First Greens at The Saturday Market.

Somehow this White-Hydrangea remanded me the First Spring Greens.

Fresh Green Leaves coming through between White Snow like Flowers. 

at one of my must stops at the Farmers' Market.

  

Adding to few fresh Herbs I started to get at Union Square, last 2 Saturday Farmers' Market we finally started seeing GREENS as well.  They are not Green House Grown. Only 4~5 kinds of Greens appearing for now, but still they are grown locally so we can taste the Spring. I had to get them for dinner. 
Flowers are great !  But for me Fresh Greens made me to say "Spring is definitely here ! ". When you see Ramps in the market, that is the sign for Spring's Arrival. 
I did not get Ramps yet, but I'll get them to make soup maybe next weekend.
What can I make for dinner from those fresh Greens ?
Here are the those lovely Fresh Spring Greens, Ramps, Broccoli-Raab, Collards, Green Kale, Red Russian Kale......
I'll come up with some Pasta Dishes, or some side-dishes to go with ?

Ever since I had the Orecchiette Pasta with Broccoli Raab and Sausage in Italy some time ago, Broccoli Raab became one of my favorite Spring to Summer Vegetables. So I have to make that pasta with some healthy changes. 
Nowadays, we try to have as much "Whole Wheat Pasta" as possible. But I can't still find "Whole Wheat Orecchiette Pasta" yet, the closest pasta I can get today is "Whole Wheat Shells".
I also got "Red Russian Kale", just because it was so pretty to look at. 
If a veggie is so pretty to look at, usually it is good for you and very tasty as well. You really taste foods with your eyes first. 
A simple sauté will make good side dish with this purplish leafy vegetable.
I have been getting "Green-House Grown Basil and Tomatoes" for salad and pasta until late Spring to Summer, I just can't to help it when I see them in the market. But I will be able to get them from New Jersey maybe within 2 months?
Don't forget, I'm getting Fresh Mint, Thyme, and Oregano almost a month now. 
I will make something with them as well.
I'll make more than one Pasta. And Side-Dishes to go with Pastas. 
I may have to invite a few friends for the Pasta Dinner. 

Sunchoke Salad

with

 Mint & Hazelnuts & Orange Flower Water.

Whole Wheat Pasta Shells

with

Turkey Sausage & Broccoli-Raab

Sautéed Red Russian Kale

with

 Edamame & Garlic.

Turkey Meat Balls over Whole Wheat Spaghetti

with 

Tomato Sauce with Portobello Mushrooms & Basil.

First Sign of Spring !

This weekend we finally got Spring in the air.
One week made such a big difference at Farmers' Market. All of a sudden many flowers were filling up the Union Square on Saturday Morning. 
Magnolias, Cherry Blossoms, Daffodils, Tulips, Hyacinths, Primroses, Crocuses, Pansies to name a few. There were so many more varieties of flowers you could see at the market. 
Some of them were in pots with earth for Gardeners who were waiting to have them for their own flower beds. Others were simply for us to keep in vases at home to have a little bit of Spring with us to calibrate that Winter is gone.... 
You just couldn't help taking pictures of them. 
I took many pictures of Spring Flowers just like everybody else.

The most exciting thing for me was that I found Fresh Herbs at the "Stokkes' Farm Stand".  This was the first time since I saw them at the end of last year. "Welcome Back Stokkes !"
They are at North East corner of Union Square every Saturday until end of December. They had only 4 kinds of fresh herbs for now. Nevertheless they made me so happy. 
Finally the Spring has arrived in New York City. 
I'm very happy to have Fresh Herbs in my kitchen, especially "Fresh Mint". 
From now on, I can make "Mint Tisane" whenever I want.  This can be just for me to have as for afternoon break, or can be served for guests. Today I had it as a "Hot Tisane" but I'm hoping to have it as "Cold Tisane" very soon.
Talking about "Tisane", I found a new favorite thing at "Trader Joe's". I think this is a new item for them also. It called "Yuzu Tisane", you can find it in the Tea Section. One package makes a lovely cup of drink hot or cold. I already served as "Yuzunade" for the Brunch Party I had last month.  That was my another Japanese twist for that Party, which I forgot to mention in my previous BLOG.
Some of you are already know what "Yuzu" is. It is a Japanese Citrus. 
Its nothing like lemon, nor lime, very distinctive citrus flavor Japanese love to add to dishes. It is getting very popular among New York Restaurants for flavoring of Fish and Poultry and especially for Desserts.
Getting back to "Mint Tisane", I make them regularly when I can get fresh mint.
I drink as hot or cold all the time. It is a great soothing drink specially at midnight with honey when you can't falling sleep.
Since I still have some "Candied Meyer-Lemon Peel", I had "Mint Tisane" with them this afternoon. You could drop some into the tea cup or you simply taste them between sips of  "Mint Tisane".
This must be good for something ?  Just look at that color !

