Ramekin Dreams

It was a certain someone's birthday last weekend. A certain someone who was turning 30 and likes cooking and has often wished for ramekins so that he can bake adorable individual desserts and dishes for guests. I commissioned my friend Andy Boswell to make a set of six as a gift for Evan.

When we were young, my dad took pottery lessons from Andy's dad. Now Andy too is a potter (or utilitarian ceramic artist as he calls himself), who shares his father's studio. His etsy shop is full of beautiful mugs, teapots, and other vessels. It is much nicer to have his unique and meaningful pieces added to our home than generic mass produced items from China.

Evan is happy that his ramekin dreams have come true. We used them for the first time last weekend to make mini frittatas for brunch for overnight guests. I plan on using a few as serving dishes for his big birthday party coming up this weekend. And I see lots of personal apple crisps in our future this fall.

Mini Fritattas

Arrange the ramekins (one per person) on a baking tray in the oven and preheat the oven to 350. Whisk two eggs per person in a bowl. Add whatever extras you would like, such as grated cheddar cheese, sauteed onions and roasted red peppers. Add salt and pepper to taste. Carefully grease the insides of the ramekins with butter. Pour whisked eggs evenly among the ramekins. Bake for about 20-30 minutes, until the eggs puff up and a knife inserted comes out only slightly wet. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before serving.

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Perfect Pancakes: with bacon fat

I think I've hit on my perfect pancake recipe. The proportion of whole grains, including cornmeal, gives it a balanced flavor and a texture that is hearty and chewy while still light enough. Bacon fat is commonly used in place of butter in this household, since we keep a constant supply in the fridge of strained grease leftover from cooking bacon. It won't overpower but rather enhance, especially with maple syrup on top.

Whole Grain Pancakes with Bacon Fat
1 1/2 tsp bacon fat (or butter)
1 1/2 tsp honey
1 egg
3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp milk

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

additional bacon fat (or butter) for frying
maple syrup

Take out your fat of choice, whether it be bacon fat or butter. Scoop out 1 1/2 tsp into a mixing bowl and give it 5 or 10 minutes to soften. In the meantime, you can get out the remaining ingredients, grease a 1/4 measuring cup, and put your cast iron pan over a low heat to warm up.

Combine the honey, egg and milk into the fat. Add the dry ingredients and stir to combine until it's a smooth batter. To the pan, add enough bacon fat to coat the bottom. It should quickly melt and slightly bubble. Run your finger under the faucet and then flick it over the pan - when it sizzles, it's hot enough.

Using your well greased 1/4 measuring cup, scoop out batter. Pour it into the pan with a steady hand and let the batter flow outward to create a perfectly round pancake. When the pancake edges start to curl under and bubble, flip it over and cook for an additional few minutes until both sides are browned. Store pancakes in a covered dish or oven to keep warm until they're all cooked and ready to serve with maple syrup.

Makes 8 medium sized pancakes

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Make Ahead Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

I was determined to have pumpkin cinnamon rolls on New Years morning, so I followed Pink of Perfection's overnight approach and spent a relaxed afternoon on New Years eve preparing the dough, with the addition of roasted pumpkin puree, frozen from the fall. The pan of rolls went into the fridge to wait patiently, while we dressed up and drank champagne and danced and watched fireworks. Come morning, all that remained was to take the pan out, let it warm up a bit and put it in the oven. And it worked! Which makes this an excellent brunch party dish because it can be made ahead. Of course, I forgot that I usually crave savory over sweet on the morning after a night of drinking and dancing, but luckily there was also bacon and eggs to go around and friends to enjoy the rolls.

For some reason, I missed the cinnamon filling step in the recipe and spread glaze inside the rolls instead. When I realized this, I compensated by sprinkling powdered sugar after they came out of the oven. They may not have been as cinnamon-y and gooey as possible, but it still works as good option, say if you want to be cutting down on the butter anyway. They plumped up into pillowy sweet rolls with a hint of pumpkin spice and zingy fresh ginger. Some liked the ginger, but I didn't, so I leave that up to you.

Also, I cut the original recipe in half, and experimented with slicing different sized rolls. I am confident you can still get 12 rolls out of the halved recipe since we had more than enough for three people. I can't ever imagine needing to make the full recipe unless you're having a giant brunch party.

Make Ahead Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
(Adapted from Pink of Perfection. I apologize for basically repeating her same steps here, but I wanted to have a record of my slight adjustments.)

dough
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp active dry yeast
1/3 cup white sugar
2 1/14 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs

filling
2/3 cups brown sugar
1 1/4 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tbsp flour
3 tbsp butter
1 knob of fresh ginger, peeled and diced

glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp maple syrup

Warm the milk until it just bubbles. Remove from heat, stir in butter until melted, and let cool. Once it's lukewarm, add the yeast, sugar, pumpkin and eggs. In a bowl, combine the flour, salt and spices. Stir in the liquid mixture. Add more flour a little at a time if necessary until it comes together as a dough. Knead for about five minutes. Let it rise for however long it takes you to combine the filling ingredients.

