Six Seasons
Page 16
Add some California: Smash a diced avocado into the potatoes as you smash them.
In the kitchen Do-ahead restaurant trick: You can boil the potatoes until very tender, then drain and set aside. Just before serving, dunk in boiling water until heated through, then continue with your recipe.
Potato and Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Olives, Feta, and Arugula
Think potato salad with a fifty-fifty ratio of potato to cauliflower—it’s lighter and less starchy, but every bit as satisfying. Served with some whipped feta and a handful of arugula tossed in, the salad is wonderful by itself and even more amazing with roasted or grilled chicken. I also like it on top of grilled flatbread.
» Serves 4 to 6
1 pound new potatoes, rinsed and just lightly scrubbed if they need it
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound cauliflower, cut or broken into florets (no bigger than about 1½ inches)
⅓ cup chopped pitted olives (a mix of black and green is nice)
¼ small red onion, thinly sliced
¼ cup roughly chopped seeded pickled peppers, such as pepperoncini, or pickled peppers in oil
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (lemon thyme would be amazing!)
½ teaspoon dried chile flakes
3 ounces feta cheese
1 handful arugula leaves, chopped
Put the potatoes in a large pot of cold water and add salt until it tastes like the sea. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, and cook until tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Once the potatoes are cooked, drain them and return to the pot.
Smash the potatoes with a fork to crush them and create lots of crevices, add 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice and a healthy glug of olive oil, season with salt and black pepper, and toss gently. Let them cool.
Heat the oven to 375°F.
Put the cauliflower in a bowl, add ¼ cup olive oil and ½ teaspoon salt, toss to coat all the florets, and spread them over a rimmed baking sheet. Roast until tender and nicely browned around the edges, 20 to 30 minutes. Add the cauliflower to the smashed potatoes.
Add the olives, onion, pickled peppers, thyme, and chile flakes to the potatoes and cauliflower. Toss gently, season with more salt and black pepper and some olive oil and a bit more lemon, and toss again.
Put the feta in a food processor and pulse until creamy. With the motor running, drizzle in 3 tablespoons olive oil.
Add the feta to the salad and fold gently. Add the chopped arugula and fold again. Taste and do your final seasoning adjustment to make this irresistible.
Serve slightly warm or at room temperature, with a final squeeze of lemon over everything.
In the kitchen Almost all vegetable salads are best when served cool (but not ice cold) or at room temperature. The textures will be looser and the flavors will blossom.
Pan-Roasted New Potatoes with Butters
Clockwise, from top left: Green garlic, pickled vegetable, and alla diavola butters
I like to pan-roast new potatoes, especially a little later in the season, when they are less pristine than in the early weeks. Pan-roasting gives you textural contrast—a crisp roasted surface and a creamy interior. Start them on the stovetop to ensure a rich, even browning and then finish them in the oven—a hands-off method that produces even cooking. To serve these without the flavored butters, toss them in olive oil and some fresh herbs such as rosemary and thyme before roasting.
» Serves 4
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1½ pounds new potatoes, halved or quartered if necessary to make all the potato pieces about the same size
Alla Diavola Butter, Green Garlic Butter, or Pickled Vegetable Butter, or all three
Heat the oven to 400°F.
Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat, add a glug of olive oil, and sprinkle the surface of the skillet with salt and pepper. Working in batches if necessary, arrange the potatoes cut side down in a single layer and season the tops with a bit more salt and pepper. (Or you could do this in two skillets.)
Cook the potatoes until the cut faces are nicely browned, regulating the heat so they don’t get too browned too fast—you may need to swap positions in the pan so the potatoes brown evenly. You want this step to take 6 to 8 minutes.
If your pan is ovenproof, transfer the whole skillet to the oven. If not, or if you have too many potatoes for one pan, transfer the potatoes to a rimmed baking sheet or roasting pan, cut side down, and roast until they are completely tender when poked with a knife, 12 to 18 minutes.
