Saturday, October 15, 2011

Breaking Bond

Walking through the construction laden building at 901 S. Bond Street, disheveled and dusty, bustling with workers and their tools creating the elegant atmosphere of a restaurant meant for socializing, the evolution taking place all around you feels like you are a part of something. Not just in the conventional way of being part of a team or an organization, but rather a part of the building itself, like you are giving birth, or being born together, in this new and exciting depiction of someone else's vision. Standing in the front of the house looking around you feel the impressions of laughter and congeniality that will soon fill the room and it charges your body like a Duracell from the bottom of your soles rising like an electric shock up your legs and through your body until it reaches the top of your head and makes the hairs stand up. Bursting through the black swinging porthole door for that first time everything is new. You don't know exactly what's to come but you are certain that it is going to be BIG. As you turn the corner into your new destiny you get a sinking feeling that falls like a balloon being pushed out through your feet that's about to elevate you and push you right through the ceiling. And that's when you know things are about to get good.

For the past two weeks I have had the pleasure of helping to prepare for the launching of a new restaurant that hopes and promises to be a new Baltimore mainstay. Breaking Bond Street Social has been a brilliant experience in learning a new chef, a new cuisine, a new theory on food and a new way of doing some old favorites. Our first day consisted of arriving at 9AM, meeting the other cooks, and filling out paperwork. Our second day consisted of scrubbing the kitchen top to bottom and discovering the mess that DuClaw left behind some two years ago. But, on the third day, the tomb was opened! The kitchen looked good, things were getting organized and food deliveries were coming at a steady pace. That's when "from here on out" started. We started as just one group, Chef Neill Howell doled out recipes to each of us and told us to do what we could. I came in early and stayed late when we needed, as I always do. One night Chef turned to me, "You haven't got something to do?" "Like what?," I said,"this IS what I do."

Chef Neill, a native of Essex, England, is tall and good-looking, sporting a charming accent and a penchant for mockery. By the end of week one he had already told me--in much more elegant and subtle ways-- that I talk too much and was rather "upbeat" which I took to mean irritating. However, now when I try to stifle myself he asks me, "whats wrong?" and suggests that I had partied too hard the previous night, but the balance is slowly gaining and I feel a real connection to this guy, to these guys...to the entire braintrust behind Bond Street Social. There's a special relationship that develops in this situation, for all of us giving ourselves to this place, dedicating our days, and nights and mornings, and the entire capacity of our brains to one ultimate goal of successfully launching patrons to "eat. drink. socialize."

Bond Street Social was born of this idea, that a restaurant is not a place to shovel as much food as possible into your mouth as fast as possible and then go home, but rather that a restaurant--that food--is meant to be shared among friends, eaten leisurely with beverages that compliment the food and enhance the experience, and that it should be done in a place that is relaxing and beautiful, inviting and warm, and above all, sociable. There is a copper penny lane entrance way leading into a wonderfully earthy, not-in-the-least-prententious, fire-centric main room with deep rusty red walls, some adorned with cages lined with raw stones that look plucked from the seaside somewhere near Soverato, Calabria. I love this place. Its gorgeous deep brown almost black wood tabletops contrast and compliment the cold flat concrete floor while metal "tiles" finish off the front of the bar. It's just the kind of place you want to sit down with a few close friends on a chilly autumn night and share great food by the fireside. The centerpiece is a big floor to ceiling fire pit in the middle of the main room, surrounded by a brushed brown metal cage.

The braintrust behind Bond Street Social consists of Mike, John, Max, Shane and CJ, all who work tirelessly while still maintaining their shiny footwear and neatly quaffed styles. They are all supportive, interactive, and excited. They always want to try what's cooking and have put all of their faith into Neill and his crew that we will deliver the top notch food that Bond Street Social will soon be known for.

