SobaAddict70

Roast cod with lemon-shallot viniagrette, herb salad

Warm asparagus salad with bacon and egg

This is a pic of dinner last night. 12 vegetable ragout modeled after a similar dish [albeit one containing 31 vegetables] at a Michelin-starred restaurant in France. It's also one that AW might approve of. All of the ingredients used were from USGM [union Square Greenmarket] except for the wine and olive oil. Total was probably under $15 food cost. It took about an hour to make, prep time included. Many people would object to this: "Vegetables for dinner is too limiting", "I don't have enough time to make dinner let alone an hour in the kitchen", "I don't know how to cook", "$15 is too much to spend on dinner, don't you think?" and so forth. And that's just from statements from nonfoodies. If AW engenders so much disdain from the foodie set [as can be seen from this thread], think of how much higher she has to climb to conquer the people who need to hear her message. edited for clarity.

Is the Ozerski piece the short humorous one you linked to? Yeah, I read that. And the transcript from 60 Minutes. Was the NY Post piece linked in this thread? If so, I missed it. Anyway, I sure did find your 4-point summary of what "people" are saying a caricature. I think that if you aim to make as strong a statement as AW does, there is something actually wrong if you don't garner strong rebuttals. ← people are focusing too much on the egg in a spoon trick. it's apparent she put a lot of thought into it. she's not the delusional old biddy that many people seem to think she is. its easy to deride/dismiss the vision by ridiculing the visionary. funny how that works sometimes. i'm not saying you've done this Tess, just that i've noticed this trend on this thread and elsewhere. also in one of the vids on the 60 minutes website, she does state you can cook eggs the usual method [i.e. on a stove] instead of in a spoon in a fireplace. but this particular video was one of the "exclusive" media pieces and i'd be willing to wager that many people haven't seen it. perception in this case is 90% editing and 10% reality.

Roasted asparagus, poached farm egg and Parmesan cheese This is one of my favorite ways to eat asparagus [besides steamed with a pat of butter and maybe some lemon or herbs]. Another idea I'm toying with is a warm asparagus salad with bacon and eggs. I think that'll be on the menu this weekend.

Pasta with ramps "pesto" and peas

Scrambled eggs with crème fraîche and chives This photo shows sauteed morels in butter but you can pair it with just about any type of vegetable. I love this dish with asparagus or ramps in place of the mushrooms. The eggs are super-rich but oh, so worth it. This takes as much time to make as a pot of risotto. 4 to 6 eggs salt, to taste pepper, to taste crème fraîche chives Whisk eggs in a bowl. Place bowl over pot with boiling water, acting as a double boiler. Continue whisking eggs, and cook to desired doneness. Finish with crème fraîche and chives, season to taste with salt and pepper.

A hundred grams cost $5.50? Ouch, that's more than Roquefort. ← Sounds about right. A pound and a half cost $30 at USGM.

Fried potatoes with ramps 3 Bintje potatoes*, peeled and sliced 1/4" thick 1 bunch ramps, cleaned, trimmed and cut in half 3 tablespoons bacon drippings 3 eggs, lightly beaten salt and pepper to taste Fry potatoes in bacon drippings over medium heat until potatoes are golden brown. Add the ramps about 2/3 of the way through. Check seasoning. When potatoes are done, add eggs. Cook for 2 minutes, then flip and cook for 30 seconds. Slide out onto a warmed plate. Serve immediately. *Yukon golds are a good substitute.

This is one of those things where "less is more" imho. There's a version I'm making this weekend that uses ramps, asparagus and peas, and a little lemon zest. No cheese.

i haven't done it yet, because last night i was pressed for time. probably make it this weekend. i picked up a pound and a half of ramps from usgm last Saturday. i love ramps as much as anyone but there's only so much i can eat, especially if i'm cooking for one. whatever doesn't get used immediately or within a reasonable space of time will get pickled. anyway, petite and Joe answered for me, thanks. the bastianich risotto is a good idea but i'm thinking that i might want to use it for something involving eggs. sort of like a riff on huevos rancheros with the ramp pesto as a stand-in for salsa verde comes to mind. tomatoes and tomatillos aren't in season yet.

