Poppycock!

"Tom, get your plane right on time. I know your part'll go fine. Fly down to Mexico. Da-n-da-da-n-da-n-da-da and here I am, The only living boy in New York" —Simon and Garfunkel 

POPPY SEED + SMOKED DUCK = 'POPPY-COCK' (SALAD)

The fatty richness of duck is cut with the addition of clean raw slices of cucumber, sweetened with dried apricots, and then taken up a notch with a few shakes of bright nutty poppy seeds. (Not just for bagels). 

Slice 3 smoked duck breasts (I got mine from Marlow and Daughters). Add about a half cup of sliced dried apricots. Peel a cucumber, spoon out the line of seeds in the middle and slice thin. Douse the cucumber slices in a white vinegar/sugar mixture. Add a small handful of finely sliced fresh Mint to the mixture and then sprinkle heavily with poppy seeds.

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Poppycock Photograph: Squire Fox, Props: Tara Marino. (Food styling/concept: Dimity Jones)

Uncorned beef

Lucinda Scala Quinn is so smart. She didn't want to wait the traditional two weeks to marinate her piece of brisket, so she slathered it in pickling-spice paste, stuffed it tight in a baking dish with raw beets and white onions, then submerged it under her surprise ingredient (orange juice!) Then let it sit, overnight in the fridge. The result? Immense flavor with a deft pinkish hue, reminiscent of traditional Corned Beef, but minus the 2 week waiting period.

I love shooting with Lucinda. She has her own TV program called 'Mad Hungry' and occasionally I work with her on her print column.

After we'd roasted the meat, she folds some juicy slices of the brisket on Rye bread, adds thick slices of Swiss, which have started to melt under the hot slabs of meat, and a drippy Russian Dressing. Like a Reuben.

Jewish authentic? Probably not. But am I a fan? Definitely.

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Food and styling: Lucinda Scala Quinn. (For the recipe... hit up her blog) Photograph: Andrew Purcell, (Art direction: Dimity Jones)

Hot Cross Buns

HOT CROSS BUNS with DULCE de LECHE (ARGENTINIAN CARAMEL) and MASCARPONE:

This recipe was inspired and adapted from Neil Roake's fabulous book 'Shiny Happy People'. 

HOT CROSS BUNS: Put half a cup of Milk, half a cup of Buttermilk, half a cup of Raw Sugar, half a stick of Unsalted Butter, the zest of one whole Orange, and a quarter cup of Water in a saucepan and heat gently until the butter melts. Set aside. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl add 3 cups of all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon of Salt, a pinch of mixed spice, half a teaspoon of ground Cinnamon, 1 tablespoon-ish of Candied Ginger finely sliced, and about two thirds of a cup of dried fruit. I like small black Currants and Candied Orange Peel. (I like a lot of peel!) Use our judgement, there needs to be enough dried fruit sprinkled through-out. If you like big plump Golden Raisins add them too, or sweet dried cranberries, etc. Sprinkle one packet of yeast into the dry mixture. When the liquid in the saucepan is lukewarm, add one Beaten Egg. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry flour /fruit mixture and push together gently until a dough forms. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave the dough to rise overnight. Preheat oven to 320 degrees. Divide the dough into 12 equal squares. Place the squares, pushed together, on a greased baking sheet. They need not be perfect. Bake the buns for 15 minutes. While they are baking roll out some store-bought puff pastry. (I try to keep some home made pastry on hand in my freezer in little wedges to pull out for pie dough, and what not) Cut the puff pastry into 24 strips. This will be the crosses. Take the buns out of the oven and add the crosses. Beat one egg with some water and using a pastry brush quickly brush the tops of the buns. Turn the oven up to 350 degrees and put the buns back in for another 15 minutes. Don't overcook, you want them to be moist, but golden. Serve with Argentinian caramel (dulce de leche, below, or if you are in a pinch, grab a jar from Wholefoods) and creamy Mascarpone. (You could even try it with local Ricotta if you prefer) Makes 1 dozen.

NOTE: Dough will not rise much overnight. These buns are very dense traditional-type cakes, and they're not overly sweet. To eat them a day or two after baking, just slice in half and then pop them in the toaster. Apply Mascarpone and Dulce de Leche, (or if you like, butter, golden syrup or even honey will work just as well).

