats Week, taking place April 27–May 7, 2018.

“Chicago proudly sits at the head of the culinary table,” said David Whitaker, Choose Chicago President and CEO. “Eats Week represents both a unique opportunity for visitors and residents alike to explore and appreciate the city’s world renowned chefs and restaurants, as well as celebrate Chicago hosting the annual James Beard Awards by experiencing special dishes and menus.”

Inspired by James Beard, known as the “Dean of American Cookery,” James Beard Eats Week is an 11- day culinary celebration featuring more than 130 restaurants offering offer an inspired menu or dish in honor of the culinary legend. James Beard Eats Week precedes the 2018 James Beard Foundation Awards Gala to be held on Monday, May 7, 2018 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

“Eats Week has become an annual tradition in celebration of the James Beard Awards,” said Sam Toia, President & CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association. “Not only does it allow local chefs to honor the legacy of the iconic James Beard through special dishes and menus, but it also provides food lovers with a festive opportunity to try something new at more than 130 restaurants citywide.”

Every restaurant taking part in James Beard Eats Week makes a $100 donation to the James Beard Foundation Scholarship Fund, which directly supports aspiring Chicago culinary students.

The James Beard Eats Week program raised $13,600 in 2017 through program donations. The James Beard Scholarship Fund was established in 1991 and has awarded more than $7 million in financial aid to more than 1,850 recipients nationally. Last year, the James Beard Foundation established a James Beard Foundation Greens chapter in Chicago.

JBF Greens events are for ‘foodies under 40’ —food lovers between the ages of 21 and 39. Greens get to discover the newest restaurants, chefs, and culinary trends, all while enjoying great food and drinks. Greens events include walk-around tastings, multi-course dinners, wine tastings, and hands-on cooking classes and demonstrations. The James Beard Foundation’s mission is to celebrate, nurture, and honor chefs

Featured image at the top of the post courtesy of James Beard Foundation. Copyright Kent Miller.