Life in 3D

Ricotta gnocchi with mushrooms and arugula

Why, hello there!  It's nice to see you too.  It's been a little bit of a busy time around here.  Someone turned one, and then turned thirteen months, and now is lurching around like the cutest little drunken hobo in the world, and work has been busy, and we're trying to pack up our lives to move, and...well, life just took over.

But here's some food.  A few months ago we went out to dinner and brought home some leftover gnocchi for Henry.  He loved them.  I figured I would try to make some at home, since some versions, at least, are pretty easy.  I didn't want to make the traditional potato-based kind, since boiling, peeling, mashing (really, ricing, and I don't have a ricer) seemed like too much work.

So lo and behold, in the March issue of Food and Wine, there was a recipe for ricotta gnocchi from Michael Symon, tucked into a Lexus ad.  First lesson:  recipes in advertisements apparently are not checked for accuracy, and are pretty loosely written.  The instructions for the homemade ricotta would only have made half of the ricotta the gnocchi recipe called for.  I made extra because I wanted some ricotta to spread on toast or what have you, but I barely had enough.  The rest of the recipe was fine.  Pretty good, actually.  Here it is.

Ricotta
1 quart whole milk (I read somewhere not to use ultra-pasteurized)
juice of one lemon (zest it first and use zest for gnocchi)
1/4 t kosher salt
1/4 t sugar

Line a colander with cheesecloth and put in the sink.  In a small pan, heat milk to 180 degrees (approximately when it starts to simmer).  Remove from heat and add lemon juice, salt, and sugar.  Stir until curds form.  Using a skimmer or small strainer, scoop ricotta into colander and let drain slightly.  Use immediately, or refrigerate and use within 2 days.  Makes a scant one cup.

Gnocchi
3/4 cup flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
zest of one lemon
1/4 t kosher salt
1 cup ricotta
1 large egg

1. Combine flour, parmesan, lemon zest, and salt in a bowl.  Add ricotta and egg.  Using a wooden spoon or your fingers, combine well until the dough just comes together.  Try not to overwork it.
2. Scrape the dough onto a well-floured surface and pat it into a rough square.  Cut the dough into thirds using a bench scraper or knife.  Using your hands, gently roll each piece into foot-long ropes about 1 inch in diameter.  Place the ropes on a plate and refrigerate uncovered for five minutes, or up to 2 hours, to rest.
3. When the dough has rested, place the ropes on a floured surface.  Cut each rope into 1/2-inch pieces with a bench scraper or knife and set aside.

Sauce
8 T (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2-3/4 pound mixed mushrooms, sliced (I used oyster and shiitake)
1 small shallot, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
juice of one lemon
2 large handfuls baby arugula
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
2 T water
12 large leaves flat-leaf parsley
salt

1. Bring a pot of water to boil.  Meanwhile, add 4 T butter to a medium saute pan over medium-high heat.  When the butter foams, add the mushrooms and saute until they begin to soften, 2-3 minutes.  Add the shallot and a pinch of salt and saute until fragrant.  Add the garlic and reduce heat to medium.  Add the lemon juice and arugula and saute just until arugula wilts.  Turn off the heat and set aside.
2. When water comes to a boil, salt it well, and cook gnocchi for 1 minute.  While the gnocchi are cooking, heat 3 T butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.  When the butter is brown and fragrant, drain gnocchi and add to the pan.  Cook, turning occasionally, until gnocchi are brown and crisp on all sides, 5-6 minutes.  Pour in the mushroom sauce, turning to coat.  Add remaining T butter, parmesan, and water, stirring until the sauce emulsifies and forms a silken coating. 
3. Turn off the heat.  Spoon the gnocchi into 3 shallow bowls, garnish with parsley leaves, and serve immediately, dusting with additional parmesan if desired.

Serves a not-very-hungry 3.

 

Warm Farro Salad

Guys.  I can't believe I have waited this long to tell you about one of my favorite meals.  I have been making variations on this salad for probably about a year now, and it never ceases to delight.  It's one of my go-to dishes for company because it's a great use of seasonal produce and can be vegetarian or vegan if you want it to be.  It is endlessly versatile and always delicious.  If you haven't tried farro, do it now.  It's so, so good.

