…just to make this dock my home.

Well, 2 hours by Jitney.  I haven’t posted much and this is the excuse - a summer Hamptons rental.  I didn’t have a good internet connection so devoted my weekends to sleeping, eating, and hanging with friends.  Ahhh…what a smart move.  I miss it already, but glad to have my Brooklyn weekends back.

How was everyone’s summer?  Please post a comment on the one thing you did this summer that put the biggest smile on your face. 

And thanks to the person that took this photo and is responsible for many of the smiles on my face these days. 

There are some new kids in town and they know how to do it right. 

Step 1: don’t confuse your patrons with too many options. 

Step 2: stay open late (11:30pm). 

Step 3: be open 7 days a week so no one has to remember when you’re closed.

Onto the good stuff…roll dough into balls. 

Flatten into discs, stuff with filling (3 choices  - pork and beef with cabbage, chicken with mushroom, and lentils/mushroom/tofu - 5 for $3.50).

Order dessert, “shave ice”.  Choose your flavor.

And enjoy the simplicity of hot, savory dumplings followed by cool, crunchy ice.  Lovely.

Eton - 205 Sackett Street between Henry and Hicks in Carroll Gardens Brooklyn

Open 7 days 11:30am-11:30pm (or until the food runs out ). 

Coming this fall - hot soup with hand-pulled noodles.  Can’t wait.

Sometimes the simplest things in life are the best.  Eat what’s in season and don’t do too much to it; sage advice I received a long time ago, oh so true.

Get some brussels sprouts, the smaller the better.  Rinse off, cut in half.

Put some good olive oil and soft or melted butter in a baking dish or roasting pan.  Throw those sprouts in there, roll them around to coat and give a good sprinkling of fresh black pepper and coarse salt.

Bake at 450 - at 15 minutes mine were just starting to carmelize. I let them go another 15 because I like them tender inside and crispy outside - dump them in a bowl and sprinkle more coarse salt.  Ignore brussels sprouts recipes that call for toasted nuts, balsamic vinegar, garlic, or….any other ingredients.  Trust me.

Special thanks to dB, owner of FoodCandy, for recommending my new lens…I’m swooning.

The joy of having your own blog is that you can go from waxing poetic on sex with Argentinians to raving about radishes…

Not a fan of this crunchy vegetable that I felt was designed to annoy my salad, I recently tried something new…sautéeing and braising them.  Surprisingly delicious, this method is so simple and completely elevates them from low-on-the-veggie-totem-pole status.

In a dimly lit room, these could pass for tiny red new potatoes, creamy and soft, but without the related carb guilt.  Let them cool a bit and liberally sprinkle good kosher/coarse salt, it really brings out the flavor…yum.

Sautéed & Braised Radishes:

1 bunch of whole, fresh radishes, washed and cleaned.  You can leave green leaves on if they have them.

• Cut an “X” in the tip opposite the stem at the point of the radish.
• Sautée one smashed whole clove of garlic until very golden brown in olive oil with a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes.
• Add radishes and sautée in the olive oil for about 4 minutes.
• Add 1/2 cup chicken (or vegetable) stock to radishes and cover, simmer for 8-10 minutes.
• Remove lid and reduce/cook down most of the remaining liquid.
• Salt + pepper to taste and drizzle some good extra virgin olive oil on top, if desired.

ENJOY! 

If any of you ever get a chance to spend 40 days with a hot, Argentinean guy…by all means say YES! 

Now, the rational women out there might be thinking - huh?!?  Why would I want to knowingly participate in such a short lived romance with no future? 

Well, let’s see.  I met a gorgeous guy in Brooklyn (where all the hot guys are…or are from) and we had great chemistry. I find out that he’s been here 16 months, lives 2 blocks away from me, and is moving to Madrid. Hmmmm. Somehow, this info didn’t deter, but intrigued. I wanted to dive in. Literally. Head first. (or second… )

On our first date we did the math, and realized we had exactly 40 days.

OK…here’s the thing. I believe we all live (sadly) by self imposed rules and constructs, especially around dating. Well, my (female) friends, it’s truly freeing to not care about how long one should wait to say - or do - this, that and the other thing. Especially the other thing.  

Reading about “letting go” and “living in the moment” and actually DOING it are two entirely different things…because reading about it is boring.  We wined, dined, walked, talked, and many other things I won’t mention because my Dad reads this blog. 

What made it so fun and liberating is that neither of us had any interest in a future.  That may sound cold, but reality often is.  We were interested in the present.  Well, I was interested in his great hair and sexy accent and he was interested in ending his New York experience with an experienced New Yorker.   And in the space of 40 days, we accomplished a very sweet, intense and ultimately satisfying relationship.  Kind of like a good glass of Malbec.  

