As we head into the summer months, things are going to get real, people. Cooking is not fun in the summer, especially if you live in a place like New York where air conditioning barely works, if you’re lucky enough to have a unit at all, and everyone is packed into close, sweaty quarters. Kramer and I eat a lot of raw vegetables and fish when it’s hot outside, as I can’t be bothered to even turn on the stove for a few minutes to boil water. I was wandering around the farmer’s market one day before work and happened upon these beautiful rainbow colored carrots. I had to get them and do something to showcase their different levels of sweetness, along with their refreshing crunch. As it happened, the day I made this salad was warmer than usual (we’ve been having a lot of strangely warm days followed by chilly, breezy days lately) and I didn’t feel like cooking the carrots, plus I was afraid that their color would fade when put to heat. Therefore, into a red wine vinegar, sugar, and spring garlic mixture they went. Add a little freshly ground black pepper and lemon zest, and you’ve got yourself a lovely summer salad, that’s almost pickled but not quite. I liked to eat this nice and cold out of the refrigerator, but it’s perfect for a room temperature picnic side dish, too. You obviously don’t need different colored carrots for this, but if you can find them, they really do pop and make your plate look alive with purples, oranges, and yellows.

An old subway sign from back when each line was privately owned, cocktails, coffee, and kimchi fried eggs.

I got these beautiful bad boys at Union Square’s Greenmarket.

Since you are eating this salad raw, I recommend peeling the carrots, slicing thinly, then tossing with your spring garlic or scallions and your vinaigrette.

Allow to sit in the fridge for an hour or two before serving chilled or room temperature.

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On Saturday, we dragged ourselves out of bed to meet with Kramer’s dad, his girlfriend, Jill, and Rachel for brunch at Roberta’s before driving up to New Rochelle to see his aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandmother. Kramer’s aunt always makes us a big, special dinner whenever we make it up there. This time was no different. We had bread, cheese, caprese salad, spinach dip and crudites, Caesar salad, spaghetti and meatballs, sweet sausage, and garlic bread, followed by two different kinds of cake, cake pops, and my favorite, Girl Scout cookies (which I have certainly not had enough of this year). And that doesn’t even include the freely flowing wine and beer. Needless to say, we had a fabulous time. We were tuckered out and in bed by 10:30, where Kramer and I proceeded to sleep without waking up once until 8:30 in the morning. We definitely needed the sleep. On Sunday, Kramer’s dad generously treated us to yet another delicious meal at Craftbar – I think it was probably one of my favorite restaurant meals ever. Get ready for this. We started with fried artichokes, soft-boiled egg salad bruschetta with white anchovies, bread and cheese, and my favorite, duck hearts with dumplings and a fried egg. I’m drooling just thinking about it. Then we got to the main courses. I had halibut with pickled ramps, morels mushrooms, and the most pillowy, soft, incredibly gnocchi of my life. Kramer had veal breast with roasted ramps, potato puree, and wonderfully crispy sweetbreads. I had to finish the meal with an almond semifreddo, and then I immediately fell into a food coma (which was remedied with a quick drink at Raines Law Room with Morgan).

You probably feel full even just reading about all of that incredible food, but you have to do it right when family is in town, there’s a birthday to celebrate, and Kramer’s sister is graduating from Pratt. Speaking of Kramer’s sister, she certainly loves herself a glass of red wine, so when I made this sangria, I had to invite her over for a glass or two. I actually made this because I did a photoshoot for McCormick Spices, and this was one of their recipes. I would never have thought to grill fruit before adding it to sangria, but it added a real depth of flavor to the red wine, as well as making for some lovely garnishes. A lot of people will add Sprite or something similar to their sangria, but I really prefer ginger ale. You can really even use diet and not notice a difference, which can help cut back on the sugar and make you feel a little less guilty about indulging in a cocktail or two mid-afternoon. Or is that just me? Whatever, this is a judgement-free zone. Hopefully it will warm up a bit more in NYC so that I can sit out in the sunshine with a big, cold glass of this grilled fruit sangria.

