Beer-Steamed Mussels with Mustard, Crème Fraiche, Parmesan Croutons & Tons of Herbs

Apparently there’s a lot more to making beer than I ever knew. I suppose I never gave it much consideration, opening bottles and cans on hot summer days without a second thought. Feeling there was more to this beer thing, I met up recently with Josh Hare at his Austin-based Hops & Grain Craft Beer brewery for a little education. The sprawling facility, giant tanks, and gurgling tubes call to mind Willy Wonka’s factory, if Willy Wonka made beer. And indeed, everyone at Hops & Grain seems as hard-working and jolly as an Oompa Loompa—that comes from Josh’s commitment to his craft and his ability to inspire everyone involved. Josh talks me through the basic process: First, malted barley is soaked to release the native sugars in the grain. Next, this “mash” is mixed with hops for flavor. Yeast is added to facilitate fermentation; then when the proper level of fermentation is reached, it goes into a bottle or a can for final aging. Flavor variations come from toasting the grains (usually barley, but also sometimes wheat or rye) or adjusting the variety of the hops. In addition to making two standard varieties of top-quality, easy-drinking beer, Hops & Grain keeps a batch or two going in “The Greenhouse,” tanks where “all new ideas are invited, style guidelines thrown out the window and happiness abounds.” In addition to keeping the happiness flowing, Hops & Grain works on keeping the community greener by giving 1% of annual revenues to local environmental non-profits and supporting local community growers and producers: that’s a triple bottom line we can raise a glass to.

Inspired by my awakening to the nuances of beer, I came home with a six pack of Hops & Grain Pale Dog Pale Ale (full of malt character with a dry, crisp, and hoppy finish, flavors of resinous fruit and dank pine, and a noticeable but balanced bitterness), inspired to pair these flavors with food. I put a big pot of Alsatian mussels on the stove, and we brought the whole pot to the table, dipping big hunks of crusty bread in the delicious juices, and washed it all down with frosty glasses of more cold Pale Dog, doors open to the almost-summer evening outside, feeling quite pleased all around with our higher understanding of beer.

Want more? Check out our full interview with Josh Hare, or scroll down for the recipe for Beer-Steamed Mussels with Mustard, Crème Fraiche, Parmesan Croutons & Tons of Herbs!

Beer-Steamed Mussels with Mustard, Crème Fraiche, Parmesan Croutons & Tons of Herbs

½ loaf of country sourdough, cut into 1” cubes

1/3 c grated parmesan

2 Tbs. olive oil

1 small bunch parsley, coarsely chopped

1 small bunch chives, minced

6 sprigs tarragon, leaves stripped off & chopped

1 small bunch chervil, coarsely chopped

2/3 c. crème fraiche

4 Tbs. grainy mustard

3 Tbs. butter

6 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 tsp. dried thyme

5 pounds mussels, scrubbed and debearded

2 large tomatoes, diced

1 small bunch green onions, white & some green part, sliced thin

1 12 oz. beer (I used Hops & Grain Pale Dog)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine bread cubes, Parmesan, and olive oil in medium bowl; sprinkle with salt and toss to coat. Spread bread cubes evenly on rimmed baking sheet. Bake until bread cubes are crisp and golden around edges, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

Mix parsley, chives, tarragon, and chervil in small bowl. Whisk crème fraîche and mustard in another small bowl to blend; set aside.

Melt butter in extra-large pot with lid over high heat. Add garlic and thyme; stir 1 minute. Add mussels, tomatoes, and green onions. Pour beer over, then add crème fraîche mixture; sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper. Cover tightly with lid and cook until steam appears, about 3 minutes. Add half of fresh herb mixture and stir until mussels and herbs are gently mixed. Cover tightly with lid again and cook until mussels open, 4 to 5 minutes (discard any mussels that do not open).

Using slotted spoon, divide mussels among 6 bowls. Season mussel juices lightly with salt and pepper, then pour juices over each serving. Sprinkle each serving with Parmesan croutons and remaining herb mixture and serve.

chewy chocolate savannah cookies from scratch baking co.

