Purslane is a funny thing. Eating it feels a lot like munching the ground cover out of a southern California yard, and with good reason–purslane is a succulent. It’s also a weed, and rivals mint in its ability to take over a garden. Once you know what to look for, you’ll notice the stuff growing in cracks and crevices all over the urban landscape. And in spite of its strange genus and ubiquitous nature, purslane is sought-after for its light, lemony tang, and robust, nearly meaty, leaves (which happen to be an ideal vehicle for weightier summer favorites like tomatoes or stone fruits). It’s is the perfect base for a satisfying summer salad, and the hearty leaves can handle plenty of vinegar, salt, garlic, and even a quick saute or pickle. [Read more…]
blueberry slab pie
One Fourth of July long ago, I was holding a sparkler and running. Obviously, that was a bad idea, but I was five and kind of prone to bad ideas. As you might imagine, I tripped, fell on my face, and extinguished the sparkler with my torso. I was left with a sparkler-shaped scar on my lower abdomen, and not an ounce of remorse over the event. But, of my many nerdy pastimes, fire safety still looms large. That said, this Fourth––weather, humidity, and local laws permitting––I hope you will don some safety glasses, and set off some serious fireworks. It’s what George Washington would want you to do. Just please don’t run with anything actually aflame, OK? [Read more…]
now in season: sour cherries + sour cherry & lime pie + four years of brooklyn supper
On the first anniversary of my relationship with Brian (commemorating our first make-out sesh, really) we were sitting at our kitchen table in the evening drinking a couple of Coronas that we’d literally scrounged change to buy, when I said, “Oh shit. It’s our anniversary.” We sighed, shrugged, and cheersed, made out a little, and then went back to drinking our beers. Which is to say, we’re bad at anniversaries. Since then, we’ve upped our game, but not by much. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise when you learn that last year we missed the three year anniversary of Brooklyn Supper altogether (though we had a decent excuse), and this year it slipped by on Saturday without the slightest fanfare. But yesterday, I finally got around to rectifying the situation and made a celebratory summertime-perfect sour cherry pie. [Read more…]
blackberry lime cheesecake tart and my first cooking gig
New York in June always catches me off guard (though it really shouldn’t, seeing as there’s a song about it and all). Further south, June is already sweltering, with temperatures into the 90’s and humidity at full tilt. So I always begin the month prepared for the worst. But this year we’ve had endless bright days, towering fluffy clouds, cool breezes, clear, gorgeous light, and at least three rainbows. It’s hard to be stressed out when the weather is so completely glorious.
Amid the backdrop of dreamy weather and picturesque clouds, things have been percolating. [Read more…]
strawberry jam with vanilla bean and lime
Whenever we leave the city, one of us will inevitably say in the car on the way home “Can you believe we haven’t left the city since [some time we left the city]?” and the other of us will agree and then five minutes later one of us will remember some more recent time we left the city. But even if we get out more often than we think, it’s still probably only five or six times a year tops, and that includes trips to the suburbs to buy bulk diapers. So when we do manage to get out, we want everything to be perfect, and perfection is what we got this weekend when we went strawberry picking at Fishkill Farms in Hopewell Junction, NY. (If Fishkill seems like a weird name, it’s just Middle Dutch for Fish River.) [Read more…]