The Simplest Pleasure of Summer

Summer has officially ended and with the turn of the season came the tomato harvest. This year’s harvest was somewhat limited, but the fruit we did get was perfect. Whenever I eat a tomato right out of the garden I always think to myself, why would I ever eat a tomato any other way? Deep natural red, juicy, acidic, and herbaceous.

Tomato Bruschetta

6 slices of good crusty bread
¼ cup olive oil
1 large clove garlic
4 ounces fresh soft goat cheese
2 medium fresh ripe slicing tomatoes
Basil leaves
Salt and pepper

Slice the bread and brush with olive oil on both sides. Toast the bread on both sides under the broiler. Don’t be scared if there are edges that get charred. You can scrape off what is inedible, but the dark toasted bread is great. Rub the toasted bread with the clove of garlic. Spread with goat cheese, and layer with tomato and basil. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.

Seared Ahi Flatbread with Tahini Yogurt Dressing

After returning from our recent sailing trip to the San Juan islands, it was time to reboot the diet. After all, we had 5 meals a day for a week while on the boat (breakfast, elevensies, lunch, cheese plate, and dinner).

Eating healthy food doesn't have to be boring. In fact, it's challenging and exciting to use some new ingredients and flavors to make a "diet" easier to maintain.

Tonight's menu featured these tasty seared ahi flatbread sandwiches. Easy for a weeknight dinner!

1 lb. ahi tuna
cherry tomatoes, halved
pitted kalamata olives, sliced
Italian parsley leaves
sliced roasted red peppers

6 whole wheat flatbreads

Dressing:
juice of 1 lemon
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 cup tahini
1 T honey
1 T olive oil
1 cup low fat plain yogurt
pinch crushed red pepper
salt and pepper

Combine all the dressing ingredients and whisk until incorporated, adding water as necessary to thin the sauce to desired thickness.

Sear the tuna to medium and cut into large dice. Toast the flatbreads, top with tuna, pour a spoonful of sauce, and garnish with the tomatoes, olives, red peppers and finally a few parsley leaves.

Zucchini Pickles

This week I went back and read one of my favorite cookbooks, The Zuni Café Cookbook by Judy Rodgers. The Zuni Café has exerted a strong influence in the restaurant world since the early nineties.  If you look in any chef’s cookbook library you are likely to see this book, dog eared and well worn.

These pickles are especially popular. If you look, you’ll find them adorning some of the best burgers in town. I’ve seen them used at Zefiro, Blue Hour, Castagna, Ripe and others.

Zuni Café Zucchini Pickles

1 pound zucchini
1 small yellow onion
2 tablespoons salt

Brine:
2 cups cider vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons dry mustard
1 ½ crushed brown mustard seeds
1 teaspoon ground turmeric

Slice the zucchini and onion 1/16th inch thick. Place the Zucchini and onion in a large bowl and toss with salt. Cover them with water and ice cubes and let soak for one hour. After an hour, drain the zucchini and onions and dry them between towels or in a salad spinner.

In a sauce pan combine the vinegar, sugar, mustard, mustard seeds and turmeric. Simmer for three minutes. Once the brine has cooled combine it with the zucchini and onions and let them soak in the brine overnight. The pickles will be crisp and bright chartreuse in color.

Apricot Salsa

Summer fruit can make particularly great salsas. All through the summer we use peaches, mangos, apricots, berries; really anything we can get our hands on. This salsa is great on fish tacos.
Serves 6

4-5 apricots, peeled and medium diced
½ red onion, medium dice
2 jalapenos, quartered lengthwise and diced small
2 cloves garlic
½ bunch cilantro, finely chopped
Lime juice
Salt and pepper

Combine the diced apricot, onion jalapenos, garlic and cilantro. Add lime, salt and pepper to taste.

Grilled Tuna Tacos with Apricot Salsa

 

French Fries

I recently heard Michael Pollan in an interview talk about his food rules. There was one that I really liked. He said, “You can eat as much fast food as you like, as long as you make it yourself.” Because really, how often are you going to make French fries at home? Not often…

Making French fries from scratch can be a tricky process. Most recipes you find call for a two step frying process in order to get that great crispy golden texture that everyone loves. This recipe we saw on America’s Test Kitchen simplifies the process and delivers great crisp fluffy fries. We have dubbed this method “cold fries” because you start with cold oil, but there is nothing cold about the end result.

Even though this recipe simplifies the process, I still only see myself making fries at home a couple of times a year. Enjoy

French Fries (Cold Method)
Serves 3-4

2 ½ pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed and cut into ¼ inch batons
6 cups peanut oil
Kosher Salt
1 spring of rosemary

Combine the potatoes and oil in a large Dutch oven. Cook over high heat until the oil has reached a rolling boil. Continue to cook, without stirring, until the potatoes are limp but the exteriors are beginning to firm, about 15 minutes.

Using long tongs or a wooden spoon, stir the potatoes, gently scraping up any that stick and continue to cook until golden and crisp, about 5-10 minutes longer. In the last few minutes as the fries brown add in the rosemary. The rosemary will crisp and can be used to crumble over the fries while seasoning. Using a skimmer transfer the fries to thick paper bag to drain. Season with salt and crushed rosemary. Serve immediately.

Caeser Ceviche

Ceviche is a great addition to a caeser salad. The tart spicy fish pairs perfectly with the rich garlicky dressing. This salad comes from my favorite restaurant Taqueria Nueve. I miss it dearly.

