Back in 2014, I met Lara Heintz when we both worked at a startup called Ultravisual. She happened to live 4 blocks away from me, too. Naturally, she’d come over for dinner. She brought her fancy camera during a Filipino feast I put together. I was not expecting such vivid and illustrative edits of the dinner. Lara made a few GIFs of the action, too!
Photographers
Photos by Claire Matern
Local Roots Fall Bounty (2018)
I worked with Claire Matern to help Local Roots refresh their website for their fall CSA. Every season, their inventory changes, so we needed to showcase the latest offerings as well as a few simple recipe ideas.
Local Roots NYC Markets are a vibrant meeting place every week that pops up in neighborhood bars, cafes, or your place of work.
Think of us as a hybrid market. Similar to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), you have the option to subscribe to a season's worth of produce, offering you a strong relationship to your farmer. We offer the same engagement and social nature of a farmers market so you can chat with neighbors and ask our staff about cooking tips. We offer a home delivery option for added convenience.
We think meal-kits can be a great way to get you introduced to cooking and that online grocery shopping is convenient, but here are a couple of things that make us different.No unnecessary packaging
No pre-portioned ingredients so you can cook beyond a specific recipe
Quick commute from farm to you vs. sitting in storage for days
Food transparency with seasonal farm visits
If you'd like a discount on Local Roots subscriptions, enter the code RANDWICHES at checkout.
Experiments in Food Light Painting with Paul Lanzi
I met Paul Lanzi in college. He was a computer science major and later, cybersecurity wizard by day. I did not know that he had a deep passion for long exposure photography. We caught up on one of my business trips out to the Bay Area in 2018. I picked up groceries to play with styling and was surprised to see he had set up a small light painting studio in the garage!
We took turns moving different colors of finger lights across the backdrop and through the dishes before the shutter clicked. I’ve never collaborated like this and it was really exciting to light my dishes in a new way.
I love how ethereal some of the photos came out.
Celebrating 10 Years of Kickstarter
in Events, Photographers
My very first Kickstarter project had nothing to do with food. In 2013, I was the publicist (and boom operator) for Minecraft: The Story of Mojang documentary. My friends at 2 Player Productions were responsible for documenting a lot of the chip music scene around the world and I went along for the ride when they decided to document how video games were made. Their first project was ambitious: head to Stockholm to meet with Notch as he formed his first company around the runaway hit Minecraft. We couldn’t have produced this film without the generous backing of our community through Kickstarter.
From then, I made it a habit to support creators through what little money I had to spare and at the very least, a kind, encouraging word.
Since my stint as a Creator in Residence last year, I’ve kept the Kickstarter family very close through cooking. I was thrilled when I was asked to make a surprise lunch for their 10th anniversary.
This menu is so so special to me. It’s the result of many years of testing, honing and tasting.
| Kickstarter 10th Anniversary Menu: | |
| Adobo pulled pork Lexington bbq tempeh Bourbon cherry ribs Smoked mushroom and cabbage Wasabi and black sesame potato salad | Potato rolls Rice and bean stuffed poblanos Carolina bbq sauce Kansas City bbq sauce Spicy bananacue sauce |
I was also very moved when I found out that Kickstarter made 10th anniversary commemorative pins inspired by my Eggcentennial project.
Photos by Filip Wolak for Kickstarter.
If you have questions about running a Kickstarter project, hit me up!
All of the menu items are available for your next event. Fill out my inquiry form to get started.
Local Roots Summer Brand Refresh (2018)
Photo by Claire Matern
In addition to developing recipes and teaching classes for Local Roots NYC, I was asked to help style products for their summer CSA shares. We spent a full day crammed into the Park Slope kitchen of Claire Matern aka A Cheesemonger’s Daughter.
We're the only Farm Share in NYC that offers 4 seasons of fresh, local produce. Our seasons are 3 month durations except for Spring, which is 2 months long. When you become a Local Roots member, you get a lot more than food. You join a community of fellow food-loving New Yorkers, help fight climate change by reducing your carbon footprint, and learn what it means to eat local.
We support small, sustainable, certified organic/practicing organic farms whose food we believe is worth bringing to as many people as possible.
Photo by Hanna Elise Furey
Ernest Hemingway's Burger, My Way
I had been eyeing Ernest Hemingway's burger recipe in The Paris Review for a long time. It had so many moving parts, it was was a concerted effort to make India relish, Mei Yen and Beau Monde at home. If it helps, Mei Yen is basically salt, sugar and MSG. If you don’t prefer to use MSG, substitute a half teaspoon of miso paste. India relish and Beau Monde are available in ready to buy jars at specialty stores. I also learned that Beau Monde and Old Bay have a similar structure (except for paprika).
