Walnut & Pistachio Ramp Pesto

Nibbles & Bites: Issue #13 Ramps, oranges on bagels & other things on the brain

Dear readers,

Thanks for being patient with me. I took a slight break from the usual weekly cadence of my newsletter to unplug, recharge, soak in a few too many bubble baths, and take some time for myself. I’m back, and have a quick visual recap of everything that I have been eating and inspired by over the last two weeks, and I hope that you enjoy following along!

First off, we tried an excellent new Thai restaurant in our neighborhood called Kru that I highly recommend. Above is their confited rabbit, ginger, fried peanut, cilantro and plum salad that was truly exceptional. Their flavors are bold and different, but some dishes on the menu are extremely spicy (and I love spice), so just pick and choose knowing that spice tolerance is all personal.

The waiter warned us that we had ordered the spiciest thing on the menu (the beef tongue curry), which made us nervous, but we were confident we could tolerate it. The dish turned out to be relatively mild in comparison to the fermented fish relish that we had as an appetizer, which quite literally felt like it was searing off our taste buds (in a delicious way). Regardless, we’ll definitely be back.

I went across town for a few days and visited my mom at her apartment to help out with the dog, and whipped up this shrimp, leek, and zucchini bucatini pasta dish for dinner, which looks eerily similar to a recipe that we have created at work (it’s funny how that happens when you’re not even thinking about it). My job has definitely taught me how to be a more resourceful home cook, and this pasta was delicious, easy to prepare and mom approved.

Milo and I have also spent a weekend dog sitting for a family friend who lives in Bed Stuy, and we stayed at their townhouse while caring for their sweet, drooly Boxer named Frida. We enjoyed poking around the neighborhood since we rarely make it over there. I have heard so many wonderful things about Fan-Fan Doughnuts from friends, family and coworkers and finally got around to trying out their diverse and delightfully colorful doughnuts since it was a short walk from where we were staying.

Let me start this off by saying that I’m not really a doughnut person. I would much rather have a cookie or a pastry than a piece of fried dough, but these were remarkably good even if they gave me a slight stomach ache and induced a much needed afternoon nap. If you check Fan-Fan out, their guava cream cheese doughnut is totally worth the hype. We also ordered the mango lassi and the red currant raspberry doughnuts, which were both intensely fruity and had concentrated fresh flavors.

At Fan-Fan, Milo also got cheesecake and guava swirled soft serve - I’ve said before in this newsletter it is impossible for him to go into a store with anything cheesecake flavored and walk out empty handed. It’s a true talent.

Currently, Fan-Fan also has a collaboration with local restaurants and chefs going on for AAPI month, where you can snag a box of eight gallery-worthy donuts with flavors ranging from mango sticky rice, mascarpone gochujang-cherry jam, calamansi meringue pie, and Hong Kong boba milk tea. If you are interested in snagging a box,  make sure to order them in advance online. But even if you’re not in the market for a box of eight doughnuts, please do check out their instagram linked above to check out their jewel-like creations!

I’ve also been wanting to share that I created this new bagel topping that I am fond of and cannot stop thinking about. It’s a mixture of a cup of thick labneh whipped in a food processor with two tablespoons of cream cheese and two tablespoons of sour cream that is then smeared on a toasted bagel. The bagel is then topped with incredibly juicy cara cara orange slices, a generous drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of flaky Malson sea salt. There is something magical about this combination that is just so refreshing, tangy and perfect for this lighter, brighter spring weather. It makes me happy, and it feels luxe and elevated even though it was quite simple.

We also took a trip upstate to visit Milo’s family and went to an all time favorite restaurant, Cafe Mutton, which Milo’s mom identified as being absolutely magnificent well before Bon Appetit gave them the spotlight they deserve. I remember eating on their benches outside in the middle of the pandemic scarfing down their cinnamon rolls in the sunshine.

This trip, we went for dinner and ordered a bunch of different items off of the menu, which changes weekly, but perhaps the most memorable were the fried soft shell crabs that are battered in a mixture of beer and baking powder, creating an exceptionally light and airy coating that just dissolves in your mouth. They also had spring asparagus on the menu that they served with a giant slab of butter that blankets the entire plate of vegetables. Truly delicious! 

We also went to another must go spot, Fortune’s Ice Cream, and picked up three sundae’s after dinner because we’re not good at sharing dessert, four pints of ice cream for the house, and an assortment of ice cream sandwiches to pile into the freezer. Let’s just say that the woman behind the counter was really happy to see us, while the man behind us in line was probably slightly unsettled by the sheer volume of ice cream that we purchased. We’re enthusiasts and we will not be apologizing!

I got a scoop of my go-to Fortune’s flavor, Halva Honeycomb and also tried the Toasted Rice Fluff, which is insanely good. It’s like a rice crispy treat transformed into a wildly milky and smooth scoop of ice cream. There is also nothing more nostalgic than marshmallow to me, and the fluff takes this ice cream to a whole new level of whimsy. 

While upstate, I also visited my super secret spot for picking ramps this time of year. The window of availability is short, so you have to act quickly if you want to secure yourself some. It’s sort of annoying that this time of each every food writer is asking, why is everyone obsessed with ramps? Yet the answer is always the same. They’re elusive, simple as that. They mark the beginning of spring, have a short period of availability, and similar to truffles, ramps can only be foraged in the wild, leading to their scarcity.

I sustainably harvested more ramps than I know what to do with, even after gifting some to friends. I spun them into a walnut-pistachio pesto (recipe below), turned them into vinaigrette, have plans to kimchi them, and have added them to my breakfast sandwiches. I thought the pesto turned out to be particularly delicious, so I included the recipe. If you have any creative recommendations for using up ramps, please let me know!