This week, we all got assigned to our stations. Chef Neill passed out packets of recipes and told us each where we would be, "Garde Manger- Ryn, Val, and Ryan." I wasn't at all surprised to be on Garde Manger,–in fact, Neill had been subconsciously telling me all week that I would be on Garde Manger by looking at me everytime he addressed the crew–and I was ecstatic that my friend, confidant, fellow BIC graduate, and Virginia Park Sous Chef Ryan Rayburn would be on my team. However, my excitement was short lived as the absence of some employees saw Ryan moved to Oven. "You pissed that I put you here?" Chef Neill approached me as I began to acclimate my station. "Not at all, I knew I'd be Garde Manger. I love Garde Manger." Garde Manger is often looked down upon in kitchens, "the cold side" is sometimes home to the lesser skilled employees and in many restaurants is little more than a salad tosser. But not at Bond Street. Garde Manger is the art of preservation and presentation, it's what I loved most in culinary school and what I studied closely under as the TA for Chef Wagner, a CEC and Garde Manger instructor, and it's what I spent many weeks in Italy studying. I was even more excited when Neill told me I would be doing all the pastries and desserts for the restaurant too. I love the art of food and revel in the chance to experience it whenever and however I can. This past Tuesday and Wednesday we had the chance to run through service as we executed the entire menu over the course of two days for the entire front of the house staff and I was honored on Wednesday when Chef introduced me to the front of the house, "This is Kathryn, she's made the dessert you are about to try and she's done a way better job than I could ever do...I'll let her explain what it is," I know, I know what you are thinking, yes, he calls me Kathryn and I'm working on it! I responded, "Hi, I'm RYN, and I do Garde Manger and Pastries here and what we have for you to try is a Salted Caramel Fudge Brownie..."

But now, on to more important things, what you've all been waiting for: the food.


Foie Gras PB&J



 Our menu is quite different than others I have worked on. It consists of five sections "Bites," "Salads," "Sliders,""Fork and Knife," and "Sides" it's not one of those huge menus that take an hour to read. No, it's a simple one paged menu, but it is full of a wide variety of brilliantly executed dishes. Our dessert menu will be a few really delicious, really satisfying specialties that we will sit on the table, allowing us to alter it as the seasons change and palates develop. Our "Bites" consist of modern and innovative twists on some old classic such as Chicken Ceasar Bites- a white bread crostini with chicken mousselline flavored with capers and tarragon, topped with ceasar-dressed julienned greens and a grana cheese crisp or our Tuna Tartare, dressed with soy sauce and sambal, topped with wasabi cream, toasted sesame seeds, and micro-cilantro. We support local with our Firefly Farms Goat Cheese Croquettes. Then there are not so traditional Bites like our Foie Gras PB & J- a piece of crispy brioche with peanut butter and blackberry jam sauce, shaved pear and mache topped with a hot piece of seared foie gras. Buonissimo! Each Bite comes with three or four pieces, conducive to sharing, as is the theme of our menu. Our Salads section has four great choices but I think my favorite has got to be our BLT salad, crisp iceberg, maytag blue dressing, cherry tomatoes and applewood smoked bacon, a take off the old classic wedge salad. The "Sliders" section is a great take on some classic favorites, and some new things you may have never tried. The Bond Street Burger is a beef burger topped with sharp chedder, grilled red onion, tomato jam and the option of foie gras butter for an extra two bucks."Fork and Knife" consist of some really unique plates including our version of fish & chips- with house made old bay tater tots and two-bite pieces of fresh white fish with salt and vinegar slaw or our Lamb Meat Balls- an ode to greek food, with it's preserved-lemon and tomato chutney topped with grated feta cheese and served in its own jus.

Lamb Meatballs

Social Fish & Chips
Our Sides round out the menu with classic favorite with Chef Neill's twist- house cut fries with old bay and house made apple-tomato ketchup or choose the Cauliflower & Cheese Gratin with lots of filling deliciousness. Check out our entire menu here and come visit us this week at our grand opening on Thursday, October 20, kitchen's open from 4PM until 11PM and the bar full of wonderful house cocktails stays open until 2. I hope to see all of you there and bring a friend because Bond Street Social wants you to come and EAT. DRINK. SOCIALIZE.

Keep an eye out for more news from Bond Street Social, and as always...

SPINGERTI...

Amo cucinare,
Ryn

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Ciao Down! Culinary Classes- Full Fall Schedule


Ciao Down! Culinaria Artigianale

FALL 2011 CULINARY CLASSES
Our culinary classes always stress the importance of being seasonal, local and sustainable.

September 2011
Hot Sauce Making, Jamming and Jarring learn to make and bottle hot sauce, make homemade jam and jar it             Wednesday 9/21 
American Classics: Chili Three Ways Classic, Vegan, and White and a side lesson on Honey Cornbread                                Sunday 9/25
Seasonal and Local: Sustainable Cooking How to cook what your body’s craving and support your economy                  Wednesday 9/28
 

October 2011
Pickling and Brining: Food Preservation Pickling, Preserving, and Packing in Oil                                                                         10/2
Keeping Cozy: Soups of the Season and Accompaniments  how to make soups and what to pair them with                                  10/12
Hundred Percent Pumpkin  carving pumpkins and what to do with your pumpkin scraps                                                                    10/16
Risotto alla Ryn the real truth behind risotto and how to make it your own, traditional with twists                                                          10/26
Vegan/Vegetarian Delights dispelling the untruth and rewriting the rumors, vegan for carnivores                                                 10/30

