PAPA’S BLACK BEANS

FROM EDUARDO VILARO, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF BALLET HISPANICO

“Here is my recipe for Cuban Black Beans and my rationale.
This is my mother’s (family’s) recipe that she brought with us from Cuba in 1969. Every Cuban has its own version. This recipe is what kept me connected to my roots as I grew up in the States. I share it with all my friends, to share my culture.”

— Eduardo Vilaro

SERVES:
6+

PREP TIME:
2 HR+

TOTAL TIME:
4 HR+

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INGREDIENTS FOR STEP 1

1 lb of dried black beans
1 – large green bell pepper
10 cups of water

DIRECTIONS FOR STEP 1

Wash the beans and clean out any impurities. Place beans in a large bowl or pot and pour all 10 cups of cold water over the beans. Cut one of the green peppers in half and place in the pot with the beans and water. Let sit for a few hours or overnight until beans are tender.

INGREDIENTS FOR STEP 2: SOFRITO

2/3 cup of olive oil
¼ cup water
1 Large onion - diced
4 Garlic cloves - minced
1 Large green pepper - diced
2 teaspoons of salt
½ teaspoon of black pepper
¼ teaspoon of dry oregano
¼ teaspoon of dry cumin
1 Bay leaf
1 tablespoon of sugar

DIRECTIONS FOR STEP 2: SOFRITO

After beans are soaked, put them into an enamel or heavy pot and set them on a medium flame on the stove. Cook for about 45 minutes to an hour at a medium simmer. I always have some hot water handy in case the water evaporates too fast before the beans are fully soft and cooked through. Be sure to skim any foam that may rise to the top during the boiling process. Once the beans are done, heat olive oil in a non-stick pan and sauté onions, green pepper, and garlic. Once onions are translucent add the rest of step two ingredients and cook for a few minutes. Take a ladle full of cooked beans from the heavy-bottomed pot and add to the onion sauté mixture to the pan. Using the ladle, mash the beans into the sauté mix— this will aid as a thickening agent for your beans. Pour everything from the pan into the pot with the beans.

INGREDIENTS FOR STEP 3

2 tablespoons of vinegar
2 tablespoons of any dry wine
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2/3 cup of olive oil

DIRECTIONS FOR STEP 3

Allow the beans to thicken with the added sofrito mixture for another hour on a low simmer. Once the beans have come together and thickened, add the vinegar, wine, and olive oil and you are ready to go. Make sure you taste and adjust salt and pepper.

I always end up adding a bit more sugar and wine, of course.

“LAZY” CABBAGE PIE

FROM ROBERT JOHNSON, DANCE WRITER

VIA OLGA MATVEI’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL “SIMPLE COOKING”

“Here is a recipe I’ve been making lately. It’s from a Russian cooking show on YouTube from chef Olga Matvei. It’s really simple to make, healthy, and cheap. Has a nice buttery flavor, for those who like butter. The translation is my own.”

— Robert Johnson

SERVES:
4+

PREP TIME:
10 MIN

TOTAL TIME:
45 MIN

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INGREDIENTS

½ average cabbage
¾ cup sour cream
3 heaping soup spoons of mayonnaise
½ cup melted butter
3 eggs
½ cup flour
2 heaping tsp. baking powder
Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

Pre-heat an oven to 350 degrees. Shred the cabbage thinly. Salt the shredded cabbage and mix with hands, squeezing to soften.  Add melted butter to cabbage and mix with a spoon. Butter the interior of an oven dish, add the cabbage, and spread it evenly.

In a bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise and sour cream.  Add salt. baking powder, and eggs, and whisk together. Add flour and whisk to an even consistency.

Spread the batter evenly over the cabbage, all the way to the edges of the casserole.

Bake in a 350-degree oven for 35-40 minutes, or until done. The top should be browned, but soft and spongy. Allow to sit for 20 minutes before serving, so the top firms up.

SPANISH TORTILLA

FROM MATTHEW NEENAN, CHOREOGRAPHER & CO-FOUNDER OF BALLETX

“Not to be confused with a Mexican corn tortilla.”

— Matthew Neenan

SERVES:
4+

PREP TIME:
20 MIN

TOTAL TIME:
1 HR 10 MIN

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INGREDIENTS

2-3 medium potatoes
2 onions
3-4 eggs
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Find a nonstick pan that’s not too big, 6-8 inches in diameter. Choose two or three medium potatoes and 2 onions.  In a small bowl whisk 3-4 eggs. Set aside.  Peel and slice potatoes into thin coin-like pieces, boil them in a pot of water until they soften.  Remove them, drain, and pat dry.

