LOCAL WEDNESDAYS*: Duck Egg Pasta Carbonara

     So Local Wednesdays (like Sicilian Sunday Dinners) is another attempt to focus Morta Di Fame, give it some structure, a routine. If only I could do that for the rest of my life! Needless to say, if you have visited the Wednesday Farmer's Market at Union Square you know it is the best in the entire city. So, even if I have to get up at 5am to get there before work (who am I kidding?) I'll do my best, then make a meal with ONLY local ingredients that evening. Invite yourself over on a Wednesday (you will have to come to Queens) and enjoy a local meal with me! Or we can do it at your place.
     I am very proud to say that all components of this Carbonara Pasta dish are local, even the pasta was homemade from Knoll Crest Farms. So here is the deal: my dad hates chickens and my mom hates eggs. Hence, I have never eaten this type of pasta and until recently had no idea what it was. Did you say bacon? And eggs? And cheese? And garlic? And fresh ground pepper? On pasta? When? NOW! OKAY! 
    I used duck eggs, which is very exciting! Their eggy robustness took some getting used to. And they were gigantic; the yoke was the size of a ping pong. The shell was really resilient and I almost needed a hammer to break it. But they were beautiful and really delicious. I knew they would be perfect for Pasta Carbonara. 
     This dish is so easy, too. It takes only 20 minutes, I promise! Fry some chopped bacon until crisp, then drain on a paper towel. Meanwhile, boil your pasta. Remove some of the bacon fat from the frying pan and add chopped garlic, fresh black pepper, the fried bacon, the cooked pasta. Turn the heat off. Then crack a few eggs on top and mix into the pasta too cook them. Most recipes call for a swirl so as not to scramble your eggs, but mine were a tad scrambled. Mario Batali, as described in Bill Buford's Heat, separates his yokes and whites, mixes the whites in first, then just drops the raw yokes on top. Add some pecorino romano cheese. Serve warm and gooey with some nice local greens or broccoli rabe.

*All ingredients from the post are made exclusively from local seasonal meat and produce.

GREENPOINT FOOD MARKET

I won't have a table this time around, but you sure as heck know I will be there stuffing my face with goodies!!! Come. Its super fun! More info...

DUCK EGG OVER SWEET POTATO LEEK HASH

  

     When I saw duck eggs at the Farmer's Market I had to have them. I wanted to really taste them, so I fried them over Sweet Potato Leek Hash.

     The eggs were not easy to crack open, but when I finally smashed it against the pan a few times, what came out was gorgeous. The yoke is huge, the size of a ping pong. The flavor is very different from chicken eggs. Its very eggy and tastes almost grassy.

     The hash is really tasty, sweet and oniony and nice when it soaks up the runny yoke. A nice hearty breakfast.

Sweet Potato Leek Hash
2 Sweet Potatoes diced very small
2 leeks chopped finely
1/4 red onion chopped finely
dash of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper

Sautee the leeks and red onion until translucent then add the sweet potatoes and cook until soft and caramelized. Season with cayenne and salt and pepper.

ITS A GOOD DAY FOR BEE'S IN NYC

    Actually, March 16th was a great day for bees. Thats when the Dept. of Health lifted the beekeeping ban thanks to the help of everyone who wrote in support of the legalization of beekeeping in NYC. Join the New York City Beekeeper's Association on Tuesday April 6th at 7pm (123 East 15th St) to celebrate this victory for the bees, for the plants that the bees pollinate, and for all of us who benefit from all that hard work the bees do that we take for granted. Thank a bee today!
   While at the Farmer's Market, I was so happy to see NYC Honey being sold! Talk about local.

