I wait all winter for fresh fruit. Those imports that come from Chile, Mexico, Australia and other parts of the globe simply do not taste as good as the local stuff. Part of it is because fruits and vegetables bought in the grocery travel on average two weeks and 1,500 miles to reach your plate. This means they are picked well before ripe and sprayed with ethylene gas to appear ripe when they reach the markets, though are a far cry from tasting ripe. The biggest victim of this method is probably the tomato.

Local food obviously travels less to reach you making it more environmentally friendly. It also keeps the consumer in touch with the seasons. Why don’t apples taste as good in July? Where does all the acorn squash go in May? If food must travel less to reach its destination it will (hopefully) be picked closer to ripeness– or when fully ripe. So local food tastes better. To find out more about local food go here.

If you purchase from farm stands or greenmarkets even better: you have an opportunity to talk with the person who actually produced your food. This allows you to find out their farming methods and philosophy. Often times, this produce can be found low-spray or organic. To find out more about organic food go here.

The best food I have ever eaten has been the stuff I picked myself. A peach direct from the tree, arugula from my garden buckets and apples in an orchard.

The other weekend D and I went strawberry picking. I cannot remember the last time I picked strawberries but it was definitely a time when I was closer to Earth. Let’s just say a 4 inch plant is not a small distance from 5ft 11in me. 3 hours of squats will do more to your thighs than you think, especially when you rely on your legs to carry you around the city and up and down the subway stairs.

Picking fruits and vegetables connects me to more than the Earth. It makes me aware of how difficult not just farming, but especially harvesting is. Spend a few hours in 100 degree heat breaking corn from the stalks and you will see what I mean.

As D and I at times crawled around the field we popped a few of those sun-ripe and ultra sweet berries for a tasting. One taste was all we needed to let greed take over. 4 quarts, 3 hours and a belly full of berries later we were on our way to a vineyard for a little relaxation before the drive home.

The results? One quart went to my father and the other 3 were broken into 2 piles: “Eat Now” and “Savor a Bit.” A few days later both Eat Now Savor a Bot were resorted, sliced and transferred into a third “Use Me” pile. Use Me became the items pictured below: Strawberry Lemon-Limeade, Strawberry Scones and Strawberry Ice Cream.

Strawberry Lemon-Limeade
Makes about 1.5 quarts. Active time= 20 minutes
Juice of 4 lemons
Juice of 3 limes
1 cup strawberries, loosely chopped
Simple Syrup to taste

1) Make simple syrup: Place 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water in a pan over medium-high heat. Let simmer for 10 minutes.
2) While simple syrup is simmering, juice lemons and limes. Place the lemon juice, lime juice and strawberries in a 2 quart container. Fill container with water about 3/4 full.
3) Using a hand held blender (or regular blender) puree ingredients until a desired consistency is reached (leave some strawberries more solid if desired).
4) Add about half the simple syrup, taste, add more if desired. Add simple syrup until desired sweetness is reached.

More recipes soon…

If you like Just Braise why not vote for me? Tomorrow, June 21 is the last day to get your votes in so please get to it!

Head over to Culinate to place your vote now, registration only takes a second. Follow the blue Grill Me image link to the right or go here: http://www.culinate.com/grillme/register.

Results: Thank you all who voted for me. While I did not win the trip to Napa I did rise in the standings a whopping 45 slots to 33rd place! Not bad for finding out about the event only 24 hours before the voting deadline. So no free grilling in Napa this time around.

Do you find yourself at the grocery stumped on cheeses? Are you drawn to the same old selections like that crotin of goat or mozzerella? Do you go into those higher end grocers and get to the cheese aisle and find you are totally perplexed on the many offerings?

Artisanal Cheese, a top supplier to Whole Foods, (and one of my favorite restaurants in NYC) offers courses to help you work through the many cheese options available out there. Their classes range from what cheese pairs best with what wines (did you know that brie is one of the worst pairings and also one of the most common found on cheese plates?) to beer and whisky pairings with cheese, to highlighting top regional producers or authors on cheese.

