California Dreamin' Summer Menu
Recipes by Sara Woodward, from the Archives
I do miss my California grower friends. For over a decade I was nourished by their incredible organic produce, and shared it with my customers all over Southern California. For the first several years, I would drive up to Santa Barbara every Saturday morning at dawn, to fill our van with cases of the freshest, most incredible organic fruits, veggies, pasture-raised meats and more, grown with love by some of the most talented farmers in the country.
Though I love experiencing the full expression of seasons here in Maine, with dramatic changes happening all around me on an almost daily basis, let’s take a moment for California Dreamin’ with this delicious summer menu created over a decade ago by Sara Woodward (currently head of private dining at the Bernardin Restaurant in NYC) as a guide for how to make use of our weekly selection of the Good Food we delivered the week of August 18th 2011. Sara created this menu for us in celebration of the California bounty which she was nostalgic for having just moved to NYC. Now that I too have migrated East from California, I truly appreciate this meal plan, particularly when feeling nostalgic for all the growers and produce I got to know so well over the years.
Big Pink Salad – Beets, Purple Fingerlings, Figgy Dressing and Pistachios
Grilled Chicken with Lemon and Parsley, Radish Sprout Salad
Juicy Garlic Burgers with Marinated Grilled Vegetables
Grilled Top Sirloin with Tomato and Cucumber Salsa
Pasta with Delicata Squash, Goat Cheese and Radicchio
Ling Cod with Tomato and Toasted Garlic Bread
If you want the ease of shopping for the full menu and cooking the above recipes all week long, here’s the list of items we included in the box we delivered in that week, with this mealplan and recipes — providing pretty much everything needed to cook the full menu. If you’re in California, head to the farmers market and you should find everything you need — much of it available from these same farmers. Most of the fruit listed is for snacking, and some of the vendors listed no longer exist (like Kanaloa Seafood and Om Sweet Mamma, which were Santa Barbara phenomena back in 2011!)
BIG PINK SALAD
Its great to have a big main salad as a meal all summer long. Less cooking, less time involvement more time with your loved ones... when putting the ingredients together for this salad it just so happened that everything was purpley or pink, so what else to call it but...
Ingredients:
Beets
Purple Fingerlings
Salad Greens
Salt and pepper
Figgy Dressing
Pistachios, chopped (raw or lightly toasted)
For the Beets:
Trim tops and stems, leaving a quarter inch on either end. Place in a pot of water, season with salt and simmer until they are just tender throughout. When cooked, allow to cool enough to handle and slip their skins off with your fingers. Cut beets into wedges, season and dress with vinaigrette and set aside.
For the Potatoes:
Place fingerlings (2-3 per person) into a pot of water and simmer until cooked through. When cool enough to handle, slice into coins, season and dress with vinaigrette .
To put it all together:
Place salad greens in a large bowl and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Lightly dress with the figgy salad dressing and taste to check for balance. Arrange on individual plates and tuck in the beets, potatoes and green beans. Be generous. Sprinkle chopped pistachios over each salad.
For dessert:
Keep the pink theme going by making a little fruit salad with the pluots, grapes and raspberries. They should be sweet enough as-is, but if they need a little extra something, you can toss the pluots and grapes in a little sugar and lemon juice, then add the raspberries. Any leftover salad makes a delicious smoothie for breakfast the next morning.
Grilled Chicken with Lemon & Parsley
Greens with Daikon Sprouts & Tomato
Simplicity is best.
Ingredients:
Whole or Half Chicken
Lemon zest and parsley leaves
Salt and pepper
Salad Greens
Tomatoes, sliced
Radish Sprouts
For the Chicken:
Remove the breasts, legs and thighs from the carcass. Place the carcass in a pot of water and simmer for several hours to make a rich chicken stock for cooking pasta later in the week or place in the freezer for later use.
Marinate the chicken with lemon zest and sliced parsley leaves. Season with salt and pepper and brush with a bit of vegetable oil before grilling. Get the grill nice and hot – allow the meat to get a little color and then move to a slightly cooler spot to finish cooking. Its ready when the juices start to run clear.
For the Salad:
Toss salad greens and radish sprouts with dressing of choice and a little salt and pepper (even lemon juice and olive oil will do or whisk together your favorite vinegar and olive oil ) Cut heirlooms into wedges, season with salt and pepper and tuck into the salad. Serve with the chicken.
For Dessert:
Cut peaches into halves or wedges, slick the cut sides with a bit of oil and over the hottest part of the grill, sear the peaches so that they caramelize and soften a bit. Serve with a drizzle of local honey or a mixture of melted butter and brown sugar.
Garlic Burgers with Grilled Vegetables Vinagrette
These burgers are certain crowd-pleasers. The melted onions and garlic give the meat extra flavor and keep the burgers extra moist while the egg gives it a smoother texture. It’s kind-of like eating a meatball in burger form – try them at your next barbecue!
