Cold Sesame with Raw Zucchini, Carrot and Cucumber (Spiralized) Noodles

Cold Sesame with Raw Zucchini, Carrot & Cucumber Noodles

When I was a kid my parents would take us all to a Chinese restaurant in Flushing, Queens called The Happy Dumpling. I was just beginning to be adventurous beyond wonton soup and Cold Sesame Noodles were soon my jam! The waitress would mix all the ingredients at the table, a great way to keep restless kids entertained. The entire family loved that dish and it was the highlight of our meal there.

Rainbow Cookies

From Greenpointers, Recipe: Rainbow Cookies

I've had this recipe for Rainbow Cookies on my fridge since last year and decided to make it. Working my first job as a counter girl at an Italian bakery in Queens and accepting collect calls from the grumpy bakery owner's son, who was in jail for idiotic low-level racketeering, gave me have a distaste for Italian pastries, with the exception of a few things: Pignoli Cookies, Rainbow Cookies & Cannolis (but only the cannolis that the nuns from the San Carlo monastery on Erice, a medieval mountain town in Sicily make. God is in them.) The rest of the Italian pastries can burn in hell.

Rainbow Cookies are pretty pricey per pound and if you're going to buy them around Brooklyn I would recommend Fortunata Brother's on Manhattan & Devoe.

Making the rainbow cookies seemed pretty pricey, too. It didn't help that I had to buy 3 half sheet pans at $15 a pop from The Brooklyn Kitchen, plus 4 tubes of Almond Paste at $8 a pop! I definitely came home grumpy.

"I should have just bought them at the bakery," I said as I laid the ingredients on the counter. But the process and the end result were worth it, plus we got between 150-200 cookies out of it.

I cut the recipe out of New York Magazine from the chef of Torrisi Italian Specialties, a great Italian restaurants down on Mulberry, the walls lined with Manhattan Special: my favorite drink, espresso soda.

If you plan on making rainbow cookies, make sure you have an entire day off plus a partner with good hand-eye coordination. I am lacking in that area and Jon, who is mechanically inclined proved, to have amazing cake layering and chocolate spreading skills. Had I tried to take this endeavor solo, I assure you these cookies would not be so pretty.

When it comes down to it, "it's a lot of work, Jane," as Nonna, my Sicilian Grandma would say. There are many steps: beating the egg whites for stiff glossy peaks, splitting one batter into three for coloring, baking three cakes separately until just underdone so they stay moist, cooling the cakes then layering them using orange marmalade as glue, letting them set then spreading warm chocolate on the top and bottom. Start as early in the morning as you can.

While getting closer and closer to chocolatey soft almond cookie goodness, I was giddy. I remember saying, "this sure as hell beats last minute christmas shopping." In fact, making these cookies is what the holidays are all about: slowing down, spending time with someone you love, making something you love, then giving to people you love." These cookies put a truer smile on faces than anything you can unwrap and rip a price tag off of.

Torrisi Rainbow Cookies Recipe from New York Magazine

12 large eggs, separated

2 2/3 cups sugar

24 oz. almond paste

8 sticks butter, softened

5 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. red food coloring

2 tsp. green food coloring

16 oz. orange preserves, heated and strained

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Beat egg whites in electric mixer until they just hold stiff peaks. Add ½ cup sugar, beating until whites hold stiff, slightly glossy peaks, then refrigerate. Beat together almond paste and remaining sugar in mixer. Add butter gradually and beat until mixture is fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add yolks and beat until well combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour and salt and mix until just combined. Fold in egg whites. Divide batter equally among 3 bowls; wearing gloves,(1) whisk red food coloring into one and green into another, leaving the third batch plain. Spread each batter separately and evenly, about ¼-inch thick, onto 3 half-sheet pans, each greased and lined with parchment paper. Bake until just barely set, about 7 minutes. (2) When layers are cool, spread half the preserves onto the green layer. Invert plain layer over it and discard paper. Spread on remaining preserves, and invert red layer over it; discard paper. Wrap with plastic and top with a weighted baking pan. Refrigerate for several hours. Remove plastic and bring to room temperature. Melt chocolate in a double boiler, and (3) spread thinly on top layer. Chill in freezer briefly until firm. Cover with wax paper, place another baking sheet on top, then invert cake onto sheet pan and remove paper. Quickly spread with remaining chocolate and return to freezer until firm. Trim edges, slice, and serve.

LOCAL WEDNESDAYS*: SPINACH GOAT CHEESE FRITTATA

       One of my most cherished possessions is my Grandma Isabelle's recipe tin. I love flipping through her old fashioned "American" recipes that call for lots of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup. The tin is a food network of all of the great recipes she collected from her family and friends over the years and many predate me, like Fez's Spinach Casserole from 1971. There are recipes cut out from old newspapers and magazines, which show food trends of the time, like the article on bulgur wheat from Better Homes and Gardens in 1989. Pizza Bulgur Meatloaf anyone?  