Roll out dough into a 9×12ish inch rectangle (mine was more like 10x15). Spread filling (or alternately, the glaze) over the dough. Roll up dough from the long end. Cut into 12 equal size rolls and place cut side up in a pan - I used a 10ish inch round greased cast iron pan, or you could use a baking pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, remove pan from fridge and let sit for about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Meanwhile, whisk together glaze ingredients. After rolls are done, pour glaze over top. Alternately, if you already spread the glaze inside, sprinkle powdered sugar on top. If you do not serve them all immediately, they are best toasted.

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Farmers Market Brunch

I'm a big proponent of making brunch at home. Even though going out for brunch is a New York City thang, it's an activity I rarely indulge in. Somehow I've faithfully kept up the routine of shopping at my local farmer's market nearly every Saturday, going on three years now. When you have access to eggs and other farm fresh ingredients that shine in simple breakfast preparations at home, it's hard to see the value in spending more at a restaurant.

Since Jay is also enamored with our nearest Greenmarket, I thought it would be fun to get together for a brunch of foodstuffs bought from farmers that morning, and our schedules finally coincided last weekend for an afternoon of eating, drinking, dog carousing, and Brooklyn story swapping.


What can you feast on from early spring farmers market fare? Fresh young vegetables had not yet made an appearance (though I've since heard rumors of ramps), but there were still trusty hearty vegetables on offer that have made it through the winter in storage. I prepared home fries from local potatoes sliced thinly, chopped into small pieces, and cooked in a thin layer of oil in a hot skillet until browned. My no-knead bread didn't have enough time to rise, so I bought a sourdough wheat boule at the market instead, to toast and top with Lynnhaven goat cheese and scrambled local eggs and leeks. I followed Molly's recipe for leek confit, but I think I could have saved myself some effort and just sauteed the leeks. Jay was a trooper and shucked a zillion oysters for us to enjoy. These bivalves plucked from the waters off Long Island tasted salty like the sea, like oysters should.


The drinks were not so local, but sourced somewhat sustainably: bloody marys with our micro-distilled vodka of choice, Tito's Handmade Vodka and organic tomato juice; and well as very strong sparkling screwdrivers of vodka, fresh squeezed organic orange juice, and soda.

Finally, there were gluten-free beet brownies for dessert, using local beets, honey, and eggs. I have been experimenting with the right recipe - the first try was too intensely chocolately and the second too overcooked and dry (sorry!). Hopefully the third time will be the charm, and I will have an amazing indulgence to share with you soon.


One of my greatest joys in life is entertaining, and sadly, I haven't done enough of it in this apartment. I feel bad subjecting guests to the chaos of 150 pounds of overly excited canines. So thank you to Jay and D for braving the dogs. It's given me the determination to forge ahead with plans for many more parties and barbeques now that spring is here.

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Summer Salads

I haven't written about food in a while, probably because I haven't had the time or brainspace to think about cooking.

That said, I'm a big fan of grainy summer salads that can be scooped up with pita chips, like tabbouleh. If you make the chickpeas and grains ahead, these are practically no-cook meals and great for parties. Here are a few I've made this summer. Measurements are approximate - add ingredients like grated parmesan, olive oil, salt, pepper, and fresh herbs liberally and adjust to suit your taste.

Cabbage, Chickpea, & Rice Salad
1 cup cooked brown rice
1-2 cups cooked chickpeas
1/3 - 1/2 head of red cabbage
1/2 onion
3 tbsp fresh mint leaves
1/3 lemon, juice & zest
olive oil
salt
pepper


Israeli Couscous, Chickpea, & Arugula Salad

1 cup israeli couscous
1-2 cups chickpeas
2 red pepers, roasted and cut into strips
2 heads green garlic or 2 cloves regular garlic
1 bunch arugula
olive oil
grated parmesan
salt
pepper


"Bruschetta" Tabbouleh
This mediterranean bulgur salad doesn't have to be all about the cucumber and parsley. Here's a version I made focusing on my favorite flavors of summer - fresh tomatoes, basil, and garlic - thrown in with bulgur instad of topping toasty bruschetta.

1 cup bulgur
1 1/2 cup boiling water
2 tomatoes, chopped
3 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 zucchini, diced (optional)
3 cloves garlic, diced
salt
pepper
juice of 1/2 lemon
olive oil

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Breakfast Pizza for Dinner!

It's ramp season folks. And what do ramps go with better than bacon and eggs? Nothing!

After reading about Motorino's amazing breakfast pizza which "delivers a beautiful pool of gooey cheese, runny yolk, pancetta drippings, and fruity olive oil", I was inspired to make my own version. The original plan called for goat cheese ricotta, bacon, ramps, and sunnyside eggs, but my sister Lisa did the shopping and some of the cooking, so she also added in broccoli raabe for a contrasting bitter bite.

First, you need to make the dough. I really prefer my recipe for pizza with a puffier crust, but out of laziness I went for the thin crust recipe that just requires a whizz in the food processor and a wait in plastic bags in the fridge overnight. It makes six dough balls, so I stuck three in the freezer, to leave us with three personal pies for the three people in my household. About two hours before I wanted to cook dinner, I took the dough out of the fridge to let it warm up.


Next, Lisa fried up a few pieces of bacon and let them drain on paper towels. She poured out most of the bacon fat (to reserve for future use), while leaving enough fat in the pan to sautee the greens.