Ingredients:
For the burgers:
Ground beef
1egg
1C onions, cut into small dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
spoonful Dijon mustard (optional)
splash worchestershire (optional)
For the salad:
Green Beans, lightly blanched
Potatoes, blanched and cut lengthwise
Spring onions, cut into wedges
Broccolini*
Goat cheese to crumble over salad
Dijon mustard
Red wine vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil
For the burgers:
To make your burger mixture, start by sweating your chopped onions in some olive oil until they are soft – before they become translucent, add the chopped garlic and continue to cook on medium heat until both are softened and cooked through. When cool, fold into the burger mixture with your hands and mix in the egg, mustard and wochestershire. Season to taste with salt and pepper (you can fry a little bit of it in a pan to test). Form into patties and grill on the barbecue until they reach desired level of doneness.
For the Vegetables:
Lightly blanch the green beans, broccolini and potatoes in salted boiling water. (separately, of course) Cut the potatoes lengthwise and the spring onions into wedges. Season with salt, pepper and olive oil and choose and medium-hot spot on the grill to begin cooking the veggies. You want to get a nice golden color on all sides but not necessarily blacken them, so if you notice that the grill is starting to flare up, move your veggies to a cooler spot. When the onions are soft and the potatoes, broccolini and beans are nice and blistered, remove to a platter and drizzle the vinaigrette over the top. Add slices of fresh tomato if you like and crumble the goat cheese over.
Grilled Top Sirloin with Salsa
Serve this with a salad to make a larger meal of it
Ingredients:
Top Sirloin, seasoned with salt and
pepper
For the Salsa:
Yellow Tomatoes, peeled, cut into small dice
Cucumbers, peeled, cut into small dice
Garlic, chopped
Parsley, chopped
Lemon zest, chopped
Juice of one lemon
Olive oil
Process:
Season the sirloin and fire up the grill. Prep your veggies and take leave of the kitchen – get a nice sear on all sides of the beef and continue to cook over medium-hot coals until desired doneness.
Allow to rest before serving and meanwhile, place a heavy-bottomed pot on the grill. Pour in enough olive oil to coat the bottom and sizzle the garlic and lemon zest in the oil. When the garlic is cooked, but before it turns color, add the chopped tomato. Keep stirring and coating the tomato in the oil and continue until just warmed through. Season with salt and pepper and finish with a squeeze of lemon and plenty of chopped parsley. Stir in the chopped cucumbers when cool. Serve with slices of the grilled sirloin. (careful when taking the pot off the grill, as it will be very hot!)
Pasta with Delicata Squash and Goat Cheese
This can easily become a vegetarian dish by cooking the pasta in water only and omitting the chicken stock...
Ingredients:
Pasta, fresh or dried
Delicata squash, cut into quarter-moons
Olive oil
Chicken stock
Parsley, chopped
Butter (a knob or two)
Radicchio, cut into ribbons
Chives, minced
Goat cheese
Process:
For the Squash:
Cut the squash in half, lengthwise, then in half lengthwise again. (You may opt to scoop the seeds out or not – they’re pretty tasty crisped up in the oven) slice even quarter-moon shapes down the length of it and toss in a bowl with salt, pepper and olive oil. Spread out onto a baking sheet and roast in the oven until the pieces are golden on the bottom side. Remove and quickly turn them over to get color on the other side. Continue cooking for 5 minutes more (or so).
For the Pasta:
Cook your pasta in the lovely chicken stock you made earlier in the week with your chicken carcass – add a little water if there is not enough liquid. Whether you are using water or stock, just be sure to season the liquid well. Cook your pasta in the liquid until al dente. Meanwhile, heat a wide pan on the stove and add a knob of butter. When it begins to foam, add the roasted squash to the pan. When the squash is hot and the butter has just begun to brown, add the radicchio and toss gently to wilt – then add the pasta to the pan with some of the cooking liquid. Finish with more butter and toss with chopped parsley, chives if you have them, and some crumbles of goat cheese.
Ling Cod with Tomato and Garlic Bread
This is a fresher version of bacalao, or salt cod. The application of the salt really improves the flavor and texture of the fish and is meant to be washed away before cooking (like a cure). It can then be quickly grilled and warmed through or cooked in the way described – served with a fresh tomato sauce and grilled bread with garlic, its heaven!
Ingredients:
• Ling cod fillets, seasoned heavily with sea salt
• Tomatoes
• Olive oil
• Garlic
• Country bread
Process:
Heat your oven to 450°F. Season well with sea salt and let sit in the refrigerator for an hour or two. This will firm up and concentrate the texture of the meat, allowing it to retain a bit more firmness when cooked. Rinse the fillets very well and pat dry. Place on a baking tray lined with foil, drizzle with olive oil and make into a packet. (You may add crushed garlic or herbs to the packet, such as basil or tarragon) In a baking dish on another tray, add chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper, crushed garlic and a drizzle of olive oil. You may also add fresh thyme or basil if you have it. Roast the tomatoes for about 25 minutes, then place the fish into the oven as well for another 7 minutes or so. When ready, the tomatoes should be a little blistered and concentrated – stir gently with a fork to break them up and make into a rustic sauce – drizzle a bit more good olive oil into the dish. The fish, when ready, should be just cooked through so that the meat is moist but flakes apart. Be careful when you open the packet as the steam inside will be very hot.
You may make the toast by making thick slices of country bread, brushing with olive oil and toasting in the oven. Rub with a clove of garlic when it is ready and top with your roasted tomatoes and the cod. Finish with a squeeze of lemon before serving.