crispy baked beans + fish + olive relish
When I arrived in Mexico 12 weeks ago, I had nothing more than a very large suitcase filled with enough clothes for about 2 weeks, which mostly consisted of my chef clothes and a couple of fancier “going out” outfits (all of which I have yet to wear) as well as my toiletries, one book, and my iPad. I thought I was going to be here for maybe 1-2, 3 weeks max, and I would continue on traveling for work for about 2 months, and then would be able to head back to NYC to unpack, repack, and hop back on a plane. Never in my wildest dreams when I was packing up that suitcase did I think I would be living out of it, in the same apartment in Mexico City, for months and months on end. A decision to stay here that was forced upon me by these unusual circumstances, but something I had dreamed of for some time. These past few weeks in the mornings, I wake up and decide between one of the four shirts and three pairs of pants I have to wear… I head downstairs to make my coffee and start my day with no where to run off to, and I can’t help but think about how amazingly beautiful this simple life, free of stuff, things, and a massively busy to-do list, has been.
When I think back to the last time I lived this simply, it had to have been right after I graduated college. I packed a large suitcase (much like the one I packed for here) and headed to Key West to waitress for the summer, two months, before my job was supposed to start in NYC. For the first few weeks there I lived waitress shift to waitress shift, and wore the same tube top, mid-drift shirt and flip flops when I would ‘go out’ at night on my days off. I ate off the dollar menu at Wendy’s, I got really good at pool so I could win games and get people to buy me drinks, and every once in a while, the chef at the restaurant I worked at would sneak me a cracked conch appetizer (a delicious Caribbean fried treat) and place it behind the oyster shucking station so I could snack on it when I was really hungry. At that time I had so little, really the bare minimum to get by, but I was so happy, so content, and loving life. So much so that I gave up my NYC job at a record company in exchange for the simpler, quality of life, and ended up staying there for four years. Those were some of the most memorable, creative, productive, fun, carefree years of my life.
Deep down, I have always been a bit of a gypsy wanderer, happiest with the simplest of things, placing a higher value on life experiences over material things. I am now realizing that this theme of simplicity has been an underlying current flowing through my entire life. I may have drifted away from it a bit when I started to think that a fulfilling life meant that you needed to have a lot of things, a closet full of fancy clothes, and a busy, packed schedule to be happy. Now, with all this time away from my ‘stuff’, and all this free time to myself, I am realizing that true, true, happiness (for me at least) derives from living as simply as possible which in turn gives you the space and freedom to enjoy more alone time, more time and space to be creative and to create, more time and space to nourish your body and soul on the deepest level.
There is a line in my cookbook (appropriately called More with Less) that is really resonating with me now more than when I wrote it, and that is: there is elegance in simplicity. This is as much about the food, that I was referring to, as it is about life. The perfect pasta with a simple red sauce, the freshest corn tortilla straight off the comal, warm crusty sourdough dipped in really good olive oil and sprinkled with crunchy sea salt, your favorite pair of jeans and broken in t-shirt, sitting on your couch with the window open and a warm breeze blowing in while reading a book by candlelight at night. These really, truly are the best things in life.
The current energy shifting and fighting to pull us back to some semblance of a normal life is palpable, and I am a little nervous that before I know it I am going to fall into that over-worked, over-scheduled, over-indulgent life. So I am trying my best to engrave this blissful feeling deep deep inside of me. The feeling of how good and free it feels to live simply. How amazing it feels to be free of so many belongings and unnecessary responsibilities. How your mind and creativity can really thrive in simple, modest surrounding. Because even though I know I won’t be living this simply for much longer, l never want to get too far away from it again.
My recipes have always had a theme of simplicity. I wrote a whole cookbook about it. But, even in this quarantine time when we have all the time to take on fun, time consuming, cooking projects (which I have indulged in, and enjoyed, for sure), there are still many days and nights where I just crave the simplest of meals. Where I want to throw a bunch of delicious bits into a pan in the oven and call it a day. This here is one of those recipes, and it’s as delicious and satisfying as it is simple. Just as it should be. Just as things should be.
CRISPY BAKED BEANS + FISH + OLIVE RELISH
This recipe is extremely flexible and forgiving. You can really use any kind of bean or fish combination that you want, just keeping in mind that it might effect the cooking time (a longer cooking time if you use a thicker-cut of fish). You can also add other things to the beans when crisping, if you want more veggies incorporated for example. Just to be sure to add more olive oil so the ingredients have some coverage. Lastly, if olives or olive relish aren’t your thing, or if you’re just in the mood for something else, you can top this with any kind of condiment your heart desires. A chimichurri or romesco, or a salsa would all be great with this.
SEVRES 2
INGREDIENTS
1 ½ - 2 cups of white beans
A couple tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
½ a lemon, thinly sliced
A few cloves of garlic, crushed
A pinch or two of red pepper flakes
salt + pepper
2 6-8oz filets of a thin, white fish (such as cod, bass, or branding)
For the relish:
10 green olives (preferably cerignola or castelvetrano) pitted and minced
1 Serrano or jalapeño chili, de-seeded and minced
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
A pinch or two of kosher salt
Lots of freshly cracked black pepper
The juice of ½ a lemon (use the other 1/2 of the lemon from the beans)
About 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
METHOD
Pre-heat the oven to 425F.
Place the beans into an baking dish, drizzle with enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan and slightly submerge the beans. Then add in the lemon slices, garlic cloves, red pepper, and season with salt and pepper (make sure your crushed garlic is submerged in the oil to prevent it from burning). Bake for about 15-25 minutes until the beans are crisp to your liking.
Meanwhile, pat your fish dry and season with salt and pepper. And, then make your relish. In a small bowl, add all of the ingredients for the relish, stir to combine, and then set aside.
Once the beans are crisped, remove from the oven, lay the seasoned fish on top of the beans, and drizzle a little olive oil over the fish. Cook at all for another 7-10 minutes (this all depends on your oven and the thickness of your fish, so check it at 7, and then cook more if need be. It should be cooked through and be able to flake easily with a fork). Once its done, transfer to a serving platter and serve with the relish on the side or spooned on top of the fish and beans.