Fresh Tart

Asparagus is of course one of spring's best treats. Whether steamed, roasted, or sauteed, everyone adores asparagus snuggled up to eggs or salty ham or even better, both! But my personal favorite is butttery asparagus, especially showered with toasted nuts. This soup puts a good amount of asparagus to creamy use, with brown butter and pecans to gild the lily. A squeeze of lemon and fresh chives keep the gilding in check.

A soup this silky smooth and pretty seems fussy or even fancy, but it's really quite simple to pull together, 30 minutes from start to finish. Given that temps are reaching 90 degrees today, you could eat it chilled with a dollop of Greek yogurt or creme fraiche, with a crisp salad (that includes salty ham and/or a soft-cooked egg!) and welcome spring in style.

Recipe for Asparagus Soup with Pecans & Brown Butter at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

If you, like I, set strange challenges for yourself like to eat vegetables for three meals a day as often as possible, you will adore this recipe. It's a flavor- and color-packed way to start a day, but of course would make a terrific lunch or dinner. In my mind it exists in the realm of fried rice, but without the rice, so the focus stays on all of those lovely vegetables. (That said, feel free to add rice!)

Do you cook with coconut oil? It's so delicious, and so good for you, you'll find yourself reaching for it again and again when sauteeing vegetables or making breakfast treats like pancakes. I love that it adds a Thai-inspired fragrance for zero effort - build on that with Thai curry paste, fish sauce, fresh lime, and basil and you'll have a pan full of magic in just a few minutes. Assuming that CSA boxes and farmers markets will not be bereft of produce all season long, this is a terrific dish for plowing through a load of vegetables - mix and match with whatever is showing up.

If you don't eat eggs, you could easily make this dish vegan by substituting soft tofu for the eggs. Scramble away! If you aren't vegan and have leftover chicken or pork or steak from dinner the night before, add it! And certainly substitute whatever nuts you like best. Very adaptable.

Recipe for Thai-Style Fried Not-Rice at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

After a snackful weekend loaded with the usual Super Bowl suspects - raise your hand if you too had con queso with tortilla chips - today I was ready for a pile of fresh, tender-crisp vegetables. This is my go-to stir-fry, flavorful, light, and adaptable in every which way. Feel free to substitute or add pea pods, peppers, mushrooms, eggplant, summer squash...basically any tender vegetable that loves a quick saute.

Ditto the protein, by the way. I love beef with broccoli, but chicken breast, pork, or tofu are all stir-fry classics. The trick for tender meat is to "velvet" it in a slurry of egg white, cornstarch, and wine while you chop vegetables. I add a generous pinch of Chinese five-spice powder to the mix because I crave the stuff. Typically a heady mixture of cloves, star anise, cinnamon, pepper, and fennel (variations abound, found in most grocery stores), it's an easy way to add a big punch of flavor to a quick stir-fry.

This is not a saucy dish, but there are definitely enough pan juices to enjoy spooned over rice or noodles. If you choose noodles, cook and drain them, then dump them into the wok with the meat and vegetables and toss. Lightly crushed peanuts or toasted almonds are a delicious garnish on pretty much anything, but particularly vegetables alongside a soft, chewy starch. Go for layers of flavor! Go for layers of texture! Go!

Recipe for Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

I'll confess, I meant to get this recipe to you before New Year's Eve. But in the crush of the holidays, and illness, it did not happen and...well, Happy New Year? The good news is that New Year's Eve is not the only winter night to invite friends for dinner, and this easy appetizer is meant to share with friends.

This is a pretty old school recipe at this point, given roasted garlic's heyday (perhaps even Kardashian-level overexposure?) around the turn of this century. I think it's fair to say that we all know that garlic becomes gorgeously sweet and spreadable when roasted; but add fresh herbs, tangy cheese, and a splash of broth and you create a rich swiping sauce that elevates the whole to party food that stands the test of time.

I first copied this recipe from Bon Appetit magazine, onto a recipe card, as a newlywed party thrower and it quickly became a much-passed-around favorite. Forgive me the nostalgia of feeling like my mom, circa 1972, sharing her recipe for her creamy dried beef dip. Except that my mom had way cool hostess kimonos and I tend to entertain in jeans. (I definitely need a hostess kimono...)

You can roast the garlic ahead by a couple of hours and hold it at room temperature. Then, when your guests threaten imminent arrival, crumble on the cheese and set it in the oven to melt. You'll want to serve this warm, with good bread, and a glass of bubbles.

