My little walk turned into a 40 block trek and for one slight moment, a total of half a block, I smelled spring. It has officially arrived in New York City. It was a brief moment, just past a pile of garbage bags that the air lightened and suddenly Dogwood mingled with early purple violets. Blossoms are out; spring has arrived.

With the weather warming, D and I begin to think about our city escapes: camping. Just when the weather turns perfect, D plans our camping destination while I plan the (cheese) farms to hit up for produce along the way. Interspersed with our camping shenanigans are the precious city BBQs. Few and far between since outdoor space is a rarity, when they do come, they are perfect: on a rooftop, in a side alleyway, in a 5 foot plot of grass next to the front stoop, on the fire escape, and if you are lucky, on the coveted balcony.

So it is with these spring thoughts that D and I whip up our own little (indoor) BBQ. It is possibly the classic New York City diner meal (next to the corned beef sandwich): a burger with french fries and a black and white milkshake. The (best) black and white milkshakes, like the black and white cookie, are only found in the tri-state area [cough] — New York City. On a trip home to Chicago one year I entered a diner and ordered one. I received a confused look and returned it with a smitten: “vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce!?” Geesh, how can you not know?! But attempted (and tasted) in diners west and north, the best are found in the City. The black and white milkshake has the delicate pleasures of vanilla ice cream with that extra sweet richness of chocolate sauce. Like the classic hot fudge sundae or chocolate milk, you can make it as subtle or rich as desired. An even better play on this drink? The beershake– really, it’s tasty. Or, the whiskyshake, which my New Orleans friend calls “milk punch.” The rest of the meal has received ink:

The Burger (made with caramelized onions and mushrooms; no cheese)
The Sweet Potato French Fries (made with salt, no cumin)

And without further ado…

BLACK & WHITE MILKSHAKE
Makes: 2 servings. Active Time= 5 minutes.
* 1-½ cups vanilla ice cream
* 1 Tbl chocolate sauce
* 2-½ cups milk

1) Blend all ingredients and serve immediately

THE BEERSHAKE
Makes: 2 servings. Active Time= 5 minutes.
* 1-½ cups chocolate ice cream
* 1 cup milk
* 1 pint good porter beer

1) Blend the ice cream with the milk.
2) Add beer, stir with spoon. (Do not attempt to blend the beer as it will produce a foamshake.

THE WHISKYSHAKE
Makes: 2 servings. Active Time= 5 minutes.
* 1-½ cups vanilla ice cream
* 1 Tbl chocolate sauce
* 2-½ cups milk
* 4 oz preferred whisky

1) Blend all ingredients and serve immediately

The dear Sweetnick’s asked me to piggyback on an orange theme for this week’s ARF roundup. Being that Sweetnick’s was the first food blogger I befriended, the fact that I’ve been participating in the ARF roundup since its inception and the two of us are almost neighbors, I was more than happy to oblige.

I dared myself with a pancake. D and I have our pancake du jour pretty much settled and it was with a little trepidation that I picked up this recipe. But I will say, it was a success. Because really, what is better than the addition of fruits and nuts to a meal? [Thinking time…. ] Okay, maybe chocolate, caviar, wine…all three? But let us not be so decadent! Fruit is right up there with the natural nectars of the gods. So now, if any of you are those naughty breakfast-skippers you can have your breakfast, dinner and your dessert too– all in one meal!

While the usual fruit addition to pancakes is usually banana or blueberry, the use of orange was quite an elegant one when presented. The result was that while our tried and true pancake will always win out, these were a nice break in the routine.

NOTES: As I am used to pancakes with a little more substance, I think this batter alone is a little bland. The orange zest really perked it up– I even doubled the zest– and believe this is a necessary addition. The nuts gave a much fuller flavor to the batter and were great crunchy surprises throughout, I would not go without these. I had no almonds and substituted pinenuts (walnuts would also be tasty). The result was a milky nutty flavor throughout. I found the nuts a little overwhelming and would lessen the amount; not only in the batter, but the syrup as well [especially if you are looking to cut the fat content]. Overall, the pancakes were nice and fluffy, as a pancake should be and a good change to my usual cornmeal-molasses pancakes.

This is the recipe as it appears on the Honeywell website. Note that the provided times for these pancakes were off for me. These took me about 50 minutes total active time (including prep work). You can find other orangey recipes there as well.

