Rite of Spring

And slowly it comes...

...ahhh, the forsythia, the first sign; so bright, so yellow...so not mine since we pulled it out last year cause this was not happening at all which makes it absolutely useless.

The magnolia

... the one by the train station,

which puts the rest to shame.

the daffodils

the cherry blossoms. OK, I'm cheating, these are from DC from a couple of years ago but they're so stunning I couldn't resist.

not sure what this is but it's Spring, it's flowering, it's pink...it qualifies.

We're so giddy!

The Visitor

So I come downstairs on a bright beautiful Sunday morning which comes on the heel of a miserable Saturday with tremendous amounts of rain coming down and see this little guy in my yard

Hmmm, what to do??? Max and Frank will not be happy but I want to play with the little munchkin

and I think he wants to play with me!

Yes, I do!

Hmmm, looks like he's thinking about something...

What is it Soren?

Oh my! Maybe Max has the right idea

Think I'll join him :)

Model Behavior

After my recent ramblings about Spring, etc. it serves me right to wake up this morning to a cold, drizzly, miserable day. Walking Max on a day like this can be challenging. First of all it's cold, drizzly and miserable, second of all since everything was covered in snow and ice for so long and it has melted into the ground and we've had periodic rain for the last two months, the ground has turned into a mud field. It's very hard to tell Max not to walk on the soppy ground which gets into his paws and up his legs. This wouldn't happen if Frank would allow me to buy him booties but that point is moot. Hell, getting him to put the raincoat on him is a battle. And to top it all off, on this cold, drizzly, miserable morning Max decided to lunge and bark at every moving object he saw, every car, every school bus, every garbage truck, every kid, every parent, every dog, every squirrel, every tumbling tumbleweed... Normally he is the perfect little gentleman though and if I might add, quite handsome...

and nonchalant

and intense

and pensive

and forlorn

and beautiful

and quite the little centerfold.

William Wegman, move over!

Hope springs eternal...

We had such an incredibly cold and snowy, icy winter that I was actually beginning to doubt it would ever end. And then this happened

and it happened again...

...and then there was this

and all Max wants to do is go out and play

and I want to make Crab cakes because they are Spring as far as I'm concerned. So I eagerly run and get my copy of Food & Wine from May of 1995, yes 1995. Which is all about lovely Spring dishes and has the ultimate crab cake recipe from Sheila Lukins who was the cooking genius behind the Silver Palate and its cookbooks; sadly she died a few years ago at the age of 66 of brain cancer. These are her crab cakes and I love them, they're light and airy and tangy and they contain bread crumbs! I say that with such zeal because all I ever hear now and see in menus is chefs (some) and people who think they know food better than anyone going on and on about some restaurants' crab cakes because they don't contain bread crumbs. I fail to see bragging rights on this, just what on earth is wrong with bread crumbs? Got me. Anyway, these do contain them and they are sublime. So without further ado:

Sheila Lukins' Chesapeake Crab Cakes
6 servings

12 slices of best quality white bread, crusts removed
1/4 cup olive oil, more if necessary
1 tbsp Old Bay seasoning
1 lb. fresh lump crab meat, picked over
1 scant cup of mayonnaise
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup diced celery (1/4 inch)
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper (1/4 inch)
1 tbsp tiny capers, drained
1 tbsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
2 tsp finely grated orange zest
1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/8 tsp ground mace
dash of Tabasco
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp of butter, more if needed

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Cut the bread into 1-inch cubes and toss with 2 tbsp of the olive oil and Old Bay seasoning. Spread the bread cubes on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until toasted. Let cool for 30 minutes. Using a rolling pin, crush the cubes into medium-fine crumbs.
2. In a bowl, combine the crab, mayonnaise, onion, celery, bell pepper, capers, parsley, orange zest, Worcestershire, mustard, mace, Tabasco, and egg with 1/4 cup pf the bread crumbs.
3. Transfer the remaining bread crumbs to a shallow dish. Form the crab mixture into 12 cakes about 3/4 inch thick. Carefully dredge the cakes thoroughly in the bread crumbs. Arrange the cakes on a platter, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour and up to eight.

4. In a large nonstick skillet, melt one tablespoon of butter in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over moderate heat. Fry the crab cakes in batches, about 3 minutes per side until golden brown. (Add more butter and oil if necessary.) Drain the crab cakes on paper towels. Serve immediately.

I will admit, I don't bother with step one. I use the bread crumbs that I have which are usually fresh since I throw leftover bread in the food processor and grind it. I do add some Old Bay Seasoning to the crab mixture. And sometimes I use yellow pepper rather than red if that's what I have on hand and I may skip the orange zest if I don't have that. I will never leave out the capers though or the mayonnaise.

So now it's official, Spring has truly arrived! Yay, Yay, Yay!

Put an egg on it!

