Bittman, a foodie of the first rank, is a terrific cook. Beyond that, he uses great ingredients. He's a fresh veggie cook (don't overcook!) And way beyond that, he's the cook all us lazy people want to be. Just look at this:
Nice picture by NYT photographer, Francesco Tonelli. But what are those radishes and citrus slices doing there?
Grill an array of radishes on little skewers, four to six each. Serve with butter, salt and bread.
Slice celeriac — or jicama, big potatoes, daikon or yams — and grill slowly, until very tender and browned. Drizzle with olive oil or melted butter and sprinkle with chopped rosemary or sage and olive oil.
Choose another root. Slice it, but this time char lightly and leave it crunchy. Chop and toss with chopped cilantro, a pinch of cayenne and juice of grilled lime.Brush thick slices of fennel bulbs with olive oil and grill over not-too-high heat. Cut oranges in half and grill, cut-side down. Put fennel on a bed of arugula or watercress, squeeze grilled oranges over top. Garnish with fennel fronds.
Six-minute steak (or maybe four): Salt skirt steak and grill it, quickly. Top with queso fresco, thinly sliced red onion (you could grill it first, if you like) and the juice of grilled lime.
Six-minute steak, plus a little marinating time: Soak skirt steak in a mixture of soy, lime juice, garlic, ginger and sugar (or mirin) before grilling. (The time it takes to heat the grill is long enough.)
There's a lot more. We may be lazy, but Mark Bittman is not!
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