LETTER FROM THE KITCHEN
Much of the country, including us, has been having a heat wave that makes me open the refrigerator and just — stand there.
It makes chilled melon and a popsicle seem like a good dinner menu.
I stopped wanting to turn the oven on.
There are three ways to cook without heat that I use all summer long.
Dry salting. For anything finely shredded, chopped, or sliced — most often zucchini and carrot noodles. The salt (Kosher) pulls the water out of the plant—the texture changes. It resembles lightly cooked.
Acid curing. Fresh lime or lemon juice on raw shrimp or fish. The acid firms the flesh, turning it from translucent to opaque. Yes, ceviche.
Fermentation. I love this in July and August when there’s an abundance of tomatoes, peppers, etc. The salsa pictured above and featured below is one of my favorites. I use it as a chunky dressing on salads almost every day.
No stove required.
LAST WEEK, YOU ANSWERED
What’s the one peak-season vegetable or fruit you always cook — and have never tried eating raw or acid-cured?
Eggplant. Again and again.
Raw eggplant (and undercooked eggplant) is not good. It’s spongy, chewy, and gets increasingly bitter with age. Nothing about an eggplant wants to be eaten raw, and acid has little effect on it.
But eggplant is the one vegetable where salt gets used constantly — not just to season it. You salt the eggplant to pull moisture out before it ever reaches a pan. It doesn’t cook it. It changes how it cooks: more evenly, less bitter, and it takes on less oil along the way.
Same technique as the zucchini noodles. Different job.
Mediterranean Stuffed Eggplant →
If you do decide to have melon for dinner:
THE PODCAST
Coming up:
· August 7 — Episode 10: Loving Peak Season Vegetables — The Best and Easiest Time to Cook Without a Recipe
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE KITCHEN
Something new for September: virtual classes.
Highly interactive, on Zoom, with a limited number of spots. Multiple cameras, so you can actually see what my hands are doing instead of guessing. Recipes and prep video come immediately with purchase.
And they’re sold per kitchen. One price, however many people are standing at your counter. Cook with your sister — cook with your kids — cook with your friends — cook with me.
Schedule coming soon.
THE SKILL: THE NEW BASICS
Fermentation
The Quick Win
A jar of vegetables, salt, and water sits on your countertop and morphs into a healthy, flavorful ferment in about a week (sometimes longer). You don’t do anything to it. You mostly lift the lid once a day and wait.
The Most Common Mistake
Guessing about the amount of salt. Fermentation is a ratio, not a vibe. You need 2 to 3% salt by weight — that’s the combined weight of the vegetables and water. Too little salt can result in mold.
One Tool Worth Having
A good kitchen scale. You cannot do this by volume — weight is the only way. I have an OXO. It weighs up to 11 pounds.
RECIPE SPOTLIGHT
MM Green
The Soul
Peaches and tomatoes are both at their peak for a short time in summer, and this is what I do with them. This salsa ferments on the counter, and it genuinely looks like it’s boiling — it bubbles all day long. Remember to open the top a few times a day to release the pressure. If you don’t, you’ll be scraping salsa off your ceiling.
The Bridge
Play around with the heat. I swap the jalapeños for serranos more often than not. And good peaches are hard to come by in Minnesota — when I can’t find them, nectarines work, and so does mango.
THE MEDITERRANEAN EDIT
Two tools I use when I ferment anything.
TOOL — Clear Fermentation Weights
I fermented salsa for years without weights. I use them religiously now. Whatever you’re fermenting needs to stay under the brine. These are clear. You can see the top of the mixture without opening the jar. I bought a box of eight, and they fit almost every jar I already had.
TOOL — Kilner Clip-top Jars
These jars are in constant use in my kitchen — fermentation, dry storage, leftovers, spiced nuts.
The clip-top seals perfectly, and the gasket removes easily to clean. They come in a variety of sizes — and unless they break, they last forever.
COOKBOOK CHRONICLES
My Grandmother told stories about pasta-making in her hometown of Schilpario, Italy, when she was a child. I think of this every time we do these classes. In Schilpario, they made pasta communally, all the women working with a huge ring of flour. No Marcato Pasta machines, I’m sure, since we’re talking about 1910.
This is the third year of the Minneapolis Farmers Market pasta class. We pair the pasta with peak-season farmers’ market vegetables, herbs, and cheeses. All from the market vendors. A delicious day — in so many ways. Check out the pictures above.
Please note: my husband made those gigantic pasta-drying racks just for the occasion. The pasta dough recipe and the Smashed Cherry Tomato Sauce will be in the cookbook.
BEFORE YOU GO
Same breakfast every morning or different every day? Pick one and describe.
Until next Thursday — keep a good olive oil on the counter and don’t be afraid to use it.
— Chef Laura
My breakfast anchor is an egg (3-4 days a week) - either w/herbs (so many I consider this a leafy green serving); egg white frittata w/ veggies - mostly grated zucchini, often peppers and onions; or on a special day, a fried egg. I look at my menu for the day & if I have lunch out or not that hungry, I sometimes just have fruit. I sometimes have hummus w/ carrots & celery. I do like some variety.