I attended Wine and Cheese 101 complimentary last year and enjoyed it so much I signed up for Whiskies and Cheese on my own. Wine and Cheese 101 was extremely informative: Brie, along with other soft cheeses are difficult to pair with wine because they are young and therefore, haven’t found out “who they want to be–” or “what flavors they want to express,” making them difficult to pair with wines. Another surprise was that blue cheese should always be the very last cheese you taste when eating/ pairing cheese. Why? Because blue’s bold flavor palate will kill other more subtle cheeses (and wine). Just think about it, blue cheese really sticks to your palate. Whiskies and Cheese was more fun, and well, a bit hazy.

Artisanal is offering many classes this summer (I am bummed I will be out of town for two that sound amazing). If you live in or will be in the New York area, sign up now because space is limited. The classes are a great value for all the amazing wines, cheese and knowledge you sample! If you don’t live in NYC, you can always order their tasty cheeses online. Just be careful, in my experience, if you order a stinky, “barnyardy” cheese (as Artisanal likes to call it), your UPS delivery person might think something has died in your package. Highlighted courses listed below (there are more offered on their site):

July 6: Red, White & Blue: America’s Best Artisan Cheese. Jeff Roberts, author of The Atlas of American Artisan Cheese will be there to guide this class and their tasting.

July 6: An Oregon Menage-a-Trois: Chocolates, Cheeses and Wines. Join Maitre Fromager Max McCalman for an illustrative and instructive class placing some of Oregon’s finest cheeses alongside some of its most distinctive wines.

July 10: Eat Local: Cheeses of the Northeast. Cheese maker extraordinaire Mateo Kehler from the acclaimed Jasper Hill Farmsin Northeast Kingdom, Vermont, to join Fromager Waldemar Albrecht in presenting some of his award-winning cheeses and discussing the state of artisan cheese making in the Northeast.

August 15: Beat the Heat: Cheese and Wines for the Summer. Cool off the old-fashioned way and enjoy an artisan-produced cheese paired with a nice, refreshing glass of wine.

August 16: Craft Beer & Artisanal Cheese. A lineup of the world’s best brewers on a journey through the world of craft-brewed, artisanally-produced beer…paired with the perfect cheeses, of course!

The best part of any course is to arrive early and get a tour of their cheese caves! But of course, the cheese is the real highlight in all their classes!

D and I recently had some friends over for an intimate feast. We prepared many items we had never attempted before, something I often shy away from when we have guests– there is nothing worse than messing up something you have never attempted before. But cooking, like any passion, is all about trial and error and you’ll never get better without an attempt. All in all, the 5 hours spread ended deliciously well, mishaps included.

All vegetables, and most fruits, were brought to us by our local Community Supported Agriculture program. Each week I am thankful that we have invested in our farm and I proudly brag about “my farmers” who brought me my organic vegetables– just picked yesterday!

This weekend we celebrated the spring bounty.

The evening began calmly as pictured above. I started prepping items 1 week in advance: spanakopita (spinach from “my farm” with local sheep feta), rhubarb syrup (rhubarb from last week’s CSA drop boiled down with water and sugar) and a rhubarb tart (crust prepared and frozen and rhubarb chopped and frozen). The rest was finalized and started the night before arrival…

We welcomed guests C and M with choice of champagne or a strawberry rhubarb “martini.” I like to call drinks served in martini glasses and made with vodka “martinis,” as do most bars and restaurants. I suppose because it makes the drink sound more sophisticated. D is angered by this and claims it is a merely a mixed cocktail if it has no vermouth. Our Strawberry Rhubarb “Martinis” contained rhubarb syrup, vodka, mashed fresh strawberries and were topped with champagne. We also eventually threw some mint in there.

Next was the spanakopita. I received pounds of spinach, amongst other greens last week. S

o much I feared we could not eat it, but didn’t want it going to waste. I could not bare to simply freeze the spinach so bought some filo and feta, steamed and chopped the spinach, added nutmeg, crumbled feta, wrapped in filo and froze. Laborious to wrap individually, yes (a spanakopita pie would have been easier), but well worth it.

An assemble-one’s-own course followed next. I like the idea of the guest doing some work, it allows them to understand flavor combinations you use a little more and how they work together. If they don’t cook, it also makes them feel like they are creating something. You can see the beginnings of this course spread out above: Buttered and toasted crostinis, fig spread, goat cheese and topped with prosciutto.

