thelocalspoon

An Ode to Meatballs

Steph Lawrence — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 02:37:34 +0000

Me, left, Alexis, right

It was you who started my love affair with meatballs. When we used to visit you in Florida, I’ll never forget the chocolate frosted marble cupcakes (refrigerated, of course), golf cart driving, and endless games of gin rummy. But the best part, my true favorite, will always be your meatball sandwiches. Pasta with meatballs was the dinnertime regular, but it was lunch the next day that was always my real favorite: leftover meatballs with your homemade tomato sauce on buttered italian bread.

When Mom called and told me you had died, I knew immediately what I wanted to do. I emailed Mom and asked for the recipe, and Craig went out and bought fresh meat from our local butcher. I wanted to honor you through the way I knew and loved you best: your cooking. I’d never made them before, I don’t know why. But it struck me as important that I remember you through food. With eggs from our chickens, and parsley from the garden, I shaped meatballs and memories with my hands, remembering your voice, and summers on Cape Cod, and so much more.

Thank you Grandma, for your delicious food; for teaching us to drive (maybe illegally) on the Basking Ridge golf courses; for your gruff and loving voice; for teaching me to play Bridge; for your support and excitement, when I last saw you and told you about the food-related business I am starting. Your encouragement meant more than you could ever know.

We’ll miss you, Grandma, and love you always. Your memory lives on in our cooking.

Love always,
Stephanie

Rosemary “Boots” Bartolini
March 18, 1924 – March 4, 2012

Grandma’s Meatballs

Place all ingredients in bowl and mix until combined. Shape into meatballs. Brown meatballs in oil. Cook browned meatballs in favorite tomato sauce for one hour or until cooked through. Serve over ziti or other cooked pasta. Better yet, slice and serve with extra sauce on your favorite italian bread.

Proposal by bicycle

Steph Lawrence — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 20:33:56 +0000

AN INTERRUPTION FROM OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING (which is apparently nothing, since I’ve been missing from here for months). Just in: Craig Rubens, fellow conspirator in China, father of Albus, love of my life and ~~Scrabble~~ Words With Friends player extraordinaire proposed to me yesterday, by bicycle. I said yes.

Perhaps I should celebrate with food and write about it here, on this blog that I supposedly keep.

To boot, he made a video about it. It is possibly the greatest gift I have ever received. I hope it makes you as happy as it makes me.

Craig, I am so excited about spending a lifetime with you. I promise, I will (probably) never throw dice at your head ever again.

I love you.

A Succulent Wall How-To

Steph Lawrence — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 01:03:14 +0000

UPDATED: I need to make clear that in my post I was re-creating a project originally posted (with video!) by Fern Richardson on her blog, Life on the Balcony. I regret not making that more clear originally.

I am very single-minded (my mom calls it stubbornness…). I am terrible at being told “no” and when I get an idea in my head can’t rest until I’ve gotten it. I fixate on whatever has captured my imagination and doggedly pursue it until it’s mine. Occasionally they are good ideas, often not. Sometimes they involve laborious do-it-yourself projects that I like to rope unwilling accomplices into helping me finish (hi Spencer and Craig).

This happened a few weeks ago when a friend sent me this link. It captured my imagination and I decided I needed one, immediately. I have been obsessed with succulents, of late (come on. cutest plants, ever. no contest), so decided our patio needed a succulent wall garden of its very own. One blog how-to, one obstinate person-who-hates-idle-weekends, and 36-hours later: BAM. Succulent wall garden of my own.

Turns out the process wasn’t actually so laborious and the fruits of the labor are WELL worth it. I am pretty in love with our latest patio addition. The whole project start-to-finish took about four or five hours. Here’s how to make your own. You’ll need:

Steps

2. (Optional) If the back of your pallet doesn’t have much support (mine was basically open on the back), you can find some scrap wood and cut it down to the width of your pallet and add a few extra supports.

3. Double or triple up your landscaping fabric and begin the stapling fun. Staple fabric along the back, bottom and sides of the pallet, taking care at the corners to fold in the fabric so no soil will spill out.

4. Lay the pallet flat and pour potting soil through slats, pressing soil down firmly.

5. Begin planting, starting at the bottom of pallet and ending at the top. Make sure soil is firmly packed in each layer as you move up.

6. Water your wall garden and let remain horizontal for 1-2 weeks to allow plants to take root. You can set it upright at this point. Remember when you water to start at the top and water each subsequent section a little less, as your water will naturally seep through to the bottom-most plants.

