Moving into Spring

The weekend before last, I finally left the apartment where I lived in bed bug fear and moved into my boyfriend's apartment. We both love cooking, so now that we're cohabitating, we are enabling each other to cook a lot (perhaps too much?). In the past week alone, we made quite a few excellent meals sourced mostly from the greenmarkets - because early spring vegetables are here!

Lamb burgers with the whites of ramps diced and mixed into the patties and the greens of ramps sauteed on top with melted cheddar cheese. Fiddleheads were blanched and then sauteed to ensure they were thoroughly cooked (they are poisonous raw). This was my first time trying fiddleheads, which like ramps, are foraged this time of year. I wished we had cooked them long enough to brown and crisp to add more flavor, because I found the fiddleheads too earthy and bland. There were also roasted potatoes.

Friends came over for dinner on Cinco de Mayo, so we made pulled pork tacos. The pork shoulder (from Flying Pigs Farm) was rubbed in garlic, cumin, paprika, onion powder, salt and crushed red pepper. We put it in the slow cooker fat side up with a bottle of black Irish lager and the juice of half a lime and let it sit on high for 3 hours and then low for 4 hours until it was tender enough to pull apart with a fork. For toppings, I prepared a slaw of thinly sliced cabbage and scallions; chopped cilantro; shredded cheddar cheese; pickled radishes and wedges of lime. In the past I've always made pulled pork with barbecue sauce, so this was a refreshing change of pace. Perhaps letting the rub sit overnight would have imbued it with more flavor.

Salad of smoked trout from Max Creek Hatchery, pickled radishes, arugula, lightly oiled and toasted homemade croutons with a dressing of apple cider vinegar and olive oil.

Fall Locavore Dinner

My gentleman friend's father hunts deer, so his freezer is stocked with various forms of venison (like pepperoni and bologna!?) and sometimes we get to enjoy venison steak. It's a lean meat that reminds me of bison. This back strap cut was particularly tender and added to what felt like an indulgent yet wholesome fall locavore dinner.

I thought a bunch of sage I had picked from my mother's garden would be a nice flavor accompaniment to mashed sweet potatoes, and it certainly was. I wasn't sure how to best incorporate it, so I decided to chop and sautee the sage and then add to the mash. He said the pieces of sage were off-putting in the otherwise creamy mashed potatoes; I didn't mind. Next time, I wouldn't bother cooking the sage and would more finely dice it. On the side was also kale, simply sauteed with olive oil, salt and pepper, because sometimes that's all it needs.

For dessert, we made apple crisp using fruit from the annual upstate apple picking adventure and topped it with vanilla maple ice cream. The boy loves ice cream so much he eats it every day. I love making ice cream and taught him how. Now he's got himself an ice cream machine and can achieve creamy perfection (especially thanks to Milk Thistle Farm), that my handchurn technique can't quite reach.

Party Time and Spinach Goat Cheese Dip

I've been away from this blog because I've been busy, first with a wretched weekend, and then a week that involved saying farewell to my boss of four years as she moves on to become a caterer chef (so excited for her!), and prepping like mad for my own barbeque soiree in our backyard this past Saturday.

As usual, I went a little overboard with self-catering and took on more than was probably reasonable. But honestly it works out because as stressed as I seem, I love spending the day in the kitchen and I prefer to serve food that I source myself from the farmers market and cooked from scratch with care. Kudos to my sister, who stepped in as sous-chef to help me finish the prepping in time.




It's been nearly a year since my last big party, so I'm really glad it was a success. The dogs were surprisingly well-behaved. The weather was beautiful. Everyone enjoyed the candle-lit patio, and it's made me think twice about the plan to move this summer. It was great to meet new people and reconnect with old friends. Guests were nice enough to bring lovely things to add to the spread, like local cheese plates, chili and cornbread, a gorgeous lilac centerpiece, and homemade salsa. Some genius came bearing ice cream sandwiches. I'm happy to have a few of those leftover in the freezer ;-)




I especially enjoyed planning the menu and getting excited to try new things in the kitchen (see my last post). My final menu included:
* Carrot, radish, and pepper crudite with white bean herb dip and spinach goat cheese dip
* Grass-fed burgers and hot dogs with slices of no-knead bread for buns
* Shrimp skewers, marinated in homemade barbeque sauce and grilled
* Vegan bean and wheatberry salad and potato salad with mustard vinaigrette
* Mini rhubarb apple galettes and gluten-free walnut beet brownies
* Homemade ginger ale for mixing cocktails






The white bean dip with fresh herbs and roasted garlic is a favorite that I make for all my parties. I thought up the spinach goat cheese dip for my sister, who can only tolerate goat and sheep cheeses. It was remarkably easy - ahead of time, I sauteed a bunch of spinach in olive oil until wilted. The day of the party, we mixed a tub of Lynnhaven goat cheese feta (or you could use chevre) with half the spinach in a food processor and blended it with olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste. The result was a vibrant green dip that looks like pesto, but packs the unexpected rich and creamy taste of goat cheese. We used it for dipping, but it would also be an excellent spread for crostini or sandwiches. I think it would also be fun to mash the spinach and cheese by hand with a fork for a coarser blend.

I'll be posting the rest of my party recipes over the next several days, so stay tuned!

