for those that are new here, thank you so much for being here, and hi! in this newsletter, i discuss my chef’s kiss moments (aka lovely, wonderful things–usually food/cooking related, but not always) of the month + 1 easy to follow recipe.
the recipe this month is one that was requested a lot on ig last year, a blt made with bacon fat mayo - you can find the recipe towards the bottom of the newsletter.
this newsletter is far more cooking-heavy than usual because it is my favorite time of the year to cook/eat and we are getting such great produce in the new york area this year - so that’s what my mind has been really occupied with! for those who are looking for some inspo on what to cook right now–including salads, pastas, quiches, and some notes on grilling–this month's newsletter is for you - and if you wanted other things, i’m sorry (maybe next month).
summer fruits and cheese with bread
again, nothing novel here, but i really do adore fruit, cheese, and bread for lunch.
at the beginning of the month, we had strawberries dressed in balsamic, chilled ricotta, and hot-out-of-the-oven sourdough sea salt focaccia. the steaming hot olive-oily-salty bread with cold and creamy ricotta and the sweet but vinegary strawberries created a very very perfect bite.
i made a focaccia di recco with cherries (this is the recipe i used, i think it’s great). i added some cherries in between the two layers of dough. incredible. my only regret is not adding more cheese and cherries.
once peaches were in season, i decided to serve them up (skin removed) with basil oil, burrata, and sourdough ciabatta fresh out of the oven. i love peaches and basil together, and then the hot crunchy bread with the cold, soft cheese and the bright fruit and the oil dripping down… oh-so-good!
notes from the grill
i love the grill, or rather i should say, i love the food that comes off the grill. i do not, however, have the patience for grilling. the past few summers i have given the grilling reigns over to théo, who has far more patience than i do, and he is excellent. with his help, we ate some really delicious stuff from the grill this month.
the first dish was a fish wrapped in fig leaves leftover from making fig leaf custard for a pavlova. we had the fish gutted and sliced open, and then we salted and peppered it, wrapped it in fig leaves, and threw it on the grill. but before grilling the fish, we threw half a sourdough ciabatta loaf that had been brushed with olive oil on the grill to get it nice and toasty, and at the same time, we grilled some radicchio. while the fish was grilling, i rubbed some garlic on the toasted bread, followed by some burrata + the grilled radicchio, marinated some figs in a little balsamic, and added some mint. we served the toast alongside the grilled fish for a super easy and yummy dinner.
even better was the gai yang we made two days later. i followed pailin chongchitnant’s recipe to a t, but marinated the chicken for 36 hours instead of 24 (this was by accident, but considering how delicious the final product was, it seems like a happy accident). i also subbed the shallot in the nam jim jeaw with some spring onion (bases and tops). the recipe is so so delicious. if you have one, i encourage you to make it on your grill this summer.
thomas straker reminded me that chicken thighs, skin on, marinated in yogurt and then grilled is one of the most delicious things ever. so we made some, and luckily we had enough leftover to add into a salad for lunch the next day (more on that below).
dinner leftovers —> lunch salads
i guess this dinner leftovers turned into lunch salads thing started last month with a roast chicken and salsa verde sunday dinner that turned into a green bean roast chicken salad for lunch the following day.
i’ve expanded on the habit, by 1. purchasing more veg than a dinner dish requires, cooking it with the other veg i’m cooking, and then storing it in the fridge to be added to a salad the following day, and 2. prepping extra herby sauces (pesto, salsa verde, green goddess, etc.) to be used as dressings for salads, and turning declining veg/herbs into blender sauces. (i just opened up my copy of samin nosrat’s salt fat acid heat and there are so many great dressing recipes that use veg/herbs if you are looking for actual recipes to follow).
there is nothing novel about meal prepping like this, but i have to say i’m doing it a lot more now that it’s summer here and all i want to be eating is all the delicious produce from the farmers market, but don’t want to spend a lot of time making a salad with various veg/fruits and grains in it.
one day, leftover potatoes from a dinner side were mixed with sliced tomatoes and blanched green beans and served over a green goddess dressing made with some herbs that were starting to tire. i made this twice during the month. the first time, i put fresh oregano in the green goddess dressing, which was actually not so yummy. the second time the dressing was less of a classic green goddess and more of a blender sauce. i used dill, parsley, mint, basil, scallions, lemon, yogurt, anchovies, capers, and a little feta and it was great.
