"When you grow a vegetable yourself, you're less likely to boil it to death."
-- Irish chef Darina Allen, in the New York Times article "Reclaiming Ireland's Culinary Heritage, One Roast Lamb or Sponge Cake at a Time", March 30, 2010. | ||||||||||||||||
A lovely and unexpected flavor combination, that serves as a small sweet forecast of warmer weather ahead.
I saw a new stand at the market this week I hadn't noticed previously. Lavender by the Bay is a lavender farm in East Marion, NY. They were selling a variety of dried lavender sachets and bouquets, but what caught my eye were small bags of dried lavender buds "for baking and tea." Inspired by Sophie Dahl's iced tea recipe in this month's Food and Wine magazine, I experimented with the lavender and some excellent organic earl grey loose tea I had from specialteas.com, and came up with a delicate, floral, light dessert, that is not too sweet, and slightly musky. Definitely has me dreaming of warmer days with glass of iced tea on the porch.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
On a trip to the farmers market it doesn't serve you to bring a list or to have rigid expectations. The most effective shopping there is always done by just discovering what is the very best of this week's offerings. As mentioned before, that can sometime be rough in the less produce-friendly times of year.
This week the stars, or farmers, seemed to align. There are a few bonuses of spring starting to show up, and enough cold storage winter vegetables left to anchor a recipe. I found sweet, plump shallots, an abundance of hearty greens, luscious queso blanc made from goats milk, and had a few bags of organic polenta from a farm in Ithaca, NY, I had stocked up on during a previous market day. They all came together beautifully in this comforting, yet bright dish. A great vegetarian meal, or elegant side dish, that could be easily expanded to a more substantial meal by adding some braised chicken thighs or aromatic local sausages to the mix on top.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Last fall was complete chaos in our home. I was in the final weeks of getting my culinary degree, worrying more about my impending final exam than I had about anything else in my life to date, and was growing very weary of my year-long commute to the city, away from home and husband, for 5 nights a week. Every other detail seemed to go out with the compost. So it didn't surprise us much when a few months later, after a few good snowfalls, we both looked at each other and realized we had never harvested our second planting of our famed and favorite heirloom beets. While not a huge amount, there was about a bed and a half of beets still in the garden, now frozen solid to the ground. We treasure them, and were disappointed, and felt stupid and wasteful. Fast forward to yesterday's magnificent first kiss of spring weather. All I wanted to do was be outside, digging in something. I walked through one of our gardens, with the ground now visible for the first time in many months---and low and behold, there were tiny sprouts of beet greens peeking up from a variety of leafy debris. Further investigation, and a few dirty fingernails later, I discovered beets! A lot of beets! Our small second crop of golden, bull's blood, detroit dark red, and chioggia beets had successfully overwintered. Protected enough somehow by the mulch on top of the beds, and apparently benefiting from some very extended root systems, these beauties made it though, and managed to do so well enough that they now had the energy to start sprouting leaves again. Remarkable. And fresh beets for dinner in March. | ||||||||||||||||
I have some Mutzu apples from a recent trip to the farmers’ market. These apples are softball-huge and bright lime green, and immediately caught my attention as I was perusing the Migliorelli Farm stand. They are such gorgeous specimens it seemed blasphemous to peel them and cut them up into chunks—or toss them with a lot of sugar and seasoning. This recipe is sort of a cross between an apple dumpling, rugelach, galette, with probably a little hamentashen thrown in there too. I love that it really just puts this outstanding apple on a pedestal (or buttery crust), to enjoy almost bare naked. It is simple and rustic, and great by itself—but even better with a scoop of my husband’s homemade vanilla ice cream. | ||||||||||||||||
|
{ welcome! }
Catie Baumer Schwalb is a chef, food writer and photographer, who splits her life between the city and the country. Not too long ago Catie was a New York City based actress and playwright for more than a decade. She has her Master of Fine Arts from the National Theater Conservatory, and her Grand Diplôme in classic culinary arts from the French Culinary Institute in New York City.
... Read More ≫
{ get in touch }
{ what's new }
September 12, 2015
August 19, 2013
August 15, 2013
August 13, 2013
August 1, 2013
{ favorites }
{ archives }
Appetizers / Breads & Pastry / Breakfast / Cakes / Canning / Condiments / Dinner / DIY foods / Drinks / Fall / favorites / Grains / Holidays / Local / Noodles & Pasta / Pies & Tarts / Poultry / Salads / Seafood / Snacks / Soup / Spring / Summer / Sweets / Techniques / Vegetables / Vegetarian / Winter /
{ currently reading }
|