Cheeseboard #2

Back to Cheeseboard! Of course. This time, I went with my brother and my dad after the Cal v. Davis game. I needed some cheering up after the incredible loss, and Cheeseboard pizza was just what the doctor ordered.

The Cheese Board Pizza Collective
1512 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley, CA
510-549-3055

I sadly forgot to write down what was on the pizza and it's been a while since I ate it, so I sadly cannot remember exactly what was on it, but I do remember that there were figs, gorgonzola, mozzarella, and arugula. Mmm, delicious!

We ate on the median-per custom. It was dad's first time and it was a successful one at that. It was so rich between the figs and the gorgonzola but it was just perfect for some comfort food especially with a bottle of delicious apple cider that tasted like apples right of the tree in the fall.

Check out my last post from cheeseboard to learn more about the place! Quality ingredients, delicious food and good people.

Calming Down

The last month has been crazy busy and I've felt like I've had so much on my place and nothing to do all at once. How does that happen? I guess after traveling, many of the things I had to do just felt too trivial or boring to actually consider them to be of any importance. But no worries, I'm out of my post-traveler's-melancholy and I'm back in school (one and a half weeks in). Now that I have a normal schedule, the blogs should be coming out more regularly. The more things I have to do, the more productive I get.

I've been obsessed with zucchini and yellow summer squash lately--probably because I can't resist these beautiful vegetables whenever I go to the farmer's market or the co-op. Browning them in a skillet with a little bit of salt and pepper is definitely my new favorite thing to do. I'm putting it in every dish imaginable! I also had a short lived obsession with orange cherry tomatoes, because there was such a bountiful supply of them at the co-op. Seriously, living so close to this place is going to be the death of me. Or at least my bank account (ignore that, mom and dad)! This meal is such an easy fix on hot nights, when I wanted to be using my new kitchen, but I also feel like exercising little-to-no movement plus having a delicious meal on the table. 

Summer Vegetable and Polenta Mess

Ingredients:
A few slices of prepared polenta
A handful of cherry tomatoes
A few chunks of garlic
1/4 a red bell pepper, sliced
A big handful of sliced zucchini and yellow summer squash
A big spoonful of marscarpone (cream cheese, craime fraiche or sour cream works as well)

Directions:
Fry up the polenta with some oil on both sides.
Meanwhile, brown the zucchini and squash. Add the garlic, pepper and finally the cherry tomatoes closer to the end. Season with salt and pepper.
To construct, dollop the marscarpone on the polenta, then top with the sauteed veggies.
Devour.

So simple. So beautiful. Perfect for the end of summer. I love using up all of my delicious vegetables and having it come out this good!

Experimenting with Polenta

I remember falling in love with Polenta the first time I tried it. Something about Polenta is just so different from any other dish. I think its flavor is one of the most comforting flavors out there. Until now, I’ve always just bought it in the prepared logs and fried it and topped it with a sauce (Usually, a spinach and cheese sauce! Mmmm). However, I’ve been wanting for a while to try to make Polenta from the dried cornmeal. Since it’s been cold around Davis lately, I decided that it was a perfect week to make one of my favorite comfort foods.

Parmesan Polenta with Eggs and Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:
For the Polenta:
Salt
1 Cup instant Polenta (this will yield leftover Polenta which can be used in my next recipe)
3/4 Cup Parmesan
4 Tablespoons butter
For the Tomato Sauce and Eggs:
Olive oil
1 Onion
3 Cloves of garlic
15 Ounce can of Italian tomatoes or diced tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 Tablespoons chopped basil
4 eggs

Directions:
Start the water boiling for the Polenta. When it comes to a boil, add the salt and the Polenta. Stir continuously until it thickens. This should take about 3 minutes. Once it has thickened, add the butter and let it melt. Then add the Parmesan.
Meanwhile, heat up the olive oil in a large skillet and chop the onions. Add the chopped onions to the oil and then mince in the garlic. Once the onions start to soften, add the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Let it all come together for about 5 minutes then add the basil.
Move the tomato mixture to one side of the large pan and then crack the eggs onto the empty side of the pan, without breaking the yolks. Top with salt and pepper and cover with a lid. Check the eggs every few minutes until the yolk is the consistency that you like. I like mine to be runny but for all of the whites to be well cooked (covering it with a lid helps ensure that the whites won't be runny).
Once all of the components are ready, spoon some Polenta into a bowl and top with the tomatoes and a couple eggs and extra parmesan if you want.
Take the leftover Polenta from and place it into a greased 8x8 pan. Place in the refrigerator over night to allow it to set up for future use.

