kbecker57

Yogurt

Five years ago I drove out to western MA to take a cheese-making class taught by the “The Cheese Queen”, Ricki Carroll. I had first heard about her and the class when I was reading Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Her web site is also where I get my supplies.

It has been awhile since I’ve used any of these skills, but I decided to try to bring back the yogurt-making since I’ve been digging smoothies in the Ninja. One of these days I will also get back to attempting to master the mozzarella stretching.

Make sure you have a good thermometer, yogurt cultures (I’m a Y5 girl), ice, and something insulated to let the yogurt set (like a Yogotherm). I like to ice the bottom of my pot for a few minutes before heating the yogurt…it supposedly prevents the milk from burning on the bottom. My milk doesn’t usually burn, but it usually leaves a bit of a film which makes the pot a little challenging to clean.

Heatin’ the milk

Yogurt
Source: Ricki Carroll
Makes: a lot!

Ingredients
1/2 gallon milk (any percentage)
1 packet yogurt direct set culture
1/4 cup dry milk powder

Directions
1. Heat milk to 185 degrees F. Let stand for 10 minutes. Do not allow the milk to boil.
2. Cool the milk to 110 degrees F using an ice bath.
3. Pour the milk into the Yogotherm. Add the packet of culture and the dry milk powder and stir thoroughly.
4. Allow the yogurt to set undisturbed for 6-12 hours, or until set.
5. Refrigerate immediately. Yogurt will keep for at least 7 days.

CSA Week 8

Delivery truck

This week I have bits and pieces of things left…a lil basil, a lil lettuce, a lil cilantro, and a big beet. Thanks to some very special visitors (my parents!) last weekend who not only celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary with me, but also helped to eat some veggies and clear out some major freezer space. They also took some of the zucchini salad home with them…I liked it, but was super happy to share!

My half

I arrived to the pick up a little before 4 PM today and the truck was still there…that didn’t seem like a good sign, but the truck was still there when I left. We did get extra blueberries to make up for no fruit last week, and a watermelon. I feel a little selfish this week because I kept the watermelon and the spelt bread. This week was good timing for me for bread, as I’m actually pretty caught up. But so far spelt is my least favorite of the breads we’ve been getting (eight grain is my favorite!).

I forgot to take a picture of the sign, but I think this is everything:

Broccoli
Carrots (6)
Zucchini, squash, or cucumber (6, mix and match – not surprising I took 3 cucumbers and zero squash for myself)
Tomatoes (1 pound)
Lettuce (1 head)
Kale (1 bunch)
Corn (6 ears)
Onion (1)
Green onions (1 bunch)
Basil (1/4 pound)
Herbs (2 bunches – I took chives and oregano)
Blueberries (2 pints)
Watermelon

Zucchini "pasta" with tomato, pesto and feta

Julienned zucchini

Another week, and another zucchini to deal with…and this week’s was a big’un. Since I’m now an expert with the mandoline (i.e., haven’t cut my fingers off yet), I decided to use the julienne blade to make “pasta”. It took a little experimenting to fit the zucchini in the safety guard. I ended up cutting it in half width-wise (as if you were going to cut it into slices), and that worked much better.

This recipe was a cinch because I already had some homemade pesto on hand. And while I decided to give most of it away (it made a lot!) to my parents who were visiting last weekend and to some friends who are at home with a new baby, I did save some for myself. And I actually enjoyed it. But then again, pesto makes almost anything taste better.

Zucchini “pasta” with tomato, pesto and feta
Serves: 4-6

Voila!

Source: Etsy via Pinterest

Ingredients
1 medium zucchini or summer squash
1 1/2 cups halved cherry or grape tomatoes
3 Tablespoons pesto
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions
1. Using a julienne slicer or the julienne blade on a mandoline, julienne zucchini/squash into thin ribbons and place in a large bowl.
2. Add tomatoes, pesto, and feta and gently mix to combine. Enjoy!

July RC – Barking Crab

A big thanks to guest blogger Jerel Calzo for capturing this month’s RC fun. And a big welcome to our newest RC members, Tracy and Lorelei!

