A Roman Spring

Tomato and Basil Crostinis

1 box grape tomatoes

5 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

Bunch of basil leaves, chiffonade

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Greek yoghurt

Whole wheat baguette, sliced thinly

Heat a cast iron skillet with oil. Once it begins to smoke, add the tomatoes and flash fry until the skins burst.

Add the garlic and toss until the garlic chives begin to brown, then season. Take off the heat, mix in the basil and then top over a toasted crostini spread with Greek yoghurt.

Cannellini Bean and Red Capsicum Crostini

1 can cannellini beans

1 streak of pancetta or bacon, roughly chopped

Half red capsicum, finely chopped

Half red onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped

Few leaves of basil, chiffonade

Greek yoghurt

Whole wheat baguette, sliced thinly

In a medium sized sauce pan, add some oil and the pancetta and cook on medium-high heat. Once the pancetta begins to crisp, add the onions, red capsicum and carrots, cooking over medium heat for 5-10 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften.

Add the cannellini beans and toss, then add enough water just to cover the beans. Simmer until the water has nearly boiled out and you are left with a thick, porridge-like stew, about 8 minutes.

Stir basil into the cannellini bean stew and top over a toasted slice of baguette spread with Greek yoghurt.

Blood Orange, Radish and Basil Salad

4 blood oranges

6 small red radishes, washed

300g spinach

100g mixed greens (lollo rosso, rocket, frisee etc.)

Handful fresh basil

1 tbsp capers, drained

2 tbsp dijon mustard

100ml olive oil

Anchovies (optional)

Coarse sea salt and pepper

To make the dressing, roughly chop the capers. Mix with the mustard, then slowly pour the olive oil in a thin stream whilst whisking until you reach a thick, vinaigrette consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

Thinly slice the radish so that they are paper thin. If not using immediately, soak in cold water and refrigerate. Chop and discard ends of oranges, and one by one stand the orange upright on a chopping board and cut downwards to remove the skin and pith. With each slice, follow your knife along the edge of the pith so that the skin is peeled neatly. Cut each orange into thin slices and place in a bowl.

To assemble add the spinach, mixed greens, basil, blood oranges, anchovies (if using) and radish slices (drained and dried with paper towels) in a big bowl, and add a tablespoon of the dressing. Toss with clean hands, and add more dressing if needed. You want it lightly coat the leaves, not drench it so that it becomes soggy. Taste and season with coarse sea salt and pepper if needed.

Linguine with Savoy Cabbage, Pancetta and Mozzarella

Half head of savoy cabbage, thinly sliced

400g pancetta, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 large ball of Buffalo Mozzarella, torn into small chunks

1/2 cup White Wine

3/4lb of Linguine

Handful of pine nuts, toasted

In a large sauce pan, saute the pancetta with a little olive oil on medium-high heat until the pancetta begins to brown.

Add the garlic and saute for a minute, then add the cabbage and saute for a minute. Deglaze the pan with white wine and then turn the heat to medium, cover the pan and let the cabbage cook until it softens for 5 minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and add the linguine. Cook according to the package's instructions until it is al dente, making sure you stir the pasta regularly. Linguine has a tendency to stick together so it is very important that you constantly stir it.

Once it is cooked, scoop a laddle of the pasta water into a bowl, pour the pasta into a colander and drain. Add the linguine to the cabbage mixture and toss, adding some of the pasta water. Add the buffalo mozzarella and pine nuts until it begins to melt. Transfer to a large serving dish and serve immediately.

Almond and Hazelnut Sponge Cake with Honey Greek Yoghurt (Adapted from David Tanis)

250g shelled hazelnuts

250g unblanched whole almonds

4 large eggs, at room temperature and separated

1/2 cup sugar

Grated Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tbsp flour

Pinch of salt

Confectionary sugar, for dusting

1/2C Greek Yoghurt (or more)

1 tbsp Honey

2 tspn confectionary sugar

Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Line a 10 inch spring form pan or cake tin with parchment paper and set aside.

Roast hazelnuts on a baking sheet for 10 minutes or until the skins blister and nuts are lightly toasted. Put the nuts in a dry dish towel and rub them together to remove the blistered skins. When cook, coarsely chop in a food processor with the almonds. Do not blitz into powder.

In a mixing bowl, beat yolks with sugar until creamy, then add lemon zest, juice, flour, salt and chopped nuts and mix well. Whip egg whites until stiff, then fold into the batter in three parts to lighten the batter. Visible white streaks are perfectly fine, so long as the batter is well-incorporated.

Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for 15 minutes on 175C/350F. Turn down the heat to 160C/325F and bake for another 25-30 minutes until it is cooked through, using a skewer to check if it comes out clean. Let the cake cool before removing from tin.

To make the honey greek yoghurt, mix the yoghurt with the honey and sugar. Taste and add more honey if you like it sweeter. Serve a slice of the sponge cake with a dollop of the yoghurt.

Store basil by leaving it out in a container of water. It will keep for longer and will not brown as quickly.

Tonight's dinner ingredients were all purchased at Chelsea Market: the whole wheat baguette was bought at Amy's Bread, the linguine at Buon Italia, all produce at the vegetable market and the pancetta at Dickson's meat farm stand.