A perfect meal for a cold, rainy day! I made this for my friend, Melanie, while we were "studying". Much better than reading a textbook. Much better.

Rosemary and Parmesan Polenta Chips
I saw Giada make these on the Food Network a few years ago and I have wanted to make them ever since. I searched for the recipe, but with no luck, so I decided to just experiment a bit on my own.

Ingredients:
Left over Polenta (You could make Polenta just for this purpose if you don’t want to make the previous dish. Just follow the directions on the back of the bag to make the Polenta and then put it in a pan and chill it till it is set.)
Olive oil
Rosemary to taste
Freshly grated parmesan to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Take the left over Polenta and gently turn it out of the pan. You may need to urge it a bit by taking a spatula or a knife along the edges. Cut the Polenta up into 2cm x 1.5 inch pieces…approximately. Heat up enough oil in a pan so that it will cover the Polenta slices. To place the Polenta strips in the oil, place them onto a spatula and then lower them into the oil. There is a lot of moisture in Polenta so it will spit out a lot of hot oil. A thorough clean up will be necessary afterward. Let the Polenta strips fry for about five minutes or until they start to become golden brown. When they are ready, take them out and place them on a paper towel to drain some of the oil. Top with rosemary, parmesan, salt and pepper while the Polenta is still hot. Continue frying in batches until all of the Polenta is used.

My roommates and I could not stop eating these! I could barely make them as fast as we were devouring them. They are reminiscent of french fries but so much better! Experiment with the toppings to find what flavors work for you.

Dabbling in Korean Cuisine

This weekend, I had the opportunity to see a Master Chef performing in his element. Martin Yan has hosted several successful cooking shows, one of which was recently rated the 4th best cooking show of all time. He has written 30 cookbooks and taught at several Culinary Academies. Most importantly to me, however—he is a Davis Alumnus and a fellow Aggie! He came to Davis this last Friday and gave a cooking demonstration in our Dining Commons. I was in awe while watching him cook his Chinese cuisine! The ease with which he chops and dices and minces is just Godly. He must be close friends with Hestia. I went with my friend, Irvin who also has a passion for cooking and upon leaving, we decided we needed to get together the next day to have a cooking party along with my roommate, Caitlin (although we had to immediately quell our need for good food by having a delicious dinner of Indian food at Kathmandu Kitchen). The next morning, I woke up wanting to try to cook something new—Korean food! I figured a safe place to start would be bibimbap…I mean I’ve always heard it be described as an easy dish, made up of leftovers. I figured it would be a safe starting point. Traditionally, Bibimbap is served as rice, topped with sautéed vegetables, an egg, kimchi (spicy, pickled cabbage), and sliced meat. As long as you have those essentials, you can really just experiment and it will most likely come out beautifully.

Our Bibimbap consisted of a mixture of white rice, brown rice and barley, topped with blanched Edamame and Bean Sprouts, sautéed Spinach, sautéed Chinese Cabbage, Scrambled Eggs, and Tofu, sautéed with Kimchi. The vegetables were cooked with soy sauce, ginger and garlic. The dish was topped with Huy Fong Sriracha (Chinese Hot Sauce), sesame seeds and additional Kimchi, if desired (I say, go for it! That stuff is amazing). If you're not used to Korean food, this may be a little out of the ordinary for you, but as long as you can deal with some spice, you'll love it. Plus, you can add other vegetables you like and take out ones you don't like or change the protein from tofu to chicken or pork. It would also be good with a basted, fried or sunny side up egg. Just take a stab at it and see what comes out!