Julie, Kendrin, and Kim
Photo credit: Jerel Calzo

Claire, Tracy, and Jerel
Photo credit: Jerel Calzo (?)

By default (i.e., I was the one to start taking pictures, and I was one of the least inebriated of the six… at least at the start), I was put in charge of writing up the RC review of The Barking Crab — that lovely waterfront seafood restaurant in Fort Point with a red and yellow circus tent canopy. You know, the one that everyone has walked by but nobody has been to (at least to eat)? Okay, that last line sounded negative. Rest assured, we had a good time, although I think the ultimate verdict was that this place relies a lot on being a Boston institution, rather than a seafood destination. Nevertheless, the place was very Boston-y, and a fabulous “last” restaurant pick for Kendrin! Also, we welcomed Tracy to her first RC!

Classic lobster roll
Photo credit: Jerel Calzo

It was a balmy summer evening. Kendrin and I arrived early and chose to sit on the patio because we wanted the full experience. We ordered a sauvignon blanc and a Dark and Stormy (which was a little too watered down for my taste… but it was cold. Yay!). We didn’t know when the others would arrive, so we also ordered oyster shooters. The only oyster shooter I had enjoyed previously was at Union Oyster house, where the oyster was featured prominently and was dressed with just a splash of cocktail sauce and vodka. We were quite surprised when we received our order, which consisted of a half cup of cocktail sauce (that’s a slight exaggeration), a splash of vodka, and a tiny oyster that was pretty much invisible, unless you lifted the cup up to see it resting on the bottom. The other RC’ers arrived and ordered some shooters of their own. Kendrin and I took ours and spent the first few seconds gulping down a briny, pulpy mixture of cocktail sauce and vodka. I don’t think we even noticed the oyster. The Barking Crab needs to get its proportions right! The others wisely dumped half of their cocktailicious shooters into an empty cup before enjoying theirs. With regards to other bar options, the sauvignon blanc and pinot grigio were ordered in seconds and thirds. Julie and I were fans of the Spiked Arnold Palmer. A dangerous drink, that was.

Naked lobster roll
Photo credit: Jerel Calzo

We ordered steamers, crab legs (bairdi and king legs), and Hot Crab Dip to start. The dip was tasty and the steamers were delightful, “foreskins” and all. The server praised the bairdi legs (probably because they were the most expensive). Overall, I think we favored the bairdi legs, although Tracy cracked one open and didn’t find any meat.

Scallop and shrimp kebab
Photo credit: Jerel Calzo

Between the six of us we only ordered three of the entrees: classic lobster roll (served cold), “naked” lobster roll (served warm, with lots of melted butter), and the scallop and shrimp kebab. We also ordered a side of onion rings (good call, Claire!) and a dozen oysters (great order, Tracy!) to share. The onion rings and oysters were winners. Kim wasn’t 100% thrilled with the kebab, noting that the scallops were overcooked (unforgiveable!). We all agreed that the lobster in the rolls was delicious… mmm, yummy, giant chunks of lobster meat. The “naked” roll was the better of the two — its sweetness complemented the thick piece of Texas toast…the classic lobster preparation just made the Texas toast seem overwhelming. To put things into perspective, the pickle on the side was the most sterling of the flavors on the classic lobster plate.

We didn’t opt for dessert, but felt like we had enough to eat. The damage was $105/head. Definitely the most expensive restaurant club I’ve been to, but we also had a lot to drink. We all agreed that it was worth the ambiance, and we certainly had a great time chatting. Seems like an excellent place for big groups. The nighttime view of the Boston waterfront is spectacular, yet the random décor (Christmas lights, miscellaneous nautical items, and the storage of kitchen and bathroom items… in plain view) will help you take yourself and a night out less seriously.

The damage
$105 per person

The rundown
Barking Crab
88 Sleeper Street, Boston
@barkingcrab

Corn chowder with zucchini and orzo

Simmering corn and cobs

I have been working on recycling six years of Everyday Food magazines, and since I can’t cook the recipes fast enough, I’ve been pinning them to a “Recipe Pile” board on Pinterest. I’ve made it all the way through July/August and this one caught my eye because I knew there was a cute little round zucchini waiting to become something delicious. Or at least acceptable since delicious is not usually a word I associate with zucchini. It was also nice to see local corn at my Whole Foods already; hopefully that means CSA corn will be arriving soon too!