Last week’s rain, Kramer’s birthday cookies, friends, and Kramer’s 2nd birthday celebration in New Rochelle with family (with plenty of cake pops made by Kramer’s aunt).

Obviously get your most important ingredient out (wine), juice your oranges, and slice the remaining ones along with the limes.

Grill your oranges.

And your limes.

Combine everything, pour and serve.

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Summer Sangria

Author: The Crepes of Wrath

Prep time:  10 mins

Cook time:  10 mins

Total time:  20 mins

Serves: 4-6

 

Refreshing summer sangria with grilled oranges and limes.

Ingredients

• 2 oranges (plus 1-2 more for juice), sliced into ½-inch thick rounds
• 3 limes, sliced into ½-inch thick rounds
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• 1 bottle dry red wine
• 1 cup fresh orange juice (the juice of 1½-2 oranges)
• ¼ cup orange liqueur, like Triple-Sec or Cointreau
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2-3 cups ginger ale or lemon-lime soda (I prefer ginger ale)
• 3 cups ice cubes

Instructions

1. Combine your red wine, fresh orange juice, orange liqueur, and cinnamon sticks in a large pitcher, stir to combine, and place in the refrigerator.
2. Heat up your grill to medium-high heat or, if you live in an apartment like me, your cast iron griddle to high heat. Slice your fruit and dip each side in sugar (this is totally up to you – you can absolutely omit the sugar – I started out with the sugar and then halfway through just did it without) and grill the fruit on each side until nicely charred. It took me about 5-6 minutes per side on my griddle at home, but I’d imagine it would take less time on a real grill. When the fruit is charred with nice marks, set aside to cool.
3. When you are ready to serve, remove the cinnamon sticks from the sangria and add your ginger ale or lemon-lime soda. Add in your charred fruit, stir to combine, then add in the ice and again, stir to combine. Serve chilled with a few slices of the grilled fruit for garnish. You can make this up to 3 hours ahead of time without worrying about the soda going flat, or make it up to 24 hours ahead of time and then add in the soda and ice when you’re ready to drink.

3.2.1753

 

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Kramer wasn’t able to attend my demo last week because of class, but his last one is next Monday and then he’ll have a few weeks off before he starts summer session. I don’t know how he does it. Kramer is getting his master’s at NYU right now, but as we are, unfortunately, not billionaires, he has to work while he does it. There are days where he leaves the house at 8 AM and doesn’t get home until 9:30 or 10 PM. It’s hard sometimes when we are barely able to see one another, but it’s at least good to know that he is some kind of anomaly and he actually really likes school (or so he says). Kramer is one of those weirdos who honestly enjoyed group projects in college. He is a great leader and incredibly organized, with the added bonus of studying something that he has a genuine interest in and wants to do for the rest of his life. It’s inspiring to wake up to someone like that each morning, even if he’s got to be gone a lot. I’m excited to celebrate his birthday on Friday – he deserves a party in his honor after all of his hard work.

“Yadda yadda yadda, another muffin recipe,” is what I’m sure you are thinking. I’m quite sure that you are wrong. When I was rifling through my cupboards, trying to figure out what to bake, Kramer said, “Make muffins. Everyone loves muffins.” It’s true. Everyone does love muffins. But for some reason, I don’t make them all that often. I guess I prefer cookies. What a surprise. My lovely friends Amanda and Matt were kind enough to bring me a big bottle of honey from Nevis earlier this year, which is probably some of the best honey I’ve ever had. I never splurge on honey because I’m usually too broke from splurging on something at some restaurant, but I’d buy another bottle of this stuff. It’s incredibly thick, nutty, and perfectly sweet, which makes it excellent for baking. I made honey shortbread cookies with half of it, and I finally finished up my precious bottle by making these muffins. You don’t need any sweetener other than a big, heaping cup of honey, and you can use any fruit you’d like, but I loved pears in these. They’re soft and sweet and work well even if they’re a little bruised, like mine were. I always find that whenever I buy pears, they are rock hard, so I leave them in a paper bag on my counter and never fail to absolutely forget about them until they are almost like mush. Well, one man’s mush is another man’s muffins. These make an excellent handheld breakfast or treats to bring into the office, which is what I did (and they were immediately devoured). Don’t deprive yourself of muffins, as I often do, and whip up a batch this weekend!

