I always love coming across a copy of Edible Manhattan so I was thrilled when they asked me to contribute two pieces to their first ever dairy issue (March/April 2012). Tasked with finding the city’s best tres leches, all signs pointed to Daisy Lebron at  Bizcocho de Colores in Upper Manhattan. On what seemed like the only cold day this past winter, I made the treck to the opposite side of the island and was rewarded with an amazing tres leches (or two).  It was a treasure in a plastic clam shell. Click here to read Uptown, a Dominican Confection Makes Life Three Times Sweeter which includes an extended photo gallery by Elizabeth Leitzell. I also spent a few days navigating the fresh cheese cases for No Passport Needed: In the Supermarket Case, Queso. Also included in this issue, a great profile on everyone’s fantasy cheese shop Murray’s Cheese, the suprisingly local Greek yogurt, and  the end of Milk Thistle which I didn’t quite believe until I went by the farmer’s market this Sunday and passed the empty spot where they should have been.

Their first meeting turned into an interview where Dawn was doing the hiring and Dave was burning a tray of the caramel shortbread Lucia cookies she’d named after her great grandmother.  Luckily for everyone, she hired him anyway. Many trays of perfectly executed Lucia cookies later, they’re happily partnered and married in Brooklyn with their young son Nate and a second location in DUMBO on the way.

Whether it’s family or friends visiting or just anytime brunch on Smith Street, one of my absolute favorite ways to end the weekend is to stop by One Girl for something sweet to take the edge off a Sunday. Still, their best offering has been their classes where everyone gets elbow deep in tarts, cakes, and custard.

Incredibly generous with their time and advice when I started baking and blogging, they’ve also been generous with the recipes they’ve chosen to include in their book - offering up the secrets to their pumpkin whoopie pies and winter spice cookies, what I promise you will be the best apple pie you’ll ever make, and a have-to-try chocolate cake with salty dulce de leche and hazelnut brittle. I also love that they’ve included DIY basics you’ve always wanted to try but were waiting for someone to tell you how, ie. making your own butter.

It was hard to pick one but this week I made their blueberry oat muffins.  Classic and simple, they were fall apart tender with enough oat-crumble crust and berries to make you feel virtuous for baking in first weeks of January. It was a good page to start the year on.

Blueberry Oat Muffins with Crumb Topping
Reprinted with permission from One Girl Cookies: Recipes for Cakes, Cupcakes, Whoopie Pies, and Cookies from Brooklyn’s Beloved Bakery by Dawn Casale and David Crofton.

Crumb Topping
1 cup all-purpose flour
1⁄2 cup packed light brown sugar
1⁄4 cup rolled oats
1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1⁄4 teaspoon table salt
10 tablespoons (1 1⁄4 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Muffins
2⁄3 cup rolled oats
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1⁄2 teaspoons table salt
6 tablespoons (3⁄4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1⁄4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups frozen blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line one 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
To prepare the crumb topping, combine the flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, and salt in the bowl of a food processor, and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse 4 or 5 times. Set aside.

To prepare the muffins, process the oats in the clean bowl of the food processor until they are powdery. In a medium bowl, whisk together the ground oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, and mix for 1 minute. Then add the sour cream, honey, and vanilla, and mix for 30 seconds. With the mixer running on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture. Mix for 10 seconds. Take the bowl off the mixer and fold in the blueberries with a rubber spatula.

Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups, filling them about three-fourths full. Sprinkle the muffins generously with the crumb topping.

Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, for 28 minutes, or until the top of a muffin springs back when lightly pressed. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan, transfer them to a wire rack, and let them cool completely.

Makes 12 muffins

A couple of months ago, I was invited to a dinner at Romera hosted by Manu Muga of Bodegas Muga, a family-owned vineyard. Bodegas Muga has been cultivating varieties of grapes – Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo, and Graziano for reds and Viura and Malvasia for whites – on over 620 acres nestled in the Rioja Alta region of Spain for more than 70 years. Though widely distributed, they’re committed to small scale, artisanal production – heavy oak barrels are used throughout the entire process, egg whites are still used for clarification and the egg yolks still go to nearby convents to be turned into sweets.

