Hibiscus-Roasted Peaches with Brown Sugar Bread Crumbs by Alison Roman

I have a confession to make. I dropped the ball on finding hibiscus flowers. I know it’s a defining feature of the recipe, but I was unable to find it in stores, and I just didn’t plan far enough in advance to order it online. Alison advises that we should be able to find dried hibiscus flowers in our local Caribbean or Jamaican grocery store… just me or do you also not have a Caribbean grocery store nearby? It must be nice to live in Brooklyn. ;)

I imagine that hibiscus flowers would add a pleasant, and for lack of a better word, floral note to the dish. But the peaches were just as delicious on their own. Paired with lemon juice, sugar, and a bit of water, these peaches spend about 30 minutes in the oven, until they start bubbling on the edges and the liquid turns slightly syrupy. The lemon juice is rather prominent in flavor which necessitated the brown sugar bread crumbs to balance the sourness. 

One of the key food lessons from this project entails the power of fresh bread crumbs. Alison loves her fried bread crumbs with various seasonings. They add texture and depth to her dishes, and now I love them too. Whether sauteed in butter or olive oil, seasoned with garlic and pepper flakes, sumac and anchovies, or brown sugar, bread crumbs take a dish to the next level. Bread crumbs fried in butter and brown sugar, and sprinkled with flaky sea salt elevated these peaches, balancing the sourness of lemon juice and giving a rich texture to the softened fruit. 

All that to say, this dessert didn’t take my breath away like some of Alison’s other desserts. But I’m not sure “breath-taking” is what she’s going for. Alison gives us her spin on a classic summer dessert, and I think she just wants to give us a good time. Well, a good time was had. 

113 recipes cooked, 112 to go.

Grilled Trout with Green Goddess Butter (A Whole Fish! Yes, You Can!) by Alison Roman

Yes, I can! Three weeks ago, I learned I could grill a whole fish. It was an empowering, exhilarating experience. The process was easy, but the mental battle was harder. Those eyes, ya know? Alison’s Grilled Branzino with Lemons All of the Ways exceeded my expectations. I left that cooking experience with more confidence and an excitement for my next whole fish rendezvous. You can read all about that here! 

Sadly, I wasn’t able to find any whole trout. Granted, I did only look at two stores. I’m sure I would have been able to find trout at a seafood specialty store, but I just didn’t have the energy or time to hop around. Not surprisingly, since starting my new job, I haven’t had the space to shop for more niche ingredients. But so it goes. Thankfully, Alison says you can use branzino too, which can be readily found at Whole Foods. 

The process is very similar, if not identical, to the recipe I mentioned earlier. Simply season the fish with salt and pepper, and spray it with canola oil. The fish spends roughly 8 minutes per side on the grill at medium-high heat until the skin is charred and slightly puffy. Instead of lemon slices, the fish is stuffed with sprigs of thyme. At the very end, I dressed the fish with dollops of green goddess butter that melted into the skin. For details about this herby butter, see the Roasted Radishes with Green Goddess Butter recipe post. 

The flavors and seasoning paired perfectly with Branzino - a relatively mild and tender white fish. If it weren’t for the fact that these two particular fish seemed to have far more bones, I may have said that I enjoyed this fish even more than the last. But I do think the two recipes are equally fit for a lovely summer dinner on the deck, and though they look fancy, they don’t require fancy skills or techniques. Alison tells you everything you need to know in order to make a successful and wow-worthy meal. 

112 recipes cooked, 113 to go.

Roasted Radishes with Green Goddess Butter by Alison Roman

One of the very first recipes I ever made for this project was Alison’s Butter-Tossed Radishes with Fresh Za’atar, and it blew my mind. I’d never eaten a whole radish before, much less found myself craving one. I even learned about Za’atar. I’ll always think fondly of those radishes, because they signified a new and exciting chapter in my quarantine life. One where I invested in my creative interests and believed in my own growth and flourishing. 

When I saw this roasted radish recipe, I couldn’t help but reflect on how this all began and what this project means to me. We’re about at the halfway point, both with the recipe count and the calendar. I have until January 27 to complete the 225th recipe. So far, I’ve had the most wonderful time. At the beginning, I made the conscious choice to let this be about having fun, about enjoying food and savoring writing. I decided that I wouldn’t let any to-do-list-checking or feelings of self-consciousness get in the way. I’ve grown immensely in my knowledge of food and my confidence in cooking. At the start, I questioned the notion of serving a plateful of radishes. Now, I see a plateful of radishes and my mouth starts to water. In addition to my confidence in cooking, my taste buds have grown too… I know you came here for the radishes, so thanks for letting me do a bit of reflection. We can turn to that irresistible Green Goddess Butter now…  

If you’ve ever had Green Goddess salad dressing, this is its fabulously spreadable cousin in butter form. And it’s so easy to make. Alison gives the option to mash all of the ingredients together with a fork. But after just a few moments of smashing, I decided to opt for my food processor, which was much more equipped to handle the ingredients. Speaking of which, this butter consists of fresh herbs – chives, parsley, and tarragon, garlic, anchovies, and white wine vinegar. The recipe creates about twice as much as needed. Which is why I chose to follow Alison’s advice and pair this with her Grilled Trout with Green Goddess Butter. 

