aprils chefs kisses

spring greens and flowers + a day of ramping and wedding prep + a fantastic bagel

hi friends! as i mentioned in my mid-month newsletter, i’ll be changing things up a tiny bit - if you like it, please tap the heart button or leave a comment (it helps me to know what content you are enjoying).

in lieu of this month’s end-of-month food blog, i’ll be discussing my favorite (usually food-related) moments of the month: what i’m calling the *chefs kiss* moments. these will range from my favorite meals out, to something i may have seen at the farmers market that made me really excited, to a cookbook or album or artwork i’m loving, and most importantly (as requested) it will include an easy savory recipe.

i’m writing this a few hours after finishing the brooklyn half-marathon. this was my third time doing it. originally, i was going to skip this year but a friend asked me to do it with them (and then bailed at the last minute). regardless, i ended up having a lot of fun. running with so many people cheering you on is just so overwhelming in the best of ways, i always tear up when i see one of the live bands along the route (so so kind). shout out to all that came out and cheered the runners on (and a double shout out to the woman holding out a tissue box, it was very very appreciated with the spring allergies).

also, i beat last year's time (but came in slower than the year before that) with a total run time of 1 hour and 51 minutes and 20 seconds. i was surprised as i didn’t push myself during the race nearly as hard as i have in the previous years, and i hadn’t prepared at all for it (i only run twice a week now, whereas the first year i ran five days a week, and i only came in five minutes slower this year). 

anyway, i think the secret boost to this year's ½ marathon run was having pasta for dinner the night before, more specifically pasta with ramps. more on that below. 

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a little substack get together

earlier this month, pierce abernathy of don’t skip the dip hosted a little substack food writers get-together at his apartment in brooklyn. he covered the savory (there were so many delicious salads and noshes - including these gildas which he has shared the recipe for!), and i did the dessert. i made a version of my tall coffee and cream cake recipe, but larger (the recipe has a conversion sheet so you can make it for any size pan!) and i skipped the coffee in the cake and replaced it with milk. i also coated the whole outside of the cake with cocoa powder, and then slightly changed the topping to a more classic tiramisu one.

it was so fun getting to meet some of my favorite substack creators. and speaking of substack creators, pierce and i curated this past week's substack reads - where you can find a list of some of the writers we love!

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apollo bagels

those who follow me on the amigo app (my sign-up code is PARISGO) know i’ve been a fan of apollo bagels since they started being available at leo on weekends (they are also the cover photo on my nyc amigo guide). finally, joey has blessed us all and opened up a 7-day-a-week bagel shop in the east village. i have gone twice this month. you may have heard about it through all the hype on ig, and i am here to confirm the hype is real: the bagels are excellent and rank in the top in the city, maybe even holding the number one spot (i love them so much i brought a half dozen to my parents for them to try, and théo’s half brother is coming to visit the states for the first time ever and i am trying to squeeze this bagel into his three day trip).

what makes these bagels so good is the crispy outside, light but chewy inside, nice subtle flavor (not yeasty, which makes sense since they are sourdough after all), and lots and lots of everything bagel seasoning. i especially love the crispy-ness of the bottom half of the bagel (i’m practically drooling right now thinking about the bottom half of the bagel, lightly toasted with scallion cream cheese and a butter-fried egg on top). 

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overwintered greens at the greenmarket

i believe apollo bagels will continue to be a large part of my diet moving forward as it is close to the usq greenmarket which i go to just about every wednesday (or friday on some weeks).

this month at the farmers market, i have been thrilled by the return of overwintered greens. overwintered greens are basically hearty green vegetables, think broccoli rabe, spinach, and kale that were planted in the fall and then left in the ground all winter long. during the freezing winter, they produce more sugars to keep them from freezing and dying and thus, once they are picked in the spring, they are far sweeter (and more delicious) than their summertime counterparts. 

these overwintered greens are arguably my favorite vegetables to ring in spring with, and while i get (and participate in) the hype around ramps, i believe overwintered greens deserve some celebration too. 

as these hearty greens make their return in very early spring when it is still cool, they make perfect winter-to-spring transitional foods. i really love overwintered veg that has been sautéed, braised, or blended and incorporated into hearty meals. i have made several batches of sautéed overwintered spinach with garlic and shallot which i lovingly refer to as “spinach candy” because it is just so addictively sweet (you can also do this with kale!). i will sometimes make a huge batch and store it in the fridge to eat for multiple dinners alongside a protein (legume, egg, seafood, chicken, etc.) and carb (potato, rice, bread, etc.) for a satisfying mix-and-match dinner with infinite options. 

