Grilled shrimp, fresh pea and ricotta pasta: a brief and delicious sideline from soup

The story: I recently moved to Brooklyn and inherited a great apartment, a real, big girl dining room table and a backyard with a grill. Those three things put together spell one thing: DINNER PARTY! And boy, did I have one.

I was having my friend B. over, who is my oldest friend and owner of this fabulous blog, as well as her boyfriend. B. had recently discovered youmakethebestsoup and was dismayed by my lack of recent postings, so we decided to make on rip-roaring delicious meal and post it, soup be damned!

This meal was entirely based upon and inspired by my local farmer's market at Grand Army Plaza, an awe-inspiring setting for a pretty awe-inspiring spread of fresh veg, meat, flowers, dairy, and even a fishmonger. My roommie and I cruised by there on Sat before a reallllllllly looooooong bike ride (38 miles, NBD) and I saw they had fresh peas. I.love.fresh.peas. I became obsessed with them in Morocco and buy them as often as possible during their season. I find shelling peas soothing, and eating shelled peas...a miracle of nature, taste, and spring. So I bought a ton, carried them in my backpack for 38 miles, and schemed a great meal for my big inaugural dinner party.

The Ingredients:

• 1 lb fresh pasta, whatever floats your boat


• 1/2 cup fresh, part-skim ricotta


• 1 large shallot, diced


• 1 small yellow onion, diced


• 3 cloves of garlic, diced


• 2 tablespoons butter


• as many freshly-shelled peas as you can handle (we did about 2.5 cups)


• 1/2 lb deveined, shell-on shrimp


• some dried thyme


• Olive oil


• salt


• freshly grated parmesean

The cooking:

Melt the butter on low heat in a saute pan and saute/sweat the shallot, onion and one chopped clove of garlic on low heat until they are clear and mild-smelling. Meanwhile, toss the shrimp with some olive oil, the rest of the garlic, salt and some dried thyme. Let them sit for 1/2 hour and marinate. Once the garlic/shallot/onion combo is done, mix it in with the ricotta. Shell the peas and lightly boil them in water for 5 minutes or so until cooked but not mushy. Grill the shrimp, cook the pasta, lightly toss the cooked pasta in olive oil.

The serving:

Put the pasta in a large bowl and toss in the peas. Plop clumps of the ricotta mixture on top, lightly mixing in, and then the shrimp. Finish with some sea salt and a layer of fresh parmesean. Thank you, Brooklyn.

Braised Pork Shoulder in Salsa Verde: or, what seven dollars and seven hours gets you on a Sunday

The story:
Walking home a recent morning i stopped by my local grocer to browse around. They usually have cheap meats and I was planning on making a tagine so I stopped by the butcher counter. Sitting there in plastic, for 7 bucks, was a hulking, fat-encased pig shoulder. I bought it. Why not? Adventure-cooking, folks! And guess what...it turned out AWESOME.

The ingredients:

• 1 half pig shoulder, skinned and trimmed (this step is super gross, warning you)
• 1 bottle of medium-spicy salsa verde (forget making your own, this is gonna cook for seven hours so who cares)
• 1 bunch chopped cilantro
• 2-3 cups chicken broth
• Some dried oregano
• 1 chopped yellow onion
• Some olive oil
• One serious Dutch oven to shove that shoulder in

The cooking:

Skin and trim the shoulder. This is a gross and somewhat thoughts-of-vegetarianism-inducing process that is best done with kitchen scissors and a strong heart. Heat some olive oil, enough to coat the bottom, in a Dutch oven and brown the shoulder on all sides. Toss in the chopped onion, allow it to sweat for a minute, then add the salsa verde, broth, and enough oregano to smell it. bring to a boil then reduce heat to low, cover, and let cook for...forever. Until the meat is absolutely falling off the bone and the liquid has been reduced to a nice volume for sauce. Remove the meat, brown it for 30 minutes at 375 in the oven to get it all crispy and delicious, then shred the shit out of it, toss it back in the pot, add some cilantro and call it a feast.

The serving:

I made a bowl of corn, beans, rice and pork with sauce all mixed up, and it was perfection. I'm sure you can get real fancy with soft corn tacos and other non-bowl oriented foods, but it's a Sunday, so why would you?

A tale of frozen vegetables: butternut squash and cauliflower bisque

The Story: It was 10 PM. It was freezing. I was broke, coming home from work late, and hungry (this is, on average, two nights per week at least). I wandered into the local grocery and aimlessly and miserably perused the frozen veggies aisle. Sometimes I take comfort here in a bag of frozen spinach. This night, that was not in the cards for me. I instead saw a frozen box of Southland-brand* butternut squash and an idea came to mine...

*A note on Southland: if you don't know what these frozen delights are, you're missing out. A brand that purports itself as 'Southern cooking', they make insanely cheap, dairy-free, healthy and delicious frozen pureed yams, butternut squash, etc. You can get them for 99 cents at your local grocery. My dear friend Laura F. introduced me to them and I am forever grateful. As a side, or a snack, or a soup-base, as you'll soon see, these things are great.

The ingredients:

• I box Southland frozen butternut squash
• 1 whole cauliflower
• 1 tablespoon butter (optional)
• 1 small (juice box-size) container of chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

The cooking:

Stem cauliflower and steam chopped up bunches in a pot with an inch of water. When soft, drain. Toss in the butter and dried thyme. Let sit. Defrost the squash and pour in with the cauliflower. Stir vigorously and the cauliflower will naturally break apart. Toss in the chicken broth, heat, and you're done. It's easy and delicious. You can puree if you like it silky-smooth, but I prefer mine chunky.

The serving:

Ideally, in front of the telly with a warm blanket over your lap. Tomorrow is another day, my friend!