Sunday Toast - Buttermilk Chickpea Loaf
This loaf is a variation of a flavor version I had made earlier. As it is made with 100% bean flour, I lightened it with buttermilk to add airiness and make it not so dense. Yet, because of the very weight of the protein pack chickpea, it behaves much more dependably than other bean flours and stays whole when sliced thin. It is really good toasted with a little salted butter and piled with scrambled eggs. Plus it takes all of 30 minutes from start to finish!
In the palm of my hands
Hand pies has always had a certain tug in my heart. The always bring to my mind the image of a child's hand in an adult, being lovingly carried through life. It brings vivid imaginations of baking together with your mom or grand mom, making little versions of adult people food. Having never had that experience in any form, I find this image entirely soothing and sweet. So, please do not shatter it with reality of them being just gimmicks or something of the sort. I will stick my dream of them being small people pies!
These pies are more biscuit like than flaky but I find that crunch a very alluring balance to the softness of poached fruit inside. My filling was a resilient, raw cane sugar and cardamom roasted small asian pears. But, you can just as easily use rhubarb or berries or other smaller fruits in season.
Hello Weekend and Time Enough for Berries
I have slowly been making headway into the fruits I had frozen from last year market season. As I type, I only have half a bag left! I cooked the first batch into a compote to top on Pavlova here and several breakfasts of crunchy granola. I love the textural balance of the crunch from the granola, melting yogurt, yielding into the fleshy softness of the fruit compote. That was the same allure that this combination of meringue crunch, strained thick yogurt laced with honey and cardamom topped with generous dollops of compote had for me.
This pavlova - It is simple, delicious and yet decadent in a especially frivolous way! Perfect for a weekend when the weather is not quite warm but surely past the grasp of cold.... Like today.
Smorgasburg, Brooklyn - Scenes of a Modern Food Culture
A couple of weekends ago, as the weather thawed considerably, I finally made it to one of the best known outdoor food markets in the country - Smorgasburg. It has been running popular since 2011, and even extended its very Brooklyn roots to grace the neighboring county of Manhattan. For all that time, I had tried and failed to make a visit largely because I don't like crowds and mostly because I then lived in the less hip Manhattan borough. But, this year shall be hallowed since I made it in the second week of it's operation.
And, what a lovely visit it was! The market runs in different places on Saturday and Sunday. Despite not having visited the Williamsburg one, I am going to stipulate that the one in Brooklyn Heights on Sunday is the best one to be at. Simply because it is in a pier, by the water, a boardwalk and stunning vistas! What more can one possibly want as you leisurely walk about, grab food from different stalls and then mull over how content you are in the moment while overlooking the tall buildings of Downtown Manhattan where some....