Our private tasting room, The Salon, is really popular for birthdays like this one where guests have this really intimate dining experience and can conduct the tone of the whole setting. It’s a place where our chef Matt does things likes makes ricotta cheese in front of everyone! The first dish here was warm, fresh ricotta cheese (see the recipe below), house made herb crackers, kumquats, honey (from our own garden, see us harvest it here), and Fat Uncle Farms blistered almonds.
A salad comes next and it always features fresh picked pretties from our own garden and whatever is going on in our produce walk-in which is my favorite place to be. So colorful and organized.
Matt can make a mean pasta dish with very little so it’s a treat to sit around with wine and watch him do what he does best.
So delicious! We make our own pasta and you can too! It’s easy, watch the video here.
Beef rib roast is carved table side and plated before guests.
A spectacular creamed dessert by our pastry chef finished the evening with a birthday cake made of everything you dream of with 5 layers of all different kinds of varying richness. David brought a slice of this cake to us for his interview and he had us with the first bite. It’s beyond what you would imagine.
Ok, here’s that recipe for ricotta cheese. Try making it before guests at your own dinner party!
RICOTTA CHEESE
Makes 2 cups
INGREDIENTS:
3 qts (96 oz) whole milk
1 qt (32 oz) greek yogurt
1 qt (32 oz) heavy cream
2 tablespoons nutmeg, ground/grated
4 tablespoons kosher salt
1/2 cup white wine vinegar or lemon juice
PROCEDURE:
• combine all ingredients into a stainless steel lined or le creuset pot and whisk to combine.
• place over medium/high heat and stir gently and continuously with a rubber spatula (to prevent sticking) until mixture comes to a scald, lightly shimmering, then reduce heat to medium and allow milk solids to form as it cooks.
• prepare a strainer lined with cheese cloth within a large container, and ladle the cheese curds into the strainer being careful to not aggressively break the curds.
• allow to strain for 10-15 minutes or until the desired dryness has been achieved
• serve warm with fresh pasta, breads or vegetables, or crumble cold onto salads or use in desserts. the strained whey (liquid) can be used as a stock for risottos.
Photos: Tara Maxey
