eat make read

Oh boy! I’m giddy as a schoolgirl. Last night I got the chance to meet and listen to one of my favorite artists, Maira Kalman. Check out her column in the New York Times, it’s really fabulous. Thanks Samantha for giving me the guts to talk to her.

I hope you have a great weekend!

A while ago I received an email from reader Winter Owl Vann, a Cherokee Indian living in Texas. With a name like that I had to know more. We exchanged a few emails which resulted in him giving me this recipe for blackberry dumplings. It sounded so delicious I could hardly wait to try it out. But of course life gets in the way and it took me a while to give it a go.

I had to do a little hunting to find the perfect recipe for dumplings because Mr. Vann uses a local doughnut maker’s flour mixture (lucky!) as a base, but I figured out a a pretty good solution, even improvising a bit by adding a little cinnamon to sweeten them up. I experimented a bit with the shape of my dumplings. Mr. Vann likes to form little balls but the elders like strips of dough. I tried both options plus a larger ball version. I certainly had enough dough to try them all out.

Dumplings make me happy, but it was the blackberry sauce that I couldn’t wait for. I was even lucky enough to find some frozen blackberries at the greenmarket. The sauce is a mixture of grape juice and blackberries plus a few other spices. It immediately smelled like heaven and was the most amazing color. Happiness!

I let the dumplings simmer a while longer than the recipe called for because I had other things going on, but I figured it probably didn’t hurt. The dumplings had soaked up the blackberry mixture and looked like little gems. I scooped a few servings out for Aaron and I and we sat down with anticipation.

Oh man! That sauce is so full of flavor! Although the sauce never really thickens, it remains juicy therefore almost making this a dessert soup. The dumplings were just slightly sweet, I think the cinnamon added a nice little flavor note to them. We decided the small ball shaped dumplings worked best because they were bite size and you didn’t have to fiddle with them. The blackberries added great flavor and a nice texture to the whole ensemble.

Thanks Winter Owl Vann! What a great recipe!

Blackberry Dumplings
makes a whole lot

dumplings:
Mr. Vann uses doughnut mix from a local baker, but you can also use your favorite dumpling recipe or something like this.
3 3/4 cups pastry flour
2 T + 1 t baking powder
1 1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup water with 1 pkg dry yeast dissolved in it

blackberry sauce
2 cups Blackberries - fresh or frozen
1 qt grape juice
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

1
Pour doughnut mix (or dry ingredients) in mixing bowl. Make a well in center of mix.
2
Mix buttermilk and yeast water together and slowly add to mixing bowl while stirring in the flour. Add liquid slowly, because too much liquid is worse than not enough. When dough is thoroughly mixed and slightly tacky, cover and let rise for 30 minutes.
3
Turn out onto floured waxed paper and knead and press into a ball until firm.
4
Sprinkle waxed paper with sugar. Take a ball of dough about the size of an egg and roll out to 1/4″ thick. Then either cut into small strips or pinch off in small balls and drop into boiling blackberry and grape juice mixture. After all is in, reduce heat to simmer and cook for about 15 minutes.

This is where I live. It makes me happy.

photos from New York Times

How exciting is this? Greenhorns is a documentary about young farmers in America. Watch the trailer here. Then dream about it all day.

thanks tom!

I got an email recently from reader and fellow blogger, Shaheen asking for foodie places to visit when she comes to New York City. Hmmm, I thought. Excellent idea… There are way more places to visit than I even know about, but that’s what’s so great about this city. It’s always an adventure.

So here it is. A little collection of some of my favorite little gourmet shops, bakeries, cookbook stores and other gems. I’ve even created a handy google map for you, just click here.

Food Shops:
Murray’s Cheese
Oh sweet goodness! If I could move in I would. I love Murray’s because they have so much cheese and everyone knows everything about it. As an added bonus, you can also take classes and tours.

Despana
A cute little Spanish food shop full of specialty meats, cheeses and oils. They also serve tasty salads and sandwiches.

Dean & Deluca
I always try to stop in grocery store when I’m visiting a new place. I think it’s fun to see how different regions display their food and the different specialties they have. Dean & Deluca is the fanciest grocery store I’ve ever visited and is just pretty to look at. They carry many treats from the best bakeries and chocolaties in the city.

Essex Street Market
I have to admit, I haven’t spent nearly enough time here. It’s the home of Saxelby Cheesemongers, a cheese shop specializing in American cheeses and Shopsin’s. With food like that, it’s got to be good.

Union Square Greenmarket
There are Greenmarkets (Farmer’s Market) all over the city, but Union Square is the best one. It’s huge and you can find everything from local honey, flowers, tons of fresh fruits and vegetables to hand-spun yarn. It just makes me happy. Try to go on a Saturday as that’s the biggest day.

