Minestrone Day 1

For some reason I thought it was going to be warmer today. I had in my head it was going to be in the mid 30’s as I prepared for my “long” run. I was wrong. After running 7miles in 25 degree (feels like 11) weather with snow flurries slightly underdressed, my ambition to go to the Green Market and Whole Foods lost out to my desire to get home fast and warm up. I ended up attempting to purchase ingredients at the closest grocery store to my house. All I really wanted to do was to get the cannellini beans so they could brine while I warmed up, then I could consider venturing out further for the other ingredients.

One problem with Manhattan is the lack of good grocery stores. The basic grocery stores tend to have terrible selection, poor quality produce and ridiculously high prices. This varies somewhat by neighborhood, unfortunately my neighborhood is not gifted with good grocery stores. I figured the ingredients for this recipe are basic enough that I should be able to get them close by. I was wrong! I went to 4 stores within a few blocks of my home and NONE of them had the first ingredient for this recipe, cannellini beans. I even tried the health food store which has a selection of over 25 types of dried beans (as shown in photo below) including 5 types of lentils. Running from store to store in the cold reminded me why I don’t bother making recipes.

Anyway, I ended up getting great northern beans instead, which I vaguely remembered reading somewhere are similar to cannellini. Fortunately it turns out I was right (Note to CI: it would have been nice for this article – which I love by the way – to be referenced in the recipe).

One substitution that I don’t think is going to work is substituting prosciutto for pancetta. My local market didn’t have pancetta, and though I was 3 blocks from an excellent meat market I was just too cold to make it. I researched online and found that the key difference between prosciutto and pancetta is the fat content, prosciutto being the leaner of the two. This will not do! Pork tastes good and pork fat, I believe, makes anything taste better. I could add another fat, like additional olive oil, but I think this is one ingredient I don’t want to skimp on. I will make the trip to the meat market[1] after I warm up and get some melon to eat with the prosciutto.

It is partially my fault for not being familiar with the markets in my area. Ever since my daughter was born I have purchased almost all my groceries on freshdirect.com. I haven’t taken the time to see what is out there. This is one area I should start working on right away: to learn about my local specialty shops and markets so that when I need something specific, I have an idea of where to go. If I am going to do this year long cooking project and do it well, I am going to have to devote some time to exploring the market options available to me. Cold and snow are no excuse for someone who lives a 25 minute bus ride from Manhattan’s Little Italy to consider substituting prosciutto for pancetta. I know some of the markets, Zabar’s Fairway, diPalo’s, Todaro, etc. I just need to recognize when they are worth the trip. The Upper West side is too far to go for a few ingredients. When I was taking cooking classes, they got a lot of their ingredients from Garden of Eden on E. 14^th. Maybe it is time to reacquaint myself with that store. I’m sure they have pancetta. And if anyone has a great market to recommend, I’m open to suggestions.

While my great northern beans are brining I am off to warm up in a long, hot shower. My trip to Garden of Eden and Minestrone soup will have to wait until tomorrow.

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[1] After reading a scathing review of the Gramercy Meat Market on Yelp, I think I’ll try a different store tomorrow.