ASIAN SLAW

      I am not one to blindly follow recipes, although when I do I am often pleasantly surprised at all the wonderful new flavors that I discover are so easy to create. When I got another head of cabbage and a million dingy carrots from the latest winter share pick-up, I decided to make slaw. I didn't want to just make regular slaw, so I looked of all places in my Cuisinart cook book and there was a recipe for Asian Slaw with Peanut Dressing and I happened to have almost all of the ingredients on hand to make the dressing. Don't you just love that? No running out to the store.
     Anything that combines the flavors of raw garlic and ginger (especially during cold and flu season) is a keeper. It was super easy, and I basically created the peanutty sauce that goes on those Cold Sesame Noodles you get at the Chinese restaurant. Worlds opening up to me. Warning: this is a pungent sauce, so don't do what I did and only loosely cover it in your fridge. Or else whenever you open the door, you will be reminded of that peanut sauce you made. And don't stop at slaw with this sauce. The next day I slathered the sauce over Soba Noodles. It would be great on all types of meats, too, like chicken or shrimp satay. Its all about just finding a vehicle for this delicious peanut sauce.

GUIDO GIRLS DINNER #3 - in Queens!

In a worried tone Nonna asks when I go to Manhattan, "Jane you gotta go to New York?" I always find this funny, but then again I myself call it "the city," as if there aren't 4 other boroughs in New York City besides Manhattan. Most of my friends think visiting me in Queens is like traveling to another planet.

So when I proposed an Eyetalian Girls Dinner in my new Queens place, Meredith basically said, "Thanks for the offer, why don't we have it at my place?" (which is in Brooklyn). I held my ground, which is not easy with strong brained crazy Sicilian broads, and everyone made it here without a problem. Enter the new "awesome" phase of our friendships, because anyone willing to visit me in Queens from another borough is automatically an awesome friend.

Markus started off everyone's unique Queens dining experience with some professional Old Fashioned Cocktails he made with the Tuthilltown Manhattan Rye Whiskey we brought back from our "wine" tasting along the Shawangunk Wine Trail. If you haven't gone wine tasting along this trail, go! It was so much fun. But beware, after a few tastings you will get loose with your credit card and come home with an obscene amount of wine.

Markus takes his cocktail making very seriously and even watched an instructional video on how to make a proper Old Fashioned, the cocktail so named because people would ask for a whiskey cocktail made the "old fashioned" way. That day he put me on the hunt for oranges with oily skin, which I thought were appropriate for a greasy Italian dinner party. The cocktails were perfect, strong, enough but not too sweet with a nice citrus hint.

For appetizers I made local Sunchoke Bruschetta and served it alongside some Sicilian cheese, olives and sun dried tomatoes.

For the pasta course, I made a Creamy Mushroom Sage Sauce over Campanelle. This is such an easy sauce, perfect for company and in my opinion there is not a better flavor combination than shallots, mushrooms and sage. I also made an vegan version for my special Sicilian vegan guest that stood up to the creamy version. It had more of a mushroom flavor.

For the main course I served Panelle, which are chick pea fritters, with Italian bread, Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Brocolli Rabe. This was my best panelle effort yet.

On our way to Ikea Rocco and I had stopped at Ferdinando's in Red Hook, which is one of the only places in the city where you can find panelle. I asked the panelle guy for some advice. He just said chick pea flour and water, with a little salt and fry them in canola oil. And at Ikea I found this great pan to use as a panelle form for $6. I followed his advice and didn't use lemon juice or parsley, I salted the paste well and I deep fried the panelle in Gemma oil, which is a vegetable oil about 10% olive oil. I was very satisfied with the results.

Melissa Love, of Crema Fatale, our favorite Vegan Pastry Chef brought over an unbelievable Salted Caramel Chocolate Mousse Martini with Almond Praline. It was so delicious we practically licked the salt rimmed martini glasses clean. The almond praline was outstanding, so crunchy and chewy. The chocolate mouse was so smooth and there was a nice soft caramel surprise waiting on the bottom. The sea salt with the sweet was perfection and I don't do justice in this photo of the remarkable presentation. The dessert along with some really nice Cava, a white spanish sparkling wine that Meredith brought over was the perfect ending to our Crazy Eyetalian Girl's Dinner #3.

