Leslie K. here, pleased to welcome to the Kitchen Wendy Eckel, author of the Rosalie Hart Culinary Mystery Series, with a scrumptious summer salad--and a GIVEAWAY. Take it away, Wendy!
In Mystery at Windswept Farm, the third book in the Rosalie Hart Culinary Mystery Series, Rosalie hosts a five-day cooking class with Marco Giovanelli, a renowned Tuscan chef at her beloved restaurant, The Day Lily Café. Along with the fun and mayhem of the classes, Rosalie and her good friend, Glenn Breckinridge, are solving the mystery of who killed Ronnie Kline, the owner of the farm next to Rosalie’s who was about to crop dust his winter wheat which would have compromised her farm’s organic certification soil test.
Rosalie provisions The Day Lily Café with the organic produce, goat cheese, and herbs from her farm, Barclay Meadow. On the top of the chalkboard listing the day’s specials is the following:
Welcome to the Day Lily Café
A gathering place offering simplicity and
freshness, with a focus on locally sourced ingredients
My favorite recipe from this book, The Palumbo Family Secret Sunday Red Sauce (which can be found on my website, here), I cajoled out of my dear friend Carla Palumbo while plying her with champagne on a beach in Ft. Lauderdale. Once she decided to share the recipe with me, she went back to her kitchen in Rochester and spent fourteen hours writing down the ingredients and calculating the correct measurements. It had only been passed through the generations orally. This sauce is delicious, but it takes pretty much all day to cook.
Instead, since we are in the middle of July, I am sharing a recipe from the series that is perfect for using the abundance of fresh fruits and veggies available at farmers’ markets and roadside stands. In my small town on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the strawberries are so sweet and delicious right now they are irresistible to put in every dish I can.
I came up with the following recipe after dining in a local restaurant that served a salad with a ricotta base. Whipped ricotta with lemon and lemon zest is one of my favorite dishes. I often serve it as an appetizer with crudités and small toasts.
This salad is really good with or without the lemon delight but adding it to any dish—salads, seafood, veggies—can elevate a dish to a whole new level. Just swipe each forkful through a small amount and wow, the dish pops with flavor.
Whipped Ricotta Salad with Strawberries, Parmesan Crisp Croutons, and a Lemon Delight Garnish
Ingredients
(makes 4 -6 delicious salads)
16 oz high quality ricotta
1 T lemon juice
2 t lemon zest
Chopped arugula and/or micro greens (I like to snip off the longer stems of arugula)
2 T rosé balsamic vinegar (should be a little sweet)
4 T high quality extra virgin olive oil
2 t minced shallot
Salt and pepper
2 cups of season-ripe chopped fresh strawberries
4 cups grated parmesan
1 cup sugar
11/4 teaspoon agar
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Directions for Parmesan Crisps
Preheat oven to 350º
Pile mounds of 1 T each of grated parmesan on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. (Foil doesn’t work, I learned the hard way.)
Bake until melted and bubbly, about 5 - 10 minutes. Watch carefully! They go quickly. Let cool and remove from parchment.
Directions for Salad
Whip the ricotta, lemon juice, and zest until ricotta is smooth and fluffy.
Chop arugula.
Whisk together vinegar, olive oil, shallot, salt and pepper and toss with greens.
If strawberries aren’t at their sweetest as they are in Maryland in June and early July, you can macerate them. Just combine 2 T lemon juice and 1 T sugar and coat strawberries. Let sit for 10 minutes.
Directions for Lemon Delight
Make a simple syrup by heating 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water over medium heat. Whisk until sugar dissolves.
Add 1 1/4 teaspoon agar and bring to a boil over high heat. Whisk until agar is dissolved. Stir in 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice and remove from heat. Cool and then chill in the refrigerator until it sets, about 20 - 30 minutes. Spoon into a reusable condiment squeeze bottle and keep refrigerated when not using.
Plating
Spread a healthy portion of the ricotta onto a salad plate. Top with greens, then strawberries. Add parmesan crisps. Squeeze four drops of lemon delight around the edges of the plate.
GIVEAWAY: For a chance be one of two winners of a bundle of all three books in the series in paperback: Murder at Barclay Meadow, Death at the Day Lily Café, and Mystery at Windswept Farm, answer this question in the comments: What’s your favorite heart-of-the-summer dish?
About Wendy: Wendy Sand Eckel is the award-winning author of the Rosalie Hart Mystery Series. Eckel, who studied criminology and earned a Master’s in Social Work, writes the advice column for the Maryland Writers’ Association newsletter and enjoys mentoring aspiring authors. She lives on the Eastern Shore of Maryland where she is happiest when cooking for a houseful of family and friends.
Mystery at Windswept Farm, the third in the series, debuted in August, 2022. Look for Killer in a Winter Wonderland, the fourth book in the series, in fall, 2023.