Corn chowder “topped” with zucchini mixture

Unfortunately this came out a bit thin and bland. I may not have let it thicken enough, but I definitely simmered it for longer than the 8 minutes suggested in the recipe. I usually decrease or omit salt from recipes, but this needed liberal amounts of salt. I attempted to top the chowder with the zucchini mixture, but it kind of fell in and then I just mixed it all together (after the photo). I am still going to take it for lunches this week so I wouldn’t call this a total fail.

Corn chowder with zucchini and orzo
Adapted from Everyday Food, Jul/Aug 2012
Serves: 4

Ingredients
1/2 Tablespoon olive oil
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 cup cooked orzo
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 bunch scallions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced
1 Tablespoon butter
3 cups corn kernels (from 4 ears), cobs reserved
3 cups water
Salt and pepper

Directions
1. In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil over medium-high. Add zucchini and saute about 4 minutes until crisp-tender. Stir in orzo and heat until warmed through. Transfer to a bowl and toss with scallion greens and basil; season with salt and pepper.

2. Melt butter in saucepan over medium-high. Add scallion whites and saute about 3 minutes until tender. Add 3 cups water and corncobs and bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook until chowder thickens slightly, about 8 minutes. Discard cobs and season with salt and pepper.

3. In batches, fill a blender halfway with chowder and puree. Serve chowder topped with zucchini mixture and enjoy!

Out and about – NYC

Last weekend we had a little girls reunion (not “Girls”) in New York. Our Uber driver guessed high school reunion and we didn’t work too hard to correct him. Most of the girls arrived mid-day Friday, but I wasn’t able to get there until the early evening. I treated myself to the Acela because I decided it was worth it to avoid rush hour Friday afternoon traffic. It was the first time I’d taken the train and it was lovely and way better than the bus, but also way more expensive.

Since we had no specific plan for Friday evening we started to check out what looked good on Thrillist and Eater and came across Wylie Dufresne’s new restaurant Alder and we were able to get a 9:45 reservation through OpenTable. What did we do before smartphones? We Uber’d over to the East Village and popped into a cute wine bar for a spritz (an aperol spritz) and a snack (trio of bruschetta). Btw, Wylie Dufresne won the James Beard Foundation award for Best Chef New York City in 2013.

Rabbit sausage

Hanger steak

Alder is adorable (yes, I realized on this trip that I need to work on my adjectives) and the evening was so nice that we sat outside. Everything on the menu is meant to be shared, which was great because it meant we could try more things! Unfortunately they were out of the kale summer roll (bummer), but there were two off-menu specials: an homage to a NYC hot dog made with rabbit sausage and a pu pu platter which was two bites of five things on the menu. We started with the pub cheese, rabbit sausage “hot dog”, shrimp on shrimps, and the shephard’s pie tartare. Raw lamb (part of the tartare) and rabbit sausage were firsts for all of us. The pub cheese was a surprise winner for me, especially once we found out why it was a strangely purple shade (from red wine).

All the food came out super fast so we took a break to enjoy our wine and assess our hunger. Whether we were hungry or not, we decided that we couldn’t not order more because there were too many other delicious sounding things on the (fairly small) menu. We went with the hanger steak (with moo shu vegetable, shio kombu butter) and the striped bass (with curried lentils, mango, lemon verbena raita). Of the two, I definitely preferred the hanger steak over the bass. The meat was cooked perfectly and the moo shu vegetables were scrumptious.

Carrot cake gelato

Since there is always room for dessert, we tried two: carrot cake gelato and the macerated strawberries with corn bread and fancy whipped cream (fancy is my description because I can’t remember exactly what it was). You could definitely get a glimpse into Wylie’s world of molecular gastronomy with the carrot cake gelato. There was a party in my mouth. Speaking of Wylie, we chatted with our server about him and she us that he’s very nice, but “he’s a chef…of course he gets cranky.” Apparently they are closing WD50 to make way for some fancy new condos.

