All My Sons
For many years, we have had a subscription to the Huntington Theatre Company, a profession repertory theatre company based at Boston University. We enjoy a variety of productions: drama, comedy, musical, classic, contemporary. It’s something different every time. I have a strong preference for the contemporary productions by new playwrights.
This weekend, we were amazed at their production of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons. I wasn’t familiar with this particular play. Like everyone, I read his plays The Crucible Death of a Salesman in high school. I probably saw these plays at least once on stage at some point.
All My Sons was hands down the best show we’ve seen at the Huntington this season and is among the best shows we’ve seen them ever do. The play was powerful in content, and the casting and acting were superb. The devastating end left me with tears in my eyes and a catch in my throat. It’s playing through February 7. If you have a chance to see it, I highly recommend that you go.
We attended the matinee. When we came home, Howard took Bella for a walk, and I started dinner.
The February issue of Martha Stewart Living had a recipe for Arroz Con Pollo, a Spanish chicken and rice dish. We had our usual monthly package of 3 whole chicken legs from Chestnut Farms, so I gave it a try. It was a winner, though there was way too much rice in proportion to the chicken, so I’d recommend making the dish with eight pieces of chicken instead of six. I made a simple salad from the salad mix we bought at the Winter Farmers’ Market to complete the meal.
Arroz Con Pollo
Serves 8
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living (February 2010)
1 cup dry white wine
Pinch of saffron
8 chicken thighs and/or legs
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 or 3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 cup ground peeled tomatoes
2 dried bay leaves
4½ cups chicken stock
3 cups Arborio rice (or other short-grain rice)
1 jar (about 1 cup) pimento-stuffed green olives (I used a jar of Santa Barbara martini olives, but the smaller ones from the grocery story would have been better)
Combine wine and saffron; let stand until ready to use. Season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Cook chicken, skin side down, until browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn over, and cook until browned, 2 more minutes. Transfer to a plate.
Reduce heat to medium. Cook onion and garlic, stirring often, until the onion softens, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato and cook another 5 minutes. Stir in wine-saffron mixture, bay leaves, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook about 5 more minutes, until mixture thickens. Add chicken, stock, rice, and olives. Bring to a simmer.
Reduce heat to low. Cook, covered, until rice is tender, about 45 minutes. Stir halfway through the cooking time.
Discard bay leaves before serving.
Pasta e Fagioli
Last weekend, Howard read about winter farmers’ markets in the area. For six weeks, from January 17 through February 27, on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Russell’s Garden Center in Wayland is hosting a Winter Farmers’ Market. Yesterday, we went to check it out. It was fabulous. There were several vendors offering fresh vegetables. Given that it is January, that means salad greens, bitter greens, and stored root vegetables. There were other vendors selling cheese, meat, eggs, honey, bread and other local products like root beer, granola, and preserves. There were at least 15 different vendors. They were scattered throughout the greenhouses, so it was hard to count. The place was crowded with enthusiastic customers. It was exciting to discover this winter shopping option. We’ll be back!
With the refrigerator was empty of leftovers, so I decided to make a hearty soup for lunches during the upcoming week. I still had some not-so-good ribs from earlier in the week, so, initially, I planned to make a soup that would invite the addition of the leftover rib meat. I settled on a pasta e fagioli, where the meat would stand in for the chicken and ham. In the end, we finished the ribs for lunch yesterday, so I ended up with a vegetarian soup instead.
Pasta e Fagioli (Bean and Pasta Soup)
Serves 8 – 10
(Adapted from Italian Classics in One Pot by Anna Teresa Callen)
1 lb dried beans (an assortment of red and white beans)
3 qts. water
¾ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp dried sage
2 bay leaves
¼ tsp black pepper
1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes, coarsely chopped, juice reserved
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
¾ cup pastina (small soup pasta)
Generous handful of Italian parsley, chopped
The beans need to be soaked before starting the soup. You have two choices:
- Soak the beans overnight (at least 8 hours). I prefer to use boiling, rather than room temperature, water for soaking.
- Place the beans in a large pot. Cover with water by a few inches. Bring the water to a boil. Turn the heat down, and simmer for 1 hour. The beans will not be cooked, they will be “quick-soaked”.
Drain and rinse the soaked beans.
Place the soaked beans in a large soup pot. Add 3 quarts of water, thyme, sage, bay leaves, and pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the beans are softened, but not completely tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Add the tomatoes, onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Simmer until the beans are tender, another 30 to 45 minutes.
Turn up the heat to medium, add the pasta, and cook until tender, about 8 minutes.
Discard the bay leaves, and stir in the parsley.
A Plateful of Happiness 