(my) steak au poivre vert
stats:
serves 4
takes 25 minutes (10 minutes inactive)
what you need:
4 steaks (filets or new york cuts), organic and grass-fed beef
1½ tablespoons gros sel de Guérande (or sea salt)
1½ tablespoons fresh French thyme leaves
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon green (dried) peppercorns, crushed
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon brandy Read the rest of this entry »
dischord on the farm; harmony on your plate:
melange of garden heirloom tomatoes with burrata and whipped tomato purée
Mean girls in the coop and a surprise male in the hutch. This is how we arrived to my home in Los Angeles. Despite the dischord amongst the animals, we also arrived to a hillside of sun-ripened tomatoes in all shapes, sizes and varieties. So while the animals were in a “time-out,” our harmonious plates inspired this week’s simple pleasure: melange of garden heirloom tomatoes with burrata and whipped tomato purée.
deep roots, significant growth, and organically so:
McGrath Family Farms and three fresh salads for spring
kale and turnip slaw with mustard seed dressing
strawberry and wild arugula salad on a Ciabatta plank
spring pea and fava bean salad with fava leaves
Mustard seeds are powerful things. When I was a girl my mother gave me a necklace with mustard seeds in a little locket. It represented a parable about the power of faith and how significant growth can come from humble beginnings (tiny seeds). It was also significant to me because her family came from generations of famers. I wore it all the time and when it broke I was girlishly devastated.
My draw to the mustard plant was not unique. In 1868, Dominick McGrath, a sheep herder from Northern California, journeyed to Southern California where he discovered six foot high mustard plants. Significant growth from tiny seeds. Dominick McGrath had found fertile soil and the place where he would sow seeds and plant his family’s roots. McGrath Family Farms was born. I recently visited the McGrath Family Farm and as I picked (and ate) my way through the organic fields, it was the very soil underneath my feet which inspired our lunch that day and this week’s simple pleasure: three fresh salads for spring (and yes, one includes mustard seeds).
wild arugula and strawberry salad on a Ciabatta plank
serves 4
what you need:
1 loaf of quality fresh Ciabatta bread (or pan de mie or country bread)
from the farm
1 cup sliced strawberries, stems removed
2 generous handfuls of wild arugula, trimmed
½ cup rapini leaves
red or green mustard frill leaves (as needed)
fresh arugula flowers (as needed)
small strawberries with stems
dressing
1 packed tablespoon light brown sugar
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
½ teaspoon sel de Guérande (or sea salt)
2 tablespoons quality olive oil Read the rest of this entry »
kale and turnip slaw with mustard seed dressing
serves 4
what you need:
from the farm
1 bunch baby Tuscan kale leaves, trimmed and en chiffonnade
1 cup grated (or julienned) purple globe turnips
¼ cup currants
¼ cup pine nuts, toasted Read the rest of this entry »
spring pea and fava bean salad with fava leaves
serves 4
what you need:
from the farm
1 cup freshly shucked English spring peas
1 cup young fava beans, pods removed (skins removed as needed)
2 generous handfuls of fava leaves, trimmed
fava flowers (as needed)
3-4 purple globe turnips, trimmed and thinly sliced
½ cup walnut pieces, toasted Read the rest of this entry »
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