Blanching is never about cooking something. Its about peeling or storing, or .... If your goal is to affect the taste, then taste them. Why guess when you can test and optimize? ← why indeed.

that's an extra step. i'm cooking for myself so some aesthetics are being tossed by the wayside. if i don't do the ramp pesto though, the other preparation i have in mind calls for cooking the bulbs and the leaves separately. the bulbs get stewed for 10 to 15 minutes, the leaves are added towards the end and cooked for about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.

thanks petite/joe. i'll have pix later, if not on the dinner! thread, then on the blog.

dinner tonight i think. at the moment i'm thinking either ramp pesto per the epicurious recipe or linguine with ramps [in the same vein as the typical pasta with pepperoncino, greens and garlic]. it also occurs to me that a little pork would go great with this. my problem is that the bacon ends are in the freezer so that's not going to happen tonight.

it's not a question of cooking them. this recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/vie...th-Ramps-103326 suggests to me that the reason for blanching has to do with reducing the piquancy of the ramps. it seems to me that three seconds is a bit short. on the other hand, perhaps three minutes is too long. i'm trying to achieve a balance. i don't want the color to turn but at the same time i don't want to send people running for the hills when i open my mouth after eating dinner.* *ramps are like onions on steroids.

question -- if i were to blanch ramps for pesto, is three minutes too much? i've seen recipes that call for five seconds to as many as three minutes. and yes, i could just as well not blanch them but that's not what i asked.

I thought the passion fruit flavor had a strange aftertaste. Almost medicinal. Also the texture is oddly smooth. You'll see what I mean.

Hmmm... $4 for a jar of crushed garlic or < $0.50 [if that] for a head of garlic. And the fresh clove tastes better. Mincing takes about as much effort as opening a jar. I guess I'll never get the point of these so-called "convenience" goods. ← Not sure where you saw $4 for crushed garlic. The ginger is listed on the website for $3 and I pay even less, since I buy it in a local store. Oh, and get back to me on "convenience" goods when you cook for a family and work full time. I guess it's a good thing that I can afford things that I like that make my life easier. ← I'm quoting NY prices. My mother worked full time AND raised me -- single parent with all of the stress that that entails. no help from a spouse, no help from the government. she may have used convenience products, it's possible, but I seem to remember an overabundance of fresh food. including an insistence that I eat my vegetables. My experience differs from yours obviously. Take a garlic clove, whack at it once with the flat blade of a knife, peel off second skin. Easy. Takes 30 seconds, if that. So you've got arthritis...the vast majority of people who use convenience products don't. That's what my post was directed towards. It's very Rachael Ray/Sandra Lee-ish. Anyway, I'm not here to preach. It was an opinion, not a statement of fact. ← I use the pre-crushed ginger, but not the garlic. I am also a mom of two young kids, and I work full-time. And, though I do rely on convenience foods occasionally, they certainly see an abundance of fresh food, and they are well aware that vegetables are a must. The occasional reliance on some pre-prepared foods doesn't automatically place someone in the Sandra Lee category. We're not talking about cake mix and Hamburger Helper. ← Good to know that there's hope left in the world. Cooking is a dying art. I talk to people all the time and they're like, "how can you make chicken stock from scratch? there's not enough time in the day to do that." this was from a friend of mine who lives in D.C., a single gay guy who works for some federal agency. he's the polar opposite of Cleo and he made that comment to me recently. On a metatextual level, I understand why convenience products exist. I'd have to be a complete dunce not to. That doesn't mean that I'm going to use them. When I see someone like Rachael Ray, a television personality who has the power to reach a vast audience and hopefully educate them of issues that might be of interest, and I see her say you can cut corners and still make something taste good, some part of me dies inside. Yes it will taste good but the fresh version will taste better. It might take a little bit more effort but who knows, it might be worth it. Now replicate that a hundred thousand times over and you'll see why it's difficult for me not to have my point of view. edited for clarity.