November 2011
Curry, Curry, Curry: Multi-cultured Curries How to make a curry base into Thai, Indian, and Carribbean                                11/6
Charcuterie: Sausage Making and Pairing how to make your own sausage and unique accompaniments                                    11/9
Perfect Turkey: Thanksgiving Feasting how to make your turkey taste like the pros and all the fixings                                             11/13
Pasta, Pasta: North and South how to produce regional Italian pastas, northern and southern versions                                             11/20


December 2011 - Edible Gifts Series
Edible Gifts: Infused Oils and Vinegars How to make holiday gifts for all your loved ones                                                                 12/4
Edible Gifts: Sauce Making and Jarring how to make traditional tomato sauces and jar them                                                    12/7
Edible Gifts: Marmellate  how to make home made marmalade and jar it for gift giving                                                                        12/14
Edible Gifts: Hot, Sticky, Sweet- Holiday Treats making cinnamon buns, chocolate barks, and other seasonal sweets                       12/18

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Ciao Down! Gets Culinary Classes Going

As I mentioned previously, our company, Ciao Down! Culinary Artisans, will be hosting an array of cooking classes to help others expand their knowledge and embrace their creativity.


Ciao Down! Your Local Culinary Artisans will be holding their first of a continuing series of Culinary Classes each one a different adventure!


Each class will focus on a specific area of regional Italian Cuisine, International Cuisine, Classic French Cuisine, Vegan/Vegetarian Cuisine, or The Art of Garde Manger/Charcuterie. All classes stress the importance of quality ingredients and farm-to-table cooking, and sustainable living. In an effort to be as intimate and educational as possible our class sizes are limited to 10 people per class. Because space is so limited, we advise you to sign up as soon as possible.

The first class will be held August 14th, 2011, at 5PM and will focus on Marmellate e Formaggi: The Art of the Cheese Course. The locations of these events will be revealed to participants when they sign up for each class.

We will be teaching you to make 3 types of marmalade and sampling an array of Regional Italian and Local Specialty Cheeses and various accompaniments and condiments. You will also receive a booklet of pairings and recipes written by the Chef.

Cooking classes are $50/person for a 3 hour class and will be held the first and third Sundays of each month and alternating Wednesdays.
BRING A FRIEND! Get $5 off per person when you come with a friend!

You may also arrange for Ciao Down! to come to your house and teach a class for you and your friends, minimum of 5 people, on the topic of your choosing.

Call 443.986.2301 for more information or email me at
prettyparynoid@gmail.com

Because August is a busy month for us, the classes will not follow the typical schedule. However, beginning in September classes will follow a typical schedule of alternating Sundays and Wednesdays.

I will be posting the official fall schedule next week so please check back! And don't miss your chance to conserve this summer's harvest to enjoy all year round!

Thanks for your support and interest!

Spingerti!

Amo cucinare,
Ryn

Ciao Down! Gets Culinary Classes Going

As I mentioned previously, our company, Ciao Down! Culinary Artisans, will be hosting an array of cooking classes to help others expand their knowledge and embrace their creativity.


Ciao Down! Your Local Culinary Artisans will be holding their first of a continuing series of Culinary Classes each one a different adventure!


Each class will focus on a specific area of regional Italian Cuisine, International Cuisine, Classic French Cuisine, Vegan/Vegetarian Cuisine, or The Art of Garde Manger/Charcuterie. All classes stress the importance of quality ingredients and farm-to-table cooking, and sustainable living. In an effort to be as intimate and educational as possible our class sizes are limited to 10 people per class. Because space is so limited, we advise you to sign up as soon as possible.

The first class will be held August 14th, 2011, at 5PM and will focus on Marmellate e Formaggi: The Art of the Cheese Course. The locations of these events will be revealed to participants when they sign up for each class.

We will be teaching you to make 3 types of marmalade and sampling an array of Regional Italian and Local Specialty Cheeses and various accompaniments and condiments. You will also receive a booklet of pairings and recipes written by the Chef.

Cooking classes are $50/person for a 3 hour class and will be held the first and third Sundays of each month and alternating Wednesdays.
BRING A FRIEND! Get $5 off per person when you come with a friend!

You may also arrange for Ciao Down! to come to your house and teach a class for you and your friends, minimum of 5 people, on the topic of your choosing.