Saturday morning we got up and walked the High Line from 23rd Street to Gansevoort and then hopped on the L train to Brooklyn to check out Smorgasburg, which also happened to be Kendrin’s first time in Brooklyn! Smorgasburg is a Brooklyn Flea Food Market that occurs every weekend. On Saturdays it’s in Williamsburg at East River State Park. We got there around 11:30 and decided to scope out the prospects. There were so many options (100 vendors every weekend per their web site) that we wanted to

Chicken satay

be selective about our choices. Unfortunately, there is only so much stomach space.

The beef brisket and ice cream sandwiches were recommended to us, and we were also very intrigued by the ramen burger though the line was a bit intimidating. Divide and conquer…we split up and got in the beef brisket and the ramen burger lines, and also decided to get some snacks while we waited (chicken satay with sticky rice from Bamboo Bites and dumplings from the Brooklyn Wok Shop). Here’s where I’d like to give a shout out to my hand model for the photo of the chicken satay – amazing job! The wait was long and hot, but we perservered and I’m so happy that we did. Both the beef brisket and the ramen burger were amaze-balls. The

Beef brisket

ramen burger was served with shoyu sauce, arugula, and cheese (an opt-in), and of course the famous ramen noodle “buns”. It was a little messy to eat, perhaps as an umami explosion should be. Our last bite was dessert, a “goodwich” from The Good Batch…which involved an oat chocolate chunk cookie, sea salt, drizzled fudge, and vanilla ice cream. Delish and big enough to split four ways. Fully satisfied, we stopped in the Brooklyn Flea on our way back to the subway.

Grilling ramen “buns”

We arrived at the TKTS booth in Times Square just in time and were able to get tickets to see Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill with Audra McDonald. Another mission accomplished and we wandered back toward our hotel, stopping for a drink and some Brazil-Netherlands World Cup action at Southwest Porch at Bryant Park and oyster/prosecco happy hour at the John Dory Oyster bar. Thanks again to Thrillist for giving me the idea for late night ramen after the show. We found our way to Tsukushi (look for the big black door) and had some delicious ramen and onigiri (rice balls). We also got samples of shōchū, a distilled Japanese liquor, one rice and three potato.

Ramen burger goodness

Sunday morning we woke up and headed to get some chicken and waffles. If you ask me, chicken and waffles and an egg and cheese biscuit sandwich are a really excellent way to start a Sunday. We could see the biscuits being made (by a guy who doesn’t actually like biscuits, btw). Our last stop before heading to the bus and the airport was Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company to pick up snacks for the trip and for home. This places makes frequent appearances on various “top 10” and “best bagel” lists (and they don’t even have a location in Brooklyn), and they were pretty damn good.

All in all, it was a fun and tasty weekend. I think the only bad bite that crossed my mouth was a nectarine I bought at Whole Foods. I think I fall in love with New York a little more every time I go.

Late night ramen

The rundown
Bar Veloce
175 Second Avenue (between 11th and 12 Street), and other locations
@BarVeloce

Alder
157 Second Avenue
@aldernyc

Smorgasburg
Saturdays: East River State Park (Kent Ave and N. 7th Street)
Sundays: Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 5
@smorgasburg

The John Dory Oyster Bar
1196 Broadway (at 29th Street)

Chicken and waffles

@TheJohnDory

Tsukushi
300 East 41st Street (at 2nd Ave)

Hill Country Chicken
1123 Broadway (at 25th Street)
@HCChicken

Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company
286 8th Avenue (and other locations)
@bkbagel

Coleslaw

Arrowhead

The arrowhead cabbage, which I’m going to guess is named after its shape, made for a great homemade coleslaw. I mixed it up for a fourth of July potluck at the yacht club…Arthur be damned…we potlucked in the rain. It took a little longer than the five minutes because the original recipe called for packaged coleslaw mix, but overall it was very easy and seemed to be a crowd pleaser.

