ricotta-stuffed heirloom tomatoes with black olive vinaigrette and brioche croutons

Spending a week with our families at the beach, I was reminded of all the foods that I hated growing up. This is a conversation we often have whenever my parents visit. As my parents rattled off the list (tomatoes, peas, mushrooms, fish or seafood of any kind...), it became clear that everything I hated to eat when I was a kid, I now love. Except green bell peppers. Which are an abomination. This is a fact.

The litany of past dislikes was presented over a dinner of scallops in tomato beurre blanc sauce, zucchini ribbons over arugula with mint+olive vinaigrette, green beans in Meyer lemon vinaigrette+Parmeasan breadcrumbs, and white peach + blueberry crumble. Had I been 12 years old, I would have eaten only the crumble. But now, 25 years later, I had made dinner with the help of my mom and dad, and Mom made the crumble. Dad whisked the entire beurre blanc sauce while I threw in the butter chunks. 

It’s hard to describe how perfect that moment was, but watching my dad whisk a half pound of butter with a fish spatula because there was no whisk while I explained viscosity while he looked at me suspiciously is something I’ll always remember. I’ll also remember when they both tasted the sauce for the first time, and their eyes lit up with surprise and delight. A great day of cooking and a great dinner. And the kids slept soundly. Really perfect.

So, in honor of all the foods I used to hate and now simply couldn’t live without, let’s have some tomatoes. And homemade ricotta. Olive vinaigrette. Everything the young me would have hated but the old me finds irresistible.

We’re in the midst of incredible tomatoes, nearly swimming in them at the farmers’ market. Put this on your “must make this week” list before you have to wait another year to get a decent tomato. Unless you’re in some magical greenhouse-type of environment and can get awesome tomatoes whenever you want. Then you do whatever you want. And know that I am jealous.

shortcut
You can use store-bought ricotta, but try to be brave and make your own. Really, the homemade ricotta is rich and creamy. Better than anything in a plastic tub. And you look really cool when your wife walks in and sees you wringing out the cheesecloth, making cheese. But do what you have to do.

note
Yes, this is another Barbara Lynch-inspired creation. Why haven’t you bought her book, Stir, yet? I don’t mean to yell at you, but you really need to explain yourself. Why? What else do I need to say to convince you? Your life is more empty than you can imagine without Stir. We make a recipe from it about every 7-10 days. The only things more constant in our life than Barbara Lynch are diapers and wine. Could I live without Barbara Lynch? Sure. But it would be a sad life. Buy it.

recipe | ricotta-stuffed heirloom tomatoes with black olive vinaigrette and brioche croutons (via Barbara Lynch)

• 6 ripe medium tomatoes (Chef Lynch recommends peeling. That would be nice. I am lazy and left the skins on)
• 1.5 c ricotta (Homemade is recommended. Here’s a good recipe from epicurious.com. Chef Lynch has her own approach, so, you know, buy it)
• 1 t salt
• 1/2 t pepper
• 6 marinated white anchovy fillets (optional, Chef Lynch warns not to substitute in regular anchovies; we couldn’t find them at our Whole Foods, so we omitted them.)
• brioche croutons (see below)
• 1/4 c thinly sliced radishes
• 1/4 c celery heart leaves
• 1/4 c thinly sliced scallions
• 1/4 c basil leaves (small or torn into pieces)
• Black Olive Vinaigrette (see below)

make the black olive vinaigrette

Note: We've cut in half the olive oil and tripled the vinegar from what Chef Lynch lists to suit our tastes. You should do whatever suits you. Not that you need permission. Just saying.

