Northeast Locavore

Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake

2011-05-11T07:51:00.002-04:00

Mother’s Day is the perfect chance for me to tell my incredible mom how special she is. She deserves to be thanked for all the thoughtful things she does every time I talk to her but life being life, it doesn’t always happen. This past year was particularly rough for my family as my dad was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and his health was touch and go for several months. Through it all, there was Mom – holding down the fort, playing Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, staying positive and strong when it all looked pretty grim. My father readily admits if it weren’t for my mother scheduling his doctors, handing him his pills at the right times, and basically standing over him telling him what he could and could not do, he wouldn’t still be alive. Thank goodness for her.

Judging from my Facebook page this past Sunday, many of you feel the same way about your mom as I do mine. If so, make her (or another special someone) this cake. I promise you, it will not disappoint. It’s not a difficult recipe and oh so pretty and delectable when it’s done.

As I’ve mentioned before, rhubarb is one of my favorite dessert ingredients and a true harbinger of spring. Last week I saw it at the market for the first time this year and knew my mom would like anything I made with it. I was right! She loved this upside down cake. The sour cream batter produced a soft and delicate crumb, the rhubarb was sweetened just enough to take the edge off its inherent tang, and the crumb topping (which actually ends up on the bottom) gave each bite a pleasant crunch. This cake, like my mom, is an absolute keeper!

Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Whoever designed this KitchenAid beater is a genius! The spatula-like edge eliminates the need to scrape down the sides of the electric mixer bowl. I’m not a fan of too many kitchen gadgets but this one is worth every penny.

Crumb topping

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

½ cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup sugar

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Cake

1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for buttering pan

1 pound rhubarb, trimmed and cut on a very sharp diagonal about ½ inch thick

1 ¾ cups sugar

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

Coarse salt

½ teaspoon finely grated orange zest

1 tablespoon fresh orange juice

2 large eggs

1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit with rack in center of oven. Make the topping: Stir together butter, flour, sugar, and salt until moist and crumbly.

Make the cake: Butter a 9-inch round, 2-inch deep cake pan. Dot with 4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces.

Toss rhubarb with ¾ cup sugar; let stand for 2 minutes. Toss again, and spread in pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and 1 ½ teaspoons salt. Beat remaining stick butter and cup sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in zest and juice.

Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl. Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream, until smooth. Spread evenly over rhubarb.

Crumble topping evenly over batter.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and top springs back when touched, about 1 hour.

Let cool for 10 minutes (less time and the rhubarb will be too hot to handle; more time and the cake might stick to pan). Run a knife around edge of cake and invert onto a wire rack. Let cool completely.

Serves 10

Lisa Bynon's beautiful garden gates

2011-05-05T01:09:00.001-04:00

I sometimes find it hard to believe I’ve lived in New York City almost 20 years because at heart I’m really a country girl. Growing up in Somerset County, New Jersey, my family lived across the street from a farm with fields of corn and strawberries and a barn where my mom bought fresh eggs. Although the barn and fields are long gone (thankfully the old farmhouse was saved and restored), my country upbringing remains with me. Part of what draws me to support local farms and cook simple meals with the freshest ingredients is my fondness for where and how I was brought up.

As much as I loved being a kid in the country, every month I anxiously awaited the next issue of Vogue and Bazaar to arrive and counted the days until I could move to the Big City, wear beautiful clothes and go to the Met and MoMA on a whim. Well, I’ve done that and consider myself lucky to have lived both dreams of City Girl, Country Girl. The call back to the country is getting stronger but for now I content myself with fantasies of hanging laundry outside on a line to dry, raising chickens, and having flower and vegetable gardens...

Speaking of gardens, my jaw dropped when I saw these garden gates! If and when I have a garden, I’d do a cartwheel if it could look like this. The garden, in Southampton, NY, is owned and created by landscape designer Lisa Bynon and recently featured in House Beautiful.

Hatfield House

The fence was inspired by one she saw in the gardens of Hatfield House, a Jacobean masterpiece just north of London and home to the 7^th Marquess and Marchioness of Salisbury. Bynon increased the scale of the fretwork, which is what makes the fence modern and chic. If you’re wondering how she keeps critters out with such an open design, look a little closer and you will see she cleverly added chicken wire to the frame.

Her table is likewise bold in scale yet simple and clean; she continues the theme with her plates, glasses, and flowers. Can’t you imagine how soft and luscious the carpet of grass feels underfoot? Yes, if I had a garden, I’d love it to look like this. Thank goodness for dreams; without them I never would have left New Jersey for Manhattan...or let a garden gate inspire me to maybe "go country" once again.

Photos of Lisa Bynon's garden by Ngoc Minh Ngo

Donna Hay's Red Lentil and White Bean Soup with Crispy Bacon

2011-04-27T07:34:00.001-04:00

Speaking of food magazines, this easy, flavorful soup comes from one of my favorites, Donna Hay. Donna Hay is the name of a magazine but also of a real live person who lives Down Under and is often referred to as the “Martha Stewart of Australia”. I imagine Martha likes Donna – Donna’s recipes are simple, elegant and beautifully photographed, much like Martha’s. In addition to her eponymous magazine, Donna Hay has published over a dozen bestselling cookbooks.

Lentils may be small but they are a nutritionally powerful little bean. The heart, in particular, loves this legume; its very high levels of fiber help fight cardiovascular disease as well as lower cholesterol and maintain healthy blood sugar levels. Lentils are an important and inexpensive source of protein, making them particularly valuable to the vegetarians of the world. High iron and magnesium levels provide energy and aid the flow of oxygen from the lungs to blood cells.

I feel I’m constantly being bombarded with dietary do’s and don’ts so I wouldn’t blame you if your eyes glazed over reading the last paragraph. That’s fine, just know this: lentils are one of the healthiest foods for you. Eat more and you’ll be better off for it.

Red Lentil and White Bean Soup with Crispy Bacon

Adapted from Donna Hay

Compared to other beans, lentils cook quickly. Red lentils cook the fastest of them all, needing only 15 - 20 minutes of simmering on the stove before they are ready to eat. Another bonus is lentils, unlike other dried beans, do not require an overnight presoak before cooking. A quick cold water rinse and scan for the occasional stone and the beans are ready to go.

The original recipe calls for pancetta but I had bacon on hand and used that instead. Leave the bacon or pancetta out and make the soup vegetarian; you’ll lose some depth of flavor but it is still delicious.

My dad was diagnosed with congestive heart failure last year. One of the changes he has had to make to his diet is a drastic reduction in salt intake (in other words, NONE). Now I look at every food box, can, and package to find out the sodium content. It’s shocking how much salt is added to just about all packaged foods, including those that say “no salt added” (do not be fooled!). Eden Organic is an exception, with just 40 mg of sodium in each 15 ounce can of cannellini beans. Even if a doctor hasn’t told you to watch your salt, it’s a smart idea to take note.

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 slices bacon or pancetta, roughly chopped

6 sprigs thyme

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 cup red lentils, picked over and rinsed

1-15 ounce can diced tomatoes

4 cups chicken stock

2 cups water

2-15 ounce cans white cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium - high heat. Add half the bacon and thyme and cook for 4 minutes or until golden and crisp. Remove from heat and set aside. Add the remaining bacon and thyme, onion and garlic to the pan and cook for 4 minutes or until softened. Add the lentils, tomatoes, stock, and water and bring to the boil.

Reduce heat to low and cook for 20 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Add the white beans and cook for 3 minutes. Top with the crispy bacon.

Pistachio and Dried-Cherry Biscotti from the new Bon Appetit

2011-04-21T07:28:00.000-04:00

A year and a half out and I still miss Gourmet magazine. Like a not-so-good friend, I took Gourmet for granted, thinking it would always be there for me. Now I want to hang out and it’s gone. The magazine’s sudden departure from the food scene hurt a little more given the publisher, Conde Nast, chose to keep their other food title, Bon Appetit, around instead. From an advertising and overhead perspective it must have made good business sense but from an historical, visual and content perspective, there was no comparison between the grande dame, Gourmet, and it’s younger, less sophisticated relation, Bon Appetit. In my opinion, that is.

My disappointment comes from the loss of Gourmet, not the survival of Bon Appetit and I don’t mean to pick on the latter. It’s not that Bon Appetit’s recipes are bad; in fact they are generally good and reliable. But a food magazine should be enticing and Bon Appetit underwent a redesign a few years back that I found unappealing enough to cancel my subscription. Starting on the cover, the food was often shot close up with harsh lighting, sometimes in a messy, half-eaten state - the culinary equivalent of a mug shot. I’m pretty sure it was meant to be modern, edgy and cool, but in the end it was plain unappetizing!

Unappetizing is not how I would describe this month’s newly redesigned Bon Appetit. Adam Rapoport was brought over from GQ to be the editor-in-chief and he has given the magazine a more natural, hip look. The articles and recipes are interesting and accessible. The photography is lush and ironically (or not), more Gourmet-like. I find the graphics too busy for my taste, but I’m from the less-is-more school so don’t mind me.

My first impression is the new Bon Appetit looks and sounds too similar to other food magazines to truly stand out but, like a new restaurant, it’s only fair to give it time to find its legs. For now, there's an improvement and I’m rooting for it to succeed.

The May issue is all about Italy, a safe bet for a re-launch because, well, who doesn’t love Italian food? Inside I found a biscotti recipe from Tribeca's Locanda Verde that made a terrific housewarming gift for a friend who had recently moved to a new apartment. The distinctive combination of flavors in this classic Italian cookie - pistachios, cherries, orange, lemon, and oats - made for a memorable sweet treat and hopefully eased the turmoil of her move just a bit.

Pistachio and Dried-Cherry Biscotti

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Using anything but olive oil in an Italian recipe seems wrong so I swapped out the vegetable oil for a mild olive oil.

Don’t have almond extract on hand? Neither did I. Add that much more vanilla extract instead.

