Our snap back seems to be moving at a snail’s pace some days, but the medical statistics here are pretty good. Most restaurants are contemplating some way of serving during the Graduation-Mother’s Day maelstrom. For once spring may seem less onerous. (I speak from experience. Even though this time of year was always welcomed for the cash it produces, the food community always feels sort of mowed down when it’s all over. This year it will be greeted with more gratitude than dread, I suspect.) Our farmer’s markets are hitting their strides despite the rains and the late frost. There are a few more vegetables now and the flowers have already reached riot stage. I want to remind everyone again about our splendid cheeses and cured meats. We don’t need to look to Europe. Orange, Chatham and Alamance Counties will do nicely.

Lantern hasn’t reopened yet, but they have resumed Kitchen Patrol, the cooking classes for grammar school kids that they’ve been doing for years now. It was all online this year of course. It was still fun but it was different fun. One advantage to this was that a lot more students could attend because there was no space limitation. Everyone cooked from their own homes via laptop or cell phone. Ingredients were sent to each house. There was the inescapable Zoom screen. I was asked to lead the class through Catfish Amandine, a satisfying crowd-pleaser that can be cooked on a stove top. I missed having the students with me, but it is neat that they are cooking dinner at home for their whole families. What about children around knives and fire, you might ask? It’s really fine.

Later the same week, I was asked by Downtown Chapel Hill and the UNC General Alumni Association to moderate a panel (on Zoom again, of course) of restaurant folks about Chapel Hill, then and now. It was to nice chat with old friends plus to make some new ones. Again, the focus was on how to get back to normal now and they urged the public to continue getting take outs and buying gift certificates for just a bit longer. This was one of a six-part series about downtown arts and businesses. You can hear these sessions by visiting the UNC General Alumni Association website.

In other food and drink news, I had a lovely dinner with vaccinated friends at Oakleaf, a negroni on the patio of the newly reopened Bowbar, and a PBR on the newly enlarged and reopened patio of Orange County Social Club. All of these places are in Carrboro and everyone is following all of the safety recommendations.

I’ll finish with a simple recipe and a request that everyone get vaccinated. Our numbers in North Carolina are looking good right now and we want to keep it that way. We’ve had good leadership- both political and medical. Cast an eye to India, Brazil or even Canada and you’ll be anxious to see this continue. Follow @uncstandbycovi1 on Twitter. Almost every afternoon they send out alerts about extra vaccines available at the Friday Center here in Chapel Hill. The Orange County Health Department also has more and more spots each week. Check their website.

Now, about that recipe. Anyone who knows me knows that as my career progressed, I became fonder of simpler recipes. I was occasionally accused of either laziness or of running out of steam, but I always felt like I had finally learned when enough was enough. Not everything needs a pile of micro-greens on top.

This recipe is derived from one given to me by my late friend Claudia Gualtieri. She was a wonderful cook and the matriarch of the family that owns La Residence. She used escarole, but I have used all kinds of other greens, depending on what was around.

White Bean and Turnip Green Soup

  • Serves 6 to 8
  • 4 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh garlic
  • 1 pound fresh turnip greens
  • 1 ten ounce can of white canneli beans
  • 4 cups +/- water
  • ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • ½ teaspoon dried marjoram or oregano
  • Salt, to taste

Pour the olive oil into a heavy bottomed soup pot. Remarkably, sprinkle the garlic into the cold oil. Rinse the greens and remove any stems that seem too woody or tough. Roll the leaves into cigar shapes so you can easily cut them into half inch strips. Set the soup pot on medium heat. Allow the garlic to begin to sizzle, but not to brown. Add the turnip greens and stir into the oil. They don’t have to be dry. Cook them until they just begin to wilt. Add the beans, juice and all and then the water. Bring to a simmer, then add the seasonings and cook for at least half an hour. Taste for salt.

 

“Just The Bill, Please” is a regular column on Chapelboro.com penned by local culinary legend Bill Smith. Born and raised in New Bern, Bill Smith spent 25 years heading up the kitchen in Crook’s Corner — and over the years, he accumulated the accolades to match his incomparable takes on classic Southern food.

 

 

 

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