The tasting menu by Dr. Miguel Sanchez Romera was memorable by design – each course meant to illicit a neurosensory response – a cuisine he developed as a practicing neurologist in Barcelona. It may have been the synapses but the wine, thoughtfully paired with each of the 11 courses, kept things buzzing along nicely. When the infused waters, dried herb mosaics, and chalices laden with Kobe beef had been had, the best pairing came at very end the end when it was just red wine and chocolate – in this case Muga Aro 2006 and house-made bonbons and tablets. A vivid red against the soothing chocolate, if the rest of the meal was a dream, this was the perfect way to be woken up.

Wanting to capture that same feeling, I decided to make truffles to take to a friends house for tapas and picoteo. It had been awhile since I’d attempted them and I’d forgotten how much fun it could be – temperamental but fun. Not stopping there, I also made these chocolate cookies. Resolutions would kick in soon enough but until then there’s a little more wine, a lot of more chocolate, and time to enjoy both.

Though it hadn’t started out as a food trip, I had a list of things I wanted to seek out. I needn’t have bothered. It was all around us, all the time – grapefruit, coconut, ackee, breadfruit, jackfruit, passion fruit, soursop, sorrel and papayas every where you looked. Even in the crowded city, the trees were bearing down fruit.

A little creaky from the early morning  (2AM) flight, I was too excited to sleep and after settling in we went over to Devon House, a national heritage site built in the 1830′s by the island’s first black millionaire, George Steibel. Meeting Bruce’s family at the Grogge Shoppe for a very late breakfast/early lunch, we sat in the open courtyard area shaded by the kind of trees you could live in. Starting with fresh soursoup juice, we had the pepper pot stew with dumplings. Not shy about eating off each other’s plates, I sampled the akee and saltfish, jerked pork, brown stewed fish fillet, and fried bammies, a flatbread made of freshly grated cassava.

For myself, I ordered the braised oxtail and butter beans with rice and peas. A favorite dish my grandfather used to make for me, all other oxtail stews pale in comparison so I rarely order it and have never made it myself. A different accent helped and I remembered how much I missed the falling off the bone tenderness when it’s down well – a madeleine with a different accent. If we’d stopped there, we’d have already gone too far, but we went to I-Scream afterwards. Located behind Devon House, it carries the kind of tropical fruit flavors – guava, coconut, mango – you might find in the States but with a richness and presence I’d never tasted before. I was in love with Jamaica and it was only the first day.

Above Photo Credit: Portrait of Girl with Hula Hoop by Bruce Loshusan reprinted with permission.

250 g (about 1 cup or 9 ounces) quinoa, well rinsed in several changes of water until it runs clear
4 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium white onion, diced (about 1 cup)
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 ounces smoked bacon, cubed
5 ounces (about 2 cups) sliced mushrooms (shitake, crimini, or a combination)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup parmesean cheese, grated
1 pinch grated nutmeg
Sea salt and ground white pepper

In a large heavy pot, bring chicken broth to a boil over medium high heat. Add the quinoa and return to a fast simmer until tender, about 12 minutes. Set aside to cool.*

While the quinoa cooks, melt the butter over medium heat, in large heavy skilled. Add the bacon, onions, and garlic. Stirring frequently, sauté until the onions begin to soften but do not brown, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sauté until they are tender and most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the heavy cream, wine, saffron and bring to a simmer.

Set the heavy pot with drained quinoa over medium heat. Add the mushroom mixture to the quinoa and stir until well blended. Stir over medium heat until the quinotto thickens or reaches the desired consistency. Remove from heat and stir in the parmesean and parsley. Serve immediately.

Yields 4 large or 6 side dish servings.

*The original recipe recommends draining the quinoa. I prefer a looser risotto so I let the quinoa cool in the broth and combined it with

A little less dramatic but much more delicious, I was invited to a dinner hosted by Muga Winery (more later) at Romera New York, a relatively new restaurant serving a tasting menu of high-concept neurograstronomic (al?, y?) cuisine fittingly set in the Dream Hotel. Walking past display cases of glass tubes and  beakers, we were presented with 11-courses of essence and flowers. Asked not to take pictures of the the dishes, I wished I had more to show but it was something of a relief to not have the option. My only regret is that I couldn’t take one of chef Dr. Miguel Sanchez Romera when he appeared politely at the very end of the meal. Formerly a neurologist and physician in Barcelona before opening his first restaurant, I know he came out in a standard chef’s whites but in my mind’s eye it was a tell-tale smock/straight jacket. Click here for the perspective of someone who wasn’t seeing things.

