Homemade Ricotta

I found the easiest, fastest way to make homemade ricotta! It might sound daunting, but it's actually super easy and totally worth it. It tastes much creamier and fluffier than store bought ricotta, and it's better for cooking because it doesn't have gums and stabilizers put in. It only lasts a few days in the fridge, but if you have an experience like mine, it'll be gone before you have a chance to pop it in there. (We ate it with wheat thins, salt, and truffle honey with cracked black pepper - amazing appetizer!) The whole process takes about 40 minutes.


Ingredients:
1 qt whole milk
1/2 cup cream
2 tbsp distilled vinegar

Directions:
In a glass bowl, mix together all ingredients. Put in the microwave for 5-10 minutes, checking periodically to see if it has curdled. Once it has curdled (the whey will look yellowish and there will be curds floating), gently pour it into a very fine meshed strainer. Let it sit for about 30 minutes, longer if you'd like a dryer consistency. And that's it! Salt it if you'd like, or use it in desserts.

Mahi Mahi, grilled and ceviche, with christophine and zucchini

All the restaurants in St. Barts have some sort of mahi mahi on the list, but the prices are usually pretty high. I heard about the fish market in town and went in to get my own mahi mahi. (The fish market is right at the entrance to Gustavia and is open from 5am to noon.) The grocery stores on the island have great food and are very reasonably priced, and I love to cook, so dinners at home are just as fun, and tasty, as dinners out.

The piece of fish I got was enormous, so I decided to grill most of it but also make an appetizer of mahi mahi ceviche. I had a side of christophine (a local squash) and grilled zucchini. (All finished with some awesome coconut ice cream!) Recipes below!

Ceviche Recipe
Ingredients:
Mahi Mahi, cut into small, bite sized cubes
Juice of several limes
Cilantro, chopped up
Red onion, thinly sliced and a little chopped
1 serrano pepper

Directions:
Put the mahi mahi in a bowl and pour enough lime juice to just cover the fish. Salt lightly and refrigerate for 50 minutes.
Drain most of the lime juice and add the remaining ingredients. Salt to taste and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes and up to 2 hours. Serve plain or with thin toasts.

Grilled Mahi Mahi with Mango Salsa Recipe
Ingredients:
One filet of mahi mahi, lightly salted
half a mango, chopped into small cubes
half a red bell pepper, chopped into small cubes
1/4 red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 serrano pepper (more or less to taste), chopped
1 lime
cilantro, chopped

Directions:
To make the salsa, mix the mango, red bell pepper, onion, garlic, serrano pepper, and cilantro. Add salt and lime to taste.
Heat a grill to high and grill fish on both sides until opaque. Cut into smaller filets and serve topped with mango salsa. (Also great to accompany with a little piment sauce.)

Christophine Recipe
Ingredients:
 3 Christophines, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup milk + water
butter

Directions:
Put the christophine in a pot and add milk. Add water until just covered and bring to a boil. Simmer until they are fork tender. Drain and return to pot. Mash with a potato masher and heat gently to evaporate some of the water. Add butter and salt to taste.

Grilled Zucchini Recipe
Ingredients:
4 zucchinis, cut in half lengthwise 
olive oil
4 garlic cloves, crushed
salt

Directions:
Toss the zucchini with oil, salt, and garlic. Let sit at least half an hour. Grill until tender. 

St Barts Rum

Just got back from a wonderful and warm family vacation on St. Barts and am in withdrawal. Every time I'm there, I stop at Chez Ginette. It's definitely not a tourist trap, as many places on the island have become, and Ginette is always there surrounded by her dogs. She only speaks French, so come armed with your French/English dictionary or memorize, "Je voudrais quelque bouteilles de rum." She'll take you into a back room that's filled with shelves of home made rum punch. (Technically "punch" but with an alcohol content of 38% - very potent.) There is an overwhelming variety of flavors like hibiscus, myrtilles (wild blueberry), and ginger, but my favorite is the passion fruit. It has the tart and sweet flavor of passion fruit to mellow out the white rum a bit, and the seeds floating in it have a little crunch and a great flavor. The faint of heart might mix it with a little juice or soda, but if you want the real Antilles experience, just pour a little glass with a few ice cubes and crank up the heat.

Also, I think the warning sticker on the back is pretty funny.

Shell carbonara

Looking for something inexpensive for dinner, I thought of spaghetti carbonara. I flipped through Epicurious and found a good looking recipe for Orrechiette Carbonara. At the grocery there was no orrechiette (and I didn't feel like making it fresh, which isn't actually that hard) so I got small shells. The result was great. Easy, creamy, great flavor. We both had seconds and luckily have more for lunch today. The leeks are a great addition, and right now leeks are particularly sweet. Yum! Also added a nice splash of color.