Pappardelle with asparagus and pancetta

Steph Lawrence — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 21:31:23 +0000

A few weeks ago marked the beginning of asparagus season. Don’t tell the other vegetables in the garden, but asparagus might be my favorite. So I get pretty excited seeing asparagus lining the farmers market stands, as is happening now, and wanted to make a dinner in honor of its arrival. This simple pasta with asparagus, pancetta and creme fraiche was the perfect thing, because not only does it involve my (shh!) favorite vegetable, but also did you read the part about the pancetta? And the creme fraiche? Enough said.

It’s been a busy past couple of months, and I have some exciting news in my life. The last week in April (incidentally around the time of my last post in which I heralded my return to blogging. Ha.) Craig and I bought (drumroll…..) a new puppy! His name is Albus, and he is the love of our lives. Here he is at 8 weeks. I think this photo was taken right before we both collapsed on the floor from exhaustion.

Just a few days after the addition of this small bundle of joy (who is very fond of eating our carpets), I also heard the exciting news that I got in to graduate school. I will be getting my MBA at Berkeley where I plan to study exciting things like nonprofit management, social innovation and New Methods in Accounting (related: I was just instructed to by this calculator. I am sure I am in for some nonstop fun). Anyway, that is the big news in my life but I digress. I believe I was talking about more important things. Namely, pancetta:

Pancetta is a magical thing, and the pasta was equally magical. I am a huge fan of pappardelle pasta, and got the local pasta shop around the corner cut some lovely thick slices for me. The meal itself is insanely simple and difficult to mess up, but somehow I managed to: sadly I was in a bit of a rush (you know, to get the asparagus and pancetta in my mouth), and I neglected to take the time to really separate the pasta and dust the flour off. I would strongly recommend you be less hasty than myself because it led to some pasta glue situations that I would rather have avoided. Other than that small road bump, the meal was delicious, and simple, and just the thing I was looking for to celebrate the beginning of the summer bounty. Lucky for you the asparagus is still coming strong so head to your local farmers market this weekend and pick some up for a tasty and simple dinner.

Pappardelle with asparagus and pancetta

Put two pots of water on to boil, a large for the pasta and a small for the asparagus. Slice the asparagus as pictured into small coins. Leave the spear tips. In the small pot of boiling water, blanch the asparagus. Add the spears first, then 1-2 minutes later add the rest of the chopped asparagus, and cook until just tender. Chop the pancetta roughly and brown in a pan with heated oil. When browned, add the creme fraiche and stir. You can add a little more liquid in the form of chicken broth or wine, if needed. Cook the pasta until done and drain. Transfer pasta to the pancetta mixture, add the asparagus and toss. Serve warm with some fresh pepper and shaved parmesan.

Portobello burger with spinach and garlic aioli. (And other things that make me happy)

Steph Lawrence — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 00:25:22 +0000

Oh, hi there. Remember me? I write on this blog, sometimes. I guess it has been awhile, and I’ve missed you.

Living in San Francisco it is easy to be a glutton (I live way too close to Tartine), so some days and weeks I try to be a little more conscious about what I feed my body. This is one of those weeks, and I have been happier for it. A large part of that happiness might have been last night’s dinner. Since I have been working four jobs, applying to grad schools, and taking a calculus course my time in the kitchen has been woefully cut down. As it turns out, this has not made me very happy.

I have been thinking a lot about what makes me happy, because sometimes when you get really busy you forget about doing the important things. Like this blog, for instance. Somehow it became a thing on my to-do list and then got pushed to the bottom of my to-do list where it sat forgotten and lonely and served only to make me feel guilty about my inablity to cross things off a certain to-do list. I forgot that I just like making delicious things and taking too many photos of them and putting them here on this strange internet world for people to see. What a strange hobby. But I quite like it. I got to thinking that maybe there are other things I have been forgetting that I love, so I decided to make a list. There is nothing that I love more than a good list-making session. Here are some other things I like:

Portobello Burgers with Spinach and Garlic Aioli
Serves 2

For the marinade:
1 1/2 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tbs soy sauces
1 1/2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp stone ground mustard
1 tsp honey
1 tsp fresh thyme
salt
fresh ground pepper pepper

For the aioli:
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp water
2 cloves garlic
1 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tsp tarragon vinegar (can use champagne or other vinegar)
salt

About 1 hour before you’re ready to start grilling, prepare the marinade. Whisk together all marinade ingredients. Pour two-thirds of the marinade over the mushrooms, reserving some. Flip the mushrooms over and brush the remaining marinade over the tops of the mushrooms. Let marinate until ready to grill.

