Food and Crafts for All Occasions

Lamb Ragout with Ricotta and Arugula

Here's my take on the popular Italian Bolognese sauce. I make it quite nontraditional so I just refer to it as 'meat ragout' in order not to tease authenticity advocates. (Who knows how pissed I would be if someone served me borsch with sweet potatoes instead of regular ones…)

Instead of beef I take lamb as it has more robust and pronounced flavor that is not easily overpowered by tomatoes. I also add ricotta, which softens the acidity of the sauce and gives it a nice creamy texture, and arugula to balance out the richness with its fresh peppery bite.

Ruby Red Rosemary

Recently, I tried a quite interesting cocktail in "Eureka!" where we stopped for a quick lunch after shopping at the University Village. The drink featured a mixture of gin, ruby red grapefruit juice and rosemary simple syrup spiced with bitters and served on ice. The waiter was very kind to share the recipe, which I couldn’t help tweaking a bit here and there to bring it to a perfection. Unlike in the restaurant, I serve it straight up so it it's not getting diluted by melting ice while you sip it.