Abra Beren’s latest cookbook, Pulp, is like having dinner with a close friend. Explore her ties to Northern Michigan and three of her locally-inspired dishes.
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The cookbook Pulp is tender, generous, invigorating. In it, the acclaimed Granor Farm chef pays homage to Michigan’s fruit producers, with a special nod to Leelanau County, where Berens spent eight years cooking and farming at Bare Knuckle Farm in Northport, which she co-founded in 2009. “Fruit is inextricable from my cooking,” she writes. “It shows up in dessert, yes, but, maybe more interestingly, throughout the meal … It’s possible there is so much fruit in my cooking because I’m from Michigan. The mitten state is the second-most agriculturally diverse state in the union, due in large part to the tremendous amount of fruit we grow.”
Here, Berens shares a few of her favorite dinner recipes featuring August’s abundant apricots and melons.
Photo by E.E. Berger
Grilled Chicken with Apricots, Red Onion + Basil
One of the first big meals I ever made with my friend and mentor Rodger Bowser was a dinner celebrating a local farm that raised incredible heritage chickens. While the chickens were the star, the apricot salad that went along with them was a scene stealer.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken (4 to 5 pounds)
- 1⁄4 cup neutral oil
- 3 garlic cloves, smashed
- salt
- 1⁄4 teaspoon chili flakes
- 1 lemon (about 1.5 ounces), zest and juice
- 1 orange (about 3 ounces), zest and juice
- 1 red onion (about 4 ounces)
- olive oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 pounds apricots, halved and pits removed
- 5 sprigs basil
Photo by E.E. Berger
1. Break down the chicken into quarters: Set the chicken, breast side-up with legs pointing at you. Cut between the leg and the bottom of the breast and start to separate the two. Flip the bird over and pop the hip joint of the chicken by lifting the leg quarter up until you hear the ball-socket joint break apart. Cut around the oyster meat (a.k.a. the chicken love handle) and remove the leg. Repeat on the other leg. Then return the now legless bird to breast-side up. Cut down the center of the breastbone (between the chicken cleavage) and, cutting as close to the bone as possible, lift the breast away from the rib cage. Cut around the base of the wing so that the wing and breast stay connected as you separate them from the center cavity. Repeat on the other side. Save the center carcass for making stock, etc.
2. Place the chicken quarters into a dish or sealable bag. Add the oil, garlic, 1 teaspoon of salt, chili flakes and citrus zest to the bag and smoosh around to coat the chicken. Refrigerate and let marinate for at least an hour and up to two days.
3. Heat a charcoal or gas grill to medium. Remove the chicken from the marinade (squeezing off any excess oil). Grill skin-side down until the skin is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Flip the chicken to a cooler part of the grill and continue cooking until it is cooked through (internal temperature of 165°F), about 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, cut the onion into 1-inch-wide petals and toss with a glug of olive oil and big pinch of salt and pepper. Grill over medium-high heat until soft and slightly singed. Remove the onions to a medium bowl.
5. Toss the apricot halves with a glug of olive oil and a big pinch of salt and black pepper. Grill, cut-side down, until the fruit is slightly soft and has good grill lines. Remove from the grill and add to the bowl of onions. Add the citrus juice along with another glug of olive oil. Let cool slightly.
6. Just before serving, tear the basil into large pieces and add to the onion-apricot mixture. To serve, pile the salad on top of each piece of chicken.
Grilled Melon with Tahini, Chili Oil + Sesame Seeds
The dense flesh of melon allows it to take some heat on the grill without falling apart. Even the moisture-rich watermelon can take a good sear—just make sure that your grill (or frying pan, if not grilling) is ripping hot. You want to sear the fruit quickly before the flesh of the melon is cooked through.
Salt and melon are a classic combination—prosciutto-wrapped melon for example. Cream and melon are just as classic. This recipe draws on each of those combinations for something new. Most of my summer dinners are a smattering of simple small plates that come together well. I would pair this dish with some grilled fish, a tomato-mozzarella salad and something green, maybe arugula with lemon and some garlic bread crumbs. Or I’d just eat it on its own and be pretty happy, too. Black sesame seeds are a bit hard to find, but make this dish extra easy on the eyes.
Ingredients
- 1⁄2 cup tahini
- 1 muskmelon (2 pounds), rind removed and cut into 2-inch-wide wedges
- olive oil
- 1⁄4 cup chili oil (see note below)
- salt
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
Photo by E.E. Berger
1. In a small bowl, whisk the tahini with a couple tablespoons of hot water until smooth, light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
2. Drizzle the melon with olive oil.
3. On a hot grill, sear the flat side of the melon until charred, about 2 minutes. Flip and sear the other side. Remove the melon to a serving platter.
4. To serve, spoon the whipped tahini all over the melon, drizzle with the chili oil, sprinkle with salt, and scatter the sesame seeds all over.
To make chili oil: In a small saucepan, toast 1 teaspoon chili flakes over high heat until fragrant and starting to darken, about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat, add 1⁄2 cup neutral oil, and let steep for a minimum of 10 minutes.
Melon, Cucumber + Chickpea Salad
This is one of the rare times that I find it worth it to scoop melon into balls. The visual of the spherical melon, round cucumber and little chickpea BBs is top-notch. The only downside is that it makes the salad a little hard to eat, especially for young ones at the table, so be warned.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds English-style cucumbers, tipped and tailed (cutting off the top and bottom)
- 2-pound melon, any variety, scooped into balls or cut into chunks
- 2 cups chickpeas, cooked (or one 15-ounce can)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3⁄4 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup fresh herbs (parsley, cilantro, mint, dill, hyssop, etc.), leaves picked from stems and roughly chopped
- 1⁄2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
- Olive oil
Photo by E.E. Berger
1. Using a wide knife, whack the cucumber with the side of the blade to smash the cucumber into irregular chunks.
2. On a serving platter, lay out two-thirds of the cucumber, two-thirds of the melon, and scatter two-thirds of the chickpeas evenly over the top. Season the whole platter with salt and black pepper and drizzle the buttermilk liberally all over. Sprinkle two-thirds of the herbs and almonds over that. Repeat with the last of the cucumbers, melon and chickpeas. Season with salt and black pepper again. Finish with the last of the herbs and almonds, then drizzle with olive oil and serve.