Summer produce feels like the greatest thing in the world right now. Especially the way it smells. Every morning I stick my head into a bag of peaches and take a big whiff before slicing one up into my breakfast. Our CSA basil is so good that you can smell it halfway down the block from the pickup site (a church. an indoor church). And I love picking the stems off of tomatoes and sniffing them, because their scent reminds me of my grandparents’ old house.
I don’t have any good/fun/creative ideas or recipes for peaches (or fruit in general, really) because when we get some good ones, things like cake batter and ice cream only seem to get in the way. The tomatoes (especially the cherry tomatoes) have also been good enough to eat on their own. Still, I find myself eating the same thing for lunch everyday: simple tomato and cheese sandwiches. It’s hard to go wrong when you put tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and a good smear of homemade basil pesto between two slices of bread.
Or how about a buttery-ass grilled cheddar and gouda sandwich with yellow and red tomatoes? This combo never ever ever gets old.
Ok fine, I had one of each of these today. I hope you’re all as in love with tomatoes as I am right now.
You’re looking at cheddar, emmental, onion jam, baby arugula, and sliced apples piled in between slices of whole wheat bread. It was one of those fridge-cleaner meals with leftover odds and ends. A little bit messy, a lot delicious.
Here are my tips for how to make a decent grilled cheese sandwich:
- Let the butter soften to room temperature before slathering it all over the bread.
- Don’t use bread that is too thick; if you insulate your sandwich fillings, they’re not going to melt.
- Have some cheese touching each slice of bread. It’s like a savory glue that holds your sandwich together.
- Season veggie fillings (tomatoes, greens, etc.) with salt and pepper.
- Use low heat and put a lid on on the pan. Your patience will result in a buttery crunchy exterior and a hot gooey interior.
- Prevent sogginess! When the sandwich is ready to serve, put the “cold” side (the side that wasn’t touching the pan last) down on the plate, so that your sandwich doesn’t soak in condensation.
One of my favorite things about working from home is making fresh lunches for myself. (My other favorite thing about this arrangement is not having to wear pants.) Instead of soggy sandwiches that have been sitting on my desk all morning, I can enjoy warm, toasted bread and not pay like $7 for it at some deli. You already know about my beet and goat cheese sandwiches. Here are two more that are vegetarian- (and airplane- and office- and wallet-) friendly. They don’t emit embarrassing smells the way hard-boiled eggs and tuna do, and they cost no more than about $2.50 each to make.
Hummus and Stuff (photo above)
Smear hummus on both sides of a multi-grain roll. I like to leave a border around the edges so that the hummus doesn’t all squish out when you take a bite. Add sliced peppers (and/or cucumbers… anything crunchy and not too drippy, basically) and sliced sharp cheddar cheese or crumbled feta. And maybe some olives?
Broccoli Rabe and Mozzarella (photo below)
Saute a lot of broccoli rabe with olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper. Pile on a sesame roll with sliced fresh mozzarella.
This has been one of my favorite snacks lately: multi-grain bread with goat cheese (chevre… the spreadable kind), scallions, and thinly sliced roasted beets (with a little drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper).
I usually roast a whole tray of beets at a time (wrap in foil with olive oil and a bit of vinegar, and roast for an hour or two in a 425-degree oven), then spend what feels like an hour or two rubbing the skins off with disposable glove-clad hands. I keep the peeled beets in the fridge and slice them whenever I need them.
By the way, if your pee turns red after eating some beets, don’t freak out. It’s just the intense beet pigments. You probably are not dying. You are among the 10 to 14 percent of the population with beeturia. Note that it doesn’t always happen consistently, and may depend on the conditions (pH, gut flora activity) in your stomach and small intestine, as well as iron absorption.
You’ve probably (definitely, if you’re one of my NYC buddies) heard of Momofuku Ssäm Bar’s bo ssäm, an entire slow-roasted Boston pork butt (note that this cut of meat has nothing to do with a pig’s ass) served with oysters, rice, lettuce, and a quartet of condiments. While it’s enough meat to feed 10 hungry people, only 5 hungover ladies were there to enjoy this glorious spread for lunch this past weekend (see previous post that mentions a bachelorette party). Sunday afternoon, by the way, is a great time to visit the Ssäm Bar; it’s bright and un-crowded inside, the pace of everything is more laid back than it is during later hours of the day, and David Chang himself was there shucking our oysters. Everyone in the kitchen seemed very quiet and focused on their work, a scene that I found strangely peaceful.
After 90 minutes of additional small plates, eating, and pants-loosening, we were spent. Guess who ended up lugging home a 5 pound doggie bag? Ms. Bachelorette, her bridesmaid Jackie, John and I ate half of the pork wrapped in lettuce, the way we did at the restaurant. We all mmmed and agreed that it keeps well and makes for great leftovers. The next day, I piled some of the heated, shredded pork on top of a roll and slathered on some of the sauces that came with our meal (kimchi and kimchi puree, ssamjang, and some scallion oil) to make a Korean-ish pulled pork sandwich. I topped it off with something light and crunchy: cucumbers lightly marinated in rice vinegar, sugar, salt, and a tiny bit of sesame oil. What next, Asian burritos?
Also, if you’re feeling ambitious and don’t mind having your oven on for 8 hours, you can make your own bo ssäm at home. Just call me if you have some leftovers.
I was asked yesterday what the last meal I made was (not counting my Saturday morning hangover ramen and the jumbled leftovers I had for lunch). Incredibly, I blanked out and completely forgot about these deliciously messy Dominican chimichurri burgers (which have nothing to do with “real” chimichurri, a South American condiment made of herbs, garlic, onions, and oil). I just happened to have the appropriate vegetable odds and ends for them: part of a bell pepper, some assorted leftover onions, cilantro on the brink of spoilage, half a head of cabbage, and a bunch of baby carrots (the kind that are pulled out of the ground early, not the kind that are whittled down from ugly carrots into perfect little dipping nubs). I also added a slice of cheddar because cheese is mandatory on my burgers.
As for the beef, it was of the organic, grass-fed, dry-aged variety, from Lewis Waite Farm. Dry aging is the process of drying cuts of beef in cold temperatures to let moisture evaporate as the connective tissue in the muscle breaks down with the help of proteolytic enzymes (proteins that break down other proteins, such as those found in muscle fibers). A layer of not-scary mold forms on the outer layer of the meat, which is later trimmed off. The alternative to dry-aging is (surprise!) wet-aging, which is the process of breaking down the meat’s connective tissue in a sealed bag, keeping moisture locked in. While dry-aging can take several weeks, wet-aging takes only a few days, and is the more common method found in the U.S. Some say that the more expensive dry-aging process creates beef with a more concentrated beef flavor. Some specialty butcher shops and grocers (Fairway and Whole Foods come to mind) dry age their beef on-premises, in glass cases for you to see.
Organic and grass-fed have become pretentious buzzwords, but that doesn’t deter me from spending an extra few dollars every few months to purchase beef that has been raised without hormones or antibiotics, and fed what their bodies were designed to digest. I think it’s worth it.
I only have a few tips for making burgers:
- Season the meat adequately.
- Don’t over-handle the meat patties. It’s just not necessary. I like to use a fork to mix, and my (immaculately scrubbed) hands to lightly form the patties.
- Make a little dent in the middle of the patty (always reminds me of red blood cells), so that you end up with flat burgers, not bulging centers as the edges shrink.
- Make sure the grill or pan is nice and hot, so you get a good, flavorful sear.
(Please share your tips if you have some!)
And finally, if you want to read about “real” Dominican food in New York, this Junot Diaz piece is one of my favorite pieces of food writing ever.