Call 443.986.2301 for more information or email me at
prettyparynoid@gmail.com

Because August is a busy month for us, the classes will not follow the typical schedule. However, beginning in September classes will follow a typical schedule of alternating Sundays and Wednesdays.

I will be posting the official fall schedule next week so please check back! And don't miss your chance to conserve this summer's harvest to enjoy all year round!

Thanks for your support and interest!

Spingerti!

Amo cucinare,
Ryn

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Getter On the Grow

While I know you were expecting the next post to be about my travels abroad and journeys home, you'll have to keep holding your breath on that one, because the story is an epic one currently being drafted in my journal to be transcribed at a later date. So for now lets just jump ahead a bit shall we...

Since returning home I have begun the arduous process of getting a business plan together for the Ciao Down! food truck and have begun catering again. Summer is such an exciting time for chefs and food friends because it is the bearer of the sweetest fruits, tomatoes, onions, and peppers; the freshest lettuces, wild greens, and a brilliant array of farm fresh, locally grown, wholesome ingredients. This is what we live for!

And now for something completely (alright not completely) different: GROW YOUR OWN!

As soon as I returned we started gardening, my mother picked up a few tomato plants and a couple yellow bell pepper plants and the oregano and lemon balm had returned from last year in gianormous bushes.  Jon brought over a couple of planters that had returning plants from last year including chives, mint, spicy thyme, and tarragon. The raised garden bed was already there from last summer's remodel and so we started planting. With the wild bushes of rosemary, sage, bay leaves, and fennel of South Italy fresh in my mind, I couldn't wait to start growing my own food. We went up to Watson's where our friends work and picked out two varieties of hot peppers, a little finger eggplant and herbs to start. Later I will describe what we've got growing in greater detail.

Our first farm fresh scores began as soon as I returned. All I could think about was rhubarb. I once saw a video of Alice Waters, my hero, talking about how your body naturally craves certain foods at certain times of the year. My body KNEW it was rhubarb time, it could smell it, it could taste it, my mind had already paired the apple-celery stalks in a dozed different combinations before I even got my hands on any. I was fresh off the plane, trying to readjust and re-evaluate, but all my mind wanted was to cook.

I couldn't stop thinking about marmalate, or marmalades, all the brilliant flavors we had come up with in Italy during conserve week. I had brought home a few items I felt I really needed in my pantry. The first was a small jar of very concentrated peperoncino jam that I had bought at a place called "Agriturismo"or "Farm Tour" where a bunch of nonne (no-nay)-grandmothers-cooked a brilliant 5 hour long lunch for us. I knew I had to make some hot pepper jam.
A second item I brought back was a bottle of Mosto Cotto, or Cooked Must, made from the mash left over after grapes are pressed for wine/vinegar. During conserve week we had made a mosto cotto and cipolla(onion) marmalata that was outstanding.

So, Jon and I set out to the Waverly Farmers' Market for our first good score, with the lust for marmalata in our mouths. We first stumbled upon an olive oil imported from a family farm in Greece, at which the lady, apologizing for having run out of bread, was taken quite by surprise when we took the olive oil as a shot, swishing it around and sipping it through our teeth. It was quite good, but I was on a specific mission. We rounded the corner and hit up one of our favorite vendors, a family run farm from Dundalk that has saved me a time or two with catering jobs. He had dollar boxes of jalepenos and spring onions a dollar a bunch. I think we walked away with two bunches of spring onions and three boxes of jalepenos.  An adjacent tent carried plants in more obscure varieties than we had seen at Watson's. We picked up a thai basil, a san marzano tomato plant, and a purple cherokee tomato plant.

But where was the rhubarb? Two days later, on the way home from a doctor's appointment, Jon, taking the scenic route as usual, pulled up behind an open box truck with a festival tent set up behind it. There it was! BIG, FAT, JUICY rhubarb! and strawberries to boot? Mine! We picked up a pound of each and were on our way. Love the roadside score, ALWAYS!

The next day we made jalepeno and honey jam, which simply began with sugar, honey, and jalepeno puree and somehow magically those three ingredients made crack (who knew!) that Jon and I have been addicted to all summer.  Goes great with cheese and wine, but it's a must on a cheddar and jalepeno bagel to start the day. We made straight-up strawberry-rhubarb marmalata that is perfect for making our home made yoghurt bowls with granola and plain yoghurt. For our third we combined thinly sliced whites of spring onions and sugar and finished it with mosto cotto. Good on almost anything, onion marmalata is a great accompaniment to sharp cheese or spicy sausage, or just on an everything bagel with some cream cheese. Tutto Buonissimo!

