le sauce

more herbs than you can shake a chef's knife at

As I mentioned in a recent article on iVillage Canada, I like to frequent farmer's markets and my mother pushes produce plucked from her thriving garden on me all summer long. Between the two, I thought I knew a thing or two about herbs. I've had to get creative to use up what was a bushel of tarragon. I have fresh, dry and frozen curry leaves in my house at this very moment and will soon be housing my own curry plant. But five minutes at the Union Square Market in NYC last month and I realized I haven't seen even a tiny fraction of all the herbs out there. One vendor sold no less than 25 different types of basil (basil!) so you can imagine that there were herbs on offer I'd never seen the likes of. 

You already know that my go-to way to use up herbs that are threatening to wilt in my fridge is to pile them all onto a pasta. It's surprising how an entire bunch of cilantro, chopped and added to warm pasta dressed in fried garlic, chilies and simply seasoned olive oil makes for one of the most satisfying dinners. And the news is also out that I can't have enough pesto in the summer and that I've discovered the joy of basically drinking herbs. Imagine the concoctions the people who live near Union Square come up with every week? And don't even get me started on the abundance of varieties of, well, everything else. See for yourself.

 

summer in (little) india

 

 

above just some of the things i ate at this weekend's fesival of south asia, in little india (gerrard st., toronto): 

corn roasted, then rubbed with lime and cayenne, rose syrup falooda topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, kulfi, spicy chat papri...

 

 

 

 

by evening, lahore tikka house's patio (above) was packed as usual.

 

 

the rest of the street grew dark, but the lights from storefronts cast a glow on street stalls. still, you could hide unnoticed sitting on the curb, or tucked behind a table (do you see him, below?), watching a perfect weekend and celebration of a culture come to a close.

 

 

dreaming of the weekend

last weekend looked a lot like this (above, farmer's market), plus bbqs (plural!), burgers, dinner out with friends, cooking in with family, and even a little lying on the couch.

this weekend has a lot to live up to! enjoy yours, everyone.

good and green

don't let anyone tell you that salad isn't delicious. when it's fresh and grown with integrity, it's worthy of all your attention. 

a good salad can take centre stage. if you don't believe me...

 

...perhaps you haven't been fortunate enough to have leaves picked fresh and brought by a farmer to a saturday market. maybe, like me, for a large part of the year, the only organic salad you get comes out of a box. the two are not the same.

get the real thing as often as you can, and then, don't do much to it. your most basic dressing--but of your favourite oil and vinegar--will do. then taste salad like you knew it should have tasted all along, good and green.

a random bite of tapas...and why you should (never) shop with me

 

so on one of my nights to "make" dinner last week, i totally cheated. it wasn't cheap, and i had to carry the food through a freak snowstorm, but i managed to avoid actually making anything. what can i say? i had a craving for good wine, sharp cheese and above all, i was feeling laaaaaaaaaaazy. so i headed to the st. lawrence market over lunch to get just a few things. i ended up with a lot of things--but i had a good reason for picking up each one...

chevre-stuffed jalapenos: james and i both love stuffed things, and spicy things and cheese. so those were a no-brainer.
dolmades: now, those are my personal favourite and they were right beside the chevre-stuffed jalepenos so...
beemster: we've really been into this cheese lately. a core part of the dinner plan.
french chaumes: i kinda needed a second softer cheese--you know, for contrast. when chatting to the cheese monger this time, i learned that in his opinion, la sauvagine was modeled on chaumes. what?! how had i never tried it then? discovering la sauvagine basically changed my life! there was no question, i needed to see if he was right. (he totally was, by the way! a must-try)
paprika-marinated olives: i had nicoise olives at home but we'd been eating those a lot lately...and hello, we'd never had paprika-marinated green ones before. did they always have those? i didn't recall seeing them before so it was the obvious olive choice for the night. in the end we did pull out the black nicoise olives too. again, contrast...
baba ganoush: james' favourite--got it just to be nice.
sun-dried tomato hummus: the baba ganough looked too creamy to be healthy so i only got a little bit of that and loaded up on a hearty sun-dried tomato hummus. i mean, this was really what the bread would be for. you have to a good dip on a tapas table, don't you?
pickled chilies: well, to add heat, of course. because the stuffed peppers were not meant to serve that purpose. two separate things entirely.

