la di da

spoils from the grand army farmer's market. spring

abounds in the form of...lilacs and crisp-skinned onions,

pencil-thin asparagus and pea shoots. off to the brooklyn

botanical garden...

have been enjoying the blossoms - pink and green 

in my own backyard, too. in my rear window i see a delicate

weeping willow, an already shedding cherry blossom tree, 

and a white, poised-looking dogwood, to name a few.

plain rhubarb

plain rhubarb pie, no strawberries involved. rhubarb is so springy. despite the fact that the brown sugar used in a pinch turned the inside of the pie a sort of terra cotta color rather than the much anticipated bright pink, it tasted very bright and zingy!

otherwise,

saw this play directed by philip seymour hoffman last night. was brill. the old lady was played by the old lady from requiem for a dream. she was amazing. it's a sort of ghost story, but deals with disfunctional family drama  material, as the so much of the best american theatre seems to do. or maybe i'm just a sam shepard devotee - looking forward to his new play, also at the public...

have recently discovered mad men, which is really sharp. the sad thing about watching tv shows on itunes once they have already aired is that you've missed the sort of cultural moment which is so much a part of why people watch tv in the first place. mad men is on the tele now in england, though, so i don't feel entirely out of the loop. 

mail order...

ordering dry goods on the internet is so great. i've been kind of intense about mail ordering coffee from san francisco's blue bottle for a couple of years. and now i've found a couple of other interesting places that are very much worth ordering from. anson mills and rancho gordo, which specialize in heirloom varieties of grain and beans, respectively, are doing brilliant work preserving and rediscovering ancient and traditional seeds and things. both have become pretty trendy, showing up on restaurant menus here and there -- and for good reason. haven't yet done the anson mills grit thing but made these beautiful black calypso beans the other night:

they look like little bean-shaped baby cows! i sautéed onion-celery-carrot and garlic and then added the beans and water and simmered for a couple of hours, then served with a squeeze of lime and a little grated hard goat cheese. these are not "your average" beans -- they are really fresh (no need to soak them, even) and have a very complex, potato-esque flavor. definitely worth a try.

chicken soup!

removal of snow, rheims, 1917

many more charming wwi colour photos 

to look at here (via camilla engman)

we could use a couple of these guys on the 

ground. still very sloshy outside. happily,

i'm off to london, where the magnolias are in bloom.

for the love of poppy

i love poppies. they are my favorite flowers and my favorite seeds to eat. i like the look and the idea of, if you will, of poppy seed hamantaschen (cookies) better than i like the taste. and the same goes for beet ravioli-with-poppy seeds dishes you spot every once in a while on the mens of northern italian restaurants like al di la. the thing is that i'm not much one for beets. red cabbage on the other hand, well, that's tasty stuff. tonight i was sort of craving red meat - but alas did not have any on hand. so instead i hacked up a little head of red cabbage.

pappardelle with red cabbage and poppy

ingredients:

1 small cabbage head, tough core and outer leaves discarded, cut up into fine shards

bit of butter

teaspoon creme fraiche

200 grams egg pappardelle

cup of chicken stock

couple sprigs fresh thyme

1 small yellow onion

1 clove of garlic

1. chop up onion and garlic finely and sweat in some butter. add the thyme sprigs.

2. add the cabbage and stir around. add the chicken stock and simmer with the lid on for ten minutes or so.

3. in the meantime, bring salted water to a boil.

4. add the pappardelle and cook for 3-4 minutes if dried or 2 minutes if fresh. drain.

5. add the drained pasta to the cabbage. swish together with spoonful of creme fraiche. serve sprinkled liberally with poppy seeds, and perhaps some parmesan cheese.

serves 2.

i'm sure that if i were properly italian the ratio of pasta to cabbage would err much more toward pasta but cabbage is really quite good and this way you don't need a veg on the side or anything. it's monday evening, after all.

the highline

photos by ben smith