On a hot tip from my friend Cassie, Joseph and I went to Smart Monkey for dinner. The hot tip was that they serve gluten-free bread. While I would have been more excited to have my local organic burger on an actual bun, toasted whole-grain gluten-free bread was way better than I can normally imagine. I'm not sure I've ever scored an actual sandwich in a restaurant on gluten-free bread before.

I've had mixed experiences at Smart Monkey, and tonight was no different. I'd forgotten they have table service for dinner and that was nice. The burger was good - after they got my order right on the third try. The local wine was good - after they opened a fresh bottle an tossed the first skunked glass they brought me. Our server was intent on fixing the problems, but she could have prevented one of two of them as well.

We'll have to try it again on an evening when I'm craving some bread and see what happens.

But what do you do with all that kale?

With a shout out to my friends David and Sara, I'd like to offer an answer to the question of what to do with kale now that CSA season is starting. Kale has always scared me, and despite the proliferation of fantastic cooks in my friends circle, I have always found it unbearably bitter. Until David and Sara. Here's what we've been doing:



What you need

• kale
  
• a few tablespoons butter
• 3 scallions, whites and lower green chopped
  
• Bragg's amino acids (or tamari or soy sauce)
• wok or saute pan
• medium - large pot 1/2 full of water
• wooden spoon
  
• collander
  

What you do
The timing on this is a bit tricky, so read it through first! You need to do a couple of tasks simultaneously at the end.

• Put on a pot of water to boil
• Strip the leaves from the stalk, ripping pieces in the couple of inch range, rinse
• As the water comes to a boil, heat the wok or saute pan, and add a couple of tablespooons of butter
• Add the kale to the boiling water, poking it down with a spoon so it is submerged
• Immediately add scallions to butter in wok, sauteing for 1-2 minutes
  
• Take the kale off the stove and drain immediately in the collander. It should only have been in the water 1-3 minutes. It should still be bright and still have its shape.
  
• Turn off the heat under the wok. Add the kale, and 1-2 teaspoons of Braggs. Toss.

David's recpie did not use Bragg's, instead he sprinkled 1-2 teaspoons of sugar and a teaspoon of salt on the kale at the end.

What do you do with kale? Let me know in the comments.

I heard there was a story about a Welsh festival and wearing leeks

From Food

Each Tuesday evening Tammy joins us for dinner and wine. We've developed a great friendship over the last year or two and always look forward to this sort of "family night." On many of these evenings Joseph takes the lead on the cooking - actually, he does this many weeknights. Tonight it was in pursuit of a joint inspiration to use some leeks: tortilla espanola. Fresh organic greens on the side. My contribution was nothing more than mixing up some dressing:

• mayo
• dijon mustard
• garlic powder
• balsamic vinegar
• olive oil
• dash of tamari

Simple, and quick with a few rounds of the whisk.

It's not purple once you blanche it

It appears that when you cook it, purple asparagus turns green. That sort of takes all the fun out of having purple asparagus.

We assumed this was our last asparagus for the season, although if we get a bonus week we won't complain. We decided to go for a redux of a new-to-us recipe we tried earlier this season and if anything it was more delicious than last time. Sweet and sour tofu (Joseph found the recipe online), black bean garlic asparagus (from "Passionate Vegetarian" by Crescent Dragonwagon) and rice (by us, more nights than most folks can imagine).

As we were moving into the last lap of the cooking race I suddenly remembered we had no wine. None. I headed over to Red Feet Wine Market and announced I had a wine crisis. I was assured they were there to help. "Chilled. White. Not too fruity. Not too floral. Must go with sweet and sour tofu and spicy asparagus." "Not a problem. Oh, asparagus. This one's a little more grassy and will be nice with that." Cono Sur 2008 Sauvignon Blanc from Chile. And they were right. We're not big white wine drinkers normally, but that bottle is more than half empty.

Rhubarb

It was the first crop of the season that arrived at the market from our CSA. It wasn't part of our share, but we bought it at a discount. Neither of us had ever cooked rhubarb. We polled some friends and farmers and the market. I put in a call to my mom. And then it sat, nestled away in the fridge.

This morning was the time to finally dig into it and to use up the strawberries from last weekend that were getting to be overripe. Joseph made gluten-free buttermilk pancakes (from scratch) and cooked up some Kingbird Farms bacon. I took on the fruit sauce:

• 5 stalks of rhubarb
• leftover strawberries
• water
• cinnamon-sugar
• vanilla
• maple syrup

Cooked down until much of the rhubarb was mush.

Delicious! Not too sweet, not too tangy.

This morning's farmer's market purchases:

• leeks
• kale (Stick and Stone Farm)
• scallions (Unexpected Farm)
• eggs (Kingbird Farms)
• bacon (Kingbird Farms)
• purple asparagus (Blue Heron Farm)
• flowers

Birthday Brunch

Every year I struggle with whether or not I want a birthday party. I procrastinate, I stress, I consider which answer will make me feel worse later. This year I decided on smallish brunch with friends the day after. It was lovely.


Asparagus from Yoder's farm with aioli options - curry or lemon-ginger. Joseph made phenomenal frittatas, one with red pepper and sun-dried tomato, the other spinach, onion and feta. Bethany brought potatoes. Sarrah brought fruit. Jenny, Mary, David and Sara brought the makings for mimosas. Topped off with my personal favorite cupcakes: gluten-free cardamom-rose.