DULCE de LECHE (ARGENTINIAN CARAMEL): Adapted from David Lebovitz-Livng the sweet life in Paris

Pour one can of Sweetened Condensed Milk into a pyrex dish which has been placed inside a baking dish, filled half way up with water. (David advises to stir in a few flecks of sea salt too) Cover the pyrex dish/condensed milk with foil and place into a preheated 425 degree oven for 1 to 1 and a quarter hours. Peek occasionally, and refill water in outside baking dish, as necessary. When the Dulce is thick and deep caramel in color, remove, gently and stir. Put into a serving jug and pour warm over the freshly baked Hot Cross Buns which have been smeared liberally with Mascarpone cream.

HAPPY EASTER!

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Photograph: Andrew Purcell, Prop styling: Sarah Smart (Art direction/food/concept: Dimity Jones)

Soy-Citrus Dressing

Dressings was one my favorite stories to Art Direct this past month. (Check out 'Salad Dressing' in April 2011 issue of Martha Stewart Living) Shot by Johnny Miller, prop styled by Sarah Smart and food styled by Charlotte March. Working with this team is always great. Charlotte's food is clever, and there is always a twist to the recipe. Sarah pulled in a cool shiny retro-green glass surface which gave everything an edge.

This is the Soy-Citrus Dressing. It incorporates the juices of Grapefruit and Lime—a bit of honey and it's tempered by Soy Sauce and Sesame Seeds. Ideal for an crunchy Asian-inspired salad.

Lardo Pizza

I need to cook. It's almost primal. Sometimes it wakes me up at four in the morning, just like the need I have to occasionally walk in the drenching Spring rain, without an umbrella, just to feel the cold water lash against my face. Cleansing. The need to cut, dice, slice, bake, it's methodical... therapeutic.

Mario Batali makes a Lardo Pizza, it's called 'Otto Lardo' and it's 13 dollars. You don't even need to get a table, you can order it right at the bar. You can smell the grassiness of the olive oil as it's placed promptly in front of you. The lardo is salty, buttery, porky. Each pizza at Otto is cooked at a different length of time depending on what the topping is. The lardo pizza is cooked less, I have no idea how long (I didn't ask) but it's very pale. The rosemary and olive oil permeate. I suppose it's like if you unpeel, carefully, the fat from around the edge of a slice of prosciutto and laid it, sliver by sliver on a pale dough pizza, except he uses squares.

Mario's the king; It's ballsy to put immaculate square pieces of lardo on a pizza dough, it's sort of like seeing a small square house on a large, wide expanse of suburban land, you keep wondering, they have all that land, are they going to put in a swimming pool? The lardo looks marooned, but it works. I decide to offset the fattiness of the pizza by ordering a side dish. Dennis, the bartender, mutters under his breath something that I don't quite catch. (Sometimes the mutterings under the breath... like the pencil scratchings in the margins of a cheap paperback, are more interesting and relevant than the overly considered, brain-processed word) This time he merely nods and brings me a dish of 'Artichoke and Fregula' which emerges in a small dense pot. It's delicious, like comfort food for cherubic Italian babies. Yummy, Mama, Sie.

I leave Otto. I need to go home and cook, I need to emulate my own lardo pizza dish. I want my slices to be crispy, as well as translucent, (2 kinds of textures) and I want my dish served with something raw, acidic, to cut through the fattiness and add crunch, but not as a side dish, I want the acidity put right there on top.

It's raining now. I let the fat drops splash hard against my face. Methodical, therapeutic. It's finally Springtime in New York.

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INDIVIDUAL LARDO PIZZA WITH CRISPY RAW PICKLED PEPPERS:

This is a great chance to use store-bought pizza dough. My local pizza joint lets me to pick up dough for as little as a dollar on my way home. Easy. I got my lardo from Eatily. 8 thin slices came to just $1.98. Delicious and cheap!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place some parchment paper on a baking sheet. Smear it with a little olive oil. Roll out a 8 or 9 inch disc of pizza dough and place it on the sheet. Ask your butcher to cut you 8 thin strips of lardo. Drape 4 of these strips over the pizza dough. Place it in the oven. Meanwhile make the vinegar mixture. Put 2/3rds of a cup of vinegar, 1/3rd cup of water and 3 tablespoons of sugar in a saucepan on low and heat until the sugar melts. Place 2 bell peppers (one yellow, one red) that have been chopped roughly into 1 inch chunks into the vinegar mixture. Turn the heat off and set it aside. Meanwhile check the pizza. When the dough is browning and the lardo looks golden, shriveled up and crispy, like bacon (roughly 14 minutes) take the pizza out of the oven and rest. Drape the remaining 4 strips of lardo over the pizza and let it sit until the 4 pieces of lardo have melted and are translucent and glossy. (5 or 6 minutes). Place the crunchy raw 'pickled' bell peppers in the middle of the pizza, cut into slices and serve at once. Serves 1.

