Garden Update

on the left: my first (next generation) pea
on the right: tuesday night's bounty (shut it- we make do with what we've got)

I am Gravlax, of the Viking Brooklyn Sea

What is gravlax anyway you might ask. Well, it's cured salmon. Not smoked - but dry cured in a highly concentrated salt, sugar and dill mixture (I added a few other things). It has a fresher taste than smoked salmon and has an extremely delicate and buttery texture. The term gravlax, or graavilohi, in Finnish (from whence my relatives originate -- if you don't believe me, check out the photo of my Papa a few posts down. That guy is a Finn) basically means - salmon dug into the ground. grav = grave/ lax = salmon. This is a pretty ancient tradition. Fishermen would salt the salmon and bury it in the sand where it would ferment. Thankfully, there wasn't much fermentation taking place in my temperature regulated refrigerator, nor did I attempt to bury it anywhere other than in a shallow baking dish, however it did cure quite successfully. I feel slightly more authentically Scandinavian now. I even made a traditional mustard sauce.

Cockles Oreganata

Cockles are a lot like Manila clams, and can be substituted for recipes that call for clams, like one of my favorite dishes: clams oreganata. Except instead of baking them, I made an heirloom tomato and fresh oregano base with butter and white wine and then steamed the cockles open in the sauce and served with freshly toasted breadcrumbs and parmesan on top. with lots of extra bread for dipping.

The next best thing to a pumpkin...

zucchini squash baked and stuffed with israeli couscous, parmesan and sweet pea salad.

Stalking the Sweeter Things in Life

Rhubarb Berry Ginger Crumble... my chaotic (but tasty) version of a pie. A pile of pie. :)

A Man and His Garden

So when I set out every year to have a halfway decent garden, I have to first come to terms with the fact that whatever modest harvest I end up with, will inevitably pale in comparison to my grandfather's garden. Every year he has a magnificent garden full of tomatoes, squash, cabbage, cucumbers, cantaloupe (this year's wild card), chard and wild rhubarb. I am okay with this :) More than anything, his garden gives me the added motivation to see what I can get to grow in a pot or two on my fire escape. However, for the sake of documenting all things inspirational and food related, I am including this terrific photo of my Papa with a giant bunch of rhubarb that he was more than happy to give to me (since technically, the rhubarb season has passed*, my grandmother was done making strawberry rhubarb pies til next season, and I was making his job of clearing the patch a wee bit easier)




* spring really is the best time for rhubarb -- however, I find that in a somewhat cooler climate like northern mass - the shoots stay tender til mid summer and are not at all woody as you'd expect. more about rhubarb later...

We need a bigger cooler

Just returned from up north and .... you guessed it! S.S. Lobster. Ahoy! The Sous Chef is now officially a charter member. I am beginning to feel like every time we go home for a visit, the sheer volume of seafood we transport back to Brooklyn multiplies. See Above. The great Alaskan King Crab. Good with just about anything - but our favorite is as follows:
Plain and Simple (with a little butter and lemon)