Rejoice! The Fresh Fig Sandwich Returns

Eating seasonally and locally means eschewing the imported tomatoes in winter, even when they look pretty decent, and reveling in the ephemeral pleasures of ramps, fiddlehead ferns and, in New York City, New Jersey tomatoes for the farmers market, bursting with rich juice and flavor.

Now is the time of the fresh fig. If you've never had a fresh fig, go ahead and read D H Lawrence on the proper way to eat one (Birds, Beasts and Flowers: Poems) then get a pint of luscious fresh figs. You can enjoy them the D H Lawrence way, but I think their flavor is ennobled by coupling them with a soft, not too pungent blue cheese in this sandwich:

Fig vegetarian sandwich (for 2)

4 fresh figs, (black mission figs are best) with the tips snipped off
4 tablespoons gorgonzola cheese, at room temperature
olive oil
a handful of fresh basil leaves
fresh lemon juice
freshly ground pepper
half a baguette, split both lengthwise and top to bottom

Spread each piece of bread with the cheese - you should have 4 pieces of baguette
Chop the basil and sprinkle on the cheese.
Slice the figs lengthwise and place on top of the cheese
Sprinkle with olive oil
Squeeze some lemon juice on top
Grind some fresh pepper on top of that

This should sit for about an hour for the flavors to meld, but if you can't wait, dig right in - it will still be delicious.

How to Eat Well and b.good

Spicy avocado quinoa bowl at b.good

Like many New Yorkers, I have a bias against chain restaurants. I prefer to frequent a local coffee shop than a national chain, and I almost never choose to eat in a chain restaurant.

I have to rethink that bias with the Brooklyn opening of b.good. This Boston-based chain, about a dozen years old but new to me (despite frequent trips to Boston) quiet landed in Brooklyn Heights last month and is expanding to Jersey City, New Jersey and Park Slope, my Brooklyn neighborhood, soon.

This is a chain with a huge difference: each store highlights local purveyors and farms. In the Brooklyn store, this means using the excellent breads from Tom Cat Bakery, whose artisan breads also grace the tables of Le Bernardin, Jean Georges and Bobby Flay restaurants. Pretty rarefied company.

Some of the local farms used at b.good and the West Side veggie burger

Eight New York farms provide the produce and meat used at the b.good in Brooklyn, so the food is fresh.

And a family foundation provides micro grants to local community organizations; in Brooklyn, the community partner is P.S. 8, a local public school.  On the b.good app, where you can order food in advance (to go in compostable containers, natch) you can donate the the school; when the store rewards you with free meals or sides, you can donate those to the community partner as well.

b.good's seasonal watermelon and feta salad

The tagline is "real food fast" and the fast casual place- meaning you order at a counter and carry your own food to a table - includes kale and grain bowls, burgers (veggie or meat) and salads. It is ideal for a vegetarian or vegan, and has many gluten free options to boot.

I sampled a wide variety of the b.good offerings and was impressed with how tasty and fresh everything was. The spicy avocado and lime bowl stood out: served on a bed of organic quinoa (or a super-grains mix  or short grain brown rice, kamut wheat, hard red wheat berries, millet and lentils) the salad also included kale, black beans, corn, grape tomatoes, cilantro, queso fresco and chipotle. Equally delicious was the power bowl, with kale lentils, carrots, brussels sprouts, crunchy chickpeas and pepitas, over either grain and topped with a local egg over easy.

Hungry yet? The power bowl has easy over eggs

The seasonal salads now include watermelon and feta with arugula, baby spinach  and sundried tomatoes.

Dressings and pickles are made in house; the mustard and ketchup are from Sir Kensington, a wonderful NYC based maker of artisan condiments.

We tried a couple of veggie burgers (also made in house) including the vegan West Side with avocado and fresh salsa, and the Elizel with asparagus and sharp cheddar. You can get any burger with a beef patty, turkey or vegetarian.

b.good also has breakfast bowls, kid's meals and cold pressed juices and smoothies.

Warning: this could be habit forming.


n

NYC Honey Day Coincides With New Raw & Unfiltered Honey Release

Raw, unfiltered local honey

At The High Line today, local beekeepers and artisanal honey purveyors celebrate the burgeoning NYC (and Brooklyn-centric) honey movement http://www.thehighline.org/activities/nyc-honey-day-at-the-high-line. The pop-up includes samples of local honey and a glass enclosed beehive so you can see the inner workings.

Coincidently, I was sent a sample of L.R. Rice Raw & Unfiltered Honey. The company works with local beekeepers around the country so you can get local honey. With the way my allergies have been this year, I am grateful to get any benefit available from eating local honey.

Or drinking. 

I decided the make a simple syrup with the honey, substituting honey for the usual sugar. For cocktails, I prefer a less sweet simple syrup, so I use a 1:2 ratio of sugar to water; 1 part sugar to 2 parts water.

With honey, which is even sweeter, I used a 1:3 ratio. I steeped fresh mint in the syrup, then used it in a mint julep that both helped beat the heat and included the antimicrobial and antibacterial properties of raw unfiltered honey.

The syrup was cloudy, since honey is thicker than water, so the cocktails were not the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. But they may have been the healthiest.

Maybe next week I’ll try kale and gin.

For the mint simple syrup:

1/3 cup honey

1 cup water

3 sprigs of mint

Heat water and honey in a small pot till boiling. Turn off, add the mint, cover and let cool.

Pour into a mason jar and refrigerate.

If you don't use within a few days, strain the mint out.

For the mint julep

Fill a shaker with ice. Add 2 shots bourbon, 1 shot mint syrup. Shake and strain into a martini or coupe glass.

Garnish with fresh mint.

Enjoy!

Scotch: Crossing over to the dark side

Some things in life are absolutes: I eschew meat, despise okra, love a craft cocktail.
I always thought that tastes were pretty much set as a kid, but when I grew up, I learned to like mushrooms (important when you are a vegetarian), Brussels sprouts, salad dressing. Still hate mayonnaise and ketchup.

But even as an adult, taste evolves. I thought I didn’t like gin, but then I tasted Bombay Sapphire. Then Hendricks. Now I favor artisanal local gins: Breuckelen, Brooklyn and the gin that is required drinking for any acerbic New Yorker, Dorothy Parker American Gin.

I thought, though that I hated scotch. I avoided all ‘dark’ spirits, but then I ordered a Sixpoint Signal, a smoked IPA. The bartender remarked that I must also like single malt scotch, particularly smoky ones. I said I hated scotch and he said I was wrong.

Turns out, I hate cheap scotch. I tried a glass of Laphroaig, which was peaty, smoky and utterly delicious. It didn’t have that gut-wrenching burn of cheap scotch, but rather a warmth that spread through my body.

Guess I need to retry okra.