The radishes are oven-roasted until tender, and the leaves are crisp. This was my second time purchasing and cooking with a bunch of radishes (as opposed to pre-cleaned and trimmed ones). As a heads up, both bunches required extensive cleaning. I could feel the grains of dirt covering the leaves, and it took some work to clean each one thoroughly. Once the radishes were roasted, I plated them on top of the butter, and sprinkled them with lemon juice and salt. They were a tasty (and aesthetically pleasing) side for the fish!

111 recipes cooked, 114 to go.

Crushed Baby Potatoes with Scallion, Celery, and Lots of Dill

Ah, yes, potato salad. A heralded classic of American cuisine. And yet (and yet) I’ve never liked it. Maybe it’s the cold blocks of potato, or the heavy globs of mayonnaise. Or perhaps, it’s the typical lack of noteworthy flavor. It could be the way it sits in its tub, begging the question: how long have you been sitting there, bud? 

Enter Alison Roman. As usual, she’s decided to shake things up with a new spin on potato salad. Or dare I say, an entirely superior way to make potato salad. In this recipe, you’ll see no mayonnaise, crushed potatoes, tons of fresh herbs, and bold, distinct flavor. You may never want a different potato salad again. 

First step is to boil the potatoes. No, we’re not looking for red skinned potatoes, but rather golden ones that are no larger than a golf ball. (Sure, you can use red-skinned potatoes, but don’t. Those are more mealy and less visually appealing, IMO.) The potatoes only take 15 or so minutes to boil until they’re completely tender. Before smashing them with my palm, I let them cool almost completely, and in the meantime, prepared the rest of the ingredients. 

The bulk of the flavor comes from olive oil, #lotsofdill, lemon zest and juice, finely chopped scallions (white and green parts), and anchovies. These ingredients are combined and tossed with the boiled, crushed potatoes along with finely sliced celery stalks. Finally, the salad is topped with chopped celery leaves, parsley, and dashes of salt and pepper, for good measure. 

I made this salad at home before transporting it to my in-law’s home for dinner. The potatoes spent an extra hour in the dressing, which gave them a chance to become better acquainted with the herbs and lemon juice. This dish was a complete hit between the four of us, and I have a hard time imagining anyone who wouldn’t like it. Which means this can and should be brought instead of that store-bought tub of potato salad you normally bring to potlucks. I can guarantee you won’t have leftovers, and you’ll receive way more complements. Plus, Alison says this salad can be made up to 2 days ahead, so you have no excuses.

110 recipes cooked, 115 to go.

isn’t she lovely

Hanger Steak with Dandelion, Arugula, and Grana Padano by Alison Roman

Though this recipe appears in the Meat section, it is really a glorified steak salad. In fact, it’s the best steak salad I’ve ever had. 

Here’s why. All previous steak salads did one thing for me. They made me constantly choose between a bite of steak or a bite of salad. When I was hungry for a bite of beef, my fork would have to rummage around for it, knocking back leafy greens as it went. If I wanted lettuce and dressing, my fork would dodge steak bits in search of the perfect stack of leaves. It sounds like a lot of effort because it was. And until this dish, I’ve always wished that my steak would just be served separately from my salad from the beginning. 

This steak, and this salad, well, they belong together. In the same bite. Gone were my desires to curate the perfect forkful. Every bite was effortlessly lovely. The flavors and textures worked together so seamlessly that any combination was delightful. The elements to this perfect steak salad are as follows: 

• Red onion soaked in ice water. This mellows the bite, but leaves enough umpf behind to make the red onion a real player. 

• The simplest of dressings. Just olive oil, a dash of fish sauce, salt and pepper, mixed with finely chopped dandelion greens and arugula (or in my case, baby kale). 

• Medium rare steak. The recipe calls for Hanger steak, but I couldn’t find it. I even asked the meat guy at Whole Foods and he said they never carry it. According to the internet, and the meat guy, the closest substitute is Flank steak. So that’s what I used. I seasoned the steak with salt and pepper and seared it in my cast iron over medium-high heat. All it took was 5 minutes on each side and another 5 minutes to rest before slicing against the grain. This steak is solid proof that you really only need salt and pepper to turn out a fabulous piece of meat. That and a meat thermometer so you can easily gauge the cooking time. 

• Dandelion greens and baby kale. Dandelion greens are very bitter (really, so bitter). And that bitterness, in my opinion, is what made this salad so cohesive. The leaves provided just the right balance to the salty steak. They were meant to be eaten in the same bite. Baby kale was a subtle undertone to the steak and dandelion greens. I chose baby kale because I wanted something a bit mellower than peppery arugula for this undertone role. The greens are tossed with a bit of lemon juice and salt before joining the onions and pieces of steak. 

• Shaved grana padano really complements the whole ensemble.

Honestly, please try making this salad for yourself. Or ask me to make it for you. I will gladly eat it again. 

109 recipes cooked, 116 to go.