January 2015 - Larder and CupboardLarder and Cupboard

This weekend’s the Super … excuse to eat wings, sliders, and Bowls of dip. Super, big Bowls of dip. Because of football, and because wings, sliders, and dip are among our favorite foods. It’s big game weekend, and big flavors are necessary.

Let’s start with sliders. So easy, and with so many ways to top them.

Bacon and Blue – any blue cheese – we have Point Reyes and Ludwig Farmstead Creamery’s triple creme Vermillion River Blue with locally-made Salume Beddu bacon. Garnish with Missouri Wild Edibles’ new Norton mustard, made with red wine from Chaumette Winery.

Double Pepper Jack – melt local Marcoot Jersey Creamery Habanero Jack over your burger and garnish with diced Scrumptious Farms Beaver Dam Peppers for extra kick. Balance it out with some sweetness from Scrumptious Farms Fruity Catsup.

Martha’s Pimento Cheeseburger – Put a big dollop of Martha’s Pimento Cheese on your slider.

Mushroom Swiss – Kenny’s Farmhouse Swiss melted with Ozark Forest Dried Woodland Mushroom Medley that have been rehydrated, then sauted in butter.

American Classic – Marcoot’s Tipsy Cheddar, Scrumptious Foods’ Smoky Catsup, and sliced Brinery Dilly Dally pickles.

Need some poultry for your party? We’ve got ten big hot wing recipes at Larder and Cupboard that use some of our favorite products. Here’s a sample:

Verde Hot Wings

3 pounds chicken wings, separated

1 stick butter, melted

1 bottle Mission Taco Joint Super Spicy Serrano Hot Sauce

1 cup Scrumptious Foods Beaver Dam Peppers, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a saucepan, combine butter and hot sauce and heat. Dip raw wings in the sauce.

Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake 45 minutes or until cooked through and crispy.

3. Plate. Top with peppers.

Our friends gave these wings, which start slow and heat to a lingering light burn, a big thumbs up.

That’s Beckie Miller-Jacobs, owner of Serendipity Homemade Ice Cream.

And that’s Mike Emerson of Pappy’s Smokehouse fame. When he likes your wings, you’re doing something right.

If you have wings, you’ve got to have blue cheese dip, right? We’re going to up your blue cheese dip game with award-winning Point Reyes Blue Cheese, Quince & Apple Shallot Confit with Red Wine, a handful of bacon, and very, very little work

Blue Cheese Dip with Shallots and Bacon

Makes 2 cups

1 16-ounce jar mayonnaise

1 cup sour cream or creme fraiche

4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled

1 jar Quince & Apple Shallot Confit with Red Wine

1 fresh shallot, minced and divided

4 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled

1. Whisk together mayo and sour cream. Add blue cheese, confit, and half of the raw shallot, stirring until well-mixed.

Place in serving bowl. Top with bacon and shallots.

Congratulations! You just won game day! Stop by Larder and Cupboard on Friday and Saturday for samples and more recipes.

I have a friend in Ann Arbor who shares one of my food peeves: attaching the label “carbonara” to anything with bacon.

Guys, there is no such thing as chicken carbonara. It’s chicken and bacon. There’s nothing wrong with chicken and bacon, but it’s not carbonara. Not that we have a solid idea of what carbonara is, anyway. The history’s muddied and full of much rumor and argument for a dish that’s so simple. Pasta, pancetta, cheese, eggs, maybe some cream. Done right, pasta alla carbonara’s simple and easy, a spotlight for quality ingredients that can be pulled together with little work or time.

I love pasta alla carbonara on Friday night. It’s easy to make after a long week, but still luxurious enough to feel a little celebratory. Pastaria deliveries fresh pasta to Larder & Cupboard on Thursdays, and their strozzapreti’s great for catching bits of sauce in the nooks between pasta strands.

Salume Beddu’s pancetta has an herbal touch to the cured pork. Some carbonara purists prefer guanciale, which we also have in stock, but I’m a sucker for this belly.

Our Parmesan Reggiano’s one of the few imported cheeses we carry, because it’s hard to beat the real thing.

I chop my parm instead of grating it to show off the cheese’s crystallized texture. My farm eggs came from Mac’s Local Buys to round out this small producer take on this big flavor favorite.

Pasta alla Carbonara
Serves 4

Extra-virgin olive oil

½ lb. Salume Beddu pancetta, cut into 1″ chunks

4 garlic cloves, finely minced

4 large eggs

⅓ lb. Parmesan Reggiano, chopped, plus extra for grating

12-16 ounces Pastaria Strozzapreti pasta

salt and pepper to taste
1. Bring large pot of water to boil. Add salt and the rind from the Parmesan Reggiano to the water.

2. In a large skillet swirl one round of olive oil. Add the bay leaf from the pancetta, and heat. Add pancetta and saute until the fat’s rendered and the meat’s crispy. Add garlic, toss, and remove from heat. Scrape into a large mixing bowl. Remove bay leaf.

3. In a smaller bowl, beat the eggs until just soft. Stir in the cheese.

4. Add pasta to boiling water and cook 3-4 minute or until al dente. Remove the cheese rind. Drain pasta, setting aside ½ cup of the cooking water. Toss pasta with pancetta until the pasta’s well-coated with the rendered fat, about 2 minutes. Pour in the egg mixture, tossing constantly with a fork. The heat from the pasta will cook the eggs. Keep it moving so the eggs don’t scramble. Drizzle in pasta water until sauce is the consistency you want.

5. Season with grated cheese, salt and pepper.

While my Ann Arbor friend didn’t approve of the strozzapreti, I’m standing by it. It’s dense enough to stand up to the toothsome chunks of cheese and the richness of the egg sauce. It’s definitely not random pasta with some bacon thrown in, though, and that’s what counts.

Larder and Cupboard

Meaningful Specialty Foods in Maplewood, MO

Monthly Archives: January 2015

Super Sliders, Wings, and Bowls of Dip

Pasta alla Carbonara