Fresh Tart

I know, I know, I should have posted this before Easter, but lamb with gremolata is lovely all spring (year) long, so make it this week instead! I had let gremolata - a relish of minced lemon zest, garlic, and parsley - slip out of my rotation but it's back with a vengeance, thanks to helping out at a Cooking the Market class at Kitchen in the Market last week.

Have you ever taken a Cooking the Market class? Led by co-owner chef Molly Herrmann, the classes are pure improvisation, cooking with imagination and instinct, the perfect cooking class in my mind because it captures exactly the joy (and reality!) of cooking at home. Molly leads the class through a tour of Midtown Global Market, pointing out potential ingredients from The Salty Tart, Holy Land Market, Grassroots Gourmet, Produce Exchange, and El Burrito Mercado. The goal is to step out of your comfort zone and experiment with new ingredients while a chef provides guidance and assistance. Add music and wine and you've got a winning evening out with friends, coworkers, or family.

 

Last week's gremolata topped a dish our group named Mediterranean Tacos: socca (chickpea flour pancakes) topped with harissa, crispy Brussels sprouts, fried haloumi cheese, and preserved lemon gremolata. So lovely! And a pretty terrific Meatless Monday dinner if you need ideas...

You may have had gremolata atop osso bucco, where its bright, fresh zing is a traditional contrast to silky braised meat. But you don't have to think hard to imagine that it is just fabulous tossed with warm (or cold) new potatoes with olive oil, or spooned over a pan of sauteed peas, or swirled into soup, or sprinkled over seared fish...on and on. Add mint if you like - terrific with lamb, of course - or shallots instead of garlic. Some recipes call for adding anchovies which would probably make the best egg salad sandwich ever (still have Easter eggs to use up?) For me, when spring is frustratingly near but not yet quite here, punches of color and zest are not just welcome, but essential.

Recipe for Grilled Lamb Chops with Gremolata at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

I made the original saltcod version of these fritters via Andrew Zimmern's Kitchen Adventures and watched my friends and family devour them. I love fritters! I love anything fried! So I created two versions - both glutenful and gluten-free - and was delighted when taste testers couldn't tell the difference between the two.

If fritters - sweet or savory - aren't in your rotation, they should be. They come together dangerously quickly, as in you'll find yourself from craving to stuffing your face with crispy fried goodness in about 15 minutes. I have visions of frying up a batch for my girlfriends post-cocktails. In fact, that should happen tomorrow. Hmm...

I worked out a ham variation for those of you who will soon have slabs of it leftover post-Easter dinner. Definitely make ham soup, but save a spot for these as well. Fritters make a lovely nibble with bubbles or a light dinner alongide salad or a perfect accompaniment to...soup! It might be a bit over-the-top to serve ham fritters with ham soup but maybe not. They would for sure be delicious alongside a tomato version.

Recipe for Ham Fritters at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

Pretty laid back holiday eating 'round these parts.  I haven't busted out any of my favorite Kosher for Passover recipes for my stepdaughter yet this year, maybe I will on Wednesday (popovers, brownies, matzo ball soup, or latkes?).  Saturday night we just had K for P pasta, with marinara, and a pan full of sauteed vegetables.  Easy.  Nice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday Stacey and Cooper joined us to celebrate Easter with a relatively new tradition - breaking my son's third-annual Lenten pizza fast.  The last couple of years we were in a hotel on Easter Sunday, scoring room-service pizza-for-breakfast before heading for the airport.  It was nice to be home this year and make something homemade (and more wholesome!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made a simple and delicious whole wheat crust (pulled the recipe from here; recommend it highly - it makes three baking-sheet-sized very thin crust pizzas, just the way we like 'em).  Pizzas are a nice do-ahead meal - I made the dough and par-baked the crusts earlier in the day, as well as simmered a simple tomato sauce (garlic, red pepper flakes, oregano), caramelized onions (thyme), and sauteed mushrooms (sage).  Nathan and Cooper take their pizza with pepperoni and green olives, but I made a veggier/lighter version for us grown ups (fontina, onion, mushroom, pine nuts).

 

 

 

 

 

 

To keep things on the lighter side, we just had veggies for appetizers - guacamole with jicama and red bell pepper, and a steamed artichoke with a simple dip (mayo whisked with a bit of Dijon mustard and fresh lemon juice).  With a big salad (topped with a little crispy prosciutto and Parm), and berries for dessert, a tasty if unconventional Easter dinner.

