March 2010

Torta 790 xxx
photo by george billard

3.17.10 Piece of Cake

This cake came about because I found some gorgeous-looking hazelnut flour when I was poring over the Market Hall Foods website and I had some lovely fresh ricotta from the farm upstate. Plus I'm always looking for new, gluten-free treats for G so he doesn't feel deprived in this wheat-centric world. Sicilians make a ricotta cheesecake with chopped hazelnuts, perfumed with lemon zest, so that—and the classic Italian hazelnut cake—was my inspiration. It's sort of my own hybrid, so I've called it Torta "La Cosa Nostra," but after sharing it with you, I won't have to kill you. Light yet rich, it has a dense but crumbly texture. As with my orange-almond flour cake, I like to sprinkle the top with demerara sugar (a raw cane sugar with a large crystal) which forms a lovely crunchy crust. The cake is pretty irresistible served warm with a dollop of creme fraîche or a scoop of lightly sweetened ricotta. It's also good accompanied by fresh, macerated or stewed fruit. (Some suggestions: fresh blood oranges; strawberries macerated in balsamic vinegar; stewed apricots.)
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Vinegars 790 xxx
from left: brown rice, white rice, balsamic, sherry, cider and champagne vinegars

3.16.10 Pucker Up

I've had some positive feedback on my round-ups of ingredients, so here's a new one for you. This time it's vinegar, in some of its many permutations. As children, my sisters and I called each other "Vinegar Pig." This originated from our love of drinking glugs of white vinegar straight from the bottle while dyeing Easter eggs. I've never been one to shy away from sour pickles or throat-scratchingly tart salad dressings, and I'm still known to take a swig from the bottle of balsamic, but I think by now I've learned how to employ vinegar to slightly more subtle effect.
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Kidlove 790 xxx
photos by george billard

3.14.10 The Kids Are Alright

Our journey north yesterday was so much fun! Visiting River Brook Farm in Cochecton really got me excited about the arrival of the new season—though in the wake of gale force winds and freezing rain that still seems a ways off up here. Still, nothing says spring like cuddling with a baby goat. They are so silky and sweet-smelling, so lovable and mischievous, nibbling on your hair and your fingers and your collar. As you can see, I was in ecstasy. It was also great to see the farmers, Alice and Neil, whom we hadn't visited in a couple of months. They're all revved up for planting season, super-organized and already cutting bags of salad greens—spinach, mache, miner's lettuce, etc—from their greenhouse. And they've still got several kinds of potatoes, jars upon jars of rare heirloom beans, and hardy vegetables like squash and celery root.
Littlekid 790 xxx
so adorable, I could just eat her up—NOT!
Goats 790 xxx
lots of the females are pregnant, with most ready to deliver in the next few weeks
Blackboard 790 xxx
Alice and Neil grow an incredible variety of organic produce
Beans 790 xxx
heirloom beans
Celeriac 790 xxx
After a prolonged stop at the farm, we made our way up to Delaware Delicacies, Ray Turner's smokehouse in a remote corner of Hancock, New York.
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Irish large 790 xxx

3.13.10 Luck o' the Irish

If you want to make corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's Day, you're already too late! Sheesh. I went to investigate some recipes and saw that most call for brining the meat for 8 days. We've got 4. My brisket is very small (about 2 pounds), since it's just for G and me, but this is a great meal to feed a bunch of people—like a family with 6 kids perhaps? I wanted to get this post up quickly, in case you'd like to go to the market today and get your supplies. This recipe looks long and involved but it's actually pretty simple. I just made the pickling spices and the brine and got my meat squared away in about 12 minutes. There are hurricane warnings and flood alerts in effect today in Sullivan Country, but for some reason we're still determined to hit the road for a pilgrimage north to Delicacies of the Delaware—a fantastic smokehouse where we like to stock up on wonderful things from time to time. Hopefully we won't float away...
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Blackgarlic 790 xxx
photo by george billard

3.12.10 Black Beauty

I'm a sucker for new ingredients, I admit it. When I come across something I've never seen or tasted before I get kind of excited. Because of G's current gastric "issues" (parasites? wtf?), and his gluten intolerance, he is currently off wheat, rye, barley and most oats; as well as spicy food, alcohol and dairy. He's also really trying to limit sugar, so not that much fruit either, and red meat is kept to a minimum. I pretty much follow his restrictions since it's just easier that way, and it's really a much healthier way to eat. Plus I'm trying to drop my menopausal rubber tire and the less cheese, chocolate and bourbon I consume right now, the better. Despite all this, we have an incredibly interesting and varied diet. Organic chicken wings with a tangy blood orange glaze? Yes, please. Seared scallops with a reduction of pureed shallots, prunes and balsamic vinegar? Yep. Escarole salad with colatura dressing? All allowed. Our pasta is made from brown rice, and it's delicious. I never feel deprived. This is partly because I am always discovering new and exciting ingredients. Like the black garlic, above.
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Beets1 790 xxx

