In the hot, sweaty summers of NYC (if you’re unlucky enough to be around), the best thing to eat is salad. It’s cold, which is the main requirement of a summer meal.
But salad can get a little repetitive, no matter how much you differ your dressings and toppings. Plus, lots of chopping.
This recipe is an alternative to salad – a little heartier, but still meets the cold criterion. C and I first made it in the summer to go with ceviche, but it worked equally well this (early) spring as a side to a hunk of meat. About a million variations of this can be found, and you can ribbon almost any vegetable imaginable, as long as it is somewhat firm and can be cut into skinny pieces. I like this one because it is simple but very flavorful. Be careful though, we had a run in with the habanero… C can handle and enjoys a fairly obscene amount of heat in his food, so I don’t hesitate to go overboard with the kick. Often he even gets a little side dish of peppers to add to his food because I am a (relative) weakling. Naturally, I piled the habaneros into this salad, both to satisfy his desire for spice and because they were so beautifully colored…
Our own personal Icarus moment. Literally. Anyhow, we deeply regretted that decision and took many habaneros out of the salad after tasting it, but it was still quite good.
Zucchini Ribbon Salad
2-3 zucchinis, ribboned (see below)
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
5-6 sprigs mint, leaves only, chopped
Habaneros to taste, diced or thinly sliced
Salt & pepper
Lemon juice, freshly squeezed
Olive oil
Using a mandoline or vegetable peeler, cut the zucchinis into ribbons. If using a vegetable peeler, you can cut the zucchinis in half to make them fit.
Mix zucchini ribbons with red onion, mint, and habaneros. Season with salt and pepper. The zucchinis will create their own juice, particularly after you salt them, so add as much olive oil and lemon juice as you think you need.
This recipe is great for modifying, so get creative: inspiration here, here, and here.
C loves to make interesting cocktails – he prides himself on his mixology at least as much as I pride myself on my cooking adventures. Inspired by The Gentleman’s Exchange from Gear Patrol, C made this cocktail, which had the added benefit of putting my leftover iced French press coffee to use. The name was altered in solidarity with the other cocktail of that evening, the Kings Old Fashioned and to reflect the fact that C took aggressive liberties with the recipe, as often happens.
The Kings Exchange
2 ounces Old Overholt Rye Whiskey
3/4 ounce Carpano Antica
3/4 ounce Fernet Branca
1/2 oz concentrated iced coffee (brewing method is personal preference)
1 barspoon Ricard pastis
2 dash Angostura bitters
Stir all ingredients with ice in a cocktail mixing glass. Strain over one large ice cube. We garnished with a twist of orange (the original recipe calls for grapefruit, which we didn’t have) but C wasn’t sure it complemented the other flavors well. Consider trying a few coffee beans or brandied cherries instead.
The old fashioned has always been the drink of my grandfather. Pops is an incredible guy – former politician, constant flirt, avid sailor, even more avid drinker, and general lover of fun. He has been drinking old fashioneds since well before I was even trying to sneak a beverage from his liquor cabinet, and he always drinks them the same way: Crown Royal, simple syrup, ice cubes, and as many cherries as he thinks he can get away with. Hold that soda and orange please. Pops is getting older now and has some mental deterioration, which means he can’t safely drink. It’s sad that he has lost one of his great pleasures, but as I sip each old fashioned, I think of how much he would be enjoying it with me, if he could.
This is one of C’s (many) twists on the traditional old fashioned, using bourbon from one of our favorite local distilleries, Kings County Distillery in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Their bourbon is aged in new, American oak charred barrels, which gives the whiskey an unmistakable hint of smoked wood, a taste which evokes the smell of C’s fires. Their moonshine is another favorite, and is featured in the Albino Old Fashioned, another of C’s (many) twists on the traditional old fashioned. Stay tuned for the recipe in a future post!
This old fashioned is also special because it includes Brandy Old Fashioned Dashfire Bitters, which taste something like a year-round version of the holiday season. Our bitters came from The Meadow, a tiny little store in the West Village that sells all the important things in life: bitters, chocolate, and artisanal salts.
The Kings Old Fashioned
2 ounces Kings County Bourbon
2 dashes Brandy Old Fashioned Dashfire Bitters
1 bar spoon of cardamom simple syrup (homemade with inspiration)
Several brandied sour cherry (homemade with inspiration)
Stir ingredients, except cherries, in a cocktail mixing glass with a lot of ice. Pour though a cocktail strainer over one large ice cube and garnish with cherries on a cocktail skewer.
