Chef JJ Johnson's Favorite Pantry Dinner Is So Good, Our Tester Is Already Planning to Make It Again1/19/2024 If you’re in the mood for a comforting, satisfying meal that you don’t have to run to the store to make, we have the perfect recipe for you. In an exclusive interview with Chef JJ Johnson, we talked all about his newest cookbook, The Simple Art of Rice: Recipes from Around the World for the Heart of Your Table. In our discussion, we asked Johnson where to even begin in this collection of delicious recipes, and what recipe he recommends the most from his new cookbook. While a tough decision, a dish that he settled on utilizes pantry staples: Curried Rice & Chickpeas with Eggs. “Everybody has canned chickpeas, you probably have curry that you're nervous to use and you have an egg. And you can enjoy this meal for any period of the day, breakfast, lunch or dinner,” Johnson explains. “That's a great place to start.” Say less, chef! Here’s the full recipe for Johnson’s fiber-rich, protein-packed dish that our recipe tester Hilary Meyer is already planning to make again—plus read more about the James Beard award-winning chef and his most recent collaboration with Buchanan’s Whisky below! Curried Rice & Chickpeas with EggsActive time: 20 minutes Total time: 50 minutes Makes: 4 servings Ingredients
More About Chef JJ Johnson James Beard award-winning cookbook author Chef JJ Johnson is known to combine culture with comfort. And his recent partnership with Buchanan’s Whisky We Are the Spirit of the 200% campaign—which he curated a dinner for alongside Saturday Night Live’s Marcello Hernández—promotes just that. “America is a really diverse place,” Johnson tells EatingWell. “A person may represent 100% as an American and 100% of something else, there's a lot of us running around. This really gets people feeling comfortable in a space where they might not feel comfortable.” Last month, Johnson helped develop a menu for Noche Buena, which starred delicious foods like pasteles, classic rice and beans, roasted pork, cauliflower steak, coquito, as well as more dishes loved by both the chef and Hernández. “I think a beautiful thing when you want to get to know somebody is that food will make it happen,” Johnson says. “It starts the conversation, and I really enjoyed working with [Hernández] on setting the table and having his items there alongside my items, which was really a hit.” Some last tidbits about Johnson: His dream dinner guests? Former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama. And when we asked him what “eating well” means to him, here’s what he had to say:
“Eating well for me is consciously doing better than what you were doing before,” he explains. “So as you get older or get more knowledge around food, you can eat better. You can eat well and you know what well is for you. That doesn't mean you need to remove things from your diet, but including what makes you feel good, gives you energy and doesn't make you sluggish. And eating well is a table filled with great people eating traditional food that you grew up on. That’s what ultimately eating well is for me and my family.” Source: EatingWell
0 Comments
Fiore’s House of Quality is known for its “mutz” — and a gigantic, messy roast beef sandwich. The sign hanging outside says 1913, but Fiore’s House of Quality, at 414 Adams Street near 5th Street in Hoboken, was actually founded in 1903. John Amato, Sr. bought the store in 1965 after working there since 1948, and after his recent death, it’s been taken over by his son John Amato, Jr. — we’re talking what amounts to royal succession in the Mile Square City. The Italian deli, its tightly organized shelves lined with pastas, sauces, taralli, olives, and pickled peppers, has been celebrated for over a century for its homemade mozzarella, the signature foodstuff of Frank Sinatra's hometown, which is made fresh daily and often referenced as “mutz.” There is no official menu, but all you need to know is that every Thursday and Saturday, that mutz is used to make a sandwich unique in the metropolitan area, except for isolated pockets of Brooklyn: the hot roast beef and mozzarella hero with gravy ($20 whole, $10 half). This sandwich deploys a hero loaf about two feet in length formerly sourced at Dom’s Bakery Grand in Hoboken, which recently closed, but now coming from Amato’s Bakery in nearby North Bergen. Half is plenty for most people. The bread is split, the roast beef — you can smell it across the room — is sliced thin and generously layered into the loaf. The beef has been marinated and needs no extra seasoning. Thick slices of mutz are tucked under the roast beef, and then gravy, meat juices flecked with tiny bits of beef, is ladled on from a water bath over by the wall. The gravy is definitely not canned gravy. Trust the sandwich maker to control the gravy. The moisture balance results from the cheese, the gravy, and the rare roast beef, which glisters with meat juices. Garlic-laden sauteed red peppers may be added as an option. Yes, the roast beef sandwich is a mess, and there’s no place to eat it. Cover your car seats with a tarp, or stand outside and eat, even in cold weather. If you live nearby, you may be able to get home before it dissolves into a kind of savory bread pudding. By all means, eat it immediately. Source:ny.eater.com |