ORANGE-ALMOND BUCKWHEAT PANCAKES
Makes: 6 servings, 2 (4-inch) pancakes each. Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes.
PANCAKES:
* 1 cups sliced almonds*
* 1 whole orange
* 1 egg
* 2/3 cup 100% orange juice
* 1 cup 2% reduced fat milk
* 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil or canola oil
* ¾ cup buckwheat flour
* 1 cup all purpose flour
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* ¼ teaspoon salt
* Non-stick cooking spray

1) Preheat oven to 375°F. Spread almonds over a cookie sheet and bake 5 to 7 minutes until nicely browned. Remove and cool at room temperature. Use grater to grate zest of the orange, while careful not to grate into the white pith. Peel remainder of skin and slice between membranes to separate each orange segment. Set aside for garnish.
2) Combine egg, orange juice, milk and oil in medium bowl and mix well. In large bowl, combine both flours, baking powder and salt with reserved orange zest.
3) Add liquid into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly while being sure to leave some lumps. Set aside ¼ cup almonds for syrup, then gently mix remaining ¾ cup almonds into batter until ingredients are combined, but still lumpy. Do not over-beat or stir until smooth as this will make pancakes tough.
4) Ladle batter onto hot, non-stick skillet coated with cooking spray and cook until some bubbles begin to appear on top, about 3 minutes. Flip cake over and cook 2 minutes. Serve immediately with orange-almond syrup, and garnish with orange segments.

*Note: While almonds provide a healthy fat, this ingredient may be removed to reduce the recipe’s fat content by 18 grams.

ORANGE-ALMOND SYRUP:
* 1 cup 100% orange juice
* 1 cinnamon stick
* ½ cup light maple syrup
* ¼ cup reserved roasted almonds

1) Simmer orange juice and cinnamon stick in small saucepot over medium heat until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 15 minutes.
2) Add maple syrup. Remove cinnamon stick, stir in reserved roasted almonds and serve warm.

I went weekly into certain groceries, asking for sunchokes, more often than not, I was pointed to artichokes. “No! They look like potatoes crossed with gingerroot,” I would lament. But everyone just shrugged. Once I received: “we’ll be getting those in next week.” The next week, I was again pointed to artichokes.

With the sunchoke season quickly coming to a close (the best time to get fresh sunchokes is October through March) I came to accept that I would go through another season without my own bounty. Having stopped my search, low and behold, I finally found them! Doesn’t it always seem true that your desire is fulfilled when you stop searching for it?

I packed them up and brought them home, ready to make a soup as creamy and delicious as a potato soup. So why not use potatoes already? Well, simply put, sunchokes contain more health benefits than potatoes; diabetics often substitute sunchokes for potatoes.

Sunchokes are the root of a plant that resembles a sunflower and the name is derived from the Italian word sunflower: girasole. Sunchokes have a nutty and slightly sweet flavor, allowing them to pair nicely with almost everything from bacon to nutmeg.

Sunchokes store carbohydrates in a form of inulin, a starch that our bodies do not use. Because of this, they are filling, but are not absorbed by our bodies, and show indications of assisting in blood sugar control. Sunchoke flour is also available in some specialty stores, making a good substitute for people allergic to wheat. They are high in iron and potassium and low in fats. Sunchokes also contain a healthy bacteria, lactobacilli , which provide balance in the intestinal track and aid in digestion.

Don’t shy away next time you see this tasty tuber. It is delicious and good for you. If you make it in this soup recipe below, as D will tell you, it is the best soup yet, sweet, creamy and extremely filling on its own– just don’t tell D you made it unless you want a dinner guest!

SUNCHOKE SOUP
Serving Size= about 12. Active Time= 25 minutes. Inactive Time= 45 minutes.
* 3 ham hocks, have your butcher cut them up
* 8-10 slabs of bacon
* 1-½ lbs sunchokes, scrubbed and cut into 1-inch chunks (no need to peel)
* 1 medium white onion, chopped
* 2 carrots, chopped
* 2 stalks celery + leaves, chopped + extra leaves if you have them
* 10 cups water or leftover vegetable juices
* 2 cups buttermilk

1) Turn the oven to 400F. Place the ham hocks on a roasting pan and place them in the oven while you prepare the soup. In a soup pot on medium-high heat, brown the bacon, about 8 minutes. Once complete, carefully using a paper towel, absorb about half of the bacon fat, leave the rest for the soup.
2) Add onions, carrots and celery. Sauté 8 minutes with the bacon and bacon fat.
3) Remove ham hocks and add them to the pot (turn the oven off). Add sunchokes and water (or vegetable juices). Bring to a boil then cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook until sunchokes are soft when pierced with a fork; 30-45 minutes.
4) Remove ham hocks and bacon, set aside to cool. While ham is cooling, carefully in batches, or with a handheld blender, purée the contents of the pot. Add buttermilk; stir.
5) Pick through the ham hocks and remove any meat, throw it back into the soup. Chop the bacon into bite size pieces, return to pot.
6) Garnish with parsley or 1 Tbl buttermilk.

In the non-food world of WCB, Eat Stuff is with us again. Last week Whiskey terrorized the nation. Today, we find sister Kitty BoJangles, avoiding the chaos in her favorite sunny window… caught red-handed eating my Aloe plant!