But ketchup, now that’s the stuff. I honestly don’t know if I can ever get enough on a burger, on hash browns, on onion rings–and it is the raison d’être for my meatloaf.  Make that ketchup at home, inveigle a little steak sauce zestiness into it and then some, and you have a ketchup fit for slurping right out of the bottle.  Here’s a close approximation of my home recipe.  There’s no added sugar in this recipe because the raisins do the talking. I make this recipe by feel–so follow your heart and adjust according to your own instincts.

Makes about 1.5 quarts

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, diced
3 8oz cans unsalted stewed tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
2 cups raisins
2 guajillo chilis or 1 generous pinch of red pepper flakes
¼ cup cider vinegar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground clove
1 teaspoon allspice
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
1 tablespoon orange zest
Water
Fleur de sel

Heat olive oil, onion, and garlic in large heavy saucepan, sauté until translucent.  Add all the other ingredients except the ginger, water, and fleur de sel.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.  Fill blender ¾ full. Add the ginger and orange zest.  Add a little water.  Pour through strainer (not sieve) and strain into large saucepan.  Blend and strain the remaining mixture.  Add water to achieve desired consistency.  Add fleur de sel to taste.  Simmer for 10 minutes and pour into sterilized jars.  Keeps for several months in the refrigerator.

Your father will be so happy.

Don’t forget: Father’s Day is coming up on Sunday, June 19th. Orders before noon PST today (3pm EST) are guaranteed to arrive in time for Father’s Day! We’ve got a few ideas for ways that you can show Dad who’s number one without resorting to the emblazoned coffee mug.

EAT

Cook & Serve Himalayan Salt Block Set – Whether for a beginner or a seasoned veteran, this set of two salt blocks will do the job. Includes one tableware block for serving up a platter of sweet summer fruits or sea-fresh sashi, and one cookware block for grilling up the best scallops or flank steak you’ve ever had. Or put them both together and cure a filet of salmon! Let your dad’s imagination run wild.

BBQ Salt Set - For the grilling king. This set provides him with six superb salts to finish, rub, or encrust at the BBQ all summer long. Available in 1.2 oz and 2 oz jars, this set is going to make your father’s barbecues the big hit of the summer.

DRINK

Home Bar Set – This set comes with three salts, two bitters, and a jar of cherries; the foundation for your father’s home bar. He’ll be able to bring color and flavor to the rim of a stiff, chilled drink with these salts, including one smoked and one lemon-infused. The classic duo of old-fashioned and orange bitters along with dark cherries in a spiced Merlot syrup will give him what he needs to create delicious cocktails, both classic and contemporary.

Bitters, Old Men – An artisan line of bitters from the home of the Manhattan, these bottled tinctures come in intriguing flavors like roasted macadamia, smoke, and bacon. A cheeky gift for your favorite bitter old man.

LEARN

Chilling & Grilling with Himalayan Salt Blocks – Portland Location

Join us for an evening class on preparing food on 600 million year old salt blocks from Pakistan. This event includes snacks, wine and an in-depth discussion of everything you ever wanted to know (and everything you never knew you always wanted to know), about cooking with plates and blocks and bricks and rocks of Himalayan Pink salt.

Thursday, June 16th, 2011, 6:30pm to 8:00pm – $30 per person

CELEBRATE!

Today, June 14th marks the Fifth Anniversary of our shop in Portland! At a loss for words. So come celebrate with us in Portland as we toast to five wonderful years in the City of Roses. Drinks, snacks, and good company in abundance–so stop by and let us thank you personally for your many years of custom and friendship. We’re looking forward to seeing you all there!

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011, 5:00pm to 8:00pm
Hey all you New Yorkers, we look forward to seeing you for our One Year Anniversary in October!

Happy Father’s Day from Jennifer, Mark, and the staff at The Meadow

My Cesar Salad is a true fighting Cesar.  Obviously if you have a last name like Vongerichten and a stable of passionate sous chefs and “a privately owned auberge situated in the French Huguenot valley of Franschhoek” and chicken eggs raised on grubs fed from the chef’s virgin daughter’s own lips, then, maybe, just maybe, your Cesar can compete with my Cesar Salad–but your sous chefs will still be perfectly happy sitting at my peasant’s table.