Cut onions into thin pieces.  Heat up olive oil in the pan. Place onions and potatoes in the pan and brown them, turning over often.  Add salt and pepper.

Pour egg mixture over potatoes and onions in the pan. Use a spatula to keep edges clean and push the potatoes and onions away from the edges. When the egg mixture is hardened on the edge (but probably still liquid in the center), take a large plate, and carefully place it over the top of the pan, like a lid. THIS IS THE SCARY PART.  Holding the plate and the handle of the pan, flip the pan over onto the plate, hopefully, you reveal the golden brown side of your tortilla.  Then slide the whole thing back into the pan to cook the uncooked side. 

Brown the second side of the tortilla for a few minutes.  Use a clean plate to flip it the same way you did with the first flip. Allow it to cool and then slice like a pie.  Some people enjoy a tortilla still warm, others prefer it cool/refrigerated.

ANTHONY JOWITT’S MEATLOAF

FROM DEBORAH JOWITT, DANCEBEAT WRITER, DANCER, TEACHER AND CHOREOGRAPHER

“We never eat this hot — much better cold. A Teflon pan will save you one hell of a lot of trouble, both in cleaning, but better yet in getting the loaf out. When the loaf is done, I usually pour off as much as I can of the juice and butter before setting it to cool—I guess this is optional, but enough will be left anyhow.”

— Notes from Anthony Jowitt (father of Deborah Jowitt)

SERVES:
3+

PREP TIME:
35 MIN

TOTAL TIME:
2 HR 5 MIN

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INGREDIENTS

1 ¾ lbs. ground beef
¼ lb. ground pork*
4 slices stale white bread
¾ cup milk
½ cup ground Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. salt
½ chopped onion
2 cloves of minced garlic
½ chopped green pepper
½ cup butter
1½ tbs. chopped parsley
½ tsp. basil
⅛ tsp. ground coriander
2 eggs

*I often omit the pork and use 2 lbs. of beef.

DIRECTIONS

Place meat in a large bowl. Tear up bread, soak in milk, mash with fingers, and add to meat.

Melt butter. When hot, add onion, garlic, and pepper. Cook until onion is translucent. Remove from heat. Add to pan salt, basil, coriander, chopped parsley. Stir. Add to meat and mix well. Add Parmesan and mix thoroughly.

Beat the eggs together and add to meat. Stir. Grease a standard loaf pan, add the mixture meat. Place loaf pan in a backing pan to catch possible drips. Cook in a 350-degree oven for 1 ½ hours.

CARROT GINGER SOUP

FROM MILA THIGPEN, CHAIR OF DANCE BOSTON CONSERVATORY

SERVES:
4+

PREP TIME:
10 MIN

TOTAL TIME:
45 MIN

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INGREDIENTS

1 lb of carrots cut into chunks
1 medium yellow onion, diced
4 cups of water
1 tsp. salt
1 (½ to 1 inch) piece of fresh ginger, peeled
1 tsp. lemon juice
¼ tsp. cinnamon (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Add carrots, onion, then water to a pot.  Add the salt, and bring the water to a boil on high heat.  Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until carrots are soft (10-15 minutes).  Add the ginger.

Puree with an immersion blender until ginger is well blended.  Add more water if needed to get a think, creamy consistency.  Add one teaspoon of lemon juice, as well as a dash of cinnamon (optional) and salt (optional) per serving. Top with desired herbs, seeds, spices or cheese.

FRANCO’S MACARONI

FROM CAROLELINDA DICKEY, CO-DIRECTOR OF AMERICAN DANCE ABROAD

“In 1985, I was Executive Director of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane & Co. We had a new project planned and Bill and Arnie desperately wanted to collaborate with composer Conlon Nancarrow.  The beloved Betty Freeman, who supported many of the legendary contemporary composers of her time as well as commissioning music for contemporary dance companies, suggested that Arnie and I attend New Music America in LA.  Betty arranged for us to meet Conlon at one of her legendary Sunday Salons.  With 50 people sitting around, John Adams played piano in her living room and her husband, Franco Assetto, cooked in the kitchen.  We sealed the deal with Conlon sitting around Betty’s pool and I learned this recipe from Franco while hanging out in his kitchen.  Three years later I found myself as Director of the Pittsburgh Dance Council and reinvented Betty’s Salon and Franco’s macaroni into a regular post-performance party for visiting companies.  Always serving the same menu, I figure I made this dish 150+ times.