NOTE: If you want to shortcut this recipe even further pick up a jar of Hot Vinegar Cherry Peppers to use instead of pickling your own Bell Peppers.

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Lardo Photograph: John Kernick, Food styling: Maggie Ruggiero, Props: Paige Hicks. (Art direction/visual concept: Dimity Jones)

Kimchi Mayonnaise

It was Ken Pope's fault. He'd got me thinking about Kimchi Mayo when he reportedly went to Ms G's restaurant (In Sydney) where he had possibly the best fried chicken he'd ever had, with crispy skin, moist meat, and nice Kimchi mayo for dipping. I couldn't stop thinking about it, what a great idea! Kimchi Mayo!

So I got a jar of Mother-In-Laws Kimchi, and blended it quickly in a food processor with Hellmann's mayonnaise, a tiny squeeze of lemon, salt  and pepper, and OH it was good. I bought chicken from Bon Chon on St Mark's Place, tipped off by a friend who said they had the best Korean Fried Chicken in Manhattan. I put the Korean fried chicken (which is kind of salty and sweet) and the Kimchi mayo on a Pepperidge bun, fried in a little clarified butter and dosed it heavily with a Vinegar Jalapeno drizzle, and OH MY it was good.

So that got me talking, excitedly, here... and then all the way to San Francisco, where a photographer friend, Colin Clark (who's shooting out there right now) got excited about it too. He decided to make up a San Francisco version. He took to the streets and drove over 2 hours (sidetracked by a table he wanted to pick up from Craigslist, that he did pick up, and lug to the chicken place, and eventually home, but hated. Oh yeah, really regretted).

He picked up a chicken sandwich from a place called Bakesale Betty's. It's in the Temescal district of Oakland and apparently has a cult following. He got the Kimchi from Koreana Plaza, which is in downtown Oakland, where you can buy Kimchi by the barrel, Ramen in every flavor imaginable (and cuts of meat that he'd never seen before and couldn't possibly identify). He threw a few spoonfuls of Hellmans mayonnaise (which out West, is called Best Foods) into a food processor with a few forkfuls of his Kimchi and blended.

"The bread at Bakesale Betty's is kind of just a basic 'hoagie' style roll," says Colin, "Similar to what you'd find in a New York Deli, for an egg and cheeser, only long, and skinnier instead of round, closer to french baguette, but not as crusty. The salad on the roll turns out to be is a simple delicious slaw-type thing, cabbage, red onion, parsley and diced jalapenos, no mayo, it's slightly sweet, slightly vinegary."

I guess whether in New York, or San Francisco, when it comes to Fried Chicken (Korean or otherwise) and Kimchi Mayo, you can't go wrong. (But not so it seems, with rash purchases from Craigslist)

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Photograph of the fabulous Fried Chicken Sandwich from Bakesale Betty (above) with the addition of his own Kimchi Mayo; Colin Clark

Curry Mee with Young Tau Foo

Shift up the idea of the traditional napkin. What about an crinkly Asian Newspaper 'serviette', to pair with our favorite Malaysian dish? (Read while you eat)

I've been a card carrying addict to the Curry Mee with Young Tau Foo Soup at Nyonya, on Grand Street, for over 15 years. Possibly longer. It's a spicy coconut laksa/curry broth with Abura-Age (tofu sliced thin into sheets and then deep fried) and Atsu-Age (thick spongy cubes of tofu, also deep fried) and Veggies; a ring of Bitter Melon, a Jalapeno Pepper, which are all stuffed with fish mixture. Then there's the little Eggplant 'boat', also stuffed with fish, which bobs brightly towards you having just taken in all the curry flavors of the delicious broth. It's blackish purple bands capsize when you bite it, to reveal a sweet buried treasure. I'll fight your for it!

Photograph; Squire Fox, Prop styling; Tara Marino.

I (scream!) cake

ICE-CREAM CAKE: A base of silky Milk Chocolate, followed by ooey-gooey Salted Caramel, fresh Banana, creamy Mascarpone and then finally Vanilla. Topped with a layer of meringue, whipped cream, chunks of chocolate and finished off with fun Australian Banana Candy. 

There was that one, brief moment of clarity, when I thought of just buying an ice-cream cake. For years, smart mothers had been heading to neighborhood Carvel stores for perfectly pre-portioned, reasonably priced, decorative, theme inspired— cakes. But OH NO, not me. I mean, how hard could it be, I reasoned? What would my grandmother have done? This would be more individual, I decided! I could tailor make the cake to be exactly what my son dreamed of when he dreamed of ice-cream (which was nightly).