To make the best Cesar Salad, one delicate enough to precede almost any meal yet hearty enough to suffice as meal in itself:

1. Cut three or four slices of Como or other firm crusty European-style white bread into cubes and set on cookie sheet
2. Set cookie sheet with bread cubes in oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, turning occasionally to avoid burning
3. Squeeze 2 small-ish or 1 1/2 medium-ish lemons into a quart mason jar
4. Crack 1 free-yard, bug fed chicken’s egg into the jar
5. Press 2 or 3 cloves garlic into jar (the only excuse for owning a garlic press is Cesar Dressing)
6. Mince three or four Scalia anchovy filets and add to jar (among the best Cesar Salad dressing anchovies I have ever enountered–nutty, buttery, delicately perfume, bringing richness and balance where no (or few) other jarred, salted, or fresh-marinated anchovies can compare).
7. Arrange remaining anchovies on a plate from which guests may serve themselves
8. Pour olive oil remaining in anchovy jar into the mason jar
9. Crack 2 or 3 teaspoons good black pepper (like Parameswaran’s pepper) into the jar
10. Add 1 teaspoon good red wine vinegar (a TOP SECRET secret that I can’t believe I am sharing here with the likes of Vongerichten). I am crazy about Toro Albala, which may or may not be available in the future
11. The jar is now filled about 3/4 of an inch to 1 inch of liquid, mostly acid parts of the dressing. It is time for the oil. Here comes another TOP SECRET tip that assures a salad that is both light and full flavored:
12. Add 1 part grape seed oil and 1 part very good but not absurdly expensive olive oil (I use Almazara Luis Herrera Aceite de Lagrima Olive Oil, which has great fruit and vegetable and floral notes). The two parts combined should just-less-than-double the amount of liquid in the jar, so you should now have something like 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches of liquid in the jar, total. Keeping the amount of oil lower than the amount of acid brings the balance we are looking for, and cutting the amount of olive oil in half creates a beautiful lightness to the body/mouthfeel of the dressing
13. Tighten top onto the jar and shake like mad for 15 seconds to blend and emulsify
14. Turn bread crumbs on cookie sheet to brown more evenly
15. Wash and dry 1 head of very good romaine lettuce, preferably from your garden or a local Farmer’s Market
16. Break lettuce into a large salad bowl in pieces small enough to to toss but big enough to be a hassle (cutting down on the pretension level of the salad while still leaving you with a substantial piece of green to cut and fork and crunch and occasionally make a mess with while you eat)
17. Grate 1/2 cup good Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and set aside. Parmigiano Reggiano is ideal because it is less salty, more nutty, and more delicate than cheap Parmesan cheese or most commonly available Pecorino cheeses
18. Remove bread cubes from oven and let cool, observing that they are now a toasty golden color, and formidably hard and brittle
19. Shake dressing again for a few seconds, and then spoon from the bottom (to help get some of the bits of garlic and anchovy) onto the salad and toss until all leaves are nicely coated
20. Add bread cubes to fill around 3/4 of the mason jar containing the remaining dressing, and turn jar back and forth a few times to soak the cubes in the dressing
21. Sprinkle half the grated parmisan cheese on the leaves and toss to distribute evenly
22. Turn mason jar to re-coat bread cubes.
23. When the cubes have soaked up all the dressing, pour them over the greens and toss
24. Serve the salad onto large plates, and sprinkle lightly with some of the remaining Parmesan
25. Advise guests not to shy away serving themselves additional anchovies

The amount of garlic and pepper can be adjusted to taste, but I advise even the most ardent anchovy avoiders to use the full amount of anchovies, especially if they are good ones, as they are responsible for they are largely responsible for the majesty of the Caesar Salad.

Serve with dry white wine or classic provencal rosé wine.