Pile the potatoes into a serving bowl and serve with the compound butter(s) on the side for diners to “custom mash” at the table.
Turnips (Early Season)
The turnips we see in early summer are mostly Japanese varieties, often named Hakurei or Tokyo turnips. These small, smooth, white turnips (also called salad turnips) are wonderful to cook with and just as wonderful not to cook with—they are amazing raw. To me, a young Japanese turnip is like a better radish, with a more reliably crisp and almost juicy texture. Unlike beets, these early-season turnips aren’t simply a young version of the turnip you’ll see in fall and winter. When Japanese turnips mature too far, their flavor deteriorates, becoming bitter and overly spicy. The succulent texture of that young specimen becomes simply watery and fibrous. If confronted with an old Japanese turnip, I’ll add it to a gang of other vegetables to be roasted, so that excess water and bitter flavor can be cooked away. (Learn about true late-season turnips.)
Use both greens and roots soon. Like all early-season root vegetables, early-summer turnips come with a beautiful crown of greens, which is always my first consideration when choosing a bunch. Pick the turnips with the most pristine greens and look for bunches with roots the same size—that makes prepping and even cooking easier.
When you get them home, cut off the greens and take care of them as you would salad greens. The turnip roots store fairly well in the refrigerator, though not nearly as long as their mature cousins. Try to use them within 3 days, especially if you want to show off their snowy white hue, which will discolor after a few days.
Crisp in ice water. Salad turnips are only mildly spicy and have little of the mustardy notes of mature turnips, which means they are delicious raw. And with their small size and very white flesh, they look beautiful in salads. I never peel these turnips. I just give them a quick rinse and trim the green stem ends to a tidy ¼ inch, or cut them off entirely. I usually give thinly sliced raw turnips a 20-minute soak in ice water to enhance their crispness.
If you cook, keep it quick. These young turnips make incredible pickles, which look gorgeous in the pickle jar or on a pickle plate. They are also amenable to pan-steaming and even roasting, and because of their high water content will cook quickly. However, they’re not high in starch, so they can be less than satisfying when mashed.
Turnip Salad with Yogurt, Herbs, and Poppy Seeds
The large amount of poppy seeds in this dish adds an amazing floral quality, plus plenty of crunch. You could swap crème fraîche for the yogurt, if you’re feeling luxurious, and if you have some chervil, add that to the mix of herbs. Make sure you drain the turnips super well and serve the dish right away; otherwise, things may get a bit soggy.
» Serves 4
1 bunch Japanese turnips, with their tops if they’re nice and fresh, trimmed so there’s just a nice ¼ inch of green stems left
1 lemon, halved
½ teaspoon dried chile flakes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup plain whole-milk or low-fat yogurt (not Greek)
About 1 cup lightly packed mixed herbs: mint leaves, flat-leaf parsley leaves, and chives cut in 2-inch lengths
4 s
callions, trimmed (including ½ inch off the green tops), sliced on a sharp angle, soaked in ice water for 20 minutes, and drained well
Extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup poppy seeds
Slice the turnips lengthwise as thin as you can. If you have a mandoline, use it; otherwise make sure your knife is sharp and just go slowly. Soak the slices in ice water for 15 to 20 minutes, then drain very well.
Rinse, dry, and roughly chop the turnip greens (if they’re not in great shape, give them a quick sauté in a small amount of olive oil). Put the turnips in a bowl and squeeze in about half the lemon. Add the chile flakes, ½ teaspoon salt, and many twists of black pepper and toss to blend. Add the yogurt and toss again. Taste and adjust the seasoning so they are quite bright. Add the herbs, scallions, and ¼ cup olive oil and toss again. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Scatter half the poppy seeds on the bottom of a platter or individual serving plates, top with the turnip salad, and finish with the rest of the poppy seeds. Serve right away.