Macaroni and Cheese Obsession

A few years ago, my friend Alyssa and I went to the theaters to see Becoming Jane. I don’t know if you’ve seen this movie but for a Jane Austen enthusiast, I found the movie to be horribly depressing and so did Alyssa! We left the theater in a stupor, intent on finding some way to cheer ourselves up. We wandered over to Borders and went straight to the cooking section. Alyssa and I had already shared our love of pasta with each other, so we started looking through a pasta cookbook and in it we found a recipe for Macaroni and Cheese. The picture in the book looked to die for so we wrote down the recipe in our phones, went to the store to get the ingredients and then went home to make the Macaroni and Cheese and spend the night watching uplifting movies. The Macaroni and Cheese worked like magic! We were out of our stupor and hooked on Homemade Macaroni and Cheese. Later on, we both became obsessed with the Macaroni and Cheese from the Whole Foods hot bar. We would go to Whole Foods together every couple of months and eat mounds of Macaroni and Cheese, paired with a Brie, Turkey, Pesto Mayonnaise and Basil Panini on a Croissant and a piece of Chocolate Decadence Cake. One day, we wrote down the ingredients in the Whole Foods Macaroni and Cheese so we could incorporate it into our other recipe. We made Macaroni and Cheese several more times, always adjusting the recipe until we got it JUST RIGHT. This is now one of our all-time-favorite dishes. This week is the beginning of a new school quarter and I wanted to get a few of my friends together to catch up on our breaks and share some delicious Macaroni and Cheese. I actually adjusted Alyssa’s and my fool-proof recipe a bit because I wanted to use white cheddar (a suggestion from a friend) and I ended up going a little cheese crazy and adding more than I normally do. The sauce came out a little grainier than normal, but it was still delicious and ever so satisfying. Here's the non-grainy recipe.

Alyssa and Brittany’s Fool-Proof Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:
1 Pound pasta (I used Campanelle this time, but I really like using Cellentani too. Normal shells or elbow macaroni would do the trick though.)
3 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons flour
3 Cups milk, half-and-half or cream (Go for the good stuff! You know you want to!)
Salt and White Pepper to taste
2 Pinches of nutmeg (This is optional and I know some people don’t like nutmeg but I really believe this dish isn’t worth making without it! It adds so much to the flavor. Be a little adventurous)
1/2 Pound Sharp Cheddar (White cheddar works as well and I added a little Parmesan too. Feel free to experiment with the cheeses. Like Swiss? Go for it!)
1 Cup additional cheese to top
1/2 Cup bread crumbs
3 Tablespoons butter

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Boil water and cook the pasta.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan on medium heat and then whisk in the flour. Whisk quickly without letting it burn. Add in the milk and whisk the mixture, making sure that all of the butter and flour are mixed in well. Add the salt, pepper and nutmeg. Keep stirring until the mixture begins to thicken. Be careful to make sure it doesn’t start to burn. Turn up the heat to medium-high. No matter how many times I make white sauce, I always feel like it will never thicken. Don't worry-it always does. Once the sauce has thickened, add in the 1/2 pound of cheese and let it all melt into the sauce.
Mix the sauce with the cooked and drained pasta. Pour the pasta into a 9x13 inch pan.
Spread the remaining cup of cheese over the pasta.
Melt the remaining butter and mix with the bread crumbs. Sprinkle over the cheese.
Bake at 350 until the cheese and bread crumbs start to brown. The sauce will begin to bubble and become less liquidy.

I would really make this every week in the winter if I didn’t have any self control. I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I do.

A Simple Holiday Meal

Christmas Eve was a hectic day in my house! My mom and I spent the vast majority of the day baking cookies and wrapping presents. When it came time to think about dinner, we realized we hadn’t planned out our Christmas Eve menu like we usually do. A busy day, mixed with our lack of preparation led us to throw together a quick meal of whatever we had in the fridge. Despite the way it came about, our Christmas Eve dinner turned out to be simple and scrumptious.

