Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Condiments & Complements — Mayonnaises & Sauces
We were living in Seville, Spain, because my parents owned and operated twelve restaurants at the World Exposition in Seville in 1992. I was a lanky 11-year-old working at the American Pavilion, running around and getting all the visiting celebrities whatever they needed. My scrawniness made it easy to get around. My memory of growing up during that time was being overworked and underpaid and loving every single minute of it. During that time my parents took my sister and me all over Europe; we traveled every chance we got. One of our side trips was to Amsterdam. It hits you — fries in mayo — I mean, are you serious? Is there anything better than this? It's part of me, I can't help it, and I can never eat fries without mayo.
Homemade Basic Mayonnaise
Makes about 2 cups
In France, they used to make fun of me about my love of Hellmann's, but if you ask me, it's pretty damn good. If you want to go the extra mile, though, it doesn't get any more basic than this recipe.
2 large eggs
1. Add the eggs, mustard, vinegar, and salt to a food processor or blender. Process for 30 seconds in the food processor, or for 10 seconds in the blender. With the motor running, drizzle in the oil slowly at first, then add in a thin, steady stream until all the oil is added and the mixture is smooth. Stop the motor and taste. If the sauce is too thick, thin it with a little hot water. If too thin, process a little longer. The mayonnaise can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Good Stuff Sauce
Makes about 2 cups
After reading several books and articles on Americans and the hamburgers they love, my mother found that people's favorite sauces were different takes on Thousand Island dressing (ketchup and mayo). At one of our family tastings, Mike Colletti, a chef I met at Le Cirque, and I came up with our twist on it — we locked ourselves in the kitchen and added a little something to the sauce to give it a real kick.
2 cups Homemade Basic Mayonnaise
1. Add the mayonnaise, ketchup, molasses, vinegar, and salt to a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth. The sauce can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Chipotle Mayonnaise
Makes about 3 cups
Chipotle chiles are dried and smoked jalapeños, readily available canned in a thick pickling sauce (adobo).
2 cups Homemade Basic Mayonnaise
1. Add the mayonnaise, Chipotle Pesto, condensed milk, and salt to a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth. The mayonnaise can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Chipotle Pesto
Makes about 2½ cups
1 7-ounce can chipotles in adobo
1. Add the chipotles, cilantro, lime juice, basil, onion, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, salt, and pepper to a food processor. Pulse to mix well. With the motor running, drizzle in the oil slowly at first, then add in a thin, steady stream until all the oil is added and the mixture is smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer. Taste and adjust the seasonings, if needed. The pesto can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Sriracha Mayonnaise
Makes about 2 ½ cups
A chile-fired sauce from Thailand, sriracha consists primarily of ground red chiles and vinegar. Traditionally used for seasoning seafood dishes, sriracha also adds a kick to soups, curries, and stews and has become a popular condiment in the United States. It is readily available in Asian markets and many well-stocked supermarkets.
2 cups Homemade Basic Mayonnaise
1. Add the mayonnaise, sriracha, and condensed milk to a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth. The mayonnaise can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Old Bay Mayonnaise
Makes about 2 cups
When in Rome ... did we think we'd get away from making an Old Bay Mayo so close to the Crab Capital of the World? Maryland is literally 10 minutes away! We couldn't resist.
2 cups Homemade Basic Mayonnaise
1. Add the mayonnaise, seasoning, brown sugar, and lemon zest and juice to a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth. The mayonnaise can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Mango Mayonnaise
Makes about 3 cups
1 cup store-bought Major Grey's Mango Chutney
1. Add the mango chutney to a food processor. Puree until smooth. Add the mayonnaise and condensed milk. Puree until smooth. The mayonnaise can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Balsamic Mayonnaise
Makes about 3 cups
1 cup balsamic vinegar plus a splash
1. Combine 1 cup of the vinegar, the sugar, and orange zest in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and becomes syrupy.
