Who's Hungry? Magazine | No 7

judith mara | Editor and Writer

Judith has worked with Stephen for almost seven years and helps to lead the editorial concept and execution of Who’s Hungry?™ magazine. An award-winning former creative director for major ad agencies such as Leo Burnett and J. Walter Thompson, Judith sweats the details, pens Weather Permitting and literally hand writes How We Did It.

dannielle kyrillos | Writer and Television Commentator

A series judge on Bravo’s Top Chef Just Desserts, Dannielle is an expert on stylish entertaining, food, fashion, and travel. She appears regularly on NBC’s Today and The Nate Berkus Show, as well as on E! News, BetterTV, CNBC, CNN, and local morning programming in New York and Philadelphia. For Who’s Hungry?™ magazine, Dannielle scouts out the season’s Spring-iest salads.

sara moulton | Chef, Cookbook Author, Television Personality

One of the hardest-working women in the food biz, Sara has hosted multiple Food Network shows, served as Gourmet magazine’s executive chef for 23 years, and balanced it all with family life. She has written three cookbooks, and hosts her own PBS show, Sara’s Weeknight Meals. For Who’s Hungry?™ magazine, Sara reflects on her long relationship with Julia Child.

sarah levy | Pastry Chef, Cookbook Author and Food Consultant

Pastry chef and food consultant Sarah Levy delighted millions as the owner and proprietor of Sarah’s Pastries & Candies, one of Chicago’s most popular confectioneries since its opening in 2004. She is the author of Sweetness: Delicious Baked Treats for Every Occasion, and has been featured in USA Today, Better Homes and Gardens, BRIDES magazine and many more. For Who’s Hungry?™ magazine, Sarah reveals her favorite recipe for pâte à choux, the “sexy black dress of pastry.”

todd womack | Comedian and Writer

Todd Womack is a Brooklyn-based comedian who has been a writer/performer on the gigantic YouTube series The Key of Awesome, since 2010. The series has over 1 billion views to date, and can be found on the YouTube channel “Barely Political.” His credits include Good Morning America, 20/20, Chappelle’s Show; and appearances on Bravo, VH-1, TNT, and in Esquire magazine. For Who’s Hungry?™ magazine, Todd gets dirty with some tantalizing food porn.

ian law | Design

Ian designed every aspect of Who’s Hungry?™ magazine with meticulous attention to detail and typography, and helped turn static images into an interactive experience. His award-winning design work has been featured in the pages of Print, Creativity, How, PDN and Graphic Design USA.

ian knauer | Writer, Author, Soon-to-be Television Personality

A former editor at Gourmet Magazine, Ian develops recipes for Food Network and contributes regularly to Bon Appétit. His own PBS show, The Farm, will air this summer and bring to life the stories and recipes from his celebrated cookbook by the same name. For Who’s Hungry? magazine, Ian takes us on a journey through his garden and unearths some valuable insight along the way.

Deborah Madison is America’s leading authority on vegetarian cooking and author of the groundbreaking Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. Her latest cookbook, Vegetable Literacy, illuminates the connections among vegetables from the same botanical families and offers suggestions on how they might work together in the kitchen. For Who’s Hungry?™ magazine, Deborah sheds light on another intriguing theme from her book: using the whole plant.

heather sperling | Chicago Editor of Tasting Table and Co-founder of Fête

Heather is the Chicago editor of Tasting Table, a free daily email publication about the country’s best food, drink, chefs and more. A co-founder of Fête (a pop-up night market and cultural festival celebrating the finest in Chicago’s food and design) and food editor of The Chicagoan, her work has appeared in Plate Magazine, TheAtlantic.com, and Planet Green. For Who’s Hungry? magazine, Heather explores some of the best—and most colorful—drinks of the season.

bryan olsen | Writer and Performer

Bryan Olsen is a writer and performer for Barely Political’s “The Key of Awesome.” Additionally, he wrote for Comedy Central’s Roast of David Hasselhoff, and sold a screenplay to Paramount Pictures and Ivan Reitman. As an actor, Mr. Olsen has appeared on several episodes of Comedy Central’s Chappelle’s Show. For Who’s Hungry?™ magazine, Bryan gets dirty with some tantalizing food porn.

kathryn o’malley | Editor and Writer

Kathryn’s love of food is matched only by her passion for writing about it; as part of the Who’s Hungry?™ editorial team, she indulges in a bit of both. Her popular food blog, dramaticpancake.com, garners more than 40,000 unique viewers per month and highlights the people and stories behind great recipes.

LETTER FROM STEVE

Spring is the season of renewal. It’s that time of year when the sun shines longer each day, the grass grows just a little bit greener, and the earth begins to soften in the rain, shooting up new life.

deirdre o’shea | Production Director

If you have worked with Stephen Hamilton, you’ve worked with Deirdre. Drawing on 15 years of experience in managing photography studios, Deirdre has a hand in nearly every aspect of Stephen’s business. She’s been instrumental in organizing the magazine’s shoots, sourcing ingredients, and always keeping production on schedule.

As we embrace the growth we see outside, we also look to how we’ve grown inside—as a magazine, and as a team. When we launched Who’s Hungry?™ one year ago, we had a few exceptional staff members and a simple goal of bridging the worlds of food and photography. Since then, the magazine has evolved in ways we never could have predicted. Not only is it a deeply satisfying creative project, but it’s also been an opportunity to connect with and learn from some of the most interesting and knowledgeable professionals throughout the culinary world.

Each story in this magazine has taken us on a new adventure. We’ve discovered innovative uses for maple syrup at Burton’s Maplewood Farms; enjoyed holiday cookies from some of the nation’s top bakers; sat down with our favorite chefs; explored the secrets behind great food styling; ventured out on a Virginia fox hunt; and been pulled into the personal stories of great writers. I want to thank everyone involved, past and present, who have helped make the magazine what it is today.

With one incredible year behind us, we look forward to embracing the next and all the growth that is yet to come. I hope you’ll grow right along with us and continue to ask “Who’s Hungry?”™

STEPHEN HAMILTON

a special thanks to: Fabio Viviani, Art Smith, Sari Zernich Worshom, Geoff Bins-Calvey, Josephine Orba, Gail Simmons, Jennifer Evans Gardner, Dale Levitski, Sara Cruz, Vanessa Dubiel, CeCe Campise, Walter Moeller, Breana Moeller, Raymond Barrera, Andrew Burkle, Paula Walters, Ruth Siegel, Malika Ameen, Tom Hamilton, Juan Palomino, David Raine, Kaitlyn McQuaid, Lauren Holschbach, Justin Paris

by DANNIELLE KYRILLOS

Dannielle Kyrillos, a series judge on Bravo’s Top Chef Just Desserts and expert on all things food and entertaining, shares her five favorite Spring-iest salads from around the country.

