A white paper bag with a little mesh window. Ingenious. I’m thinking this as I look at the bag of potatoes on my counter. I do not want to throw the bag away. There’s something so old fashioned about it and so fine. So simple. Reminding me that the food we eat is ALIVE…breathing. Needing air to thrive.

At the little market near Geneseo, New York, The Farmer’s Wife, I found this bag of tiny white potatoes from the South. They were fresh so they cooked in no time (this always amazes me about fresh potatoes). I slathered them with a good quality extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt and a handful of herbs from my garden and WOW, what a great way to serve potatoes. They can be at room temperature which makes them great for brunch when company is over.

I served these with a frittata for brunch today…all of it topped with strawberry shortcake, complete with homemade biscuits and whipped cream…GirlCook LOVES summer cooking!

Warm Potato Salad with Fresh Herbs
(inspired by a recipe from Jaques Pepin’s aweseome “Chez Jaques” cookbook!)

2 lbs. potatoes (perferably small and very fresh)
3 TBS extra virgin olive oil
Handful herbs from the garden (I used 12 stalks of chives, one large stalk of tarragon/leaves separated from the stem, and 3 stalks of flat-leaf parsley)

Cover potatoes with cold water and bring water to a boil over medium heat. Cook until done when fork comes out easily (don’t overcook), approximately 15 minutes depending on freshness of potatoes.

Cut up the herbs (using a small garden scissors makes this so easy…just snip the chives and all other herbs.

Drain potatoes and return to a large bowl. Sprinkle with olive oil. Sprinkle with the herbs which have been cut into small pieces.

Stir and serve. Can be served at room temperature.

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We had family over today. We were just going to sit and talk. I hadn’t gone grocery shopping. There’s something about an empty fridge that makes my sad days even worse. So my empty fridge left me feeling even bluer than I already felt. Until I remembered that dozen brown free range eggs I bought at the market yesterday. And the few spears of asparagus I had left over from the market.

I sometimes think that eggs are a cook’s best friend and maybe that explains my constant yearning to plop a chicken coop in my back yard and make my neighbors just deal with the noise and the smell just so I can reach in every morning and get one, warm, brown (or maybe baby blue) egg.

So as I ponder my inner farm girl and think about how great it would be to raise a few chickens, I think about all the things a GirlCook can whip up with a dozen eggs and a few cans of this and that on hand…and how something so simple can be even better with a great Italian name attached to it.

Artichoke & Asparagus Frittata

6 whole eggs
3 egg whites (I frequently add extra whites to reduce the cholesterol content of my frittatas)
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
6 large stalks of asparagus, cut into 1/4″ pieces
1/2 can quartered artichokes
2 oz. of your favorite cheese: manchego, cheddar, swiss, gruyere, or any other cheese that melts nicely
salt and pepper to taste

Beat the whole eggs and egg whites and set aside.

Heat the oil in a skillet set to medium heat and add the asparagus, cooking for 4 minutes until browned and partially cooked. Add the drained artichokes and saute for another 3 minutes until browned.

Add the eggs and cheese and cook for 5 minutes or until the bottom is set.

Invert the frittata on a large plate and slide the uncooked side back into the skillet to cook for another 5 minutes.

Slide frittata onto serving plate and add salt and pepper to taste.

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This banana blueberry bread is a winner, it’s terrific. This recipe comes from the book “Eat Well Live Well” by Pamela M. Smith which my mother gave me. She is a diabetic and we are always looking for low-sugar, healthy treats. This fit the bill. It was super moist and has very little sugar, the bananas do the trick.

Filled with complex carbs, it is a winner, great for the diabetic in your family but healthy and awesome for everyone. The best thing about this is that it is super moist and can be kept for days in the fridge and toasted.

The recipe calls for walnuts, I used pecans which were great. Any nut would be great.

