the arugula files

Goodbye Spring, Hello Summer Pasta with Fresh Peas

It feels like Spring has long passed.  I find hints of her here and there, hiding behind the summer heat.  There she is: a cool breeze at night, Sunday rain showers, tulips at the market, and these North Carolina peas.  I bought them on the last day of May, an appropriate way to say goodbye to Spring and hello to Summer, I thought.  Making a Spring pasta isn't difficult.  Fresh herbs are a must, but beyond that you can throw anything into your pot.  

Taco Party with Homemade Corn Tortillas, Plus All the Fixins

I'm vacationing on the Outer Banks this week.  It's wonderful.  I get to do things I never have time for, like read books and cook without the pressure of a clock weighing on me.  So far there have been lots of delicious dinners.    I ordered a tortilla press one year ago.  A year passed and no handmade tortillas.  Then I saw this article in the June issue of Bon Appettit for tacos and thought there is no better place for a taco party then on vacation, at the beach, so I packed my tortilla press.  One of the first nights we were on vacation, we made homemade corn tortillas.

Graduation Time and Picking Crabs at L.P.Steamers in Baltimore

My sister Noel is an MFA.  That's a Master of Fine Art for the uninitiated.  Impressed?  I am.  This past weekend my family packed into MICA's auditorium and survived a two hour commencement.  119 and 57 seconds of academic speeches.  Three seconds of my sister walking across the big stage. 

Totally worth it. 

After the commencement we treated ourselves to dinner at L.P.Steamers, a Baltimore dive where locals go to pick crabs and drink gold beer from flimsy plastic cups. 

Pasta Making Class with Mrs. Wheelbarrow

If I tell you what I did today, you will be totally jealous.  Ready?  I took a pasta making class with Mrs. Wheelbarrow.   Taking a class with Cathy was on my culinary resolutions list from 2011.  So, finally, a few years later, I can check it off.  It was totally fun, informative, and tasty.  Cathy really knows her stuff and shared lots of helpful tips.  We made pasta dough, ricotta and potato gnocchi, and, my favorite, spinach and ricotta gnudi.  Oh, and how could I almost forget? We also made super fancy raviolis with spinach, ricotta, and a soft boiled egg gently placed inside.   You cut into the ravioli and it runs a river of creamy, yolky deliciousness through your pasta, creating a creamy sauce.  How impressive is that?

In Season: Rhubarb

I've been waiting for this week to end since....well, since it began.  Hey everybody, it's time for the weekend!  I don't know what you all have planned, but I'm taking Josie to her first art show. Bonus, it's her Aunty Noel's show.  Whip out the black clothes, beret, and paint on a mustache.  We are visionary artists!

After enjoying the show, we will head to the farmers market, where I hope to find some rhubarb.  I heard a rumor that there was asparagus at the market last week, but I didn't get there in time.  Selling out asparagus: crazy!  I don't think rhubarb is as popular, but I'm not quite sure if it has made its seasonal debut.  I will likely make my annual rhubarb pie.  Maybe I'll make these minis?  Or some rhubarb poptarts? Or, even better, rhubarb hooch.

Have you seen any rhubarb?

 

Mee Goreng, A Tasty Vegetarian Dish

This dish came together quickly, and, thanks to the spices, was full of flavor.  My advice for those who want to make the dish, is to cook the ingredients in batches: first tofu, then vegetables, then noodles. Combine after each is cooked individually.  Otherwise, the tofu falls apart and gets lost in noodles.

Like Everyone Else, I'm in Love With Little Serow

There are restaurant dishes that you remember for a long time.  Then there are dishes that you remember forever.  I'm talking about dishes that define a restaurant.  The ones that people talk about.  The ones that you must order, every time you go.  Everyone has their own list, but if we've been to the same restaurants, we likely share the love of experiencing that dish.  Like the soft boiled egg at Blue Hill at Stone Barns.  Or the Palak Chaat at Rasika.  The salty oat cookies at Teaism.  The lemon poppy seed donuts at Birch and Barley.  I could go on.  But what I really want to tell you about is the pork ribs with Mekong whisky and dill at Little Serow.  The small plate of petite ribs offers a sublime combination: salty, fatty, tart, sweet, smoky.  You close your eyes to savor each bite.  This is the dish that defines Little Serow.   Like the other dishes created by the celebrated chef, it offers the perfect flavor balance. 

Why Foodies Love Ramps

You know it's spring when the foodies start tweeting about ramp sightings at the farmers' market.  It's a crazy commotion, as if Blue Ivy herself were strolling around Dupont Circle. This foodie has definitely TMZed those green stalks.  Like, OMG, ramps!  Everybody, the ramps are here!  But, after trying some myself, I wondered what all the fuss was about.   At first, I thought I just needed more ramps, but then, after buying more, I decided their flavor was just not that strong nor exciting.  With that knowledge, I've spent the past few years rolling my eyes every time the ramp groupies, get ramped up--literally.  

But this year I had an epiphany in Dupont.  

Everyone is excited about ramps because they are the food equivalent of ground hogs.  No one really cares about that fat, hairy rat. They care that, hopefully, he'll see his shadow, letting us know that spring is here (or is it that spring will be here in six weeks.  Who cares...RAMPS!). 

Ramps tell us that it's time to say goodbye to kale and time to say hello to asparagus and rhubarb, and, before long, to the taste of seasonal strawberries. 

 Like, OMG, spring!  Everybody, spring is here.