Thanks for coming to Queens my awesome Eyetalian friends!

Recipes from Eyetalian Girl's Dinner #3:

Old Fashioned Cocktail

To a cocktail glass add:

2 oz. rye whiskey

2-3 spoonfuls of simple syrup (For simple syrup dissolve 1 C. sugar in 1 C. water and cool)

2-3 dashes of Angostura Bitters

Ice

oily orange peel, twisted to express the oils and used as garnish

maraschino cherry (optional)

Sunchoke Bruschetta

1lb of Sunchokes or Jerusalem Artichokes

Olive Oil and/or butter

Salt and Pepper

1/2 loaf Italian Bread, sliced

1-2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 whole clove of garlic

Preheat oven to 450.

Wash and peel the sunchokes and chopped into small pieces. Drizzle olive oil and salt and pepper on top and roast for about 15-20 minutes until they are soft.

Chop 1-2 pieces of garlic. Roast the chopped garlic with the sunchokes during the last 5 minutes of roasting.

Remove sunchokes from the oven and melt a few pats of butter on top (optional). Season to taste with salt and pepper and additional olive oil.

Toast sliced Italian bread. Upon removing from the toaster rub each slice with a clove of garlic.

Top each slice of toasted bread with the roasted sunchokes and serve.

Creamy Mushroom Sage Sauce with Campanelle Pasta

2 packages of fresh mushrooms (baby portobello, crimini or shiitaki), sliced

2 shallots, chopped

bunch of fresh sage, chopped

olive oil and butter

salt and pepper

about 1/2 C. cream or regular milk or soy milk

about 1 C. vegetable or chicken broth

1/2 lb. pasta, campanelle or penne

Sautee shallots and sage in butter and olive oil until softened. Add sliced mushrooms.

Once soft, season with salt and pepper. Add vegetable broth. Reduce for 5 minutes. Add cream of soy milk. Reduce until thickened about 5 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste and add a few pats of butter. Serve over campanelle pasta.

Panelle Revised

1 lb. chick pea flour

4 C. water or 1 Liter of Water

Salt

Oil for Frying

Boil the water. Add the chick pea flour slowly stirring constantly. Lower the heat if it starts to boil over. Keep boiling until its thick. Keep stirring. Once it pulls from the side of the pot, season with salt. Pour the paste into a greased mold. Cooking spray works best.

Let the panelle paste cool for a few hours in the fridge. Once its cool remove it from the mold and cut into thin 1/8 in. slices. Fry in canola or gemma oil and season with sea salt. Serve with Italian bread.

Brocolli Rabe

1 bunch broccoli rabe

1 clove of garlic

1/2 tsp peperoncino (red pepper flakes)

extra virin olive oil

salt and pepper

In a large pan with a lid, sautee garlic and peperoncino in olive oil. Before the garlic browns add the broccoli rabe season with salt and pepper and put the lid on so it can steam. Stir after a few minutes so the greens on the bottom don't burn. Cook until the greens are softened. Serve with Italian bread.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

1lb. Brussels Sprout

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wash and cut bottoms off the brussels sprouts. Cut each brussels sprout in half. In a baking dish season with a generous amount of olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake about 20 minutes until tender and the outer edges of the leaves are browned and caramelized.

Pasta with Leeks, Pine Nuts and Toasted Bread Crumbs

    I don't come up with new ideas for dishes often, but when I do and its a hit I like to break down the brainstorming process. Hunger and craving are steps 1 and 2. I'd been dreaming about Nonna's specialty dish, pasta with sardines, which is topped with delicious browned bread crumbs. But, the CSA packs my fridge with veggies, not sardines and I had a bunch of leeks. I went on my google reader and came across a post titled, "Leek Pasta: who loves ya baby?" Pasta with Leeks. (On a side note: No wonder why Gourmet magazine went out of business. Food bloggers are in mourning but we are to blame. Who needs Gourmet when there is a wealth of glorious free food porn and recipes!?)

