The london broil marinade was a bit east-meets-west, which I enjoyed quite a bit, and the salad was simple, fresh and delicious.

Crispy Arugula Salad
1 bunch of fresh, fairly mature arugula (baby arugula is great, but less peppery)
green pepper
radishes
green pepper
fresh white button mushrooms
fresh thyme

dressing:
lemon juice
champagne vinegar
olive oil
dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Make sure you wash and dry your arugula. Rip the largest leaves in half so the diner does not need a knife to eat the salad, and go with whatever ratios you like for the other ingredients. My salad had enough for two people: half a green pepper, 3 radishes, and 5 button mushrooms.

For the dressing, I used half a lemon, an equal amount of vinegar, a dab of mustard (like an eighth of a teaspoon), a pinch of salt and pepper, and olive oil to taste.

Addition: if you have time to mince up a shallot and let it sit in the lemon juice and vinegar for a few minutes before finishing the dressing, I highly recommend it.

London Broil

4 garlic cloves
2 tbsp of chopped fresh rosemary and winter savory
salt and pepper
soy sauce
cumin

I like to tenderize my london broil (usually a cut of Round) — which entails just putting the meat between two pieces of plastic wrap and giving it a few good bangs with a heavy pot.

For the marinade, wash and dry several sprigs of winter savory (use fresh oregano or thyme if you don’t have savory — I’m now addicted to it and plant it every year) and one big sprig of rosemary, and finely chop the herbs. Then smash the garlic cloves, remove the skin and mince. On both sides of the london broil, spread the herbs, a dusting of cumin, a drizzle of soy sauce, a healthy pinch of black pepper, and a small pinch of salt (given that the soy sauce is salty, I think it is better to go light at this point and taste for salt after grilling). If you have time, cover and put back in the fridge for a few hours. Otherwise you can let marinate at room temperate for 30 minutes or so.

Grill to preference (I like medium rare), let rest for a few minutes, then slice thin.

When it gets hot, I tend to go for whites and roses rather than red wine, so I paired this with a dry Riesling.

Now the only question is whether I let Lisl have any leftovers, or greedily keep it all for myself!

It is so nice to have grilling season back upon us. In many cases, our jobs as cooks is to get out of the way and let the food and fresh product do the talking.  Here are notes from Saturday’s dinner, when we had a few guests over for Lisl’s birthday.

Three Bean Salad

1 can of red kidney beans
1 can of garbonzo beans (chickpeas)
1 can of black beans
4 ears of corn
4 sweet peppers (multiple colors if possible), cut into bite sized pieces
1 red onion, diced
1 bunch of spring onion, diced
Large bunch of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
Large bunch of cilantro, washed well and chopped
limes
lemon
salt and pepper
olive oil
champagne vinegar

I make this salad slightly different every time, but my basic routine is the following.  Carefully wash the canned beans in a colander, drain and add to the bowl.  Cook each ear of corn, still in the husk, in the microwave for 2 and a half minutes, then remove husk and take kernels off with a knife once cool enough to touch.  Dice the spring onions, using all of the green part, and toss it in with the diced red onion, tomatoes, jalapeno and sweet peppers ( I like using a mix of red, green, orange and yellow).

Dress the salad by taste.  Stir in the cilantro, juice from 1 lemon, juice from 3 or 4 limes, a sprinkle of olive oil and champagne vinegar (but go light on the oil and vinegar — you want the citrus to stand out).  Add salt to taste, and add some freshly ground pepper. Depending on how juicy your limes are, the number of limes you want to use will vary.

I like dressing this ahead of time so everything absorbs some of the citrus flavor.  This is a great, hearty and bright salad for serving a large number of people.

Pork Tenderloin Marinade

Large handful of parsley, chopped
Several sprigs of fresh oregano, leaves removed and chopped
4 large cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tbsp Olive oil
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
Pinch of fresh pepper

I made this marinade for use on three pork tenderloins — the amounts are ballpark but you can’t really go wrong here.  With a mortar and pestle, mash up the garlic and herbs.  Stir in the rest of the ingredients then rub all over the pork.  Cover and place in the fridge for several hours, then grill by searing the pork and then cooking on a cooler part of your grill until the meat hits the right point of firmness.

Side note: I was cooking on my brother-in-law’s grill the other weekend and I was reminded how difficult it is to work with unfamiliar equipment. I totally overcooked the chicken.  On my own grill, where I know how and where heat distributes, I was really pleased with getting these tenderloins perfect.  Lisl laughed and said it shows just how tough those Top Chef challenges are when they get thrown into crazy circumstances.

