Pale wintered potatoes and tired knobby beets start to give way to much needed color: electric orange baby carrots, weighed down by their massive fanning greens, bright red radishes and an array of new sprouts, shoots and roots. Basically anything we can pick that appears remotely edible goes straight into the salad bowl.

This month our case is packed with treats from across the Northeast. Some of them come from Brooklyn rooftops, some from the woods in northern Vermont and others from stretches of Amish farm country in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. And while it all looks good, sometimes it’s hard to remember what to do with it (chickweed and mustard flowers anyone?). So we polled our very talented (and hungry) staff for their favorite ways to prepare spring veg.

Michael Kale:

Grilled purple scallions with macadamia pesto

Lisa Witkowski:

I dressed pasta with asparagus, morels, and arugula in a light wine and cream sauce. I always manage to get a little asparagus and some arugula from my tiny backyard, which is a treat, especially because asparagus is so wonderful when it’s very fresh. (I secretly like it even better raw!)

Lila Dobbs:

Candied violet flowers. The little beauties came courtesy of Brooklyn Grange) in Long Island City. I brushed them with egg white and dusted with superfine sugar. Left to dry overnight, they can be stored in an airtight container for a good while. I used to them to garnish a honey-thyme ice cream with chamomile whip and rhubarb coulis. And yes, it was to impress a date but I also wont’t deny that I do stuff like this for fun.

Adam Halvorsen

Chicken salad BLT with bacon fat shishito peppers with Maldon salt and lime juice! For the blog! (sent via midnight text)

The cone shape adds depth to the coffee layer. The large single hole can change coffee taste by the speed of water flow and the spiral ribs allow for maximum coffee expansion.

For 1-4 Cups, uses #2 Paper filters (sold separately)
Porcelain
Comes with Polypropelyne Measuring Spoon
Made in Japan

NOW GO EAT THIS STUFF

You’ll have the chance to taste and vote on the best bites from Smorgasburg vendors. There will be a celebrity judges’ choice in addition to the attendees’ choice, with big prizes going to winning vendors and a $100 Brooklyn Kitchen gift card raffled off to attendees who vote. Prizes will include items from Messermeister knives, The Brooklyn Kitchen, Kitchenaid, Le Creuset and more. All participating vendors are invited to enter one item from their menu into this “Best Of” contest, in categories including sweet, savory, packaged and the tantalizing ‘wildcard.’

This week, we’d like to introduce you to a new friend: horseradish root.

Wikipedia tells us: Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana, syn. Cochlearia armoracia) is a perennial plant of the Brassicaceae family, which also includes mustard, wasabi, broccoli, and cabbages. The intact horseradish root has hardly any aroma. When cut or grated, however, enzymes from the damaged plant cells break down sinigrin (a glucosinolate) to produce allyl isothiocyanate (mustard oil), which irritates the sinuses and eyes. Once grated, if not used immediately or mixed in vinegar, the root darkens, loses its pungency, and becomes unpleasantly bitter when exposed to air and heat.

Horseradish first comes into season in late winter/early spring and has a traditional place on the Seder plate for Passover. Whether you’re buying it for the holiday or because you want to make a baller roast beef sandwich, the roots are still quite large and you might find yourself with lots leftover. What to do? You could slice it thinly, ideally on a mandoline and pickle it. Or you can make your own prepared horseradish which will last almost indefinitely in your fridge. My mother makes her own every Passover to eat alongside gefilte fish and has now become a staple ingredient in my Bloody Marys (which then became a staple at our Passover table. You can peep the recipe here.) And if, like me, you grew up with the bright pink stuff- just add a few tablespoons of beet juice.

How to Prepare Horseradish

Courtesy of Mama Dobbs

Ingredients

8-10-inch long piece of horseradish root
2-4 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp white vinegar

Method

Clean any dirt off the root, and remove the top/leaves.
Use a vegetable peeler to peel the surface skin off of the tuber. Chop into pieces.
Put into a food processor. Process until well ground.
Be careful! A ground up fresh horseradish is many times as potent as freshly chopped onions and can really hurt your eyes if you get too close.
Keep at arms length away and work in a well ventilated room.
For a spicier horseradish, allow to sit for 10 minutes and then blend in the 2-4 tablespoons water and the vinegar.
For a milder horseradish, blend straightaway with the water and vinegar.
Pulse to combine.
Note that the vinegar will stabilize the level of hotness of the ground horseradish, so do not wait too long to add it to the mixture.
The grated horseradish will loose its intensity quickly if left uncovered. Store refrigerated in a glass jar with a good cover.

Sorry Guys. April Fool’s.

