Dante!

I had a lovely time with some of my favorite ladies last night! We went out to dinner at a local establishment in the Cambridge area, called Dante. Chef Dante de Magistris's sister restaurant, Il Casale, is in Belmont, and I've been to that one...so I had to try Dante as well. I like them both very much.

We started our evening with a round of cocktails. I had checked out the menu ahead of time, as I always do, and knew exactly which one I wanted. It was called Zecca, and it had lemongrass, apple, vodka and mint. It was a lovely, smooth drink and it wasn't at all too sweet, as you'd think it might be with the apple. The bite of the vodka and the savoriness of the lemongrass flavor really balanced everything out perfectly. (apologies for the pictures - I didn't want to use my flash and disturb the diners around us, so we'll work with what we've got here)

Zecca

We started off with a few sfizi, an Italian version of tapas, or small plates for sharing. At only $5 each, we were able to order a bunch of them without feeling as though we were driving up the bill! We opted for four of them. The Cotechino is a rich sausage, cooked under ash, served with charred fennel. What was so interesting about this dish is that you could smell the ash as soon as the plate was placed on the table, but you didn't get the ashy taste when you took a bite. It was a very interesting use of the senses, to be smelling one thing, and tasting quite another.  The Arancini is a porcini risotto, scamorza, and truffle honey ball that is then fried to perfection. Upon seeing them, I thought they looked a bit over-fried, but I was wrong...they were perfect! The risotto was wonderful and creamy and the middle just oozed with the scamorza, a cheese similar to mozzarella. The Burrata is a buttery "mozzerella" from Apulia, Sicilian oregano and pistacios. If you've never had burrata, you should...because comparing it to mozzarella does it NO justice...it's an incredibly creamy, buttery, deliciousness that just cannot be compared to. :) Lastly, we got the Mascarpone, which is a whipped, roasted hot pepper and mascarpone dip, with baby carrots, fennel and crostini. I think this one was my favorite. It was so delicious, and the baby carrots and radishes were crunchy and amazing. But the fennel...the fennel went so well with the flavors of the dip...I had a hard time when that plate was empty!

Cotechino

Arancini

Burrata

Mascarpone

We ordered two salads, to share between the three of us. The Rughetta is made up of baby arugula, endive, pear mostarda, Pecorino Romano, olio nuovo, and lemon. It was extremely simple, but very flavorful and my favorite of the two salads. The other one is not on the menu online, and I can't remember the exact name of it, but it was heirloom tomatoes, with mozzarella and zucchini blossoms, drizzled with balsamic vinegar. It was extremely tasty, especially since now is the perfect season for those heirloom tomatoes. I just have a soft spot for anything with arugula.

Rughetta

Heirloom Tomatoes

For my entree, I had a small portion of the Gnocchi, made in-house, and tossed with gorgonzola dolce and roasted peaches. (This isn't the one that is on the online menu.) This is an incredible dish! I was so intrigued by the combination of gorgonzola, peaches, and the potato dumplings that I just had to try it and I am so glad that I did. It was the perfect size too! It was a very rich dish so I was happy not to have a ton of it in front of me. I was so satisfied when the plate was cleared.

Gnocchi

We opted for one dessert because we all just needed to finish the meal off with a bite of something sweet. It was very difficult to decide but we finally came to the conclusion that the Fritelle sounded the best. It is Venetian-style fried dough served with four sauces: caramel, chocolate, strawberry and vanilla-ginger. The Vanilla-Ginger sauce made this dish what it was ... I actually could have done without the other three. It was the most unique of the sauces, and went so well with the gooey richness of the hot dough. 

This was...Fritelle.

All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our meal at Dante, and I will certainly go back! It wasn't overly expensive, it has a lovely atmosphere, and the servers are super-friendly and fun to interact with! It's casual in a fine-dining setting, and I loved every second of it!