Portrait by Peter Hurley

A wise woman once said that the best part of anything with cheese in it is the cheese. While many would argue this is never more apt than in the salad kingdom, smart and kindly Chef Jason Wilson gives the exceptional burrata he lovingly handcrafts such an elegant gang of vegetable accomplices that somehow even this enticingly quivering globe of creamy goodness doesn’t overshadow its plate-mates. Sweet peas with

parts of their coats and wacky tendrils, toasty hazelnuts, crisp carrot wisps, and a careful mix of leafiness surround the perfectly warmed, oliveoil-enrobed burrata, waiting to be swept up in the inevitable creamy ooze. Like the whole Crush experience, the dish so comfortably marries the hallmarks of spring, exuberance and restraint, and it’s such a lively, tasty salad you almost forget that cheese is at its heart. Almost. 2319 E. MADISON WA 98112 206.302.7874

Roasted Broccoli & Green Bean Salad

COCHON TCHOUPITOULAS ORLEANS, LA 70130 504.588.2123

If only the Simpsons had been to Cochon. The cartoon family taunted their most healthconscious member with the infuriatingly catchy, “You don’t win friends with salad!” but if they’d tried this really green but really rich concoction, they’d be singing a totally different tune. Broccoli is roasted to the edge of caramelization, intoxicatingly earthly and just barely sweet.

Green beans lend a fresh crunch, and pickled onions provide trails of pucker. Barbecued pecans come excitingly close to serving as proof that candy in salad might not be as horrible as we’d thought. And the mildly kicky poblano ranch coating the whole beautiful mess makes this the only salad that is both veggie-laden and decadent enough to make absolutely anyone happy.

Salade du Café ST. 00820 340.713.1500

Certain lunch scenarios scream for a burger. Others, like any you’ll encounter at Café Christine, whisper conspiratorially for a proper, classic salad. Or more precisely, une salade. Thin, rare ribbons of London broil are draped over dainty lettuces, Gorgonzola and pine nuts, with just a soupcon of tart dressing. It is utterly French and exactly right for its setting, an elegant tropical courtyard of crumbling ruins and meandering

roosters. The Christine in question, Madame Grassiot, prepares each sublime dish single-handedly in a kitchen marked “Private” and opens just for weekday lunch. When this salad appears on the daily hand-chalked menu, it is a must, as it allows room to finish the meal comme il faut, with a slice of what very well might be the world’s best pear-chocolate pie.

Hari Cameron is the kind of chef you want to be best friends with before you even meet him. His not-quite-year-old a(Muse) is a room at once cool and welcoming, his menu is witty and smart, and his dishes are precise but not precious. And when the Beard-Award-nominated thirty-year-old emerges from his bustling kitchen to say hello, you realize the soft-spoken artist is a problemsolver, too. He has removed any doubt that truly fine dining can flourish in this sleepy beach town,

and he has saved the kale salad from being the next Caesar. His version is so inventive it’s like a rebirth. The top leaf is actually dehydrated and crisp, hiding a rainbow of fresh leaves, plucky Meyer lemon and lardo. Underneath it all is humble quinoa, scattered playfully, the texture suggesting roe or mustard grains. Phew, kale has been rescued!

Avocado and Papaya Salad

TOWN 3435 WAIALAE AVENUE HONOLULU, HI 808.735.5900

The very best salads are those so fresh, so throbbing with immediacy that the simple tossing together of a few just-harvested items is enough to capture the very flavor of a place. This is exactly what happens with any salad at Ed Kenney’s Town, but when the version involving avocado, papaya, cucumbers, leafy red oak and pecans is on the menu, you will meet and then consume Mother Nature herself. She’ll be wearing a lusty coat of Green Goddess dressing flecked with herbs, and one bite will evoke sunshine and fresh air and everything good. Most all the ingredients will be from nearby MA’O Organic Farms, on the board of which Kenney sits and whose mission is to nurture not just gorgeous produce, but also the region’s young people.

Art Smith is a two-time James Beard Award winner, author of four cookbooks, and executive chef and co-owner of five restaurants including Table fifty-two, Art and Soul, Southern Art, LYFE Kitchen, and Joanne’s. Smith’s vast appeal lies not only in his fresh approach to classic Southern cuisine, but also in his dedication to uniting people through good food and shared meals.

We invited Fabio Viviani, our previously featured chef, to ask Smith anything he wanted. And Smith—in his usual fashion— responded with warmth, honesty, and a healthy dose of humor.

what’s the first full dish you ever cooked, and the first one you cooked as a professional chef?

The first full dish I ever cooked was Julia Child’s Coq Au Vin. Julia’s books were my cooking school. “Chef” is a title in a professional kitchen, and I have always considered myself a “cook.” I have been cooking ever since I could hold a knife, but fried chicken and biscuits are two things I’ve always felt comfortable preparing, whether I’m cooking for family, celebrities or politicians. I am known for saying “Fried Chicken Takes No Sides!” Words to live by, I think.

what’s the biggest satisfaction you’ve ever had thanks to your career? Not having to ever make reservations!

who’s your biggest celebrity crush and biggest chef influences you’ve had in your life?

When I was in the closet it would have been Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music! LOL. Out of the closet, I’d say Mathew McConaughey—he’s hot. I saved his puppy and when he gave me a little love tap on the shoulder, I melted!

I also love and adore Chef Jamie Oliver and his mission of taking kids off the street to teach them how to cook, and helping children across the world eat better. He’s a selfless man and with all that love he has created a mega-empire. What you give out is what you get back!

tell me five favorite kitchen tools, ingredients or flavors.

My cast iron skillet—I have over 400 pots but I always use my skillet

My new Williams knives Geechie Boy stone ground grits and rice grits Lucini extra virgin olive oil 20-year-old balsamic vinegar

any foods you hate?

Processed food. Food not cooked with love.

any fun story about a weird customer? Heck we all are weird, but that’s what I love about meeting new people all the time in my restaurants. We may not have a stitch in common, but we connect over food. I call it the fine “Art of Kissing Babies.” I can walk into a snake pit and turn it into a love pit (especially with a piece of Hummingbird cake in tow)!

XOXO ART

Comfort food has never been so flavorful—or nutritious—as it is in Art Smith’s Healthy Comfort, the chef’s latest cookbook.

PHOTOGRAPHY

by KATHRYN O’MALLEY

What is there to say about the egg that hasn’t already been said? Laden with allusions to life and rebirth, we’ve long been intrigued by its elegant oval shape and all that it holds. From art and architecture to literature and religion, eggs are everywhere—including, of course, our very own kitchens. We whip them into soufflés, stir them into aioli, and sop up runny yolks with crisp buttered toast.

At their best, these delicate little orbs are nature’s perfect food, a deliciously compact source of protein, vitamins and minerals all tied into one. But with so many carton labels that are often more confusing than they are clarifying, how can you be sure you’re choosing the best option—and what do all those terms mean, anyway?