A formal (well, still pretty loosey-goosey) recipe follows, but don't let that limit you.  I made this one with some mushrooms sauteed with sherry vinegar, roasted yellow cauliflower, and roasted cubes of butternut squash.  Previous versions have included roasted brussels sprouts, quick-pickled roasted beets, strips of fried prosciutto...you name it, and it will probably work.  This is like the anti-Coco Chanel of salads - it's fun to add one thing and play around with flavor combinations.  Any root vegetable would be great--parsnips, carrots, sweet potatoes--and you could vary the "sour" element of the salad (vinegary mushrooms, quick-pickled red onion, etc.).  Change up the cheese as well - feta, parmesan, even gruyere would be fun.  The only non-negotiable thing is the marcona almonds, because they are just delicious and really make the salad.

Warm Farro Salad
Serves 4

1/2 pound farro
1 small head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeds and strings removed, and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 shallot, minced
1/2 pound assorted mushrooms, sliced
1-2 T sherry vinegar
1/2 t dried thyme
2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
1 generous handful marcona almonds, toasted
1 handful parsley, chopped
juice of 1/2-1 lemon (depending on juiciness)
olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400.  Bring a pot of water to boil, salt generously, and add farro.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until farro is tender, about 15 minutes (I didn't keep track of the time, unfortunately - just test it every now and then).  Drain, return to pot, and toss with a glug of olive oil and the lemon juice.  Season with pepper and more salt to taste, if necessary.  Cover to keep warm.
2. Meanwhile, heat 1 T olive oil over medium heat in a medium skillet.  Add shallot and saute until fragrant, 2 minutes.  Add mushrooms and stir to coat with oil.  When mushrooms have wilted a bit, add sherry vinegar (start with 1 T), thyme, salt and pepper to taste, and stir to combine.  Cook mushrooms, stirring occasionally and adding a bit of water if they get too dry, until they are tender, about 15 minutes.  Taste about halfway through and see if you want more vinegar.
3. Also meanwhile (hello multitasking), toss cauliflower and butternut squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste on 2 large roasting pans.  Roast, stirring once, until vegetables are tender but still have a bit of bite, about 20 minutes.
4. When the vegetables are ready, add them and the farro to a large serving bowl (you may not use all the butternut squash - save for your tiny diner, if you have one around).  Add the goat cheese and parsley and stir everything to combine.  Sprinkle the marcona almonds on top and serve immediately.

What Mom eats when she's home alone

Guys, I am just a lame-o at this blogging business.  I have lots to tell you about now, but the time before now was pretty boring, food-wise (read:  lots of delivery), and pretty fun, other-wise (read:  Thanksgiving!).  We went out to California for the holidays.  The travel was hard but the being there was really fun.  Henry got to see his great-grandmas, see his cousins, and meet Santa!

When we got back I found myself in cruciferous vegetable heaven.  I love fall and winter at the farmers' market - cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower - I'm so nerdy in love with these guys.  I brought home an embarrassing amount of produce, and then found myself home alone for dinner the other night when T had a work event.  I wanted something fast and satisfying, and I wanted to get my veggie on.  I made a simple egg fried rice, some balsamic-glazed brussels sprouts, and a totally sad and uninspiring cheesy toast that was not cheesy at all.  I'm not even going to bother telling you more about it.

Fried rice is one of my favorite fast meals.  When we were growing up, my mom often made bacon-and-egg fried rice for breakfast, which may sound weird but is so, so good.  As we got older and lazier, she would just leave it on the stovetop for us to re-fry as we woke up.  With each round of frying there would be more and more little bits of crispy, savory, rice.  I didn't want to bother with the bacon the other night (blasphemy, I know!), so I just used egg.

I think of all the winter veggies, I am the nerdiest in love with brussels sprouts.  They are like little bites of sweet-salty vegtable candy.  I think they are at their best with very little adornment aside from some salt, some fat, and some heat (I mean, what isn't at its best with some salt, some fat, and some heat?  I'm talking to you, potatoes.).  A drizzle of balsamic vinegar gives them a wonderful depth of flavor.

Egg Fried Rice
Serves 1

1 cup leftover cooked rice
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 T canola or other vegetable oil
soy sauce to taste

1. Heat oil in a wok (a nonstick frying pan will work, but a wok is really best for this).  Add rice and toss to coat with oil and break up any clumps.  Season with a bit of soy sauce.
2. Push rice aside to make an empty space in the center of the wok.  Pour the eggs into this space and let cook, undisturbed, for 30 seconds or so.  Using a spatula, scramble the eggs in place, trying not to mix the rice in.  When the eggs are cooked enough to hold their shape, stir the rice and eggs together. 
3. Transfer the fried rice to a bowl and season to taste with soy sauce. 
This would be great as well with some scallions - add before the rice and stirfry till fragrant.

