A brunch full of food writers focused on local, hand-crafted food is a brunch full of people who know their way around a kitchen and know good stuff when they taste it. So this called for a dish that features seasonal ingredients, preferably locally-sourced, and perhaps expressing something about who I am and where I come from.

Portable and tasty, tortillas are a terrific potluck solution

A Spanish-style tortilla was the only logical solution. This is not the corn or flour tortilla wrapped around beans that you get in a Mexican restaurant. A Spanish (from Spain) tortilla is a stovetop egg cake carrying delicious seasoned and sauteed vegetables and/or meats. Similar to a frittata, it makes for a nice tapas dish or a satisfyingly hearty yet light meal. It is also marvellously portable and a go-to for me at many potlucks. Regular readers have tried my version of the classic Tortilla española  (onions and potato); Tortilla Torcal (chorizo, ham, and peas); Campstove Zucchini Tortilla (self-explanatory); Tortilla with Peas and Potatoes.

This was Leandro’s favorite…next to the cookies…nestled eggs with bacon

This version, invented for the occasion, The eggs were from Garden of Eve, so that’s my local sourcing. The rest, sadly, was from the supermarket, as this week’s asparagus extravaganza used up my local supply from Sang Lee, but one does what one can.

Figs, onions and gorgonzola…yum!

Since great foodie minds think alike, our hostess, Cristina Cosentino, made nestled eggs, cozied up in a lovely crust and wrapped in thick-cut bacon (Leandro’s fave), while dear friend, fellow blogger, and Restoration Farm buddy T.W. Barritt (heretofore known as T. Dubbs – thank you Cristina!) did a beautiful egg and ricotta bake with asparagus.! Kerrian Flanagan Brosky (author of Delectable Italian Dishes) headed in a different direction, with delicious fig, caramelized onion and gorgonzola crostini, and editor Betsy Davidson supported local food, by bringing some fantastic bakery cookies (a decision wholeheartedly supported by my son, who ate entirely more than I really wanted, but he was being such a good boy….)

Let them eat cake!

It was a terrific afternoon. Thanks so much to the Cosentino family for providing such a beautiful setting (and especially Edward keeping Leandro so busy playing!) Mille grazie….

Tortilla with spring vegetables

Springtime Spanish Tortilla

½ Cup olive oil

1 small onion halved and sliced thin into crescents (about 1/2 Cup)

½ Cup sweet peas (frozen is fine; I don’t even thaw them before putting them in the pan)

½ Cup asparagus, sliced thin on the bias – a few crowns reserved

10 fresh eggs

½ Cup ham, cut into ¼”squares

1 Tbs scallion, chopped

¼ tsp salt (or two generous pinches)

Several gratings black pepper

2 Tbs grated Grana Padano or other high quality grating cheese

(Be ready with the equipment: 8” omelette pan (oven-proof if you don’t plan on flipping); colander; bowl to catch oil; spatula; flat plate larger than the pan for flipping)

Heat olive oil in an 8” pan until fragrant and loose. Add onion, stir to coat, then add peas and asparagus. Cook at medium until vegetables are very tender, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, crack eggs into a large bowl and beat lightly until yolk and whites are combined.

Drain the vegetables through a sieve or colander, reserving the oil in a bowl underneath. Add vegetables to eggs, stir to coat. Put reserved oil back in the pan, add ham and scallions and cook until scallions are tender. Once again, drain through a colander, reserving the oil. Stir ham and scallions into egg mixture, add salt and pepper and let rest for five minutes.

In the meantime, clean the pan, and heat 1 tablespoon of the reserved oil in it on high. Pour the egg mixture into the pan, cook on high for under a minute, then lower heat to medium low and cover. Cooking times will vary here, depending on the thickness of your tortilla. You can speed things up by pulling the tortilla away from the sides occasionally, and allowing egg mixture from the top to seep to the pan’s surface. Shake the pan occasionally to prevent sticking.

When the top is fairly dry, use a flat plate that is larger than the pan to flip the tortilla and then slide it back into the pan. Flipping this way a few times gives the tortilla a nice shape, and lets you choose which side you want on top when you serve. This is when you stick the reserved asparagus tops in for looks. The Spanish like to leave the center wet; I find Americans prefer their tortillas cooked through.

