KC's Own Michael Smith Publishes First Cookbook
Kansas City’s very own Michael Smith has published a cookbook– and it deserves a place in your kitchen.
Photos by Jenny Wheat, styling by Janie Jones
If you’re trying to find someone who really epitomizes what it means to be “Made in KC,” you need look no farther than Chef Michael Smith. Farina, Extra Virgin, the eponymous “Michael Smith,” 40 Sardines, and The American have all flourished with him in the kitchen – and now with his new cookbook Farina, he hopes to cement his legacy as *the* Kansas City chef.
If that sounds grandiose, it’s not meant to be. Contemplative, maybe even self-effacing, Michael is not a grandiose chef – and he doesn’t want to be. Reflecting on a Forbes article from the 90s where he was named alongside the likes of Thomas Keller as one of America’s next best chefs, he ruefully says “And they all came true! Except for me! And I’m ok with that.”
As you talk to him, the more it becomes clear that Michael is more than ok with that – he steered right into it. Given plenty of national press throughout his early career, and plenty of opportunities to take his skills to bigger markets like Chicago, Michael chose, time and time again, to stay here. Half-jokingly, he says “I didn’t want the people in KC to be like – what’s wrong with us? You don’t like us?” He pauses a moment before adding seriously, “People like the Blocks and the Soslands and the Halls who travel all over realize what a dream Kansas City is – they always come back here like, ‘this is our little secret.’ And I decided that I liked being here and I wanted to build my business here.”
And build it he did, one table at a time. Michael takes pride in touching virtually every table, every single night, saying “thank you’ and ‘hello’ and sharing demi-glace with patrons who want to be able to take a piece of the restaurant home. In partnership with his wife Nancy and business partner Bill Lyons, he has worked tirelessly to make his restaurants an upscale yet unpretentious haven for people who adore good food and who want to be confident in what they are going to get. Whereas New American restaurants can be a bit unpredictable – “you can get something pretty cool, or you can get something pretty weird” – Michael pivoted to Italian because of its tremendously rich history and the opportunity to tweak and put his own spin on foods that people have loved and wanted to eat not for decades, but for centuries.
A true team player, Michael is also clear that this isn’t just his book - it’s Farina’s. He goes so far as to say, “It’s not a ‘my’ cookbook, it’s really a Farina cookbook with my story in it.” This extends to everyone who has worked in the kitchen or front-of-house at Farina or his other restaurants over the years, but perhaps most especially to the women he built his career with. He notes that he’s been working with a female member of his family in one kitchen or another for the last 50 years – from his mother and sister many years ago to ex-wife Debbie Gold and their daughters Misha and Sophie, to Nancy, who has been at the center of his life for more than 16 years and who is now the showrunner for front-of-house at Farina. Michael is not shy about attributing his many successes to these women – in fact, he dedicated the book to them.
Farina the cookbook is thus a love letter, to Nancy yes, to Michael’s daughters, yes, to the ancient art of Italian food, certainly, but also to Kansas City. Asked who the ideal audience is for the book, Michael doesn’t bat an eye: “It’s going to be a local book. And I’d like to think people might cook out of it. I don’t want it to be a coffee table cookbook.” He has plenty of ideas for where to start, too, suggesting the king crab and asparagus bruschetta on page 36, the spinach handkerchief pasta on page 140, and the duck breast with foie gras on page 166. He has also kindly shared the recipe for wood grilled swordfish, below, with the MIKC readership for those who just can’t wait to get their hands on the book!
It's clear that the idea of his book covered in flour with creased pages on countertops all over the metro brings Michael nothing but pleasure as he reflects on his career and his legacy in Kansas City. He smiles as he says, “If I were 25 and publishing books, I’d say it’s a steppingstone on the journey to stardom, but I’m at the end of my career – it’s sort of a culmination and a validation and a legacy for my girls. It feels good to have my story out there.”
WOOD GRILLED SWORDFISH WITH BROCCOLINI, TAGGIASCA OLIVES, CARONA BEANS, TUNISIAN HARISSA*
Ingredients for 4
4 each 6oz center-cut swordfish steaks about 1 inch thick
1 12 oz jar of cooked carona beans – drained and rinsed
1 3oz can of Tunisian harissa paste
8 stalks broccolini
16 pieces taggiasca olives (substitute kalamata)
1 spanish onion – peeled and minced
4 large cloves garlic – peeled and minced
5 sprigs fresh thyme – leaves picked
2 sprigs fresh marjoram – leaves picked
1 bay leaf
1 28oz can of San Marzano ground tomatoes
1/2 cup high quality extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
½ cup picked parsley leaves – soak in ice water for ten minutes to perk up the leaves
Directions
Prepare your outdoor grill for cooking the swordfish steaks. Drizzle the swordfish steaks with a light covering of extra virgin olive oil, smear it on both sides of the fish, it doesn’t take much. Rub the marjoram and half the thyme leaves between the palms of your hands, then sprinkle on the oil rubbed swordfish. Refrigerate until ready to grill. They can be marinated up to one day in advance, longer depending on freshness.
To cook the beans, heat a sauce pot over medium high heat with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the onions and sweat them for 2 minutes, then add the garlic. Stir and cook for another minute.
Add drained beans to the sauce pot along with the San Marzano tomatoes, olives, remaining thyme, bay leaf, four tablespoons of olive oil and one teaspoon of salt. Bring the sauce pot to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook the beans over low heat in the tomato sauce for about ten minutes.
While the beans are cooking, bring two quarts of water and 1 tablespoon of salt to a boil in a medium size pot. Blanch the broccolini for six minutes. Strain and keep warm. Open the can of harissa paste.
If the swordfish is to be cooked on the grill, place fish on grill and cook for 3 minutes on the first side. Flip and cook for 3 minutes on the other side. Cook longer if desired. Alternatively, sauté the steaks in a very hot skillet on high heat in order to sear both sides. If they are to be cooked under a broiler, place fish on a baking rack and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side.
To serve, divide the bean stew between four shallow bowls and top each bowl with a swordfish steak. Lay two stalks of broccolini on top of each steak then spoon a small dollop of the harissa paste on top of the steak. I almost always drizzle my finished entrées with high quality extra virgin olive oil. Finally, sprinkle the parsley leaves randomly over each finished bowl.
NOTE
The bean stew can be cooked several days ahead and reheated. The fish can be marinated overnight or for several days if it is clearly very fresh. You can find harissa paste online or in many Mediterranean markets.
I like to use many northern African spices or condiments to accentuate my version of Italian cooking. For me personally, they are easily identifiable with Sicilian cooking due to the proximity of Sicily to the African continent. Harissa paste is a delicious but spicy condiment, so use it to whatever heat level you are comfortable with.
*Ready to cook some more? Signed copies of Farina are available for sale in-store at select Made in KC locations!
