dusted with cardamom and wrapped in bacon: an imbolc feast

hello chickens. yes, it's been an inexcusably long while, and yes, we've missed you too. but we're now beginning to emerge from hibernation to once again bring you some stories, reviews and perhaps some a tasty recipe or two.

the gathering that prompted this return post was our celebration of imbolc, one of the four yearly celtic festivals. falling halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, this festival marks the time of year when the stirrings of the coming spring become perceptible. in honor of this, we light fires (in the form of many many tea lights) to hasten the thaw of the earth. strongly associated with brigid (both saint and goddess of poetry, holy wells, sacred flames, and healing), Imbolc is also connected to one of my personal favorites food categories: DAIRY.

the menu:
first course - ginger cashew squash soup with spicy pumpkin seeds

sarah: TASTY. creamy but not too rich, a touch of hot pepper really balanced out the perfuminess of the ginger and married the whole thing together seamlessly. i took a big-girl bowl of this and squeegeed it clean with matt's equally delicious challah.

second course - herbed white bean salad with pickled red onion.

sarah: a cold dish that hit the spot. the onion pickles were a nice briny, crunchy balance to the white beans. i want this to be at every barbeque i go to this summer

main course - bacon-wrapped herbed cod and broccoli with cardamom yogurt [jamie oliver]

sarah: it's hard for me to naysay anything that's wrapped in bacon, and this dish was far from the exception. alternately, the fish wasn't so overly bacon-ated that you lost that light, clean quality of the white fish which i really appreciated. the yogurt sauce became the universal dipping medium for everything on my plate - it was so SO good. it also lent a nice aromatic balance to the smokiness of the bacon. i wish moishe's falafel cart served this stuff up in midtown...

dessert - cardamom vanilla bean crème brulée muddled raspberries [adapted from epicurious.com]

• 12 egg yolks
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 cups heavy cream
• 1.5 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 bourbon vanilla bean
• light brown sugar for dusting
• 2 containers of raspberries (optional)
  

1. preheat oven to 325 Farenheit. place rack on the middle-most rung and remove all other racks (you're going to need the room...)
   
2. In a large ovenproof bowl, beat together the egg yolks and sugar
3. Slice vanilla bean and scrape out seeds
4. In a heavy saucepan, add the heavy cream, vanilla seeds, the whole scraped-out vanilla bean and cardamom. Heat on a medium flame until little bubbles start forming at the edges of the pan. While the creaminess is heated, wash and dry six ramekins or any small, cute ovenproof ceramic cups that are very close in height. Also, prepare a glass or ceramic baking dish that will be big enough to comfortably hold the ramekins without crowding them.
   
5. When the cream mixture is ready, add cup by cup to the egg/sugar mixture while whisking constantly until the sugar has completely melted. Pour the mixture into the ramekins until they're halfway full and place them onto baking dish.
6. *You may want to place baking dish on a baking sheet to avoid an awful sloshing/scalding situation later.* Now these next steps must happen in rapid succession, so read this over three times and prepare as much as you can beforehand: Place baking pan/baking sheet on middle rack of the oven; fill the ramekins up to the top with the egg/creme mix; fill the baking dish with hot water so that they're halfway up the sides of the ramekins. (the main reason for the necessary quickness of this step is that the oven will lose a significant amount of heat the longer the oven door is open)
   
7. Bake for 25 minutes or until the custard has set - wobbly, not soupy, "pudding-y" ( i ended up having mine in for close to an hour because the oven lost so much heat in the latter part of step 6. trust me, practice the game plan.).
8. Remove ramekins carefully from what is now very steamy hot water onto a wire rack (if you have it, one of those jar-grabbing tools used for canning would be perfect for this; i used a towel pulled tautly over my hand). let cool until close to room temperature.
   
9. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours

   At this point in the recipe, I was expected over at the apartment of the other two eaterschmeaters, and there was absolutely no room in the fridge. So I employed nature's vast fridge that was Brooklyn, and put those puddin' cups on the porch to cool. In the 18-degree night, I like to think they were infused with something infinite and powerful under the light of that full winter moon. The perfect garnish.
   

