We hosted our second wine dinner last weekend, this time with three lovely, very drinkable wines provided by La Crema Winery in California. It’s hard to believe that our first wine dinner was way back in February – I had originally planned to do them more frequently, but it’s actually very tricky to get wine shipped to Massachusetts. Starting in January, the legislation will loosen up – maybe then we can do more of these dinners – but until then, having the wine shipped to my family’s place in Maine is the best option. The hidden benefit of this is having a built-in guest list composed of people who love to drink wine: my family. So Trevor and I headed North for Labor Day weekend for one last summer visit during which we could cook some good food and drink some good wine.

The team at La Crema was kind enough to send us three bottles of wine for this dinner – a Chardonnay, a Pinot Noir, and a Pinot Gris. All three bottles retail in the $20-25 range, and are solid, straightforward table wines. None of them left a particularly lasting impression but all were easy to drink and true to their type, and no one turned down a second glass of any of the three varietals. Since all three wines were relatively light-bodied and good for patio-drinking, we designed a menu with an “end-of-summer in California” vibe to complement the wines and the season, and call to mind the wines’ terroir. Most of the menu was done on the grill, and it featured plenty of end-of-summer produce, but the dishes were a little heartier than mid-summer fare and everything was served warm. We started with a corn chowder topped with paprika-grilled shrimp, the main was a grilled leg of lamb with ratatouille, and the dessert was rosemary pear bars served with whipped cream. I was very happy with how all three dishes turned out – the product of days of brainstorming – and even happier with how quick the whole thing was to throw together. I don’t think I’ve ever served a meal that was such a snap to cook with such stellar results. Of course, I have to give a big heap of the credit to Trevor (and to my other sous-chef, Aunt Robin!) as both the shrimp and the lamp were perfectly grilled, a skill I certainly don’t have in my repertoire.

I knew ahead of time that the forecast was not good for Sunday, our planned dinner day, but the clouds cleared out early in the day and we ended up with plenty of sun all afternoon. Sadly, as dinnertime approached, the clouds rolled back in and I found myself racing to get the picnic table set before the rain began. Just as I ladled the chowder into bowls the first drops began to fall, so I snapped as many pictures as I could and we shuffled everything back inside. Although I’ll admit I was disappointed not to have the beautiful outdoor evening I had been imagining, the food and wine were perfect and the night still ended with tequila shots, a giant bag of peanut M&Ms, and my mom and Aunt Robin dancing in the rain – any night that ends that way is a success in my books.

The Details

First Course: La Crema 2012 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay with Corn Chowder with Paprika-Grilled Shrimp. La Crema produces seven different Chardonnays, and their Sonoma Coast line is one of the most affordable. The wine is quite tart, opening with a lot of acidity up front, but quickly mellowing into a buttery finish. You can certainly taste oakiness, but it’s subtle and not a dominant characteristic. I personally found it to be a bit more citrusy than I like in a Chardonnay, but my mother, who is not usually a Chardonnay person, really loved this one. We served this with a creamy, pureed corn and potato chowder, using super sweet end of summer corn. The chowder was topped with a few grilled shrimp which had been marinated in a mix of garlic, lemon, olive oil, and smoked paprika. Although I dislike most seafood, I loved these shrimp – they were perfect on top of the rich chowder, and the wine cut through the richness nicely.

Second Course: La Crema 2012 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir with Grilled Leg of Lamb with Ratatouille. The Pinot Noir was my favorite wine of the night, another release from the more affordable Sonoma Coast line. It was fairly dark in color compared to some Pinots, but light-bodied. Smooth and fruity, it was very drinkable, without feeling overly sweet or boring. For this pairing, we went a little on the heavy-side, grilling a sizeable piece of butterflied leg of lamb as the main course. We balanced the gaminess of the lamb with a meyer lemon and rosemary marinade, and kept the plate bright and acidic by serving the lamb with a tomato and kalamata olive ratatouille. This was basic, Mediterranean-inspired food – simple but well-executed fare for a simple but well-executed wine.

