bacon.
Checkmate
/knocks King over.
The End
- Mushrooms sauteed with garlic and white wine or sherry. Chanterelles are my favorite, but really any kind will do in a pinch. Need something more? Serve it on good toasted crusty bread.
- Spaghetti with olive oil, bread crumbs and garlic (and sometimes a pinch of red pepper flakes).
- Miso soup. I use a vegetarian alternative to dashi that uses kombu and dried shitakes but requires no cooking (let them soak in room temperature water for any where from 20 minutes to a few hours). Heat the stock, add the miso, cut up the dried shitakes from the stock, add some tofu and scallions and you have a satisfying and complex soup.
- Gazpacho. I normally only make this when I have everything fresh in my garden.
I can only say yes to this.
Interestingly, in light of my “bacon” response above, I agree that this is a close second IF AND ONLY IF there are actual fresh vine ripened tomatoes. Years ago, when I had a better plot for a home garden (my current house has too much shade) we grew tomatoes, a green pepper plant, a cucumber vine, and onions and garlic. One day, we grabbed some tomatoes and all the other vegetables, went into the house, washed off the mud, threw them into a blender, and made great gazpacho. I seem to recall adding an ounce of sherry and maybe a bit of tomato juice to loosen it up.
At the height of tomato season, we go through about 1-2 quarts of it a day. I used to buy the peppers and cucumber and just grow the tomatoes, but now we grow them all. I use Jose Andre’s “recipe:” fill the blender 3/4 with ripe tomatoes, add 1/2 cucumber, 1/2 a green pepper, a couple of garlic, a glug of sherry vinegar and blend. Add olive oil while it’s blending and then strain it and add salt/pepper. (OK, I don’t actually use the olive oil anymore, but the rest is the same). If the cucumbers or peppers are small, I use the whole thing.
That all sounds well and good and fairly easy, but ice cold tomato soup can’t hold a candle to a perfectly fresh caprese salad.
I guess I agree with you all!
All the quintessential Roman pastas:
cacio e pepe
la gricia
carbonara
amatriciana
Roast Chicken (I don’t like the under the skin method - burned garlic, oils separating from butter, too dark skin by the time it’s done - rather I much prefer something like the Marcella Hazan chicken with two lemons which is easy, requires no additional fat of any kind, and renders a great sauce)
Omelettes - I prefer fresh herb (usually tarragon) or mushroom
Spaghetti ai Tartufi Neri.
It can if you don’t eat dairy…![[neener.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/3/3bd35321ffd7ed2243d1d518ebb606d554360600.gif "[neener.gif]"){kind=small}
Oh and you don’t serve it ice cold. I serve it slightly chilled but not really even cold (chilling it takes too long). I nornally strain it into a metal bowl in a sink of cool water and leave it for five minues
Guacamole
Pesto
Hummus
Oven roasted tomatoes
gremolata
All you folks saying Roast Chicken, I don’t disagree necessarily, but are you including the hassle of brining?
Or do you buy koshered, or pre-brined (TJ’s has one), or just not bother brining at all?
Steamed blue crabs w/Old Bay
Stone crabs (have to make a mustard sauce)
Steak tartare
With a bit more work, seafood gumbo
Even simpler - rib lamb chops.
A bit of salt, under the broiler, flip once, all done!
I do the Zuni method for roast chicken now so it requires a fair amount of lead time which disqualifies it for me.
But I agree that bacon probably wins the thread.
The Zuni method is awesome and what I usually do. But in a pinch all you need is a good chicken, some salt, pepper, and herbs, and 40-50 minutes in a 475 degree oven. That’s what I did last night. The total prep time is about a minute, and it’s delicious.
I don’t think brining is a hassle, but I don’t do it. At least not since I’ve been able to get my hands on better chickens. I’ve been using “Lancaster Reds”, which I believe is a heritage bird from Pennsylvania. They are smaller with normal sized breasts and a deeper, darker, but not quite gamey flavor. Very delicious.
Before that when I was cooking the typical American chicken (and I include the higher end stuff like Bell & Evans), I prefered to brine as the birds were essentially flavorless. Likewise with the typical, no fat/no flavor pork and certainly turkey. But this is to replace what used to be flavor before it was bred out of the animals. When the meat actually contains flavor, the brine simply covers it up. That pork chop and that chicken, once brined, will taste surprisingly similar.
But even where brining is helpful, the only issue is that you need to do it the day (or hours) before. The process itself could not be simpler. I use equal parts salt and sugar dissolved in very hot water with the subsequent addition of lots of very cold water to bring the temp down. I then add whatever other seasoning interests me (or none), food goes in the brine, weighted down if necessary, and into the fridge. Takes all of 5 minutes.
cheese and charcuterie… i didn’t put forth the effort 
Marcella Hazan’s Roast Chicken with Two Lemons from her Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking (scroll down):