Tastes of the Week

June 4 through June 11, 2012 This was a crazy week of eating, press events, and socializing. How did we ever do it when we were young travelers -- eating two meals out, day after day. I really crashed at the end of the weekend when all I could do was eat animal crackers. Ha! What made me think of animal crackers?! I think it was a trip to my second carousel this month. This time it was at Prospect Park. (Several weeks ago it was the new carousel in Dumbo.)  We were there to celebrate the 100th birthday of the beautiful carousel, complete with a beautiful "carousel cake" made by Hudson Cakery (located in Weehawken, NJ.)  The cake was delicious and all around it were small horses made out of a kind of hard sugary fondant.  The excursion through Prospect Park and a visit to the Vale of Cashmere was courtesy of the Prospect Park Alliance, which continues to restore the park to its former Revolutionary glory. It is still glorious, however, and frequented by families, dogs, frisbee throwers, bikers, capoeira dancers, marathon runners, barbecue-ers, sightseers, drummers, and carousel goers.

Taste highlights: Wonderful, homemade string cheese!, compliments of Laurie Sandow, who, with her friend Midge, twisted many braids of the delicious cheese and was thoughtful enough to share some of it with me.

Freaking good fresh figs, compliments of the California fig advisory board. A "fig feast" at abckitchen.  Standout: honey-glazed turnips and fresh figs with rosemary and lemon.

A trip to Sunset Park, Brooklyn to Ricos Tacos at 505 51st St. (near 5th avenue) for tacos al pastor (marinated pork), tacos especiales with crispy tripe, and huarache grande (a sole-shaped flour tortilla) topped with ground meat and cheese. We'll be going back for the carnitas burrito which looked big enough to feed four.

A Lebanese banquet of mezze at ilili on 5th avenue. Chef Philippe Massoud has brought Lebanese food to "four-star" status.  We especially loved the "sliders" (ask for them -- they melt in your mouth), mouhamara w. walnuts, sundried peppers and pomegranate molasses, the shankleesh (a salad of feta, tomato, onions and za'atar), washed down with an excellent (and rather inexpensive) white wine from Lebanon, Masaya blanc, 2010.  

A fabulous lunch at Gramercy Tavern with star chef Michael Anthony.  Loved the fourchu lobster "salad" and monkfish with nettles -- one of the most sublime fish dishes I've ever had.

A lovely "media" dinner sponsored by Olive Oil from Chile at chef Todd English's restaurant Olives, located at the W Hotel near Union Square.  Standouts: the extra-virgin olive oil mini martini, Hudson Valley foie gras potage. olive oil tres leche cake with caramelized honey ice cream (and figs!  'Tis the season.)

Enjoy your own special tastes of the week!

Radically Delicious Figs: Two Recipes

Fresh Figs in Nightgowns On one of the hottest days of the year, in my air-conditionless pantry, my Nutella (chocolate-hazelnut spread) had become the consistency of molten chocolate. As it is quite sweet, I mixed it with yogurt, and one by one dipped a whole basket of fleshy purple figs into the mixture. I placed them in the refrigerator, whereupon the coating firmed up to make a very seductive dessert. My husband named them. Almost all of the fresh figs grown in the U.S. come from California.

12 large ripe purple fresh figs 1 cup Nutella 1-1/2 cups plain yogurt Wash figs and pat dry. Set aside. Put Nutella in a warm place so that it is easy to spoon. Or place the jar in a bowl of very hot water. Spoon yogurt into a clean bowl. Whisk in 1 cup Nutella until completely smooth.  One by one, dip each fig into the mixture, holding it by its stem.  Cover each fig completely or almost completely with a thin coating. Place on a large plate lined with waxed paper. Refrigerate until very cold. Serve with a few tablespoons of plain yogurt alongside. Present on fresh fig, grape or lemon leaves. Serve immediately with a fork and a knife.  Serves 4

Fresh Figs & Shaved Halvah with Warm Honey Syrup Here's an unorthodox but compelling combo of luscious fresh figs and thin slices of nutty halvah, a dense confection that resembles, at times, shards of cheese.  This dish offers a good opportunity to try an interesting variety of honey such as wild thyme, linden or leatherwood honey (from Australia.)

1/2 cup fragrant honey 12 ripe large black or green figs, or a combination 6-ounce chunk of pistachio, or other flavor, halvah handful of fresh red currants, chopped pistachios, or slivered spearmint

Combine the honey and 2 tablespoons water in a small saucepan and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and keep warm. Wash the figs and cut them in half, lengthwise. Arrange, cut side up, on 4 large plates. Cut the halvah into paper-thin slices. Drizzle the honey on the figs and scatter the halvah on and around the figs. Garnish with currants or nuts, or spearmint.  Serves 4

Insanely Delicious Fresh Figs

I had a wonderful meal a few nights ago, at abckitchen in New York City, sponsored by the California fig advisory board. I am crazy about figs yet know very little about them. Dried figs were what we ate at home; fresh figs were a luxury. While we were a table of "Eves" the other night -- no "Adams" -- we ate like queens and I never imagined fig season would be welcomed with such open arms. Fresh, perfectly ripe, Black Mission figs dotted the menu that I shared with a round table of food editors from Oprah, Reader's Digest, Weight Watchers, et al. It was the ultimate girl's night out. I loved the black mission figs draped with prosciutto and set in a nest of balsamic-spiked wild arugula; I swooned over the honey-glazed turnips with figs, rosemary and lemon, and really enjoyed the individual baked Alaskas with fig ice cream and cinnamon spice cake. Clearly the chef, Dan Kluger, loves figs, too. The ancients considered figs to have magical, medicinal powers, an idea supported by scientific evidence that figs were cultivated, in Jericho, more than 11,000 years ago.The great writer Lawrence Durrell once said about olives, "a taste older than water." The same could be said about figs.