After preheating the oven as hot as it will go (520 in our case), Lisa finely chopped ramps and broccoli raabe. She sauteed them in bacon fat until softened and then continued to cook covered for another ten minutes until wilted.


Next I assemble the pizzas on cornmeal-dusted baking sheets, slowly building them with crumbles of goat cheese ricotta, bacon bits, wilted greens, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper. Finally, I broke an egg into the middle and put them into the oven for about 10 minutes until the crust browned on the bottom and the eggs firmed.


Unfortunately, the crust took longer to cook than the eggs, so the yolks had already firmed by the time the pizza was done and alas, there was no runny yolk to coat the pizza in golden flavor when biting into it. But it was still f*in good.

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Healthy Beans and Rice

It's a typical story but true - after gorging on food of all sorts over the holidays, I actually couldn't stand the thought of any more sugar and started craving whole grains and greens. So I devised this healthy version of rice and beans, with spinach, brown rice, and quinoa for added nutrition. For flavor, I tossed in salsa and cheddar cheese, but plenty of other cheeses would work well with this, and you can dial down or up the cheese as much as you want. This recipe is endlessly flexible. Use all brown rice, or all quinoa. Swap in an onion or shallots for the leek depending on what you have on hand. Other greens besides spinach, such as kale, swiss chard, thinly sliced cabbage, or even chopped brussel sprouts will work just as well here.

My boyfriend called it his "favorite thing you've ever made." Of course - this is exactly the kind of one pot dish he loves - a creamy bowl of hearty grains, protein and greens. I only wish I had made more because he ate about 3 straight servings, leaving me without leftovers, so next time I might double the recipe.

Healthy Beans and Rice

1 cup dried black beans (or 2 cans black beans)
1/2 cup brown rice
1/2 cup quinoa
1 leek
1 bunch spinach
1/4 cup grated cheese
1 cup salsa
salt
pepper
crushed hot pepper
cumin

Soak dried beans overnight (or bring to a boil and then let soak for one hour). Rinse beans and then return to pot covered with two inches of water. Bring to a boil and simmer until tender, about 60-90 minutes.

Combine rice, quinoa, and 2 1/2 cups water in a small pot, and simmer for about 40 minutes until rice is tender.

After about 30 minutes, rinse and chop the leek into half moons. In a large pan, sautee leeks over low heat. Then rinse the spinach, chop into small pieces, and sautee until wilted. Add salsa to pan to warm.

When rice and beans are done, combine in pan with spinach, grated cheese, salsa, and spices. Makes about 4 servings.

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The Usual

This is how most weeknight dinners in my home end up. I cook a big one-pot dish that includes some form of protein, vegetable, and grain, and then we each eat a bowl or two of it for dinner, and the rest goes into tupperware stored in the fridge and freezer for future lunches/dinners/boyfriend's midnight drunk ransacking of the kitchen.

Pictured above is my naive attempt at making Indian food at home: a variation on aloo gobi, with the addition of chickpeas for protein. I simmered dried chickpeas until soft, while cooking brown rice, and while boiling cauliflower and potatoes until tender and while defrosting blanched summer tomatoes from the freezer. Then I sauteed onions in a big pot until translucent, added in the potatoes, cauliflower, chickpeas, and rice with a whole heck of curry powder (probably 2 tbps), tumeric, cumin, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper and simmered it all together a few more minutes. Not as good as what you'd get at an Indian restaurant. But good enough for a healthy, everyday kind of meal.

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Cocoa Applesauce Muffins

I wanted to make a sweet treat to go with our romantic dinner on Saturday (more on that to come). In thinking about what I had on hand - no chocolate chips but some cocoa powder, as well as lots of old apples going brown and waiting for me to get off my lazy butt and make applesauce - I concocted what I thought was a recipe for fudgy brownies with applesauce.

To make applesauce, I diced the apples, put them in a saucepan covered with a little water, honey, and cinnamon, and simmered for about 30 minutes until tender. Then I mashed the apples with a fork, until they had the consistency of chunky applesauce, and set it aside to cool.

I'm lacking in the baking apparatus (the roommate who recently moved out took her useful bread and cake pans with her), so I poured the batter into muffin tins, thinking they would come out like rich brownie cupcakes. However, I must have used too much flour and baking powder because they rose up instead as moist, hearty muffins, with just a touch of cocoa and spice. The chocolate flavor was very subtle, better serving as a morning treat or afternoon snack than a decadent dessert. For a heightened chocolate flavor, I think you'd have to double the cocoa powder and/or melt in some chocolate. Despite that, these muffins were addictive enough in their own right, and only one was left by the weekend's end.

Cocoa Applesauce Muffins

6 tbsp of butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs
1 cup applesauce
1/4 cup hot water
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp baking powder

Bring 1/3 cup water to simmer in a saucepan. Melt butter in a large bowl over saucepan. Set bowl aside to cool.

Then pour 1/4 of the hot water into a small bowl of cocoa powder, and whisk to combine. Set aside to cool.

While ingredients cool, preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease two muffin tins.

Once cooled, whisk sugar, honey, eggs, applesauce, and cocoa mixture into the melted butter until smooth. Pour flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking powder into the bowl and stir to combine.