A few weeks later we jammed again and this time made tomatillo-raspberry with lemon zest and strawberry-rhubarb with balsamic-verbena reduction. MAMMA MIA! We gave an 8 ounce jar of each of those to my chef friend and mentor, Mike Wagner, along with a 16 ounce jar of the cipolla and mosto cotto.  Two weeks later we were hanging out with him at BIC and he said, "Your jams were great, I had 'em here but I took them home. My wife and I loved them! They're gone!" I couldn't stop laughing about it for days after I left. Two pounds of jam,  downed! Periodically I still turn to Jon and say, "I can't believe Wags ate two pounds of jam in less than two weeks." Definitely the best form of flattery.

As the garden progressed, we slowly started getting plants from other places. We picked up a few more herbs at the Fresh Market, we bought an entire flat of edibles from a nice lady at the Timonium fairgrounds the last day she was open for the season, and she even threw in a papyrus plant just for us to experiment with. We also got a flat of herbs from a lady with a hosta farm up in Ruxton. We made a second trip to Watson's where I picked up a tabasco pepper plant, a watermelon plant, and a yellow pear tomato plant, who eventually produced us the first ripe tomato of the summer.

As the plants grew and began to take their form, we began to notice tiny plants resembling baby tomato plants springing up all over the garden. We took one out, put it in a pot and watched it grow. Soon, there was no question, these tiny seedlings were in fact tomato plants. It was another week or so before we realized where they were coming from... THE COMPOST! Tiny seeds in our homemade compost were beginning to sprout into baby tomato plants all over the garden. The mystery tomatoes, as we began to call them, were like little gifts from the food gods. We began to start annexes of the garden in whatever we could find. First we used an old wooden crate thats been hanging around the back porch for as long as I can remember. Then, I became determined to find any alternative planter we could think of. We needed more space, the garden was growing and fate was allotting us new tomato plants at a rate of about three new sprouts a day.  A few days after I started transplanting the sprouts, we stopped at a yard sale at the top of my street. The guy was getting tired and was about to head in and he asked us if we wanted a five foot tall cassette shelf with no back and slats that slide out. I jumped on it! I knew immediately that it was exactly what I had been looking for.  I took it home and the following day I removed all of the shelving, tilled a five foot by two foot plot of ground, and plopped the shelving on its side and began to fill it. This is where I would plant the flat of peppers we got from the lady at the fairgrounds. Beside the new raised repurposed bookself garden bed, I planted our new herbs from the hosta lady in a small old wooden tomato crate.  Just in front of the old tomato crate, I placed what my friend had thought was a broken stool which we rescued from his garbage and flipped upside down inorder to make a bottomless planter that sits flush against the bookself.

However, as I began to transplant and plant new plants in the new raised bed, I began to realize that it STILL wasn't enough space. I needed MORE garden... The next week I tilled another 6 or 7 foot plot, added dirt and transplanted the baby tomato plants which had already grown twice the size in about a week. Still, I needed a few more annexes so we grabbed a few more planters. When last I counted, we had 31 tomato plants sprout up,  and we gave away about 8 or 10, so currently, including the 5 plants we purchased, we have about 28 tomato plants growing in the gardens. The mysteries are starting to unfold as they devolp flowers, then fruit, and of the ones blooming now, we know that we have some cherry tomatoes and grape tomatoes. The various varieties are still a mystery but we cant wait to see what these little free range guys are gonna do.

 Last week, we started to see a different kind of bud popping up in the bookshelf bed. Out of habit, we never pluck anything from the garden before we identify it. These new seedlings looked very familiar and I searched for it and was ecstatic when I learned they were cucumber or possibly summer squash seedlings!

We are keeping a close eye on them to see what they do but I am hopeful we could have some baby cukes by season end.