If you are afraid of flipping, you need to use an oven-safe pan. Let the tortilla cook through completely, then finish under the broiler for a minute.

In all, the tortilla should take 10-15 minutes to cook through.

Allow to cool at least ten minutes before slicing and serving. Tastes great at room temperature. To keep overnight or for a day or two, allow to cool, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate.

The Wild One

Reblogged from Jayne McAllister:

• 

Probably more than anything, I'm asked what travelers should take as snacks on their trips.  It's a good question because there are so many fat- and sugar-laden options at airports (and in supermarkets for that matter...).  Here are my go-to favorites:

Almonds. I always have a bag of almonds with me in case disaster (i.e. hunger) strikes.  Fat, fiber and flavor.

Read more… 336 more words

But sometimes, sometimes, we get a bit more fancy. Just a bit. Not complicated, because we don’t do a lot of complicated stuff, but just dressed up enough to make it special. Here are five terrific recipes for this springtime delight!

Savory Asian Asparagus Steak Bites! (Click on image for the recipe)

Frittata with Asparagus (duck or hen eggs) Click image for recipe!

Leek and Asparagus with eggs (Click image for recipe!)

Zippy roasted red pepper dipping sauce and roasted asparagus (Click image for recipe)

Ready to roll: Hummus, Roasted Asparagus and Tomato Wraps! Click image for recipe!

Mind you, I did it the long way. We were invited to our first barbecue of the season (Thanks to the Orr-Ciarlo’s for a wonderful evening!) and charged with bringing dessert. Me being me (and having made strawberry-rhubarb jam recently), I thought it would be a great idea to do a pound cake berry pile-up topped with whipped cream. And then of course I had to make the pound cake myself…and then wouldn’t it be fun to have the kids make the whipped cream?

And it was. So…here’s how

Make or buy strawberry rhubarb jam (What is rhubarb? you ask? Click the image for my easy Strawberry Rhubarb Jam recipe — no pectin required– and a run-down on Rhubarb  – one of Hot, Cheap & Easy’s top posts ever! ).

We’re jammin’. we’re jammin’, hope you like jammin’ too

Make or buy pound cake

Homemade pound cake – click image for recipe!

Buy some strawberries (if you can’t afford or find organic, make sure to wash thoroughly and take out the white core — I have heard tell that that is the part that holds a lot of residual pesticides), core, slice and marinate in a teaspoon of sugar (or not)

Whipped! Click for easy recipe!

Whirl up some fresh whipped cream (don’t buy this if you don’t have to…fresh is much, much better, so, so, easy, and so entertaining for the kids!!! They  all had a turn at the non-electric hand beater  –there’s no school like the Old School)

Then pile them up in bowls and enjoy the prettiest, sweet-tartiest, creamiest, lightest, fruitiest, just-rightiest dessert spring has to offer!

Strawberry Shortcake…a crowd pleaser!

You would think from my recent posts that I wasn’t cooking at all! It has been a whirlwind of parties and events and educational stuff, but I’ve still been in the kitchen and garden plenty, banging out some of our easy favorites (like 5-Minute Black Beans; Spinach/Chard/Kale Pasta; Caribbean Chicken Soup to name a few reliable and fast ones) and beginning to harvest some baby, baby veggies.

Passionfruit marinade

Taco Tuesdays have been going strong (although we did a Nacho Tuesday variation not too long ago).  Flex-Mex Shredded Chicken and Basic Seasoned Ground Beef are the usual go-tos as the chicken is just a two-minute prep and I always have batches of prepared beef in the freezer ready-to-go….but I do like to try new variations, especially if there’s another grown-up around willing to accompany me in case Leandro gets fussed. Ashley and I had some work to do on a proposal, so we decided to make it on a Taco Tuesday so I could do some Mexican-inspired shrimp.

Love my Le Creuset grill pan

The marinade will taste very spicy when you put the shrimp in, but do not be afraid. Once the shrimp is soaked in it and the grill does its work the spiciness mellows to a pleasant nuance. Do heat the grill pretty hot so you get a good-looking sear fast, without overcooking the shrimp.