2. Add the mixture and the mayonnaise to a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth. Stir in the splash of vinegar to bring out the vinegar taste. The mayonnaise can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Curry Mayonnaise
Makes about 4 cups
1 cup curry powder
1. Sprinkle the curry powder into a dry skillet and heat over low heat. Toast, stirring constantly to prevent burning, until fragrant, about 1 minute. In a bowl, stir together the curry powder, mayonnaise, and condensed milk until combined. Fold in the raisins and add salt to taste. The mayonnaise can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Pomegranate Mayonnaise
Makes about 3 cups
In season during fall and winter months, the pomegranate is filled with ruby red seeds that are cherished for their tart-sweet flavor and health benefits. The seeds are easy to extract, but some well-stocked supermarkets carry fresh pomegranate seeds packed in plastic bags. Look for pomegranate molasses in Middle Eastern markets or buy it from online suppliers.
2 cups Homemade Basic Mayonnaise
1. In a bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, molasses, and vinegar until well combined. Fold in the pomegranate seeds. The mayonnaise can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Mustard Seed Mayonnaise
Makes about 3 cups
2 cups Homemade Basic Mayonnaise
1. Add the mayonnaise, mustards, vinegar, and brown sugar to a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth. The mayonnaise can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Mayolive
Makes about 3 cups
This is a true recipe of my favorite things to dip French fries into — mayonnaise and tapenade. The Mediterranean influence comes from putting tapenade on everything I eat and of course, you can't go wrong with mayo! The flavors are amazing. A robustly flavored paste based on capers, olives, and lemon juice, tapenade is readily available commercially in most supermarkets and specialty food stores.
2 cups Homemade Basic Mayonnaise
1. Add the mayonnaise, tapenade, vinegar, and onion to a food processor or blender. Add the anchovies to taste, if using, and pepper to taste. Puree until smooth. The mayonnaise can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
CHAPTER 2
Wedge With An Edge: Salads
The wedge salad hasn't had it easy. First it was hot, then it was not. Some say too basic, too crunchy, too retro, but for all those reasons, I'm committed to bringing the wedge back! Of course, not all wedges are created equal. As you'll see, I take classic salad favorites and wedge 'em out, resulting in a heartier, crispier, sexier salad. Mesclun, what?
Farm-Fresh Greek Wedge
Serves 4
My family grew up on horiatiki, or Greek salad. It's a country salad of juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, sliced red onions, crumbly feta cheese, and plump kalamata olives. We make this at almost every meal, and when we're in Greece, and the vegetables are at their very best, it's the most delicious thing I've ever tasted. We tweaked it a bit for our special wedge menu at the restaurant and added the toasted sesame seeds (they make all the difference).
Champagne Vinaigrette
¼ cup Champagne vinegar
1. To make the dressing, add the vinegar, mustard, honey, salt, and pepper to a food processor or blender and blend to combine. With the motor running, drizzle in the oil slowly at first, then add in a thin, steady stream until all the oil is added. Refrigerate until ready to use.
2. To make the salad, preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread out the sesame seeds on a baking sheet in a single layer. Toast for about 5 minutes, or until light brown. Remove and cool.
3. Remove the root end from the lettuce and cut the head into 4 wedges. Place one wedge each on four individual serving dishes. Scatter the mixed greens around each wedge. Top each wedge with cucumber, olives, tomatoes, and feta. Garnish each portion with the dill, toasted sesame seeds, scallions, and onion. Dress each wedge with 2 tablespoons of the dressing and season with salt and pepper.
Farm-Fresh Caesar Wedge
Serves 4
I've never met a foodie who didn't have a Caesar salad fetish. They're simple yet snobby, easy yet impressive, healthy yet ... not. Personally I could call Caesar salad a meal, but sometimes it's also a sensational starter.