Banana Blueberry Bread

1/4 cup canola oil
2 TBS honey
2 eggs
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats, uncooked
1 cup blueberries (I use frozen)
3/4 cup walnuts or pecans, broken into pieces
nonstick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine oil, honey and eggs in a food processor. Mash the bananas with a fork and beat into the mixture, set aside.

In a bowl, mis flour, baking soda and salt. Add the oats and stir in the blueberries (carefully) and nuts. Add to the banana mixture, stirring JUST until moistened.

Pour batter into a glass loaf pan that is coated with nonstick cooking spray.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or when toothpick stuck into center of the bread comes out clean (this could take as little as 50 minutes).

For muffins: line muffin cups with paper baking cups and fill 2/3 full with batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Note that one slice of bread or one muffin = 1 complex carb and 2 added fats

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So here’s the trick to a really great melon. Buy it in good, firm condition, they are almost always very under-ripe in supermarkets. (A farm fresh melon would be delicious but unfortunately not available out of season). Put the melon on your counter for 3-4 days, until it starts to give the scent of melon and begins to get softer when you press either end of the melon. Then put it in the fridge to chill it overnight. This works every time for me and yields a supersweet melon, especially when those great home growns are not available.

Arugula is one of my favorite greens, it is slightly peppery and so distinctive…and high in nutrients.

The Recipe:

2 1/2 Cups of arugula (we are fortunate to have plentiful, pre-washed arugula that is of great quality. Again, homegrown is the best!)
1/2 Melon, sliced in 1/4″ slices and cut into 1″ pieces.
2 TBS. Balsamic vinegar
3 TBS. Extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp. oregano
Salt and pepper to taste

Whisk vinegar, oil and herbs together. Pour over greens.

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Charred Onion and Green Bean Salad with Balsamic/Orange Dressing

Leave it to Mario Batali to come up with such a delicious combination of flavors AND to make it so easy. His new cookbook, Molto Gusto “Easy Italian Cooking” is filled with very quick dishes that are wonderful, diverse and take advantage of fresh, fresh, fresh ingredients. This is one of the things I love about Mario, his dedication to superb, fresh, quality ingredients prepared simply. It’s very in vogue now, but in reality, it’s what Italian cooking is all about.
1/4 lb. Green beans
1 small onion, cut into six pieces, slices separated
1 1/2 cup salad greens
1 1/2 TBS. Balsamic (the richer, older, nicer the balsamic, the better this dressing is!)
1 1/2 TBS. Orange juice
2 TBS Extra virgin olive oil

1. Put the green beans in boiling salted water for 3 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. Char the onions in a dry non-stick pan on high heat. Add the green beans and char them too.
3. Put salad greens in bowl and top with the charred beans and onions.
4. Combine the Balsamic, Orange juice, and Olive oil and whisk together.
Pour over the salad and toss.

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Of all the pasta dishes, if I had to pick THE ONE…you know, the one pasta dish for the “last meal,” it would be carbonara. Done well, it is the most decadent, beautifully silky smooth pasta dish ever.

This recipe is based on a Saveur magazine recipe and came with lots of information about its Roman roots. This makes me love it even more.

In the Saveur article, they wrote about how Italians might use the most perfect Guanciale rather than the pancetta I used here. And they wrote about how they might source organic eggs from chickens fed goat milk for a slight almond flavor. And they wrote about how they might combine two cheeses native to Italy.

For our version, Cait and I cooked together and we used Parmigiano Reggiano. The eggs were store bought (how I long for the farmer’s markets!), the Pancetta was sliced very thinly before cooking and I used a beautiful bucatini, a hollow pasta imported from Italy.

What a treat this dish is. This particular method is also great. There are many ways to make carbonara. Mario Batali is one of my favorite chefs and he makes the dish and then cracks an egg in each bowl before serving, leaving the diner to mix the hot pasta and the egg yolk. I love this method. After sauteeing the pancetta in the olive oil, making sure it is nicely browned (so it is not soggy later on), you put it in a large bowl and cool it down. To this, you’ll add the egg, egg yolks, parmigiano reggiano and make a paste. Then just add the hot pasta which cooks the eggs and makes a velvety sauce as you coat the pasta, adding the pasta water as needed to keep it moist and creamy.