Balsamic-glazed brussels sprouts
Serves 2

1/2 pound brussels sprouts, stems trimmed and halved (quartered if large)
1 T olive oil
1 T balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat a pot of water to boil.  When it boils, add a good pinch of salt and the brussels sprouts.  Cook, stirring occasionally, 4 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a cast iron or other heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat.  When the 4 minutes are up, transfer the brussels sprouts to the skillet.  Move them around so the cut side faces down for as many sprouts as possible.  Cook, undisturbed, until the cut sides are nicely browned, about 5 minutes.
3. Drizzle the balsamic vinegar over the sprouts and stir to combine.  Keep cooking, stirring occasionally, until sprouts are tender and browned, about 5 minutes more.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Kale, Caesar!

Kindly excuse my lengthy absence.  Let's eat some garlic, shall we? 

We've gotten kale several times in our CSA box over the summer.  Every time but one I've made delicious kale chips (thanks, Maddy!), but I wanted to do something different this week.  As fate would have it, I came across a recipe for a kale caesar salad and was intrigued.  I've had raw kale salads that I've enjoyed, but something about the words "raw kale" makes me think of terrible health food and gets me depressed.  Like, here, have some delicious raw kale and a bowl of steamed bulgur.  MMMMM.

But fear not.   This kale gets splashed with a real caesar dressing - the punch of raw garlic, the deep salinity of a few anchovies, some bright lemon, and some smooth egg yolk and olive oil to bring it all together.  Add some shavings of parmesan and some utterly simple but totally delicious croutons and you have a gorgeous salad.  You won't want to smooch anyone the next morning, but it's worth it.

I halved the recipe and we split this salad for dinner, along with some confited duck legs (no, I did not confit them myself, although that is one of my silly goals).  The halved recipe is supposedly good for 3-4 "generous" servings.  Surely they mean appetizer-size servings.  The original recipe also calls for you to add the olive oil one drop at a time.  Are you kidding me?  We're hungry here, people!  As long as you're going to eat this forthwith (and you're going to want to cause it's yummy!), the emulsification wll hold just fine if you add it in glugs.

Kale Caesar Salad
Serves 2 as an entree
Adapted from Tasting Table's adaptation from Chad Robertson's Tartine Bread

Croutons
3-4 slices day-old rustic bread, sliced into 1-inch cubes
2 T olive oil
salt

Salad
1 large clove garlic
3 anchovy filets
zest and juice of one lemon
1/2 large egg yolk (you can only really approximate this.  Eat the other half + the white for breakfast the next morning!)
salt
2/3-3/4 cup olive oil
pepper
1 head kale (about 1/2 pound), tough stems removed and leaves torn into bite-sized pieces
shaved parmesan

1. Croutons:  Preheat oven to 400.  Toss the bread, olive oil, and a good pinch of salt in a medium bowl.  Spread on a baking sheet and bake until toasted, 10 minutes, stirring once midway through.
2. Dressing:  In a blender or mini food processor, pulse the garlic, anchovies, and lemon zest.  Whiz in the egg yolk, a squeeze of lemon, and a good pinch of salt.  Alternate whizzing in the olive oil and remaining lemon juice until the dressing is smooth and creamy.  Taste and add more salt or lemon juice (I thought one lemon was fine) and a good grinding of black pepper. 
3. Combine the kale and croutons in a large salad bowl.  Dress the salad liberally, toss it well, sprinkle the shaved parmesan on top, and serve immediately, passing any remaining dressing at the table.

Simple chilled borscht

Oy.  Wouldn't it be nice if I could just think my next blog post and it would magically appear?  That way, it would've popped up weeks ago and wouldn't have started with the oys, sighs, and harrumphs that are currently going through my head.  The other night, T asked in a small voice, "are you ever going to blog again?"  And the fabulous Jess asked me, "did you ever make borscht?"  Cause remember back when I said I'd tell you about it?  Well, that day has finally come.

I mean, it's only been a month or so, but it feels like forever.  A certain bottle-holding midget turned 6 months (!!!!), I went back to work, T and I had our four-year anniversary, and to be honest, the heat of this summer just kind of wiped me out.  Excuses, excuses. 

But here's a nice chilled soup to enjoy in the last days of summer.  I didn't have borscht until I was 22 or so, but it's been one of my favorite soups ever since.  I love a meaty one brimming with cabbage and carrots in the winter, and this light, refreshing one is perfect for summer.  Beets in any form (except those awful canned slices that are, unfortunately, a lot of people's only idea of beets) are fabulous, and this version from Mark Bittman really lets the beets shine through. 