Scoop batter into muffin tins and bake for approximately 20 minutes until knife inserted comes out clean. Makes 24 small muffins - or 15 regular muffins (make sure to grease any muffin tins you leave empty).

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Cornmeal Berry Pancakes

Now that my storebought buckwheat pancake mix is finally long used up and gone, I get the fun task of making up homemade pancake recipes. Last weekend I made use of cornmeal and berries in my freezer to whip up these babies. I used raspberries because that's what I had in my freezer, which gave the pancakes a surprisingly floral note, but I think blueberries would be better.

 I liked the crispiness of the cornmeal (but maybe maple syrup will make almost any pancake taste good), but I thought they cooked a little too dark because they took too long to cook through the middle. So some kind of recipe tweaking will have to happen on my next batch to prevent that problem.


Cornmeal Berry Pancakes

1 cup flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 tbsp sugar or honey
1 tbsp baking powder
4 tbsp melted butter
1 egg
1 cup plus 2 tbsp milk
1 cup berries
syrup

If using frozen berries, rinse them quickly in water to thaw and let dry on paper towels. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Make a well and stir in wet ingredients. If batter is too thick, add more milk, one tbsp at a time. Gently stir in berries. Heat a spoonful of butter in a skillet until foamy. Pour pancakes out in pan to desired size, flip after a few minutes, and remove when browned. Serve with real maple syrup.

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Heart Attack Day

I hadn't had red meat in a while, and I'd been craving it for weeks. Finally, last Friday I picked up a package of bacon from Flying Pigs and a cut of Grazin' Angus Acres steak, and then unintentially cooked both meats last Sunday, on what you might call "Heart Attack Day." Except since I eat pork and steak so infrequently, I think it's okay to treat myself once in a while.

Brunch was a spiffed up breakfast sandwich featuring sunnyside eggs, bacon, and sliced tomato on toasted rye bread.



I wanted to experiment by cooking one batch in the oven and one batch on the stovetop. Google led me to many rave reviews about how awesome oven-baked bacon is - crisp meat and simple cleanup. But I cannot agree. As directed, I preheated my oven to 400 degrees, lined a baking pan with aluminum foil, laid my bacon down, and put it in the oven. And kept checking. And checking. Recipes indicated that it would only need about 15 minutes in the oven, but after more than 30 minutes it still wasn't crispy, even after turning the heat up to 400. So I took it out and ate it as it was - which was fine, it just wasn't that awesome crunch I was craving.

My stovetop bacon was undoubtedly superior - crispy to the point of crunchy - which was the way I like it. It was done in under ten minutes, and I didn't think cleaning out my pan was all that hard. So I definitely fall in the stovetop bacon camp.

Once brunch was devoured, I set to work at marinating my steak. I bought a flat iron steak, because it was the only cheap cut he had left. I read that this is a relatively new cut in the world of meat, taken from the shoulder, and it tastes best after marinating, much like flank steak. After trimming off a ton of fat from the steak, I laid it in my usual marinade mixture of balsamic vinegar, mustard, lemon juice, water, diced garlic, salt, and pepper - and this time I added some chopped fresh sage from my deck.

I let the steak marinate for about eight hours while I enjoyed a very relaxing Sunday....dreamily reading through pretty magazines on my sundappled bed, and then a scrabble game and pumpkin ale in Black Rabbit's pretty green backyard.



In the evening, the resident griller achieved a beautiful charred crust on the steak, though I have no idea how, because he wouldn't tell me - he's keeping it a "chef's secret"!



For a side, I whipped up colorful smashed potatoes and rainbow swiss chard (the purple tint comes from a mixture of Adriondack blue potato and yukon gold potato). I was going for a cross between potato salad, with its crunch and mayo-mustardy flavor, and colcannon mashed potatoes, dotted with creamy greens. I ingeniously chopped the swiss chard stems into little pieces to stand in for the traditional celery of potato salad, while swiss chard stood in for the cabbage that's traditionally mashed into colcannon. It turned out as deliciously as I had dreamed. I meant to save some for lunch the next day, but it was so good I ate it all at dinner - oops! Together with the hearty iron-rich steak, this dinner was exactly what my body needed!

Smashed Potatoes and Swiss Chard
2 medium-large sized potatoes
1 bunch swiss chard
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 1/2 tsp mustard
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt
pepper

Rinse and chop potatoes into 2 inch pieces. Add potatoes to a pot of salted boiling water and simmer for about 20 minutes, until tender. Drain in colander, reserving a tablespoon of cooking water.

Rinse swiss chard. Chop stems into small pieces and set aside. Chop swiss chard leaves into chiffonade. Sautee swiss chard leaves in olive oil over medium low heat until wilted.

Combine potatoes, wilted swiss chard, and swiss chard stems in a bowl. Add reserved cooking water, mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine and then mash with a fork or wooden spoon to desired smashed consistency. Serves 2 as a side dish.

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The Dog Days

A simple dinner tonight of pasta caponata and a smoothie, that I forgot to photograph. So here are some pictures of my dog Spencer instead; more on him below.

