Have you seen the episode of “No Reservations” where Anthony Bourdain goes to Uruguay? It’s the one where he gorges on grilled meat – steak, sausages, loins, armadillo – and then meets up with Francis Mallmann, the author of “Seven Fires,”
for more grilled meat!
Not long after we saw that episode, Jeff picked up a copy of “Seven Fires,” and I assumed I should be girding my loins for a total meat-fest of suckling this and chimichurried that. But then he opened the book and spun it around to show me the recipe he was obsessed with making: Potato Dominoes. Baking potatoes that are trimmed into potato bricks, sliced thinly, brushed with clarified butter and baked at an angle, so they look like rows of fallen dominoes.
I thought the domino arrangement was just for show, but I stand corrected. Since you don’t rinse the potatoes or place them in water after you slice them, the starch glues the potato slices together and allows each one to have a crisp top half, a soft bottom half and crisp brown edges. Mercy. Making these isn’t easy as throwing a potato into the oven, but once you start peeling away slice after buttery slow-roasted slice, you’ll be able to taste the extra effort. If the potatoes are this good, it makes me wonder about that armadillo.
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OK, you’ve got a gorgeous rib-eye or two and a few ears of corn, and you’re ready for a cookout!
But then something happens.
It rains. Or it’s too hot outside. Or you thought you had enough charcoal, but you don’t have enough charcoal, and OH MY GOD YOU JUST CAN’T go to the grocery one more time this week. No way. Mental block.
That’s when you break out this recipe for Rib-Eye Steak with Warm Tomato Corn Salad. Everything’s cooked in one skillet. First, the steak. Then, the vegetables. Onion, pepper, fresh corn and cherry tomatoes flavored with garlic, chili powder, salt and a squeeze of lime. In the time it would take to grab that bag of charcoal, you can get this bright, summery meal on the table and into your belly. Winner!
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Once upon a time, before mesclun greens and other frou-frou salads took over, the Wedge Salad ruled.
A cold, sweet, crunchy head of iceberg lettuce, quartered and topped with a liberal amount of dressing, diced tomatoes and cheese. Maybe some green onions or a chopped hard-boiled egg. Lots of freshly fried bacon.
The wedge was a staple in homes and steakhouses until we got wise to the dangers of liberal amounts of dressing, cheese and lots of freshly fried bacon. So, it doesn’t need to be a staple. But, as a once-in-a-while splash of decadence – especially when you pair it with a grilled steak and a baked potato – it’s pretty spectacular. Big flavors and big crunch, best devoured in nice, big bites.
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I love asking my sister what I should bring to big family meals, because she’s so magnificently specific. Last summer, I asked her what kind of cake she wanted me to make for her baby shower. She wanted a very tall layer cake that would look like yellow cake with vanilla buttercream but taste like sunshine. Not a lemon cake. Not too citrusy. A sunshine-flavored cake.
See? Very specific. But her ideas are always good. She’s the Recipe Whisperer.
So, when I asked her what side she wanted me to bring to our last family cookout, I was not prepared for her answer.
“Potato salad.”
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Today, I’m pleased to report that Jeff and I are as comatose as two people can be without actually being hooked up to medical equipment or shooting heroin.
After three days of painting, two road trips, three fireworks shows, a couple of cookouts and a family reunion, we are in deep recovery mode. The shades are drawn. The a/c is cranking. How many episodes of “Band of Brothers” have we seen today? I don’t know, but we’ve been in it to win it since 1100 hours. Since Normandy!
Fighting aside, I didn’t want to let the day slip away without sharing this recipe for Ina Garten’s Greek Panzanella. It’s a serious contender for summer stapledom.
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The good tomatoes are in.
Tomatoes that smell like tomatoes and taste like tomatoes and send wet tomato trails running down your arms every time you bite into the season’s first BLT on homemade sourdough. With thick-sliced bacon. And real mayo.
Tomatoes that make a salad. Like this couscous salad with chopped tomatoes, chickpeas, red bell pepper, onion, cucumber and feta. So good you’ll feel like you’re doing something bad. And isn’t that what summer is for?
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When Jeff has to work overtime, I like to make the best of the situation by catching up on some writing, watching some junky TV ( like “Losing It with Jillian” and “Ruby”) and eating vegetables that Jeff wouldn’t touch with Andy Dick’s tongue.
This week’s lucky vegetables? Squash and zucchini! I ate two of each in two days via this Squash Ribbon Salad with Goat Cheese and Pine Nuts, and the experience was squash-a-licious.
Zuke-tacular?
It’s good. Really good. And if you’re looking for a new summer side dish, this could be the one.
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I’m really not a slaw person. Before this recipe, I thought it existed solely as a condiment for barbecue sandwiches.
But I really needed something light and cold and crunchy to eat with my Peppery Brown Sugar Salmon. Something to take the place of my beloved corn casserole and its buttery booty-enhancing properties.
This recipe works for me because of the Asian-inspired dressing. Instead of vinegar or mayonnaise, you taste sesame oil, fresh lime juice, rice wine vinegar, fresh ginger, dark brown sugar and soy sauce. And it’s easy to tweak these ingredients to suit your taste and whatever vegetables you choose for your slaw. I used green cabbage, red cabbage and spinach, because that’s what I had on hand, but you could substitute the spinach for bell pepper strips, snow peas or shredded carrots for a bright, colorful slaw with loads of texture.
That booty’s looking better already. Work it!
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