LETTER FROM FOOD & BEVERAGE
Ok, an almost summer recipe but a recipe that screams hot weather food with hot weather
ingredients.
If you follow the local growing season, it is clear that summer squash will be abundant
and inexpensive very soon. But, what deliciousness can we create with these seemingly
mundane ingredients? Certainly ratatouille is an option and is awesome as a side, in an
omelet or as a gratin. It’s Italian cousin caponata can have a prominent place in the warm
weather repertoire. Country style stewed squash like my mother in-law used to make is
also a good option as well as crispy fried squash in a fritto misto.
However, most of these can be time consuming, messy and require heating up your
kitchen. What can we do that is quick, delicious and not messy?
Enter the noble panzanella salad. Panzanella is traditionally made with dry, day-old bread,
very ripe tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, but by applying a variety of different ingredients
and firing up the grill, a range of delicious options appear. Here is one of those that my
wife and I recently cooked for a relatively light and delicious dinner salad on a warm May
evening. This was an “on the fly” dish and not beholden to any hard-fast culinary rules or
tradition, so mix it up however you want.
Eric Fritsche
Executive Chef
Grilled Flank Steak, Summer Squash and Blue Cheese Panzanella
Serves Approximately 4
10
INGREDIENTS
• 1 med-large yellow squash
• 1 med-large zucchini
• 1 red bell pepper and 1 green bell
pepper
• 1 med Vidalia onion
• 2 lbs flank steak(so you might
just have a little left over)
• your favorite steak seasoning
• 6 ozs excellent blue cheese
(gorgonzola, stilton, etc.)
• 1/2 good quality French
baguette made into large
croutons
• 2 big, fat juicy vine ripe tomatoes
• 1 bottle Kens balsamic
vinaigrette
• 6 or so nice fresh basil leaves cut
into thin ribbons
• kosher salt and peppermill
pepper
• 1 charcoal grill
(gas will do if that’s all you have)