Recipe for Baked Garlic with Rosemary & Blue Cheese at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

I just returned last night from a weekend of eating my way through New York. While we had a killer time eating very special things, I thought on several occasions...I eat better than this in Minneapolis. What?! But yes! I've been thinking this on the last few trips I've taken, especially pork dishes, which I declare: Minneapolis has conquered. If you're a regular at Butcher & the Boar, Corner Table, The Craftsman, Piccolo, Heartland, The Bachelor Farmer, Haute Dish - plus many, many other spots in town (name them below, please) - you are eating better pork than New Yorkers.

Yeah, I just said that.

In fact, the way my week played out last week now seems supernaturally designed to illustrate just this point. I was invited to the staff meal prepared by Doug Flicker of Piccolo Restaurant, to promote his inclusion in a new cookbook, Come In, We're Closed: An Invitation to Staff Meals at the World's Best Restaurants. Co-authors Christine Carroll and Jody Eddy spend two years traveling the world, enjoying staff meals (the meal served to restaurant staff before service) in 25 iconic restaurants. Any jealousy I felt about the authors terrific idea was wiped away by chatting at the dinner with Eddy, who is lovely and a bit in awe herself at what she and Carroll experienced and achieved.

Flicker's staff meal was a buffet of rib-stickin' Southern love, with piles of pulled pork, collard greens, red beans & rice, coleslaw, and cornbread. I meant to eat lightly, taste things, then go home to cook dinner for my family. Uh no. I saw the spread, squealed, and proceeded to pile my plate high, trying to take pictures while balancing the bounty, and tucked into some of the best pulled pork this pork lover has ever had. And collard greens! I confess that I also have a soft spot for collard greens, but these were such a treat. Even though the collards recipe is not included in the book, the recipes for Cast-Iron Cornbread with Maple-Bacon Butter, Celery Root and Almond Slaw, Mr. Pickle's Pulled Pork with Johnny Two Socks' BBQ Sauce, and Slow-Cooked Red Beans with Ham Hocks are included. Eddy generously shared the recipe for the collard greens, so armed with this, and the book, I have my next dinner party already planned.

A few days after the Piccolo staff meal, I sat my Minnesota self down at Red Rooster Harlem, the highly-acclaimed fusion-soul food restaurant of Aquavit chef Marcus Samuelsson. Back in the day, when Aquavit still graced Minneapolis, it was one of my favorite restaurants. I was seriously excited to eat my way through the menu at Red Rooster, but our meal was...not good. I'm not the only one who thought so - we were a group of 8 disappointed diners - but I knew that I was very much comparing my meal to the staff meal at Piccolo, wishing I were back enjoying that meal...

So hey. I love you NYC, and I'll be back soon to eat and be inspired and come back with a million ideas. In the mean time, I'll be eating just beautifully in Minneapolis, thank you.

Recipe for Linh Ho's Collard Greens, via Chef Doug Flicker of Piccolo Restaurant, at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

Despite our first frost, there are still plenty of tomatoes kicking around! Make a double batch of this easy soup and freeze it for a mid-winter's treat. Or eat it all hot from the pot, which is a good plan too. I make this soup all season long by roasting tomatoes as I pick them, stashing them in the fridge, then at week's end simmering it all into a batch of soup. You could freeze batches of roasted tomatoes as well, see mid-winter's treat mentioned above.

It's always great fun to enjoy tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich so if that's what you're in the mood for - back-to-school and chilly nights and such - skip the croutons and cream and grill away with cheese and butter. Slide a slice of tomato or a smear of tomato jam into the middle of the sandwich for a vertically integrated tomato explosion. Killer.

I left the cream in the version pictured, then fried up socca (chickpea flour pancakes) to eat as a warm (gluten-free) flatbread with my soup. Bits of crispy sage, a sprinkle of garlic scape salt, lots of freshly ground black pepper, and an extra drizzle of olive oil made for a fast treat, one of my very favorites.

Recipe for Roasted Tomato Soup at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

If you're a fan of deli-style pickles, then you're a fan of salt-brine fermented pickles. I am too, I am too! In fact, I'll never forget the first time I had fat slices of salty fermented pickles at Upstairs Downstairs Deli in Madison, Wisconsin - bright green and uber-garlicky, I couldn't stop eating them. (What are these? Why are they different? Why are they so addictive? I pretty much drove my college roommates nuts with my constant food chatter and questions.) As much as I love the bite of a vinegar pickle, the milder sourness of fermented pickles does make them go down like buttah.

Bonus: They're incredibly easy to make! Fermented pickles require no vinegar - the tanginess is a by-product of fermentation, which happens with very little effort, right on your counter. Feel free to add any combination of your favorite pickling spices - coriander seeds, mustard seeds, chile flakes, cardamom pods, black peppercorns, allspice, fresh chiles, cloves - or keep them really simple with just dill and garlic. Some recipes suggest adding a few grape leaves, as their tannins help keep pickles crisp. I like the idea if you get around to sealing the jars for later eating, but honestly we devour them so quickly, it's never an issue.