When I knew I’d be making an early springtime trip to Portland, Maine, I called my friend Rachel, a true gourmand who spends every summer there. She had a great list of advice and fantastic spots for me to try, including this tantalizing bit: “Scratch Baking Co., across the bridge in South Portland. Out of the way but the best bagels you will ever eat.” Not just the best I’ve had so far, but the best I’ll ever have. Who could pass that up? What I discovered at Scratch Baking Co., in addition to, yes, the best bagels I will ever have (long-risen, hot from the oven, crisp and chewy, sprinkled with sea salt harvested from the cold waters of Casco Bay), was an array of tender, melting shortbread, generous slices of cake, abundant rustic loaves of rye and seeded bread, perfect baguettes, buttery cookies, dense, dark chocolate brownies, and chewy, coconut-y macaroons. In other words, heaven. I’d called co-owner Bob Johnson earlier to say we’d be coming in with our cameras and questions, and he invited me to come early Saturday morning, because “that’s when the party really happens.” A generous, open-hearted spirit wafts through the air at Scratch (along with the warm scents of butter, cinnamon, chocolate and baking bread), and that comes straight from all three owners, who are dedicated to creating a true community bakery, where neighbors greet neighbors and everyone is welcomed with a sense of abundance and cheer. Further evidence of this generosity is apparent in the partners’ publication of Baker’s Notes, a series of recipe journals with beautiful photographs and detailed instructions for recreating the most delicious of Scratch Baking Co.’s offerings (including, yes, the bagels). “Oh, thank God,” I thought when Bob put the stack of them in my hands, because the idea of leaving this special place so far behind was heartbreaking. I made these cookies last week and felt warm and welcomed all over again.

(want more? here’s an interview with Scratch Baking Co.’s Bob Johnson)

Scratch Baking Co.’s Savannah Cookies (aka Chocolate Chewies)

from Baker’s Notes :: Issue No. 4 :: Cookies

2 c walnuts, toasted & coarsely chopped
¼ c cocoa nibs
2 ½ c powdered sugar, sifted
½ c cocoa powder, sifted
4 egg whites, very lightly beaten, just to loosen up
1 Tbs vanilla
½ tsp salt, optional (I like a little salt with my chocolate)

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl until the powdered sugar dissolves. Let dough sit for
20-30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350. You’ll want to bake these cookies on a cookie sheet covered with parchment
paper or on a non-stick baking mat. (In a pinch, you can grease the cookie sheet, but they won’t
turn out as well.) Bake 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through to ensure even browning.

The centers should still be soft, but the edges will be firm and crispy

(order Baker’s Notes here.)

growing good food in new orleans: a city round-up

 

New Orleans has its obvious charms, with which I have long been acquainted. Intriguing rumors of post-Katrina changes to the grande old dame I’ve known for so long reached me in Austin, though, so we visited recently to dig a little deeper and found much to surprise and delight: a thriving local, sustainable food movement; creative food entrepreneurs; long time favorite spots holding fast to standards of quality and flavor; and sweet surprises for the culinary treasure hunters. We’re so in love with this city, we’ll have to go again soon — and I’d love for you to share your favorite New Orleans culinary spots in the comments!  Scroll all the way down for a recipe for strawberry & cream cheese-stuffed pain perdu inspired by the Ponchatoula strawberries and Creole cream cheese we found at the farmers market.

Grow Dat! Youth Farm

Nestled on a two acre corner of New Orleans’ beautiful City Park, alongside a bayou under spreading oaks and cypress trees, we discovered this incredible program creating meaningful and supportive job opportunities for inner city high school students through connections to food and agriculture.  At their urban farm, the folks at Grow Dat! are cultivating responsibility, community, and leadership skills along with almost 40,000 pounds of delicious, fresh food each year for their neighbors.

 

Hollygrove Market

In the heart of Central City, Hollygrove Market & Farm offers weekly boxes of abundant produce from their own community gardens out front and other area farms and artisan food producers.  We stocked up on leafy greens, gorgeous colorful beets, freshly baked breads, fair trade coffee, local eggs, meats and cheeses and locally grown grits and rice.

Out front, we wandered through the community plots to discover rabbits, chickens, healthy compost piles and neighborhood kids planting seeds and learning where their food comes from, and left inspired by the deep sense of community rooted in this little spot.

