Tuscan Potatoes

Ask Liz why she married me, and you'll hear the usual - for love, for money, it was her first time drinking Absinthe, etc. Ask her again, and she may tell you the truth: Tuscan potatoes.

No one is immune to their charms, and they are sooooo many. First, there's the aroma; earthy, sweet, salty and fresh, an oven full of these beauties drives the whole neighborhood wild with rosemary-scented desire. Then, there's their appearance, imperfectly cut and tumbling together, roasted brown and gold, flecked with green, glistening with oil. The satisfying crunch as you bite down, and the melts-in-your-mouth interior. Finally, the explosion of elemental flavors: potato, rosemary, salt and oil, ratcheted up beyond reason.

Tuscan potatoes are an extraordinary accompaniment to a grilled steak, a smoked tri-tip or a pork roast. They take a bit of work, but they're worth it.

2 Russet potatoes
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, about 5” long
1 tsp rosemary salt or kosher salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Peel the potatoes, cut them lengthwise into quarters, then slice into roughly 1" chunks. Rinse in a bowl of cool water until the water runs clear, then soak them in cold water for about twenty minutes. This step removes the starch from the surface of the potatoes, enabling the delicious crunch.

Preheat the oven to 450F. If you're using a cast iron skillet (recommended*), put it in the oven to preheat.

Drain and dry the potatoes with a dish towel or paper towels.

Pour the oil into your skillet or a baking pan, then de-stem 2 sprigs of rosemary into the oil. (I usually throw in the stems, too.) Add the potatoes in single layer and toss to coat with the oil and rosemary. Put your pan into the oven on the top rack.

Roast for 30 minutes at 450F. Remove the pan from the oven, turn the potatoes with a spatula, and return to the oven for another 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, de-stem the other sprig of rosemary and chop it finely.

Check your potatoes: they should be mostly golden, with a few dark-brown patches. If they are pale, return them to the oven, checking at 5 minute intervals. My last oven consistently took a full hour, but my current oven (in convection mode) turns them out perfectly in 45 minutes.

When your potatoes are ready, toss them with chopped rosemary and salt (I use rosemary-scented salt, for a double kick) and serve immediately.

This recipe feeds two hearty appetites.

* I like to cook Tuscan potatoes in a 12" cast iron skillet, which produces a superior crusty texture but only holds about two medium potatoes. If you have a crowd to feed, use a baking pan with raised edges. If you don't have a 12" cast iron skillet, buy one. Today.

Smoked Tri-Tip

I hadn’t heard of a tri-tip roast until moving to California a few years ago - it’s a triangular cut of beef also called the bottom sirloin, usually weighing in at between two and three pounds. Tri-tip is funny-looking, but quite tasty - a cross between a sirloin steak and a roast - and really shines on the smoker, though it’s also good grilled.

1 tri-tip roast (2.5-3 pounds)
1/4 cup tri-wizard rub

24 hours before cooking: Trim the fat cap, if desired. Rub the tri-tip well with the tri-wizard mixture, making sure you get it into all the nooks and crannies. Cover with plastic wrap or pop into a zip-top bag and refrigerate overnight, or at least a couple of hours.

1 hour before cooking: Take the tri-tip out of the fridge and allow to come to room temperature. Preheat your smoker or grill.

Smoke at 225F for 4 hours or until the internal temp reaches about 140F for medium rare. I like a combination of hickory and pecan woods.

If you don’t have access to a smoker, sear on a hot (500F) grill for up to 5 minutes per side, then move it off of the flame and continue to cook for about 15 minutes at medium (350F) until the internal temp reaches about 140F for medium rare.

Use tongs to put your beautiful tri-tip on a serving platter, cover it loosely with aluminum foil and allow it to sit for at least ten minutes before carving.

Tip: it’s just as easy to make two, and the leftovers make terrific sandwiches.

Get Your Adobo On

What's an adobo? Good question. Depending on where you ask, adobo may generically mean "sauce" or "marinade" or a meal created with such a sauce (in Mexico and the Carribean) or specifically mean the national dish of the Philippines. Adobos vary quite widely in taste and ingredients, but most rely on marinating meats in a highly seasoned concoction.