Hand in hand (or should I say mouth to mouth) with my love of chicken is my love of eggs, the perfect food. I love eggs in just about any way shape or form; I love them scrambled, fried, easy over, coddled, boiled, poached, baked, you name it. Eggs are my go to food when I can't think of anything else to eat or when I want to make something quick and easy and don't need a lot of ingredients. I love to make creamy scrambled eggs in lots of butter and eat them right out of the skillet sprinkled with a little salt and some freshly grounded pepper...and if I want to kick it up a notch I may add some chopped smoked salmon and chives if I have them on hand. I love egg salad with mayonnaise and some funky mustard and finely chopped onions, sometimes adding cubed boiled potatoes. What's better than a fried egg sandwich with a little mayo, with or without bacon, or with or without tomato, or scrambled eggs with cheese on a toasted English muffin. How about a Spanish omelet with sliced onions and potatoes, or a French omelet with a mix of chopped fresh herbs, or baked with chopped chorizo and green peas. How about that lovely French dish of Oeufs Durs Soubise, or hard boiled eggs with onions and cream and good old Spaghetti a la Carbonara.The list is endless and always delicious. Or you can simply do as I do many a times when the craving takes over; just put an egg on it:

                                          Arroz con huevo or rice with eggs

                                          Pure de papa con huevo or Mashed potato with eggs

                                           Picadillo with egg over easy

                                          harina con huevo or fried egg on polenta

                                          Spinach salad with poached egg

I could go on and on and on in finding what to put an egg on. Max on the other hand doesn't get it.

He'd rather take a nap.

The City of Brotherly Love

For some reason I can't explain I fell in love with Philadelphia the minute I stepped my dainty foot in it. That was over ten years ago when we decided to take a ride to Center City on a beautiful Summer afternoon and landed right smack in Rittenhouse Square. The place was jumping, people everywhere and such a vibe, such energy...You may find it odd that I should say this considering that I spend the majority of my time in New York City but New York is where I work and toil my life away and yes, there's plenty of play there too but I've been there a very long time and familiarity breeds boredom. I run everywhere in New York because that is what I am accustomed to, being in a hurry because I'm usually going to work and doing things that have to do with work (well, not anymore...but more on that another time), the energy is stress. And while there are countless restaurants, plays, museum exhibits, bars, you name it opening up on a daily basis in New York I've done so much of it that it doesn't grab me much. Philadelphia on the other hand grabs me every time, and there have been many since that first jaunt. I think the first time we went was in 2000 or who knows maybe earlier but the one I remember as the beginning was New Year's Eve 2001. What an infamous year that was, in many, many ways. Personally it was our Charles Dickens year and by that I mean, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. We started out the year by, oddly enough, a jaunt to Philadelphia for dinner I can't remember where. We followed that by going to New Orleans for what turned out to be the first weekend of Mardi Gras and a completely crazy, wacky, decadent 3 days of unstoppable fun in a crazy, wacky, decadent city. We then flew down to Miami  in June for a perfectly planned vacation in which we spent one week at the beach and the following week at my Mom's house and did all kinds of great family stuff and I actually achieved, for the first time in my life, the PERFECT TAN which lasted all Summer long. That was the best of times. Then one absolutely glorious September morning the world was shattered, 9/11 happened and everything changed. While trying to grasp all of this, my aunt Tata had a stroke in November and I had to fly (oh no, not after 9/11) to Florida to sit with my Mom by her deathbed. She died a week after I left on December 5th, 2001. It was the worst of times. We decided to go to Philadelphia for New Year's Eve and booked a room at The Rittenhouse since they accept pets and we wanted to take TJ with us (he didn't come after all) and made a reservation for the New Year's celebration at Alma de Cuba. We arrived and the temperature dropped by 20 degrees but it was wonderful; the Rittenhouse was amazing and our room overlooked the park. On New Year's Eve day in lovely 17 degree weather Frank went record shopping and I just went shopping on Walnut  and then we met for lunch at Rouge, the beginning of another love affair. The world wasn't going to end, happiness could still be had. Since then we have been there countless times, unfortunately for them every time we go the temperature seems to drop by 20 degrees; sorry but I'm still going to visit. The year before last we discovered the guy who rents the houseboat in Penn's Landing,

where Max is very very welcomed,

and went there for Thanksgiving (try cooking Thanksgiving dinner in a boat galley kitchen!). So we went again last weekend and stayed at his other boat which had a loft berth that Max couldn't figure out how to navigate

and of course the temperature dropped by 20 degrees so we had to pull out the winter wear

but we finally figured out how to get cozy warm on the boat

and regardless of the freezing weather, the trees actually know calendar date and bloom anyway.

