Talent comes in many a flavor. I admire the master of eyeliner, balance sheet and Guitar Hero. But I counter with parking. Name a destination — traffic-clogged, yellow-curbed, signage-pocked — and I can locate an adjacent sliver of legal parking. This skill comes directly from a higher power. One day Aunt Ruth revealed to me her philosophy: Park smack in front. The next day I had the gift. I can park anywhere.
Boasting is both immodest and imprudent. I try to convince the back-seat crowd that hard work, practice, patience and good manners pay off. But some skills simply alight.
My husband, for instance, possesses potent powers of ordering. Give him a menu — plain or fancy — and he will sleuth out the best dish. His technique involves careful study of the text, much deliberation and a pre-order interrogation that leaves the waiter pale and shaken.
After which the runner delivers me the dependable, if predictable, brown-butter ravioli or poached salmon or lobster bisque. While my husband finds himself nose to nose with the home-run boudin blanc or the sizzling achiote shrimp that will remain seared into our collective memory for years. (He maintains an admirable corollary quality: He shares.)
Recently, he spent a hurried 14 hours in New York City, during which he put in 13.5 hours at work and a few minutes munching walnut pesto crostini at a neighborhood wine bar.
He came home praising the pesto. In such detail that I spent the next two days grinding walnuts and drizzling oil and chopping thyme. Until, in aggravation, I Googled the dish and discovered it had already been declared one the year’s best.
On a snack break my ordering savant had ordered, in the words of the big-city restaurant sage, “the best spread for toasted bread since crunchy peanut butter.”
Which he can now spread at home, even though I’d enjoy the challenge of a road trip, negotiating Greenwich Avenue gridlock, locating No. 52 and parking square in front.
Walnut Pesto
Serves six
1 cup shelled walnuts
Coarse salt
1 clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon sherry vinegar
3 sprigs thyme
2 oil-packed sun-dried tomato halves
1/3 cup olive oil, plus a bit for bread
1/4 cup freshly grated
1 loaf Italian bread
Parmesan cheese
1. Toast: Spread walnuts on a baking sheet, and slide into a 350-degree oven. Toast, shaking once or twice, until fragrant, crisp and brown, 13 minutes.
2. Prep: Slice garlic the long way and degerm (pull out and discard the pale green sprout). Set aside. Strip leaves off thyme branches. Set aside.
3. Swirl: With food processor running, drop garlic down the chute. Add tomatoes and pulse to bits. Add walnuts, thyme leaves, cheese and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Pulse, none too finely. Stir in vinegar and oil.
4. Grill: Slice 12 pieces of bread. Coat a cast-iron skillet with a thin film of oil. Heat over medium-high. Add bread and toast golden, 1 minute per side. Repeat with remaining slices.
5. Serve: Spread each slice of bread with a spoonful of pesto. Sprinkle with salt. Enjoy.
Provenance: Inspired by New York City’s Gottino, with a little help from The New York Times.
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LeahREskin@aol.com
