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Nobody Needs Recipes Anymore?

It was a lovely weekend during which I cooked and cooked and cooked and watched football. My teams won, including the Patriots. Sadly, the Pats didn’t make the spread (that’s football lingo and if you don’t understand, it’s obvious that you have much better things to do than watch too much football).

As for the cooking, that was great fun, too. I recently delved into my paper files, and ran across some recipes I have not made for years, including my own recipe for sauce and meatballs. I love that recipe. It’s old-timey and can be adjusted according to what I have available in the pantry. I made some and shared with the neighbors.

I also pulled out recipe for a half-sheet of Ina Garten’s Outrageous Brownies, and baked those. The brownies call for a pound of butter and enough dark chocolate to float a boat. There was some for me, some for the neighbors, and enough left over to freeze for later.

Recently, friends on Facebook sent me a post from Tyler Florence, who has made lots of money on cookbooks and television shows. He said in his Facebook post that nobody needs recipes anymore.

Really?

I have been cooking for decades, and I still find recipes that surprise and delight. I subscribe to cooking magazines, find recipes in newspapers and get them from friends. I probably cook from new recipes every week, maybe even more. And then there are those I have starred in my cookbooks and haven’t made in a long time, but still love. This recipe for tilapia is one of those. You can use any white fish you’d like.

Lee White has been a food editor and restaurant reviewer for more than 25 years. You can email her at leeawhite@aol.com.

Tilapia and Mashed Yams with Pancetta-Sage Breadcrumbs

From Bon Appetit, January 2010, page 42

Yield: 4 servings

2 ounces thinly sliced pancetta (Italian bacon), chopped

1 cup fresh breadcrumbs (from French or sourdough bread

with crust, ground in food processor)

1 tablespoon plus 1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh sage

2 pounds medium red-skinned sweet potatoes, pierced all over

with fork*

3 tablespoons butter, divided

4 5- to 6-ounce tilapia fillets or eight 2- to 3-ounce fillets

Saute pancetta in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Transfer to small bowl. Add breadcrumbs and 1 tablespoon chopped sage to drippings in skillet; stir over medium-high heat until breadcrumbs are almost crisp, 5 minutes. Transfer to bowl with pancetta. Cool. Reserve skillet.

Place sweet potatoes on plate in microwave on high until very soft, 5 to 8 minutes per side, depending on size of sweet potato. Transfer potatoes to work surface. Cut in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp and place in medium glass bowl. Discard skin. Add remaining 1 ½ teaspoons chopped sage and 1 tablespoon butter to potatoes; mash until almost smooth. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Sprinkle fish fillets with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in same nonstick skillet over medium-high heat Add fish fillets and cook until golden brown on outside and just opaque in center, 3 to 4 minutes per side.

If necessary, rewarm sweet potatoes in microwave; divide them among four plates. Top each serving with 1 fish fillet, sprinkle generously with pancetta-sage breadcrumbs, and serve.

Note: In truth, none of the sweet potatoes sold as yams are really yams. Really yams are large, starchy and not sweet at all. Any sweet potato will do beautifully with this recipe.