I love Philadelphia, it makes me feel young :)

Chicken Feed

As far back as I can remember whenever anyone asked me what my favorite food was I always said, "chicken!". (Except for those couple of years when all I could think about was shrimp, other post) Perfection to me is a lovely bronzed roast chicken, which is not as easy as it sounds. You don't just stick the stupid bird in the oven for an hour and go on about your business until time's up. No, no, no, no. When I cooked my first roast chicken way back when I was a newlywed glowing in domestic bliss in my little galley kitchen in lovely Ridgefield, New Jersey that's probably exactly what I did. I have vague recollections of going into hysterical fits when after setting my beautiful table with my prettiest linens and dinnerware and candles and then carving into the bird only to see "Oh no mother, BLOOD". This meant I needed to put it back in the oven for another who knows how many minutes until it was fully cooked, and dry at that point, while I sat there sulking because my little romantic dinner had been ruined. Then one day while watching Pierre Franey on his 60 minute gourmet cooking show (this was way back before the Food Network when chefs were actually cooks an not celebrities) he explained, and cooked, a roast chicken the way the French do it. I just jumped on that, who better to learn how to roast a chicken from than the French...and Pierre Franey of course. I then bought a lovely book, "Le Cordon Bleu at Home", which explained exactly what Pierre had. This way of roasting chicken worked very nicely. You start out, after seasoning the chicken, with the bird breast side up in a high oven, 425 F I think, and then after 20 minutes you lower the temperature to 350 F and turn the chicken on one side, roast 20 minutes, turn it to the other side, roast 20 minutes, then breast side up again at high heat for about 10 minutes. The chicken is golden browned and completely cooked through. The turning and flipping is worth it if a bit annoying since the chicken doesn't really want to stand on it's side. Then one birthday Frank gave me "The Zuni Cafe Cookbook" as a gift.

The roast chicken form the Zuni Cafe is, in one word, sublime. It is pure perfection, and it comes out beautifully and perfectly roasted every single time. Yes there is the "time" element involved as is with everything in this amazing cookbook. However, I have found that you really don't NEED to do exactly as they say, meaning the time element. Here is the recipe:

Zuni Cafe Roasted Chicken

Serves 2 to 4
One small chicken, 2 3/4 to 3 1/2-pounds
4 tender sprigs fresh thyme, marjoram, rosemary or sage, about 1/2 inch long
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 to 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
A little water
Season the chicken:[1 to 3 days before serving; give a 3 1/4 to 3 1/2-pound chicken at least 2 days]
Remove and discard the lump of fat inside the chicken. Rinse the chicken and pat very dry inside and out. Be thorough — a wet chicken will spend too much time steaming before it begins to turn golden brown.
Approaching from the edge of the cavity, slide a finger under the skin of each of the breasts, making 2 little pockets. Now use the tip of your finger to gently loosen a pocket of skin on the outside of the thickest section of each thigh. Using your finger, shove an herb sprig into each of the 4 pockets.
Season the chicken liberally all over with salt and pepper. Season the thick sections a little more heavily than the skinny ankles and wings. Sprinkle a little of the salt just inside the cavity, on the backbone, but don’t otherwise worry about seasoning the inside. Twist and tuck the wing tips behind the shoulders. Cover loosely and refrigerate.
Prepare your oven and pan: [Day of, total time is 45 minutes to 1 hour]
Preheat the oven to 475°F. Choose a shallow flameproof roasting pan or dish barely larger than the chicken, or use a 10-inch skillet with an all-metal handle (we used a 12-inch cast iron frying pan for a 3 1/2 pound chicken). Preheat the pan over medium heat. Wipe the chicken dry and set it breast side up in the pan. It should sizzle.
Roast the chicken: Place the chicken in the pan in the center of the oven and listen and watch for it to start browning within 20 minutes. If it doesn’t, raise the temperature progressively until it does. The skin should blister, but if the chicken begins to char, or the fat is smoking, reduce temperature by 25 degrees. After about 30 minutes, turn the bird over — drying the bird and preheating the pan should keep the skin from sticking. Roast for another 10 to 20 minutes, depending on size, then flip back over to recrisp the breast skin, another 5 to 10 minutes.
Rest the chicken: Remove the chicken from the oven and turn off the heat. Lift the chicken from the roasting pan and set on a plate. Carefully pour the clear fat from the roasting pan, leaving the lean drippings behind. Add about a tablespoon of water to the hot pan and swirl it.
Slash the stretched skin between the thighs and breasts of the chicken, then tilt the bird and plate over the roasting pan to drain the juice into the drippings. You can let it rest while you finish your side dishes. The meat will become more tender and uniformly succulent as it cools.
Serve the chicken: Set a platter in the oven to warm for a minute or two.
Tilt the roasting pan and skim the last of the fat. Place over medium-low heat, add any juice that has collected under the chicken, and bring to a simmer. Stir and scrape to soften any hard golden drippings. Taste — the juices will be extremely flavorful.
Serve on a warm platter.

I'll admit, I don't always (translation: almost never) start 1 to 3 days ahead so the chicken doesn't sit overnight seasoned in the refrigerator. When I have done it there's been barely any difference in taste. The drying of the chicken is probably the most crucial step in this dish. I use different herbs depending on what I have on hand that is fresh; which in the Summer means a lot of things so I usually use both thyme and rosemary; in the winter I use rosemary and sage because they are fresh frozen in my freezer and once thawed are exactly as if they were fresh. If there is any left over, it is wonderful cold or chopped up and made into luscious chicken salad. Or maybe somebody will find some pieces in his bowl.

but unfortunately not very often...

which makes him very sad :(