This is how I serve my "Mint Tea"

Jewish Birthday Brunch for a Dear Friend from San Francisco.

At the Saturday Dinner Party,  

We gave this book for messages from guests who were there to celebrate

My longest on-going friendship is with non-Japanese friend. It is almost 30 years.
I met her in New York, when my English was almost nonexistent. Even though she has a PHD in Linguistics, she doesn't speak Japanese even now. 
I don't know how we communicated with each other, but we surely understood who we were from the moment we met. Maybe it had something to do with what we were wearing in those days. We have a long history.
I visited her in Princeton, Boston. 
We even met in Hawaii, and even in Paris for one of my big birthdays.
Now she lives in San Francisco with her husband and a cat in a Fabulous Edwardian House in Mission District.  When we visit SF we stay in the"Pink Room" on the second floor which next to the"Perfect Room". 
We have nicknames for every room in their house.
I have to talk about their house sometime when we go visit SF.
Her birthday was in March.  This year's birthday was one of the big ones. 
To celebrate this one, they planned to come visit New York City. 
They invited 22 friends from California to New York, some of guests came from all way from Japan and Thailand.
Since she was doing a Big Party at the restaurant on Saturday, I decided to throw "Birthday Brunch Party" on her actual Birthday. I told her that party was the Birthday Gift for her from Jonathan and me.

< Jewish Delicacies plus One >

Sauteed Mushrooms with Balsamic Vinegar reduction in Endive cups.

This was non Jewish Hors D'Oervres. 

Rosemary & Parmesan & Sea-Salt Matzoh.
   

Bagels and Cream Cheese with Scallions & Peppers.

Smoked Sable Slices on Cucumber Ribbons.

Smoked Salmon Slices on Cucumber Ribbons.

Potato & Kasha Cocktail Knishes

Since she is originally a Jewish girl from New Jersey, I chose to do it with her favorite foods in NY which she can't get in San Francisco.  We went to the Lower East Side to get Knishes and Smoked Sable and Scottish Salmon. 
She is almost a Vegan, but she loves smoked fish specially "Sable". 
To go with fish, I had to have "Bagels" for a Jewish Brunch. For Knishes I made Apple Sauce with Fresh Horse Radish that I found in the Farmers' Market.
She loves Vegetables, especially pickled ones.  So, I had to make more than one kind of pickle for her, hopefully they would go with Smoked Fish and Knishes. 
If I could get many vegetables for crudite basket,  I was more than happy to make a huge one, but Spring is not quite here yet. Choice of veggies at Union Square is very thin. So, I had to come up with somethings as Side Dishes. I tried to make as many vegetable dishes as I could for this very special Birthday Brunch. 

 < Trio of Pickles >

Pickled Carrot Slices with Meyer-Lemon & Ginger & Jalepeno  

Pickled Daikon Sticks with Orange & Ginger.

Pickled Cherry Tomatoes with Red Onion & Cardamon & Garlic.

There are dishes I must make for any Brunch or Dinner Party. 
Some things I served for many occasions during Fall and Winter became my signature dishes. As I said before, Spring Vegetables are not available yet at the Market.  So I need to repeat some of dishes I made and posted on previous Blogs. Mind you, those dishes were still new for the guests I had on Monday. Some of guests asked me for those recipes. And what kind of "Mandolin" I used for slicing. The answer for that was simple, very inexpensive plastic hand-held one which I got 3 years ago in Tokyo. Since then I'm using it to slice everything from Carrots to Watermelon-Radishes to Cucumbers. It is my most trusted Kitchen Tool I ever had. Believed it or not, it cost me only $15 at "Tokyu Hands"(my favorite store in Shibuya). They sells everything which has to do with DIY, sewing, cooking, crafts, carpentry, even gardening. 
I can spend hours in that store.....

< Staple Dishes for Fall & Winter >

Jerusalem-Artichoke with Orange Gremolatta.

Julienned Salad

Yaki-Onigiri (Roasted Soy glazed Rice-Ball)

By the way, the first time I tasted my favorite Winter Vegetable "Watermelon Radish" was with them at the Ferry Building's Farmers' Market in SF about six years ago.  For that reason, I had to use it for the Salad. 
"Watermelon Radishes" will loose colors when you cook them. 
So I prefer to serve them raw because they are very pretty vegetable as you know by now. 
I also had to have some Japanese Dishes to make guests know I did not lose my Japanese roots, even though I'm living here for long time.
"Onigiri" is the most popular snack in Japan like Bagels in New York. So I decided to make them with some twist. Oven Roasted Small Rice Balls would go nicely with my three pickles. That was my Japanese touch to the Jewish Brunch Menu for that very specials occasion.

< The Birthday Cake >

Cornmeal Cake with Rosemary Lemon Glaze.

Accompanied by Selection of Tea.