Peelers, No More

Sad news today. NYC's most awesome peeler seller, Mr. Joe Ades, passed away on Sunday. I often stopped to watch his presentation, usually in Union Square, and finally, last summer, invested in one of his peelers.

That day, sadly, I thought to myself, "He's getting pretty old...I should buy one of these, or I'll regret it." Then, he picked me as the random onlooker to peel a slice from the carrot--and it was such a smooth shave that I was convinced. I kept watching his wonderful show, as usual, but then a bitter guy yelled about how he'd bought one, and that it was really crappy, and that we shouldn’t been taken in by the scam. I felt so bad for Mr. Ades, since he seemed like a kind gentleman who really enjoyed (and was very good at) hawking his wares. He didn’t deserve the asshole treatment. So, that did it. I reached for my wallet and made my purchase.

I haven’t mastered his method for julienning carrots (about 2:20 into the vid), but I’ve sure peeled some clean potatoes.

Thank you, Mr. Ades, for bringing some eccentric joy to New York’s streets.

(Check out the City Room blog post, with a link to the obit.)

Potato Time

The middle of winter calls for comfort food made from things I can gather from my root cellar (or would, if I didn't live on the seventh floor of an apartment building in Midtown Manhattan). So instead, I head a few blocks north to my purveyor of fine vegetables (a.k.a. cheap produce place) for some potatoes. What to make with them? Ooooh, Potage Parmentier! Mandy showed me how very easy it is to make (her panier from the organic produce co-op nearby was full of root veggies when I visited her in Paris last year, so what else were we to do with them?).

I will play. Recipe to follow.

Spinach and Feta Wonderfulness

Years ago, I decided I wanted to concoct something like the filling in spinach pie (as I was feeling much too lazy to deal with actually making spinach pie). I came up with an easy solution that turned into one of my regular dishes. But then it went away...

Yesterday I was cooking for a couple of friends and decided to revisit my spinach and feta wonderfulness. It was a hit!

Oh, how I'd missed you...

1 small onion, chopped
1 box frozen chopped spinach (thawed), or bunch fresh spinach, chopped
about 1/8 lb. feta, crumbled

Sauté the onion in some olive oil until golden. Add the spinach (If using frozen, squeeze out the excess water and sauté until hot. If using fresh, sauté until wilted.) Add the crumbled feta and some freshly ground black pepper, toss and immediately remove from heat.

Serve warm on bread or crackers.

Chili Figgyness

I had a few figs to use, so I grabbed the cast iron skillet, some chili powder that was a gift from Santa Fe, and some creativity to come up with one of my favorite new concoctions.

Take a handful of sliced beef and toss it in the skillet, along with about 1/3 tsp. of some sweet/hot chili powder (I think a good hot paprika would work). Sauté the beef over medium-low heat until just about done, then add 4 or 5 figs (cut them in half lengthwise, brush some olive oil on the flesh, and put them in the pan cut-side down). Cook the figs until they just start to get juicy and brown, then flip. Sprinkle in some salt and freshly-ground black pepper. Allow to cook for another minute, then carefully remove and plate the figs. Stir the beef to coat with any of the remaining fig juice or flesh, and then scatter over the figs.

Salty, sweet, and hot!

Happiness Is...

So, I finally tried the Sichuan Pepper Pickles that we picked up in Flushing a few weeks ago. What took me so long?!?! I plopped a little over a tablespoon into my skillet and sautéed a few slices of beef in it (about a handful--enough for 1 person...I know...way to measure). When the beef was just about cooked, which didn't take very long, I added some two small cucumbers (cut into chunky strips) and stir fried everything together. I added a few leaves of Thai basil from my window garden just before serving.

Yummmmmm...

From what I can tell, it has hot chilis, ground sichuan peppercorns, some sort of sliced green beans, salted soy beans, peanuts, and a few other things. Amazing stuff--I didn't need to add anything else, and this was one heck of a happy-making meal.

Young Garlic?

Yesterday was the Mermaid Parade, and attending was a must, just in case the developers have their way and ruin the sketchiness that is Coney Island. Having finally recovered from some sort of stomach illness (hence my recent blog-free existence) I broke down and had my first Nathan's hot dog--at the original location, of course--and it wasn't that bad. Bloomberg's new calorie posting law, though, put a little wrinkle in that pleasure...ech...

After checking out some of the costumes, hitting the freak show, and taking a ride on the Wonder Wheel (which ROCKS...literally...), I met up with a crew of friends walking down the boardwalk to the Russian mecca, Brighton Beach. While I need to go back and hit the big market that I've heard so much about, we did pop in to a nice little produce place where I scored the things that are in these photos: some kind of young garlic.

Tony had purchased a few of these at the Union Square Greenmarket a few weeks ago, and was told that you can use everything--green stalks and all. I did some searching on the internet, didn't come up with much, so I sliced and diced, and will inevitably use this stuff in a variety of ways.



