We’ve been longtime fans of Mark Bittman, New York Times columnist, author of the Minimalist series of cookbooks, the definitive How to Cook Everything and any other number of other excellent cookbooks. His omnivorousness, accessibility, good humor, and basic message of culinary empowerment fit into the gastrokid philosophy quite well. If you can Cook Everything in a Minimalist manner, you’re bound to achieve that ineffable trifecta of satsifying yourself, your family, and the time constraints of family life at the dinner table. Well, the minimalist has outdone himself in a most maximalist manner in his latest story in the New York Times: 101 Summer Express: Simple Meals Ready in Ten Minutes or Less. That pretty much says it all. While number 23 “The New York supper: Bagels, cream cheese, smoked salmon. Serve with tomatoes, watercress or arugula, and sliced red onion or shallot” might not impress all alone, the collective 101 ideas are an incantatory inspiration to any home cook looking for a fast fix for the family meal. In fact, number 70 (“Sauté squid rings and tentacles in olive oil with salt and pepper. Make a sauce of minced garlic, smoked pimentón, mayo, lots of lemon juice and fresh parsley. Serve with a chopped salad of cucumber, tomato, lettuce, grated carrot and scallion, lightly dressed.”) could be authored by none other than Gastrokid’s very own Matthew Yeomans, whose family has been known to consume cephalapods and pimenton in generous quantities.
—Hugh