A Cheesy New Year's Eve

I didn't go to the Hamptons as planned for New Years (the house rental fell through). Instead: a small gathering at my sister's apartment uptown featuring a quantity of random fruity mixed drinks not seen since college; lots of chatter; ignoring the ball drop on TV; a brief blurry stop at a bar; and I may or may not have thrown up on the subway ride home (a rite of passage for twentysomething nyc'ers, right?). I blame my undoing on the bizarre combination that day of cheese straw overdosing + fancy sushi dinner + fruity drinks .

I didn't have occasion to make focaccia and pumpkin rolls as hoped, but I still spent time baking a few festive treats to bring to the party, including cheese straws! I don't know why I waited so long to try this recipe, since I mastered regular crackers long ago (which reminds me I need to post that recipe). Cheese straws taste just like cheez-its but are a thousand times better for you, especially if you cut the butter and add whole wheat flour to healthify. I also added dried herbs and gouda instead of cheddar to fancify my version.

It felt like I was baking allll day, probably because it took forever to roll and cut out all these thin little sticks. So take this lady's advice instead and roll the dough into a log to be able to quickly slice it into thin round crackers. And if you make an extra log of dough to store in the freezer, you can slice and bake off a few crackers at a time to satisfy cheez-it cravings within minutes. I recently learned this freezer trick, which also works for cookie dough, and it is transformative. One downside to my lifestyle of making things from scratch instead of buying processed foods is the daunting lag time between a craving and the final product coming out of the oven ready to eat. Keeping dough in the freezer solves this problem by offering both instant gratification and portion control.

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Herbed Cheese Crackers
6 tbsp butter, cut into 6 pieces
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp crushed red pepper
2 tsp dried herbs such as rosemary, sage, oregano, or thyme

1 1/2 cups cheddar or gouda cheese

1 tbsp milk plus more as needed

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Combine all ingredients but milk in food processor and pulse until the butter is broken down into little crumby bits. Add milk a tablespoon at a time while pulsing until it is moist enough to come together as a dough ball. Divide dough in half and roll into logs. Store in plastic wrap in freezer at least half an hour to allow dough to firm (or up to a few weeks). Slice dough into rounds as thinly as possible. Bake in batches on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.


photo 1 via flickr; atrociousness of photo 2 and 3 are all my fault

Fourth of July BBQ

We had a small dinner party for Fourth of July with all the quintessential fare. No Fourth would be complete without corn of the cob (first of the season from a Jersey farm); potato salad and coleslaw; strawberries & blueberries for dessert; and grass fed burgers with all the fixings: lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese, and pickled swiss chard stems.


Oh WAIT something there is not like the others - pickled chard. But I happened to have a whole lot of swiss chard in the fridge and didn't know what else I'd do with all those stems, so I tried to pickle them, adapting this recipe from the New York Times. The pickled stems were just okay for snacking, but great on the burgers, adding a little brightness and vinegary complexity.


I also spruced up the average coleslaw by including broccoli. Inspired by Smitten Kitchen's broccoli slaw, but a world away. With a mustard-based vinaigrette instead of mayo because we were already getting plenty of mayo in the potato salad. The coleslaw was a hit and I'd make it again.


On a side note, we didn't get to see any fireworks (thanks a lot to Macy's for leaving all of Brooklyn in the dark) but I didn't care.

Pickled Swiss Chard Stems
1 bunch swiss chard stems (discard the leaves for cooking another time)
3 tbsp (?) olive oil
3 tbsp (?) vinegar
1 tsp pickling spices (can be bought at supermarkets)
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
pepper

Cut stems in pieces 1/2-inch wide and 2 inches long. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil, add stems and simmer for 10 minutes until chard is softened. Drain and place stems in a small jar. Combine oil, vinegar, pickling spices, sugar, salt, and pepper. Pour liquid mixture over stems into jar. Let marinate at least a few hours before serving. Keep in regrigerator up to two weeks.

Mustard Broccoli Slaw
1 head broccoli
1/2 head of cabbage
few carrots
1/2 onion
3 tbsp (?) olive oil
2 tbsp (?) vinegar
3 tbsp (?) mustard
2 tsp (?) sugar
1/2 lemon, juice and zest
1 tsp dried thyme
salt
pepper

Thinly slice broccoli, cabbage, carrots, and onion (or use slicer blade in food processor - but I handsliced because I'm afraid of the special slicer blade). Combine in a bowl with remaining ingredients and add more oil/vinegar/mustard/sugar/salt if needed*.

* (?) Note it's been a few weeks since I made these recipes so I don't remember the exact processes, and I tend to just kind of throw in ingredients and adjust to taste, so take these measurements with a grain of salt.

Garlic Scape Pesto

Garlic scapes are the edible curlicue shoots that emerge out of the ground as the top part of the plant in springtime, before the garlic bulb itself is edible. Here in New York, scapes came into season in late May and are still around now, so you might be able to find them at your local farmers market.

Scapes have a spicy garlic flavor, which you can mellow out by sauteeing them, but I prefer to turn garlic scapes into pesto.

I spread the pesto on sandwiches as a spicy alternative to mustard...


Add it to mayonnaise for a dipping sauce that feels like the essence of springtime...
(Here it went especially well with roasted potatoes, asparagus, and grilled soft shell crabs)


And freeze it in an ice cube tray so that I can defrost only as much pesto as I need later in the season.

It's easy peasy to make if you have a food processor or blender. I use almonds because that's what I tend to have on hand, but you could also sub in walnuts or pine nuts - it's flexible. And I like to add vinegar for an extra kick, but you could leave that out. Other great optional ingredients include: parmesan, lemon juice, basil, parsley, other herbs.

