may’s chef’s kisses
spring at the farmers market + my fathers birthday cake + two mushroom polenta dishes + a fresh veg and fish recipe
hi friends! it made me so happy to see that you liked last month’s chef’s kisses newsletter, so i’m continuing on! tldr; the theme of the newsletter is my chef’s kisses (aka my favorite moments) from the month. most of them are food-related, but not all of them, and (as requested) i will feature one easy-ish savory recipe.
below i discuss two very different birthday cakes i made this month, my most exciting finds at the farmers market and the things i’m cooking with them, and one delicious dinner recipe that is easy to make, and related to my mid-month spargel newsletter (ps. because that newsletter was so long i’m giving myself a little break and this one will be a little shorter, if you need more food content and haven’t read it, go check it out – it has a little art and lots of ideas for dishes to make. thank you for your understanding.)
i’m sending this out from london - i just arrived here, and will stay for a few days, before heading to paris for our civil ceremony next week with théos family. already had a fantastic meal and can’t wait to tell you more about what i am eating here next month.
my fathers birthday cake
a few years ago i was curious about the river cafe’s famous nemesis cake, so i whipped up one with one notable change - i switched out the water for a red wine reduction, and gave some to my father as he is a major fan of chocolate with wine. he absolutely loved it – the wine flavor shockingly came through (i was just experimenting and didn’t expect to work), and despite me not being a fan of the combo myself i did thoroughly enjoy how the two flavors complimented each other here - an added depth of flavor. texturally the cake is somewhere between a chocolate torte and chocolate mousse, but it’s also its own thing entirely. it is oh-so rich and fudgy and, most importantly, lusciously smooth. because the cake freezes so well, he put the leftovers in the freezer and cut a small slice to have every night for a few weeks. i don’t see him all that often so i thought it would be nice to make two cakes, one that we could all enjoy warm, and one he could continue to have from the freezer for weeks to come (a gift that keeps on giving).
on the night of his birthday, we ate the cake, still slightly warm, with some chilled cream whipped with creme fraiche and vanilla bean paste. delicious!
for those who are afraid to make the cake (as it is known to be challenging), there are two key elements to success: patience with the baking time, and knowing how to whip your eggs.
spring farmers market report
spring produce has started ramping up here in NY and it has been so fun going to the farmers market and seeing what new things are popping up each week. while i am a planner – and like to go to the market with a list – in the spring i’m more open-minded as one never knows what will be in from one week to the next. i end up purchasing things i don’t plan for and then needing to come up with a dish that makes them the star using ingredients i have at home. below are the things i bought this month, and what i decided to make with them.
the grandpa farm is one of my absolute favorites. it always has such a bountiful and lush stand. this month, my interest was especially piqued by these young carrots and tiny scallions. i ended up walking away with some scallions, a bunch of chives, and some mint. the chives i add to scrambled eggs, salads, and a lot of dishes in general that just need a little zhuzh. mint is also a great little pick-up in savory dishes. i used some for general zhuzh-ing as well as the recipe included at the bottom of the newsletter. i added the scallions to a broccoli and cabbage salad that i make a big batch of every week to eat when i need a snack (more on that another time).
at lani’s farm, they had peas that i used to make both of the recipes at the end of this newsletter and to make the pea and parmesan tart recipe i developed earlier this month. in addition, i got some basil for the pea and parmesan tarts, and this gorgeous flowering thyme which i love throwing over asparagus as it’s roasting in the oven (you’ll read more about that in the recipe below).
speaking of peas, i saw a giant pile of them at migliorelli and i made a salad featuring them with some really tall asparagus i got from there as well + feta + wheat berries + jammy egg + mint + basil (and a few other things like a dressing of honey + lemon juice + olive oil). it was very needed during a hot day in our apartment.
then halal pastures had these beautiful spring onions and beets. i just roasted the beets and made a roasted beet and arugula salad (i’m sorry i didn’t do anything more fun with them – i just really love a beet and arugula salad). i love spring onions as you get a super tender sweet little onion along with tops that are like chives. i used them to make a tart, intertwining the tops of the spring onions in the center, and tucking the bases underneath a galette dough that had cheddar béchamel slathered on top (sweet roasted onions + melty cheddar cheese + flakey galette dough – is this heaven?). but – this was totally impossible to eat as i had assembled it and we ended up having to snip the spring onion tops with scissors. lol.
i forget where, but i also picked up some leeks for a second round of testing on a chicken pot pie recipe i’m developing for my wedding dinner. this one was filled with leeks, mushrooms, tons of thyme, smoked chicken, and a sauce made from reduced stock and hard cider. i think we have a winner – i just need to make 135 of them for the wedding…
finally – these morels from bulich mushroom:
more on them in the next section.
mushrooms and polenta two ways
i love polenta, i love mushrooms, and i really love them together. i spoke about polenta back in february and gave my directions for cooking good polenta if you would like to read it. this month, i made a batch and, before adding the cheese for finishing, poured small amounts into greased brioche tins that had some sliced porcinis in the bottom. i popped these into the freezer for a later date.