Coleslaw
Adapted from: Everyday Food, April 2007
Serves: 8-10

Ingredients
1 green cabbage, shredded (about 10 cups)
1 large carrot, shredded
2 garlic scapes, finely chopped (optional)
1/2 cup light mayonnaise (or plain Greek yogurt)
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon sugar
Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions
1. In a large bowl, combine cabbage, carrot, scapes, mayonnaise, vinegar, celery seed, and sugar. Season with salt and pepper, mix well, and enjoy!

Out and about – Shanghai

High-speed train

After Hong Kong and Beijing, the next stop on my Asia adventure was Shanghai…via bullet train, which traveled at oh about 300 km/hour (~186 miles/hour). It was a smooth, but long ride as it still took about five hours.

Shrimp wonton soup, Din Tai Fung

I know you’ll probably be shocked to hear that my first meal in Shanghai was not Chinese food! It was fairly late by the time we arrived in Shanghai and checked in to our hotel, so we ended up at M on the Bund, which is “modern European”. It is commonly written up in travel guide books. We sat outside and had a great view of the Shanghai skyline. It was also nice to drink some decent wine…I’m no wine snob but the Chinese are not known for their wine. We really confused the server with our order as I ordered three small plates (for sharing) instead of an entree.

The next day, after a very interesting visit to EMC^2, we went to Din Tai Fung for lunch. I was excited to go back and eat more delicious soup dumplings. Our table did a very good job with the dumplings. My favorite was the pork, the fish came in second, and surprisingly, the vegetable was my least favorite. I also really enjoyed the shrimp wonton soup. In addition to all that, we started the meal with cucumbers, a noodle-thing with tofu (I’m pretty sure that’s not what it’s called on the menu), cabbage with bacon, pea greens (or maybe spinach), and shrimp fried rice. Full belly!

Soup dumplings, Din Tai Fung

That evening we went to dinner at Lost Heaven, which specializes in Yunnan food. The restaurant was dark, and the food was spicy. We had a vegetable cake with tomatoes, noodles with cilantro (we were calling it cilantro spaghetti), kung pao chicken, beef, cauliflower, vegetable fried rice, and shrimp with a spicy tomato sauce. I think the most amusing part of this meal was the chili pepper eating contest that happened, which was subsequently followed by a lot of sweating, drinking, and cursing. Also, peanuts are difficult to eat with chopsticks…you heard it here first. After dinner we had drinks on the roofdeck of Mr. and Mrs. Bund (another fantastic view of the skyline).

Kung pao chicken, Lost Heaven

Saturday afternoon was the start of our “DIY”, choose your own adventure time. Apparently for me, DIY = street food! Lucky for me I was with someone who knew where to go, otherwise I probably would have avoided the street food. We ate at a place that actually had some seating inside, but the dumplings were made outside. Shrimp and pork soup dumplings, and again, the pork were my favorite. Apparently it is acceptable to slurp the soup when you eat street soup dumplings. I was glad that I got to walk around some of the very local neighborhoods, which are slowly disappearing and being replaced by high-rises. After walking and shopping, we stopped for an afternoon spritz (aperol > campari) and snack at Uva Cafe.

Shrimp with tomato sauce, Lost Heaven

Shanghai skyline, Mr. and Mrs. Bund

For dinner that evening we found ourselves at Sichuan Citizen, and ordered wayyy too much food. We had pea greens, cold noodles, spicy tofu, eggs and tomato, DIY pork dumplings, and a whole fried fish with pine nuts. Most of it ended up packed up in takeaway containers, though we did do a good job with the fish which was delicious. I also really loved the spicy tofu, the eggs and tomato, and…well who am I kidding, I liked it all! Toward the end of the meal I just happened to notice that pretty much everyone in the restaurant was drinking green drinks in martini glasses. And somehow I remembered that “basil drop drinks” was on a list of places to go that I had saved on my phone (someone I met randomly had given me some recommendations before I left). Turns out, this was the place with the basil drop drinks, and I’m so glad that we decided to try them. We even went back the next night to have them again.