Garlic Scape Pesto
1 lb garlic scapes
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup vinegar
salt
pepper

Combine ingredients in food processor until smooth. Add additional oil or vinegar until it reaches a creamy consistency and desired taste.

first photo via flickr

Roasted Garlic Herb White Bean Dip

I haven't felt very inspired when it comes to cooking lately. My life is still all out of sorts, and I've moved but not really, so half of my cooking supplies are in one apartment, and half of them are in another. I made a couple of meals this week, but neither is worth dishing out to the blogosphere (pasta with roasted tomatoes and chicken; attempted indian spiced crock pot vegetables).

There's just one thing I've made recently that was a huge hit, unexpectedly. I had a "housewarming" party (for an apartment I haven't really been living in) last weekend, so I whipped up a white bean dip on the fly, not sure what to expect having never tried making a spread with white beans before, but everyone loved it. White bean dip is so flexible. I thought it would taste great with sundried tomatoes or roasted red peppers, but I didn't have time to procure those, while fresh herbs beckoned from my deck.

This week, as cool fall air begins to set in, I've really been itching to bake up a storm of sweet treats to satisfy my daily afternoon chocolate cravings, so hopefully you'll see some delectable baked goodies on here soon.

Roasted Garlic and Herb White Bean Dip

1 can white beans or 2 cups of home cooked beans 

2 heads of garlic, whole, unpeeled

1/4 cup olive oil

a few handfuls of fresh herbs such as parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, or marjoram

zest and juice of 1/4 lemon

salt

pepper

Through the garlic onto the baking sheet while making crackers. After about ten minutes, when the crackers are done, squeeze the garlic out of its peels. Throw all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Add additional seasoning as needed. Spoon into a serving dish. Reserve a few of the fresh herbs to sprinkle over top. Serve alongside crackers.

Another Barbecue

Another weekend, another barbecue, trying to fit them all in before summer slips away. I invited friends over last night for a low key gathering, and wasn't sure how many people would come, so I ended up with a lot of leftovers, both food and alcohol-wise. I guess that's a good thing, except it means I'll have to move all of it (see below).

I made grass fed burgers using ground beef from Elk Trails with my signature fresh sage (from my deck) and worcestershire sauce combination. I grilled them myself - it was the first time I'd ever personally made hamburgers on the grill, and they came out perfectly medium and yummy.

I baked up the crisp flatbread again, this time using 1 cup local whole wheat flour and 3/4 cup white flour, and mixing in fresh ground pepper instead of rosemary, and I thought it had much better depth of flavor.

For dipping, I made hummus and baba ghanoush. I bought eggplants from a new, mad cheap vendor at the Union Square Greenmarket, but I was unlucky and it turned out they had tons of seeds, so I did my best to remove them to keep the baba ghanoush from being overly bitter. I'm not going to post the recipe I used because it was kind of fly-by-my-pants and didn't come out quite as magical as I hoped. I also ended up with less than stellar corn, that was small and not especially sweet, but people enjoyed it anyway, especially topped with some Ronnybrook butter.

And now, I should probably continue packing, since I'm moving into my new apartment tomorrow. I like to think I don't own a lot of posessions, but I've realized that my obsession with food means I will have to ferry box after box after box of foodstuffs and kitchen accoutrements. Moving is a bitch.

Adventures in Freeganism

I was happy to join fellow blogger, Megan of Fix, at a freegan dinner this week. Called Grub, the dinner is hosted biweekly (or maybe monthly?) by In Our Hearts and is open to anyone who chooses to wander into this out-of-the-way space in Brooklyn. My boyfriend was a confused by my interest in freeganism, and he envisioned lots of stale donuts and bagels and rotting food that would make me sick. Moreover, he argued, the quality of this food goes against your interest in eating fresh, locally grown food. Which is a good point, but I also believe in the value of keeping food out of the trash and finding ways to stem the tides of waste of our throwaway society. Adam on Wild Green Yonder has an excellent discussion of the extent of food waste in New York City, and the New York Times also recently reported on freeganism as a growing trend.

Neither I nor Megan were sure what to expect, but I was certainly pleasantly surprised by the delicious array of vegetables on the menu. It felt like one of the healthiest meals I'd eaten in a while. Not all of the food was freegan, some of it coming from someone's garden and from a CSA, in addition to grocery store dumpsters. Amazingly in all, this multicourse meal for forty people cost the hosts only $36, for which they accepted donations. We ate dinner on the roof, where there was a garden and a "lovely" view of the BQE (unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera up there). I brought along couple beers because the post said BYOB, but no one was drinking so the beers came back home with me. Proof that the world does not revolve around alcohol.

This is not to say I am about to become a freegan, although I am curious to go on a dumpster diving run and see how it goes down, how people even know where to look for the food. It was a refreshing change of pace to go out, do something on my own, meet new people - things I wish I could push myself to do more often. I enjoyed chatting and biking with Megan, and perhaps not surprisingly, I ran into a few people I know peripherally. I really liked Grub's message about "looking for practical ways to build community" because a sense of community is something that I've found lacking in New York City. I miss the time spent with friends at the cooperative dorm on my alma mater, where the residents shared the responsibilities of cooking and cleaning and ate communal dinners. After two years of post-graduate life in New York City, I still have no semblance of a community, with everyone scattered throughout the city, plans too hard to make. I didn't find a new community on Sunday night, but maybe this will motivate me to seek out more new experiences that interest me.

