Shrimp —butterflied grilled hot honey shrimp
course II
Grilled romaine + blue cheese + prosciutto — French-ish bistro
Pão de queijo
course VI
Cheesecake — everybody's favorite adopted cuisine
TEST: Summer Tomato Pie — Cottage Cheese Custard
For one 9-inch pie, about 8 small dinner-party wedges
The crust
9-inch GF pie crust
Bake at 375°F until the edges are set, then remove the weights and bake until the bottom is beginning to dry and lightly color.
Let it cool while you prepare everything else.
Tomatoes
You want about 2½–3 pounds gorgeous summer tomatoes.
I'd use a mixture if the market gives you options.
Slice them about ¼-inch thick.
Lay them on towels or a rack and sprinkle lightly with kosher salt.
Let them sit 30–45 minutes.
Then pat them very dry.
For especially juicy heirlooms, I'd go one step further: put them on a parchment-lined sheet and roast at 375°F for about 15–20 minutes, just until they lose some moisture but are still recognizably beautiful tomato slices.
Cool them before assembling.
Cottage Cheese Custard
1 cup full-fat cottage cheese2 large eggs
¼ cup unsweetened cashew milk
1 TB Dijon mustard
1 small garlic clove, finely grated
1/4 tsp kosher salt
generous black pepper
1 TB grated Pecorino
Blend everything until completely smooth.
TEST Put 1 tablespoon of the custard in a small skillet or ramekin and cook it gently until set.
Taste it.
You're looking for something like a savory soft quiche custard—creamy, tangy, gently eggy, with Dijon and garlic in the background.
If it tastes too eggy → add another tablespoon of cottage cheese.
If it's too thick → another tablespoon or two of cashew milk.
If it needs more savory depth → Parmesan/Pecorino.
Assembly
Once your crust and tomatoes are ready:
Spread about ⅓ of the custard over the bottom of the crust.Arrange a layer of tomatoes.
Add another ⅓ of the custard.
More tomatoes.
Finish with the remaining custard.
Top with your prettiest tomato slices.
Bake
I'd start at:
350°F for approximately 40–50 minutes.
You're looking for:
custard set around the edgescenter with just a tiny wobble
tomatoes softened and concentrated
crust fully cooked
If the tomatoes are getting too dark before the custard is set, loosely tent the top with foil.
Then let it cool at least 30 minutes before cutting.
For your dinner, make it earlier in the day, refrigerate it, and then bring it back toward room temperature before reheating.
Lemon-Dijon Green Beans with Shallot & Almonds
Serves 4 as a small course
Green beans
1 pound fresh green beans, preferably slender1 small shallot, very finely minced
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
1–2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons toasted sliced almonds
1–2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Kosher salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
Cook the beans
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil.
Add the green beans and cook until just tender but still bright and snappy, about 3–4 minutes depending on their size.
Drain well.
For this dinner, I would not shock them in ice water. We want them warm enough to absorb the dressing.
Make the dressing
Whisk together:
olive oilred wine vinegar
Dijon
lemon juice
lemon zest
shallot
a good pinch of salt
lots of black pepper
Taste it.
You want sharp and lively, because these are coming after hanger steak and pão de queijo.
Finish
While the beans are still warm, toss them gently with the dressing.
Let them sit 5–10 minutes so the beans absorb some of that vinaigrette.
Just before serving, fold in the parsley and toasted almonds.
Taste again and adjust the salt, lemon, or vinegar.
The Long Table — Shopping List
🦪 Oysters
16–20 fresh oysters — 4–5 per person2 lemons
Fresh horseradish, optional
Mignonette ingredients if you don't have them: shallot + red wine vinegar + black pepper
Ice — more than you think you'll need for oysters and keeping things cold
🔥 Grilled Shrimp + Hot Honey
Your recipe calls for 20 large shrimp / 1 lb 8/12 shrimp.