Delicious with avocado

Chipotle Passionfruit Grilled Shrimp (makes four servings)

For marinade

1 -2 Tbs chipotle in adobo (remove seeds and chop)

¾ Cup passionfruit (maracuya or parcha in Spanish) pulp, defrosted if using frozen

2 Tbs lime juice

2 Tbs olive oil

1 tsp fresh cilantro, chopped

2 pinches salt

Shrimp

1.5 pounds peeled and defrosted, if frozen. (Larger is better for grilling purposes. The minimum size should be 31-40 per pound).

Mix all marinade ingredients into a sealable refrigerator safe container. Add shrimp and marinate for no less than 15 minutes and no more than 30 (30 is optimal).

Heat grill or grill pan and brush with just enough oil to prevent sticking. When the oil is smoking hot, add shrimp (in batches to avoid crowding). Cook for 2-3 minutes one side, and then flip and cook another minute (or more if using larger shrimp). Remove and serve with chopped avocado, rice, and black beans, or in tacos.

An equal opportunity eater!

So of course I have done my best to help my son become bilingual.

Miss Susana introduces the recipe and its ingredients

This is not easy. These days most of my life is conducted in English – both my writing and my teaching, my social life, his school, the T.V. news. My parents have gradually abandoned speaking to him in Spanish altogether. Some days I forget to switch back to Spanish at home. I am that tired.

¡Susa!

So I am lucky to have the support of Spanish All Year, the cultural language school that he attends a couple of hours a week. Which brings me to the reason why I am telling you – who are expecting to read about food and are instead hearing about language acquisition woes – about this.

Ingredientes…

At Spanish All Year, Leandro is learning his Spanish through cooking!

Ale gets control of the dough!

Susa “Miss Susana” Quintanilla, originally from El Salvador, is the cooking instructor at Spanish All Year, a language development school that is part of the Westbury Language Center on Post Avenue. Designed to develop Spanish language skills through cultural experiences in art, literature, dance, and – of course – cooking, the school has about 180 students from infants to tweens. About 100 of them participate in the cooking classes in the fully operational, friendly kitchen, decorated with pictures of exotic fruits and dishes.

Nora and Sydney roll their own…yuca fritters!

“Hoy vamos a hacer una receta de Bolivia (Today we are going to do a recipe from Bolivia),” Quintanilla told a recent group of five-year-olds (and me, since I was visiting) as they gathered on the floor in a circle to begin the class. First students found Bolivia on the floor to ceiling world map in the classroom. Then they reviewed the words and letters associated with the dish – arepas (fried dough). Finally, they gathered around the big table and got hands-on, helping Quintanilla prepare the dough and shaping the round patties themselves.

All hands on deck!

Finally, Quintanilla fried the dough and the kids tried (or decided not to try) their creations. Sessions last from ½ hour to 1 hour and are conducted entirely in Spanish. Recipes come from all the Spanish-speaking countries and there is a new recipe every week. Today there are no knives, but they do come out for other dishes. Rest assured, they are plastic.

The finished product -arepas de yuca

“These are the kinds of experiences the children will never forget,” says Quintanilla. “It is moving. Some of them have sensitivities and they don’t want to get their hands dirty. You learn to help them with that. They don’t just have a language experience; it is connected with something they like to eat. They say ‘I made this with my own hands.’”

Two thumbs up from Pulgarcita and Pulgarcito….

School director María Isabel Martínez, from Colombia, asserts that including cooking is essential to the success of the program, which began in 2000. “They have to try everything and do everything, including chopping and touching and tasting,” she says. “It has to be real. Soup, rice, just like one’s grandmother might make. Life can be so artificial, so we strive to give them a real experience.”

The best thing? Well next to the fact that we parents get to try whatever they’ve made at the end of each session and get the recipes…Leandro understands most everything in Spanish and can order bolitas de yuca, chicharrones de pollo y arroz con habichuelas in faultless Spansh whenever we hit a Dominican restaurant!

Spanish All Year

154 Post Avenue

Westbury, NY 11590

516-333-0272

www.spanishallyear.com (The website is currently being redesigned…try this link for more info http://www.spanishallyearwestbury.com/)

I don’t travel as much as I did when I was a full time food, wine, and travel journalist, but since I started this teaching gig, I have covered thousands of miles of previously uncharted gastronomic territory.