After dinner, many bags of lettuce and greens (from the CSA I think) and bread were leftover, and I was happy to take some away at their urging. But once home, I realized that this left me with the question of how to use up all the extra food I myself now possessed. A conundrum made worse by the fact that I'm leaving for a long vacation on Friday.

So I decided to pass on the goodwill by using all these veggies to cook dinner for a friend. Tonight, another Meagan came over, and I made a vegetarian peanut sauce stir fry. I sauteed an onion, carrot, and half a zucchini from the greenmarket in olive oil, then added baby bok choy from Grub until wilted, while lentils and rice from my pantry simmered away in separate pots. I whisked together a peanut sauce from a couple tablespoons of peanut butter, a teaspoon of tahini, a tablespoon of soy sauce, about a cup of warrm water, along with salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper for a spicy kick. Once plated, I draped it in the peanut sauce and garnished the meal with sunflower sprouts from Grub. Peanut sauce stir fry was one of my favorite go-to meals in college, which I haven't made much since then, so it was nice to return to this simple (cheap!) and delicious dish.

Continuing to work through the perishables in my fridge, I also prepared myself a healthy grilled zucchini sandwich for lunch tomorrow. I sliced the other half of the zucchini, loaded it up with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and then grilled until charred and tender. I don't like zucchini much, but grilling somehow transforms it into tastiness. The zucchini strips went on a sandwich with homemade tofu cream cheese, a few basil leaves from my deck, and the rest of the sunflower sprouts.

I made the tofu cream cheese last week with my sister's guidance and wanted to use it up, since I figured it probably won't last as long as store-bought tofu cream cheese. It was easy to make by throwing half a package of tofu (pressed for an hour first) into the food processor with a couple garlic scapes, salt, pepper, a handful of almonds, a handful of parsley, several shakes of nutritional yeast, a dash of cayenne pepper, a few teaspoons of vinegar, and a few teaspoons of water too. Similar to the tofu garlic scape pesto salad, but in spreadable form. Really whatever spices you have on hand will work, and cashews can be used in place of almonds. My sister also recommends making tofu cream cheese with sundried tomatoes and herbs.
This picture is a good literal representation of where my mind frequently wanders: into the kitchen wondering what to cook next. I've now successfully eaten or cooked for later all my produce for the week, with the exception of kale from Grub, which my roommate promises me she will eat while I'm gone. I'm thinking of transforming some of it into a kale basil pesto first to take along my camping trip, but I'm not sure how long that will stay good in the cooler. So although i was unable to make any completely local meals this week for One Local Summer, Greenmarket and CSA ingredients found their way into every meal, and by participating in Grub, I helped to divert food waste from the landfill, so I'd say that balances it out.

PS. If I don't post again for a couple weeks, it's because I'm on a camping vacation in Maine, enjoying the woods, ocean, lobster, blueberries, and beer!

Inspiration

Like its sister and nextdoor restaurant, Diner, Marlow & Sons is one of my favorite restaurants for its fine selection of oysters, cheeses, and local ingredients cooked in seasonal meals with flawless execution. I forgot to tell you, but when I was there with my youngest sister on a rainy late night in April, we shared a divine ramp soup and their crispy-skinned brick pressed chicken, which is among the best chicken I've ever head. I hadn't been in a while, but it reminded me that Marlow & Sons surprises me every time by taking simple sounding dishes and making them the most delicious things ever.


A couple weeks ago on a supremely hot early evening, we coincidentally took my other sister to Marlow & Sons too. We shared a baby kale salad with a simple dressing of olive oil and lemon juice and coated in thinly shaved parmesan. Meanwhile, my dining partner had to himself a warm squid salad with a broth-like dressing over Bibb lettuce. Our meal was exquisite as always. However, this time I felt a bit more depressed than usual about their prices. I understand the worth of paying more money to eat local foods made with care, but $10 for a salad of greens and parmesan?


Let's take it back to earlier this spring, when I planted a container of mixed green seeds on my deck. Most of what came up was baby kale, bitter greens, and sad small light leaves, and after a winter full of bitter green salads from the farmers market, it didn't look too appetizing. When the lettuces started to wilt in last week's 90 degree heat, I decided it was time to rip 'em out, eat 'em, and replace 'em with more fun herbs.


I harvested about a big salad worth of greens. Then one night, I wanted to have a plain salad for dinner and set out to imitate Marlow & Sons baby kale salad. I mixed a vinaigrette of extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, dried herbs, and a couple splashes of lemon juice. Then I topped it off with grated parmesan. Ta da! Though mine may not have had the same soft brush of kale leaves, it was delicious and at a cost of essentially $0 vs $10, I say Marlow & Sons 0 Julia 1.


Likewise, the scrumptious squid salad at Marlow & Sons motivated me to pick up some squid from the Greenmarket this weekend. I've always been confused about how long to cook squid so I did some research. Apparently when sauteeing squid, you either need to cook it for under two minutes (after that it turns rubbery) or for more than 20 minutes (when the squid becomes tender again). I chose to go with the long cooking version and sauteed it with olive oil and garlic, added a few splashes of vermouth and water, covered it, and let it cook for about 30 minutes until tender. The aroma that filled my apartment as the squid braised was salty and wonderful.