I first made caponata last week, and munched into it atop toasted whole wheat bread spread with goat cheese, inspired by lunch I had a while ago at Landmarc in the Time Warner Center. Caponata is a Sicilian dish of eggplants, peppers, and/or tomatoes and other veggies, diced and cooked together until soft and mushy, spiced with olives and capers. However, olives and capers aren't local or budget friendly, so I left them out, and didn't find my caponata lacking at all. Instead I spiced it up with lemon, crushed red pepper, and red wine vinegar, which were already handy in my pantry.

Tonight I had tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers from the farmers market waiting patiently in the fridge to become caponata again. But I didn't have enough bread to serve it on, so I decided it would work just as well with pasta. And it did, though I found myself craving a little sausage in there too. Most recipes for caponata call for you to roast the eggplant first, but in New York City's oppressive summer heat, I grilled the eggplant, and it was a much quicker way to tenderize rounds of slightly-chared and oiled eggplant.

For dessert I made a peach and nectarine smoothie with Ronnybrook yogurt. I don't like to eat fruit or yogurt on its own, but I do like them in smoothies and baked goods. So I decided I would buy the ingredients at the farmers market to make smoothies, in a concerted effort to be healthier. Since I'm not a big fan of peach flavor, I also threw in the last of some frozen strawberries that had been hanging around in my fridge for, oh at least six months, to brighten the flavor - but if you like peach, then plain ice cubes will do just fine for cooling down your drink.

And as for the dog days...does anyone have advice for remedying a sweet-turned-vicious dog? We adopted our dog from the shelter and accepted his growling nature toward other dogs as a hazard of his troubled past. Because he's just so darned cute, and, though he doesn't like other dogs, he loves people and is a bit of a whore with seeking out petting from other people on the street.

Until suddenly after two years, for the past two weeks straight he has started growling and trying to bite random people. For no apparent reason. The people he targets run the gamut of teenagers, old ladies, construction workers, and guys just sitting on their stoop. It's scary, and I don't know what to do. And it's so bizarre! It's bad enough that I have to walk this guy every day when I could be getting a few more minutes of precious sleep or gallavanting about town instead of coming straight home after work, that we leave the energy guzzling AC on during the day for him (at 75-77 degrees), and that he gets a full third of the bed at night! And now he's turned into a devil dog! But then he's just so darned cute and lovable with us, and you have to forgive him/forget all his sins...

Grilled Eggplant Caponata
olive oil
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
3 green peppers
3 tomatoes
1 large or 2 small eggplants
zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
1 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
salt
pepper

Dice onion and mince garlic and sautee in olive oil over low heat. Dice peppers and then tomatoes and add to pan. Let cook over low heat, with the tomato juices simmering away slightly.

Meanwhile, slice eggplant into thin rounds, brush with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Grill over medium heat, about 4 minutes on each side, until eggplant is tender with browned grill marks. Remove from grill. After eggplant has cooled a few minutes, dice eggplant and add to the pan, along with the remaining ingredients. Continue to sautee another 5-10 minutes, until vegetable mixture is evenly softened and flavored.

Serving suggestions:
Toast slices of bread, top with goat cheese or mozzerella, and then top with caponata.
Let caponata cool in the fridge, and then eat with pita chips on a hot summer day.
Make 4 servings of pasta, toss pasta with caponata along with 1 tbsp olive oil and 1/3 cup grated parmesan for caponata pasta.
As an accompaniment to fish or chicken.

Peach and Nectarine Smoothie
1 small peach
1 small nectarine
2/3 cup yogurt
1 1/2 tsp honey
2 frozen strawberries or ice cubes

Wash and roughly chop peach and nectarine. Add yogurt and honey to blender, followed by the fruit and frozen strawberries or ice cubes. Blend until smooth. Makes one whopping glass or two small glasses.

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Asparagus Frittata with Grated Carrots and Beets

Frittatas are a great way to use up whatever vegetables you have laying around. I had some asparagus in my freezer that I originally intended to turn into soup. But then remembering that I don't actually like my homemade pureed soups, I decided to throw the asparagus in a frittata instead after letting it thaw. And in an extreme example of not wasting food, into the frittata also went garlic scapes that had been steamed with mussels but not actually eaten that night.

Making the frittata was easy as pie, especially with the help of my sister, who's in town again. I love eggs in all forms, so I thought this frittata was great, but it could have used more cheese, so I raised the volume to half a cup for the recipe below. I used an cheddary alpine cheese from Consider Bardwell Farm, but parmesan, swiss, or gruyere would also work well.


I wanted a side salad, but didn't want to buy a whole head of lettuce that would inevitably go bad before we could eat it all, since we're going away this weekend. So instead I bought ruby red beets with large veiny leaves from the farmers market to make Clothilde's Grated Carrots and Beets. To my shock, everyone else near me who was buying beets requested that the beet greens be chopped off. Yes, it does make it easier to transport them, but what a waste of food!

The beet and carrot salad was good, but it wasn't as fantastic as Clothilde's raving led me to believe. For some reason, I didn't expect it to taste so much like carrots. Duh. So of course because I don't love raw carrots, I didn't love this. I even tried adding fresh mint from my deck, but its flavor was too subtle. But if you are a carrot fan, give it a whirl.