My adobo is a Cuban-style marinade adapted from a recipe in Steven Raichlen's The Barbecue! Bible. I've tweaked the spices a bit, keeping notes on what works and what doesn't, until the recipe found a sweet spot. It's very easy to prepare and has won rave reviews from coast to coast.

This recipe will marinate and generously baste six boneless chicken breast halves and a nice sirloin steak. If in doubt, go easy on the marinade and reserve some adobo for basting.

1 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice (about 4 large limes)
1/4 cup olive oil
12 medium cloves garlic
2 teaspoons kosher salt (or more to taste)
2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon Tabasco or Garlic Tabasco (optional, but highly recommended)

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until the garlic is completely liquefied. Save about half of the adobo for basting (put it in the fridge), use the rest to marinate chicken, beef, pork, fish or vegetables for 1 - 8 hours before grilling.

Tip: Use zipper sealing plastic bags for marinating - they do a better job of coating the meat and there's no clean up.

Don't forget to baste! Use a brush or spoon to keep your grillables moist and create a tasty caramelized crust.

Serve your adobo with grilled veggies (onions and sweet peppers are the norm in our house), black beans & rice and warm flour tortillas. Offer lots of fresh cilantro, sour cream and shredded cheese as garnishes, if you like. I like a nice Mexican beer with adobo, but a spicy red wine also goes well.

Summer's End Pesto

I picked up some sweet basil at the farmers' market yesterday and made a fabulous pesto for dinner. It's easy enough for anyone to fix and quick enough to prepare after work, and the flavors - sweet and tangy and earthy, with basil, cheese and aromatic garlic supported by nuts and olive oil - are just about enough to drive me crazy with delight.

I adapted this recipe from "Bugialli's Italy," a terrific cookbook, and served it over rotelle pasta, accompanied by grilled bread rubbed with a clove of garlic. One recipe of pesto over one pound of rotelle will serve four adults (perhaps as a side for grilled chicken or fish, or with a big salad) or two very hungry adults.

1 cup lightly packed fresh basil (washed and dried)
1 TBL fresh Italian parsley
2 medium sized cloves of garlic, peeled
1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese (or Parmesan or mix the two)
1/2 cup pignoli (pine nuts) or walnuts, toasted
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper (I use a whole teaspoon)
1/2 to 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (Get the good stuff - you'll notice the difference here.)

[The short version: process to a paste, add the oil, voila! Have a glass of wine.]

Throw everything but the olive oil into a food processor or blender and process until fairly smooth. You may need to scrape the sides of the bowl, to make sure everything gets well blended. Turn it off first (you know who I'm talking to), scrape down with a spatula, then process again.

Taste, and adjust salt and pepper to your liking. It should make you say: "Wow! That's good!"

Scrape the mixture into a glass bowl and slowly add the oil, folding it in with a fork or spatula, until it just becomes liquid. Depending on the moisture in your basil mixture, it may take up to 3/4 cup of oil. You can do this step in the blender/Cuisinart, if you want, by drizzling the oil while processing, but you'll get much more control over the consistency if you do it by hand.

That's it! Your pesto is ready to eat, though flavors will improve if you allow it to sit for an hour.

I like this pesto over pasta - something like rotelle, with enough texture to allow the pesto to cling - but even spaghetti will work fine. Drizzle a few teaspoons over your main course, too, or reserve a little extra pesto to pass at the table. Italians (especially Ligurians, from the northwest corner of Italy, near Geneva) also enjoy this style of pesto over gnocchi or boiled potatoes, mixed into soups and stews, added to sauces, as a spread on toasted bread, on/in scrambled eggs - and I'm sure in hundreds of more ways.

Pesto keeps in the fridge for several days, though the flavors tend to diminish after a week. It freezes well, too; use an ice tray to freeze cubes of pesto, so you can grab just enough to use in a dish.