Tag: bon appetit

The year of the plant

2016 seems to be the  year of the plant. I keep seeing Michael Pollan’s quote (eat food. not too much. mostly plants.) everywhere. NPR ran this story and The New York Times Food section this week has a luscious-looking roasted cauliflower on the front page. And after almost canceling my subscription to Bon Appetit after they ran this ridiculous story in their December issue (I don’t know about you, but I always wear my best dress and pout my red-painted lips while searing halloumi cheese), they seem to have redeemed themselves this month by denouncing the artisan bottled water trend (there is organic birch tree water?), loving lots of fresh herbs and including plant-forward recipes that I can’t wait to try (like this one! and this one!) I am normally lousy at eating lunch, so I decided to start the new year off right with a grain-based salad made with a lovely winter root vegetable: the beauty heart radish. Crunchy, peppery and hot pink; the beauty heart radish is a great way to brighten the grayest of winter days.

And while cauliflower is getting a lot of attention these days, I have been obsessing over celery. And so is Half-moon, who stopped and cooed at the green stalks as I whipped them out of the fridge and onto the cutting board, pausing to let him reach out and grab at the leaves. (Speaking of leaves, make sure they get into the salad too- 2016 is also about cutting down on food waste.) While my grain of choice- chewy spelt berries- cooked on the stove, I mixed up a dressing of lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil and cilantro. Add in a little tangy, salty feta and- poof!- you have a hearty, healthy lunch. Leftovers are delicious, too.

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Beauty Heart Radish and Celery Salad with Spelt Berries, Lemon and Feta

Ingredients

3/4 cup cooked spelt berries (for more on cooking spelt berries, see this post)
2 stalks celery (leaves too!), chopped
1/2 beauty heart radish (cut away the bitter peel), chopped
juice from 1/2 lemon
lemon zest
handful of cilantro, chopped
olive oil
pepper
handful of feta cheese

Directions

Cook spelt berries. Meanwhile, whisk together lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, cilantro in a big salad bowl. Add the celery and radish. Let the spelt berries cool to room temperature and toss them into the salad. Add feta cheese and season with pepper, if you like.

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I hope 2016 finds you following your path. Happy Nu-Nu! Wink wink.

Over the moon

Towards the beginning of June, I gave birth to a son. We’ll call him “Half-moon.” That is what I not-so-secretly wanted to name him. It came to me in the middle of a sleepless night- in addition to becoming my favorite yoga pose during pregnancy, I thought it would set him up for a career as a left-handed pitcher.

Meet Half-moon:

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Parenthood is a trip; my kid’s faces and noises are pretty much the most damn charming thing on earth. The cats couldn’t be more excited.

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I’ve gotten pretty good at doing things one-handed. Motherhood has also drastically altered my definition of a “productive” day. Now I get excited if I make a smoothie! Before noon! But today I really have something to brag about- as I type over the head of Half-moon, there is a raspberry crisp bubbling away in the oven. I was inspired by a recipe for a peach crisp in the July issue of Bon Appetit and the fact that there was a bowl of raspberries- picked over the weekend by Dan- sitting on the counter. I also added strawberries and cherries for good measure.

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I love crisps because there is a decent chance you have all of the ingredients if you decide to make one on a whim, and they are so impossibly easy- you could probably even do it one-handed.

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Iron-Skillet Raspberry Crisp

Adapted from Bon Appetit, July 2015

Topping
1 cup all-purpose flour
⅔ cup (packed) light brown sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Filling
1½ cups walnuts
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2¼ pounds fruit (I used raspberries, cherries and strawberries)
½ cup (packed) light brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:
Whisk flour, brown sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Rub in butter with your fingers until clumps form and no dry spots remain.
Preheat oven to 350°. Toast walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing once, until slightly darkened in color, 8–10 minutes. Let cool, then coarsely chop.
Smear bottom and sides of a 10″ cast-iron skillet with butter. Toss walnuts, berries, brown sugar, granulated sugar, lemon juice, and salt in a large bowl to combine. Transfer to skillet and crumble topping, breaking up into large pieces, over filling.
Bake crisp until topping is golden brown and juices are thick and bubbling around the edges, 25–35 minutes.

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Eat with vanilla ice cream. Because it’s summer. And you deserve it.

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Welcome to the world, Half-moon. May it be always be filled with fresh-picked raspberries and kitties. Cheers.

On cabin fever and heavy cream

My tabby cat, Danger Boy, is simultaneously running around the house at high speeds and using the bathtub as a make-shift stage for his yelling practice. At press time, he is entertaining himself by sitting on the kitchen table and sticking his paw in my breakfast- a ceramic white bowl full of steel cut oats, pumpkin seeds, raisins and- Danger’s favorite- a dash of heavy cream.

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I can’t blame him- on March 2nd the light is getting longer, but winter is holding heavy here in Wisconsin.

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I’ve relied on my regular winter activities to keep myself entertained: Cross-country skiing, hot yoga, hot whiskey, entering the cats in a Bachelor gambling pool , making soup, watching Almost Famous on repeat… but things here have reached an ice-covered fevered pitch. And I’ve turned to sugar. 

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My mom recently brought me her February back issue of Bon Appétit magazine and the first page I dog-eared had a recipe for meyer lemon cream. I keep telling myself how much I love winter (I love winter I love winter I love winter) and one of the reasons why I love winter is because of floral meyer lemons*, available from November to March. My friend Martha recently gave me a bunch that she hauled back in a suitcase from her husband’s parents’ house in California (California! Lemons grow there on trees! In the winter!) So last night- after hot yoga- I whipped up a batch of meyer lemon cream, while Danger Boy pranced and yelled at my feet. I don’t always have the most success with making desserts, but this one is so simple it would be nearly impossible to mess up.

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Meyer Lemon Cream with Graham Crackers and Sea Salt

This recipe appeared in the February 2014 issue of Bon Appétit magazine

Ingredients:

3 large eggs
⅔ cup sugar
2 teaspoons finely grated Meyer or regular lemon zest
½ cup fresh Meyer or regular lemon juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1½ cups chilled heavy cream
6 graham crackers, crumbled
Flaky sea salt (such as Maldon) finely grated

Directions:

Cook eggs, sugar, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thickened (mixture should coat a spoon), 8–10 minutes.
Transfer mixture to a blender and blend on low speed, gradually adding butter, until mixture is smooth (you’re not trying to aerate the mixture, so keep blender on low speed). Transfer lemon curd to a medium bowl, cover, and chill at least 2 hours.
Just before serving, whisk cream into lemon curd. Layer lemon cream and graham crackers in small glasses or bowls, finishing with graham crackers. Top with lemon zest and sea salt.

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Hang in there, my friends- spring is lurking out there somewhere. Until then, enjoy meyer lemons and a romp in the snow while they last.

*Freshly squeezed meyer lemon juice is also delicious in hot whiskey.