    Leek Pasta equals genius, but Judith's recipe calls for heavy cream and cheese and frankly dairy and myself are lover's at war and I am a sad loser. Picture me running longingly toward a bowl of fresh whipped cream. I am mouthing, "I love you! Let's be together again." Just as I am about to take that sweet cream into my loving and forgiving embrace it smacks me in the face then punches me in the gut, double time. Its so wrong, so I am trying to walk away quietly. 

    Then there it was leeks and bread crumbs, some toasted pine nuts and pasta and it was delicious and dairy-free! I don't need you after all, cream!

    I sauteed some shallots and garlic with peperoncino in lard (substitute butter or olive oil here). With lard, if you got it flaunt it, right? I cut the leeks into little rings (after soaking them in water; they are dirty!) and sauteed them. Salt and pepper. I got everything nice and caramelized then added some pine nuts and toasted them. In a separate pan, I browned some bread crumbs in olive oil or butter while the pasta was boiling. I only had angel hair but I would recommend spaghetti. After draining the pasta, I coated it in a little olive oil, added the leeks on top and the toasted bread crumbs on top of that. Some pecorino romano or parmesan cheese would be delicious to finish this off. There I go again, taking that dairy back. Some parsley would be nice, too. 

    So fresh and so vegan minus the lard! But, dairy-free is all that matters to me.

A NEW TAKE ON RADISHES

   Sergio, the CSA Farmer, gives us some spicy ass radishes. They have some serious tangy life in them, especially when eaten raw. I like it. But, while at the City Bakery, which is one of the BEST and most luxurious lunch buffets in all of New York City, I had Roasted Radishes with Celery. They were wonderful and really mild and crunchy. So when we got another bunch of radishes I decided to give it a try. 

   I sauteed some garlic and shallots in extra virgin olive oil with peperoncino, then added the celery and the shallots, salt and pepper. I cooked them for about 10 minutes altogether. The shallots got so sweet and caramelized. When I turned the heat off I added some chopped cilantro. It was a really nice crispy, mild and warm way to enjoy that bunch of radishes that always gets short changed as a side show in a tossed salad, while they really should be the main event.

THE SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY OF FRYING EGGPLANTS

   I recently was stranded in the country and the parental units had to come and pick me up. Well if thats not an excuse to fry some eggplant then I don't know what is. Sergio, the CSA farmer, gave us some gigantic eggplants this week. And if I have one special talent to save from the apocalypse it would be my frying technique. Eggplants are good for one thing, sopping up olive oil. How many times have I heard the lame complaint, "I hate the way eggplants soak up so much oil." Well what kind of oil are you using? I can put good extra virgin olive oil on anything and when its embedded in a spongy fat eggplant slice, it is fried heaven.

   The key to frying eggplant is first soaking the slices in salted water for an hour or so. Some people think it removes the bitterness but its really just osmosis in action: the movement of water from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration through a semi-permeable membrane, in this case sweet eggplant flesh. So the eggplant has lots of non-salty water in it. So when you put it into salty water, all that water in the eggplant wants to hook up with the salt on the outside so the water gets drawn out, making the eggplant perfect for frying. You know when water mixes with hot oil it can be a dangerous situation, so after I remove the eggplant slices from the salt water I get rid of the excess water by placing them on paper towels.

    Now its time to fry! You really should not fry in extra virgin olive oil because it has a low burning temperature but you don't want your eggplant to sop up canola or worse corn oil. Gross. So I create a blend of extra virgin olive oil with canola oil in order to raise the burning temperature of the extra virgin olive oil. Smoking oil is not good for the body. I do not use a thermometer when I fry. I heat it up, then when I feel like its right, I put in a little piece of bread or whatever I am frying in the oil and if it gets all bubbly and happy then its the right temperature. 