for broccoli rabe, i love to blanch it and then braise it with garlic, shallots, calabrian chili flakes, a few anchovies, and a parm rind (you can also do this with kale). i finish it off by mixing it into pasta or risotto, or simply putting it on toast (the latter two are pictured above). it’s even better with some crispy sausage and some cheese. 

and finally, you can always cook the greens and blend them into a sauce that’s, truthfully, not the most flavorful but is oh-so-creamy and a great vehicle for cheese and carbs by way of pasta, gnocchi, and risotto (among many other things). i’ve made about three batches this month, one for spinach, kale, and broccoli rabe (i love them all, but the broccoli rabe is my favorite). you can find the recipe below.

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overwintered greens sauce 

250g of overwintered spinach or 300g of kale leaves or 350g of broccoli rabe

5 large cloves of garlic 

50g of butter or olive oil (your preference)

salt and pepper to taste

optional: juice of a lemon, some leaves of tender herbs (maybe basil, parsley - whatever you want, it depends on what you’re using it for), though i personally prefer the sauce as is with nothing else added

- set a large pot of salted water to boil. while that warms up, wash your greens and prep them (thoroughly wash the spinach, wash the kale and remove the center rib, or wash the broccoli rabe and chop 1/4” off the bottom and then cut into 2-3” long pieces).

- once the water is boiling, drop in 2 or 3 garlic cloves (the more you like garlic the less you put in the boiling water, which will soften the garlic flavor) followed by your greens. cook for 1 minute for the spinach, 4 minutes for the kale, and 5-6 minutes for the broccoli rabe. you may need to cook the greens in two batches depending on the size of your pot. using a slotted spoon or spider, remove the greens from the boiling water and drain off the excess liquid. transfer the greens to your blender along with the remaining raw garlic. blend on high for a long time: you are looking for a very creamy and smooth sauce which will take longer than you think. add the butter or olive oil (whichever you prefer) to the blender, and occasionally turn the blender off, scrape down the sides, and taste to adjust for salt and fat. this is also when you would add your lemon juice or tender herbs if using.

once done blending, i transfer the sauce to a container and then use it in meals as desired.

you can either stir it into risotto in the last two minutes of cooking (to retain color and texture) or you could use it as a sauce to coat your pasta or gnocchi. with both of these options, the sauce would be great finished with pecorino, parm, or a creamy cheese (*burrata*). or you can stir a bit into a soup for a contrasting flavor, or even use it as a spread on toast. 

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ramping & wedding

these two things have nothing in common other than they happened on the same day. it was a great day.

i went to the ramping hill (aka ramp foraging hill) by my parent’s place this month. it was just as lush as ever which made me super happy, and we picked about 50 ramps (for how to responsibly and sustainably forage for ramps, check out this link).

i promptly made some ramp biscuits with ramp butter (delicious). i made a pasta alla gricia (my favorite) with ramps that were sizzled in the guanciale fat (and then removed before adding the pepper and pasta water). it was excellent and i loved the sweetness that the ramps added to the dish. every year i will also do a dish with ramps and polenta. i should have a few left over after all of that - any and all suggestions would be appreciated. one idea i had was ramp cream cheese. has anyone here had that? (i’m trying to think of other things to put on those delicious apollo bagels.)

post biscuits, we spent the afternoon doing wedding prep, including making our first mock dining table setup, and testing some lighting options. in the middle of all of that, we headed over to barb’s butchery - my dream catering collaborator (fantastic meats and sausages - i am such a fan of barb and the way she thinks). we met with barb herself and with chef lauren to try some marrow and smoked chicken (both were excellent) followed by an ice cream sundae for dessert.

cue perfect day by lou reed

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april flowers

and, not food related at all, but certainly the highlight of my month (and maybe yours too): the return of flowers. flowers popping up on trees and through the ground is one of my favorite moments of the year, every year. there are few things that lift me out of the wintertime fog like walking around in the spring. it feels like every few minutes i am shocked and thrilled to see the colors the trees have become (i mean a weeping cherry tree??? are you kidding me?? how lucky am i to be able to see something so special??), or how subtly different each tulip or daffodil patch is (supposedly there are over 26,000 varieties of daffodils - wow).

i don’t have much else to say here other than this really helps reset my brain (and turn on the gratitude bit). i really hope that you too were able to take some time for yourself this month and walk in an area with flowers. if you live in nyc area, i went to the brooklyn botanic gardens yesterday post marathon and it was so beautiful! highly recommend!