» Makes about 2 cups
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
½ teaspoon dried chile flakes
1 cup farro
4 cups water
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Put a nice glug of olive oil into a large skillet that has a lid and heat over medium heat. Add the smashed garlic and chile flakes and cook slowly to toast the garlic so it’s beginning to get soft, fragrant, and nicely golden brown, about 3 minutes.
Add the farro and cook over medium heat, stirring more or less constantly so the grains toast evenly, for 3 to 5 minutes. They will darken slightly and become quite fragrant.
Add the water, bay leaf, and salt and bring to a boil. Cover, adjust the heat to a nice simmer, and cook until the farro is tender but not so much that it has “exploded” and popped fully open—it will be mushy if cooked that long. Depending on your farro, this could take 15 to 30 minutes or even a bit longer.
Drain the farro well. If you’re using the farro warm, you’re all set. If you want to use it cold, such as in a salad, dump it onto a baking sheet, toss with a tablespoon of olive oil, and spread it out to cool.
Freekeh
Freekeh is a form of wheat that is eaten usually as a whole grain, like a wheat berry, though some cuisines dry and crack it, more like bulgur. The cool thing about freekeh is that it’s toasted by actually burning it. The traditional method of producing it is to harvest winter wheat while it’s still slightly green or immature, and then burn the stalks in the field to burn off the chaff and release the grain within. You’re left with a sweet and nutty grain with a sexy, subtle smoke flavor.
» Makes 3 cups
1 cup freekeh
Kosher salt
1 bay leaf (optional)
1 dried chile (optional)
Put the freekeh in a saucepan and add water to cover by about 2 inches. Bring to a boil and add 1 teaspoon salt. Add the bay leaf and chile (if using). Cover the pan and adjust the heat to a slow simmer.
Figuring out doneness requires a bit of patience, because different batches of grain cook at different rates. Start tasting around 20 minutes and keep tasting, adding a touch more salt if needed, until you have a chewy but not crunchy texture.
Drain in a sieve and either use the freekeh warm right away, or toss it with a small glug of olive oil, spread it on a baking sheet, and let it cool to room temperature.
Couscous
Couscous isn’t a grain, but because its shape is sort of “grainy,” it’s often served as such. Couscous is really pasta—tiny little balls of dried flour and water (though traditional North African couscous is actually tiny grains, similar to cracked wheat). So-called Israeli or pearl couscous, with much bigger, peppercorn-size grains, is available in a lot of markets now.
Fine couscous: The best way to cook fine couscous is by absorption: Put dry couscous, an equal amount of boiling water (cup for cup), and ½ teaspoon kosher salt per cup of couscous into a bowl or saucepan. Cover and let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes so the couscous can absorb the liquid. Fluff it with a fork and season with more salt, if needed, black pepper, and a glug of olive oil or some butter.
Larger couscous: Cook it like pasta by boiling it in generously salted water and then draining well, like a regular pasta noodle.
At the market A cool substitute for Israeli couscous is fregola, a Sardinian version that’s toasted and full of flavor with a more rustic texture.
Batter for Fried Vegetables
This batter is quick to make and produces a very light coating, perfect for allowing vegetable colors and flavors to come through.
» Makes enough for about 1 pound vegetables
½ cup cornstarch
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon dried chile flakes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
About 1 cup sparkling water
Whisk together the cornstarch, flour, chile flakes, and a generous amount of salt and black pepper. Whisk in enough sparkling water to make a batter the consistency of thin pancake batter. Use the batter within an hour or two.
OTHER
Soft-Cooked Eggs
Soft-cooked eggs are ideal for salads—the white is tender and the yolk is creamy and still slightly runny—perfect for coating other ingredients in the dish. While working on this book, we learned from friend and cookbook author Andrea Slonecker a brilliant way to cook the eggs so you get the best textural result and the eggs are easy to peel—the peeling part always being a challenge. Andrea surmises that the shock of the already boiling water helps separate the membrane from the shell.
» Makes as many as you want
Leave the eggs on the counter until they are at room temperature. Bring a pan of water to a boil and adjust the heat so the water is still boiling but not raucously. Gently lower the eggs into the water. Boil for 6 minutes. Transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water. Leave until either just cool enough to handle, if you’d like to use them while still warm, or until cold.
Peel immediately if using right away, or leave in their shells in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use, preferably within 1 day.
Smashing Garlic
I use a lot of garlic and I often call for a “garlic clove, smashed and peeled.” To smash, put the garlic clove on the work surface and either with the flat side of your chef’s knife, a mallet, or a heavy saucepan, give it a sharp blow. This will do three things: First, it will crush the papery skin that clings tightly to the clove, making it much easier to peel away. Second, it sets up the clove for maximum flavor release: When that smashed garlic gets toasted in some olive oil, the increased surface area of the garlic infuses the oil with more flavor. And third, if you’re going to chop or mince the garlic, a smashed clove is much easier to chop through because it’s flatter.