 The main garden bed that was put in last summer in preparation for the Brunyate-Murray wedding houses three varieties of pepper-cherry bomb, super chili and yellow bell, a watermelon plant, new seedlings of cucumber/summer squash, two cherry tomato plants, one extremely large beefsteak tomato, a purple cherokee tomato plant, six out of seven of the varieties of basil we have, cilantro, rosemary, dill, lemon balm, and greek oregano.
 Marigolds for protection round out the space and add beautiful pops of bright orange and red.
 The bookshelf bed! It is home to one cherry tomato that popped up from compost,  one green lady bell pepper plant, five habanero plants, one tabasco plant, one cayenne plant, and one very happy and budding littlefinger eggplant. The bookshelf bed also currently houses four or five small cucumber plants that sprung up from compost.
 Alternative planters! Here we have two of our found planters, an old tomato crate and the repurposed stool we salvaged from our friend.
 One of our alternative planters, the tomato crate. Here we planted our second variety of oregano—golden oregano— and two huge sweet marjorams and a tarragon plant we got for free from the hosta lady.
 The salvaged stool planter houses two types of parsley, curly and Italian. We plant marigolds throughout the gardens because they are known to deter pests.
 The latest addition to the annexes, the tomato bed is a ground level bed with eight varieties of tomatoes, seven of which came up from seeds in the compost. All told, we have about 28 tomato plants growing for harvest.
 A few small planters house herbs, this one has a great purple sage that we picked up at Watson's and a genovese basil that the bugs have been destroying.
 The spicy thyme is HUGE! He just wont stop growing, when he came here from Jon's he was a squiggly mess of what we assumed were dead sticks, most of which began to sprout new leaves of tasty spicy thyme.
 A rosemary plant we picked up at Fresh Market, alongside our greek oregano which came back so huge from last year that I've already given away three plant of it and I still find myself pruning and drying oregano once a week. Rounding out the herbs we've got cilantro and stevia. Both are delicious in iced tea.
 Behind the oregano, rosemary, and cilantro, the beautiful cherokee purple tomato has huge fruits sunning, getting ready to turn.
The basil garden: purple basil and sweet basil are much loved by the bugs, but with the help of Captain Jack's Deadbug Brew (a human friendly bacterium called Spinosad which was harvested from the soil of an old rum distillery in the Caribbean in the 1980s) and nightly adventures of killing beetles we are starting to control the problem. Behind the purple and sweet basils we have a big Thai basil plant, a lemon basil, and my favorite and something I'd never seen before, a boxwood basil. With our genovese that totals six varieties and two days ago we acquired number seven from a friend which is yet to be planted but is a lovely looking basil resembling the Thai, called English basil.

Here we have a few close ups of the boxwood basil. And in the background you can see the big lemon balm which grew back from last year. We already halved the lemon balm plant and gave it away but it keeps getting bigger and bigger.


The boxwood basil looks just like a tiny boxwood bush but has these delicious perfect bite sized leaves!

 The beefsteak tomato grew so big that it completely swallowed our measly tomato cage and we had to stake and retie it.
 The first ripe cherry bomb! He will be consumed shortly! We are so excited, he is huge and BRIGHT red!
 The peppers are growing up! LITERALLY! The cherry bomb are growing straight up, ass forward, with huge thick stems.
 Here is the second variety we bought at the beginning of the summer, and it is doing AMAZINGLY, the super chili is also growing its fruit straight up to the sky but in a linear direction. The beautiful bright yellow-green peppers are going to start changing color soon and are destined for hot sauce and jam.
 Our newest addition, the English basil, quite resembles the Thai basil only with bigger leaves.

 Around the ledge we have lavender growing in a pot,  another potted tomato seedling that is popping like whoa right now, a planter with spicy thyme that came back from Jon's garden last summer, and a likewise spearmint plant.  In the little yellow planter we have a small piece of lemon balm but we are also letting our new found friend, goosefoot, grow wild in it. More on that in a minute.

 Our watermelon vine is already about seven or eight feet long and is just showing the first few buds. We also planted a couple heads of old garlic, as I had seen Chef John do in Calabria, which is the grassy looking thing on the left. We are hoping it scapes soon.
 The sideporch annex houses one roma tomato we purchased and eleven tomatoes from compost seedlings. The big crate has the smallest of our tomato plants in it, one of which is just exposing its first buds. We can't wait to see what the gods gave us.
 Hard to photograph because of its silvery color, this plant is actually a curry plant. Resembling a frosty rosemary, the curry leaves transport you to a kitchen of India. We used this in an Indian themed luncheon we put on for a few of our dearest friends to celebrate their engagement.
We have two small nasturtium plants that we've been trying to grow all summer but they don't want to do much. However, our new favorite friend is growing strong here—goosefoot! This common northeastern edible green is commonly dismissed as a weed and treated like a pest, but, like dandelion greens(my favorite) it is a delicious salad green when young and great for sauteing like spinach when it is older. Next time you see this "weed" growing, pluck it and eat it for lunch.

