Summertime deserves comfort food too! For all the fun that comes with entertaining during the summer - barbeques, picnics, etc. nothing is as rewarding as family time. This menu is easy but still sophisticated, and after a weekend with a backyard full of people, you’ll appreciate this meal’s lack of fuss and clean flavors that much more. Enjoy!

Spinach Salad with Artichokes, Potatoes, and Green Beans

Grilled Marinated Flank Steak with Chimichurri Sauce

Strawberry Graham Cracker Icebox Cake

Spinach Salad with Artichokes, Potatoes, and Green Beans

CHEF: Cary Wolfson
CATEGORY: Salads
FOOD MOOD: Quick and Easy
CUISINE: New American Regional Recipes
SERVINGS: 4
INGREDIENTS
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 10-ounce package ready-to-use spinach leaves or 1 pound fresh spinach, stemmed
1 8-ounce can Spanish artichoke hearts, drained, quartered
6 boiled chilled sliced red bliss potatoes
4 oz. fresh green beans, blanched and shocked

METHOD
Combine first 8 ingredients in blender or processor and blend until well combined. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
Combine spinach, artichoke hearts, potatoes and green beans in large bowl. Toss with enough dressing to coat generously. Divide among 4 plates and serve.

PREP TIME: approx. 20 minutes

Grilled marinated flank steak with chimichurri sauce
CHEF: Cary Wolfson
CATEGORY: Dinner
FOOD MOOD: Meat and Potatoes
CUISINE: Latin American

SERVINGS: 4-6

INGREDIENTS

1.5 lb trimmed flank steak
1 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
1/2 teaspoon chopped shallot
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Chimichurri sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large garlic clove
1 1/2 cups fresh cilantro
1 1/2 cups fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
Preheat broiler, gas or charcoal grill.

METHOD Pat steak dry.
Stir together salt, shallots, thyme, wine, vinegar, oil, and pepper in a small bowl and rub mixture onto both sides of steak.
Marinate 4-24 hours. Broil steak on a broiler pan about 4 inches from heat or grill 6 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer to a cutting board and let stand 5 minutes.

Chimichurri sauce
Meanwhile, with motor running, add garlic to a food processor and finely chop. Add cilantro, parsley, vinegar, oil, cayenne, and salt, then pulse until herbs are finely chopped.
Holding a knife at a 45-degree angle, thinly slice steak. Serve with sauce.

PREP TIME: 20-30 minutes
Marinade time: 4 hours

Strawberry Graham Cracker Icebox Cake
CHEF: Cary Wolfson
CATEGORY: Desserts
FOOD MOOD: Quick and Easy
CUISINE: New American Regional Recipes
SERVINGS: 4

INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup chilled heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon vanilla
5 graham cracker squares
1/2 cup fresh srawberries, washed, hulled and cut in half
Grated bittersweet chocolate, as garnish
Mint sprigs

METHOD
Beat cream with sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until it forms stiff peaks.
Spread 1 teaspoon cream onto each of 4 crackers.
Arrange enough strawberries as close together as possible on 1 cream-topped cracker to form an even layer. Place 1 cream topped cracker on a plate with the cream side up. Top with another cream topped cracker, cream side up. Top with berry cracker, then spread another teaspoon cream over berries. Place remaing cream cracker on top and cover with plain cracker. Spread remaining cream on top and sides of cake.
Cover with a bowl and chill at least 4 hours.
Serve with remaining berries and garnish with grated chocolate and mint.

 

 Preserving Family Recipes and Food Traditions [38:36m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Meet Jennifer Abadi and learn how you too can make your family’s unique food traditions a legacy shared with generations to come. In this 40 minute Podcast recording of our Special Event, Jennifer Abadi shares her personal and professional journey while writing her family cookbook, A Fistful of Lentils: Syrian-Jewish Recipes from Grandma Fritzie’s Kitchen. This memoir and cookbook is now in its third printing and Jennifer now consults to diverse families and communities about documenting their own cultural food heritage.

As we know, memories are all wrapped up in foods and their smells. In describing the process of working side-by-side with her Grandma, Chef Jennifer transports you to an Upper West Side apartment kitchen filled with fantastic Middle Eastern foods.