Me, pretending to know what I am talking about. Photos by Jesse Chan-Norris.

Dice your pears and add ‘em to the batter.

Divide amongst your cups and bake.

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I talked about spring garlic last week, and now I will regale you with the wonders of spring ramps. I love to use ramps in sauces, dressings, and spreads, because you really get the full flavor of the ramps, and you can add it to a number of different dishes instead of just eating it one way. Last year I did ramp pesto, which I put on everything from salads to sandwiches, so I wanted to go the other way this year and do a chimichurri. A chimichurri is almost like an Argentinian pesto, if you think about it. It’s got lightly sautéed ramps, raw garlic, and olive oil, but it has a smoother texture than pesto and is used as more of a sauce than as an accompaniment. Chimichurri is excellent on burgers or steaks, but I had some beautiful duck breasts, so I used those. I got my cast iron pan incredibly hot, salted the breasts, then threw ‘em in the pan for 6-7 minutes until the skin was a deep, golden brown. I then finished the duck off in the oven with my sweet soy butternut squash and spread some of the chimichurri on top. The dish came together so well and I was really happy with the result! I added some ginger and rice wine vinegar to the chimichurri for a more Asian twist, because when I think duck I always crave Asian flavors along with it. We had a bit of leftover duck and plenty of extra chimichurri, so the next few days we were happy to have duck salads with ramp chimichurri vinaigrette on top; it’s really the dish that keeps on giving! Don’t be afraid of duck – it will take you 10 minutes to make and you get to keep all of that incredibly duck fat to cook potatoes or Brussels sprouts in later, and go out and find some ramps! You may have to search a bit, but they’re only around for a few weeks a year and isn’t it fun to try something new?

A beer tasting, bourbon mint juleps with rosemary, Kramer being pensive, and the giant jar of pesto I made for my demo.

Roughly chop your precious ramps.

Saute your ramps in a little oil, just to wilt them a bit, then set aside to cool.

Place your ramps in a food processor or blender and pulse along with the ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, vinegar, olive oil, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed.

Now, for your duck. Cut a criss-cross in the fatty side of the breast, just shallow enough to not actually cut through to the meat, then salt and pepper the breast, place it in a super hot pan with a little oil, and cook for 6-7 minutes, until the fat has mostly rendered and is golden brown. Flip and cook on the other side for an additional 3-5 minutes.

I roasted some vegetables in the oven, then placed them underneath my duck so that they got some of the tasty fat as the duck finished. This is totally optional, but highly recommended. Place your duck in a 450 degree F oven for 5 minutes to finish it off.

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While I did enjoy the cheese we munched away on at Beecher’s, the fresh baby lettuces and spring fruits in my salad were equally enjoyable. Now that I work near Union Square, I am able to briskly walk through the Greenmarket on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. It’s really, really hard not to buy my weight in fresh produce, but I do treat myself to things here and there on my way into the office. I can’t shop after work, because by then, all of the good stuff is gone! Last week, I grabbed a big bunch of lovely spring garlic and stuffed it in the fridge at work, apologizing when need be for the pungent (or let’s say aromatic, shall we?) smell. Spring garlic is sort of a cross between a big scallion and a regular bulb of garlic. It’s small, delicate, and absolutely delicious. I will eat it raw, which Kramer finds extremely odd, so last weekend I decided I’d actually go ahead and cook it in something. Obviously eggs are the first thing that pop into my head when thinking about cooking anything at all, and I wanted to show off the pretty purple and green stalks, which goes perfectly with yellow yolks, don’t you think? Simply brown some butter, saute your spring garlic, crack your eggs, and eat with some crusty bread or, day I say it, bacon. It’s officially spring here in the city, and I’m going to take full advantage of that before it’s hot, humid summertime.