Third Course: La Crema 2013 Monterey Pinot Gris with Pear and Rosemary Crumble Bars. To be honest, by the time we poured the Pinot Gris my note-taking was getting a little sloppy, but I’m going to count that as a good sign overall. I did note that the Pinot Gris had a fairly strong minerality, and was heavy on the citrus flavor. La Crema’s tasting notes also indicate that it has a subtle note of Asian pear, which is the pairing I chose to pursue for the dessert course. Of course, serving a wine that is not a dessert wine with a sweet dessert is tricky, but the whole table felt that the Pinot Gris and the rosemary and pear crumble bars went very well together. The bars were composed of three parts: a rosemary shortbread crust, ripe pears poached in a mixture of Pinot Gris and honey, and a simple butter-and-sugar crumble topping. After an hour in the oven, the pears turn into an intense, caramelly jam while the crumble and the crust stay a buttery golden brown. I had initially planned to serve these with a rosemary-vanilla whipped cream, but a few missteps left me with some very delicious rosemary-vanilla butter that could not be brought back from the brink. Whipped cream from the can was a fine substitute.

The Menu

Corn Chowder with Paprika-Grilled Shrimp served with La Crema 2012 SC Chardonnay– see recipe below
Grilled Leg of Lamb with Ratatouille served with La Crema 2012 SC Pinot Noir – see recipe below
Pear and Rosemary Crumble Bars served with La Crema 2013 Monterey Pinot Gris – see recipe below

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Disclaimer: La Crema provided me with the wine for this post free of charge, but I was not otherwise compensated and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Corn Chowder with Paprika-Grilled Shrimp

Chowder recipe adapted loosely from Serious Eats. Serves 6.

Note: You will need wooden grilling skewers to prepare the shrimp.

• 1 lb. 16-20 ct. shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 3 TBS freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 5 ears corn
• 4 c. chicken or vegetable stock
• 3 TBS butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 tsp whole cumin seeds
• 1 1/2 c. diced Yukon gold potato (about 2-3 medium potatoes)
• 1 c. heavy cream

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the paprika, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. Add the preapred shrimp and toss to coat. Cover, refrigerate, and let marinate for 2 hours. Place your grilling skewers in a large container of water and let soak for 30 minutes.
2. To make the chowder, cut the corn kernels from the ears using a serrated knife. Set corn kernels aside. Add the stock to a large pot, then break the corn cobs in half and add to the stock. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and simmer for 15 minutes to infuse the stock with the corn cob flavor. Remove from heat, remove and discard cobs, and set stock aside.
3. In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cumin seeds and saute until onions are translucent and cumin is fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add corn kernels and saute in the butter for 2 minutes, then add reserved stock. Add the diced potatoes and bring to a simmer, simmering until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the heavy cream.
4. Blend the soup in batches in a blender, until each batch is smooth. Blend 3/4 of the soup in total, leaving 1/4 of the soup chunky. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Preheat the grill to medium-high, skewer shrimp on pre-soaked skewers. Grill shrimp until just cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Serve the chowder with 2-3 grilled shrimp on top.

Grilled Leg of Lamb with Ratatouille

Serves 6.

For the lamb:

• 4 lbs. of butterflied leg of lamb, cut into 6-8 pieces
• 1/2 c. olive oil
• juice from 2 Meyer lemons
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 3 sprigs of rosemary, needles removed and roughly chopped
• 1 tsp salt

For the ratatouille:

• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• leaves from 4 sprigs of thyme
• 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 4 medium Heirloom tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 1 medium zucchini, roughly chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 3/4 c. pitted kalamata olives, roughly chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Place the olive oil, Meyer lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add the leg of lamb and massage the marinade into the lamb. Cover the bowl, refrigerate, and let marinate 3-4 hours.
2. About 30 minutes before you intend to serve the lamb, heat 2 TBS of olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the onion, garlic, and thyme, and saute until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the bell pepper and cook until soft, 3-5 minutes. Add the tomato and zucchini and bring to a simmer. Simmer the sauce, stirring occasionally and using the back of a wooden spoon to crush the tomatoes, until tomatoes have released all their juices and zucchini is soft, about 10 minutes. Continue simmering over medium-low heat for another 10-15 minutes, until sauce has thickened slightly, then stir in olives and season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Preheat the grill to medium-high. Grill the lamb until medium rare, about 7-8 minutes per side. Set aside on a plate and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Serve lamb with the ratatouille sauce underneath.

Pear and Rosemary Crumble Bars

Serves 8-10.

