I’m sending this off from the final, final few days as I finish writing my next cookbook. Hence the silence here in newsletter land. I will tell you about the book in much more detail over the coming year, but in a nutshell, it’s been incredibly rewarding so far. I have so many recipes that I cannot wait to share, and it’s been a thrilling opportunity to learn, think, and hopefully teach about food in a way that I hope is going to be valuable to you.
To give myself space to focus, I’ve been out in Lake Tahoe for a stretch on something of a writing retreat. We brought our dog Susan with us, and I’m not at all surprised that she’s found herself living in Dog Paradise. There are all the critters to chase and monitor, the new smells to explore, and the miles and miles of hiking trails where she can run free. I really had no idea she’d be so dexterous scaling the side of a mountain, or even, despite the evidence of her super long legs, that she can run so incredibly fast.
I polished off all the recipes for the new book before I left, so that cooking here can be simple, lazy, and pretty quick. It’s not too difficult to do thanks to the terrific farmers market 20 minutes away, where I’m again envious of how Californians get to eat.
But arriving to a bare kitchen has got me thinking about what essential ingredients I need to get through the next couple weeks of cooking. I’m here long enough to stock up on perishables, but not necessarily long enough to work through a whole bottle of vinegar. So I thought it might be interesting to frame out the situation a survey.
What do you think of as cooking essentials in a bare-bones, short-term kitchen? The rules are:
There’s access to produce from the farmers market, and a grocery store with proteins, dairy, eggs, etc.
You have traveled light, not packing any of this stuff with you.
You’re cooking every night for 3 to 4 weeks.
Clearly this poll is not exhaustive, and skews towards my typical pantry. But let me know what I’m missing, and if you have any tricks for cooking in such conditions.
While the heat wave gripped the East Coast (I was spared!), I’ve also been thinking about more summer recipes to build on the batch I sent out last month. It’s a favorite category because it’s almost always so simple.
Caitlin Cavagnolo reminded me to queue up last year’s Halloumi-Pea Burgers, which are so savory, satisfying, and protein-packed. Remember, halloumi is a seasonal item at Trader Joe’s and you can find it in stock now.
A lot of SALT PIG listeners have been raving about Elinor Hutton’s Marinated Beans. This is such a great tactic for turning fresh cooked beans into a readymade snack or component for bowls and meals.
And having mentioned halloumi, remember to throw it into a Seared Cheese and Watermelon Salad, along with dates and cucumbers for maximum juicy-sweet quench and crunch.
Lastly, paid subscribers of this newsletter are also getting this favorite recipe from my book Start Simple, for Silken Tofu Topped with Soy-Sauce’d Tomatoes. It’s a version of the Japanese dish hiyayakko, and the recipe has two important takeaways:
One, that soy sauce is an excellent way to enhance the umami of ripe tomatoes, and
Two, spooning almost anything that’s saturated with flavor over a cold block of silken tofu will be cooling, filling, and delicious.
That’s all for now—I hope there’s some easy summer cooking in your immediate future.
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