We love when our students bring us special treats. But once a semester, they go all out, all at the same time. The most anticipated event of each semester at Language Immersion at Nassau Community College (LINCC) is the End-of-Semester Party – which might be better called “The Best International Potluck Dance Party on Long Island.”

A table groaning under the weight of fabulous international food!

With about 250 students hailing from 39 countries, LINCC is as diverse a community as you can get outside of the U.N. General Assembly.

Griot – Haitian fried pork

And when LINCC students bring food to a campus potluck, they don’t just bring the cheapest, easiest dish they can get away with. Oh no.

They. Are. Representing.

Glass noodles – Origin unknown, but it was next to the kimchi, so it might have been Korean?

I know, because I’ve had the honor of teaching these students – whose goal is to develop their academic English enough to get into the main college –fulltime since the program’s inception six years ago.

Clockwise from top left: samosas; parathas, more parathas – INDIA

Yesterday (Friday, April 26, 2013) was the Spring Social. It was the best one ever, with homemade Indian samosas, parathas, and pakoras; Korean kimchi; Haitian griot; Angolan sugared peanuts; Czech goulash and dumplings; Dominican baked chicken; Salvadoran pupusas with slaw vinaigrette and hot sauce; empanadas from all over the Latin world; Turkish borek; Spanish tortilla; and dishes more familiar to the American table, like shrimp francese and lasagna…

Pupusas! El Salvador

…basically a dizzying array of luscious dishes cooked with care, pride, and – I daresay – a good dollop of love.

Empanadas! (These look Puerto Rican, but again, I am not sure who brought them, so I don’t know for sure. They were stuffed with cheese.

The eating is followed by dancing…

Jeffry Almonte’s aunt, Anamaría Cabrera, made this very special cake to show the links between our campus and the world!

salsa, merengue, Hindi pop, Turkish line dancing that is actually circular and involves holding hands, Gangnam Style (how could you not?), Haitian compas, conga lines straight off a cruise ship, and more. Sometimes it’s a mosh pit, and sometimes a giggle fest, but it’s always a cross-cultural feast for the senses. And there are always plenty of leftovers to extend the joy.

And then….we danced off all the food!

But truly, when I look at how many different dishes we sometimes have at the same table, I do feel like we are more diner than family-style when it comes to meals. There’s  my dad with the tattered but still crazy vegan diet that says you shouldn’t combine vegetables that grow above ground and below ground in the same meal (wtf?), my child who eats well, but rejects most soups and has a limited vegetable acceptability quotient; my mom who likes what she likes when she likes it and is not always easy to predict, and me, who eats mostly salad and picks at everyone else’s when she doesn’t really mean to and then complains about weight management. Four people, four different meals.

Ridiculous.

But then, sometimes you hit on something that is one dish that everyone can eat and modify to their liking.

The vegan vegetable soup base

Thus this soup, which can be done in three and a half simple steps. Chop onion and garlic. Saute. Throw everything else into the pot. Serve. The tortellini option simply involves either cooking the tortellini in the broth for everyone, or cooking the tortellini separately and adding it to the bowls of whomever would like to indulge. I think that’s 3.5. Anyway, easy.

A grating of parmigiano reggiano or grana padano finishes this soup admirably. Vegans can try nutritional yeast!

So the happy result was that the dad enjoyed vegan vegetable soup ( despite the up-down nonsense), the mom and I had soup with a few tortellini, and the little guy had mostly tortellini, bathed in vegetable soup! Three-and-a-half steps, four happy people!

Leandro’s was more tortellini than soup, but we are making progress!

Simple and Hearty Vegan Vegetable Soup, with non-vegan Tortellini option

(click here for making Found Veggie Stock)

2 Tbs olive oil

½ onion, peeled and minced fine (between ¼ and ½ Cup)

4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced fine (about 1 Tbs)

2 quarts cooking liquid (a mix of vegetable stock, low sodium vegetable juice such as V-8, and water if you need to add liquid)

1 lb mixed frozen veggies (peas, corn, and carrots works well, as does summer squash mix. Avoid pre-seasoned blends)

2 Tbs mixed fresh herbs, chopped (your preferred blend of parsley/cilantro/basil/oregano) or 1 Tbs dry

½ tsp salt

(optional 13 oz. cheese tortellini and grated cheese for serving)

If using the tortellini, either cook according to package directions separately and then add to soup at the end OR add uncooked tortellini when indicated in the following instructions.