Toasting Garlic
You’ll see in this book that I begin many recipes by toasting garlic in olive oil. With this step, I’m both infusing the oil with garlic flavor but also softening the garlic itself so that it will break up and integrate itself into the rest of the dish. The gentle toasting also mellows the flavor of the garlic. To toast garlic, pour a glug (about 2 tablespoons) of olive oil into your pan, add the smashed garlic, and cook slowly over medium heat until the garlic is very soft, fragrant and nicely golden brown—but not burnt—about 5 minutes.
Making Scallions Mild and Crisp
First of all, don’t discard the green tops! Trim off just the top ½ inch or so. Also trim off the hairy root bit at the other end. If the outermost layer of scallion seems either dried out or slimy, peel it off. Cut the scallion crosswise and on a very sharp angle into thin slices. If being used in a salad, soak the scallions in ice water for 20 minutes, then drain well and pat dry. This tempers their bite a bit and makes them crisp and refreshing. For cooked recipes, don’t use the ice water trick; just trim and cut according to the recipe.
How to Dress a Salad
I am a fanatic at the restaurant about several things: perfectly cooked beans, al dente pasta, the storage of herbs, and dressing salads properly. This last one is about as important as it comes.
Salads have to be fresh and crisp with texture. The greens must taste like greens, and the whole salad should be colorful and beautiful. The statement I use most often is “there’s no place to hide,” meaning the greens, herbs, vinegar, and extra-virgin olive oil are all of equal importance.
I don’t make many separate vinaigrettes at the restaurant; we use maybe three or four vinaigrettes that we make ahead, and even those get adjusted with every use. I have a theory that when you use the classic 3-to-1 ratio of oil to acid, you rely too much on that ratio and not enough on your tasting judgment.
That’s why for most of the salads in this book, I tell you to add and taste, then add a little
more, so that you don’t overwhelm the ingredients with too much of any of the seasonings. You want a beautiful leaf of lettuce or an herb to taste exactly like itself . . . only better.
So here’s how to put together a salad:
* Put the lettuces and herbs in a nice big bowl—you’ll need room to toss. Give the greens a careful pick-through; nobody wants a bad leaf in their salad.
* Add some vinegar to the lettuce and with one hand toss it around to coat the leaves—do not drench the leaves! Taste. It should be both green and acidic.
* Season the greens with salt and several cranks of black pepper. Taste it again. You should now taste the greens, the vinegar, and both the salt and the pepper. These seasonings should have flavor and almost a texture. (I always tell my cooks that at this point, the salad should taste good enough to serve without extra-virgin olive oil.)
* Add the extra-virgin olive oil, thinking about what flavor it’s going to add. Toss the greens around again with one hand so the oil coats everything evenly. Taste it one more time and then eat it right away. And please, eat salads with your hands.
In the field Seed farmer Frank Morton grew some of the original salad mixes, back in the ’80s. He would unite mild lettuces with assertive greens such as spicy cresses or mustards, and brassicas such as kale, tatsoi, or mizuna, adding some aromatic notes from celery leaf, mint, parsley, and epazote. Like Morton, I aim for a crazy mix of flavors, colors, textures in my salads, and when I can, I use every part of the plant—leaves, shoots, petals.
Pickles: Six Seasons in a Jar
When I was a kid, the farmer down the road made a killer pickle-laden Bloody Mary mix. The grown-ups would drink the cocktails, while I fished out all the pickles and gorged on them. Whether that was the start of my pickle love affair or not, I continue to be a pickle fanatic. Now as a chef who fantasizes about being a farmer, I appreciate pickles not just for their tangy, crunchy goodness but also for their ability to stop time and capture the perfection of the season.
I want to give a nod to David Chang, for whom I worked at Momofuku in New York City. He showed me that really great pickles should not be too sharp. Low acid and always a touch of sweetness will allow you to taste the vegetable, not just the brine.
All my pickles are what are called refrigerator pickles. They are preserved and flavored by a brine, not by fermentation. The brine will keep them in good shape for quite a while, but they should stay refrigerated unless you actually process them, following good preserving practices, which you can find in the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving, among other sources.
I suggest you make a big batch of brine and then customize it according to the vegetables you’re going to pickle at one time.
Basic Vegetable Pickle Brine
The brine will keep nicely in the fridge, so make a triple batch and be ready for sudden pickling urges.
» Makes enough for about 3 pints pickles (depending on their size and shape and the amount you stuff into the jar)
½ cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1½ cups hot water
5 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Put everything in a pot or big pitcher and stir until the sugar and salt have dissolved.
Using clean canning jars, fill with your vegetable in a way that shows off the beauty of it, pour over the brine until the vegetables are completely covered and the jar is full, and screw on the cap. Refrigerate for up to 2 months. Start tasting after the first day to see how the flavor and texture are developing. They are ready to eat as soon as you think they are.
