Cheese Archives - Page 11 of 13

Polenta With Sausage and Onion

February 18, 2021April 23, 2014 by Emily

This is the topping that we made to go on the Butternut Squash Polenta. It’s one of those really satisfying, but incredibly simple recipes that barely takes any prep. Once you’ve got the polenta going, you can relax, have a little wine (since you’ve already opened it to make the sauce so, why not?), do a little chopping, and you’re ready to cook.

There aren’t a lot of ingredients in this so use the best quality sausage you can get. It works well with pork but I really love using turkey sausage from DiPaola‘s. You can get it at several farmers’ markets around New York City but sadly, we have’t seen it around here yet.

A great vegetarian option would be to use cannellini beans. Rinse them well and sauté them with a little olive oil, garlic, rosemary and chile flakes.

This was adapted from Melissa Clark’s version. I wanted a bit of a sauce to go with it so I added the wine and mustard. The result is a delicious, savory, quick and easy dinner.

Potato, Spinach and Cheese Frittata

March 17, 2021March 26, 2014 by Emily

You know those times when you look in the fridge and think, “meh”. You might have a little bit of this and a little leftover that but seemingly not enough of any one thing to actually make something? Well, that’s me about 75% of the time.

While I definitely get inspired and enjoy the process of shopping and cooking (and photographing and blogging), there are many more days when I’m just really busy and can’t even think about what to make for dinner until I’m fifteen minutes past being really bloody hungry.

That’s when I like to make a fritatta. Seriously, you can pretty much throw anything in it and it will work. (Edible, anything edible). Have a potato or two? Great, chop it up! A bag (or frozen box) of spinach? That’ll work. Weird little bits of several kinds of cheeses? Why not. No one’s looking. As we say in Brooklyn, “do you”. (I’m so, so sorry).

The great thing about a fritatta is that as long as you have enough eggs to bind it all together, pretty much anything is going to work. Sure, you have to think a bit about what flavors go together. That really stinky, pungent bleu cheese may not work so well with, say, shrimp but would be delicious with bacon and onion (and shrimp would be fantastic with corn and scallions). Just think about what you have available, what tastes good together and don’t overthink it.

This particular recipe is just what I had on hand (and it’s a nice combo) but you should feel free to substitute any ingredient you want (except the eggs, of course).

Nerds with Knives: Year One!

October 9, 2019March 18, 2014 by Emily

Well, well, well. And they* said it wouldn’t last. (*Me, I said that. It was me.)

I’m so very happy to be wrong! It’s been a full year of Nerds with Knives (actually a bit more than a year but what is this “time” concept anyway, and why are such slaves to it? At least that’s what Matt theorized when we went out for my Halloween birthday in December. Something about “Wibbly wobbly timey wimey…stuff“. Who knows what he was going on about).

So like the fancy mothercluckers we are, we celebrated with a couple of fantastic beers from The Hop, a nice chunk of delicious clothbound Cheddar from our new local favorite Beacon Pantry, and drank out of engraved Nerds glasses given to us as an AWESOME christmas gift by our dear friend Ian.

As a life-long freelancer, I figured I’d post a few recipes, take a few photos and eventually get distracted by some other shiny new project, but somehow, for some reason, that didn’t happen. Honestly, this year has been amazingly fun and has re-kindled my love, not just for cooking and writing, but also for photography, which I’ve been enjoying immensely.

By far, the most surprising thing about the blog has been the response from you. Don’t look behind you, yes you, specifically! Honestly, I figured our audience would be about ten people or so — my mom, Matt’s mum, a few friends and family and maybe one or two strangers who landed here accidentally and weren’t sure how to close the browser tab (it’s the little red button on the top left, there you go, dear). Again, wrong!

As of early March, we’ve had almost 49,000 views! That’s just, like, completely bonkers. And also so, so awesome. So, thank you to everyone who’s been enjoying the blog and saying such nice things about it.

Pasta With Butternut Squash and Bacon

January 19, 2021February 7, 2014 by Emily

Down side: Polar Vortex Episode 2 (The Revenge of Polar Vortex) will not go away and this latest storm dumped another FOOT of snow on us. We had a burst pipe, a flooded (frozen) basement and our street looks like a luge track from Sochi.

Up side: Pasta with a creamy, bacony sauce and lots of butternut squash!

Okay, down-side wins but since winter refuses to behave, at least make some yummy, cozy dishes while it’s still frigging freezing out.

I’ve mentioned before how much I adore butternut squash so when I saw Melissa Clark’s recipe for pasta with parsnips, I decided to adapt it. I’ve made a few changes (other than substituting the main vegetable, obviously). I used shallots instead of leeks because I just like them and always have them on hand. I also added a little bit of garlic and chili flakes.

The result is delicious. A little smoky from the bacon, sweet from the butternut squash. Yum.

Nerd Tips:

This recipe gives you tips on peeling and seeding a butternut squash.
Bacon is better for this because it’s smoked but pancetta will work as well.
Don’t stir the squash too much or it will turn to mush (I resisted a “squashed” joke here. You’re welcome)
Any short-cut pasta will work well here.

Caramelized Onion, Olive and Goat Cheese Tart

January 19, 2021January 21, 2014 by Emily

This tart is the delightful bastard child of the classic french Pissaladière which is a deceptively simple combination of sweet onions, briny olives and salty anchovies. Now, most people would scoff at the hubris required to take an elegant, timeless recipe and besmirch it with additions like goat cheese, sherry and thyme but, like a certain movie villain Matt is getting very tired of me mentioning, I regret nothing. It’s possible that you’re thinking “Hey wait just a minute here! Didn’t Emily already blog a very similar, though delicious, recipe for a tart a few months ago? She hasn’t even been doing NwK for a full year and she’s already recycling ideas!” To which I would reply, “Mean!” and also “While there are certainly similarities between the two tarts, this one is more intensely flavored, with the addition of cured black olives and anchovies, and also has a few advanced techniques in working with puff pastry. So neeeeh!”

Basic Risotto

January 19, 2021January 6, 2014 by Emily

Shrimp and Lobster Risotto with Peas — Short-grain arborio rice

This is a basic recipe for one of the best comfort food dishes of all time, Risotto. You could flavor this recipe a hundred different ways but I love using it to make Crispy Risotto Cakes with Taleggio Cheese.

Honestly, I’m not sure why people make a big deal about making risotto. I mean, you do have to stir it, but only for 18 minutes or so and it’s not like if you stop for a sec to answer the phone or look at a picture of a dog in glasses, the whole thing will be ruined.