Chelsea Market
Housed in a converted factory building, Chelsea Market is home to the delicious bakery Amy’s Bread and one of my favorite local dairy’s, Ronneybrook Milk Bar. There’s lots of other shops to peruse and dream about new recipes to make.

Bakeries:
City Bakery
Anyone who thinks up a pretzel croissant is good in my book. Tack on a month of hot chocolate experiments and you’re golden.

Magnolia Bakery
They gained fame by being featured on Sex & the City, but they earned it. Their cupcakes are mouthwateringly delicious.

sugar Sweet sunshine
Really, you can never have too many cupcakes. Started by former bakers at Magnolia, sugar Sweet sunshine serves a mean cupcake.

The Doughnut Plant
Fresh doughnuts made with unexpected ingredients like pistachio and or peanut butter glaze with blackberry jelly. Sign me up.

Tuck Shop
It’s a tiny place, but what it lacks in space it makes up for in flavor. Savory pies with filled with pure goodness like the Thai Green Chook Curry Pie or a Lamb Shank and Vege Pie. Yum and more yum!

Sweets (other than bakeries):
Il Laboratorio del Gelato
Deeelicious handmade gelato that often comes in crazy flavors like honey lavender and green apple.

Pinkberry
Frozen Yogurt’s all the rage and Pinkberry seems to be leading the way. Customers wait in long lines to enjoy a cup of tangy frozen yogurt topped with fresh fruit.

Papabubble
Watch them make hard candy in crazy bright colors right in front of you.

Vosges
A few years ago they came out the the bacon chocolate bar. Ummm yeah. The shop is beautiful and is a welcome treat after a long day of shopping in Soho.

Coffee:
La Colombe
Their coffee is full of flavor and super delicious. They don’t have a menu and just serve the basics, no crazy mint mocha frappacino stuff.  Their iced coffee in the summer makes my day.

Joe the Art of Coffee
This place is not messing around. Attend cuppings or other classes about coffee. Of course you’ll get a perfect cup of joe if you stop by.

Cookbook Heaven:
Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks
This is a tiny shop filled with random and wacky old cookbooks and a few utensils. Call before you go to make sure she’s open.

Kitchen Arts & Letters
I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t been here yet, but it’s definitely a destination. The largest store in America featuring only books about cooking and wine. So dreamy!

I hope you enjoyed the list and please feel free to add your favorite nyc food destinations in the comment section.

When I saw this recipe on the Kitchn there was no question what we were having for dinner. I mean, creamy cheese, tart meyer lemon and crunchy warm hazelnuts? It kind of sounded like heaven. It was made even better due to the fact that the fine folks over at oh nuts! had just sent me a big old bag of tasty shelled hazelnuts.

There’s very little preparation involved with this recipe, which makes it great for a weeknight dinner. You can really make the whole thing while the pasta is cooking.. it’s that easy. When the pasta is not quite done, drain it, reserving some of the water, and add the marscapone mixture. Incorporate the spinach in the mix and let everything cook together for a few minutes.

The result is just as delicious as I imagined it would be. The flavors all work together so well, you don’t really taste one individual flavor. Rather the textures play a big role, the soft creamy marscapone cheese coats the pasta and provides a base for the crunch hazelnuts to hold onto. Its warm and rich and perfect after a long, cold day.

Spaghetti with Marscapone, Meyer Lemon, Spinach and Hazelnuts
from the kitchn | serves two as a main course

1 teaspoon Meyer lemon zest (from about 1/2 lemon)
juice from one Meyer lemon (about 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
a few grinds of fresh pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 pound spaghetti
5 cups (loosely packed) fresh spinach, washed, spun dry, and roughly chopped
1/2 cup chopped, toasted hazelnuts

1
Combine the zest, lemon juice, mascarpone, salt, pepper, and nutmeg in a bowl. Whisk to combine.
2

Bring a pot of water to boil and salt generously. Cook the pasta until al dente, taking it off the heat about 1 to 2 minutes before you would normally remove it. Drain, reserving about 1/2 cup of the pasta water.
3
Return the pasta to the pot, and set over low heat. Stir in the mascarpone sauce. Add the spinach and toss so that the spinach begins to wilt. Add about 1/4 cup of the pasta water (more if necessary) to keep the sauce fluid but not too watery.
4
Continue to cook and toss until the spinach is cooked. Add the hazelnuts and stir to combine. Serve immediately.

That might look like your regular old cup of joe, but oh, it’s so much more. My aunt and uncle gave us this awesome cookbook filled with recipes from around the world. As I was flipping through it the other day I came across a recipe for mexican coffee and I knew I had to make it. And with only three ingredients, why shoudn’t I?

