076: Time to ⚠️BeReal⚠️
Hello, tomato season; goodbye, Bill de Blasio, you big bird bitch
(SB) Hey there sweet readers, we’ve missed you and hope you’re keeping cool out there. It seems to be hot everywhere, but I’ll write what I know: it’s feeling particularly swampy in New York City these days. I’ve been spending my time the only way possible in this climate: a little work and a lot of embracing the sweet chaos of summertime. And, for the most part, it’s working out: I’m perpetually dehydrated, but also still pursuing an active campaign of watching outdoor concerts and going to the beach whenever possible. I’m doing my best to keep intrusive thoughts of climate disaster at bay. This week, I vow to reduce my screen time even further. Despite frequently feeling that I’m drowning in my own under-mask sweat, I think I really don’t want summer to end! It’s flying by too fast already!
Here’s a little of what I’ve been cooking and eating along the way:
Jake is soon to regale you all with his stories of Italia, but I got a little preview earlier in the week and was quickly inspired to try my hand at making a chocolate granita. I think my rendition could still use a little tinkering, but I smell a deep dive coming.
I’ve gotten many a message recently about how much everyone is enjoying our favorite zucchini pizza. Ever hot on the trail of the summer squash, I made a simple(r) version of this braised zucchini, egg, and feta dish recently and strongly recommend you follow suit.
I thoroughly enjoyed a classic set & carafe of chilled sake at Nami Nori with sushi influencer and friend of letter Senti last week, and finally made my way to Fan Fan donuts with friend of the letter Jimmy this week. Unsurprisingly, my favorite donut was the one that was filled with corn cream.
(JS) Buongiorno, sweet readers. The rumors are true: After two years of flirting with Italian summer cosplay, your humble narrator finally took the plunge and joined the Instagram masses for a week in sweet Sicilia. For reasons beyond control – namely Dolce and Gabbana’s immersive alta moda presentations taking over large parts of Siracusa and Marzamemi and a poorly timed viral infection (neither novel coronavirus nor monkeypox, if you can believe it) – our best laid plans got, come si dice, 🤌a little fucked up🤌. Still, we managed to eke out a few excellent days of eating, drinking, and Mediterranean sunshine, and all pre life-threatening heatwave; small victories!
Here’s a wee taste of what I ate:
So much granita. We started most days at Caffe Sicilia, the Netflix-famous pasticceria five minutes from our house that we affectionately started referring to as “the office.” The almond granita is the obvious choice, but the apricot and vanilla is a sleeper hit as well. Both pair excellently with brioche. We also really enjoyed their faggotini (I can say it), including both the apple and ricotta varieties. Also in Noto, Caffe Costanzo makes excellent pistacchio and gelsi (mulberry) granite – the latter pairs especially well with almond, while the former needs nothing more than a dollop of panna.
Scaccia, a folded and stuffed flatbread that’s not entirely unlike stromboli. In Noto, our favorite versions (stuffed with potato and onion, ricotta and onion, or tomato, eggplant, and mozzarella) came from Panificio Maidda and Non Solo Pane, and I will most certainly attempt to recreate these at home once these infernal temperatures pass.
Many pistachio-based sauces, both sweet and savory. Perhaps my biggest regret is not bringing back more crema al pistacchio to bake with and snack on by the spoonful.
HOT IN HERRE: Cold Noodles with Tomatoes
(SB) As might soon become obvious, I’m once again obsessed with summer tomatoes. Big ones, small ones, you name it – I’m in the mood. When I worked as a very precocious (and I’d like to think extremely beloved) summer intern at a start-up in Soho, one of my favorite ways to take a long lunch included sauntering over to Cocoron for a splurge-y cold soba feast. I share both these facts to note that I was quite enthusiastic when the ever-handsome Eric Kim flashed across my Tik Tok screen making these cold noodles with tomato last week. For cold soup and noodle heads out there, Kim notes that this take on naengmyon combines elements of oi naengguk (a cold cucumber soup), and gazpacho (a cold tomato soup) to make a rather refreshing and crunchy meal. This stove-lite dish also comes together extremely quickly, which is much appreciated in the heat.
Begin by halving and salting some cherry tomatoes, letting them sit while cooking thin wheat noodles. (FWIW, we made a second helping with some rice noodles as well; both were delicious.) After draining and cooling your noodles, assemble the cold tomato broth by adding soy sauce, rice vinegar, mustard, sesame oil, a little sugar, and garlic to the tomatoes. Pour in cold filtered water (💅), and sprinkle toasted sesame seeds and scallions sliced on a bias to the top of the broth. Kim also added in radishes; I only had cucumbers, so I used those. Finally, put some crushed ice in the broth, and ladle over your cooked noodles.
