If I began the series with rabbit as a way to signal its uniqueness, then following it up with chicken was also intentional. I wanted to convey from the start that yes, this is not your run-of-the-mill cookery bookery, but also I’m not going to go off the rails every time. Just sometimes.

Fig and Orange Jam

The inspiration for this recipe came from a family vacation to Alaska, of all places, where neither figs nor oranges grow locally. I stopped at a grocery store in Anchorage to buy some snacks and was intrigued by a jar of fig and orange jam. I was intrigued because I don’t hate but don’t love fig jam; and I’d rather do without orange marmalade. But a combination of the two seemed like something worth trying.

A few days later we were having breakfast around a campfire in Talkeetna and out came the fig and orange jam–that’s where the bit on cooking the jam over charcoal comes in–and it was so, so good that it was burned into my memory until I had a chance to make a facsimile of that experience.

Buttermilk-Brined Roast Chicken

This is my most popular recipe. Period. For obvious reasons. And for that reason, Menu No 2 is my most popular cookbooklet. Give the people what they want.

The buttermilk brine works well, too, in a summertime grilled chicken over charcoal: either a whole chicken or in parts for a quicker cook.

Freekeh Salad with Fennel and Chilies

Freekeh is wheat that is harvested while it’s still green. Then it’s sun-dried. And then it’s roasted. It has an interesting flavor that’s worth seeking out–Middle Eastern grocers will have it–but if you can’t find it, farro will do.

Here I pair the nutty-smoky freekeh with floral jasmine rice, and also a boatload of other flavors from fennel to jalapeño. This salad keeps well, so you can double it and eat it for days.

Buttermilk Panna Cotta

I have a distant memory of Mom coming home from the grocery store one day with a “cheesecake pudding”. I also remember eating all six puddings within a couple days and her never buying them again but for once on my birthday. They were too dear to consume so quickly.

This buttermilk panna cotta is basically cheesecake pudding, and once again I ate an entire batch in quick succession. Paired with the fig and orange jam didn’t help satiate my mania, but the orange does provide a balance to the cream, and the seeds in the fig give good crunch.

Wine Pairings by The Natural Wine Company
211 N 11th Street Brooklyn, NY 11211

First
savory Pét Nat
off-dry Chenin Blanc or Reisling

Second
neutral-oak white Burgundy
rustic Jura sous-voile
cold-weather Pinot Noir

Last
bubbly Methode Traditionelle
skin-contact Muscat

Last Last
amaro

Wine Pairings by Radicle Wine
293 Greene Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238

First
crisp, dry Cortese di Gavi, e.g. Castello di Tassarolo Orsola

Second
co-ferment, e.g. Scar of the Sea Bassi
Loire Valley Chenin Blanc, e.g. Le Dillitante

Last
sparkling rosé, e.g. Rosa Rosé Rosam