Thursday, September 29, 2011

Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin - and Sweet Potato Pancakes with Preserved Black Beans


Dear Laurie Colwin,

You are everything I want to be in a writer. Thank you for your book, Home Cooking. As I was reading it I couldn't help circling inventive words and jotting exclamation points in the margins at your turns of phrase. I wish I could craft opening lines like this one:
As a child, while my sister busied herself mooshing the chocolate candies to see which had the best centres, I was happily licking the salt off the pretzels and leaving their sticky bodies on the rug.
And I wish I had the guts to use your words to tell some people that I think your stuffing tastes like sawdust flavoured with sage and it has the consistency of lumpy library paste. I think they might take notice!

You have a wonderful way of making me feel at home. It's almost like being invited into your kitchen and drinking tea while you chat and cook for me. You insist that you are just a plain old cook. I started to feel as though you could be my friend when you admitted that you were not an adventurous fish cooker. Thank you for confessing that you do not have (nor want) a frying basket, a charlotte mold, a terrine, a toaster, a juicer, or a microwave. You encouraged me with your simple ideas and instructions.

But you also made me want to try new foods and recipes. Your tales of kitchen horrors and bad ideas hit home the idea that I should always try everything even if it turns out to be a dud. You included some fantastic recipes that I want to try, such as creamed spinach with jalapeño, baked chicken with garlic and apples, and West Indian black cake. Your yam cakes with preserved black beans intrigued me with their interesting components that somehow work together.

Your book was published in 1988, when I was a pig-tailed reader of Nancy Drew mysteries. Thank you for mentioning her, my girlhood hero. I am glad you love chicken salad as much as she did. I am amazed that you were advocating organic food and free range eggs more than twenty years ago. It's clear you loved fresh, tasty food and I love you for it.

I think we could have been buddies. Like you, I am shy around big groups of people and so I like to stay in the kitchen, behind the scenes. I like to concentrate on one or two friends at a party, and so washing the dishes together helps me integrate and be helpful at the same time. For the socially timid, the kitchen is the place to be, you said. I appreciate your coaching for reticent people.

If I could leave my real job, I would love to be a cook and writer like you.

Yours very sincerely,
Sarah.


Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen was the September Kitchen Reader pick, chosen by me, Laurie Colwin's new best friend. (Sadly, she died suddenly in 1992. She wrote another book of cooking essays, five novels, and three collections of short stories.)

Preserved (or fermented) black beans are small, soft, and squishy and can be bought at Asian groceries. They are pungent and delicious added to a stir fry with the garlic and ginger. Colwin adds, They are wonderful with sautéed eggplant for a pasta sauce, and excellent sprinkled on top of a homemade pizza. They are extremely salty, so don't add too many.
Sweet Potato Pancakes with Preserved Black Beans
adapted from Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin
makes 9 pancakes

2 medium (450 g) sweet potatoes
2 eggs
6 T (or more or less) plain flour
1 green onion (scallion), chopped
1/4 t (or more) red pepper flakes
2 t preserved black beans with ginger
olive oil

Peel and grate the sweet potatoes.
Combine the sweet potatoes in a large bowl with the eggs and mix well.
Add the flour a tablespoon at a time and mix to make a coherent batter. You may need more or less flour to make a sticky batter that stays together in clumps.
Add the green onion, red pepper flakes, and preserved black beans and stir.

Heat the olive oil in a pan. Use a spatula to press the batter into small pancakes in the pan.
Cook over medium low heat, flipping once, until golden and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.

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Comments (15)

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Jacqueline's avatar

Jacqueline · 721 weeks ago

Such a lovely post and I love that you penned it as a letter. So sad to learn she has passed on. I am sure she would have loved your letter. The potato cakes look moreish. A good choice :)
1 reply · active 721 weeks ago
I was sad, too. I am going to read her other books. I bet her novels are great.
Jacqueline's avatar

Jacqueline · 721 weeks ago

ps I added a link to your lightbox in the sidebar of Tinned Tomatoes. Hope that is ok? I think everyone should have one before the winter strikes :)
1 reply · active 721 weeks ago
Oh, thank you! That's wonderful, Jac. :)
Love the way your wrote this post as a letter format. Sometimes when I am particularly inspired by a writer I wish I could tell them how they make me feel - and you did just that.
Beautiful post and ode to Laurie Colwin! She was wonderful. The Kitchen Reader is such a good idea! I may just have to join...
My recent post Blog Birthday and My First Giveaway!
1 reply · active 721 weeks ago
Katherine, I am happy that you joined! I hope you like our books. It's a friendly group who like reading and writing and chatting with each other. You'll fit right in! :)
Sarah, what a lovely post. Really enjoyed it but it made me sad, though. Laurie Colwin was a great writer. The picture of the sweet potato pancakes is appetizing.
My recent post HOME COOKING- A Writer In The Kitchen
Sarah, I believe your letter to Laurie Colwin would have meant a great deal to her as she truly seemed to understand the importance and power of guiding others through their culinary journeys by sharing her own kitchen adventures. So glad to be part of the group and looking forward to the next book!
1 reply · active 721 weeks ago
Hi Fran - she does seem a bit like someone who likes to mentor others. What about you? I think you want to guide others as well through your cheffing work.

I'm not sure about October's book... It's the first one in the whole year that I am not too keen about. Did you get your copy already? What are your initial thoughts?
THANK YOU for this great book recommendation via The Kitchen Reader. I too feel like I have made a friend from afar in Laurie Colwin, and felt so encouraged and heartened by her kitchen tales. I don't know the last book that made me giggle out loud so many times! Cheers, Stephanie
My recent post Home Cooking by Laure Colwin: A Book Review
lovely idea to write a letter Sarah!
I couldn't agree more.. she's really a food writer's writer
And I'm really sad to learn from your post that she died so long ago.. I was hoping for lots more of her work in the future,
Thanks for choosing this wonderful book
Jx
My recent post the perfect ‘marinade’ for tired & hungry cooks
Brilliant post Sarah. You've introduced me to two new things - Laurie Colwin's great writing and preserved black beans.
1 reply · active 721 weeks ago
Wonderful, Sally. I hope you get to try them both. :)
Great review. Now I really want to read this book! And, of course, this recipe also looks fabulous. The opening line about her sister and the candies is genius. Thanks for sharing!

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