A Year (and then some) of Brooklyn Forager

As I have collected more of them, birthdays and anniversaries pass with less and less fuss. One thing, however, doesn't change. The best part about a birthday is cake for breakfast in the days that follow.

The actual first Blog-iversary was a couple of days ago, and though I didn't get the post out in time, I am still enjoying the cake that I made to mark this special day. I whipped up a very interesting and surprisingly special lime yogurt cake with raspberry sauce from smitten kitchen. (This will show up again on our table in many variations.)

The limes are certainly not local (although they may have been organic) and the yogurt was big organic. I like to think I kept it Brooklyn Forager-style by using hand-picked raspberries from Vermont (my in-laws' harvest has been very good to us) in the amazingly bright and tart and tasty sauce. And, of course, the mint garnish is from our own little urban terrace garden.

In the next year of Brooklyn Forager, I hope to take more advantage of our great farmers' markets in Brooklyn, forage in other Brooklyn hotspots, learn a lot more about urban gardening and farming and homesteading, and doing a lot more preserving at home.

Thanks for following along and I look forward to more adventures!

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

 Another spur-of-the-moment baking experience that yielded great results.  After finishing up the Apple and Carrot Nut Bread, I needed another grab-and-go breakfast item and, as usual, wanted to go about it with little or no additional shopping.  

This recipe fits the bill, especially, because of its flexibility.  I used agave nectar, but that can easily be substituted with an equal amount of honey or maple syrup.  I almost always have a few bananas in the freezer, but you could also use roughly 1 - 1 1/2 cups of another mashed item like pumpkin or sweet potato.  Everything else is pretty much always in my house! 

I have now made these twice and am still enthusiastic about the results.  I've mixed in about 1/2 cup of chopped nuts (whatever you have on hand - for me, it was a mix of walnuts and almonds) on one occasion and then 1 cup of frozen blueberries handpicked in Vermont last season on the second.  Each worked nicely, so I've recommended a "grab bag" of 1/2-3/4 cup mix-ins of your choice.  Leave your variations in the comments if you play with this recipe!

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

• 1/3 cup organic agave nectar
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3 large ripe bananas (or 1 1/2 cups pumpkin or sweet potato puree)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 3 tbsp plain whole milk (or lowfat) yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2-3/4 cup mix-ins (nuts, dried fruit, berries - fresh or frozen, grated carrot or zucchini, have fun!)

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Combine all ingredients until well mixed.
3. For 6 large muffins, cook 20 minutes (for 12 regular, cook 10 minutes).  For loaf bread, cook 35-40 minutes.

Easy Braised Collard Greens and Chili-Roasted Carrots

Don't let "easy" make you think "quick". I had a couple of false-starts after finding this recipe on The Kitchen because I failed to notice the amount of chopping and the decent amount of braising time. I will say this, however: MAKE THIS.

My husband developed a taste for collard greens in Pensacola last summer and hasn't looked back. We've tried collards at every imaginable opportunity since then. This recipe has gotten the official stamp of approval. Even after Blue Smoke in Manhattan (I know. Why would there be good collard greens in Manhattan, but it's Blue Smoke!), if I may say so myself, we liked this recipe better.

I give partial credit to the recipe I started with (10 cloves garlic, wine, good broth and chili flakes? Yes, please.) and the rest to the Niman Ranch bacon I used the first time. Subsequently, I also tried this recipe with medium-slice deli ham and was very pleased with the results. (Trust me, though - try it first with the bacon.)

After classifying this dish as a Southern-style stir fry, I was also able to serve it as a main dish with a generous bowl of rice. In order to round out the meal, I improvised some Chili-Roasted Carrots with a sad little bag of baby carrots left in the crisper. They had a smoky sweetness that complemented the collards well and so, my friends, today you get two recipes for the price of one.

Braised Collard Greens (adapted from The Kitchen)

• 1 bunch collard greens (usually 1 1/2 - 2 pounds)
• 10 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, minced
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• Red pepper flakes, to taste
• 1/4 pound bacon, ham or other smoked pork (try smoked turkey even if you don't eat pork...)
• 1/2 cup wine (any wine is fine - I always used some sort of leftover white wine)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Cut and trim the tough stems away from the collard leaves. Stack the leaves, roll tightly and slice into ribbons. Wash the ribbons thoroughly and set aside to drain.
2. Cut the bacon (or other smoked meat) into 1-inch pieces.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large high-walled skillet or extremely wide pan over medium heat,  add red pepper flakes and bacon. Cook until bacon is getting crispy. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside.
4. Add the onion and garlic to the skillet with bacon grease and turn the heat to low. Cook them slowly, stirring frequently, until soft and golden (about 10 minutes). Don't let them get too dark, althoug a nice caramelization is nice. 
5. Add greens and bacon to the skillet, stirring until wilted. Add wine and chicken broth and season with a little salt and pepper. Bring to a low simmer, cover, and cook for about 30 minutes over low. (This keeps the collards a bit al dente, if you will, so cook longer if you like them with a softer texture)
6. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with broth over rice. 