Almost without fail, when it is on the menu, C orders octopus. I like octopus just fine, but I like trying new things more. And yet, somehow, we always end up with octopus. So when C told me one Friday that he wanted octopus for dinner at home, I felt not even a tiny amount of shock at the request, only surprise that it had taken him this long to ask.
The more I thought about it, however, the more problems I came up with.
Where do I find octopus in NYC?
Do I cook the whole thing? Just the legs? I’ve never seen an octopus head at a restaurant – or maybe I have and didn’t recognize it?
Do I have to clean out the brains?
How do I cook it? Boil? Braise? Grill?
Will I know when it’s done? What temperature do you cook octopus to?
Acquiring the Sucker
Naturally, C knew the answer to exactly zero of these questions; I found myself in charge. Given their extensive fish counter, we headed to Citarella and asked for octopus. Their octopus only came frozen, and only in approximately two pound chunks, but at this point we were totally committed. Down the Citarella guy went into the depths of basement and emerged with an almost perfectly square block of pinkish-white meat. Many questions came to mind: Where are the legs…? The head? Is this just the torso of a monster octopus? Don’t worry, the details emerged with defrosting.
The Cork
Upon returning to The Nest, I set the octopus to defrost, then googled how to cook it. As it became less frozen, it was more visibly an octopus, complete with head (brains and eyeballs removed), suckers, and the desired eight legs. Most recipes recommended boiling the octopus first, then grilling it to get that charred exterior you always find at restaurants. Things you put in the boiling water with the octopus: lemons, garlic, peppercorns, white wine, a cork. Wait what? Yes, a cork from a wine bottle. Safety warning, aka common sense: do not use plastic corks or screw off tops.
Not a single article could articulate the science behind this practice, but all the Italians claim that the cork makes your octopus more tender and if the Italians say it, well, then it’s in your best interest to do it. Greeks also recommend bashing the freshly caught octopus against the rocks on the seashore though…if that is an available option, by all means, get after it. #notinNYC
Octopus, cork, etc. etc.
Curl & Cook
I bet that if you’ve ever eaten octopus legs in a restaurant, you’ve admired the beautiful curl to the ends. In reality, octopus legs don’t come like that; they are stringy, slimy, and feel a bit like freshly conditioned shower hair. But dip the tips into the boiling water three times and they curl up nicely.
Before & after curling
Plop the whole octopus into the water and cook until you can easily stab it with a knife.
Hack the legs off the octopus, Roman legionary style, and then rub them with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper and throw them on your grill or grill pan. If there is thick skin still on the legs, you can rub it off before this, but I didn’t get it all off and didn’t notice a difference. I personally couldn’t figure out what to do with the head, which is hollow inside after the brains have been removed; we grilled it the same way as the legs, but it wasn’t nearly as delicious, perhaps because the ratio of charring was all wrong. If you are using a grill pan and have a gas stove, you can get your octopus extra charred right over the open flame.
All around, shockingly easy. For added flair, name your octopus. Ours was Otto.
1 octopus (some sources say that frozen is actually better)
1 lemon, cut in half
6 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tablespoon whole peppercorns
1 wine cork (drink the bottle)
Olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
Accoutrements (we grabbed a bean salad from Citarella, added scallions, jalapenos, and lemon)
Parsley and lemon wedges to garnish
Fill a large pot with enough water to fully submerge the octopus, but don’t put it in yet. Bring the water, lemon, garlic, peppercorns, and wine cork to a boil.
Holding the octopus by the head, dip the bottom 2 or so inches into the boiling water three times, or until the tips are nicely curled. Submerge the octopus and boil until you can easily pierce it with a knife (approximately 30 minutes). It will probably float to the surface, but I just flipped him over a few times so that all parts of him were underwater for a while.
Remove from the water and drain. When cool enough, cut off the legs. If there is rough skin remaining, it should rub off easily with your fingers or a paper towel, should you feel inclined. Rub the legs with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, then sear over high heat, using a grill, grill pan, or cast iron, until the outsides are as crisp and charred as you like them.
Serve over the accoutrements of your choice. Recommendations: bean salads, parsley, cilantro, jalapeno, garlic, anything you can imagine. I tend to like octopus with fresh flavors. Lots of lemon!
Vino & Venison 