macrobiotic magic @ grand apetit

even though I'm still more than 3 posts behind on some great early July meals and recipes, I needed to post a mention for the delightful vegan macrobiotic food I had the pleasure of eating last night.

grand apetite may be light on the decor (and the salt!) but it more than makes up for this with a hearty and healthy meal at a price tag you'll hardly notice, even when the dollar is getting its (green)backside kicked raw by the euro.

while the menu offers a number of options, it seems to make to most sense to pick either the tart or the assiette, both just over 10 euros with all-you-can-drink heavenly herbal tea. the assiette, pictured above, comes with two different grains (I went for couscous and the croquette), three or four little salads, some cooked veggies, some hijiki seaweed, and some tofu. after you order and pay, you go find a table...which you set yourself! in a city filled with fois gras and frites, it was a terrific treat to hunker down with some whole grains for a little while...

the restaurant is a couple of blocks away from the Bastille, located at 9 rue de la cerisaie.

(oh, and, apologies for all the weird lower-case in recent posts; my de facto iPhone blogging app eliminated autocaps and I'm apparently just too lazy to hold the shift key.)

When life gives you currants (and lots of them!)...

...make Mint Currant juice. I destemmed and food processed a pint of red currants and a pint of their white cousins with a handful of mint, half cup of water, and squeeze or three of honey. I strained the resulting pulp, served over ice, and smiled.

Phillipino Pheast @ Elvie's Turo Turo

I checked out this East Village Philipino restaurant (13th & 1st) on Monday. I had never sampled the culinary delights of the Phillipines, but the helpful folks behind the counter (and the perhaps even more helpful clientele) showed me what to order and how to eat it while only making a slight fool of myself.

grilled fig stuffed with goat cheese, truffle honey, black pepper, and mint

why are you reading this? the entire recipe for this amuse bouche (or savory dessert) is in the title of this blog post. so: go make it. now. fresh figs aren't in season forever you know!

raw zucchini "linguini" with ragu crudo

okay, folks: dust off your mandolin slicer and julienne your zucchini (sounds so racy, doesn't it?). salt it and set aside. next, put 3 or 4 chopped tomatoes in a food processor along with a tiny handful of chopped red onions, a couple cloves of garlic, a few slices of jalapeño, three or four basil leaves, and a glug or two of high quality olive oil. salt and pepper to taste and serve with fresh parmesan.

Seared lamb chops with a ginger lavender mint black currant sauce

The CSA newsletter said the black currants were probably too tart unless you cooked them so that was all the encouragement I needed to turn them into a sauce to drizzle over some CSA lamb chops. First, the sauce: melt some buttter in a small sauce pan and sweat some shallots. Shave some ginger into the sweating aromatics. Pour in the pint of (destemmed) currants and stir, lowering heat a bit. Drizzle in some honey (I think I did about two tablespoons in total) until the tartness is bearable. Stir in about 1/3 cup of mint, a tablespoon of lavender buds, and a dash of white pepper. Salt to taste and keep it over low heat until the consistency starts to thicken up. I marinated the lamb in black mulberry vinegar, olive oil, wildberry ginger preserves, salt, and pepper for about 2 hours, and then I slid it under the broiler for about 10 minutes in total (reserve any cooking juices to stir back into the sauce). For the oh-so-fancy presentation, lay the lamb on a bed of the fruit sauce, drizzle a little bit on top, and then sprinkle some mint leaves around for garnish.

tossed salad in a raddicio cup

take a big ol' raddicio leaf and lay it out on a plate. scoop some goat cheese on it and drizzle a li'l honey over the cheese. in a seperate bowl, mix chopped raddicio with chopped tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion. make a quick dressing with tarragon vinegar, olive oil, chopped summer savory, and honey and toss the salad with the vinaigrette. scoop a mound of the salad on top of the raddicio bowl. garnish with a sprig of savory and be slightly disappointed that the color contrast is not ideal and plan to use a green leaf lettuce or frisee next time.

Garlic Scape Pesto

If you have leftover scape from your CSA shares or trips to the farmer's market, toss them in a food processor with some toasted walnuts, anf Parmesan, drizzling olive oil in until the consistency is right for you. Salt. Pepper. (And when you mix it with your pasta, stir in some of the starchy pasta water.)

the summer squash is here: week 5 of the csa

AND we got our first fruit shares today, too: black currants and two types of cherries

Iced Hibiscus Tea with Mint: The taste of summer

Fill a sauce pot up with water. Drop in 5 hibiscus rose hip tea bags and let simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in some honey to taste. Chop up about 2 cups of mint and place in a sturdy glass pitcher. Pour the still hot tea over the mint. Refrigerate until chilled then serve over ice, garnished with fresh mint. Build a patio to enjoy it on.