Casamento’s

When I eat oysters in New Orleans, I eat them at Casamento’s, an almost century-old restaurant where I’m content to stand in line for however long it takes to inch my way to the oyster bar.

There, Mike Rogers will shuck me a dozen oysters, hands moving in a blur, and I’ll happily slurp them down as a prelude to crispy fried shrimp on house-baked “pan bread” and perhaps even more oysters, broiled with parmesan and garlic, eaten greedily with lemon and a shake of Tabasco on top.

Crescent City Farmers Market

On Saturday morning, we wake up early to hit the farmers market downtown. There, fueled with hot chicory coffee, we load up on buttery pastries, flats of Ponchatoula strawberries, juicy citrus and just-caught Gulf shrimp and fish to cook later.

Lucullus

When I picture heaven, it looks a lot like Lucullus.  In his gorgeous shop on Chartres St in the Vieux Carre, owner Patrick Dunne has amassed a museum-worthy treasure trove of culinary antiques for sale: 19^th century Parisian bar glasses, 18^th century English wooden bread bowls, drawers full of silver, piles of copper pots.

Patrick tells me stories of each piece’s provenance as I feel the weight in my hand of cooks and diners from centuries past and the food and culture that connects us.

Kitchen Witch

You all know my little cookbook obsession, right?  Well, imagine how I swooned upon discovering Kitchen Witch Books on Toulouse — packed floor to ceiling with nothing but cookbooks, both new and vintage.  Owners Debbie Lindsey and Phillipe LaMancusa are kindred spirits — we could (did?) talk for hours about cooking, working the line and the front of the house, and named our favorite cookbooks and recipes reverently to one another in the hushed tones usually reserved for talking about spiritual subjects.

Cleaver & Co.

Stylishly spartan and intriguingly minimal in a city known for excess, this locally-sourced, whole animal butcher shop establishes personal relationships with farmers within 200 miles of New Orleans, visits each farm, and sources the finest quality meats handcut by skilled butchers on site.  Did I like it?  Perhaps the cooler I brought home filled to bursting with boudin-stuffed chicken, handmade Andouille, house-smoked Canadian bacon and duck confit can best answer that question.

Kitchen Inspirations: Strawberry & Cream Cheese Stuffed Pain Perdu

In New Orleans, French toast is “pain perdu,” or “lost bread,” which speaks volumes about the city’s roots: American thrift, Creole inventiveness, and a romantic French sensibility that can make something decadent and indulgent even out of lowly stale bread. Our trip inspired me to dress up this brunch staple with Louisiana strawberry jam and Creole cream cheese.

Strawberry & Cream Cheese Stuffed Pain Perdu

serves 4

• 8 thick slices of challah or other soft white bread
• 1 jar strawberry jam or preserves (not jelly)
• 1 8 oz package cream cheese, cut into 8 cubes
• 4 c milk
• 4 eggs
• 1/3 c sugar
• 1 Tbs vanilla
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• butter for frying
• butter, powdered sugar, maple syrup to serveCut a pocket in each slice of bread and stuff with a cube of cream cheese and a spoonful of preserves. In a large baking dish, whisk together milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon until thoroughly combined. Place stuffed bread slices in mixture to soak for about five minutes, turning once or twice. Heat butter on a large griddle or skillet; remove each slice from soaking liquid, letting excess drain off, then fry over medium heat until golden and cooked through.

everything old is new again: salt & time butcher shop & salumeria

Remember when there were neighborhood butcher shops? Yeah, me neither. Back in the fabled past (when you could also get fresh milk delivered to your door every day), I’ve heard there were neighborhood shops where skilled artisans cut whole animals to order. These butchers knew the farmer who raised the animals, knew what their customers wanted, and could tell you how to cook a roast, a steak or a chop. If you were a regular, they might even save the choicest cuts just for you, trimmed just the way you like it. Now, everything old is new again, and Ben Runkle and Bryan Butler are bringing the neighborhood butcher shop back in East Austin with the newly opened Salt & Time. Since they opened the doors to their stylish, inviting space in February, I’ve found myself drifting in more than once a week to pick up handmade salumi, charcuterie and cold cuts, fresh chops and steaks for dinner, or to enjoy a quick bite for lunch. (Insider tip: Cuvee Coffee is served at the bar, and Salt & Time’s sandwiches, made on fresh Baked in Austin bread, are amazing — they’re adding salads, soups and desserts to the menu daily!)