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

½ cup old-fashioned oats

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon kosher salt

2 large eggs

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon orange zest

2 teaspoons lemon zest

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

1 cup dried cherries

1 cup unsalted, shelled pistachios

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine first 6 ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle. Blend on low speed for 30 seconds. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and next 5 ingredients. Add egg mixture to flour mixture; beat until combined. Fold in cherries and pistachios.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Using floured hands, shape each dough half into a 12” long log.

Brush off excess flour; transfer logs to prepared sheet, spaced 5" apart. Flatten each log into a 2” wide strip. Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until browned and set, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a rack, let cool for 15 minutes. Reduce oven to 250 degrees and arrange 1 rack in top third of oven and 1 rack in bottom third.

Line a second baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer biscotti to a work surface. Using a serrated knife, cut each strip diagonally into 1/3”-thick slices. Arrange slices, cut side down, on baking sheets.

Bake biscotti, rotating baking sheets halfway through, until crisp, about 40 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to racks; let cool.

Makes about 2 ½ dozen

Living on Vineyard Sound

2011-04-15T00:24:00.000-04:00

We all have our secret spot, the place we go to decompress and feel the weight of the world a little less. A place that puts a smile on our face just knowing it exists, that makes us long for time spent there, if only for a bit. If you know me, you know that place is Martha’s Vineyard.

I’m going through some serious Vineyard withdrawal lately, wishing I could escape work and make a getaway up the coast for a few days. Alas, it doesn’t appear likely right now, but I did have a transporting moment recently while flipping through the February issue of Architectural Digest.

One look at this house perched on a bluff at dusk and I knew in an instant where it was. My secret spot! The light and landscape along Vineyard Sound is like nowhere else I’ve been. As soon as I saw this picture, I recognized the coastline as the same one I’ve spent many heavenly days walking and sailing along.

I would happily live in a shack to have this view! Clearly that is not necessary for the fortunate family that really does live here. Designed by Ferguson & Shamamian and decorated by Victoria Hagan, the house is grand and formal, not at all what I consider Vineyard characteristics. Leave that on Nantucket, please!! But still…the home is an elegant beauty with a mellow Yankee vibe. Yes, it’s fancy, but it’s New England fancy, not Hamptons fancy, if you know what I mean.

What I love most about the interiors is the warm-colored oak wood used throughout and how the rooms all have views of Vineyard Sound. That is, after all, what I love most about the Vineyard: being surrounded by nature, embracing the water and the woods.

Photographs by Scott Frances

Spiced Applesauce Cake

2011-04-09T00:17:00.002-04:00

This time of year is full of anticipation – warmer weather, longer days, and farmers introducing springtime favorites back into their market stalls. The thought of buying fresh asparagus, fava beans, and ramps is very uplifting to a cook! I’m afraid, though, we’re not quite there yet. It may be getting warmer but at my market it’s still all about potatoes, carrots, and onions, potatoes, carrots, and onions.

Oh, yes – and apples. Apples are a good source of fiber, which is great for digestion, and vitamin C. Half of the vitamin C content in an apple is in its skin, which is also where the majority of its fragrance comes from. Apples have no fat, cholesterol, or sodium and contain a bit of potassium, which is helpful to the heart.

Terhune Orchard continues to supply Manhattan with crunchy, flavorful apples thanks to their nitrogen storage and I have the perfect cake recipe to put them to tempting use. The apples are cooked down into applesauce and then folded into a warm, spicy batter. It makes for a satisfying, not-too-sweet cake that helps take the bite out of any lingering, chilly days. April showers eventually bring May flowers (and rhubarb and nettles and radishes) but until then, here’s a last hurrah for a faithful wintertime favorite.

Spiced Applesauce Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from Gourmet

All this talk of spring has got me thinking it’s time to do spring-cleaning of my baking supplies. If you suspect your baking powder, baking soda, and spices are over a year old and losing flavor and potency (guilty as charged!), toss them and buy fresh. Spices can be pricey so it’s smart to keep track of when you bought them; the easiest way is to write the date of purchase right on the bottle.

Baking powder and soda only cost a few dollars and are easier to part with. They make a world of difference in the lift of cakes and cookies and if you’re going to the trouble of making something homemade, you may as well stack the deck in your favor by using the freshest ingredients.

It’s not necessary to make your own applesauce but given how quick and easy it is, why not? I leave the apple skins on because I like the rosy color red-skinned apples give applesauce (and now I know it adds to the fragrance and Vitamin C content, too). Run the applesauce through a food mill to remove the skins or if, like me, you don’t a mill, mash the soft apples through a strainer for the same results.

Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 ½ cups unsweetened applesauce
½ cups walnuts (optional), toasted, cooled and chopped

Frosting
5 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in the middle. Butter an 8 – 9 inch square cake pan.

Make the applesauce (optional)
3 – 4 pounds apples, with or without skins, cored and cut into chunky pieces
2 or 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
Sprinkle of cinnamon, to taste
1 cup of water
Pinch of salt

Put all the ingredients into a large pot. Cover and bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 20 – 25 minutes.

Remove from heat and mash apples with a potato masher if you like chunky sauce or put through a food mill if you prefer a smooth sauce and/or left the peels on the apples.

Make the cake
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.

Beat butter, brown sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in applesauce. At low speed, mix in flour mixture until just combined, then stir in walnuts (if using).

Spread batter evenly in pan and bake until golden-brown and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake to loosen, then invert onto a plate. Reinvert cake onto a rack to cool completely.

Make the frosting

Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla with an electric mixer at high speed until fluffy. Sift confectioners sugar and cinnamon over cream cheese mixture, then beat at medium speed until incorporated.

Spread frosting over top of cooled cake.

Serves 6

Audubon Magazine's Food Issue

2011-04-03T12:21:00.003-04:00

I believe it’s always best to look at the bright side of life. Take for instance the other day; I went for my usual walk along the Hudson. It was a beautiful morning - birds chirping, flowers blooming. I came home, got ready for work and had a lovely bowl of crunchy farmers market granola.

Thinking I had a little stuck in my teeth, I had a look in the mirror and sure enough…part of my tooth and filling were gone. Charming...but not the end of the world. An emergency visit to my dentist’s office was in order, which is not traumatic for me because I love my dentist.

So what does this depressing news have to do with looking at the bright side of life? I’ll tell you….I was sitting in the waiting room, waiting to spend a cool, unexpected $1,000 when I picked up the latest edition of Audubon magazine. I’m sure I’ve lost you at this point – there is nothing cool about Audubon magazine and why would that ease the blow of spending spring shopping money on a porcelain and steel crown? Because the issue is all about food, of course!

I know, I know…it’s still a stretch but hang with me….

First of all, the Audubon Society is so uncool it is cool (I love when that happens). Their mission is:

To conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity.

As a result, their magazine is filled with ads for binoculars, birding vacations, and even something called a BirdCam. While the Audubon’s image may be of fusty birders and stunning but old-fashioned John James Audubon drawings, their message is absolutely up to date with today’s locavore movement.

The current issue covers “The eternal food loop – Harvest, Prepare, Savor, Cleanup” with well-researched and beautifully photographed articles about topics many of us foodies are interested in: organic farming, seafood conservation, artisanal food makers, GMOs (boo hiss), chemical-free wines, and composting. I read about rooftop farming at Brooklyn Grange Farm in NYC, bird-friendly chocolate making at Theo in Seattle, and cheese making at Dancing Cow Farm in Vermont, to name just a few things.

It’s not the easiest magazine to find but I persevered and got the last copy at my local Barnes and Noble. It’s still on the stands for another week or two and I suggest you try to find it not only because the Audubon is a worthwhile organization to support but because it’s filled with fun stuff. If you strike out and can’t find it, many of the magazine articles are on their website.

As for the tooth, the only thing that hurt was the $1,000 I would have liked to have spent on, oh, a million and one other things, but whatever - it’s only money, right? And actually, I ended up being out of pocket $1,000 + $12 because I signed up for a subscription of Audubon magazine, too.

Le Bernardin's Eric Ripert gives to the relief efforts in Japan

2011-03-20T23:25:00.000-04:00

I don’t know about you, but I’m having a hard time getting my head around the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear catastrophes in Japan. While it’s been tough to watch and comprehend what is going on there, the grace with which the Japanese people are responding to these tragedies has left me awestruck.

One of the best ways to help is, as always, through donating to the Red Cross/Crescent. Eric Ripert, the brilliant chef of New York’s four star Le Bernardin, is offering another way: until April 16^th, all profits from the sale of the restaurant’s four cookbooks (Le Bernardin – Four Star Simplicity, A Return to Cooking, On The Line, and Avec Eric) will be donated directly to the Japanese relief efforts.

It isn't surprising he is doing this; from what I read and hear, Eric Ripert is an engaged, generous spirit. He chairs the board of NYC’s City Harvest’s Food Council, which brings together NYC best restaurants and chefs to help rescue and donate food to Manhattan’s hungriest citizens. He is a practicing Buddist who retweets the Dalai Lama (taking my Twitter page up several notches!). He has received France’s top honor, Legion d’Honneur, is a guest judge on Top Chef, and is host of PBS’s cooking show, Avec Eric.

As a bit of enticement to order one of his books, I’m including a recipe from Avec Eric, the companion piece to his awesome PBS series. On the show, ER travels the globe to find the highest quality ingredients made by food artisans, cooking what he discovers into the most sublime meals.

Purchasing a cookbook as a way of donating money to the people of Japan may seem like a roundabout way of helping, but every bit counts. I hope you join in.

Carbonara

Adapted from Avec Eric

Le Bernardin is arguably the top seafood restaurant in the United States so it’s a little odd of all his recipes, I’m making a non-seafood pasta dish. Well, it would be odd except that I’m sort of obsessed with pasta and could eat it every day of the week. I saw ER make this on Avec Eric and have been eager to try it ever since. I had a few slices of Flying Pigs Farm delicious bacon in the fridge, along with Ronnybrook crème fraiche and I decided the time was now! The tanginess of the crème fraiche really makes this simple, rich, elegant dish sing.

