At Capacity
Today I'm cooking with a full fridge.
I didn’t grow up in a restaurant, work catering during Summer breaks and spend my twenties as a food stylist for TV and cookbooks to be bad at prepping. A big dinner like Thanksgiving is nothing short of an exhilarating challenge— how smart can I prep in the days prior in order to make getting food on the table an elegant, almost choreographed sport?
The challenge upon me this week is a writers retreat an hour an a half outside of Nashville: 11 people, three meals and two happy hours. A breeze really, if it weren’t for the fact I also have to feed myself and E until then. After a trip to the store this morning, the fridge is full to the brim and I am glad I only cooked one thing for us yesterday, a pot of flageolet beans.
They are currently in the process of becoming a large batch of soup, the leftovers of which must go in the chest freezer, but will still feed us for the better part of the week. It’s leeks and carrots and olive oil, a glugg of sherry, a spoonful of mushroom seasoning, a bay leaf and a jar of concentrated corn cob stock I made back in July. Later I’ll thicken it up by pureeing some of the beans with cornstarch before adding them back to the pot. I’ll add blanched chard from the garden, the zest of a lemon, a pat of butter for good measure. On the side, sourdough toast and a lemon Spindrift.