3.11.10 Men Who Love Beets

Anecdotal evidence would seem to indicate that they are scarce. Beets are one of the few foods that G will not eat. Perhaps the only food. And during a recent beet-themed recipe competition on Food52, it came out that many other women's husband are also beet-shunners. Most of them, in fact. You may have heard that even the President is in this camp. There are no beets in the White House garden. Sadly, there are rarely beets in my own kitchen—despite the fact that I LOVE THEM. As a child, I was known to eat beets until I peed pink. I can't resist their intensely earthy sweetness. G thinks they taste like dirt. This got me to thinking that maybe there was some sort of Y chromosome thing involved. (Although there are undoubtedly loads of Russian men slurping down their borscht.) Anyway, it's a mystery.Beets are rich in the highly desirable B vitamin folate, plus potassium, manganese and fiber. Purple, golden or candy-striped chioggia, their antioxidant properties are numerous. For a much more thorough nutritional analysis, see here. Beets pair wonderfully with sprightly greens, with goat cheese, walnuts and citrus zest. They are often eaten with horseradish, which cuts through their thick sweetness. I love eating beets just simply roasted and dressed with sherry vinegar and walnut oil. But this recipe for a beet rösti (an Editor's Pick on Food52) is a fun way to try to fool the man in your life into eating them. I used golden beets because they more closely resemble the potatoes used in the classic Swiss rosti, a pancake that's like a crusty slab of hash browns with a slightly creamier center.
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Oscar2 790 xxx

3.7.10 Ready for Your Close-Up?

Thought you might be looking for a snack worthy of the Oscars. Might I suggest my recipe for the super-addictive Jimmy "Crack" Corn? It's quick and easy to make and really quite delicious. Hopefully you'll have lots of friends to share it with; if not, you're in danger of eating the whole batch. I don't dare make it at home. G and I have a history of addiction to kettle corn. It got pretty ugly. In case you're up for something a bit more ambitious and on the savory side, here's a recipe for stuffed and fried olives that recently took home the prize for "Your Best Movie Snack" on Food52. And last but not least, how about a delicious frozen treat from one of the many I've posted? Choose from cardamom ice cream; citrus sorbet; burnt-orange ice cream; grapefruit-ginger sorbet; or coconut-lime sorbet. You'll need something to keep you going—can you believe they've increased the number of nominations for Best Picture? Sacrilege! (Or pathetic desperation?) We'll be up all night. And god knows we need our energy for the intensive critiquing of the gowns, the hairdos, the facelifts, and the artificially plumped-up boobs, lip and cheeks. I'm raring to go!! Let's pray that Tilda Swinton makes her annual appearance as The Only Actress With Real Personal Style and a Sense of Fashion. If Meryl wins for her portrayal of Julia I'll have to fight back the gag reflex (just like I did while watching that parodic performance in that overrated film). Anyway, as I keep saying on Food52, it's an honor just to be nominated.
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Chicken 790 xxx

3.6.10 Playing Chicken

Another week gone by and, I'm pleased to say, another two of my recipes singled out by the editors of Food52. I still haven't actually won any of their contests, but lots of honorable mentions do add up. This time it was my Scarborough Fair Chicken and my Golden Rösti (made from yellow beets). I'll share the former with you first. My dear friend Marilee was recently asking me for a good roast chicken recipe, and I think this one is deliciously reliable. The name, of course, refers to the old English ditty and the herbs mentioned therein: parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Add some butter, lemons and shallots, and you're in serious business. The chicken you use really matters—and here I'm going to flog the organic argument once again. Despite the American propensity for enormous breasts, they're just not worth keeping our chickens in captivity in order to force-feed them the required diet of (subsidized) corn. Go for a nice free-range roaster and you'll enjoy better flavor and a freer conscience.
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Devigarh 790 xxx
devi garh in udaipur

3.5.10 Jewel of India

After spending the first part of our honeymoon traveling in southern India with our dear friends Scott and Lisa, G and I made our way to Rajasthan for what would be three of the best weeks of my life. Among the many spectacular hotels we were privileged to visit was this incredible 18th-century palace in the araval hills outside Udaipur. It is not the immediate go-to hotel in Udaipur; most people head for the Oberoi Lake Palace. But G somehow managed to snuffle this one out (like the truffle hound he is) and it was absolutely stunning. Devi Garh has only 39 suites, and they all feature local marbles and semi-precious stones. Our room was appointed with lapis lazuli—enormous sleek, azure slabs of it. There was a gorgeous pool and a wonderful spa where we were oiled up and rubbed down. Other features included little outdoor sitting rooms; a bar with chaises longues piled with brilliant silk pillows where you could have drinks at night by the light of these amazing wire baskets that held small, glowing fires; and secret courtyards, including one with a swing hanging from a jacaranda-like tree. And at the end of each of the two magical days we spent at Devi Garh, there was dinner.
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Rosegray 790 xxx

3.4.10 The Gray Lady, R.I.P.

I never met her, nor dined at her restaurant, but I could tell from her food, and the joie de vivre that radiated from her face, that Rose Gray was a glutton for life. We lost another great one to cancer today. She was only 71. Co-owner and co-chef of London’s River Café, opened in 1987 in a converted warehouse on the Thames, she was a self-taught cook who fell in love with the cucina rustica of Northern Italy while living in Lucca. After her friend Nell Campbell invited her to run the kitchen at Nell’s, a New York hot spot in the 80s, Ms. Gray caught the bug and decided to open her own place, along with her friend Ruth Rogers (seen above), another self-taught chef.In honor of this great lady, I include here one of her pristine recipes, a classic Sicilian pasta dish comprised of just a few ingredients. It was in simplicity that she found much of the pleasure and excitement in cooking. I hope you will, too. Eat well and raise a glass to Rose.
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