Here’s your guide to cracking the codes of the carton.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHEN HAMILTON

Unscrambling the Egg Carton

egg grades: Given by the United States Department of Agriculture, egg grades depend mainly on the firmness of the whites, the shape of the yolks, and the condition of the shells. AA eggs are the handsomest of the bunch and work well in dishes where appearance is important, though Grade A aren’t bad, either (the only difference being whites that are slightly less firm). Grade B eggs, used for processed, frozen or dried egg products, are rarely found in stores.

natural: There are no regulations for the term “natural,” and any producer can use this label. It says nothing about how the hens were raised or what they were fed.

vegetarian-fed: This means that the hens were fed an all-vegetarian diet, free of animal by-products, but it doesn’t tell us anything about living conditions. If it’s the only label on the carton, keep looking.

omega-3 enhanced or fortified: The hens’ diets were fortified with good sources of omega-3’s, such as flaxseed, algae or fish oil. These eggs will contain more omega-3’s than your “plain label” supermarket brand.

cage-free: The hens were not kept in cages and had continuous access to food and water, but did not necessarily have access to the outdoors. Many cage-free birds are confined to crowded barns or warehouses.

certified humane: This label, like “cage-free,” means the hens were uncaged but did not necessarily have access to the outdoors. It’s still an improvement, though, since it makes requirements for things like stocking density, number of perches and laying boxes.

free range: In addition to being raised cage-free, the hens were given access to the outdoors. Just keep in mind that there is no regulation dictating how long the hens must be outside or how much room they’re given.

pasture-raised: This means that the hens got at least part of their food from foraging on greens and bugs, which produces healthier and more delicious eggs.

organic: A USDA-certified organic label means that the hens were raised cagefree with outdoor access, on an organic diet, and with no hormones or antibiotics. These eggs are a healthy bet, but it’s still worth investigating your brand of choice as “outdoor access” can mean many different things—from a large grassy field to a tiny concrete porch.

shell color: The color of an egg has nothing to do with health or taste; different breeds of chickens simply produce different colored eggs. So why are the brown ones so expensive? Because the chickens that lay them tend to be bigger and more costly to feed.

yolk color: The best-tasting eggs will have richly colored yolks. Hens with more varied diets offer yolks that are dark yellow or orange, indicating higher levels of healthy omega-3’s and carotenoids.

shades of white: Believe it or not, cloudier egg whites mean fresher eggs. If the whites are pink, green or iridescent, you’ll know the egg is rotten (and the smell will make that pretty clear).

blood spots: Sometimes little blood spots, also called meat spots, appear on the egg yolk. This happens occasionally when a blood vessel is ruptured while the yolk is being formed—not exactly appetizing, but also nothing to worry about.

those twisted strands: You know those rope-like strands of egg white you sometimes see? Chalazae are essentially thin strings that anchor the yolk to the inside of the eggshell, suspending it in the center of the white. The fresher the egg, the more prominent the chalazae.

PHOTOGRAPHY

THE ART of the

by KATHRYN O’MALLEY

Splashes, by their very nature, are messy, unpredictable, and irregular. But they can also be beautiful, lending an otherwise still photo a compelling sense of movement and drama. So how do you go about capturing a graceful, yet natural looking, burst of liquid? With proper timing, strategic angles, and a hefty dose of patience and practice. Slip on your rain jacket and let’s dive into the details…

DROPPING THE OBJECT

hand drop

Using your hands is the most costeffective method for dropping an item into liquid to create a splash. This strategy can produce a lovely natural look, but results will be inconsistent; using an armrest or a visual marker can help.

custom rig

Invite Geoff Binns-Calvey, special effects pro, to create a custom rig. This clever contraption will drop whatever object you’re working with at a precise and consistent location and angle—each and every time.

CAPTURING THE SPLASH

eyeing it

It’s hard to get the timing right, but with enough trial and error you can train your eye to estimate when your dropped object (in this case, berries) will hit your liquid (in this case, yogurt), so you can snap the shot accordingly.

laser trigger

A more accurate and reliable option than your eyes, a laser can be set to trigger the shutter whenever a dropped object passes it. Of course, it takes some fiddling to achieve the right timing, but once you have it down, the results are extremely consistent.

custom model

You can always cut out timing issues completely (and eliminate messes!) with the use of an artificial splash made from resin or acrylic. The one major downside? A single model can cost up to twelve thousand dollars, and once it’s made there is no way of adjusting it.

PHOTOGRAPHY

BY STEPHEN HAMILTON

ASK A CHEF

FAVORITE KITCHEN TOOLS

INTRO by JUDITH MARA

ANSWERS by CHEF DALE LEVITSKI

Chef Dale Levitski (Frog N Snail, Sprout) had to think long and hard when we asked him what his favorite kitchen tools are. “I have never been a cook who enjoys gadgets or specialty items” was his initial answer.

And we can guess why he answered that way. If you study his work, you’ll see ingenious ingredients cut with masterful knife skills, an egg that’s simply poached, or a perfect oviform quenelle. Certainly a pure approach to cooking that doesn’t require gadgets to get the job done.

So what kitchen tools does Dale rely on that could help us non-chefs perform better in our kitchens? All we can say is, the last thing you’ll be buying is a Manual Rotato Potato Peeler As Seen on TV based on his recommendations.

Chef Dale Levitski’s answers:

chinois (strainer) where to buy »

For sauce work, a chinois is an absolute requirement for getting the right texture and for getting the impurities out. It refines reductions and clears stocks as well.

boos wood cutting boards where to buy »

It’s the texture of a BOOS cutting board when you are working with your knife—the feel is much more sexy than cutting on plastic. They are so sturdy and your knife doesn’t skip as much as on plastic. BOOS boards are an amazing investment and a home kitchen must-have. Besides, it looks pretty left out on a countertop.

vintage spoons where to buy »

Chefs fawn over spoons. My spoons are my grandmother’s silver-plate serving spoons that she used on special occasions. For me they are food memories with a romantic connection. They are perfect plating spoons for quenelles and swooshes, and I use the slotted spoon for lifting poached eggs out of the water. A lot of chefs have a spoon that they so are attached to that they’ll search an entire kitchen for hours to find it if they lose track of it. And they all have their own spoon story—usually it’s about where they stole it.

chinois (strainer)

boos wood cutting boards vintage spoons

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHEN HAMILTON

Spring Romance by IAN KNAUER

A former editor at Gourmet, Ian Knauer restored and revitalized his family’s centuries-old Pennsylvania farm and wrote about the experience—and the recipes it bore—in a beautifully unique cookbook, The Farm. His PBS series by the same name begins airing this summer.

The Whole Plant

by

DEBORAH MADISON

Deborah Madison is America’s leading authority on vegetarian cooking and author of the groundbreaking Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. An avid gardener and seasoned chef, Madison has inspired generations of home cooks to think about produce in new and exciting ways. Her latest cookbook, Vegetable Literacy, is bound to become a classic, illuminating the connections among vegetables from the same botanical families and offering suggestions on how they might work together in the kitchen. Here, Madison sheds light on another, equally intriguing theme from her book: using the whole plant. STEPHEN

I’ve been growing my own vegetable garden for five years now, and I’ve learned a thing or two about myself. Namely, that I am a terrible farmer.

I lack any and all patience, have no love of neat and even rows, and am absent-minded to the point where lettuce wilts from lack of water and weeds reach my chest, choking out all things cultivated. Before I started growing my own food I’d have described myself as organized, self-reliant, patient, and focused. I now know I am none of those things.

So what am I, then? I am a romantic. I am eternally hopeful and naive—truly, a child at the core. I’m also a little jaded. By last September, I was defeated.

Last spring brought plenty of rain, soaking the earth and plumping the seeds that had rolled off my fingers and into the ground. They burst to life and stretched up and out, reaching for the sun. This is what I remember. What I forget, or at least try to forget, is the scorching drought that followed. The tilled earth coughed up dust in puffs and swirls every time the wind blew. I watered and watered, when I remembered to, but it was pointless. The drought lasted for months and what it

didn’t kill it shrank and gnarled. Any surviving tomato plants looked like hundred-year-old grapevines. The eggplants had skins as thick as leather.

