Baked Eggs and Asparagus with Lemon Bechamel

This could be one of my favorite things I didn’t know I was making. Not knowing I was making in the sense that I had no idea it would turn out like this. I didn't predict the asparagus would cook so perfectly, still juicy and a little bit crisp, and the egg’s yolk would combine with the lemony bechamel to drown it in an even richer sauce. Nor that a few scattered slices of Swiss would find its way into bites so mysteriously, hanging onto the fork in little melted strings.

The Scotch Bonnet Black Beans Disaster

I love it when people who are not necessarily big cooks tell me about a recipe they crafted themselves. It's usually peppered with personal experience, and told in a way that reveals their trial and error with the ingredients and overall pride for its deliciousness. This type of story fell on my lap recently when an acquaintance emailed me his recipe for black beans and brown rice. It was simple, but fresh somehow. He insisted on starting out with dried black beans, not something I tend to do, and it included a whole bunch of fresh thyme and bay leaves in addition to onion, garlic and jalapenos.

Basil Lemon Ice Cream

Warning: it’s gritty. I did not take the advice from the Epicuious recipe I based this variation off of and expel the custard mixture of basil leaves with a “fine mesh strainer” before churning it into ice cream. That would have been more, well, refined. But then, aren’t home-cooked specialties supposed to be a little gritty? I should call this one Brooklyn Basil Lemon ice cream.

Sauteed Carrots, Dandelion Leaves and Violet Leaves with Argan Oil

I can't think of a better blend of high and low culinary cultures (haute and "not") than this fragrant late-spring vegetable dish. Nor a better time to cook it than Earth Day. Happy "green" eating, everyone -- with maybe a little orange on the side.

Eating in at Ted & Amy’s Supperclub

Ever since I've grown chummy with the fine folks at the Whisk & Ladle supperclub, and especially after reading the investigative work into recent Brooklyn speakeasies in this winter's issue of Edible Brooklyn, I've been fascinated with supperclubs. (More than enough to toss out the space between the two words for good.) Who knew that homes were the new hot spot for fine dining? Oh wait, I did. I just didn't think there were so many other people who seem to agree. And in my own backyard, to boot. This week, I was welcomed to the beautiful Fort Greene kitchen of Kara, who along with Adam operates Ted & Amy's Supperclub.

Earth Day and Eating Out(side)

Since going green has become the hot new scene, there's probably one place to check out the best action this spring and summer: public parks. As cities nationwide prepare for their biggest brouhaha over Earth Day in years, it almost feels like the upcoming weekend before Tuesday, April 22 were a genuine holiday weekend.

Apple Gruyere Panini and Ginger Lime Carrot Salad

Not exactly one of the times where you’d go, Oh, the poor dear. Look at her, shunning restaurant food, slaving for five minutes over a measly sandwich... Sorry, I couldn’t help a little swagger. Nor having seconds of this cheesy, crispy, warm, juicy apply sandwich.

Here’s Lookin’ at You Cook, Scott Gold

In my kitchen, no less! The author of the just-released manifesto for meat lovers, The Shameless Carnivore, Scott Gold paid a trip to my humble 'hood this weekend for a rather labor-intensive interview. With three squabs in tow, he test-drove a recipe for pigeon pot pie that he's contributing to a certain casserole cookbook. (These profiles just keep getting better -- pretty soon I'm going to have all subjects air-mail me samples of their cooking before we begin. Kidding.)

Vegetarian Stuffed Cabbage

This is the kind of comfort food that I'm talking about when I talk about comfort food -- hearty, uncomplicated, slow-cooked and pleasantly easy on your tastebuds. Only I'm not talking about any comfort food from my own sensory memory. This one belongs to Arthur Schwartz, as told in his new cookbook, Jewish Home Cooking: Yiddish Recipes Revisited.

Reason for Not Eating Out #20: Book Deal

I couldn’t resist compounding this very attractive reason for not eating out with all the rest, even though it has less to do with eating than it does writing about it. For instance, I could go on not eating out for a lifetime and die fairly happily, I think. But half the fun of this whole experience has been about sharing the obsession with... you. Is it worth my while to do without blogging? Absolutely. But if a tree belches his food-infatuated ramblings out into the forest and no one hears it, does he really belch it out at all?

Risotto Loco

Challah! The Risotto Challenge has been fought, and by "fought" I mean "feasted"! I hate to say, 'You kind of had to be there' about this event, but I seriously can't even remember enough of it. All I know is that I had to replenish the plates and forks and one point, and we'd put out 100 each. (And not everyone was eating!) Billiardsburg took a field trip to the swank tables of the 'Slope (or just Loki Lounge's), the judges tasted 17 different risottos and came up with 9 spectacular awards, 22 contestants and their friends old and new shared free grub, I got wasted, and you know. It was a good time. But most importantly, this night was all about The Food. To say that I was impressed by the risotto entries so undermines the situation that it would almost be like giving the contestants a slap in the face. All told, ingredients in them included blueberries, plantains, white peaches, goji berries, cranberries, pears, apricots, cashews, almonds, pine nuts, arugula, fennel, beets, peppers, olives, Chinese five-spice powder, sardines, Gorgonzola, Mascarpone, Zamorano, carrot juice, pumpkin butter, coconut cream, turkey sausage, mysterious Korean ingredients, and general insanity. I could not pronounce the names of many of the dishes as they were written in other languages, mostly Italian. In one case, a new Franco-Korean language was invented in naming a risotto.

Riso-oh-oh-to Challenge Tomorr(oh!)ow

Ladies and fellas: It is with dreadful anticipation that I kick off the twenty-four hour countdown to what I surely hope becomes the risotto event of the year. Big words, huh? But I am confident that our 18 contestants' entries will dazzle the crowds; and that our astute judges' decisions will be wise.