As for the salad I served it over, I didn't replicate Marlow & Sons' bibb lettuce salad exactly, but just used what I had on hand. Romaine lettuce, thinly sliced radishes and baby carrots (first of the season!), warm sauteed squid, that same olive oil-red wine vinaigrette, and parmesan. Surprisingly, it worked. I think you could refine it further by serving it over greens that have more structure and flavor, like mustard greens, and leaving out the carrots and parmesan. But for my purposes, I enjoyed digging into a big healthy salad with perfectly tender small bites of squid, tasting of the sea.


Inspired by Jen from her ever-inspirational blog Last Night's Dinner, I also grilled clams and topped them with a garlic scape pesto. The pesto was made simply in the food processor using a few garlic scapes, a handful of parsley from my deck, the zest and juice of half a lemon, salt, pepper, parmesan, a handful of almonds, a few tablespoons of olive oil, and a tablespoon of water. It was lovely, but I think I prefer eating clams by their lonesome to enjoy their distinctive taste.

Locavore Potluck

Last Saturday was my much anticipated locavore potluck. I had been awaiting the day since I first thought up the idea sometime over winter - to bring together my friends for the most noblest of potlucks, encouraging them to seek out local food sources. I'll have it in March, I planned, naively expecting that by then the bounty of spring would appear in the farmers markets. And when March continued in winter's fashion, I hoped April would bring fresh vegetables. Until April also did not seem flush enough with green. I almost had a date set in May, once asparagus and lettuce appeared, but scheduling conflicts pushed it back another month.

Then of course nature pulled a trick and jolted into summer with a heat wave, thick and oppressive and blowing hot air and sweat around our bodies. But the show must go on, so I planned to get most of the cooking done in the morning with the hopes that the apartment would cool off before the party. The morning found me at Union Square (bizarrely with larger crowds at 9am than I'd ever seen on a Saturday) to pick up a pork roast from Flying Pigs. Stupidly I hadn't asked for it to be defrosted when I ordered it, so it was frozen solid. Luckily after an hour an and a half in a water bath at home, it seemed mostly defrosted, so into the crockpot along with a sliced onion, barbeque sauce, salt, pepper, and a little water. This is my usual method for making pulled pork, and it couldn't be easier. You just leave it in there for hours and hours on low in the crock pot, maybe turn it up to high for a couple hours, and then back to low, and after about 8-10 hours it shreds when you go to cut it.

While the pork defrosted, I got to work on buns for the pulled pork. I thought the heat would help these babies rise into fluffy buns even more beautifully than last time, but instead they refused to rise and ended up as tight undercooked mini buns. I have no idea what happened, but they sufficed for the purpose. And the mini buns meant that people piled less pulled pork onto their sandwiches, leaving me with more leftovers (muhaha!)

While the oven preheated for the buns, I also roasted some potatoes into fries. Now common sense would dictate that you would not be silly like me and turn your oven on and instead buy hamburger buns and make something like a cold potato salad. But I was determined to use my local flour for the buns. And to make roasted potatoes from an overflow of potatoes from last week's party, I had to do something with them. So all my sweating in a sauna of a kitchen was my own fault.

I also picked up garlic scapes, which are young garlic shoots, at the market that morning. They are often transformed into garlic scape pestos, but I thought they would be perfect in aioli for dipping the fries. Aioli is essentially garlic mayonnaise, and I found it to be easier to make than I expected. I noticed, though, that I didn't seem to need as much olive oil as the recipe called for, probably because my eggs were on the smaller side. So I recommend slowly whisking in the oil and stopping when the mixture has reached the right consistency, even if you have some oil left over. Mine was creamy and thinner than commercial mayonnaise, but with a much brighter, richer flavor. Now that I know how easy it is, I'll definitely be making my own mayonnaise again, except this time I'll store some in the fridge right away so I can enjoy it later in the week - instead of leaving it all out in my 90 degree living room for more than three hours during the party and then tossing the leftovers from fear.

Although I finished cooking by 2pm, the apartment wasn't any cooler by partytime, but everyone seemed to have a good time despite the heat. Now, the party wasn't entirely local - the invitation just asked that everyone try to bring something incorporating at least one local ingredient. Eating locally is new to most of my friends, so I wanted it to be an encouraging, not daunting, challenge. I was impressed that my guests all made an effort to bring something local, and enjoyed trying all their great food. There was nary a bag of chips or can of PBR to be found.

My sister (who is working at Bobolink for the summer since it's only a 5 minute drive from our parent's home - how cool is that?) brought rosemary bread she'd baked that morning, and one of Bobolink's new spring cheeses, Tarte de Vache (Cow Pie), which was medium soft, grassy and pungent. Two vegetarian couples coincidentally both brought tortellini salad, and another standout was a jar of curry-pickled baby turnips and radishes. There was also a brilliant strawberry rhubarb bruschetta with fresh mint. As well as my pulled pork sandwiches, fries, and heavenly aioli, all local except for the yeast, barbecue sauce, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and vinegar.

For dessert there was a chocolate chip loaf from a Greenmarket bakery, ice cream from Ronnybrook and 5 Boroughs (warning: their Cha Cha Chocolate is super spicy), strawberries, and locally made marshmallows from Whole Foods. And of course, a few bottles of New York state wine, and lots and lots of Brooklyn, Bluepoint, and Southampton beer. The party didn't end until late in the night when all the booze ran out and I was ready to slip into a food and drink-induced coma.