OUR SPRING SALE RUNS MARCH 30 – APR 2

Come by this weekend for our big sale!  We’ve cleaned house and we’re slashing prices.  There’s some really good stuff…up to 40% off brands like All-Clad, Le Creuset, Lodge and Mauviel. We’re got knives that were an overrun by Lamsonsharp and they’ll be 60% off!  But once they’re gone, they’re gone.

Winter Fennel Citrus Salad

    One big old Monster Bulb of Fennel, trimmed of fronds (reserve)
    Juice of one squishy juicy Meyer Lemon
    Teaspoonish of Honey
    Teaspoonish of chunky Dijon Mustard
    Glug of Smooth Olive Oil, not too kicky
    Grapefruit, Supremed all fancy
    Salt, Pepper to taste
    **Nut or earthy crunch – discussed further below**

1. With your sharpest knife or perhaps a mandoline, slice the bulb and stalks thinly. Toss with a pinch of salt to draw juices.
2. Emulsion: with your meyer lemon juice in a small deep bowl, dump in your mustard, and whisk in your olive oil (I like a flat whisk) until emulsified. Add a little salt, because why not?
3. Mix it up
4. Serve with grapefruit supremes, fronds, and some earthy crunch**

**Earthy crunch in this case was some ridiculous smoked sesame seeds, but I think it would be nice with toasted almond slivers or pecans. Go nuts.

For the first time in Slapdown history the public and the esteemed judges chose different meatballs as their favorite.

The Judges chose Gramercy Tavern’s Lamb balls, while the public went a little more Italian traditional and raised Vesta’s to the top spot.

The competition was fierce with The Meat Hook, Riverpark, Roberta’s and the Meatball shop all bringing their A game. Judges Peter Meehan, Millicent Souris, Katie Chang, Rachel Wharton, and Paul Bari had a heck of a time deciding and had to request more balls to determine Gramercy as their fav.

Our friends at Grandaisy Bakery provided bread to sop up the sauce, and Messermeister knives contributed a great prize package for the winning team.

Next year will be even bigger and better, and we’re starting to plan it now. So look out for it in 2013!

Riverpark

Winners are announced.

Gramercy Tavern – Judges’ Choice

The Winning Ball!

Vesta – Peoples’ Choice

Joy will be talking about  and showing how she makes some of these famous cakes and will be signing copies of her book. Visit Joy’s Blog here.

Please  RSVP  for this FREE event by adding this item to your cart and checking out to let us know you’re planning to come so we can save you a slice of cake!

Judging:
Stuzzicheria (last year’s Champs!)
Rachel Wharton (Edible Brooklyn)
Peter Meehan (Lucky Peach)
and more!

Competing:
Roberta’s
The Meat Hook
Masten Lake
Vesta
Riverpark
The Meatball shop
Served with bread from Grandaisy Bakery and beer from The Brooklyn Brewery it’s gonna be awesome!
DJ Aperatif (Joe Garden of the Onion) and DJ Meat Mistress (Anita Serwacki)
All proceeds go to fund these two great local food education projects:
–The Brooklyn Kitchen and the Meat Hook’s Classrooms in the Kitchen program which will bring 20 NYC public school classes through the shop to learn about meat and take a hands on cooking class
&
–The Brooklyn Grange Farm’s City Grower program, which will bring students up on the roof, to see the farm and learn about urban agriculture and all it has to offer.
Come down, fill up on Meatballs and beer and help us choose who will get bragging rights for 2012!

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE! DO IT NOW!

It was a crazy battle.  Emily was not foolin’.  That lady can seriously bring it on the kitchen skills tip, but when the semolina dust cleared Mike the Machine came away with a check in the victory column.  Check out the time lapse video below:

Cavatelli. from The Brooklyn Kitchen on Vimeo.

Thor Oechsner and Erick Smith. between them they grow most of the goods you see under the Cayuga label here and at Greenmarkets around the city.

On 600 acres Thor grows Wheat, Rye, Corn (which becomes Polenta), Emmer (Known as Farro in Italy) and other grains. He’ll speak about what it takes to get these products to grow, and how they come to market.

Erick founded Cayuga Pure Organics in 2003 and helps provide Farmer Ground Flour as well as the many varieties of beans sold by CPO

Please come and learn about their work to bring us the best grains and beans and how these products get to your mouth!

We’ll provide some snacks made from their products and beer from the Brooklyn Brewery.

Please RSVP for this FREE EVENT HERE

Making fresh cavatelli at home is a blast and super easy.  We’ll have a bunch of these machines in stock soon, so drop by and pick one up!

Homemade Ricotta Cavatelli

(makes about 1 lb. of pasta)

1 cup Daisy All Purpose Flour
1 cup 100% Durum Wheat Semolina Flour
1 extra large egg
1/2 lb. Narragansett ricotta cheese

1. In a mixing bowl, combine AP flour and semolina flour.  Dump flour mixture onto a large work surface.  Create a well in the center of the pile of flour, so that it looks like a volcano. In the mixing bowl, whisk together egg and ricotta. Pour mixture into center of flour volcano.

2. Make your index finger into a hook like you’re pretending to be a pirate.  Slowly stir the egg and ricotta, picking up a little bit of flour as you go.  As the dough starts to come together, push more of the flour rim of the volcano into the lava pit.  When the dough is solid enough to handle, grab it and roughly shape it into a ball.

5.  If the dough is a crumbly mess, it’s too dry: add a little water.  If the dough is runny, sticky nightmare, it’s too wet: add a little semolina.

6. Take your dough ball and knead it for at least 8 minutes.  Set a timer and don’t get lazy or ADD about it.  Wrap the ball in some plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for another 8 minutes.

7. Divide dough ball into manageable sections (about 4).  Roll each section into a 1/2″ thick snake on a floured work surface.  Run the snakes through the wooden rollers of your shiny, new cavatelli maker.

8. Drop the fresh cavatelli into boiling, salted water.  After 30 seconds or so, give them a little stir so that they don’t stick together.  When they start to float to the top (about 4 minutes) taste one for doneness.  They’ll probably need about 1 more minute, but that’s your call.

9.  Remove wet cavatelli from water with a spider skimmer.  Dump into your favorite sauce.   Toss pasta and sauce like a salad until everything is well coated.  Divide into bowls and finish with some olive oil, grated cheese and/or breadcrumbs.

(Saucing suggestion: Browned butter with fresh cut sage from our hydroponic garden, some Meat Hook Sweet Italian sausage and crushed pepper flakes. Top it with Fulvi Pecorino-Romano.  That’s our riff on the super-rad Frankies Spuntino dish.) 

Expat Brooklynite Nicole Lang Key moved to the South (Richmond VA, specifically) and discovered a dish unlike any other: Pimento Cheese. She did what any curious girl would do: she started a Kickstarter campaign and made a movie. And on Saturday, January 21, we will show you that movie! Join us at 4PM for a tasting and informal discussion, with a screening at 5. There will be Pimento Cheese!

Ticket’s just $5, available for pre-sale and at the door!

That’s right folks. Your weekly dose of vitamin C is here! (Blood orange whiskey sours? Yes, please!)

Things to expect this week:
-Biodynamic Meyer Lemons: Fallbrook, CA
-Organic Navel Oranges: Las Palmalitas Ranch, CA
-Organic Satsuma Oranges: Las Palmalitas Ranch, CA

Things to expect next week:
-Biodynamic Kaffir Limes: Fallbrook, CA
-Organic Ruby Red Grapefruits: Spooner Citrus, Vero Beach, FL
-Organic Blood Oranges: Santa Monica, CA

You should also know that kale is back. Thought that would make y’all happy.

We would like to ask you all to come out for very important cause, our bi-annual blood drive with NY Blood Center. Happening this Saturday January 7^thfrom 12pm – 4:30pm. The NY Blood Center Bus will be parked out front of The Brooklyn Kitchen at the corner of Meeker and Frost.

Once you donate blood and get your “I gave blood” sticker, make your way inside to claim your Sausage link from The Meat Hook’s Butcher counter, or 1lb of dried beans from our front counter. Please visit the NY Blood Center website for blood donation related questions or to find out where else you can give if you cannot join us this Saturday.

Have a Happy & Healthy New Year!

I just picked up a copy of “The Original Boston Cooking-School Cook Book” by Fannie Merritt Farmer, 1896.

The preface is as follows:

“Cookery means the knowledge of Medea and of Circe and of Helen and of the Queen of Sheba. It means the knowledge of all herbs and fruits and balms and spices, and all that is healing and sweet in the fields and groves and savory in meats. It means carefulness and inventiveness and willingness and readiness of appliances. It means the economy of your grandmothers and the science of the modern chemist; it means much testing and no wasting; it means English thoroughness and French art and Arabian hospitality; and, in fine, it means that you are to be perfectly and always ladies—loaf givers.—RUSKIN.”

Except for the part about always being ladies, this quote, written more than a century ago applies today.

This book, written before the automobile, explains everything from Kola, to Braising, what to do with leftovers, how to set the table, and no fewer than 3 pages dedicated to fire, and how to build one for cooking.

Peruse a digital copy below.