So far, I used a handful of greens when making some sautéed potatoes, which added a wonderful mild flavor. I also added two of the large slices of the young bulbs to a tofu/olive dip, which gave it quite the garlicky punch.

I think these things have potential!!

Fruity Goodness

Blogging's been slow with the early onset of summer (NYC's too hot for June!), so salads and eating out have dominated the culinary experiences of the last few days. But at least the warm weather's bringing fruit! Along with another batch of rhubarb compote (this time with mystery oranges and ginger beer), I've scored some local strawberries at the farmer's market. Get out and get some this year--I think the proper spring we've had until now in the northeast has produced large, tasty beauties! Sad to see my box dwindle...but hopefully I'll be hitting the Beacon Sloop Club's Strawberry Festival when I'm up there this weekend, so I'll go get some nice berries and hear some Pete Seeger!

Salt, Beautiful Salt

I found this gorgeous flake in my box of Maldon Sea Salt yesterday. Absolutely beautiful, and about an inch wide. It'll be difficult when the time comes to crush it and add it to my dinner. It'll have to be a very special dish...

Vendredi Slowly

It's been a short, fast week. I haven't cooked much at home, but we made three kinds of dumplings last night at Tony's (pork and leek, pork and ginger, and beef and garlic), and I just ate another salad with greens from my window garden (hurrah!). I'm off to the Jersey Shore for the weekend, where I will hopefully be experimenting with some in-season Jersey seafood (do I really want to do that?). In the meantime, I leave you with my blood orange and fennel salad recipe. Though it's more of a winter dish (when blood oranges are in season), we found the fixings this past weekend and whipped it up for a Memorial Day picnic.

Blood Orange & Fennel Salad

4 blood oranges, peeled and sliced into chunks
1 bulb of fresh fennel
1 small red onion, sliced thinly
1/4 cup black olives
1 to 2 tbsp. olive oil
salt to taste
dried chili flakes, to taste

Slice the bulb of the fennel in half lengthwise, remove the solid center portion (towards the root end of the plant), and slice thinly crosswise (you'll end up with julienne-like slices). Add the orange pieces, onion, and olives, then toss with the olive oil, salt, and chili.

Dumpling Day

I'm not sure what inspired me (perhaps insanity?), but a few months ago I started making my own dumplings. I love dumplings of all kinds, so one day I bought some wrappers and dove in. So far I've come up with two recipes (one for pork, one for beef), and they've been fairly successful. I've been using wonton wrappers, as they're bigger and seem to allow for mistakes, and boiling them (though you have to be careful not to overcook them, or they'll fall apart...). I serve them with soy sauce–based dipping sauces, and people have been happy...

Two pounds of meat generally fills 1 pack of wrappers, so I usually make two kinds at once to keep things interesting. It also makes lots and lots of dumplings, so I generally end up freezing most of them. To make sure they don't stick together, place dumplings on a cookie sheet and powder each with a little flour. Store them in flat containers, don't squish them together, and separate layers with waxed paper. After removing them from the freezer, allow them to at least defrost enough so they release from each other, otherwise you'll end up with torn dumplings or, worst case scenario, a giant boiled mass of pork and wrappers. [VENDREDI UPDATE: We made dumplings at Tony's last night, and he shared his freezing technique, which sounds more like it... Place the dumplings neatly on a plate (not touching each other), and partially freeze. You can then place them in plastic bags and store in the freezer without them sticking together.]

So, if you have a few hours to kill (and, even better, someone to help!), make some dumplings!


PORK DUMPLINGS

1 lb. lean ground pork
1 tbsp. finely chopped kaffir lime leaves
1 tbsp. grated or finely chopped galanga
3 scallions, chopped
1 tbsp. light soy sauce
1 tbsp. toasted sesame oil

Combine everything in a bowl with your hands. Put about 1 tbsp. of the mixture on the center of a wonton wrapper, wet the edges of the wrapper, fold over to make a triangle, and seal by pressing the edges together. Boil (for about 5 minutes, until they float) and serve with dipping sauce.


BEEF DUMPLINGS

1 lb. lean ground beef
3 cloves finely chopped fresh garlic
1 tbsp. grated or finely chopped fresh ginger
3 scallions, chopped
1 tbsp. light soy sauce
1 tbsp. toasted sesame oil

Combine everything in a bowl with your hands. Put about 1 tbsp. of the mixture on the center of a wonton wrapper, wet the edges of the wrapper, fold over to make a triangle, and seal by pressing the edges together. Boil (for about 5 minutes, until they float) and serve with dipping sauce

DIPPING SAUCE 1
1/4 cup light soy sauce
juice of 1 lime
about 2 tbsp. freshly chopped cilantro
pinch of crushed red pepper

DIPPING SAUCE 2
1/4 cup light soy sauce
1 tsp. Vietnamese chili garlic sauce