and that's basically how my plan to have cheese, bread and wine turned into a $50 dinner for two. consider yourself warned. shop with me and you'll come out arms full of fabulous things and wallet light. (more contrast!)

nyc day 2-3 (brooklyn!): buttermilk channel, brklyn flea, dekalb st, the general greene and no. 7

i <3 brooklyn

so despite numerous visits to new york, this was the first time i actually made it across the bridge to brooklyn. i'm sorry i waited so long. i feel like it's going to take me a million more visits to touch on everything that this amazing borough has to offer. at least we scratched the surface this time. our first stop? food of course.dinner at buttermilk channel in downtown brooklyn.

buttermilk channel

 

 

buttermilk channel is in downtown brooklyn, not in the fort greene neighbourhood that i had been reading a lot about when researching for this trip. but it was getting great reviews and once i had a look at their seperate all-vegetarian menu online, i was convinced they were worthy of a special visit. a good restaurant with thoughtful vegetarian mains is very exciting to me. but there were so many other things to love about this restaurant before even getting to the mains. the whole place had the glow of candlelight without being too dark but the vibe was much more fun than romantic. the bar area was packed with people dining there or happily sipping on cocktails while waiting 45-minutes for a table (like we were--no reservations). but with a cocktail like my "blue train #3": champagne, brandy and amaro, or my friend's "westlake": bourbon, elderflower liqueur and bitters, no one was counting the minutes. 

when we were finally seated at a communal table, we devoured the oven-warm goat cheese popovers (served in place of a bread basket) that were so good i had to post this grainy low-light iphone picture of them. the other picture is of the main i decided on: cheddar waffles with savoy cabbage slaw, roasted mushrooms, grilled beans with a mustard dressing. if i attempt when i attempt to make cheddar waffles one day, i'll be sticking to the same mix of rich, creamy, tart, crunchy pairings. i loved every element of the dish. one of my friends chose this place to order buttermilk fried chicken (they were on a few menus at the restaurants we hit on this trip), because of, well, the name of the restaurant, and the southern slant their menu takes. she was not at all disappointed. except a little with herself. she's a good eater but she just couldn't finish all of the three large pieces served to her. a tiny part of me wished i could help her!

fort greene

 

 

the next morning, we headed back to brooklyn but this time concentrated on the fort greene neighborhood. the plan was to explore the brooklyn flea early, then shop around, head to di fara for their famous pizza and shop the boutiques to work up an appetite for dinner, also in the fort greene neighbourhood. in the end we had no time for pizza! we spent hours wandering the flea and it also took us longer to get to there than we thought. we kept stopping to take pictures of the beauiful streets, old brownstones and churches and to check out a few of the many stoop sales with the neighbours! brooklyn is charming. 

the brooklyn flea

 

 

this is not one of those flea markets you peruse in half an hour, not really touching anything, not really a destination. the brooklyn flea would definitely be a frequent saturday morning destination for me. it has a farmer's market vibe with all kinds of people, everyone's in a good mood, the pace is slow and there are amazing finds around every corner. there are stalls with nothing but antique maps and postcards, some with vintage clothing, others with artisan crafts from the likes of the brooklyn design co-op artists and the amazing alyssa ettinger. i've admired the work of some of those artists for years so it was also neat to get to see a few of their works in real life, and also to stumble on the three potato, four tent whose online store i've visited. i picked up a few things that would have cost me a fortune to have shipped. but a huge part of the appeal of this market is the food. 

 

 

we read that it's best not to eat breakfast before going to the brooklyn flea, because of all the great food there. a very good tip. the line-up of food vendors is impressing if not overwhelming for a greedy little eater like me. i ran around for 5 minuts wondering "where did they get that corn? where did they get that corn?" before giving up and lining up in the very long and telling line for pupusas. i sent my friend to hunt for the corn since she already had a maine lobster roll (look how fresh it looks!) in her belly. she walked about 10 feet away and got the corn i was after. i guess i was a little excited. but it was justified. the grilled corn was juicy, sweet, salty and a little spicy after being rolled in mayo, and dusted with cotija cheese and chili powder. the perfect thing to keep us occupied in line. the other thing keeping me busy was trying to decide between the cheese/bean, cheese/jalepeno and the special of the day, spinach pupusas. why not a cheese, bean and jalepeno one?? i settled on cheese/bean and a spinach pupusa with salvadorian slaw, tomato sauce and sour cream. delicious but you know i'm still wondering about the cheese/jalepeno one, right?

