three sisters and friends
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
Our current Cook the Books Club selection is the novel Maame by Jessica George.1 Following the protagonist, Maddie, a 25-year old woman of Ghanaian origins living in London, the novel tackles topics including family ties and responsibilities (a father with advanced Parkinson’s disease, a manipulative mother and a shallow brother make up Maddie’s family), friendships and relationships, racism, a young person trying to find their place in the work environment and in life. As readers, we cheer Maddie on her journey to a more assertive and realized self. I found the beat-to-beat narrative a bit tiresome and the continuous asking Google life questions quickly lost freshness. I guess the slow pace is a metaphor for Maddie feeling stuck in a situation that leaves her unfulfilled.
Maddie’s family roots in Ghana made me think first about foods from Italy, where I come from, but then winter squash and pumpkin being widely available this time of the year, I started thinking about foods from where I live now and was inspired by the Native American tradition of companion planting corn, beans and squash in a mutually supporting situation. A page on the USDA website2 strives to offer a view of this intercropping method with focus on the people who practiced it, and describes it as “not simply an agricultural strategy ” but “a cultural complex”:
Some Indigenous Peoples of the Americas planted corn, beans and squash or pumpkins together in mounds, in an intercropping complex known to some as the Three Sisters. Corn provided support for beans, beans provided nitrogen through nitrogen-fixing rhizobia bacteria that live on the roots, and squash and pumpkins provided ground cover to suppress weeds and inhibit evaporation from the soil. While the origins of the Three Sisters complex are unknown, veneration of the Three Sisters appears in the earliest accounts of European explorers and missionaries in North America. As described by Lewandowski, from its earliest appearance in written records, the Three Sisters complex was not simply an agricultural strategy or technology, but a cultural complex, complete with stories, ceremonies, technology, customs and etiquette.
The recipe below is my way of honoring what from my perspective is a great combination of flavors and textures. The ingredients (ingredienti) I used in the various renditions of the recipe are grown locally at the following farms:
Vermont cranberry beans: Rain Frog Farm
honeynut squash: Wild Rose Farm
Autumn frost squash: Happy Hearts Farm
poblano peppers: Shakefork Community Farm
sweet corn: The Corn Crib, Shakefork Community Farm
escarole (scarola): Shakefork Community Farm
red onion: Shakefork Community Farm
garlic: Happy Hearts Farm, Pomme Hill Farm
fresh thyme (timo): Woven Hearts Herb Farm
smoked spicy paprika and ground dried chihuacle negro: Luna Farm
This recipe has two ingredients in common with the previous one: roasted poblano peppers and roasted corn.3 I can still get fresh poblano peppers at the farmers’ market and have been roasting them to use in various dishes and also to freeze. Sweet corn season, on the other hand, is sadly over so what I use in this recipe was roasted during the summer and frozen, so it comes from my freezer.
different version, same deliciousness
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)
1/4cup/ 60 ml tomato passata (I use my roasted strained tomatoes)3
3 1/2ounces/ 100 grams escarole leaves
2ounces/ 56 grams roasted poblano pepper
4ounces/ 112 grams roasted cornthawed, if frozen
1/2teaspoonsea saltor to taste
Instructions
Cook the dry beans
Rinse the beans then place them in a small saucepan with the water, the aromatic vegetables and the sea salt. Cover, bring the water to a lively boil and keep it there for 4-5 minutes.
Turn down the heat, cover the pan, and let the beans simmer until they are tender. Taste them after 1 hour and estimate how much longer they should cook. (In my case, they were ready)
Check the beans at regular intervals. If necessary, add some hot water to ensure there is enough liquid to cover the beans.
Let the beans cool in their broth, then remove the aromatics and discard them. Let the beans rest in their cooking broth until ready to use.
Roast the poblano peppers
Heat the oven to 375 F / 190 C. For efficiency's sake, consider roasting several peppers and refrigerate or freeze the extra.
Place the poblano peppers on a baking sheet. Roast for 15 minutes, then turn the peppers 180 degrees.
Roast for 15 more minutes, then turn the peppers. Repeat after 10 minutes. The peppers are ready when their skin has turned dark and is detaching in places. If necessary, continue roasting for a few more minutes.
Put the peppers in a sealed container or paper bag to steam, then peel off the skin, discard the stem and seeds, and the liquid they release.
Weigh the amount needed for the recipe. Cut the flesh into squares ½ inch / 1.25 cm side and transfer to a small bowl. Set aside.
Prepare the dish
Peel and deseed the squash. I use a grapefruit spoon to remove the seeds and a sturdy swivel vegetable peeler to peel the squash.
Weigh the amount of squash needed. Cut the squash into small bite-sized pieces, no more than ½ inch / 1.25 cm.
In a 10-inch / 25-cm deep sauté pan or large skillet, warm up the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, stir well, cook for 1 minute, then turn down the heat. Cover the pan and cook on low heat for 8 minutes or so, until the onion is soft, stirring often and making sure the pan does not become dry.
Add the thyme, spices and garlic to the pan and stir well.
After 1 minute, turn up the heat to medium, add the cut squash and stir well. Add the tomato passata and stir well.
Cover the pan, lower the heat and cook until the squash is just tender (10 minutes or as needed), stirring every now and then.
In the meantime, wash and drain the escarole leaves, halve them lengthwise then slice them crosswise into 1/2-inch / 2.5 cm strips.
Add the chopped escarole leaves to the pan and stir well. Cover and let cook for 4 minutes.
Add the beans and stir well. Cover and let cook for 2 minutes.
Add the corn and chopped poblano peppers and stir well. Cover and cook for 2 minutes.
Sprinkle the sea salt and stir. Taste and adjust the salt as needed. Remove the pan from the heat. Serve immediately.
Notes
Cook the beans, roast the poblano peppers and thaw the frozen corn ahead of preparing the dish.
Try combining different varieties of winter squash and beans to get a slightly different dish.
FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.
This is my contribution to 