Herb Frittatas Topped with Home Style Potatoes and Goat Cheese

Ingredients:
For the Potatoes:
8 Small red potatoes cut into small cubes
1/3 Cup olive oil
4 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons fresh rosemary
1 Small onion chopped
For the Frittatas:
8 Eggs
4 Tablespoons of a mixture of basil, thyme, marjoram and oregano finely chopped
6 Tablespoons goat cheese
6 Tablespoons milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil
For the Topping:
Goat Cheese

Directions:
First, get the potatoes going. Place them in a microwave safe bowl and toss them with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the microwave until the potatoes start to soften but aren’t falling apart. I set my microwave to the potato setting and set it to two potatoes. This starts them cooking a lot faster than on the stove. Drain the potatoes.
Melt the butter in a skillet at medium-high and add the onion and rosemary. Cook for a few minutes and then add the potatoes. Let the potatoes sit without tossing or stirring them for at least five minutes. This will allow them to brown. Keep them in the skillet, tossing them every five minutes until all of the potatoes have been browned.
Meanwhile, mix together the eggs, herbs, goat cheese, milk, salt and pepper for the frittatas. Heat a small, oiled skillet to medium high. Pour in about 1/3 cup of the frittata mixture into the small skillet and make sure it covers the whole skillet. The mixture will begin to set and when it does, flip it over to cook the other side. Transfer to a plate and keep it in a warm oven. Repeat until all of the mixture is used up.
To serve, top a frittata with the potatoes and then crumble some goat cheese over top.

This dinner was so easy and was really delicious. It’s such an easy meal to adjust to what’s in your fridge. You can change the cheese or the herbs or do away with potatoes all together and top it with whatever strikes your fancy! Enjoy.

Oh There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: cooking is therapy to me, as is writing. After a rough quarter, I’m ready to get back in the swing of things and return to my blog. Sorry for the unexpected hiatus.

I have been longing for winter break for weeks and now that it’s here, there's nothing more I could ask for than to be right where I am, doing exactly what I'm doing! I’ve spent most of my days with my girlfriends, cooking and baking and just being happy to be near them. My friend, Kaelee, stayed with me for a few days and one day we woke up ready to bake! We made a delicious brunch and invited Alyssa over to feast. Later that day, Alyssa, Kaelee, Staecy (and later on, Christina) and I baked from 4PM to 12AM. Kaelee said she wanted something peppermint-y and as Staecy announced, there isn't enough peppermint for other people to use this winter because we took it all to bake 203948 peppermint desserts. Sorry!

Brunch started out with a simple question-"What do you want...eggs or pancakes?"-so then we started brainstorming and things sort of got out of hand...but in a completely delicious sort of way.

Simple Scrambled Eggs

Orange Muffins with an orange glaze (from the back of Trader Joe’s All Purpose Baking mix)

These muffins were so delicious! Way to go Trader Joe's and Kaelee.

Cinnamon-Banana Stuffed French Toast

This was so simple and so tasty. I made French Toast and while I had that going, I melted butter in a skillet and added bananas, cinnamon and sugar. Then I mixed together some cream cheese with sugar until it was smooth. To serve, I topped the French Toast with the cream cheese mixture and the bananas. So delicious! Sorry for the lack of measurements.


Peppermint Crunch Cookies
Recipe From Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients:
2 Cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 Teaspoons baking powder
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1/4 Cup canola oil
4 Ounces 99% unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 Cups granulated sugar
4 Large eggs
2 Teaspoons pure vanilla extract
5 Candy canes-crushed up

Directions:
First combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Combine the oil, chocolate and granulated sugar and blend on medium speed with an electric mixer. Add the eggs and vanilla as the mixer is running. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed. Once everything is combined, place the bowl in the freezer for a few hours or over night.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
When the dough has been chilled, roll the dough into 1 inch balls and roll each ball into the crushed candy cane pieces, so that all sides are covered. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared sheets.
Bake for 10 minutes. The cookies will set up so even though they don’t look quite ready at 10 minutes, they will stiffen up. If you leave them in longer, the cookies will get too hard.

I tried one of these right after they came out of the oven and I didn’t really like them. The next morning, my friends were eating them and saying how good they were and so I tried another and it was so much better! It’s actually a pretty great recipe for easy holiday cookies. I highly recommend them.

Peppermint Meringues with Chocolate Ganache
Adapted from 17 and Baking

The recipe on this blog really gave us a hard time! We didn’t get the meringue to stiffen until the third try. Here is the very adjusted recipe.

Ingredients:
For the Meringue:
3 Large egg whites
1/4 Teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 Cup sugar
1/2 Teaspoon pure peppermint extract (see extract notes above)
Red gel food coloring
For the Chocolate Ganache:
3/4 Cup heavy cream
4 1/2 Ounce semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Directions:
Beat the egg whites, cream of tartar and peppermint extract together until it is frothy and then slowly add 1/4 cup sugar while still beating the mixture at a high speed until the mixture thickens. To test to see if the meringue has stiffened enough, take the beater out of the mixture and if peaks form and remain standing, it has stiffened enough. If the peaks fall back down into the mixture, it's not ready.
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and dollop spoonfuls of the meringue mixture onto the paper. With a clean paintbrush, paint stripes of food coloring onto the dollops.
Bake for about 1 hour and 40 minutes. They will be crispy but not brown at all. Let them cool.
When the meringues go into the oven, begin making the ganache. Bring the cream to a simmer. Place the finely chopped chocolate in a bowl and when the cream starts steaming, pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for five minutes and then stir the mixture to make sure all of the chocolate is melted and mixed with the cream. Let the mixture sit at room temperature. It will start to thicken and should be the perfect consistency once the meringues are out of the oven and cooled.
Once the meringues are cool, spread ganache onto the bottom of a cookie with a knife and then top with another meringue to make little sandwiches.

These came out so delicious! We learned that if you leave the sandwiches with the ganache filling for too long, the meringues will absorb the moisture from the ganache and they will be a gooey mess! Good to know. So only prepare the amount of sandwiches that will be eaten at that time. Save the rest of the meringues and the ganache separately—the meringues in an airtight container at room temperature and the ganache in the refrigerator.


Peppermint Patties
Adapted from Erin Cooks

This was so much fun to make! I’d never made candies before, besides peppermint bark, so it just felt really cool to be making peppermint patties.

Ingredients:
For the Peppermint Dough:
1 Egg white
4 Cups powdered sugar plus 1-2 cups for kneading and rolling
1/3 Cup light corn syrup
1 Teaspoon peppermint extract
Cornstarch for dusting
For the Chocolate Shell:
24 Ounces semisweet chocolate chips
2 Tablespoons of shortening (This is optional and I would suggest not using it. All it does is make the chocolate more glossy and considering shortening is ridiculously disgusting, it’s just not worth it.)

Directions:
Beat the egg white with an electric mixer until it is frothy.
Slowly add the powdered sugar while still blending. This will be really, really dry and messy. Think about it-one egg white for 4 cups of powdered sugar! That's a pretty ridiculous wet to dry ratio. The powdered sugar will be everywhere.
Add the corn syrup and 1/2 tsp of the peppermint extract and knead it together until the dough is smooth. Add more powdered sugar until it isn’t sticky.
Dust a flat surface and a rolling pin heavily with cornstarch. Roll out the dough until it is 1/4-1/6 inch thick.
Using cookie cutters, cut the dough into whatever shapes you want. After cutting out the shapes, take the extra dough around the edges and knead it back together and roll it out and cut more shapes. Repeat until there isn’t enough dough left. Place all of the shapes onto a cookie sheet lined with a silpat or parchment paper. Let them sit in the refrigerator for about 45 minutes.
Melt the chocolate chips, the other 1/2 tsp of peppermint extract and the shortening, if you want, in a double boiler over medium heat. Once it’s smooth, turn the heat to low.
To coat the dough shapes with chocolate, it works best to place the shapes on a fork-they will be stiff from being refrigerated-and dip the fork and dough into the chocolate until the shape is completely covered. Lift the dough out, still on the fork, and let the excess chocolate drip off and then set of the lined cookie sheet. This makes a complete mess but is still a lot of fun
Chill the patties for at least 30 minutes on the cookie sheets, in the fridge. Store in containers in the freezer-they taste the best when they’re really cold.

Whew! What a day! A lot of love and a lot of baking. It's good to be back home and it's good to be back in the blogging world! Happy holidays everyone.

Before the Season Ends

I called my mom the other day to make sure the Zucchini season hadn’t ended yet…thankfully it was not quite over. I got a large zucchini from the farmer’s market so I could make zucchini cakes before the season is over.

