fire island and a very good citrus salad
let's switch things up!
Sorry this is late again! But it’s worth it, I promise! If you don’t want to read about how much I love Marc and Robbie, scroll to the bottom for a recipe for a very good citrus salad (it’s citrus season!). No, it’s not what I made this week on the show. Here’s a picture of the sushi boat we had as part of the feast of the seven fishes this year as a consolation prize (see, I wasn’t making it up!).
I decided I would break with the tradition I created for myself and, rather than talk about my favorite moments and some stuff you didn’t see, talk a bit instead about a little place called Fire Island (and I’m not talking about the movie I was quoting during judging).
Fire Island is an actual place, obviously. But, when it comes to ATKNextGen, Fire Island is me, Marc, and Robbie. During judging and on breaks, the three of us would sit at the same little desk in the ATK offices and eat whatever craft services happened to be for that meal. It’s also where Robbie would hand out multivitamins, Marc would apply mascara in the morning, and where we explained to Brooke why we think she’d make an excellent bottom (she eats VERY clean).
Eventually, we started to call our little desk Fire Island. “Oh, can you just put it on Fire Island” or “Luch at Fire Island in five?” were the kinds of things we started to say to each other. I also heard from a producer that, eventually, the crew picked up on this too and would say things like, “Can we get Fire Island to set?” or “Fire Island is flying in.” Fire Island wasn’t a desk anymore. The three of us became our own little Fire Island.
I know I touched on this last week, but there’s a special place in my heart for all ten other contestants. We did a weird, outrageous, very fun, insane thing together—and I’ll love them all forever. Still, there was just something so special about having Marc and Robbie there with me. I live a very gay life in San Francisco. Most of my friends are gay. I’ve got the Midas touch, except in my case, instead of everything I touch turning to gold, everything I touch becomes gay. Gay as hell. And I was nervous that I wouldn’t have my community with me when I got to set.
What I found were two people unlike anyone else I knew. Like I said, I’ve got a lot of queer friends. I need gay people in my life like I need oxygen. Yet somehow, I knew no one like Marc and Robbie. They are truly one of a kind. Sisters, soulmates, little angels from heaven dropped into my lap to keep me sane and to drink tequila with after particularly rough judgings. Nothing meant more than the little compliment I got from Robbie about my board this week, and if I had any strength left in my body, I would have absolutely carried Marc out of the kitchen when he asked.
Fire Island stayed intact this week—guess you’ll just have to tune in Friday to see what happens next!
A very good citrus salad
It’s citrus season, so it’s time for citrus salad! I made this on Christmas and on New Year’s Eve, and it was a hit both times. You will have to supreme some citrus for this. I’m sorry! There’s no way around it. Here’s a tutorial in case you need one (however, unlike the lunatic in this video, I use a smaller, very sharp knife, like a paring knife, to have a bit more control).
When I worked at Hi Felicia, I had to prep about 300 supremes from various forms of citrus during every prep shift. I swore I would never supreme again. It’s a lot of supremes! But here we are. It’s really, honestly, very worth it.
This salad takes some time, but, again, very worth it!! Make it! Tag me! Live your dreams!
Citrus salad: ingredients
7-10 pieces of citrus, supremed (I used 2 grapefruits, 3 blood oranges, and 2 cara cara oranges)
1 bulb of fennel, sliced thinly, with the fronds torn and reserved for garnish
4 tbs capers (If you don’t like capers, grow up! just kidding, but seriously… you could probably use torn castelvetrano or kalamata olives here instead)
2 tbs caper brine (see note above and substitute accordingly)
1 shallot, thinly slicked (you could sub ¼ of a red onion here)
1 medium watermelon radish, thinly slicked and cut into quarters (you coud use any radish here or leave it out entirely, this one’s optional)
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs red wine vinegar (you could also use rice wine vinegar or a nice celery vinegar, but I’d avoid just plain white vinegar or balsamic here)
Kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper
Citrus salad: method
Ok, so the first thing you’re gonna do is thinly slice your fennel bulb and radish if you’re using radish (radish should be sliced into rounds then cut into quarters). Reserve some of the leafy fennel fronds for garnish. Then, use half the fennel and half the radish to mostly cover the bottom of a large round serving dish or a big big plate in a thin layer.
Next, supreme all your citrus and arrange the supremes in a pattern that pleases you, completely covering the fennel and radish. If you’d like, you can keep the citrus peel and make citrus vinegar with them. I’ll put a note at the bottom to tell you how. You can either toss the carcasses or squeeze them into a glass and have yourself a little fresh squeezed juice.
Sprinkle about a teaspoon of kosher salt over top of the citrus.
Slice your shallot thinly, thinner than the fennel and radishes. Think almost shaved.
Next, wedge the radish quarters in amongst the supremes in a way that looks nice to you. Then go ahead and scatter the capers (or torn olives), sliced fennel, and shallots over that.
Drizzle caper brine, vinegar, and olive oil in that order down overtop of the salad. Crack some fresh black pepper down overtop of everything, and maybe a little flaky salt if you’ve got it. Finally, scatter the fennel fronds over all of it for garnish.
Honestly, this is all pretty easy after you get the slicing done. And, really, there’s no better way to celebrate citrus seasons. There’s probably going to be a good amount of juice/vinegar/salty oily goodness left at the bottom. Save it! Dress other salads with it! Make it into a dirty martini? Have fun!
xoxo,
Garrett
***Citrus vinegar note: If you don’t want to toss all those citrus peels, put them in a large container and cover them completely with plain white vinegar. Put the lid on it and make sure it’s airtight. Store it in a cool, dark place, or in the fridge for two weeks. Strain out the peels, and then, poof, you’ve got delicious citrus vinegar! Use it to make salad dressings or wherever else you’d like to use a delicious, citrus vinegar. That you made!