A few days later, I headed uptown to see my friend Alexis Rodriguez-Duarte’s new show, Presenting Celia Cruz at Casita Maria. A collection of photographs he and his partner, stylist Tico Torres took during their long collaboration with the singer, it was a reminder of just what a presence she was. Capturing her on stage, offstage and everywhere in between, it was wonderful to just be in a room, surrounded by Celia in all her incarnations. Running through November 22.

Finally, if you liked Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, then you probably related to the main character’s desire to live in the 1920′s. The last couple of weeks, I’ve seen seen two shows set in that period, that resonate so strongly with our present day circumstances, I think we may have already gotten our wish. Hard to describe except to say it’s a Dada painting come to life and set to music, I went to see The Blue Flower at Second Stage after my sister saw it first and couldn’t stop talking about it. Now that I have, I can’t stop thinking about it.  In the same vein, the Brooklyn Museum of Art opened their latest exhibit Youth and Beauty: Art of the American Twenties, featuring work by Thomas Hart Benton, Edward Hopper, Luigi Lucioni, Gerald Murphy, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Joseph Stella to name a few.

Bringing it all to a close, I ended October with a snow day, watching the leaves go white before they’d thought to turn brown. I can only assume someone’s experiment to take over the world through freakish weather events went awry.

I got hooked on it at my cousin Caro’s where we’d have it in the morning over ham and eggs. Since then, Diana Kennedy’s salsa de tomate verde has become my favorite any-night, any-excuse recipe. Made in relatively small batches, it comes together so quickly there’s reason not to always have it on hand. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to make a croque madame a la Mexicana or croque señorita. Taking the elements of the traditional sandwich, I switched things around until I found a combination I loved – thickly cut wet-cured ham the butcher recommended, fresh ricotta for the béchamel, a steam-fried egg, and of course salsa verde. Instead of the corn tortillas I’ve been hoarding, I used a crusty Pullman loaf – a little less delicate but better to soak up runny yolks. For the eggs I went green, a splurge I allow myself every summer.I haven’t been the only one mixing up my French and my Mexican. Coming to Smith St. though still under construction, Jolie Cantina is adding a French-Mexican menu to the row of almost too cute bars and cafes that line the street. Despite combining my two country-crushes, it didn’t make sense at first until I saw the new graphic they put up – French and Mexican roosters facing off. Now that I’ve been mixing them up on my own, I can’t wait for them to open. In the permanent junior-year abroad that is Brooklyn’s Smith Street, it’ll be another excuse to linger when it’s too early to go all the way home but too late to go anywhere else.

Croque Señorita

I worried it would seem fussy to include recipes for salsa verde and ricotta since both can easily be found pre-made. But then it’s worth it and I am a little fussy. For the salsa verde, tomatillos, cilantro, white onions and serrano peppers have all been coming into the markets so I usually stock up on the weekend. I absolutely hate throwing away food so I get a small sense of satisfaction every time I get to the bottom of a bag of cilantro I feel a little sense of accomplishment.

High-quality ricotta is worth seeking out but it can be a little expensive and doesn’t last very long. Milk, cream and lemons are something I always have on hand, so I’ve gotten used to making a quick batch to use as needed. It really is as simple as heating milk. I usually make the ricotta first then set it to drain while I make the tomatillo sauce.

4 slices white pullman bread, sliced thickly and preferably day old
2-3 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons fresh ricotta, homemade or high quality
6-8 ounces thickly sliced wet-cured ham
4 fresh eggs
Salsa de tomate verde (see below)

Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat. Butter both sides of each bread slice and toast in the skillet until the edges are brown and crisp. Remove from the skillet and spread a heaping tablespoon of ricotta on each slice and top with a couple of slice of ham. Keep in a warm oven or top with aluminum foil while you fry the eggs.

