Think of this as a sort of hot caprese salad —by cooking the tomatoes in a foil packet on the barbecue with their vines, aromatic herbs, oil, and salt, the flavors concentrate and intensify. They work beautifully with the mozzarella, as you would expect, with added interest from the crushed coriander seeds —simple yet luxurious
One of the most popular recipes in The Green Roasting Tin is the Indonesian gado-gado: crunchy potatoes with an addictive peanut, coconut, and chili sauce. It occurred to me that the dressing, slightly adapted, would work beautifully with grilled corn on the cob —and joy, it did! This is now a summer staple.
Could I write a book without featuring crispy gnocchi? Of course not. So I give you my proudest barbecue creation. Forget about threading just plain old vegetables on a stick —here, you intersperse veggies of your choice (I’ve done bell peppers here, but see the note below) on skewers with just-blanched gnocchi. The result is crisp perfection like you wouldn’t believe.
As I’ve mentioned, Bacon-Miso Sauce was the first menu element I personally developed for Le Bernardin. We often served it with Japanese sweet potatoes, since I loved the sweetness and tenderness of potato paired with the salty and umami-filled sauce. Basically, it’s amazing with potatoes of any sort, of any color, and from any country. So if you don’t feel like making gnocchi, go on and roast up some sweet potato wedges to serve with this luscious sauce instead. Think of it as a fancy answer to french fries and ketchup!
Linguine with clams, white wine, fresh garlic, lemon, and parsley– Francis Lam’s One is a nod to a childhood dish his parents used to make when family or friends came for dinner. It’s a simple and loose recipe that can be adjusted based on desire– add more wine and butter to make it more saucy, use additional clams for extra dinner guests, add herbs, or not depending on what you have on hand.
GLUTEN FREE, DAIRY FREE, PESCATARIAN
If there’s such a thing as a sexy salad, this might be it. Baby gem lettuce is a small lettuce variety that resembles a bite-sized version of romaine. Topped with brilliantly green pistachio-pesto crumbs and garnished with rose petals, this is a salad to make when you’re looking to impress. And I mean impress yourself, not anyone else.
No ordinary Joes.
THE MAN’OUSHE (SINGULAR for mana’eesh) is the quintessential street food of the Levant. Wherever you go in the streets of Damascus, Beirut, or Jerusalem, you’ll see professionals, students, families, and their children all enjoying piping hot flatbreads, usually slathered with herbaceous za’atar. They’re eaten while walking down the street on the way to work or school, sitting in cafés, or around the breakfast table. Among my favorite memories in Syria and Lebanon is heading to one of the corner bakeries and ordering flatbreads by the dozen. Slid right out of the oven into pizza boxes, my cousins and I would rush back to an aunt or uncle’s home and devour them without a single word exchanged.
I have been baking olive oil cakes for years. I often make them for my kids’ birthdays—they are excellent for rainbow layer cakes and sturdy for decorating, and they also freeze well. (I always have homemade cakes in the freezer for my kids’ school lunches.) If you are a lazy baker like me, olive oil cakes are essential to have in your repertoire. Oil is much more forgiving than butter, and helps keep cakes moist. I like to use a fruity extra-virgin olive oil for a stronger taste, but use a lighter oil if you prefer. I adore the richness of this cake—the delicate savory undertones pair so elegantly with the herbaceous rosemary and zesty citrus. Feel free to omit the rosemary if you want a plainer finish. A simple yet impressive cake for all occasions.