Due to work, I have to miss Saturday morning’s Greenmarket at Grand Army Plaza. So instead, I went into Manhattan to the Union Square Greenmarket yesterday, and was pleasantly surprised to see long beans. I’ve cooked with long beans before, but I got them from a vendor in Chinatown, who didn’t have this purple variety. I’ve never seen long beans at the Grand Army Plaza market, so I just had to pick some up. Any suggestions on what to do with them?

I know I’ve written about Brussels sprouts before, but these on-stalk sprouts at the Union Square Greenmarket were too good to pass up. Some people don’t like the bitter flavor, but these mini cabbages really do it for me. Recently I made a dish from a recipe sent to me by my mom that combined Brussels sprouts with apricots and nuts — the contrast between sweet and salty, as well as the texture contrasts, really made the dish.

Funny how I was typing my post on Momofuku Milk Bar where I had their banana cake. And I said on there that I love the flavor of bananas. So of course I was happy to see that Doug, Big Gay Ice Cream Truck, had banana-cocoa puree as a topping today! I just took a red eye flight last night from LA and didn’t get much sleep but damit I’m gonna get me some ice cream after work! I walked from 32nd to 17th. While I was walking down I came up with my 2nd option in case he ran out of banana-cocoa puree. Then I remember seeing wafers as another topping and thought it would be mighty tasty to add that on top of the banana-cocoa puree. When I got there I asked him if he still has the puree and he said YES. SWEET! And yes I got the wafers also. I took a BIG first bite and it was everything I hoped it would be. Really strong banana flavors, love it! Plus the wafers it felt like I was eating a deconstructed banana cocoa cream pie. I once ate a whole banana cream pie by myself.
It was also nice to chat a bit with Doug about the Vendys and Men Pocky sticks and Japan. Not sure what I’ll do once he retires for the winter season. *sigh