Kitchen Crumble

The kitchen remodel is underway again. Last week I spent every evening (and most of the weekend) ripping out cabinets... hard work, but so satisfying. There were way too many upper cabinets and one that hung down over a bar area for everyone to hit their head on (very nice). And, I wanted to remove a wall between the kitchen and living room to open things up. It opened things up and opened another can of worms... needed to install a new header and move some electrical.

Bill, my oh so wonderful neighbor responsible for the granite counter tops, got way more than he bargained for. He showed up as the last of the wall was coming down... this stuff had to be fixed before he could finish the counters (ugh!). He's now spent two and a half days fixing stuff... I feel horrible that his time has to be taken up doing this and so grateful at the same time. Thanks Bill - you're the best!

Still a ways to go, but we'll be cookin' in no time!

Sunday Supper

I rarely totally relax on the weekend - there's always some project waiting for me. But this past weekend I decided to have a proper Sunday afternoon, complete with friends and delicious meal. The day was unseasonably balmy, perfect for being outside. We built a fire in the fire pit and hung out chatting and sipping wine while the sun set. The pups got plenty of attention and settled in (well, Eloise settled into digging for mice and Bogart hung out with us). Deena brought a killer salmon spread she made with salmon she'd caught and canned with some old fisherman buddy - now there's a gal I love! I thought she'd smoked the salmon, and when I learned she canned it I was a bit queasy for a minute (sorry Deena, canned salmon doesn't sound that great), but when I tasted it, well that was a different story - fab! Kim and Donna made a platter of hercot verts (someone check my spelling) and asparagus with a garlicky dip. Another perfect starter.

When the temps cooled we went inside. Zach made another fire and we cooked dinner... a white bean salad with pan seared shrimp, spinach lasagna with my favorite tomato sauce and a blue berry crisp of sorts (made from berries picked at the vineyard next door and frozen). Here's the lasagna and sauce recipes:

Spinach Lasagna adapted from Cooks Illustrated

Bechamel Sauce
5 Tbsp butter
5 large shallots, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup flour
3 1/2 cups milk
2 bay leaves
3/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 oz grated Parmesan cheese

Spinach
2 (10 oz) boxes frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (really, squeeze out as much liquid as possible)

Cheese & Pasta
10 oz ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
fresh or no-boil lasagna noodles
2 oz grated Parmesan cheese
8 oz fontina cheese, shredded

For the Bechamel: Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat; add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 7 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly about 1 1/2 minutes; do not brown. Gradually whisk in the milk. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, whisk in the bay leaves, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until it thickens, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, discard bay leaves and whisk in Parmesan.

For the Cheese, Pasta and Assembly: Blend the ricotta, egg and salt until smooth. Preheat the over to 425 degrees. If you're using fresh noodles, proceed to assembly. If you're using no-boil, soak them in hot tap water in a 9x13 baking dish for 5 minutes. Remove from water and wipe the baking dish dry.

Butter a 9x13 baking dish. Spread 1/2 cup Bechamel sauce in the bottom. Mix the spinach into the remaining Bechamel sauce. Layer 3 noodles in the bottom of the baking dish. Spread 1 cup spinach mixture over the top, sprinkle with Parmesan and top with 3 more noodles. Spread one cup spinach mixture, topped by half the ricotta mixture and half the fontina cheese. Layer 3 more noodles and repeat. Spray a sheet of aluminum foil with cooking spray to prevent the cheese from sticking and cover the dish. Bake until it begins to bubble, about 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes until it begins to brown.

Spicy Tomato Sauce with Rosemary, Olives and Capers adapted from Patricia Wells The Provence Cookbook

I love this pasta sauce - the orange zest and rosemary give it a fresh kick and the olives and capers add depth.

2 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 28-oz can chopped tomatoes, pureed in a blender
1tsp dried basil
hot red pepper flakes to taste
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
grated zest of 1 orange, blanched & refreshed
2 Tbsp capers, rinsed & drained
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1/2 cup olives of choice, chopped
salt to taste

Heat the olive oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Saute the onions and garlic until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the basil, red pepper flakes and fennel seeds - stir and cook 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, orange zest, capers, rosemary and olives. Bring to a simmer and cook over low heat until thickens, about 20 minutes.

Serve over pasta or spinach lasagna.

Rodent Revenge

Life in the country isn't glamorous... it's very satisfying and rewarding and on occasion a little gross. I pulled some laundry out of the washer yesterday and discovered a dead mouse in the bottom of the tub - yuck! He was flat and pretty stiff - was that from going thru the spin cycle or had he been in there a while? Maybe this was revenge for his pal being burned up on my catalytic converter? Life in the country, rodents are not optional... time to set some traps.