In a soup pot, heat olive oil at medium high until fragrant. Add onions, stir to coat, then add garlic and lower heat immediately to low. Sauté until vegetables are tender and translucent (about five minutes).

Add all other ingredients  — including uncooked tortellini if using – return to boil, then lower to a lively simmer for about 15 minutes until tortellini is cooked. If using uncooked pasta, wait five minutes and then add when you have about 10 minutes left before serving. Previously cooked tortellini and pasta can be added just before serving to warm through, or in just the bowls of those who want them. Serve sprinkled with parmigiano reggiano or other grating cheese.

Spring has sprung upon me with flurry of all good things. Reunions, gardening, visits from family, coursework, channeling my inner drama queen for my film student cousin’s movies (!), learning opportunities, parties…It has been a terrific few weeks. However, it has left my blog community rather neglected! I have missed you too.

Dr. Hesterman and students (and me, bottom left)

Mind you, I have been cooking, but some of it has been experimentation that hasn’t quite worked out yet (falafel comes to mind). Other stuff has been tried and true recipes that you have read about before. And well, yes, I have been out to eat, ordered in, skipped meals, eaten a lot of salad (in anticipation of the shorts and T-shirt season), fed my son pizza (even for breakfast! oh, the shame…) and scavenged from my parent’s leftovers. So I don’t have as much as usual to report on the actual making-of-food front.

I do, however, want to share a few tidbits with you and happily, they involve a unification of my food world and my teaching world! (But if my students tell you I made them shovel shit, it is simply not true! Well, not entirely. Read on for details)

Dr. Oran Hesterman, his book, and my students

My class this semester happens to be full of students who are very interested in agriculture. They come from India, Turkey, Pakistan, El Salvador, The Dominican Republic, Haiti, Libya, Korea, and China, and most of them either grew up in agricultural communities or have strong memories of their grandparents’ farms. They all miss the fresh flavors of their home countries. It is a sad irony of our very modern country, that most immigrants from developing nations report that the food back home was healthier, fresher and better-tasting than the supermarket offerings in New York.

As you might imagine, our common concerns about food give us loads to talk about. Nassau Community College, where I teach, recently hosted Dr. Oran Hesterman, of the Fair Food Network, to speak to the campus at large. Dr. Hesterman (whose book Fair Food I am now enjoying — a signed copy, of course!) is doing amazing things, particularly in Detroit, by putting together local farmers and folks on government nutritional assistance (food stamps) so local farmers have more customers and folks in food deserts with fewer resources get more bang for their buck. The book talks about the broken food system and the inspiring stories of people who are trying to change it in very innovative ways,

The book, Fair Food – Click on the image to learn more and purchase!

We jumped all over that and were able to have Dr. Hesterman visit our classroom for a more intimate conversation with the students before his appearance before the wider campus community. A gentle man with a lifelong commitment to better food (he learned ranching from his dad and started his first business as an organic farmer producing sprouts) he worked with the Kellogg Foundation for many years on improving our food supply. Now through Fair Food Network, he is helping the urban poor get better access to fresh produce with programs like Double Up Bucks, which gives food stamp recipients an incentive to buy local at their farmer’s market. For each dollar they spend on local farm produce, they get a a dollar token, redeemable for more produce! It has resulted in huge increases in fresh food purchases by consumers — better for their health and better for the local farmers!

We followed up the visit with a farm trip (optional for students) and several came along to do some volunteering.

You can’t see him, but Soni is underneath working on the tractor

Soni, from India, Muhammad from Pakistan, and Busra from Turkey spent a chilly morning with me and Leandro and the growers and volunteers at Restoration Farm – the C.S.A. that my family belongs to. And as for the aforementioned shit shoveling…there were indeed shovels, but it was not really shit. It was manure and it was aged and not stinky (and since my son and his buddy spent the morning rolling in piles of it, I am supremely qualified to make that statement).

Muhammad gets into it!

We had a glorious time…I don’t think I’ve ever seen those students smile so much, and I pride myself on having a fun class with a lot of laughter. “I am in India, Miss,” said a smiling Soni, as he rolled a wheelbarrow full of manure (not shit) past me on the way to the blackberry beds. Agriculture is a universal language.

The LINCC crew!