Let she who is without sin….
I had coffee with a friend yesterday. She, too, is part of the food world–writing away and developing recipes and whatnot. We spent a moment–just a moment, mind you!–bemoaning the fresh, simple, ingredient-driven, Italy/Southern France-inspired cuisine that dominates our fair city of San Francisco. It’s all great, of course, but once in awhile you want someone to dazzle you with something you’ve never seen before, and I don’t mean yet another variety of Mediterranean green. I want something weird. Something not a variety of something else. Something I’ve never dreamed of. Something amazing.
And yet, between the two of us, I don’t think you could find more “simply prepared asparagus and peas” (as she so deftly put it) if you tried.
And after all my yackety-yack, what did I cook? Well, see for yourself:
Yep, those are some late-spring, early-summer vegetables. Simply “braised” in olive oil and water (water! of all things simple!) with some fresh herbs (let’s not get too cliché… oh wait, it’s way too late for that) and served on polenta. What is it? 1985? But you know, it was just right for a Thursday on a sunny day that had turned into a clear-but-windy night in San Francisco. It was also fast. It’s such a crowd-pleaser I already posted the recipe (such as it is) over at local foods.
p.s. The carrot cupcakes were a hit (although they had a bit of that metallic thing chemically-risen baked goods can get–I’ll play with the proportions a bit). Cooking with 16 4- and 5-year olds is insane. They really like to stir. A lot. Next time I’m just bringing bowls of flour and water for them to work on. They also like to stick their fingers in their noses and mouths. A lot. More than once did I say “Calum/Serafina/Shai/Jacob/Vaughn, go wash your hands” and then 30 seconds later look over and say it all over again.