• 1 stick salted butter, at room temperature
• 6 TBS salted butter, chilled
• 1/3 c. light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 c. flour, divided
• 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/3 c. white sugar
• 4 ripe pears
• 1 1/2 c. water
• 1/2 c. Pinot Gris or other white wine
• 6 TBS honey

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, beat 1 stick of room temperature butter until smooth. Add 1/3 c. light brown sugar, 1 c. flour, and 1 tsp chopped rosemary to the butter and stir to create a thick crumbly paste. Lightly grease an 11×7 inch or 8×8 inch baking pan, and press the rosemary shortbread crust evenly into the bottom of the pan. Bake the crust until golden brown, about 18-20 minutes, then remove from the oven and set aside.
2. To prepare the crumble topping, whisk the remaining 1/2 c. flour and the 1/3 c. white sugar together in a medium bowl. Cut in the 6 TBS of chilled butter, and use a pastry cutter or a fork to mash the butter into the flour until the butter is pea sized and thoroughly coated in flour. Refrigerate this mixture until ready to use.
3. To prepare the poached pears, peel and core the pears, then thinly slice. In a large, wide-bottomed sauce pan or dutch oven, mix together the water, white wine, and honey. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then gently add the pears to the simmering mixture. Simmer the pears until soft and fragrant but not falling apart about 5-8 minutes, then use a slotted spoon to remove. Layer the pears evenly over the rosemary crust and set aside. Continue to simmer the juices in the pan until they have reduced to a thick, caramel-colored syrup – this will take about 20 minutes. Once you have a syrup, pour it evenly over the pears.
4. Take the crumble topping from the fridge and sprinkle it evenly over the pears. Bake the crumble bars for 45-55 minutes, until crumble topping is golden brown and pear filling is thick and bubbling. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature before slicing. Serve with whipped cream.

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I had every intention of writing a few blog posts while I was on vacation. Really, I did. Since I know the next two months are going to be crazy, I’m highly aware of the risk of unintentionally abandoning this space. But I got too wrapped up in relaxing, swimming in the lake, spending time with my family, and exploring Maine, and blogging fell by the wayside. I don’t regret it one bit, but I am finding it a little bit hard to get back into the swing of things in my non-vacation life, including blogging.

Tonight, though, I managed to make myself an actual meal for the first time since getting back. This particular recipe turned out to be just the thing to ease me back into cooking, for a number of reasons. One, the weather has been oscillating between hot and rainy and really hot and sunny, so the minimal amount of stove-time and large amount of fresh, cooling veggies in this dish was quite appealing. Two, on vacation I ate a lot more spaghetti, ice cream, and cheese than I normally do, and I replaced my daily green smoothie with a daily half bottle of wine. I needed something fresh and healthy to help reverse the damage, and this  completely fit the bill. Three, I’m generally feeling a little stressed out and short on time, so the fact that I could make this from start to finish in under 30 minutes, including photographing it, was a major bonus. Four, it was delicious. And it had watermelon.

I’ve been thinking about watermelon an abnormal amount over the past week. While we were in Maine, we got a big one that I blended up into watermelon margaritas. Then BuzzFeed featured one of my watermelon recipes from last year in their “How To Eat Nothing But Watermelon All Summer” article last week. And I really can’t get these gorgeous Chili Lime Cucumber Noodles with Salted Watermelon that Laura made out of my head. There’s just something about watermelon in July – it’s so emblematic of a wholesome American summer, grabbing ice-cold slices stacked high from a plate and eating them barefoot in the grass, juice dripping from your elbows, before running off to play some more. So I grabbed a just-enough-for-one-person-sized chunk of melon at the grocery store on the way home yesterday, in part to continue the feel of vacation. After thinking about what to make with it all day at work, my mind finally settled on a Greek-inspired couscous salad. The combination of watermelon and feta is all the rage, so I took it one step further and added a few more Greek elements – kalamata olives, cucumber, and a tangy vinaigrette. It was just right.

Greek Couscous Salad with Watermelon and Feta

A summery couscous salad with fresh watermelon, feta cheese, and olives. Great on hot days!

• Author: Katie at the Kitchen Door
• Yield: 4

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. dry couscous
• 2 c. water
• 1 medium cucumber, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 1/2 c. cubed watermelon
• 25 pitted kalamata olives, sliced in half
• 3/4 c. feta cheese
• 1 medium shallot, peeled and finely diced
• 1 1/2 TBS red wine vinegar
• 4 TBS olive oil
• salt
• 6–8 sprigs of mint, finely chopped

Instructions

1. Combine the couscous and the water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then immediately remove from heat and cover with a lid. Let sit for 5-10 minutes, until couscous has absorbed all of the water.
2. Toss the cucumber and watermelon cubes with the feta and olives in a large bowl. Fluff up the couscous with a fork, then mix that into the cucumber-watermelon mixture.
3. Whisk together the shallot, red wine vinegar and olive oil to make a vinaigrette. Season to taste with salt, then add to the couscous and stir to coat evenly. Sprinkle the top with chopped mint. Serve cold or at room temperature.