Asparagus Frittata

olive oil
1/2 onion
2 or 3 garlic scapes
1 lb asparagus
6 eggs
1/2 cup grated cheese
2 tbsp milk
salt
pepper
dash of cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Heat olive oil in an ovenproof pan. Dice onion and sautee over medium low heat until softened. Meanwhile, break woody ends off asparagus and chop into 1 inch pieces. Likewise, chop garlic scapes into 1 inch pieces. Add asparagus and scapes to pan and sautee another few minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour egg mixture over vegetables and turn the heat up to medium. Cook for five minutes, until the frittata begins to set. Then move the frittata into the oven for another 8-10 minutes until cooked through.

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Maple Hazelnut Muffins

These maple hazelnut muffins were amazing. They came out of the oven browned with a crispy sweet exterior, thanks to the raw sugar topping. Inside, they had a warm hint of maple flavor and a sweet crunch of hazelnuts. I included buckwheat flour because it has been lying around in my freezer forever, and because buckwheat and maple are a traditional flavor pairing, but unlike my buckwheat apple & chocolate chip muffins, buckwheat takes the back stage here to sweet maple and sugar. You could easily replace the buckwheat flour with whole wheat pastry flour or more all purpose flour. Likewise, I used raw turbinado sugar, but brown sugar would also work well. I've heard that Grade B syrup produces a more pronounced maple flavor, but I used Grade A and was happy with the results. Hailing all the way from Turkey, the hazelnuts are decidedly not local, but the flour, egg, milk, and maple syrup all came from within 150 miles.

I think I left these in the oven a little too long, until they were slightly dried out, so I recommend taking them out earlier rather than later. Even if there's still a little maple goo sticking to your test toothpick, just tell yourself they'll probably keep cooking on the inside after you take them out of the oven.

Now if only I didn't have to bring these to work tomorrow and could keep them for myself and my loved ones...


Maple Hazelnut Muffins

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup buckwheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup canola oil (or melted butter)
1/4 cup raw turbinado sugar
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp maple syrup
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1 cup hazelnuts, chopped into halves or slivers
extra sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Grease one muffin tin for 12 large muffins or two muffin tins for about 16 small muffins. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk together wet ingredients. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until smooth. Add hazelnuts. Spoon mixture into muffin tins and sprinkle sugar over top of each muffin. Bake for approximately 20 minutes.

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Ramps, Two Ways

Ramps are a sign of spring. And spring is truly here, with wild warm days that have helped my soul crawl out of the drudgery of winter. Spring has reminded me how great the world can be when it is actually sunny and warm and green everywhere. A kind of wild leek, ramps appear in early spring and don't stay in season for long. I was thrilled when I saw them at the Greenmarket last week and snatched them right up. They can be used in place of onions or garlic, and they are also traditionally eaten with bacon and scrambled eggs.

Since I've already used up my bacon allottment for the month, I chose to pep up my eggs and ramps with butter and a cheddary cheese. Together with a sourdough rye (also from the Greenmarket because I was too busy to bake bread last week), it was a perfect hearty breakfast. Ramps have a very distinct flavor, which is a little more earthy and pungent in smell and taste than onions or leeks. When I rinsed my ramps, I found they had a weird film at the bottom which I peeled off. Also, FYI, you can eat the white bottom part and the green leaves (unlike leeks, of which you can only eat the white part).


Scrambled Eggs and Ramps
1 tbsp butter
1/2 bunch ramps
5 eggs
1 tbsp milk
salt
pepper
2 tbsp cup grated cheddar cheese

Rinse the ramps and chop off the very bottom. Chop into small pieces and sautee over medium low heat in butter until wilted. Meanwhile, slice your bread and place in toaster. Then, whisk eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and cheese in a small bowl until combined. Once ramps are wilted, add egg mixture and stir continually until eggs are just cooked through. Butter your toast and plate with scrambled eggs and ramps.


For dinner tonight, creamy orzo with lemony shrimp and greens and the pungent taste of ramps. I think feta cheese would kick the whole dish up a notch, but I was too cheap to buy it after so many recent grocery purchases.

Orzo with Shrimp, Ramps, and Swiss Chard

1 cup orzo
15 small shrimp (I used frozen, cooked shrimp with tails already cut off for ease)
1 tbsp butter
1/2 bunch ramps
1/2 bunch swiss chard
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt
pepper

Place orzo in a pot of salted water, bring to boil, and let simmer about 5 minutes, until orzo is tender. Drain in a colander and set aside.

Meanwhile, place shrimp in a bowl of water and let sit for about 10 minutes until defrosted.

Rinse and chop off bottoms of ramps and chop into small pieces. Sautee over medium low heat with butter until wilted.

Rinse and chop swiss chard leaves into small pieces, discarding stems at bottom. Add swiss chard, salt, and pepper to the pan and continue to sautee until wilted.

Add shrimp, orzo and lemon juice to the pan, and stir to combine. Cook another couple minutes until shrimp are heated through. Grate parmesan over top and serve.

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Northampton Take Two: The Dirty Truth

Following the aforementioned ruin of last weekend, I was hoping for a little more relaxation and enjoyment this weekend. We returned to the Northampton area in Massachussetts to pick up Jesse's car, now fixed, and I figured this time around we would know what we were doing and have a better time.