Most of these photos were taken by Artsynthesis.com, another fellow food blogger/graphics designer/photographer.

Passover Seder

I was invited to a Passover seder at a friend's house in Brooklyn on Monday night. Passover is the Jewish holiday and festival that commemorates the hardships and emancipation of the Israelites, who fled Egypt and slavery. God inflicted the 10 plagues on Egypt, and only after the Pharoah's first born son was slaughtered did he finally agree to release them from the chains of servitude. It was at the Red Sea that Moses, with his staff and the help of God, parted the waters so that the Israelites could flee the impending Egyptian Army at their heels.

The tradition is both a narrative of a people's strength at times of adversary, as well as a tale of compassion and humility.

The seder platter consists of Matzoh's, Z'roah (lamb shank), Roasted Egg, Maror (horseradish), Haroseth, Karpas (parsley) and Salt Water. No wheat can be used or eaten during the holiday because when the Israelites fled, they did so in such a haste that they did not have enough time to allow their dough to rise, and so they took the dough and cooked in on rocks under the sun, producing a cracker like food called Matzoh. The lambshank (Chicken Marbella was made as Lamb is an expensive cut of meat) represents the deliverance of the Israelities from slavery, and was selected because it was a symbol of idolatry for the Egyptians which was forbidden by God. The roasted egg is a hard boiled egg whose shell has been blackened, representing life and rebirth. Parsley is dipped in salt water to commemorate the bitter tears that were shed both during the times of hardship as well as when the Egyptian army drowned in the Red Sea, while Matzo is eaten with horseradish to remind us of the hardships that Jews faced while under slavery and during the Shoa. Haroseth is a mixture of crushed nuts, apples, cinnamon and honey or wine. It symbolizes the mortar used by the Hebrew slaves to construct the Pharoah's buildings.

Susie's Hearts of Palm Dip (left) and Haroseth (right).

1 can hearts of palm

1 clove of garlic

olive oil

In a food processor, blitz the hearts of palm and garlic clove. Slowly trickle in the olive oil in a steady stream until you have a light and fluffy dip. Season to taste and eat with crackers, Matzoh or bread. It is addictive and delicious, kind of like crack...

And as my contribution, I baked a flourless Chocolate Fudge cake. It consists of two distinct layers and textures, a cakey bottom layer and a luxurious fudgy top layer, making it far more complex that your typical fudge cake. Eat it with creme fraiche or greek yoghurt beaten with honey and confectionary sugar to cut the richness of the chocolate, or vanilla ice cream to heighten your palette.

Chocolate Fudge Cake (Adapted from the Ottolenghi cookbook)

240g unsalted butter

265g dark chocolate (52% cut into small pieces)

95g dark chocolate (70% cut into small pieces)

290g light muscovado sugar

4 tbsp water

5 large free-range eggs, separated

a pinch of salt

cocoa powder for dusting

Preheat oven to 170C/350F. Grease a 20cm springform cake tin and line with parchment paper.

Place the butter and chocolate in a large heat proof bowl. Put the brown sugar and water in a pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Once it is bubbling pour the syrup into the bowl and stir to melt the chocolate. Stir in the yolks one at a time and leave to cool.

Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt to a firm, but not too dry meringue. Gently fold the whites into the chocolate mixture, then pour 2/3 of the batter into the cake tin, level with a palette knife and bake for 40 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out almost clean. Remove from oven and let it cool.

Flatten the top (it's okay if the cracks) and pour the rest of the batter on top and level again. Return to the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. The cake should still have moist crumbs when checked with a skewer. Leave to cool completely before removing from the tin. Dust with cocoa powder and serve. The cake will keep covered at room temperature for 4 days.

The Trial

Dinner for 3 under $30.00

Chargrilled Cauliflower with Tomato and Capers (Adapted from the Ottolenghi Cookbook)

2 tbsp capers, drained and roughly chopped

1 tbsp French wholegrain mustard

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbsp sherry vinegar

120 ml olive oil

1 small cauliflower, divided into florets

1 bag of mixed greens (spinach, rocket, lollo rosso, frisee, radicchio, etc.)

20 grape tomatoes, halved

coarse sea salt and black pepper

Make the dressing: mix together capers, mustard, garlic, vinegar and some salt and pepper, whisking vigorously while adding half the olive oil in a slow trickle until you have a thick, creamy dressing. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Add the cauliflower florets to a large pan of boiling salted water and simmer for 3minutes. Drain and run under cold water to stop it from cooking and leave in a colander to dry well. Once dry, place in a mixing bowl and toss with remaining olive oil, salt and pepper.

Place a ridged griddle pan over the highest possible heat and leave until very hot. Grill the cauliflower in a few batches, and make sure they are not cramped! Once nicely charred, transfer to a bowl and while still hot, toss with dressing, salad greens and tomatoes. Taste and season and serve warm or at room temperature.

Braised Veal Breast with Fettucini

As a cheap cut of meat, Veal Breast becomes surprisingly tender after it's been braised for a couple of hours. If you like sinewy tendons, this dish screams your name. I've recently acquired a torrid love for anchovies, so you will notice that many of my recipes will contain these salty but high in omega-3 critters in many of my dishes. Please omit the anchovies if you aren't swim fans.

