Hankering for steak again

I’m having a big hankering for steak with chimichurri, so I think that’s where we’re headed tonight. However, I also have some gorgeous mushrooms from the farmers market and don’t want them to go to waste so I could do a mushroom sauce too. Regardless I’m going to saute some fresh spinach with garlic and raisins which is always good and open a fantastic bottle of red.

Have you ever had Grgich Hills’ Fume’ Blanc? Obviously that is a white and thus not as optimal for tonight but just as an interesting aside, if you see some, buy it! I might have to go Molly Dooker tonight. Bene, bene. The pepperiness of a good Australian Shiraz would go well with my menu ideas.

Hmmm…more later.

Recipes from last night are posted, community(ies) of women

Ok, the Frik and Radish recipes from last night are now online via Em-i-lis Recipes. Mike, let me know what you think.

It is another gorgeous day here, the deck guys are working, Oliver is thrilled, and I had a good pilates class this morning. I’ve been in this class for nearly two years now: same teacher, many of the same women, same room for pete’s sakes. I love the studio (Circle Yoga)- it has such an unpretentious, calming, friendly vibe about it- and the teachers are all so well-trained. Julie, our fabulous Pilates instructor, is just great. She has multiple analogies for every position, every movement your muscles should/should not be making. A recent favorite undescored the correct position our pelvises should be in in bridge pose: “imagine there is a flashlight pointing out of your hoo-ha (JB, apologies if that’s not the exact term you used): it should be pointing directly across the room.” Hah, is that not exceedingly helpful and clear?!
And the core group of women in the class are equally wonderful- fascinating lives, well educated, all different ages, kids/grandkids/or not, many longterm residents of DC which is not so easy to come across. I really enjoy knowing these women and look forward to class every week.

I feel much of that same sense with the friends I’ve made since Jack started PK. The moms (and dads, but I’m talking ladies here) at his school are just so cool- so well educated, so down to earth, so interesting, so much more than just moms (and that’s a big one!). It’s been a long time -college perhaps- that I’ve felt this sense of connection with so many people. I truly enjoy seeing and hanging out with them, miss seeing them when school’s on vacation, even will talk on the phone (I am not, in general, a phone gal), and their kids are so great too.

I feel very lucky about these groups of friends, because, for women, I think community is critically important. Many of our husbands don’t really get this- they don’t need deep friend relationships (generalizing here of course, but generally true I think), don’t seem to miss connections with others beyond us, work and kids. But women do need that, and it’s exciting to look forward to the good memories to be made, times to be had. Cheers to you, pals!

Tonight’s meal turned out so well and included a new invention of mine. I made the radish c

Tonight’s meal turned out so well and included a new invention of mine. I made the radish crostini as previously promised and the turnip addition was lovely. That garlic-anchovy-butter would be good on dirt, so just imagine on fresh radishes, turnips and warm bread!

As I trimmed the radishes and turnips, their greens looked so pretty that I couldn’t bear to toss them in the compost. So, I started noodling on a dish that might incorporate them. I rummaged through my fridge and found a bunch of fresh spinach, some remaining ramps and a preserved lemon. I wanted a grain to put all this atop, something earthy and chewy, and thought: frik (aka green wheat, freek, freekeh). To start, I toasted the frik in a bit of butter and then cooked in boiling water with salt and cinnamon. While it readied itself, I sauteed the diced ramp whites with some chopped preserved lemon, a bit of EVOO, salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar. Then I tossed in the turnip, radish and spinach leaves, roughly scissored so the leaf size didn’t overwhelm us (HATE when leaves are humongous and you either get whatever you’re eating all over your face or look like a spaz with stuff falling off your fork and such). I also added the ramp greens (ramps are a wild onion that look a bit like very elegant scallions- they’ve got a little white bulb with soft green leaves that grow up around it), some cinnamon and red pepper flakes. I cooked just until the leaves were well wilted but not soggy and served them around the frik. Last but not least, I saw fresh sundried tomatoes so tossed them in the skillet that had held the anchovy butter sauce, whisked them around quickly and topped the greens. Voila!

Recipes will be posted in Em-i-lis Recipes soon…