This must be eaten immediately for full, rich effect.

I wish I could say this photo was mine, but it is from Saveur magazine. We were so into making this, and so into how delicious it all was that I didn’t take ONE photo!

I love when you are so enjoying the cooking process that you forget about the blog! Something tells me that’s the way it is supposed to be.

The Recipe:

4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
4 oz. thinly sliced guanciale or pancetta cut
into 1⁄2″ pieces
2 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper, plus more
to taste
1 1/2 cups finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano
1 egg plus 3 yolks
Kosher salt, to taste
1 lb. spaghetti (go for a hearty Italian pasta if possible)

1. Heat the olive oil and add the pancetta, cooking until nicely browned (this will avoid the soggy pancetta later on). Add the pepper and cook it until it is fragrant, you’ll smell the pepper when it’s done after 2 minutes or less (being careful not to burn it). Put this mixture in a large bowl and cool it down for about 10 minutes.

2. Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling salted water, just until al dente. Reserve one cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta.

3. Now stir in the Parmigiano and the egg and the egg yolks into the cooled pancetta mixture and stir it into a paste.

4. Add the hot pasta, stirring well to coat the pasta and adding pasta water a little at a time to make a creamy sauce. You may only need 3/4 cup, this depends on how creamy you like the pasta to be. Season with salt and pepper; serve with extra Parmigiano on the side.

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This has become our favorite salad. Everyone in the family loves spinach and the combination of the delicate spinach (you must use baby spinach for this), the fragrant fennel (a crispy, fresh, anise taste), the crisp, sweet apples, are so terrific with this smooth garlic dressing.

The dressing came from New York Magazine which adapted it from Alice Waters’ new cookbook. For years, I’ve been convinced that I cannot make a great salad dressing. Well, I’ve finally found my signature dressing and have used it half a dozen times in the few weeks since I’ve discovered it.

This salad is so easy to make, they key is well pulverized garlic which is done in a mortar and pestle with some coarse salt. It is worth this little bit of extra preparation!

The Recipe:

8 oz. fresh baby spinach, washed and fully dried (prebagged, prewashed spinach is so easy to use)
1 apple (any kind), sliced
1 small bulb fennel, trimmed and sliced very thinly
1 clove garlic
2 pinches coarse salt
2 TBS. red wine vinegar
3 TBS. extra virgin olive oil

1. Put spinach, sliced apple, and sliced fennel in a large bowl.

2. Put garlic and sea salt in a mortar and pestle and pulverize to a puree.

3. Add the red wine vinegar and let sit to macerate for a few minutes. Taste it to correct the salt/vinegar ratio according to your tast.

4. Transfer to a small bowl and drizzle in the olive oil in a thin stream, whisking constantly. The dressing with be thick.

5. Pour over salad and mix well with tongs, transfer to serving plate. (Note: you may not need all of the dressing, be careful not overdress, it doesn’t take much to dress these tender spinach leaves.)

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An invitation from my Mom to come over for lunch at her cozy, beautiful house in the middle of a harried day at work is special, special, special. I imagined how it would be. I have so many memories of the special touches she always added to things, to the festivity she always surrounded us with. And she is still doing these things. You can bet that every season will be greeted with her exuberance for the spirit of celebration and joy. No sooner is her Christmas wonderland down than the Valentines appear. The day after Valentine’s Day, shiny green shamrocks appear soon followed by bunnies, eggs, chicks and more bunnies peeking from every corner of her house. I am often with her when she finds her treasures and I never tire of her childlike wonder, her enthusiasm, her smiles, her joy, always at the ready for an unplanned adventure, often seeking the things that surround us all in her house.