The fig spread is a treasured find of mine and D’s. We uncovered it in the Middle Eastern section of one of our local markets– the one I can easily spend hours walking down the aisles because they have floor to ceiling goodies from all over the world. This spread hails from Lebanon and has three simple flavors: fig, sesame, anise. It is a fantastic addition to sandwiches, crostinis

and is really a power secret ingredient. It would be simple to make, but at$2 for an 8oz container with such a pure ingredient mixture, why bother? The prosciutto was from a local Italian deli.

We entered the main of our meal. The moment D said C and M would be over for dinner I proclaimed rabbit would be the headliner. I held fast through D’s skeptism. My thought: no matter what produce we would receive from our CSA, rabbit would be a perfect compliment. D still thought it was slightly disturbing to serve “rabbit salad,” so we broke the salad into more of a side.

We wanted the rabbit sweet to compliment the warming weather– a more savory base is fitting for fall and winter. I found a marinade based in orange juice, honey and cayenne which seemed perfect for this. I wanted to incorporate nectarines into the dish and thought to make a nectarine mousse. Unfortunately, as witnessed in the picture above, the mousse never set properly (recipe now in the works). It ended more a thick sauce that we poured over the rabbit and topped it all with crumbled bacon. The salad, red bib lettuce, sugar snap peas and radish were provided by our CSA.

Gluttony followed.

My newest acquisition is an ice cream attachment for my Kitchen Aid. I’ve been itching for an ice cream maker for a few years now and with a few Am Ex gift certificates in hand, it was a real steal. I went all out and made two treats for this meal. The first was a lemon-lime-ginger sorbet. This was a great sweet-tart intermission though I would add a little more ginger next time.

This was followed by D’s conquest: foie gras.

Let’s just put out that I know both sides of the foie gras debate before we get all the comments coming in. I think Gastronomica Magazine has a great article about it in their Winter 2007 issue. Let’s just say I can rarely afford it so rarely eat it. (But it is delicious.)

At this point my local butcher thinks I am crazy. Each day I go in I discuss and request more from them: free range veal, grass-fed beef, truffle butter, truffles, and this weekend, I asked if they would put rabbits and foie gras aside for me. They know me by site now and if I ask for a simple steak they ask if something is the matter– just steak?

We couldn’t afford the entire “foie” so we split if with one of the butchers who was happy to take home the other half. I asked for his discount, but he denied. Note to self: get in with butchers until discount is granted. D took care of the prep, slicing it in thirds, de-veining, salt, pepper nutmeg, layer, port, cognac, repeat. For whatever reason our most trusted cookbook failed us for the first time when it failed to mention that the foie must sit for a few good hours post-cooking to re-set– many recipes suggest 1-3 days. While we knew some sitting would be necessary, the foie was a little loose when served, still delicious (and is a great topping on salad for a luxurious dinner another night).

Lemon-lime-ginger sorbet repeat and then the finale.

I found a rhubarb streusel tart recipe on epicurious that I knew would be perfect. Not only did we receive rhubarb from our CSA the previous week, D is a big fan of anything with streusel in the name. How can you not love butter and brown sugar? Instead of mixing almonds into the streusel as called for I used the handy new ice cream maker and created my own almond ice cream.

This I believed was my true triumph. Something D couldn’t imagine tasting good– “almond ice cream just does not sound good,” yet he keeps coming back for more and requesting me to churn out new flavors– dare I attempt arugula custard? Not just yet… a cognac creation is next.

MENU:
Rhubarb Spritzer
Spanakopita
Fig-Goat Cheese-Procuitto Crostini
Roast Rabbit w/ Spring Greens & Nectarine Mousse
Lemon-Lime-Ginger Sorbet
Foie Gras
Lemon-Lime-Ginger Sorbet
Rhubarb Streusel Tart w/ Almond Ice Cream

Just look at it. Isn’t it lovely? Okay, so it could use a real slice of tomato, but who cares? It’s grilling season! Alright, so it’s been grilling season for a while, but it’s only recently D and I picked up our very own $10 hibachi.

It’s a great little thing that has done us well. Friend’s gas grill line needs cleaning? No problem, we’ll carry over the hibachi. That’s right, it’s got legs that swing up to latch the top in place to make it a portable little bugger. We can grill in the front of the house or the side of the house. (We quickly realized our neighbors don’t think we’re burning the place down if grilling is done in the front.)