   You want to use at least an inch of oil because like I mentioned the eggplants just soak in the oil. When they get nice and golden on each side, remove from the oil, place on more paper towels, then (do not forget this step) salt them with sea salt while they are hot.

   So now you have all this fried eggplant, what do you do with it? Well philosophically speaking, the eggplants is the end, and the means to enjoying these oily beauties is either a nice red sauce or some good Italian Bread. 

   As my parents were driving up here I said, "Listen, I have some eggplant frying, we are going to need to figure out a sauce situation." Rocco arrived and was on it. His sauce is inspired by a tomato sauce he had in Tuscany but he made it Sicilian by adding basil. He fried some garlic in olive oil and added some peperoncino. Then he added some canned plum tomatoes and cut them up in the pan while they were cooking. He added some salt and pepper and after about 15 minutes added some fresh basil. It was done that fast and so delicious. 

   Mommy was like, "that sauce was so good." 

   Me: "how did he make that?" 

   "I don't know. I can't make sauce like that." 

   Its so simple, yet Rocco can really hook up a mean sauce in a hurry, like a magician while no one is looking. (And for the record, Mommy, who Rocco calls the "American Woman" makes a fresh tomato sauce that rivals Nonna's. Good thing Nonna has no internet access because what I just said was a major mala figura.) 

   And now its the moment we have all been waiting for. The marriage between the sweet fried eggplant and the delicious tomato sauce. The grated pecorino romano cheese is like the wedding band that bring the two flavors together in such delicious harmony for our bellies to enjoy. Good thing, Rocco has been complaining that his panza (It: stomach) is not fat enough.

KALE AND LEEK FRITTATA

    The frittata. The kale and leek frittata. So simple, but this one took so long. There are a few steps, one involving cooling the sauteed green before mixing with the eggs, the other remembering there is cheese in a frittata so you don't have to run out and buy some with the oven on waiting for that sweet frittata to start baking. 

    So I sauteed some leeks and garlic in lard. Yes lard, its excellent for sauteeing greens. Then added some peperoncino and the kale. A little salt and pepper, until the kale is soft. Cool the kale. In a bowl beat eggs, cream or milk, pecorino romano cheese, salt and pepper. Add the kale to this. You have to eyeball this. You might be left with some extra kale. Or if you don't have enough it will be an eggy frittata, but thats okay. I start the cooking off on the stove top in Grandma's cast iron pan, then after a few minutes I pop it into a 350 degree preheated oven for about 20-30 minutes until the eggs are firm in the middle but not overly dry. 

    Enjoy with a nice piece of Italian Bread and maybe a fancy salad on the side with some orange wedges. Oh and beer? How did that get into brunch? Oh well, it was nice.

OYSTERS AND BEER AT JIMMY'S NO. 43

    God I'm glad I started loving oysters. All I can say is mmm salty slimy goodness. So apparently this guy Henry Hudson was named after this river or something and its like the 400th anniversary or something. All I heard was oysters and beer. 

   Oyster Night at Jimmy's No. 43 was to support Slow Food NYC with $4 plates of 3 Oysters and $5 Ommegang (those are Dutch) beers. We got a brochure from Sea Grant that explained shellfish aren't only good for your taste buds because (I am plagiarizing this is right from their brochure): as filter feeders they improve water quality and species diversity and shellfish aquaculture is sustainable and good for the environment. Read more here.

   I like Jimmy's No. 43, it was dark and underground with a warm feel and antlers everywhere. The good intentioned wait staff was not prepared for the oyster craziness, and they ran out of the fixins, cocktail sauce and lemons, but these Peconic Bay Oysters were good just like that.

   I tried a bacon wrapped oyster. What a waste. I might as well have just eaten bacon straight, not a problem, because I didn't taste any of that oyster inside.

   We got a really yummy soft goat cheese with apple and peach salsa and not enough delicious bread.

