Springtime, Visits, Teeth and Pressies

These are the things I've been up to in the last month that have kept me away from the computer and, to a large extent, the stove. Here's the photo montage...

 

Miss Bray came to town, and we took advantage of the verdant bounty at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market--asparagus, peas, favas, potes, spring onions, watercress... all whipped into a rabbit stew dazzled up with a handful of fresh tarragon!

For dessert, we broke out Miss Kiwi's quadruplet baby ramekins for cherry clafoutis. Non-pitted cherries are definitely superior, flavor-wise and effort-wise, to pitted. I wish I could say that these stayed as airy and fluffy even after being out of the oven for 20 minutes, but... well... they were prettiest as pictured. 

Then I got my wisdom teeth out. All four at once. Go for the kill, right? One of my first meals "back" (pseudo-back) was homemade corn chowder with the first Cali corn of the season--how they can have fresh corn in late May is beyond me, but there it is. I had also been practically protein-free for a week and a half, so I loaded this up with bacon. All pureed, this was delectable and made my mouth feel better.

As a present to myself for getting through the tooth extraction, I took myself on a shopping spree to Sur La Table with the $500 gift card I won for my Pesto Pasta recipe on Saveur.com. I made out. Here's all the luxe loot I came home with. Favorites include the set of Schott crystal glassware, the small scanpan that makes the best fritatta ever, and the set of Sur La Table saucepans.

Mariquita Farms Mystery Box!

I just picked up my first Mystery Box--$25 for all this, which I slung over my shoulder and lugged home from Incanto, a few blocks down the street from home... thank you, Julia and Andy! What should I make for dinner?? Feeling like a giant, herbed-vinaigrette salad with roasted garlic bread crumbs, but pasta with wilted chicory could do the trick, too...

Seduction on the Stove

Here's what smells so damn good in the kitchen right now. It's the beginnings of sugo, or my great-grandmother's Abruzzese tomato sauce, which starts, as shown, with finely chopped salt pork and a bit of garlic browning in a pool of olive oil before beef and pork ribs get browned... before chopped onions, celery, bell pepper, parsley, celery leaf, basil all get mixed in and around.

The tomatoes come soon, but this part smells the most heavenly...

Holy Man, Holy Mother!!!!!

GUESS WHAT?!

I WON!

Saveur sent me a note today saying my recipe for my Parsley Pesto Pasta was a "huge, huge hit" with the editors, and they are going to post it today! Which means, dearest reader you, that you might just be here, reading this, thanks to them and that! My biggest squeeze of gratitude.

I will tell you that my blog is not full of professional, pretty photos, or many smart posts. This is my humble space for sharing what I love, which is being in my home kitchen and surrounded by good ingredients and friends and almost always a glass of wine. Thank you for visiting!

Radish Salad and Pea Soup with Chevre

I never got any presents like a giant bag of just-picked radishes from my neighbors at 223 Manhattan Ave. But I came home to that a few days ago in my new city!

This is part of the reason San Francisco is The Best. 

I am on a radish kick right now, so I felt pretty bowled over and ready to stuff my face with this recipe I've been ogling: http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/recipe-of-the-day-radish-salad/

I also felt the need to put the kibosh on a bag of frozen peas now that fresh ones are all up in my space, so I whizzed them together with homemade veggie stock, fresh mint and a healthy dose of salt and pepper.

Finally, I got a riotously tasty fresh chèvre from Bi-Rite (thank you, girl with short hair, for the rec as I stared blankly at the cheese wall). I dolloped it on the soup and also smeared that all over a baguette (for good measure) and called this my first Perfect Spring Dinner of 2011.

On the Menu in Heaven

Welcome to Heaven!

Menu for the Lord's table...

Your first course: 

 Pan-Seared Local Brussels Sprouts with 

Parmesan, Sea Salt, Black Pepper and Meyer Lemon Zest.

Still Life: Tacos

Last night I made a lemon pepper-crusted pork tenderloin with smashed new potatoes and mint as well as a roasted kale salad. Tonight, the pork was sliced thinly and heated quickly with a touch of stock and tangerine juice and smoked paprika, then covered in radishes, cilantro, onions and homemade guacamole. We also couldn't help but grate a bit of Irish cheddar over the whole mess. Tacos! One of my favorite meals. Witness the still life we were loathe to clean up after stuffing ourselves.