What's Lurking in Your Rotter?

My sister and I saw a comedian do a piece on his fridge. He referred to the Crisper as the Rotter because everything he put in there rotted. We howled with laughter and have since referred to our own respective Crispers as Rotters.
Yes, even the best of intentions go horribly awry. Instead of beating yourself up over it, try some of these tricks.
If it's green and leafy: Chop it up. In a big bowl of cold water put the chopped greens. Swish them around and drain. Repeat 2-3 times. Lay out the greens on a clean tea towel. Let them dry a bit then put them in a plastic baggie, squish out all the air and put it in the Rotter.
If it's hard, like a root vegetable (carrot, beet, radish): Rinse and scrub the skins. If you use the tops, remove them and take care of them like the other greens (above). Peel and chop half of what you brought home. (I would keep the radishes whole.) Put the chopped pieces in a plastic baggie, squish out all the air and pop it in the Rotter.
These prep-ahead tricks will get you to *use* the veggies you brought home as opposed to them languishing in the Rotter.
And let me know if this one trick works for you!

Clean Out Your Fridge!

My friend Niki called me when she was cleaning out her refridgerator at 10 o'clock at night. She saw a condiment jar I had dated when I visited them in the winter. And she thought of me. Ha ha!
So I'm encouraging you to do two things: 1) clean out your fridge 2) keep a sharpie in the kitchen and put the "open" date on all jars and containers. This one trick has transformed my relationship to condiments. It's now a healthy one instead of a hoarding one.
Toss anything that you do not remember the meal you made with it. If you do have a brilliant memory, and that meal was more than 2 months ago, toss it. Toss all dairy -- yogurt, sour cream, cream cheese. Toss pesto, tapenade, roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes and other pre-made blended/mixed veg spreads. Anchovies and capers seem to keep up to 6 months but when in doubt, throw it out.
If you're daunted, just do one shelf -- even if it's the door shelf.

Jamaican Kale

I've been craving red meat lately. I had ground buffalo meat on hand, so I made a quick burger. I chopped some kale and put it in water to boil. Then I remembered a kale recipe by a Jamaican roommate in college. He would cook for his girlfriend once a month (guess when). Then I realized why I've been craving red meat -- I need iron!
Anyway, I think this is the recipe. It came out well and I'd cook this again.

4 stalks of elephant leaf kale, cut into strips horizontally, including stalks
Put the kale in just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes then remove from heat.

1/2t oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 small tomatoes, roughly diced

In a separate pot, saute the garlic in oil on high heat until translucent. Add the tomatoes (be careful of spatter), lower the heat and move around. Add the cooked kale and stir. Season with salt. Cook for about 5 minutes. Serve!

I served the kale with the burger and a nice dollop of fresh goat cheese. De.lish.

Rhubarb Compote

Rhubarb is in season and I have fond memories of it. As a kid, my sister and I would hide in the rhubarb patch in our back yard (it was the size of a postage stamp but we thought we were invisible back there). When mom would call us to dinner or, later, to bed, Marcia and I would squat beneath the huge leaves, perfectly still and watch the fireflies. Mom played along and pretended to be looking deep in the brush to find us. "Where can they be?" she would ask the deep humid air. We'd jump up, "Here we are!" She feigned surprise every time. Thanks, Mom :)
Strawberry-rhubarb pie, sour and sweet, is one of my favorite desserts.

But I want something for the morning, to perk up my mouth. So I made a compote.

10 stalks rhubarb, rinsed and diced
water, enough to cover
1/2c sugar

Place the water and sugar in a pot with plenty of room for the rhubarb to move around. Add the rhubarb and place on high heat. Bring to boil then lower the temperature to simmer until the rhubarb starts to call apart. Turn off the heat and let cool 10 minutes. Strain the rhubarb and keep the liquid. (It's perfect for summer cocktails!)
I put my compote in a mason jar. This amount should fill one mason jar, provided you drain well.
Try adding this to breakfast cereal, cold or hot, like you would any other fruit -- although, technically, rhubarb is a vegetable.

Duck with Rhubarb and Apricot Jam

Going 4 months without duck is a looong time for me. Just ask my sister Deirdre and friend Kathy how often during our road trip in Oregon I mentioned eating duck. It became a running joke.
Despite the POURING RAIN on Saturday, I braved the elements for a trip to the Union Square Farmers Market and bought some duck breasts (yeah!). I had rhubarb in the fridge and planned to make a compote for breakfast but the thought of the tart rhubarb and duck sounded really really good. So, I just made this up.
1 duck breast, skin removed (but keep it)
2T apricot jam
2 rhubarb stalks, cleaned and roughly diced
1/2c apple cider vinegar
1/2c water
Gently remove the fatty skin from the duck breast. Set it aside. Smear the jam on top of the raw duck breast. Put the fat on top (like a sandwich).
In a shallow skillet, pour the vinegar and water. Place the duck breast in the liquid. Sprinkle the diced rhubarb around the duck.
Simmer on medium-high heat for about 7 minutes. The rhubarb will start to fall apart and the vinegar will stink. As the liquids evaporate, the skin might curl up and fall off the breast. That's ok. Turn the breast over if this happens.

Check the meat for doneness. If the breast is the same firmness as the space between your thumb and forefinger, it's done. Depending on the thickness of the breast, it may still be deep pink inside. Cook the breast longer if you don't want to see pink.
I served this sweet-sour duck with elephant-leaf kale. A perfect spring-summer dish.

Pecan Praline Ice Cream

I was near Two Boots Pizza on Bleecker and stopped in for a slice...then indulged in ice cream.
Their pecan praline is di.vine.
I sampled the beignet ice cream but was underwhelmed by the flavor. I would go back to try the red velvet cake ice cream. Mmmmm.

Catering to Microsoft

Through a series of serendipitous events, I found myself catering an event for Microsoft during the beginning of InternetWorld. They rented raw space in the Meatpacking district, so we had no kitchen to work with but I had an amazing crew and it all worked out.

We served
+ savory +
langostino tails in butter and white wine
warm lentils in endive
grilled steak bites in a red wine reduction sauce with cherry tomatoes
edamame and black bean salad with wasabi paste
chilled gazpacho

+ sweet +
brownies
ice pops
jellybeans