2 lb Veal Breast

2 carrots, peeled and diced

2 celery sticks, washed and diced

1 sweet onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 fillets of anchovy, minced

2 cups White Wine

1 cup chicken stock

1 cup of water

Sprigs of thyme

1 bay leaf

1/3 cup of whipping cream

3/4 pack of Fettucini

Fresh Italian parsley to garnish

Begin by marinating the veal. Using a mortar and pestle, bash the minced garlic with a little salt, freshly ground black pepper, the leaves of 3 thyme sprigs and the 2 pieces of anchovy until you obtain an aromatic paste. Rub it all over the veal and marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 170C/350F. In a dutch oven, add olive oil and heat until it's just about smoking. Caramelize the veal on both sides until it's nicely browned, about 8 minutes per side.

Add mire poix (carrots, onion, celery) in rendered veal oil and saute for a few minutes, then add the white wine to deglaze, using the back of a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan. Then add veal with its jus, chicken stock, thyme sprigs and bay leaves, cover and bake in oven for 2 hours or longer until tender.

Once the veal is tender, take the veal out and tear the meat off the bone. It should fall off effortlessly, and then shred the meat with your fork. Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs, then place the dutch oven on the stove. Turn the heat to high, add the cream and bring to a boil. Reduce the sauce until it is a thick consistency, at least 10 minutes. Once thick, turn the heat down to a low simmer, taste and season with salt and pepper, and then return the veal back into the pot.

Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta until al dente. Once cooked, add the fettucini directly into the dutch oven, toss the pasta, then serve on platter with some chopped parsley.

Cranberry and Pear upside-down Cake (Adapted from Ottolenghi)

Poached pears

3 ripe but firm pears
750ml water
150g sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
4 whole cloves
2 strips of zest and the juice of 1 lemon
Caramel Topping
90g sugar
20g butter
40g dry cranberries or 50g fresh
Cake batter
200g butter
200g sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
200g ground hazelnuts
¼ tsp salt
80g plain flour
1 orange zest
1 lemon zest
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg

Peal the pears and cut into 2 lengthways. Scoop out the core. Immediately place in a saucepan containing the water, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, lemon zest and juice.

Bring to the boil and then simmer until the pears are just slightly undercooked. This should take anywhere between 10 and 15 minutes. Check with a sharp knife that they tender outside but firm in the centre. Leave them aside to cool down in their liquids.

Heat up the oven to 170C/350F. Lightly grease a 20cm round cake tin and line its bottom and sides with greaseproof paper.

Place the sugar for the caramel in a clean heavy-based saucepan and place on a low heat. Without stirring watch the sugar turn into a rich caramel colour. Make sure to keep your eyes on the sugar at all times as it can easily burn. As soon as you reach the desired colour, remove the pan from the heat quickly but carefully. With your face at a safe distance, throw the butter in in a few chunks. Stir with a wooden spoon and pour onto the base of the cake tin. Carefully tilt it to spread evenly.

Drain the pears and cut each half into 3 wedges. If using dry cranberries, soak them in some of the hot cooking juices of the pears. Drain after 10 minutes. Arrange the pears and the cranberries over the caramel.

To make the cake, sieve together the flour and the spices. Use the paddle attachment of the mixer to cream the butter and sugar until light and airy. Gradually add the eggs and vanilla. Add the ground hazelnuts and mix just to combine. Repeat with sifted flour, salt and zest. Make sure you don’t over mix.

Once the batter is homogeneous and smooth pour it carefully over the pears and cranberries making sure you don’t move them out of their place. Smooth the batter with a palette knife. Bake for 35 minutes. Test with a skewer to make sure the cake is dry inside. Remove from the oven. Whilst the cake is still warm, but not hot, place an upside-down flat plate on top of the tin and briskly turn over. Remove the tin and the paper. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Here's the breakdown of the budget. The total came out to $27.45 (if my math is correct). I found the veal by chance at a local meatshop in Brooklyn when I was walking to the subway from Prospect Park, the wine was bought at Trader Joe's in Union Square, and the rest of the products were purchased at Wholefoods on Columbus Circle.

Cherry Tart

I had frozen pie crust and some leftover Hazelnut frangipane, so I decided to use the deliciously juicy cherries that Emi brought over to make a tart. It's as easy as 1, 2, 3. You can shake up the frangipane by using whatever nuts tickle your fancy (I know, it sounds so wrong).

300g Cherries, pits in

2 teaspoons kirsch

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/2 frangipane recipe

1 ball pie crust recipe

2 tablespoons butter, cubed

1 egg, beaten

Granulated Sugar

Preheat oven to 400F/200C.

Roll out pastry dough and spread hazelnut frangipane on dough, leaving 1 inch border.

Place cherries in the middle, then sprinkle kirsch and sugar over them.

Dot top of cherries with butter cubes.

Fold sides of dough to envelope cherries into a tart. Brush egg wash over sides and sprinkle sugar over it.

Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes until crust is golden brown. Serve with ice cream.