velvet plumcots

right now i am swooning over these velvet plumcots. sometimes they go by pluots. either way they are my favorite of the whole plum/apricot hybrid family. some are more plummy some are more apricotty. these are just perfect. tiny. juicy. tart. sweet, plumcot perfection. they would lend themselves well to breakfast with some yogurt or cottage cheese drizzled with some raw local honey. or maybe grilled and caramelized and served over some ice cream with some crunchy chopped nuts and a drizzle of plum liqueur. or in a salad of mixed greens with goat cheese and slivered almonds and a light refreshing vinaigrette. you really can't go wrong when your ingredients are so sublime.

it was crazy hot this week in new york. but now the weather is just pure, gorgeous, summer. so lovely. happy summer weekend to you wherever you are. i could definitely get used to this. xo, g

First Farmer's Market Haul

that most marvelous time of the year is here: farmer's market season. my local farmer's market opens in mid may, but they have mostly plants and cheese and eggs and that sort of thing until june. what really gets me excited is great organic produce, and it has just arrived, fresh, vibrant, and locally grown all the way up here in new england. sweet sugar snap peas, colorful kohlrabi, the best raspberries we've ever tasted. isn't life just delicious?

cherries!

organic cherries from oregon are crazy delicious this year. juicy, sweet, firm, incredible. so incredible, i want to invent a new word to describe how amazing they taste.

during long winter months, as i try to imagine what summer tasted like, i sometimes day dream of what i will cook with these early stone fruits when summer finally arrives: maybe a classic clafoutis, or dorie greenspan's cherry rhubarb crumble or perhaps even jamie oliver's cherry rhubarb crumble with oats (i do love oats). someday i will try each of these recipes, but when cherry season is upon us, most years, the cherries are frankly too irresistibly sweet and delicious not to eat right now. calling us from the refrigerator as we wander down for breakfast. elevenses? perfect bright, fresh pick-me-up. simple pleasures are the best. and so this year, like most every year, with our deep appreciation for this amazingly dimunitive fruit, we are probably going eat them all before they can possibly be cooked into anything. in fact, right now i am planning to run right back out to the store to get some more, for lunch. cherries!

Swiss Chard Brown Rice Gratin

martha rose shulman posted a recipe for a chard gratin recently in her recipes for health column in the nyt see here. this sounded so delicious that i found myself at the grocery store the very next day buying a large bunch or organic chard and a hunk of gruyere. i really love chard but have a hard time thinking up dishes for it the kids will enjoy as much as i do. this dish had the winning ticket. we all loved it. it was far tastier than i even imagined it would be in my wildest imaginings. something about the fresh vegetably texture of the chard contrasting with the chewy brown rice and the eggy cheesy fluffiness. i am telling you! this is a terrific example of a dish that achieves far more than the sum of its parts.

naturally, i altered the recipe. first, i was out of onions. although this never happens. in 15 years, it has happened maybe once before. so i used leeks and a shallot. as it turned out, i think the leeks are actually a better choice for this as i can't imagine it tasting any better. i also used two kinds of brown rice, aromatic wehani and plain, neither basmati, as ruth calls for. they were both long grain, but a bit chewier than basmati. the third thing i changed was the cheese. i doubled it (kids palate). and i also added a small amount of milk. feeling the dish would still hold together on account of the extra cheese. then i cooked the leeks, garlic, shallot, and chopped chard stalks, all together instead of separately, and for less time. i also wanted the gratin to brown a little less so i lowered the temperature slightly from ruth's instructions.

it all worked. i bet ruth's version is amazing also, though i may never know for sure, now that i've engineered this one..

swiss chard brown rice gratin

adapted from martha rose shulman, recipes for health, nyt

1 lb swiss chard

8 oz baby spinach

2 leeks

1 shallot

2 cloves garlic

1 cup already cooked long grain brown rice (i used a mix of wehani and brown, cooked it in a vegetable stock)

1 cup grated gruyere cheese

1/4 cup milk

3 large eggs, mixed

salt to taste

olive oil

first, preheat the oven to 350. next ready your gratin dish. wipe with a bit of olive oil along the bottom and up the sides. next set a medium large pot of water on the stove to boil.

wash and dissect the chard. by dissect i mean separate the leaves from the stalk. set the spineless leaves aside and finely chop the stalks. set aside. chop the leeks, shallot, and garlic. grate the cheese.

okay the water should be boiling now. add 2 teaspoons of salt. encourage the large chard leaves into the pot and push below the water surface with a wooden spoon. cook on high for 3 minutes. drain and remove. now the spinach. place it in the pot, submerse and remove right away, 10 seconds. empty the pot of water and return to stove. heat the pan on high until the water is evaporated, 30 seconds. add a tablespoon of olive oil and saute the leek/shallot/garlic/chopped stem mixture. saute for a few minutes, maybe 4. until softened but still fresh looking. meanwhile chop the chard and the spinach. add the chard and spinach into the leek mixture. now add the brown rice. saute to blend all the flavors. salt and pepper to taste. add in the milk. also the cheese, add in the three eggs. pour the whole thing into your gratin pan, maybe sprinkle a bit of cheese on top, and place in the oven for 40 minutes. if you would like it to brown a bit more, raise the heat to 375. allow to cool for 5 minutes. devour with relish.