Caesar Dressing
2 large egg yolks
1. To make the dressing, add the yolks, garlic, vinegar, salt, Worcestershire, mustard, pepper, and anchovies to a food processor or blender and blend to combine. With the motor running, drizzle in the oil slowly at first, then add in a thin, steady stream until all the oil is added. Once thick, add the Parmesan and pulse once. Refrigerate until ready to use.
2. To make the croutons, preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut the rolls into ¼-inch-thick cubes. In a mixing bowl, combine the cubes with the oil, garlic, garlic salt, Parmesan, oregano, and pepper and toss. Spread on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
3. To make the salad, heat a skillet over medium heat and cook the bacon until crisp. Line a metal tray with paper towels. Drain the bacon. Cool, crumble, and set aside.
4. Remove the root end from the lettuce and cut the head into 4 wedges. Place one wedge each on four individual serving dishes. Scatter the mixed greens around each wedge. Dress each wedge with 2 tablespoons of dressing and season with the salt and pepper. Garnish each with the crumbled bacon, Parmesan, and croutons.
Farm-Fresh Ensalada Wedge
Serves 4
The majority of my adolescence was spent at my family's restaurant, Pepin's, in St. Petersburg, Florida. This wedge emulates our signature salad, a mixture of manzanilla olives, fresh tomatoes, and cottonseed vinaigrette. I made this bad boy for years ... why stop now?
Red Wine Vinaigrette
½ cup red wine vinegar
1. To make the dressing, add the vinegar, onion, mustard, honey, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper to a food processor or blender and blend to combine. With the motor running, drizzle in the oil slowly at first, then add in a thin, steady stream until all the oil is added and the mixture is smooth. Set aside until ready to use.
2. To make the salad, remove the root end from the lettuce, and cut the head into 4 wedges. Place one wedge each on four individual serving dishes. Scatter the mixed greens around each wedge. Dress each wedge with 2 tablespoons of the dressing. Top with the olives, tomatoes, scallions, and onion and sprinkle each salad with Parmesan. Top each with ½ cup of the Red Pepper and Corn Salsa and garnish each with tortilla chips.
Farm-Fresh Classic Wedge
Serves 4
We use the word classic quite literally here. This is the ultimate wedge salad. The wedge's wedge, if you will! The marriage of blue cheese crumble and crispy, crunchy iceberg is simply genius. Naturally, we had to take it to another level with fried Vidalia onion petals. Yup, you're welcome.
Blue Cheese Dressing
1 cup buttermilk
1. To make the dressing, add all the ingredients to a blender or food processor and blend to combine. Set aside until ready to use.
2. To make the salad, heat a skillet over medium heat and cook the bacon until crisp. Line a metal tray with paper towels. Drain the bacon. Cool, crumble, and set aside.
3. Remove the root end from the lettuce, and cut the head into 4 wedges. Place one wedge each on four individual serving dishes. Scatter the mixed greens around each wedge. Dress each wedge with 2 tablespoons of the dressing. Garnish each with the crumbled bacon, cheese, onion, and scallions. Top each with ½ cup of Cliff's Homegrown Vidalia Onion Petals, if using.
Fried Goat Cheese, Dried Cranberries, and Almond Wedge
Serves 4
Some salads are show-offs and I can't say I blame them. This is a great mix of smooth goat cheese, tangy cranberries, and crunchy almonds for a mixture that's amazing to the senses.
Balsamic Vinaigrette
½ cup balsamic vinegar
1. To make the dressing, add the vinegar, mustard, honey, and yolk to a food processor or blender and blend to combine. With the motor running, drizzle in the oil slowly at first, then add in a thin, steady stream until all the oil is added and the mixture is smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use.
2. To make the salad, preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread the almonds out on a baking sheet in a single layer. Toast for about 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove and cool.
3. Cut the goat cheese into eight 1-ounce rounds. Dredge each piece in flour, dip in the beaten eggs, and coat in breadcrumbs. Line a plate with paper towels.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "The Good Stuff Cookbook"
by .
Copyright © 2010 Spike Mendelsohn.
Excerpted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