Last night’s dinner of spicy tofu soup and breakfast of a pretzel croissant from City Bakery, then last week’s BLTE and sushi dinner.

Brown your butter, add your vegetables, then fry your eggs.

Serve piping hot.

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By the time we got home on Saturday night, we were absolutely exhausted, but in the best way possible. On Sunday, we slept and slept, watched some movies, napped, and ordered in Indian food for dinner because I couldn’t even be bothered to toil away in the kitchen. We’ve all had those days. It was nice to just relax on the couch and do nothing (except, of course, update the blog and prepare for my demo on Wednesday). Last Sunday, though, I cooked a big meal for dinner (the rest of which is to come), which included this sweet soy butternut squash. Whenever I make butternut squash (which is often when it’s in season), I feel like I always do it the same way – olive oil, herbs, maybe a bit of pepper flakes. I figured that squash is on its way out until we find ourselves in September or October again, so I wanted to do something different. Kecap manis is one of my favorite ingredients; it’s a thick, sweet Indonesian soy sauce that tastes good on just about anything. I like to put it on my eggs, but if that’s not your thing, it’s fantastic when paired with tender butternut squash. I used a dash of sesame oil and some hot chili oil for a punch of flavor, all of which is an unexpected take on my favorite kind of squash. You can use sweet potatoes or acorn squash or anything that’s similar to butternut, but we all know that butternut’s the best, isn’t it? Break outside of your roasted veggie shell with a sweet soy sauce mixture that pairs well with whatever you’re having for dinner that night.

Me being super pumped for brunch.

Dice your squash, toss it in your soy sauce mixture, and roast at 400 degrees F for 30-35 minutes, until tender.

Sprinkle with crushed pepper flakes and scallions, then serve warm.

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I bring this up because I have yet again decided to push what I am capable of doing to the limit, and this time it involves my mortal enemy: public speaking. I’ve done a few cooking demonstrations, competitions, and whatnot, but this is going to be me, all alone, speaking and doing a light demo in front of people…which I have never really done without other people up there with me. It’s for a series called Dish, and it takes place on May 1st at the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in Soho. I hope that if any of you happen to be in New York during that time, or even better, actually live in the city, that you’ll stop by, watch me talk about blogging and the like, and say hello! If anything, I’m making a dish, so you’ll get to try a little bite of what I’ve got to offer. It’ll be worth your time! Plus, all donations from the event go to benefit Housing Works’ programs to assist men, women, and children living with or affected by homelessness and HIV/AIDS. The suggested donation is $5, but even just coming to support the cause is helpful!

As I said, I am always busy and never have a free moment. I do it to myself. For example, I took a Momofuku baking class about a month ago with my friend Emily, and it was a ton of fun. We made milk crumbs, cake crumbs, watched Christina Tosi herself bake and frost a cake, and made blueberry cream cookies to take home. It was informative and I really learned a lot, plus, there was free beer! Who doesn’t love an ice cold beer, especially when there are free buckets of it? We took our crumbs home, and as suggested, I froze mine to bake with later. I finally got around to pulling them out of the freezer a few weeks ago, and figured that they were begging to be used in a cookies and cream type concoction. The muffins themselves are wonderfully chocolatey, as they use both cocoa powder and melted chocolate, the white chocolate is creamy and smooth, while the star of the show, the Milk Crumbs, are crunchy and honestly, taste just like milk. These are your childhood wrapped up in breakfast form. Enjoy these muffins with a big iced coffee and you’ll be in nostalgia mode for the rest of your day.

The trees are finally blooming NY, but that’s not nearly as exciting as giant calamari, amazing fish sauce flavored chips, and 99 cent Crazy Stallion.

Ah, milk crumbs. You’ve got to love them.