10. When ready to serve, spoon a little less than a teaspoon of the brown sugar on top of the créme and gently smooth over the entire surface. If using a broiler, heat it up and place the cremes underneath for about 2 minutes. If you have a badass mini butane torch - thanks, mom! - light that sucker up and caramelize that sugar until it's reached a bubbly amber.
11. **If you're feeling fancy** mash up the raspberries (rinsed!) with a fork. Spoon into a corner of each creme, leaving ample space to satisfyingly crack that candy layer.
12. Serve. Eat. Repeat step 10 for +50 points.
    i ended up having a fair amount of left-over custard, but not enough ramekins to make at once. so i refrigerated it in a plastic container (with the vanilla bean!) for about a day and a half before i was able to do the second batch. the taste of this final round was much more flavorful and the texture was absolutely exquisite. I don't know anything about the science of it all, but i think there is success in giving yourself the luxury of time: heating the oven, setting up the water bath, letting the cremes come to room temp before they go into the fridge. beyond the indulgent ingredients, splurging on time really yields the ultimate decadence.
    

for those of you who don't know, friday is my birthday.
this morning, i awoke and had one thing on my mind. what i'll be eating for dinner that magical night on which i will turn twenty-five.

a few weeks ago i told fellow authors, matt and sarah, that all i really wanted was to go to wylie dufresne's ever popular and always chic, wd-50. now, i don't know if this is actually happening. i have been told that we have an early reservation on friday (at 6pm! can you say, late lunch?). wd-50, thanks to top chef, is probably almost passe at this point. but i really don't care. after at least three seasons of watching chefs cook with "molecular gastronomy" techniques, i HAVE to try it. trust that if i do, you'll all here about it.


also, i'm finally reading the omnivore's dilemma. i love corn, but come on. i don't want to BE corn. this also led to an anthro-cuisine based discussion with matt about how the maya were people of the corn vs europeans being people of the wheat. how does what we eat actually inform our subconscious? is corn making us american's more violent, more "blood-thirsty" and more culturally self centered? i know we eat a lot of wheat as well, but ain't nobody in europe eating this much corn. just saying . . . one to think about.

a.

Fall in love with Autumn.

really, friends.

just a quick note to say, matt and i just made the most simple dinner (that happened to take forever to cook) that was so so worth it. now that it is fall, i'm so glad to welcome back all those starchy favorites.

potatoes. yams. parsnips. carrots.
with some onions and garlic.
dreamy dream!!!
roasted root vegetables, you done me right

.

Permanent Brunch

Once upon a time, all of our friends came to visit in July. From across the continental US, visitors came and went. Our very good friend Alexis, stayed longer than most (which was more than okay with us, as she's from the Bay Area and we almost never get to see her). On her last night in the city she invited Matt and I to take part in a personal tradition, an excellent meal before a long flight home.

Of course it was her choice, so we :gasp: left Brooklyn and headed on down to the East Village and checked into Permanent Brunch. In a only-in-New-York twist of fate the most bizarre Indian restaurant in the world Panna 2 is housed next door. That's a post for another time. Sarah?

PB is tiny. That's half the fun. Its adorable, semi-secret and cramped. We choose the one booth that took up the whole front window and looked backed into the rest of the space, including a half revealed kitchen. PB is only open for dinner (brunch) during the week, we went on a Tuesday, just as they were opening. And then it filled up. Completely. With a short standing line by the door (and our table). For such a small space, that many people with so much brunch excellence was almost overwhelming.

Regardless, the food.

Bacon Tasting Menu

That's four orders of bacon for $3 each!

We ordered, the New Braufnel's Smokehouse Comal County Peppered Bacon, Texas / Hungarian Smoked Kolozvari Bacon, Illinois / Swiss-Sugar Cubed Cottage Bacon, Wisconsin / Bruger's Smokehouse Country Bacon Sugar Cured, Missouri. Ouch! Every bite was excellent but the bacon bliss wiped away any thought of note taking. I do remember however singing the praises of the Hungarian style from Illinois. The texture was a lot tougher, almost like jerky. Highly recommended.

We also all ordered "entree" dishes. Let's start with Matt and his classic . . .

Steak and Eggs
Roasted Skirt Steak, Rye Panzanella, Sunny Side Up Egg, PB Steak Sauce

Matt seemed to think the meat was decent but underseasoned. The PB Steak Sauce was a little weak but tasty. The egg, however, was cooked perfectly. The tomato salad was a little too acidic--he would have preferred more astringent greens.

Buttermilk Pancakes
Carmelized Plums, Creme Fraiche, Vermont Maple Syrup

Lexi adored this dish. She made us each try it, and I dug in happily. I almost never order sweet at brunch, because there are so many great savory options. I have a good friend who always orders short stacks of pancakes at diners, and it similarly baffles me. But really. Carmelized plums. Holy cow. They were delicate, almost jellied but still so fresh tasting against the creme fraiche. The pancakes themselves left something to be desired, a denser bite perhaps? A little too much fluffiness for me.