I only had one mishap because I rushed too fast to soften the final layer of Vanilla ice-cream (hiking my paddle up to high speed, reasoning somehow that it would soften quicker, not caterpault around the room) and my kitchen ended up an exploded milky lactose disaster (which might also have had something to do with my dated $35 dollar mixmaster, that I found in a yard sale in Chelsea). But other than that, making an ice-cream cake is not hard at all, in fact, it's super easy! Just tell that to my floorboards that I'll be picking pale dairy flecks out of for years to come. But seriously, you just need time, a little patience, some level space in your freezer and a good ice-cream brand that you love. Done!

YOU'LL NEED:

1 Spring Form Pan (9x3 inch or 23 x 8 cm)

4 x tubs of 22 oz ice-cream, in different flavors. I used ice-cream from il laboratorio del gelato.

One bar of chocolate. I used Mast Brothers chocolate and specifically their Stumptown Coffee bar that has coffee beans crushed into the chocolate.

1 small carton of heavy cream —whipped

Bag of Australian Banana candy or other candy, fresh or dried fruit topping.

FOR THE MERINGUE:

6 egg whites, separated from their yolks while cold, then bought to room temperature before beating.

1 and a half cups of fine white sugar.

1 and a half tablespoons of cornflour

2 teaspoons of distilled white vinegar

I used 4 x 22 oz tubs from the wonderful 'il Laboratorio del Gelato' The flavors were Milk Chocolate, Salted Caramel, Banana/Mascarpone, (they ran out of Banana and mixed in some Mascarpone for me, it was actually a really nice combination) and Vanilla but you can use your favorite supermarket brand, or whatever ice-cream you like.

ASSEMBLY:

IT'S SIMPLE: Just soften each tub of ice-cream (I let mine sit out on the kitchen counter for a good 30 mins, but if you don't have a lot of time put the beginning-to-soften ice-cream in a mix master with the paddle attachment and beat very slowly until it softened enough to spread) Smear into the spring form pan and then place the pan, covered with plastic wrap on a flat surface in your freezer. When the first layer is frozen hard, soften the next flavor and apply it, freeze again, until you have applied all 4 layers in and have reached the top of the pan. 

THE MERINGUE LAYER: Place 6 egg whites in a standing mixer/kitchen aid and beat slowly, then as they turn white add the sugar and cornflour slowly, move to medium speed and add the vinegar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Using a spatula make a giant mound of the meringue, roughly the size of your spring form pan— on parchment paper on a baking sheet and bake at 250 for one hour and 10 minutes. Checking to see it does not burn. 

Add the whipping cream on top of the meringue

Nestle your child's favorite candy, sliced fruit, fresh banana, strawberries even. What about edible flowers in bright colors? Something that compliments your ice-cream flavors. I love these Australian banana candy that I had as a child. (My mother kindly sent over a bag, but there is a link listed above if you want to order them in the States)

MERINGUE:

THE AFTERMATH:

Lopsided, slightly melted, (not remotely Carvel perfect) with the meringue a tiny bit overcooked, and when I put the Banana candy in I wondered if it looked like an alien (or me on a bad hair day). But was there any left? Nope, and was my son so thrilled that he did the happy ice-cream dance? Yes. So in the end, what else really matters?

Chicken Pot Pie

Sometimes what's left in the sink can showcase the story more beautifully than the final dish.

CHICKEN POT PIE

Buy a rotisserie chicken and peel off the breasts. Dice them into one inch squares. They don't need to be perfect. Meanwhile put one carton of chicken stock and one cube of chicken buillion (optional) in a saucepan and bring heat up gently. In a large frying pan, fry 2 finely diced white onions in a big knob (2 tablespoons of butter) on medium/low heat until the onions are translucent. Add a third cup of flour and mix it in. Pour in the carton of chicken stock (and one cube of chicken buillion) to the flour/onion mix and stir slowly through. Add a handful of whole peeled pearl onions and 2 carrots- sliced thin (that you have blanched quickly in boiling water, just to take the edge off) one handful of peas and one teaspoon of salt. Stir until the entire mixture becomes think. Fold in the diced chicken breasts and divide entire mixture in a 2 small overproof bowls. Cover with store bought frozen puff pastry (or your own homemade pastry) and secure the edges. Cut slits in the top and brush with egg wash (one beaten egg and one tablespoon of water) and put in the oven for 45 minutes at 375 degrees. Check it as it's cooking. Once the pastry is glowy brown, it's really ready to be brought out. Serves 2

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Pics by the wonderful Squire Fox. (Concept and Art Direction: Dimity Jones) 

Hojaldras de Jamon y Queso

The first day in Mexico I slept all day in the Hotel. The Hotel I booked, on the strength that it had, excitedly, among other things, magnificent food.

