Pea tendrils let down…
Most disappointingly, pea tendrils were nowhere to be found, but I did get my hands on some ramps, whose appearance in the market is so brief, you’d miss it if you blinked. Ramps, by the way, are delicate baby leeks that back a powerful spring onion kick. The other major substitution was monkfish for sea bass. The hunt for sea bass is what led me to 3 stores, but in the end, it worked out, because I found new treasures at each Whole Foods’. *Note to anyone who lives in Cambridge or the environs: the Prospect Street Whole Foods has little packages of morels! The ramps were discovered at the Fresh Pond store. I love Spring! I assure you that there is a ramps and morels recipe in the works as I write…
Bonus Recipe: Crimson Pride
Contrary to popular belief, eating these beets neither boost your intelligence nor improve your Ivy League admissions status. They will turn your tongue pink though, and that’s kinda neat, right? I bet they’d think so at MIT…
Notes from the vegetable underground: Beets
But while working in the restaurant kitchen in the Spring, I had to roast and peel dozens of the damn things, staining my cutting board, my whites and my fingers. After hours of this begrudging exercise, I figuerd that if I couldn’t beat (beet! ha ha ha) them, I’d at least taste them. And though the sort of al dente potato-ey texture was something to get around, I found that the taste was pretty good, so I started to play with some flavor combinations and found them to be interesting and versatile. And so pretty!
Count on a Monte Cristo
The monte cristo, international cousin to the croque-monsieur and the cubano and contemporary of the reuben was a popular diner specialty in the fifties, somehow losing a little ground in the following decades as folks started thinking twice about the idea of eating battered and deep-fried sandwich.
Brussel Sprouts where have you been all my life?
Now it’s not uncommon for a kid to turn their nose at brussel sprouts. In fact, it sometimes seems like there is an unspoken sort of anti-vegetable propaganda operative aimed at kids (some might call it advertising…hmmm), but my family is Polish, so you’d think I might be genetically predisposed to liking cabbage and other crucifers.
Molten Chocolate Cakes
Anyway, this is where I had my first molten chocolate cake, and many more to follow.
This is also where I met Vanilli- Fabrice somethingfrench, of Milli Vanilli one night.
Oddly, he was unashamed about bringing up the fact that he was Vanilli.
French Toast Strata*
I developed this dish when running the Sunday brunch service at the JP neighborhood restaurant. I had just made a particularly awesome savory brie and chive strata for a breakfast event and became so enamored by the adaptability of the recipe that when revisiting the brunch menu, decided to do a sweet version to fill … Read more