½ cup diced applewood smoked bacon

2 cups crème fraiche

2 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Kosher salt

8 ounces dried linguine

1 ½ cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus more for garnish

4 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh chives

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat.

Meanwhile, sauté the bacon in a large skillet over medium-low heat until crisp, about 10 minutes. Add the crème fraiche and bring to a simmer. Whisk the egg yolks into the sauce. Add the black pepper and season to taste with salt.

When ready to serve, cook the linguine in the boiling salted water until al dente. Drain the pasta and add to the sauce. Stir in 1 ½ cups of the Parmesan cheese and chives; let stand for 1 minute to allow all the flavors to blend.

Using a meat or carving fork, twirl a quarter of the pasta (for each serving) and place each swirl of pasta in the center of 4 bowls. Spoon some of the sauce over and around the pasta and top with more grated Parmesan cheese, as desired. Serve immediately.

Serves 4

Empire Organics NYcheese

2011-03-06T20:45:00.001-05:00

Not too long ago while dodging baby strollers and runaway kids in the Tribeca Whole Foods, I passed a tasting table with cheese. Never one to pass up a free bite of fromage, especially one with a label containing the words “NY” and “organic”, I stopped to taste. It was good! Really good.

NYcheese is made under the Empire Organics label by two New York dairy farmers, Dan France and Dean Sparks. They make five types of cheese - raw milk cheddar, Colby, Monterey Jack, pepper jack, and smoked mozzarella – using organic cow’s milk supplied by 20 independent upstate dairy farmers.

In addition to cheese, Empire Organics sell milk, yogurt, ice cream, and eggs. Dan and Dean’s mission is two-fold: first to help save small New York organic farms by providing them a guaranteed fair price for their milk; and second, to provide fellow New Yorkers with locally made, organic dairy products.

I left Whole Foods that day with a block of their cheddar. The Northeast has many talented artisanal cheesemakers producing phenomenally good, award-winning cheeses worth the higher price they often ask for. I enjoy supporting their efforts but also appreciate companies like Empire Organics whose aim to make an excellent everyday cheese that won’t break the bank is slightly less lofty but equally as deserving of support.

Patricia Wells' Leek Tart

2011-02-20T01:27:00.002-05:00

It’s slim pickings at the farmers market this time of year so my eyes lit up when I saw a stack of leeks at the Paffenroth Gardens stand the other day. I’m not going to lie; upon closer inspection, the outer layer of the leeks looked a little withered and worse for wear. I bought them anyway because I’d already started dreaming of one of my favorite savory tarts made of leeks, crème fraiche, Gruyere, and prosciutto.

I’ve been making this recipe for years. I love to have it for dinner with a beautiful green salad; it makes me feel so civilized and, well, so French. Which it should because a leek tart is a classic French dish.

The recipe comes from, Bistro Cooking, one of the first cookbooks in my collection. The American author, Patricia Wells, has lived in Paris since 1980 and authored a dozen books, many related to French cooking and cuisine. She also runs a cooking school called At Home with Patricia Wells in both Paris and Provence. Wells wrote a food column for the International Tribune for years and is a true expert on French cooking. Despite her accomplishments (and I haven’t listed them all here) her writing and cooking style remains down to earth and authentic. In my mind Patricia Wells’ recipes are the French equivalent to Ina Garten’s i.e. easy and elegant.

Flamiche aux Poireaux (Leek Tart)
Adapted from Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells

Paffenroth Gardens, where I found my leeks, is a Union Square stalwart, showing up every Saturday even in the depths of winter. Alex Paffenroth is something of a root vegetable specialist, growing a large and diverse variety all year round.

Leeks are a member of the alluim family, which also includes onions, shallots, scallions and garlic. The flavor of a leek is more sweet and mellow than that of an onion. The edible portion of a leek is the white and light green stalk; the dark green top is fibrous and not pleasant to eat.

Because the white stalk grows under the soil (that’s why it’s white and not green), dirt is usually found between its many layered sections. I remember my cooking school teacher making a big deal about the need to clean leeks carefully before cooking. If a recipe calls for chopped leeks, I find it easiest to clean them by cutting the leeks first than washing them in a colander or salad spinner.

The crust is a classic French pastry dough called pate brisee. It’s light, flaky, and rich and may be used for both sweet and savory dishes (if you’re making a sweet tart, add a little sugar to the dry ingredients). The butter to flour ratio is high which means you need to keep all the ingredients cold and work fast, with as little contact with your warm hands as possible.

The dough is a breeze to make but I guess I wasn’t working very quickly because it didn’t turn out as pretty as it usually does. I’m showing the pictures anyway because I know working with dough can be intimidating for some. I’m here to say it’s not a big deal, especially in this case. The crust gets filled with the leek mixture and no one will ever see the bumps and patches underneath. Go for it!

Pate Brisee
1 - 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons ice water

Place 1 cup of flour, butter, and salt in a food processor. Process just until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about 10 seconds. Add the ice water and pulse just until the pastry begins to hold together, about 6 – 8 times. Do not let it form a ball. (As is often the case, I used a pastry blender instead of my food processor; either method is fine). Transfer the pastry to waxed paper; flatten the dough into a disk. If the dough seems too sticky, sprinkle it with additional flour, incorporating 1 tablespoon at a time. Wrap the pastry in waxed paper. Refrigerate for a least 1 hour.

Tart Filling
12 small leeks (about 3 pounds)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
1/4 cup creme fraiche
4 slices (about 3 ounces) ham, such as thinly sliced prosciutto, coarsely chopped
1 cup (about 3 ounces) freshly grated Gruyere cheese

Prepare the pastry shell:
Roll out the dough to line a 10 1/2 inch tart pan. Carefully transfer the dough to the pan. Chill for 30 minutes or until firm.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Prepare the filling:
Trim the leeks at the root. Cut off and discard the dark green portions.

Split the leeks lengthwise then coarsely chop. Wash chopped leeks in a salad spinner or colander with cold water until no grit remains.

Melt the butter in a medium size saucepan over low heat. Add the leeks, salt and pepper to taste and cook, covered, until the leeks are very soft but not browned, about 20 minutes. If the leeks have given up an excessive amount of liquid, drain them in a colander.

Combine the eggs and creme fraiche in a medium size bowl and mix until thoroughly blended. Add the leeks and mix again.

Reserve 1/4 cup each of the ham and the cheese to sprinkle on top of the tart. Mix the rest into the leek mixture.

Pour the leek mixture into the prepared pastry shell. Sprinkle with the reserved ham, and then the cheese. Season generously with pepper.

Bake until nicely browned, about 45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 6 - 8

Axel Vervoordt's farmhouse in Verbier, Switzerland

2011-02-10T23:27:00.013-05:00

When it comes to snow I’m a lover, not a hater. The weather we’ve had in New York this winter has kept a smile on my face for months. I look forward to forecasts calling for a foot of snow or even better, make it two! Given that, it’s no wonder I was taken by photos in the February issue of British House & Garden of Axel Vervoordt’s striking home in the Swiss Alps.

Axel Vervoordt, based in Antwerp, Belgium, is respected the world over as an antiquarian and interior designer. He began collecting antiques as a teenager with money loaned to him by his father, a sophisticated man with sophisticated friends, all of whom influenced Axel from an early age. His well-honed eye is drawn to objects from all cultures, continents, and time periods. It’s the mix he is after, as well as authenticity.

It is his desire for the authentic and real that clearly guided him while designing this traditional farmhouse. There is a Japanese term, wabi-sabi, that plays a large role in how Vervoordt selects materials and objects. This ancient philosophy is very interesting…and not easily defined. I found an excellent explanation of it here; a small portion of it reads as follows:

Pared down to its barest essence, wabi-sabi is the Japanese art of finding beauty in imperfection and profundity in nature, of accepting the natural cycle of growth, decay, and death. It’s simple, slow, and uncluttered – and it reveres authenticity above all. Wabi-sabi is flea markets, not warehouse stores; aged wood, not Pergo; rice paper, not glass. It celebrates cracks and crevices and all the other marks that time, weather, and loving use leave behind.

I spend my days working at an interior decorating firm where we create beautiful, fancy interiors (think silk velvet, gilt, and custom everything). I love the graciousness and history of this type of decorating; fancy has its place and I think city living should be more refined, whether your style is modern or traditional. However, if I had a place in the country, this would be more my cup of tea: pared-down, rustic, and functional. Wabi-sabi, I guess…but never knew!

Creamy Broccoli - White Bean Soup

2011-02-05T18:39:00.000-05:00

This soup is so pretty it’s surprising how filling and hearty it tastes. Puréed soups don’t always satisfy me as a main meal but the addition of broccoli florets, pine nuts, and shavings of Parmesan just before serving make this soup more substantial; all I need is a few bites of a good quality whole grain bread and a green salad and I’m set for dinner.

Read any Top 10 Super Foods list and you’re bound to see broccoli on it. Broccoli comes from the nutritionally powerful cabbage family and of all its relatives – cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale, and collards – it’s the most potent. In addition to possessing nitrogen compounds known to be effective in preventing some cancers, it is high in fiber, calcium, folate, potassium, iron, and vitamins C, K, and A.

This recipe comes from one of my favorite magazines, Whole Living. Often what I write about on NEL is inspired by something I have read on the the Whole Living pages. The magazine is part of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and it shows; the writing is excellent, the photography beautiful and the recipes delicious.

Whole Living is not all about food; there are also articles regarding fitness, beauty, wellness, and eco-friendly living. Best of all, it’s not preachy about its goodness; the articles are approachable and useful in a way that inspires rather than guilts me into living a healthy lifestyle. The recipe for broccoli soup alone is worth the $15 yearly subscription fee!

Creamy Broccoli-White Bean Soup

Adapted from Whole Living

I bought an immersion blender on a whim years ago at Broadway Panhandler and have more than gotten my money’s worth out of it. Is it a kitchen necessity? Definitely not, but it does help make pureed soups more quickly and with less mess.

