Homework

I’m giving y’all the heads up now so you won’t miss it:  I’ll be cooking my last brunch for a while on Sunday, May 23, at Mill Valley General Store (2800 Sisson St., Baltimore), from 9-1.

The theme is STRAWBERRIES.  The first fruit of the new season, and I don’t know about you, but I am beyond ready.

I’ll be picking the berries myself the day before the brunch, so you know they’ll be fresh and local as possible, and you just don’t get much more field-to-fork than when the chef actually goes out into the field and picks the fruit for you.  So c’mon out for

The Ohio Bowl
A mound of lightly sugared strawberries over split buttermilk biscuits, doused in fresh Trickling Springs creamline milk.  A breakfast treat I looked forward to all year as a child. Add a little whipped cream, if you like.

The Parfait
Lightly sugared strawberries layered with creamy Jersey milk yogurt from Pequea Valley Farms and the whole-grain crunch of small-batch granola, sprinkled with toasted pecans.

A la carte
Buttermilk biscuits with honey butter
Bowl of berries

Again, that’s Sunday, May 23, from 9-1, at Mill Valley General Store, 2800 Sisson St., Baltimore.  See you there!

Dear Foodie Friends –

I’ll be cooking a special brunch for Mother’s Day, Sunday May 9, at Mill Valley General Store (2800 Sisson St., Baltimore, Maryland), from 9 to 1.  This laid-back but luxe affair will feature your choice of

– my own homemade gravlax, made with love from sustainably harvested Atlantic salmon, served with Tellicherry pepper-spiked labneh, pickled red onion, capers, and fresh crusty bread

or

– shallot-gruyere bread pudding, a delectable marriage of sweet caramelized shallots, aged Gruyere, free-range eggs, naturally leavened whole wheat bread, organic milk, and fresh spring herbs from my 100% organic kitchen garden

If you’re feeling indulgent, have some of each!

For dessert, delightful lemon or key lime bars — sunny lemon curd or perky key lime curd slathered on top of buttery shortbread and sprinkled with powdered sugar.  Try one or luxuriate in one of each.

As a thank-you to all the mothers in our midst, I’m offering a free lemon or key lime bar to any mama with the purchase of brunch.  Thank you for all you do, and as I say to my own mom every year, for not strangling us even when we deserve it!

Hand-blended tea available from Zensations by Jen, Zeke’s Coffee and bottled beverages available from Mill Valley.

RESERVATIONS: email han...@hanneblankcooks.com and let me know how many will be in your party, and whether you’d prefer to come during the 9:00-11:00 window or between 11:00-1:00.  RSVP by Wednesday, May 5.

I’m looking forward to cooking for you!

Go to bed in Baltimore, but wake up in China!  I’ll be cooking brunch this Sunday at Mill Valley General Store, 2800 Sisson St. in Baltimore, from 9-1.  I’m calling it the Double Happiness Brunch because I’ll be serving two of my favorite Chinese breakfasts, and really, you just can’t go wrong with that!  Here’s the menu:

Congee
The savory rice porridge known as congee or jook is one of the classic Chinese breakfast comfort foods.  Pick your own distinctive combo of mix-ins from the following: scallions, cilantro, fried Virginia peanuts, red-cooked egg or tofu, our own house-made Hunan-style pickled cabbage, and minced pork with garlic.  $6.

Jian Bing
Expats have nicknamed this Beijing street favorite the “Egg McMao” — a big, filling, and surprisingly addictive Chinese crepe made right before your eyes, stuffed with egg, a piece of the fried bread called yu tiao, and your choice of bean sprouts, scallions, cilantro, brown bean paste, hoisin,  sweet house-made chili-garlic paste, and fermented broad bean and chili paste .  $6.

Single yu tiao available while they last for 25 cents each, dunk one in your congee!

Cash only please.  No reservations needed, just c’mon over.

Hot tea available by the cup from Zensations by Jen; Zeke’s Coffee by the cup and assorted cold beverages available from Mill Valley.

Just a quick note:

The Dumplings Take Over the World event scheduled for March 14 at Mill Valley is being rescheduled. Updates as I have them. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Two event announcements…

Mill Valley General Store Winter Produce Co-Op Food Demo and Sampling Saturday, February 20 at 10 am, 11 am, noon, and 1 pm

Free and Open to the Public

Join me Saturday, Feb. 20th. for a show-and-tell-and-taste as I walk you through these scrumptious recipes…

• Moroccan Orange Salad — Bright and zesty, this version of a traditional North African salad is great when more traditional salad ingredients are out of season.
• Roasted Baby Beets and Turnips with Mint-Garlic Yogurt — Roasted root vegetables served with yogurt are a comfort food throughout the Fertile Crescent.
• Mushroom-Celeriac Pecan Pate — This versatile, light, and savory vegan pate works with bread, crackers, or crudités, and makes a great sandwich filling. It is also delicious tossed with hot pasta as a pesto.
• Braised Red Cabbage with Apple and Mustard — A twist on a traditional Mennonite method of cooking the old faithfuls of winter produce. This holds well, so make enough for lunch the next day!

