I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. And let me start by thanking each of you for letting us be a part of your celebrations. From stocking stuffers to centerpieces on the dinner table, thank you for shopping local with us. We wouldn't be here without you!
Even though the holidays are over, I know parking on the square is an ongoing issue. If you're in a hurry and know what you want, you can always give us a call at (479) 445-6066 and place your order over the phone. We will bottle it up and have it ready to go for you to just pop in and grab it. We can call it "Cask & Grove Curbside" or "Cask & Grove Carry-Out" or something snappy like that. If there is a way to make your experience easier, let us know! Also, our hours are back to normal. Tuesday-Friday 10:00-6:00 and Saturday 10:00-3:00.
We have three sale balsamics this month. Our Lavender Dark Balsamic, Coconut White Balsamic, and Pineapple White Balsamic are all 25% off. If you love the Vermont Maple Dark Balsamic, get it while you can, as it is a seasonal vinegar and once it's out, that's all there is...for now! We just decanted a new batch of the Honey Ginger White Balsamic. It may be the most gingery batch I have ever tasted. It's fantastic with the Toasted Sesame Oil. We have a pretty good stock of the Spanish olives and I'll try and keep it that way. We're also getting the Northern Hemisphere extra virgin olive oils in slowly, but surely. Right now we have a tasty California Manzanillo that is smooth and
lovely, with that bite of pungency at the end that marks it as a winner in my book. Throughout the month, there will be more Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese oils making there way to us, including this vibrant green Spanish Picual. Hold tight!
I had a glorious plan about what I was going to write this time on the Cask & Grove blog. I was going to tell you to make this amazing Cauliflower Walnut Vegan Taco Meat (no really, it's AH-Maz-Ing) along with this addictive Vegan Mexican Cheese because it's 2019 now and we should be more sustainable by eating more vegetables and nuts and what have you. I still encourage you to make those recipes, as they are fantastic and I highly recommend them. However, the original writers do them better justice than I could, so just mosey over to their blogs to get the info. Because...
While procrastinating writing this post, I accidentally sat down and turned on Netflix and those crafty so-and-so's flashed a show called "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat" at me. Within two minutes, I was hooked. You guys, the very first episode was "Fat" and it opened up with a beautiful olive grove. They were pressing olive oil. They were speaking my love language, and I'm not talking about just the lilting Italian. The oil was a lovely, vibrant green. They spoke of pungency, and bitterness and the spice in the back of your throat! Ahhhh. As the episode progressed, she made focaccia (one of my favorites) and fresh pasta (also one of my favorites). It dawned on me that instead of getting fancy with spices and creative ingredients, I should go back to the basics. I wanted pasta.
By the time the episode was over, it was 5 p.m. I threw my better judgment to the wind and made my own home made pasta. Why use store bought pasta when it only takes 45 minutes from start to finish to make your own? (Except for 99.8% of the time when I don't have 45 minutes to make my own pasta and store bought is A-Okay.) I still had a head of cauliflower in my refrigerator, but instead of turning it into tasty taco meat that my children won't eat anyway, I decided to give a good roasting with just some of that zesty California Manzanillo EVOO, salt and pepper. I wanted a simple dinner that showcased the delicious olive oil. I prevailed!
And that, I think, is going to be my theme for this year. Simplicity. There are a million different ways that I can make life more complicated than it needs to be. (Hello, I'm Andrea, and I have two young children, a small business, and am a first year law student. How can I make life harder? Oh yeah, by making my own pasta.) But really, the best things tend to be the most basic. If you ask me what my favorite balsamic is, I'll tell you it's the Traditional Balsamic. And my favorite olive oil is any one of the robust extra virgin olive oils. It doesn't need to be complicated to be perfect.
So...I give you recipes for roasted cauliflower and home made pasta. Roasting cauliflower, or any vegetable for that matter, is as easy as it gets. You take a vegetable, chop it up, drizzle it with oil and put it in a hot oven for a little while. Easy peasy! Home made pasta is also incredibly easy. Flour, eggs and a little bit of water and some time. That's all. Having a pasta roller around is nice, but you don't need one to get the job done. An old fashioned rolling pin and a large counter-top/table will work just fine. (Side note: if you're ever on the lookout for weird kitchen gadgets that you use once every three years, such as this lovely pasta machine, I highly recommend garage sales. No body in their right mind makes their own pasta except for me, and now you.) If you haven't eaten fresh pasta before, you are in for a treat! Roasted Cauliflower (or any vegetable, the same rules apply)
1 head cauliflower, chopped and washed
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place rinsed cauliflower on baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes, shaking pan around once, halfway through. Remove cauliflower from oven and drizzle with olive oil again! In fact, go to town by putting the cauliflower in a bowl, give it a really healthy dose of olive oil (think of marinating it), and get crazy by adding in a teaspoon or so of good Dijon or Spicy mustard. Yes, that's right. Mustard. Add in a few snips of fresh parsley and a shake of red pepper flakes and you're in heaven.
Home Made Pasta
From Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat
2 c. (300 grams) all purpose flour
2 eggs
3 egg yolks
Tiny amount of water
Mound the flour in a large mixing bowl and make a tiny well in the middle. Crack your eggs and put your yolks into the well you created. Take a fork and whisk the eggs, while slowly pulling in the surrounding flour. Keep whisking it all together. It will look like a shaggy, sticky mess. If it gets too dry, add a TINY bit of water (I usually add in 1/2 tsp. at a time) and switch to using your hands and gather up any dry bits of flour until it comes into a mass of dough.
Now turn your dough onto a floured work surface and knead the dough, as you would knead bread, until it is smooth and elastic, 4-5 minutes. You can add more water as you go, if it's too dry, or add more flour if it's too sticky. Okay! Now wrap it in plastic wrap and set it aside to rest for about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. And make any sauces you want to go on your pasta: pesto, marinara, bolognese, alfredo, or just plain olive oil.
If you happen to have a pasta rolling machine, then this is the fun part! Working with a quarter to half the dough, roll it out on a floured surface until it is a small rectangle. Feed it through your roller until it's the right thinness, keeping it floured along the way so that it does not stick. After you've rolled it through the machine 5-6 times, run it through your pasta cutter attachment, separating out the noodles and keeping them floured. After carefully separating out the pasta, let it hang on a hanger until you have finished rolling and cutting the other half of the dough.
If you do not happen to have a pasta rolling machine, do not despair! People have been making pasta for a long time without fancy gadgets. Flour a good work surface, flour a rolling pin, and start rolling. Work carefully, with half the dough at a time. The dough shouldn't resist you the way bread does, but it can still tear, so go slowly. Roll until it's nearly see through, keeping it well floured the whole time. Once you get a good sheet of pasta, gently fold it in thirds on top of itself (WELL FLOURED between the layers!) like you're folding a letter. Take a sharp knife and cut the pasta into thin strips. Unfold them, carefully, and hang them on a hanger while you repeat the process with the other half.Gently put your cut pasta in the salty boiling water, cook for 4-5 minutes, or to the chewiness you desire. It cooks much faster than the dried stuff in the box. Drain pasta. Top with whatever sauce you desire and a sprinkle of cheese. Devour.
There a tons of YouTube videos and a video in the link for Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat that do a great job of explaining the process. It's not difficult and it can be a lot of fun! I hope you give it a try and enjoy it.
I'll see you all soon. Here's to a fantastic 2019.
Cheers!
Andrea