Tell your brand story in 5 words.

Ben: Neighborhood butcher, with a twist.

What was your first job?

Ben: Bussing tables at my dad’s restaurant.

Bryan: My first job was working with my father as a painter in his business.  I was 12 or 13 years old.

What gets you to work every morning?

Ben: A 1996 Nissan Pickup.

Bryan: Pride. Knowing that I have a role in the community and wanting to raise awareness about my craft.

Where do you get culinary inspiration?

Ben: I love the blog Ideas in Food. We don’t do much of the modernist stuff, but I’m always getting ideas from them.

Bryan: Peers, colleagues, bloggers, food experimenters, even mistakes can lead to daily inspiration for me.  You can learn a lot just by being attentive and listening. You know, be all Zen about it—be quiet and take it all in.

What other businesses do you come back to again & again?

Ben: I go to Home Slice a lot. I appreciate the fact that they’ve managed to maintain their quality as they’ve grown. East Side Kingsat the Grackle is another staple, it’s right around the corner from the shop. I’m blown away with Paul Qui and his team, they are doing awesome things, and I’m excited about what they have in store withQui.

Bryan: I support many local businesses and restaurants that support me, my business and vice versa. Eastside Pies, Franklin BBQ,The Alamo Draft House Cinema,Blackstar Co-op, Wheatsville Co-op & many others.

What’s in your fridge right now?

Ben: It’s pretty depressing in there right now.

Bryan: Local veggies, a door full of homemade preserves, a collection of various pickled veggies and condiments, a deli drawer full of meats and cheeses, beer and wine.  I could open up a shop in my kitchen.

 

What flavors inspire taste memories for you?

Ben: Roast chicken and potatoes was one of my favorite childhood meals, and it’s one of my favorite comfort foods now.

Bryan: Every single time I order a hamburger (no cheese, mustard, no mayo, lettuce, tomato and onion), it takes me back to the very first hamburger I ever ate.  I was a vegetarian until I was around ten years old, and my mom snuck me off one time for my first burger.  My dad was a bit of a veggie Nazi.

Tell us about your dream dinner party–you can invite six guests (real, imaginary, living, or dead) to dinner-what, who, & where?

Ben: My friends Maura and Chap invite all their friends over when they throw parties, and they leave it up to fate to decide who comes. While this makes it tough to plan the menu, I love the sentiment.  I’d keep the food simple, maybe roasted pork and root vegetables, and invite all my friends.

It’s Wednesday night at 6:30.  What’s for dinner?

Ben: I’d be getting ready to close the shop and head home, so if I haven’t figured it out already, I’m probably grabbing a couple of pork chops out of the case.

Bryan: Handmade sausage (I know a guy), veggies and pasta.

Kitchen Inspiration: Korean Steak Salad with Rice Noodles and Crunchy Vegetables

Salt & Time is known for their pork, handmade sausages, salumi, and charcuterie, but they also have an impressive selection of fresh beef, lamb, goat and chicken, all locally-sourced and expertly cut on site.

Steak & Marinade:

• ¾  pound bavette steak (substitute flank or skirt steak if bavette not available)
• 2 Tbs gochujong (Korean hot pepper paste)
• 1 2” piece ginger, grated
• 2 Tbs toasted sesame oil
• 2 Tbs soy sauce

Korean Vinaigrette:

• 1 Tbs gochujong
• 1 clove garlic, grated on a microplane grater
• 2 Tbs toasted sesame oil
• 2 Tbs grapeseed or other neutral flavored oil
• pinch brown sugar
• juice of 1 lime
• 2 Tbs soy sauce

Salad:

• ½ pound buckwheat ramen (substitute regular highest-quality ramen noodles or buckwheat soba), cooked to al dente, drained and rinsed under cold water
• 1 bunch radishes, cut into julienne
• 4 carrots, cut into julienne
• ½ small red onion, slivered
• ½ pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 5 oz mixed baby greens
• 1 handful pea shoots or sunflower sprouts
• toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