Chilled Borscht
Adapted from Mark Bittman
Serves 4

2 pounds red beets, peeled (you'll look like an axe murderer after this, but it's fun)
1 large onion, peeled
1 bunch dill, stems removed and tied in a bundle
salt and pepper to taste
lemon juice to taste
sour cream

1. Grate the beets and onion on a box grater, if you're strong and patient, or with the grater blade of a food processor, if you're weak and lazy, like me.  Place beets and onion in a large saucepan with the dill stem bundle and add 6 cups water.
2. Bring to a boil, the lower heat so that soup simmers steadily, until beets are tender, 15-20 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper, remove dill stem bundle, and chill (wait till it's room temp before putting it in your fridge, or else it'll up the temperature in your fridge).
3. When soup is cold, add lemon juice and more salt and pepper to taste, as necessary.  Chop as much of the dill fronds as you want to garnish.  Serve with dill fronds and sour cream.

OKAY I can't help it - beets don't just dye your skin red; they dye other things too.  So if you eat borscht, say, 2 days in a row, you may think you are dying of colon cancer when you, er, go to the bathroom.  You are not.  It's just the beets.  So don't worry.  There.

Plum tart

I mentioned last time that we've been getting tons of produce from our local CSA.  CSA, for those who don't know, stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and it's a group of folks who get together and team up with local farmers to get shares of delicious local produce.  Our shares get delivered every week, and we get armloads of greens, herbs, veggies, and fruits, plus eggs, pasta, and bread.  Every once in a while we special order farm-raised meat, which we all have enjoyed.  It's fun -- every week is a little bit of a challenge figuring out what to do with, say, 45 little plums or 8 cucumbers.  I find that making a list of things I want to cook is helpful.

(That was this chard/zucchini tart, these zucchini pancakes, this carrot/feta salad, this Moroccan tomato soup, and these zucchini blossoms.  All really, really good, and all blogged about by better chefs and bloggers than I.  More on the borscht and mac 'n cheese later.)

So, yeah, I had handfuls and handfuls of yummy purple plums to deal with.  My first instinct with fruit is just to eat it as it is, but I didn't want to get indigestion from all the plums we had.  I needed a dessert for a friend who was coming over for dinner, so into this tart they went.

 

The tart is pretty easy.  The dough is fairly foolproof - it seems as though it doesn't have nearly enough sugar, but the dusting of sugar it gets before going into the oven turns it into a crispy, crunchy treat.  I didn't use as much sugar as the recipe calls for, since I am not one for super sweet desserts.  Plus, that way the vanilla ice cream the tart calls for works that much better with it!

Plum Tart
Adapted from the New York Times
Serves 6

Dough
1 c flour, plus more for rolling dough
1/4 t salt
1/4 t sugar
6 T cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1/4 c ice water

Filling
2 1/2 T flour
8-10 T sugar
1 lb plums (I used small purple ones), pitted and quartered

1. To make the dough, combine the flour, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl.  Add half the sliced butter and combine with your hands (or a pastry cutter, but hands were pretty easy) until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add the remaining butter and combine until the dough forms chunks the size of large peas.  Add the water and combine until a dough forms, adding a bit more water if necessary.  Shape into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least one hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a circle about 15 inches in diameter.  It's okay if your "circle" is a hideous shape that was not taught in school.  Put the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (this is important - I tried it with aluminum foil once and the sugar stuck to the foil) and refrigerate for 10 minutes.
3. To make the filling, combine the flour with 3 T of sugar.  Sprinkle over the dough, leaving a 2-inch border.  Lay the plums over the flour/sugar mixture in an even layer.  Sprinkle the plums with 3-4 T sugar - it looks like a lot, but you basically want the plums to have a nice thick coating of sugar. 
4. Fold the 2-inch border over the plums, gathering and pinching to fit and hold it together.  Brush the edge of the pastry with water and sprinkle 3 T sugar over it.  Don't skimp here!
5. Bake until plums are tender and pastry is well browned with spots of caramelized sugar, 45-50 minutes.  Slide the tart from the pan onto a rack.  Using a pastry brush, brush the top of the tart with some of its juices to glaze.  Allow the tart to cool.  Serve it with vanilla ice cream.

Summer vacation

Thanks to all of you for your kind words about Nina.  It's been a month now, and we still miss her every day.  We saved a small box of her things -- her smelly old collar, her favorite toys, the toothbrush she would chew on when we tried to brush her teeth (chicken-flavored toothpaste!) -- and gave most of the rest to shelters.  Her bed and a squirrel (and some treats!) went to our dear friends' puppy, Maya, who is making good use of them:

One of the hardest things is coming home to an empty house.  So it was nice that we got to skip town for a few days and head to the West Coast for Henry's much-anticipated First Airplane Ride.

