Wild Mushroom Pasta for MyHabit

I am so excited to be working with MyHabit for their brand new Home Sale launching today! They've got some fantastic things up for grabs for seriously great prices, so click on over HERE to check out all my picks, including the best chopping block I've ever had the pleasure of using, a beautiful saute pan, and a hot pink pepper grinder that's been brightening up my kitchen lately.

I also developed a recipe for Wild Mushroom Pasta exclusively for them using these very same tools--you can get it HERE. Happy cooking, happy shopping. xo

Apartment Touches

One of the quickest ways to make a house feel like a home is to flood it with living things--plants, flowers, trees, and the like. And so I went about doing just that as soon as I moved into my new apartment. I popped into Adore NYC next to my office and picked up a baby fig tree, a baby palm, a fern, and a succulent called a "pepperoni plant" (how could you resist a plant with a name like that?). I'm admittedly completely new to the art of keeping houseplants alive, but I'm hoping with a little luck and a touch of my mother's unbelievably green thumb, it'll all work out. xo

Favorite Things: 6.8.12

 

Since I just moved into a new apartment, and my sole focus has been on making it feel like home for the past week, this edition of Favorite Things is dedicated to all the knick-knacks I've picked up (or plan to pick up) in pursuit of that mission. Happy Friday, everyone! xo

A few pieces I love:

1. A baby fig tree from Adore NYC

2. Initial stationary from Connor--new obsession

3. NASA moon globe

4. The History of Surfing

5. Coolest black mohair side chair

6. Mercury glass vase

+ more favorite things:

*The Science of Yoga*

*The prettiest cake in the world*

*Moonrise Kingdom*

*Kyle Miller--greatest yoga teacher and my favorite part about Fridays*

*Mini Rosie bird!*

*Taylor's apartment*

*Our newest client at CA Creative, Dr. Jart+*

Ian Knauer's Blueberry Belle Crunch

One of the best parts of this dessert--which is an old family recipe of Ian Knauer's--is the name of it, wouldn't you say? Blueberry Belle Crunch. It just sounds like summer and sunshine and country state fairs. Like the strawberry cake I made the other week, this preparation is deceivingly simple and incredibly tasty. It really lets the blueberries shine. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to take it to even greater heights. All pictures by Mark Iantosca. xo

Blueberry Belle Crunch
Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients:
For the berries
12 ounces fresh blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

For the crunch
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into cubes
Ice cream for serving (optional)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees with a rack in the middle. Generously butter a 9-inch pie plate.

Make the berries: Toss the blueberries with the sugar, flour, lemon juice, and salt. Transfer the berries to the pie plate.


Make the crunch: Stir together the flour, oats, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt. Blend in the butter with your hands until well combined. Crumble the topping over the berries in large clumps.

Bake the crunch until the berries are bubbling and the crunch is set and browned in places, 25 to 35 minutes. Let the crunch cool slightly before serving. Serve with ice cream, if you like.

Entertaining Tips for MYHABIT

I wrote out all my favorite entertaining tips (plus a couple borrowed from the likes of my friend Julia Bainbridge of Bon Appetit and the Vena Cava girls) for MyHabit, and they've got the post live now! Check it out HERE. xo

Warm Asparagus Salad

I spent the weekend unpacking and settling into my new apartment (pictures to come!) with a few breaks in between to finish the last 200 pages of Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night, play Bach's Minuet in d minor for a group of my piano teacher's fellow students in a mini piano recital/brunch, and get a seriously fantastic facial with Diana from B Spa Bar at the Soho Grand Hotel. It was a full weekend, but a very rejuvenating one.

This asparagus salad (adapted from Food52's recipe) is the first meal I prepared for myself in my new kitchen and as I stood at my counter, nibbling on the delicious mixture of market asparagus, bacon, and leeks, and sipping on an ice cold glass of Gruner, my apartment finally felt like home, unpacked piles of boxes and all. I guess that's the power of home-cooked food. xo

Warm Asparagus Salad
Serves 4
Ingredients:

4 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 pound asparagus, woody ends trimmed and sliced into 2 inch pieces on the bias
1 1/4 cup leeks, thinly sliced crosswise (white and pale green parts only)
2 cloves garlic, minced
Zest of one lemon
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
1-2 tablespoon flat Italian parsley, chopped or torn
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions:
In a large non-stick pan, sauté pancetta, stirring frequently, over medium heat, until crisp and lightly golden.

Add 1 tablespoon of butter to pan. Add asparagus pieces and leek and sauté until asparagus is tender crisp, about 3-4 minutes.

Add garlic, lemon and orange zest, toasted pine nuts and parsley and sauté for about 1 minute, until fragrant. Season to taste with freshly ground pepper and salt and serve immediately.

Summer Strawberry Cake

Nothing says "summer" quite like a ridiculously easy strawberry cake. And this one, my friends, is the strawberry cake to end all strawberry cakes. It's got a rich, buttery, sugary crumb that heaves with the weight of a full pound of farmers' market strawberries melting into sticky puddles of jam in your oven. It's list of ingredients is short, the assembly simple, and the time it'll last sitting on your kitchen counter infinitesimal. In fact, I polished the whole thing off in two days flat by myself. You can file that under "things no one should admit to on a public forum." Don't say I didn't warn you. xo


Summer Strawberry Cake
Adapted from Martha Stewart and Smitten Kitchen
Ingredients:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for pie plate
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup barley flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 10-inch pie pan.

Whisk flours, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 1 cup sugar until pale and fluffy with an electric mixer, about 3 minutes. Mix in egg, milk and vanilla until just combined. Add dry mixture gradually, mixing until just smooth.

Pour into prepared pie plate. Arrange strawberries, cut side down, on top of batter, as closely as possible in a single layer. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries.

Bake cake for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 325°F and bake cake until golden brown and a tester comes out free of wet batter (save for some gooey strawberries), about 50 minutes to 60 minutes. Let cool in pan on a rack. Cut into wedges. Serve with lightly whipped cream.