Cold Brine
Vegetable
Seasoning
Prep notes
Beets
4 thyme sprigs, rinsed
Best with smaller spring beets. If using several colors, pickle each in its own jar to keep the colors from bleeding. Remove any greens, rinse beets, peel with a vegetable peeler. Cut the beets as thin as you can—potato chip thin. Layer with thyme sprigs.
Carrots
5 smashed garlic cloves, 2 dried chiles, 3 or 4 thyme sprigs, 1 tablespoon toasted coriander seeds; all seasonings rinsed
Best with slender springtime carrots. Remove tops, leaving ¼ inch of greens. Scrub but don’t peel. With larger late-season carrots, peel and cut into two-bite sticks. Arrange standing up in the jar; tuck seasonings in between.
Cauliflower
5 smashed garlic cloves, 4 thyme sprigs; all seasonings rinsed
Break a head of cauliflower into uniform bite-size pieces. Layer with seasonings.
Celery
5 smashed garlic cloves, 2 dried chiles, 4 fresh thyme sprigs, 1 tablespoon toasted coriander seeds; all seasonings rinsed
Slice celery stalks crosswise into ¼-inch half-moons. Layer with seasonings.
Cherries
6 thyme sprigs, rinsed
Use ripe, dark sweet cherries, such as Bing, Brooks, or Lapins. Pit and pile into the jar, layering with thyme.
Cucumbers
None, basic brine only
Kirby cucumbers are ideal; lemon or other smaller varieties are fun as well. Cut into ¼-inch-thick slices.
Fennel
5 smashed garlic cloves, 2 dried chiles, 3 strips of orange zest, 2 rosemary sprigs; all seasonings rinsed
Use small baby fennel. Cut off the stalks, halve and slice the bulb lengthwise (preferably with a mandoline) through the core into thin slices, leaving the core intact. Layer with seasonings.
Radishes
None, basic brine only
Use bright red round radishes; the color stays better than other colors. Cut off the tops, leaving ¼ inch of greens, clean well.
Spring onions
None, basic brine only
Slice into rings ⅛ inch thick.
Turnips
5 smashed garlic cloves, 3 strips of orange zest, 1 tablespoon black peppercorns; all seasonings rinsed
Use early-season Japanese turnips. Remove tops, leaving 1/2 inch of greens. Scrub but don’t peel, then cut into quarters lengthwise. With larger late-season turnips, peel and cut into wedges. Layer with seasonings.
Wax beans
5 smashed garlic cloves, 2 dried chiles, 2 rosemary sprigs; all seasonings rinsed
Wax beans are pretty, but use green beans if you like, or a mix. Trim the stem end, leave on the curly tip. Stand them up in the jar and tuck seasonings in between.
Zucchini and summer squashes
5 smashed garlic cloves, 2 dried chiles, 2 rosemary sprigs; all seasonings rinsed
Use small, firm, blemish-free squash. Slice from top to bottom into thin ribbons, preserving their shape (a mandoline will help). Stuff the ribbons of squash into the jar and tuck seasonings in between.
Hot Brine
On my lifelong pickle journey, I’ve learned that the following four vegetables need a little boost to get the best texture and flavor as a pickle. You’ll make the exact same brine as for the other vegetables, but add a boiling step. Here’s how: Pack the vegetables into the jar up to 1 inch below the top. Fill the jar with brine—this tells you how much brine you need. Then pour the measured brine back out of the jar and into a pan and bring to a boil. Add the seasonings to the jar and pour over the very hot brine. Let cool before refrigerating.
Vegetable
Seasoning
Prep notes
Asparagus
5 smashed garlic cloves, 2 dried chiles; all seasonings rinsed
Trim the asparagus spears so they fit standing up in the jar. Fill the jar, tuck i
n the seasonings, and add the hot brine as per above.
Brussels sprouts
5 smashed garlic cloves, 2 dried chiles, 1 tablespoon black peppercorns; all seasonings rinsed
Trim and halve the sprouts, pack into the jars, tuck in the seasonings, and add the hot brine as per above.
Fresh chiles
5 smashed garlic cloves, 3 or 4 thyme sprigs
Use a mix of flavors, shapes, and colors. Seed and derib the chiles. Cut large ones into smaller pieces, pack into the jars, tuck in the seasonings, and add the hot brine as per above.
Ramps
1 or 2 dried chiles
Trim the root end, clean well between all the greens. Stuff the whole ramps into the jar so they are all tangly, tuck in the seasonings, and add the hot brine as per above.
Season One
Spring
It sounds like a cliché, but I feel it every year—spring is miraculous. To watch as the dreary landscape, covered in frost, snow, and mud, transforms into this impossibly fresh and green new world is soul-stirring.
And spring comes just in time, right? Because as much as we love root vegetables and winter squash, after a few months, we crave tender things. Green things. Grassy, delicate vegetables that don’t even need to be cooked, just plucked from the ground and enjoyed. They are never as sweet and delicious as when they first emerge from the newly warmed earth.
Six Seasons Page 7