1½ lb large shell-on, deveined shrimp — gives you 20+ nice shrimpExtra-virgin olive oil
Garlic — 1 head
Paprika
Kosher salt
1–2 shallots
Capers — 1 jar
1 red finger chile, or serrano/jalapeño
Fresh oregano
1 lemon
Fresh parsley
Honey for everyone else's hot-honey drizzle
Red chile flakes
Additional lemon for zest/juice
For you: I'd make your shrimp without the honey drizzle and finish yours with the chile/lemon component.
🍅 Tomato + Burrata + Basil
This is where your Evergreen market haul comes in.
3–4 lb gorgeous ripe summer tomatoes2 large balls burrata
Fresh basil — check your plant first!
Excellent extra-virgin olive oil
Flaky sea salt
Fresh black pepper
GF baguette or excellent GF crackers
Regular crusty baguette for the wheat eaters, if desired
GF bread
Since this is an important course, I'd buy the best GF baguette you can find rather than making one. If you find a truly good one, freeze any excess and warm it shortly before serving.
🥧 Tomato Pie
This is the experimental one, so I'm listing what we currently think you'll need.
Produce
2½–3 lb meaty tomatoes — separate from the prettiest tomatoes for the burrata course if possibleFresh basil
Crust
1 purchased 9-inch GF pie crustCottage-cheese custard
1 container full-fat cottage cheese — at least 16 ozEggs — 1 dozen total for the whole dinner/baking needs
Unsweetened cashew milk
Dijon mustard
Garlic
Parmesan or Pecorino — small amount, optional
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Important: I'd buy extra tomatoes rather than trying to allocate them too precisely. If the market has incredible tomatoes, we're going to want them.
🥬 Grilled Romaine Wedge
Your established recipe, with your prosciutto substitution.
3 heads romaine — gives you beautiful substantial wedges + insurance4–6 oz good prosciutto
2–3 tomatoes
Green onions
2–3 shallots for crispy shallots
Blue cheese
Greek yogurt
Mayonnaise
Red wine vinegar
Hot sauce
Garlic
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper
And your window-box greens will be perfect for finishing the plates.
🥩 Hanger Steak + Chimichurri
This is Dex + M territory.
2½–3 lb hanger steak — depending on how generous you want the portionsFresh parsley — a big bunch
Fresh oregano
Garlic
Red wine vinegar
Extra-virgin olive oil
Red chile flakes
Kosher salt
Black pepper
I'd actually let Dex decide how much steak he wants to buy. He's the grill master and presumably knows his preferred hanger-steak quantity.
🧀 Pão de Queijo
The only correct quantity:
A Brazilian amount.
😂
Tapioca starch/flourEggs
Milk or your preferred milk
Cheese — whatever your established pão de queijo recipe uses
Butter or olive oil
Salt
I'd ask Dex how much cheese/tapioca he needs for his normal “there will be a basket” quantity, because I'm not going to interfere with Brazilian pão de queijo mathematics.
And happily, these are GF, so you can eat them too.
🫘 Lemon-Dijon Green Beans
1½ lb fresh green beans — I'd rather have too many than too few2 shallots
Dijon mustard
Red wine vinegar
2 lemons
Sliced almonds
Fresh parsley
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper
🍰 THE CHEESECAKE
I'm not going to reinvent the cheesecake shopping list because we already have the cheesecake you loved.
For that course, make sure you have:
All ingredients from your established cheesecake recipeFresh strawberries and/or blueberries
Lemon, if your berry treatment needs it
Whatever you use for the crust
Any garnish you've already decided on
And I would buy more berries than you think you need. Some go on the cheesecake; the rest mysteriously disappear during dinner preparation. This is a known phenomenon.
🌿 Farmers Market / Garden
This is your “buy only if gorgeous” list:
Heirloom tomatoesCherry/small tomatoes
Basil
Parsley
Oregano
Green beans
Beautiful little salad greens
Maybe edible flowers, if something gorgeous catches your eye
And check your basil before buying it. If that plant has gone absolutely berserk, you've got your basil.
Pantry check before you shop
I'd look through your kitchen for:
Olive oil
Dijon
Red wine vinegar
Apple cider vinegar
Capers
Honey
Chile flakes
Paprika
Kosher salt
Flaky salt
Black pepper
Mayonnaise
Greek yogurt
Cashew milk
Almonds
Garlic
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