• 2 T golden raisins
• 1/4 c oil cured black olives, pitted (My preference.Chef Lynch uses Nicoise.)
• 1 T finely chopped shallots
• 3 T sherry vinegar
• 1 t lemon juice
• Kosher salt
• Fresh black pepper
• 1 T finely chopped parsley
• 1/4 c. olive oil

Mix the raisins, olives, shallots, vinegar, and lemon juice. Drizzle in the olive oil while whisking. Salt and pepper to taste. Right before serving, add in the parsley and whisk like you’re violently angry.

brioche croutons

• Get some brioche. Cube it. Heat a pan on medium. Olive oil. Throw in the bread cubes. Stir. Salt and pepper. 
• Chef Lynch uses saffron. We did, too. You can if you feel like it; just throw in a bunch with the olive oil.

prep the tomatoes

• Remove the core from the top of the tomato (insert a sharp knife tip outside the stem and cut a tomato cone to lift out the core). Insert the handle of a thin wooden spoon into the exposed tomato. Stir it around to loosen up the seeds and membranes. It’s like a tomato lobotomy. Dump the tomato guts into a bowl and use it for a nice pasta sauce. Wait, who are we kidding? We’re not going to do that. Dump it in the sink and move on with life.
• OK, the tomatoes are ready. Salt the inside cavity of the tomatoes. Not a ton, but salt them.

prep the ricotta

• Put the ricotta in a bowl. Salt and pepper it. Taste. You might want to season it some more. Trust me. Don’t be shy. It’s just dairy fat. 
• Shove the seasoned ricotta into a resealable plastic storage bag. Snip off a bottom tip, big enough to easily fill the tomato cavity without a giant mess.

put it all together

• Fill up your tomatoes with ricotta.
• Place each tomato on to a plate, cut side down. Place an anchovy on each plate in an artsy way. Sprinkle around the tomato (think a ring of tastiness) the croutons, celery leaves, scallions, radishes, and basil. Make it pretty, kids. Then spoon on top of the ring of tastiness the black olive vinaigrette.
• Sprinkle the whole plate, especially the tomato, with Kosher salt (fleur de sel would be better).
• Nice work. You made your own ricotta! You are awesome. Unless you didn't, in which case know that it would taste even better had you been more brave. Next time.
• Eat.

bouchon bakery nutter butter cookies + big summer potluck reflections

This post is about a bunch of food bloggers. And cookies and community. And a food processor.

Three Saturdays ago, we met one of our blogging heroes and met a bunch of new ones. Let me explain...

Karen and I consider ourselves the founding members of a chocolate chunk cookie cult that worships the recipe created by Alice over at Savory Sweet Life. We know many of you are also devotees to the most perfect chocolate chip/chunk cookie (I’m looking at you, Chris and Lori). 

So when we heard Alice was going to be the keynote speaker at a casual food bloggers' gathering just an hour away from home, we jumped at the chance.

Well, “jumped” isn’t the right word. Maybe I should say we started up the great “could someone please babysit our children for a day for free so we don’t have to tap into our sad 401k?” machine. Fortunately, Karen’s parents volunteered. We just had to make them dinner the night before the event. More than fair.

And so we went for our first day away from the kids for an entire day, together. Well, just the two of us and a bunch of nutter butter cookies from a Bouchon Bakery recipe. 

These cookies are as big as my head. Two PB cookies, the softest you’ve ever eaten, brought together by peanut butter creme, which we shoved inside a chocolate cake in a previous post. Our cookies are in the picture at the beginning of this post, sharing the plate at the top, but isn't all the other food really pretty?

We discovered nutter butters at the Time Warner Center Bouchon Bakery outpost after our son was born (it was our first outing in the city when he was four weeks old). Little man in a big stroller. And a big cookie for me and Karen. Each. We do not share.

These cookies are like bringing your A-game, giving a confidence that what you made is good. Just the boost needed when spending a day with 40ish incredible food bloggers. 

I could go through the day and tell you what we did, but bloggers who were there have done a better job than I could. Read them here. And here. And here. And here. Here. Here, too.

But this is what Karen and I are left with these several weeks later:

• Four years is too long to wait to spend an entire day with your wife without children. We love our kids dearly, and we can be better parents when we recharge ourselves.