The second day in Mexico, I rode to the nearby village and ate my way around town, discovering a wonderful Bakery and lots of road-side women, selling incredible taco's from make-shift carts and precarious card tables.

On the third day in Mexico I crave the salty sweet Ham and Cheese pastry (Hojaldras de Jamon y Queso) that I'd had the day before, while cycling around town, from Pan del Carmen.

You see, that was the problem; I'd tasted the crunchy, flakey, sweet baked items and the flavorful local porky morsels (like pungent fatty pork—and chorizo with potato) from the little women at the street stalls in the village so that nothing any 'well-meaning' Hotel conglomerate could offer me would suffice. (No matter how many stars, no matter how good the food was) Breakfast had always been a dilemma for me. Salty or sweet.. (waffles or eggs?) Today I'm craving this pastry, which is both of those things, so I get on my bicycle and head back to the village.

Hojaldras de Jamon y Queso is a ridicuously flaky pastry, with a hard shell of baked-on chunky sugar that's had a chance to caramelize. I'm eating it off a faded red plastic table (a gift from Coco-Cola, it seems). The Ham is slightly salty and I detect a hint of smoke. The cheese is soft, oozy, yellow. Possibly too yellow. Which might imply chemical enhancement, but I don't care. Within moments I'm bathed in crumbs. Big delicious flakes —so thin, you can see-through the jagged shards.

I want to scream my joy from the bakery balcony! Re-direct (by hand, like a Traffic cop) the hoards of optimistic Caucasian faces alighting from the nearby Tour buses and urge them to move away from the Pizziera. (I mean; I'm sure it's fine, but who goes to Mexico for the Pizza?) And then, advise them too, to avoid the places with English translated breakfast menus with their earnest and perfectly cut papaya squares, and their 'health' cereal containing just the right flax seed for colon control. Come to the bakery people! Pan del Carmen! (and the little lady around the corner who sells the best taco's ever)

I hold court there, at the Bakery, for quite sometime. (On my plastic Coco-Cola table, with my mess of flakey shards) saying a cheery 'hola!' to the people entering the Bakery who I have never met before and I will never meet again. While the baker himself brings out tray upon tray of small intricate goods (while Gangster Rap thumps in the back room) They get arranged, tier by tier, on rough-hewn wooden racks with Neon signs; Cinnamon bark— candied and sprinkled on small fried dough pieces, Churros, Cookies shaped like slices of watermelon, a curious bread roll with a stick of green jelly (who's name is smeared and I can't read) and the Budin, a triangle dough seeped in caramel syrup, like raisin bread pudding, but denser.

Then I go across to where the little lady with the incredible taco's is, but she's gone. Magnificent dining really means being able to access the same street stall or local bakery, two days in a row and unfortunately, sadly, I'm a day short.

3 dishes I'm obsessed with right now

THE BBQ HUNAN FISH DISH AT HUNAN KITCHEN: This dish will blow your head off. Have it spinning around the room, punching the walls even but then when you calm down, swill iced water (which will do nothing for the heat, by the way) you won't want to stop eating this, until you will. Then you'll take most of it home to look forward to eating it the next day. The tinge of spicy cumin with crunchy nuts, warm yellow potatoes and succulent fish is divine.

NOTE: If you show up at the restaurant and don't remember what the dish is called, just ask for 'the fish dish' and they'll know what you mean.

Hunan Kitchen of Grand Sichuan, in Flushing, Queens. NY

THE 'MARTHA' PIZZA AT OVEST. Mozzarella, Prosciutto, Truffle’ Pate’, Basil... (with no tomato sauce base). I love the way the truffle oil clings to the prosciutto, like a warm fragrant blanket. I tried to get this delivered but it's not as good. You just have to go there.

Ovest Pizzoteca, Chelsea, NY

THE LENTIL SALAD AT HARTWOOD. I think of most lentil dishes as heavy (Winter-like even) but this salad manages to be refreshing and weightless. It has lentils, wide slivers of ricotta salata, plums, lentil sprouts and the key ingredient: pickled grapes.

Hartwood, Tulum, Mexico

Whale Spotting!

"...the flamboyance of another era contrasted with the simplest of seafood... an older couple takes high to the seaside cliffs (think Dover, or the Scottish coastline) to whale watch, listen to the local horse races on the transistor (she does love a flutter!) and eat the simplest, purest of seafood. Caught fresh and brought up to them by the local mariners from the icy waters below..."

