New York’s cadence makes me dizzy with awe.
If you do one thing online today, check out Food52. It is the culinary mecca of NYC (and I got to canter around it’s kitchens like a caffeinated Muppet). Their online store is unrivaled in brilliance.
Scroll down to “All Videos” (click here) for my goofy big mug beaming into camera like a child set loose in a Lego store. Hit “show more.” I’m making a hotass dessert.
Until next time! Have a lickety-good week,
Love Susan
Food52 live event
Catch me on Food52’s live Facebook feed, on Monday Feb 13th at 4pm EST (that’s 9pm Irish time). This is a foodie mecca for New Yorkers, with one of Instagram’s biggest hashtag trends #f52grams .
I’ll be showing you how to make a special Valentine’s treat that costs less than a fiver, and takes less than 5 minutes. Yahtzee!
Here’s the link.
You can send me real-time comments and questions – I’ll get them live on air and give you an almighty large shout out (especially if you’re tuning in from Ireland!)
Book launch
Then I’m launching the US edition of The Virtuous Tart at Rizzoli, America’s most beautiful bookstore, Monday Feb 13th (6pm-7pm).
Hunga bunga.
Here’s a map.
I would love to meet you all, and lovebomb you with superfood chocolate caramels. (Beats Botox. You’ll soon find out why).
I’ll be signing books and hanging with super-cool author Hetty McKinnon of Arthur Street Kitchen. There won’t be a kale chip in sight. I promise.
(source: blueberrybuilders.com)
Refinery29 live event
Tune into Refinery29’s live Facebook feed to catch me prepping a recipe from The Virtuous Tart. I’ll also be chatting to Refinery29 about aphrodisiacs that make your heart go giddyup and your blood beat like a bodhrán.
Wednesday Feb 15th, @1:30pm EST (6:30pm Irish time).
Refinery29 is filled with fresh and fabulous women, expressively inclusive of all colour, size and ethnicity. Theirs is a site that celebrates diversity among women. We like.
Any recommendations while I’m in NYC my friends?
And do you have any pals in NYC who would dig some superfood chocolates and bad Irish jokes of a Monday evening? Do tell!
Images by my wonderful friend and photographer Jo Murphy.
“Does the smell of bacon make you want it?”
“Don’t plants feel too?”
“Wasn’t Hitler a vegan?”
… just some of the delightfully irritating questions vegans shake off on a daily basis. “What can you eat?” carnivores ask, pupils morphing into one of those tiny kaleidoscopic wheels on a Mac before it crashes.
Food, dudes. Real food. Hundreds of plant-powered ingredients are at a herbivore’s fingertips everyday; they are Mother Nature’s heavyweight champions of fibre. I envy a vegan’s commitment. Their bowel movements must be like Christmas presents.
Given I am happily institutionalised into marital bliss with all its obligations and sacred rituals, I like to flirt with everything that crosses our front door. This week, it was vegan. The guest. Not the husband.
I wanted to thrill my guest, in the only way available to me (through my pantry). I quickly learned that with just a bit of mental parkour, you can turn any vegetable into a thundering drama queen and steal the show.
So here’s the recipe.
Cauli & Caper Toast
Cauliflower toasts are scorching their hipster mark across NYC restaurants. With the right flavours, cauli toast is pretty fantastical. This dish has quickly become the litmus test of trendiness across cafes. Who knew a bleedin’ cauliflower could cause such a stir?
1 large head of cauliflower
Splash of olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed
Fire up your oven to 210 Celsius, gas mark 7.
Cut 2 or 3 large slices from your head of cauli. Aim for about 2cm thick so it won’t collapse on you. I slice down the centre, using the core to hold it all together. Rub all over with olive oil and cumin. Then roast flat for 20-30 minutes or until slightly charred and golden. Throw the capers on top, halfway through cooking.
To plate up, crown with a poached duck egg like in the picture, or and some hummus for a vegan supper. The capers will give fabulous pops of ‘salty lemon’ to the finished dish. Fried chorizo is achingly good too. Hakuna matata.
Here’s an interview of me, and my potty mouth talking to a journalist in NYC, on the release of the US edition of The Virtuous Tart cookbook………..
Don’t forget to hit “BOOM” at the top left corner, with your email address my friend, to receive a new weekly recipe direct to your inbox. Until then!
X SJ