In the kitchen Japanese turnips are crisp and refreshing because of their high water content. The downside is that they can weep moisture into your dish, so serve right after assembly.
Sautéed Turnips with Prunes and Radicchio
Most people would not consider prunes an exciting ingredient, but when cooked, the plush texture and deep toffee sweetness of a prune can really bring some sex appeal to a dish.
» Serves 4
8 pitted prunes, quartered
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
¼ teaspoon dried chile flakes
1 bunch Japanese turnips, greens cut off and reserved, trimmed and halved
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Small head radicchio, cut into 1-inch ribbons (soak in ice water for 20 minutes to reduce bitterness, then drain well)
Put the prunes in a small bowl and add 1 table-spoon of the vinegar. Add warm water just to cover the prunes. Let them soak for 20 minutes to soften and plump.
Heat a glug of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook gently until it’s nicely golden brown, very fragrant, and soft, about 5 minutes—do not burn the garlic! Add the chile flakes and then arrange the turnips in the pan, cut sides down. Season with salt and black pepper and cook until the turnips are starting to brown lightly on the cut side, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip the turnips over and add the prunes and a few spoonfuls of their soaking liquid.
Cover the pan and steam the turnips until they are tender when pierced with a knife, adding a few more splashes of the soaking liquid as you cook them. You want there to be just enough water to continually create steam but not so much water that the turnips are boiling.
When the turnips are just about tender, add the greens and the drained radicchio. Increase the heat to high and finish cooking with the cover off, tossing and stirring to wilt the greens and mix everything together.
Remove from the heat and season with salt, black pepper, and the remaining 1 tablespoon vinegar. Taste, adjust the seasoning, and finish with a drizzle of olive oil. Serve warm.
In the field Precise timing for peak seasons varies between weather, regions, and overall climate changes. Anthony and Carol Boutard of Ayers Creek Farm in Oregon see weather as an oscillating continuum rather than a series of distinct seasons. Farmers face great challenges with weather patterns that are becoming more erratic and unpredictable.
Season Three
Midsummer
Midsummer isn’t a fixed block of weeks on the calendar; it’s a state of mind. This phase shows up at different points in different parts of the country. When it does arrive, it brings an assurance that yes, indeed, summer is actually here. No more cold snaps. You can relax now.
Once I’m past the initial postwinter joy of eating anything fresh and green, I get more expansive in my cooking. In these warmer weeks I can choose from a wide range of vegetables. Joining those ever-faithful brassicas, such as cauliflower and broccoli, are so-juicy-they-quench-your-thirst cucumbers; string beans in yellow, green, and purple; and summer squash in its youth—slender, taut, and delicious. (Which is the only stage in which to eat squash. Once it’s bigger than a small hot dog bun, the flesh will be seedy and watery.)
Many of these early-summer vegetables will continue through the golden days of autumn. But they are ripe and ready to enjoy now, in big platters of colorful salads, weeknight pastas, and pickles and preserves.