Nothing looks appealing in the fridge? Whatever, just throw it on the grill– everything tastes better grilled!

So D and I whipped up these little guys.

Right, everyone is doing burgers now and most know how to whip one together. So I’ll give no recipe, but ask you to try something new…

These are beef burgers with my own added secret seasonings (they’re secret because they change according to my mood). Many people will say that meat is best left untouched (D is one of them). Salt, pepper, heat, done. But seasonings can give meat a personality. It is no longer a burger, but something unique that requires its own flavor combinations.

Trust me. I once made my “secret seasoning” burgers stuffed with goat cheese at a party and people ate 3, 4, 5 burgers.  They told me to sell them and I could be bigger than McDonalds. Okay, they didn’t go that far, but they did say if I opened a restaurant with them they would be there to support and tell everyone about it… Was it just the drink in them? I like to think not.

I think Doug over at Hot Doug’s in Chicago exemplifies this perfectly with the hot dog– not that there is anything wrong with the traditional Chicago-style dog, but why not jazz it up with say… chorizo and manchego?

I do the same with my burgers, often stuffing them with cheese, fresh herbs and mixed spices. Not only did this one get an interesting array of spices, it was topped with a slightly more grown up condiment selection: olive paste; Dijon mustard; cucumbers; scallion spears and tomatoes.

The ingredients should be mixed according to mood, so there is no recipe to go by here. Some good additions, beyond salt and pepper, include:

garlic powder (also fresh)
onion powder (also fresh)
olive paste
fresh herbs (I like basil or rosemary best) (dried work too)
hot pepper flakes
celery salt
cumin
nutmeg (just a pinch)
paprika
cinnamon
Worcester Sauce
Tabasco Sauce
Soy Sauce
Fish Sauce
anchovies
1 egg, for binding
red wine
goat cheese (really any cheese works but I prefer the softer goat or mozzarella because of how they melt inside)

Of course, all of these at once would overwhelm. But next time you whip up some burgers, pick 3-4 from this list you think might go together. Experiment, experiment…

I love cookies as a quick little treat and D just loves them, period. This makes any cookie a precious commodity in the household and one that we run out of fast. Because of this, it may come as no surprise that we go through many a cookie recipe, keeping our favorites close at hand as we expand the repertoire. This one is the newest edition to a growing list of favorites.

These cookies are quick to make and take no time to bake making them the perfect summertime cookie– wait?! No time to bake???

May I introduce you to the refrigerator cookie. So simple a child can make them (really). So delicious, your friends will be wowed and ask for the recipe. Once you have the base down you can do a number of different flavor combination: chocolate chip, blueberry, lemon butter, rhubarb-walnut… the list is as long as your cookie imagination. What everyone loved most about these cookies is that the end texture is more like an icing or fudge than cookie– soft and chewy, but you can almost taste the individual sugar granules!

As we were eating these we thought of loads of other uses for them since they are so low hassle. Our favorites include freezing small bits to sprinkle over ice cream or as a final pie crumble. Even better, once on the cookie sheet, flatten them as much as possible and freeze them, creating little cookie discs to use as a decorative dessert topper.

Without further ado, the unveiling…

Peanut Butter & “Jelly” Cookies
Serving Size= about 30 cookies. Active time= 10 minutes. Inactive time= about 20 minutes.
* 1 stick butter
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1-1/2 cups sugar
* 2 cups quick cook oatmeal
* 3/4 cup peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
* 1 cup raisins
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon
1) In a saucepan over medium-high heat, warm the butter, milk and sugar. Bring to a boil and stir constantly for 1 minute.
2) Place butter-milk-sugar mixture in a large bowl, add oatmeal and peanut butter. Stir until evenly mixed, working larger globs out of the peanut butter.
3) Add raisins and cinnamon, stir again until evenly mixed.
4) Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Scoop equal spoonfuls on the cookie sheet, space just so they are not touching (they will not move much once placed).
5) Refrigerate until hardened, about 20 minutes.
Note: The top 4 ingredients are the base of this cookie batter. From there, you can make chocolate cookies by stirring in 1/4-1/2 cup cocoa, add chocolate chips, make a fruit-nut based cookie, add some lemon zest, juice and ginger for a more puckery treat, or whatever else you can think of.