A piece of kitchen equipment that is a necessity for healthy cooking (and inexpensive to boot) is a steamer. Steaming doesn’t require cooking oil or fat and, and unlike boiling, nutrients don’t leech out into the water. It’s fast, too - broccoli is finished in less than 5 minutes.

Rather than turn on my big oven to toast the pine nuts, I put them in a small skillet on the stove over medium–high heat. They only take about 5 minutes so whatever you do, don’t walk away while toasting!

1 head broccoli (1 pound), cut into florets, stems thinly sliced

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, smashed

1 - 15 ounce can cannellini beans, drained

2 ½ cups chicken stock

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted

½ ounce shaved Parmesan, for serving

Steam broccoli florets and stems until tender and bright green, about 3 minutes. Let cool slightly. Reserve ½ cup florets for garnish.

Heat oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Sauté onion and garlic until translucent, about 6 minutes. Add beans and stock and bring mixture to a simmer. Remove from heat and add broccoli; puree in batches in a blender or with an immersion blender until smooth.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish each bowl with broccoli florets, toasted pine nuts, and shaved Parmesan.

Serves 4

edible Vineyard Beet Chips

2011-01-30T10:10:00.001-05:00

It’s taken me a long time to appreciate the beauty and flavor of beets. They might not look like much in their unscrubbed state but their scruffy exterior belies a jewel-like appearance just under the surface. A little cleaning up does a beet wonders.

What most of us think of as a beet is actually the root; the stems and leaves attached to the root are also edible and extremely nutritious. Beet leaves are loaded with vitamins A and C, iron, and calcium. Beetroots are an excellent source of folate, beta-carotene, fiber, manganese, potassium, and betalains, which are known to detoxify the liver.

Raw beets (beetroots, that is) may be grated by hand or in a food processor then added to a green salad or tossed with a simple vinaigrette and made into a salad of its own. If you prefer your beets cooked, take those same grated beets and sauté them on the stove with a little olive oil or butter, salt and pepper.

I’ve come to love roasted beets, served either warm or cold, and have found this Alice Waters' recipe to be an easy, fail-proof method:

1 pound beets

1 teaspoon vinegar (red wine, sherry, or white wine)

Salt

1 – 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Trim greens from beet; save for another use. Wash beets thoroughly. Place them in a baking dish with enough water to cover the bottom of the dish to a depth of 1/8 of an inch. Sprinkle with salt, cover tightly, and bake in oven until they are easily pierced with a knife, about 30 – 60 minutes, depending on their size. Uncover and cool. Cut top and bottom of beets and slip off skins. Cut the peeled beets into small wedges and sprinkle with vinegar and salt. Let stand for a few minutes to allow beets to absorb the flavor. Taste and add more salt and/or vinegar as needed. Toss with olive oil and serve.

Every time I make beets this way for my mom she says “These are good but I’d love them with just a little butter on top, nothing else”. We kid my mom that she is a Plain Jane when it comes to food, which she claims is “the English” in her. In truth, I think it sounds like a delicious idea (I’m a bit of a food Plain Jane myself, too – the simpler, the better).

I’ve wanted to make beet chips for a while and last Sunday’s NFL playoff games seemed like an opportune moment to do so. Chips and football are a classic combination. In edible Vineyard’s most recent issue there is a beet chip recipe, which unlike others I have seen, calls for a pinch of cayenne. I liked the sound of that – I love food with a little kick – and decided to give it a go. The recipe was a success but sadly, my hometown Jets were not. That’s all right; I discovered a new recipe to add to my culinary repertoire. Not to mention I’m really a Giants fan, anyway.

Playoff football may be over but Super Bowl Sunday is right around the corner. If you’d like a healthy, colorful, delicious alternative to the ubiquitous potato chip, this is it. I swear it’s just as good as a potato chip, albeit in a different way. You’ll never replace the addictive taste of a traditional fried, salty chip, but the sweet, earthy taste of beets is truly a winner.

Beet Chips

Adapted from edible Vineyard, Harvest 2010

I used my Dad’s fancy mandoline to slice the beets and I’ll be honest, I do not like that thing. I find the whole apparatus not that easy to maneuver, which makes its big, sharp, scary blade even more ominous. My knife skill aren’t so fabulous that I can cut paper thin slices freehand so I was forced to use it anyway. You can be sure the next time I’ll prep the beets with my little hand-held slicer which can be picked one up at any kitchen supply store; I got mine at Muji, a cool Japanese retailer with a nice line of housewares.

The edible Vineyard recipe wasn’t terribly detailed but then again, baking chips is a fairly straightforward thing. Another change I’ll make next time is to forget about brushing each chip with oil as called for in the eV recipe and instead toss them in a bowl with the oil and cayenne. Not only will this take less time, I believe it will give the chips a lighter coating of oil and make for an even crispier chip.

The beet slices shrank quite a bit so don’t be afraid to pack the slices onto the pan in a single layer. I have another recipe that calls for putting the beets on a rimmed sheet pan then stacking another, identical sheet pan on top. This probably helps keep the chips flat but I liked the way mine contorted into twisted shapes. It’s less fussy and less clean up, too.

Red and golden beets

A few teaspoons of olive oil

Pinch of cayenne

Sprinkle of kosher salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Slice beets thin using a mandoline or any other hand slicer. In a large bowl, whisk olive oil and cayenne. Add sliced beets to bowl and toss to coat slices with oil mixture. Spread beets on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt.

Bake for about 15 minutes on each side, until crisp. Serve.

January on Martha's Vineyard...

2011-01-23T23:27:00.001-05:00

…is cold. And gorgeous. At least that’s how I would describe it after being there a week ago. The storm that walloped New York City with a foot of snow the day before I left didn’t have the same effect on the Vineyard and instead left a slew of rain with a topcoat of snow. Those several inches of snow quickly froze, turning parts of the island into a skating rink.

The drive up from Manhattan wasn’t bad – about five hours, not including the ferry. For me the ferry doesn’t count as “getting there”; as soon as I’m on board, vacation is on. The sun set while we lumbered to the island and fishermen steamed home for the day.

At this point in the road we’re almost to the house.

This innocent looking hill was our first realization that many of the back roads were sheets of ice. I’m not a fan of SUV’s but I have to say this weekend I was grateful for ours and its four-wheel drive!

While my friend took in the view from the comfort of a heated house (and fantasized about golfing in Florida), I ventured out into the chill to explore. I had woods and beaches and goats to see! In the summer this vista is filled with boats either tethered to moorings or under sail to Vineyard Sound; today it was desolate.

I poked around the yard a bit longer

then slipped down the icy road

through the woods

to the beach.

There are many farms of varying sizes on Martha’s Vineyard. This one, called Pilot Hill, was a working dairy until the 1950’s.

The land was purchased by the Vineyard Open Land Foundation, whose mission is to preserve the rural character of the island, and turned into a low-density housing development with many acres of common space. Part of the land is still farmed and provides fresh produce, cut flowers, and eggs in season to its neighbors as well as island restaurants such as The Scottish Bakehouse on State Road.

Walking towards the farm I engaged in a stare down with their cows

but not with these guys…

Across the road reside two of the friendliest goats you’ll ever meet and were they ever happy to see me! I’m guessing they don’t have many visitors this time of year because their heads and ears were clearly overdue for a good scratch. Their winter coats were so pretty, especially this one.

Who knew goats like to nosh on leftover Christmas trees? With every munch the fragrant, wintry scent of pine wafted through the air.

The ladies in the hen house weren’t dumb; they stayed inside, out of the cold!

I had to agree with them at this point. I’d been outside for a few hours and was starting to look forward to a warm, cozy abode of my own. I made my way home, down the deer path.

What next? Food, of course! On Friday afternoons during the winter Offshore Ale Co. is the place to be for their homebrewed beers and $1.00 oysters. I learned on this trip that Bob Skydell, owner of one of the best farm shops on the Vineyard, Fiddlehead Farm, was one of the founders and former owners of Offshore Ale. I definitely like Bob’s aesthetic and eye. At both Offshore Ale and Fiddlehead Farm he has captured the essence of New England without resorting to the cliqued and hokey.

The rustic, soaring interior of this mircrobrewery and pub is filled with beautiful small wooden boats hanging from the rafters as well as racing flags and other boating paraphernalia. A huge barrel of peanuts sits by the front door for anyone to partake in and I was encouraged by the bartender to crack my shells onto the floor, not my plate!

This is the spot I had my first taste of the divine Sweet Neck Farm oysters from Katama. Sweet Necks were available for $2.50 a pop (worth every penny, in my opinion) but in the spirit of the moment, we stuck to the dollar specials, which were Blue Points from Long Island and local West Tisbury Wilds. Offshore Ale brews all their lagers, pale ales, IPAs, and stouts from scratch. I had a fantastic rich, smooth winter ale called Miss Behavin’. When life is good, it’s really good…

The next day was our pilgrim moment. Faced with nothing to eat for lunch but hot dogs dug from the depths of the freezer and neither of us anxious to stand outside by the grill, we opted to roast them in the fireplace. Sitting on the floor with a glass of wine, it was the perfect snack before heading to a friend’s house for dinner in Oak Bluffs.

A few hours before getting on the ferry to begin our trip home we did what people have been doing every morning for decades on the Vineyard – eat at the ArtCliff.

The ArtCliff Diner is a Vineyard institution, a local hangout that is always packed. This is the place where Carly Simon is as likely to be at the table next to you (yes – once) as a local carpenter. We got there just in time and didn’t have to wait for a table, a rarity. But if we had to wait, it would have been well worth it. The ArtCliff’s creative spin on classic country breakfasts, more often than not prepared with food grown locally, is out of this world. Both the atmosphere and staff are easy-going and friendly - the Vineyard at its best.

I had Swiss cheese and ham French toast with poached eggs (I know, I know – but I was starving!)

and my friend had a tomato, cheddar, and spinach frittata on top of home fries.

