Ricotta Caprese

This is a variation on the traditional caprese because the shop I get burrata from was all out. They run out pretty much by noon daily. All they had for fresh cheese was a sheep's milk ricotta. Since the sheep's milk was a bit too harsh for the delicacy of a tomato, I seasoned it with salt, pepper, black truffle oil, and chopped basil. The balsamic reduction is the same as I describe in the previous post.

Btw, the next day I had a bit of the ricotta mixture leftover. I drizzled agave syrup on it and ate it -- I guarantee it would probably make the best sweet/savory crepe on the planet.

Caprayze ... too much?

I am crazy for caprese. I love the freshness and I especially love any excuse to eat a ball of burrata. This looks like a massive amount because I was going to a BBQ that ended up serving mexican food, but that's OK. We ate it anyway and it was delicious.

Just line up slices of heirloom tomatoes, burrata and/or fresh mozzarella, and chopped basil. I added salt and pepper across the top, then drizzled black truffle oil.

As an accoutrement, I reduced 1 cup of balsamic vinegar with 1 TBSP of sugar, and drizzled it on the dish right before it was served. Don't do it any earlier or it just gets muddy.

Valentine's Day

I like Valentine's Day but I never go to dinner at a restaurant because it's just not as valuable as creating your own menu at home and taking the time to follow through on every step. I just wanted to capture the items in my 4-course meal here but have not outlined any recipes.

1st course: hamachi-in-a-blanket

I marinated fresh slices of hamachi in soy sauce, rice vinegar, yuzu, lemon, and pulverized cilantro. Then I wrapped the pieces in a thin crepe, tied with a chive to keep it together and topped it with wasabi tobiko. It was my dining companion's favorite of the night.

2nd course: cauliflower & basil soup,

seared scallop, truffle oil

If you don't own a chinois already then buy one. It really makes all the difference when presenting a soup and gives it that really flavorful fine restaurant quality and consistency. For this I just cooked cauliflower, a teeny bit of butter, and onions in a pot. Once they softened, I added chicken stock, salt, and pepper. I then took a hand blender, pureed everything and added chopped up basil. This ingredient really made all the difference in flavor. Once through the strainer, I added a seasoned seared scallop and dotted truffle oil on the surface.

3rd course: homemade ravioli in a saffron cream

sauce with lobster and morels

So yeah, this wasn't cheap or easy by any means but it was fun and I learned a lot! Making your own fresh homemade pasta is empowering. I highly recommend it. My ravioli kind of fell flat because it was an arduous task for a first-timer, but the stuffing worked great: goat cheese, seared endive, and bland oyster mushrooms.

The lobster is from a lobster tail and the morels were dried and rehydrated. For the sauce, I cooked stock and a little cream with shallots, used my mortar and pestle to crush up saffron, added it to the sauce and it immediately turned a brilliant yellow. I strained the sauce through mesh, then added the lobster, morels, and ravioli and cooked together for about 5 minutes.

The fourth course was a spiced carrot cake but I didn't get photos. Maybe next year.