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Jean-Georges Vongerichten: Home Cooking with Jean-Georges: My Favorite Simple Recipes
By
Published: Sep 08, 2013
Category:
Food and Wine
The movie was a block away, we were already at ABC Carpet, we had an hour — why not have a quick dinner at ABC Kitchen?
For so-called sophisticates, we were rubes. We knew that Jean-Georges Vongerichten had hit New York as a prodigy: head chef of Lafayette at 29. That his restaurant, Jean George, was one of five restaurants in New York to have been awarded three stars by Michelin. And that, as Sam Sifton wrote in The Times, his empire was growing so fast he had opened “roughly 6,000 restaurants… on Earth and other planets in the last year.”
ABC Kitchen, we imagined, was a casual restaurant. Well, for all its apparent informality, it’s quite serious about its mission: “regionally-grown, organically focused cuisine that is rooted in cultivating a safe relationship with the environment and our table. “Or as Sam Sifton translated: ”ABC Kitchen represents fantasy, wealth without guilt, socially responsible hedonism. Resistance is futile. Obey.”
As we took seats at the bar — our new discovery: sit at the bar — we had no idea that a casual restaurant could be this good. Just reading the menu was a thrill. With difficulty (and with guidance from a bartender who had come to work at ABC Kitchen because he’d been spending a fortune here as a diner), we chose sweet corn with cotijac cheese and lime ($11), grilled maitake mushrooms with goat cheese and Fresno pepper vinaigrette ($12) household ricotta ravioli with herbs and tomato sauce ($15 for four, $23 for six) and roast carrot and avocado salad with crunchy seeds, souu cream and citrus ($16).
One of the all-time great meals? Yes, but that’s a cliché. Better to offer specific praise: Although we chose small plates, we were completely satisfied — indeed, we would have dishonored the meal if we’d munched popcorn at the multiplex.
That night, we learned that Jean-Georges writes cookbooks — most recently, “Home Cooking with Jean-Georges: My Favorite Simple Recipes.” The introduction is a revelation: three decades of l6-hour days, 6 days a week in restaurants. At 50, he buys a country house with a big kitchen and makes a monumental decision: He’ll take two days off each week. Naturally, on weekends, he cooks with and for his family.
It is crucial that you understand that this master’s idea of “home cooking” is not yours. Yes, there are simple, easy dishes you can knock off in a few minutes. (See the recipe, below, for Fettuccine with Meyer Lemon Cream.) But as a general rule: what is simple for Jean-Georges is a dish you’d cook for company — many of these recipes require more ingredients and more time than the title suggests.
Worth it? The names will help you decide. Pea soup with carrots, chiles and mint. A mac and cheese — quite simple, really — with five cheeses. Pistachio pesto. Parmesan-crusted chicken — amazingly easy. Pork chops with cherry mustard. Pan-roasted green beans with golden almonds. Cumin and citrus roasted carrots. Bittersweet chocolate Chantilly. [This seems like a good place to say: To buy the hardcover book from Amazon, click here. For the Kindle edition, click here.]
But it’s what’s on the plate that counts. Try these recipes. My bet: one bite, and you’ll decide that you need this book.
Roasted Carrot and Avocado Salad
Sam Sifton: “If Tom Wolfe were to write a novel about power, style and status in New York City at this moment in the 21st century, there is one restaurant dish he might have to build a whole scene around, to convey the right tang of anthropological exactitude. It’s the roasted carrot and avocado salad at ABC Kitchen.”
serves 4
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon crushed red chile flakes
Salt and ground black pepper
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 pound medium-size carrots peeled
1 orange, halved
1 lemon, halved
1 avocado, pitted, peeled and cut in thin wedges
1 ½ cups packed radish or other sprouts
3 tablespoons sour cream
3 tablespoons roasted hulled pumpkin seeds
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
In a small food processor or a mortar, pulse or pound the garlic with the cumin, thyme, chile flakes, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper to make a paste. Add vinegar and 2 tablespoons of the oil, and mix well.
Arrange carrots in a roasting pan and spread spice paste on top. Place orange and lemon halves, cut side down, on carrots. Roast until carrots are tender and starting to brown, about 45 minutes. Using tongs, arrange carrots on a serving platter.
With a dish towel to protect your hands, squeeze juice from the roasted orange and lemon halves into a measuring cup. You should have about 1/2 cup juice. Beat in remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Drizzle some of this sauce over the carrots. Arrange avocado over carrots, then scatter sprouts on top. Drizzle with reserved sauce, top with dollops of sour cream and a sprinkling of the seeds. Serve.
Fettuccine with Meyer Lemon Cream
Serves 4
8 ounces store-bought fresh fettuccine
Kosher salt 1
1/2 cups heavy cream
Grated zest of 2 Meyer lemons
2 tablespoons fresh Meyer lemon juice
2-ounce block Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Coarsely ground black pepper
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it generously, cook the pasta.
Meanwhile, whisk together the cream, lemon zest and a pinch of salt. Pour 1 cup of the mixture into a large, deep skillet. Boil it rapidly, stirring frequently, until reduced by about half, about 8 minutes. Drain the pasta well and add to the lemon cream.
Reduce heat to low and toss until well coated. add remaining cream mixture and lemon juice and continue tossing until well coated. Divide among 4 shallow bowls. Grate cheese directly over the pasta, forming a little mound. Grind a generous dose of pepper over pasta. Serve immediately.
Butternut Squash with Balsamic and Chile Panko Crumbs
Serves 8
1 large butternut squash (about 2 1/2 pounds)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup panko crumbs
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon crushed red chile flakes
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Regginato cheese
Bring a large stockpot of water to a boil. Add whole squash and cook, partially covered, until tender, about 45 minutes. (A knife will pierce the flesh very easily.) Drain, cool slightly, then remove and discard the stem and peel. Reserve seeds, removing and discarding the strings.
Transfer flesh to a large serving dish and mash with a fork into an even layer. Drizzle the vinegar and 2 tablespoons of oil over the squash, and season with salt and pepper.
Heat 3 tablespoons of the squash seeds in a large skillet over medium-low heat until dry. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and a pinch of salt and toast, tossing occasionally. When the seeds begin to pop, partially cover the pan. Continue toasting until golden brown, about 3 minutes, then transfer to a plate.
In the same skillet, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat, then toss in crumbs. When well coated, stir in thyme, chile, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Toast, tossing occasionally, until golden brown and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cheese, and toasted seeds.
Spread the crumb mixture over the squash in an even layer and serve immediately.
