Blueberry and blackberry galette

My pie tin is on loan (from my engagement pie) but I had a pie craving. I figured this was a perfect time for a galette! A galette is basically a rustic, tin-less pie. This was pretty easy. It takes about 10 minutes to assemble (with a store bought crust, I recommend Trader Joe's pie crust) and then cooks for about half an hour. Great to make right before you sit down for dinner, or earlier if you're expecting a long dinner. It's really good - not too sweet, and if you serve with creme fraiche it's really tasty and sophisticated (I think, anyway).

Serves 6
Ingredients:
1 frozen pie crust, thawed but still cold
2 cups blueberries
1 cup blackberries
2 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp grated lemon zest
juice from 3/4 of a lemon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (plus 1 tbsp) sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
1-2 tbsp semolina flour
1 tbsp butter, cut into cubes
1 tbsp milk

Pear and Pecorino Ravioli

Like the new cutting board? My little bamboo one split so I opted for plastic.

This is one of my favorite, favorite pastas! It sound sort of odd, but it's absolutely wonderful. I had it at Felidia a few years ago and fell in love. The combination of the sweat pear and the sharp pecorino, along with a little creamy mascarpone to hold it together, is amazing. There's a little bite because of the pears, and the salty pecorino is very satisfying. You toss with butter, water, pepper, and more pecorino and you probably won't have any leftovers. If you want to skip the pasta making, you can do it with wanton wrappers.

Ingredients:
Pasta:
4 eggs
5 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
(I made extra to make noodles for dinner another night)

Filling:
1 bartlett pear, peeled and cored
8 oz pecorino cheese, grated
2 tbsp mascarpone

6 tbsp butter
3/4 cup finely grated pecorino
freshly ground black pepper

semolina flour

Directions:

Roasted chicken with potatoes, asparagus, and lemon

Yum! This is so, so tasty! And easy! One pot, too. Pretty perfect meal. I found this great recipe on MarthaStewart.com. The potatoes are super crispy on the outside and soft inside and sweetened from the lemon, and the roasted lemon is very mellow and sweet instead of tart and acidic. The asparagus is cooked perfectly and still has a little crunch and the pan juices are flavorful and great drizzled on top. She recommended a roasting pan which I think would work fine. I only had a pyrex one, so I opted for a cast iron skillet instead so the potatoes would be crispier. It worked perfectly. Also, I got 4 chicken legs instead of a whole chicken cut up because it was way cheaper. I recommend that, as long as you like dark meat. The whole dinner cost $12 and would serve 4 (or 2 and then lunch the next day). Jamie was so psyched about it he asked, "Do I get to live like this forever?" with a big grin on his face.

Ingredients:
4 chicken legs
1 1/2 pound little red potatoes, halved
3 tbsp butter cut into little pieces
salt and pepper
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2" pieces
1 lemon, cut into 8 wedges
1 tsp dried thyme (she says fresh, but I didn't have any)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 475. Put the potatoes and 1 1/2 tbsp butter in the skillet and season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 20 minutes until golden brown.

Tomato Jam

I had some burrata leftover and thought tomato jam would be a great accompaniment. After browsing the internet for recipes, I came across this recipe from Food52 that looked great. I may dial back the sugar a little next time, but otherwise it's super tasty. Nice and tart and rich and a really great companion to gooey cheese. Would also be fab on an English muffin with some butter. I had extra, so I got a ball jar and canned it. I really love canning. It's great to throw canned sauce or jam in the cabinet and have a longer shelf life than just putting it in Tupperware in the fridge, and also makes a really nice homemade present.

Makes 1 1/2 pints

Ingredients:

3 1/2 lb plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 cup cider vinegar

juice of 1 lemon

Polenta tart with goat cheese, shallots, and tomatoes

I had some fabulous polenta at L'Artusi the other night and have been craving it since. I wanted to try something new, though, and thought a tart with polenta instead of a regular pie crust could be fun. I went to the farmer's market and picked up some really good salad greens, some hot house tomatoes, some shallots, and some fresh goat cheese. It was a pretty simple dinner, and would be great for a lunch, too. Really yummy! I want to try this again when more veggies are in season. Maybe fill it thickly with roasted vegetables like asparagus, tomatoes, zucchini, etc. That would be great! The goat cheese was gooey and fab. Wish I could remember the vendor at Union Square market!

Serves 4
Ingredients:
3 small beef steak tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 cup polenta
2 cups milk
1 cup water
salt and pepper
butter
1/4 cup goat cheese (chevre style)
4 shallots, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon creme fraiche
1/4 cup grated Pecorino or Parm

Beecher's for Dinner

So I've stopped at Beecher's before for lunch to pick up some of their amazing mac and cheese, but I went for dinner for the first time last week. What a great spot! Down in the basement they have a cute restaurant. The menu is cheese heavy but there are some other things too. It's also happy hour until 7 and they have some great drink and food deals ($7 for mac and cheese, $7 for a cheese plate, and $7 for the nightly special cocktail!). I couldn't resist the mac and cheese, so we got that, a cheese platter, and a beet salad with cheese curds. Yum! The cocktail was a yummy citrus infused vodka with a little sparkling water and I think a tiny bit of simple syrup. It was tasty without being too sweet. Great place to go for dinner or after-work cocktails and snacks.

