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Brooklyn Supper

mother’s day

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strawberry polenta pound cake

It feels like I’ve been doing a lot of mothering lately, both of the growing baby living inside me, and my daughter who’s about to turn four. When she was a toddler things were in some ways easier–she just went with the flow–but now there are tough questions about life and death, how things work, and what things are. There are a lot of flat out “No’s,” whereas before there were so few, and even those were half-hearted. So it’s nice that this Mother’s Day, my third, we’re celebrating. There was a tear-inducing card about the things my daughter likes to do with me (making cake, riding the bus, and eating breakfast among them) and a surprise dinner out with my husband (complete with babysitter–thanks LMK). [Read more…]

lamb ragù over polenta

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Lamb ragu with broccoli rabeThere’s something undeniably wonderful about having a fragrant, slow-simmered ragù on the stovetop for an entire Sunday. The richness permeates the air and gives the entire day a slow and luxurious feel. Languorous weekends have been in short supply for us lately, so smelling this ragù all day almost felt decadent.

Lamb is a favorite in this apartment, doubly so for stews and slow sauces. The heartiness of lamb shoulder and neck (the cuts we used here) is just unsurpassable. To keep the richness and fattiness of the lamb from being overwhelming, we use red wine and red wine vinegar to give the dish a little bracing edge, which is tempered by the sweetness of tomato paste. The trio of carrots, onion, and celery give it a classic feel, while the garlic and bay leaves keep it from being a staid dish even if it doesn’t have any unusual ingredients.

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roast lamb sandwiches with mint yogurt sauce

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lamb sandwichOne of the best things about roasting a leg of lamb is the leftovers. Thanksgiving has a reputation for being the holiday for leftovers, but that’s just based on volume. Based on quality, it’s pretty hard to compete with a post-Easter lamb sandwich. For an especially incredible lamb sandwich, we made this mint yogurt sauce, and we recommend you do the same.

Yogurt and lamb are both staples of Mediterranean cooking and besides going together well geographically, they also complement each other’s flavors well. Lamb is a pretty rich meat, which is offset nicely by the coolness of the yogurt and mint. Ours also had pickled red onions, which I highly recommend if you have them (and really, they’re easy to make). Overall, the entire dish brings the freshness of spring, which it a pretty big accomplishment for a sandwich.
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shrimp and grits

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shrimp and gritsIn South Carolina, shrimp and grits was traditionally a fisherman’s breakfast dish. Hailing from from North Carolina, I don’t usually truck with South Carolina, but even I have to admit that sounds like a pretty good idea. Shrimp and grits sound like a good idea any time of day, really. Although I’m from the South, shrimp and grits is really more of a coastal thing. So, while I’ve long been obsessed with grits, my obsession with shrimp and grits is more recent, but they’re something we’ve been making lately and I think we’ve ironed out a pretty good recipe. [Read more…]

belgian endive salad with pear and bacon

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Endive, pear and bacon saladBelgian endive is actually a member of the daisy family and is completely kept from sunlight as it grows to keep the leaves from turning green or opening up. Otherwise they are too bitter to eat. I always wonder about foods like that where there is some really complicated way of growing them. Like who was the first person who was like “Ugh, this tastes terrible! Maybe if I grew it in the absence of sunlight, though.”

However that person thought it up, I’m glad they did. Belgian endive is one of my favorite vegetables and this salad is one of the best ways to enjoy it. Sweet pears and rich bacon are the perfect match for the mild bitterness of the endive, and the creamy yogurt dressing with a hint of acidity ties it all together. While we had this for dinner, I can also imagine it as part of an early spring brunch. [Read more…]

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