Happy Bunny to You! Ahh, home. Nathan and I got off the plane from San Francisco this afternoon and went straight to my Dad & Susanna's for Easter dinner with my aunt Mary & uncle Bruce, as well as Stacey& Cooper. Couldn't ask for a sweeter way to ease back in to winter, you know? Garlicky, crusty leg of lamb with cucumber-yogurt sauce; creamy, deadly pommes dauphinoise (a Meyer-family favorite, I believe originating with my aunt Jean, recipe posted in comments below); fresh, warm bread; salad with pears and pecans; and lemon pie with whipped cream. Yeah, the food in San Fran was incredible, but home does not suck when Susanna and Mary are cooking! Even after four consecutive 70-degree sunny days, in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, it is (mostly) good to be home - no small task, thank you Susanna & Dad!

So, back to San Francisco for a moment...Nathan and I opened our Food Adventure with a Chinese dim sum feast at Tian Sing, near our hotel and very tasty. Shatteringly crisp spring rolls, delicate steamed shrimp dumplings, pillowy-soft steamed barbecue pork baos, and garlicky, crunchy Chinese broccoli... Happy start indeed, woo hoo!

Thursday we hopped on a cable car to always-hoppin' Fisherman's Wharf. It just happened to be lunchtime, so we ducked into In-N-Out Burger before the madness hit (and oh did it hit, about three minutes after we ordered), a major highlight for Nathan. Easy enough to order at this California fast-food superstar - the menu consists of burgers and fries, baby, burgers and fries. Fresh beef + fresh-cut potatoes = deliciousness. We walked off the burger-y excess (ack) along the waterfront, cruising various piers, parks, and shops for the entire, sunny afternoon.

Friday we boarded a ferry for a tour of Angel Island and Alcatraz. The appropriately named Angel Island - as in, heavenly - is the largest island in the bay and pretty much one of the most stunning places I've ever seen. (Nathan and I ate a picnic lunch alongside this charming little cove, with a hill of fragrant eucalyptus trees behind us.) Alcatraz is stunning too, while at the same time entirely creepy and depressing. The audio walking tour is a must-do, lively and fascinating, narrated by gravelly-voiced former guards and inmates and punctuated with (very, sometimes overly!) realistic sound effects.

We made it back to the hotel just in time to be picked up for dinner by my cousin Blake, who lives in San Franciso proper with his wife Tegan, daughter Gracyn (5), and son Knox (3). Blake and Knox (only the boys were able to join us for dinner) whisked us off to Sausalito (over the Golden Gate Bridge, woo hoo!) for bay-side deliciousness at Fish. Nathan had his first fish-n-chips dinner ever (thumbs up), while Knox enjoyed "chicken"-n-chips (wink), and I downed yummy grilled-fish tacos.

Saturday, sweet Saturday, we toyed with the idea of renting a convertible to drive up the coast, through wine country hills, and back to the city to catch all the breath-taking sights and scents of rural NoCal. (We decided we needed two more days - one to drive north of the city, one to drive south, to visit my aunt Jean and uncle Del - Blake's parents - in Carmel. Next time...) But we settled on an even better idea, thanks to Blake's suggestion to head first thing for the famous Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market. Oh Lord, if only we all had access to such glory! A beautiful bounty of fresh, locally grown produce and meat, available year-round (!), along the waterfront to make it, you know, ridiculously (painfully) gorgeous. Man, it was just insane. OK, I was just insane, walking around completely jealous of the locals casually buying fresh flowers, crusty bread, fresh pastries, organic meats, fresh fish and shellfish, artisanal cheeses, Napa Valley wines, local beers, fresh vegetables (including a whole stand of wild mushrooms!) and fruits. Picture our Minneapolis Farmers' Market (which I love) about twenty times more sophisticated and lovely. Foodie. Heaven.

And then...Mexican tasties (yes, here I go again), giddily ordered at Mijita Cocina Mexicana, a permanent cafe in the Ferry Building. Fresh, authentic, a little Mexican cafe like this would clean up in Minneapolis, don't you think? I mean, I know there are lots of yummy little taquerias around, which I've admittedly totally under-explored, but this place was so accessible, and so real, I couldn't help but sigh a bit knowing there wasn't quite an equal 'round these parts. Which is probably a good thing, in the name of moderation and such... (After chowing down on carnitas with tomatillo salsa; a fresh masa quesadilla filled with cheese, epazote, and roasted chiles; guac (of course); and chilaquiles drizzled with crema and served alongside creamy beans, we were a bit, uh, full. Good thing there's such a huge, cool Chinatown in which to walk off a Mexican feast!)

Soooo...as I said, we're back in the black-n-white photo we call home, and it's...good? Lovely Easter dinner definitely smoothed the transition. A good night's sleep never hurts. It's a little sad that Spring Break '08 will soon be but a happy memory, but hopefully a spring of our own is coming to distract us - soon?!