Happy Easter! Chag Pesach Sameach!

Look out for more from this feast, including recipes...... xxoo

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Sweet Paul Tarts

The Spring issue of Sweet Paul is out!!! It is always a real delight to spend a time on a new project with Paul. Our collaborations - the ease of how we figure out this detail or that, what kind of feeling we want a shoot to convey, and also just getting the work done - make each new shoot a lot of fun to tackle. I hope you'll enjoy the playfulness and whimsy in this story. And you know, it was every bit as delicious as it looks... :)

 

An outtake of Paul getting this tart ready... (that honey was divine, and we used it on a number of things.)

Sweet-salty, juicy, herbacious... these are some words I would use to describe the flavors of these tarts.

The custard-y quality of eggs mixed with young veggies or herbs in tart shells, the soft creaminess of cheese - whether goat's, ricotta, pecorino, or other - where each a heavenly addition to these creations.

This tart was my favorite. Simply fantastical in its many pointy peaks, and yet quite practical in that sturdy pan! The piney fragrance of the rosemary, along with the savory sweetness of that honey (there it is again), set into the backdrop of chevre and young roasted beets, all wrapped in puff pastry... It was a surprising delight.

 

You can probably see by now how immensely satisfying the whole thing was, start to finish. Perhaps you'll make one of these for friends as a special meal to celebrate together. Or, maybe an easy (but glamorous-looking) fix to hunger on any night, to treat yourself right. Here's the story, with all the recipes to make for yourselves. Enjoy!

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Gotham Magazine

Here is new featured photography by me, out in this month's Gotham Magazine -

The feature showcases a couple images, about a new hotspot here in The Big Apple. Here are more from the shoot:

 Each is every bit as delicious as it looks. :-) Stay tuned - there's more like this soon!

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{eniko}

{eniko mihalik by max farago for bergdorf goodman pre-fall 2011 via fgr}

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A Feast for Friends

It is actually looking like spring outside! What fortunate timing, as I've been starved for the season's flowers and the fragrance they bring. So with Easter as my excuse (should I ever need one) I bought numerous dainty and bright blooms and made preparations for a meal that would make use of things calling out to me from my refrigerator's stocks... food I think anyone would happily gobble. Made for ease and versatility - and of course supreme deliciousness - shared with friends. Enjoy. ;)

The fragrance from these jonquils permeated the living room!

                                                                                                                                 

 

 

 

As you can imagine, we had a great time. Nothing like catching up with dear people (it seems like far too long in-between each time one or another of us makes arrangements, but then again I guess that's New York). What even better time spent, making a festive occasion of it with flowers celebrating the season, and special-feeling, fantastic food.

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Satisfying, Simple Eating

I am a big fan of throwing food together in a matter of moments. Sure, I love to go all out with pies, roasts, and other feats in the kitchen, but it is the simple creations that sometimes make time stop in its tracks with their small brilliance. This dish is exactly that. BIG on satisfying flavor, while - after the prepping of the artichokes - taking only a small effort to execute.

Artichokes are one of the esoteric vegetables, right up there with kohlrabi. That isn't to say that I don't enjoy it (because I adore it!), I just mean that I have to prepare with a capital "p" when I want to incorporate it into any dining plans. When I was a child, my mom would make steamed artichokes with an "aioli" for dipping. As part of the new wave of nutrition-minded mothers, she made our aioli out of yogurt, lemon juice, and a touch of store bought mayo. Not bad, actually. I remember relishing the ceremonial aspect of eating this strange & prickly vegetable: layer-after-layer, eating the flesh off the edge of each leaf, and all the discarded leaves piled in square metal saucers my mom would provide. Then came the dramatic finale of digging out the hairy choke so we could indulge in the tender heart. It was certainly eating with deliberateness.

In my recipe I have left the ceremony to the enjoyment of many elements together, like you with your beloveds and some good red wine. I've used baby artichokes (with some modification, you can use regular ones), and after trimming some of the tougher exterior parts and then braising them, you can eat the whole thing....yum!

 

If you like artichokes in any way - from your mother's cooking or recipes of your own - then make this! You will love it. And when all you have left is the braising liquid, use it as a sauce over pasta or add it to your favorite marinara or stew. Every element contributes new bounty - now dig in. :)

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The Art of Simple Eating

If it's one thing the Japanese can do it is to make food shine, simply. My belief is that what they leave to simplicity in ingredients, they more than make up for in their methods of packaging, something special all unto itself (read: another post on that one!). Not that there aren't elaborate displays of food - believe me, I experienced that too - but that in general I found a more elemental approach to food on a plate. Food undisturbed. One evening, we were treated to an izakaya dining experience. My friend repeated, "they don't try to make the food look pretty - it's just good food". This is a no-frills place - simple benches and small wooden chairs provided respite for diners and drinkers fresh from work. Lengths of aged-looking paper lined all of the walls, describing menu options. There was a din of smoking, laughter, and conversation. It felt like a measured carnival and we were happy to be along for the ride.

As we were still putting our belongings aside to settle in, an older lady who served as waitress to the entire place presented bowls of small cooked shrimp dressed in a spicy roe mixture. SO tasty. We began with beer and sake, let our hosts order, and eagerly anticipated what would come next.

Many things followed...

After two plates of incredilbly juicy sashimi, our waitress brought an oyster-cabbage stew; ham + tofu stir fry; chicken bits, tofu, and greens in flavorsome broth (came with it's own side sauce); coconut encrusted oysters on shredded raw cabbage with a dollop of hot mustard + mayo...

the broth, served with its side sauce

  

These two courses proved for the more adventurous - slices of fish liver served over shredded daikon in sauce, and turban shell served with a savory broth, in its shell.

salary women taking a needed break; our dear host slurping the last bits from the shell

My favorite course was ochazuke, which was like a savory rice porridge. The small bits of salmon, the confetti of nori, the warming flavors of the tea broth - it was wonderful.

There were other things I did not capture, like the fiddlehead fern tempura or the pieces of red snapper tails. I can assure you however that each and every thing placed in front of us disappeared quite quickly, and we left pleasantly full from those many small plates and our fill of beer and sake. Out to explore more of Ginza - our izakaya neighborhood - and to see what else the night had in store.

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The Holidays Are Soon Upon Us

I am in the process of organizing some last-minute things. On the list is making some edible gifts for friends and family - with corresponding photographic documentation, of course; making my home ship-shape to have a small gathering; packing & shipping the last 60 gift boxes off (more on that later); arranging meetings to share new work before vacations into the New Year.... all to happen this week?? Um, yeah, if possible.

And yet at this moment I find myself searching fun and interesting things online, circumferentially involved in "getting things done". (the hubby can appreciate this :) I found some diaphanous table ideas for the holidays - thank you, Martha Stewart - here, and a sensuous, delicious gift idea from the west coast, here.

Keep posted in the coming days, there is going to be an amazing blog story from my friend, Katie, on all things wondrous and Christmas. She's doing a magazine-style mega post, and it will include holiday-themed photo stories from contributors around the world. J. and I are in it, and it's sure to be hands-down terrific.
Here's a sneak peek....

 

Look for the whole story soon, and wish me luck on my laundry list in the meantime. :)

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