Alright, so – melt together your chocolate and butter, whisk together your dry ingredients, and chop up your milk crumbs a bit.

Fold 3/4 of your milk crumbs into your batter, reserving the rest to sprinkle on top of the muffins. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, until set. If the milk crumbs are browning too much, cover the pans with foil.

Allow to cool a bit and eat up!

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Cookies & Cream Muffins

Author: The Crepes of Wrath

Prep time:  1 hour

Cook time:  25 mins

Total time:  1 hour 25 mins

Serves: 20 muffins

 

Moist chocolate muffins sprinkled with homemade Momofuku milk crumbs and white chocolate chips.

Ingredients

For the Milk Crumbs:

• ¾ cup nonfat dry milk powder
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the Cookies & Cream Muffins:

• 2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ⅔ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
• 5 ounces dark chocolate, roughly chopped (or chocolate chips)
• 1 and ¼ cups whole milk, room temperature
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 recipe milk crumbs (see above)
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

Instructions

For the Milk Crumbs:

1. Preheat your oven to 275 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine milk powder, flour, sugar, cornstarch, and kosher salt in medium bowl, then toss to combine. Add in the butter and stir with a fork until large crumbs form.
2. Spread the mixture evenly on your prepared sheet. Bake until the crumbs are dry and crumbly, but not browned – about 9-10 minutes. Cool the Milk Crumbs completely on the sheet before using. These can be made a week ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature, or up to three months ahead and stored in the freezer in an airtight container. Don’t bother thawing them out before using, I didn’t!

For the Cookies & Cream Muffins:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and line your muffin pans with muffins cups. Place your butter and 5 ounces of chocolate in a medium sized pot, place over medium-low heat, and stir constantly for 5-8 minutes or so, until melted. If you have a double boiler, definitely use that, but I find that as long as you keep a watchful eye over your chocolate, you can just melt it straight in the pot. When it is smooth, set aside and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together your flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, then set aside. In the bowl of your mixer, beat together the milk, egg, and vanilla extract, then gradually add in the chocolate and butter mixture, stirring gently until combined (this is why your eggs and milk need to be at room temperature – if they are too cold, the chocolate will immediately harden and your batter will not be smooth).
3. Add in your flour mixture, a bit at a time, mixing until the batter is just moistened. Roughly chop your Milk Crumbs, then reserve ⅓ of them for sprinkling on top of the muffins. Fold the remaining ⅔ of the crumbs into your batter. Sprinkle with the reserved ⅓ crumbs, then bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and the tops are slightly crackled and set. Allow to cool completely in the tins before removing. These will keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

3.2.1753

 

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The pork filling for these wontons is simple, straightforward, and just really, really good. You only need a few ingredients that you just mix together and add to the wonton wrappers. The key to making these is to be sure not to overfill as you go, which is easy to do after you know how tasty the filling is. There are a few ways to fold the wontons, but my favorite way was the “boat” method, as shown in the video. They are so tiny and cute, and once you master the technique, you’re going to want to stand in your kitchen and fold wontons all day, or at least that’s how I felt. It’s fun to try something new, especially when you get some one on one instruction from someone who really knows what they’re doing. Diana is actually doing a class on wontons and dumplings soon, on May 9th, so get out of the house and go take the class if you can! You know that you want to become masters like Kramer and I did.

Now, while the filling is tasty, the sauce is the shining star of this dish. If you like spicy, then Sichuan pepper is for you. Believe it or not, the peppercorns were illegal in the United States until 2005, as they can sometimes carry a bacteria that kills citrus plants, although they were never actually dangerous for human consumption. Thankfully, the dark ages are over and you can find Sichuan pepper in most grocery stores or any specialty market. The pepper is incredibly spicy, but you can adjust the heat level to your liking, so just add a small amount for a bit of a peppery zing, or a lot of lip-numbing goodness. If you know me, then you can imagine that I go for the lip-numbing amount of Sichuan pepper. The sauce has some sugar in it for sweetness, which helps to offset some of the heat, and who doesn’t love a sweet and spicy combination? While the sauce is great for the wontons, you can add it to noodles or vegetables or whatever else you like. Make these for your friends and family; you’ll love watching the look on their face as they enjoy traditional Chinese fare in the comfort of your own home. Anyway, I hope that you like the video! Check out Diana’s blog, make some wontons, and eat!