And then, it started to rain, and it wouldn’t stop. The tomatoes, those that were left, swelled and burst, then rotted. The eggplants were actually washed away. The weeds rejoiced. I planted a second crop of greens, which were immediately eaten by either an army of rabbits or a wiley gang of groundhogs.

Spring Romance by IAN KNAUER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHEN HAMILTON

Of the last five seasons there has been just one, the first one, that was a dream.

It took me years to eat through the jars and jars of canned veggies from that bounty. It was a dream because nature just worked in my favor, not because I did anything special or different. Maybe it’s that first year that keeps me coming back for the fantasy. Or maybe it’s just the man I am—innocent with hope and blind with faith in things I don’t understand like rain and sun and vegetable seeds.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHEN HAMILTON

Hold a radish seed in your hand and feel it. Try to find the life it holds inside. It is smaller than a lentil and less perfect.

Its shape is not quite round, more rugby-ball shaped at one end, more plum-bottomed at the other. But there are wrinkles, prune-like, too. And no two radish seeds are quite the same shape. If I hadn’t labeled them as such I’d be sure they were small pebbles, lifeless rocks. They are cold. They are dull and brown. And they are made of magic.

Radishes are the first tiny green leaves to climb from the spring soil, and those first leaves are shaped like hearts, the symbol of life and love. Imagine. Heart-shaped leaves from lifeless pebbles. It’s the stuff of fantasy. How middle-earth.

Those who are good at farming tend to be rational and, well, not romantic at all. They are organized and in control of the land and the rain and the sun. And I wonder if they also think that radish seeds are made of wizardry. I feel sorry for them if they don’t.

PHOTOGRAPHY

View

The Whole Plant

The stem of cauliflower is utterly mild and delicious—there’s no reason to throw it out, or the tender leaves that protect the curds. And the same is true of a broccoli stem.

One of the subjects that has long interested me (and frustrated me as well) is that that we seldom see the whole vegetable since so much is lopped off in the field long before it gets to a store. Much like the butcher counter with its parts and pieces of the animal, the produce counter gives us the broccoli crowns but not always the stems, and never the leaves. It presents us with uniform-sized chard leaves, collard greens, and kale when in the garden bed leaves vary greatly in size. Leeks are without their yards of greens; beets and carrots don’t always have their greens nor does chard always have its stems, and so it goes.

If you ever see broccoli growing in a garden, you might be amazed at how enormous a mature plant is—three feet across—and

most of that consists of outer leaves. You can actually eat some of those leaves—not the oldest ones, but certainly some of the newer ones closer to the head. The stem of cauliflower is utterly mild and delicious— there’s no reason to throw it out, or the tender leaves that protect the curds. And the same is true of a broccoli stem. As long as it’s well peeled, you have a luminous green vegetable to use. Artichoke stems are also quite edible when you find them attached to the bud. We’re just starting to find them in supermarkets, featured as an extra—and at extra cost. But they’ve always been there, just not in the store.

When you grow something, or see it blossoming in a garden, you start to wonder what you can eat, really. What about those

luxurious radish tops that come with each radish? It turns out they make a very good soup, or you can braise them with their roots.

And how about those meaty-looking chard stems? There’s a reason why they’re eaten in France—favored in fact, over the greens. Your arugula has gone to flower, and yes, you can use those lovely blooms in a salad, as a garnish. Your cilantro has bolted and made little green balls that will turn, when dried, into coriander. But in their green state, they’re a boon to the cook—mysterious, pungent, somewhere in between cilantro and coriander. There are those who love turnip greens, but those who never eat them. Yet they are quite edible, and not only that, they’re the most nutritious part of the plant, much more so than the root. BY STEPHEN HAMILTON

But even beyond the garden, we can appreciate the whole plant. I’m convinced that people are eating many more Brussels sprouts these days since stores have started selling the entire stalk, festooned with its sprouts. It’s just so irresistible! I watch people cradling their stalks with big smiles on their faces. Suddenly a hated vegetable has become a darling. And if its silly crown of leaves is still attached, so much the better. (And yes, you can eat those, too.) “Eating the Whole Plant” is a theme in my new book, Vegetable Literacy, which points to the possibilities for food that we usually ignore and often don’t even see—and the many ways we can dig just a little bit deeper.

PHOTOGRAPHY

ON EATING THE WHOLE PLANT

radish leaves, where the vitamins and minerals are, are quite edible. Use them in salads or in a radish top soup. Discard any that are old or yellowed.

radish pods can be pickled and can also be stir-fried as long as they’re still tender.

carrot tops, especially the smaller, more tender greens, have a pure carroty flavor —perfect to garnish and season a carrot soup or salad.

chard that has bolted (started to go to seed) has fewer leaves and smaller ones, but they are quite edible, even if they don’t look like the ones you get at the store. Of course, chard stems are very good to eat, too.

cilantro which has gone to seed makes little green spheres that later dry and are called coriander. In their green form, they are quite delicious, somewhere between cilantro and coriander. Use them in a salad or in a sauce, over fish.

the cores of cauliflower, which so many people tell you to discard, are just as mild and crunchy as the florets. Nibble on them raw, or cook them with the cauliflower florets.

broccoli stems, when thickly peeled, are pale green, moist and crunchy. Like cauliflower, they’re good either raw or lightly cooked, and are a very pretty green.

some cultures eat the greens of certain summer squashes (Cocozelle types) and sweet potatoes, and you can too, in stirfries and other dishes.

collard stems will cook to tenderness, unlike kale, and when the plants sprout and make flowers, those parts are tender and delicious to eat, too.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHEN HAMILTON

View recipe on page 83 » spinach crowns with sesame-miso sauce

In winter, my cocktails of choice are golden brown: a Martinez, a Manhattan. These are the faithful companions of cold-weather cocktail hour. Come spring, the brighter, the fresher, the better. The finest drinks I’ve encountered of late are as lively in hue as they are on the palate.

On a recent balmy night in New Orleans, after too many fried boudin balls at Cochon, I found myself at the bar at Cure. My request for a drinkable digestion aid was met with a tall, fiercely crimson Gunshop Fizz, a Cure original that’s not on the menu but is available by request.

Peychaud’s bitters—made in New Orleans since the 1830’s—anchor the drink, with a full two ounces in the mixing glass. A vigorous muddling with lemon juice, simple syrup, strawberries, cucumber and citrus peel follows, then a hard shake and a topping of Sanbitter, San Pellegrino’s bitter, rosy-hued soda. The result is a grownup fruit punch, juicy and bright with a backbone of sophisticated bitterness.

Fresh celery juice colors the Green Hornet at Trenchermen in Chicago, where Tona Palomino, a transplant from New York’s WD~50, mans the bar. The verdant cocktail is the dangerously drinkable lovechild of

a gin-and-tonic/gimlet/celery ménage. Palomino shakes the gin and juice with lime, simple syrup and celery bitters, and tops it with Fever Tree tonic. It has a G&T’s freshness, bolstered by celery and lime, with its edges smoothed by a touch of sweetness.

To stock a home bar with vibrant color, look to a handful of new cocktail syrups. Jack Rudy Cocktail Co. of Charleston, South Carolina, recently launched small-batch grenadine made with California-grown pomegranates, cane sugar and orange-flower water (jackrudycocktailco.com). Last fall, Brooklyn’s Royal Rose (royalrosesyrups. com) added saffron to its rainbow of simple syrups, and the latest from Madison, Wisconsin’s Quince & Apple is sunny-hued lemon-lime syrup scented with lemongrass and lime leaves (quinceandapple.com). In other words: Your cocktail future is looking bright.