     Recipes I have to try are Cream Cheese Cupcakes, Lentil Frankfurter Soup and Mrs. Keyser's Carrot Pudding, all written in Grandma's perfect handwriting. She was so organized and really had it all together, a trait I wish I inherited. I try to keep my recipe tin up to date, too, in case my Delicious account is lost or my blog disappears into the internet abyss. Going through all those recipes makes me very hungry, so I needed to prepare something to keep me from eating the index cards. (I was a glue eater as a child.) 

      I made this easy Spinach Goat Cheese Frittata, with farmer's market eggs, dairy, spinach and this awesome Queso Blanco garlic and parsley goat cheese from Patches of Star Dairy. It really might be one of my best yet.  

Local Spinach Goat Cheese Frittata

Bag of Spinach, chopped 

1/2 onion, sliced thinly

6-8 eggs

1/4-1/2 C. crumbled goat cheese

1/2 C. milk or cream (soy is okay, too!)

Salt and pepper

In a pan, sautee the onion until translucent in olive oil. Add the chopped spinach, drizzle more olive oil on top and season with salt and pepper. When the greens have wilted, set aside to cool. (Sometimes, I put them in the fridge of freezer.)

Preheat oven to 350. 

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk and salt and pepper. Stir in the cooled spinach and the goat cheese. (You might not need all the spinach; you want a dense amount of spinach with egg running through it. Either way, it will be good, it will just either be more eggy or more spinachy. After a few frittata's you get a feel for the egg/greens ratio.)

Pour the mixture into a heavy duty oven safe greased 8-10 in. skillet. (I coat it with non-stick spray.) You can either start cooking it on the stove top to get nice color on the bottom, then put it into the oven for about 25 minutes until its it firm in the middle, or bypass the stovetop step and stick it in the oven. 

Eat with Italian bread. 

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.

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.

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.

MOM'S RED SAUCE

Good thing Nonna doesn't understand the concept of the internet, because if there was any remote possibility that she could read what I am about to write I would think twice. My mom Marcy, who my father Rocco calls the "American woman," because she is the one who lended the normal non-Sicilain half of my DNA, makes sauce at the same level if not better than Nonna's time honored red tomato sauce. What? How can this be? Apparently you don't need to have Sicilian blood to make a killer tomato sauce. For a while I couldn't seem to get it right. But I called Mom at work and in about 5 minutes she gave me all the secrets. It turned out to be the best sauce I ever made. Aside from eating it with pasta, I used it to poach farm eggs for brunch, topped with a little cheese. It was fantastic!

Marcy's Red Tomato Sauce
1-1/1/2 large onions, roughly chopped
2 cans of peeled whole tomatoes
1-2 TBSP sugar
Salt
5-6 whole cloves of garlic
Bunch of fresh basil

Sautee the onions in olive oil. Add the tomatoes and season with salt and sugar. Bring to a boil then simmer for about a half an hour. Pass the sauce through a food mill and transfer to another pot. Addthe garlic and a generous bunch of basil leaves. Bring to a boil, then a simmer for about another 20-30 minutes. Take out the garlic and basil (optional). 

mayo the impossible!

      Don't tell me I can't do something! That is the perfect fuel that drives me to do whatever is deemed impossible. When I made my Vietnamese Cauliflower Sandwich Salad, I tried to make my own Roasted Garlic Chipotle Mayo. That was a deee - saster! I really didn't follow the directions. And while I dreamed of using my food processor, the blade was just too high to cream the egg.
"Its impossible! You cannot make homemade mayonnaise!" These words seared my ego. "Yes - I - Can!"
        It was even suggested that there is some type of mayo conspiracy that the egg companies are responsible for that causes relentless dumb dumbs like me to throw away good egg after egg in pursuit of mayo that will never happen.
         I can't believe it. We live in a time of hope! This time I followed a recipe that called for using a hand mixer. I can do that. I didn't really follow the recipe at all. I took a look at the basic ingredients that all mayos seem to call for then kind of just threw everything together. The key though is to slowly drizzle the oil into the egg against the side of the bowl so it gradually gets incorporated. Combined with some patience and steel brained pride and you can have delicious mayonnaise, too!
I used it to make Curried Deviled Eggs!!!

Mayo the Impossible!
2 egg yokes
1 egg white
salt

pepper

1/2 tsp dried mustard

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp cayenne

3-4 tsp lemon juice or vinegar
1-2 tsp hot water
1 C. canola oil

With a hand mixer beat the egg yoke until creamy with salt, pepper, mustard, sugar and cayenne. Adding the lemon juice and hot water each tsp at a time. Taste as you go. Add the egg yoke here and beat a little more. Slowly add the oil, drizzling the oil against the side of the bowl. You are done when it looks like mayo, white and fluffy.