Melt a tablespoon of butter in the skillet over medium heat. Crack the egg into a small bowl then drop it into the skillet. Repeat with the remaining eggs or cook separately. Cook until the edges of the egg turn white, about 1 minute. Drop one teaspoon of water into the pan for each egg. Cover tightly with a lid and cook over medium-low heat until the yolks are set, about 1-2 more minutes.

Remove from skillet and set over ham. Serve with salsa verde.

Fresh Ricotta
Adapted from  Smitten Kitchen.

2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
3 tablespoons lemon juice

Line a colander with cheese cloth and set over a large bowl. In a large heavy pot, heat milk over medium heat until it reaches 190 degrees or until bubble just start to appear along the sides. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and salt. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes until the curds and whey begin to separate.

Salsa de Tomate Verde
Barely adapted from The Essential Cuisines of Mexico by Diana Kennedy.

1/2 pound tomate verde (sold as tomatillos), husks removed and well rinsed
2-3 serrano peppers, seeded and finely chopped
1 heaping tablespoon white onion, finely chopped
1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
1/3 cup cilantro, leaves and tender stems, roughly chopped
Salt to taste

Place the tomatillos in small saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Stir occasionally so they cook evenly. They should be pale green and tender but still whole, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

While the tomatillos cook, combine the peppers, white onion, garlic and cilantro in blender and pulse until well chopped and combined. Add a little water as needed. Add the tomatillos one at a time, pulsing after each addition. Add water if needed to reach the right consistency. Add salt to taste and serve.

A little more exotic than what I’ll find at the Farmer’s market (though they abound in Chinatown), pitayas or dragon fruit got the “it girl” treatment by the New York Times. Café Bustelo is up for most popular now that the family owned company was bought by Smuckers for $360 million. Mexican cuisine of course has always been wildly popular but the prestige is catching up since its designation by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage. Mexico City’s Pujol made the S.Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, Calendelaria, a new taqueria, opened in Paris (allegedly its first though I find it hard to believe), and the number of Latin restaurants in London are rising to keep pace with a growing demographic from South America.

Though school is out, I love flagging how to’s (since by the time I need to look for one it’s too late) and the Kitchn posted a great guide to grilling featuring Lourdes Castro, who’s book Latin Grilling: Recipes to Share, from Patagonian Asado to Yucatecan Barbecue and More   just came out. This month I was contributed my own how-to on Devour the Blog when I made Salvadoran pupusas. I got to duck behind the stand at Soler Pupusas for my lesson and I look forward to seeing them again at their new Smorgasburg location. Finally, in a shark jumping move for magazine coverage of el bulli’s closing, Esquire Spain created a scratch and sniff logo for their Ferran Adrià cover.

Newly in love with my spring cleaned shelves, I decided to make arepas de dominó, stuffed with black beans and cheese, relying mostly on what I had on hand.  With little shopping to do apart from peppers and onions, I had to time to obsess about other things, namely what cheese to add.  Though Mexican queso blanco and some Colombian varieties have become common, Venezuelans always complain about the trouble they have finding cheese north of Miami.  Luis, my new market friend, pointed me towards El Cocotero that sometimes sells the fresh cheese they use in their restaurant.  He recommended queso llanero or guayanés though I was only able to find the latter. The queso quayanés was closer to a fresh mozzarella or burrata than the queso blanco I normally use, not quite melting but pooling into the black beans and worth the trouble of seeking out.

Arepa de Dominó/Arepas with Black Beans and Cheese
Since it opened up around the corner, I’ll use any excuse to visit Union Market.  Bright, always stocked with samples, and piping in the a soundtrack that inspires occasional dancing in the aisles, it’s the breakfast at Tiffany’s of neighborhood grocery stores in that I can’t imagine anything bad happening there.  Already planning on making arepas, this is where I met Luis who apart from the lead on Venezuelan cheese shared a few tips on how he makes arepas for his family, that Venezuelans call frijoles negros caraotas, and that where he’s from in the Eastern part of Venezuela they add a little sugar to the dough.  He also suggested stirring in a little butter or oil to the masa.  Small changes but they were definately the creamiest arepas I’ve made and even puffed up slightly as promised.  The filling can soak through the arepa so I made them larger and thicker than usual.

