March 27

The Brown and the Pink

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• Roast Beef with Gremolata [View Recipe]

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  Ingredients

  • 1.5 pounds beef
  • salt & pepper
  • 1 tablespoon parsley (cleaned and chopped)
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest

  Instructions

  We start by preheating the oven to <temp val="500"/>. We place the meat on a sheet pan with sides and insert our remote thermometer probe lengthwise into the meat to get close to the center. With clean hands, we liberally sprinkle the meat with freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt.

  When the oven is preheated, we lower the temperature to <temp val="350"/>. We place the sheet pan (with the roast and thermometer) into the oven and close the door. We set the thermometer to beep when the internal temperature of the meat is <temp val="120"/>. This is for rare meat at the center.

  We roast the beef for about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, we make the gremolata. On a clean cutting board we chop the parsley and garlic together and then combine them with the lemon zest in a ramekin. We mix with a small fork and set aside until we are ready to serve.

  When the meat is cooked to our liking, we remove the pan from the oven and place on top of the stove. We cover the meat loosely with aluminum foil and allow it to rest for 20 minutes.

  Using tongs, we move the meat to a cutting board and remove the thermometer. We slice it thinly crosswise and serve with a little of the gremolata. The leftover meat and gremolata are refrigerated (although there isn't much left!).

• Lemon-Lime Squares [View Recipe]

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  Ingredients

  • .5 pound butter
  • 1.75 cups flour
  • .25 cup wheat germ
  • .25 cup confectioners' sugar
  • .75 teaspoon salt (divided)
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 cups sugar
  • .33 cup flour
  • 2 large lemons (rinsed)
  • 5 large limes (rinsed)

  Instructions

  We start by preheating the oven to <temp val="350"/> for baking the crust. We cut the butter into teaspoon size pieces and place on a plate. We put this in the freezer to harden up while we get the rest of the ingredients ready.

  On a large piece of wax paper, we measure out 1 and ¾ cup of flour and put in our food processor. To this, we add the wheat germ, confectioners' sugar, and ¼ teaspoon of salt. We pulse a few times to mix.

  We remove the ice-cold butter from the freezer and add to the processor. We pulse 20 times quickly and check the consistency. We want the butter to be mixed into the flour in clumps the size of peas. We pulse another 10 times, check again, and then another 10 times&#8212;at which point the mixture is ready.

  We dump the crust ingredients into our oblong baking dish (8.875 inches by 12.625 inches). Using a piece of wax paper, we press the crust across the bottom of the dish and a half an inch up the sides. We bake this in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. We want it golden and fragrant. The crust is set aside for half an hour on a wire rack to cool.

  Meanwhile, we get the filling prepared. In a batter bowl, we whisk the eggs, granulated sugar, and the third cup of flour for the filling. Over a clean piece of wax paper, we zest a lemon with our microplane until we have ½ tablespoon.

  Then, we place the two lemons on a microwave-safe plate, and microwave for 30 seconds to "get their juices flowing". We squeeze the lemons into a large measuring cup lined with a small strainer to catch the seeds. We want 3 ounces of lemon juice.

  Next, we zest a couple of limes. We want ½ tablespoon of the lime zest as well. We add both zests to the batter bowl.

  Again, we want to get the maximum amount of juice from the limes. We place them on the plate and microwave for 30 seconds. We juice the limes to get another 3 ounces of citrus juice. We whisk the combined ¾ cup of lemon and lime juices into the batter bowl. We also add the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt.

  We pour the filling onto the cooled crust and bake for 25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the cooking time. We want the filling just set in the center. We remove the pan from the oven with pot holders and cool on a wire rack.

  We refrigerate until we are ready to serve, then cut them into bars and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

• Mashed White Potatoes (with skins on)
• Salad with Peas and Red Wine Vinaigrette
• Roasted Sweet Potatoes