Well I was wrong. I chose a cheaper motel for this trip, the Amherst Motel, and I do not recommend staying there. The heating was inconsistent, making it hard to sleep, and there was no hot water in the morning. While the owner who greeted us was plenty nice, and I would rather support a family-owned business than a chain hotel, just say no. There are plenty of other hotels in the area that will fill your needs better, such as Howard Johnson, where we stayed the previous weekend.

Then I didn't think to make a dinner reservation, so we wandered around Northampton hearing the same response of a 45 minute wait at every place, until we finally ended up at a sushi restaurant called Osaka. Which was fine, just not what we were in the mood for. I rarely have to make reservations in Brooklyn, so I forget that you might need them in a place that's not gasp!a big city.


Salvation came the next morning at brunch. Once again, we were thwarted by a 45 minute wait at what I had read was one of Northampton's most popular brunch spots, Sylvester's. So we decided to amble around and see if we could find a way to eat sooner. Luck came upon us when I saw the sign above - brunch! kegs and eggs! outside an unassuming place that ended up being The Dirty Truth Beer Hall. As we walked in the door we noticed a small Beer Advocate poster that ranked the place as one of the best beer bars in the country. It was then we knew we were at the right place. They had more taps than we'd ever seen behind a bar - 42 to be exact - and a huge blackboard listing great beers such as Allegash, Victory, and Bear Republic.


We really regretted not knowing about The Dirty Truth, or its sister bar, the Moan and Dove in Amherst, the night before when we had a few lackluster beers before dinner at both the Amherst Brewing Company and the Northampton Brewery.

I believe they have served dinner for a while, but this was The Dirty Truth's first day open for brunch! Jesse enjoyed a simple omelet, while I had what was called "Caitlin's Sandwich", featuring a firm fried egg, tomato tapanade, chevre, and spinach, on crisp whole grain toast. It was delicious, filling, and the kind of breakfast sandwich I would love to make at home. I didn't get a chance to have a beer, as it was too early in the morning for me to be in the mood, but I thoroughly recommend checking out this beer bar and gastropub if you are in the area. (To my sister Michelle who goes to college nearby - I am very sorry you have to wait three more years before you can enjoy this bar).

The moral of the story is, when going on a trip, make sure to a. check out Beer Advocate for good bars in the area, b.make a dinner reservation once you've found a good restaurant, and c. don't skimp on the lodgings.

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Dark Days Challenge Week 6: Buckwheat Apple and Chocolate Chip Muffins

I know Valentine's Day is the day you are supposed to bake a deliciously decadent chocolate treat, but between feeling like I overloaded on sweets last week, and reading that eating too much sugar is bad for you in Nina Planck's Real Food: What to Eat and Why I decided to take it easy and make muffins. Plus Jesse coerced me into getting a huge bag of buckwheat flour at the farmers market last week, so I needed to start using that up.

I still haven't found my tried and true muffin recipe. I tend to play around with them, and they usually come out okay anyway. This time, I used half honey and half sugar to cut down on the sugariness that would go straight to my bloodstream. Then I used the wetness of the honey as an excuse to cut down on the oil/eggs. And you know what, this recipe worked out great. Delicious and moist, with a touch of the buckwheat taste that I love in pancakes. You could also replace the buckwheat flour with more whole wheat flour or white flour.

Just be careful or you will eat half the muffins yourself in one sitting. You should aim to at least save a few for breakfast the next morning, or else what's the point of making muffins? These are definitely better for you than the ginormous muffins you might get at a nearby bakery on your way to work. Who even knows what's in those things? Corn syrup, god forbid.

Buckwheat Apple and Chocolate Chip Muffins

1/3 cup canola oil (or olive oil)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup milk

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup buckwheat flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger (optional)
1 tsp ground nutmeg (optional)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
1 apple, diced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine wet ingredients in a large bowl until combined. Then dump dry ingredients over wet mixture and stir till mixture is smooth. Stir in chocolate chips and apple. Distribute among greased muffin pan. Bake for 22-30 minutes, until knife inserted comes out mostly clean. Let cool for ten minutes before removing from muffin pan.

The flour, eggs, and apple for this recipe were local. I could have used local milk if I hadn't run out out of it earlier this week. I think this might work with 1/2 cup local butter in place of the oil too. But isn't butter supposed to be more of a cookie thing and oil more of a cake/muffin thing? I still haven't figured out the difference. My cakes and muffins err on the dense side while my cookies err on the light cakey side. Traditional baking 101 this is not.

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Dark Days Challenge Week 4: Saturday Mornings

What you see above is a typical brunch in my home on the weekends - eggs, toast, and homefries - and it's all local. I've been waiting to tell you all about my weekend morning feasts until I could say that. Last weekend I found flour at the farmers market, so I was able to make my weekly bread local AND homemade! I don't know how I missed the flour before...maybe I never looked closely enough, or maybe the farmer had just freshly milled some that week. It's from Oak Grove Mill on the Blew Farm in Franklin, NJ, only 50 miles away, and in addition to the whole wheat flour I purchased, he was selling a whole cornucopia of rye, cornmeal, pancake mixes, and buckwheat. I was happy to discover that this local flour worked just as well for breadmaking as King Arthur flour. So there you have it, homemade toast, potatoes and onions from the GreenMarket, and eggs and butter from Ronnybrook Farm. Somtimes I wash my breakfast down with a cup of sweet Ronnybrook milk too.

