Three Things

A summery 30-minute dinner, a delightful kitchen gear discovery, and coffee shop auditions in my new neighborhood

Greetings eaters and readers! What’s for dinner tonight? The girls are home, so I’m making a big pot of brothy beans, plus, since that bushel of basil I picked up at the farmer’s market is starting to wither, I’ll probably also make some pesto and toss it with tagliatelle. This reminds me to remind you that anything can be pesto! (Including kale, shown above in The Greenest Pasta, on page 92 of The Weekday Vegetarians.) In book news, it’s apparently Siddhartha Mukherjee month in my house: Phoebe is reading The Emperor of All Maladies, and Abby is reading The Gene: An Intimate History. (Related: Summer Reading for Science Lovers.) I just finished that fascinating profile of the billionaire art dealer Larry Gagosian in the New Yorker (fyi: non-subscribers get six free articles a month) who got his start selling framed posters on the streets in L.A. The story was written by Patrick Radden Keefe, master of narrative nonfiction, and my general rule is to read anything that has his name on it — especially this if you’re new to him. Lastly, instead of drilling down on the US’s heartbreaking, razor-thin loss to Sweden on Sunday, I’d like to drill down on something else, namely….

…what happens when you take the spicy, pungent, limey dressing from Susan Spungen’s Grilled Savoy Cabbage recipe, and toss it with fresh cabbage, slaw-style. Answer: It’s an absolute scene-stealer. I dare you to have a bite and not stop to discuss the flavor at length with whomever is lucky enough to be eating it next to you. Herewith, your Three Things…

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1. 30-Minute Dinner of the Week: Salmon with Miso-Scallion Corn Hash

Nothing earth-shattering to report with this meal we made last week, except to point out how quintessentially easy-breezy-summer it is. We butter-fried the salmon (in terms of optimizing its summer-ish-ness, grilling would definitely be better), and I made a quick corn hash with miso-scallion butter while the salmon cooked, all coming in under 30 minutes. Here’s the how-to.

Salmon with Miso-Scallion Corn Hash
We ate this alongside a sliced tomato-avocado-cucumber salad topped with thinly shaved red onion, olive oil, and sea salt. This recipe serves 2-3, so scale up or down accordingly.

1 pound salmon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (plus more for salmon)
1 tablespoon white miso
3-4 medium scallions (white and light green parts), minced
kosher salt
3 ears corn, shucked
1 jalapeno, minced and seeded to desired heat level
2 tablespoons minced shallot or red onion

Butter-fry the salmon, instructions here. While it cooks, make your corn hash: In a small bowl, mash together 3 tablespoons butter, miso, scallions, and a pinch of salt. Set aside. Bring a pot of salted water to boil and cook corn for 4 minutes. Drain and let rest until cool enough to handle, but still warm. Remove kernels from each ear into a bowl, then toss with miso-scallion butter, jalapeño, and shallot or onion. Serve with salmon.

2. Found! A Perfect Cutting Board

This is a bizarre sentence I’m about to write — and 100% falls under the category of “a problem you never knew you had” — but here I go anyway: I’m always in search of attractive plastic cutting boards. What can I say, it’s the truth. I have plenty of good-looking Boos butcher blocks, including one that literally lives on my counter, but they’re kind of clunky and completely useless when prepping meat or fish. I also have a bunch of plastic ones that are extremely functional, but not something I’d use as the centerpiece for, say, a breakfast or lunch spread. (Above: everything you need to make perfect egg salad.) So when I discovered this faux-marble cutting board from Architec, I jumped on it. It’s lightweight but solid, made from recycled plastic, and pretty enough for both prepping and serving. “Problem” = solved!

a weekend coffee walk with the fam

3. Coffee Shops: An Open Audition

For probably over two decades, on the days that I don’t exercise first thing, I start the morning with a walk to my local coffee shop. It’s about one (hilly) mile from my house — the perfect amount of time, round-trip, to listen to one episode of “The Daily.” Yes, I can make myself a cup at home, but I crave the ritual, and, more importantly, really need a good reason to leave the house early, otherwise, I’d be immediately sucked into the computer vortex and probably never change out of my pajamas. Naturally, I’m already thinking about what the new routine will be once I move to the city next month and thought I’d enlist your help. New Yorkers — specifically Upper West Siders — let me ask you: What’s your favorite coffee shop? Phoebe and I have been in the neighborhood a few times recently to audition some places (I’m kidding, but also kind of not) and so far here’s what’s in the running: Solid State Coffee — I love how it is tucked away at garden level, which makes it feel very neighborhood-y; There’s Black Press Coffee on 72nd and Columbus, which brews Parlor coffee, a favorite of mine; and of course Joe Coffee on 85th & Columbus — we’ve loved Joe’s ever since it was just a little cart in Grand Central. My brother and I recently hung out there on a beautiful spring morning and I very much appreciated the buzzy neighborhood vibe and the excellent dog-watching; Daily Provisions is gonna be up there, too because it’s up there for pretty much everything — including breakfast sandwiches, afternoon chocolate chip cookies, takeaway roast chicken for dinner; And a friend just told me about Pier 1 right on the Hudson — it’s better known for cocktails at sunset, and only open seasonally, but they do have coffee in the morning, and I like the idea of starting the day with a water view. (Abraham Verghese: “The minutes we spend watching the waves don’t count against our life spans.”) What do you think?

Thanks for reading, have a great week!

Jenny

P.S. My sister and her kids are coming over for dinner tomorrow and the entire menu is from The Weekday Vegetarians. Just sayin!