Eat Locally Think Globally

Instead of dining out, I had a few friends over on our rooftop. This Friday night, I pan-seared okra from our local Union Square Farmers Market, with tomatoes and holy basil leaves that I have been nurturing in my urban, rooftop garden since April. 

Okra is a very simple, nutritious and lots of fiber vegetable and of course it is appetizing too! Popular as the ladies fingers in South Asian, Okra is abundance at this time of year in Northeast America as well. It’s perfect for summer refreshing vegetable dish option.

Most people don’t fancy okra is because of its slimy taste, I find if it sliced and seared gives a nice snappy texture and eliminate the liquid. 

Recipe: Seared Okra with Tomato and Cumin Dust

Ingredients:

1 lb Okra (sliced diagonally)

Vegetable oil for frying

1 medium onion, minced

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 cups (450g) chopped tomato, fresh or canned, drained

1 serrano chile, sliced

2 teaspoon finely minced ginger

2 teaspoon finely minced garlic

Spice mixture

¼ cup cilantro stems and sprigs

2 teaspoons ground cumin

½ teaspoons ground paprika

¼ teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne) 1 teaspoon salt and black pepper

1/8 cup of water

Instructions:

In a large nonstick frying pan over medium-high flame, heat 2 to 3 teaspoon oil. Add enough okra to cover pan in a single layer. Fry on both sides until golden brown. Remove to paper towels to drain. Repeat with remaining okra, adding more oil as needed for each batch to prevent sticking.

In the same pan wiped clean, over medium-high heat, add onion till lightly brown, add in garlic, ginger, stir in cumin paprika.

Continue frying over medium high heat, adding water, stirring frequently, until tomatoes soften, about 3 minutes.

Add reserved okra and stir very gently with chile to combine with tomato and cilantro stems. Cover and cook over medium-low heat until okra is cooked through…

Garnish with cilantro sprigs

*add in cooked shrimp or fish if desired!

Baking with Kids

Whenever my nephews & nieces visit, we walk to the local greenmarket at Union Square and pick up what we are going to make for lunch that day. They always cook in the kitchen with me. There’s nothing as satisfying as being able to create something from scratch.

So when my nephew Sidney and his friend Josh needed to raise some money to support their soccer team for new equipment and transportation, we decided to bake a few types of simple delicious cookies for their fundraiser. So we gathered a few kids for an impromptu baking session with our pastry chef, Momo.

josh and sidney

Not only does learning a new skill boost self-esteem, it fosters a sense of worth and creativity. They also learned a few tips about running their own business: how to sell their goods, pricing, packaging, profit margin, inventory, even creating a blog with pictures.

As the smell of freshly baked goods wafts through the studio, we all happily shared a victory cookie from our cache of goodies.

Here’s one of the recipes from that day. Enjoy!

Sammi with Cookie Crumbs

Vegan Vanilla Almond Cookie

Servings: around 30 large cookies

1 cup Sugar

½ cup Vegan Butter

1/3 cup Soy Milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

¾ cup white rice flour

1/3 cup coconut flour

2 tablespoons potato starch

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ cup almond slices

In a mixing bowl or mixer, sift all the dry ingredients together, except for the almond slices. Create a well in the dry mix and slowly incorporate all the wet ingredients. When thoroughly mixed, add almond slices. Form dough balls into desired size or use a mini ice-cream scooper like we did on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Bake for 10-14 minutes or until golden brown at 350F degrees.

Chef Momo

Recipe: Simple Cauliflower or Root Vegetable Preparation

Most people are familiar with common root vegetables like potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots and the like, but aren't as knowledgeable about turnips, rutabagas, and parsnips abundant in your local market. 

Now is the peak season for root vegetables, which generally like the cooler months of the year (January to March and October to December). Root vegetables are a great source of nutrients and are so versatile you can make practically any course of the meal with them. 

An easy way to use whatever root vegetables look fresh at the market or just rolling around your crisper drawer is to peel & chop into 2-inch chunks, toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, onion & fresh rosemary, sage or thyme. 

Roast in oven at 450 degrees for about 45 minutes or until tender, stir occasionally & serve. 

My local market here in Union Square has the most gorgeous colored cauliflower. Cook it the same way you do with the root vegetables; simply cut off the florets and roast. It also makes a great side dish for your holiday dinners.

Canning & Preserves: Abundance with Summer Peaches

While at my godmother Sonja's beach house for a few days this past week, one afternoon we stayed in preserving summer peaches from the farmer's market. "We will appreciate these peaches during the winter," said my 86 year old godmother.

A very good friend of mine, Eugenia Bone, a brilliant writer, wrote a book on preserving. "Gina" is a food aficionado like most of us. We share the same gym; whenever we are in the locker room, we will be chatting about anything from  wild mushrooms in Pennsylvania to the best gadgets for making spätzle.

From a recent New York times article comes her simple recipes for preserving pears. A light simmering in syrup does little to prepare the fruit for a long hibernation in the pantry; to make them safe, you need to process them—place the closed jars in a pot, cover with water and boil for 20 minutes.

Gina has her way of using fruit and alcohol. 

“With water-bath canning, you’re really just poaching,” she said. 

“So I thought, the canning can be the cooking.”

She used firm Bartlett pears, which she said are best for canning because
they maintain their shape, and warmed them through in a thyme
syrup. (Heating the pears before canning pulls some air out of the fruit.)

After transferring the pears to jars, she covered
them with the syrup, adding bay leaves, peppercorns
and lemon zest.

Eugenia Bone, author of Well Preserved 
You will need two pint-size wide-mouth Ball or Kerr jars with bands and new lids. 

Farmers Market: What to do with Asparagus

There's an abundance of fresh, crisp asparagus in the market now, since it's in season.

A quick and easy preparation is as follows:

1. Simply shave the bottom of the stalks. 
2. Fill a half cup cold water or just touching the bottom of pan and let the asparagus blanch for 7 minutes with healthy sprinkle of salt. 
3. Serve at room temp with French vinaigrette. 
4. Using a small bottle, add 3 tbsps of Dijon mustard, 2 diced shallots, 2 cloves crushed minced garlic, 1/8 cup champagne vinegar, salt, fresh crushed pepper and 1/4 cup of good olive oil. 
5. Close lid tight. Shake well. 

For a light dinner, I serve with lamb meat balls with yogurt, cumin sauce, and a baguette.

When my friend James Oseland from Saveur Magazine comes into my studio for lunch, he does something even easier, just squeezing half a lemon and crushed pepper with olive oil over the cooked asparagus.