tables i wish i were sitting at with you

table from: a sweet wedding that my favorite nadia photographed
(see more on la porte rouge)

table from: emily hansen's kitchen via d*s

table from: a beautiful photoshoot inspired by amelie by nonpareil magazine

all these tables via outstanding in the field

"To be a friend is to step into the stream of another’s life."
-Todd May*

I imagine if we could all get together in real life, which when we are geographically lucky sometimes we do, but if we all could, we could hypothetically sit for a long time and enjoy, immerse.

*From today's NYT on friendship in a time of economics. Very good reading.

Little Handmade Lunch (Some Days it's The Little Things)

I don't like to make closed sandwiches (unless there's bacon involved)--I guess I like to see the little painting that happens before I take a bite out of the thing.
This one was made from left-overs from a little dinner party. Toasted spelt bread spread with butter and a chimichurri, so to speak, of cilantro, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, topped with boquerones and some parsley.
On the side, warmed-up cranberry bean salad mixed with olive oil, vinegar, spring onions, sage and lots of parsley- a recipe given to me by my friend and beautiful jewelry designer Virginia Galvan (my beans came out a little too toothsome--I'm really no good at beans) topped with a dollop of hot pink beet tsaziki, garlicky and sweet, brought to dinner by sweet Marie. You'll have to ask her for the recipe. It was delicious beyond belief.

bear on one side, little log cabin on the other,
cup by SKT Ceramics (see below)

Served up in my bowls and plates from Asya, which I love love love. Dessert plates are now toast and lunch plates and I could not be more psyched because really-some days it's the little things. Tea for dessert in my new cup from my sweet neighbor at the Brooklyn Flea these last few Saturdays, Suzanne of SKT Ceramics. I want to drink from no other cup.
Some lunches just need a shout out.

breakfast, lunch, dinner

Breakfast at our favorite spot, Five Leaves: a billowy bowl of homemade ricotta with chestnut honey, thyme and figs, like eating a delicious cloud.





Lunch: photoshoot with the Daily News at Brooklyn Botanic Garden (heeheehee--I'm going to be in the Daily News next Tuesday in an article about local artists inspired by the Cherry Blossoms!)....It was fantastic to be there by ourselves (closed on Mondays)..well, Martha Stewart Weddings was also there, doing a photoshoot under the cherry blossoms--see it back there?


Dinner: tired but obsessed by a recipe in the new issue of Saveur, balancing bags full of groceries and bonbons, got home and made it this way in 20 minutes--it will now be my new go-to recipe:

I used a can of butter beans and heated it up with a clove of garlic and a sprig of thyme until garlic is soft about 10-15 minutes. Take off heat, add a little coarse salt and pepper and a tablespoon of olive oil. Puree with a hand blender or whatever you blend things in at home.
Next, Put some water on the fire with a little salt to blanche the dandelion greens-while water waits to boil, put a small saute pan on with a little olive oil, add about half a thinly (or not so thinly) sliced onion...saute until soft and golden. Now add cleaned dandelion greens to the now boiling water and blanche for a minute until bright green. Drain and immediately add to the pan with onions--sprinkle with a little salt, a crack of pepper, a dash of red pepper flakes and a squeeze of lemon. Serve on top of beans and drizzle your most excellent olive oil on top--it's that good.

oh! and thanks amy...

a little break and a good egg

When your hand hurts from editing and you need some dinner in a hurry so you can get back to work and you suddenly have more tomatoes than you can humanly eat alone and little else in the pantry here is what I suggest:

Cut up some excellent tomatoes and some red onion--better yet, sauté the two until they are soft and sweet...add a little basil or thyme, maybe tear a little smoky ham, prosciutto or even black forest. Poach some excellent eggs and serve on top with a crack of pepper and a little sea salt.
Peek into the yolk and dip your spoon in or mop with some good crusty bread. My new thing is that I want poached eggs on top of everything: sauteed spinach, mushrooms, boiled new potatoes, what else?

(hey, who needs some tomatoes?)

a little homecoming harvest

Hello tomatoes! We cut into some for dinner last night with a little olive oil, salt and basil...we win we win! It's great to be home!
Soon I can try this beautiful tomato gratin by Cathy of Noble Pig fame! Looks so nice!

Thanks Jen, if you're reading for taking such great care of cats and tomatoes and everything in between.

ahi tuna ceviche and the best food memories

I passed by a new fish store in Queens on my way home from the train and noticed they had some really good looking sushi-grade tuna. When I see tuna that beautiful, I never think of making sushi, I think of Timo's, the incredible Spanish tapas restaurant where I worked for a few years during my time in San Francisco. Carlos, the French trained chef and owner, is the man who taught me about good ingredients and innards, how to play backgammon and tell a good dirty joke and ultimately how to eat.

His menu, which wasn't limited to the food of Spain but all over the Spanish speaking world still makes my mouth water: the best Spanish tortilla I've ever eaten, which I would eat topped with a Romesco sauce to die for and Ajiaco, a delicious Columbian chicken-potato soup topped with a bit of avocado and creme-frâiche that I still look for in colombian restaurants and never find. He had a chicken dish from Vallodolid, Mexico, a perfectly char-grilled chicken quarter set in a spicy peppery broth with fresh pickled onions and a grilled jalapeño on top--when you cut open the jalapeño the flavors would fire-up--a really perfect dish (and the reason I went to Vallodolid, Mexico... twice. Timo's was better). There was a beautifully pan-fried codfish-potato cake, Bacalao, with a cilantro sauce so habit forming I think I ate it every night for two months. Oh, and there was so many more...it was and still is my comfort food. Oh what I would give for one day back--although sadly it closed it's doors a few years ago.

But the tuna ceviche was my favorite. I still make a lot of his old recipes and I make Timo's ceviche at least once a summer when my habañeros pop out and I can get tuna as nice what I found the other day. This ceviche is made a little creamier by way of the avocado and it's perfect with a bit of crusty bread or fresh tortilla chips. We made it the other night with some simple patatas bravas (my little bliss potatoes from the farmer's market!) and fresh aiolli.

Timo's Ahi Tuna Ceviche
reprinted with permission from the man himself--check out his blog
(for more recipes go to www.timos.com-you won't be sorry)
1 lb. very fresh sushi-grade ahi
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1-2 chopped tomatoes juice, pulp and all
1 habañero chile, seeded and minced
2 oz olive oil
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp crushed oregano
1/4 tsp fresh black pepper
1 small red onion, sliced very thin
1/2 cup minced cilantro
1 avocado, peeled and chopped

In Carlos' words "Don't listen to all that bullshit about the fish having to sit in the lime juice for hours so it can "cook". Just use some good sushi-grade tuna, (cut it into small chunks and put in large mixing bowl) cover it with the lime juice, season it and mix it with the rest of the ingredients and just start eating."
I totally agree.

Memento Mori

Abraham Mignon

Still Life with Fruit, Fish, and a Nest, c. 1675

Adriaen Coorte, 1697


Jan Davidsz. de Heem (1606-1683/4)

Can I only keep only posting about what I get at the famers market? I may have to start a whole new blog just for this...but the haul yesterday..it was lavish..it was decadent! If we had had some kind of out-of-season feathered fowl and a gaggle of bright-eyed herring hanging over the edge of the table, a Dutch Master could have come in and painted the whole overflowing bounty, a commentary on our overly-fruitful existence, a call for moderation, a reminder that life is fleeting...

Jan Davidsz de Heem

Vase of Flowers, c. 1660
painting images borrowed from the Rijkmuseum