While marinating, prepare the aioli. Crush the garlic in a mortar and pestle with a pinch of salt (you can also use the back side of a knife, if you don’t have a mortar and pestle) until garlic becomes a smooth paste. Whisk half of the garlic, 1/2 tsp. water, and the egg yolk until well combined. Now begins the tricky(ish) part: slowly drizzle the olive oil into the mixture. Start by adding a teaspoon at a time and whisking to incorporate well. When done slowly, the egg will absorb the oil and begin to thicken and lighten in color. If done too quickly (like I did, on my first try), the mixture won’t thicken and you will be left with an oily, eggy mess that looks nothing like a mayonaise and everything like a gross, liquidy egg yolk. Never fear! You can always try again. It’s worth it. In total it is probably about 5 to 10 minutes to make, although my forearms would disagree and told you it took longer. When the mixture comes together and is thick you can start to add the oil more quickly until it is all incorporated. If the mixture becomes too thick you can thin by adding 1/2 teaspoon of water at a time. Add the remaining garlic and salt and vinegar to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

At some point during all this, perhaps during your second attempt at making aioli, have a lovely sous-chef start the charcoals for the grill. When hot, place mushrooms on the grill. Cook 3-4 minutes on one side, until the portobello begins to soften and is slightly charred. Then flip over. When flipped, place a handful of spinach leaves on each mushroom and let wilt. If serving with cheese, place cheese on top of the spinach. Serve on toasted buns when done, with a generous dollop of aioli.

Enjoy and be happy.

*Note: Aioli recipe adapted from Alice Waters’ In The Green Kitchen, which is a lovely cookbook that you should check out if you haven’t already

Some photos of the aioli-making process, which was lengthy and soreness-inducing but TOTALLY WORTH IT. I have never made a mayonaise or aioli before and was very pleasantly surprised by the simplicity of ingredients and the deliciousness. It was the perfect thing for a portobello (or really any kind of) burger.

Mixed greens and white bean stew with parmesan and balsamic

Steph Lawrence — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 20:40:44 +0000

I came across this recipe the other week and was so excited. Finally, something to do with all of the greens! The ones taking over my fridge! I bought the remaining ingredients I needed on Sunday, prepared to make the recipe immediately. And then it became Monday. And Tuesday. And so on. Until finally it got to Friday and no mixed green and white bean stew had been created. This week was just one of those weeks where I’ve been getting home at 8 and the last thing I am thinking of doing is chopping vegetables for an hour. Some nights (or maybe all of them, if you’re me this week) you just have to order pizza.

Finally last night I had the time and energy to actually break into the kitchen and the stew of week-long anticipation was made. It did not disappoint. It was just what I was looking for. Something vegetable-y, with some umami goodness thrown in on top (poached egg, shaved parmesan, and balsamic).

Mixed greens and white bean stew with balsamic and parmesan

Balsamic vinegar
Fresh grated parmesan cheese
Poached eggs

Heat olive oil over medium. Add carrots, celery, shallots and garlic and saute for 15 minutes or until soft.

While vegetables are sauteeing, bring a medium pot of salted water to boil and blanch chard or other greens for one minute. Drain and squeeze out extra water. Coarsely chop and set aside.

Add wine and cook 3-5 minutes until reduced by three-fourths. Add beans, broth, tomatoes, a few pinches of salt, freshly ground black pepper, thyme and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes. Add chard and cook for 5 minutes more. Remove thyme and bay leaf.

Poach eggs. When serving stew, ladle into bowls and place one poached egg on top. Garnish generously with freshly grated parmesan, a drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper. And maybe some nice crusty bread to top it all off.

Ode to Brian Jacques: A Redwall Feast

Steph Lawrence — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 17:17:17 +0000

Yesterday I learned that Brian Jacques, author of the loved Redwall series, died this past weekend from a heart attack on February 5th.

Reading the Redwall books are some of my earliest and greatest memories — sitting in a beanbag chair in the Woods Hole Public Library and getting lost in Redwall Abbey sipping on October Ale. The best part of his books was undoubtedly the gluttonous detail on food. His descriptions of the Redwall feasts are, in my mind, some of the greatest food writing out there, and they are some of my earliest and best memories of food.