We shared the best short stack of buttermilk pancakes I’ve ever had. Really.

I’ve never gotten to the end of a stay on the Vineyard and not been sad to go. This trip was no exception. It’s true that most of the shops are closed for the winter so if your idea of fun is shopping, Martha’s Vineyard in January might not be for you. Nor is it for you if you long to be on a beach or a boat in a bathing suit. But if you’re the sort that doesn’t mind dreaming up your own adventures and hanging with the locals – in many layers of clothing! - it could not be more perfect than this time of year.

Sausage and Mushroom Whole-Wheat Penne Gratin

2011-01-14T21:12:00.010-05:00

I feel like my posts have been getting awfully healthy lately so to prove I’m not turning into a goody two-shoes, here you go: a recipe made with sausage, mozzarella, parmesan, and heavy cream. How’s that for decadent ingredients? But then again, maybe I am a goody two-shoes because I swapped out the semolina pasta for whole-wheat and added arugula to give it a little more nutrition and a bit of color (once a food stylist, always a food stylist…). I have to say, the extra calories were well worth it – this pasta was de-lish! Really, really tasty and perfect for the kind of weather we have been experiencing in the Northeast, i.e. cold and snowy.

Sausage and Mushroom Penne Gratin
Adapted from Gourmet

Whole-wheat pasta is gaining in popularity but the problem remains that an awful lot of what’s out there is just that – awful. I know this because I feel like I’ve bought and tasted each and every bland, heavy one! After reading Melissa Clark’s piece on whole-wheat pasta in the Times, I took her advice and tried Bionaturae, an organic line of pastas made in Italy and available at my local grocery store.

Their penne was just as she described - warm and nutty. When whole-wheat pasta is good it’s perfect in a stick-to-your-ribs dish such as this one - hearty enough to stand up to the other ingredients and rich without weighing it down.

As a Flying Pigs Farm Camp alumna I’m partial to their heritage pork products. There’s something about seeing first hand how a farmer raises their livestock and what breeds they choose and why that creates a loyalty that is tough to break. I headed to their stand at Union Square for hot sausage but sweet sausage is fine in this recipe as well; it’s simply a matter of preference.

The North Fork’s Satur Farms continues to amaze me with the quality of their greens. When I saw this box of wild arugula, which was grown on their farmland in Florida (see here for more back story), I couldn’t believe how perky and pristine the leaves looked. Wild arugula is the original variety of arugula grown in Europe for generations. No doubt the leaves in my box came from seeds found on one of Eberhard Muller and Paulette Satur’s European buying trips. Wild arugula may look petite and refined but its peppery taste really packs a delightful punch.

If there were any doubts about my devotion to Milk Thistle Farm Jersey cow dairy products, this bottle of heavy cream sealed the deal. Just look at what I found when I opened their bottle of heavy cream.

Because there were several inches of thick cream on top, shaking the bottle wouldn’t do; I had to stir the cream before I could pour it out. It was heaven. Jersey cows rule – or at least their milk does!

1 pound dried whole-wheat pasta
1 pound hot Italian sausage, casings removed if using links
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
4 cups arugula or spinach
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
8 ounces grated whole-milk mozzarella, divided

Cook penne in pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Reserve ½ cup pasta-cooking water, drain pasta and set aside.

Preheat broiler with rack positioned 3 – 4 inches from heat.

Meanwhile, in a 12-inch sauté pan, sauté sausage in 1 tablespoon olive oil over high heat until no longer pink, stirring occasionally and breaking up any large pieces. Transfer to a bowl with a slotted spoon, leaving fat in pan.

Add remaining tablespoon of oil to pan, along with mushrooms and garlic and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are golden, about 3 minutes. Add arugula to pan, stirring until wilted, about 1 minute more.

Return sausage to pan along with cream, reserved ½ cup cooking water, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ fresh black pepper and boil over high heat, stirring once or twice, until thickened, about 4 minutes. Stir in pasta, Parmigiano-Reggiano, ½ cup mozzarella, and salt to taste. Transfer pasta mixture into 3-quart baking dish and top evenly with remaining mozzarella.

Broil until golden brown in spots, 4 – 5 minutes.

Serves 4 – 6 people

Life on the farm: The Dirty Life

2011-01-08T17:54:00.005-05:00

My friend, Megan, gave me a book this Christmas, The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love, which I became so engrossed in reading, it’s a wonder my Christmas presents ever got wrapped. The book is written by a former NYC/East Village-living writer, Kristin Kimball, who went to Pennsylvania to interview a farmer, fell in love with him, and together, moved to Essex, New York to start a farm. Megan’s parents have a house in Essex, down the road from Essex Farm, where Kimball and her now-husband Mark have lived and farmed for the past seven years.

Essex Farm is a “whole diet” farm, meaning they grow everything for their 100 CSA members to have a healthy and diverse diet, year round. This includes beef, chicken, pork, eggs, milk, maple syrup, grains, flours, dried beans, herbs, fruits, and forty different vegetables. With few exceptions, they farm without tractors, relying instead on manual labor and draft horses to tend to their fields. No chemicals or artificial fertilizers are used on any of their crops.

The Dirty Life will appeal to anyone with an interest in good food and how it is grown. The author’s vivid descriptions of the meals her husband prepares with the bounty of their land are as good as any I’ve read. Kristin, a Harvard graduate, is new to farming unlike her husband, who studied agricultural science at Swarthmore and worked on farms across the United States. I have great admiration for her gutsy willingness to throw herself into one unknown adventure after another with curiosity, intelligence, and humor.

Kimball does a wonderful job of describing the realities of farming in a way that is both inspiring and hopeful. She doesn’t mince words when it comes to the hardships of life on a farm but in the end what I took away from this incredibly well-written, engaging tale is the upside of farming: the immense satisfaction that comes from getting your hands dirty, growing your own delicious food and sharing it with others. It’s a beautiful love story between two people, their land, their neighbors, and a way of life.

While reading this book I kept thinking of something I heard Dan Barber say: “Not all farmers are good farmers. We should support good farmers. Good farmers are not old-fashioned – they are innovative thinkers, modern.” I imagine the Kimball’s are the type of farmers he is talking about. Given a choice between the myriad of farming options available today, they chose to return to agriculture’s roots and forgo methods that have broken many small American farms in recent decades: gas engines, chemical fertilizers, antibiotic-laced feed, monocrops. By decreasing their reliance on fossil fuels for energy, choosing to consume less, growing diverse crops, and offering their neighbors an alternative to the grocery store, the Kimball's are charting a course towards a sustainable future for themselves, their community, and the world.

Megan’s Butter-Roasted Pecans

Megan and I worked together before she left New York to live in North Carolina, where she has a successful interior design business. Megan learned this so-simple-yet-so-delicious recipe from one of her Southern friends and shared it with me while we caught up over gin and tonics in NYC before Christmas.

I’m fairly certain Kristin Kimball would get an ironic chuckle (or give a big ol’ eye roll) if she saw I included a recipe for cocktail treats with commentary on her book. Cocktail hour and farming are like oil and water – they don’t mix. But maybe if she knew I made the recipe with only Ronnybrook butter, organic pecans, and salt it wouldn’t be so bad? After all, this recipe is simplicity itself, not unlike the food she and her husband prepare on Essex Farm.

I halved the amounts below when I made the recipe and you can scale up or down according to your own taste. The point is to buy the freshest, tastiest pecans you can find (preferably organic) and showcase their flavor by roasting them with nothing more than the best butter and salt.

1 pound pecans

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter

Kosher or sea salt, to taste

Heat oven to 225 degrees.

Scatter butter on a baking sheet with sides and place in heated oven.

As soon as the butter has completely melted and begins to shimmer, add pecans to baking sheet and toss until thoroughly coated with butter.

Bake until fragrant and toasted, tossing frequently, anywhere from 1 - 1 1/2 hours.

Remove from oven and scoop pecans onto a double thickness of brown paper bag to absorb excess butter. Sprinkle with salt while still warm. Serve.

Harvest Porridge

2010-12-29T12:00:00.006-05:00

After hunkering down/shoveling out of the big Nor’easter that blew (and blew and blew) through New Jersey the day after Christmas, I craved something warm and hearty for breakfast. My mind turned to a meal I had a few weeks before, after a chilly morning walk along the Hudson River.

There is a Le Pain Quotidien in Battery Park City that serves something called Harvest Porridge. It is made of farro, almond milk, dried cranberries, pecans, and walnuts, and sounded as healthy and filling to me that day as it did this snowy morning - just what my achy, shoveled-the-long-driveway-three-times-in-40-mile-per-hour-winds body was calling out for.

Farro (also known as emmer) is referred to as an ancient grain for good reason; it was the first cultivated grain, appearing over 10,000 years ago in the Near East and Mediterranean. Farro was found in Egyptian tombs and was standard fare for the Roman Legions as they conquered Western Europe.

Farro fell out of favor with growers because of its low yields and lengthy milling process. It’s a shame because this whole grain is one of the healthiest you can eat. Farro is a complex carbohydrate that contains double the fiber and protein of regular wheat. It’s loaded with antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins, which contribute to reduced inflammation, stable blood sugar levels, and lower cholesterol. Did I mention it's delicious, too?

Farro is hulled wheat, meaning it has a hard, inedible outer husk that encases and protects the grain inside. It can be purchased whole or pearled. Whole farro is the more nutritious of the two types because it retains the bran layer and germ when the outer husk is removed; the drawback is it takes longer to cook. Pearled farro loses the bran and germ along with the husk during the milling process. This enables the grains to cook faster (about half the time) but lowers the nutritional content.

The majority of farro today comes from Italy but there are a few US sources producing high quality, heirloom grains. South Carolina’s Anson Mills sells several varieties of farro, as does Washington’s Bluebird Grain Farms. I bought mine at the Friday Union Square Greenmarket from Cayuga Pure Organics, supplier of New York grown organic grains, flours, and dried beans. Founders Dan Lathwell and Erick Smith have been involved with farming in Ithaca, NY since the 1970’s and are committed to sustainable farming practices such as composting, crop rotation, and growing food without pesticides, GMO’s, and artificial fertilizers.