Shallot & Lemon Salad Dressing

There’s nothing rocket science here, but I’m addicted to the following salad and dressing and figured I would make a note of it:

Mince up a big shallot (or more than one shallot) and let the shallots sit for 20 to 30 minutes in the juice from 1 lemon and a couple splashes of champagne wine vinegar.  Then wisk in some olive oil, a dab of dijon mustard, and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Toss over a bunch of baby arugula (rocket), with some nice tomatoes and maybe some sliced mushrooms or red pepper. Can’t beat it.

Addendum

I’ve had Disqus installed on my tech blog forever and I *finally* have it installed here.  I much prefer the threaded comment system and after a few goes, it looks like it has imported all the old comments.

There’s an old saying, “if you can’t beat em, join em.”  It applies quite aptly to summertime heat and a good, fresh salsa don’t you think?

My current favorite method of salsa making is about as simple as it gets, and just relies on fresh ingredients.

Fresh Salsa
6 medium tomatillos, diced
2 large ripe tomatoes, diced
1 red onion, diced
5 or 6 spring onions, finely chopped (use all the green)
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 to 3 fresh jalapenos, minced (add heat to personal taste; can also use cayenne or serrano)
juice of 1 to 2 limes, to taste
large bunch of cilantro, chopped
1 tbsp rice vinegar (or to taste)
salt and pepper to taste

Just chop everything up and combine in a bowl.  Serve with some tortilla chips, or toast some bread with a little olive oil for a simple bruschetta, or serve as a garnish alongside a well-seasoned and grilled flank steak.

Don’t forget the beer.

Today Lisl had some friends from her choir over for lunch, and this went over quite well (we also had a hit with a black-eyed pea salad that was sort of a combination of this and this).

Below the fold, I’m attaching a few more photos from our recent trip up to the Catskills.

Summertime has finally come, although here in the Catskills the spring rains have decided they like hanging around. They enjoy our company in the afternoons. That, or they’re out to kill everyone’s tomato plants, and doing a good job of it too. We are just finishing a week vacation here in “slightly-upstate” New York, and while work and mozzies invaded quite a bit, it has been quiet and beautiful. (if you don’t speak Oz, mozzies = mosquitoes)

The farms have been fighting with the weather – what a tough profession farming is, subject to the whims of weather.  I was really looking forward to the return of fresh roma beans at our local farm, but the wet weather has left them tough and unenjoyable, resistant to even a long stew in tomato sauce.  The cucumbers have suffered even worse, including the little kerbys.

Still, the chard, wax beans, and golden zucchini are all beautiful, and I have high hopes for the corn season. I was glad to see Gill’s farm stand open for business.  Here is my first payload:

Given the onslaught of work (trying to get a new venture off the ground in this environment is not a simple task), I have only had time to cook oldies but goodies, rather than creating new dishes.  With summertime eating, I also tend to go simple — fresh salads and well-seasoned meat cooked on the grill.

A dry rub of smoked paprika, ground coriander, salt, and brown sugar was a smashing hit with our niece visiting from Sydney.  We have also been playing around with chimichurri-like green sauces to go with flank and skirt steak, some with parsely and some with cilantro.  My favorite so far was the following:

Cilantro Green Sauce (chimichurri inspired)
large bunch of cilantro (fresh coriander)
2 cloves of garlic
1/3 of a hot jalapeno
pinch of salt
1 tbsp of olive oil
red wine vinegar and rice wine vinegar to taste

You can finely mince everything and combine with the liquids, or just use a food processor (which is what I did last night).  The bite of the vinegar and the heat of the jalapeno are a fabulous complement to a flank or skirt steak, well seasoned with salt and pepper, cooked to medium-rare on the grill, and sliced thin across the grain.

I also love making twists on lemonade.  Last summer I had fun freezing watermelon cubes and using them instead of ice.  This year I did a similar thing, but with more of a mohito-making approach.

Lemon-limeade with Watermelon and Spearmint

Juice 4 or 5 lemons and 2 limes, and place in a large jug.  Add mint leaves from several sprigs of spearmint or regular mint.  Add in 1 lime, washed and quartered.  Cut a half-inch slice from a watermelon half, and slice into 1/2 inch cubes.  Add in 3 tbsp of sugar.  Mash everything up.  Pour in cold water and ice, then taste for the amount of citrus juice and sugar, adjusting to taste.