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One of the recipes that I created on Sunday was a meatloaf recipe, but it’s nothing quite like this. Veal and pork make for the best meatloaves, in my opinion. Beef is all well and good, but the flavors of these other two meats are much more savory, almost buttery, compared to beef alone. As always, though, you can use whatever you prefer; the important part of this are the mushrooms. I made mussels with mushroom broth a week or so ago, and on that same day, I made this meatloaf to portion up and have as lunches throughout the week. I soaked dried mushrooms in water, then used that water in both the meatloaf and the glaze. This is an important step that adds tons of rich, mushroom flavor to the meatloaf. I can’t recommend this method enough, but you can definitely just use regular mushrooms if you don’t have dried mushrooms on hand. I pureed sun-dried tomatoes, more mushrooms, and some peppers together for a glaze, then brushed it on top, which caramelizes as it cooks and takes on a slightly sweet and spicy flavor that really livens up the meatloaf. Meatloaf is one of my favorite comfort foods. It has a pretty unappetizing name, but once you make it and have a bite, it’ll bring back great food memories and make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Eat it alone, with vegetables, a salad, or, best of all, between two slices of good bread for the best sandwich ever.

Seeing improv on Friday night, Kramer enjoying a rooftop beer, playing with my lightsaber, pig’s ear with tobiko, avocado, and uni at Fatty ‘Cue, pizza from Forcella, and food styling for Sir Kensingtons on Sunday.

Mix together your meatloaf ingredients, then puree your sauce. Bake until cooked through and set, brush with the sauce, and bake for an additional 10 minutes or so.

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It’s interesting to see how different companies operate in that sense. What’s okay, what’s not okay, how people interact with management, how important it is to stay late and be the last one there so that you look like you’re working the hardest…I think that is becoming the norm everywhere. I know from experience and from stories of friends that New Yorkers certainly have grueling work weeks, especially in finance. Now that I work for a website on the operations side of things, my quality of life has improved greatly, even in the two weeks that I’ve been here so far, but that’s not the same for everyone else and it’s sad to see. I know some people love their work and couldn’t imagine being in the office less than 80 hours a week, and if that’s the case, that’s great! I’m really lucky in that I feel like I’ve finally found a company where I feel like I belong. People have a similar sense of humor, and that’s probably due to the youth of the place. As you would imagine, a website has a younger staff that a financial firm would have, and I’m loving it. Ideas move fast and there’s no politics. It’s refreshing.

So, in the spirit of new things, how about a new take on banana bread? I know that the good old strawberry and banana combination is nothing new, but I rarely see the two mixed together in a bread. Believe me, I’ve done every variation of banan bread humanly possible, and when I see those ripening bananas on my counter, I honestly try to think of something different to do with them, but they usually get thrown away because really, how much banana bread can you eat? Well, with the addition of strawberries, I’ll tell you: quite a lot. The bread itself is moist and tender, thanks to the water and sugar content from both the bananas and the strawberries, while the crust is nicely caramelized and just slightly crispy, the way I like my quick breads to be. There’s nothing fancy about this; just put it all together, bake, cool, and slice. I sliced this into individual portions and kept it in the fridge for a week, nibbling on it here and having it for breakfast there. If you make it, I can’t even begin to tell you how good a slice of the stuff is with some creamy peanut butter spread on top. It makes for quite the indulgent Friday morning breakfast, and hey, it’s Friday, so I think you deserve to indulge!

The Flatiron building, our soup dumpling dinner, another dinner that I made at home, and a pistachio colored mixer that I really want!

Put it in a pan and bake it up!

Slice and enjoy.

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