Well, folks, I'm pleased to say that the ramp-alicious dinner party went off without a hitch! We sipped our Gibsons, nibbled our toasts, slurped up our pasta and devoured our lamb. (And the strawberry-rhubarb crostata wasn't half-bad, either.)
Most of what I made last night were tried and true favorites, starting with the Gibsons, which I garnished with pickled ramps in lieu of cocktail onions (click here for the recipe) . (Gibsons are just Martinis with onions instead of olives.) I enjoy a wet Gibson, with four parts gin to one part dry vermouth. A couple dashes of bitters don't hurt, either. The slightly sweet, sour ramp pickles go gorgeously with the spicy gin and herbal vermouth - altogether a truly elegant cocktail.
The Gibsons worked very nicely with the only new recipe I cooked up for this dinner: ramp toasts with Parmesan. The toasts are based on a favorite recipe of mine from the Gourmet cookbook, which is one of the easiest, most basic, most delicious concoctions known to man: finely chopped sweet onion mixed with mayonnaise, spooned onto cocktail bread, topped with cheese and black pepper and toasted in the oven for a few minutes.
I subbed in ramps for the sweet onion and decided to go all out and leave the ramps raw rather than blanch them. The result? A spicy, pure-ramp flavor and general awesomeness. One of these goes a long way, which is really what you want from a cocktail nibble, right? (The new recipe is all yours at the bottom of this post!)
Earlier in the day, I marinated a boneless leg of lamb in olive oil, salt, pepper, smashed garlic and a splash or two of vermouth. I roasted it while we drank our cocktails and ate our pasta, then served it topped with some ramp compound butter and alongside some sugar snaps. (I blanched the sugar snap peas in salted water in the afternoon, then warmed them up in some of the ramp compound butter and a handful of minced chives before sliding them onto the plate next to the lamb.)
After a simple green salad, we moved onto dessert: strawberry-rhubarb crostata with some softly whipped cream. (I threw some dark brown sugar into the cream before whipping it, the better to complement the rhubarb's tang.) This crostata is one of my favorite desserts of all time. It's insanely easy to make, presents beautifully, and is really, truly satisfying to eat. The only change from my original recipe? I subbed in vodka for half the water in the crust recipe, which definitely helped keep things tender and flaky instead of tough and chewy. I'm a convert.
First up, this adorable, personalized iPad case by Etsy seller Pretty Smitten. I love the graphic patterns and the monograms, and am thinking one of these might be just the thing to jazz up my new iPad. And, come to think of it, my Kindle case is looking a bit shabby...
I break far too many glasses to justify investing in these, but aren't these Mark Blackwell highballs absolutely to die for? The gold-dipped base is swoon-worthy, and I can't imagine a more elegant item to class up a bar cart.
In far better seasonal news, ramps are here! I haven't made it to the Greenmarket to collect my first haul quite yet, but I already have a ramp-themed dinner party planned for next weekend. I'm thinking Gibsons with quick-pickled ramps, some fresh fettuccine with ramps and bacon, lamb chops and asparagus with ramp butter, and maybe a rhubarb galette for dessert. I'm hoping it'll be epic.
Easter is coming up, and if I decorated Easter eggs, I'd be all over these glitter ones from Martha Stewart. They are as of-the-moment as Easter eggs can hope to be, what with their bright neon sparkle. That might make them a squidge harder to hide for the kiddies, though...
The greenmarket is approaching full bloom, folks! This weekend I snagged French breakfast radishes, ramps, eggs, peonies, lilies of the valley, asparagus, spinach, cucumbers, red bell peppers and tomatoes. (Those last three are greenhouse-grown, but still local. What can I say? I'm desperate for a preview of summer.)
Fiddleheads were on offer, too. Gorgeous, no?
And lilacs. So many lilacs. The market was fairly carpeted with lilacs. I resisted in favor of my always-and-forever peonies, but I couldn't help pausing to take in a long, deep sniff. (My market shopping bags are courtesy of Baggu, and I love them beyond measure.)
Hard as it may be to believe (snort), even I have kitchen mishaps. Sometimes they're disastrous, and sometimes they're minor. The one I had on the Saturday before Easter could be classified as the former. I actually found myself standing in my kitchen, throat on fire from a cold, cursing the author of a recipe. Loudly, colorfully and at great length.