What defines a “comfort” dish?  Sentimentality, based on good home cooking? Texture? Ingredients? Process?  Rustic presentation? I can’t quite put my finger on it.  This particular dish qualifies, but perhaps anything with the word “stuffed” in its name stacks the deck a little too steeply in its favor.  It is interesting how a word so derogative when applied to humans becomes so delightful when applied to food.

As I mentioned the other day, Gourmet Worrier’s recipe for Qarabaghli mimli bil-laham caught my eye. I ran with the concept, and created my own version, which combines ground pork shoulder, some nicely smoked bacon, aged asiago cheese, breadcrumbs, crème fraîche… oh nevermind, the recipe is below the fold!

The Stuffing
4 to 6 medium green zucchini
4 pieces of thickly cut bacon
1 lb ground pork shoulder
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup dry vermouth
1 large bunch of ramp greens (can substitute spring onions or leeks), cut in a large chiffonade
pinch of hot red pepper flakes
1 large bunch of parsley, chopped
1/2 cup aged asiago cheese, grated (gruyere would be excellent as well)
1 egg
1/2 to 1 cup bread crumbs

The Sauce
8 oz crème fraîche
pinch of nutmeg
1 or 2 lemons, zested and juiced
1 bunch of chives, finely chopped
freshly chopped parsley

Step 1: turn your zucchini into little boats.  Chop off the ends, halve them, and lightly run the knife down the sides of the zucchini as if you were de-seeding it, but stop with the knife before you get to the end.  Using the knife is optional but it makes things a little easier, for the next step is to carve out the hollow of your vegetable canoes with a teaspoon. Put the center parts of two of the zucchini halves aside for this menu, and save the rest for something (like ratatouille, see end of post).

Make some breadcrumbs by removing the crust from an older loaf of bread (I used a sourdough bagette here), and breaking down in the food processor.  Spread the breadcrumbs out on a small baking tray, scatter some dots of butter, and bake at 350F until just golden brown.  Reserve.  Leave the oven pre-heated at 350F.

Cook your bacon in a large saute pan until almost crispy then chop up and put to the side. Remove most of the bacon fat and saute the onions on medium low heat for a few minutes. Turn up the heat to medium and add in the ground pork, sauteing until lightly browned.  Add in the vermouth and cook for a few more minutes, then stir in the ramp greens, red pepper flakes, parsley and bacon. Cook for a few more minutes and turn off the heat.  Stir in the asiago cheese and taste for salt and pepper. When you are happy with the seasoning, beat an egg in a separate bowl and stir it in.

If you have a grill, I highly recommend rubbing a little olive oil on the “cut” side of the zucchini and searing quickly on the grill top.  Partly this is for aesthetics, but for the final presentation I was wishing I had been able to take that step (my grill needs some fixin’).

Place the zucchini halves on a baking dish, and rub the bottoms with some olive oil (depending on the size and number of zucchini, you might need two — I did).  Scoop the mixture into each of the canoes.

Drizzle some olive oil around the edges of the zucchini, and sprinkle a healthy amount of breadcrumbs over each one.  Bake in the oven at 350F for about 50 minutes.

The Sauce
The crème fraîche sauce makes this dish, so you do not want to skimp!  Take about 8 ounces of crème fraîche, and thin it slightly with some lemon juice.  Add in a pinch of ground nutmeg.  When you serve the zucchinis, generously spoon the sauce on top, and then scatter some lemon zest, freshly chopped chives, and freshly chopped parsley on top.

Notes
This goes nicely with a simple side salad and a full bodied white wine. We finished off the meal with some strawberries and blueberries coated in honey and a chiffonade of fresh basil. Zoe reminded me how much I liked this simple desert. Honey and basil together transform into something new and delightful.

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Summer “Leftovers” Menu Idea
I thought I would also append this post with a simple dinner that is not worthy of it’s own post. After reading Stacey Snacks and Tartelette, I had to cook up a ratatouille. Mine had its own touches but was pretty basic, so I won’t repeat a recipe here.  I sliced up some cold beef (from a gorgeous porterhouse steak we grilled the other day, but a grilled, cold london broil would work too), and served it with a pesto-like green sauce. The sauce was created by combining parsley, basil, half a garlic clove, lemon juice, capers, pine nuts, olive oil, hot red pepper flakes, a small amount of salt and pepper, a touch of white wine vinegar — all mashed together to taste with a mortar and pestle.  We served this with some pickled ramps, and a chilled pinot noir.

I really enjoyed this meal because it worked for a hot evening, with the ratatouille adding substance without heaviness, and the sharp sauce adding a contrast that worked well with the cold beef. As usual, my plating skills left something to be desired, but that is a skill I have yet to conquer.