   And a mild radish salad. We get these insane radishes from Sergio the CSA farmer and these just were not up to par for me at least in the spicy department.

   For dessert, a warm bread salad, nice flavor but on the dry side, with cold creamy dipping sauce that needed to be warm in my opinion.

   We were there for oysters and beer and we got some delicious oysters and beer then went and got more beer. Good night.

Sweet and Spicy Japanese Eggplants

    Artists go through blue or red phases in their work, but mine involve actual types of food. I was obsessed with pesto for a hot minute but now I am in an eggplant phase. I picked up these white eggplants from the Farmer's Market and the girl said that white eggplants are actually sweeter than regular eggplants, so I decided to make my Sweet and Spicy Japanese Eggplant dish. I don't know if Japanese people actually prepare eggplants in this way, but I use some Japanese ingredients so thats why I call them that. 

    I found this recipe originally in a magazine but didn't have the main spice mix called Togarashi, which is made from red pepper, roasted orange peel,  yellow sesame seed, black sesame seed, japanese pepper, seaweed and ginger and can be found in Japanese grocery stores. Instead I just grated fresh ginger and orange zest and sprinkled some cayenne on top and it actually comes out better this way, more fresh and spunky than if you just use the Togarashi.

    First I slice the eggplants and season them with salt, pepper, togarashi (optional), or if you don't have that grated ginger, orange zest and cayenne pepper. I coat them in oil then grill them with a little sesame oil until browned on both sides. Then I pour Mirin and Soy Sauce over them and it gets very fun and sizzly. Mirin is a rice cooking wine that is nice and sweet. The soy caramelizes up and this ends up being a sweet and spicey eggplant dish that takes eating eggplant to a whole new level.

PARMESAN CRUSTED SQUASH BLOSSOMS!

YEAH! A little flour egg and parmesan cheese batter, some deep frying in olive oil and these babies are good to go! I ate 10!

ROASTED TOMATILLO SALSA

     I got all these tomatillos, roasted them with some garlic and other hot cubanillo pepper and some green and red bell pepper and made this roasted salsa with some fresh basil, a little sugar to balance the spice and some lemon juice. I didn't have any delivery system for it like chips, but this would have made a great garnish for some grilled fish. 

SWISS CHARD FROM THE YARD AND MORE PANELLE

    The swiss chard I got as an infant plant from Rooftop Farms was really ready to go. The last chard recipe I made was simply sauteed with a runny egg on top. The chard itself is not how I remember eating chard, so I referred to Rocco, who is the only person who ever prepared chard for me, and I cooked it the way he does. It came out just as I wanted it to. 

    While I was rinsing the chard, I get a call from Nonna, who has her own cell phone by the way.

    "Jane (my name is Jen) I gotta the panelle, you want it?" 

    Faster than you can say mala figura I was at Nonna's house, ringing the door bell. And as usual she was buzzing me in, but the outer door was locked, so I couldn't get in. No problem. "Nonna!" I screamed up to her apartment. After a few moments, Nonna comes out onto her balcony. No true Sicilian doesn't have a balcony. I think they just shrivel up and die without one. 

    "Jane, you don't gotta the keys?" If I had the keys I would have already been up eating panelle, "Okay, Jane I come down." After a few falls and trips to the hospital, Nonna should not under any circumstances be climbing down the stairs, so I tell her to just throw the panelle down. Usually she then will go into the house and get a little rope and tie whatever it is it and reel it down, which is what I thought was taking so long. Before I know it she's at the front door and walks out carrying her cane, like its an accessory.

    "Jane, why you no gotta the key?" I haven't lived there in like 5 years.

    "Nonna, you shouldn't be walking down the stairs by yourself!"

