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Canal House: Cook Something: Recipes to Rely On
Melissa Hamilton & Christopher Hirsheimer
By
Published: Feb 19, 2024
Category:
Food and Wine
We were giving a dinner for an Important Person, so we made up a guest list of friends we regard as Important. Of course we invited Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer, the Canal House cooks, whose books I regularly review. We decided to give the Important Person an All-American meal: Sloppy Joes and Mac & Cheese. Naturally, both recipes had been personalized. Christopher noticed. The cook-in-residence explained: “Before I sprinkle buttered breadcrumbs on top of the macaroni, I put on slices of American cheese.” Christopher had an admission of her own — there’s a brick of Velveeta in her refrigerator.
Yes, the Canal House cooks are wise:
Home cooking should be simple, but for too many people (especially too many young people) it seems intimidating. We are accomplished cooks who love to share our kitchen knowledge. In fact, both of us have daughters, nephews and nieces, and many friends, young and old, who ask us kitchen/cooking questions all the time. We always stop, dry our hands, and answer them. We want to pass along what we have learned. We want to encourage them to cook — it is our mission.
And they keep their eyes, palates and hearts open:
Once in Burgundy we stopped at a two-star auberge for lunch. We were led to a sunny terrace where they poured us glasses of champagne. The only hors d’oeuvre was a bowl of just-picked cherry tomatoes with flaked salt crystals clinging to their wet skins. First a sip of the cold bubbles, then a bite of the sun-warmed, salted, sweet tomatoes — still a vivid memory years later. To understand the beauty and complexity of something so simple, you have to know a great deal. We are still learning.
And they’re funny. “Thirteen ways of looking at chicken” ends with a story about taking a break from chicken and buying a ham. They cook it for dinner. Of course there are leftovers. They eat ham three times a day for days. The punch line: “Don’t tell chicken.”
And they’re completely human. As they explained to The New York Times:
“I think people don’t picture women sitting around drinking together,” Hirsheimer said. “But we love the flavors, the ritual, the little bite of something at that time of the day.” Hamilton interjected: “I don’t mind the buzz.”
Most of all, they’re on your side:
Have confidence and have fun. Even if everything goes wrong with a dessert, just put it on a plate and cover it with whipped cream.
Oh yes, the cookbook itself. As they write, “We wake up in the morning and start planning dinner.” They’re global cooks; the recipes cover all the major cuisines. And they share tips that even gourmets may not know. Poaching eggs for more than 2 people? Poach them ahead of time for 2-3 minutes, refrigerate in cold water, and just before serving slip them into barely simmering water for 1-2 minutes. Picture-perfect fried eggs? Crack them into a sieve to drain the clear liquid.
300 recipes. Christopher Hirsheimer’s impeccable photographs, often in paint-by-numbers sequences; everything in these pages is human-scaled, sensible, helpful. In brief, this is the new “Joy of Cooking” — the one essential book for every home cook. [To buy the cookbook from Amazon, click here. For the Kindle edition, click here.]
Recipes? Here are two. They seem small-ish. But they suggest how completely Hamilton and Hirsheimer have reimagined even the smallest aspects of basic dishes.
LEMON-ANCHOVY VINAIGRETTE
serves 4–6
2 lemons
4 anchovy filets packed in oil, drained and finely chopped
1⁄2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1⁄4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
Using a sharp knife, cut off and discard all the peel and white pith from the lemons. Working over a medium bowl, cut lemons along sides of membranes to release the segments into the bowl. Squeeze the juice from the membranes into the bowl, and discard the membranes.
Stir in the anchovies, oil, and red pepper flakes, breaking up the lemon segments against the side of the bowl with a spoon. Season with salt and pepper to taste
TOMATO BUTTER FOR ROAST CHICKEN
Roast chicken… again? This tomato butter adds a new dimension. When you’re ready to use it, don’t warm it up, just slather it on the roasted chicken and let it melt.
serves 4-6
2 anchovy filets packed in oil, drained and finely chopped
6 sprigs fresh thyme
¾ cup dry sherry
2 big tablespoons tomato paste
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold butter, cut into 8 pieces
Put the anchovies, thyme and sherry in a heavy medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain the sherry/anchovy mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Discard the solids. Return the sherry to the pan. Boil over medium-high heat until the sherry has reduced to ¼ cup. Whisk in the tomato paste. Add the butter one piece at a time, whisking until it has melted before adding the next piece. Whisk until all the butter has melted and the sauce is smooth. Remove the pan from the heat and cover to keep the tomato butter warm.
But wait! There’s more. Hamilton and Hirsheimer have a restaurant — Canal House Station — so good it’s a reason to travel to Milford, New Jersey. For reservations, call 908.995.7200.
