hungry sofia

Aug 16

Sopa de Flor de Calabaza

I don’t usually let myself buy flowers. Frivolous in a million other ways, I become oddly practical when it comes to that. I’ll consider the enormous sunflowers bursting out of their buckets but head straight to the potted basil, lavender, and rosemary plants instead, preferring the kind of pretty you can eat. That’s why I get so excited when squash blossoms arrive at the markets. Since July, I’ve had them stuffed, fried, chopped and sauteed with tomatoes. Now that the summer is melting away and every day feels like Sunday night, each bag of blossoms has become that much more precious – shriveled and golden, bugs and all. Read more

Aug 13

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Summer Streets Break

I realized today that it was August, not that it was much of a secret. I had a hint of it last week when I went to the farmer’s market to stock up on fruit and there were no peaches anywhere. I’m sure there will be plenty in the weeks to come, but it was the first sign that end of summer was in sight. Summer Streets, the three days in August where the city closes Park Avenue to cars and opens it to just about everything else has become my end of summer consolation. Read more

Aug 10

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Launching Into OpenSky

I usually write about what goes in the pot, on the table, or fills the bowl. This post is about the bowl and where to find it. I’ve always found interesting things in my neighborhood – gadgets, housewares, and yes bowls. Shopping in Brooklyn stores is a unique experience. Relatively small, most shops have their own aesthetic with a limited but well thought out selection. Excited or bored, helpful or indifferent, there’s always the likelihood that the salesperson is also the owner/designer/artist/buyer of the merchandise your casually turning over and commenting on with your friends. It makes you think about what you say, and leave with a goodbye and thank you – like you would in Paris or an Ernst Lubitsch movie. Read more

Aug 6

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Julia Child’s Madeleines de Commercy

It’s impossible to cook a Julia Child recipe without summoning her in some way. From the first moment, you can feel her peering over your shoulder – self-assured, encouraging, generous. Once you’ve started, you’ll do anything to keep her there, so I’m always on the look-out for Julia Child cookbooks. Just before my last birthday, I found a second-hand copy of From Julia Child’s Kitchen that included this recipe for les Madeleines de Commercy. When the Cooking Channel invited bloggers to celebrate her upcoming birthday by posting about one of her recipes, I knew which one I wanted to make. Read more

Aug 4

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Gazpacho de Fresas e Hinojo

When you decide to run a marathon, it’s easy to focus on the 26.2 miles of race day and forget about the 12, 13, 14, 15+ miles you’ll run as you train – a weekly rehearsal for a play that gets longer and longer. On top of that, there are cross-training sessions, recovery runs, and now hill repeats. Not only do I have no one to blame, I spent the better part of last year qualifying for the privilege. When asked why I like to run, I usually tell people that it gives me time to think. Carving out a path in the miles stretching out before me, my mind clears. Unfortunately, it clears it up a little too well so that by the time I get home exhausted, I have the internal monologue of a cave woman – hot, cold, tired, hungry, water, food. Before my scheduled de-evolution this week, I decided to make a batch of gazpacho. Read more

Jul 31

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Catching Up in July

July’s been a quiet month so I thought I’d focus on some of my favorite blogs for my round-up. Liz Caskey from Eat Wine posted a recipe for Peruvian Shrimp Chowder that I can’t stop thinking about and will definitely try soon. If I’m looking for projects this August, I’ll definitely check Zarela Martinez’s site for ideas like this recipe for making your own chorizo oaxaqueno or her tutorial on home-rendered lard. Going through the markets this weekend, I realized that I haven’t paid attentions to the squash, peppers, and eggplants that have been coming in, so I was happy to find Dorie Greenspan’s guide to roasting peppers and David Leibovitz’s recipe for eggplant caviar. Read more

Jul 29

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Second Chances

I missed last month’s ñoquis del 29 post due to technical difficulties. I was in the middle of trying this recipe for bread and spinach gnocchi for the first time when a friend called after months of phone tag. Thirty minutes later, we’d finally caught up but I had a too soft mass of spinach flecked dough looking despondent in a mixing bowl. Having mis-measured, I made some adjustments so that they could be shaped but wasn’t hopeful that they’d stand up to boiling water. Read more

Jul 28

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Masitas de Puerco

Whenever I think of eating at home, my mind extends to the Cuban restaurants that dot Miami. The tables were filled with people you knew, the waitresses treated you like a grandaughter, affectionate but critical, and the food was definitely home cooking. Masitas de puerco were my order from the first time anyone thought to ask me what I’d like, possibly because I knew exactly what I was getting. A few rounds of “guess what you just ate?” with my grandfather making me nervous about venturing to far from the safe and familiar (typical answers: pig’s brains and blood pudding). It may have been a game but I didn’t always feel like playing.
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Jul 25

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Chocolate Covered Snow

I once read that Montezuma would pour melted chocolate over bowls of snow brought to him from the mountain tops. The image made me swoon though it has to be boiling outside for me to give up my scorching espresso or spiced hot chocolate. This weekend we actually did reach the boiling point so I decided to try it the Emperor’s way. Read more

Jul 22

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Pastelitos de Dulce de Membrillo

I’ve always been drawn to recipes where you can manipulate an ingredient into an object or shape that more accurately captures its essence. It’s why I love retro dishes like fighting lobsters (don’t they look like they should be fighting?) or deviled eggs (yolks sent to finishing school). It’s what attracted me to these Argentinian pastries filled with membrillo and shaped into flowers. Fresh quinces have always remind me of perfumed apples so it’s fitting that boiled down with sugar and tucked into pastry dough, they bloom. Read more