Local neighborhood

My last meal in Shanghai was at Xibo, which is Xinjiang food. Apparently a lot of Muslims eat this type of food, and this restaurant was also on the list of places on my phone. We ordered a bottle of wine and watched the serve struggle to open it…she had no clue how to use the wine opener. It was amusing and terrible at the same time. We did a better job with ordering this time, as in we didn’t overorder. We had homemade bread, spicy meatball soup, shrimp with tomato and basil, and lamb shank. The lamb shank was not as tender and fall-off-the-bone as we wanted it to be, but the shrimp was delish.

Street soup dumplings

The service in Shanghai is definitely not what I am used to in this country. Getting someone’s attention to place an order or request the bill takes a lot of eye contact, hand waving, and gesturing. And most of the time this happened when there was plenty of staff and the restaurant wasn’t busy.

While I didn’t do a very good job of taking photos during my DIY time, I was very glad that I got to try some different regional cuisines while in Shanghai. I was also lucky to have my very own personal tour guide. And this is where I said au revoir to China…next stop Korea!

The rundown
M on the Bund
Bund 5, 7/F (corner of Guangdong Lu)

Din Tai Fung
Several locations

China Art Museum

Lost Heaven
Several locations

Mr. and Mrs. Bund
Bund 18, 6/F, 18 Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu, near Nanjing Dong Lu

Uva Cafe
1187 Beijing Xi Lu, near Shanghai Bei Lu

Sichuan Citizen
30(D) Donghu Lu, near Huaihai Lu

Xibo
83 Changshu Lu, 3/F

June RC – La Brasa

Hello summer! For June we went to La Brasa, which was included on Food & Wine magazine’s May list of 8 Amazing New Grill Restaurants. Can you think of a better way to welcome summer?

La Brasa opened in late April, though it has been in the works for two years (and a dream for 15 years according to our server, Shyne). It is headed up by Chef Daniel Bojorquez and Chef Frank McLelland. It is not just a “Peruvian chicken” restaurant. The major unifying theme here is the grill. Everything is cooked over an open flame. And even the name, la brasa, means “ember” in Spanish. And yes, our adorable server’s name was Shyne, with a “y” according to my receipt.

It is a big space with big windows, good music (a lot of old school rap, so not everyone is likely to have the same opinion about the music), and comfortable bar stools. Claire liked the way it smelled. No one was a fan of the corporate bathroom…I did not experience it but I heard there was a fear of not being able to find the way back to the restaurant. There is also a market next store where some goat milk caramels and honey were acquired. Apparently the honey is from a protected bee colony in Somerville (or something like that). They also serve “drinks on tap” and a “Paloma for four”, which we ordered times two for the table. Mark appreciated the strong carbonation (crisp! effervescent!) and the proportions.

Meat cart!

Rib roast

I’m not sure how often they change or update the menu, but there were two handwritten additions: soft shell crab and an oyster po’ boy. We ordered both for the table to share as an appetizer. Of course whenever I see an oyster po’ boy on a menu, I can’t help but think of the amazing oyster slider at Island Creek Oyster Bar. They set a high bar over there. This oyster po’ boy was for sure not a slider – it came on a brioche bun and had some thick slices of crispy bacon. The soft shell crab came with chorizo and black eyed peas. We also ordered the Swiss chard pie (with Colorado chile, coddled farm fresh egg, Spanish ham, and piperade) as a starter, which is listed under “Vegetables” on the menu and was a Shyne recommendation.

Hanger steak

For my entree, I was leaning toward the barbecued beef brisket (with charred green tomatillo barbeque sauce), but when two other people at the table ordered that, I changed my mind and decided to go with the La Brasa fried chicken (with escargot-brown butter vinaigrette, parsley and horseradish). Definitely a good decision…it was probably my favorite dish, and one of the most memorable as I think back on the meal. The pork milanese (which was bone-in and served with mushy peas) was a favorite for some people, as well as watercress salad in siracha vinaigrette with coriander and egg noodles, and the meat cart. The meat cart was table-side rib roast priced at $3.50 an ounce. Kim asked for 6 ounces, and he just happened to cut 9 ounces…which we took anyway. It was served with cilantro chimichurri and a veal demi-glace red wine reduction. The cilantro chimichurri was amazing…we had to ask for more! Btw, this whole cart thing must be the new hip thing to do at restaurants.

