Pork is not in circulation at our house right now (part of an elimination diet we're trying), and although there are plenty of other things to eat, bacon is pretty hard to replace. So I was intrigued when I spotted beef bacon at Dickson's the other week. Turns out it has a nice smoky flavor and, though not fatty enough to become truly crispy, it's got a meaty chew that is rather pleasant. Because eating meats raises the level of acidity in the body, it's good to accompany them with plenty of alkalinizing fresh and cooked vegetables. One of my favorite ways to cook greens is with a piece of smoky meat, whether it's pork, beef, poultry or even dried bonito. It's an easy way to adds a lot of flavor.
Read More...

I know I just posted some pictures of flowers from my garden, but I couldn't resist sharing this profusion of peonies. A couple of weeks earlier than usual, they all blossomed at the same time, weighing their branches down to the ground and reminding me of that old song June is busting out all over! I brought them inside by the armful and it's truly an embarrassment of riches. You can just make out the one single-petal variety, like a shy young girl next to all the bosomy, full-blown ladies in white, pink and fuchsia.

Memorial Day weekend always marks the start of summer for me. I think back to halcyon days spent at The Shack on the North Fork, an era that has retained its halo for more than a decade now. I love that I'm still celebrating the new season with some of the same friends, but now we're doing it with a view of the woods instead of the water. Sunday's gathering at Stephanie's in Stone Ridge (our first visit there since New Year's Eve) featured an elaborate Mexican-themed buffet with the fixings for fish, beef or pork tacos. We sipped watermelon margaritas and thirst-quenching tamarind coolers, and afterward I trotted out this light, lime-glazed angel food cake with two drizzling sauces: Mexican chocolate (with the same chocolate I used for this ice cream) and fresh raspberry.
Read More...

The heat came early this year and with just enough rain it coaxed out lots of flowers we normally don't see quite this soon. We added a bunch of peony plants to our patch, and the new arrivals are already making beautiful music in the garden. G's pampered rhododendrons seem happy, one group of lilies is up, the tiny roses are all abud, the succulent garden is colorful and my beared irises are standing tall. It's a sight to behold.

I am grief-stricken. Here are just some of the innocent creatures currently dying because of the gulf oil spill: Birds, Reptiles & Amphibians, Fish, Invertebrates, Habitats & Plants, Wetlands, Marine Mammals and Terrestrial Mammals, including but not limited to pelicans, sea otters, tortoises,  seals, shrimp, oysters, plankton, sea gulls, plovers, algae, turtles,  dolphins, egrets, insects, crabs, herons, fish, manatees, sea lions, whales, jellyfish, porpoises. This is an outrage and a tragedy: one that could have and should have been avoided. And yet further evidence that this country must turn away from fossil fuel consumption and toward a future of alternative energy sources.

I love discovering new things. Isn't that one of the great joys of life? I know it's a bit of a cliché, but retaining a childlike openness really does keep you young at heart. II never want to turn into one of those cranky old people afraid to try anything new, no matter how many painful setbacks my life hands me. You probably think I'm buttering you up to eat something like monkey brains, right? Worry not. I just want to introduce you to Finnish ryes. My Finnish friend Maija, a very talented writer, does a little side business in these lovely pasties (not a typo, the plural of pasty!). They are based on a traditional recipe from Karelia, a region in Eastern Finland and Western Russia, using flour made mostly from whole grain rye (plus a tiny amount of wheat). Rye flour has a low glycemic index and a high amount of dietary fiber and protein, so these make for a healthy, nourishing snack. Maija and her baking partner have come up with a selection of flavors that pay tribute to tradition but also appeal to the rather more rarified tastes of  New Yorkers. This includes the most basic rice-filled version, as well as beet-feta, spinach-garlic and sweet potato-caramelized onion-rosemary. The ryes can be eaten at room temp or pop them in the oven (even better). I enjoyed mine with a fried egg on top. Look for them at the Park Slope Greenmarket (5th Avenue) on Sundays through the fall.
Read More...