Farro is considered country food in Italy; its chewy texture and nutty flavor make it ideal for soups, salads, stews, and pilafs. The firm texture is what made it appealing to me as a breakfast cereal. I like oatmeal, but sometimes the texture is too mushy for my taste. Farro is an excellent alternative.

Harvest Porridge

Adapted from Le Pain Quotidien

My only caution to you when cooking farro is this: know what you’ve got. Is it pearled or whole? Most farro recipes I come across don’t distinguish between the two types and give cooking times based on one or the other (from my experience, it’s usually pearled). As a general rule, pearled farro takes half as much time (30 minutes) to cook as whole farro (60 minutes) so adjust your recipe accordingly.

I had some experimenting to do with my farro. When I bought it from the Cayuga stand, it wasn’t labeled one way or the other and I hadn’t a clue about this “whole” vs “pearled” business. I pulled out a farro recipe and started cooking. It seemed like it took forever to cook – much longer than what the recipe called for - and the grains never really got soft and chewy. I gave up and tossed the whole thing in the garbage.

I went back and spoke to the woman I had bought it from and turns out, my farro was whole. She recommended cracking it in a coffee grinder to decrease cooking time and magic! - it worked! I’ve also read you can pour hot water over whole farro and let it stand overnight to soften and decrease cooking time.

So let my experiment be a help to you; the last thing I want to do is scare you away from this excellent grain. If all this sounds too complicated, start with pearled farro, which is less temperamental to cook with. Yes, you’ll lose some nutrition, but it’s still a powerhouse food.

The original recipe called for agave, which I didn’t have on hand so I substituted a splash of maple syrup instead.

Almond milk is made of ground almonds and contains no cholesterol or lactose, making it a healthy alternative to cow’s milk. It has a pleasant, mild flavor and is quite tasty in this recipe. Of course, regular milk is fine to use, too.

3 cups unsweetened almond milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon maple syrup or raw agave nectar

½ cup whole farro, cracked in a coffee grinder or pearled farro, as is

¼ cup dried cranberries

2 tablespoons chopped pecans

2 tablespoons chopped walnuts

In a medium saucepan, combine almond milk, vanilla extract, and maple syrup. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir in farro. Simmer over medium-low, about 35 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add dried cranberries. Continue cooking another 10 minutes or until farro is tender and has absorbed the milk. Spoon into bowls and top with pecans and walnuts.

Serves 2

Update:

Alexis at Cayuga was kind enough to share more info about their farro and farro in general. Here is what she had to say. Thanks, Alexis!

I find it best to first soak the farro in room temperature water for about 6 to 8 hours before cooking. Our bodies do not create the enzyme we need to properly digest and metabolize most grains. Plus the longer the grain soaks, the less one is bothered with cooking for hours and hours. If anything happens to float to the top of the bowl/pot during this soak period (which may be over night if that is how you chose to do so) scoop it off and discard! During the actual cooking process I suggest treating the farro like a wild rice; water ratio of 3 (cups of water) to 1 (cup of grain).

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T09:15:00.005-05:00

Here's hoping your day is filled with warmth, laughter and love.

Merry, merry Christmas!

Don’t forget the pups! Christmas treats for locavore dogs

2010-12-22T21:54:00.001-05:00

This might not be the typical cookie recipe you come across this time of year but I have a lot of four-legged friends in my life and I adore them all….

First, there’s Teddy, king of the AP Interiors office. Ted is proof that good things really do come in small packages. Here he is taking a break at Sant Ambroeus during a big installation in Southampton.

A typical office pose – on my lap.

Our adorable, sweet office puppy, Gypsy, also on my lap.

It’s much more common, however, to see Gyp chasing her tail or roaming the office, trash-picking tissues from the wastebaskets and hiding in the closet while shreding them.

I grew up with German shepherds and my sister and brother-in-law have two beauties: Penny

and Rocky.

Last but certainly not least, the Outer Banks Crew – Shandy, Porter, and Whisky – part of my brother’s family (Note: This is not a staged pose. It really happens!)

Pets may as well be people, as far as I’m concerned, and I include them in the Christmas treats as well. No inferior ingredients for these pooches! I use whole wheat flour from Cooper Gristmill, an historic water-powered flour mill in Chester, New Jersey, stone-ground cornmeal from Wild Hive Farm in the Hudson Valley, wheat germ from Bob’s Red Mill in Oregon, Kate’s Homemade Butter from Maine, and yes, my favorite eggs from Quattro’s Game Farm. Fresh mint and parsley from the farmers market do wonders for doggie breath….

Dog Biscuits
Adapted from Gourmet December 2005

People have been known to eat these biscuits (ahem…they are really good). The recipe calls for a food processor but I wasn’t in the mood to deal with mine so I mixed the dough with a pastry cutter and my hands.

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 ¼ cups whole-wheat flour
1 ¼ cups cornmeal
1 ¼ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
½ cup toasted wheat germ
½ cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ½ sticks (¾ cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon water
½ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
½ cup chopped fresh mint leaves
1 large egg

Pulse flours, cornmeal, oats, wheat germ, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with pea-size butter lumps. Add 1 cup water and pulse until a coarse, dense dough forms.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead in parsley and mint until well distributed. Gather, then halve dough and form into two balls and flatten each into a 6-inch disk. Chill until firm, about a half hour.

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Grease two large baking sheets.

Roll out one disk of dough into a round (1/3 inch thick) on a well-floured surface with a well-floured rolling pin. (If dough becomes too soft to roll out, wrap in plastic and chill again until firm.) Cut out as many biscuits as possible and arrange about ¼ inch apart on one baking sheet.

Gather scraps and reroll, then cut out more biscuits. Repeat with remaining dough, using other baking sheet.

Whisk together egg and 1 tablespoon water. Brush biscuits with egg wash and bake, switching position of sheets halfway through, until tops are golden brown, about 35 minutes total. Turn off oven and dry biscuits in oven overnight.

Makes about 5 dozen biscuits

Healthy Living - Tata Harper at Organic Avenue

2010-12-18T22:21:00.000-05:00

It was inevitable, I suppose, the more I educated myself on the quality of the food I put inside my body, the more I started to pay attention to the stuff I put on my body, like lotions, shampoos, make-up, etc. Chemicals abound in these products and it’s my hunch most of them cannot be healthy for me. So the timing was perfect when I got a Daily Candy email mentioning that Tata Harper was going to be at Organic Avenue for a beauty workshop, along with six other women in various areas of the natural wellness/beauty business.

I first read about Tata Harper Skincare several months ago and was immediately interested. The article mentioned that Tata lived on an organic farm in Vermont and began researching her natural, non-toxic skincare line soon after caring for a relative with cancer. Her stepfather was told by his doctors to refrain from using many of his personal care products because they were too toxic for him. When Tata tried to find him replacements that worked just as well, she came up disappointingly empty-handed. Four years and eight scientists (including herself) later, Tata launched her eponymous skincare line. I’ve never been one to spend a lot of money on skincare products – I think so much of the cost pays for marketing and packaging and not actual ingredients – but this sounded legit and interesting, possibly worth the extra cost that comes along with pure, natural ingredients.

Last month American Vogue featured Tata in a glowing profile. I was a little bummed to find out she’s not really a farm girl from Vermont. Rather she’s a sophisticated Columbian, married to a New York City financier, who travels back and forth from the farm to the city where she has a fabulous apartment (I kid you not – it’s fabulous. Check out this video from Italian Vogue!). Now, I’m not knocking her but the slightly jaded New Yorker in me wondered if she was a serious scientist or a well-connected fashionista with deep pockets.

Curiosity got the best of me and I signed up for the workshop and I’m so, so glad I did! For starters, Tata was wonderful; smart, passionate, approachable, and yes, serious about the science of natural skincare. She began by talking about the different layers of the skin, what their functions are, and how she cares for each with non-synthetic, non-toxic, mostly organic ingredients such as safflower, date plum, Spanish lavender, narcissus bulb, and alfalfa. About 20% of the ingredients she uses are grown on her farm and the remaining 80% are sourced from around the world. A former cow barn now houses production and manufacturing.

(On a side note, Tata’s husband sells grass-fed, hormone-free, organic beef, lamb, and goat from animals raised on Julius Kingdom, their 1,200 acre farm in Champlain Valley, Vermont.

We were able to sample the 12 products in her line while giving ourselves a mini-facial with Tata up front, leading the way. From the cleaning to steaming to spritzing to moisturizing, we were told how to use each product, what ingredients were in it, and how they benefit the skin. I was really taken by the purity of the ingredients and how they left my skin feeling hydrated and radiant.

All of these organic, natural ingredients do come at a price but fear not; if her products don’t fit into your budget at the moment, I picked up plenty of great tips at the workshop, most of which were either free or very inexpensive to do, all contributing to better health and a more beautiful, healthy appearance. Here are just a few and the people who suggested them….

Pure Nutrition – Christian Henderson

Tender Shoots Wellness – Latham Thomas

Organic Avenue – Callie Hill

No More Dirty Looks – Siobhan O’Conner

Spirit Beauty Lounge – Spirit Demerson

M.A.R.C Holistic Center – Tracy Piper

Christian Henderson, a dietician, gave us a list of “foods to eat to enhance beauty!”, including their key beneficial ingredient:

Kale (sulfur), cucumber (silicon), carrots (beta-carotene, which converts to vitamin A in the body), lemon (vitamin C), spinach (vitamin E), chia seeds (omega-3 fatty acids), avocado (mono-unsaturated fats), brazil nuts (selenium), beets (anthocyanin), cashews (zinc), water.

