A Summer Supper with Chef

August 20, 2012

Chef Tyler Viggiano at the grill is one of the highlights of the summer.

When you’re lucky enough, like we are, to have a distinguished chef in the family, you take care of him (or her as the case may be) as best you possibly can. For us that means following Chef Tyler Viggiano’s instructions to a T, gathering the nicest vegetables the garden has to offer, running up and down from the pantry hoping to find the sherry vinegar or the anchovies he’s asked for, or trying to suggest poor substitutes for what we don’t have.

We slice vegetables in ‘petals’ as Chef demonstrates, clean up pots and pans – if we can get to them before he does – and set up the food processor for his magic, hoping to hell it works. It means having an ice cold beer at the ready, a pair of tongs, a carving fork, a cake tester, a small whisk, a bottle of nice olive oil, snacks.

The best of the late-summer garden is gathered by friends and family.

It’s a great gig, if you can get it: playing sous chef to Chef Tyler for a day. The various chores, not that any one of them is less than a pleasure anyway, pay off when dinner is finally served.

A killer-good evening begins on a notepad.

The grilled vegetables, which Chef stores in nests of newspaper when he’s finished, do in fact have an amazing smoky flavor intensified by the newspaper as promised. I eat platefuls of them and will remember the trick for the next time I grill vegetables.

My garden has never tasted better.

Chef Tyler’s new tattoo is an homage to our late friend, his dad, Frank Viggiano.

Letting char-grilled vegetables cool in newspaper intensifies the smoky flavor.

Two simple sauces that Chef Tyler whips up, Romesco and Salsa Verde, which he adjusts to whatever we happen to have, or not have, on hand, transform our humble vegetables and grilled chicken into something gorgeous and decadent, but still bright, healthy and bursting with the flavors of my garden.

The Salsa Verde waiting to happen

The Romesco sauce waiting to happen.

With Chef Tyler at the helm, we make everything here at The Muddy Kitchen in the afternoon, sending various members of our party out to the garden to gather the requested greens, peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic and herbs.

We start popping open the wine and beer at 5:00 pm (well, it’s 5:00 pm somewhere) and when the prep work is finished, we load it all in the Subaru along with an armload of wine bottles and bread, and drive over to Rose’s for a Summer Supper al fresco, at her breathtaking Hudson Valley spot around the corner.

Packed up and ready to head to Rose’s

As is her spécialité, Rose provides the yummy gluten free dessert on her whimsical collection of plates, the interesting and artistic guests up from Manhattan, and the piping hot cappuccino.

The night ends as it always does at Rose’s, with laughs, something sweet to cap things off, and our creeping into attic until someone swears they see something strange in the corner. Then some reminiscing about those who are no longer with us. More laughs. And occasionally – wigs.

The Guardsman bunching onions from my garden and chicken on the grill.

Waiting for dinner is part of the fun!

It’s hard to imagine a prettier spot.

Up from Manhattan, Raja enjoys his week in the country.

This nutty, smoky  sauce, which originated in Catalonia, Spain adds a decadent plop on top of our humble collection of grilled scallions, peppers and our grill-roasted potatoes.

ROMESCO SAUCE

Ingredients:

2 dried chiles, like Ancho (the smokier the better)

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

40 Marcona almonds (Chef Tyler turned down my offer of raw organic almonds in favor of these delectable crispy, salty ones)

20 pine nuts

1 cup torn cubes of stale sourdough bread

4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

2 medium-hot peppers char-grilled (or sauteed), peeled and chopped

2/3 cup dry white wine

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar (Chef Tyler used cider vinegar because it was all we had but sherry is his official choice)

1/2 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika

Salt to taste

1. Cut the chiles in pieces, place in a small mixing bowl and cover with boiling water to reconstitute. Set aside for 30 minutes.

2. Heat oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the almonds, pine nuts and torn bread cubes and stir until they begin to turn golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic, and stir until lightly browned. Add the cooked peppers. Remove from heat.

3. Drain the dried chiles and remove stems and seeds. Chop and add them to the pan. Cook a minute or so until softened. Remove from heat.

4. Transfer the mixture to a food processor and pulse until a rough paste is formed. With the machine running, slowly pour in the wine, vinegar, add the paprika and salt, to taste, then pulse briefly to blend.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups.

Rose makes sure the table has everything it needs.

Grilled scallions with Romesco Sauce.

Grilled bread and chicken with Salsa Verde.

SALSA VERDE

Salsa Verde is mild but tangy and surprisingly rich sauce given the l-i-t-e collection of ingredients. It’s a great topping for grilled fish or meats and amazing to have on hand if you’re counting calories or watching your fat intake (I’m never doing either…but someday I imagine, my luck with that will wear off).

Ingredients:

12-15 tomatillos, husks removed, quartered

5 cloves of garlic

1 medium yellow onion, char-grilled or roasted, skin removed, coarsely chopped

1 large handful of cilantro coarsely chopped

1 small handful of mint (Chef Tyler’s idea) coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon olive oil

3 large or 6 small medium-hot peppers (we used “Sweet-Hot” which are a bit like Padrons) char-grilled or roasted and skins removed

The juice of 1/2 lime

1. Add onions, hot peppers and tomatillos into a food processor and pulse a few times. Add in remaining ingredients and pulse until blended.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups.

Chile Verde can be served immediately like we did, but is better when it sits overnight in the fridge to let the flavors meld.

Rose prepares her treats.

The last of the summer meals at Rose’s house.

Take your boots off before you come in here!

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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

Catherine

love it! xo

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cara

Aahh, Can I come next time? That looks like so much fun!! You inspired me to have a grill party next weekend.

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Jennifer Solow

Yes, you’re invited. Stop by The Muddy Kitchen anytime. And take your boots off before you come in here!

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Carla Ettlinger Viggiano

Thank you so much for this awesome post! LOVED every word and picture! Miss all of you and am totally envious of the all that incredible bounty….it was MANY a night I spent stuffing myself with all the amazing creations that came out of the Viggiano kitchen. So happy that the good times continue! Love you and miss you! Hope we can get together in the not-too-distant future!

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A Table in the Sun

I love the tip about putting grilled veggies in newspaper.

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Jennifer Solow

Yes! It was great. I never thought of ‘newspaper’ as a delicious flavor note but it was. I think Tyler said his grandfather used to do it so he’s always done it like that. Whatever – it was yummy!

xJennifer

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sybaritica

Mmm … I must try doing those grilled scallions!

Reply

Jennifer Solow

Me to I had them again last night!

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