Sun-ripened grape tomatoes – just like The Good Lord intended – made this a particularly satisfying dish to slurp in the summer. (I imagine those of you that live in a certain coastal paradise can make it this good year round.) I also couldn’t help but note that the salty/sweet of the cold broth closely mirrored the sugar/salt ratio in everyone’s favorite hydration beverage– making this alchemically a savory Gatorade. I envision making it over and over again over the next few months.
TRASH TALK: Watermelon Rind Kimchi
(JS) A month or two ago, a Tiktok for watermelon rind kimchi magically snuck itself onto the quirky accents and filthy gay humor ridden hellscape that is my FYP. The method seemed simple enough, but the video lacked any measurements. Throwing caution to the wind, I winged it, and frankly didn’t love the result – I was perhaps a little heavy handed with the fish sauce, and the mini watermelon I’d picked up at the coop lacked substantial rind, so the resulting kimchi pieces were more flaky than chunky. It has since occurred to me (like… literally just now) that I could have avoided this whole mess by simply googling “Esther Choi watermelon kimchi” and following the recipe the Mokbar chef contributed to the Vrbo blog (¯\_(ツ)_/¯), but I suppose I just wasn’t in the mood to put two and two together, and instead chose to search “watermelon rind kimchi,” recipe developer be damned.
This led me to a version from H Mart, which takes slightly longer to prepare, though it’s mostly inactive time – in lieu of Esther’s rice vin and salt brine, H Mart’s starts with a lengthy salting to draw out excess water. This kimchi paste nixes fish sauce all together, instead simply combining garlic, gochugaru, green plum extract, and a bit of raw sugar. I upped the gochugaru a bit, but once I mixed this with the salted, rinsed, and squeezed rinds, I ended up with something not nearly as vibrant as the original recipe photo. But what she lacked in color she more than made up for in flavor, skewing slightly sweeter than your standard oi kimchi or kkakdugi, but still scratching the sour, spicy, and salty itch that good kimchi should.
I’ve been enjoying bites of this with fusion-y meals both thoughtfully composed and more bric a brac. Put your whole watermelon to work and serve some alongside Eric Kim’s jalapeño chicken tacos with watermelon muchim, or as a bright accompaniment to summery zucchini quesadillas. I’m just spitballing here, but it would probably work wonders in a manoushe slicked with labneh, or even as a sub for cucumber in curd rice.
CURRY IN A HURRY: HIGH SUMMER EDITION
(SB) As an absolute sucker for both the flavors of the South Asian diaspora (frankly, any diaspora) and summer tomato sandwiches, I’m very much the target audience for this curried tomato sandwich Zaynab Issa wrote up a couple of weeks ago in Bon Appetit. I basically saw it in the magazine and became instantly fixated, unable to think about anything else other than sweet tomatoes, nestled in mayo, punched up with a pungent curry powder.
Just a few modifications to my preferred tomato-mayo sandwich (tomato, white bread, mayo that’s been doctored with a little grated garlic and red wine vinegar) really make this one sing. As a rule, I like to begin by slicing my tomatoes and seasoning them with salt and pepper. Then, bloom some Madras curry powder (I used a delightfully bright one from our friends at Spicewalla) in a healthy slurp of olive oil. Toast some bread in that fragrant oil. White bread, as soft and supple she often is, often wins in my tomato sandwich equation, but this is definitely an occasion for sourdough. Once the bread is toasted to your satisfaction, spread some good mayo on each slice, then layer tomato slices and a heaping spoonful of capers. Close it all up and enjoy. The process is also easy enough that I was able to make it a few times during my Covid convalescence, and don’t see myself stopping any time soon.
PERMANENT ROTATION: This week, we tapped friend of the letter and certified Girlboss Viv, who also subscribes to the soft tofu school of heat management: “It’s hot and I’m lazy. My go-to easy summer recipe always begins with a block of cold silky tofu. My inspiration starts with Hetty McKinnon’s recipe, but I usually like to add in black vinegar, plus whatever kimchi or pickled veg I have laying around. Peanut sauce or chimichurri also works great. I usually eat it with salad greens and mash everything up a bit to create a creamy dressing. It also works great as a sauce for cold soba noodles.”
WISH LIST
(SB) I’m once again idly coveting an ice cream maker. Will it be worth the space it takes up? Will I use her? Will she work???
(JS) Still on my Italian summer bullshit, I couldn’t help but wonder – could I possibly pull off this denim overshirt? It’s 40% off!!!
(SB & JS) As card-carrying members of the Bạn Bè hive, we can’t wait to visit Doris Hồ-Kane’s recently opened storefront for treats like pandan waffles, durian ice cream, and an undeniably Instagrammable Việt coffee jelly flan layer cake.
Speaking of Instagram, we are technically still on it. Follow us and maybe we’ll surprise you!