the brilliance of the wehani chewy rice bits in this gratin is something you have to taste to believe. almost like little bits of bacon. so flavorful. i have a feeling i am going to be making this all the time now, forever. to me it tastes just a vacation in the Mediterranean, delicious!

delicious breakfast

life is good when morning sustenance looks like this. fresh cherries. so sweet, so cold. so delicious. and with blenheim apricots! mmmm. i wish the rest of my day was going to be as wonderful as this. but i've got some complex tasks to accomplish, a lot of details to nail down, and just for good measure, a whole lot of impossible friday traffic to contend with. wish me luck and have yourself a great weekend. xo g

apricots

tiny california apricots are in. this is great news. so fragrant and juicy, tart, sweet, luscious apricots.

this variety, the royal blenheims, or royals or blenheims, depending on who you ask, are a lineage from britain and france brought over to the states in the 1800s. they are tiny and often have green shoulders, but are also some of the best eating apricots you can find. they arrive in late spring/early summer and have a firm, juicy flesh. not at all mealy or cottony, like some of the larger varieties.

my kitchen is filled with their sweet perfume right now. you might want to run right out to the grocery store this minute and buy some, they are that good. and their season is pretty much over by mid june, so don't be too long about it.

have a great weekend. xo, g

salad with mixed greens grapefruit, avocado and pistachios

warmer weather has me thinking of cool, light, refreshing salads.

grapefruit has just been fantastic this season, so sweet and luscious. especially the late season grapefruit, still excellent in the stores right now. this salad comes together with an irresistible, sweet, tart and savory tang and a delicate but significant crunch.

i love this salad. grapefruit avocado salad is a california classic and makes the most of great local ingredients in season. in the 1940s and 50s my father-in-law ate a grapefruit avocado salad as part of the christmas day menu at his childhood home in brentwood, california. his mother, ona weed, my husband's grandmother, was great friends with edith head! a famously fantastic hollywood costume designer. i never met ona, as she died before i joined the family, but i've always been fascinated by her, for more than just her salads.

in present-day california, you will find, at the slanted door, (a brilliantly popular vietnamese restaurant now located in the ferry terminal), a terrific grapefruit and jicama salad with candied pecans that is quite memorable. you can munch on it's crunchy goodness while looking out at the windy, vibrant, sparkling san francisco bay, and thinking about the wonderful mix of textures and flavors, salty, sweet, spicy. mmm. somewhere between these two venerable salads lies the inspiration for this one. i like it so much i could eat it every day during grapefruit season.

salad of mixed greens grapefruit, avocado and pistachios

serves 6

16oz mixed greens

1/2 cup finely shredded purple cabbage

1, avocado, halved, peeled and sliced

2 large or 3 small grapefruits, a mix of varieties, white, pink and red is best, peeled and sectioned to remove membrane and pith

(you may have a few extra grapefruit sections, so snacking on the irresistibly juicy grapefruit

while making the salad is strongly encouraged, a nice little reward for the chef)

1/4 cup chopped toasted unsalted pistachios

1/4 cup cilantro leaves, stems removed

combine salad greens and vegetables in a large bowl or on a platter. arrange cabbage, avocado, grapefruit sections. sprinkle with cilantro leaves and chopped pistachios.

for the dressing

1/4 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice (i squeeze what i need from the remainder of the grapefruit after sectioning)

1 T minced cilantro stems

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp minced shallot

1/4 cup ponzu or champagne vinegar (something very light and slightly fruity)

1 tsp fish sauce

1 tsp agave nectar or light brown sugar

mix thoroughly, allow flavors to blend for 10 minutes before serving, the flavors really blossom quickly but it does take several minutes.

lightly pour the dressing all over the salad, toss, and serve.

my family stopped speaking when i served this to them. 5 minutes of very mindful munching later, they peppered me with compliments. then they ate their broiled fish with nuoc chum and steamed jasmine rice very happily reminiscing about the salad.

organic strawberries in season!

help yourself. crunchy, juicy, delicious strawberries. peak of season just now. so exciting when the first of the summer fruits arrive. soon the bins at the super and farmer's markets will be overflowing. our farmer's market opens next week. happy portent of summer.

this week dedicated to green

last nite's salad greens

kiwiberries. new to me. tasty but softer and squishier than i imagined.

currently in my fruit bowl. bartlett pears are really delicious right now. buy them firm and let them ripen for a few days.

sometimes i prepare posts way in advance. i like to keep several in the box, waiting for the right time to publish. but not today. i shot all these photos quite recently. some a few minutes ago and some a few hours ago. i can't help it. this week i am obsessed with green things. and i dont want to think or post about anything else. green foods. looking for a green chandelier and a green desk lamp and maybe a green and blue striped rug. drinking green tea and nibbling green pistachios. making potato gratin green with kale and chard.