Franco had no measurements so the amounts here are fluid.  One pound of pasta plus a green salad and bread feeds about 10 dancers.  For more people, multiply accordingly.”

— CAROLELINDA DICKEY

SERVES:
10

PREP TIME:
10 MIN

TOTAL TIME:
30 MIN

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INGREDIENTS

1 lb of good tubular, ridged pasta (preferably bronze cut) – dried rigatoni or ziti works best
1 tbsp. butter
2 cups broccoli florets cooked until still a slight crunch
1 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese or other piquant blue cheese
1 cup sun dried tomatoes softened in hot water or white wine and chopped
2 tbsp. finely chopped garlic
½ - 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp. butter
1 - 2 tbsp. light or heavy cream
Good virgin olive oil
Course ground black pepper
Salt, if needed
Couple of pinches of crushed red pepper (optional)

Note: Except for the pasta, everything can be prepped ahead of time, but keep in separate prep bowls.

DIRECTIONS

Cook pasta in salted water until al dente.  Retain 1 cup of pasta water before draining.

Remove and drain pasta, then return to empty cooking pot.  Add a swirl* of olive oil, butter and big pinch of black pepper and stir until butter has melted.  Mix in the broccoli, crumbled cheese, tomatoes, and garlic.  Add a generous swirl of olive oil; add grated cheese (start with ½ cup) and a pinch of red pepper. Mix. Add 1 or 2T of cream.  Mix.  At this point, taste and adjust seasonings (grated cheese, salt and pepper) and liquids (oil, cream and pasta water).  Serve immediately.

Pasta should be lightly coated, but not dry or soupy.  If needed, add extra oil and/or cream, but the reserved pasta water can help if you get it too sticky.  Additional grated cheese can correct if too soupy.  Assembling should be brisk.  From the moment you drain the pasta to serving it should take 3-5 minutes.  

*A swirl of olive oil is defined as tipping the bottle followed by a fluid lift of the arm or a stirring action.  Probably around 2T.

ROBERT JOFFREY’S STUFFED EGGPLANT

FROM ROBERT JOFFREY, AMERICAN DANCER, TEACHER, PRODUCER, CHOREOGRAPHER, AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE JOFFREY BALLET

FROM TANAQUIL LE CLERCQ’S THE BALLET COOK BOOK

SERVES:
2-4

PREP TIME:
25 MIN

TOTAL TIME:
45 MIN

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INGREDIENTS

1 eggplant
½ cup chopped onion
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed
¾ lb. ground meat
1 tsp. parsley flakes
1 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs
3 tbs. olive oil
Grated Cheese
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce

DIRECTIONS

Cook eggplant in boiling water 15 minutes or until tender. Cut in half lengthwise; remove pulp leaving a thin shell. Chop pulp and combine with onion, salt, pepper, garlic, meat, parsley flakes, bread crumbs, and eggs. Fry in olive oil until mixture is golden brown. Pile mixture high in eggplant shells, sprinkle with grated cheese, pour tomato sauce over eggplant, and bake at 375˚ F for 20 minutes. Serve over rice and tossed green salad. 

ASIAN COBB SALAD

FROM VICTORIA MORGAN, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF THE CINCINNATI BALLET

“It contains things that don’t sound very sexy—the dressing is what really makes it!”

— VICTORIA MORGAN

SERVES:
2 - 4

PREP TIME:
20 MIN

TOTAL TIME:
1 HR 40 MIN

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INGREDIENTS FOR SALAD

1 cup shredded purple cabbage
1 cup shredded Napa cabbage
1 ½ cup spinach
16 oz extra-firm tofu cubed, drained & pressed
1/2 small turnip cut into thin strips
1 small cucumber cut the middle seeds out and then into quarter-rounds

INGREDIENTS FOR DRESSING

1 Tbsp peanut oil
2 Tbsp sesame seed oil
3 Tbsp rice vinegar
4 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp chopped mint
1 Tbsp grated ginger
Salt to taste
Chopped jalapeno peppers (seeds removed) to taste
1.5 Tbsp peanut butter - my favorite ingredient anytime anywhere
2 cloves chopped garlic
Handful of chopped up sweet basil

DIRECTIONS

Mix the peanut oil, sesame seed oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce and peanut butter in the food processor or whisk it by hand.  Add the mint, garlic, ginger, basil, jalapeno pepper to the liquid and stir.  Salt to taste.  Pour 2/3 of the dressing over the tofu and let it marinate for 1 to 15 hours. When ready, place vegetables in salad bowl, drain marinade from tofu and add to bowl with the remaining dressing and toss till everything is covered. YUM!