• I don’t know how they do it, but the hosts and organizers of the event, the mother-and-daughters team at Three Many Cooks, seem to have a collective gravitational force that pulls wonderful people to them. Every single participant was so kind and generous with her thoughts and encouragement for each other (I say "her" because I was the lone "he"). I know this was because of the tone set by Maggy, Pam, and Sharon. We’re going to be giving away a signed copy of Pam’s new book, Perfect One-Dish Dinners in the next week, so stay tuned for that.

• I walked in wanting to meet two people, Alice (cookie high priestess) and Debra from smithbites.com, and left wishing I had more time to talk to everyone. Like a couple of days more. With each one of them. And eat all their food.

• The Alice we met was exactly the same person who wrote back to me in January when I asked if we could post our take on her chocolate chip cookies as our very first recipe post. She couldn't have been more encouraging to us to start the blog. And her talk at Big Summer Potluck was an arms-wide-open approach to all of us. Take chances. Be who you need to be, who you were meant to be. And if you don’t know exactly where this whole thing is headed, just keep going. Because you’ll figure it out.

• Abby Dodge (see her below) is super cool and incredibly funny. She has a new book coming out, Desserts 4 Today. Every dessert recipe uses four ingredients. That's crazy. And tasty. Also easy. Buy it. Or try out her Nutella Brownies first via SavorySweetLife, then buy it.

• KitchenAid, one of the generous sponsors of the gathering, gave away several of their wonderful appliances (I say that because I love my coffee bean burr grinder. It is killer). Karen walked away with one of their grand prizes, a sweet 12-cup food processor. In red. Nice.
• Erika at Ivory Hut is photography master. She also makes a gin and tonic sorbet. That make me love her more.

As we climbed back into the minivan to drive home, Karen and I both said it had been the best day we had in a long time. We were ready to get back to being parents. 

But the best thing was that the next day, Karen signed up for a photography class at the International Center of Photography. Something she had wanted to do since we moved to the NYC area. Seven years ago. It’s never too late to feed yourself, to grow, to learn, to be exactly who you were meant to become.


And then we ate another nutter butter and drove home.


recipe | bouchon bakery nutter butters (via nytimes.com)

pulled pork barbecue with hoisin sauce, grilled corn bread, and poached egg + blueberry buckle + doughnut muffins

This is beach week for us. Together with my parents and Karen’s parents, we’ll take over a house in Cape May that’s close enough to the beach that our walk to it means we won’t be completely exhausted by the time our feet touch the sand (this is good to remember with children, I’m told). It’s also far enough away from the beach that we will be able to afford Christmas presents come December. The delicate balance between proximity to the water vs. financial collapse.

We’ve not vacationed with either set of parents since we married (14 years), so this will be something new for all of us. Karen and I have a sense that we might be able to go to a dinner or two alone, but I’m looking forward to family meals the most. 

I imagine smeared smiling faces of our kids asking for another something to eat, getting all the attention that two sets of grandparents can heap on them.

I think about four sets of coffee pots gurgling in the morning. Not joking.

I think of all the gelato I’m going to make from the new Ciao Bella cookbook which is filled with lactose dreams.

But I think most about breakfast. Mounds of muffins and pancakes. Fluffy eggs. So much bacon. 

Here are three things that I know we’ll make:

• Blueberry Buckle - Debra at Smith Bites and her husband, The Professor, have come up with a perfect blueberry coffee cake for breakfast. Or in between meals. Or when no one else is looking. It’s perfect and easy and screams “make me.”
• Doughnut Muffins - Just like the name says, they taste like doughnuts. Coated in cinnamon and sugar. The glory of a hot fresh doughnut right out of your oven, but easier to make. Karen and I had them at a food blogger gathering last weekend, Big Summer Potluck (more on that soon). Jen over at How to Simplify made them, and after we bloggers got home, the Doughnut Muffin tore through Twitter like wildfire. Make these this weekend, and you’ll feel like you’re on vacation. Even if you’re not.
• We love Esquire magazine, mostly for its food. Consistently tasty, its recipes are sometimes bang up brilliant. This one is brilliant. The hoisin takes the pork to somewhere new, exploding flavor in your mouth. The fatty richness of the poached egg. The smoke and crunch of the cornbread. It’s full-on crave. And if you’re good at poaching eggs (Karen’s got me trained well), this is easy to assemble and serve.