Fried chicken

Lucky for us we got to try all of the beef dishes when a skirt steak (marinated in soy with snap peas, baby lettuces, and salmon roe) that we didn’t order arrived at our table disguised as the hanger steak. Ok, it was not really disguised, but Shyne told us it was the hanger steak so we dug in….whoops that was supposed to go to another table. I also enjoyed the grilled hanger steak (with tecate-braised farro and roasted green garlic) and the barbecued beef brisket that I came so close to ordering.

Watercress with “egg noodles”

Unfortunately, the desserts were underwhelming. We tried the butterscotch pudding (not very butterscotch-y), the triple cheese cheesecake with spiced stone fruit, and the market sweet-treats. The sweet treats were probably the best, and included a goat milk caramel, strawberry licorice, dark chocolate, and some sort of cookie.

Overall it was a great meal; great choice Kim! According to the wisdom of Julie, “The drinks were cold. The food was hot. Love that.” And Shyne shone…he was super fun to chat with and made great recommendations.

The damage
$90 per person

The rundown
La Brasa
124 Broadway, Somerville
@LaBrasaBoston

Lemon ricotta gnocchi with greens

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and I was interested in it for a few reasons:

I’m fairly obsessed with anything involving lemon and ricotta (pancakes anyone?)
I wanted to do something interesting with pea tendrils
I’ve never tried to make gnocchi before so it sounded like a good chall-enge!

Gnocchi dough ball

It did require two trips to the grocery store, which would have been three if I actually included the peas that were in the original recipe. My first trip to the store involved picking up the lemon and ricotta. I assumed I had flour and frozen peas or edamame (I was already thinking about substituting in edamame for the peas). I got home and realized I didn’t have enough flour so I incorporated a second trip to the grocery store (a different one) with another errand and this time I grabbed the flour but not the frozen peas/edamame. At that point, a third trip seemed excessive so I decided to forgot the peas.

If you are going to embark on this gnocchi adventure yourself, I feel like I must warn you about a few things. First of all, be prepared to make a mess and a lot of dishes. Next, “a lightly floured surface” required quite a bit of flour…otherwise the dough was a sticky mess. They really do float to the surface when they are done cooking (and they cook really fast). And lastly, I had no idea how to get the nice little groove marks in them. I tried using a fork, which didn’t really work too well, and since I wasn’t sure what the point was, I gave up after a few.

Ready to cook!

I made some modifications to the original recipe, which I’ve incorporated in my version below. I used at least 4 cups of greens – all of the pea tendrils and dandelion greens from my CSA, which would be about 1/2 bunch each. I think you could use even more, but I tend to like a lot of veg; perhaps this would have been balanced out if I had included the cup of fresh English peas that I omitted. I did use the full 4 Tablespoons of olive oil, and I don’t think you need that much.

I don’t think I’ll be getting any points for appearance with this one, but they actually tasted pretty good. As I was attempting to roll out the dough I did not have high hopes, so I was pleasantly surprised!

Lemon ricotta gnocchi with greens
Serves: 4
Source: Sweet Paul via Pinterest

Ingredients

More greens needed?

1 (15-ounce) container ricotta cheese
Zest from 1 large lemon
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (and more to sprinkle)
1 cup all purpose flour
2 garlic scapes, finely chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
Salt and pepper to taste
3 Tablespoons olive oil
4 cups greens (spinach, pea tendrils, dandelion greens, beet greens, etc)

Directions
1. Mix together ricotta, lemon zest, Parmesan cheese, flour, garlic scapes, and egg in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Up close and personal

2. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and form into a ball. Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Working 1 piece at a time, roll into a thin sausage shape. Repeat with the other pieces. With a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1″ pieces.

3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Working in batches, cook the gnocchi. Each piece is done when it floats to the surface. Transfer to a plate. Reserve about 1/4 cup of pasta water.

4. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the greens and cook for 2 minutes. Add the gnocchi and reserved pasta water (as needed) and gently toss with the peas. Transfer the gnocchi to a serving platter and sprinkle with Parmesan. Enjoy!