most sit on the steps behind the food stalls to eat, which gives you a nice view of part of the flea and the comings and goings. in line and on those steps i listened to people rave about other treats at the market, especially the fresh ricotta... "she puts lemon zest in it i think", "soooo good--just that on bread", etc. and i saw more than one person leave with a tub of this ricotta. fine. that would be next. it was easy for me to make my choice from their menu, since i pick savoury over sweet any day. i devoured my share of baguette sliced, topped with a cloud of soft ricotta and wild arugula, and drizzled with very good olive oil. heaven! the ricotta deserved all of that praise. my friends opted for the ricotta-stuffed cannolis and days later i was still hearing "that was the best cannoli i've ever had". 

the general greene

 

from what i can tell, dekalb is the other "main" street running through this neighborhood in brooklyn. it was where we stopped for a coffee, shopped and where the general greene is located. i wanted to go there for some pre-dinner drinks because i'd read that it was a busy neighbourhood spot with lots of worthy offerings. the place itself was relaxed and had a short but sweet bar menu, including what seemed to be a decent list of micro-brew beers. i never tested them because a cilantro martini caught my eye. we ordered two plates of the deviled eggs (also on many menus these days) and ate a couple bowls (though served in glasses) of fried fava beans. with more time i would have loved to stay for dinner but we had other plans...

no. 7

 

(picture above by elinor carucci for bon appetit magazine, september 2009)

i never post images from other sources but i wouldn't be doing the food at no. 7 any justice if i left you with only my shadowy, almost no-light images above. this gorgeous picture comes from bon appetit magazine who voted no. 7 one of the 2009 ten best new restaurants in the u.s. 

they recommend, and share the recipe for, no. 7's pumpkin seed crusted tofu which i ordered as my main (although mine didn't come with a poached egg on top). the crust was thick, crunchy and chewy and though the tofu was firm, it was remarkably moist, not dry or crumbly. still, i enjoyed the much blogged-about and reviewed fried broccoli with black beans and citrus even more, and i'm including the photo despite its flaws (no really, the dining area was so dark--lit almost solely by the one candle on each table) because it did not arrive as i'd expected. i was presented with one large "tree" of broccoli, breaded in a tempura batter and fried whole, flavoured with fermented black beans, paired with citrus and greens. it just worked. i want more. i want more of all of brooklyn. but after this meal, it was into a car, zipping across one bridge while trying to commit to memory how the others look in the distance. 

i love you, brickworks market

photo: my most recent haul from the brickworks market. 

i've only visited farmers' markets a handful of times this summer. it's sad. i find it harder to pop by them in my new location. and though i've only made it out to the brickworks market a couple of times this year, i'm grateful that i'm now close enough to it that i've finally explored it. i love it there.

like other farmer's markets in toronto, there's a healthy selection of ripe, healthy produce and products grown/crafted by passionate locals. and there's a greater quantity of organic produce than i've found at some other markets, which is important to me. also the vibe is great there. like really great. there's an air of discovery as everyone mills around, still poking, excited but slightly hesitant. perhaps because it's still relatively new, there's a feeling that we're all still realizing how great the brickworks is, with it's delicious and varied prepared food stalls, stunning views, kids gardening plots and beekeepers (love that!!) working from a hill on high while we benefit from their efforts below.

on my last visit i had a nice, unhurried conversation with ronald francis, purveyor of oikos which are sri lankan, single estate, fair trade teas. which is to say they are high quality teas. i took home a lovely black tea that really requires no milk and definitely no sugar. it has a natural sweetness and no tannic aftertaste, just like the chilled samples that ronald has on hand at his table. if you are visiting the brickworks, make sure to stop by and try one. i am definitely heading over for my sample early tomorrow.