Both Christian and Latham Thomas of Tender Shoots Wellness mentioned the importance of selenium to the body. It is difficult, however, to get enough in one’s diet through food with one exception: brazil nuts. All it takes is one or two of these nuts a day to get the daily-suggested dose. Why bother? Because selenium is an important antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals, protects the skin from aging, and maintains collagen and elastin, which means fewer wrinkles, shinier hair, and stronger nails. I love tips like this – easy, 100% natural, and effective. I snack on walnuts and almonds throughout the day anyway and now, after a quick stop at the health food store, brazil nuts, too.

I started drinking coconut water during my first Clean detox back in January and it popped up in conversation at the workshop. Coconut water is the natural equivalent to Gatorade (minus the refined sugars), replenishing electrolytes and hydrating the body (which also makes it great for a hangover…I'm just saying...). It’s an incredible source of potassium, which helps the skin stay healthy and regenerate new cells. Coconut water has a very mild taste, almost like plain water. The coconut water sold at Organic Avenue is by far the best I’ve ever had, tastier than the brands I find at Whole Foods and health food stores. It’s not so convenient for me to buy so I’ll stick to my usual and treat myself to an Organic Avenue bottle when I’m in their neighborhood.

Although chlorophyll, the green pigment found in almost all plants, was mentioned as something to incorporate into our diets through wheatgrass shots or straight up in water, when I got home and did a little googling to find out more, I discovered the jury is still out on its health benefits. There has been surprisingly little study of it; fans swear it is an antioxidant that alleviates inflammation, detoxifies the liver, and prevents the mutations of certain DNA-damaging chemicals responsible for some cancers. Its naysayers say while it is harmless in normal dosages, none of the above claims have been proven. I was told it makes the skin glow. Organic Avenue sells bottles of liquid chlorophyll, which I bought and have been adding to a glass of water first thing in the morning and at night (if you’re wondering – chlorophyll is tasteless). I find it hard to believe it doesn’t do something good for the body; at the very least, it encourages me to start and end my day with a glass of water, which I know for a fact is a good thing.

Dry brushing helps stimulate the lymphatic system and remove toxins from the body. It also removes dull, dead layers of skin and brings about new cell regeneration. After five minutes of gentle brushing with a natural bristle brush, your skin will glow. I started dry brushing when I did the Clean cleanse, although I found out from Tracy Piper of M.A.R.C, I was doing it wrong. Rather than scrubbing willy-nilly (whoops - didn’t know that!), there is a better way that relates to the body’s lymphatic system. We were given a brush at the workshop and a demonstration. Here, in Tracy’s words, is what she showed us:

First, your skin and brush need to be dry. Start at the neck with downward strokes towards the clavicle. This is to activate the large lymph nodes in the neck. Then move to the chest wall area. Do not brush into the breast tissue! Brush the chest wall outward toward the armpit. Next, divide your arm in two. Start brushing from the elbow upward toward the armpit, then the lower arm to the elbow and finally brush from the fingertips all the way up to the armpit. Do the other arm. Below the chest wall or breast, brush down into the lower abdominal area where there are many lymph nodes leading to the colon. You may also brush the abdominal area in a clockwise direction. Then brush the legs in the same divided manner as the arms: brushing in an upward direction, start with the thigh, then lower leg, then full leg.

Many of us spend our days sitting in cars, sitting at desks, sitting on sofas. All of this sitting results in the blood in our bodies draining away from our heart, to our extremities. Why does this matter? Because blood circulation is what moves nutrients, gases, and waste to and from our cells. Without proper circulation, blood cannot get pumped by the heart to the lungs where it is oxygenated and sent back out to nourish the other organs of our body. Try to find 5 minutes (although 20 is better) each day to lie down and lift your feet above your heart, the higher the better. It’s a great way to start and end the day.

Omega-3 fatty acids are believed to lower cholesterol, protect against heart disease, control high blood pressure, and counter inflammation. Fish is an excellent source of omega 3’s but try as I might I don’t eat enough to get the important health benefits. To compensate for my lack of fish intake, about a year ago I started taking a tablespoon of flaxseed oil (also rich in omega-3’s) every morning. Turns out the experts at the workshop agree and recommend adding flax and/or flaxseed to your diet. Only buy cold pressed oil.

No More Dirty Looks is the book I have been looking for since I began my quest to eliminate chemicals from my beauty products. The reality of my search is it’s expensive and time consuming to find products that are truly chemical free and really do what they say they do. I’ve spent more time and money at Whole Foods than I care to admit! Co-author Siobhan O’Conner gave us an overview of how she conducted her extensive research and came up with a list of safe and clean cosmetics. As a professional journalist, she loved doing the investigating; all we have to do is read her findings and apply it to ingredient lists when shopping. This is a great resource and perfect gift for any person interested in living green.

Some of the products listed in the book are available at Spirit Beauty Lounge, an online retailer that sells only natural beauty products (they carry Tata Harper). Like the book, it’s an excellent place to educate yourself on the best natural cosmetic brands. Green cosmetics are hard to find in stores and often must be purchased online. After listening to owner Spirit Demerson talk knowledgably about what she sells and why, I feel confident this is a reliable place to go to find effective products.

This last tip is one of the least expensive but sort of brutal. Literally yelp out loud bad, but it really does work! At the end of a hot shower, make the water as cold as you can stand (this is where the yelping occurs) although not too cold to start - you want to increase the amount of cold gradually so you don’t shock your system. Stand under the water for a minute, then turn it back to hot. Why inflict this sort of torture on yourself? Because it will get your circulation pumping, which is crucial to good health (see lifting your feet above). Not only does it leave you glowing – literally – it will also leave you energized and rarin’ to go. Hydrotherapy is a practice that can be traced throughout history, all the way back to the Greeks. Hot water causes the blood to move towards the skin to feed it and cold water makes the blood flow back to the internal organs. Going back and forth between hot and cold several times during a shower will flush out the skin and oxygenate it.

These are just a few of the fun and easy tips that were shared at the workshop. Taking care of yourself really doesn’t have to be an expensive proposition, as long as you have the right people guiding you.

Kale Chips

Adapted from Dan Barber via Bon Appetit

Kale is one of the wonder foods I know I should be eating all the time but don’t, probably because I’ve never eaten kale and said, “Wow! That was delicious!” Not one to give up and inspired by all the lovely ladies at the workshop to eat myself healthy and beautiful, I found Dan Barber’s recipe for kale chips and decided to give it a whirl. I’m happy to report the chips are tasty! And don’t just take my word for it – I brought them in to work and they were a big hit.

What are the beauty benefits derived from the sulfur found in kale? Sulfur is a major component of keratin, which gives hair, skin, and nails strength. It is needed for the production of collagen, which keeps skin firm and flexible. And it is anti-inflammatory, which benefits conditions such as psoriasis and acne.

I chose Tuscan kale from Migliorelli’s Farm located in northern Dutchess County, NY, but any variety of kale will work.

1 bunch of kale, leaves washed, dried

1 tablespoon olive oil

Fresh salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Cut kale leaves in half, removing tough ribs and stems. In a bowl, toss leaves with olive oil, salt and pepper. Arrange leaves in a single layer on baking sheets. Bake until crisps, about 25 – 30 minutes.

Favorite Moments at the MoMA's Abstract Expressionism Show

2010-11-28T22:28:00.000-05:00

Jackson Pollack - One: Number 31, 1950

I can’t speak for all New Yorkers but I think I speak for many when I say living here I don’t take full advantage of all the city has to offer. Truth is living here is like living anywhere else; it’s often hard to bust out of the day-to-day routine and do something special. I was bound and determined to do so, however, when I found myself staring at five glorious days off of work with nothing to do but eat turkey at someone else’s house (which, by the way, was lovely).

So bright and early on Wednesday morning, I braved the Midtown holiday crowds, paused to watch the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree get dressed, and went to the Museum of Modern Art to see their Abstract Expressionism exhibit.

I minored in art history in college and if I could do it all over, it would be my major. I loved studying art; it combines two of the things I enjoy learning about most; history and aesthetics. My favorite periods in art occurred from the late 19th century to the first half of the 20th century which explains the incentive I felt to get out of bed early on my first day off and see the show at the MoMA.

Abstract Expressionism, also known as the New York School, took place in the 1940’s and 50’s. It was the first major international art movement based in America, with the majority of the artists working in New York City. What defines the Abstract Expressionists as a group is not a particular artistic style but rather their need to react to World War II and its aftermath. The Holocaust, end of totalitarianism, rise of communism, and victories for democracy inspired the young artists in New York to create intensely emotional and personal works of art that were largely nonrepresentational and often executed on a grand scale. These individual reactions resulted in paintings of dynamic gesture (Jackson Pollack, Willem de Koonig, Franz Kline), sublime blocks of color (Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman) and those that crossed between the two (Hans Hoffman and Robert Motherwell).

Mark Rothko - No. 10

While there is no better way to get an overall impression of a work of art than to step back and view it in its entirety, my favorite way to look at a painting is up close. I like to see the brushstrokes and layering of paint; for me it brings the monumentality of an historic work down to a very personal level where I can imagine the artist working through the process of creating their masterpiece. The Abstract Expressionists are particularly well suited for this type of viewing. I like to pick favorite “moments” in a painting - a place where I fall in love with the colors or application of paint. There were so many “moments” in this show! Here are a just a few….

Mark Rothko - No. 1 (Untitled)

Mark Rothko - Untitled

Helen Frankenthaler - Trojan Gates

Hedde Sterne - New York, VIII

Philip Guston - Painting

Hans Hofmann - Cathedral

Larry Rivers - Washington Crossing the Delaware

Mark Tobey - Edge of August

Joan Mitchell - Ladybug

Thanksgiving Cranberry Relish

2010-11-24T22:45:00.000-05:00

Over the years I’ve made many different cranberry sauce recipes for Thanksgiving. All of them were good but not good enough that I wanted to make them again the next year. One year I switched from a sauce to a relish and the search was over; this has been my Thanksgiving cranberry recipe ever since.

