Farmer's cheese ravioli
During my first visit to the Public Market, I was instantly drawn to the Rainbow Valley Nursery table. I mean, they had lithops--the intriguing and wonderful "living stones," with their pair of fleshy leaves and fantastic single daisy-like flower. I always thought they looked like bums farting a flower. Really, though, I guess they're just leaves that evolved into a form that would decrease water loss. My fantasy is so much more entertaining.
Lithop budding
Anyway, I walked up to the lithop, and all the other beautiful desert succulents on display and for sale, gave them longing looks, then went on my way. Later, my friend Mario gave me a proper tour of the market and pointed out that the Rainbow Valley Nursery also sold farmer's cheese!
This artisan cheese is wonderful. It's hormone- and gluten-free and doesn't use rennet or preservatives, so it suits all sorts of different diets. They even offer a fat-free cheese! As for quality, it's everything you could want in a cheese--soft, gently flavored (unless it's one of their flavored cheeses, like Kalamata, Sun Dried Tomato, Dill & Red Onion, etc.), clean, and (almost) most importantly, versatile. It can be use in virtual any dish calling for a soft cheese. I daydreamed about it. I bought a little tub of Kalamata, and as I munched it on Wasa bread, over eggs, in salad, straight from the tub with a spoon, I thought about ravioli. Ravioli ravioli ravioli. It was actually more like "ravioliravioliravioli."
Farmer's cheese
The filling: spinach, toasted pine nuts, and the farmer's cheese. I wanted to use as few seasonings as possible so I could taste all the herbs in the cheese, so I just salted the water in the pot, and went with that.
I like square ravioli just fine. The big, mattress-sized ones are great, and the regular-sized are great, and the itty bitty ones that are hard to make by hand unless you have the kind of time an old Italian grandmother might have are great. But I wanted something smaller, though--bite sized and lovely. Sometimes the ravioli with crimped edges remind me of Chef Boyardee ("Children everywhere will thank-a me!"--one of my favorite commercials ever).
Here's the filling onwonton ravioli wrapper, with a bowl of water and brush nearby.
I made an Italian wonton!
I made aunbuttoned, casual tortellini pretty ravioli!
The squadron, in formation
I brought a big pot of water to the boil, salted it like the sea(if you salt it before it's boiling, you risk ruining your pot), and cooked them for three of four minutes. Then I drizzled them with olive oil and a brief grating of fresh Parmigiana Reggiano.
Ravioli inside
As many of my savory dishes go, I cooked it Jedi style--"There is no recipe, there is only do."* Add what you want in the quantities that seem right, taste as you go, and when it can't possibly seem to get tastier, then it's good to go.
I wanted a dessert just as decadent, so I turned the brownies that I didn't want into the dessert that I did want. I had milk that was about to turn, and I really didn't feel like chugging it. As expensive as milk is these days, I really wanted to use it, so I revisited the yummy peanut butter pudding.
I made a peanut butter brownie trifle.
Bite?
The hovering spoon trick. WoooOOOooo.
*Yes, my fellow Star Wars nerds, I know that the actual quote is "Do, or do not. There is only try." It's probably one of the most misquoted lines from the flick, and I thought I'd misquote to my advantage. =)
Lithop budding
Anyway, I walked up to the lithop, and all the other beautiful desert succulents on display and for sale, gave them longing looks, then went on my way. Later, my friend Mario gave me a proper tour of the market and pointed out that the Rainbow Valley Nursery also sold farmer's cheese!
This artisan cheese is wonderful. It's hormone- and gluten-free and doesn't use rennet or preservatives, so it suits all sorts of different diets. They even offer a fat-free cheese! As for quality, it's everything you could want in a cheese--soft, gently flavored (unless it's one of their flavored cheeses, like Kalamata, Sun Dried Tomato, Dill & Red Onion, etc.), clean, and (almost) most importantly, versatile. It can be use in virtual any dish calling for a soft cheese. I daydreamed about it. I bought a little tub of Kalamata, and as I munched it on Wasa bread, over eggs, in salad, straight from the tub with a spoon, I thought about ravioli. Ravioli ravioli ravioli. It was actually more like "ravioliravioliravioli."
Farmer's cheese
The filling: spinach, toasted pine nuts, and the farmer's cheese. I wanted to use as few seasonings as possible so I could taste all the herbs in the cheese, so I just salted the water in the pot, and went with that.
I like square ravioli just fine. The big, mattress-sized ones are great, and the regular-sized are great, and the itty bitty ones that are hard to make by hand unless you have the kind of time an old Italian grandmother might have are great. But I wanted something smaller, though--bite sized and lovely. Sometimes the ravioli with crimped edges remind me of Chef Boyardee ("Children everywhere will thank-a me!"--one of my favorite commercials ever).
Here's the filling on
I made an Italian wonton!
I made a
The squadron, in formation
I brought a big pot of water to the boil, salted it like the sea(if you salt it before it's boiling, you risk ruining your pot), and cooked them for three of four minutes. Then I drizzled them with olive oil and a brief grating of fresh Parmigiana Reggiano.
Ravioli inside
As many of my savory dishes go, I cooked it Jedi style--"There is no recipe, there is only do."* Add what you want in the quantities that seem right, taste as you go, and when it can't possibly seem to get tastier, then it's good to go.
I wanted a dessert just as decadent, so I turned the brownies that I didn't want into the dessert that I did want. I had milk that was about to turn, and I really didn't feel like chugging it. As expensive as milk is these days, I really wanted to use it, so I revisited the yummy peanut butter pudding.
I made a peanut butter brownie trifle.
Bite?
The hovering spoon trick. WoooOOOooo.
*Yes, my fellow Star Wars nerds, I know that the actual quote is "Do, or do not. There is only try." It's probably one of the most misquoted lines from the flick, and I thought I'd misquote to my advantage. =)
Comments