The rhythm of spring is, for me, measured by the gradual arrival of my old friends. First come the tulips and daffodils, then the ramps, and then the asparagus. Asparagus, in all its grassy glory, is the first substantive vegetable to make its appearance in the Northeast. The early harvest is typically the best - both boldly flavored and delicately textured.
First up, a super-helpful guide to New York's coffee scene, courtesy of Eater. Ever wanted to know the difference between Cafe Grumpy and Joe, or what the heck the deal is with Abraco? No longer shall you have any excuse to visit Starbucks.
In further coffee news, Merrill of Food52 has published her definitive guide to homemade iced coffee, just in time for the warm weather that (I'm told) is currently sweeping much of the nation. (Jerks.) As opposed to the oft-advocated cold brew, Merrill suggests a cooled, strong French press coffee and espresso ice cubes. Approved on both counts!
What? Ramps!
I went to the Union Square Greenmarket inhumanly early this Saturday in the hopes that I'd snag a healthy portion of the season's first ramp haul. Sadly, it was not to be.
No ramps appeared, but I did see some gorgeous flowers (tulips, hyacinths and potted ranunculus), lovely lettuces and adorable, teeny little onions.
I skipped home with dug legs, pea shoots, farm eggs and a few handfuls of the tiniest, sweetest cipollini onions I could find.
Consolation prizes these are not.
Oh, and, yes: that title is something of a wink to my fellow musical theater nerds. Hi there!
On the Sunday night I spent in San Francisco, Faith, her friend Chrysanthe and I headed over to the Mission to pay a visit to one of the hottest restaurants in town, Flour and Water. Seriously. This place was hopping. We called early in the week to try for a reservation, but no luck. We lined up at 5:15 with about twenty other people, and the place was full from opening till, I assume, closing time at midnight. (Which is pretty late for San Francisco.)
Once we'd eaten our dinner, though, it was easy to see why everyone else wanted to eat there, too. It was one of the best meals I've had in a while, and I cannot wait to make a return trip. We started off with a pizza to share. Flour and Water is Italian, mostly, and heavily focused on pizza and pasta (hence the name). Faith had been the week before and couldn't stop thinking about the ramp and black trumpet pizza, so, naturally, we couldn't help but order it.
It was awesome. The crust was chewy, slightly crispy perfection. The pizza was topped with a pecorino, black trumpet mushrooms, chopped ramps (green and white parts) and a bright green ramp pesto. It was suitably stinky, the cheese was gooey, and the whole thing made me very, very happy.
We then moved on to appetizers. Faith ordered a side dish instead of a salad: roasted carrots with lemon, capers and very finely chopped chives. These were carrots taken to another level. They were roasted in butter, and were sweet without being cloying, tender but not mushy. The capers added a salty, briny note, and the chives freshened things up. All in all, a major hit.
My starter was a "salad" - Flour and Water likes to use the term loosely - of crispy lamb sweetbreads, arugula and artichokes. Artichokes aren't normally my favorite thing, but these were perfect with the sweetbreads. Lamb sweetbreads tend to be a bit creamier than their veal counterparts, and these were no exception. The bitterness of the arugula paired with the astringent flavor of the artichokes helped cut through the fat. Fantastic.
Next up, our pastas. The pastas were all made in-house, and were incredibly fresh. Mine was a tagliolini (a lighter fettucine, essentially) with chopped parsley rolled into the pasta itself. Tossed with the noodles (and with a copious amount of butter) were razor thin slices of asparagus and hand-pulled pieces of braised hen. I loved this. The pasta was impossibly light and delicate, but the sauce, despite its springy flavors, was rich and hearty. Rich flavors, light texture, pure deliciousness.
Faith ordered pici in a brothy pork ragu, which was also delicious. It was one of the lightest ragus I've tasted, free of cream or milk, and swimming in its own juices. Little bits of carrot and onion floated in the sauce, too, and meat itself was tender and deeply porky.
Finally, dessert. Oh, dessert. First up was a rhubarb tart, served with crème fraiche ice cream and fresh strawberries. It was fantastic, right down to the swirl of grassy olive oil on the plate. The pastry was rich with butter, and shattered a bit when cut with a fork. It paired beautifully with the tart rhubarb and sweet berries; rhubarb season has ended in California now, I think - it was great to be there while it was still on every menu.