Hmmm... $4 for a jar of crushed garlic or < $0.50 [if that] for a head of garlic. And the fresh clove tastes better. Mincing takes about as much effort as opening a jar. I guess I'll never get the point of these so-called "convenience" goods. ← Not sure where you saw $4 for crushed garlic. The ginger is listed on the website for $3 and I pay even less, since I buy it in a local store. Oh, and get back to me on "convenience" goods when you cook for a family and work full time. I guess it's a good thing that I can afford things that I like that make my life easier. ← I'm quoting NY prices. My mother worked full time AND raised me -- single parent with all of the stress that that entails. no help from a spouse, no help from the government. she may have used convenience products, it's possible, but I seem to remember an overabundance of fresh food. including an insistence that I eat my vegetables. My experience differs from yours obviously. Take a garlic clove, whack at it once with the flat blade of a knife, peel off second skin. Easy. Takes 30 seconds, if that. So you've got arthritis...the vast majority of people who use convenience products don't. That's what my post was directed towards. It's very Rachael Ray/Sandra Lee-ish. Anyway, I'm not here to preach. It was an opinion, not a statement of fact.

Hmmm... $4 for a jar of crushed garlic or < $0.50 [if that] for a head of garlic. And the fresh clove tastes better. Mincing takes about as much effort as opening a jar. I guess I'll never get the point of these so-called "convenience" goods.

The neat thing about congee (besides it being cheap) is that when you make it, there's so much of it left over. I had two heaping bowls last night and I think I barely made a dent in the pot. It freezes well. I imagine this will be dinner on some night when I don't feel like takeout -- as long as I don't forget about the container in the back of the freezer. Heading into the office today. We have a breakfast buffet so that takes care of the early morning. Lunch will be more problematic. I'm temporarily breaking the rules of this challenge for today and the rest of the week (at least during the time I spend at work). I usually spend about $7-$10 for lunch. Thank god for the chicken over rice carts. Not sure what dinner will be. I have half a kielbasa leftover. I didn't use all of it for the soup. Or I could thaw out the chicken. Hmmm...

I've been laid low the past couple of days with a headache. Sorry for the lack of updates. Very light, soothing dinner tonight. Congee 1 cup of rice, 9 cups of Chinese chicken stock (essentially chicken poached in water with sliced ginger, a few cloves of peeled/smashed garlic and a couple of star anise, with the resulting liquid strained and reserved), a few slices of ginger and a dash of white pepper. I added three eggs lightly beaten towards the end. Garnishes include chopped scallions, chili paste, shredded ginger, sesame oil and white pepper.

Dinner last night: Winter vegetable soup with kielbasa and heirloom beans 3 T. olive oil 1 lb. kielbasa or other smoked sausage, sliced 1 onion, diced 2 carrots, diced 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped 1 lb. Swiss chard or other greens, stems removed and reserved, greens coarsely chopped 3 potatoes, peeled and diced 1 to 1 1/2 cups cooked beans (canned is fine if you don't want to bother with dried) 5 to 7 cups bean cooking liquid, water or stock salt, to taste pepper, to taste In a large soup pot, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Brown the kielbasa, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Remove from the pot. Pour off excess fat. Add remaining oil, along with the onion, carrots and garlic. Saute for 8 minutes, stirring often. Add chard stems, potatoes, water or stock or bean cooking liquid, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Add beans. Cover the pot and simmer over low heat for one hour. Add greens and kielbasa. Stir. Simmer for an additional fifteen minutes. Check seasoning and serve immediately. Breakfast this morning was a fromage blanc omelette (2 eggs, salt, pepper, 1 T. fromage blanc, 1 T. unsalted butter) and a glass of milk.

Beans after 2 1/2 hours. They're almost done. The Dutch oven's cooling on the stove now after which I'll scoop the contents into another pot. Breakfast (lunch really because I didn't get up until 1 pm) was leftover pasta from last night. Be back later.