a few weeks ago (okay, it was after the women's march!) jamie and i found a bunch of loaves of bread on the street, in bags. this may sound sketchy but it wasn't! one of the bags said "sqirl" on it so we were like oh, fancy bread. we took one loaf home and it was improbably stale; I cubed it up and put it in a freezer bag and sucked all the air out of it.
one night last week i pulled this plastic bag out of the freezer, transferred a few handfuls of bread cubes into a cast iron skillet, and popped them in the oven at 350. After maybe 5 minutes I remembered they were in there, and they had gotten warm, so I pulled them out, added olive oil and salt and pepper flakes and crushed fennel seeds, gave everything a toss, and then baked it some more, another ten minutes. long enough to make them golden, not burnt but not pale. pick a color you like.
then i accessed a tupperware container full of beans and their beany cooking broth. making a pot of beans remains my favorite kitchen activity. I soak them overnight, then cook them in water or vegetable broth with a bunch of Parmesan rinds and oil and whatever else I feel like. The beans get creamy and their cooking water gets starchy and you get to use both at your whim. e.g. you can heat some beans + broth in a tiny pot and then pour them over your fancy croutons from the curb. Tear on some parsley. Chives could be nice too.
A few days later and a few days ago I made the lunch again (the fried bread! The beans!) and piled it into this new bowl I made. Here's a pretty picture for you:
two things:
1. I interviewed Rick Astley about his craft beer collaboration for Lucky Peach, which was very fun and he was extremely nice.
2. I wrote this personal essay for Vogue about meeting a hunk in Mexico which I originally felt silly about but I actually liked how it came out, plus the art is cool.
be good!
m