We went wandering this morning, out in the rather torrid heat, to play with Caitlin and Havana. After a rather delightful time at Smooch, where Havana (my favourite 2 year old) and I mucked around laughing and shooting her porpoise water pistol at the plants (and each other), we headed up to the Fort Greene flea market. If anything spells the “arrival” of our neighbourhood it’s this… the torrents of people wandering up Lafayette St every Sunday making sure that we can never afford to buy here. From the end of July we can’t even afford to rent… but that’s another, sadder, story.

I’d hoped to see and finally meet Jenna and Mark from Sweet fine day but they were nowhere to be found. A very find sandwich from the grumpy guys at Choice and we were back home.

Food – life seems a grand exploration of food and babyness at the moment. Kitchen as relaxation, and the feeling of slightly smug virtue that I’m providing for the “family”. Today it was more Banana bread – mmmm – and this evening a Bouillabaisse; my favourite thing to do with bits and pieces of fish and squid. At yesterday’s farmer’s market I’d got some rather luscious and firm Monkfish and a bunch of fresh squid, so this was the obvious thing to make. Enough to freeze and eat over many a sweet fine day.

Bouillabaisse

_serves 4-6 _

• 2 medium onions, diced fine
• 3 or so carrots, diced fine
• 1 fennel bulb, sliced fine
• small bunch of parsley, including stalks, diced.
• 1 tsp fennel seeds, coarsely ground/pounded
• 2 stalks celery
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 tbs olive oil (or so)
• dab of chili to taste
• 500ml fish stock (I cheated and used water + thai fish sauce + bonito flakes)
• pinch saffron threads
• pinch turmeric
• grated rind of half an orange
• half dozen or so peppercorns
• 14oz (375g?) tin of peeled whole tomatoes
• 1 lb (500g) firm fish – cod, monkfish, almost anything
• 1 lb (500g) squid, sliced into thin rings.

In a dutch oven or similar heavy saucepan saute vegetables, parsley, bay leaves, peppercorns, garlic & fennel seeds for around 40 minutes on low until soft. Keep mostly covered.

When soft turn up head and cook on medium/high until caramelized, stirring regularly to prevent sticking.

Add tomatoes, stock, turmeric, saffron & orange rind and cook at low simmer for around 1 hour, adding squid after 10 min.

Add fish (cut into 2cm chunks) and cook for 10 min or until clearly done. Garnish with parsley and serve with toasted bread rubbed with olive oil.

Well, not really, but I did just bake these during a torrential summer thunderstorm….

Healthy and delicious.

Banana Oat Muffins

makes approx 12 muffins

• 3 soft old blackening bananas, mashed.
• 1/3 c vegetable oil
• 3/4 c sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbs (or more) espresso coffee
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg, beaten
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 c chopped walnuts
• 1 1/2 c plain flour
• 1/2 c rolled oats

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix the oil, sugar and bananas, add the vanilla, egg, walnuts, salt and coffee.

Gently mix in the baking soda until it dissolves, then slowly add the flour and rolled oats.

Spoon into greased muffin tins and bake for 30 min.

Leave on a rack for 15 minutes then ease out of tins.

Yum.

Finding fresh beans at the Park Slope food co-op made us think of springtime in Rome, and set us searching for the perfect way to use them. It’s such a pity their beautiful mottled pink/white skins turns to a grey/brown mush. Tasty mush.

A great recipe from Verona, via Marcella Hazan.

Cranberry Beans and Papadelle

(serves 4-6)

• 1.5kg fresh cranberry beans, shelled
• 1 brown onion
• extra virgin olive oil
• (optional) pancetta, diced so small it’s practically mush
• 300g or so fresh Papardelle pasta (good dried fettucini will do, but nowhere like as glisteningly good)
• 1 tsp chopped fresh Rosemary (or more)
• 1 tsp chopped fresh Sage (or more)

Cover the fresh beans with 5 cm of water and cook for 1 hour until mashable. Reserve some of the cooking liquid.

Slowly cook onions (and pancetta) until translucent, add beans and mash 75% of them, adding some of the cooking liquid to keep it fluid. Add Sage and Rosemary, salt and pepper and cook for 5 min. while cooking pasta.

Drain pasta and mix with sauce, drizzling generously with olive oil and lashings of grated Parmesan. Serve with a sprig/sprinkle of the herbs.

Memorial day – proof that American’s love a holiday and a laze in the park as much or more than anyone. BBQ’s galore.

The farmer’s market it filled with Rhubarb, so there was only one option – Rhubarb Pie. I used my own recipe (pretty similar to the ones below), but after that found this one from Mark of One Fine Day blog... mmm…. definitely on my list for next time.

Rhubarb and Ricotta Pie

• Pie crust (1 butter:2 flour + 2 tbs sugar, pinch salt, and chilled water to bind, but you know the drill) – enough for one 8 inch base
• 1 cup low fat ricotta cheese
• rind from 1 lemon
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/3 c sugar
• (optional) seeds from 1 vanilla bean (half into the pastry, half into the filling)
• 1 c stewed rhubarb (see below)

To stew Rhubarb: wash stalks and cut into 2 inch lengths, put into heavy saucepan with tightfitting lid (dutch oven is good), sprinkle with sugar and leave on med/low heat until soft (about 15-20 min)

Preheat oven to 375F.

Blind bake pastry shell (or coat bottom with egg white if you don’t have time), line 8 inch flan tin or pie dish.

Mix Ricotta, yolks, sugar, vanilla and half the lemon rind and pour into the pie shell.

Top with Rhubarb pieces, not covering fully – should have a nicely mottled appearance.

Bake for 45 min. until ricotta has set and pastry lightly browned.

As all good men should, I have a love for fresh spring peas. Shucking them out of their pods just lets me think about how they might best be be cooked – something with mint?. I’ll save for another time the thought of fresh fava beans, new season’s olive oil, and Pecorino. All thanks to the wonders of the Park Slope Food Co-op.

For this lot I recreated the old favourite: peas with ricotta and mint on pappardelle (see below).