Garden Bed #2

Jamie and I were out in Southampton with our garden plan this weekend and ready to dive into this year's garden. It feels great to be outside and working in the dirt! Very satisfying. We built a second garden bed, so it was back to Riverhead Building Supply for wood and Lynch's for LOTS of dirt and composted manure.
We found out they do free delivery, so that was great. We put the new garden together pretty quickly - after doing the first one last year, we're old hands now.

Garden Planning

Jamie and I are starting up the garden this weekend (according to Martha Stewart, it's a tradition to plant peas on St. Patrick's Day!). We're building a second garden bed, too, giving us double the room! I've been thinking for weeks about what I want to plant this year, even trying to plant my tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants from seeds. Above is my sketched out plan (the beds are 8'x4' so it's easier to make a grid). The peas will be done by mid-June, so they'll allow the plants near them more room to grow later. And I only plan to do about 2 rounds of carrots and beets, so the bushy tomatoes can grow into that space. The bed nearer to the hedge will have the lower plants and the bed further the higher (so they both get as much sun as possible). I can't wait to start eating fresh vegetables! (It is sad to think how long I'll have to wait - we probably won't even get the peas until late May.)

Wish us luck!

The plan:

Plants in Bed #1
Swiss Chard
Brussel Sprouts
Herbs (basil, mint, thyme, oregano, marigolds, nasturtiums...)
Carrots
Beets
Sweet 100 Tomatoes (and probably Green Grape tomatoes)
Zucchini
Cucumber
Peas (only for the spring/early June)

Plants in Bed #2
Hot peppers
Herbs (same as above)
Eggplant
Tomatoes
Peas (only for the spring/early June) 

Growler Station

Do you have a growler? Jamie and I love them! We used to live right above Blind Tiger and would fill up our growler with fresh microbrew beer anytime we had friends over. Then they stopped filling growlers and we moved a few blocks away, so ours has been gathering dust on top of our kitchen cabinets.

I walked by the Growler Station last night and decided it was time to start up our fresh beer drinking again. It's so cool! I had been meaning to go. They have tons of canned and bottled beer and about 25 beers on tap. You can buy a growler there, fill yours up, or, if you forgot yours or don't have it handy (like me last night) they fill up a plastic soda style bottle for you! We got one of my favorites, Southampton Publick House Biere de Mars. It's also cheaper than filling it up at a bar. The Biere de Mars was $13 but there were some on the list that were $11 (and some that got up to $25). Next time you have people over, go get a couple of different beers and have a tasting! I think we might, too!

Spring!

This weather is unbelievable! Walking home in daylight makes me feel like I have so much time after work! My legs are also psyched to be free from tights at last. And, my first iced coffee of spring tastes refreshing and wonderful. I usually sprinkle some sugar in the bottom of a glass, pour in about 1 tablespoon or two of hot coffee, swirl it around until the sugar melts, dump in a bunch of ice cubes, cover them with coffee and a little skim milk, and swirl around with a spoon until the whole glass feels icy cold. Then a fish out some of the ice cubes. It's also great to do it in a cocktail shaker - you get a good frothy iced coffee. I know the best is supposed to be cold brewed, but who has the time?

Does anyone have any life-changing iced coffee tips?

Happy spring!! Hooray!

(Jamie and I are going out to Long Island this weekend to build an addition on our garden and plant our peas!)

Kumamoto Oysters

These are my favorite oysters ever. They're little and sweet and don't really need any accouterments. I usually find the smaller the oyster the sweeter the flavor, so I picked some of these up at The Lobster Place last year. Ever since, I've been obsessed and always get them if I see them. Jamie and I had a little seafood feast last night and started with some shucked kumamotos, again from Lobster Place. They're $1.60 each, I believe, so  a little more expensive than the average oyster, but such a treat!

Seedlings!

Now that spring is on the way, it's time for veggie garden 2012! I planted a few seedlings that need to start indoors. I got a seed starter tray and a few packets of seeds - hot peppers (a variety so we'll see what we get!), eggplant (another variety), Sweet 100 tomatoes, and Big Boy tomatoes. They're happily living on my windowsill in the city right now. I'll probably have to put some of them into pots or bigger containers before May, but once it's warm enough outside, they can go in the ground. I'll harden them off on my fire escape first. Hope they all stay happy and healthy!

Burrata

Burrata is mozzarella cheese stuffed with a mixture of more mozzarella and cream. So basically, it's amazing. Any time I see it on a menu I order it. I've picked some up to eat at home from Murray's Cheese but it was around $12. I saw it this week at Trader Joe's for $5! What a deal!


It comes with two balls of Burrata. I drizzled a little olive oil and balsamic with salt and pepper on top and we ate it with crackers. It was gooey and rich and the acid of the balsamic went really well with it. Next time I think I'll make a savory tomato jam. Go to Trader Joe's!

Happy March!

Sorry for the lack of posts recently - Jamie and I were in Hawaii for our friends Bryce and Maria's wedding. It was so much fun and beautiful.

And for a little foodie bit, if anyone's ever in Oahu you've got to stop at Leonard's for Malasadas (a delicious, sugar covered donut) and stop at Romy's on the North Shore for some garlic butter shrimp - yum!

Leonard's Malasadas - thanks Rachel!!

 Romy's in Kahuku