Good morning. Welcome to Memorial Day weekend and, for those visiting coastal communities for it, the first really bad traffic of the year. Breathe deep!
I’ll be grilling. I love Rick Martínez’s recipe for Tajín grilled chicken (above), glossy and red, with a chile kick that’s complemented by a zip of lime. Serve with grilled scallions, loads of cilantro and warm tortillas, and welcome the holiday in style. (Those without grills can roast the chicken in a hot oven. If you’re doing that on a sheet pan, do yourself the favor of lining it with foil.)
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Tajín Grilled Chicken
I also love Kay Chun’s grilled tofu, which is best made early in the day so it has loads of time to marinate in the sauce. And Alison Roman’s sweet and salty grilled pork with citrus and herbs. (Once again, those without grills can prepare either recipe in a hot oven or on the stovetop in a cast-iron skillet.) I know there’ll be some hot dogs, too, to top and condiment to excess, and a nod to brat summer, and plenty of hot slaw.
Have some pickle lemonade on hand to wash it all down, some ranch water, perhaps a Greenport Shuffle or two. You don’t want anyone thirsty amid all this food.
On Monday, for the holiday itself, give these glazed lamb ribs a shot. It’s a recipe loosely based on one the chef Jim Leiken used to cook at DBGB on the Bowery in Manhattan. I’ve lately gone rogue, replacing the breast ribs with rib chops and smoking them for a few hours instead of cooking them in a low oven, before crisping them on the grill beneath a sweet and savory glaze. Perhaps with a Moroccan carrot and blood orange salad on the side? Holy cow.
And for dessert? Do yourself a favor this weekend and get to know the cat running the ice-cream truck that rumbles through the neighborhood, stopping at parks and ball courts. Chances are he’ll give you his number if you ask. If you’re serving a crowd, it’s a real stunner to end the meal by getting his rig to swing by, music jangling, so that everyone can stream out to the street for dessert.
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Now, it’s nothing to do with ripe strawberries or the correct preparation of a French 75, but you really ought to read, in The Paris Review, Jeremiah David’s accounting of the history and culture of “The Crew Change Guide,” a samizdat book “of best practices and guidelines for hopping freight trains anywhere in the U.S. and Canada.”
If you’re able, you should visit the Whitney Museum this summer to see Amy Sherald’s exhibition, “American Sublime.”
As she so often does, Joumana Khatib of The New York Times Book Review put me on to a good novel recently: Allegra Goodman’s “Isola,” about a real-life French noblewoman in the 16th century fighting for survival on an island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in Canada.
Finally, there’s a new track from The Lemonheads, the band’s first since 2006, “Deep End.” Listen to that while you’re grilling, and I’ll see you on Sunday.
Sam Sifton is an assistant managing editor, responsible for culture and lifestyle coverage, and the founding editor of New York Times Cooking.
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