The Long Table: An August Summer Supper (aka bbq with the joseph's)

course I 

Oysters —Southern coastal sensibility - MJ
Shrimp —butterflied grilled hot honey shrimp

course II

Tomatoes/burrata/basil — Italian/Sicilian garden food

course III

chirrozo with baguette - MJ

course IV

Tomato pie — Southern
Lamp chop with tazikik - MJ

course V

Hanger steak + chimichurri

Lemon-Dijon Green Beans with Shallot & Almonds

Pão de queijo 

course IV

Cheesecake — everybody's favorite adopted cuisine

TEST: 

Summer Tomato Pie with Cottage Cheese Béchamel

A small, savory summer tomato pie for The Long Table: An August Summer Supper

Ingredients

1 purchased 9-inch pie crust
(regular wheat crust; use a GF crust if desired)

Tomatoes

2–2½ pounds ripe summer tomatoes
Kosher salt

Cottage Cheese Béchamel

1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cashew milk

1 cup full-fat cottage cheese
2 large eggs
1/4 cup mayo 
 2 large dashes hot sauce - optional used Louisiana Hot Sauce  
1 tsp dried dill 
1 tsp onion powder 
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano
Kosher salt 

Prepare the Tomatoes

Slice the tomatoes about ¼-inch thick.

Lay them in a single layer on towels or a wire rack and sprinkle lightly with kosher salt. Let them sit for 30–45 minutes to draw out excess moisture.

Pat the tomatoes very dry.

If the tomatoes are particularly juicy, arrange them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast at 375°F for 15–20 minutes, just until they have released some moisture but still hold their shape. Allow them to cool before assembling the pie.

Prepare the Crust

Place the purchased crust in a 9-inch pie dish and prick the bottom lightly with a fork.

Chill for 15–20 minutes.

Line with parchment and fill with pie weights.

Bake at 375°F for about 10 minutes. Remove the parchment and weights and return the crust to the oven for another 3–5 minutes, until the bottom looks dry and is just beginning to color.

Set aside to cool.

Make the Cottage Cheese Béchamel

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.

Whisk in the flour and cook for a minute or two, stirring, until the flour is cooked and the mixture is smooth and fragrant.

Gradually whisk in the cashew milk. Continue cooking and stirring until the mixture thickens into a light béchamel.

Remove from the heat and allow it to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, blend the cottage cheese, eggs, Dijon and garlic until completely smooth.

Whisk the cottage-cheese mixture into the warm béchamel.

Stir in the Pecorino and season with black pepper and a small amount of salt.

Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Assemble the Pie

Spread a thin layer of the cottage-cheese béchamel over the bottom of the partially baked crust.

Arrange a layer of the prepared tomatoes over the custard.

Add another layer of béchamel, followed by more tomatoes.

Finish with the remaining custard and arrange the prettiest tomato slices over the top.

Season lightly with freshly ground black pepper.

Bake

375°F. - 45-60 minutes

Bake for approximately 45-60 minutes, or until the custard is set around the edges and the center has only a slight wobble.

If the tomatoes begin browning too quickly, loosely cover the top with foil.

Remove from the oven and allow the pie to rest for 30–45 minutes before slicing.

The filling will continue to set as it cools.

To Serve

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Lemon-Dijon Green Beans with Shallot & Almonds

Serves 4 as a small course

Green beans

1 pound fresh green beans, preferably slender
1 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 oil
red 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 person
2 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

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🔥 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 shrimp
Extra-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.

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🍅 Tomato + Burrata + Basil

This is where your Evergreen market haul comes in.

3–4 lb gorgeous ripe summer tomatoes
2 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.

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🥧 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 possible
Fresh basil

Crust

1 purchased 9-inch GF pie crust

Cottage-cheese custard

1 container full-fat cottage cheese — at least 16 oz
Eggs — 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.

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🥬 Grilled Romaine Wedge

Your established recipe, with your prosciutto substitution.

3 heads romaine — gives you beautiful substantial wedges + insurance
4–6 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.

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🥩 Hanger Steak + Chimichurri

This is Dex + M territory.

2½–3 lb hanger steak — depending on how generous you want the portions
Fresh 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.

Chimichurri 

½ bunch of parsley, approximately ½ cup of finely chopped parsley leaves
2 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh oregano
2-4 crushed garlic cloves, adjust to taste
½ cup of finely chopped scallions or green onions
1 small red chili pepper , deveined, seeded and finely chopped (can be substituted with 1-2 teaspoons of chili flakes or dried hot pepper) – adjust to your taste
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar or any vinegar, adjust to your taste
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
½ cup of oil. I personally like to use olive oil even though it's not 100% traditional Argentinian.
Salt and pepper to taste

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🧀 Pão de Queijo

The only correct quantity:

A Brazilian amount.

😂

Tapioca starch/flour
Eggs
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.

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🫘 Lemon-Dijon Green Beans

1½ lb fresh green beans — I'd rather have too many than too few
2 shallots
Dijon mustard
Red wine vinegar
2 lemons
Sliced almonds
Fresh parsley
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper

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🍰 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 recipe
Fresh 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.

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🌿 Farmers Market / Garden

This is your “buy only if gorgeous” list:

Heirloom tomatoes
Cherry/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.

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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