Dog-ear volume is a good indicator of whether a cookbook will make the cut.

I get nearly every cookbook published. And I try to flip through every one. At the end, I check the body count on dog-eared pages. That determines whether the book makes the wire or my stacks, or is given away to the administrative assistants at my son’s school.

Most end up at school. Even many of those that survive often ultimately are purged in a what-was-I-thinking? frenzy.

People whose books almost always make the cut? Alice Waters, April Bloomfield, Jamie Oliver, Tyler Florence, Nigella Lawson, Eric Ripert. Hugh Acheson, Seamus Mullen and Edward Lee were recent additions.

At the moment I’m reading “Notes from the Larder,” an upcoming release by Nigel Slater, the Brit food writer who gave us “Toast” (also a movie) and “The Kitchen Diaries,” among many others.

Many of his books are written as the latter title suggests — journals that capture the freshness and seasonality of whatever Slater is eating or thinking at the moment. His words and way with food are bright and casual and easy to love.

It took me several of his books to suss out why I am drawn to them. Turns out it’s the same reason I love A.A. Milne, the masterful mind behind Pooh.

If all you’ve ever read of Pooh is from the hands of Disney, you don’t know Pooh at all.

Milne has a magnificent efficiency of language, speaking volumes in just a few words or phrases. Often he says the most by the words he doesn’t use. When you read Pooh — the real Pooh — as an adult, you realize just how brilliant Milne’s command of language was.

Slater shares this minimalist style, conveying in just a few sentences or paragraphs a vivid picture of time and place. And taste.

And I find myself dog-earing a great many pages in “Notes from a Larder.”

Which is a rather roundabout way of coming to today’s lunch. Last night’s dinner was a recipe from Slater’s book. Though it’s really more a method than a formal recipe. It doesn’t even have a name.

Under the July 29 entry titled “Alone at last,” Slater describes a steak dinner he prepared for himself with a wonderful technique. He cuts the steak into strips, then briefly sears them.

As soon as the strips are seared, he dunks them first in a bit of sesame oil (I used toasted), then in a sauce made from equal parts dark soy sauce and rice wine, plus a bit of sugar, honey, garlic and scallions (I used chives).

The steak — I used bison — was delicious. And Parker was smitten.

So for today’s lunch, I decided not to mess with it. I packed some straight up with a lemon wedge and a bit more finely chopped and jammed into a whole-wheat bun. Add strawberries and it becomes a fine end to the week.

By the way, I continued my experiments with chive blossoms yesterday. I made a batter of flour, garlic, salt, pepper and beer, then dunked the blossoms in it. I then briefly fried them in a bit of grape seed oil.

Delicious! Even Parker ate them. Reminiscent of an onion ring, but more tender and flavorful. I will be making more.

Finally, the winner of yesterday’s lunch gear giveaway is… Erin. Congratulations. And I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Read the original on: Lunch Box Blues