when i finally removed them from the mold to cook, i dredged them and fried them (from frozen) in oil until golden. i then transferred them to the oven to make sure the inside was fully warm all the way through (it should be hot). while it was in the oven i made some ramp pesto with the last of my ramp leaves. i plated up the pesto and topped it with the polenta cake. this was absolutely delicious.
for the other dish, i started some polenta and prepared the giant morels while it cooked. the day prior i had picked them up at the market and asked all of my followers on ig what i should stuff them with. i had been planning on stuffing them with polenta, letting them set up, slicing them in half, and frying them, but everyone seemed to want me to stuff them with cheese… to prepare them for the cheese stuffing they had to be thoroughly cleaned, and then blanched in a small pot of water for about 30 seconds each. i then let that water reduce until there were about two tablespoons left (super concentrated mushroom flavor) and added in a whole bunch of butter. i then gave the morels a quick sauté in the butter-mushroom sauce.
while the mushroom water was reducing, i made the filling by blending up blanched ramp tops, a few basil leaves, and some blanched parsley to retain the color. i then added a tiny bit of mascarpone and a bunch of ricotta. i transferred this to a piping bag, and stuffed the cooked mushrooms with it.
i then plopped the filled mushroom on top of polenta. this too was delicious, and theatrical.
roasted fish with lemon, asparagus, peas, and garlic scapes
if you read my spargel newsletter, you saw i teased a fish recipe with asparagus and lemon – here it is.
this dish is a true celebration of spring produce, with garlic scapes, asparagus, and peas. this is a subtly flavored dish (so if that’s not your thing you won’t want to make this), to say the least, but each component plays a nice role and compliments the other ones well. while all of the herbs are optional (it is crazy to purchase a whole bunch of mint or tarragon if you will never use the rest of it), without them the dish would be pretty bland. i would suggest purchasing the herbs and planning some additional dishes you can use them for.
ingredients
approximately 3/4lb of firm thick white fish, divided into 2 pieces
400g of asparagus (i used white) washed
1 lemon washed
a few sprigs of thyme optional
100g garlic scapes washed
500g of shelling peas washed
30-50g butter
1 sprig of tarragon or basil optional, but recommended
mint optional, but recommended
salt and pepper
a carb for serving
preheat the oven to 400f.
while you wait for the oven to heat, set a large pot of salted water to boil.
while that’s warming, get started on your mise en place. trim off the bottom 1/8-1/4” off your asparagus and peel the outer layer if your asparagus is thick (if using white asparagus peel off more than you would for green). set aside. then dice up your garlic scapes and set aside. then shell your peas, placing the peas in a small bowl. also place 100g of the shells of the peas on the garlic scapes. finally, slice 1/2 the lemon into super thin slices and remove the seeds. keep the other half unsliced. set up a baking tray with a sheet of parchment paper.
at this point, your water should be boiling. drop in your asparagus and cook it. if you are using regular-sized spears only drop them in for 15 seconds before removing them. if using ultra-thick ones (like mine) i like to cook them for about 2-3 minutes. remove them from the pot and immediately place them in the center of the baking sheet leaving a few inches of space on all sides of the parchment. sprinkle on some salt and pepper, then place the thyme sprigs on top of the asparagus, follow with the lemon slices, and finish with the two filets of fish. top the fish with salt and pepper and a few knobs of butter (approximately 7g). and place half of the lemon next to the whole setup.
take a second piece of parchment and lay it on top of the fish. then, taking both pieces of parchment together, curl them into each other, crinkling them as you go to create a seal. i like to work in a circular motion (kinda like crimping the edge of a pie). this technique for cooking fish is known as a en papillote.
place the tray in the oven and set a timer for 18 minutes.
while that cooks, throw your garlic scapes and 100g of pea pods into the boiling water and blanch for just about 90 seconds. remove them and throw them into a blender with 3/4-1 cup of water (or even better, stock), about 20g of butter, and your tarragon or basil sprig. blend this into a sauce. if you find it to be too thick add some more liquid. blend for about a minute, and then strain the sauce.
a few minutes before the fish finishes cooking, drop your shelled peas into the boiling water. cook them until they rise to the top (about 1 minute). drain off the water in the pot and add some butter and salt to the peas (the warm peas and pan will quickly melt the butter). i like to quickly chiffonade some mint (or pick off the tiny leaves) and add into the peas, but this is totally optional.
check on the fish to see if it is done (it should be). if it isn’t, return it to the oven. once the fish is done, take the roasted halved lemon and squirt the juice on top of the fish. then plate up.
i like to start by putting the sauce on the plate, then placing the asparagus (discarding the thyme and lemon slices), following it with the fish, and topping with a mound of peas.
baby geese
and now to end on the cutest part of my month – baby geese. not many words are needed but i have had so much fun these last two mays in jersey city going on runs and watching the baby geese. i’ll do the same run once a week so sometimes i get to see the same families multiple times in a season and watch to see how the babies are growing up (it happens so fast!). it’s just so lovely and heartwarming. anyway, too many words, here are some videos.