Curried Deviled Eggs
2-3 Boiled Eggs, Peeled, Halved and Yokes removed
Mayonnaise
Salt
Pepper
Dried Mustard
Curry Powder
Dash of Vinegar
Paprika

These are the basic ingredients. You need to taste as you go. Start with the egg yokes. Mix with some mayo until you get a creamy consistency. Add spices 1/8 tsp at a time and just a dash of vinegar. Keep tasting and adjusting until you get the right flavor. Fill the egg halves with the egg yoke mayo mix and sprinkle with paprika.

vietnamese roasted cauliflower sammy salad

       Cruciferous vegetables on sandwiches are heaven. And these types of vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, kale) are super duper foods and may actually help delay your getting into heaven because they lower your risk of cancer. 
      Growing up all I ate were broccoli rabe sandwiches. And recently I discovered my favorite sandwich: the Vietnamese Cauliflower Sandwich from Num Pang. Haven't had it yet. Try it! Mosey on down to 12th ad University. Its so worth it.
I tried to recreate this sandwich in salad form during our Beer Tasting Super Bowl Fiesta. It turned out great. 

      After a few tweaks and turns I wanted to give this amazing salad center stage, because its so special. I even brought the sandwich home from Num Pang to compare. The combination of ingredients are just spectacular together. Roasted Cauliflower, Cilantro, Carrots and Cucumber, smothered in onion relish and roasted garlic chipotle mayo! Perfection. On this particular episode, I attempted my own mayo. It was a sheer failure. But the next day I tried it again. (Stay tuned for my curried deviled eggs with homemade mayo.)

     Its still not as amazing as the Num Pang version, but when I can't get to the big city, its a great alternative. I have everything down but the onion relish they put on it, and I need to still work on the chipotle mayo. Its a work in progress; one that I enjoy more each time I make it!


Vietnamese Roasted Cauliflower Sandwich Salad
1 Cauliflower, cut into small florets 
2 carrots, julienned
1/2 cucumber, julienned
Roasted Garlic Chipotle Mayo (recipe to follow)
1 onion, chopped  
Balsamic vinegar 
A bunch of whole leaves of cilantro
Salt and pepper


Roast cauliflower with olive oil, salt and pepper at 450 degrees until tender. Set aside to cool.
Sautee onion in olive oil and 1 TBSP balsamic vinegar until caramelized. Set aside to cool. 
Once everything is cool, combine the cauliflower, carrots, cucumber, and caramelized onions in a bowl. Smother in roasted garlic chipotle mayo. Add plenty of whole cilantro leave. Serve on its own or on a sandwich. 


Roasted Garlic Chipotle Mayo
5-6 cloves of garlic or roasted in a 450 degree oven in their skins until they are mushy inside.
1 can chipotle peppers
1 C. mayo (Hellman's or homemade)
Cayenne Pepper


Combine all ingredients in a chopper or with a hand mixer. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

purple soup

     When you join a CSA you agree that you get what the farmer gives you. Type A's beware. Throw your shopping lists out the window. I didn't know how to work this purple cabbage from the winter so it share sat in my fridge for a few days weeks, and all I could think of was soup. Cabbage soup? Boring. Cabbage Fennel Soup with Ginger Anise and Black Mustard Seeds. Delicious! And the color! What a color! 

Purple Cabbage Fennel Soup with Ginger Anise and Fennel Seeds

1 Small Purple Cabbage, chopped

1 Fennel Bulb, chopped

1 Onion, chopped

1 inch grated ginger

1 tsp anise seeds

1 tsp black mustard seeds

Enough Water or vegetable broth to cover

Salt and Pepper

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add anise and black mustard seeds. When they pop add onions and ginger. Add cabbage and fennel. Sautee a few minutes then add water or enough vegetable broth to cover. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then simmer until cabbage and fennel are soft. Puree. Serve warm. 

SUCKER FOR LOVE LAMB

     There is one clear path to my heart: its through my stomach. So for the official day of loving, my sweetheart prepared for me the most belly loving dinner. This boy knows what gets me hot: meat! Rack of Lamb in Morel Sauce. Really? Yes. Plus, Shiitakes, Whole Roasted Rosemary Potatoes and Lemon Asparagus. Plus he's super fine, so I really enjoyed watching him butchering or as he put it, "frenching" the lamb chops in my kitchen while I put the final touches on his Valentine's Day Card.

      You can take your woman out to eat and buy her flowers and chocolates. Thats nice, generic but nice. And what did you actually DO for her? Not much more than slap down some cash. What I adore about my Valentine is he is a man of action. Talk is cheap, preparing succulent locally farmed lamb for your lady is not.