    "Jane, I can walka downa the stair bya myself. I go out alla the time bya myself." She's a live one. I tried to calmly take the panelle from her, but it was more like ripping it out of her hands and shoving it into my mouth, while thinking, just one, you need to photograph this. It was so perfect, and Rocco was right, good panelle is a little greasy, which I have to admit my panelle was lacking. It had the right flavor but not enough grease seeped into it and all over my hands and the upholstery of the Jeep like this one. There are sometimes casualties involved in good panelle. Its a fact of life. 

    "Nonna, who made this?" 

    "Jane, you like? I getta the recipe. My friend-eh make-eh." The hunt to find this person is on. When I trap her, I will let you know. 

    I suspected it had eggs in it, but when I mentioned this to Rocco, after teasing me that I didn't leave him any, he literally had a fit that I even mention eggs in panelle. That would be a real mala figura according to him.     

Rocco's Swiss Chard

1-2 cloves of garlic sliced

peperoncino

extra virgin olive oil

1 fresh tomato, chopped

bunch of swiss chard, whole or chopped (give swiss chard a good soak, its gritty)

salt and pepper

Sautee the garlic and peroncino in extra virgin olive oil. Add the tomato and cook down a bit. Salt and Pepper. Add the swiss chard and sautee a few minutes. Salt and pepper. Cover and steam until soft.

LOCAL STRING BEAN SALAD

    This salad is the base ingredients for Salade Nicoise, which is Rocco's favorite salad. And its a french salad, although he will claim Nice is Italian. Caught you there, Rocco! You like French things! I will make a proper Salade Nicoise when I have all the ingredients together just to drive Rocco crazier than he already is.

    In the meantime, this colorful string bean salad is a perfect warm day meal. Boil some string beans, red potatoes and onions together for a few minutes, drain them and dress them with olive oil and red wine vinegar salt and pepper. Some fresh herbs and chic peas would be nice, too. Dress the salad while hot because it really absorbs the olive oil and vinegar flavor. Serve warm or cold.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTHER JOSEF!

FARM BREAKFAST 2

      Our first Local Farm Breakfast was such a success we decided to invite a few of our great friends over to share in another one with us. Not only is breakfast delicious, its such a laid back no-fuss meal, rarely shared with friends unless there is a sleep-over or group trip happening. I guess since it was noon, we could call it brunch, but there were really no lunch options. Mike likes this time of day for entertaining because unlike our 2am mojito gatherings we really aren't bothering the neighbors. And when we get together with two of our favorite couples, Matt and Amy and Lee and Stephanie we laugh out loud the entire time. (These peeps are so talented, so check out their work if you have time)

    Aside from the pork menagerie from Flying Pig Farms: 2 types of bacon, no nitrate and smoked, and breakfast sausages, which were all out of this world, we also had Spelt Pancakes, a Kale Frittata and Cinnamon Buns which I psychically knew Lee would bring over from Sette Pani in Brooklyn. Cinnamon buns were originally on the menu, but when I looked up some recipes, it was ALOT of work. So what a nice surprise for Lee to thoughtfully bring over what I was craving. And for "breakfast dessert," Mike suggested we head over to Eddie's Sweet Shop for homemade ice cream but since thats rather insane we enjoyed fresh cherries and currants from the Long Island City Farmer's Market. For drinks we offered bellinis, iced coffee and Mike's favorite, Iced Goji Berry Tea from Yogi Teas.

     The Spelt Pancakes, which I usually make with soy milk, I made this time with a mixture of heavy cream and water, since no soy or regular milk was available. They were decadent and delicious, but I think they come out much fluffier and lighter with the soy. Matt was making pancake tacos filled with sausages. So Tex-Mex, Matt!

     My pride of the entire breakfast was the Kale Frittata. First, the Kale was homegrown in the yard from little sprouts I bought from the Rooftop Farms and I had managed to keep them alive and thriving. In the frittata, the kale tasted delicious, perfectly creamy and cheesy with nice bites of the fresh garlicy kale enveloped in the thick farm fresh eggs from Tellos Green Farm. Mike was raving about the frittata the entire day, "the kale frittata was actually really good," which makes me very happy because for Mike to say anything as green as kale was tasty is a complete culinary success for me. Maybe it was the heavy cream I used in it.