To my little nephew Quinnie, it is a treat to come to discover what is new in Nana’s house. To me, it is a sweet, calming reminder of the things that I’ve never taken for granted. Those little touches are there for a reason; to embrace all who enter, to give a little whimsy and smile to their day, to envelope them in a world of one woman’s imagination, to give a glimpse of the wonder that still lies in her heart and her twinkling eyes, to give us what there is too little of in this world– an unabashed desire to share love through symbols of childhood tales and the traditions of generations past.

I’m entranced with the traditions of other countries, the intricate figurines spread out in the windows of tiny French towns to celebrate Christmas, the saint pageants of Italy complete with costumes, statues, gatherings and whenever I read about them, I think of Mom’s house. It is our own private world of shared ritual. How lucky we are. How rare this is becoming in our chic modern world of impersonal materialism.

So on the day I was invited to lunch, I knew there would be an Easter theme. And I felt like a princess being invited to the fairy queen’s house. I knew that treasures would be spread about. Maybe a ceramic that she made with her own hands 40 years ago and carved our names into. Maybe an antique she picked up on one of her adventures. Maybe tiny teacups sprinkled with flowers. Maybe napkin holders that say Spring is here.

It was all I had imagined…. sweetness and love. I think of it as kindness personified and I love to be in Mom’s world.

Here are more pictures of our own private Bunny Tea Party. A Girl’s never too old for a tea party with one of her favorite women in all the world.

The Menu:

Homemade Tuna Salad (with tiny celery bits)
Homemade Egg Salad (made with the egg slicer/perfectly chopped in little square bits!)
Cottage Cheese
Strawberries and Cantaloupe
Club Crackers
Orange Spice Tea
Pastry Hearts

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When we got home late tonight, we were tired, hungry and in need of a quick meal. We cooked together and had this done in no time, my husband called it one of his favorite dishes ever….HA! I love when that happens!

Black Olive & Roasted Garlic Chicken with Angel Hair

1/2 lb. Angel Hair pasta, cooked at same time you are preparing the sauce.

3 Cloves (roasted) garlic
(fresh is fine, roasted is awesomely buttery and delicious. Don’t be afraid to roast it and freeze it for quick easy meals)

2 TBS. Olive Oil
6 Skinless Chicken Thighs (remember, the better and the fresher the quality, the better the dish)
3 TBS. Unbleached flour
3 dried sage leaves, crumbled or 1/4 tsp. dried flakes
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 Cup chicken stock
1/2 Cup dry white wine
1/2 Cup black olives, pitted and broken into pieces (calamata olives are terrific, any olive would be great)
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute the roasted garlic in the olive oil for a minute until golden.

Add the chicken thighs and crumbled sage and cook for about 7 minutes each side until browned and cooked through. My husband is the best meat cooker and never overcooks which is the secret. He always uses a meat thermometer, cook this to 165 degrees. Remove chicken from pan. Toss cooked chicken with the flour to coat and set aside.

Add chicken stock, white wine, olives and thyme to the pan and simmer for a minute. Add the chicken back to the pan and simmer for about 3 minutes until the sauce thicken slightly.

Add cooked angel hair to the sauce, as much as you like depending on how saucy you like the dish to be.

Easy, quick, delicious. Serve with a salad, see our salad section for ideas.

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Arugula, Cranberry, Walnut, Roquefort Salad with Champagne Walnut Vinaigrette

3 Cups cleaned arugula
1/8 Cup dried cranberries
1/8 Cup toasted walnuts, chopped
1/2 TBS. Roquefort, crumbled (see our skinny tip for using Roquefort)

Toss all ingredients
Add vinaigrette, sparingly and toss in large bowl to coat

Champagne Walnut Vinaigrette (plenty for 3-4 salads, save for later)

Our daughter Cait whipped this dressing together, it was terrific.

2 TBS. champagne vinegar
1/4 Cup Walnut Oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 Tsp. dried chervil
1/4 Tsp. dried tarragon
1 Tsp. light honey (I use Locust honey, very pale)

Whisk all ingredients to emulsify and thicken.
Use sparingly, it doesn’t take much to dress a salad.

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