“College Town Hero” Eggplant and Country Ham Ragu

A few weeks ago, I picked up the September issue of bon appetit eager for the reveal of America’s Best New Restaurants. As I flipped through in the office at lunch, I saw what I had more or less expected. Petit Trois in Los Angeles, Semilla in Brooklyn. Yes, yes… I have been reading blogs all year. I am on Instagram. I have seen this before…

And then. #7. Kindred. I looked at the location, stopped dead in my tracks and let out a scream that reverberated through the entire office. Davidson, NC?! WHAT?!? The tiny college town I spent four years in with only as many dining options as I could count on one hand?!? Has a top 10 restaurant?!

And then I remembered that for months, friends in the Charlotte area had been talking about some place called Kindred on Main Street. And they had been making regular pilgrimages 30 miles north to eat there. And apparently they were on to something and I was a total snob for writing them off.

Unable to get on a flight down to North Carolina anytime soon and desperate to see what the buzz was about, I quickly got to work re-creating the recipe for Eggplant and Country Ham Ragu using my fresh tomato sauce, which I had rather conveniently, although unknowingly, made the night before. 

I’ll level and say that this isn’t really a lunch hack and it’s better suited for dinner at home, but I was too proud of my college town’s achievement not to put this out in the world.

This recipe blew my mind. It starts out all sweet and innocent and then you read through the ingredient list. Eggplant. Ham. Chipotle chiles in adobo?! Cocoa powder?!? FISH SAUCE?!?! WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?! This can’t possibly work… But boy oh boy does it ever!

Needless to say, I’m getting myself down to North Carolina ASAP. But in the meantime, I’ll enjoy an approximation of Kindred’s stellar food from my desk.

“Give it to Me Raw” Tomato Sauce with Farro

The beauty of tomatoes in August is that you really don’t need to cook them. In fact, you really probably shouldn’t cook them! Leaving you with absolutely no excuse as to why you shouldn’t eat treat yourself to them for lunch when the only thing the prep includes in cutting them in half.

This is another one that will become a week night staple because it’s so easy and so delicious. I chose to do it with farro because I already had some cooked up, but you could substitute any pasta really.

What really makes the dish is the freshness of the tomatoes, which in August should not be difficult. The difficult part is figuring out which vendor at the farmer's market has the best tomatoes at the lowest price! I bought 2 pints for $10 and thought I had a pretty good deal and then immediately found another vendor around the corner with 3 pints for $10. Foiled!    

For this recipe, I like using cherry tomatoes in a variety of colors because as you can see… they look like little jewels! 

I was pretty loose with my measurements making this and you’ll want to use your judgment based off how many tomatoes you are using and how much sauce you are hoping to make. But this recipe should make enough “sauce” to get at least two servings out of it, provided you don’t accidentally eat half of it while you’re prepping like I did. Irresistible!