INDIVIDUAL MUSSEL PACKETS

(Recipe courtesy of food stylist Simon Andrews)

12 Mussels 12 cockles or Little Necks 12 Razor Clams Fresh Chili sliced 1/2 cup picked Parsley 1/4 cup chopped Fennel fronds Garlic Clove minced option of a 1/2 cup of halved cherry Tomatoes 1/4 cup White Wine Olive Oil

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Scrub and then distribute an assortment of razor clams, cockles and mussels on 4 large pieces of parchment paper.

Add the fresh chili, fennel fronds and parsley drizzle with olive oil and pour a splash of white wine over each pile of mussels

Gather the edges of the parchment paper together, and fold to close or tie into a bundle with twine.

Bake in the oven for 12 -15 minutes. Unwrap the pouches, and serve with frites or crusty bread to mop up the juices and a farmhouse beer like Saison Dupont!

SERVES 4

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"WHALE SPOTTING"

PHOTOGRAPHS: David Malosh

FOOD (RECIPE CONCEPT AND STYLING): Simon Andrews

PROPS: Tara Marino

(Art direction/visual concept: Dimity Jones)

Child's Play

Mmmm, what's for dinner...? Steak, maybe- or fish?

My 6 year old son is obsessed with white food. He would happily eat boiled pasta or white rice, hot or cold, with a pat of pale white butter and a thin shaving of Mozzarella, although mostly he'd ask you to hold the cheese. But he'd insist on salt. (Sometimes he eats it straight out of the container) He frowns at the thought of a fresh Orange, or god forbid a bright colored Clementine.

This dish allows you to sneak in seasonal and plentiful Winter citrus fruits and get bonus points for creating a somewhat 'healthy' version of white food. (Tofu!) This recipe also enables you to do a Vegan riff on the classic old-school Chinese restaurant dish of Sweet and Sour Pork. This dish does contain sugar though, (you need it to get the sweet-and-sour taste) I use unbleached cane sugar or dehydrated and granulated cane juice but you want to make it Vegan you could substitute agave nectar or maple syrup and thus avoid sugar entirely, it's up to you.

Sneak in seasonal Winter citrus with a somewhat ‘healthy’ version of white food. (Tofu!)

TOFU STICKS in STICKY SWEET-AND-SOUR CLEMENTINE SAUCE

Put three quarters of a cup of regular vinegar in a heavy based saucepan. Add half a cup of sugar and whole segments from 3 peeled clementines. Bring to boil then reduce to simmer and sit for 20 minutes or more, stirring occasionally until the liquid reduces and becomes syrupy. Use the back of your spoon to squeeze the segments against the sides of the pan to release their juice. Meanwhile slice an Extra- Firm pack of 14 oz Organic Tofu into same size sticks. Put half a cup of regular all purpose flour and half a cup of cornflour into a clean dry bowl with some salt and pepper. Mix. Dredge the tofu sticks liberally with the flour mixture and fry in olive oil or vegetable oil in a hot saucepan till browned on both sides. Place on paper towels to drain. Check your sticky clementine sauce. It should have reduced, almost to half, most of the clementines should be pulped and will have thickened to a marmalade-type syrup. Pour some straight onto a plate, and place sticks of tofu on top, serve.

NOTE: The sticky clementine sauce will be scalding hot once it leaves the saucepan so wait considerably for it to cool before serving it to small mouths. Also, make sure you make enough for yourself. This dish is highly addictive. You'll be dipping the crunchy logs (the addition of cornflour makes the outside coating crunchier than usual) into the sweet and sour syrup and scooping up the marmalade clementines readily. To round out the meal you could serve it with a little steamed brown rice and broccoli.

Spring is here! Poached Rhubarb with Elderflower Sabayon

Here is the first of six food stories that I art directed in the current (April) issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine. This one (above) is for Rhubarb Sabayon.

To get the recipe for this, click here.

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Photographed by Johnny Miller. Food concepted and styled by Charlotte March. Prop styling: Liz Adler.

When in a pickle: Experiment!

4 PICKLES: (1) Black and Watermelon Radish, (2) Crispy Sunchoke, (3) Purple Snow Pea (4) and Rhubarb. Make a few up and serve them with the best crunchy and succulent Fried Chicken, (above) from New York City's Dirty Bird

4 PICKLES > FROM 1 PICKLE BRINE

This brine is flavorsome enough that you don't need to store these for weeks before eating, infact they're ready to eat straight away. The key is Pickling Salt. You might need to go to a specialty food store to find some. Iodized salt, Kosher salt, in my mind, won't really do the trick. The other thing to remember with pickles is that like soup, or stew, you'll need to build up a flavor base, but that's where the fun begins and you get to experiment.