I had some leftover blanched sugar snap peas (from a pasta i talk about below), as well as some leftover wheat berries and wanted to make a salad with them both. i started by roasting a whole bunch of pattypans (sliced, 425f with salt pepper and oil), i only needed some but purchased more than i needed to to add to both dinner that night and lunch the following day. i then diced up a whole bunch of herbs–parsley, mint, and dill (in about equal parts). i diced up some spring onion tops that were starting to look a little tired and tossed them in too and added some salt and olive oil and lemon juice. i added my wheat berries to this mixture, along with the roasted squash and my blanched sugar snap peas, and i gave the whole thing a good toss. when i gave it a taste i realized it needed something more, so i found some peppers that were starting to wrinkle and threw those over the flame on my stovetop. i let those steam peel and then diced them finely to give a little more flavor to the salad. i also added a diced cucumber for some crunch and pitted cherries (leftover from a focaccia di recco i write about below) for juiciness. finally, i made a creamy dressing of yogurt, feta, and lots of garlic to be served on the side. it was so delicious, probably my favorite salad of the month.
from that dish, i had extra pattypan squashes, some were incorporated into a pasta with fresh sungolds that night for dinner, and the rest were used the following day, mixed with leftover pistachio pesto i dug out of the freezer and served on toasted bread rubbed with garlic and topped with burrata (admittedly, this one was not a salad, but it wins the award for the quickest lunch of the month at ~5 minutes).
then there was also a salad with pesto, farro, broccoli, and peas (and another where peas and farro were replaced with wheat berries and tomatoes); one with an herb-garlic-yogurt sauce with roasted eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, and leftover chicken; one with chopped herbs, lemon juice, olive oil, roasted squash, tomatoes, string beans, and wheat berries; and another with roasted squash and okra, corn, sungolds, and basil, mint, lemon, olive oil, and a touch of honey. etc. (sorry for the lack of photos, they were not so cute)
all of this to say, i probably made over a dozen salads this month from leftover veg and sauces, and i will continue making these salads for the rest of summer as they have been so delicious, relatively quick, and refreshing.
pastas
in addition to salads, i also had a fair amount of pasta this month.
it’s summer, which to me = pesto season. in the beginning half of the month, i blanched some sugar snap peas and added those to the blender with some pistachio pesto for a little brightness and extra grassy/green notes.
more recently i had a leftover green squash, so i sliced it up thinly, salted the slices, and set them over a sieve to drain. i cooked some pasta and whipped up a pesto with some ricotta blended in for creaminess. i squeezed out the excess water from the squash (taste to make sure it’s not too salty; if it is too salty, give a rinse under the tap and squeeze to drain again), then mixed up the pasta, squash, and pesto. this was delicious, but i made another squash pasta that was even better…
i started by toasting some very thin slivers of guanciale in a pan. once those were done cooking i removed them and threw a whole bunch of squash into the guanciale fat to cook. while the squash was cooking, i sliced up some sungold tomatoes and chiffonaded a whole bunch of basil. separately, i grated some parm. just as the squash was done cooking, i added in a few chopped garlic cloves and about 1 1/2 cups of pasta water followed by the pasta. i let the water reduce into a glossy sauce and finished with cheese. then, i threw in the tomatoes, basil, and the cooked guanciale. so so delicious, and i plan on making this again next week but will sub corn for the squash and add some pickled chiles at the end)
summer squash quiches
in last month's chef’s kiss newsletter comment section, pernilla (cooking in comme) said that they made a great summer squash quiche, and i got inspired to make two summer squash quiches for dinner this month (i love having quiche for dinner).
to start, i used a puff pastry tart shell base, blind baking it before adding in my filling.
the first quiche was made with green summer squash and had a green quiche filling made by adding a bit of blanched kale and lots of basil, garlic, and chives to the egg custard base. i also added some grated parm so it was a more pesto-y base. i diced up a lot of squash and sautéed it in olive oil until browned. i layered the sautéed squash in the bottom of the blind baked pastry dough, poured the green egg custard on top, and baked the whole thing up. we served it with a vinegary salad which helped cut some of the richness. it was really delicious.
for the second quiche, i made a standard egg custard filling and added comte cheese. i then shaved some yellow summer squash, salted it, and let it release its liquid before squeezing it dry (if you are not cooking the squash before adding it to a custard base, it is necessary to salt and squeeze as squash is 94% water - again as i mentioned above, taste after and if its too salty rinse and squeeze dry again). the day prior, when i had been making some blts, i made some extra bacon so i could add it to the bottom of the tart shell. i followed it with the egg custard and then the squash, which i decoratively swirled into the quiche base. i baked the whole thing up, and it came out fantastic.
squash blossoms
i’ve been having fun playing with squash blossoms so far this summer. well, maybe “fun” is not the right word… it has been a series of initial (delicious) aesthetic failures with varying successes in the end. i like the reward of problem-solving after a failure, i guess that’s where the fun is. was it the best use of my diminished hot-weather brain power? no. did i enjoy the process and the food? yes
i’ve had a photo saved of a filet of hake coated in squash blossoms by florence knight (who makes some of the most beautiful food i have ever seen) on my phone for a year. i finally mustered up the courage to try and recreate the dish. on my first attempt, i coated a piece of cod in the leaves and poached it. while this worked, it came out all wrinkled and nowhere near as pretty as florence’s. i decided to make it again, this time roasting the fish first, and then coating it in the flower while it was still warm (hint: it is best to use blossoms where the petals have already unfurled). this worked way better, but still nowhere near as pretty as florence’s. the first one i served over a lemon and squash risotto, and the second i served over a thinly sliced, raw squash salad dressed in lemon. both options were delicious, but i preferred the squash salad one only because it was so refreshing and light which i needed on a very hot evening in the apartment.