green. searching, waiting, hoping to bring more green into my life. last night i mixed these greens for a salad with sesame dressing to go with this salmon and rice and also some blanched cauliflower. it was one of those happy dinners. the kids had tales to tell from being back at school. r and i are each working in a hundred directions, so lots of energy and laughter and enthusiasm for the food and each other and what we have going on in our lives. what i always hope a family dinner should be all about. but back to green. this week is dedicated to more green. more veg. more sustainable. more holistic. thinking, consuming, and working. tomorrow a green recipe, really green. later in the week, even more green. i've never dedicated a week to a color before, but maybe that is a reason enough to try it.

roasted acorn squash

i love a good winter squash as much as the next person, and maybe even a bit more. preferring butternut and kabocha squashes, i was never a big fan of acorn squash. i know i know, everyone loves them stuffed with all sorts of things. truthfully, i wanted to love them but found them a bit watery, less dense and flavorful than the others, sort of steamed tasting. well i finally figured out the secret. greater roasting surface area. these are fast and easy, once you get past the dissection stage where you cut them and scoop out the insides. and with the adorable ridges down the sides as a guide, it is as if the acorn squash is telling you how to slice it and cook it. the kids and the husband adored these, "they are like candy" and gobbled them up, even though i am usually the only one nibbling away at the roasted squash at dinner. really they are something between a french fry and candy: salty, crispy, rich and sweet. i served them with zucchini risotto and garden salad. another satisfyingly quick, hearty winter weeknight meal during a busy week. and hooray its friday. 3 concerts down, 1 to go, and a very exciting social event tomorrow. whatever your plans, have a great weekend! xo, g

roasted acorn squash

serves 4-6

2 nice firm unblemished acorn squash

olive oil

salt

yes only 3 ingredients. the essence of simplicity. preheat oven to 375 degrees farenheit. wash, dry and then halve the squash. scoop out the flesh and seeds in the hollow cavity. slice into wedges lengthwise. to season vegetables before roasting, i find it works best if you put them in a large bowl, drizzle with olive oil, swirl around in the bowl then salt with some nicely textured sea salt and swirl around again. place in appropriately sized roasting pan. again i love the ceramic ones, here i used a french gratin pan. place in the oven for 35-45 minutes or so. if i am in a hurry i set the oven to 400 degrees but they must be checked at 20 minutes depending on your oven. if they are browning too much, simply turn it down to 350 or 325. my current oven has a roast setting and really does a great job, my last oven did not and roasting vegetables cooked about 10 minutes slower with more burning.

spinach garlic pasta

taking time for dinner even with busy schedules this month is especially nice. loved the piece in NYT yesterday about the joys of a pot of water boiling on the stove. you can read it here. good things come from a pot of water boiling on the stove. you can make a whole dinner out of one pot of boiling water. like this breathtakingly simple spinach garlic pasta recipe. so ridiculously easy, light, tasty, unfussy. here are the ingredients: pasta, spinach, parmesan cheese, garlic, olive oil, water. molly's latest recipe on orangette reminded me to make this, hers has a similar rustic, simplistic spirit, but with prosciutto and butter, not spinach and olive oil. either way, cozy weeknight family dinner. grazie mille.

spinach garlic pasta

serves 4

1 lb dried or fresh pasta

12-16 oz fresh spinach

3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled

1 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese

2 glugs (TBSPs) extra virgin olive oil

a bit of salt for the pasta water

set the giant pot of water to boil. meanwhile smash a peel the cloves of garlic. salt the water. once the water is boiling furiously, place the fresh spinach in the pot. just for a second. scoop it out with a strainer. continue to drain spinach. add one glug of olive oil and then the pasta to the same pot of water, as long as it is boiling furiously again. it will of course be slightly green this water, perhaps if we are lucky, infusing your pasta with extra vitamins and minerals or perhaps a certain complexity of taste only spinach water can bring to the noodles. i notice no difference in taste, only a difference in the amount of pots i must clean and amount of water i must boil. i find it agreeable this dual pot use. while the pasta is cooking, chop the drained spinach. reserve. when the pasta is done, but still quite al dente, maybe even a little more al dente than usual, drain the pasta into a colander, reserve one to two cups of the twice used water, and and discard the rest. set the same pan on high heat, add the smashed garlic. let it roll around and sizzle in the pan for a minute or two, turn down the heat a bit so it doesn't burn. add in the spinach now. a bit of salt to taste. cook another minute. now add the drained pasta and the reserved water. cook for one minute. add in the cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese. serve immediately.

kabocha

today's friday photo and harbinger of autumn: the kabocha squash or japanese pumpkin. bright orange flesh, like a butternut, but with a rich creamy chestnut sort of texture. so delicious so many ways. simmered with a dashi-based sauce. roasted. in soba or udon soup. in japan, you can find them atop pastries and desserts and always with the skin intact, the green is so striking with the orange. don't know how i'll be using this one yet, but i am very much looking forward to it. it is great to have new ingredients to play with for inspiration, marvelous these seasons. have a lovely weekend.