California produces 100 percent of the country's dried figs and 98 percent of its fresh figs, of which more than half get shipped to Canada. The season begins mid-May and extends, surprisingly, all the way to mid-December; mid-August is when it's in full swing. In fact, more than 20 years ago, the first day of my new job working for the legendary restaurateur, Joe Baum, on August 15, I prepared a "birthday breakfast" for him -- one of my homemade Venetian wine cakes (made with olive oil, red wine, rosemary and lemon) and chose, one by one, 24 perfectly ripe fresh figs from the Union Square Farmer's Market, near our office. The figs had been warmed by the sun and were a stunning accompaniment to the cake and coffee. It was one of my favorite "fig memories." At dinner the other night, we asked, one by one, to share our favorite fig memory. It was lovely to hear the responses: from eating them off a tree on a honeymoon to a wistful sharing of a father's fig tree that bloomed only after he had passed away. One woman at the table had never had a fresh fig and was deemed "fig virgin" of the evening.

Apparently there are five primary varieties of figs grown in California, yet there are hundreds and hundreds of species grown around the world. The five in the U.S. are Black Mission, calimyrna, kadota, brown turkey, and sierras. And there is a newer variety known as "tiger fig" with a green-striped overcoat that revels a raspberry-red interior. I liked the way that Karla Stockli, the CEO of the fig board, described the figs -- as though describing the nuances of wine! Black Mission figs with purple-black skin and deep earthy flavor are likened to a cabernet. Calimyrna, with its pale yellow skin and buttery, nutty flavor are (you guessed it!) chardonnay-like; Kadota has similar notes to sauvignon blanc; brown turkey with a light purple skin and floral notes are likened to pinot noir, and sierra with their light-colored skin and fresh, sweet flavor are Riesling-esque.

And it's good to note that three to five fresh or dried figs provide 5 grams of dietary fiber (or 20 percent of the daily value.)

The photo here is a recipe for fresh figs that I created a decade ago for my book, Desserts 1-2-3 (which landed on the L.A. Times "Hot List" and chosen as one of the best books of the year by Food & Wine Magazine). Dipped in a thin coating of melted chocolate and yogurt, my husband named them "figs in nightgowns." I will share the recipe tomorrow. They are insanely delicious.

Tastes of the Week

From July 11th to July 17th, 2011 Amazing fresh chickpeas at Union Square Market from the Bodhitree Organic farm (located 20 minutes south of Trenton). Boiled in their pods they taste somewhere between fresh peas and edamame. They are even interesting raw.  But we loved them best tossed with olive oil and a bit of garlic and "grilled" in a searing hot pan until slightly charred, then sprinkled with salt.  You suck them from their pods and then lick your fingers.

A pile of super-fresh peaches with thick yogurt and Rota organic honey from New Zealand.  A handful of fresh raspberries on top.  The honey is made from "the brilliant red flowering Rota trees" that flower every 3 or 4 years.  It is a highly prized white honey that is considered one of the world's best.

A slice of my Venetian Wine Cake made with olive oil, red wine, rosemary and lemon.  Am thinking about bringing it back on the market in the fall!

The best soft-serve ice cream at the Margate Dairy Bar in Margate, New Jersey.  Its chocolatey-ness came through the the black and white swirl like a blast from the past. Ultra-creamy texture.  Also enjoyed the orange and vanilla swirl (like a Creamsicle) on a cone.

A fun "cheese steak pizza" at Cavallino Nero in Mays Landing, New Jersey.  Sat outside in the front garden entwined with grape vines, feeling like we were somewhere in an obscure town in Italy.  (Where we will be next week!)

Fabulous cheeses from Cato Corner Farm located in the Union Square Market.  I especially adored the Black Ledge Blue and a very cheddary cheese called Bloomsday.  They name their cows and also their cheeses with great charm:  Dairyere, Drunk Monk, and Wise Womenchego. The amazing Dale Bellisfield, holistic medical practitioner, clinical herbalist and NJ bee keeper, turned me on to them.

Imported taralli, roasted almonds and white wine at Arthur Schwartz's house.

Lovely breakfast in Iva's garden (a friend in the neighborhood) sitting amongst fig trees and hanging clusters of green grapes. Fig trees!  Who knew? Great coffee and toasted slices of Amy's fennel-golden raisin rolls.

My daughter's homemade chocolate chip cookies.  Hers are much better than mine!

A large, lush, fleshy purple fig.