Spring

Lamb Meatballs with Fava Hummus

A few weeks ago, the Frenchman and I went out to dinner with a friend who was in town for a visit. Despite an après-dark temperature of 100°, we decided to sit outside. Apparently we like to be uncomfortably hot. We split a selection of small plates, and ran through more than one carafe of chilled red wine.

This friend (let’s call him Monsieur Macaroon, as he’s quite skilled at making them, and I’m still holding out hope he’ll teach me his methods) told a story about a recent, unpleasant trip to the French embassy. While MM does not have a classically French name, he does hold a French passport and birth certificate. As a result of his ‘foreign-sounding’ name though, the person behind the desk demanded further, written evidence of his Frenchness, before they would proceed with his paperwork. Read more »

Watermelon Ginger Cooler

It’s summertime, which of course means it’s time to whip up some refreshing drafts. Here’s how I approach my cocktailage:

1. Use ingredients that that are, themselves, inherently restorative under wilting conditions.*
2. Keep it simple. Try to keep your concoctions to five ingredients or less.
3. Locate your fine self a cabana/pool/palm-draped hammock.** Relax. Imbibe. Read more »

Lamb and Saffron Rice with Spring Vegetables

Rice and me, we aren’t quite simpatico.

For starters, I didn’t grow up eating it; the starch of choice in my parent’s house was pasta. Personally, I have an ongoing love affair with potatoes of all stripes. I was, at best, ambivalent about the grain, until I got to culinary school.

In French culinary school, you are taught to make rice the old-fashioned way: in a pan, covered with a perfect wheel of parchment paper. (My “wheels” looked more like drunk hexagons, but I digress.) Read more »

Radish and Green Gem Couscous

As summertime approaches, I’m thinking more and more about deviating from my standard winter plate paradigm: protein, veg, veg. (That second veg is often a potato in some form, but I digress.) Like most people, I tend to reach for lighter options when it’s warm outside, and this dovetails nicely with the lovely herbs and vegetables available at the market these days.

I’m currently entertaining an enduring knackering for little green gems in all forms–favas beans, English peas, snap peas, etc. I’m also eating radishes with almost every meal; as a sliver of color and bite in salads, stirred into scrambled eggs and mellowed by heat, or simply with butter and flaky salt on hot toast. Combine this with my relatively new discovery of Israeli (or pearl) couscous, and you have the inspiration for this recipe. Read more »

Spring Soup

After months and months of the same old, same old at the market—the same ruddy sweet potatoes, the same crinkled white onions—these days it’s flush with new gems all the time, and I am unapologetically thrilled about it. Last week I collected peach blossom branches (note: peach blossom branches do not fit into bicycle baskets; you will look clumsy all the way home), and this week I scooped up bundles of perfumed lilacs, to fill every available ledge of my apartment.

Broccolini arrived this week, which I plan to boil in salty water until it just yields, and then toss lovingly with olive oil and Pecorino. There are a multitude of baby lettuces to consider, not to mention the asparagus I will barely roast and toss with lemon juice or egg yolk. And what about radishes? They should be sliced thinly and strewn across buttery toast, sprinkled with sea salt…. It’s a good time to be a cook. Read more »

Crab Cakes with Fennel, Scallions and Green Apple

Life lesson: when making a mayonnaise or aioli, it is advisable to find yourself an able-bodied Frenchman. Because here is the thing—you really have to beat the bejesus out of that thing. Your arm should hurt when you are done. Further advice: it is not sagacious to ask your Frenchman to make said aioli when he is trying to get ready for work in the morning, although if you ask very sweetly, he will probably do it for you anyway.

I have been meaning to make crab cakes for a while, mainly because previously mentioned Frenchman adores them, and because I spotted some lump crabmeat at the fishmonger the other day. (It really doesn’t take much.) Before you get yourself into a tizzy, let me concede up front that these are not “traditional” crab cakes. I added a couple extra ingredients I thought would complement the taste of crab, without overwhelming it. Read more »

Arugula, Sugar Snap Pea and Poached Egg Salad

This recipe sprung to life one fine, June afternoon as I strolled through the Union Square Market wondering, “what’s for dinner?” Sugar snap peas lay in heaps at many a farm stand, so those went into my bag. In went some baby arugula for a lemony contrast. I completed my produce pillage with yellow and green zucchinis, selected for color. At home I added goat cheese, at once milky and zesty, and some breadcrumbs I amped with garlic for texture. In France, entrée salads are often topped with a poached egg; when negotiated open with a fork, the yolk provides a creamy sauce all its own. I garnished my salad with just a crack of pepper, french vinaigrette and a dusting of lemon zest—voila! Read more »