STORY & RECIPES by SARA MOULTON

photo by BillAdler

Think you’ve read or seen everything there is to know about Julia Child? Well, there’s always something new. Sara Moulton looks back on her long relationship with Julia and how she will always be influenced by Julia’s natural thirst for new ways, ingredients and gadgets.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHEN HAMILTON

View recipe on page 84 » rhubarb potstickers MOULTON

I’m inspired by many things and many people: eating out, traveling, cookbooks, online information, and my family and friends… not to mention my own personal lifetime of taste memories. But nothing and no one was more important to me than Julia Child, the first person who taught me how to develop a recipe.

As the chef/manager of a catering operation in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1979, I happened to be in the right place at the right time. One day I was peeling a lifetime’s supply of hardboiled eggs when I started chatting with Berit

Pratt, one of my teammates, about Julia’s method of cooking hard-boiled eggs (which is not to boil them). Berit mentioned that she was a volunteer on Julia’s PBS TV show. I wondered if Julia might ever need another volunteer (namely me), and Berit said that they were just about to tape another season and she’d ask Julia.

The next day Berit told me that she’d talked to Julia, and that Julia wanted to hire me. I was astonished that Julia Child would even consider offering me a paid job without having met me. So I trotted down to the corner pay phone and dialed her right up. She picked up the phone herself, said she’d heard all about me, and asked if I “food-styled.” In truth, I didn’t really have any professional experience in food styling, but I figured, heck, as a chef, I certainly take care to land my food attractively on a plate. So what did I say? “Yes, Julia. I’m very good at food styling.” And I got the job. BY

How did I dream up these spring desserts, presenting seasonal fruits in unusual new recipes?

That was the beginning of the most important relationship of my career. I worked with Julia on that show, Julia Child and More Company, and on the cookbook that was published with it. Afterwards, I assisted her at various industry events. In the mid-eighties, I became Julia’s prep cook/food stylist whenever she appeared on Good Morning America. We remained friends until she died, and I was lucky enough to host a special on her for the Food Network in the last year of her life.

But back to JC and More Company, for which I was supposedly the food stylist. I learned a ton on the job, mostly from Julia, but also from the executive chef, Marian Morash. I thought we’d just sit at the feet of a master and be told what to do, but that wasn’t the

way Julia worked. We were all in it together. Recipe development was a group effort, although Julia of course always had the last word.

She was endlessly curious about everything culinary, including all new gadgets. When Carl Sontheimer was developing the original Cuisinart in the late seventies, Julia made a point of using it on air so that home cooks could learn more about it. I don’t know who first put a blow torch in Julia’s hands, but it became her weapon of choice for crème brûlée. She was reliably fascinated by new ingredients, too. The first time any of us tasted a sugar snap pea was when someone brought it to Julia on the set of her show. The same was true of spaghetti squash and string cheese.

Julia was also on a mission to introduce her viewers to all of the wonderful ingredients to which she’d first been exposed in France, including monkfish, rabbit, and celery root. I’d never cooked with any of them before and each one was a real eye-opener. Julia never hesitated using hard-to-find ingredients as long as they were worth it. She encouraged home cooks to become activists in pursuit of better eating. I can still see her looking dead into the camera and saying, “Tell your produce man you need leeks and shallots, and he must carry them. Tell your fishmonger that monkfish is a delicious alternative fish to the usual options.”

This isn’t to say that Julia was merely trendy. She always tempered her curiosity with a strict reliance on the scientific method. Here’s how she boiled it all down in Julia Child and More Company:

I took that advice to heart a generation ago and it continues to guide me today. It happens to be spring again, the season of renewal. Why not try something new in the kitchen?

Don’t take things for granted. Keep searching for better techniques, new applications, new ways of combining flavors. Try things out. One’s imagination can play one false—the only real test is to taste.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHEN HAMILTON

Pâte à choux is like the sexy black dress of pastry (not to be confused with the little black dress). Everyone should have a great go-to pâte à choux recipe up his or her sleeve. Pâte à choux’s versatility makes it easy to transform from one dessert or savory dish to the next with just a few easy variations. This light pastry dough recipe is at the heart of eclairs, profiteroles, croquembouches, beignets, Saint-

Honoré cake, churros, and gougères alike. I have unveiled my favorite pâte à choux recipe below, and enlisted the help of two acclaimed Chicago pastry chefs, Malika Ameen and CeCe Campise, to help you transform this recipe into profiteroles with Chef Malika’s decadent chocolate fudge sauce and eclairs with Chef CeCe’s rich chocolate cremeux filling and caramel glaze.

Pâte à choux was first created by a man named Pantarelli in 1540. Something that has been around that long must be delicious, right? The choux rise because of the steam that the water and milk create, which makes them nice and puffy. For those of you who like churros, you can use this recipe too; simply fry the dough instead of baking it to create the perfect churros.

View recipe on page 86 » my favorite pâte à choux

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHEN HAMILTON

An Interview with GAIL SIMMONS

by KATHRYN O’MALLEY

Fresh out of college and struggling to find a satisfying career, Gail Simmons took the advice of a friend and made a list—not of job ideas, but of things she liked to do. On a loose-leaf sheet of paper, she scribbled down just four words: “Eat. Write. Travel. Cook.” Little did she know, those four simple words would prove much more powerful than they seemed.

Originally from Toronto, Gail now lives in New York City where she works as Director of Special Projects for Food & Wine. She is famous for her television roles as judge on Top Chef and host on Top Chef Just Desserts, but her journey to professional acclaim remains unfamiliar to most. Hidden behind the spotlight are many years of hard work as a student in culinary school, a line cook at the legendary Le Cirque restaurant, an assistant to Vogue food critic Jeffery

Steingarten, and manager of high profile events for chef Daniel Boulud.

Clearly, she’s knowledgeable. But in my recent conversation with the culinary expert, Gail also revealed herself as kind, authentic, insightful and funny. Below, she dishes on everything from her most memorable meals and the soup that shocked her, to early signs of her future in food and advice for those wishing to follow in her footsteps. BY STEPHEN

photo by Melanie Dunea

Well, my mother entertained a lot, and she taught this cooking school out of our home—so there was always something bubbling on the stove and good food to be had. I don’t really remember it, but there is one food story that my family is constantly telling me. My mother had served me split pea soup—put it in front of me on my high chair—and kept trying to feed it to me. I didn’t want it and because I got so fed up, I ended up grabbing the bowl of soup and dumping it on my own head. So, I guess I proved the point!

My first wine memory is also sort of funny. My father is from South Africa and we would often go there to visit family. When I was six years old, we all went out to the wine country, and my parents tried to teach us, sort of, how to taste wine, and told me I could put a little tasting glass up to the very tip of my tongue. Of course, my brothers were a little older than me and kept drinking more than they should have, so I copied them; when my parents weren’t looking, I would swig back the wine even though I thought it tasted terrible. My family tells me that I ran around screaming and making jokes and repeating everything that everyone said, and then promptly passed out in the backseat of the car and slept for eight hours straight.

You come from a family that loves food. What are some of your earliest and most enduring food memories?