So much of what is wonderful about Thanksgiving is family tradition and food lends itself well to that end. I love to try new recipes, but I also love that someone I care about looks forward to a dish I’m making. My mom still gets excited when she sees me putting this one together and that makes me happy. Thanksgiving is not a holiday about getting gifts; it’s about giving them and being thankful for the gifts you’ve been given all year long.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! And to Mom and Dad - who I won’t be with this year but will be thinking of - Happy 49^th Anniversary! You are the two people in this world I’m most thankful for. Enjoy the day and being together, even if it means eating a hospital Thanksgiving dinner with no cranberry relish. When Dad gets out, we’ll celebrate again.

Cranberry Orange Relish

Adapted from Gourmet November 2001

This cranberry relish is zippy and tart, a nice respite on the plate from all the delicious but rich food that tends to show up for Thanksgiving dinner. It’s so easy it’s ridiculous; no cooking is required, it can be made a day or two ahead of time, and it’s perfect for turkey sandwiches the next day (and the day after and the day after that).

Breezy Hill Orchard brings fresh cranberries to the Greenmarket from Willows Cranberries of Wareham, Massachusetts. They are fourth generation cranberry farmers who use as little pesticide as possible.

Sectioning an orange is not difficult; I found useful advice such as this online.

1 navel orange

12 ounces fresh cranberries

½ cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Finely grate 2 teaspoons of zest from orange. Section orange.

Pulse cranberries with zest, orange sections, sugar, and cinnamon in a food processor until finely chopped.

Chill, covered, at least 2 hours to allow flavors to develop.

Relish may be chilled up to 3 days in advance.

Serves 10

Prince Charles and the movie Harmony

2010-11-18T07:31:00.004-05:00

With all the talk about the British royals this week I’m going to add my two cents, just not about whom you might think. I’m interested in Prince Charles, who I’ll venture to guess isn’t on many people’s radar of cool, interesting people to follow (which could have something to do with him famously talking to plants and infamously cheating on Diana) but he is on mine. The more I delve into the world of organic agriculture and sustainable living, the more I come across his name. For over 30 years the Prince of Wales has dedicated himself to supporting charities that focus on the environment and quality of life issues and is now considered one of the visionary leaders of the movement towards a sustainable planet.

Take for instance a few weeks ago when I saw photos of sheep grazing on London’s famed Savile Row, home of bespoke suits. Who else but Prince Charles was behind the campaign to educate consumers about the beauty and desirability of wool? The wool industry has been in decline for years as people turn to synthetics and high-tech materials to make much of their clothing. Event sponsors – and the Prince – recognized an opportune moment to promote wool’s natural properties and homespun qualities, which fit into the current rage for authentic products with a “green” bent.

He practices what he preaches, too. The Prince of Wales’ gardens at Highgrove House, his home in Gloucestershire, England, are a model for organic agriculture and nothing short of spectacular (having a royal staff to take care of it all surely helps).

The Prince has co-authored several books on the topic of his gardens and organic gardening and also sells his own line of organic and sustainable food products called Duchy Originals. All profits from sales go to The Prince’s Charities Foundation, which supports everything from environmental issues to health and hospice to servicemen and women.

This Friday at 10:00 on NBC you’ll have a chance to see the scope of Prince Charles’ knowledge and research on critical global issues such as climate change, organic farming, rainforest preservation and sustainable business development. The one-hour documentary, Harmony, will introduce the world to The Prince’s well-thought-out view that a world in balance with nature is one that embraces centuries-old wisdom with modern technology. I, for one, can’t wait to see it. As much as I love to follow the royal romance of Prince William and Kate (and I do), I’m happy to see the spotlight on this often misunderstood, intelligent man who just happens to be the next King of England.

Paul Newman, Michel Nischan...and sweet potatoes

2010-11-13T09:55:00.000-05:00

Some people seem to be born under a lucky star. A perfect example of this is Paul Newman: handsome, talented, entrepreneurial, visionary, compassionate – did I mention handsome? - he seemingly had it all. While most of us think of him first as an actor, a very close second for me is his career as a philanthropist. The story of how, in 1980, he brewed up a batch of homemade salad dressing in his Connecticut basement for Christmas gifts, sparking a food empire called Newman’s Own, is legendary. PN insisted the company’s products be made with all-natural ingredients and without preservatives. This may sound like old hat to us today but in the '80s it was unheard of.

Also unheard of was PN’s idea to donate every last penny of net royalties and profits after tax from Newman’s Own to charity. Which brings me to Paul Newman the Philanthropist and why Newman’s Own is on my mind.

I heard on the news that Newman’s Own recently passed a massive milestone: through the Newman’s Own Foundation, $300 million dollars have been given to charities around the world. $300 million dollars! That’s an unbelievable amount of money to have come from such a humble start (albeit, as humble as a start can be when a Hollywood legend is involved in the mix). $300 million dollars means the foundation has given a tremendous number of people, not born under a lucky star, a chance at hope they might otherwise not have had.

The charity closest to Newman’s heart was the one he helped start in 1986 called The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp. Children with serious medical conditions are invited to come to the camps, free of charge, to do what all kids do at camp: have a good time, learn, and make friends. Newman felt that surrounding kids with other kids facing similar obstacles would help free them of shyness and fear and encourage independence, confidence, and optimism. Judging from the comments on the camp’s website, it has done just that – and more. Today there are 14 Hole in the Wall Camps around the world with more on the way.

Newman was so reluctant to highlight his work in philanthropy that in 1994, after receiving an honorary Oscar, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, he vowed never to accept another such award and burned his tuxedo in a roaring front-yard bonfire!

If you have a chance, read Newman’s book, In Pursuit of the Common Good: Twenty-five Years of Improving the World, One Bottle of Salad Dressing at a Time. It’s inspirational and witty; did I mention in addition to all the other stuff, Paul Newman was a really funny guy? That lucky star must have been huge! It’s also a moving reminder of the impact one person with a kind heart and determination can have on the world.

Cinnamon-Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Adapted from Homegrown: Pure and Simple by Michel Nischan

You might ask what do sweet potatoes and Paul Newman have to do with each other? Lest you think acting and philanthropy were enough to keep his days full, Newman also started a restaurant with chef Michel Nischan next to the Westport Country Playhouse called the Dressing Room.

Oh, how I wish I wasn’t a car-less New Yorker! I would have tried this restaurant ages ago. The menu pays homage to the best local, organic, and natural ingredients Connecticut and her surrounding states have to offer. Perhaps best said on the Dressing Room website by the two guys themselves:

We believe that the food we grow and cook in the place that we call home defines who we are. In this spirit, we update and celebrate American heirloom recipes, support local and regional farmers, fishers and producers, by cooking food that recaptures the pure and simple tastes of natural and organic ingredients. We also strive to raise awareness of a sustainable food future and work to reestablish a sense of community and a simpler, more homegrown time.

As you may suspect, the Dressing Room’s co-founder, Michel Nischan, is no ordinary chef. I quickly learned this a few years ago while attending the Bedford Environmental Summit in Bedford, NY. MN was a member of a panel discussion I sat in on and while I knew everyone else on the panel, I wasn’t familiar with him. When he was introduced, the moderator went on and on, listing an impressive number of accomplishments in the sustainable food arena, of which he has been an active supporter for over 30 years. In addition to being owner and founder of the Dressing Room, MN is the author of three cookbooks (Taste Pure and Simple won a James Beard award in 2004), member of several boards including the Harvard Center for Health and the Global Environment, and President/CEO of Wholesome Wave Foundation.

I could go on and on about his accomplishments myself – especially Wholesome Wave – but that’s for another post. For now I want to get back to the sweet potatoes. This recipe is from MN’s book Homegrown; Pure and Simple: Great Healthy Food from Garden to Table. As you know, I prefer simple recipes. Too many steps, too many ingredients, and I lose interest. That’s why this one appeals to me; it’s nothing more than farmstand sweet potatoes roasted to perfection with a little honey, cinnamon, salt and pepper.

2 tablespoons local honey

2 tablespoons grapeseed or canola oil

6 medium sweet potatoes, unpeeled, halved lengthwise

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 cinnamon sticks or a dash of ground cinnamon*

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit

In a small bowl, whisk together the honey and oil. Rub the potato halves with this mixture and season with salt and pepper. Arrange, skin side down, in a shallow baking dish and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes begin to soften.

Remove the pan from the oven, sprinkle the flesh with cinnamon, and turn skin side up. Roast for 20 to 30 minutes longer, or until the potatoes are cooked through.

* The original recipe calls for cinnamon sticks to be tucked under the potatoes when flipped halfway through baking. I decided to sprinkle them with ground cinnamon instead, which worked out just fine.

Serves 6

Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

2010-11-08T22:51:00.000-05:00

Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins
Adapted from Everyday Food November 2010

My sister, Sue, says these muffins "taste like fall" and she's right. One bite through the crunchy cinnamon-sugar exterior into the light and fragrant nutmeg-and-allspice-infused pumpkin interior will send memories of falling leaves, crackling fires, and Thanksgiving feasts rushing back. You might think, "All that imagery from a little ol' muffin?". I say yes; never underestimate the power of taste - and smell - to conjure up fond recollections. It's one reason why so many of us love food so much.

Batter:
10 tablespoons (1 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for the pan
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 ¼ cups pure pumpkin puree
¾ cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs

Sugar coating:
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter and flour 12 standard muffin cups.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and allspice.

In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and pumpkin puree.

With an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down bowl as needed. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions of pumpkin mixture, and beat to combine.

Spoon 1/3 cup batter into each muffin cup and bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine granulated sugar and cinnamon.

Let muffins cool 10 minutes in a pan on a wire rack. Working with one at a time, remove muffins from pan, brush all over with butter, then toss to coat in sugar mixture. Let muffins cool completely on a wire rack. (Store in an airtight container up to 1 day.)

* Muffins may be frozen up to 3 months. Reheat in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven, then coat in butter and sugar.

Makes 12 muffins