Tips

• Buy yourself your favorite pulled pork the day before you’re ready to eat. Ideally you’ll have extra pork ribs leftover for an amazing rack that night before, but we don’t live in that kind of world.
• Make the cornbread the day before if you don’t want to wait around in the morning.
• The cornbread demands moisture. Not that it’s dry. But you’ll want to make sure you’ve got saucy pork.
• The ratios below serve two with a bit leftover. Adjust accordingly.

recipe | pulled pork barbecue with hoisin sauce, grilled corn bread, and poached egg

ingredients

• 2 c pulled pork barbecue
• Extra barbecue sauce, just in case
• 1 to 5 T hoisin sauce, depending on how much your taste buds want
• Cornbread
• 2 eggs
• 1 T white vinegar

prep for the eggs
Remove the eggs you want to poach from the refrigerator. Crack them into separate small cups or ramekins so that they can come to room temperature.

Bring a saucepan filled with water to a low simmer. You could start this a little later in the process, but you want it ready once you’re grilling the cornbread.

prepare the cornbread
Make your favorite recipe. We used Gourmet’s Skillet Cornbread. Which is gluten free and incredibly moist. I’m pretty sure this will be your new favorite, especially after you pour that sizzling brown butter into the batter.
prepare the pork barbecue
While the cornbread is cooking, place your pulled pork into a medium saucepan. Turn the heat onto medium low. Assess the sauciness. Is there an abundance? No? OK, get out the backup sauce. Add some. Assess. Good? Good. 

Add 1 T of hoisin to the barbecue. Taste. Want more? Do it. I’m supportive. Keep adding and tasting until you’re happy. Maybe you’ll add the 5 T. Maybe you’re going to add the entire bottle. I believe in you.

put it all together
Let the cornbread cool enough so it doesn’t fall apart. Cut out two servings. Get a grill pan hot (or use a griddle. Or a cast iron skillet). Once hot, add the cornbread. Flip after 90 seconds. You’re looking for some caramelization. Cook for another 90 seconds. Place on separate plates.

If you don’t know how to poach an egg, read the instructions at the end. Otherwise, poach an egg the way you like.

Place plenty of the pork on top of the cornbread. Place egg on top. Sprinkle with some kosher salt. Eat.

poaching an egg
Make sure the water is at a good simmer. Add 1 T of white vinegar to the water to help hold the egg white in tact. Turn down the heat so no bubbles are coming up from the bottom of the pan. Carefully slip one egg into the water and cook for 2 minutes. Lift up the egg to determine if the white is cooked but the yolk still runny. Place it back in the water if the whites aren’t done. Check in another 30 seconds. That should do it. Dry it on a paper towel.

ginger scallion noodles with pan roasted cauliflower and quick pickles (via David Chang)

Before we had children, Karen and I used to travel. A lot. Not extravagant travel. But a lot. We don’t travel quite so much anymore, but today I booked a flight on American Airlines to Chicago to go visit my parents and brothers and their families. 

The occasion is the wedding of our dearest friend, Lilly, who shares our love of Christopher Guest movies and will quote them endlessly with us (“But there’s no swimmin' in my show”). Karen and I get to spend the night in Chicago (ok, Skokie) and eat at The Bongo Room and Frontera Grill and get coffee at Intelligentsia (Black Cat espresso. Always). Our first night away together in four years. I know. Four years.

Booking the tickets and purposefully sitting us in the back rows, it made me remember when Karen and I flew to Korea to Tokyo to Kuala Lumpur to Sydney over two weeks. Before kids. We flew first class on Asiana (work paid for it), and it was like an amusement park ride with free toiletry kits and slippers and chairs that folded back into flat beds. And bibimbap. And ramen. Ramen on demand. Whenever we got hungry, we would forget the entrees and order some of the best ramen we’ve ever had. It might have been the altitude. Or the novelty. But being able to push a button, ask nicely, and get a steaming bowl of spicy goodness left an impression. We developed a taste for ramen in those long, comfy flights.

