Shrimp, Roasted Garlic and Caper Ravioli with Lemon Caper Beurre Blanc (or, DiFiore Ravioli meets Omaha Steaks Seafood Sauce)

You know that not everything we cook is from scratch. Amy has a not-so-secret love for Kraft Macaroni-n-Cheese. Now and then, Chris enjoys a mug of store-bought udon noodles, seasoning packet and all. But that's not how we like to eat. Sometimes, though, we simply don't feel like cooking from scratch. So on a typical evening, you can find us putting our own spin on a store-bought product. Our very own "semi-homemade." 

Recently we were craving ravioli. We have made our own ravioli in the past, but it is certainly not easy. So instead we took advantage of the fact that DiFiore Ravioli Shop practically hand-delivered their ravioli to us. This small, family-owned business has been in Hartford for over 30 years and recently opened a second location in Rocky Hill. But now they've made it even easier for us to buy their products by having a booth at our favorite farmers' market. Now we don't have to make a special stop!

This past weekend, we bought DiFiore's "Shrimp, Roasted Garlic and Caper Ravioli" at the debut of FARE, the new Willimantic Market. Amy asked the person working the booth if he thought that would be good with a plain butter sauce. He nodded, but then, as if he were delivering a state secret, added, "I'd try it with a lemon beurre blanc, maybe adding a few capers." Sounded right up our alley.

Since frozen ravioli are supposed to be an easy weeknight dinner, we didn't bother to come up with our own sauce recipe. We found Omaha Steaks' recipe (here) for "Lemon Caper Beurre Blanc Seafood Sauce" and made a few substitutions - a small spring onion from our garden instead of shallots, 1/2 and 1/2 instead of heavy cream, and 1 1/2 rather than 2 sticks of butter. It was delicious.

We drizzled the rich, lemony sauce over that gorgeous ravioli and our craving was satisfied. Sometimes semi-homemade is even better than from scratch.

K's "Semi-Homemade" Gumbo

We were in New Orleans over the holidays visiting with our friends K and J when it suddenly occurred to Amy to ask K how she makes her gumbo. In the proud fashion only a Southerner could pull off, K explained that she started with Zatarain's Gumbo Base and then "doctored it up." Now, Amy loves Zatarain's products. In fact, she once served Zatarain's Shrimp Creole to a New Orleans native who claimed disbelief that something so delicious could come from a Yankee's kitchen. (Well, with a little help.) And if Zatarain's is good enough for K, it's good enough for us.

Missing NOLA (and K and J!) already, we decided to make K's "Semi-Homemade" Gumbo yesterday and it was perfect. We don't serve ours with rice, just plenty of crusty bread to soak up the thick, gravy-like stew. And while we used boneless, skinless chicken thighs and andouille sausage in ours, any mixture of meat and/or seafood that you like can be thrown into the gumbo pot. This recipe made eight servings, so there was enough for dinner and a couple of Louisiana-style lunches. Laissez les bon temps rouler! We're going to have to make this for Mardi Gras!

And doesn't it look so good in our NOLA "Soup"-er Bowls?!?!?

K's Semi-Homemade Gumbo

Ingredients:

1 box Zatarain's Gumbo Base

6 cups water 

1 - 1 1/2 pounds pre-cooked chicken or sausage (or raw seafood), cut into bite-sized pieces

3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil, divided

3 bay leaves

dried oregano, dried basil, dried thyme, salt and black pepper to taste

1 medium onion, chopped

3 celery stalks (including leaves), chopped

5 garlic cloves, minced

12-16 oz. frozen cut okra

1 14-oz. can petite diced tomatoes

In a large pot, combine the gumbo base, water, browned chicken and/or sausage (if using seafood do not add yet), 2 tablespoons oil, bay leaves, and a shake each of dried herbs, salt and pepper. Stir thoroughly and bring to a boil. In the meantime, heat last tablespoon of oil in a skillet. Cook onion, celery and garlic until softened. Add to the pot, then re-season with herbs, salt and pepper to taste. When mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. As all of that cooks, put frozen cut okra in the vegetable skillet with 1/2 cup water.  Bring to a boil, cover, and cook on medium until the okra is soft. Then add the okra and tomatoes to pot. Continue to cook until the 30 minutes are up. (If adding seafood, add after 20 minutes of cooking, return to a boil, then cover and simmer another 10 minutes.) Serve over rice and/or with crusty bread.

"Semi-Homemade" Cherry Crostata

This week, we officially reinstated our weekly summer dinner with neighbors D and J (and 3-year-old N). When we're in town, we pick a night, split up the dinner duties and share a meal, as good neighbors should. We talk and laugh and drink wine and generally just enjoy each other's company while the sun goes down (or in today's case, the thunderstorm ends).

This week's menu revolved around one of D's Father's Day gifts: Jack Daniels Wood Smoking Chips. Since D and J work during the day while we teachers are home (tee hee), D entrusted us with the chips so we could smoke country-style pork ribs in our smoker. Chris rubbed the ribs with his secret blend of sugar, salt and spices and smoked them for a few hours while making a Jack Daniel's barbecue sauce. Amy made a quick cucumber salad, and together we did a "semi-homemade" cherry crostata for dessert. Some grilled corn and mashed potatoes rounded out the meal. Sounds good, eh?

Everything was delicious - the smoky-sweet tender ribs, the early butter-sugar corn, the buttery mashed potatoes with fresh chives, the vinegary cucumber salad.  We would love to say the dessert stole the show, but that was not the case. Still, it too was delicious. Tart, sweet, and with plenty of buttery crust, it was a fitting ending. Perhaps it was the beautiful fresh cherries that did it? Maybe it was the easy preparation and simple rusticity of the crostata. You can come to your own conclusions if you make it yourself. And if you do, make sure to follow this great tip from Chris:

Use a chopstick to pit the cherries. The pits pop right out, and then you can cut the cherries in half easily.

"Semi-Homemade" Cherry Crostata

slightly adapted from Michael Chiarello's Napa Style

Ingredients:

1 refrigerated pie crust

1 pound fresh cherries, pitted (see tip above)

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 egg

1 tablespoon heavy cream

2 teaspoons turbinado sugar

Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat it to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Unroll one refrigerated pie crust onto the parchment paper. In the meantime, cut the cherries in half and place them in a large bowl. Add sugar, flour and cinnamon to the cherries and toss gently until well combined. Pour the cherry mixture into the center of the pie crust. Fold the sides of the pie crust up over the edge of the cherries. Beat together the egg and cream and brush this mixture onto the pie crust. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Trim away the extra parchment paper and carefully slide the crostata, with parchment paper under it, onto the hot pizza stone. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes, until crust is golden brown and cherry mixture is starting to bubble. Cool on a wire rack until ready to serve.