Comfort me in cooking: Ruth Reichl rediscovers the life affirming call of her kitchen

Ruth Reichl
(Photo by Fiona Aboud)

We've all sought consolation from disappointment in food. For Ruth Reichl, the act of cooking became a life saver of sorts. A glamorous career of writing for some of the country's most distinguished food publications crashed without warning in October 2009, when Condé Nast pulled the plug on Gourmet. Reichl had been the magazine's editor for 10 years, elevating the publication to cult status among its devoted readers.

Obligated nonetheless to a press tour to promote the then-new Gourmet Cookbook, a massive tome featuring more than 1,000 recipes, Reichl repeatedly answered the same questions from bereaved subscribers and curious reporters: How she was holding up? 

Not very well, actually. It wasn't until she got home that Reichl began to feel clarity about her circumstances. 

"And so I did what I always do when I'm confused, lonely or frightened: I disappeared into the kitchen," she writes in My Kitchen Life: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life, her new cookbook and memoir. She allowed herself to rediscover and luxuriate in ingredients and techniques set aside during a demanding career. "When you pay attention," she says, "cooking becomes a meditation." 

As demonstrated in previous memoirs Tender at the Bone and Comfort Me With Apples, Reichl has one of the most engagingly familiar narrative voices in food. Post Gourmet, it has connected her with an adoring online community that thrills to her haiku-like daily tweets at @RuthReichl. And now, in a move uncommon for cookbooks, publisher Random House has even issued My Kitchen Life as an audiobook.

"We actually don’t do many cookbooks in audio format because it usually doesn’t lend itself well to being read aloud," says Alex Chernin, her publicist. "We did Ruth’s because of the narrative aspect."

While Reichl's voice becomes an earworm as she shares her story of redemption through cooking, it's equally appealing to hear how she describes each recipe. Instead of listing components, Reichl describes each conversationally in the audio version, as if she was standing by your side. You can practically sense an ingredient's virtual ripeness and heady aroma, as well as hear the satisfying sizzle when it hits oil waiting on a hot skillet. 

Recipes are collected by season, starting with the fall, because that's when she learned that Gourmetwould cease publication. Among the most appealing in this chapter is one that were cooked by Chef Colin Bedford of Fearrington House for a Cooks & Books luncheon, presented in collaboration with McIntyre's Fine Books. 

"Butternut squash is more than merely colorful. It cooks down into a wonderfully textured soup: soft, thick, almost creamy," Reichl says, making it sound irresistibly luscious. "Requiring nothing more than water, it makes the luxurious vegan dish I know."

Butternut Squash Soup
(From My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life by Ruth Reichl Copyright © 2015 by Ruth Reichl. Excerpted by permission of Random House, a division of Random House, Inc.) 

Shopping list: 
1 stalk celery, 2 carrots, 1 pound butternut squash, 1/2 pound potatoes

Staples: 1 onion, olive oil, salt

Begin by coarsely chopping an onion, a stalk of celery and 2 carrots; you don’t have to be fussy about this since you’re going to end up pureeing everything. Slick the bottom of a casserole or Dutch oven with olive oil, add the vegetables and let them tumble into tenderness, which should take about ten minutes.

Peel a pound of butternut squash and cut it into 3/4 inch or so cubes. Peel half pound of waxy potatoes (Yukon Golds are good), and cut into chunks of the same size. Stir them into the vegetables in the casserole, add a couple teaspoons of sea salt and 2 1/2 cups of boiling water, cover and simmer until everything is very soft. This will take about half an hour.

Very carefully puree the soup in a blender, in small batches, making sure the top of the blender is secure (hot soup can be painful).

Taste for seasoning and serve drizzled with a few drops of olive oil and/or good balsamic vinegar. A crisp dice of apples on top makes this look lovely and adds a very pleasing note of sweetness. (Diced pickled walnuts also make a wonderful topping.)

This post first appeared in Indy Week.

