On a recent outing with a group of Farm fans we explored and shopped Sunset Park’s Chinatown. We were having a great time and at one point a guy started talking to me about whether I had ever heard of homemade Rice Wine or knew where to find it. I didn’t and while intrigued had basically no clue how to acquire that. It must have been five minutes later and I turn around and there he was with a plastic quart container of rose colored liquid. Pretty impressive! We drank some on the street. I’m not saying this to be provocative but it was pretty great. It had a lively acidity, a maderized or oxidative quality that you find in sherry or Madeira, all around a balanced dry wine. I’ve been back since and let’s just say there can be a lot of variation from batch to batch.

In other news; if you happen to be walking down Cortelyou Road anytime soon and are passing by the laundry mat on the corner of E. 16th St., then you might be inclined to have a mexican corn soup served out of a five gallon bucket inside of a shopping cart. I know that sounds brutally unappetizing but it is what it is. It’s a corn soup with mayo, parmesan, fresh lime, and chili. The couple serving it are charming and get crazy amounts of props from people for being out there, and they’re pretty busy.

Good looks to all those who’ll be on the street all winter bangin it out.

Daphne…not a fan of bees, unsurpisingly

Magnolia (the flowers are edible as are the flowers of all stone fruit trees)

Chickweed (salad material)

Garlic-Mustard (smells like it sounds—used like an herb)

Echinacea (the stuff people turn to when they’re sick. But actually should be used as a preventative)

Field Garlic

Pine (edible as in a tea. The resins can also be used for cleaning)

At the restaurant we’ll combine them with moderately hot peppers like cubanelles and poblanos. There’s nothing I hate more than a raw bell pepper. The flavor reminds me of salad bars from the 80’s. Roasting peppers is probably the most talked about “quick and easy” method for dealing with a pepper. There’s another not great memory that comes to mind when I think about roasted peppers which is Bobby Flay on his show Grillin’ and Chillin’, sometime during the late 90’s. On the show Flay would dazzle his co-host Jack McDavid with his bold, quick, cityfied grilling techniques, all the while insulting McDavid’s “slow and low” cooking as backwater, rube fare. I think a pepper got roasted in every other episode. So not to beat a dead horse but, fire roasting a pepper is kind of a great thing.

If you really don’t know how to fire roast a pepper, it’s easy. Put it over an open flame until the skin is charred black. Place the peppers in a bowl covered with plastic wrap and let the heat carry over and transfer until the pepper is cooked soft. That should take, depending on the size, about 30-45minutes. Peel the skin with a paper towel. Don’t worry too much about cleaning off all of the black skin, it’ll lend smokiness to the final product. Remove the seeds and you’re in business. The downside is that the pepper got cooked without being seasoned. So it’s bland right now. A nice remedy for that is marinating. Pick up some thyme or whatever fresh herb you’re thinking about (rosemary, marjoram, savory). Throw the leaves of the herb along with some olive oil or grapeseed oil, sherry vinegar or lemon juice, salt, pepper and taste. Basically herb+oil+acidity+salt is what is being introduced. Keep in mind that the pepper will absorb these flavors the longer it sits. In a few hours you may actually need to season again. Things we’ve done with peppers marinated in this way: beef tongue confit with roasted cippollinis; cold as a salad with feta and almonds; served room temperature with a seared piece of yellowfin tuna; used in a ceviche marinade with charmoula spices and fluke. You could take the marinade further by infusing the oil with a spice blend, or I think it’s nice to add a small amount of honey to add sweetness to the bitterness that some peppers have.

This is a great thing to do on a grill. It might also be some of the last days where you’re going to want to cook outdoors so fire it up and enjoy!

Hoop house tomatoes from Pennsylvania, raspberries, basil, cucumbers, lemongrass jelly