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For my second Greatist post, I bring  you veggie burgers.  Don’t groan.  Veggie burgers have a reputation for being dry, flavorless, and generally awful, but homemade veggie burgers can be really delicious, and quite easy to boot.  These patties are very moist and very tasty, with kalamata olives (salty), sauteed mushrooms (earthy), lentils (meaty), and ricotta cheese (sweet) all adding their unique flavor to the mix.

If you missed my first post for Greatist, click on over here to check out what we’re doing.  The gist of it is this – every other Friday I’ll post a fast (3o minutes or less of active time), simple (8 or fewer ingredients), and healthy (they are a health and fitness site after all!) recipe over there, and write about it here.  I’m totally into this collaboration, in part because it challenges me to come up with easy, accessible recipes – something that I know a lot of people out there are looking for.  Since I’ll be continuing this collaboration for a while, definitely let me know of any suggestions or requests on recipes to remake as quick and healthy, and I’ll do my best to fit them into the parameters!  In the meantime, click here for the recipe.  And sorry for the short post today!  I’ll be back with more soon, and I just purchased a waffle iron this week so …. waffles.  Just saying.

P.s. See that oozy melted cheese on top?  That’s our edam.  We made it.  And it melts like real cheese.  We also made the feta (it was as mild and creamy as ricotta) that I used in the burger itself.  NBD.

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I’ve been on a bit of a beet kick lately – I made beets for Thanksgiving, I’ve made this incredible beet and chickpea salad twice in the past week, and I have recipes for beet keftedes and beet soup and beet-bulghur pilau shortlisted for the next two weeks.  This isn’t such a bad thing – beets are packed with health benefits.  I mean, their vegetable family also includes spinach, chard, and quinoa – superfoods much?  Beets are full of something called betalains, which have got all that antioxidant, pro-eyesight, anti-cancer stuff going on.  Plus, they’re filling and delicious and even eating them roasted in large amounts of olive oil makes me feel good about myself.  However, I suppose there can be too much of a good thing, even when that good thing is related to lots of superfoods.  So if there’s any blame to be laid for the perhaps excessive amount of beets in my diet recently, I’m laying it on the Somerville Winter Farmer’s Market and the super gorgeous, super sweet, potato shaped beets they have every week.  They’re so pretty and pink and shapely, I just can’t help myself!

This salad is, as Trevor would put it, “flavor-exciting.”  There’s a lot going on in this dish, and all of it is good.  Roasted beets, chickpeas cooked in spiced broth and fried with cumin, ricotta cheese, kalamata olives, parsley, and a simple dressing of red wine vinegar and lemon juice give you pretty much every flavor and texture you could want in a single dish.  For me, the chickpeas are the star element of this dish, and the key to getting them just right is patience.  Now, I’m not usually that patient in the kitchen – think slightly undercooking the pasta, turning the heat up on an omelette to get it to cook faster and burning it in the process, etc.  But these chickpeas are worth the wait.  After cooking to a firm-tender bite in the beautifully spiced broth, you have to wait even longer for them to fry.  And fry.  And fry.  It takes a long time (a good 15 or 20 minutes) for these little beans to get to that golden-brown chewy-crunchy magic spot, but don’t let yourself toss them into the salad until they’re just right.  With under-fried chickpeas the salad will be good… but with perfectly fried chickpeas you won’t be able to stop eating it.  Promise.

Roasted Beet and Fried Chickpea Salad

Recipe adapted from Sunday Suppers at Lucques.  Makes 3-4 meal-sized servings.

For the chickpeas:

• 1 c. dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and drained
• 2 TBS oilve oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 aji amarillo chile or chile de arbol, crumbled
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

For the salad:

• 4-5 large beets, peeled and cut into wedges
• 1/4 c. + 2 TBS olive oil
• sea salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 TBS red wine vinegar (optional)
• 1 TBS lemon juice (optional)
• 1/2 c. kalamata olives, halved
• 1/2 c. fresh flat parsley leaves, chopped
• 1/2 c. fresh ricotta