Ingredients:
Shells (I eyeballed almost a pound with about an inch left in the box)
6 slices bacon cut into cubes
3 leeks, sliced lengthwise in half then cut crosswise in strips (only white and light green parts)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano
3 eggs

Directions:
Sauté the bacon until the fat has rendered and they are crisp. Pour out all but about 2-3 tbsp of the grease.


Add the leeks to the skillet and sauté until tender. Turn off the heat.



Meanwhile, cook the pasta in well salted water. Reserving 1/2 cup of pasta water, drain pasta while there's still a little bite.



Whisk the eggs an cheese together then slowly add reserved pasta water while whisking. Add pasta to leeks and heat through. Remove from heat, add egg mixture, and mix until it thickens and becomes creamy. Toss in bacon and serve!

Jamie's White Russian

Usually delegated strictly to Big Lebowski showings, Jamie deviated tonight because we had some Khalua from our Vermont trip. He mixed them up and I was skeptical, but it was good. It tasted like a melted milkshake. I may be a convert. (I also want to try making it as an ice cream this summer.)









Mix 3 parts vanilla vodka, 2 parts Khalua, 1 part skim milk over ice. Pretty easy. I like the spherical ice cubes (trays $8 at MoMA) because they make every cocktail look extra special. Thanks Jamie for your bartending expertise!

Roast chicken with root vegetables

I went to the farmers market yesterday and picked up some good looking root vegetables. I got carrots, yellow carrots, a parsnip, a big leek, a turnip, and an onion. I decided they would be a great bottom to the roar chicken recipe I'd been wanting to try from Simple Fresh Southern. It turned out wonderfully, even though I nixed the wine because I didn't have any. It filled Jamie's apartment with the most homey, delicious smell (he smelled it when he opened the door downstairs and was hoping it was coming from his apartment). Plus with only two of us, there's plenty for leftovers and stock - after we cut all the meat off I threw the carcass in the freezer along with the neck.

Ingredients:
A selection of root vegetables including some onions and/or leeks
A few sprigs fresh time
Oil
1 lemon
1 3.5 lb chicken
1/2 cup chicken stock

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425. Cut up vegetables into 1 inch chunks and put onto a cast iron skillet with thyme. Toss with oil, salt, and pepper.




Rinse and dry the chicken and bring to room temperature if you have time. Put the chicken breast side down on the vegetables. Squeeze half a lemon over the back and season liberally with kosher salt and pepper. Roast 20 minutes. Take the skillet out of the oven and carefully take off the chicken. Stir the veggies and add 1/2 cup broth. Put the chicken back on top back side down and squeeze the remaining lemon half in top and season liberally. Put back in the oven for 40 minutes. Take it out and let rest tented in foul 10 minutes. Carve up and serve with veggies!

Easy zucchini salad

I made myself some not so healthy pasta the other night and wanted a light side dish. I found a great way to have zucchini in a salad sans cooking. Salt tenderizes the zucchini and it's crisp and refreshing.

Ingredients:
Zucchini
Shallot
Salt
Red wine vinegar


Directions:
Slice the zucchini with a mandolin into very thin slices. Put the zucchini slices into a strainer and cover them liberally with salt (you’ll rinse it later). Toss the zucchini with the salt and let sit in the sink – they will sweat. Meanwhile, slice the shallot with the mandolin.



After about five minutes, or once you see the zucchini has tenderized, rinse it with cold water to wash off the salt. Toss the zucchini with the shallots and top with a drizzle of red wine vinegar (lemon would also work well) and some salt. Feel free to add some olive oil. Very easy, refreshing side dish/salad!

cheese fondue

I made meat fondue for Valentine's Day, but this weekend I made cheese fondue. It was pretty easy and delicious! You can't go wrong with a pot of melted cheese. I had sour dough bread, red bell pepper, and apples to dip. The cheese sauce smelled amazing and tasted even better, and it's always fun to have an interactive dinner. I used a blend of Gruyere and Appenzeller - it had a great, sharp flavor, accented really well by the wine.

Ingredients:
Half a pound of Gruyere, grated
Half a pound of Appenzeller, grated
1 garlic clove, but in half
1 1/2 cups white wine + 1 tsp
1 tbsp cornstarch

For dipping
Sour dough bread, Granny Smith apple, red bell pepper, all cut into bite-sized pieces.

Directions:
Rub the garlic all over the inside of a sauce pan. Add the wine and simmer. Slowly add the cheese and stir in a zig zag motion while it melts. In a small bowl, mix corn starch, 1 tsp wine, and 1 tsp water and add to cheese. Continue to stir and simmer until it thickens, about 5 minutes. Add to fondue pot and light the sterno and start dipping!

A little prize for finish the pot - the cheese forms a yummy crust at the bottom.