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHEN HAMILTON

Oh, there have been so many. But one meal that I remember very clearly was a meal from my honeymoon. We spent some time in Vietnam, and then on the way home we stopped in Tokyo for a week. A friend of ours had recommended this tiny little sushi restaurant that we had to try. No one spoke English, there was no way to communicate at all. We didn’t even know half the things we were eating, but it almost didn’t matter. It was just bite after bite of beautifully presented, extraordinary food, and we were there long into the night. It certainly was one of the most memorable meals I’ve ever had, and it also made me realize how vast and varied just sushi can really be.

When you’re not eating out, what do you like to cook at home?

When I cook alone, or just for myself and my husband, I tend to cook almost exclusively vegetarian. Not because I’m a vegetarian by any means, but because I eat such rich food in my work that often when I have the chance to cook for myself, I like to eat simply—lots of vegetables and whole grains. I went through a phase this winter where every single Sunday, I’d make these big vegetable soups and stews. And in the summer obviously I like to do simple dishes, where the ingredients speak for themselves. Lots of salads and grilled vegetables with spices and fresh herbs.

You’ve done a lot of traveling throughout your life, and it’s a large part of your work. Are there any meals from abroad that have really stood out to you?

We’ve seen a lot of amazing dishes on Top Chef and Top Chef Just Desserts Do you have any favorites?

With Top Chef, there’s one in particular that I remember mostly because it surprised me. In an episode from season nine, we asked contestants to cook for their mentors, and Paul Qui made a dish for his mentor Tyson Cole. The dish had all these beautifully shaped vegetables, orchestrated very carefully on the plate in a shallow bowl, with a dashi and vegetable soup poured over them. It was striking to look at, but I couldn’t believe that

at that point in the competition, Paul would be making something that seemed so simple. And then I tasted it. The flavors were so strong and it made me really understand how talented Paul was as a chef, how thoughtful. I realized just how powerful vegetables could be. You don’t need a triple-smoked pork belly to make an impression.

I think our most moving episode of Just Desserts was this one episode celebrating the 40th anniversary of the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. There was a lot of really delicious food in that episode, for sure—edible

wallpaper, macaron flowers, honey dripping off trees—but more importantly, it was such an incredible piece of nostalgia. Desserts don’t serve any practical purpose or have any nutritional value—they’re just sugar and butter and flour. But they’re magic, really. And I think visually, too, there’s something really compelling about desserts. They can be so beautiful to look at.

You mention that desserts can be very visually powerful. How important is presentation to the success of a dish?

Ultimately, you want food to be appealing, and you want it to draw you in using all your senses. And to me at least, there are multiple levels to presentation: the craft and the art. The craft starts at the very beginning with proper knife skills, whether the food is cut and cooked consistently and to the proper doneness. And then there’s the art of how you actually plate a dish to give it eye appeal. A very casual and rustic feast can be just as appealing as a precious little jewelbox of a piece of sushi, or an ultra-modern presentation of dessert. In every case, I think the presentation needs to be tailored to the dish.

You’ve found a career you’re passionate about, but when you first started out, you didn’t necessarily know what that looked like. What advice would you give to those who are still searching for their place in the world?

Regardless of whether you’re in the food world or not, I think the same sort of rules apply. Find something that you love to do, that interests and inspires you. That doesn’t mean that it’s always going be fun. I don’t believe there are any major shortcuts; it’s not as if I snapped my fingers and became a judge on a successful cooking show. There was a lot of hard work along the way; you just never hear about the hard work until later in someone’s career. There were many years where I worked relentlessly for very little reward, and I think most chefs do. But I genuinely loved what I was doing and that made it tolerable.

I think you also need to seek out people who can mentor you. I’ve been lucky and worked hard for a couple of really key people who were willing to take a chance on me—people like Jeffrey Steingarten and Daniel Boulud, and then Dana Cowin and Chris Grodovic at Food & Wine. And look, everyone can’t go to Thomas Keller and ask him to mentor them. But studying a person’s work, reading their work, cooking their food, learning as much as you can from them—that’s all very valuable.

Great advice. Now here’s a really serious and important question: What did you eat today?

Oh man, today was not a very good eating day because I was traveling! This morning I was in Montreal visiting family for Passover, so I woke up and had matzo with butter and salt and coffee for breakfast, which is hardly that interesting. And then I flew home. Last night I was in charge of cooking dinner for my family for part of the Passover Seder. So I roasted a turkey inspired by a friend’s recipe—which wasn’t very kosher, but that’s ok! I also roasted cauliflower with capers, olives and parsley, and then I braised endives in a little white wine, lemon, water and butter. We had leftovers, so I brought some home with me and had that for lunch, then came into the office. So far, that’s all I’ve eaten today. Actually, I’m getting kind of hungry!

PHOTOGRAPHY STEPHEN

RAW Chicken

Trent Reznor’s Thanksgiving turkey, pictured here, was also featured in the film Saw 3 .

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHEN HAMILTON

Oh, god. This place is a total sausage fest.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHEN HAMILTON

Enough with the tantalizing pictures! Can someone develop a machine which teleports that shit to the empty plate I have sitting in front of me already?? I mean, mmm, wow, those looks good.

CREAMED

This is the hottest soft corn food porn we’ve ever seen.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHEN HAMILTON

Prosciutto Mozzarella

Sweet. This is a total FMS. ( Folded Meat Sanctuary )

PHOTOGRAPHY STEPHEN HAMILTON

Sashimi

Sally sells sashimi by the seashore, so send seven sheckles to Sally C. Shore for a sample.

PHOTOGRAPHY STEPHEN HAMILTON

POMEGRANATE

Oh, pomegranate, so intensely flavorful. If it did not take an entire sweatshop’s worth of work to separate the seeds from the good stuff, I would you eat you every day. Unless of course on that day I am wearing my white pants.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHEN HAMILTON

HIDDEN

The best dishes that no one knows about…yet

You happen to pass by a little bakery and stop in. Next thing you know, you are devouring the best doublechocolate donut. Ever. A friend tips you off about a little Greek coffee shop that has amazing onion rings. Turns out that your friend is spot on. The rings are huge, hand breaded and fried to a shattering crunchiness.

Hidden Gem BACKWOODS

If you can find Backwoods on Google Maps, you have excellent search skills. Since it instantly didn’t pop up for us, it certainly makes our case for the hidden portion of our choice of Backwoods as our first featured Hidden Gem.

If however, you search for the recently opened small-plates hot spot, Wood (Chicago), in the Lakeview neighborhood, you’ll find it right away. To explain, Backwoods is a pass-through window inside a small vestibule tucked towards the “back” of Wood restaurant. And you’ll never see it in daylight. The window is only open for late-night feeding starting at 10:00 p.m. every night of the week.

Those are what we call hidden gems. Fabulous or unique, unheard of places that are worth seeking out because something they offer is just so darn good. We are starting this new feature with a hidden gem in Chicago. The city is full of them, but this one stands out because it is truly hidden and their Belgium frites (fries) are real gems.

We hope you have your own suggestions for future hidden gems and we’d love you to share them with us. It can be any dish from any type of food establishment, from ice parlors to gas stations. Just make sure we know where to find it.