Recipes of Midsummer
Smashed Broccoli and Potatoes with Parmigiano and Lemon
Pan-Steamed Broccoli with Sesame Seeds, Parmigiano, and Lemon
Rigatoni with Broccoli and Sausage
“Chinese” Beef and Broccoli
Charred Broccoli with Tonnato, Pecorino, Lemon, and Chiles
Broccoli Rabe, Mozzarella, Anchovy, and Spicy Tomato
Raw “Couscous” Cauliflower with Almonds, Dried Cherries, and Sumac
Roasted Cauliflower, Plums, Sesame Seeds, and Yogurt
Cauliflower Ragu
Cauliflower Steak with Provolone and Pickled Peppers
Baked Cauliflower with Salt Cod, Currants, and Pine Nutss
Fried Cauliflower with Spicy Fish-Sauce Sauce
Cucumbers, Celery, Apricots, and Pistachios
Cucumbers, Yogurt, Rose, Walnuts, and Herbs
Lemon Cucumbers with Onion, Papalo, and Lots of Herbs
Cucumbers, Scallions, Mint, and Dried Chiles
String Beans, Pickled Beans, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, and Olives on Tonnato
Roasted String Beans and Scallions with Pine Nut Vinaigrette
Green Bean, Tuna, and Mushroom “Casserole”
Grilled Wax and Green Beans with Tomatoes, Basil, and Spicy Fish-Sauce Sauce
Squash Ribbons with Tomatoes, Peanuts, Basil, Mint, and Spicy Fish-Sauce Sauce
Grilled or Roasted Summer Squash with Caper-Raisin Vinaigrette
Squash and “Tuna Melt” Casserole
Fried Stuffed Zucchini Flowers, Zucchini Jojos, and Zucchini Pickles
Broccoli
Broccoli belongs to the large multimember brassica clan, which includes kale, collards, and Brussels sprouts, among many others. But even in the narrower scope of the broccolis, there’s quite a bit of variety, from the chubby florets and fat stems of common broccoli, to slender, sweet Broccolini, to gangly sprouting broccoli, which often has a purple hue. Sprouting broccoli doesn’t form a big dense head, but rather is all sweet stems and shoots with just small loose florets at the tip. One foot in the broccoli family and one in the turnip clan, the more robust broccoli rabe, with lots of leaves and only a few florets, is aggressively bitter-sweet. I like to tame its bitterness with salt and fat—anchovies or fish sauce and of course lots of extra-virgin olive oil.
New kid. I am pleased to see a leafy broccoli rabe relative called Spigarello making its way to farmers’ markets and onto restaurant menus. I came across it in southern Italy and it blew my mind. It looks like broccoli rabe—pretty much all leaf and no florets, with slim, tender stems—but the flavor is pure broccoli. It cooks quickly, so you can toss it into dishes at the last minute. (Before I discovered Spigarello, when I was working at Four Season Farm, I would use just the leaves of the regular broccoli plants to make pesto or to add to pastas and stews.)
Green, with blue notes. With any variety of broccoli, you want to look for a deep green color, bordering on blue-green, sometimes purple. Stay away from anything yellowed. The florets should be tight little clusters, not opened-out buds, which indicate age. Check the ends of the stalks and avoid those that are significantly dried out.
Storage is easy. Store the broccoli in a plastic bag in the fridge. The broccoli family isn’t especially perishable, but do use it within a couple of days of purchase f
or the sweetest flavor.
Stop throwing away the stems! For starters, buy whole heads of broccoli (not broccoli crowns), because the juiciest, sweetest part of broccoli is the stem. Start by trimming away any leaves (I like to cook with those, too, so save them unless they are very large and mature) and then shave off the outer layer of the stem, removing any hard bits or fibrous layers. Slice the stem into thin or thick “coins,” depending on your recipe. Break the head apart gently and cut away individual florets, following the natural branching of the vegetable to yield long-stemmed florets.
Wet heat for pasta, fire for excitement. I grew up eating broccoli mostly steamed or boiled. This is still how I prepare it when I’m using it in a pasta dish. But my go-to method for broccoli and its kin is high heat: either roasting or grilling. For roasting, I toss the broccoli in some olive oil and seasoning first. But for grilling, I just throw it naked on the grill—no oil until after it’s cooked—because when oil hits the intense heat of a grill, it creates an unpleasant chemical flavor. Grilled broccoli, with a deep char and almost burnt caramelization, and seasoned with a bit of extra-virgin olive oil and lemon juice, is addictive . . . the potato chip of green vegetables.
Smashed Broccoli and Potatoes with Parmigiano and Lemon
This dish delivers the same comfort factor as classic mashed potatoes, but with more complexity and nutrition. Don’t be timid with the lemon and olive oil—they’re what makes the dish.
» Serves 4 to 6
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds potatoes (Yukon Golds or other medium-starch potatoes work well), peeled and halved