Leftover Biscuit Panzanella

Plus: Meals at The Noortwyck, Margot, and Jupiter (with Rick and Chuck!).

Hey everyone,

Am I a genius? Well, my mom had my IQ tested when I went to high school so I could get into the gifted program (ever see Forrest Gump? “Your momma sure does care about your education.”) I ask the question because this weekend, I made biscuits on Saturday….

I used Claire Saffitz’s recipe on Bon Appetit, but really I used my own technique as captured in this delightful video:

amateurgourmet

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Making biscuits is a lot like making pie dough: the more confident you are, the more casual you can be. As long as you know the essentials — keep the butter cold, don’t overwork it, don’t twist the cookie cutter or they won’t rise up — you’ll be okay.

Frankly, I was a bit slapdash with these biscuits — the dough needed to come together a little bit more — but they still came out warm and flaky and buttery and delicious. What more could you want?

“But wait,” you’re probably thinking. “Didn’t you just say you were a genius? Why did you say that? What kind of genius forgets to explain?”

I’m getting there! The next day, Sunday (which was yesterday), I went to the farmer’s market with Winston and saw endless rows of beautiful heirloom tomatoes.

That’s when the idea struck. What if I took the leftover biscuits — which aren’t great a day later anyway, even if you nuke ‘em — cut them into cubes and use them in a panzanella salad?

For those not in the know, a panzanella is a traditional Italian salad where you chop tomatoes and red onion and basil and toss them with olive oil and a little vinegar and salt and you let it all sit ‘til it gets soupy. Then you add toasted cubes of bread to soak up all that goodness and it’s pretty much the best thing you’ll eat all summer.

So that’s what I did, only I used biscuits! Let’s go to the tape:

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A post shared by @amateurgourmet

The butteriness and sweetness of the biscuits was an even better vehicle for the tomato juices than your traditional torn and toasted bread. If the Pulitzer committee, the James Beard committee, and the Nobel committee are reading this, you know who to give your prize to next year. (Me!)

In other news, Craig — who’s in Vancouver working (I’m going to visit him for ten days, starting Thursday) — needled me last night about “all the fancy meals” I’ve been having.

It’s true, I had not one, not two, but three fancy meals since the last newsletter. The first was with a remarkable figure in the food world: Thomas Raquel, who became the pastry chef at Le Bernardin at the ripe young age of 27. Can you imagine??? When I was 27 I was filming great moments in musical theater with cartons of eggs.

Thomas and I met up at The Noortwyck in the Village where he was kind of a big deal! The pastry chef sent out all the desserts and came out to say hello.

We ate lots of good things, but the highlight for me was the duck which had a remarkably thin, crackly skin. I’ve cooked duck breast before and usually there’s still a layer of fat — but this they rendered perfectly and elegantly.

(Thomas said the secret is dry-aging it in the fridge.)

I had a blast with Thomas who was so sweet, he brought me worm casings for my tomatoes. It’s always a good sign in a new friendship when someone gifts you worm poop.

Last night, I met up with my pal Isaac Oliver at Margot in Ft. Greene and it was so charming.

(On my walk there I saw Orna from Couples Therapy and had to text Craig and we were both freaking out. It’s the best show on TV.)

Loved the food and the atmosphere at Margot. My favorite dish was this appetizer of runner beans with English peas on a spinach puree:

It was sophisticated and earthy all at once.

Finally, I had a real treat last Thursday when my favorite college professor, Rick Rambuss — who I hadn’t seen in 23 years (!!!) — met me for lunch with his husband Chuck, who’s a loyal subscriber to this newsletter.

(Rick is on the right, Chuck is on the left.)

When I was a junior in college (at Emory), I was barely out of the closet when I decided to back in (long story; you can read about it here). That summer I went to Oxford to study abroad and Rick taught a class on Shakespeare. He was the coolest professor there and I had no idea he was gay until Chuck came and joined him and they were such great role models: chic, super smart, wildly cultured, and so loved by everyone there.

Because they were such great role models, I came back out of the closet my senior year and started dating a guy who played Reuben in my production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat (directing that was all I needed to do to come back out). Rick and Chuck invited me over for dinner with some other students and I wrote them a letter telling them how happy I was and what an impact they had on me. When I got home, they wrote me an email saying they read my letter “with tears streaming down our faces.”

So now you know why it was such a treat to see them again and what a profound influence they had on my life. And they love food, so we went to Jupiter and indulged in fried zucchini (a gift from the chef who apparently is also a Rick/Chuck fan):

Mozzarella with pea shoots and then the most incredible crab lemon ravioli, which I shared with Rick:

So yes, Craig has a point, it was a very indulgent few days of eating… but look at the people I was with! Worth every penny (and calorie).

Hey let’s look at some links, shall we?

• Where to eat in Chinatown (Eater NY);

• “It’s the best job, but it will kill you.” (The Guardian);

• Pete Wells gives a middling review to Coqodaq and Steve Cuozzo at The NY Post calls it “out of touch” and decries the “liberal media” — all over a bucket of fried chicken! (NY Times / Post).

That’s all for today, folks.

See you back here on Thursday!

Your pal,

Adam