When I was 10 I got to see Brian Jacques speak at a local bookstore down the street from where I lived. It is probably indicative of my personality as a child (and my love of his books) that seeing him speak at a bookstore was one of my all time childhood highs. Dozens and dozens of children sat at his feet, in awe of the man that created the Redwall world for us to live in. Though I don’t remember the whole talk, one question will forever be vividly etched in my mind. A little boy sitting behind me timidly raised his hand and, in a voice fearful of the answer, asked Mr. Jacques if he was going to stop writing the Redwall books. I remember gasping with horror at this point at the realization that this man could conceivably stop writing at any moment, could throw down his pen and decree an end to the world he had made for us. The horror was palpable. But Mr. Jacques only smiled and said, “I’ll make you a promise. I will keep writing books, as long as you keep reading them.” The whole room heaved a sigh of relief.

I haven’t read a Redwall book in ages, but I was wandering through a store just after Christmas (the Rhode Island School of Design Museum Store, of all places), and caught sight of a book out of the corner of my eye — the Redwall Cookbook. I clearly had to buy it immediately. My parents seemed bemused as we drove home and I sat in the back seat of the car, flipping through the pages and reminiscing about the feasts of Redwall Abbey, happy as a kid in a beanbag chair.

I knew last night I wanted to honor Brian Jacques’ memory with one of the dishes I remembered well from the books, Mole’s Favourite Deeper’n'Ever Turnip’n'Tater’n'Beetroot Pie. So here is my ode to you, Brian Jacques, in food. Thank you for filling my childhood with books and mystery and adventure and food, and for inspiring a lifelong love of each.

Mole’s Favourite Deeper’n'Ever Turnip’n'Tater’n'Beetroot Pie
Adapted the teensiest bit from the Redwall Cookbook

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Place peeled and chopped potatoes in saucepan, cover with water, and salt. Place the chopped carrots and turnips together in another saucepan, cover with water, and salt. Boil vegetables until soft, about 15 minutes.

2. Drain the vegetables separately, then return them to their pans and add 3 tbs. butter to each. Mash the vegetables until smooth and season with salt and pepper.

3. In a deep casserole dish, spread alternating layers of the mashed vegetables. Roughen the top with a fork.

4. Sprinkle the cheese on top and bake until cheese is melted and bubbly, about 15 minutes.

5. Serve with pickled beets!

*Note: I could not find turnips, of all things, in the store. I had some celeriac in my veggie drawer, so I used that instead. I felt a little bad substituting one of the eponymous ingredients, but this recipe is all about the root vegetables at heart (because of the moles, you know), so really any root veggies will do.

Foodbuzz 24×24: How to make a dumpling

Steph Lawrence — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 02:31:43 +0000

Two years ago I was living in China. It was on a lark, really. I decided I needed a change in my life and wanted to learn a new culture, a new language, a new food. So I moved to Beijing for six months with this awesome boy I like. While I was there, traveling to far flung provinces and climbing Great Walls and studying Mandarin, I was forever on a quest to find authentic food and cooking experiences. The country did not disappoint. In no particular order, some top favorite culinary experiences included: exploring Beijing’s street food; eating Peking duck; learning to make kung pao chicken; eating kebabs on the streets of Kashgar; exploring Beijing’s ancient tea district.

My personal favorite, however, likely owing to my long-standing love affair with the food, was learning to make dumplings.

With the Chinese New Year coming up this week, I thought it would be a perfect time to celebrate the time we had in China with friends and dumpling-making.

For the evening, I prepped all the filling veggies ahead of time and then laid everything out so that guests could have their own dumpling-making station. I think the process worked great and, truth be told, dumpling-making is way more fun en-masse. I have tried to make 200 dumplings on my own and whilst the Chinese grandmothers make it look easy, I tell you it is no small feat. There is power in numbers and that holds very true for dumpling making.

Pork Dumplings

Serves 2 (or maybe 1, if you’re me)

minced pork, 1/4 pound
chinese cabbage, 1 1/2 cups, chopped
ginger, 1 tsp. finely minced
scallions, 1/5 tsp. chopped
salt
soy sauce, 1 tsp.
sesame oil, 1 tsp.
peanut oil, 1 tsp.
chinese cooking wine, 1 tsp.

1 cup flour
1/4 cup water (to start, add more as necessary)

1. Finely chop the cabbage and add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of salt. Let stand 15-30 minutes until cabbage is wilted and water has drained from cabbage. Squeeze excess water from cabbage and set aside — cabbage water will be used later.

2. While cabbage is sitting, make dough. Mix flour and water. Add water until dough begins to come together into a ball. Knead lightly for five minutes until dough forms into a smooth ball. Let dough rest for 10 minutes while finishing the filling.