Instructions:

Stir marinade ingredients together and rub into steak. Marinate for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, combine ingredients for vinaigrette and set aside. Heat a cast-iron grill pan on the stove until smoking hot. Sear steak for 3-4 minutes per side (to medium rare), and set aside to rest for at least 10 minutes. Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl. Slice steak against the grain into paper thin slices, add to big bowl with salad, pour dressing over and toss everything together. Place in serving bowls and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

 

kitchen inspiration: jeremy barnwell’s school lunch for grown ups

It’s not often that we get inspired by dishes in the school cafeteria, but Jeremy Barnwell’s school lunches are something else indeed. Not content to just shop for organic fruits and veggies at the farmers market, he grows an abundant garden just outside the school kitchen and harvests crunchy carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli for stir fries, and greens and herbs for salads. Food so fresh and delicious that kids clean their plates at school?  Now that’s smart.

We visit Jeremy in the cafeteria to hear what inspires him to feed close to 100 kids on a given day and leave with arms full of food from his garden for our own school lunch for grown ups.  Keep reading for the interview & recipe.

What is your favorite cookbook?

Momofuku by David Chang and Peter Meehan

Who is your culinary idol?

Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall

Where do you get culinary inspiration?

Eating out a lot, nature, the farmer’s market, art, being in the garden.

Tell us about your dream dinner party–you can invite six guests (real, imaginary, living, or dead) to dinner-what, who, & where?

It would be in Mexico, perhaps at a Mayan temple site. I would have Rene Redzepi and Magnus Nilsson cook for us. My dinner guests would be my wife Alison, Bill Hicks, Neil deGrasse Tyson, The Maharishi, Tina Fey, and Carl Jung.

What’s in your fridge right now?

Cheese, chicken liver mousse from Dai Due, Topo Chico, Real Ale Full Moon Pale Rye, veggies, herbs, and mushrooms from the farmer’s market, salumi from Salt & Time, soy sauce, sriracha, and fish sauce.

What flavors inspire taste memories for you?

Breakfast foods and southern cooking. Venison and wild game. Anything you can hunt or catch yourself reminds me of my childhood. Pretty much anything you would find in a typical East Texas grandmother’s home.

What’s your favorite ingredient?

Salt, it can make or break a dish.

It’s Wednesday night at 6:30. What’s for dinner?

A cheese and charcuterie plate and maybe an arugula salad from our garden. On Wednesdays, I cook lunch for two schools and then teach a cooking class to middle school students. After cooking and cleaning twice already, I’m out of energy to cook for a third time.

Kitchen Inspirations: School Lunch for Grown Ups

Spring Greens with Chicken & Feta :: Vegetable Escabeche

For Salad:

3 c baby greens

1-2 c steamed or lightly sauteed spring vegetables (I used broccoli & snow peas)

1-2 spring onions, sliced

1 c cooked chicken (thinly sliced)

maldon or other coarse sea salt & freshly ground pepper

olive oil + red wine vinegar

1/4 c crumbled feta cheese

In a large bowl, combine greens, vegetables, and chicken.  Sprinkle with maldon salt and grind pepper over the top.  Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar and toss to combine.  Place on serving plates and top with crumbled feta.  Serve with vegetable escabeche on the side.

For Vegetable Escabeche:

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets and blanched in boiling water for 1 minute, then plunged into ice water, then drained

2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2″ pieces and blanched in boiling water for 1 minute, then plunged into ice water, then drained

1/2 small red onion, slivered

4 cloves garlic, peeled

1 bay leaf

1/2 t EACH coriander seeds, brown mustard seeds, black peppercorns, white peppercorns

1/2 c olive oil

1 c white or apple cider vinegar

1 c water

Pack cauliflower, carrots, red onion, garlic and bay leaf into a wide-mouthed jar.  Measure spices into jar, then pour in olive oil.  Heat vinegar and water together in a saucepan to a simmer and pour over everything in the jar.  Screw the lid on tightly and shake contents.  Set aside to marinate for at least 20 minutes.  Keeps well for several weeks refrigerated.