Garlic Scape Aioli

2 stalks garlic scapes
1 tbsp fresh parsley
salt
pepper
1 egg yolk
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Combine garlic scapes, parsley, salt, and pepper in a food processor. Alternately, you can mince them finely, or use a mortar and pestle, but my mortar and pestle doesn't seem to do much so I went the mechanic route.

Scrape garlic mixture into a bowl and whisk in egg and then lemon juice and vinegar.

With one hand, pour olive oil very slowly into the bowl, while whisking briskly and continually with the other hand. (Not as hard as it sounds.) If you add too much oil at once, just pause your pouring and whisk until it is incorporated. Taste occasionally, and once the mixture has reached your desired consistency and taste, stop adding oil.

Store immediately in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days. Serve with fries, fish, asparagus, or spread on sandwiches.

Kale Hummus

Last Saturday I had some week-old kale that was on its last legs, yellowing in its vase. I wasn't sure what to do with it. It didn't fit into my dinner plan of braised lamb and cabbage. Being just a few leaves, it didn't seem like enough to make it worth it to sautee and freeze it for some future meal. And the leaves were too small to make kale chips.

Then Jesse requested an appetizer before dinner. Not wanting to spend money on cheese and crackers or non-local salad greens, I thought about what I had in the kitchen. A can of chickpeas, easily transformable into hummus. And an opportunity to use up old flour to try my hand at making crackers for dipping. But would kale go well with hummus? A quick search on google revealed that it has indeed been done before
in the form of kale and sundried tomato hummus. I didn't have sundried tomatoes on hand, but I went ahead and made it without it.

The kale hummus turned out surprisingly tasty (though my crackers did not). And as I mentioned, it was so good that we ruined our appetite for dinner. In fact, I'm still paying the consequences of this - I've been trying to use up the leftover rice and cabbage in various forms for lunch and dinner all week. I've found that grated parmesan cheese and crushed red pepper work wonders at masking the taste of slimy old braised cabbage.

I recommend only using half a bunch of kale or less so that the kale taste isn't overpowering. While I enjoyed this kale hummus just fine, I can see how it would benefit from sweet sundried tomatoes. But I'll have to wait till tomato season to try that combination, if I ever get around to making my own sundried tomatoes.

Kale Hummus

1 can chickpeas (or 1 cup chickpeas soaked overnight and simmered for an hour until tender)
few leaves of kale
2 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp olive oil
2 fat cloves garlic
salt
pepper
lemon juice
cayenne pepper
paprika

Tear or chop kale into pieces, discarding thick stems. Place in a pot with half an inch of simmering water and cover until steamed(wilted). Remove kale from pot and let cool.

Combine first six ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Add remaining spices to taste and process again. Add water if needed until hummus reaches a creamy consistency. Serve with pita or crackers.

Dark Days Challenge Week 1: Kale and Bran Meatloaf and Colcannon

This is my first post as part of the Dark Days Challenge, a challenge to cook at least one meal per week comprised of 90% local ingredients throughout the winter until March. To read about what fellow bloggers are cooking up locally in their area, check out Urban Hennery every other Sunday.

It's wintertime. Even though the weather can't make up its mind, waffling between last week's bitter cold and today's balmy air, the vegetables have succumbed to winter. At last Friday's Greenmarket in Union Square, just about the only vegetables I could find were the hardy types - onions, potatoes, garlic, and the mighty kale, with not even a carrot in sight. I did find some new meat options, however, including grass-fed ground beef, and turkey sausage from Di Paolo Turkey Farm. I decided to put my purchases to use in a great American homemade classic, perfect for warming your bones on a winter day - meatloaf and mashed potatoes.


I was pleased to find that adding kale to mashed potatoes is a well established Irish dish, Colcannon, that involves mashing potatoes with cabbage or winter greens, butter, salt, and pepper. I further amped up the color of the Colcannon by including a couple Adirondack red potatoes, a beautiful variety with pinkish flesh that is native to New York. I think sauteeing the kale before adding it to the potatoes and the meatloaf really boosted the flavor. Moreover, by using just a half bunch of kale in each, the kale added great texture and taste without overwhelming the mashed potatoes and meatloaf. Even I enjoyed it all, even though I don't like sauteed kale on its own.

Having never made meatloaf before, it was surprisingly moist and flavorful, and tasted too good to be true. But packed with kale, bran, and sustainable meats, we feasted, knowing that we were powering our body with good, healthy food. I will definitely be making this again.

Sauteed Kale
1 bunch of kale
1 onion
3 cloves garlic

Dice onion and garlic and sautee in extra virgin olive oil over medium low heat. Meanwhile, wash and finely chop kale, discarding thick stems towards bottom of the bunch. Add kale, 1 tbsp olive oil, and 1 tbsp water and cover, stirring occasionally until kale is wilted.


Colcannon (Irish Mashed Potatoes)
2 large or 4 small potatoes
1/2 cup milk or soy milk (to make it vegan)
1 tsp butter (or Smart Balance Light to make it vegan)
1/2 sauteed kale mixture
salt
pepper

Chop potatoes into 1-inch pieces and place in pot of salted water. Bring to boil and then let simmer until potatoes are tender, approximately 20 minutes. Drain potatoes in colander and return to pot. Mash coarsely with wooden spoon. Add half of the sauteed kale mixture, salt, and pepper, and mash again until combined. Add butter and half of the milk, and mash again, adding additional milk until desired creamy consistency is reached.


Spicy Meatloaf Sauce
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp water
five dashes of hot sauce
salt
pepper

Whisk sauce ingredients together in a small bowl with a fork until smooth and combined.