Once you find Backwoods, your reward is what they serve to hungry late-night revelers desperate for something hot and delicious around midnight. They only serve one thing––Belgium fries––which are authentically referred to as frites by Wood chef Ashlee Aubin. “Frites are perfect for a number of reasons. They are easy to cook quickly, portable, and universally beloved. But they are also a great example of simplicity. Frites have only three ingredients and it’s immediately clear if they are great or not.”

Chef Aubin’s take on Belgian-style frites, which are fried twice, are magically uniform in size and color, and are hand cut from Kennebec or Idaho potatoes. As frite connoisseurs know, the true tests are the perfect amount of seasoning, if they are served piping hot and what enticing condiments are available for dipping. Backwoods passes all these taste tests with satisfying colors. And there are no less than

seven sauces to choose from on any given night. Most are made in the Belgian aoli style (meaning garlicky and smooth). The staff’s personal favorites are the curry aioli and sriracha aioli, but the most popular is the truffle oil aioli. Ketchup is available for the less adventuresome.

So far, Backwoods has built most of their business by word of mouth. Mostly by people catching the scent of someone walking down the street with a cone of frites and asking where to find them. And the price is reasonable too, setting you back a mere $5, less than the cost of a nightcap in the same neighborhood.

Just how popular can late-night frites be? Chef Aubin claims, “We have a handful of people who come so often that the cooks have made punch cards for “frequent friters” like the old Subway cards––you get your 10th frite free.” We think Backwoods might be the gem of the salty, savory late-night scene. Gems

WEATHER PERMITTING

The King of Salmon

by JUDITH MARA

Hail to the King. Right now, thousands of silver-scaled King salmon are fervently swimming through the Pacific back towards the rivers of their birth. Whether its home is the Yukon or Copper Rivers in Alaska or the Columbia River in Washington, this regal member of the salmon family is in season.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHEN HAMILTON

Salmon with a river name attached, such as Copper River Salmon, was caught while swimming in that particular river.

Much of the King salmon in stores right now is fished by boats trawling the Pacific near the mouths of the rivers. Wait a little longer to buy some if you can; the more sumptuous salmon is caught as they swim into the rivers to spawn. As the salmon begin their journey up the frigid rivers, they stop eating and are fatty and luxurious in a wonderful way. The lesson here is that wild-caught salmon is typically fished by trawling. Salmon with a river name attached, such as Copper River Salmon, was caught while swimming in that particular river.

King salmon, also commonly called Chinook salmon, is named for a Native American tribe on the northwest coast whose survival was linked to the salmon returning to the Columbia River. It is through this tribe and other tribes native to the Northwest that explorers first tasted salmon cooked over wood. Most fish was smoked or air-dried until very hard and then stored for the winter months. But the salmon they cooked over a wood fire to be eaten straight away still inspires cooks today.

The most familiar way of cooking salmon over wood is cedar plank (planked) salmon. Native Americans didn’t use cedar so to speak, but they did tack salmon to wood planks to enable the fish to be held close to a fire pit. The same cooking principle still applies today. But it is recommended to find cedar or other wood planks (alder, mesquite) that are sold commercially for this purpose. There’s no point in risking toxicity from the wrong type of wood.

Cooking salmon on a plank is easy to do, as long as you plan ahead—the planks should be soaked in water a few hours. Online you can find hundreds of different ways to season the salmon (or the planks), but connoisseurs usually opt for a light brushing of olive oil, kosher salt, pepper and maybe some fresh lemon. Simplicity is key to enjoying the King of the salmon world.

HOW WE DID IT

Deconstructing a shot from Stephen Hamilton’s The Restaurant Project

by JUDITH MARA

favorite dish Smelts Restaurant Restaurant: The Bristol Chicago, IL stylist Josephine Orba stylist Paula Walters

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHEN

Depending is the operative word when there is a garden or good farmers’ market. Leeks? Yes, but it could also be ramps or walking onions green garlic, or green onions. (Even the humble onion will do.) Radishes for me are likely to be the long Cinncinati Market variety and a round variety, the roots small and the leaves lush and tender. Peas? A half cup of shucked shelling peas or slivered snow peas or early sugar snaps. Any and all of these vegetables would be good. Groping around your garden, you’re going to find some treasures that will become the stars of this little ragout, which cooks in just about 10 minutes.

Here’s an example of what vegetables I used and in what amounts, reflecting what I came across one late Spring day. A few days later and it would have been a different mix. When I’m a better gardener, the combination will change yet again— hopefully to include more than three asparagus spears!

Prepare and wash all your vegetables. Trim the radishes and slice lengthwise, making all the pieces more or less the same. Also wash and dry the greens, ready the leeks, peas, and asparagus. (If you wish, you can make a stock to use in this dish with the leek trimmings, pea pods, asparagus peels, some tarragon, and salt. You’ll only need 1 cup or so.)

by Deborah Madison

ingredients:

handful of radish thinnings, plus their greens

3 thin leeks, white parts plus a little of the pale green, sliced (about 1/2 cup) 10 ounces pod peas, shucked (about 3/4 cup) 3 thick asparagus spears, tough ends trimmed, peeled, and sliced on the diagonal Spring butter, made from the milk of grass-fed cows, or your favorite · 1/2 to 1 cup water or chicken stock sea salt about 1 teaspoon finely chopped tarragon 1 teaspoon lemon juice serves 2

When you are about ready to eat, melt a few teaspoons butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks and 1/2 cup of the water and simmer for 5 minutes. Season with a few pinches of salt, add the radishes and asparagus, and simmer for 3 minutes. Next, add the peas and radish greens, making sure there is liquid in the pan as you go and adding more if needed. Continue cooking until the peas are bright green and the leaves are tender, about 2 minutes longer. The radish leaves will wilt and look a little funky, but they will taste mild and slightly nutty.

When the vegetables are done, remove from heat, add a heaping spoonful of butter, season with salt, and stir in the tarragon and lemon juice. Taste and adjust seasonings, then serve and enjoy your garden in a bowl.

spring garden hodgepodge of radishes, leeks and peas depending…

ingredients:

16 spinach crowns

1 tablespoon white miso

1 tablespoon tahini

1 tablespoon soy sauce

white or black sesame seeds, toasted in a dry skillet until golden

One bunch of spinach will yield eight or nine spinach crowns (the pink roots, plus about two inches of the stems and the small leaves), enough for two or three people to enjoy as a nibble before dinner. I toss them with the same kind of sauce tht is often used for spinach in Japan, one based on sesame paste, white miso, a little soy, and water to thin. It seems that there’s nothing this sauce isn’t good with.

Rinse the crowns thoroughly. Trim them, removing a bit of the root and any bedraggled leaves, then soak them in a bowl of cold water, swishing them about to loosen any grit or sand. If a lot of sand comes out, empty the bowl, refill it, and wash again.

To make the sauce, stir together the miso, tahini, soy, and 1 tablespoon water in a bowl large enough to hold the spinach crowns.

Steam the spinach crowns over simmering water, covered, until they have wilted a bit but are still bright green, after a few minutes. Remove them, rinse under cold water, dry well, then toss with the sauce. Pile them onto a serving dish or individual dishes, scattering sesame seeds over all, and serve.

Serves 2-3 spinach crowns with sesame-miso sauce by Deborah Madison

Serves 4 rhubarb potstickers by Sara Moulton

ingredients:

1 cup sliced rhubarb

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated orange rind

12 wonton wrappers (3 ½ by 3-inches)

1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream (optional)

Toss the rhubarb with the sugar and the orange rind in a medium bowl and let stand for 30 minutes. Drain and save the liquid separately from the rhubarb.