Now, of course, this relationship-ette wasn’t all kisses and Cortázar, we hit a couple bumps.  The 2 most notable - when he found out I walk 20 blocks to take the 4/5 and avoid the F train.  He went ballistic.  He passionately defended the F train and declared it The Best Train In The World.  WTF???  No one likes the F train!!  They have entire websites dedicated to how shitty it is.  And on we argued.  Another time was when we got together and I forced  my…umm…agenda on him. He loudly complained “oh my God…you’re too aggressive!  Too horny!  Too……American!!!”  HAHAHA!!  Seriously, I have never been more proud of my nationality.  Yeah baby!!

Interestingly, his grasp of the English language kind of ebbed and flowed.  While he had trouble with prepositions and told me on a Saturday night that he had spent the day “walking on the sun” he surprisingly had no trouble at all with big words that led to seduction.  While packing up his furniture he emailed me “first, I disassemble my armoire, then…I  come over and disassemble you.”  OK, how can he not get in/on…yet understand disassemble?!?!

Back to the point of this story.  Because of circumstance I broke out of some habitual patterns that probably weren’t doing much for me.  The outcome was wonderful and I learned some valuable lessons.  So, I ask you this.  Why don’t we approach ALL relationships - especially the ones we want to have for 40 years, as though we only had 40 days?  I guarantee you will rethink the games, the drama, the hope, the fear, the manipulations and the misery.  If you ONLY HAD 40 DAYS, how would you spend it with your significant someone?   

As for you, 40 Days, mi dios babe.  Thanks for the gorgeous memories.  And I look forward to our rendezvous in Paris this summer.  I suggest you start resting up now…broad stripes and bright stars can be a lot to handle.

XXX,

SCB

She’s 92 and her eyes are blue…who is she? 

She’s my Grandmother!  Actually, she’s 92 on Christmas Day, and her name is Natalie, as in Buon Natale! 

May December bring a Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to my pretty, Sicilian Grandmother!

I’m hooked on Red Hook.  I visited recently, and that only made me realize that I need to go back.  A lot.  I need to shop at Fairway, I need to eat a sandwich from DeFonte’s and I need to have dinner at The Good Fork…but in the meantime…I checked out Pier 41’s garden center.

They have gorgeous plants and flowers - tons of varieties - fun to just walk around and look at them even if you have no idea what you would possibly do with them if purchased.  That’s how I feel.

Here’s a Red Hook bee, doing his bee business. 

If all this urban nature has you thinking, man, I could really use a slice of key lime pie right about now…then you’re in luck. 

Red Hook…it may be the new addiction.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you. 

OK, I must be slow because everyone knows about this stuff, but I have just this moment discovered Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah).  I cooked the pot (above) quite easily, just boil, simmer and fluff.  It’s delicious!  It is chewy and kind of nutty and can substitue for white or brown rice or couscous.  It is considered a “super-food” in that it is a complete protein.

Try to get the boxed kind (as opposed to scooping it out of a bulk foods bin) because the nice people who put it in the box get rid of the bitter-tasting coating called saponins and save you the trouble of a lot of rinsing.

Wikipedia says that quinoa originated in the Andean region of South America where it has been an important food for 6,000 years.  Prized for it’s high protein content, it’s commonly referred to by the Incans as “the mother of all grains” and considered sacred.

It’s also whole grain, high fiber, gluten free and easily digestible.  NASA is considering using it on long duration spaceflights!

Well, I’m not traveling to outer space, but I did engage it here in Brooklyn as a bed for my chickpea kale stew, and the quinoa and the stew liked each other a lot, they will forever be a happy couple in my cooking repertoire.  Keen!

Today I didn’t think about my air conditioner…I thought about my oven.  How nice it would be to turn it on and just let it bake stuff.  So I made Morning Glory Muffins - yummy and nutrient packed with whole grains, fruit and fiber - I feel healthier already!  Plus they freeze beautifully and after a quick zap in the microwave they’re perfect again.

 And since I was in there anyway why not keep going?  So I made another of my CookClubCandy recipes, this time Almond Cookies - these were submitted by Christina, who found them in Everyday Food.  I don’t know Christina, but she found SugarCookieBrooklyn, left a nice comment, and joined my cooking club.  She has a really cute website - check it out.  The cookies are delicious!  I need to give them away immediately!  Let me know if you’re in Brooklyn and need a snack…

As many of you know, I run an online cooking club called CookClubCandy which is hosted on the website FoodCandy.

This is our first month and the winning submissions were Picadillo (or Cuban Beef Hash), Coconut Fried Shrimp with Pineapple-Mango Salsa, and Almond Cookies.

Today I went for it with the Picadillo, and with great results!  Ground beef and potatoes surround a mound of hard-cooked egg , everything perfectly spiced up with onions and peppers, spanish olives and tabasco, but also sweet with raisins, dry sherry and tiny early peas.  Delicious according to my 2 trusted taste testers! 

I will go for 1 more recipe this month, probably the almond cookies next…..and then we’ll see what’s up for October!  It’s a lot of fun to cook things that I never would have considered before the club…here’s to new possibilities, in the kitchen - and anywhere else they may appear! 

SCB