Centro Vinoteca

I booked a reservation at Centro Vinoteca last night. I’d seen it on NYMag and it’s right by apartment but I’d never been. I was happily surprised. It’s adorable inside! A really nice atmosphere. The wine list is exhaustive. I ordered one of the cheaper bottles, a $36 bottle of Villa Valentino Negroamaro from Puglia. The waiter asked me a question about it after I ordered and I just sort of nodded. The wine came and it was remarkably good – we both took one sip and thought it was amazingly smooth, there was no dry feeling, and it had a hint of sweetness. From that point on, I was sure that I had accidentally ordered one of the $300 bottles.




We split the special to start – deep fried ravioli filled with goat cheese and wild mushroom purée. These were so tasty and great finger food. The earthiness of the mushrooms, the creamy melted goat cheese, and the crispy, savory dough went together perfectly.




For my main course I ordered the cavatelli with a red wine braised short rib ragu, pomegranate, and parmesan cheese. I was curious about the pomegranate, but it actually worked well. The bright burst of the pomegranate seeds cut the richness of the short rib. The portions were big, so I got to eat it again for lunch!

The bill came, and the wine was in fact the original $36 bottle I had ordered – thank God. I’ve now marked it as a new favorite. Another little bonus was since I’d booked the reservation with Village Vines the whole bill was 30% off!

All in all, this is a great little spot to grab a week night dinner with a friend, and would also be a good date spot.

Go-to Restaurants

For my AMPR FYI at work, I put together a list of my favorite places to go in New York and I thought why not share it here too? I broke it down into a few categories, so hopefully you'll find it helpful if you're looking for a night out!

Best BYOBs
La Sirène – I’m hesitant to give out the name of favorite restaurant – this is the most romantic, delicious, hole-in-the-wall. It’s kind of in the middle of nowhere in SoHo and serves up the best mussels I’ve ever tasted (the moules vignerones). Everything I’ve tried on the menu, I’ve loved, and each entrée is served with a side of roasted and pureed vegetables. Be sure to save room for dessert – the profiteroles are heavenly.

Taureau – This narrow fondue restaurant in the East Village is by the same chef who started La Sirène. The prix fix gives you lots of food – both cheese and meat fondue with a little green salad, followed by yummy chocolate fondue for dessert.

Kuma Inn – This “Asian Tapas” place fills up super quickly, so be sure to reserve well ahead of time. There’s a small corkage fee per bottle, but it’s a great place to go with friends for a night out. Be sure to order the Chinese sausage and the wasabi shumai. And afterword, head next door to Los Feliz.

Morakote Siam – This is pretty bare bones, but great for a casual dinner. It’s right by my apartment, so I’ll often grab a bottle of wine and go with a friend. Our bill is rarely over $20 total. Be sure to try the Thai Chili Beef and the veggie spring rolls.

Most Romantic
La Ramblas – Sentiment may be why I think this place is romantic (I went on my first date with my boyfriend here) but the dim lighting and emphasis on sharing back up my opinion. The small, high tables get filled with various tapas plates like grilled octopus or truffled mushroom salad with avocados, and the sangria is sweet, delicious, and disappears quickly.

The Place – I stumbled across The Place during a snowstorm and went in for a drink. The bar was dimly lit with candles and it was extremely cozy. I went back for dinner and it was equally romantic, even in warmer weather – although I think it shines most in winter.

Recette – This restaurant is super hot right now, so be sure to make a reservation and don’t expect to be seated right away (comfortable shoes may be in order). After a rough start waiting to be seated, once we were, it was wonderful. We sat at a little table next to the big, tiled windows looking out onto West 12th street. The food was incredible, and I recommend the carpaccio wrapped buratta with tomato jelly – creamy, savory, and tart. (More here)

Lupa – Mario Batali doesn’t ever seem to go wrong, and this is his less-expensive version of Babbo. I actually find the food here better than Babbo, and the atmosphere certainly wins out. Ask to be seated in the back room in the corner booth. It’s much more cozy and romantic sitting next to your date in a corner booth than sitting across from one another. Order the buccatini all’amatriciana.

Best Indian
Ghandi Café – This narrow, little Indian place is right around the corner from my apartment and serves up the tastiest curries and hands down the best naan I’ve ever eaten. For two people, I suggest ordering the dinner for one and an additional curry. (The dinner for one comes with this amazing, crispy vegetable fritter, naan, papadam, and a curry – along with three chutneys.) That way you get to taste a few things, and there’s usually enough left over for lunch. My favorite curry so far is the dansahk, slightly spicy with spinach and lentils.

Best Chinese
Grand Sichuan Eastern – There are several outposts of this chain, but the one of 55th and 2nd is the best. Along with the American Chinese food staples, they have a Sichuan menu with spicy, fresh options. If you live nearby, order because the place isn’t terribly charming. If not, stop in if you’re in the neighborhood. The Spicy Chicken with Chinese Broccoli is delicious, and if you like heat, also try the Spicy Wontons in Red Oil.