Now, this probably isn’t for the die-hard coffee folks, but if you like a little something special every now and then, I think you might just like this. All it takes is some sugar and a cinnamon stick in the bottom of your coffee pot. Brew your coffee, let it sit for a bit and you’re done. That’s it!

The result is a ridiculously tasty cup of sweet coffee. The cinnamon proves to be a perfect pairing for the richness of coffee. I usually need to add a touch of milk to my coffee, but there is no need. Yuuummm!

Mexican Coffee
from Extending the Table

1 cinnamon stick
3 Tablespoons sugar*
4 cups coffee

1
Place the sugar and cinnamon stick at the bottom of the coffee pot and brew the coffee.
2
Once the coffee has brewed, let it steep for 10 minutes on the burner.
3
Pour and enjoy!

*You can use less sugar or none at all if that’s your thing.

Oh sweet happy hour. I’ll be spending my day serving jury duty, so it’s safe to assume a happy hour will be needed. This week’s cocktail is inspired by the classic drink called Bee’s Knees, which includes gin, honey syrup and lemon juice. A while ago I infused a whole bunch of vodka, trying to figure out what flavors worked best and one of them happened to be infused with meyer lemons. So i pulled that puppy out and created a mixture of lemon infused vodka, honey syrup (1 part water, 1 part honey) and Domaine de Canton.

Woohoo! This cocktail packs a punch! Each flavor compliments the other to create one heck of a cocktail. I garnished mine with a little lemon slice and called it a day.

Cheers! Have a great weekend!

Ginger Bee
makes 1 cocktail

1 1/2 oz Lemon Vodka
1 oz Domain de Canton
1/2 oz honey syrup

1
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker along with a few cubes of ice and give it a few good swirls.
2
Strain the liquid into a small cocktail glass.
3
Garnish with a lemon slice or candied ginger.

Cheers to you!

I love butter. This is mildy embarrasing to admit, but one of my earliest food memories is sneaking into the fridge and eating a chunk of butter back when I was about 3 years old. It makes me shiver a little now to think about eating a big old hunk of butter, but I think I was onto something way back when. I love the versatility of it. It’s used in so many recipes and can really take something to the next level.

When I saw a recipe in BUST magazine a while back I made a mental note to try it out. Unfortunately my notes up there are a little disorganized, so when I saw a recipe on the Kitchn on my day off, I figured it was time to try it out. It didn’t hurt that I had some cream in the fridge that needed to be used.

Making butter is pretty dang simple. You can keep it super simple and only use cream, but the recipe I followed used cream and sour cream plus a little salt. Apparently the sour cream adds a little tang to it. Initially, you just put the cream and sour cream in a food processor and let it run for a little bit. Once it gathers together and starts to form a ball you can remove it. An added bonus of making your own butter is getting fresh buttermilk. I got about 1/4 cup buttermilk from my 1 cup of cream. The next bit takes the most time, and that’s running it under water until it runs clear. I let water run over it for about 5 minutes or so. Once the water’s clear, press the butter and try to get all the moisture out. This takes a little work and can be tricky if you’re using paper towel, as it tends to stick. But it does the trick. I added a little salt the mixture and tada!

I decided since I don’t make butter everyday I’d get a little fancy and make some flavored butter. I divided the prepared butter in half and added some cinnamon to one half. Yum!

butter!
from the kitchn | makes about 1/2 cup

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon sour cream
1/8 teaspoon salt (optional)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1
Whir the cream and sour cream in a food processor for 3-5 minutes. (Alternately: shake energetically in a Mason jar for about 15-30 minutes.) After the cream becomes thick and clotted like whipped cream it will suddenly start spattering against the top again as it clumps into yellow butter. Whip until the butter has formed a solid yet grainy mass.
2
Put a small mesh strainer over a bowl and pour everything into it. Refrigerate the liquid; this is buttermilk and it will last for several days.
3
Put the butter in a small bowl and rinse under very cold water until the water runs clear. You want every bit of the buttermilk removed; any left clinging to the butter will cause it to get sour and bad overnight.
4
When the water runs completely clear squeeze the butter inside a clean paper towel or cheesecloth until dry, then turn out into a crock or small bowl.
5
Mash in the salt and cinnamon, if using.

Refrigerate and use within a week.

I’m a total sucker for magazines… especially when they’re about food. I saw Swallow Magazine at St. Marks Bookstore and immediately felt a need for it. It’s full of beautiful photography, good design and interesting articles. It’s a little pricey for a magazine, but it’s really more like a book, hardcover and everything.