When I got the Momofuku cookbook for Christmas from Karen’s parents, I flipped right to my favorite ramen dish David Chang serves in his restaurant. Someday, I’ll tackle it, the Berkshire pork one (amazing), but I anticipate it taking a day or two to make. 

Just beyond the brothy ramen recipes in the book are ramen noodle recipes (all noodle, no broth). The ginger scallion noodles, seemed quick and easy. And they were perfect. Sublime. Exactly something different than what we had on Asiana, but sublime. A bite of sherry vinegar, the heat of green onions and ginger. The roasted cauliflower was a revelation (pan roasted caramelized with charred bits), and the quick pickles are a must. 

The first time I made this, I left the pickles in the fridge on accident. Terrible sadness when our bowls were empty, and I realized my mistake. Karen deemed it a travesty. We made it again soon after, this time with extra quick pickles. Perfect. 

The dish can be subtle and aggressive, calm and full-on power, salty and tangy. This is our new ramen on demand. At least until we fly to Seoul again.

The thought of five of us in the back of the plane to Chicago terrifies and thrills me. I have no idea how the kids will do. They will be what they need to be in that moment, I’m sure. I’m anticipating all kinds of looks from passengers, ranging from shock to irritation to indifference. But then I think about the five of us huddled together across two rows, having a party of Cheerios and questions and excitement and tears and laughter. Complimentary toiletry kits don’t seem  to matter much. And I can always make us our own ramen when we get home.

ginger scallion noodles with pan roasted cauliflower and quick pickles (via David Chang's Momofuku cookbook)

note - Yes, there are several components to this, but total cooking time is about 20 minutes with an extra 5 minutes for chopping. You can do this.

ginger scallion sauce

• 2 1/2 cups thinly sliced scallions (greens and whites; from 1 to 2 large bunches)
• 1/2 cup finely minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1/4 cup grapeseed or other neutral oil
• 1 1/2 tsp light soy sauce (we’ve used light and regular; light is better but regular is fine)
• 3/4 tsp sherry vinegar (we double this amount because we like the extra kick)
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt, or more to taste

Dump the ingredients into a bowl. Stir. Let it hang out for a while. Use it. You’ll have extra after you make the noodles, so you refrigerate for a day or two.

quick pickles

• 2 kirby cucumbers (we’ve used regular and English cucumbers, and they work fine)
• 1 T kosher salt
• 1 T sugar

Cut the cucumbers into thin rounds about 1/8 inch thick. Cover in salt and sugar. Let sit for ten minutes. Come back and taste them, adjust for sweetness or salt. Let sit for another 10 minutes or so. Use within a couple of hours or they break down too far.

pan roasted cauliflower

• Half of a head of cauliflower, rinsed. Or the whole thing. It’s your life.
• 1-2 T cooking oil
• Salt and pepper

Slice the cauliflower into 1/2 inch-thick cross sections (slabs of cauliflower). A few more cuts with the knife to break the slabs into bite-size chunks. This is much faster than breaking down the head into pretty little florets. Plus, the flatter, uniform sides mean more caramelizing. This is good.

Heat a wide pan over high heat. Add in oil and then the cauliflower, stirring often, and roasting until tender with brown bits all over. Season with salt and pepper. Don’t eat it all now; you need it for the noodles.

ginger scallion noodles

• 6 oz ramen noodles
• 6 tbsp ginger scallion sauce (or more to taste)
• Pan roasted cauliflower
• Quick pickles
• Sliced scallions for garnish
• A little hoisin isn’t a bad idea if you have it

Boil the ramen noodles (check the package for directions or test after two minutes and cook until you’re happy). Drain and toss with ginger scallion sauce. Pile on quick pickles and pan-roasted cauliflower. Taste and decide if you want some hoisin added into the mix.

grilled chicken cobb salad with balsamic-mustard vinaigrette and chipotle buttermilk dressing (via Bobby Flay)

Our neighbors, Kevin and Tara, are constantly giving us things. A swing set for the kids, dinosaurs, a whole bag of Cars toys (right in the middle of our son’s obsession with the movie), clothes for all the kids, learning laptops, two giant toddler car seats that were used maybe twice, and a giant Matchbox car carnival thing. It has a Ferris wheel. Awesome.


