Heirloom tomato season is the most wonderful time of the year. Every Tuesday after the Lincoln Square Farmers Market I tend to overestimate the number of tomatoes one man can safely eat and then have the classic “Tomato Ticking Clock” conundrum on my hands. Pasta sauce would be nice but with the temperature wiltingly hot the last thing I want to do is stand over a simmering pot for a few hours. Salsa is the obvious answer- and this one works great as a dip with tortilla chips as well as a sauce for various kinds of Mexican or Tex-Mex.
Heirloom tomatoes have a much higher water content than your run of the mill supermarket tomato which leading scientists believe to be more closely related to Styrofoam packing peanuts. As a result they tend to produce a salsa that exudes a great deal of moisture, and thus requires a good deal of straining, particularly if you’re trying for a chunkier pico de gallo. This slightly charred salsa mellows out the bite of onion and garlic while still tasting fresh (not canned). 
Ingredients
- 2 quarts assorted heirloom tomatoes
- 2 medium onions (sweet, yellow or purple)
- 3-5 cloves garlic
- 3-5 limes
- large bunch cilantro (rough chopped)
- small can chipotles in adobo (choose your own level of heat)
- salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp organic tomato paste (optional, approximate)
Recipe
Start by preheating a heavy cast iron pan to white hot. It will take at least 10 minutes on high unless you have a commercial stove-top. Rinse your tomatoes and rough chop. Do the same with the onions and lightly mince the garlic. Since you’re going to be blending it there’s no need to spend a ton of time chopping things perfectly. Keep your onions and garlic separate or at least on top on the bowl- you want them to be the first to hit the pan.
When everything is ready to go pour the tomatoes, onions and garlic into the pan. If you don’t hear a lot of sizzle then pan wasn’t hot enough but you’ll still end up with a tasty salsa. I should emphasize that you are trying to burn a small portion of the ingredients, the same effect as if you’ve quickly marked large slices of tomatoes and onions on a very hot gas or charcoal grill and then made salsa with them.
Let the mixture cook without stirring for at least three minutes. By then there should be a little char on the bottom layer and the mixture should have started to simmer. Turn off the heat and stir until the mixture stops steaming. Transfer to a large bowl, add the cilantro and lime juice and a little bit of salt and pepper.
Using an immersion blender in small bursts slowly break down the larger pieces. Add chipotles and adobo sauce (the sauce has a much higher flavor to heat ratio than the peppers themselves) and be sure they’re blended thoroughly. If the sauce seem too loose or watery add the tomato paste and blend in. Do so with a little of the salsa in a separate bowl if you want a chunkier salsa. If you want a smooth salsa or only have a standard blender then by all means blend away at will.
Taste again for salt, cool and serve. With a cerveza or margarita or course.
This simple hors d’oeuvre quietly screams “casual summer elegance.” No cooking is required and the mandoline-esque thin sliced zucchini is achieved with a plain old vegetable peeler. Look for thin and straight zucchini and yellow squash at the market- too thick and you will need a mandoline to slice it. Or an unusually wide vegetable peeler.
Both the goat cheese mousse and balsamic reduction can be made ahead of time, up to a few days. The zucchini will start to loose structural integrity an hour or so after being sliced. Place the sliced zucchini between layers of paper towels and store refrigerated in an air-tight container or plastic for an hour or two.
Fully assembled roulades can be prepared an hour ahead of time, without the balsamic reduction. Keep them cool and dry but not refrigerated.
Ingredients
- 8 oz honey goat cheese (regular goat cheese is fine, add slightly more olive oil and some honey
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar (don’t use your $40 bottle)
- 1/2 small orange (substitute any citrus)
- Fresh herbs (basil, chives or thyme, alone or in combination, are my favorites)
- 2 zucchini
- kosher or sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper
- olive oil
- toothpicks or skewers
Recipe
Citrus balsamic reduction
Zest and juice half of an orange into a small pot containing the balsamic vinegar. I’ll usually throw in a few sprigs or leaves of whatever herbs I’m going to use in the mousse. Bring to a boil and lower heat to a gentle simmer. Reduce until the mixture becomes noticeably thicker, use a spoon to drizzle a little on a plate. If the reduction holds your design without solidifying when cooled it’s ready. If you over-reduce either start over again or try adding a little water or orange juice to thin it out a little. Strain, season with a pinch of salt and reserve for plating. I like to use a spoon but the kids are also into squeeze bottles.
