Back in Brooklyn

If you don't change. Nothing will. Kale Zeps, New York To California and back. And a playlist.

Hey,

I haven’t really talked about it much but I moved back to New York in June.

Back in Brooklyn. A place I never thought I would leave and a place I never thought I would move back to. It was a quick decision and it was a good one. I loved my time In California and appreciate all that the beach and sun provided for so long, Do I miss it? Of course I do. That doesn’t mean I want to move back. Not sure when it was that it finally clicked over but when my last project started to drag it’s feet I started to reflect on my last trip to NYC. Then there was a weekend of seeing some old bands and did the pizza pop up at Revelation Records in Huntington Beach. There were tons of old friends from NY and the east coast around all the time. I kept feeling the east coast and I had to be one again.

I pretty much kept it to myself as I was about to open a highly anticipated restaurant that I put a lot of energy into and that’s all I was working towards for as long as I can remember. I found the perfect situation, at least that’s what it seemed.

When I was alerted by my partners things needed to pause it was a kick in the ass. The finish line seemed so close although it varied from day to day. There were some final touches to be made. I haven’t seen so many false starts as I had in the last few years anywhere. After I helped move the restaurant in Venice to the hotel in Beverly Hills I made the decision that I needed to cook and work on my terms, start cooking the food I really connect with and to have fun again. A great connection placed me with a family to cook lunch and dinner for a few days a week and I started doing some dinners and pizza at my friends Goodie Farm and Willowbrook Apple Farm, 90 miles inland from Los Angeles a few times a month.

I heard about this new place that was opening and I had an immense feeling to find out if this was an opportunity for me. After a few meetings it felt great. I was ready and excited to put 100% into the development of this new endeavor. While I had a direction from my partners, I did feel like this could have been the balance I was looking for with seemingly freedom to create a great menu and be able to source incredible ingredients. Of course there is always challenges, but this was something I was willing to do to be back in that energy. There was too much potential. I felt like I was given the chance to create something great with a whole new team in a new place. Was it a waste of time? I don’t think so. It put me back on track. It in many ways brought me back to New York. It reconnected me in a way with my roots. I needed a big change, I moved around a lot the last few years searching for comfort and inspiration, I found some bursts here and there. New York has always been the center. It’s my home. When Elena told me straight up I need to move back to NY because anything I want to do in LA I can do here and better it clicked and it was on. A place to land with the cats and a private chef gig lined up and I was on my way. As soon as I told John I was coming back he said we need to start playing music again. I truly felt everything was falling into place. The chef gig didn’t work out and I need to share more of that experience and will soon in the future. The Music is moving forward with John and there’s now a few different music projects in the current works. I am pretty sure I can confidently say I will be sharing some new music in 2025.

I don’t know what my output here will be.

People always ask for my cookbooks (I co-wrote Plant Food (gibbs-smith) and PlantLab (regan arts) with Mathew Kenney. I feel like this may be a better way to share recipes that have a little more feeling to time and place so I am going to share what I am getting into here with some sprinklings of me playing music with friends and some things that get me going.

Thanks for coming by to check it out,

This recipe is a take from an old restaurant in Brooklyn called Franny’s, they always had a savory zeppole appetizer that usually were spiked with whatever was great at the market. I remember a version of them with ramps one spring.

I had planned to add them to the menu in LA after I tried them out at the Dinner I did last year in Oakland at Timeless with Land and Sea. They were light, crispy and vegetal, the spicy jam does a fun cooling and heating thing at the same time. They haven’t gone away. I cooked them last week at a Plates Takeover at Decades Pizza in Ridgewood, Queens. They were everything I remembered. I will make them again, and now you can too.

Check out this playlist: songs I have cooked to.

Kale Zeppole with Spicy Tomato Jam

Servings: 12 portions, with 3 zeppole per serving.

Cooking Time:

Preparation Time: 45 minutes

Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

Kale Zeppole:

300g kale, stemmed and finely chopped

258g all-purpose flour, i used king arthur

5g sea salt

300ml warm water

50g extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

5 g red chili pepper, flake

30g yeast

oil for frying

Spicy Tomato Jam:

350g ripe tomatoes, diced

200g Calabrian Chili pepper,

100g onion, finely chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

30ml white wine vinegar

60g sugar

Salt to taste

Preparation:

Prepare the Spicy Jam:

In a saucepan, combine the diced tomatoes, red bell pepper, onion, garlic, red chili pepper, vinegar, sugar, and salt.

Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens and the flavors meld together, about 30-45 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool.

Prepare the Kale Zeppole:

In a small bowl mix yeast and warm water let sit until foamy,

In a large bowl, mix together all-purpose flour and salt,

Gradually stir in the water and yeast and oil until a thick batter forms.

Now fold in the cooked kale mixture

Zeppoles can be cooked day of but better if made the day before and left in a covered container in the refrigerator overnight.

Heat oil in a deep fryer or large pot to 350°F.

Drop spoonfuls of the batter into the hot oil and fry until golden brown and crispy, about 3-4 minutes per batch. Spirnkle with sea salt and drain on paper towels to remove excess oil.

Assembly:

Plating the Kale Zeppole:

Divide the fried kale zeppole evenly among serving plates, placing about 3-4 zeppole per portion.

Drizzle the spicy jam over the zeppole, ensuring each portion gets a generous amount.

Garnish with powdered sugar and dried calendula flowers