For New Yorkers, our thoughts turn to getting out of the city when the temperatures hit the 90 degree mark. As it gets sunnier, warmer, and more humid, the thought changes to a more urgent need and by Independence Day getting out of town become a full-blown obsession. No matter how air-conditioned and comfortable our apartments, no matter how close we live to a park, we suddenly want to be somewhere where summer is enjoyable, not sweaty, gross, and shared with eight million other people on an even more sweaty, gross subway platform.
We get out by train, bus, car, or bike, and we go anywhere there’s an open invitation. There are mountains, beaches, and lakes all not that far from where we live-- it’s just a matter of finding a place to stay near them. We’re New Yorkers in our twenties and we don’t exactly have summer homes. But we do have friends and parents, and friends of friend’s parents.
One of the best parts of a weekend-- or longer-- away, is the group eating. Unless we’ve wound up in the most rustic little Catskill cottage, preparing meals in the comfort of a breezy house kitchen is a pleasant change of pace from those made in our dinky apartments back in the city. But the cooking challenges of a group getaway are many. There are a lot of mouths to feed. There are no bodegas on the corner. There’s more planning and less reliable equipment. There may not be a fully stocked pantry. There are expensive trips to the grocery store. And, perhaps worst of all, there are hungry friends, hovering around, who, in spite of varying levels of kitchen prowess, insist on “helping.”
As more experienced cooks, there’s a part of us that wants to be the CEOs of the weekend’s meal plan. We want to eat well, spend some time stirring and sautéing, and perhaps work with some local ingredients. But we also don’t want to slave away during our two days of relaxation. And we certainly don’t want to spend a fortune. To have fun, our proprietary instincts must be diffused a little, our grip on the menus ever so slightly loosened. We’ve perfected a strategy, honed at weekends at friends’ houses during college and at summertime getaways in the three summers since we’ve graduated school.
It’s not a plan to follow exactly, but it does have a couple crucial rules of thumb we’d like to elaborate on. Read on for the secrets to feeding hungry quarter-lifers during a July Fourth weekend away, or any other opportunity you and your friends find to get out of town.
Pack a Meal
Make a dish before you leave town. Pack it in good tupperware and stow it in a tote. This can be a baked chicken that keeps and reheats well, without requiring the oven to be on for hours upon arrival. Or grilled vegetables and pesto on baguette for a picnic in the car en route. It could be quickbread or muffins for breakfast. It could be cookies. But while sweets double as a hostess gift, they don’t necessarily count as a meal. When you bring a fully made meal, you prevent group decision-making and shopping. You can buy the ingredients at a store you’re used to and where you know where the bargains are. Plus, you’ve got your pantry and your tools to cook with. And no friends hanging around to distract you. People will be really happy to sit down to a whole meal, especially after a long trip.
Delegate the Meat
We’re forward-thinking, modern women, but we’re able to admit the truth in some gender stereotypes. Which is why we say: Grill for dinner, and put the resident Alpha males in charge. They’ll shop, marinate the meat (which they’ve spent more money on than you would have), light up the barbecue, all with great enthusiasm and pride. The meat will be good, genuinely really good. This may not have been the case if you tried to delegate say, the salad. While the dudes are grilling, everyone else can make sides: bread, corn, salad, pasta—whatever.
Guinness-Marinated Steak
Makes 10 servings
What you need:
2 cloves garlic, pushed through a press, or finely minced • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard • 2 teaspoons salt • 1 pint Guinness • 4 pounds flank steak
What to do:
In a large dish or bowl, combine the garlic, mustard, salt, and guiness. Stir to combine. Place the steak in the marinade and place, covered lightly, in the fridge for 1-2 hours (it may take this long for the guys to figure out how to use the grill). Grill to medium-rare. Slice and serve.
Make Guacamole
Guacmole is the most delicious summer snack food. Everyone likes it. We think we have the best recipe (find it below). Granted, if you make it in a group, you’ll find that everyone thinks that. But since you can’t mess up guacamole (with the exception of using unripe avocados...don’t do that), that’s an acceptable delusion. One guy Cara spent a weekend with sprinkled dried cumin in his guac. She was skeptical, but it was great. And the best part of guacamole is that it’s a unifier. It’s vegetarian, not unhealthful, and satisfying. All you need for completion are tortilla chips, and maybe some carrot sticks for dipping. You don’t need any other snacks around at all if you have enough chips and guacamole, though we do allow for a purchased salsa or two. This preserves focus at the grocery store, and it saves money.
Guacamole
8-10 servings
What you need:
2 cloves garlic, pushed through a press, or finely minced with salt • 3 limes, juiced • 1 cup cilantro leaves, chopped • ½ cup finely diced red onion • 3 medium plum tomatoes, seeded and diced • 1 tablespoon minced pickled jalapeños (or 1 fresh, seeds removed) • 8 ripe avocados—soft to the touch but not mushy • 2 teaspoons salt • ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
What to do:
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the garlic, the juice of 2 limes, cilantro, red onion, tomatoes, and jalapenos. Stir to combine.
Wait to add the avocado until (at most) an hour or so before serving. Halve the avocados, and with a large kitchen knife, remove the pit by wedging your knife into it and twisting. Reserve 4 pits. Take a large spoon and separate the avocado from its skin, then cut each half into chunks. Add the avocados to the bowl of other ingredients and mash together with the other ingredients, with a masher or the back of a spoon. You don’t want a puree—you sort of want a mush with a few chunks left in it.
Squeeze the remaining lime over the top and submerge the four pits just below the surface of the mixture. Cover tightly in plastic wrap. This should prevent the guacamole from browning for at least an hour or two before serving.
Before serving, remove the pits, mix together, and taste for seasoning.
Breakfast
Breakfast may be the best meal to take complete control of, especially if you’re an early riser—or are relegated to sleeping on the couch by the kitchen. No one cares exactly when it happens, and people tend to be much less picky about how it happens. You can spend a nice quiet 45 minutes in the kitchen before anyone gets up, which can be a nice pause in a weekend full of people, drinking, and fun.
Breakfast Burrito Buffet
Makes 10 servings
What you need:
10-15 medium flour tortillas • 3 dozen eggs • 16 ounces grated cheddar or Monterey jack cheese • 2 15-ounce cans of black beans • guacamole • salsa
What to do:
1) Wrap the tortillas in foil and stick them in a 300°F oven.
2) Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat.
3) Place the guacamole, salsa, and cheese into bowls and set them on a counter by the stove—this is where your buffet will take place.
4) Warm the black beans with their canning liquid and salt, pepper, and cumin over medium heat.
5) Coat a large non-stick skillet with olive oil. Pour in the eggs and slowly scramble over medium-low heat until they form small curds (this will take 20 minutes or so).
6) Take out the tortillas from the oven and put them on a plate by the eggs and the beans.
7) Let friends grab a tortilla, pile with eggs, beans, cheese, guacamole, and salsa. Roll and eat.
Find the Cleaner-Uppers
There’s not much worse than waking up after a night of boozing by the pool to find browning guacamole on the dishes that are scattered all over. In a given group, there will be people with high guilt reflexes. These are the people you need to locate. Make one tiny reference to the fact that you’ve done all the cooking and they’ll jump on the chance to clean. Suddenly, you’re no longer in charge. Bring in a few plates from the table, ask if you can do anything to help, but you’re no longer the one responsible. However, if it’s the host who gets stuck spearheading the clean-up, our morality says you do need to get back on the bandwagon, pick up a broom, and get moving.
Cara Eisenpress and Phoebe Lapine are the quarter life cooks. You can follow their culinary adventures on their site "Big Girls, Small Kitchen."
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