antler international

recipe: lemony kale salad with dates and almonds

I’m obsessed with kale right now and it appears that I’m not alone. My Facebook posts about kale got immediate and fervent responses - the sort that seem to only come when people talk about Glee or newborns. A surprising number of kale commenters demanded recipes from me. What follows is my best attempt at food blogging.

Lemony Kale Salad with Dates and Almonds
4 small side dish servings

All quantities are approximate. I suggest you freestyle. Dates and almonds were on hand when I first made this and we like the combo, but you should swap out freely. Any dried fruit could sub for the dates, and I bet that toasted hazelnuts or pine nuts would be lovely in place of almonds.

You Need:
3-4 garlic cloves, peeled
kosher salt
2 lemons
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
A bunch of kale - I like black kale
4 pitted dates
1 small handful marcona almonds (about 2 tbsp)

1. Roughly chop the garlic, then smash it to a pulp with about a 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt. I use a mortar & pestle for this, but you could chop it super fine and smash it with the side of a big knife too. Put it in a small bowl, add the juice of the 2 lemons (3-4 tbsp) and whisk. Add the olive oil and whisk again. Let this sit while you get everything else ready.

2. Strip the kale from the stalks and chop into 1-2 inch strips. Put these in a medium mixing bowl.

3. Add the garlic/lemon dressing and toss.

4. Chop up the dates into eighths. Throw them in the bowl.

5. Crush the almonds a little bit in your mortar & pestle. You can also do the knife smash or wrap them in a dish towel and bash them with the bottom of a pan. You want almond pieces, not powder - don’t go crazy.

6. Toss it all together and taste. It is going to be pretty tart & lemony. Is that ok with you? You can always add a little honey or more oil if not. You might think it needs salt and/or pepper and who am I to tell you it doesn’t? I think the salt from the almonds and the garlic is enough, but you can be the boss of your own salad.

7. Put it on a plate and eat it up.

purge-a-thon 2009

I am committed to owning fewer things.

The hard reality of dealing with dead people’s possessions has helped me realize that most of the stuff we own is meaningless and will likely be a hindrance to those we leave behind.

This is not to say that all material things are evil. Hell, a new pair of shoes can make me happy for weeks. The new me just has to ditch at least one of whatever comes in so that clutter will not ensue. There have been a lot of lovely moments over the last year when an item is uncovered that brings back a flood of memories and those are not the things I am talking about.

I don’t give a shit if nobody wants the art in our home. It gives us joy and that is enough. But nobody should have to decide what to do with the 15,000 (really) wood-sticked Q-tips I bought from a medical supply company on a whim. Ditto to the laptop & PC graveyard that is my home office.

It’s all getting donated or going in the trash. The war against crap is on. I’m going to be the lowest-maintenance dead person ever.

winter garden

Finally pulled out the last stragglers from the summer garden - we had tomatoes, shishitos and eggplant going right up until yesterday.

Got some arugula, romanesco, chard, broccoli rabe, beets, kale, thyme, shallots and sage in there for winter. Go little plants go!

Coming soon: chickens!

what's been going on

Well damn, I’ve been rather remiss in updating this blog. I realize that all of these things should be posts unto themselves, but I’ve already taken my Sunday evening Ambien and schluffkins are imminent.

SOME HIGHLIGHTS:

• I’ve become a bona fide hippie. Bees begat garden begat co-ops and such. I’ve been volunteering at Farmlab and learning about urban farming. So far I am inspired by the energy and creativity in that place. I also joined the Hillside Produce Cooperative and traded some figs & tomatoes for grapes, onions, grapefruit, lemons,herbs and more.

• Captured my first bee swarm by my lonesome. I wrote about this at length on the Backwards Beekeepers blog, so you can read about it there if you like. I felt very brave and punk rock afterwards.
• We adopted another feral cat. This one is named George and he currently is not interested in being friends. Doctor (feral cat #1) is still a possible future buddy. He likes to talk to me with his mouth full which is hilarious. I will attempt to videotape this soon.
• Also wrote this article for the LA Times Magazine about the experience of cooking at canele. I enjoyed the writing immensely and hope to do more with them. I wouldn’t mind cooking more either, but I’m not sure how that fits with the spirit of the program.
• …and yes, that lovely pile of produce is from our garden! I was so caught up in the tomato glamour shots that I forgot to get one of the garden itself for historical purposes. Soon - I promise

More proper posts with feelings and shit to come.

north cackalackey

We’re back from North Carolina and the trip was just great.

I don’t think I ever posted pictures of the farm since I was so obsessed with the cows and cheese. The pics above gives you a pretty good feel for the lush and languid feel you get as soon as you step foot on the Chapel Hill Creamery grounds.

The ladies were super sweet to offer their guest room for a couple of nights. I made some cheese (well, mostly wrapped and priced it) and the husband roped some calves and took them to get vaccinated. We all went to our friend Andrea’s kickass restaurant where she forced us to try helf the menu. It felt like a homecoming even though I had only been on the farm for 2 weeks. I hope to keep these friends for a long time.

one year later

Holy cow! This is little Azalea…remember when she was born? It wasn’t even a year ago. She came running when we came over to see us. I like to think that we have a special bond, with me naming her and all.

She’s already gone into heat a couple of times and they’re going to get her knocked up this winter. They grow up so fast.

Look how cute she was.

i may have a bit of a gear problem

not pictured: digital SLR (took picture), Wii, Slingbox, Roku, laptop.

Up to 6 phone numbers now…must get consolidated.

a honey of a whoa

I’m going to cook at a real restaurant on Tuesday night and people are going to pay real money to eat there.

Corina (pictured above) is the chef at canelé restaurant in Atwater Village and is allowing me to cook in her kitchen. They have a somewhat irregular program called “friends cook at canelé” where they welcome someone from the neighborhood into their restaurant to conceive of and prepare the menu of their choice.

The thing that blows my mind is that Corina agreed to my menu without ever tasting anything I’ve prepared. Her restaurant is one of my favorites and we go there often. I am ridiculously honored that she is letting me do this and hope to hell I won’t let her down. I have a feeling that she will make the evening great despite my spazziness.

The menu is all about honey - each course will have feature some from different parts of LA and donated by various Backwards Beekeepers.

Here’s what we are serving:

* Mixed green salad with roasted beets, Gorgonzola and honey-roasted walnuts. Honey-champagne vinaigrette.
* Honey-glazed pork tenderloin with Maker’s Mark reduction. Corn cakes. Buttered young carrots.
* Goat cheese and nectarine tart with raw honey drizzle. Honey ice cream.

Dinner will cost $30 (not including beverages/gratuity)
Vegetarians will be accommodated.
You can also order off the regular canelé menu if you wish to mock me.

Come on down and watch me lose my shit! Tuesday, June 30th - from 5:30 until 10.

Michael from Pazzo Gelato in Silver Lake is going to make the ice cream with our honey. Their gelato has the most incredible deep and clean flavors and I can’t wait to taste it. He’s giving me half for the dinner and will sell the other half in his shop. You can always check that out if you are too lazy/cheap/sick of me to come to dinner.

veg porn

It’s getting so that we can have vegetables from the garden at least once a week. I expect that to double once the tomatoes begin to ripen.

We grilled up squash, japanese eggplant and those 6 precious shishitos tonight. I realize that this gardening thing is not new to many humans, but I still feel strangely smug about growing food and then eating it…like it is a secret science that we are newly privy to.

My dad starting dating recently, and it is so weird. I would guess he is a major catch being healthy, funny, smart and financially secure and all. He’s got the ladies all over him.

Ew.

Here’s what the garden looks like now: