I have Mama Brown to thank for getting signed up for the class in the first place, but I have Yolanda to thank for getting our butts in the seats. She earned more points towards her “Best Roommate and Daughter Ever” award by hanging around at Macy’s after she got off work around 3:30 for the sole purpose of making sure we got good seats. I’d say numbers one, two and three isn’t doing too badly! When she texted me the good news, she also said “And there’s a surprise!” I love Yolanda surprises, they’re always awesome. This one was no exception.

 

It occured to me that in re-reading that “It has been a day of perfect food” post from a while back, there was nearly no meat in it. Just the bit of bacon wrapped around those bleu cheese stuffed dates. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely appreciate a perfectly seared medium rare steak, a juicy pork loin, a crispy skinned chicken thigh, and I’ve never met a seafood I didn’t like. But I frequently go a few days without including any meat in my diet before I really take notice of it’s absence.This past weekend was one such occasion, when the only non-veggie I ate was the shrimp in the shrimp & grits that Yo’s mom made for dinner on Saturday. What else was I nibbling on? Some of it was from the stash that I was gifted with from Specialty Produce, namely the heirloom tomatoes and the Baby Anzious Artichokes. The larger tomatoes I turned into one of my all time favorite “sandwiches” if you can call it that. It’s really just a chunk of lightly toasted French bread, slathered with a little mayonnaise (homemade if you’ve got it lying around), topped with thick slices of tomato, drizzled sparingly with olive oil and sprinkled with salt & pepper. I’ll be honest, I was so excited about their return to my repetoir after months out of season that I just plain forgot to take a picture. I thought about sprinkling everything with a little parmesan and popping it under the broiler for a minute, but in the end raw, juicy and fresh won out. The smaller black cherry tomatoes were just too perfectly sweet and delicious all on their own to mess with very much. I just cut them in half, tossed them with a little olive oil, salt & pepper, and ate them right out of the bowl.

It occured to me a few weeks ago that even though I’ve known him for over a year, I’d never cooked for the boy! Ridiculous, I know. I’d decided the day before I wanted to make lasagna, so I made some ricotta cheese. This is an incredibly simple endeavor, just heat some milk and salt until it’s not quite boiling, add some acid (I’ve used lemon juice and white vinegar), and watch the magic happen. Almost instantly the whey separates out, and you just scoop out your freshly made ricotta. I drain mine for a few minutes in a paper towel lined collandar, and then it’ll keep in the fridge for a few days covered in a bowl. I made the cheese before I chose a lasagna recipe, and then I wound up making one that didn’t actually call for it. Details, right? It was a Mario Batali recipe, and that guy does not mess around. It was a pork & veal ragu, bechamel sauce (one down on my reso-maybes list!), parmesan, the works. It also called for ground pancetta, which I don’t have the slightest clue where to even look for. I added a little extra salt to the ragu, and added some mozzarella and ricotta to the equation. It might not have been completely true to the original, but it was incredibly decadent and delicious. I ate one portion, the boy ate three. He’s also been at the gym more often the last couple of weeks, which may or may not be coincidental. I took the leftovers to work the next day, and they were gone by 9:30am. Gotta love those Rebels, they don’t discriminate when it comes to food! If lasagna’s what’s for breakfast, well then that’s what they’ll eat.

Preparation Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1 gallon whole pasteurized milk

1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

1/4 teaspoon salt (more if you want a saltier taste and if you are not going to use it for desserts)

Procedure:

Rinse the inside of the pot you intend to use with cold water (this helps prevent the milk from scorching). Place 1 gallon milk in large, heavy non-reactive pot on medium heat. Add salt and stir briefly. Allow milk to heat up slowly, stirring occasionally. Soon you will notice steam start to form above the surface and tiny bubbles appearing on the milk. You want it to reach 180-185 degrees, near scalding temperature, just before it comes to a boil. Check the temperature with your thermometer.

When it reaches the correct temperature, take the pot off the burner, add the vinegar and stir gently for only one minute. Add salt. You will notice curds forming immediately. Cover with a dry clean dish towel and allow the mixture to sit undisturbed for a couple of hours. You can also begin preparing your ricotta in the morning before going to work and let it sit until you come home.

When the ricotta has rested for 2 hours or more, take a piece of cheesecloth, dampen it and place it inside a colander. With a slotted spoon, ladle out the ricotta into the prepared colander. Place the colander with ricotta inside of a larger pan so it can drain freely. Let it drain for two hours or so depending on how creamy or dry you want your cheese to be.

Lift the cheesecloth up by the four corners and twist gently. If the liquid runs clear, squeeze a little more. If the liquid runs milky, there is no more need to squeeze. Place in a tight sealed container. Refrigerate. It will keep for up to 7 days. Ricotta does not freeze well.

Lasagna Bolognese
adapted from Mario Batali

Ingredients

Ragù:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
4 stalks celery, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, sliced
1 pound veal, ground
1 pound pork, ground
4 ounces pancetta, ground (yeah, I definitely don’t know where to buy this)
1 8-ounce can tomato paste
1 cup milk
1/2 cup white wine
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Béchamel:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup flour
3 cups milk
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Lasagna:
3/4 to 1 pound fresh pasta sheets, about 7 by 4 inches, or dried lasagne noodles blanched for 6 minutes and refreshed (I used home style flat sheet noodles, a no-cook version)
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (way too poor for this stuff – my parmesan was freshly grated, but not of the Reggiano variety. I also added grated mozzarella and ricotta)
Oil for brushing

Cooking Instructions

Ragù: In a large heavy-bottom saucepan, heat olive oil. Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic, and sweat over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until vegetables are translucent. Add veal, pork, and pancetta to the vegetables, and brown over high heat, stirring to keep the meat from sticking together. Add the tomato paste, milk, wine, thyme, and 1 cup water, and simmer over medium-low heat for 1 to 11/2 hours (if the ragù becomes too thick, add a little more water). Season to taste with salt and pepper, and remove from heat.

Béchamel: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, add the flour, and whisk until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring regularly, until the mixture turns golden brown, about 6 to 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a separate pan until it is just about to boil. Add the milk to the butter mixture, 1 cup at a time, whisking continuously until the sauce is very smooth. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 seconds longer. Remove from the heat and season with salt and nutmeg.

Assembly: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Brush a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish with melted butter or oil, and layer in the following order from the bottom: ragù, pasta, béchamel, and grated cheese (saving about 1 cup béchamel for last topping), making 3 to 4 layers of pasta, finishing with ragù, béchamel, and 1/4 cup of the Parmigiano-Reggiano sprinkled over the top. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the casserole is bubbling. Remove from the oven, allow to cool for 20 minutes, slice, and serve.