 Our tomatillo plant is growing ferociously, but its buds are weak, and everytime the flower drops out, a few days later the husks drop off too. We are hoping with our latest treatment of calcium in the soil we should  see some stronger stems.
 The tomatillo flowers are beautiful with bright yellow petals and black and white stamen. But some fruit would be REALLY beautiful.
 The first mystery tomato to bloom, there is no question this one with it's beautiful tiny globes is a gorgeous cherry tomato.
 The OG freebie! He already has about 6 clusters of tomatoes blooming, each with 8-10 tomatoes.
 Our roma was showing signs of blossom end rot but is looking much better recently.
 I love the way the cherry/grape tomatoes grow. They begin, as below, with crowded clusters of buds and then, as above, they slowly unfurl into long, vine-like clusters of 8-12, slowly straightening the manic cluster into a neat little chain.


 The second to start showing some good buds is definitely some variety of grape tomato with its elongated fruit.

 The littlefinger eggplant was one of the first plants we bought but is just finally starting to bud these gorgeous little fuzzy clusters. MMMMMM....
 Here, in the center you can see a baby tabasco pepper growing straight up! In the immortal words of Chef John Nocita, "What's up with dat? That's the shiiiit!"
 Now, pretty much all of the tomato plants have at least one cluster of buds and the mystery is beginning to unfold!
 Our San Marzano tomato plant has had a tumultuous season, it has a pretty bad case of blossom end rot, and we are hoping that regular additions of calcium will serve to correct the problem, fingers crossed, i need my sauce makin' 'maters. We did already enjoy the first two ripe San Marzanos. Both were eaten with salt and pepper along side duck egg breakfasts of guanciale and peppers.

The blossom end rot does not ruin the tomato, only the bottom half. Left to ripen, the tops can be cut off and consumed when ready.
And lastly for now, here is our  gorgeous lemongrass! Growing HUGE in a planter, imagine if all the tall grasses in B-more were lemongrass! 

As Chef John once said to me in Italy."You're gonna go home and start growing all types of stuff." Looks like you were right, as usual, Chef.

With more to come, we are so excited to see what's next with the garden. We are so excited to learn about another aspect of the cuisine we love. Sustainable, local, and fresh, can't get any better!

NEXT TO COME FROM THE GETTER: Soon we will be starting private classes, each of which will concentrate on a specific genre of Italian cuisine. The first of which? JAMMING! of course! The first class will concentrate on marmalata making and cheese tasting, and pairing jams with cheeses, the art of the cheese course.
We will also be throwing a garden party for friends with gardens, where we will be making and conserving all sorts of products to enjoy throughout the year.
Stay tuned for more info on classes! And look for my next posting, coming soon, about what else we've got going on. For now, I think I've occupied your time enough, so until later...

Spingerti...

Amo Cucinare,
Ryn

Friday, April 8, 2011

Let Them Know You Realize...

April 7, 2011

Sometimes we go, go, go so much that we forget to stop and smell the roses. The air here in Calabria has changed since my arrival, sweet scents of floral sea breeze greet me at my doorstep first thing each morning. People are buzzing like the spring bees, anticipating our last goodbye. The sweet smell of wild herbs growing all around us are beginning to flower now. The season has changed, and now so must we. 

It's hard to say goodbye to a place that is so freshly stamped in your soul. The life I lead as a getter on the go is one of fleeting moments of monumental bliss followed by a steamroller of emotions and revelations about what has just been done, where I have just been, and how it changed me. I literally don't believe that tomorrow will be my last night in Calabria. My mind cannot process that fact. It is too afraid of the steamroller. 

I am finally allowed to think again about all of the things back home that I left and everything I miss. But the pendulum is swinging, every excitement of something I have been missing and will soon see again, is followed by a tiny shatter in my chest reminding me of what I am about to be missing of my Italian home. In the midnight hour, as I sit here listening to Michael Buble sing "Stardust" I feel as though I am trapped in a Woody Allen movie co-written by Anthony Bourdain. The trembling blue sea below my terrazza calls me on and on, telling me it will always be there waiting for me.

 Leaving the kitchen last night with my confidant Amanda, after talking about life, love, and an insatiable want that we share, the Flaming Lips started singing through her cracked ipod, the most beautifully apropos song and one that holds especially dear meaning in my heart. "Let them know you realize that life goes fast, it's hard to make the good things last, you realize the sun doesn't go down it's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round..."

Perfect. It was just one of those rare, magically profound moments that you think back on and say, "Man, that was a good night." The importance of letting someone know you realize. What a valuable lesson, especially in this industry. I see it everyday in the kitchen, I've lived it for the past two years everyday. Sometimes it has gotten in my way, held me back, given me an unkind label, but simultaneously it caused every chef I've come across embrace me and teach me the things they saw I wanted to know.

