Savory and Unsavory Tales of the Midwest

We, over at Cook the Books, have been reading and posting our reviews and food inspirations based on Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal, and hosted this round by Simona of Bricole fame!  I'm on the late side here with my take on it.

I absolutely hated this book from the get go, well, at least after Lars' passing. "When Lars Thorvald’s wife, Cynthia, falls in love with wine—and a dashing sommelier—he’s left to raise their baby, Eva, on his own. He’s determined to pass on his love of food to his daughter—starting with puréed pork shoulder." (from the Publishers) He was pretty amusing as he prepared gourmet baby meals for little Eva in the first section, Lutefisk.  Including the best kind of olives for a newborn.  Lutefisk brought back memories of a Norwegian friend of ours many years ago.  After hearing a description of that treat, we would threaten to bring him some in time for Christmas.  

Anyway it was downhill after Lars left the scene, but I pressed on with reading.  Then went over the novel once more.  We are committed here at Cook the Books.  Some things were better the second time around, but not everything.  Especially from the second chapter on to The Dinner chapter.  The language, often crude and ignorant, with people to match.  The early period full of Eva being bullied, adolescent trains of thought, attitudes and unsavory activity all around her.  The story ends well, but getting there was difficult for me.  We humans are sort of like snowflakes in some respects, each very unique!  So it's normal to have different opinions about things like food and books!  

On the upside, and in between, there were many mentions of food and recipes I wanted to try, so lots of inspiration in that department.  For instance, I ordered the special Koroneiki olive oil from Greece that Eva chose, and mentioned in the novel, to see how it compared with my own bottle of Moroccan sourced high polyphenol rich oil from Dr. Gundry.  

Yay!  I was able to do a taste test, admittedly my humble palate not being as sensitive as Eva's fictional one, which I do have my doubts about.  After all those searingly hot chili peppers that she ingested early in her career, would there be any sensitivity left?  In the real world, but, this is fiction of course.  The Moroccan variety had a rounder, mellow, slightly more savory flavor, less pungent than the Koroneiki, which was more robust, with a bit of astringency on the after taste.  

As for the meal inspiration, I was quite taken with the description of her Succotash.  Luckily, it being the right season, I was able to source organic, farm fresh corn, actually the day picked!  And to which I added my garden fresh, green, winged beans, rather the green beans Eva used.  A truly fabulous dish!  I will be making this again, whenever I can get that corn!  You need to call ahead and see if it's in.

Succotash Recipe

Servings: 4 servings

Prep time30 minutes
Cooking time: 15minutes

Ingredients

5 slices bacon, cut up in 1 inch pieces

1/2 medium yellow sweet onion, diced

1 teaspoon salt, divided

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 cups fresh corn kernels (or frozen, thawed)

1 cup chopped winged beans or green beans 

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped 

¼ teaspoon black pepper

5 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved, or 1/2 large tomato, chopped 

¼ cup thinly sliced fresh basil

Directions

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Cook the bacon until crispy, about 5–8 minutes.

Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate and leave the drippings in the pan.

Add the diced onion and ⅛ teaspoon salt to the pan. Cook for about 4 minutes until the onion softens.

Stir in the garlic and cook for another minute until fragrant.

Add the corn, winged beans or green beans, bell pepper, black pepper, and the remaining salt. Stir and cook for about 3 minutes until the corn and vegetables are tender but still have a bit of crunch.

Remove from heat. Stir in the tomatoes and sliced basil.

Crumble the crispy bacon over the top just before serving.  Always cool bacon on paper towels so it stays crisp.  Add tomatoes and basil only at the end to keep the dish fresh and vibrant.

Then, to top it all off a nice glass of Pinot! 

 There is a Round-up of everyone's opinions and meals coming up, so look for it at Cook the Books Club, during the first week or so of August. 

 Our next selection will be the August/September edition, Claudia (moi) (Honey from Rock) has chosen the novel Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford. Announcement coming soon.