Roughage

Yesterday I sauteed asparagus, snap peas, pea tendrils, onions, garlic and gai lan, put it over pasta, stirred in some raw eggs and grated parmesan, and called it lunch. I served it to the big workin' men who are turing our garage into a sunken make-out party living room! I can't say I'm into heavy lifting, but I am into heavy lunches.





Also, check out this painting Kevin found in the rafters above the new room. I am hoping that when my brother comes to visit us he will paint Jacky in and maybe light the forest on fire. It's a real find.

Spring Gnocchi

Before we ripped out the old raised beds to put in the new ones, I had to harvest our winter crop of onions and leeks. They were so tiny and perfect! We had some pre-made gnocchi (the horror!) in our refrigerator, so for a lovely lunch I chopped up the leeks and baby onions and sauteed them with gnocchi in brown butter. I sprinkled some fresh basil on top with pecorino, and lunch was born. I was surprised with how good the store bought gnocchi was and will not be afraid to buy it again.

PS The chicks are getting HUGE. We are planning a farm blog- stay tuned...

Homemade Pasta

As I am now the proud owner of a food processor, I wanted to start trying recipes immediately. The very first thing I did was push a lemon through the slicer, just for fun. Then I moved on to something a little more complicated- pasta. I got my recipe from James Beard's book Beard On Pasta as it is specifically for a food processor. It is so easy. Flour, eggs, oil and salt. I don't have a pasta roller and that was the only thing that slowed us down, but even rolling it by hand wasn't very difficult. I also was lucky enough to have an assistant, Lauren, to do most of the sweaty labor. The results were predictably fantastic- fresh pasta really is the best. We also made pesto with purple basil from the back yard.

Food Processor Pasta
Adapted from James Beard "Beard on Pasta"

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon olive oil

For this recipe, use the metal blade attachment. Put flour and salt in the food processor work bowl. In a small bowl to the side, whisk olive oil and water. Feed this mixture into the food processor while it is turned on. If it is dry and not forming into a ball, add water just one drop at a time. You should not need very much at all. Once it forms into a ball, remove it from the f.p. and knead it for 5 minutes. I used my standing mixer for this, just to really geek out on my kitchen appliances. After kneading, wrap in plastic and chill for 1/2 hour or more. Then, roll it with your hand crank pasta roller, your kitchenaid attachment (lucky) or by hand, like me! We wanted wide ribbon noodles, but you can cut your pasta in whatever shape you'd like. Next I will make Jacky shaped pasta.

Potato Salad; The Rule Of 2

Make this. It is so good. The homemade mayonnaise is essential to the recipe as its lemony, olivey goodness is the best part, and the pickles send it over the top.

2 lbs potatoes, cooked, cooled, cubed. (I like mine pretty firm)
2 cups homemade mayonnaise
2 dill pickles, chopped
2 eggs, hardboiled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 springs of parsley

Combine. Chill. Eat.

Eating Cooking Loving

Yesterday ended up being a lot more than just tomatoes.

It was roasted chicken with leeks and fingerling potatoes, zucchini fritters with feta, and lemon and tzatziki sauce, roasted tomatoes and garlic, and an apricot tart with cream.
It was babysitting for our friends 2 year old twins, and watching dolphin movies.
It was sitting in our trailer in the back yard after dark, playing cards and drinking manhattans.
It was another long and excellent day.

Today, I am canning MORE tomato sauce, and making stock with the chicken bones from last night.
Luckily for me, there was lots of chicken left over. I got to make the most perfect lunch of all time because of it! I recommend that you go home and roast a chicken in a dutch oven with a splash of water, some butter, 2 leeks and a couple handfuls of fingerling potatoes (delicious dinner!), and then tomorrow you can have the best lunch eva too!

Zippy Chicken Salad

2 cups pulled chicken meat
4 small fingerling potatoes, cooked then chilled
1/4 cup tzatziki sauce
4 sprigs of parsley, chopped
3 tablespoons french feta

Crumble potatoes and feta over the chicken. Sprinkle parsley on top, and stir in the sauce. Salt and pepper to taste. This shit is good. Share it with the ones you love (I did not share any).

If you also want to make zucchini fritters, you might want to experiment with Martha Stewart's recipe. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

PS Sorry for the crappy photo of the apricot tart I made last night. It was so easy to make that I forgot to treat it with respect and photograph it carefully! Apricots. Sugar. Salt. Put it in a tart crust. Bake it. Eat it.