This is the final entry in my week long series of summer salads. It's a Farro & Tomato Salad with Basil & Anchovies and it comes (practically word for word) from Judy Rodgers.

I tend to be a tinkerer when it comes to recipes (if I follow one at all) but there are some cooks whose style and choices just click with me and the way I like to do things. Judy Rodgers is one such cook. She thinks about food and it's preparation. She gets all wonky about technique. So I know that every step and every ingredient really is all it needs to be. No more no less. I can't improve on that kind of methodology, so I don't even try.

Especially when it comes to an ingredient like farro. It's an ancient grain. But it's new to my kitchen. It's been a staple to the masses since Roman times, but suddenly the chic set has embraced it too. I first had it at one of Mario Batali's New York restaurants in the 1990s (in the form of a pan-fried cake) but this is my first attempt at cooking with it at home.

If you are unfamiliar with farro, well it looks a bit like brown rice. But it's a closer cousin to barley. The best version is the whole-grain version, partly due to all those healthful advantages. When you buy farro look for whole-grains that have been partially processed and have the brown outer hull removed. These are called "pearled", "perlato", "semiperlato", or "decorticato".

Quail escabeche. Little pickled birds.

Are you still with me? I said weeks ago that a covey of quail was coming.

But you didn't think I would actually do this recipe did you? It's a heck of a recipe though, full of global influences. It's exactly the kind of food I love. But when I said a few weeks ago that I could do quail if I wanted to. You didn't really think I would, now did you?

And you claim to know me. HA! Because I was saving this recipe for when my mood got just sour enough to match the bite in these little pickled birds!

Now I see what's going on in blogland, and sometimes I just have to take a stand for the kind of food I believe in. I know that it's cupcakes and healthy snacks for kids that get all the love juice right now. Those are some lovable topics. But we don't ALL have to post the same recipes... do we?

Still I realize with all the gingerbread surprises out there, you may have very little room left on your virtual plate for little pickled birds. You don't even like me saying it do you? Little pickled birds. That's why I am pretty proud of the few of you who are still reading these words.

I over heard some people talking in a restaurant recently about steak. The point one of the diners was trying to make was that in tough economic times people turn from “better” cuts of meat to the “cheaper” cuts of meat.

His point made sense to me. I suppose people do exactly that.

But then his next statement floored me. He said, “So when I cook a steak at home I force myself to buy something like a flank or skirt steak. But when eating in a nice restaurant I always order the filet, no matter what the price”.

I almost choked on my hanger steak!

I would advise just the opposite. While true that a good filet has a lovely soft tender texture. It cuts like "buttah" and we have been programmed to believe that means it tastes better. However, all filets, good, bad, or indifferent; cooked at home or at a Michelin starred restaurant are relatively flavorless. Why do you think people wrap them in bacon?