Tag: Fontina

Charred Ramp Arancini

Tomorrow is one of my favorite events of the year: Flavors on the Avenue! I’ve written past posts about this event, but this year, they are switching things up a bit. The event, usually held under a tent, is coming out onto the street to make for what should be a pretty awesome five block street festival tomorrow, April 30 from noon to 5 pm.  The event will be held around the Singing Fountain at the intersection of S 11th, Tasker and Passyunk.

Tickets aren’t required to attend the event, although they are strongly encouraged. Cost is $50 each and include all of the dishes, two glasses of beer or wine, and valet parking – a $130 value. You can also pay as you go; each dish will be priced at $3 to $6. Further details can be found here.

East Passyunk Avenue is known for its fantastic restaurants, and a bunch of them (27!) are participating in this event. There will also be free kids’ activities and a crafter’s market. Here is a list of participants and the food they will be serving: (note: options shown in photos above are in bold)

  • Bing Bing Dim Sum: Pork Buns, Corn Rangoon
  • Birra: Pizza slices, plain and pepperoni
  • Brigantessa: Chorizo Cotto with whipped ricotta and peas
  • Cantina los Caballitos: Tacos al Pastor, Elote, Classic and Cucumber Margaritas
  • Chhaya: Fried chicken and waffles, Iced coffee
  • El Sarape: Tacos al Pastor, Pina Coladas
  • Fond: Salmon Tartare with sesame, nori and avocado
  • Izumi: Pork Gyoza
  • Laurel: Chocolate egg cream pudding pops
  • Le Virtu: Octopus and chick pea salad
  • Mamma Maria: Cheese ravioli
  • Marra’s: Mozzarella pizza
  • Noir: Arancini balls, watermelon salad
  • Noord: Bitterballen (Dutch meatballs with nutmeg and mustard)
  • Paradiso: Arancini Di Riso
  • Perla: Pork Belly, Adobo with garlic rice
  • Plenty Cafe: Choripan (Traditional South African sandwich with chorizo, chimichurri, and pickled red onion on a baguette)
  • POPE: Zucchini feta fritters, Cashew teriyaki
  • P’unk Burger: Pulled Portobello sandwiches, Caprese pesto burgers
  • Sate Kampar: Achat (carrots, cucumber, peanuts and chile sauce), Sago Gula Melaka (sago pearls, coconut cream, palm nectar) and Chicken Sate
  • Stargazy: Sausage Rolls, Potato Masala Rolls, Sticky Toffee Sundaes
  • Stateside: House-made steam buns with duck confit, peppadew and radicchio
  • Stogie Joe’s: Meatballs with Toasted Bread
  • Townsend: Roast pork sandwiches
  • Tre Scalini: Tripe in Umido
  • Vanilya Bakery: Buttercream cookies, Buttercream cupcakes
  • Will BYOB: Caramelized onion crepes, Banana and caramel crepes

I had the opportunity to go on a media tour a try a bunch of these bites. Noord’s Bitterballen remains one of my favorites (they serve it every year, and every year I love them). New to Flavors is Sate Kampar, and all of their offerings are fantastic! Absolutely go try the Achat, Sago Hula Melaka, and Chicken Sate.

One of the restaurants on the media tour was Brigantessa. If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen my high praise for their Charred Ramp Arancini. They were absolutely delicious. Unfortunately, Brigantessa is not serving these for Flavors, but is serving Chorizo Cotto with Whipped Ricotta and Peas that sounds right up my alley as well. There will be plenty of arancini available though, a few restaurants are serving it.

I wanted to try my hand at making the Brigantessa Aracini, so here goes! I adapted this recipe to include charred ramps, which adds a slight onion flavor to the cheesy rice ball.

Ingredients:

  • 8 ramp leaves, charred

Continue reading Charred Ramp Arancini

Lobster Mac and Cheese

I have wanted to make Lobster Mac and Cheese for the longest time. So when I was having a crummy week, I thought it would be the perfect pick-me up. (I treat myself really well, don’t I?) Continental, a restaurant in Old City and Midtown, Philadelphia, have the most fantastic Lobster Mac and Cheese. Made with orzo, the restaurants use Fontina and Gruyere cheese to make a creamy, crave-worthy meal. I used a FoodNetwork.com recipe as a base with Continental’s version as inspiration.

 

I headed to DiBruno Bros. to pick up my cheeses, and they were somehow out of both Fontina and Gruyere. Sad day. DiBruno Bros. never disappoints though, and the cheesemonger helped me choose two cheeses: Comté and Tomme de Berger. Comté is very similar to Gruyere but is from France (rather than Switzerland). It has a slight nutty flavor to it, and melts wonderfully (it’s commonly used in fondue). Tomme de Berger also has a bit of a nutty flavor and is a blend of sheep and goat’s milk. If you can’t find these, substitute Gruyere for the Comté and Fontina for the Tomme de Berger.