Ribs epitomize barbecue for Steven Raichlen

Steven Raichlen will participate in a demonstration and book signing event at 6 p.m. July 25 at Fearrington Village in Pittsboro in celebration of his book, Best Ribs Ever: A Barbecue Bible Cookbook: 100 Killer Recipes. Tickets are $40 each and include samples of ribs, beer and an autographed copy of the book. For information, call 919-542-3030.

There are lots of foods called barbecue, but most North Carolina purists sit in the same pew when it comes to the holy trinity of whole hog, pork shoulder and wood smoke.

Steven Raichlen doesn’t mind sitting in the next row. After spreading the gospel of barbecue around the globe and teaching countless fans how to make it at home through his popular books and cooking shows, Raichlen remains devoted to a certain cut.

“If I were to pick one dish that epitomizes barbecue, that stands as the pin-up for it all, it has to be ribs,” said Raichlen, author of the new collection Best Ribs Ever (Workman Press).  “There’s just something so primal about it. Any food eaten with your bare hands, preferably outdoors, takes you back 1.8 million years ago to the whole king of the hill thing.”

Raichlen credits the built-in flavor boost provided by marrow-rich rib bones and feels a bit sorry for those who deny themselves the pleasure that comes with the relatively high ratio of fat to meat.

“Hey, fat equals flavor,” he said, noting that barbecue is not a subject fit for calorie counting. “It’s extraordinarily versatile. I know people in North Carolina will disagree, but for me, it just doesn’t get any better.”

Raichlen is an ardent admirer of the Carolina ‘cue – he’s especially keen on Allen & Son, the celebrated Chapel Hill smokehouse that remains faithful to the low and slow method – but he thinks those who try to pass off electric- or gas-cooked meat as the real deal deserve a sort of barbecue ex-communication.

In his travels to research this and other books and broadcasts – he reckons he’s circumnavigated the globe at least a half-dozen times in search of barbecue heaven – Raichlen said he’s come across many exceptional cooks whose methods are rooted in the Tar Heel tradition of pit barbecue.

The owner of the Auberge Shulamit inn and restaurant in Rosh Pina, Israel, finally found the smokey flavor she wanted to feature after a friend from North Carolina came over and crafted a pit to cook meat. “She was very taken with this and tried it with goose, which is delicious,” said Raichlen, who wrote about the restaurant’s Smoked Egg Pâté in Planet Barbecue. “If you’re willing to broaden your definitions, you open yourself up to some amazing barbecue experiences.”

There are some places, however, that Raichlen just won’t go.  “Boiling, braising and microwaving – that’s just wrong,” he said, enumerating the three “heresies” defined in the book.

“Some people would argue that smoking low and slow is the barbecue analog of braising, but it’s different when you rely on natural juices to flavor the meat,” he said. “Braising the ribs in the oven then throwing them on the grill to brown them up is very different. Same goes for boiling or microwaving. You might make something very tasty, but it’s just not barbecue.”

Raichlen suggests that newbies start with the appropriately titled First Timer Ribs, a simply seasoned feast that explains step by step how to prep the meat and cook it to perfection. 

Rotisserie collars are available spit-style and
specially made for ribs, such as this Weber Rib-o-Lator.
(Photo: www.virtualweberbullet.com)

Ever the barbecue missionary, he's hopeful that the recipes in Best Ribs Ever will encourage cooks to venture beyond the basics to enjoy exotic seasonings – and not just with baby backs and short ribs, but also lamb. One of his personal favorites is North African “Mechoui” of Lamb Ribs served with a spicy harissa.

Part of this dish’s appeal is the method of cooking with a rotisserie collar, which can be ordered online for most gas or kettle-type grills.

“I use one to cook a spit-roasted chicken at least once a week, and it’s an especially good way to cook ribs,” said Raichlen. “Honestly, it’s somewhat in the spirit of a Carolina pig pickin’, and who can resist that?”

Amen.