House Spouse

Days like today, the kind of days where I spend the majority of the day outside, always make me think of Texas. I think it’s because I spent a lot more time outdoors while living there than I did after I moved to Virginia. I only remember eating lunch outside when I was in high school there. I was also in marching band, which obviously meant a lot of time outdoors practicing. And I spent most of my evening nights in 9th and 10th grade sitting at the end of my driveway with my best friend and romantic interest, Harlan. (Though, those terms hardly seem accurate, but to call Harlan my first love feels cliché and terribly understated.)

I associate afternoons like this one with those nights in my driveway because of the deep happiness I would feel while sitting outside and for hours afterward. I slept well after watching stars and talking for hours with Harlan, and I imagine I will sleep soundly tonight after eating and drinking and talking for hours with two of my best friends in my backyard. We dined on green garlic and spinach soup, the bread I made last night, and grilled asparagus.

This soup is one I tried making a few years ago. I was confused and didn’t really understand the difference between green garlic and garlic scapes. I tried making it with garlic scapes and ended up a nice tasting, but strangely textured soup. I’ve since wised up and am able to make a distinction. I noticed some green garlic at the farmer’s market yesterday and, knowing our friends would be coming over for lunch today, I purchased some and made plans to retry the soup.

This recipe comes from Orangette. In my attempts to make the soup go a little further, I added water to the stock and used slightly more spinach than the recipe calls for (11 to 12 ounces versus 8 to 10 ounces). I didn’t have quite enough green garlic, so I used a few additional garlic cloves and two small spring onions. The end result was a little thinner and bodiless than I’d hoped, so I puréed a half of an avocado into the mix. So, the recipe below reflects my adaptations, but I think it’s worth trying the original if you have all the green garlic you need and aren’t trying to make more than a quart of soup.

Green garlic and spinach soup
Adapted from Orangette
Serves 4 as a light meal

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 lb green garlic, thinly sliced (white and pale green parts only)
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 qart vegetable broth
1 cup water
11 to 12 oz. baby spinach leaves
1 1/2 Tbsp. crème fraîche
1/2 avocado
salt

Warm the olive oil and butter in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add all the garlic and onions and a pinch of salt, and cook, stirring frequently, until it is soft and translucent.

When the garlic is ready, add the stock, raise the heat a bit, and bring it to a boil. Then adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer, and continue to cook for about 15 minutes. Add the spinach, and immediately turn off the stove. Let it sit for 5 minutes.

Purée the soup with a hand blender or in a blender by working in batches. (Remember never to fill the blender more than a quarter or a third full, because the hot liquid will expand when you turn on the motor.) The soup should be a rich shade of green and very smooth. Add the avocado and purée again.

Return the soup to the pot, and place it over low heat to rewarm gently. Add 1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp crème fraîche (or just plain heavy whipping cream) and another pinch or two of salt. Taste, and adjust seasoning as necessary. You might even want to stir in a Tbsp of pesto for a bit more punch, which is what I did.

Serve warm or hot, with a drizzle of olive oil or a dollop of crème fraîche, if you like. (A bit of pesto works well, too.) We used chive flowers to garnish ours which makes for a really pretty presentation. (The flowers taste like chives.)

When it comes to movies that make me insanely nostalgic, Dazed and Confused ranks in the top 5. Not that I ever did anything remotely as fun as get caught by the police for hanging out on the 50-yard line at 3 in the morning. (The only thing I got caught doing late at night was watching 120 minutes or talking on the phone.) Really, the only thing I have in common with the high schoolers in that movie is the fact that I went to high school in Texas. But, the tone of the movie sends me right back to 1994. (I know, it takes place in the 70s, but can you watch anything with Joey Lauren Adams and Mila Jovovich and Parker Posey and not feel transported back to the 90s?)

My pals Anastasia and Tim also really like that movie. One year they made joint New Years resolution to be “more like McConaughey.” As in Matthew McConaughey’s character, Wooderson. That kind of resolution is so awesome Andrew and I co-opted it for ourselves and now remind each other to be more like McConaughey whenever we need inspiring to be, well, more like McConaughey: relaxed and not so worried about how things are going to turn out.

I repeated this mantra to myself this morning while attempting my first frittata. Tim and Anastasia had us over on Thursday and Stas, who I learned used to work the omelet station at McCalester College, made us a really delicious dinner of vegetable frittata, fried potatoes, and fruit salad. I was inspired and asked for tips. Her advice? “Use a lot of butter.”