Best Sushi
Tomoe – This unassuming little sushi place looks pretty run-of-the-mill, but the line outside the door proves it isn’t. The décor doesn’t wow, but the sushi does. It’s incredibly fresh and noticeably better than other sushi. I don’t know how they do it, but the fish is just better. Go for rolls instead of à la carte or you’ll be in for a hefty bill.

Best Pizza
John’s – This place is conveniently located about 30 seconds from my apartment, but even if it’s a hike, it’s worth a trip. They don’t serve slices, only whole pizza’s, but it’s not hard to gobble one down even with just two people. It’s New York pizza at its best. The secret to avoiding the long lines is calling ahead for pick up, as long as you have a place to eat it!

Moustache – John’s has the best NY pizza, but Moustache has the best Turkish pizza. This cute little place has brass tables and a casual vibe, and along with the usual suspects (hummus, babaganoush, etc), they have Turkish pitzas with thin crusts and lots of flavor.

Best Bar Food
Blind Tiger – This craft beer bar has a surprisingly good menu. It’s a fun and unexpected place to grab lunch on the weekend. Along with your Allagash White or Rogue Brutal Bitter, nosh on amazingly flavorful and juicy bahn mi minis, chili, or savory BLTs.

Rye House – The bar snacks here have a southern bent with things like fried pickles and boiled peanuts. A great place to grab drinks with a boy, especially one who enjoys bourbon.

Best Mexican
La Palapa West – The salsa they give you to start is so good you can eat it with a spoon – and embarrassingly enough, I’ve been known to scoop a few bites before the chips arrive. The tacos are great too, especially the chipotle chicken.

Best Trucks
Bistro Truck – Just down the street from AMPR, I love running here for a quick lunch like salad niçoise loaded with potatoes, tuna, tomatoes, and other goodies or chicken cigars, crispy, tasty, and cheap. Also, the Portobello burger is tangy and delicious with roasted red peppers, goat cheese, and balsamic.

Seafood
Fish – If you like oysters, this is the place to go. For $8 you get 6 Blue Point oysters (or clams) and your choice of house red or white wine or PBR on tap. If you sit at the bar, you can also snack on the big, marble bowls of peanuts.

Milos – This can be a little pricey, but the fish is amazing and fresh and it’s just like a restaurant in Greece – you get to choose your own fish. I definitely recommend getting a whole fish because it’s fun to pick it out, and they’re flakey and served simply with lemon and olive oil. Really authentic and light.

Best Cupcakes
Sweet Revenge – You may know this place from its appearance on Chase commercials. It’s a great place for an afternoon snack or after dinner dessert. The cupcakes come in several varieties with two daily specials. Plus, they do wine and beer pairings, so you may be recommended a sparkling framboise to drink with your red velvet cupcake. If you like salty and sweet, try the fleur de sel cupcake – it’s amazing. (More here)

Baked by Melissa – These tiny little cupcakes are perfect for a snack with fun flavors like oreo and cookie dough and they won’t leave you feeling guilty. I can’t claim credit for discovering this – thank you Sarah Winters for getting these for the office.

Best Pork Buns
Fatty Crab – While the pork buns at Momofuku are savory and delicious, Fatty Crab’s win in my book. With the same basic set up – a fluffy, sweet steamed bun, a fatty, caramelized slice of pork belly, Hoisin sauce – Fatty Crab goes the extra mile with its spicy cilantro salad to stuff into the bun and its bulls eye of Sriracha in the bowl of Hoisin dipping sauce. Be careful – once you stop eating you really start to feel the burn. The slices of hardboiled egg on the plate help a little. (For my full pork bun rundown)

Roasted red pepper and feta dip

Jamie and I ordered this at one of my favorite restaurants on Ios (Old Byron's) and I finally recreated it - to the best of my ability. It's so tasty, and not a dip you really see. Plus it's easy to whip up. We ate it with some grilled ciabatta bread. I'm definitely going to make it again next time I have people over - much more interesting than the usual suspects with crudités.

Ingredients:
2 red bell peppers
half a block of feta
1 glove garlic (chopped)
quarter of a lemon
pinch red pepper flakes
olive oil

Directions
Put the two red peppers under the broiler and turn them when until they are charred all around. Put the peppers in a bowl, cover with saran wrap, and let sit for 10 minutes. Then peel off the skin (they steam in the bowl, separating the skin from the meat of the pepper). If you're pressed for time, you can use store bought roasted red peppers.

Place the feta, peppers, and garlic in a food processor and grind, adding between 1 and 2 tablespoons of olive oil as needed. Squeeze in the lemon to taste and add the red pepper flakes, pulse, then salt and pepper to taste.

 For the bread, slice some ciabatta in half, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper, and throw on the grill or under the broiler. Extra tasty if once it's toasted you rub it with a clove of garlic.