Chili-Roasted Carrots

• 1 bag baby carrots
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven (try the toaster oven - less energy use, cooler kitchen) to 450F.
2. Combine all ingredients in baking pan covered in foil (the foil will save you a huge headache later). Toss well to make sure carrots are completely coated.
3. Roast for 20-25 minutes.  Enjoy!

Ramp Carnival! Spaghetti with Ramps and Ramp-Infused Olive Oil

It's that time again! All of a sudden, whispers of ramps hit Twitter and of course I could think of nothing else.  I hit the Borough Hall Farmers' Market this past weekend and found ramps at Wilklow Orchards and Rexcroft Farm (Wilklow Orchards had given the Twitterworld the heads up on Friday). 

Though I've enjoyed ramps at such local lovelies as Lunetta in Cobble Hill, I'd never cooked with them, so I bought myself one little bunch and resolved to make the Mario Batali Babbo Spaghetti with Ramps recipe that I've been holding onto since last year. 

And to add a little twist, I thought I'd preserve some of them either by pickling the bulbs or making a confit.  The pickling recipes called for loads more ramps than I wanted to invest in right away, so I went with a ramp confit recipe from The Improvisational Cook.  I've had this book around for years, but haven't done much with it.  Now I will - I definitely love the approach.  Take a basic recipe and play with it any number of different ways to get exciting new dishes. 

Because I just had my little bunch of ramps, there are not so many bulbs in my confit, but I was able to infuse about 16 ounces of extra virgin olive oil.  This seems reasonable to me since it is meant to be kept in the fridge for 2-3 weeks and not to be preserved long term.

When I had finished with the infusion, I sauteed some bread crumbs (1 slice of diced whole wheat bread) in just a bit of the infused oil, a nod to the Amateur Gourmet's recent post on bread crumbs and croutons.  I boiled up some spaghetti and sauteed the thin white/purple stems of my ramps in regular olive oil with some chili pepper flakes.  Once the spaghetti was ready, I tossed it in the skillet and added the ramp greens to wilt.  I drizzled a touch more infused oil over the pasta, cracked some black pepper and grated a touch of pecorino, finishing things off with a good sprinkle of breadcrumbs.

The result: light, spring-infused and satisfying.  Love!

Apple and Carrot Nut Bread

I rarely plan my baking ahead of time.  I do work muffins or bread or some treat into my weekly meal plans from time to time, but more often than not, things come up and big planned baking projects go by the wayside.  I do manage, however, to find quick and easy recipes that use exactly what I have in my pantry right about when I am getting the urge to bake.  These recipes, as you might imagine, are far more likely to make it into my day.

One such recipe, Apple-n-Carrot Nut Bread, popped up on fellow Brooklynite blog 30 Bucks a Week not too long ago.  Like the original, I happened to have an apple and some carrots in the crisper, begging for some noble use.  I did not have juice on hand, as the recipe requires, but I did have some vanilla soy milk.  I added about 2 tbsp maple syrup as well since I had the last of the bottle to use up and thought it could never hurt.

The modification I made which I might not recommend is using whole wheat flour instead of whole wheat pastry flour.  My bread was very tasty and made for a week of hearty breakfasts, but it was definitely on the heavier, healthier tasting side.  Since I ate mine warmed up with a good dose of honey, it didn't really affect me much, but it's just something to consider. 

I also used 1 cup almond slivers and crushed walnuts because I had those around and I didn't have any dried fruit to throw in there.  This worked out well in my household, but feel free to play around with the nut/fruit add-ins for these.  The recipe is extremely flexible.

Apple and Carrot Nut Bread (adapted from 30 Bucks a Week)

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (all-purpose is fine; regular whole wheat is okay, but heavy)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• sea salt
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup juice (apple or orange), milk or soy milk
• 1 grated apple
• 1 grated carrots (or about 6 baby carrots)
• 1/2 cup dried fruit, optional
• 1/2 cup nuts

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Mix together dry ingredients in large bowl.
3. Whisk egg, oil and juice together in seperate bowl.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until just combined.
5. Fold in grated apple, carrots, nuts and dried fruit.
6. Grease a loaf pan and coat lightly with flour.  Shake out excess.  (I used a silicone loaf pan and didn't need this step)
7. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, until toothpick in center comes out clean.