grilled ramps

i plan to try making many dishes with ramps this year like risotto, quiche, soup--anything i might use leeks for and more. because they are also referred to as wild leeks, after all, and their flavour sits somewhere between leeks, onions and young garlic. but since the small bunch i grabbed last week was my first of the year, i wanted to have them more purely to really enjoy their taste. this is not really a recipe. it's too easy to be called that. it's just a play-by-play of my dinner last thursday: grilled ramps, leeks, asparagus and grilled bread too, with soft pungent cheese (almost everything i ate that night was pretty pungent actually) and of course some olives and pickled chillies.

first, i went to the market and grabbed some fresh ramps, raw "ramembert" (sheep's camembert by eweda), and some gorgeous sun-dried tomato, garlic and herb bread. then i fished a leek and some asparagus from my fridge. i chopped off and discarded the hard, unusable parts (dark green leek tops, ramp roots, tough asparagus bases), split the leeks down the middle, washed everything. dried everything. sliced the bread. and with the ramps...

i cut those in 3: the white bulb from the red stalks, stalks from the green leaves, because each part is more delicate than the last so they will cook at different speeds. i brushed all of the vegetables and the bread with a faint coating of extra virgin olive oil. i set a grill pan over medium-high heat and when it was heated, i brushed it with oil too. and then grilled, in order of toughness--leeks, ramp bulbs, asparagus first. when they were done, the bread and ramp stems (which i don't think a lot of people eat but i just let them cook till soft and i enjoyed them), and finally the ramp leaves which also get some nice char marks, but only take a second to turn bright green and soften. 

all the grilled vegetables on one platter, platter on the table, grilled bread, room-temperature soft, smelly cheese, olives, pickled hot peppers. oh, and wine. obviously. i could definitely eat this way on market day, every week till fall. more real recipes with ramps to come--quickly, since they won't be around for long. get some fast!

the beginning of great things!

i was so excited to be at the farmer's market today, for the first time this year. sure, the dufferin grove market is open year-round, but i live far from it now and the markets around me only open in late may. so it was a special mission that took me to all the way to the duff market today...vegetable gardening! tis the big weekend coming up, after all, so james and i bought about 1/3 of what i hope we will plant this season. all of our purchases were from urban harvest today. the picture above is especially for my friend, lulu, who loves mache as much as i do, and is newly in love with lemon thyme. but what i am SO excited about that i can't stand it is...

WILD STRAWBERRIES. i was 32 and visiting budapest before i had my first taste of wild strawberries. why didn't someone tell me there was something that actually tasted the way strawberry shortcake's hair smelled? super-concentrated strawberry goodness in a baby-berry package. i can't wait for these to grow. the price of these was higher than the more typical alpine strawberries, and i was told the yield would be smaller but i don't care. can.not.wait.

and then, there are the plants i brought with a promise. while i plan on planting many heirloom tomatoes to grow and eat straight, raw, plainly, often...these 3 plum tomato plants i bought with the goal of finally jarring tomatoes or sauces at the end of this summer. the san marzanos were what i was after, but the sellers both thought that the opalka sauce tomatoes were superior for this purpose. i have to see for myself! it will be bittersweet to pick these tomatoes at the end of the season. i'm glad i'm still at the very sweet beginning.

and most importantly, today is the beginning of another beautiful and great thing. my new cousin ella louise was born today! somehow, although she is weeks early, i won the baby pool, guessing her sex, birthday and even the time (within the hour)! clearly i have been expecting her. i am so lucky today to experience all of this healthy new life. to beginnings!

a random bite of broccoli sprouts

the fact that i've been able to keep this thing alive for almost 3 weeks is amazing. it says a lot about the resiliency of this plant over the many others i can kill just by looking at them, or even when i'm really trying to do everything right. but even though i've mowed through half of the broccoli sprouts since taking the picture above, the razed area is starting to sprout again.

that means i can continue to throw a ton of these fresh, healthy sprouts onto my salads or sandwiches or rice bowls whenever i want. and, honestly, that's not as often as it should be, which is why i used to end up throwing out sprouts that had gone bad in my fridge. i hate throwing out food. this is a much better alternative. if you're lucky enough to live somewhere near, say, uncle george's place at the st. lawrence market in toronto like i do, and can buy living, potted sprouts (or can grow your own...who are you people??) then i highly recommend you do. cheaper, healthier, tastier. and none of the guilt that comes from killing a bamboo plant despite giving it water AND love. (some things just take and never give...)