Zucchini Cakes
Adapted  from Life's Ambrosia

Ingredients:
1 Large zucchini grated
1/2 Cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 Cup bread crumbs
A pinch of ground nutmeg
1 Teaspoon paprika
3 Cloves garlic, minced
1 Egg
Salt and pepper to taste
1-2 Tablespoons olive oil

Directions:
After grating the zucchini, remove the excess water by placing it in a colander and pressing on the zucchini with paper towels.
Mix all of the ingredients, except olive oil.
Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Once heated, add patties by scooping a spoonful and flattening it into a circle on the pan. Cook until golden brown. About 3-4 minutes per side.

My first set were too soggy so I added some more bread crumbs. I paired it with an easy salad with green apple, avocado, parmesan cheese and lettuce and a dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. It tasted light and refreshing but was still satisfying and fulfilling. Enjoy!

Using My Bread

I made a lot of sandwiches this week with my loaf of homemade bread. Here are a few.

Croque Madame 
Adapted from Kiss My Spatula
 
Ingredients:
2 Slices homemade bread
4 Ounces cheese (I used cheddar because it was what I had on hand)
A few slices of good quality ham
Butter
1 Garlic clove, sliced in half
1 Egg
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
Butter the bread and cover with cheese and ham on the butter-free side. Cover with the other slice of bread, butter side out. Grill in a Panini-maker-type-appliance or on a skillet until both sides are golden brown and the cheese is melted.
Meanwhile, make an egg either basted, sunny side up or fried. I like mine basted because the yolk is still runny but there’s no gooey white part left. To do this, crack your egg in a greased skillet without breaking the yolk. Season the egg with salt and pepper and add a few tablespoons of water to the skillet and cover with a lid for a few minutes till there is a white film covering the yolk but the yolk is still runny.
By this time, the sandwich should be ready. Take it off the grill and rub the garlic over the warm bread on both sides. Top with the egg and enjoy.

Cheddar and Apple Sandwich
Adapted from Real Simple

Ingredients:
2 Slices homemade bread
Spicy-brown mustard
Thinly sliced cheddar
Several pieces of thinly sliced green apple

Directions:
Spread the mustard on the slices of bread and top with the remaining ingredients and sandwich between the slices of bread.

Another variation of this sandwich is to use a bit of sour cream instead of mustard and then to grill it in a Panini press or on a skillet. This way was so good. I was inspired by a crepe that I get from Crepeville that has cheddar, green apples, sour cream and nutmeg. I didn’t add nutmeg to this sandwich but it would probably be delicious!

Morro Bay 2009

Morro Bay is one of my favorite places on earth—of the places I’ve been, that is. I love the small town feel, the friendly people, and of course the view. Every year, my family goes on a trip to Morro bay. We go with another family and with one of my best friends. It’s usually a total of at least 9 people, but sometimes more. We rent a house and stay there for a few days. This year, between my brother studying abroad, my mom working two jobs, and having visitors throughout the summer, we weren’t able to plan our yearly trip with the 2 families (+the extra Vock daughter). Instead, my mom, Patty (the mom in the other family), Alyssa (the extra Vock daughter), and I went, just the four of us. We rented out this condo-type apartment that we have wanted to stay in for years but it was just too small for the 9 of us. The Inn is on the embarcadero and each condo has its own patio RIGHT on the water. It is pure bliss. One of the best parts of getting a house or a condo instead of a hotel room is the kitchen! Yeah, they’re never stocked with what you need and you often have to improvise, but hey—there’s a stove, a sink, an oven and a fridge. I can get by. On our first day, like always, we had lunch at Rose’s. They have the most incredible garlic fries, which we always order with extra garlic. We made a rule a long time ago that everyone HAS to each the garlic fries so that we all smell like garlic and no one feels self conscious. It works out pretty well. I had some really good fish and chips that were lightly fried and not too greasy. Rose’s is on the water and we always sit outside and watch the seals and otters as we eat our grub. That evening, after a day of kayaking and laying on our patio (and taking time out to each some delicious homemade guacamole—my mom’s recipe: just avocados, chopped cucumber, garlic and a little bit of lime juice), Alyssa and I made dinner. Alyssa and I call our yearly Morro Bay trips our “Anniversary” because it was three years ago that I invited her to come with and we found out that we are kindred spirits. But Morro is magic and bringing Alyssa and I together was just one of it’s many tricks. Alyssa and I have an intense love for pasta. And I really do mean intense. We wanted to make one of our old favorites and something that would warm us up on a cold, coastal night. We decided on Spinach and Ricotta Fusilli. Mmmm mmm.