Kale and Bran Meatloaf
1 lb ground beef
1/3 lb turkey sausage
1 1/4 cup wheat bran
1/2 sauteed kale mixture
1 large egg
salt
pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Combine all meatloaf ingredients in a bowl. Grease a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Empy the meatloaf into the loaf pan. Bake for approximately 45 minutes (check at 40 minutes). Cut a chunk out of the middle to make sure meat is no longer pink and is fully cooked. Remove meatloaf from pan and scrape any fat off the top. Spread sauce over top. Cut into slices, and serve with mashed potatoes and additional sauce if desired.

Summary - all ingredients were locally sourced from farmers markets in Union Square and McCarren Park except Bob's Red Mill Wheat Bran, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, Muir Glen organic ketchup, worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and soy milk.

Moroccan Carrot Dip and Hummus

This Saturday I held my annual holiday party, and for some reason decided to be ambitious and spend all day in the kitchen for it. It was nice to spend the day by myself cooking in a peaceful apartment. My roommates were both out all day so no one was in my way, and I just had my cute dog hanging out on the couch to keep me company.

When party time came, and people didn't eagerly gobble my food, I decided that I won't go to so much effort next time. No one cares that it was homemade. They would have been perfectly happy with storebought hummus and chips and chocolate and so on.

Early in the day, I made chips and dips. I used my old standby recipe for pita chips, which is always a crowd pleaser. Next it was time to tackle the food processor. Jesse got the food processor for Christmas. For some strange reason, he decided that we needed it. I was, and still am, skeptical about this, as I always got along fine in my life without one. Up until Saturday I had never used a food processor before. If I wanted to puree something, such as soup or pesto, I have always just done it in my blender.

I watched the 45 minute instruction video to see if I could get some idea of whether this device is actually useful. Interestingly, on the video they often put prepeeled and sliced vegetables into the processor to chop them up more finely and mix them. Now I think this is kind of silly. If you've already gone to the trouble of getting out a cutting board and a knife to chop a pepper into large pieces, why not just go all the way and knife it up into fine little pieces rather than having to use electricity and getting a whole other object in the kitchen dirty to chop it up more finely. Same goes for mixing cookie batter in a food processor. Are people too lazy to use their arm muscles anymore?

But I figured I should give the food processor a try, since it is ideal for making dips and spreads. After completing the recipes below for hummus and Moroccan carrot dip, I will agree that it is a lot easier to use the food processor than the blender for dips. I think I might also try using the food processor when I want to tackle pastry dough someday. But other than that, I think it will stay hidden in our makeshift kitchen storage, aka the underneath of a table in my living room (our kitchen is impossibly small).

Some Moroccan carrot dip recipes call for cinnamon and honey, so I included them. However, carrots are already sweet and this made the dip a little too sweet for what should be a savory snack, so I omitted them from my recipe below. The hummus came out great. In the next month I really want to try cooking Mediterranean food more often - hummus, falafel, tabouleh, tajine, and so on. Mmmm.



Moroccan Carrot Dip

4 medium sized carrots
1 large garlic clove
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ginger
pinch of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
juice of 1/2 lemon squeezed
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Chop carrots in large pieces and unwrap garlic clove, leaving it whole. Place carrots and garlic in a pot of salted water, bring to a boil, and then let simmer, partially covered, about 20 minutes until carrots are tender. Drain in a colander, reserving 1/2 cup cooking water. Let carrots cool for a few minutes.

Place carrots and garlic in food processer and process until smooth. Add cooking water and process again until smooth. Add spices, honey, and lemon juice, and process again. Add olive oil slowly while the machine is running. Taste and add more spices to your liking. Spoon into a serving bowl, drizzle with a little olive oil, and serve with pita chips.



Hummus

1 cup dried chickpeas
1/3 cup tahini
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 garlic cloves
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
dash of paprika

Put the raw chickpeas in a pot with cold water to cover and soak overnight.

The next day, drain and rinse the chickpeas, then place them in the pot and cover with about an inch of water. Add one whole clove of garlic to the pot. Bring to a boil, and then simmer, partially covered, for about an hour or until the chickpeas are tender.

Drain the chickpeas and garlic, reserving the cooking liquid. In a food processor, process the chickpeas and garlic until finely ground. Add tahini, lemon juice, remaining garlic clove, and 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid and process until smooth. Add cumin, salt and pepper and process again, adding more of these spices to taste. While food processor is running, add 2 tsbp olive oil. If consistency is too thick, add more of the cooking liquid a little at a time until hummus is smooth and paste-like. Spoon hummus into a serving bowl, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle paprika over the top. Serve with pita chips.

Beet and Roasted Garlic Cheese Crostini

My parents made a monumental trip the other day - not in distance, as it is only 56 miles from their home to mine , but psychologically, since they have an extreme aversion to "New Yuck City," and this was their first visit to my apartment (I've lived here for over a year). We decided that I would make an appetizer to welcome them before going out to dinner.

(We went to Aurora, which they didn't like, and that is just insane because it is seriously the best Italian restaurant in Williasmburg. The cuisine is Italian, not Italian-American, owing to the chef from Piemonte, and every bite is a delicious balance of simple flavors. The star last night was wild striped bass over fregola, a larger version of couscous, with shrimp, cockles, and tomatoes, creating an ethereal broth tasting of the sea.)