So, I did. And it worked! (I also read up in Joy of Cooking on the art of making omelets and frittatas, which I think also helped.)

I know that the frittata looks really yellow in these photos. That’s because I made it with farm fresh eggs I got at the farmer’s market today. So exciting.

Mushroom and Herb Frittata
Serves 2

Ingredients:
5 eggs (get the fresh!)
1 Tbsp fresh chives, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh thyme
1 Tbsp fresh basil, chiffonaded
6 mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Heat the 1/2 Tbsp of butter and oil in a 10-inch, oven-proof skillet and saute the mushrooms. When they’re finished remove to another dish and set aside. Wipe out the skillet and heat the rest of the oil and butter over medium heat.

Beat the eggs and add a pinch of salt and pepper. When the butter is melted, pour in the eggs. With a rubber spatula, push the eggs around as they begin to cook to help keep them fluffy. Sprinkle the herbs and mushrooms over the top. Then, allow to set.

Once they begin to set, slide the spatula around the edges to make sure the frittata isn’t sticking. Place in the oven to finish cooking.

When my frittata was finished, I removed it to a plate and sprinkled chive flowers over the top for garnish. I also had some leftover queso fresco that needed to be used, so I crumbled and added it.

Slice with a pizza cutter and serve.

Whenever I have a day off, as I do today (and every other Friday thanks to a flexible scheduling option at my work), I start the day with a wish list. I used to call it a “to do” list, but eventually learned that to do lists only cause disappointment and guilt. With a wish list, you don’t really have anything that you have to do, rather things that you would like to do. Sure, there are priorities, but you can just note these with a cute little star (or a heart or any shape of your liking). These are the items you tackle early in the day. But if you get through one thing on your wish list, you have reason to be proud.

I like to include things like “shower” and “get dressed.” Those things have yet to be accomplished today, but I did pay bills and make the bed, so I’m good. “Blog” was a starred item (“shower” and “get dressed” weren’t). I even made a perch for the cat under a window that looks out over the back yard (she kept climbing to the top of our refrigerator to look out a different window into the back yard) and made a cornbread with sesame seeds and grated carrots (whoa). It’s not been the kind of day I was planning when I got up this morning, but it never is. (Perhaps I’m a little overambitious with my plans for daily 5-mile runs and 5-course meals. I’m just kidding about the 5-course meals.)

The moral of this personal ramble is that if you’re a list maker like I am, stop calling them to do lists. Write “wish list” at the top and notice how much more enjoyable it is to write it and check things off of it. Oh, and you should add to it: “Find garlic scapes” and “Make garlic scape pesto.”

I didn’t see any garlic scapes at the farmer’s market yesterday (my first visit of the season!). But I expect to see them soon. Last year, my friend Nadia was working on a farm for the summer and let me go through and pick all the scapes I could handle from several rows of garlic. I filled my arms with them and set about finding what to do with so many. Fortunately, Dorie Greenspan published a recipe around the same time for garlic scape pesto on her blog. I made several batches and used it many ways, on toast with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, as a pizza topping (with fresh mozzarella), tossed with pasta, and (my favorite preparation) tossed with roasted potatoes. Seriously, try it with potatoes. You might even grill them first. Do you like sour cream and onion potato chips? You won’t after this. Because this is so much better that those stupid things will disgust you after you’ve had roasted potatoes and this garlicy pesto. The chips kind of have the same flavor idea, but the roasted potatoes and pesto are actually ideal.

So, try this. I’m not usually so pushy with recipes, but I have to be with this recipe. It’s crazy simple and crazy delicious. (Like Mr. Pibb and  Red Vines.)

(Too bad these photos aren’t a little better…)

Garlic Scape Pesto
from Dorie Greenspan
Makes 1 cup

Ingredients:
10 garlic scapes, finely chopped
1/3 to 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
1/3 cup slivered almonds
About 1/2 cup olive oil
Sea salt

Put the scapes, 1/3 cup of the cheese, almonds and half the olive oil in the bowl of a food processor (or use a blender or a mortar and pestle). Whir to chop and blend all the ingredients and then add the remainder of the oil and, if you want, more cheese. If you like the texture, stop; if you’d like it a little thinner, add some more oil. Season with salt.

If you’re not going to use the pesto immediately, press a piece of plastic against the surface to keep it from oxidizing. The pesto can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days or packed airtight and frozen for a couple of months.