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COOKING WITH JIM                      

actually, with him in spirit, in the kitchen 
of his quaint brownstone on West 12th Street
in Manhattan, decades after his death.

And quite at home with him, I chop and slice;
bake, twice-baked potatoes — their skins crisping 
to perfection; roast, the prime tenderloin of beef 

he’d earlier instructed me to hand-rub with 
coarsely ground black pepper and kosher salt. 
(I used sea salt and that was ok with him.) 

Right now, he’s reminding me to stir my roux,
then I should add the crisp bacon bits, made earlier, 
to the finely chopped spinach I just finished sautéing. 

He says I should wait till the last minute 
to toss the mélange of local field greens with 
the lemongrette he had me make in lieu of 

vinaigrette, because, it seems that vinegar 
often spoils the taste of wine. As for the wines 
with dinner: for the salad, I’m chilling 

a 2011 Seyval Blanc from New York State; 
with the beef dish, a 10-year-old California 
Zinfandel; this followed by a 2010 Pinot Noir 

from Oregon, paired with artisanal cheeses 
from Vermont and Connecticut, plus 
crisp sourdough rolls and flatbread; 

and, in the frig, chilling, a late-harvest, Long Island 
Riesling to complement the secret confection hidden 
away on a silver tray till dessert-time.

According to Jim, red wine should be served at 
room temperature, and since older reds have a layer 
of sediment in the bottle, he said the Zin will need
 
to be decanted, and that, right before serving; 
he wants the Pinot to breathe 15 minutes, or so, 
in the glass before being drunk. 

(The aeration of younger reds will rid those wines of 
their chalky tasting tannins.) All this for my guests 
who’ll soon be sitting round my dining table akin to 

Jim’s 60 inch round green marble slab of a tabletop, 
where, before the first bite of the Jim-inspired, 
5-star meal, I’ll raise my glass to the big bald guy —

James Beard, “The Father of American Cuisine.”
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