Spinach and Ricotta Fusilli
Adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine
 
Ingredients:
Salt
3/4 to 1 Pound spinach
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 Small scallions, chopped
Pepper
1 1/4 Cup ricotta cheese
1 Cup half-and-half
3 Pinches nutmeg
1 Tablespoons butter (optional)
1 Pound dried fusilli
1/2 Cup freshly grated Parmesan

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt and olive oil. This will flavor the pasta a bit.
Give the spinach a rough chop just so that there won’t be any huge pieces. The spinach will wilt in the end so it’s not a huge deal what the sizes are.
Heat some olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped scallions and cook for a few minutes until softened. (I get shallots and scallions confused so once I used shallots accidentally and it gives it a heartier taste—good for fall and winter. Both are delicious though.)
Add the spinach to the skillet along with some salt and pepper. Cover the skillet to steam the spinach until it is wilted.
In a small bowl, combine 1 cup of the ricotta, half-and-half and nutmeg. Alyssa and I love nutmeg so we do 3 pinches but if you’re not into it, then use less. But let me tell you, it is so good with 3 pinches. Mmm!
Stir the ricotta mixture in with the spinach. If you are using butter, it goes in now. We did not add it by accident and it was still delicious. Season with some salt and pepper. At this point, let the sauce cook until it thickens. You can use your judgment for however thick or thin you want it. But I would be careful to not make it too thin. Plus, you’ll be adding reserved water later, so keep that in mind.
Meanwhile, cook the fusilli according to the directions on the box.
Before you drain the pasta, reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking liquid.
After the pasta is drained, add the spinach mixture and the left over 1/4 cup ricotta. I like adding this at the end because the ricotta in the sauce loses it's texture and I really like having a bit of that texture in the final dish. Then add enough reserved water to let the sauce coat all of the pasta. Reserved water is something I learned about a few years ago and it is really one of the most useful tricks I know. It keeps sauces creamy while thinning them out. The starch from the pasta is the key to the reserved water but the salt and olive oil that is added in the beginning also helps, I think.
Stir in the cheese and serve!

We paired the pasta with a simple salad and some delicious garlic bread that I made by mixing butter, olive oil, garlic, parsley and salt and spreading it over fresh French bread and baking in the oven.

We ate on the patio, by candle light and everything was peaceful and satisfying.

The next day included delicious scones, made from a mix from Bette’s Diner in Berkeley, Alyssa’s and my favorite coffee (a tuxedo mocha with carmel syrup) and a trip to SLO to visit our friend, Amanda and have some frozen yogurt (tart flavored yogurt topped with kiwi, granola and honey). I miss Morro Bay already, but it has energized me for the beginning of a new school year and a whole lot of change.

Here I Go

Cooking keeps me grounded. It makes sense. When everything else is chaotic and I can’t seem to find my peace…cooking can calm me down. So over the last few months, as the idea of blogging has been mulling around in my head, I knew from the start that I wanted to write about food. Cooking helps me fully experience my emotions. It soothes my anxieties and excites my mind and my senses. Writing (the other concept that attracts me to blogging) is an entirely different cup of tea. I’m not sure how to explain the feeling it evokes in me, which is ironic because what I love about writing is how it helps me to articulate my thoughts and my feelings. Without words, I would be lost and so the mastery of words has always been compelling to me—almost spiritual. The manipulation of words to express exactly what you mean is an art and one that makes me feel in control and at peace. The human mind is complex and immense and words can never quite give emotions justice but they sure can come close when used in the right order. I’m not sure if I’m starting this blog out of my love of food or out of my love of writing…or both…or if it really even matters. All I know is that I want to write and cook and eat and then share my love of these art forms with the people that I care about.

“The most solid advice for a writer is this, I think: Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough”
-William Saroyan