So, I racked my brain trying to decide on an appetizer that would be appropriately seasonal, and beets came to mind. I've been seeing them at the farmers market every week, somewhat daunted by their dark dirty exterior, waiting for the right opportunity to roast some beets.

Beets are typically served with goat cheese as a salad, but as a bread lover, I had to get bread involved even though I've never seen beet crostini before. I wasn't sure if it would work, but it was great. I went with what I was able to get at my Greenmarket that morning, which was a loaf of hearty multigrain bread and a small tub of Ronnybrook Dairy's raw milk roasted garlic soft cheese. I would have used goat cheese if it was available, but this cheese worked well too - it was creamy, rich, spread easily, and the roasted garlic added a good punch of flavor to the crostini. I ended up with some leftover cheese and an extra roasted beet, because I hadn't realized that one beet would be more than enough, so I will happily be making this again as an appetizer for my holiday party next weekend.

Beet and Roasted Garlic Cheese Crostini

1 medium sized beet
half loaf of multigrain bread (or baguette)
4 oz raw milk roasted garlic soft cheese (or goat cheese)
olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper
1 clove garlic

Preheat oven to 425. Wash beet thoroughly. Place beet on aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil, and then wrap foil over the beet into a pouch. Roast in oven for 45-90 minutes, depending on size of beet, until the beet is tender when you stick a fork through it.

Let beet cool. Cut into small, thin slices. Place beet slices in a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, lemon, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, and stir lightly to coat.

Preheat oven to 450. Cut baguette into slices. Rub with garlic and drizzle with olive oil. Bake in oven approximately 10 minutes until toasted. Let bread cool.

To prepare each crostini, spread approximately 1 tbsp cheese on a slice of bread and then top with a few slices of beet.

Dinner Party

Last night I had some friends coming over for dinner and decided to use it as an excuse to make it into a real dinner party with seasonal and local ingredients, of course. The menu for the evening was:

Kale and white bean crostini on homemade bread with grated piave cheese

Butternut squash tortellini with sage brown buttered sauce

Chocolate chip apple cake

A bit ambitious, but I had time to kill.

Part 1: Crostini

The night before I made the bread. It took longer than it was supposed to, and then after all that effort, it came out no good. While baking, it sunk into a dense rectangular block. A rectangular block that I was ashamed to photograph and that didn't taste great because I included buckwheat groats. The recipe said I could! But I should have known. Considering that I don't like the smell of buckwheat groats...its horrible smell was overpowering and affected the taste of the bread. Jesse liked it, but he seems to like anything. I almost went out and bought a baguette, but decided it would be passable, especially with a topping to mask the smell.

I also made the crostini topping the night before - I sauteed 2 cloves garlic, half a bunch of kale, and half a can of white beans, salt and peper to taste, then pureed it and put it in the refrigerator to store it.

To assemble the appetizer, I toasted half slices of bread with the kale and bean puree spread on top to warm both a the same time. Then I grated piave cheese over top - a mild cow cheese a bit more tasty than parmesan. Personally, I don't think I like kale enough for it to be a delicious crostini topping...it tastes too healthy!

Part 2: Squash Tortellini
The night before, I also roasted the butternut squash - I cut it in half, scooped out the seeds, drizzled it with olive oil, and then placed it scooped side down on a baking pan to roast for approximately 45 minutes at 450. When it was soft and mushy, I scooped out all the flesh into a large bowl. Then I added a tsp or so each of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt, and pepper and mashed it all together, and also stored it in the refrigerator.

Originally, I had hoped to make butternut squash ravioli myself from scratch. However, Jesse warned me not to make the pasta as he thought we should stick with the pros and buy pasta sheets from Raffetto's in the West Village. However, it turns out they don't sell pasta sheets for ravioli making, just their own ravioli fully made. So the Italian man sold Jesse spinach (hence the green color!) pasta for tortellini making with some vague directions on how to shape the tortellini. From the picture, you can see it looks nothing like tortellini. It was really hard to fold it up small like real tortellini, so Jesse took it upon himself to fold it into giant pockets with loose flaps.

Just before dinner, I took the butterut squash out of the fridge, and Jesse as my sous chef helped me plop little teaspoons of the squash filling into giant pasta messes. I boiled them in two batches of about three minutes each because they wouldn't all fit in our biggest pot.

Meanwhile I made the sauce. I sauteed 2 cloves garlic and a diced shallot in olive oil. Then I added half a stick of butter and 2 tsp of dried sage, as well as some rosemary, salt, and pepper. I was scared of too much butter, but realized it wasn't enough for sauce, so I added another half stick or more of butter and let it heat and brown a little. When the pasta was done, I strained it and then plated it, pouring the sage brown buttered sauce over each plate with some grated parmesan. We ended up with about 6 servings of giant tortellini, so there is still some in the fridge.

Part 3: Cake

For dessert, I made a moist chocolate chip apple cake. I would have used applesauce instead of all that milk, but someone ate all my extra apples, even though I bought them from the farmers market especially for this dessert. :-(

Cream 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup butter. Beat in 2 eggs one by one. Combine with 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp lemon juice, as well as 3/4 cup milk. Add 1 cup white flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp ginger, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt. Stir it all together. Add one package of chocolate chips. Dice one apple and throw that in. Stir it all together again. Grease a 9-inch round pan. Bake at 350 for approximately 40 minutes until golden brown. Sprinkle confectioners sugar over the top. Eat for dessert that night, and another huge hunk for breakfast the next morning.