3. Place minced pork in bowl. Add ginger, scallions, soy sauce, and wine. Slowly add in the cabbage water, mixing well after each addition. Mix with chopsticks or a spoon, stirring mixture continuously in one direction. The meat will slowly incorporate the water and come together. Note, you may not need all of the cabbage water. Mixture should not be too liquid. Add cabbage, peanut (or other cooking oil), and sesame oil. Continue mixing until well combined.

4. Finish preparing your dough for the dumplings by rolling your dough into a log, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. (A trick: to keep the log from flattening excessively, roll the log 90 degrees after each turn). When you have finished cutting the dough, flatten each dough ball into a disc with the heel of your hand. With a small rolling pin, roll out each disc into a wrapper 2-4 millimeters in thickness. You are now ready for filling! You can fill your wrappers anyway you like, but I have provided a little video below with some instructions on how to roll out, fill, and crimp your dumplings. See the photographs below for more details on rolling and cutting the dough, and of course feel free to comment with any questions.

5. To cook the dumplings you have several options.

6. Enjoy your dumplings with soy sauce or, my personal favorite, a dipping sauce of 1 part soy sauce, 1 part aged Chinese vinegar, 1/2 part garlic, and 1/4 part ginger.

Note: You can also purchase dumpling-skin wrappers at specialty or Asian grocery stores, to save you the step of creating your own dumpling wrappers.

The Chefs! For the record, I had an awesome night. I am so grateful I have such a group of loving and dumpling-loving friends who are excited about spending the night learning new things and eating to our hearts’ content. Thanks for coming, friends. Wishing you all the happiness you deserve in the New Year.

P.S. Note the abundance of Panda Hat. No, we are not just really big Giants fans. Pandas are the pride and joy of China and panda hats are sold abound on the streets of Beijing. Clearly we purchased many on our travels.

P.P.S. A HUGE thank you to Foodbuzz, an online community of food bloggers that helped to support this evening of dumpling-feastery for their 24×24 Event!

Hand-pulled Chinese noodles

Steph Lawrence — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 06:44:03 +0000

The Dining section of the New York Times today features an article on the fine art of Chinese noodle-making. It brought me back to the days I spent with Craig in China, so I thought I would do a little trip-down-memory-lane to commemorate one of my favorite China experiences from two years ago.

One of the many things that we did on our six-month China adventure was take the train from Beijing to Xi’an, where there are the amazing terracotta warriors and, perhaps most importantly, a treasure trove of culinary delights in the lesser-known Muslim quarter.

Best of all in Xi’an, though — better than 8,000 terracotta warriors and better than insanely delicious street food in the Muslim quarter — was the noodle-making. We came across the noodle-maker in the video above on the avenue just outside of the famous terracotta warriors and I was instantly amazed. Watch the video. I dare you to not be amazed.

Ok. Trip down memory lane complete. Back more soon with actual recipes I dare to try (I’ve tried the hand-pulled noodles. Not as effortless as the video makes it seem, I assure you).

Rosemary Shortbread Cookies (aka… little pieces of sweet-savory heaven)

Steph Lawrence — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 21:55:01 +0000

SO, I know I talked a big talk about the apple-cheddar scones. They really were that amazing. I hope I’m not burying myself into a hole by overhyping too many recipes on here, but off I go to dig:

Stop what you’re doing. And go make some of these. Maybe you are still on vacation, and you are, like me, spending the days playing board games and sitting by a fire and generally being pretty happy about life. You know what your afternoon needs? These cookies. Perfect with some afternoon tea and a book. Or maybe just by themselves, in your mouth.

Mikey, many thanks for making me aware of these delicacies. They are the perfect sweet-savory combination and I have talked enough about them. I am off to make them again.

Rosemary Shortbread Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the flour, salt, rosemary, and sugar. Then cut in cold butter. You can cut the butter into the flour mixture using two knives or using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.

If you are me, at this point you will get frustrated that your dough looks nothing like dough and everything like a crumbly mess. Keep mixing the butter into the dough until you don’t see any chunks. Then using your hands, start working the dough until it comes together like a ball. As the butter warms it will be easier and the dough will start to come together. If it is too dry (mine was) you can wet your hands slightly with water and let that moisture help the dough come together.

When dough is well formed, shape into logs and cut 1/4 inch slices. Bake 9-10 minutes on ungreased cookie sheets, until edges and bottoms are very slightly browned.

*A note: The original recipe calls for 1/4 cup of rice flour, however I have used regular flour instead and it has worked just fine.

Enjoy!