 

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups orzo
  • 1 pint milk
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 8 ounces Comté cheese, grated
  • 6 ounces Tomme de Berger, grated
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 pound cooked lobster meat
  • 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Continue reading Lobster Mac and Cheese

Mushroom Mac and Cheese

I grew up in a mac & cheese from the box household. You know, the kind with the powered stuff that you add to the macaroni, plus butter and milk. My mom (inexplicably) referred to this as baked macaroni and cheese, so I didn’t even realize that baked mac & cheese was the actual way it was supposed to be cooked until much later in life. As absolutely delicious as I assume traditional baked mac and cheese is, I can’t justify taking all that time to make it (maybe on a weekend some day). Apparently I’m not alone on that thought, because Cooking Light Fresh Foods Superfast cookbook had a somewhat sped up version. This version adds in some mushrooms to make a hearty Mushroom Mac and Cheese.
Ingredients:
Sherry-Roasted Mushrooms
  1 package cremini mushrooms
  1 tablespoon olive oil
  Salt and pepper, to taste
  2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  Cooking Spray
  2 tablespoons dry sherry
  2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
8 ounces (half a box) uncooked elbow macaroni
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 small can of evaporated milk
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded fontina cheese
Fresh oregano leaves, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Combine the mushrooms, olive oil and garlic cloves on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Season with salt and pepper.

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned. While the mushrooms are cooking, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
When the mushrooms are finished cooking, add to a small bowl. Stir in the sherry and oregano. Reserve. Keep the oven on but lower the temperature to 400 degrees.
Add flour to a large pan and gradually add the evaporated milk, stirring with a whisk. Cook over medium heat for 6 minutes or until thick and bubbly, continue to stir constantly.  Add the cheese and season with salt and pepper. I must have been all sorts of lazy this day because I didn’t even feel like shredding the cheese. I instead tore off small pieces and added it to the milk mixture, this ended up working out just fine.
Remove from heat and stir in the mushroom mixture and the pasta.
Add the pasta mixture to a 2 quart baking dish that’s been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake the pasta at 400 degrees for 25 minutes, or until it bubbles. Sprinkle with oregano leaves and serve.
Oh happy creamy deliciousness. I loved this pasta, especially when I got some of the crunchy baked parts in a bite. In retrospect, I really wish I added a light layer of panko on top, just to add more crunch to the dish. But even without that extra crunch, this mac & cheese was really good!
I think this method can be applied to many versions of mac & cheese to make it quicker. Use Gruyere or Cheddar instead of fontina. Add sage instead of oregano, or use truffles/truffle oil, the possibilities are endless!
Print
Mushroom Mac & Cheese

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 package cremini mushrooms
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • Cooking Spray
  • 2 tablespoons dry sherry
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
  • 8 ounces (half a box) uncooked elbow macaroni
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 small can of evaporated milk
  • 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded fontina cheese
  • Fresh oregano leaves, for garnish

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Combine the mushrooms, olive oil and garlic cloves on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Season with salt and pepper.
  2. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned. While the mushrooms are cooking, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
  3. When the mushrooms are finished cooking, add to a small bowl. Stir in the sherry and oregano. Reserve. Keep the oven on but lower the temperature to 400 degrees.
  4. Add flour to a large pan and gradually add the evaporated milk, stirring with a whisk. Cook over medium heat for 6 minutes or until thick and bubbly, continue to stir constantly. Add the cheese and season with salt and pepper. I must have been all sorts of lazy this day because I didn’t even feel like shredding the cheese. I instead tore off small pieces and added it to the milk mixture, this ended up working out just fine.
  5. Remove from heat and stir in the mushroom mixture and the pasta.
  6. Add the pasta mixture to a 2 quart baking dish that’s been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake the pasta at 400 degrees for 25 minutes, or until it bubbles. Sprinkle with oregano leaves and serve.
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Fontina-Stuffed, Bacon-Wrapped Dates

I honestly have no idea why some fresh dates caught my eye while I was shopping recently. Somehow, they ended up in my basket along with my usual ingredients: lemons, garlic, onions and peppers. I opened my fridge yesterday and realized my poor little dates were still sitting in there, so I decided today was the day to use them for a delicious appetizer I found on Brown Eyed Baker‘s site.
Ingredients:
An equal number of fresh dates, Fontina cheese, cut to fit inside the dates, and 4 inch pieces of Bacon
I made 6, using about 2 pieces of bacon
Preheat your broiler. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Cut the dates half open, making sure not to cut the date fully in half.
Wedge a piece of cheese within each date.
Wrap the bacon around the date, overlapping the ends and placing them on the bottom to keep closed.
Broil for about 5 minutes. Be sure to keep an eye on them, broilers go from toasted to scorched in a matter of seconds.
That’s it! How easy. Not to mention, super tasty. The mix of salty bacon, sweet dates, and earthy cheese gives an almost buttery flavor to this appetizer. If serving this at a party, I’d suggest adding toothpicks so that guests can eat them a bit easier.
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