Afterward, we get dressed and trek a few blocks away to the Greenmarket in McCarren Park, where we refresh our supply of eggs, milk, butter, vegetables, and so on for the next week. (Sometimes I also supplement this with a trip to the Union Square market, if the selection in McCarren Park is particularly scarce). Saturday mornings have become my favorite part of the week ever since I started going to Greenmarkets this summer. For some reason, I really look forward to the chance to be outside in the morning air to pick out my food for the week from farmers who always manage to smile even when that morning air is frigid. And the chance to enjoy a leisurely, terrific, fresh meal, knowing that it's better than Enid's, which I used to think served the best brunch in Williamsburg. When the weather was warmer and the Greenmarket teemed with hipsters, strollers, dogs, and other ecletctic personalities, I was energized on Saturday mornings to wake up as early as possible and get to the market before all the good stuff ran out. Now that it's winter, I'm lazier and sleep in because there isn't much competition over eggs and vegetables, and also because I think I have a touch of seasonal affective disorder.

To think that last winter I didn't even think about where my food came from and felt awkward and intimidated by farmers markets. Actually, I think my whole environmental awareness emerged around this time last year, when I started reading No Impact Man and other green blogs, but my enthusiasm for local eating didn't really start until I was inspired by One Local Summer to make great meals out of ingredients from farmers markets. So next time you're planning a grocery store trip, consider spending a fun morning or afternoon at a farmers market instead. Something tells me you'll find it more enjoyable and rewarding.

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Very Apple Coffe Cake

Whenever Jesse returns from a work trip to LA, I like to use it as an excuse to make some scrumptious treat and serve it to him as a surprise. Last time around, I made flourless chocolate cupcakes, and this time I was originally planning to make German chocolate cupckes (which I've been wanting to make for-ever-er!). But since he is due to return in the morning just after I leave for work, I decided a coffee cake was in order. An apple coffee cake, to be specific, in celebration of the return of fresh apples to the farmers market.


In my health-seeking quest to ban oil and butter and tons of eggs from my baked goods, I decided to try using applesauce as the primary wet ingredient, and to complicate things further, applesauce I made myself. I've done this before, for apple muffins, and figured it would work just as well for a cake. Of course, butter came creeping back in for the crumbly topping, but a coffee cake just wouldn't be complete without that.


I just did a taste test with my roommate - it's on the right track, but the bottom and sides of the cake turned out tough and chewy. Not sure why - maybe I baked it too long, maybe I needed more lubricant in the pan, maybe this is what whole wheat flour does, maybe the batter really did need oil or butter? Hm guess those apple muffins were tough too. I need Alton Brown to explain the science of it all! I don't know, but leaving out the bottom of the cake, it tastes yummy, especially the crumbly top. Will get a final verdict from Jesse tomorrow, but I have the feeling he'll be pleased. And get ready for tomorrow's post, Welcome Back Jesse Part 2: Dinner.(Apologies for blurry picture - my lighting sucks.)

Applesauce
1 large apple (I used Cortlandt, recommended by the farmer I bought it from)
1/2 cup water
3 tbsp honey (buckwheat honey from the Greenmarket)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla


Cake
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg (local free range organic yum!)
1/2 cup soy milk or organic milk
1 small apple


Crumbly Topping
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup walnuts
1/3 cup steel-cut rolled oats


Peel, core, and dice apple. Combine apple with other ingredients in a saucepan, cover, and very lightly simmer over very low heat, stirring occasionally. When apples are tender, approximately 25 minutes later, mash with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. Sometime before the applesauce is done, preheat the oven to 350.


Meanwhile, combine dry cake ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients for the crumbly topping and then cream butter into the mixture. Also core an apple (do not peel) and cut into thin slices. Also prepare a 9-inch round cake pan with non-stick cooking spray on bottom.


Stir egg and milk into the applesauce. Then beat the wet mixture into the dry mixture. Pour half the batter into the cake pan, spreading evenly. Arrange apple slices in a layer on top, and then pour remaining batter over it, again spreading evenly. Arrange crumbly mixture evenly on top, pressing it in slightly. Bake for approximately 45 minutes. Enjoy with your next morning coffee for breakfast.

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Lemon and Basil Eggs over Foccacia

Fresh loaf of foccacia bread (or whatever yummy fresh baked bread you can find - I used black olive semolina)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
3 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup parmesan, grated
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Cut the top off the foccacia and hollow out the bread inside. Tear the top of the foccacia and the inside bread into 1-inch pieces and save for the egg mixture. Brush the inside of the foccacia with the lemon olive oil. Place on a baking sheet and toast for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the basil, cheese, salt, pepper, and milk. Whisk lightly. Stir in bread pieces. Carefully pour the egg mixture into the toasted foccacia bottom. Return to the oven and bake until the eggs have cooked, about 35 to 40 minutes. Cut the baked foccacia into 8 pieces and serve.

From Giada de Laurentis, Everyday Italian

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