Monday, May 20, 2024
Good afternoon!
The Marvelous Reappearing Act of the 1960s Frigidaire Flair Stovetop [Saveur]
“The performative pantry must be stopped.” [Food & Wine]
Let’s be completely honest: Today is way too gorgeous to be inside, to be thinking about work, or to be responsible in any way, which is honestly exactly the place my brain will be in for the next week, with the tantalizing promise of a three-day holiday weekend, and the official kickoff of the summer season, ahead. Alas, it’s not the weekend yet, but it will not stop me from plotting all of the things I want to cook for Memorial Day weekend, many of which I’ve shared below.
And that’s not all there is on the Smitten Kitchen Digest agenda this week! The 7th episode The Recipe with Kenji and Deb is out today, and it’s all about grilled chicken, always on my mind now that the weather is warmer. We also have an interview with Edy Massih whose first cookbook Keep It Zesty: A Celebration of Lebanese Flavors & Culture from Edy’s Grocer is out tomorrow. I know you’re going to love it as much as I do.
Cheers!
Deb
My podcast with J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, The Recipe with Kenji and Deb, launched two months ago and our seventh episode, out today, is all about Grilled Chicken. You can listen to it anywhere you get your podcasts and I’ve set up a new podcast tab/page where you can keep up on it here, too. We will have new episodes every two Mondays. We’ve been working on this behind the scenes for the last year — I hope you enjoy listening along.
grilled shrimp cocktail
My husband's favorite dish (we just ignore him if he says steak or a martini, we know the truth) cooked the very best way. Is this brunch food? Afternoon food? A cocktail party standard? Around here, always.
burrata with charred and raw sugar snap peas
My favorite way to eat burrata (butterflied!) and my new favorite thing to put on top of it, a mixture of grilled and fresh sugar snaps, finished with lemony crumbs, mint, and as much chile heat as your heart desires.
pasta salad with roasted tomatoes
Stop swearing off pasta salad -- just the gloopy ones. This one is all texture and zip: al dente noodles, slow-roasted tomatoes, crunchy nuts, salty cheese and a garlic-oregano vinaigrette. I wish I always had some in the fridge.
not your mama's coleslaw
If you've only ever experienced bland, limp and overly-dressed coleslaw, you're in for a treat: this is cabbage *salad* -- crunchy and bright. For summer picnics and barbecue prep: Keep the vegetables shredded in a bag and the dressing in a big jar and assemble as needed. Which, of course, will be often.
fake shack burger
I used to believe I couldn't possibly make the kinds of burgers I prefer -- thin, smashed to a salty craggy-edged crisp -- without an outdoor grill and I was so wrong. Here's everything you need to know to make a glorious imitation of a Shake Shack burger at home with no special tools or obscure ingredients, for a perfect Memorial Day meal.
chicken gyro salad
Grilled chicken, tzatziki, pitas, and a salad in a great big help-yourself platter is one of my favorite recipes on Smitten Kitchen, and exactly what I want every summer weekend meal to taste like, whether the weather cooperates or not.
carrot and white bean burgers
An unfussy veggie burger recipe from simple pantry ingredients from Lukas Volger. Add smashed avocado, pickled red onion, and hot sauce and you’re in for a colorful treat, perfect for a barbeque.
rhubarb snacking cake
Seeing rhubarb around and never know quite what to do with it? I vote for this: halfway between a buckle-y streusel cake and a crumb bar, this is to be eaten in small squares straight off a napkin, preferably outside somewhere, but if it's chilly and rainy where you are, I assure you that it also goes well with movie time.
my favorite brownies
My favorite brownies are intense, fudgy, and a little chewy and fantastically easy too: 7 ingredients, 1 bowl, and you could be eating them 40 minutes from now.
picnic pink lemonade
Pink lemonade > regular lemonade. It's basic lemonade math; don't even fight it. Just make sure the blush is real -- in this case, raspberries, strawberries, or blackberries (or shown here, all three).
I’ve written three cookbooks and I’m a tiny bit biased, but I think you’d love them all. Wondering what you might cook from Smitten Kitchen Keepers now that spring is finally here? I thought you’d never ask! Try the sesame asparagus and carrot chop, double shallot egg salad, leek and brie galette, toasted ricotta gnocchi with pistachio pesto, and fettuccine with white ragú. To finish, I recommend the bee sting bars, mango curd tart, and/or the carrot cake with brown butter and no clutter. Were you looking for a list of all the recipes in each of my cookbooks? I’ve added these in a separate page and hope it makes it easier for you to find everything you want to cook.
AN INTERVIEW WITH EDY MASSIH
My shelves are full of wonderful cookbooks I don’t get to talk about enough, so I’ve added this section so you can get to know the cool people behind them. Today we're chatting with Edy Massih. His cookbook Keep It Zesty: A Celebration of Lebanese Flavors & Culture from Edy’s Grocer is out tomorrow, 5/21.
1. What inspired your cookbook?
My cookbook is inspired by my upbringing in Beirut, and migrating to Boston at the age of 10 years old. It is all the recipes, memories, and love for my culture that I carry with me everyday. When I opened up Edy's Grocer in 2020, I learned fast that a lot of my traditional recipes had to be modernized to make things faster, easier, and less labor intensive. Keep it Zesty brings both my worlds together, what my grandmother taught me growing up, and what we serve at Edy's Grocer with a lot of tips and tricks for hosting friends that I have learned from my catering days.
2. What recipe are you the most proud of in the book, or felt the most triumphant when you got it right?
A lot of the recipes that my grandmothers passed onto me were all from memory, they never wrote anything down so when I landed on the Samkeh Harra (aromatic fish finished with tahini sauce), the Riz a Djej (lebanese dirty rice), and the Kibbeh (lebanese meatloaf)I was definitely proud of myself, testing each one of these recipes over and over again just to get it right brought me so much joy, and I hope I have made both my grandmothers, Odette and Jacqueline, proud.
3. What recipe is so low-effort, high-reward that it's worth cooking for dinner tonight, even if we're tired and don't want to cook?
Okay, I am not a big dessert person whatsoever - but this recipe right here is a MUST and truly the fastest thing you can whip up! The Labneh Mousse is tangy, creamy, sweet and delicious. Actually, it is irresistible. It is as easy as whipping heavy cream to make homemade whipped cream, and folding it in with labneh, and toppings. I came up with three flavors: chocolate and olive oil, pine nut and fennel, or rosewater and pistachio but you can have fun with whatever flavor you want, or just eat it on its own with a brownie or chocolate sauce - a true MUST try!
4. What's something you wish more people knew about your book?
One thing I am known for is my famous Brown Paper Boards which I recently trademarked. They are large colorful grazing tables, filled with dips, bites, crudite, bread and crackers. Think cheese and charcuterie board but on steroids. One fun thing about the book is that I teach you the 6 easy steps on how to build a beautiful brown paper board to impress your friends and family, and makes for the easiest hosting! I also put together menus to help you build out a brown paper board, with different sizes, dietary restrictions, and all the things you need to entertain a crowd with low effort, and the best part is easy clean up, just take your few platters off, wrap up the brown paper and toss. That is how you make hosting and gatherings simple and zesty! I hope people enjoy this guide, and make brown paper boards this summer and all year long.
Thank you, Edy! You can preorder Keep It Zesty right here.
shop my favorites
Ever wonder where I get my cutting boards, paring knives, offset spatulas and more than you see when I cook? I've created a page on Smitten Kitchen with links to some of my favorite kitchen items, the ones I'm asked about the most — yes including the new braiser! For each item, I've attempted to provide a range of shopping links so we're not just focusing on one giant retailer.
See you next week!
