Tamar Adler, author of An Everlasting Meal, has shucked and peeled hundreds and hundreds of fava beans during her time in the kitchen at Chez Panisse, so she was unfazed by the prospect of a lightning round of Stir-Fry questions.
Dr. Hannibal Lector famously paired fava beans with "a nice Chianti" and human liver in the movie, "The Silence of the Lambs," but Adler thinks rosé and albariño would work nicely, too ... at least with the beans. I didn't ask her about human liver.
Favorite recipe at Chez Panisse? Fava bean crostini! Adler would make a great politician. She stays on message.
She's also full of surprises. Artichokes as a comfort food? Maybe she smothers them in cheese.
She ended up putting ME on the hot seat when she told me she doesn't have a "go-to recipe," because she's "not big on recipes." I, a slave to measuring cups and printed instructions, moved swiftly on to the next question, to cover my embarrassment.
Do you use recipes? And if so, what recipe do you routinely turn to in a pinch, the one you know by heart? Let me know, and keep listening!