not your average lunch lady: jeremy barnwell

Jeremy Barnwell is not your average lunch lady. Tall, bearded, tattooed, and passionately committed to the local food movement, he’s more daring entrepreneur than cafeteria worker.  After years of running a successful pastured poultry operation, he heard his wife bemoaning the lackluster and nutritionally deficient lunches served at The Rawson Saunders School where she is an elementary school teacher, and decided he could do a better job.  No matter that he had not cooked professionally before; he sold the new head of school with his enthusiasm and his big idea to create a local and farm-based lunch program for the school.  Sometimes what you don’t know leads to innovation, and four years later, he has legions of tiny fans and the unwavering support and trust of their parents, grows and harvests fresh produce at the school for his meals, teaches an elective cooking course at Rawson Saunders, has expanded to a second campus, wowed the audience at TEDx Austin with a bento box style lunch, and has plans to grow Barnison Catering even bigger to meet the needs of more kids in the Austin community.  We visit Jeremy in the cafeteria kitchen to see for ourselves the surest sign of his success: kids holding lunch trays piled high with fresh, colorful, just-harvested organic vegetables and fruit, wearing ear-to-ear grins, ready to dig in.

Tell your brand story in 5 words.

Healthy school lunches, locally sourced.

What was your first job?


My first job was at age twelve working in a small convenience store/deli/ gas station/feed store that my mom owned in northeast Texas.

What is your biggest motivator?


Knowing that I am changing the way that kids: that will hopefully affect the rest of their lives.

What has been your greatest mistake?


Trying to do too much by myself. I was always reluctant to hire anyone to help. Since hiring my first employee just this year (the amazing Anne Hargrove), I have watched my business grow significantly. I realized that there are people out there who share the same integrity and passion that I have for putting out an excellent product.

Tell us about your lucky break?

I’ve had so many, but the main two are as follows: 
My brother-in-law was on a flight and began to chat with the flight attendant who lived in Austin. He told her that his sister and I were moving to Austin soon and looking for work. She gave him the phone number of a man running a free-range poultry business in Austin. When I called the farmer to inquire about a job, he replied that he was getting out of the business and was looking to sell his farm. We went to visit and long story short, purchased the property and began our own poultry operation. Things seemed to just fall into place. Through that poultry operation, I had the opportunity to work with some great chefs who re-introduced me to my passion for cooking.
 The second big break was getting the school lunch job at Rawson Saunders School. When I started the poultry business, I hadn’t touched a chicken since I was a kid. Within a few months, we had raised enough birds to sustain a booth at the farmer’s market. When I began serving lunches, I had never worked in a restaurant or kitchen, but within a few short months owned a successful food business. I feel like my whole adult life has been a lucky break.

Required reading for every food entrepreneur?

Lucky Peach Magazine, On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee, anything by Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall.

Who is your business idol?

Joel Salatin

Words of wisdom:

Be nice and do what makes you happy

What gets you to work every morning?


Knowing that kids are relying on me for their meal. For some of them, it is their only healthy, well-balanced meal of the day.

What inspires you?


Knowing the best is yet to come.

What other businesses do you come back to again & again?


East Side King. We eat there at least once a week. Habanero’s,
 Barley Swine, 
The Grackle, The Liberty, Contigo.

How do you measure success?


Through happy customers, happy employees and a happy self. Also, if I’m able to create and run a sustainable business that can promote other local business as well as myself without it being a competition, that’s success.

If you weren’t cooking school lunches, what would you be doing?


I have a degree in aquatic biology so I could see myself working for a fishery or for Parks and Wildlife.
 But in reality, I’d still probably cooking in some respect.

What’s your next big idea?

Room temperature.

Stay tuned later in the week for more culinary inspiration and a recipe inspired by Jeremy’s tasty, healthy lunch menu!

kitchen inspiration: suppli with butternut squash & fresh mozzarella from antonelli’s cheese

Kendall and John Antonelli, cheese mongers, love mongers, and gastronomes extraordinaire, invite us into the tiny, but crammed-full-of-deliciousness Antonelli’s Cheese, where we could spend hours tasting and perusing the expertly-curated cheese selection and all manner of exquisite cheese-related delectables, including freshly baked breads, small-batch jams, nuts, salamis, olives, boutique wine, craft beer, artisanal chocolates, and handmade cheese boards and knives.   Here’s our insider’s peek into where they find culinary inspiration and what you’ll find in their fridge–keep reading for a recipe inspired by one of John’s favorite cheeses.

