Have you ever eaten purslane? This wild green is a bit of a vagabond in the plant world: a weed to some, a welcome friend to others, and can be found just as often propagating comfortably in the yard as looking handsome at the farmer’s market. It might be a pest, but it’s certainly a tasty and refreshing pest, not to mention terrifically healthy with vitamin C and omega-3 fatty acids. Also, unlike some wild greens such as dandelion or sorrel, purslane is free of much of that earthy bitterness and doesn’t demand an “acquired taste”. Think of it as a cousin to baby spinach - mild and slightly juicy, ready to leap gracefully into summer salads.

The salad I had for dinner last night was a cheerful mix of purslane, parsley, green bell pepper, and a few chopped tomatoes, dressed in a bowl-licking mixture of olive oil, lemon, and lots of fresh dill. I was so smitten by the fresh flavor and happy green hue that I couldn’t help but snap a few photos despite being laid up with a skull-splitting migraine. Ouch. Now that’s devotion, eh?

I later had the idea to toss a few roasted potatoes on top, which made the salad a little heartier and more of a meal. If you can find the purslane, do give it a try. I look forward to finding more of it before the summer’s end, and if you like it, too, well, it sure beats lemon balm for usefulness of invasive plants. And if you throw in some lemon and dill, I can personally vouch for its mood-(if not migraine)-improving qualities.

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Salads & Sides | 3 Comments »

I’ve decided that these small, sophisticated French financiers are my new favorite way to use up extra egg whites. The cakes may look dainty and harmless, but they are proof that browned butter can do some powerful magic, transforming them into something fragrant, nuttier, and far more seductive than melted butter alone. I love the slightly crisp yet chewy edges coupled with the subtle flavor of almond (no distracting extract here) and the sweet zing of a perfect raspberry. Have I mentioned they’re also terribly easy?

Cooking the butter to a rich golden brown is the only slightly tricky part of the recipe, but when taken slowly, it’s nothing to get nervous about. The goal is to not let the butter get too dark, which can be a little difficult to determine once it starts foaming up a bit. One way to test the color is to pour the hot butter into a clear Pyrex measuring vessel. Even if the mixture remains foamy on top, you’ll be able to see how dark the liquid is on the bottom. If it looks too light, return it to the pan on low heat for a few moments longer.

I baked the financiers in regular muffin tins, but in hindsight, I think mini-muffin tins would be cuter (assuming you don’t already have financier molds), and would pillow the raspberry more snugly. Since the little fellas are as rich as their namesake, bite-size portions would do just as nicely as the slightly larger and more decadent ones.

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Baking | 14 Comments »

New York was lovely for eating this time around, even though a steady rain couldn’t help but creep down and try to dampen everyone’s Independence Day celebrations. For my part, I skipped the fireworks and instead headed to Chikalicious, where the line starts outside the door and winds down the sidewalk on busy nights. Once admitted, you sit at a sushi-style bar, watching Chika and her assistants prepare a multi-course dessert for you. A fixed prix of $12 buys an amuse (coconut ice cream in watermelon soup), a main dessert (honey semifreddo in strawberry soup with a crackly sugar lace crisp) and petit fours (coconut marshmallows, chocolate-lavender truffles, and mango-lime paté de fruit). It was very fun to get such a unique tasting, and really made me wish I could open my own little dessert bar! The only slightly strange bit was that Chika and her assistants did not encourage conversation, which seemed odd to me, given they were all nearly within touching distance. I suppose a sushi chef doesn’t normally converse with his patrons either, but one expects dessert to be a somewhat more lively affair. Still, it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the place, and I definitely plan to go back. There’s also a Chikalicious “dessert club” across the street that sells ice cream, pudding, cupcakes, and other small bites, including an outstanding green apple sorbet.

We walked around quite a bit in and about Union Square where the market was in full swing. So many delicious things to see there! The bright stacks of carrots and radishes everywhere were particularly thrilling to the eye. We bought some sour cherry “stomp”, a sort of ciderlike drink from Red Jacket Orchards, which was wildly tart and refreshing.

In the Union Square area, City Bakery is a perfect pit-stop place for a lunch under $10. It has a winning combination of build-your-own-plate from a gorgeous breakfast/salad/hot bar along with a beautiful selection of cookies, scones, croissants, and other freshly baked comfort foods. I noticed that the tall, lean yoga ladies strode past this section of luscious goodies without even a cursory glance, while I myself could hardly look away.

On another day, an even longer walk past Chinatown to the Lower East Side led us to an extremely dangerous place called Il Laboratorio del Gelato, where they serve wickedly good flavors such as red grape, nectarine, mascarpone, pistachio, honey lavender, and others, among them the most diabolical of them all: salted caramel. This concoction was so powerful that, immediately after eating my modest cup, I was forced…forced I tell you, to go back and order more, eating all they had left. I think maybe it should be illegal; the stuff was just phenomenally good. Of course I now want to try making it at home, but then I may never leave the house.

Once again, I didn’t make it to Payard (must it always be closed when I’m there? I’m starting to wonder about conspiracies), but all was forgiven with the help of Korean BBQ, moules frites, 25 pounds of books from Strand, and a fun, voyeuristic dinner at Hearth (the kitchen is open so you can watch everything).

I think my palate is fully recovered now, which is fortunate: my flat of sour cherries came in while I was away. I now have 7 pounds of cherries that need to be made into something good, pronto. Tomorrow is the jam session, updates to follow!

Eating Elsewhere | 4 Comments »