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.

Miso Braised Bok Choi & Shiitake Mushrooms

 
CSA season means lots of Asian greens. I have a feeling this isn't the last ginormous head of bok choi I'll be seeing this month. Using some dried shiitake mushrooms, I doctored the below recipe by substituting the reserved mushroom juices for the chicken stock. I also used those juices to cook up some quinoa to serve on the side:

3/4 pound large shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
3 small heads bok choy, rinsed and chopped
1 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons peanut oil
1 tablespoon red miso paste
2 tablespoons low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup water
freshly ground black pepper


1. Brush or wipe away any dirt from the shiitakes. Remove and discard the stems. Cut the mushrooms into thick slices (in half for smaller mushrooms, thirds for larger mushrooms). Cut the leaves of the bok choy away from the stems. Wash both well.

2. Heat the butter and peanut oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the miso paste and chicken broth together until smooth. When the butter melts and browns slightly, add the mushrooms. Leave them alone to brown on the first side, 2-4 minutes.

3. Add the miso and broth mixture to the mushrooms and stir. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms absorb the miso and most of the liquid evaporates, 3-5 minutes.

4. Add the bok choy and 1/2 cup water and stir. Cover and cook, stirring once or twice, until the mushrooms are soft and the bok choy is tender but still bright green, 4-6 minutes. Remove the cover to let any remaining liquid evaporate. Season generously with fresh ground black pepper.

Herring Festival @ Grand Central's Oyster Bar

It's an annual tradition at the lovely Grand Central Oyster Bar: the arrival of tasty Dutch herring. A twenty-spot buys you the above herring filet with all the trimmings, a glass of Dutch gin (which drinks more like a grappa), and tax/tip. It's too late to go to the festival, but the herring (at the above prices) will continue to be on the menu for awhile. While you're there, be sure to try a few tattamagouche ersters--my fave!

Elk Chili with Macaroni

Recipe stolen from a user at All Recipes: (all I added was tomato paste, smoked paprika, and macaroni. Oh, and the photo is of my own version!)

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 pounds ground elk meat

2 large yellow onions, diced

2 (10 ounce) cans tomato sauce

1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes

1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained

1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles (optional)

1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup brown sugar

DIRECTIONS

In a large deep skillet over medium heat, cook the ground elk with the onion until evenly browned. Drain off excess grease.

Pour the tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes, kidney beans and green chilies into the skillet with the meat, and stir to blend. Season with chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, oregano and brown sugar. Cover, and simmer over low heat for at least one hour.

Sweet & Spicy Salad

Ah, the first veggie delivery from my CSA! Along with some rhubarb that I transformed into Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp and some sage that became Gnocchi with Brown Butter, Fried Sage, and Morels, this week's delivery featured quite a few items with bite: arugula, mizuna (a fern-like spicy green), and radishes. I figured that they would pair nicely with some sweetness, so I chopped these spicy veggies into a salad together, roasted up some pears (oven at 450 for 30 min), caramelized some onions (oven at 450 for 10) and walnuts (toasted in my cast iron with some white sugar), shaved some parmesan, shook up a pistachio honey vinaigrette (with pistachio oil, honey, lemon juice, cider vinegar, shallots, dijon, salt, and black pepper), and garnished with the purple sage flowers.

Chilled Spicy Watermelon Soup with Crab Meat

Sweet, simple, spicy, and delicious. K came home with a watermelon the other day and, after tasting some delectable watermelon dishes which paired the sweet fruit with savory fare, I concocted a chilled summer shellfish soup. Here's the (non)recipe:

• Cut up enough watermelon to fit in a normal sized food processor. Process.
• Sweat some garlic, shallots, lemongrass, jalepenos, and ginger (I use my microplane with frozen ginger to keep things simple).
• Dump the pureed watermelon into the pot. Throw in some salt, black pepper, and cilantro, with some extra jalapeno to taste.
• Whip out your immersion blender. Immerse. Blend.
• Chill the new puree (or, if you like, strain it first)
• Form a mound of lump crabmeat (I use high quality canned claw meat) in the center of the bowl, slice some more jalepenos on top, and gently pour the chilled soup around the shellfish.

Savour: Steamed Calamari stuffed with black rice, caviar, seaweed salad, and miso

Blogging on the road from Charlottesville, VA, where K's fam and I dined at the excellent Savour. The chef-owner offers a very reasonable 3-course $30 pris fixe with clever flavor combinations, satisfying portions, and dazzling presentation. He even personally visited our table before our order to answer any questions, eager to accomodate any special requests and/or dietary needs.

I had a lovely meal, but the highlight was most definitely the above pictured calamari appetizer (which they call "bites"). The calamari was so delicately steamed it was practically creamy, stuffed with a savory and moist black risotto, topped with a dab of flying fish roe, all atop a bed of seaweed salad and gently dressed with a buttery white miso. Quite memorable!

After dinner, the chef came round again to send us each home with bags full of the day's leftover freshly baked (and still warm) bread. I highly recommend Savour to anyone in the Charlottesville area.

Tengda: Spiced Green tea rubbed salmon

Took my mother out to dinner at Tengda (Field Point Rd in Greenwich, CT) for a belated Mother's Day dinner. It's a (pricey) pan-Asian chain with an excellent sushi bar. My sister really enjoyed her two spicy crunchy rolls and my mom ordered a very delicate and perfectly flaky Chilean sea bass bathing in chunky red miso.

My green tea rubbed salmon (pictured above) was tasty and flavorful, cooked just a hair past my preferred doneness. I was, however, perplexed by the overabundance of foam smothering the well-spiced fish. It was my first encounter with this hip culinary trend, and I sincerely hope this "whimsical" fad goes the way of fondue. The accompanying edamame and lobster mashed potatoes were fine, though my jury is still out on the textural repercussions of burying chunks of well-steamed lobster in a starchy mass, no matter how temptingly creamy/buttery said mass might be.

Verdict: find someone willing to pick up the tab & there's some fun to be had with Tengda's menu.

Curried Mango Quinoa and Goat Cheese Fritters w/Truffle Honey

There are times when I really pat myself on the back (perhaps a little bit too enthusiastically?) for a clever innovation or inspiration in the kitchen. Tonight was one of those nights when the only thing I should congratulate myself for is having the good sense to spot two brilliant recipes and enough kitchen competence to avoid complete failure with either.

So, here are the original recipes (which featured my CSA chevre and goat's milk ginger yogurt!):

• Curried Mango Quinoa (the only things I added were sauteed sweet onions. Oh, and I roasted the peanuts myself)
• Goat Cheese Fritters (Bollos) over which I drizzled some truffle honey (purchased at Arthur Ave market) and served over an arugula, tomato, and red pepper salad (doused in a truffle lime vinaigratte).