The more you use a good quality olive oil, the better your food will taste. Spring is the time to seek out the newest extra virgin olive oils—the current harvest from olives picked and milled in the previous fall and early winter.
The expense, return on investment, and volume of investors needed to make it a reality did not make sense. I thought, 'maybe it's time to do something new.' The amount of money you need to run a restaurant in Brooklyn or Manhattan at this point is so crazy. If you fail, the loss is massive. Here, we were able to do a major renovation, we have a 100 bottle wine list, and we can use the ingredients we want and serve them at a decent price point because our overhead is not as bad.
Cooking during late March can be particularly challenging due to the cold weather and lack of fresh produce. The desire for spring recipes clashes with the reality of winter ingredients still dominating the market.
Moisture is your best bet for keeping green garlic fresh and crisp long enough to elevate your dishes throughout the week. Just wrap it in a damp paper towel before placing it in a plastic bag for fridge storage (the crisper drawer should work). These steps should last it for about five to seven days.
One lap around the farmers market is enough to inspire spring vegetable recipes that make the most of thick stalks of asparagus, perky pink radishes, purple-streaked spring onions, tender sweet peas, thin-skinned new potatoes, and more.
Don't be intimidated by fresh mushrooms. They are prized for their flavor and versatility. Look for firm mushrooms that are free of soft spots or mold. Wash them just before using them but be sure to store them unwashed. Never submerge in water to wash them because mushrooms absorb like a sponge and become mushy. Wipe with moist paper towels.
Parsnips' signature sweet, nutty flavor comes from their cold-weather cultivation. That subterranean freeze is what converts the roots' starches into sugars as the veggie grows underground. This is also why spring-harvested parsnips tend to be sweetest, although parsnips can be harvested during the fall and winter months, too. Fall- and winter-harvested parsnips feature a firmer texture and earthier, subtly bitter tasting profile.
Striking the perfect balance between elegance and indulgence, scalloped potatoes are a satisfying side dish that pairs beautifully with a vast selection of meat and veggie sides. Prepped from scratch, this dish does require a fair amount of effort, with the peeled spuds sliced precisely into delicate rounds and carefully layered up with the creamy sauce. However, if you want to enjoy the creamy, carby goodness of this dinnertime favorite without the fuss, there's a simple solution. Reach for boxed scalloped potatoes instead.
Now, on their own, right after you peel them off the cloves, garlic skins don't make a great snack. Technically you can eat them, but the tough, fibrous texture isn't exactly something that you'll look forward to either chewing on or choking down. If you do sample a bit, however, you will notice that despite seeming like a useless bit of waste all this time, these peels actually do contain a lot of flavor.
A delicious choice of simple sandwich filling, heirloom tomatoes are a type of tomato for which the seeds have been passed down through generations, hence the name. Unlike hybrid tomatoes, the seeds for heirloom varieties are open-pollinated and not engineered for an extensive life. As such, they are quite special, boasting a unique appearance and taste. Heirloom tomato season typically spans between later summer and early fall, meaning this specific sandwich selection will be dependent on the time of year.
Today's recipe began life as a way to use up garlic skins and herby leftovers, all of which contain a surprising amount of flavour, but it has evolved over time. Infused oil has countless uses drizzle it over carpaccio, pasta or salad, use it to marinate meat, fish and vegetables, or simply as a dip for chunks of sourdough and some of my favourites include lemon rind, garlic skin and rosemary;
There's a certain thrill to the air of uncertainty that comes with making something old new again. For all you know, nobody's picked up that cookbook or made that particular wacky-looking casserole in over 40 years. Before you dive headfirst into the unknown, we spoke with Bobby Hicks, founder of Retro Recipes Kitchen and author of "Retro Recipes," for some advice about what you need to know before trying those vintage recipes in your kitchen.
I'm not much of a cook. I can throw together a few things for breakfast, sure. I can make a sandwich. Beyond that, I stick with what I know. And that means mostly easy Mexican dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a guy on the go. One thing I do know really well is how to trim, chop and combine greens and fruit to make a banging Mexican-style green juice.