in a similar vein (squash surrounding the main part of a dish), i thought it would be fun to make ricotta gnudi and stuff the gnudi inside of the squash blossoms. the first one i plopped in boiling water disintegrated and the petals broke apart. while it tasted good, it wasn’t what i was looking for. luckily i had four more. i turned the heat down to just a baby simmer and that did the trick, the squash blossoms held together. i served them with a basil and garlic scape sauce on one side and blended raw sungolds on the other. a delicious, luxurious lunch.
continuing with squash blossoms and pasta, i thought it would be fun to laminate the petals between two pasta sheets. the first time i tried, it failed (though, it was another delicious failure). the blossoms were too thick with their spiny green bodies, and they tore the pasta sheet when i ran it through the machine. so i tried it again, this time slicing off the thick spine (tedious, but easier than i expected with a paring knife). this sort of worked, but for some reason, the color was not as vibrant as i had expected, even after rolling to the second thinnest level (the setting i normally roll my pasta out to). i’m not quite sure how to solve this for next time, your thoughts would be appreciated.
blt with bacon-fat mayo
i love blts. this is the version i make on repeat throughout the second half of summer and early fall, featuring a bacon-fat mayonnaise. using bacon fat really reinforces that delicious smokey baconey flavor in the sandwich. this recipe makes more than enough bacon-fat mayo for a sandwich or two, which means you can slather it on other sandwiches as well, or eat it with fries.
you can also mix other things into the mayo to add even more flavor the the sandwich, a personal favorite is lemon zest/juice and rosemary (especially good when paired with arugula as the lettuce), but there are seemingly infinite additions that would be so good!
ingredients:
bacon, uncooked (i like approximately 4 pieces per sandwich)
bread of choice (lots of bread are great for blt’s. i recently used sourdough ciabatta and a sourdough potato sandwich loaf–if you use soft bread i recommend lightly toasting one side of each slice in a pan. either with extra bacon fat or thinly slather one side of the bread with some of your bacon fat mayo and toast with that)
lettuce of choice (the lettuce you use should complement the bread you use eg. for ciabatta i like using arugula or another softer/more flavorful lettuce, while i like crunchy gem lettuce in a soft/sandwich bread)
heirloom tomato(es)
1 1/2tsp balsamic vinegar or lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp honey or sugar
pinch of salt
some cracks of black pepper
bacon fat mayo:
1/4 cup of neutral oil eg. vegetable, canola
1 egg
1 small-medium garlic clove minced
2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar or 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp salt
tools:
an immersion blender or electric spice grinder
recipe
cook your bacon. i like to cook my bacon in the oven using this method. it’s way less messy + it leaves my hands free to prep the rest of the sandwich.
while the bacon cooks, slice your bread, wash your lettuce (and if using gems break off the leaves), and thickly slice your tomato. in a small bowl, mix together the balsamic vinegar and honey. brush or drizzle this on your sliced tomatoes. sprinkle on your salt and add a few crack of pepper. set the tomatoes aside to marinate.
place your egg yolk, minced garlic, vinegar, mustard, salt, and hot water in the bowl of your spice grinder or in a bowl/cup wide enough to fit your immersion blender. at this point, your bacon should be done cooking. pour the bacon fat from the sheet tray into a liquid measuring cup, you are looking for up to a half cup (if you have any extra, save for another use), and add enough neutral oil so that the total amount of fat measures 3/4 cup.
briefly blend the bowl filled with egg yolks and the other ingredients, then add about a tablespoon or of the oil/fat and blend for about 15 seconds. add in another two tablespoons of oil/fat and blend again do not add too much oil at a time, it can break the emulsion. keep repeating, adding the oil/fat in stages and blending until you have a mayo.
once the mayo is finished, assemble your sandwich. spread mayo on both the bottom and top half of your sandwich (or just a lot on one of the halves). then, on the bottom slice of sandwich bread, place the bacon, followed by lettuce, and top with your tomato slices (or lettuce followed by bacon, tomato is always on the top for me though). add on the top slice of bread and enjoy.
and to finish, some photos of produce from the union square greenmarket this month.
tomatoes and peppers were from halal pastures (i think i have purchased their peppers and cucumbers every week this month, the cucumbers are especially phenomenal - also their melon is so unbelievably juicy and sweet), the peaches are from kernan farms (i have been eating one of their peaches with my coffee every morning this month and has brought me more joy than i can put into words), the potatoes are from lanis they are so so flavorful (and have gone in a lot of my salads).