Pappardelle with Bolognese Sauce

On Valentine’s Day, Alan and I decided to stay cozy at home and make some homemade pasta and bolognese sauce.  How romantic-o. Plus, I’d been craving a hearty meat sauce all week.  As the sauce simmered away, we cranked homemade pasta dough through the pasta maker he gave me for Christmas.  The dish turned out really good and we were so stuffed, we could barely move.  

Broccoli Rabe and Kalamata Olive Pesto

When I’m craving bitter greens, I turn to broccoli rabe, one of my favorite vegetables.  I think kalamata olives and broccoli rabe are such a great pairing.  One of my go-to meals to eat on a weeknight is Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe and Kalamata Olives.   A little while back I made Kale Pesto which was a unique way to eat kale, so I did the same with my favorite bitter green.

Ricotta Ravioli with Blueberry Pan Sauce

I had a childhood friend whose father went to a candy trade show every year and got to take home tons of the hottest new candy for her.  I loved candy so much that I had a candy wrapper collection in a shoebox, so naturally I was incredibly jealous of my friend and wished that I could go to a place filled with free candy.  Last week, the adult version of my childhood wish came true in the form of an invitation to Brooklyn Eats, a food and beverage trade show which supports Brooklyn’s food manufacturers and businesses.  I got to sample chocolate, jerky, cookies, sauces, jams, wraps, pastas and hors devours.  Needless to say, I didn’t need lunch that day.

BBQ Sides and Condiments

I started a brand new job this week at a company in Brooklyn that is doing some really cool things with locally farmed foods.  I am so excited that I finally found a place where I can merge my skills and my passion for food.  To celebrate, I decided to have a small BBQ celebration. I ended up cooking for about 12 hours straight in preparation.  When I start cooking, it’s hard to get me to stop.  I start rummaging through the fridge and cabinets looking for ingredients that I can turn into dishes.

Romesco Sauce (w/ Grilled Spring Onions)

Once again I found myself amongst friends and strangers scooping up romesco sauce with charred spring onions, stuffing them into my mouth with my bare hands and chasing them with gulps of bottomless rosé.  Yes, it was my second time at Back Forty West’s annual version of Calçotada, a Catalonian celebration of spring where a crap load of spring onions are blackened on a grill, dipped in romesco sauce and eaten in abundance.  

Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter

The end of October brought a fright-filled trifecta: the presidential debates, Halloween and Hurricane Sandy.  After the light drizzle that was Hurricane Irene, I was not too concerned about Sandy until the MTA shut down all public transportation.  I’ve never seen my city burdened by flooded subway stations, piles of upturned boats and cars, looting, gas shortages, week long power outages and whole blocks burned down and washed away.  My mom's neighborhood in Long Island is a mess of fallen trees, my Dad has been standing on hour-long lines everyday for gas to run his generator and my cousin unfortunately lost her house in the flooding but thankfully got out safely.  I heard one report of someone pulling a gun at a gas station in a fight for fuel and another report of Rockaways residents barricading their homes to protect themselves from looters.  I couldn’t help but think of the post-apocalyptic setting in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.  Hard hit areas including Red Hook, the Rockaways, Staten Island and parts of New Jersey are still in need of all the help and supplies they can get.  You can find information on donating and volunteering here.  I hope you can help bring some comfort to the victims of Sandy.

Basil Pesto

Besides songwriting, I never thought much about what I should do with my life.  When I put music on the back burner a few years ago, I started brainstorming career ideas.  For six months I was really excited about becoming a yoga instructor.  When that idea fizzled, I did research on starting an organizational consultant company.  Cleaning people's closets sounded boring so I moved on and started posting Craigslist ads for “songwriting instructor for children”.  After no replies, I drafted an outline for a self help book but realized that I would benefit more from reading one than writing one.

Herb, Olive and Caper Drizzle

Capers used to scare me because I thought they resembled alien pods, but now I appreciate these little pickled flower buds that burst with vinegar.  You still won’t catch me eating them out of the jar, but I think they add fabulous flavor to ham and gruyere sandwiches, sauces, and especially this Herb, Olive and Caper Drizzle.  This drizzle is great on crusty bread, fish, chicken, beef, roasted vegetables, eggs, you name it.

“So Much Parsley” Sauce

Did you ever make a dish that called for a few springs of parsley?  Did you let the rest of that parsley go bad and then throw it out because you’re like “what the heck am I gonna do with all this parsley”?  I have the same problem.  So here’s a recipe for a delicious and easy sauce that will do wonders for an ordinary piece of chicken, fish or meat (shown here over salmon, yum).