I love ramp!

We went to the Greenmarket and they (finally!) had ramp.  I bought 4 bunches.  The first recipe we made with this new bounty (our first to come back to) was ramp pesto.  The original recipe came from epicurious, where it was paired with salmon.  We found blackfish (aka tautog) at the Greenmarket that looked meaty and irresistibly delicious.  It only came in double the portion we wanted, but we still couldn’t say no…hopefully we’ll enjoy the leftovers.  The fish was described as firm and very flavorful, and somewhat sweet, so we hoped it would stand up well to our tangy ramp pesto.  As for the 4 bunches of ramp, we decided to turn it all to pesto for some leftovers for later in the year and to be sure to not let any go bad!

Wild mushroom barley soup with ham bone

Based largely off of ib‘s favorite mushroom barley soup (Please to the Table, p. 86), we made a lovely winter meal. The leftover ham bone (and some ham left on it) from our greenmarket ham for jambalaya added a nicely complementary base to this hearty soup.

Oven fries with simple chili

It was going to take way too long to make one of my favorite soups, so, tonight, to use up some of the many beginning-to-sprout potatoes, we made oven fries that had recently been featured in the Times.  We made a simple tomato and bean chili as a dipping sauce, and, for good measure, melted some leftover Havarti and Jarlsberg cheeses.

Pasta with cheese+pepper, pea salad

I’m a sucker for minimalist recipes (and Mark Bittman’s Minimalist column), and I couldn’t pass up a recipe that emphasized good, al dente pasta.  So, I loaded up on some 100% durum wheat semolina spaghetti, and prepared to make Smitten Kitchen’s version of Mario Batali’s spaghetti with cheese and black pepper recipe.  dsd suggested I also make a salad, and I was delighted—I love side salads.  I picked a pea salad with radishes, to use up some greenmarket radishes.

Layers of mushroom, spinach, cheesy goodness

ib didn’t think he really liked lasagne! I proved him wrong!  We used our greenmarket spinach, mushrooms, ricotta, mozzarella, and spicy Merguez lamb sausage to pull together a rich and zippy version of white lasagne.  Along side, we roasted some greenmarket carrots to perfection.

Baked brie, glazed carrots

A whole wheel of brie lying around in the fridge.  Lots of jams, chutneys, and preserves left over from the holidays.  Bread rapidly going stale.  Dinner on a deadline.  The obvious result of all this was baked brie.  We threw in a side of glazed carrots, for good measure.

Spinach and cheese strata

Of course, it was only after slaving away New Year’s Day morning, trying to prepare for our brunch (with lw‘s help), that we noticed Smitten Kitchen’s advice on how to host brunch (and still sleep in).  While that post was no longer of any use to us (for the time being), we were fascinated by SK’s new favorite egg dish, the spinach and cheese strata.  We figured that preparing it Saturday night was a perfect, hassle-free way to get started on a busy Sunday.

Pizza leftover-bagels

The best part about making all of that wonderful brunch food is enjoying the leftovers for the entire next week.  Especially the bagels, which we enjoyed in epic pizza bagel fashion.

Why are breakfast sandwiches SO good?

With leftover bagels and champagne from New Year’s Day, we got to enjoy the second day of 2010 with breakfast sandwiches and mimosas.  I guess this year is off to a pretty good start…

Sometimes I crave mac’n'cheese

…I mean, all the time I crave mac’n'cheese, but especially after seeing some on a menu in Wisconsin, made with Wisconsin cheese and … beer!  This sounded like an adventure not to miss, but unfortunately the restaurant was sold out so I ventured to make my own version…