Jen's 40th Birthday and Our History of Pork

I met Jen years ago in a car when my friend SF (and founder of Put A Egg On It) pulled up for another culinary adventure. That’s what they did, piled into a car to go sample Queens, south Brooklyn and whatever far reaches they could reach. They got married. Somewhere in between, we made bo ssam for an article. And some time later, they had a baby shower. Jen requested some of pork and I obliged. I wanted to surprise her with a spicy kung pao pulled pork. Legend has it that it was so spicy, it made her go into labor!

When it came to celebrating her milestone 40th birthday, she asked if I would cook for her 20 closest friends and family. We served it up buffet style in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn. All of the vegetables were fresh from the Union Square Greenmarket that morning. I was very excited to reimagine “bean salad” by tossing fresh purslane with yellow and purple, green beans, string beans, Italian flat beans, and English peas.

If you’d like to host a small dinner party, reach out on my Inquiries page.

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.

Spring Forward for These Absolutely Beautiful Greens

As seen on FeedFeed! 

I know it looks like I pulled up a corner of grassy field and put it on a plate. It's a showcase of my market finds last spring and it was an easy enough salad to bring to work! Crunchy, spicy and totally healthy. No fretting about transporting salad dressing, either.

Here's what we have:

At the top we have a delicate purple chive flower. You can break buds off and use them as garnishes for a wide array of dishes, from tea sandwiches to sushi.

Clockwise from there are the deep green fronds of agretti. Uncooked, it resembles a thick dill. If you think of seaweed, you're not far off. It is nicknamed "land-seaweed" and is actually a succulent. I was told to blanch them before eating and they retain a crunch when you add them to salad.

At the bottom, we have small Japanese turnips from the Brooklyn Grange (vending at the McGolrick Park market after the winter break). If you're short on time, pre-wash, quarter these little babies and store them in a tub of water until you're ready for a snack.

Hiding underneath we have gorgeous heirloom tomato. I like to leave mine out on the counter stem-side down until they are ready to leak all over the place. Kind of like a firm water balloon. If you try to pick it up and it liquifies, that's too far (but I don't need to tell you that)..  It is moist enough to constitute a light "dressing" with our next ingredient.

Sprinkled on top are chunks of sheep feta and some of its brine. Its saltiness alone is enough to season this whole plate of vegetables. I like the way it crumbles in my fingers.

Lastly, and quite possibly my favorite new discovery is the minutina. Long, salad greens with a clean crunch. Much like arugula but shaped like linguine and minus the spicy bite.

The most exciting thing is that once spring hits, these specialty greens will be returning to the farmer's markets. My favorite source is Bodhitree Farm at the McCarren Park Greenmarket. 

What are you looking forward to this spring? Let's talk about it! Tweet me @Randwiches.

Mustard Greens Display Versatility in This Spring Salad

As seen on FeedFeed!

One of my favorite stands at the McCarren Park farmer's market is Bodhitree Farm. I grew up knowing lettuce as only iceberg and romaine, so it was really cool to learn all about stringy plants like minutina and mustard greens. 

I made this salad for a big group bbq. The different textures of cooked and uncooked mustard green are up against fresh lemon and the crunch of fiddlehead ferns. It's simple but so nice to chew on with smokey meats.

You'll need:
1 bunch of mustard greens, washed 1/4 lb of Minutina* 1/4 lb of fiddlehead ferns	1 lemon, zested and juiced Fariway Barbara Sicilian olive oil Salt *Substitute with any light green

Cook half of the mustard greens in a dry pan on medium, watching as they wilt. Pour on a quarter cup of water to steam them. Turn off the pan and squeeze half the lemon into it. Let it cool.

Grill or pan fry the fiddle head ferns in a little olive oil. Make sure to brown them on both sides. 

To assemble the salad, place the cooked greens at the bottom of the bowl. Pile on the uncooked mustard, minutina and fiddle head ferns on top. Squeeze the rest of the lemon over all of it. Sprinkle the salt and lemon zest, then drizzle olive oil to your liking. 

How about you? Have you tried cooking greens and tossing in fresh ones? Tweet me if you try it @Randwiches.

You Know You Want Fresh Mozzarella Salad for Breakfast

As seen on on FeedFeed!

As much as I love frying eggs to a crispy and dipping various meats and toast into runny yolk, I start to feel like my insides are lined with grease. Salad for breakfast sounds like a pretty radical idea but it's easy to convince anyone when there is a large slab of fresh cheese involved.  

Sometimes on my way to work, I stop by the Union Square  Farmer's Market. It was a gorgeous May day and celtuce was in season. I was unaware at the time but there is a whole root vegetable that was attached to these bitter greens. I also found a fresh ball of mozzarella at the Central Valley Farm stand. It is lightly salted and very delicate, cracking into familiar yellow curds when you cut it.  I threw my finds together in a salad, but I think you can swap out the cheese for any fresh varieties like ricotta, burrata or oaxaca.

You'll need:
1 fresh mozzarella ball, sliced thick 1 bunch of celtuce 4-5 garlic chives Olive oil Maldon salt	Broccoli flowers Mache flowers* Balsamic vinegar *Substitute with any flowering herb like thyme or microgreens like radish.

Cut the mozzarella into four thick discs, slicing horizontally. Place a piece of cheese on a bed of celtuce greens. Layer on the flowers and garlic chives before sprinkling the Maldon, olive oil and balsamic to your liking. 

If you're prepping ahead of time to serve, plate the salad without dressing and drizzle on when you're ready to eat. Serves 4 as an appetizer.

Do you like breakfast salad? Tell me about yours by tweeting @Randwiches.

A Scientific Guide to Fun Sous Vide Egg Yolk Croutons

Warning: your patience will be tested with this recipe. I urge you to remain calm and refrain from flailing too much or you may rupture an egg yolk. I repeat, no flailing. It will be worth it and then once you've eaten it all, only then, can you flail.

What you'll need:
7 eggs Flour Panko or coarse bread crumbs Frying oil Arugula 1/2 a Lemon Olive Oil Salt and Pepper to taste	For the crumble: 1/8 cup of parmesan cheese, cubed Handful of walnuts, toasted 2 cloves of garlic 1/2 teaspoon of dill Sous Vide Circulator or preferred soft boiling technique.

For the crumble:

Smash the garlic with a mortar and pestle, mezzaluna knife or very finely with a sharp knife. Crush the rest of the ingredients together with the garlic until it forms a rough sand, like from a rocky beach.

For the eggs:

Slow cook 6 of the eggs with the sous vide circulator at 148.1 degrees F for 60 minutes. Ready a bowl with room temperature water in it. Once the eggs are done, rest them for at least 10 minutes in the bowl of water.

This is a very exaggerated gif of what an older generation Nomiku sous vide circulator looks like in action. In fact, it was mostly just me—shaking with excitement about these eggs. But let's be clear, I wasn't flailing.

While you wait, prepare your fry station! A muffin tin may help you with this. Place a bit of flour in one cup, then the last uncooked egg (jostled with a fork) in another and then panko in the cup next to it. If you don't have a muffin tin, 3 shallow bowls work as well.. Prep a small pan with 1 inch of frying oil. Find a piece of bread to use as a test piece.

Whoa! So when you sous vide an egg, the whites cook at a different rate than the yolk. When I picked it up in my hand, the whites fell away and there was this semi-solid yolk leftover. It is more custardy than soft boiled, but still delicate. Separate the whites from the rest of the eggs and save for another project (or eat with furikake and soy sauce, cause YUM?!). 

Working slowly with another plate, dust each egg yolk in flour, dip it in raw egg and then finally toss in the bread crumb. Once all six egg yolks are dredged, test your fry oil with a piece of bread. If the bread is golden, then you're ready. If it disintegrates or turns black, turn that damn heat down! Slowly slip the egg yolks, one at a time, into the fry oil. Don't play with them. Let them cook for a minute before flipping them. 

When the yolks are done, drain them on a paper towel. If you 're just going to eat one, sprinkle a little kosher salt on top.

To assemble:

Squeeze the lemon over the arugula and toss with a swig of olive oil., a pinch of salt and a few twists of pepper (because you use a grinder, right?). Place a yolk crouton on top and finish with parmesan crumble. When you crack into its bready crust, the yolk will act as a silky addition to the citric dressing. Enjoy it, as I did!

Let me know if you try this by tagging @Randwiches on Instagram, Tumblr or Twitter.