What's for Dinnah?

Well, it was ribeye, spinach balls and salad. What is a spinach ball?

KECKY’S SPINACH BALLS

2 16oz bags of spinach or for the purist: 2 pounds of fresh spinach (about 3 bunches)
1 (16-ounce) container ricotta cheese
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons of piggy fat or butter
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Bring a large pot salted water to a boil.
If using the purist spinach, cut the stems off the spinach, and soak the leaves in the sink. Wash them thoroughly.
Add the spinach to the boiling water and cook 1 minute. Remove spinach from the water and rinse w/cold water to stop the cooking.
Drain the spinach very well, and using a clean tea towel, squeeze out the extra water. Chop the leaves very fine.

Put the cooked spinach in a large bowl, add the ricotta, 3 tablespoons Parmesan, egg yolks, and season with a couple pinches salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Mix well, and make sure that the ricotta crumbles into fine pieces, and mixes properly with the spinach. Shape the mixture into balls about the size of walnuts.

Lightly grease or butter a 13 by 9-inch casserole dish, lay all the balls in it, and dress it with a few very thin slices butter and a sprinkling of Parmesan. Cook the balls at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, then under the broiler for about 5 minutes to crisp and brown the top of the balls.

They are strangely good!

Poppy and I have had a pretty relaxing weekend. Decided it was time to scope out Golden Gate Park. Having lived on the Presidio, we've covered most of what we called our backyard. Now, it's time to explore GG Park. I guess we wandered into a isolated area where men-folk come to hook up. I thought it was odd when this guy was taking a picture of a lump of weeds; then Poppy told me what was going on. Ew.

After about a mile or so of walking and Fatass' endless complaining, we headed for the Park Chalet. That's the back outdoor area of the Beach Chalet. Generally, I hate the Beach Chalet; not because it's a tourist hangout, but because the restaurant management/staff treat it as such. I've never felt welcome there. In Hawaii, they have what is called "Kamaaina". Kamaaina means "locals" and was explained to us as there are tourist prices and kamaaina prices. On-A-Budget-Poppy and I were at Beach Chalet some years back and wanted to split a burger...they charged us $3.00 for the split. Hurumph! We tried to explain the concept of kamaaina, but no luck.

Anyhow, we did enjoy our afternoon at the Park Chalet watching people, listening to music and having a cocktail. Jax-The-Cheese-Connesewer enjoyed herself too. Well, she needed a rest from her walk.



Happy Columbus Day!