Potato Pillows

Well, tonight I decided to make some gnocchi, using my new (old) potato ricer, as well as this gnocchi board that my brother bought me a few months ago. Making the actual gnocchi was about as far ahead as I had planned for tonight's meal, however, so this was going to be a "fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants" type of dinner!

from Flickr - by Samer Farha

I got the potatoes in a pot to cook, and then focused my attention on what I could do to make this ingredient into a meal! You've seen the gnocchi process before, so I won't bore you with it again. I do have to apologize however, because I was so engaged in making this dish up as I went along...that my camera got left behind. I have a picture of the finished dish...but nothing along the way. Don't worry, we can always rely on Flickr for some pretty images. :)

My husband was running to the store for something, so as he ran out the door, I yelled to him to get some pancetta. Pancetta makes for a nice, salty component in a pasta dish, so I started with that. Okay, what else do I have? A shallot, some garlic cloves, some greens left over from the CSA share (I'm pretty sure they were baby bok choy), some frozen peas...and some butter and white wine. Okay...I can totally do this!

from Flickr - by Patent and the Pantry

Once the gnocchi was made, and boiled, I started sauteeing some minced garlic and shallots with some butter. Once they had a nice aroma, I added the pancetta to the pan and allowed it to simmer and brown for a few minutes. I added some white wine, and another pad of butter...and the gnocchi. While everything was browning together, I added the greens (allowing them to wilt) and the peas (allowing them to thaw quickly). The final touch was some grated parmesan, and some salt and pepper. A quick taste...and YUM! I worked it out!

I served the gnocchi alongside an artichoke, because we all know that I love artichokes! :) It was a totally delicious and fulfilling meal, and I was so psyched that it came out as well as it did! No recipe required - although, feel free to give this a go - because goodness, it was hearty and delicious!

Running on Empty

It's been a long week so far, and it's only Wednesday night! After a phenomenal birthday dinner for my dad last night (at Troquet), and some sushi for dinner tonight (Blue Fiji), I realized that this weekend will definitely see us going grocery shopping. I've got some potatoes for gnocchi on Friday night, and there's some beets and radishes left over from the crop share that I received, but all in all, the refrigerator is looking a bit bare.

from Flickr - by CubaGallery

A friend of mine passed along a few cookbooks that she was getting rid of as part of a move, and there are also a few books that I haven't used in awhile. I've also cut a bunch of recipes out of magazines recently, so I have a lot to choose from for the next menu. However, I didn't want to leave all my readers out of the loop!

from Flickr - by Horn & Ram

Do you have a ton of something growing in your garden...and you don't know what to do with it? Do you have a recipe that you've been dying to try, but are a bit intimidated by the instructions? What about a cuisine that you've never tried before...feel like something new? Let me know - comment on this post and give me suggestions for the next menu! I haven't gotten many requests as of yet, but as you've seen, I really do try to accomodate them when I get them...so get in touch! I really enjoy helping you guys learn more about flavors and ingredients that you are unfamiliar with, and in that process, I'm learning something new everyday as well! So, let's learn together! Comment now!

A Day Full of Homemade Goodness

Today, I spent quite a bit of time in my kitchen. After "springing forward" in time this morning, I decided it would also be a good idea to start some spring-cleaning, and the kitchen and the bathroom are always the most time-consuming, so I try and attack them first. I did the bathroom yesterday, so today called for a good kitchen-scrubbin'! And scrub I did - it's so sparkly and clean now!

While I was cleaning, I poured the ingredients into my Breadman TR2700 for a loaf of Italian Parmesan Herb bread, too. Multi-tasking at its finest! The loaf came out wonderfully - fluffy, herby and delicious!

After the hours spent in the kitchen during the day today, I had to venture back in to make dinner, and as I looked at the things left on my current menu, I decided to make some gnocchi tonight. The recipe that I'm making, Lemon Gnocchi with Spinach and Peas, actually calls for store-bought gnocchi, which would make this one of the quickest recipes ever, I think...so if you are looking for a quick, week-night meal, this would be it! However, if you've been reading this blog, you'd already have guessed that I don't take the easy way out...so I'm making some fresh gnocchi tonight while my husband is at his hockey game.