Last, we had a chocolate budino, which is an Italian-style pudding. It was topped with coffee-flavored cream and a crucial, generous sprinkling of crunchy sea salt. I don't always go for the chocolate dessert, but I couldn't get enough of this one. The salt and coffee made it interesting - and it was pretty good with some of the crème fraiche ice cream from the tart plate. Yum.
I've been all about the asparagus recently - eating it with eggs, in salads, hot topped with Parmesan and cold alongside leftover chicken - you name it. I've even been mixing it into pasta. I like it most with penne - I can slice the asparagus on the bias, making the pieces roughly the same size and shape of the pasta, which is just a ton of fun.
Last Sunday, I met my friends Caroline and Emily for brunch at Pulino's, Keith McNally's latest restaurant, and the newest addition to the now-completely-gentrified corner of Bowery and Houston. McNally is the force behind the Odéon, Balthazar, Schiller's Liquor Bar, Pastis...you get the idea. He specializes in creating buzz paired with seemingly time-worn atmosphere, and Pulino's is no exception to the rule.
The three of us decided to share a few things, starting with an appetizer of asparagus, ramps and rhubarb. The dish was clearly meant to be a celebration of early spring, featuring the season's three star ingredients. The grassy asparagus, tart rhubarb and stinky ramps actually went quite well together; the flavors weren't revolutionary, but it was tasty. The dish was completely overwhelmed, however, by two things: the mound of far-too-peppery black pepper mascarpone hiding beneath the asparagus, and the price: $14.
Next, we tried the margherita pizza, which we ordered with an egg on top. The pizza was very good - crisp but still chewy, and the sauce, cheese and basil were each top-notch. The egg was put on a bit early and the yolk was cooked all the way through, which was a bit disappointing. Overall, though, it's a solid pizza.
The star of the meal, by far, was the sweet pizza we shared as a dessert. It was topped with pecorino, pears, cinnamon and sugar (and, my guess is, a bit of butter). It was just sweet enough, and the pears were still a bit firm and not at all mushy. We devoured this, licked our fingers, and resolved to come back and order a large one very, very soon.
First, a look at a gorgeous apartment in Bruges, widely regarded as Belgium's most picturesque town. The 17th-century house overlooks a canal, and is absolutely beautiful. I think the master bedroom nestled in the beamed eaves may be my favorite part. (Ignore the stuffed dogs, please.)
Next, these adorable ceramic baskets, which are modeled after the cardboard and paper varieties you see in markets all summer long. Imagine them piled high with raspberries, blueberries, strawberries or lemons. Gorgeous, right? I collect white ceramics, and these are going on my wish list, immediately. (Via the incomparable Creature Comforts.)
Finally, from Pink of Perfection, a recipe for a spring ragout of vegetables that looks absolutely too-licious. Radishes, snow peas, asparagus and herbs galore are enriched by butter, mustard and Parmesan cheese. Sounds like my kind of vegetables.
Along with ramps, pea greens are one of my favorite early-spring treats. They're a bit peppery, though not so strong as arugula, and go beautifully with mustard, honey and duck. Which is exactly how I like to celebrate their arrival. I did just that for lunch last Tuesday, before an edifying outing to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
One of the best parts of any staycation is a hot, delicious breakfast. Most mornings, breakfast means some plain yogurt doctored with a dollop of jam or honey, eaten at my desk, typically while answering any emails that came in overnight.
First up, the coolest house tour I've seen in quite a while: impeccably styled, modern dollhouses, courtesy of the New York Times. If you can't afford a houseful of full-size mid-century furniture, why not go the miniature route?
Next, a nerdy delight for food and language lovers alike! Food52 has begun publishing food crosswords by puzzle-maker Michelle Humes. They're pretty fun, and far easier than the Times' Friday puzzle. Brush up on your culinary trivia and dive in!
Finally, another house tour (life-size, this time). This one is of the most adorable houseboat you've ever seen. Josie Curran and her husband share this boat in Hampton Court in southwest London. It's pretty amazing; I'd live there in a heartbeat, and not just because it's in one of my most favorite cities on earth.