1 cup masarepa, preferably Harina P.A.N., white or yellow
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ½ cup hot water
1 tablespoon melted butter or canola oil

1-2 tablespoons canola oil

For filling:
Caraotas negras, prepared (also known as frijoles negros or black turtle beans)
Queso guayanés or fresh mozzarella, cubed

Combine the dry ingredients. Pour water into a medium mixing bowl.  Add cornmeal in a steady stream, whisking constantly to avoid clumps. Stir in the melted butter or oil. Knead until well mixed and set aside to rest, about 5-10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside.

Divide the dough in quarters and shape each piece into a ball.  Using the bottom of a flat measuring cup or mixing bowl, lightly press down on the dough to form a disc about 1-1 ½” thick.

In a cast iron or heavy skillet, heat oil over medium high heat.  Add the arepas and cook until lightly golden and crisp, about 4-6 minutes on each side.  Transfer to a baking sheet and bake an additional 15-20 minutes until cooked through.  Split open and fill with caraotas negros and cubed cheese.

Makes 4-6 arepas.

I still remember going to see it with my sister and our two best friends.  Spending a spring break day in Coconut Grove at what we thought of as an art house theater, mostly because they played Almodóvar movies to packed audiences and French movies to half empty ones, we were all waiting to hear from colleges in New York (I got my acceptance that afternoon making the day that much more vivid).  It was also the first wide release we’d seen from Mexico so it satisfied our yearning for suburban bohemia until we could get to the real thing.

Won over by the beautiful story, beautiful Italian actor from Cinema Paradiso,  and beautiful food, it became one of our favorites.  Tita, Rosaura, Gertrudis, and Chencha translated into half-serious shorthand for each other when we were being self consciously noble, uncharacteristically vindictive, fiery and up for anything, or cheery beyond all reason.

Of course in a film full of swoon worthy food, the scene where she cooks with rose petals is the swooniest.  Reading over Laura Esquivel’s novel and some of the ingredients she listed – roses (preferably red), anise, honey – I had something sweet in mind and decided to make arroz con leche.  After adding the ground anise and letting is cool, I set out a few different toppings to try every possible combination – from chestnut honey to diced pitaya – the blank slate of rose infused pudding  mingling beautifully with anything I wanted to add, depending on who I felt like being just then.

Arroz con Leche y Rosas/Rose Rice Pudding
I love adding rosewater to desserts but I’m always wary – too little and it’ll be overpowered, too much and it will taste like perfume.  I made a bouquet garni (favorite new cooking term) dried rosebuds and added it to the rice and water while it boiled then removing it before adding milk, sugar and lemon zest.  Though I didn’t realize at the time, rose pudding is actually a Persian dessert called sheer berenj, seasoned with cardamon and chopped pistachios,  so I set those out as well.

1 cup medium or short grain white rice, well rinsed.
2 cups water
¼ cup dried rosebuds
4 cups of whole milk
Grated zest of one lemon
¾ cups of sugar
¼ teaspoon ground anise
1-2 tablespoons rose water (optional)

Optional toppings:

Chopped pistachios
Toasted almonds
Roasted chestnuts
Honey
Ground Cinnamon
Cumbled Maria crackers

Wrap dried rosebuds in small square of cheese cloth tightly gathered and tied together with kitchen twine, alternately use a sachet or tea strainer.  Add to large sauce pan with water and rice.  Bring to a high simmer over medium heat.  Stir occasionally until most of the water is evaporated, about 5-8 minutes.

Carefully remove the rosebuds and add the milk and lemon zest.  Return to a high simmer, stirring constantly.  Stir in the sugar.  Reduce heat to medium low.  Watch closely, stirring occasionally so that the rice does not stick to the bottom of the pan.  Continue cook until the rice is tender, 20-30 minutes.*

When the rice reaches the desired consistency, remove from heat.  Pour into a large mixing or serving bowl and stir in the ground anise and additional rose water if using.  Set aside to cool, serve warm or chilled with toasted nuts, honey, crushed cookies or cinnamon.

Notes:
*The arroz con leche will thicken slightly as it cools.  I err on the side of removing it soon because I prefer a looser pudding.  If it gets too thick, you can always stir in a little more milk at the end to reach the desired consistency.
**If storing for later consumption, press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to prevent a skin from forming.