Alex Brown - Lust for Leaf: Vegetarian Noshes, Bashes, and Everyday Great Eats--The Hot Knives Way

Copyright 2013 by Alex Brown and Evan George Photographs by Aaron Farley All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information, address Da Capo Press, 44 Farnsworth Street, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02110. Design: Jen Wick Design Studio Typeset in HFJ Whitney and Vitesse Cataloging-in-Publication data for this book is available from the Library of Congress. First Da Capo Press edition 2013 ISBN 9780-0-7382-1698-0 (e-book) Library of Congress Control Number: 2013930052 Published by Da Capo Press A Member of the Perseus Books Group www.dacapopress.com Da Capo Press books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the U.S. by corporations, institutions, and other organizations.

For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA, 19103, or call (800) 810-4145, ext. 5000, or e-mail . 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No party is any fun unless seasoned with folly. Erasmus Desiderius

After the rain; the rainbow. Its an itch begging to be scratched. A desire for drunken revelry. A powerful lust for the company of comrades, deep glasses, and full plates. Yes, we lust after our friends, and we wanna cook for them the morning afterno, not like that. Hardwired in us all is a deep craving for communal consumption, whether that means huddling around a campfire with sticks, nibbling tea sandwiches in Sundays best, or letting loose and breaking champagne flutes at a sweaty basement party. We relish our weekends.

No, but we literally relish themwe slather minced pickles all over our days of rest and we wipe our hands on our shorts. We prefer to live every weekend like its our frats last toga party. But we replace the bongs with tongs, the hand jobs with zipping hot fresh corn, and the beer pong table with a beat-up Weber grillthats our idea of a bro-down. As food blogging, former line cooks who have staked our claim to catering blow-out backyard parties and treating all our friends to drunken brunch experiments, writing a party food cookbook was not a stretch. As long as weve been friends, weve thrown parties together and treated it like a real job. Weve been researching Lust for Leaf since before we were legal.

On the Hot Knives blog, parties are often the scene of our most brilliant, studied work. As long as weve been friends, weve thrown parties together and treated it like a real job. Weve been researching Lust for Leaf since before we were legal. Few things are as liberating as approaching a raging outdoor party. The walks up a long flight of stairs while youre clutching a cold sixpack and still hidden from sight. You enter. You enter.

Cheers and applause! You drop the sixer and anything else standing between you and kisses and hugs. Someone jabs a charred asparagus spear at your face, then someone else tilts a tequila bottle to your lips. And there you are, joining blissful oblivion. Parties dont throw themselves. They require planning, prepping, and, sometimes, praying (for a party). But dont worry, thats why were here.

We are your bearded, mezcal-swilling Marthas. Garden parties, birthday parties, or seemingly self-starting get-togethers that spring up for no other reason than its warm enough to swim in the pool. We need to lose ourselves in the heat of hanging out. It makes perfect sense that this urge comes on hotter in spring and summer. If winter holidays are about giving thanks, self-reflection, and new beginnings, summer sessions are the opposite: living whole hog, no thinking about anything other than whether the fire is hot enough to put cool fucking grill marks on a lamb-sized leek. (We do not condone winter barbecuing in a basement, but hey, do what you got to do.) But heres the rub.

This communal oblivion we prize is a fragile achievement. Its not guaranteed and it doesnt happen on its own. Parties dont throw themselves. They require planning, prepping, and, sometimes, praying (for a party). But dont worry, thats why were here. We are your bearded, mezcal-swilling Marthas.

Stewarts, we mean. All we ask is that you put our advice to good use. Pamphlet the neighborhood, call up your homies, and invite everyone you love, because before you know, it will be Monday.

Because we can channel it to make things delicious, we are fucking gods. That said, not everybody is good at starting a cooking fire. Frankly, most people suck at it. Were certain an image of three to six dudes huddled around a grill or a campfire pit scratching their beards and stabbing at a smoldering pile of lighter fuelsoaked briquettes just came to mind. This common calamity has likely led many away from their Cro-Mag roots toward the shiny and expensive ease of the gas powered grill, which surreptitiously robs you, your food, and your guests of 90 percent of the glory and good of outdoor cooking. The ritual of the ages is lost with a twist of the wrist and a neutered electric click, and even though you can grill with gas, you cant ever take it with you into the semi-wild urban outdoors.

So ditch the technological ball and chain and step into the sun, where all you need is a bag of coals, a grill, and few tricks. Armed thusly, therell be no party you cant best. Learning the essentials of taming the untamed element will quickly elevate you to Doctor status, casting you in the bronze of the ages as the one who can control that which cannot be controlled.

Its worth it. Your fire, your food, and your lungs will be free of chemicals and all their ills. If you need to resort to Kingsford, look for the stuff without lighter fluid. You dont need it.