I can't take credit for that: my friend Louise told me about a Rawesome food co-op in Venice, California, that sells raw milk—she's going there to stock up! I feel like the Pied Piper of natural dairy. Love it. I'm  jealous because they sell raw butter there. The farm I buy from doesn't separate the cream from the milk and I haven't quite figured out how to do that successfully. Every source says you just wait for it to rise to the top and skim it off, but that seems to leave me with something more like half-&-half. Any thoughts? Raw cheese, on the other hand, is pretty easy to find—as long as it's aged. I guess they figure any harmful bacteria will have died off, so by law raw milk cheeses have to be aged at least 60 days to be considered fit for human consumption. Whatever. You know I'll get my hands on some fresh raw milk cheese very soon. Thinking about making my own mozzarella. Yep, I'm a radical. (By the way, did I ever tell you that my father contracted bovine tuberculosis in Mexico when he was 19? Saved him from going into the service during WWII! Nowadays, even mom-&-pop farms do regular testing to make sure that doesn't happen.) So I did pick up some raw milk cheeses at Lucy's Whey in the Chelsea Market this week. I sampled them for lunch today and they were truly delicious. (I also picked up that lovely tray from Brooklyn Slate. Great packaging; would make a nice housegift for some cheese-loving host.)
Read More...

I accidentally bought a dozen avocados last week thinking that it was Memorial Day this Monday instead of next, so I wound up making an impromptu cold avocado soup as a prelude to a Mexican dinner on Sunday. It came out more like a thick puree  and I decided to serve it that way, sprinkled with just a bit of aromatic piment d'Espelette. It was VERY creamy and smooth. This paved the way for goat birria, a dish typical of blue-collar restaurants in Guadalajara. You basically slow-roast or braise a goat leg (we got one at the farm), then shred it and top it with a chile-tomato sauce spiced with cumin, cloves and a little cinnamon. Wrapped in a warm corn tortilla with a squeeze of lime, some chopped onion and cilantro, it's quite delicious. If you can't get goat, you could try this with lamb or pork. Speaking of smooth and creamy, you've undoubtedly noticed the chocolate ice cream, above, and are probably wondering when I'm going to get to that.

Read More...

Meet Louise, an enormous black milk cow who'd just given birth to this still-trembling little calf on Saturday morning when we stopped by our small local farm to pick up some raw milk. They're kind enough to sell it to us right from the cow. Well, pretty much. It's legal in New York, but only if you buy it directly from the farm. (It's banned outright in New Jersey, and available at retail in Connecticut.) You'll need to bring your own container—I use big glass jugs. If this recent article in New York magazine is any indication, raw milk is gaining in popularity as people begin to understand more about its nutritional value and appreciate its wonderful taste. (Old-style delivery services will bring it right to your door!) My mother-in-law was absolutely horrified at the idea of us drinking raw milk, and that's a testament to how this country has been brainwashed into believing that industrialized food is cleaner and safer. But in fact, high-heat pasteurization and homogenization do a great disservice to the quality and value of the milk we drink. And most cases of salmonella associated with milk in the past decade have been from pasteurized products. Perhaps, like I did, you shun milk altogether? As recently as a couple of months ago, I was posting about all the alternatives—soy, almond, rice, hemp. Now that I've learned about how the high-heat and chemical extraction processes essentially damage these foods, I really can't recommend you consume any of them on a regular basis. I know, I know, the ground beneath us is always shifting. But I feel much more empowered now that I have begun to do my own research (forever indebted to Sally Fallon of Nourishing Traditions) and really understand the science behind my food choices. Don't despair, there's still plenty of good stuff to eat.

This weekend was full of interesting animal friends. Pulling off the road to get a closer look at some baby geese, we wound up near a swampy pond where we saw a big osprey nest poised on top of a tall, limbless dead tree. With the binoculars, we could just make out the top of somebody's head and then, sure enough, mama (or daddy?) came swooping in with a big fish dangling from its talons! And just then, lumbering across the field and heading straight for the water was this big dame—a snapping turtle with a long tail like an alligator's, big beady eyes and plenty of attitude. She must have weighed about 20+ pounds, but they can get up to 45!
Read More...