Photo by Hanna Elise Furey
I absolutely loved that this burger was jeweled with capers. I was worried about the chunky India Relish but because it was pre-cooked, it wasn’t disruptive in the silky bite.
Photo by Hanna Elise Furey
Photos by Hanna Elise Furey, GIF by me
I dressed this complex burger with whey ketchup, red onion, butter lettuce, jack cheese and fresh meyer lemon mayo all piled on a squishy potato bun. You can grab the recipe for the mayo in my cookbook.
Get the recipe for Ernest Hemingway's burger from The Paris Review.
Photo by Sarah Levine.
A Vegetarian Table: Kale Salad with Everything Bagel Chips
Photo by Sarah Levine.
Learning about SCRATCH Bread’s vegetarian caesar dressing changed my world. I’ve been whipping tofu like no other these days. For the full recipe, buy a copy of Put A Egg On It issue 8.
Once you get that super secret dressing down, you massage it into shredded kale. Arrange it with sliced avocado and a soft boiled egg. I sliced an everything bagel thinly and dried it until it was chippy. What does that mean? I kept the oven at its lowest temperature, 170 degrees F in my case, and cracked the door open with a wooden spoon for an hour or two.
Right before we took this photo (left) I forgot to put the avocado in there and my fingers were messing up the slice I was holding, gah, what to do? Where to put it? And then it clicked, put the egg in the pit divot. Done!
Photo by Sarah Levine.
How do you like your kale? Let me know by tweeting to @Randwiches.
This is part of "A Vegetarian Table" menu shot by Sarah Levine.
Photo by Sarah Levine
A Vegetarian Table: Caramelized Onion and Stilton Galette
My trick for caramelized onions is to cut them up and throw them into a slow cooker overnight with a stick of butter. You get a bunch of broth out of it, too! Once drained, I was able to make the filling for this galette with dots of blue cheese.
Using a store-bought pie crust, I rolled it out onto a large, floured cutting board. Then I spread the cooled onion across the whole thing. Fold 2" sections of the edges toward the center. I brushed the crust with a beaten egg before popping it into a 450 degree F oven for 10 to 12 minutes..
I’m still not very good with pastry, so the folds cracked and it was pretty hard to transfer between baking sheet and plate but it tasted great with a dollop of pickled mustard seeds. If only I had some creme fraiche!
Do you have pastry secrets that will help me avoid disaster next time? Let me know by tweeting to @Randwiches.
This dish is from my "A Vegetarian Table" menu.
Photo by Trinh Huynh
Day of Decadence: Buffalo Mozzarella Tofu with Tomato Toasts
I simply saw this photo on eataku. What happened next was an approximation. First, it started off with a batch of porcini dashi broth. Because we had one vegetarian in the house, I separated the stock into two and added bonito to one of them.
I took a ball of buffalo mozzarella and cut it into tofu-like rectangles. Plopped them into bamboo boats and poured in cold dashi broth. The whey from the cheese made it cloudy and cool looking. Finished with a squeeze of reduced balsamic vinegar and scallion.
As an accompaniment, I took the crusts off white bread, painted it with grated garlic and tomato. Broiled those suckers and cut them into triangles.
Have you tried it? Let me know by tweeting to @Randwiches! I want to know how it tastes to you.
This shot is from my Day of Decadence menu.
Photo by Marjorie Becker Shah
A Romantic Spanish Cheeseboard You'll Need to Share
I miss Barcelona. I love the tapas way of life because I'm a snacker and don't like to commit to large meals. Manchego is pretty much on every menu you find. Labneh is available in some stores but you can make it yourself. I have a recipe in my cookbook but it is essentially strained yogurt.
Transport yourself with this Spanish-inspired board, pop open a bottle of dry cider or a nice sparkly Txakolina.
| Things you'll need: | |
| 1 cup of labneh 1/4 pound Manchego 1/4 pound Danascara Dulcinea 1/4 cup of Marcona almonds 2 tablespoons apricot jam |
1/2 boule, cut into wedges 1 tsp fresh parsley 1 donut peach, sliced Small bunch of dandelion greens Smoked Maldon sea salt |
Roll the labneh into balls then top it off with pepper, parsley and smoked Maldon salt. Since they are quite sticky, I opted for a small glass bowl to not directly muck up the cheeseboard.
Danascara Dulcinea is a domestic impersonation of Manchego. It's matched in style but is finished with a rubbing of cocoa and olive oil. To accompany, I found the dregs of an apricot jam and mixed it with ground pepper and parsley; marcona almonds, dandelion greens, a donut peach and fat wedges of SCRATCH Bread cacio e pepe.
***
Love this? It is part of a romantic Spanish vegetarian menu.
Show me your cheeseboards! Tag @Randwiches on Instagram and I'll take a peek.