Spread out the wonton wrappers on a work surface. Place a small mound of the rhubarb in the center of each wrapper. Brush the edges of each wrapper with water; lift two opposite corners of each wrapper and press together above the center of the mound of rhubarb; bring the other two opposite sides up and press them together. You should have shaped the wonton into a little pyramid with the mound of rhubarb inside. Pinch the wrappers together very tightly at the seams to make sure they are well sealed.

Heat the oil and butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until bubbly, then arrange the pot stickers, seam sides up, in the skillet. Cook them 2 to 3 minutes or until the bottoms are pale golden. Add 1/3 cup water, reduce the heat to low, cover the skillet with a lid, and cook 5 to 6 minutes, adding more water if necessary to cook the wonton wrappers through.

Remove the lid and continue to cook until the bottoms of the pot stickers are crisp and golden. Gently loosen the pot stickers, and lift them out onto a serving plate. Stir 1/4 cup water into the reserved juice. Add the mixture to the skillet, bring it to a boil scraping up the brown bits at the bottom of the pan, and drizzle the liquid over the pot stickers. Serve hot with a spoonful of sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Cut the oranges in half crosswise and squeeze out the juice. Strain and measure. You should have about 1 ¾ cups juice. Add more juice if you have less than this amount and remove juice if you have more. Carefully scrap out and discard the pulp from the navel oranges to form six half shells.

In a small saucepan combine 1/4 cup of the juice with the gelatin and set it aside for 5 minutes to dissolve the gelatin. Heat the mixture over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the gelatin is dissolved and the mixture is clear, 3 to 4 minutes. Whisk in the remaining juice and the vodka, if using. Transfer the liquid to a measuring cup or small pitcher so it is easy to pour.

Arrange the orange shells, cut side up, in muffin tins or ramekins and pour the mixture half way up the side of each shell. Put the muffin tin holding the shells in the fridge and finish filling them, carefully pouring the remaining orange mixture all the way up to the top of each shell. (Note: depending on how large the navel oranges were, you will be able to fill 5 or 6 shells.) Cover the filled shells with plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 4 hours and preferably overnight. Cut each half in 3 wedges before serving. jellies Sara Moulton

ingredients for my favorite pâte à choux:

Whole Milk | 125 grams | ½ cup

· Water | 125 grams | ½ cup

Butter | 110 grams | ¼ cup – 1 stick

Sugar | 5 grams | 1 ½ teaspoons

· Sea Salt | 5 grams | 1 ½ teaspoons

AP Flour | 140 grams | ½ cup + 1/3 cup (5/6 cup)

Eggs (room temperature) | 197 grams | 3 eggs + 1 egg yolk

pâte à choux

directions for my favorite pâte à choux:

In a saucepan, boil milk, water, butter, sugar and sea salt together. Add the flour and cook until dry.

Transfer the cooked mixture to a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment and add the eggs in stages since you may not need them all. Adjust the mixture with warm milk or eggs to ribbon consistency, if necessary. The dough will slowly fall when you stop the mixer.

Pipe the choux paste into golf ball-sized balls. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 18-20 minutes.

*For Gougères, omit the sugar, add 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, and 1 cup (120 grams) Gruyère cheese. Right before piping the choux paste, fold in the cheese and pepper.

profiteroles with malika’s sticky fudge sauce by Malika Ameen

To make profiteroles, slice the pâte à choux in half horizontally and fill them with your favorite ice cream or gelato, and top with Malika’s warm fudge sauce. Glossy, sticky, chocolaty and delicious!

ingredients for malika’s sticky fudge sauce:

Unsweetened Chocolate | 57 grams | 1/3 cup

Unsalted Butter | 17 grams | 2 Tablespoons

Agave Syrup | 35 grams | 2 Tablespoons

Heavy Cream | 190 grams | ¾ cup

· Sugar | 212 grams | 1 cup

Malted Milk Powder | 11 grams | 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon

Instant Espresso Powder | 3 grams | 1 Tablespoon

· Kosher Salt | 1 gram | ½ teaspoon

makes 2 cups

directions for malika’s sticky fudge sauce:

In a small heavy bottomed saucepan melt chocolate, butter and agave syrup on low heat. Whisk until smooth. Slowly add cream, sugar, malt powder and espresso powder and stir until dissolved. Bring mixture to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 3-4 minutes. Constantly stir to avoid burning. Remove from heat and whisk in salt.

Can be stored in the refrigerator for 1 week.

chocolate caramel eclairs by CeCe Campise

To make eclairs, pipe the pâte à choux into thin strips (as opposed to round balls), then fill with CeCe’s chocolate cremeux filling and top with CeCe’s caramel glaze.

ingredients for cece’s chocolate cremeux:

Half and Half | 350 grams | 1 1/4 cup + 1/3 cup

Heavy Cream | 350 grams | 1 1/4 cup + 1/3 cup

· Egg Yolks | 140 grams | 7 yolks

Sugar | 80 grams | 1/3 cup + 1 teaspoon

Vanilla Bean Paste | 5 grams | 1/2 teaspoon

· Salt | 2 grams | 1/2 teaspoon

Bittersweet Chocolate* | 385 grams

ingredients for cece’s caramel glaze:

Sugar | 100 grams | 1/3 cup + 2 Tablespoons

Heavy Cream Warm | 100 grams | 1/3 cup + 2 Tablespoons

Premium Butter | 25 grams | 1 ½ Tablespoons

Salt | 4 grams | 1 teaspoon

Vanilla Bean Paste | 4 grams | ½ teaspoon

Bittersweet Chocolate* | 385 grams

directions for cece’s chocolate cremeux:

*I prefer Valrhona Guanaja 70% chocolate melted over a double boiler

Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla bean paste and salt together. In the meantime, scald the liquids. Slowly whisk the hot liquid into the egg yolks.

Pour the whole thing back into the pot and cook over low heat stirring slowly, nonstop with a spatula, making sure to scrape the bottom.

Once it is nape (when you run your finger along the spatula and the custard holds a line) pour it over a fine strainer into the melted chocolate, whisking until uniform. For an extra smooth chocolate filling use an immersion blender to really combine all ingredients. Cover with plastic wrap touching the top to prevent a skin from forming, until cold and ready to pipe.

directions for cece’s caramel glaze:

Combine sugar and a tiny bit of water (so it looks like wet sand) in a heavy pot.

Cook on high until the sugar turns a dark caramel. Carefully and slowly add the warm cream, whisking constantly, but be careful to avoid steam burns. When the cream is whisked in, add the butter and vanilla and whisk until combined. Let cool.

*An easy alternative to this glaze is to combine 10 ounces of chewy Werther’s caramels, melted in the microwave, with 2 ounces of hot cream.

serves 1 green hornet by Tona Palomino of Trenchermen, Chicago

ingredients:

1 1/2 ounces gin

1 1/2 ounces fresh celery juice

1/2 ounce fresh lime juice

3/4 ounce simple syrup

A few dashes of Bitter Truth celery bitters Fever Tree tonic ice

In a shaker, combine everything except the tonic. Shake vigorously and strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Top with tonic and serve.

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