From the Writer’s Almanac

Thank you Mommy and Garrison Keeler

THURSDAY, 27 MARCH, 2008
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Poem: “You made crusty bread rolls… ” by Gary Johnson. Used with permission of the poet.You made crusty bread rolls…

You made crusty bread rolls filled with chunks of brie
And minced garlic and drizzled with olive oil
And baked them until the brie was bubbly
And we ate them thoughtfully, our legs coiled
Together under the table And then salmon with dill
And lemon and whole-wheat cous cous
Baked with garlic and fresh ginger, and a hill
Of green beans and carrots roasted with honey and tofu.
it was beautiful, the candles and linens and silver,
The winter sun setting on our snowy street,
Me with my hand on your leg, you, my lover,
In your jeans and green T-shirt and beautiful feet.
How simple life is. We buy a fish. We are fed.
We sit close to each other, we talk and then we go to bed.

Applewood for Restaurant Week

Applewood restaurant is amazing. Not the most journalistic way to describe a restaurant, for sure, but the truth. In its prior incarnation, 501 11th Street in Park Slope was a bar, the Blah Blah lounge, and I was a bartender there. We were known for cold cocktails mixed as the Sex in the City girls were making them famous, a great wine list and for great burgers. Now, Applewood restaurant continues the food and drink high standard, even if the ceiling-mounted projector and love-letter filled glass bar have been removed.

If you don’t know, this is restaurant week in Brooklyn. A number of restaurants throw open their doors for prixe-fixe lunches and/or dinners and show off their themes. At Applewood, the theme is fresh, local, nose-to-tail gastronomy and the menu, at $23 shows off the deft hand of the chef and his staff.

M & I went to Applewood last night without reservations. The answering machine at the restaurant had informed us earlier in the week that they were book, which wasn’t completely unexpected as they tend to be booked most nights anyway, without the advertising push of Marty Markowitz.

We were joined by two friends, one of which is a professional chef herself, and waited for about a half hour for a table. The same voicemail that said they were booked also said that there would be a small number of tables available for walk-in customers.

The full-price menu was available but the four of us opted for the restaurant week prixe-fixe. I started with the salad, (which when the waiter read my order back to me, he referred to as ‘lettuce’) which was crisp and fresh lettuce greens dressed with pesto and toasted pistachio nuts. M got the soup – creamy butternut finished with a swirl of maple syrup.

The main course offerings were mushroom risotto (which no one ordered), a seared duck breast that our chef-friend ordered and was cooked to a tender rare temperature and, having been given a taste, turned me around for that moment on my feelings about duck.

The final offering was a sea bass, cooked very rare and served with broccoli rabe and tiny pink shrimp in a seafood broth. (‘Nage’ was the name on the menu for the broth – a new addition to my food lexicon!) The fish tasted swimming-before-you-got-here-and-ordered-me fresh. M confirmed with the other two of us that his wasn’t the only piece cooked sashimi-style and I wondered if it would be warm all the way through. It was, and it was heavenly. The flavor of the broth, salty and lobstery-sweet melted the fish. The little shrimp were delicious and adorable, but I couldn’t quite figure out how to eat them. With a bite of fish? On their own? Before I could figure it out, they were gone and I was satisfied.

The dessert course was a choice of sour cherry and marscapone rice pudding topped with pistacio nuts, or quince and apple tart with bacon strudel and vanilla ice cream. Our table ordered both and couldn’t decide which was better – or more unique.

We shared a bottle of Nero d’Avola wine for $23, a perfectly balanced accompaniment to the fish and the duck. Fruity and earthy but mellow enough to let the food be the star at the table, as it should be.

I f you don’t have plans tonight, go and stand in line. There is a small courtyard in the front where you can bring a beer ordered at the bar and contemplate your dining memories that are in the making.

Applewood
501 11th street
Brooklyn, NY 11215
718.788.1014

Nasturtium Flowers and Meyer Lemons

Yesterday was Easter Sunday, and although I haven’t attended church in years, I still keep the tradition of a big spring flavor-themed meal and yesterday was no different. M & I started on Saturday at the Grand Army Plaza Green Market, just starting to come back to life after the winter dormancy.

We helped ourselves to a bag full of beautiful young shoots – pea, sunflower, arugula – all crisp and fresh and peppery. Next to the greens on the the table was one remaining box of nasturtium flowers, which I had never actually eaten. The flowers were brilliant orange and red and stood out from the cold morning and came home with us.

If you’ve never eaten a nasturtium flower, I hope that you will someday. The petals are light as air and stick to your tongue a little, almost as if they are melting. There’s a certain sensuousness to eating a flower. I felt like a Greek goddess, eating these spicy colors. At the base of each set of petals, there is a tiny drop of nectar that is so sweet, but you have to pay attention or you might miss it hidden in the pepper.

Next we went to Fairway Market in Red Hook and right inside the front door was a huge pile of Meyer Lemons. These lemons are actually (according to Wikipedia) a hybrid of a regular lemon and a tangerine so they are sour-orange and lemon flavored. M & I bought one and hoped that for $1.50 per lemon (!) it would be worth it. We bought leeks, asparagus, a fennel bulb and tarragon for what was intended to be a strata, but ended up a bread-free fritata due to inadequate soaking time. This required cheese, so we bought aged gouda and for a side dish, barley, cilantro, a yellow bell pepper and shelled soy beans.

Following are the recipes, and I hope you’ll feel free to experiment and share you culinary explorations! After all, the joy of cooking is all in the making.

Peace and peas.

Aquavit

March 17, 2008

Aquavit Brunch

Yesterday, M & I went out to brunch at Aquavit restaurant in New York city: an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord of swedish specialities, including pickled herring of eight varieties, paté, cold cuts of salty meats, eggs hard-boiled and topped with dill craime fraiche and caviar, and chafing dishes with swedish meatballs, sliced lamb and potatoes cooked like macaroni and cheese. You are encouraged to eat leisurely, relaxing between trips to the head of the line. The restaurant recommends a minimum of three plates before you get the the desserts. If you still have room, fininsh with rice pudding, raspberry bar cookies, chocolate mousse or roulaten, fresh fruit and a tray of chocolate-dipped strawberries, which I passed on because their white caps gave away their greenhouse roots. For $48 (including a free beer) I can return in late June to see what I missed.

*Finding the entrance was tough, we walked right passed three times before being directed by a passerby who overheard my call to 411. Look for the beds of tulips, its right behind them.

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