Mexican Caesar Dressing

1 small clove garlic, chopped
½ small shallot, chopped
2 egg yolks
¼ cup grated cotija
½ small bunch cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
2 anchovies
salt and pepper
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
juice of 2 limes
½ cup canola oil

Combine garlic, shallot, egg yolks, cotija, cilantro, mustard, anchovies, vinegar and salt and pepper to taste in a food processor. Process, adding oil in a thin stream until all of the oil is incorporated. Taste for correct seasoning. Toss dressing with two heads of chopped romaine letus.  Top with ceviche.
Ceviche

1 lb firm white fish (halibut, rockfish, tilapia, etc.)
1 bell pepper
1 habanero or large jalepeno
½ red onion
½ bunch cilanro, minced
3 roma tomatoes
¼ cup fresh lime juice
1 T olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Cut fish into ¼ inch dice. Cut bell pepper, onion into medium dice. Cut off the stem end of each tomato and quarter lengthwise. Cut inside of each quarter out, removing the flesh and seeds, and cut into medium dice. Cut the chili into small dice. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Baby Cow is Like Buttah: Osso Bucco

Our friend Terri generously lets us stay at her cabin in the Mount Hood National Forest. It's a beautiful Forest Service cabin by the Zig Zag river. The idyllic setting is perfect for hiking and fishing, so naturally we stay in and eat ourselves silly every time we go. Hey, the forest is just as pretty from the dining room table as it is with wet feet walking along a muddy river bank.

I happened upon some veal shanks a few months ago in the supermarket meat case. I put them in the freezer for the perfect moment. The moment arrived when we were at the cabin for Memorial Day weekend. Rather than heralding the beginning of summer, it rained like hell for 4 days straight. Perfect time for braising.

Now, if you have a problem with veal, let's just agree to not talk about it. I eat meat. I like veal. Politics aside, you can't make a more tender braise than veal shanks. The bones make the sauce like silk.

Ingredients

4 veal osso bucco veal shanks, cut 2 inches thick
1 onion, finely chopped
4 T butter
1 cup flour
1 cup dry white wine
2 cups beef stock
Salt and Pepper to taste
For the “gremolata”
1 clove garlic, very finely chopped or pressed with the garlic press
Zest of 1 lemon, grated
Italian parsley, finely chopped

Dredge the veal shanks in flour. Melt the butter in a cast iron pan or dutch oven. When it begins to brown, add the veal shanks and sear until browned on each side, about 4-5 minutes per side. Remove the shanks to a plate and add chopped onion, sauteeing until golden. Return the shanks to the pan along with any accumulated juices. Add the white wine and beef stock, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and return to a simmer. Cover and braise for 45-90 minutes, until the meat is falling off the bone.

Serve with saffron risotto and gremolata. The marrow from inside the veal bones is magical on a crusty piece of bread. Don't be shy, you've already committed animal cruelty, might as well slurp on some marrow!

Jicama Mango Salad

This jicama salad is great to serve along with just about any grilled meat. The jicama is sweet and crunchy. Depending on what we’re making you can adjust the ingredients. Get creative.


1 large jicama
2 mangoes
1 red bell pepper
1 shallot
2 roma tomatoes
1 bunch cilantro
juice of 2 limes
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper

Peel and slice jicama into batons. Peel and cut mango from pit and cut into 1" dice. Cut bell peppers into 1/2" dice. Slice shallots finely, and seed and dice tomatoes. Combine Cilantro, lime juice, vinegar and a pinch of salt and pepper in a blender and puree, adding olive oil in a stream until combined. Marinate shallots in dressing for at least 15 minutes, and combine with other items just prior to serving. Add half a seeded jalapeno to dressing when pureeing for a spicy kick. Variation: when it's summer, substitute fresh corn kernels cut from the cob for the mangoes and use basil, lemon and cider vinegar instead of cilantro, lime and white vinegar.

Shrimp Ceviche Cocktail

½ cup lime juice

1 pound shell on shrimp 40/50 count
½ medium white onion, diced
⅓ cup chopped cilantro
½ cup ketchup
1 red jalapeno, stemmed, seeded and diced.
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1 cup diced cumber
1 avocado cubed
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt
orange slices for garnish
saltines

Bring one quart of salted water to boil. Add the shrimp and bring back to a boil. Immediately remove from heat and poor off the water. Replace the lid and let the shrimp steam in the pot for 10 minutes. Peal and devein the shrimp. Toss the shrimp in the lime juice and refrigerate for one hour.

Add the onion, cilantro, catsup, hot sauce, jalapeno, cucumber, avocado and olive oil.

Serve the ceviche in a cocktail glass with saltines.

Raw Tomatillo Salsa

There are some salsas that are intense and meant to be used sparingly as a condiment, but this salsa lends itself to just about anything and can be scooped up by the chip full. Tomatillos are bright and acidic like green apples. The heat of this salsa is subtle and builds by the bite. Despite tomatillos looking like green tomatoes they are actually not related. They come from the ground cherry-family.


Makes 3 cups

12 tomatillos
1 medium white onion, diced
2 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded and diced
1/3 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
1teaspoon salt

Remove the papery husk of the tomatillos, wash off the sticky residue and cut them into quarters. In a food processor pulse the tomatillos until chunky. Add the onion, chiles and cilantro and pulse into a thick chunky puree. Add salt to taste and let rest.