     What a wonderful day it turned out to be lounging in the back yard with wonderful friends and enjoying a completely local farm fresh breakfast! 

KALE FRITTATA

7 eggs, beaten

3/4 C. romano or any grated cheese

1 C. milk or heavy cream

1/4 C. chopped cooked bacon (optional)

1 C. kale sauteed in olive oil or the bacon drippings, with peperoncino and garlic

Salt and Pepper

Beat the eggs, milk, cheese and salt and pepper. After the kale and bacon have cooled fold them in the pour the entire mixture into a heavy pan, preferably the pan you cooked the bacon in. Cook on the stovetop on medium heat for 5 minutes then back for 30 min in a 350 degree preheated oven.

GOOSEBERRY COBBLER

    Aren't gooseberries just gorgeous? I joined a fruit CSA for the month of July and our first share this week were gooseberries and blueberries. On their own the gooseberries were fabulous, as were the blueberries, but I read gooseberries are great for cobblers and tarts. They have their own distinct tart flavor. Its as if you made a grape-raspberry hybrid. Very unique. I decided to combine the blueberries and the gooseberries into a cobbler using my go to Emeril's Berry Cobbler recipe. It came out pretty good. Since they are quite tart I would next time go lighter on the lemon juice, but they really work well with the whiskey in the cobbler. And it was a travesty there was no ice cream happening, but thats not that bad since I think I have been on a month run of dessert daily. 

BEET GINGER SOUP

    I got some fresh beets from the CSA and made this fantastic Beet Ginger Soup. The hand mixing got VERY messy. I ruined a shirt and good thing I have freckles to hide the red splatter on my face and neck! Going number one after a large amount of beets is always interesting. There's the panic, "why is my pee bloody?!?!" then the calm down, "oh, i just ate some beets!"

BEET GINGER SOUP

Warning: Wear protective goggles and a bib!

1 bunch of medium beets, peeled and quartered

1 small onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 inch of ginger grated, about 1-2 TBSP (adjust to your taste, I go overboard on ginger)

1 C. of chicken or vegetable broth

2 fresh thyme sprigs

2 TBSP butter (optional)

Sautee the onions, garlic, ginger and thyme in olive oil. After a few minutes add the beets and sautee for a few more minutes. Salt and Pepper. Add the broth. Bring to a boil, then simmer covered for about 20 minutes or until the beets are soft. Puree with a hand mixer or in the blender, but be careful! Return to pot and bring back to a simmer and add the butter, letting it melt in. If you want to add cream, this would be the right time as well. Serve warm or cold garnished with a fresh sprig of thyme.

ZUCCHINI AND MORE ZUCCHINI

     I have been eating a lot of zucchini, and its just the start of the season, so I need to start getting creative. My go to is either Zucchini Stew or Pasta with Zucchini. Yesterday, I had the most unbelievable Zucchini Puree from a little cafe in the West Village which I am going to try to recreate. It was outrageous. Here, I made a combination Rocco Nonna Zucchini Pasta. 

    Rocco will usually slice the zucchini really thin, then fry it and serve it over pasta in a spicy garlic and oil sauce. Its superb. 

    Nonna simply stews the zucchini with garlic for a lighter pasta dish. So I took the best of both worlds. 

     I made the stew as the base of the sauce, then combined it with a garlic sauteed in oil and peperoncino. The I topped it with some fried zucchini slices and ended up with a remarkably delicious zucchini pasta that is really nice topped with fresh grated romano cheese. It seems like more steps but in the end it was easier because frying 50 zucchini slices is time consuming. So while the stew is going you just fry up say 1/4 of the zucchini in slices and you still get that nice friedness with less frying toil.