I realize now moreso than ever what it takes to truly dedicate your whole being to something. I realize that passion is the catalyst for learning. I realize that respect for yourself, your teachers, and the FOOD is what makes someone great in this industry. And I realize how truly blessed I am to know this now. Gratzie per tutti, Chefs.

This one's for all the people who have helped me along the way, pushing me to be a better me.

Spingerti...

Amo cucinare,
Ryn

Monday, March 28, 2011

Gelato-a-Go-Go

Being taught by a master in any field is always amazing. The passion and FURY with which Maestro Umberto Lupica spoke about gelato, the math, science, and knowledge it takes to make real Gelato Artigianale (artisan gelato) was enough to make you laugh, sit forward in your seat, and listen intently...regardless of the fact that he was speaking (very quickly, I might add) a foreign language that you barely understand.

I laughed to myself and to my friend Amanda when Umberto would fervently scribble a note on a topic that he had yet to touch upon in order to remind himself. Or when he would jump around from one topic to the next, going off on tangents, that, 20 minutes later made you go, "Ohhhhh, thats why he started talking about this." I loved watching the brilliance of a mind exploding to share knowledge with others. His boisterous trills and emphatic "No!"s would sometimes turn into a chuckle "heh heh" that reminded me of a little boy eating his first ice cream cone. And I think that's where the magic lays. He spoke of every step, every scientific measure, every element of gelato, as though it were the first time he was saying it, as though it was that first, marvelously new and exciting, gelato cone.

What I learned this week is indescribable, except to say this, gelato is not just Italian ice cream. It is a science that Maestro Umberto has spent 40 years studying. In years past, students were allowed to come only for gelato week and it would cost them more than a quarter of what us Master's students pay for 3 months... and I can see why now. I feel so fortunate to have learned gelato from the best, and so lucky that Chef John Nocita saw fit to build this into his already incredible program.

Chef Sabrina Mancin, herself an incredible gelatier (the woman who restored my faith in banana flavored things, by using real bananas-how novel!),  served as translator for Chef Umberto, and I know that was a handful because sometimes he would talk for 10 minutes straight and she would have to say "Aspetta!" ("Wait!") in order to translate everything he had just said. Other times she would just say, "Ok, I'm gonna give you the short version." Her endless patience with us --and our lowsy math comprehension-- is so appreciated.

I learned that math and food and science all go hand in hand. That being good at one, makes you better at the other, and that lesson is invaluable. I learned that balance is not just an outdated scale that you put rocks and beans and pitchers full of water on in order to calibrate. Balance is a method of preparation that every artisan should use to see if their ideas work, be it gelato, sauce, cooking, painting or people. Every artist must understand balance in order to be well trained. Balance is essential in the everyday ins-and-outs of life. When my sister used to say she wished she was an artist like me or my brother, my mom would respond, "You are, you are just a different kind of artist, you are a people artist." We are all artists of different realms, and we are all constantly trying to balance our art, our passions, our livelihoods, with this crazy world we live in. We must balance the ordinary with the extraordinary everyday. Balance is so much more than just a word or a formula on paper, it is a way of compensating every loss with a win. It is a way of thinking, a way of doing, and a way of being that I truly believe is evolutionary. The first quote in my notebook that I wrote down here in Italy, Day 1, our first lesson, Chef John said, "Passion is not enough, you must have technique." And technique comes from knowledge, balance, and craving for more of those things each new day.

Yesterday a friend of mine asked me what I was going to do when I got home from Italy, "Do you have more school still?" he said. I had to respond in quotations, "Well when I return I will have gotten two culinary degrees in two years, so I think I'm done with "school" for the moment." He didn't ask me why I had put quotes around school, I wish he had, or maybe he knew... But it's because I consider each new day in the kitchen to be school. A chance to learn, a chance to teach, and a chance to be schooled by someone better, wiser, and more knowledgeable than I, and a chance to balance old ideas with new concepts.





No matter what you do, no matter who you are, no matter where you find your passion and inspiration, every day is a new chance to acquire more knowledge and skill than you had the day before. Look at the world with a question mark. Ask questions until you are blue in the face or someone throws a shoe at you (who throw's a shoe?) It's the questions that go unasked that truly are the foolish ones.

Spingerti...

Amo cucinare,
Ryn

PS- I like these pictures because they perfectly capture the ferociousness with which Umberto works...  a man in constant motion is a man that never tires...or something like that