1. Make the chickpeas: In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add onion and smashed garlic and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until starting to brown.  And chile, bay leaf, spices, and chickpeas and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to coat chickpeas with spices.  Add just enough water to cover chickpeas and cook at a low simmer for 1/2 an hour.  Add 1 tsp salt, then continue cooking until chickpeas are tender, another 15-30 minutes.  Take off heat and set aside, leaving in cooking liquid.
2. Preheat oven to 425°F.  Place peeled beet wedges in a 9×13 glass baking pan, toss with 1/4 c. olive oil and salt and pepper – beets should be well coated with oil.  Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil and roast for 40-50 minutes, until tender when pierced with a fork.
3. In a large frying pan, heat remaining 2 TBS olive oil over medium heat.  Add cumin seeds and toast for 1 minute.  Add chickpeas (drained of their liquid but including chile and onion bits – I use a large slotted spoon to scoop them from the saucepan to the frying pan) and fry, stirring every 2 minutes or so, until golden-brown and crunchy on the outside, about 20-25 minutes.
4. Mix roasted beets, fried chickpeas, kalamata olives and parsley leaves until combined.  Drizzle vinegar and lemon juice over salad if using and toss to combine.  Serve warm, and dot with fresh ricotta after plating.

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Hey, two months in a row!  Look at me, fulfilling promises and everything.  This month’s cookbook is David Leite’s “The New Portuguese Table,” a fairly recent compendium of traditional Portuguese recipes with a modern twist.  I’ve been really looking forward to cooking from this book, as it won a James Beard award in 2010 and has a solid 5 star review on Amazon, with only one negative review in the bunch.  I made three recipes from this book in the past few weeks – cilantro bread soup with poached eggs, white beans and sausage, and black olive risotto – and I hate to say it but I’m not as enthused about the recipes in this book as everyone else seems to be.  The white beans and sausage were good, but not that original – I thought it tasted like regular old chili.  (Full disclosure, I used kidney beans instead of cannellini beans, because I just couldn’t find dried cannellini beans.  I went to four stores looking for them.  So the bean substitution probably added to the chili effect.  However, kidney beans and cannellini beans are actually pretty close in flavor, and genetically related, so the major differences caused by the substitution were probably texture and appearance, and not so much flavor.  Also, did you know that kidney beans and cannellini beans are poisonous?  Thanks, wikipedia.  You are so full of knowledge.)  The cilantro soup I did not like at all – its only redeeming factor was the croutons made from Trevor’s delicious homemade bread – and I ended up dumping most of the recipe out, as well as not finishing the bowl I brought to lunch the next day.  And it takes a lot for me to throw out food that I really wanted to like.  Maybe I was expecting too much from such a simple recipe, but it was definitely a disappointment.  On the other hand, this black olive risotto – super awesome.  Like decadent grown-up mac’n’cheese with a twist.  I made it twice in one week, and taking the time to make two risottos in one week is big for me.

Let me elaborate: this recipe takes your standard risotto ingredients – arborio rice, chicken stock, onion, white wine, and parmesan – adds two special ingredients – black olives and mascarpone – and becomes something super comforting, super creamy, and super delicious.  Trevor’s one semi-negative comment on it was that it lacked depth of flavor, which I do sort of agree with – it hits you with creamy, cheesy, and olive-y pretty hard.  But I’m OK with that.  That’s kind of what I’m looking for in a comfort food.  And this is definitely comfort food.  So the risotto recipe is a keeper.  But the other recipes I tried?  I probably won’t go to the trouble of making them again.  That doesn’t mean I’ve completely given up on this cookbook – I still have a few recipes I’d like to try, like the green olive dip and the rosemary custard – but I will approach future recipes with a more critical eye.  The cookbook itself is very attractive and well laid out, and most of the recipes included sound interesting – many of them are totally new to me, which is always something I look for in an ethnic cookbook.  Overall, I’d give this book 3 and 1/2 stars, with room for improvement if the two not-so-good recipes I tried were just flukes.

Black Olive Risotto

Serves 3.  Adapted from David Leite’s “The New Portuguese Table”

• 1 1/2 c. arborio rice
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 5 c. chicken stock
• 1/2 c. dry white wine
• 2/3 c. freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1/3 c. mascarpone cheese
• 1/2 c. pitted kalamata olives, sliced
• 3 TBS minced fresh parsley

1. In a large, wide saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook until translucent and beginning to brown.  In the meantime, heat stock over medium heat.  Add dry rice to pan with onions and cook for 1-2 minutes, until edges of rice are translucent.  Then add white wine all at once and cook, stirring constantly, until it is absorbed.
2. Add  ladleful of hot stock to the rice and stir constantly until it has been completely absorbed, about 2 minutes.  Continue adding stock one ladleful at a time and stirring until completely absorbed until the rice is just tender – you should use most of the stock.  If you run out of stock before the rice is cooked, use hot water.  When rice is tender.  Add parmesan cheese, mascarpone cheese, and sliced olives, and stir until cheeses are melted and risotto is creamy.  Remove from heat and serve hot with fresh parsley sprinkled on top.