I pretty much smell like a pickle lately, cranking out vinegary & fermented batches of pickled corn, beets, green beans, peaches, watermelon rind, radishes, cauliflower, and peppers, with my Kitchen in the Market Provisions class partner chef Scott Pampuch. In fact we're teaching a Pickling the Market class in just a couple of weeks, on Saturday, August 11. Join us for cocktails and brunch as we wander through the market grabbing what looks good and fresh and then...pickling it! You will leave stuffed with treats both sweet and savory, as well as with more than enough tips to get pickling at home. I hope to see you!

Until then, definitely set a batch of CSA or farmers' market pickles to fermenting...go!

Recipe for Fermented Cucumber Pickles at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

I posted a chimichurri recipe here once before, back in February of 2011, upon returning from a trip to Costa Rica. I fell into a deep craving while on that trip, eating the local twist on this classic Argentian sauce on everything that I touched. While the recipe that I posted is bright and snappy, I've grown to prefer this version, mellowed with salt water (salmuera) via the fantastic cookbook Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way by Francis Mallmann.

Not only is this sauce a perfect way to use up bunches of fresh parsley and oregano from the garden, it sits nicely in the fridge for 2-3 weeks, improving with age. Spoon it over strips of steak or vegetables hot off the grill, wrap in fresh corn tortillas, and feast away. Or, make everyone's favorite potato salad by tossing still-warm new potatoes, boiled in their jackets, with the chimichurri and showering the whole with chopped hard-cooked eggs. While the sauce is traditionally served with beef steak, it's equally delicious served with grilled chicken or fish.

Happy grilling 4th everyone!

Francis Mallmann's recipe for Chimichurri at TC Taste/Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

Perhaps it's cliche that I read MFK Fisher's The Gastronomical Me and wanted to immerse myself in the world of food, but that's OK. Who wouldn't want to do exactly that after reading that sexy, scrumptious book? My goodness that woman could write, my mouth waters (and my heart swoons) just thinking about it.

There's one passage in particular that has had me making simple cauliflower gratins for years. I purposely don't look back at the specifics, I just count on how incredible she made cauliflower roasted with cream and Gruyere sound, swiped through with crusty bread and enjoyed with cold wine.

Lord.

So here's my version, so simple, so completely gluten-free, so much better than the pasta dish I served to Nathan and John tonight (in my opinion). I threw in some arugula leaves this evening because I had them, but you wouldn't need to include them.

Cauliflower Gratin
Serves 4 as a side or 2 as a main course

1 Tbsp. soft butter
1 head cauliflower, cored, separated into 1-inch florets
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c. heavy cream
fresh whole nutmeg
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 c. freshly grated Gruyere, Parmesan, or other favorite cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Smear soft butter into a tart pan. Sprinkle minced garlic across the bottom of the pan.

Bring a large pot of nicely salted water to boil. Add the cauliflower and boil for 3-5 minutes, until cauliflower is tender-crisp. Drain thoroughly in a colander, then transfer cauliflower to tart pan, distributing evenly.

Pour cream over cauliflower. Grate a bit of fresh nutmeg over the cauliflower, then sprinkle lightly with a little salt and several grinds of black pepper. Top with cheese.

Bake gratin for 40-45 minutes, until light golden brown. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes. Serve warm.

I made this colorful dish for Christmas dinner and am just getting around to sharing it with you now. I'd like to say that I sat down and thought about everyone's favorite vegetables and what would be pretty with the rest of the meal but honestly...I got rushed, and behind, and realized awfully late that I'd said I would bring a vegetable dish out to my Aunt Mary's farm. I was grateful to find a kabocha squash, a head of red cabbage, and a spot of Parmesan cheese in the cooler.

Merry Christmas to me! Seriously.

When I bring a dish to someone else's home, my goal is for it to be at least partially prepared ahead of time to minimize freaking the hostess out with the need for a cutting board, pans, and precious space on a crowded cooktop. I also knew that our meal was going to be awfully rich - standing rib roast, creamy potatoes, all the goodness of a holiday meal. This gratin exists in the realm of a pan of sauteed vegetables, with just a bit of cheese to tie it all together.

If you haven't roasted a kabocha squash before, you're in for such a treat! The rind is quite soft - edible even, although I confess I have yet to eat it myself - and the flesh is flavorful, smooth, and just-sweet. I predict it will be your favorite new squash. The play of smooth, sweet squash with still-crunchy cabbage is lovely with a roast. Or atop polenta for a meatless dinner.

Recipe for Red Cabbage & Squash Gratin at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly Magazine.