Culinary adventures

Given the vast (read "slightly more than usual") amount of free time we have this summer, a couple friends and I decided to spend a leisurely Saturday afternoon in the kitchen. We were interested in trying out this recipe for homemade ricotta, and, also anxious to use up a pound of CSA chard, decided to cook up a Swiss Chard Lasagna with Ricotta and Mushroom.  For dessert we had Apfelstrudel, which I learned to make from an Austrian friend whose grandmother taught her.  I've vowed not to write down a recipe (and I don't even know know specific ingredient amounts), always relying on my learning experience.  Let me know if you'd like me to pass it on to you!

Making the ricotta cheese was very easy.  You boil milk and cream to a certain temperature, stir in lemon juice, let it sit, and then strain.  After an hour or two we were left with about 16 oz. of cheese and a few cups of whey.  We used some of the whey in place of water in a loaf of white bread, but it has many culinary uses, and even as the basis for a soda in the cheese-making-and-thus-whey-overload-having country of Switzerland.




















The  lasagna turned out quite well though incredibly rich (especially with the homemade ricotta).  I actually like and recommend this other (and lighter) vegetable lasagna just as much.  The new recipe had the very interesting addition of nutmeg to the sauce, and I think that would work quite well in either recipe.  One could also replace the spinach with chard in the latter and add mushrooms.

Thanks friends for your hard work!!

Tales of an Italian grocery, Austrian wine, Polish sausage, and chard.

Today I headed down to the local farmers' market to pick up some eggs, a basil plant, and to get a knife sharpened by a man who claims to be one of only two knife-sharpeners in town (and he says he often gets dissatisfied customers from the other guy!).  After acquiring said items and achieving said knife-sharpness, I ventured across the street to a small grocery that I'd frequently passed and always written off as a small store that probably didn't carry much and overall was probably not great.  You see, contrary to my expectations, I'd seen it referenced online as a great little Italian shop.  And indeed it is.  This place is immaculate inside, and carries all kinds of imported goods as well as the basics.  Shelf after shelf of cheeses and wines, pastas and sauces.  Organic dairy and meat products.  I discovered that they carried two different Grüner Veltliners, an Austrian wine that I'd recently heard about and was eager to try. (It lived up to my expectations, especially in pairing well with a variety of foods.  See this interesting article on the wine.)  I only wonder now if biking to the farmers' market (and this grocery) is out of the question, seeing as I'll probably be returning with more than in the past.

Thus armed with a 2009 Laurenz Singing Grüner Veltliner, parmesan, and pasta, and knowing that CSA chard and garlic scapes awaited me in my refrigerator, I set off on the seas of the internet in search of a recipe.  I wound up making Pasta with Kielbasa and Swiss Chard, and it turned out quite well.  Below is the recipe with my adaptations.



Pasta with Kielbasa and Swiss Chard

adapted from Gourmet

• 3/4 pound Swiss chard (1 bunch)
• 1/2 pound kielbasa, quartered lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick pieces
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped (or 3 garlic scapes, chopped; if using scapes, cook them with the chard stems)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon dried hot red-pepper flakes
• 1/2 pound penne
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving

Begin boiling salted water for pasta.  Wash chard leaves.  Cut out center ribs and stems and chop into 1/2 inch pieces. Chop leaves coarsely.  Begin cooking pasta, being sure to reserve 1/4 cup cooking water before draining.

Cook kielbasa in oil in a 5-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl. Cook chard ribs and stems with salt in fat remaining in pot (add a bit more olive oil if necessary) over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add chard leaves, water, and red-pepper flakes and simmer, partially covered, until chard stems are tender, about 5 minutes. Remove lid and stir in kielbasa. 

Add pasta to chard mixture with cheese, wine, and salt to taste and toss until combined well. Thin with some of reserved pasta water if necessary.  Serve with extra cheese.