Menu Week of 6/29
Happy Sunday y’all. We’ve got a holiday weekend coming up! I’m speaking of course of July 4th, always festive in Atlanta, and extra for me as IT’S MY BIRTHDAY. Typically that means running the Peachtree, and having a big family get together where my Dad makes ribs and I make...salads. Potato salad, usually something with peaches and cheese, whatever I buy a glut of at the market.
This year it’s cucumbers. With spicy fish sauce, lotsa mint and basil, some red onions, seared eggplant & noodles for heft. And speaking of noodles, I’m officially a bearded hipster with a pop-up, because we’re doing ramen y’all. I’ve got creamy, sticky tonkatsu broth, soy-mirin glazed pork shoulder, scallions, incidental greens and noodles ON DECK. Probably with some citrus because good Lord, it’s July, not January.
The other soup is the vegan Tom Kha, much lighter, very aromatic, very summer appropriate and wildly popular, with plenty of mushrooms, tofu, and some sweet peppers whose time is now.
I’ve been nostalgic because of course there’s no Peachtree this year, and I miss traveling far from home, speaking passable kitchen Spanish and eating enchiladas for breakfast. That was our fat gringo food in Acapulco and Guerrero, where enchiladas verdes are on the menu and Americans like us order them every. single. day, when a simple breakfast of fruit and coffee might be more reasonable. These are made with mole de Stella: hard roasted peanuts, ancho chile paste, chipotles, charred onions, and garlic, molasses, secret herbs and spices. Creamy, smoky, spicy, burnt-sugar sweet. I’m shredding chicken to go inside, with some squash, and creamy/tangy goat cheese from Decimal Place on top.
I’ve also got the veggie pasta bake back, and if you don’t want creamy pasta with veggies (definitely tomatoes, some crunchy broccoli) for dinner, maybe make it as a side for some barbecue. Like mac & cheese, but responsible. Right? That and a quart of the potato salad will make you the short-order hero, my friend.
Finally to kick off your weekend, try the Frutti di City buckle: my friend Leda hooked me up with foraged plums, and they go great with juicy peaches and fat blackberries in a sour cream coffee cake batter. I macerated them with citrus and herbs so it’s super grown-up, sophisticated and just the thing with a cup of coffee on a hot holiday morning.