Herbed goat cheese mousse
Let your goat cheese come up to room temperature or it will not want to be mixed with anything. I’ll typically use a food processor or stand mixer to make large batches of the mousse but will save myself the trouble of washing the big equipment if I’m only making an 8 oz portion and go to town with a heavy wooden spoon in a medium sized bowl.
herbed goat cheese mousse
Place the goat cheese in a bowl and zest the remaining half of the orange on top. Pour in two tablespoons of olive oil and mix until smooth. You’re looking for a mixture that is thin enough to easily scoop with a spoon but thick enough to hold it’s shape inside the roulade. If the mixture it too thick add a more olive oil in small amounts- you can always add more but can’t take any away. If you do go overboard, which is a lot easier to do in a food processor than by hand, add more goat cheese if it’s available or put it in the fridge until it firms up. It will start to loosen again when it’s served but with some clever time management you can pass it off in a pinch.
Thinly slice, or chiffonade if you watch a lot of food television, the herbs. The amount isn’t terribly important, enough to be evident in taste and by sight. Gently mix them into the mousse and season with a good bit of fresh cracked black pepper and a little salt. Goat cheese tends to be pretty salty as it is but we’re not going to season the zucchini at all so it should be somewhat robustly seasoned.
Assembling the roulades
I had a ghost hold the peeler for the picture
Trim the root end of the zucchini and peel into strips. I find it’s easiest to shave a few strips off one side to create a stable base, then flip it over and peel the rest. When it’s time to assemble lay out the strips of zucchini the go through and place a dollop of the mousse at the bottom of all of them. I’ll use two spoons quenelle style but a tiny ice-cream scooper would also work well.
Tightly roll and secure with a toothpick or skewer.
Plating
Drizzle the balsamic reduction onto your plate or platter in a pleasing fashion, then do the same thing with a little extra virgin olive oil. Place the roulades on top and sprinkle with sea or kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. Garnish with citrus zest, fresh herbs or microgreens and serve.
Misunderstood, distrusted, frequently abused- chances are if you’ve ordered anything with duck that wasn’t at a Chinese or incredibly expensive restaurant it was a little lackluster at best.
A few braves souls might have tried some sort of roast duck at home- purchasing the frozen whole ducks available at most supermarkets (which are generally fine, if not exceptional) preparing them according to packaging (note: recipes printed on your meat will probably disappoint) and serving with the pouch of orange sauce that came stuffed in the cavity for some reason, as if there were one universal, unalterable duck 
preparation.
We’re dealing with the dark meat of the duck today, prepared in style of a confit which roughly translates to meat that has been slow cooked in fat, originally devised as a preservative method. I usually buy frozen ducks at one of the two Vietnamese markets on Broadway, one of them also carries frozen duck legs and thighs (but never breasts, oddly enough). Prepared duck confit is frequently available at upscale butchers and specialty shops as well as online at Dartagnan and other sites- it will do in a pinch but it will be a more expensive pinch. Buying a whole duck on your own gives you the opportunity to make seared duck breast and duck stock (which in turn yields a good bit of duck fat).
We’re adding some chipotles and cilantro to our duck for the quesadillas- replace them with thyme and parsley, maybe a bay leaf to get back to the confit’s French roots. Outside of quesadillas duck confit is delicious on or in pizza, omelets, sandwiches, pastas and crepes.
Ingredients
- Dark meat (legs and thighs) from one duck
- 2-4 tbsp duck fat, butter or olive oil
- 2 tbsp adobo sauce (for cooking)
- one chipotle, diced (for the quesadillas)
- 1 medium size purple onion, julienned and caramelized
- flour tortillas
- preferred grated melty cheese (I like Chihuahua)
- scallions and cilantro
- optional toppings- hot sauce, sour cream, guacamole, salsa
Recipe
For the confit: place your duck meat on a large piece of foil with some duck fat (or butter or oil), a few spoonfuls of adobo sauce from a can of chipotles, salt and pepper and a few springs of cilantro and some very rough chopped scallions. Wrap tightly and cook in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes. Carefully open the foil package and check- if you can easily shred the meat with a fork (the meat will have pulled back off the bone as well) it’s time to make quesadillas. If not wrap it back up and give it another 15 minutes. Shred off the bone by hand or with a fork.
Assembling the quesadillas: Caramelize your onion slices, ideally using more duck fat but olive oil or butter will also get you there. When the onion is soft and slightly brown add duck meat and a diced chipotle (or two if you dare) and remove from heat. Assemble your quesadillas ahead of time with cheese, duck and onion mixture and a little bit of sliced green onion. For heavy filled quesadillas make sure there is cheese on the bottom and top to keep everything glued together.
Cook on a well oiled flat top of heavy bottom pan until brown on the outside and gooey inside. If the heat is too high and the outside starts to burn while the cheese is cold and unmelted a few minutes in a 300 degree oven or even 30 seconds in the microwave will even it all out. Add a little kosher salt after flipping.
Slice into four or six pieces and serve with your choice of hot sauce, sour cream, guacamole or salsa.
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