He was so good!  Slept most of the way (it's nice when you can lie down and only take up one seat) and was generally in good cheer when he was awake.  The in-flight dining options were less than satisfactory, however:

He got to meet his great-grandmas!

And his adorable cousin Stella!

He threw up on his uncle!

And learned that his toes are delicious!

Hanging out with family and friends was great, and we had a wonderful trip.  T is convinced we have the Best Baby Evar and wants to tote him around the world; I'm happy letting us all bask in the success of this one trip for a while.  We shall see.

In the meantime, it's hot as can be at home and I've been making lots of food from the weekly CSA basket we get.  More on that to come!

The long goodbye

Last night we said goodbye to our darling Nina.  14 years of rascally sweet behavior finally caught up with her, and it made her so tired.  She had been through a pretty tough week after a few months of ups and downs, and yesterday she let us know that it was time.

We spent the day and evening saying goodbye to her, but as T said, we really started saying goodbye several months ago.  Even Henry seemed to know she was leaving, and lay quietly just looking at her and touching her nose.

The vet made a house call and she went peacefully on her favorite bed.  We all cried.  T and I ate pasta with sauce from a jar and took her usual walk around the block, but emptyhanded.  Last night I dreamed about her.

This morning, things seemed lonely around the apartment.  There was no clickety-clacking of toenails, no bowl of food to fill, no wet nose poking around the shower curtain to check where we were.  It's like we keep forgetting something. 

The vet said that pets have a funny way of letting us know that they're still with us.  There will come a day when we stop finding her fur in our food, and where I stop thinking I hear her shifting or sighing in the other room.  I'm not ready for that day yet. 

Wherever she is, there are thousands of slow-moving squirrels, acres of cheese and carrots and chicken bones, and soft things to curl up on everywhere.  Her legs are strong and she can walk for miles.  Belly rubs and ear scratches are given with abandon.

Nina dolly.  Thank you for bringing us years and years of such sweetness.  We love you so much.

Sea+scapes: Linguine with garlic scape pesto and bay scallops

Spring is in full force at the farmers' markets!  Not that I would know this from first-hand experience, since the days slip by somehow so quickly now (a certain someone is three months old already!) and I haven't managed to get to any of the markets near us.  Luckily, my mom lives about a block from the Union Square Greenmarket and has become like our personal CSA delivery person.  The last few times she's come to visit Henry, she has brought with her armloads of delicious stuff from the market.  Last weekend she brought a big bunch of garlic scapes.

 

There were a lot of scapes, so in addition to making two batches of the scape-and-white-bean dip I blogged about 2 years ago, I made two batches of Dorie Greenspan's garlic scape pesto, only very slightly modified.   I froze one batch and tossed the other with linguine.

I wanted to add a simple, easy protein to the pasta, so I picked up some cute little bay scallops.  The whole dish comes together pretty much in the time it takes to boil water and cook the pasta, so it was perfect for a weeknight after a long day in the office.  The pesto was light and flavorful, with bits of toasted almond and the grassy tang of the scapes, which pack a fantastic garlic flavor without giving you breath that could take out a dozen vampires.  I'm definitely looking forward to making a few more batches.

Linguine with garlic scape pesto and bay scallops
Serves 4

1 pound linguine
10 or so garlic scapes, chopped (use the part only up until the little bulb thing, which you can sort of see in the picture above)
1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted (Dorie says the toasting is optional but I really liked the nutty depth toasting provided)
1/3 cup grated parmesan
about 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
salt + pepper
1 pound bay scallops

1. Heat a large pot of water for the pasta and when it comes to a boil, salt well and add linguine.  Cook according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, add the scapes, almonds, parmesan, about 1/4 cup of the olive oil, and a pinch of salt to the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse a few times to combine.  Whiz and add oil through the feed tube until it reaches the consistency you like (I liked it still a little thick and not too oily).  Taste for seasoning.
3. 5 or so minutes before the pasta is done, heat a large skillet (preferably NOT nonstick) over high heat and add the one tablespoon olive oil.  Pat the scallops dry and season with salt and pepper.  Add them to the skillet and sear until browned on one side, about 2 minutes.  Flip the scallops (tongs work best for this, I think) and sear on the other side until just cooked through, about 2 minutes more.
4. Drain the pasta, reserving a cup or so of pasta water.  Add the pesto to the pasta and toss to combine, adding pasta water if necessary to help the sauce be...saucier and combine with the noodles.  Distribute the pasta among 4 bowls and divide the scallops evenly on top.  Serve immediately.

Got no recipes? Quick, post a picture of that baby!