The most recent thing they gave us? Their Weber grill. Exactly like the one I had just purchased and assembled. When I told Kevin I got a new grill, he asked if I wanted his instead. He had upgraded to The Big Green Egg, and his Weber was sitting unused. Lonely. My new, unused Weber went right back in the box.


How did we get so lucky to have such nice neighbors? It’s best not to question it, I guess. We’ll just keep taking them cakes and cookies to say thanks.


I didn’t even have to ask Karen what she wanted me to make first on the grill. I mean, I did ask, of course. Never assume. But I guessed right. This incredible grilled chicken cobb salad from Bobby Flay. It explodes with flavor. Barbecue sauce. Two dressings: one balsamic, one chipotle buttermilk.Slow-grilled onions, a lot of blue cheese, hardboiled eggs (or not). For this one, we get out our giant plates (nearly platters) and heap on the goodness.
 

Shortcuts:

• The Mesa BBQ sauce is outstanding and freezes perfectly, but your favorite bottled sauce does well in a pinch. We like Trader Joe’s sauce, for what it’s worth.
• There are some not bad refrigerated buttermilk chipotle ranch dressings in the supermarket. But they aren’t great. Try to make your own, because it tastes better.
• We drastically cut the oil in the balsamic dressing and we never miss it. 
• You could use Vidalia instead of red onions throughout. You need a sweet pungent onion. I like the bite of red, but whatever makes you happy.
• The fresh avocado here is amazing, but sometimes the store doesn’t anticipate my last-minute salad cravings. You could swap in a chunky guacamole here. We like Wholly Guacamole brand.
• Bacon will not hurt this salad, but you don’t need it. I will not judge you.

This is a salad we crave, and my guess is you will, too. Perfect for the weekend. Or anytime you get a brand new (used) grill.


recipe | grilled chicken cobb salad with balsamic-mustard vinaigrette and chipotle buttermilk dressing (via Bobby Flay)


mesa bbq sauce

• find it here on foodnetwork.com

balsamic-mustard vinaigrette

• 6 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 Tablespoons finely chopped red onion
• 1 Tablespoon light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup olive oil (we use 1/4 cup because of all the fat in the avocado and cheese)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine the vinegar, mustard, onion, and sugar in a blender or food processor and let it spin. With the motor running, slowly add the oil. Season with salt and pepper. 


chipotle buttermilk dressing

• 1/4 cup sour cream (reduced fat works)
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 Tablespoons finely chopped red onion
• 1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 2 teaspoons chipotle purée 
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine everything in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. 


salad

• 4 chicken breasts
• 1 1/4 cups Mesa bbq sauce 
• 2 large red onions, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• Olive oil for brushing the onions
• 8 cups mixed greens, washed and dried
• 8 plum tomatoes, quartered
• 8 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
• 4 avocados, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
• 8 ounces creamy blue cheese, crumbled
• Chipotle Buttermilk Dressing
• Balsamic-Mustard Vinaigrette
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat a gas or charcoal grill to medium high.

Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper and brush with mesa barbecue sauce. Grill, basting continuously with barbecue sauce, until golden brown and cooked through, 6 minutes on each side. Remove from the grill and let rest for 10 minutes.

Brush the onion slices with olive oil and grill until golden brown and slightly softened, 2 to 3 minutes on each side (or longer if you like some char, which I do). In a large bowl, lightly toss the greens with the balsamic-mustard Vinaigrette and place on a large platter. Cut the chicken breasts on the bias into 1/2-inch slices. 

Arrange the chicken in the center of the platter, resting on the greens. Arrange the tomatoes, eggs, onion slices, and avocado slices around the chicken. Sprinkle with the crumbled blue cheese and drizzle with the chipotle buttermilk dressing.