What flavors inspire taste memories for you?

John: Fennel, wild thyme, anything my mom cooked when I was a child. And I have very specific memories associated with the following cheeses: fresh mozzarella, Tomme Crayeuse, Comte, and Cabot Clothbound Cheddar.

Kendall: Still-warm, just-picked, sun-ripened tomatoes.

What’s your favorite ingredient?

John: sea salt, olive oil, cheese.

Kendall: I pretty much agree with John. Almost everything that makes it to our plate is finished with one of those three items in some way or another.

Tell us about your dream dinner party—you can invite six guests (real, imaginary, living or dead) to dinner-what, who, & where?

Kendall: Yes, I’m a cheeseball, but I swear the first person I’d have to have there is my husband. On the few times we’ve been apart, I’ve enjoyed some great meals, but they just don’t taste as amazing as they could without John there to experience them with me. (Plus, we’re known for ordering way more than we need so we can both share!) I’d also want my father there. My father, who passed away just over ten years ago now, never got to meet John. I attribute much of my love of food and travel to him. He exposed me to five different continents and countless cultures and cuisines before I reached ten years of age, and I feel we were robbed of the opportunity for me to ever tell him thank you for that. Of course, that means our son Everett would have to be there to meet his grandfather – granted, most of his meal would just end up on the floor. From there, it’s a draw. We’ve joked that it would be a great conversation to ask that first person who decided to eat that moldy blue cheese (a.k.a. Roquefort) just what he was thinking. (And to thank him for doing it and not pitching the piece!) While I know I should throw a famous person in there, I really think my dream dinner party would then just come down to a couple of good friends. (After all, they wouldn’t judge me when I went back for seconds!)

John: Don’t forget to invite “The Three Amigos,” without whom we may have never met, connected, and fell in love. (Yes, our two dogs are Lucky Day and Dusty Bottoms. El Guapo now lives at his grandparents’ house.)

What’s in your fridge right now?

John: The standards in our fridge always include a huge hunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano, eggs, milk, greens, tortillas, beer, and baby food. Oh, and delicious butter. Tons of pickles. Soy sauce. And honestly, a lot of various condiments.  We’ve got INNA Jam Strawberry Seascape and Robert Lambert Wild Plum Jam right now. We’ve also got La Quercia bacon and some rabbit rilletes, as well as Widmer’s Cellars Brick Spread. We hoard Confituras Bourbon Brown Butter Peach Preserves for a rainy day.

It’s Wednesday night at 6:30.  What’s for dinner?

John: Cheese! We actually don’t get regular dinner on Wednesday night since we’re often leading cheese class that evening; however, we do munch on the cheese board alongside our guests.

Inspired by John’s love of fresh mozzarella, I created these easy-to-whip up cocktail bites. Suppli are traditionally made with leftover risotto, but I’d cook a pot of risotto just to have these.  They make perfect cocktail bites or a light supper alongside lightly dressed greens.

Suppli with Butternut Squash & Fresh Mozzarella

2 c cooked risotto (use your favorite recipe)

1/2-1 c diced butternut squash, steamed until very tender

6 oz fresh mozzarella, cut into 12 2″ cubes

1 c flour

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 c panko bread crumbs

oil for frying

your favorite ragu or marinara sauce

In a medium bowl, combine risotto and steamed butternut squash. Mix thoroughly until butternut is evenly distributed throughout risotto. Divide risotto into 12 small mounds. Scoop up about 2/3 of one mound and shape into a small disc. Place a cube of mozzarella on top and cover with remaining risotto from the same mound.  Shape into a ball, making sure cheese is completely enclosed. Set aside and repeat with the remaining mounds of risotto.  Heat oil in a deep frying pan or dutch oven to 350 degrees.  Roll each rice ball first in flour, then egg, then panko.  Fry until crisp and brown, turning so that they cook evenly.  Drain on a rack or on brown paper grocery sacks.  Serve with your favorite ragu or marinara and a light dusting of parmesan (these are great hot or at room temperature).