Ham & Cheese Stuffed French Toast
Five Spoke Creamery's Tumbleweed, Vermont Smoked Ham, Dijion Maple Jus

I fell instantly in love. Maybe it was my extra spicy Bloody Mary (with three ENORMOUS garlic stuffed olives), or just the smell. I was ready to eat and I destroyed this dish. The beans, frankly, stole the show. Not the first vegetable I'd think to pair with french toast but it does make sense with the ham. Perfectly cooked, crispy and fresh against the heaviness of the french-toast-sandwich. The cheese! The bread! The ham. The ham could have been better. The cheese was so thick and gooey--not stick to the roof of your mouth gooey, but like a hot creamcheese filling substitute. But its from VERMONT! Huzzah. I can't think of anything bad to say. I would and probably will order this dish again.

On a final note, I just want to thank our waitress for being fantastic. As former waitstaff, it looked like hell to try and serve the way this place was set up. She was flawless, constantly there when needed, offered us great recommendations, everything a waitress should be. So Paige Shlo, cheers. Thanks a lot.

a quick note...

just to say, we haven't forgotten about you chickens.

summer is a time for grilling, and our third floor walk up doesn't make that easy (but trust that i've really tried to make it work using my george foreman grill . . . ).

two posts coming your way soon, a new recipe adventure and a trip to MANHATTAN (i know) for some permanent brunch.

keep your eyes open.

xoxo

a

Finally, Frankies Spuntino 457

Living on the boarder of Carroll Gardens and Red Hook (and being the avid eater I am), its almost sacrilegious that I hadn't managed to get to Frankies Spuntino 457, on lower Court Street. Matthew had been, but whenever we tried to go together something would get in the way. Well, last Wednesday, all was remedied.

It was a bit chilly, so we didn't partake in the lush backyard outdoor setting, but we did spy another dining space housed in something like an enclosed gazebo/solarium. Come summer, believe that I will have dinner in that space. Flat out, its beautiful inside. Brooklyn's essential brick walls and wood floors are well represented. The "kitchen" as it is, is a tiny slice in the middle of the space, with just a few burners and a well disguised storage area. Simple and homey in that "I live-in-a-forgotten-era" kind of way, but a little over crowded when it comes to table placement. That's worth overlooking when you're served and understandable for the management, who clearly wants to please as many as possible with their homemade pasta and small plates of cheese and cured meats.

We started with the Arugula, Pecorino Romano & Merlot Wine Vinaigrette - $8.00. This salad is a great split for an appetizer. Simple, crispy, peppery and wonderfully astringent, this paved the way for the excellent meal to come. Matthew chose the House-Made Gnocchi Marinara & Fresh Ricotta - $13.00. The gnocchi were fluffy, the marinara a little watery but perfectly seasoned and the ricotta added a counterpoint to the sharpness of the tomato in the marinara. A decent dish, but a little overpriced for what it had to offer. On the other hand, I was totally blown away by the House-Made Cavatelli with Faiccos Hot Sausage & Browned Sage Butter - $15.00. HOLY MOLY! This was the first time I had tried Cavatelli and I'm a complete convert. Dense and chewy (I like a lot of bite in my pasta), the cavatelli mingled with the earthy sweet sage and the sausage was like something from pure pork heaven. I could eat this dish weekly and not get tired of it, and trust that I'm trying to deduce the recipe for the sage butter.

We skipped dessert, but I want to take a minute to laud the bartender, who was one of the nicest I've ever met, particularly in New York. Matthew and I both stuck to the Vodka Limeade - $8.00, muddled with fresh mint and lots and lots of fresh lime. Wonderfully refreshing and not overly alcoholic, the limeade provided just enough ooommph to carry us through the meal without ended up face down on the artfully weathered floorboards on our way out.

Overall, Frankies gets an A+ in my book. With all the recent hullabaloo about the owners and their newest ventures in dining and coffee (they've got a sweet deal with Portland based Stumptown Coffee), its worth watching to see what they'll do next.

P.S. Never, ever forget that Frankies is CASH ONLY, be prepared kiddos.

a.

Anselmo's

Due to a memory malfunction that resulted in not being able to cook our own food we had to eat out. Good excuse, right? So we walked a couple blocks over to Van Brunt to try out the new pizza joint that's been getting so much buzz.

The decor was good--except the classic pizzeria green painted marble tabletops that clashed in a SERIOUS way with the otherwise modern and clean look. The bar looked wide and comfy to eat at...in fact I looked at it longingly after choosing our small two top.

As for the pizza itself--delicious! A thinner crust cooked JUST right with a delicious sauce that tasted homemade. The cheese was fresh and amazing but the whole pizza was just a little too oily-- I won't lie: there was some serious agita afterward.

The only real disappointment here was the tiny selection of toppings-- only one meat (pepperoni) on the menu? Seriously?

All in all, it was a cheap and filling meal-- go for it!