THE BRINE: Put half a cup of Pickling Salt to 4 cups of Water in a bowl (or a few bowls if you're doing more than one type of pickle). Put into the bowl whatever you would like to pickle. (Rhubarb tends to bleed pink, so it's better in it's own bowl. Sunchokes need to be sliced coin size and Beans can go straight in whole) You need to leave them sit in the salty water for 4-6 hours. After letting your pickles sit, drain them and rinse well in water, drain again.

THE PICKLING LIQUID: In a heavy based saucepan add 1 and a third cup of Apple Cider Vinegar and two thirds cup of Water. That's your 2 cups. Now you can duplicate those 2 cups to fill up as many jars as you like. To every 2 cups add 5 tablespoons of Dark Brown Sugar if you're doing rhubarb or another condiment that needs extra sugar. If you are doing regular sliced Sunchokes, 3 tablespoons of Dark Brown Sugar will do just fine. Add a teaspoon of Pickling Salt regardless. Then heat up the apple cider vinegar, water, brown sugar and salt over the stove, on medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until the sugar dissolves. Turn off your heat and set aside, that's your pickling liquid.

THE FLAVOR BASE: Into small clean 8 oz jars put your drained (cut or whole) pickles. Don't fill them up too high in the jar. Leave a good inch at the top. In front of you place several small bowls that contain the following:

—Whole Coriander Seeds

—Whole Fennel Seeds

—Whole Cumin Seeds

—Red Pepper or Chile Flakes

—Thin slivers of Fresh Ginger

—Thin slivers of Fresh Garlic

Now mix and match. Place half teaspoons of any or all of these to each of your pickles. Try Rhubarb with a half teaspoon of Coriander Seeds and Ginger, try Sunchokes with all of the ingredients here listed above. Try fresh Green Beans with a whole teaspoon of sliced Garlic and a touch of Chili Flakes. The combinations are endless and up to you. What about Lemongrass? Pink Peppercorns... sprigs of fresh Dill, or Whole Dill Seed, thin slivers of Horseradish Root? You could crush some Lemongrass or even add a stick of Cinnamon, or some Whole Cloves to the Rhubarb. Add the whole Pink Peppercorns to the Beans. What about some Wasabi Snow Peas? Experiment!

COMBINE THE TWO: When are you done experimenting with ingredients, pour the pickling liquid into jars containing pickles and screw the top on. Shake and refrigerate. I don't bother to sterilize anything or boil anything because quite frankly the pickles in my fridge usually get eaten up in a couple of weeks.

NOTE: You can pickle whatever you want. I usually go to the Farmer's Market and just pick up whatever's there. Admittedly in February, the market can be particularly bleak. But don't be afraid to try the ugly root vegetable. Give it a go! You'll be surprised at how easy it is. A tip for when you're experimenting; I'd avoid using any ground spices as they tend to make the liquid cloudy, so stick with whole elements.

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Googy-Egg

HOW TO MAKE THE PERFECT SOFT BOILED EGG:

(Recipe courtesy of Maggie Ruggiero)

Lower a room temperature egg into boiling water so that it's completely submerged. Remove the egg with a slotted spoon after 3 minutes and rest until it's cool enough to peel. (Do not drop the egg into cold water to help the peeling process because it's important for the egg to continue to cook as it cools) Serve dipped with hot buttered toast "soldiers" or all by itself, with a small sprinkling of sea salt.

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Simple food on a complex backdrop. Photographs by: John Kernick, Food styling: Maggie Ruggiero, Prop styling: Paige Hicks. (Art direction/visual concept: Dimity Jones)

Googy-egg: slang: Australia. Means: 'Egg'

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Pie Charts

Photo's: David Malosh, Food styling: Adrienne Anderson, Prop Styling: Tara Marino, . (Art Direction/Visual concept: Dimity Jones)

Scandinavia in New York?

On Stephen Orr's first day as Editorial Director of Gardening at Martha Stewart Living, I made him (he was new, he wanted to be accommodating) rip up the plants on the rooftop and bring them downstairs so I could play out an idea I had try to emulate a Scandinavian water scene for my food shoot that day. The opening pic (above) was actually taken indoors, in studio B, nowhere near natural grasslands, and nowhere near water. (Scandinavian or otherwise!)