First things first, you need to boil about 2 1/2 pounds of potatoes. When you boil potatoes, you want to put them in an empty pot, large enough for the potatoes to lay in a single layer on the bottom, and deep enough that water will be able to cover the potatoes and then some. Once the potatoes are in the pot, then fill it with water, covering the potatoes. Add some salt and stir around a bit. Now you can place the pot on the stove and bring the water to a boil. Once it arrives at a rolling boil, turn the temperature down a little bit, so the water stays at a simmer, and cook the potatoes for 30 - 40 minutes, or until they are easily pierced with a fork.

Once the potatoes are cooked, drain them and peel them while still hot. I use a towel or pot holder to protect my sensitive finger skin from burning! :) Once they are peeled, you'll want to run the potatoes through a ricer immediately. I don't own a ricer...yet...so I decided to use the small-holed side of a grater to get a similar effect. It didn't work as well as I'd hoped, since the potatoes just kind of fell apart in my hands, but I got the majority of the potatoes grated before using a masher to finish the job...and I might have burned off a few fingerprints...not sure though.

You have to allow the potatoes to cool completely before moving on to the next step in the process. Once cooled, sprinkle the potatoes with 1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour and 2 teaspoons of salt. Top all that with one large beaten egg.

Knead the mixture until it turns into a smooth but not elastic dough. Dust the concoction with flour if it becomes sticky, but don't overwork the dough.

At this point, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and roll each portion into a rope, about 24-inches long. Cut each rope into 1/2-inch pieces.

As you cut the pieces, roll each little pillow against the tines of a small fork to make ridges and then arrange them on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper and lightly floured.

When you go to cook your homemade gnocchi, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add a few handfuls at a time. Cook them until they have floated to the top, about 2 - 3 minutes, and transfer them directly to whatever sauce you are using. You can also freeze the gnocchi by placing it in the freezer on baking sheets until firm; then transfer them to freezer bags and freeze for up to 1 month. Thaw them at room temperature for about 30 minutes before cooking them.

Mmm, this is delicious, and once the gnocchi is made, this recipe takes about 7 minutes, total. If that's not a quick dinner, I don't know what is.

Worth the Trek

Today is my Sri Lankan friend, Ladali's birthday! How she gets two holidays in less than a week that require lots of hugs, I'll never know!? She's lucky I like hugging her! :)

We ventured out into the melting puddles of snow to take her to lunch at a place called Barlow's. It's a bit out of the way, and located in an area pretty secluded from other businesses, but it's well worth finding this gem! The exposed brick walls and funky modern decor add to a very "chill" atmosphere. I loved the paintings in the corner that depicted charcoal smokestacks dotted with patches of bright orange and red flames. The menu is quite upscale, but the ambiance is very relaxed. I love enjoying a great plate of food in an environment where I can kick back and enjoy my friends' company.

After perusing the menu for a few minutes, I decided on the Ricotta Gnocchi with Bolognese Sauce and Garlic Toast. My friends ordered the Steak Tips with Mashed Potatoes and Garlic Spinach, and the Citrus Ginger Salmon with Tamari Brown Rice and Asian Greens. The bread that they brought to the table was a rosemary focaccia, accompanied by a delicious bean spread.We snacked on that while we waited for our main courses to arrive.

First, let me say that the bolognese was delicious, and the texture was perfect! (If you read my previous post on Bolognese Sauce, you'll see what I mean!) The gnocchis were a great size, and they must have been sauteed in a little butter before being added to the sauce, because they had a slight crunch on the surface of each piece. They were light and fluffy, but just dense enough to hold up very nicely to the richness of the sauce. The garlic toast had a wonderful, garlicky aroma without being overpowering. I was extremely happy to have that bread when it came to sopping up the rest of that delicious sauce!

My friends enjoyed their meals as well, and it was all reasonably priced. See what I said about an upscale menu, with a relaxed feel? These dishes were sophisticated and delicious, but also comforting and great for a winter's day!

In the summer, they have a nice patio for outdoor dining, one of my favorite things to do! I'll definitely be going back to Barlow's both for indoor comfort meals, and al fresco dining. I also saw a flyer posted about $1 oysters on Monday nights...and we all know how much I love oysters! Stay tuned for more from Barlow's...

Barlow's is located at 241 A Street in South Boston. For reservations, call 617-338-2142.