       The meal was fantastic; restaurant quality in my dining room. I could not believe how exquisite the red wine morel sauce was, which he carefully drizzled over the lamb. It was all so amazing. Where did I find this guy? Oh yeah, did I tell you we met on a farm? And he gave me a bouquet of purple basil. Have I thoroughly embarrassed you yet, Markus?

       If not, here goes: The meal was perfection and the entire day was perfection. There was napping, homemade card making, and even a brisk walk in the park. It was the best Valentine's Day ever! I'm a lucky gal. Thank you, my love. 

     Yes, there was dessert, too. I made truffles for the first time. Matcha Chocolate Truffles with coconut milk and I spiked them with whiskey. 

BUTTERNUT SQUASH RISOTTO

I am trying to lay off the dairy for a while. Well until Paulie Gee opens his pizza joint in Greenpoint that is. So why did I chose to make risotto, which is supposed to be a buttery creamy rice dish? Cause I am a damn fool. A damn fool who likes a challenge. I envisioned Butternut Squash Risotto with Sage and Shallots. I also envisioned buttery creaminess. You can't fake the funk with butter, but the butternut squash did a great job of giving the risotto a nice creaminess, while good extra virgin olive oil gave it a nice rich flavor. A truffle oil here would have been perfect. And butter!

I roasted the butternut squash with olive oil salt and pepper. Then I sauteed the shallots and fresh sage in olive oil and added the mashed up squash. I added some nutmeg salt and pepper. Then the risotto. Simmering in a pot was some vegetable stock which I added in ladlefuls as the risotto aborbed most of the liquid. And I kept stirring and stirring.

I kept tasting it as I was stirring and it felt like something was missing. (the butter!) So I started freaking out and adding things. I added a clove of chopped garlic (a giant clove). Cayenne Pepper. Fresh Grated Ginger. Brown Sugar. And lots of salt. More nutmeg. More olive oil. More sage.

In the end this Butternut Squash Risotto was ultra creamy, very garlickey really tasty and dairy-free, but it really could have used some B-U-T-T-E-R! Butter makes everything better.

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.

PLUM TOMATILLO SALSA

I never get angry at vegetables, but tomatillos are a pain in the butt. They just sit in the fridge staring at me with their little crinkly skins, saying, "What about me? Why can't you ever think of anything clever to do with me?" And I can't. I can only think of salsa, and on the web thats pretty much what everyone else is packing. So I tried to at least make the salsa interesting and I added local plums, a yellow tomato, red onion, amish garlic, honey, cilantro, lemon juice, olive oil, some hot pepper that was about to die, salt and pepper and of course those annoying tomatillos. This salsa was good. Really good.

PICADILLO FEIGN

Only family gets away with calling you and saying, "Hi Jen, can you cook dinner for me?" Only family can get away with using you so blatantly. But what can I say, use me and abuse me when it comes to cooking. I can never say no. So of course, my brother Mike calls and he only ever wants one thing from me, picadillo.

I learned how to make picadillo from Ginger Lopez, who is an amazing cook. This cuban dish is basically a stew of seasoned chopped meat with lots of olives served over white rice and topped with french fries. Hard to go wrong.

Mike's eyes have always dwarfed his stomach so when we went food shopping he forced me to get 3 lbs of meat. So excessive for 3 people. But my brother Mike is more stubborn then me, so we literally made a gigantic vat of picadillo with enough leftovers for everyone to enjoy for a few days.

Here's the recipe for picadillo from a previous post.

As a side I made corn and tomatillo salsa with red onion, tomato, garlic, cilantro, hot pepper, lemon juice, cayenne, and green peppers.

And we watched the funniest videos I have ever seen, Gino the Ginny. You will die of laughter watching this crazy kid.

SCALLOPS OVER CURRIED BUTTERNUT SQUASH

    Having my dear Clarina over for dinner is always special. Always. She is a seafood lover so I decided to make these delicious fresh scallops I picked up at the Farmer's Market. I seasoned them with some salt and pepper and olive oil and grilled them on a hot cast iron skillet. Then I served them on a Puree of Curried Butternut Squash.

    To make the butternut squash puree, cut the squash in half, season it with salt and pepper and coat it with plenty of olive oil and butter and roast it in the oven on 375 until it was soft. It takes usually 45 min to 1 hour. After it cools a bit, scoop it out and sauteed it in butter with shallots, garlic, curry powder, cayenne pepper, fresh ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon. If you like it sweet you can add some brown sugar. Add enough water to create a paste consistency or some vegetable broth. Simmer for 20 minutes then blend in a blender or with a hand mixer. 

    One squash made a surprisingly large amount of puree with which I added water to over low heat to make Butternut Squash Soup for lunch.

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.

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.