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I totally made out at Christmas this year.  Really, it was a banner year.  I mean, there was a camera in my stocking – a very good omen.  Not that Christmas is about the presents… but thank you, Santa, I appreciated them.  As might be expected, food was a strong theme among the gifts I received.  My kitchen is now the proud owner of a stunningly designed box grater, a garlic press that doubles as a weapon due to it’s heftiness, and 16 spice bottles to (finally) contain the wonderful scents of India that have been emanating from my cupboard all year.  A true surprise, however, was Trevor’s gift – a 3.5 hour pasta cooking class for the two of us in Boston.

Walking up to the door of the classically Bostonian brick townhouse on a cold Tuesday night, I was a little bit nervous.  Would there be a lot of other people?  Would we get to cook ourselves?  Would he like us?  We rang the doorbell and Terrence, our teacher, gruffly welcomed us in and led us downstairs to his kitchen, where we sat behind two desks facing the island.  He poured us each a glass of wine, and then started talking.  Still a little nervous, even though I was thrilled that it would just be the two of us and that it would clearly be hands on, I strove to be the most attentive student possible.  Terrence lectured us a little on olive oils, how to properly cut an onion, and what we would be making.  I listened and took notes while also actively envying his kitchen – not huge or shiny or modern, but filled with beautiful old copper pots hanging from the walls, dozens of tiny mise en place bowls, and two ranges.  I can’t wait to have my own kitchen.

As everyone warmed up to each other, I began to relax, and then, we started cooking.  We were making four dishes – a mushroom ragu, a shrimp ragu, a soppresatta and ricotta penne, and a baked olive and ricotta rotini.  I immediately delegated the shrimp to Trevor, not being a seafood eater – although I did try the final dish! – and called the mushroom ragu and the soppresatta dish.  We followed the recipes Terrence had given us while he corrected our chopping, measuring, and seasoning techniques.  I think I benefited most from the knife skills tips – I’ve never been taught them before and it took me a while to get the hang of the motion, but once I did, I really saw the advantage.  The first three hours flew by, and when all four of our dishes were done, we brought them into the dining room, opened another bottle of wine, and sat down to eat and talk with Terrence.  The whole experience was such a lovely treat, especially because of its intimacy, and I would love to do something like it again.

My favorite dish of the evening was this baked kalamata and ricotta rotini.  Trevor and I brought all of the leftovers back home to his apartment where they were actually the only food and we subsisted on them and Ben and Jerry’s for 3 days.  So the fact that I didn’t get tired of eating this for 3 days in a row?  Means it was really good.  Try not to be tempted to tinker with the recipe because of its simpleness.  I always find myself writing off recipes without enough “interesting” ingredients or with too few seasonings and adding my own twist.  Sometimes my twist is good, but sometimes it overpowers the dish and I find myself missing out on whatever was originally there.  This dish is one where the simplicity is why it works – it’s well-balanced and flavorful with only a few ingredients that really enhance each other.  Just what I’ve decided to strive for this year.  In fact, the starting combination of ricotta, olive oil, and sea salt is so wonderful that I would probably eat a bowl of just those three ingredients if it didn’t sound like the least healthy idea in the history of unhealthy ideas.

If you’re in the Boston (or Blue Hill in the summer!) area and interested in taking a class with Terrence, his class information can be found here.

Baked Ricotta and Kalamata Olive Rotini

Learned at Terrence Janericco’s cooking school.  Serves 4.

• 3/4 lb. rotini
• 1/4-1/2 c. reserved cooking water
• 1 c. ricotta (part skim works fine)
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• sea salt to taste
• 6 oz. fresh mozarella, cubed
• 3/4 c. pitted, chopped kalamata olives
• 1/4 c. grated fresh parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.  Bring large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook rotini according to package directions.
2. While rotini cooks, whisk together ricotta, olive oil, and sea salt until smooth.
3. Drain rotini, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water.  Add the cooking water to the ricotta mixture a little at a time until ricotta is no longer grainy and the mixture is a thick liquid.  Add mozarella, kalamata olives, and cooked rotini and stir to combine.
4. Place pasta and ricotta mixture in baking dish.  Sprinkle 1/4 c. grated parmesan over the top.  Bake for 15 minutes, until parmesan is golden brown.

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