Photo by Raymond Hom

Prop styled by Sarah Smart

Food concept and styled by Charlotte March

Stephen Orr also has a great new book that launches tomorrow... it's called Tomorrow's Garden: Design and inspiration for a new age of sustainable gardening. Check it out!

Thanksgiving Oyster Dressing (or Stuffing)

On a fashion shoot in New Orleans a couple of years ago, a local photo assistant scribbled her mother's oyster stuffing recipe down on a piece of notepaper in bright red pen. That was the moment I started obsessing about this dressing. While my version is now substantially different from hers (she likes to use a herb seasoning mix and frozen spinach) and mine is not traditionally Southern, at all, it's become a favorite amongst my friends and I now make it on special occasions, year 'round, no-matter-what.

My oyster dressing In the blue casserole, top right.

One Cup o' Joe >> to Woah!

Plain old cup of Joe; you're secret weapon for savory, or sweet. Get your daily shot— then take it up a notch.

Something so ordinary, like your everyday cup of coffee can elevate a dish into something more complex and intriguing. It just takes one cup.

(Photo by Johnny Miller)

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Get your sweet fix: CHOCOLATE PUDDING with SICHUAN PEPPERCORNS Chocolate Pudding + Sichuan Peppercorns + plus one cup of Coffee

In a heavy based saucepan, put a half cup of Heavy Cream, 4 oz of Powdered Cocoa, (I used a Valrhona Cocoa Powder from France that I found at Wholefoods, it's very dark and rich, but a Cadbury or Toll House Cocoa will work just fine) 1 small cup of brewed Coffee, 1 teaspoon of finely ground Sichuan Peppercorns. (or 12 -15 grinds from a Sichuan Peppercorn grinder, Frontier has a good one) and 1 pinch of Sea Salt. Stir together with a wooden spoon over low heat. Until the Cocoa Powder has melted and the chocolate is super thick, and clumpish. Try to make sure all the powder is mixed in. Take off the heat, but don't let sit or it will harden. Meanwhile beat on high in a mixer 3 egg whites with 4 tablespoons of regular white sugar. When stiff peaks are formed, fold the egg sugar mixture into the chocolate mixture and stir until all is combined thoroughly. Add 1 tablespoon of Honey and mix throughly. Pour the chocolate mixture into 4 coffee cups. Cover each with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

Note: This recipe is super simple, it just takes 15 minutes to make and the rest is chilling time. Start it after your morning cup of joe is made, and you'll be tucking into pudding by lunch. This is definitely an adult's pudding, though, I love a full teaspoon of the Sichuan Peppercorns, but you may want to start with a smaller amount and build up to taste.

Adding one cup of coffee to regular chocolate pudding (with a tingly kick of Sichuan Peppercorns) takes this pudding up to a whole new level. Serve the pudding in coffee cups for a neat play on the ingredients. (These cute little sailor cups were found in Wisconsin)

Get your savory fix: SPICY CHIPOTLE BABY BACK RIBS Baby Back Pork Ribs + chipotle peppers + plus one cup of coffee

Preheat the oven to 350. Put 3 cups of water in a saucepan and bring to boil. In a food processor put: 2 cloves of Garlic roughly chopped, 1 tablespoon of roughly chopped Chipotle Chile in Adobe Sauce (from a can), 2 tablespoons of Maple Syrup, the juice from half a fresh lime, half a medium White onion, 1 tablespoon of Kirmizi Biber (or regular Crushed Chili Pepper flakes) 1 tablespoon of hot water from the saucepan and 2 teaspoons of salt. Pulse. Taste. It should be smokey, spicy and possibly too sweet. Don't worry, the sweetness will temper down when you add the brewed coffee. Quickly brown 3 lbs of well Salted (and Peppered) Baby Back Pork Ribs that have been cut into 3 rib portions, in hot vegetable oil. When quickly seared golden brown, put the ribs in a ovenproof roasting pan. Put the puree from the food processor into the same pan you used to brown the ribs. Gently bring to boil, add one small cup of brewed coffee. Stir. Pour the puree over the ribs, add the boiled water from your stovetop and cover loosely with Aluminium Foil and bake for 3 to 3 and a half hours. Keep an eye on the water level, you don't want it to burn. You may need to top it up with more water in the last remaining hour. Serve with Honeyed Parsnip Polenta and a Raw Kale Salad with Lemon and Pecorino.

Wake up and smell the... Spicy Chipotle Baby Back Ribs! Sweet Maple and juicy Pork enhanced with one cup of coffee. The ribs will be falling off the bone. Serve with sweet, but creamy Honeyed Parsnip Polenta and a Raw Kale Salad topped with lemon and Pecorino.