Sunday lunch: ‘I needed to feed my starter’ edition.

1. Turkey sandwiches with homemade sourdough bread. Super easy to make, minus the fuss with the bread and my Pyrex dish exploding.

1½ to 2 pounds of deli sliced, hickory smoked turkey breast
8 ounces goat cheese
4 plum tomatoes
arugula
sourdough or focaccia bread

Microwave the goat cheese for a few seconds to get it to spreadable consistency. Spread on one side of two slices of bread. Layer one bread slice with arugula, a quarter of a plum tomato, sliced, and two to three slices of turkey. Top with bread and skewer with a toothpick. Makes about 16 sandwiches.

2. Macaroni salad

I simplified this by including only macaroni, celery, egg, and mayo, along with adding sliced, pimento stuffed olives and Dijon mustard. Seasoned simply with salt and pepper.

3. Sparkling lemonade, which is about three tablespoons to a quarter cup of lightly sweetened lemon simple syrup + a cup of club soda.

Lightly Sweetened Lemon Simple Syrup

grated zest of one lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 3-4 lemons)
½ cup water
½ cup sugar

Combine ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Let cool. Strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove zest.

To make this more sweet and intensely lemony, use a full cup of lemon juice and a full cup of sugar. Omit the water. Makes about 1 cup of syrup.

Sunday grilling: chicken burger edition!

1. Provençal Chicken Burgers with Pissaladière Topping
…except I turned the topping into regular caramelized onions because my sister doesn’t like olives and there’s no way that I’m putting anchovy anything into anything. Put together with homemade sourdough buns, homemade Caesar spread, baby arugula, and slices of cucumber.

2. Sweet Potato Fries with Basil Salt and Garlic Mayonnaise
These fries and dip are absolutely to die for! The sweetness and saltiness of the fries with the basil, plus the garlic and lemony creaminess of the mayonnaise… Heaven. The only reason there were any leftovers is because the burgers were so darn filling.

3. Peach-Ginger Iced Tea
I think I’ll put less ginger next time, it was sadly overpowering both the peach and the tea. Maybe it’s because the tea was still hot when I added it and it brewed the ginger? I’ll mince it next time as well to make it easier to strain out.

The best part of any holiday is using it as an excuse to make and enjoy lots of good food. Since our last two barbecues have been burgers, I decided it was time to do something different. Spending all day in the kitchen was definitely worth the results and a fridge full of leftovers means I get to take the day off from cooking today! Since this post is a bit heavy on the photos, read on for the full menu and recipes.

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Since Memorial Day this year fell after the end of spring quarter, I had the chance to celebrate and grill with the family. In an attempt to improve on the somewhat liquid turnout of the patties two summers ago, I decided once again to make the turkey burgers with bacon, Swiss, and spicy mayonnaise from the July 2008 issue of Martha Stewart Living. Last time I made these, I tried to save some time by chopping the red onion and cilantro that go into the patties using a food processor, which turned them into mush and made the patties runny and nearly impossible to grill. This year, I sucked up the tears and diced the red onion by hand, which resulted in perfectly shaped burgers:

And no problems on the grill for my dad:

Following the recipe practically to the letter, I also made the spicy mayonnaise instead of the Real Simple homemade Caesar sauce I substituted last time. It definitely had a lot more kick than I expected—and about as much as I could stand eating—but paired wonderfully with the cilantro and Dijon in the patties. Rounding out the burger filling were lettuce, tomato, and hickory smoked bacon, all on sourdough buns that I baked myself the day before!

For the liquid accompaniment I used the Kiwifruit Caipiroska recipe in the current (June) issue of Living, which turned out too bitter for everyone’s tastes. Already planning for next time, I’m thinking about making either watermelon margaritas or the Pimm’s Cup recipe in the same issue.

The whole table, before everything got devoured:

Overall, a success—with even some leftovers for lunch the next day!

Homemade breakfast (for lunch): Sourdough pancakes with sour cherries in syrup.

To keep Sally, my sourdough starter, happy and alive after spending 20 hours in my suitcase as I flew from Georgia to California, I fed her flour and water on arrival and once again this afternoon. Rather than discarding a cup the last time around—I want to keep her at room temperature for a while, which necessitates feeding twice a day, to get her going for tomorrow’s burger buns—I decided to make pancakes. They turned out so good! Great bread-like taste in the form of a pancake.

Another hallmark of returning home after months of being away: I’ll never know what I’ll find in the pantry (usually a total mess). This time there was a jar of sour cherries in light syrup just sitting there. I simmered some with half a cup of sugar to sweeten and thicken the syrup; it ended up being a perfect topping for the pancakes.

I can’t express how glad I am to finally have use of my cast iron skillet and vintage stove once again.