Fortune Smiles on Lettuce, Noodles

This week we introduce a new bimonthly column by Marion Cunningham, America’s most beloved homecook.

A native of Los Angeles, Cunningham married her childhood sweetheart, raised two children and never left the state of California until she was 45. It was then that she was given her first airplane ticket and the chance to go to Portland to cook with James Beard. She ultimately became his assistant.

When Beard was later asked who could revise the “Fanny Farmer Cookbook,” he suggested Cunningham. She spent four years writing the 12th revision and then wrote the “Fanny Farmer Baking Book.” Two years ago she published “The Breakfast Book.” She has just completed an entirely new revision of Fanny Farmer, and has started work on “The Supper Book.”

What makes Cuningham so refreshing is her very American take on cooking. She’s a great cook who makes simple, tasty food. She’s the mother we all wish we had--her cupboard is full of cookies and there’s something wonderful on her table, every night, for dinner.

MARION CUNNINGHAM:

One of the most rewarding times in the life of a homecook is the moment when you combine ingredients and they suddenly come together with spirit and compatibility. Like love, this indefinable marriage of taste and texture defies explanation.

I am not talking about modern food fashion, which has confused some cooks into believing that yellow peppers, passion fruit and field lettuce belong in everything, along with shiitake mushrooms. I am talking about things like the following recipe--iceberg lettuce and noodles--a lucky mixture of ingredients that combined into a wonderful dish. This is my favorite kind of recipe; it is made of a few humble ingredients that are stirred, tossed and briefly cooked in a single pot to make an entirely pleasing dish. It is important to remember that this is not a cold pasta salad.

This brings me to my second important point: a defense of iceberg lettuce. A few years ago I started a head-lettuce club. Crisp, beautiful, unique iceberg has been scorned and ostracized, thrown off the table in favor of trendy field lettuce. (Have you ever tried spearing those miserable little leaves with a fork? Impossible. They should be eaten with chopsticks.) There are now five of us working to bring iceberg back to its rightful position.

Try this recipe for Iceberg Lettuce and Noodles. And then settle back with a dish of chocolate ice cream and a few of these pretty Black and White Chocolate Cookies. The two dishes come together in perfect harmony.

BLACK AND WHITE CHOCOLATE COOKIES

1 cup granulated sugar

6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

1 cup flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup sifted powdered sugar

Combine granulated sugar, butter, melted chocolate and vanilla in mixing bowl. Stir to blend. Add eggs and mix briskly until well blended. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Stir until well mixed. Cover and chill at least 3 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape cookie dough into rounded teaspoon-size balls. Resift powdered sugar onto large sheet wax paper. Roll cookie dough in powdered sugar. Place about 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees about 10 to 12 minutes, or until top of cookie feels almost firm to touch. Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes before removing from baking sheet. Makes 2 1/2 to 3 dozen cookies.

ICEBERG LETTUCE AND NOODLES

4 quarts salted water

5 cups iceberg lettuce, chopped into large bite-size pieces

2 or 3 medium tomatoes, at room temperature, coarsely chopped

Salt, pepper

3 cups zucchini, chopped into bite-size pieces

8 ounces egg noodles (1/8 to 1/4-inch wide)

2 cloves garlic, minced, optional

6 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, about

In large kettle bring salted water to boil. Place lettuce and tomatoes in extra large mixing or serving bowl. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.

Drop noodles into boiling water and cook according to package directions. About 3 minutes before noodles are done, add zucchini. Cook until noodles and zucchini are tender. Drain well. Heap on top of lettuce mixture. Add garlic. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour in olive oil.

Toss lightly to mix. Sprinkle cheese over and serve immediately. Or fill individual bowls and sprinkle cheese evenly over each serving. Makes 6 servings.