Artifact Rule # 6... you can never have too much garlic confit

I like to think that maybe it’s my Korean eth­nic­ity blended with my Jer­sey Ital­ian upbring­ing, but there is some­thing about fresh from the gar­den Fam­ily Meals that always remind me of home.  If any of you are Ital­ians, you know that it’s really all about the matri­arch. So, for me mem­o­ries start with my great-grandmothers pink house filled with wine and pick­les, my grand-parents prized veg­etable gar­den, and my moms ever grow­ing (some­what obscene) basil gar­den.  Now, food and fam­ily go hand in hand, and in many cul­tural upbring­ings, the act of prepar­ing, serv­ing, and feed­ing food to your friends and fam­ily, is an act of love.

Show your love this week­end with a trip to the Farm­ers Mar­ket. Go on, bring your family…friends… lovers… neighbors…beagles… and nour­ish and replen­ish your body and minds with this sim­ple Farm­ers Mar­ket Scal­lion Pan­cake recipe.

Fondly, Allie

Scal­lion Pancakes

Recipe yields 2 Big Bites, 8 Baby Bites

• 130 g. AP Flour
• 40 g. Cornstarch
• 4 g. Bak­ing Soda
• 230 g. Club Soda
• 12 g. Soy Sauce
• 5 g. Sugar
• 1 Egg Yolk
• Chopped scal­lion tops
• Salt & Pep­per to taste

Whisk dry and wet ingre­di­ents sep­a­rately, then together.

Heat ¼” oil in a heavy skil­let over high heat.  Just before oil reaches smoke point, toss in a hand­ful of scal­lion tops.  After a brief sauté, ladle a thin layer of pan­cake bat­ter into pan and turn down the heat a lit­tle.  Once the pan­cake is crispy around bot­tom edge and coheres, flip it to fin­ish.  Ease it out of the pan after a minute or so onto a paper towel to soak up excess oil.  Gar­nish with any or all of (but not lim­ited to!) the fol­low­ing:  Hots, whole cloves of gar­lic con­fit, cilantro leaves, daikon radish, kohlrabi pick­les, salt & pep­per, thin sliced jalapenos, etc.

Morning… Midday… Night… Poolside… Inflatable Poolside… Work… or at Home. Anytime, Anywhere… the Peach Limeade is perfect.

The one thing that makes Charm City not so “charm­ing” has got to be the swel­ter­ing heat and humid­ity this sea­son.   Dur­ing the dog days of sum­mer my life usu­ally con­sists of maneu­ver­ing my way around the city with com­plete laser-like focus.  Sim­ply put, my mis­sion: air con­di­tion­ing point A to air con­di­tion­ing point B with absolutely no stops in between.

For a moment’s relief I whip up a sim­ple and refresh­ing, icy cold Peach Limeade. The peaches com­ing into Arti­fact have been absolute straight-up juicy per­fec­tion.  A lil’ bit of sweet and sour, and you will be instantly cooled.

So stop run­ning around from point A to B, say “hello” to your neigh­bor, and clink your glasses to sunny days.

Fondly, Allie

Peach Pit & Vanilla Sim­ple Syrup

• 5 Peach pits
• ½ Scraped vanilla bean
• 4 Cups Sugar
• 4 Cups Water

Stir all ingre­di­ents over high heat until it reaches a boil. Turn off and remove from heat. Strain, and cool.

• 1 ½ oz. Freshly squeezed peaches
• Half a squeezed lime
• ½ oz. Peach Pit & Vanilla Sim­ple Syrup
• 3-¼ oz. Water
• 1 Sprig of fresh mint for garnish

Com­bine all ingre­di­ents. Lightly stir. Gar­nish. Enjoy good times.