At Mill Valley General Store, 28th and Sisson St., Baltimore MD.

Call 410.889.6842 for more info.

* * * * *          * * * * *           * * * * *

Dumplings Take Over The World

Hanne Blank (that’s me!) and Mick T. Pirate of Whiskey Island Pirate Shop take over Mill Valley General Store to bring you another dazzling and delicious display of  dumpling derring-do!

Sunday, March 14 at  Mill Valley General Store

28th and Sisson, Baltimore, Maryland

Seatings at 9:30 am and 11:30 a

The last event sold out and seating is limited, so make your reservations early by contacting Mick at mick...@aol.com

March 2010 Dumplings Take Over The World Menu

A Bowl of Soul
Throughout China, a bowl of huntun — the Cantonese call them wonton
– is a favorite street food. Our fresh handmade huntun come in a
traditional pork and water chestnut filling or a vegan Buddhist
version with seitan. Try them northern style, with diabolically tasty
Chengdu ma la oil infused with chiles, Sichuan pepper, and spices. Or,
for those who “pa la” (fear chiles), the southern version with
Cantonese ginger-scallion oil is sublime.

Gunpowder Pearls
The Chinese invented gunpowder, but it took Maryland to produce
Gunpowder Bison. Coated with glistening glutinous rice and fragrant
with Mongolian spices, these steamed balls of ground bison are our
shout-out to Asian cowboys everywhere.

Lotus Seed Bao
Traditional dim sum menus include sweet items alongside the savory so
eaters can enjoy alternating tastes. Filled with delicate lotus seed
paste, these homestyle steamed buns will bring you a sweet and happy
Year of the Tiger!

Again, The last event sold out and seating is limited, so make your reservations early by contacting Mick at mick...@aol.com

What’ve I been up to recently?

Well, I’m still writing a book.  And a second book.  And trying to find time to work, now and then, on a third book.

But I’ve also been making a lot of these little bundles of joy:

Chewy and crunchy, homemade potstickers stuffed with pork, salted cabbage, and water chestnut.

Including for a little event we called Dumplings Take Over The World, where a full sampler plate of the goodies I cooked up looked like this (taken by one of our diners, Rachel Whang):

Make way for dumplings! Photo Rachel Whang.

You can read more about the event in Heather Hulsey’s enthusiastic review in Gutter Magazine, if you like.

And I’ll be cooking up a storm at Mill Valley General Store here in Baltimore (Sisson and 28th St.) this Saturday, February 20, from 10-2, as I demo a bunch of delicious dishes showcasing items available through Mill Valley’s Winter Produce Co-Op.  It’s free, open to the public, and there’ll be samples of things like Moroccan Orange Salad, Mushroom-Celeriac Pecan Pate, and Roasted Beets and Golden Turnips with Mint-Garlic Yogurt if you want to come on over.

But most recently, I’ve been working on these:

Mexican Chocolate "faux-reos" -- pink for Valentine's Day.

I’m sure it had something to do with our having gotten four feet of snow in the space of a week –no small thing for a town where we usually get about 18 inches over the course of a whole winter.  (We’ve been referring to it as “snOMG.”)  I was doing epic amounts of snow shoveling, and what I wanted was a sandwich cookie that was basically an Oreo on steroids.  After a bit of thought I figured out that what that meant was 1) a cookie that was really worth eating, and 2) a complex, rich Mexican chocolate flavor with almonds, cinnamon, and a little bit of chili heat.  This was not a cookie that existed, as far as I could find, so first I looked at a whole mess of recipes for various cookie components and options, then started developing my own.  Following a tasting panel of friends in my kitchen yesterday, I think I’ve got it right… it’ll take one more batch to be sure.

Now, of course, I want a vanilla-based counterpart to the Mexican Chocolate “faux-reo,” something as springlike and refined as the M.C.F.s are hearty and in-your-face.  I’m thinking about flaky palmier-type cookies flavored with vanilla and maybe rose or lavender, with a citrus buttercream.  We’ll see what the winds of spring blow into my kitchen.