Garbanzo Bean, Sunchoke, and Asparagus Risotto with Gremolata

There were fresh garbanzo beans at the market today! They taste like a cross between a pea and a fava bean, and we thought they'd go great with the yummy asparagus we've been getting. First we parboiled the asparagus and saved the water to cook the rice with. We roasted and then pureed the sunchokes and added them to the risotto once it was nearly finished cooking, along with the asparagus and beans, and then served it with gremolata on top.

Boudin Blanc and Beans

Since I couldn't make it to my home away from home, Camino, for the last of their Boudin Blanc Mondays tonight, I had to make do at home. I bought a beautiful sausage from the Cafe Rouge butcher shop (it's much more lemony than Russ') and sauteed it with some cannellini beans and fresh thyme. The leftover fennel in milk from the other night was the perfect accompaniment!

Sauteed Asparagus and Fava Bean Shoots

We found fava bean shoots at the market! They were bitter and sweet at the same time, if that is possible. Yum!

Braised Artichokes with Mint

And another Saveur recipe...

Broccolini with Garlic and Hot Pepper

Another Saveur recipe... we made it with broccolini and it was delicious.

Fennel Baked in Milk

This month's Saveur featured some fantastic recipes for Roman contorni, so Erik and I made a few of them tonight for some friends. The biggest success was this Finocchio con Latte al Forno, which was buttery and sweet and made us all want to lick our dishes. I will definitely be making this again and again.

3 medium bulbs fennel, fronds reserved
4 cups milk
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp. fennel seeds, crushed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Heat oven to 475°. Remove tough outer layer of fennel. Halve bulbs lengthwise and cut into 1⁄2″ wedges. Combine fennel, milk, and 2 tbsp. butter in a 4-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until fennel is just tender, 30–45 minutes. Add fennel seeds and season with salt and pepper.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer fennel to a 2-quart oval baking dish; pour 1 cup of the milk mixture over fennel. Sprinkle with Parmesan, dot with remaining butter, and bake until golden brown and bubbly, about 20 minutes. Serve fennel garnished with some of the fronds.

SERVES 4 – 6

Pasta with Asparagus, Mint and Ricotta Salada

Roasted Garlic Risotto with Toasted Almonds and Breadcrumbs, and Mascarpone Cheese

An old favorite!

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Kale, Caramelized Onions, Fried Sage, and Crispy Pancetta

Gnocchi recipe here. We found that it needed more flour (almost 2 cups more), but I'd say just use your instincts.

Chicken, Avocado and Cream Cheese

I know this sounds weird (or boring, or both), but I think it's a great and subtle sandwich. The creamy avocado and the tangy cream cheese mix together really well, especially on soft, fresh bread. I stole the idea years ago from a favorite sandwich shop in downtown Oakland- they add bacon, and I admit that adds some more interesting flavors, but I am usually too lazy to fry some up for my own purposes.

Citrus Salad with Preserved Lemon and Avocado Toast

More Cookies!

Yesterday's cookies were so easy and fun to make that I decided to make a few different varieties of shortbread to give to some of the people in my life that I owe a "thank you." I used Martha Stewart's basic shortbread recipe for the orange-cardamom, and I used the cornmeal recipe for the rosemary-apricot cookies, which were inspired by this post. The brown butter ones from Lottie & Doof ended up being my favorite. Yum!

clockwise, from top: rosemary (I served these with apricot preserves),
brown butter-sea salt, lemon-cornmeal, and cardamom-orange

Blood Orange Marmalade

I didn't measure anything for this, so you're just going to have to use your judgement when it comes to amounts. I had some blood orange segments and zest frozen from last winter, so I can't even tell you how many oranges I used... sorry!

Start by zesting the blood oranges in large strips. Slice the zest very fine, and place in a pot with sugar and enough water to cover it. Let it boil until softened, and translucent. Meanwhile, remove the pith from the oranges, and slice up the flesh into rounds (or you can supreme them). Add the orange pieces to the pot and continue to simmer until thickened, adding more sugar if necessary to taste. When the marmalade is reduced enough to pass a jell test (put a spoonful on a plate, stick the plate in the freezer for 10 min, and when you slant the plate, the jelly shouldn't spill), spoon it into jars and seal.

Lemon-Cornmeal Shortbread Cookies

This recipe was on Poppytalk a while back, and I found it while searching through my Reader for Lottie & Doof's brown butter shortbread cookies, which I've had on my "to make" list for some time. Because we've been having such lovely summerlike weather, I decided to save the brown butter cookies for a cozier day, and make these sunny yellow cookies today, using the Meyer lemons from my newly planted tree. The wonderful thing about shortbread is that it is pretty much foolproof. In the simplest versions, all you need are butter, flour, and sugar. Since the basic recipe is so easy, the cookies can be dressed up in a million ways. My friend Christine makes amazing salt and pepper shortbread with fleur de sel, and it's easy to dress up your shortbread with cardamom, toasted coconut, rosemary (I've made rosemary pine nut ones as well- they go wonderfully with blood orange sorbet!), green tea, chamomile... you name it! Anyways, I've modified the recipe slightly, and I think they came out really well. They are lemony and buttery with just a little crunch from the cornmeal. This recipe makes about 32 cookies.

1 1/3 C flour
1/2 C yellow cornmeal
4 T cornstarch or tapioca flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 C unsalted butter, softened
2/3 c confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Grated lemon zest from 3 small lemons or two medium ones
Demerara sugar for sprinkling (I used Turbinado- any coarse sugar will do)

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream the butter and sugar. Add in the vanilla and lemon zest and mix. In another bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, cornstarch and salt and whisk together. Slowly add in the dry ingredients into the butter/sugar mixture and stir until just combined.

Prepare your baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat, and using your hands, pinch off about a tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball. Press each ball with your thumb and repeat, spacing each cookie about 1 inch apart. Sprinkle with demerara sugar and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the undersides of the cookie are slightly golden. Cool on wire racks.

Farro and Lentils with Rapini and Caramelized Shallots

This is my spin on Erik's pasta dish from the other day. Pretty tasty!

Carrots with Cumin, Lemon, and Yogurt Dip

Citrus and Mozarella Salad with Fennel, Purple Basil and Preserved Lemon Peel, Smashed Chickpeas on Toast

Pasta with Lentils, Kale, and Caramelized Onions

My friend Erik made this for me today and I am totally stealing his recipe. The sweetness of the onions, and the heartiness of the kale and French lentils was perfect with a little bit of shaved Parmesan cheese.

Polenta with Wilted Nettles and Garlic

Scrambled Eggs with Broccolini, Caramelized Onions, and Parmesan Cheese