Month: June 2013

Lemon Ricotta Pasta with Seared Scallops

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You guys know how much I love homemade ricotta.  In case you don’t – it’s A LOT.  I’ve also been kind of obsessed with peas lately.  So I was super excited to try out this recipe.

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I had never made scallops at home before, so I was pretty nervous.  But as it turns out, it’s pretty easy!  Just make sure that you buy them no more than 1 day before you want to cook them, keep them on ice if you aren’t going straight home, and store them in the coldest part of the fridge.  Also, be warned that your house will smell like seafood after you cook them.

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As for the pasta – whole wheat linguine, lemon, peas, thyme, and of course – fresh ricotta.  Fresh and light and creamy deliciousness!

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Eat me!

Here’s one more shot to tide you over… (more…)

Peas and Carrots

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You know that Forrest Gump quote, “Jenny and me was like peas and carrots.”?  I could not stop saying that while making and eating this dinner.  The classic duo of peas and carrots, back together again in the form of soup and risotto.

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This pea soup has a base of English peas, sugar snap peas, and leeks.  So much green!

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But more importantly, it has bacon.  You start by crisping the bacon and removing it.  Then, in the same pan, you cook celery, onion, and leek in the bacon fat before adding chicken stock and rosemary.  Meanwhile, blanch the peas. (more…)

Cheesy Brown Butter Grits with Ramps and Fiddleheads

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It’s another vegetarian lunch brought to you by Sarah and Melissa!  Unfortunately I am posting this a bit late and you probably can’t get some of the ingredients anymore, sorry!  There’s always next year.  There are a lot of delicious components in this dish – Gruyere, brown butter, delicate ramps, and the very weird but very cool fiddlehead ferns.

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These guys are kinda funky looking, huh?  They have a short season in Spring and taste a lot like asparagus.  You need to wash them well when you get them, and it can be a little tricky to tell what is dirt and what is their little gripper feet – so I recommend soaking them in a bowl of cold water then rinsing them off one at a time.  Time consuming, but worth it.

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Another short season, Spring item – ramps.  Most commonly found in Appalachia, these little guys are a wild onion variety that have a pronounced garlic flavor.  And they are just so pretty, too! (more…)

Asparagus Custard Tart

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We are coming to the end of asparagus season, but you may be able to get one more use in – and I recommend this one.  An asparagus flavored custard with goat cheese and Gruyere, tucked inside a flaky puff pastry shell?  Yes, please!

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This Martha Stewart recipe uses the stalks and tips separately.  The stalks get pureed into the custard, and the tips decorate the top of the tart.

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The custard is made with asparagus, eggs, cream, and flour (I altered the recipe based on comments – adding more flour to help it set up).

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The custard goes into a pre-baked shell, then the cheeses are sprinkled on top, followed by the asparagus tips.

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The texture is gorgeous and the asparagus is definitely the star of the show.  Yum, yum, yum – get out there and grab the last of the asparagus! (more…)

Strawberry Sour Cream Pie

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I have been dying to make this pie ever since I discovered the recipe last summer, sadly too late for strawberry season.  I love the combination of sour cream and fruit – really, REALLY love it.  One of my favorite pies ever is this creme fraiche and peach pie that you know I will be making as soon as peaches are in season.

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The filling is so easy it’s almost silly, but before we get to that I want to talk about this crust.  This crust!  First of all, can we acknowledge that that is the prettiest crust I have ever made?  She’s improving, ladies and gentlemen!  Part of that is due to how easy this crust is to work with.  I had thought I discovered the secret to good crust two years ago with Martha Stewart’s half butter, half shortening pate brisee – BUT, then I discovered this recipe with butter and lard.  Lard, folks, is the bomb.  Why have I never used it before?!  After all, shortening is just pretending to be lard – so why not go with the real stuff?  The texture, the taste, the ease of rolling it out even when it’s cold – *sigh*.  Please tell me you will make this.  Seriously, go make it right now. (more…)

Spring Pizzas

I am one of those people that refuses to let go of a season, so I apologize if Spring drags on a bit for me here (especially since I am always late posting).  But we are still in the transition period from Spring to Summer, so it’s not THAT bad (I hope).

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Anyway, during one of my weekly lunches with Melissa from Smells Like Brownies, we decided to make a shaved asparagus pizza with some gorgeous purple asparagus that she got from a local farm (she talks about it here).

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Isn’t it beautiful? It turns out that this asparagus is super juicy, so it released a lot of liquid during cooking that we had to mop up with paper towels.  If you have some big, juicy stalks and want to make pizza, I recommend sauteing them a bit first or tossing with kosher salt and draining on paper towels for a bit to draw the moisture out.

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Here is the beautiful whole wheat pizza dough that Melissa had ready to go when I got there. (more…)

Farro with Scallions, Peas, and Goat Cheese

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It’s time for another vegetarian lunch with Melissa!  This time we made a warm and creamy grain salad with veggies (kind of our favorite thing).  This salad has farro, arugula, scallions, split peas, English peas, goat cheese, and chives in a citrusy dressing with orange, shallot, and Parmesan.  So basically every delicious ingredient there is.

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We made things easy by precooking the farro and split peas (you can do this a day in advance) and using frozen peas.

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We tossed the farro mixture with a citrusy dressing, then folded in arugula and charred scallions, and topped with goat cheese and chives.  Let me tell you about charred scallions – they are awesome.  Super awesome.  We were worried that the onion flavor would be overwhelming, but charring them takes a lot of that sharpness out and replaces it with sweetness. (more…)