Grill All of the Things

Plus: A Cup of Jo House Tour, Quick Cherry Tomato Shakshuka, and Jessie Rosen's Heirloom.

Hey everyone,

I went through a stage in my early twenties where I liked to set things on fire. Hear me out: I never played with matches as a kid so when I was in college and I realized that you could light paper towels on fire in your kitchen sink and watch them burn, I was fascinated. That was until I lit too many and almost burned down my building. (That’s as rebellious as I got in my youth.)

Fast forward to today, I’m 45, and I found a new way to channel that energy: grilling!

What is grilling if not playing with fire? It all starts with your charcoal chimney that ignites by — wait for it — setting newspapers on fire. It’s so fun.

One of the books that I bought to learn about grilling is The Grilling Book by Bon Appetit and I highly recommend it: great pictures, great explanations, and great recipes. One of them was for a grilled vegetable salad, which I used as inspiration for dinner the other night.

In addition to the vegetables, I also quickly marinated skin-on chicken thighs in a mixture of Dijon mustard, grated garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice.

The game was getting everything on the grill, everything charred (but not burned), and getting the chicken skin crispy while cooking the meat all the way through. Here’s a video I made of the process:

@amateurgourmetGrilled vegetables and chicken thighs. 🔥 #grilling #grill #fire #chicken #veg

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The only thing that I didn’t reveal in the video was that the chicken was raw in spots, even though it hit 165 on the thermometer. Someone in the comments said I should go for 185 when on the grill, and I’ll try that next time. (As it was, I finished the chicken in a 425 oven and when it was cooked properly, it tasted so good… better than I could’ve achieved indoors). Here’s the finished plate:

The grilled vegetables got dressed in a simple dressing of Dijon, lemon juice, white balsamic, chopped basil, and olive oil. Four stars!

Hey, guess what, our neighbor and friend Joanna Goddard featured our carriage house on Cup of Jo!

It’s such a cute article and really gives you a window into our lives here in Brooklyn.

Plus: you get to see our books, Craig’s knickknacks, and our notorious penis painting. CLICK HERE to see all.

For lunch the other day, I had the ingredients to make a salad — cherry tomatoes, a cucumber, little gem lettuce — only I wanted something hot for some reason, so I decided to make a quick cherry tomato shakshuka.

It’s really as simple as this: sauté sliced garlic in olive oil, add some chili flakes, and when the garlic is golden, add a carton of multi-colored cherry tomatoes, a splash of water (careful: it’ll spurt!), some salt, and some basil.

Put a lid on and cook on high heat until the skin starts to burst off the tomatoes. Take the lid off and smash them and cook until you have a thick sauce. Then add eggs, more salt and pepper, cover just until the whites are set. Voila!

Serve drizzled with olive oil, with some Aleppo pepper, and fresh basil torn on top. Here’s a video I made of the process.

@amateurgourmetA 🌈 shakshuka for lunch. 😋 #lunch #eggs #shakshuka

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Give it a try.

Finally, my friend Jessie Rosen has a brand new novel out called The Heirloom. Jessie’s the creator of the award-winning blog 20-Nothings and has sold original television projects to ABC, CBS, Warner Bros., and Netflix. Her novel takes readers on a whirlwind journey from Los Angeles and New York through Italy and Portugal.

Here’s a Q&A I did with Jessie about her book.

Why was food important in the writing of The Heirloom?

Food was a critical piece of The Heirloom for two main reasons. First, I wanted this book to be truly transportive for readers, especially in the sections where my main character Shea heads to Italy and Portugal. For me eating and travel are such an important marriage when it comes to engaging the senses of an experience outside your own world. I cannot imagine Italy without the taste-memory of a perfect bite of Tuscan panini, for *specific* example, so I wanted to deliver that magic to my readers. But of equal importance was the fact that I wrote this book during the first phase of the pandemic when travel was still off-limits. I wrote all the food in because I was desperately craving it myself!  

How did food play a part in some of your decisions on the book’s locations?

I come from an Italian family on my mom's side, so one of my desires in representing Italy and the food of that region was to honor all the dishes of my own heritage. But the other reason I chose Italy and Portugal as my International destinations in The Heirloom is because I find those cuisines to be among the most romantic, sumptuous, decadent and - may I even say sexy. I wanted those emotions in the book. I mean name a more tantalizing dessert than a pastel de nata??

Have you personally eaten all the types of food mentioned in the heirloom?

I can't decide if this should be a point of pride or a reveal of my total travel gluttony but yes, I have eaten every single item that I put on the page. Then to celebrate the book I ate most of the Italian ones again! I went to Italy following the sale of the book (and to mark my 40th birthday). There were many, many stops inspired by The Heirloom, including many stops at bars for a Negroni!   

What are some of your favorite food scenes from novels/movies/TV shows?

This question prompted such a wild list in my mind! Here are a few: the incredible descriptions of the giant peach in Roald Dahl's classic book James and the Giant Peach, the pitch perfect Christmas lunch scene written into Little Women (that the girls ultimately donate to a family in need), Practical Magic's famous midnight margaritas, of course!, every single episode of the short-lived TV show Hannibal (gross, I know, but gorgeous), and I am obligated by my eternal devotion to Nora Ephron to include the Meg Ryan Katz's deli scene in When Harry Met Sally.  

What are you cooking/eating this summer?

My husband maintains an impressive garden in our small, Los Angeles back yard, so it's my goal to cook and eat from it all summer long. Here's the list of ingredients at my disposal (so long as the squirrels behave...): Passion fruit, figs, peas, yellow squash, cucumbers, sungold tomatoes, roma tomatoes, Italian red peppers, lettuces galore, and a bonus of three stone fruit trees (peach, nectarine & plum). Should I try for one dish that incorporates every single one?? I'll need your help for that, Adam ;)  

Thanks so much, Jessie. Can’t wait to read your book!

That’s all for this week, folks….

As mentioned in the Cup of Jo article, I’m playing around with sourdough starter again. Wish me luck!

Until next time!

Your pal,

Adam