1
I start by peeling, slicing, and de-seeding my cukes — plucked just moments ago from the vines overhanging our roof-deck.
2
I’ve washed my mint leaves and patted them dry with paper towels, and now I’ve got them all stacked loosely together, stems aligned. Then I take that bundle and roll it into a loose cigar. Using my just sharpened chef’s knife, I slice as thinly as I can. The results: crispy, very thin, very long ribbons of snappy, minty freshness.
3
Along with salt, pepper, and the yoghurt, I add my mint to a bowl with the cucumbers.
4
I mix the contents of the bowl together very well, adding more salt and pepper as needed to taste. I also add some minced red onion. This goes into the fridge to chill.
5
The corn has also been a theme around here lately — it’s just so sweet, fresh, and good right now! We grill them simply by just removing all the outer husk – leaving only the inner-most leaves intact – and placing them directly on the hot grill. They take about 25 minutes, so we give them a small head-start over the veal which will only take 15 or so.
6
Speaking of veal – pepper is all these steaks need; veal is so tender and delicious on its own, and I really wanted to enjoy just the unadulterated flavor of the meat. Besides, my thought is that the cucumber salad will be a lovely accompaniment to this dish – sort of a riff on lamb and tzatziki.
7
These lovely heirloom tomatoes – one a black crimson, I think, and the other a big yellow – hail from Kimball’s Fruit Farm stand. If the tomatoes I’m eating I haven’t grown myself, then I’ve purchased them from these guys — they really know their fruit!
8
A caprese salad might be a tired concept – showing up as it does *everywhere* – but more often than not these days it’s made with crappy, tasteless tomatoes, pre-packaged pesto sauce, dry, rubbery mozzarella cheese, and “ay-tail-E-anne” dressing. When it’s made with real quality ingredients like these rich, sweet, meaty heirloom tomatoes, my own garden’s abundant Italian basil, true fresh mozzarella gently formed from curds and floating in brine, nutty EVOO and thick, viscous balsamic vinegar – it is a revelation. Topped with some exotic flakes of black salt (blended with volcanic ash, a gift from my sweet sister), this colorful salad is as strikingly beautiful as it is devastatingly delicious.
9
I plate this next to a cold mountain of my creamy, minty, crispy cucumbers.
10
After 10 minutes on the grill, my peppered veal steaks are browning perfectly, and are ready to flip. The smell of sizzling meat is making me salivate.
11
We’ve been rolling the corn around pretty regularly, too, so it can cook on all sides. The husks become nice and papery, and the silks crisp and dry. It only takes a moment, when the cobbs are ready, to peel back the paper and string and snap everything off at the base, leaving nothing but hot, steaming corn ready to be rolled in butter.
12
Now that’s a plate. Except for the pat of butter adorning the corn (which we laid on our slice of bread, to give it a good place to wallow), there is very little fat on this filling and full platter of supper! Lean veal, simply grilled, two light salads – both fresh and locally sourced – and super-sweet corn come together in a symphony of salubrious satisfaction. Well worth the 14 miles biked there and back, this repast is a rich reward for another work week down, and just the right way to rev ourselves up for the work week just on the other side of Sunday. As the sun slowly sets in the west, streaking the sky with brilliant azure and fierce crimson, Clayton and I tuck into our dinners with enthusiasm – oooohhhing and aaaahhhing on each outstanding bite.
