Love for Belmont Food Shop

I have to admit to a little foodie crush on the gentlemen at the Belmont Food Shop. We have been working together at the St. Stephen's Farmers Market this season, and while I have been impressed with their conscious effort to source ingredients locally, when I got to watch and listen as Mike described his (life changing) baked ricotta this weekend, it was all over. I wanted to know more- and to get to eat more of their amazing food!

In their own words, "Belmont Food Shop has been working on our Back- to- Basics approach to food and cooking, by responsibly sourcing our ingredients, and using a 'feed your friends' mentality to support our community. We buy ingredients and craft food to insure product integrity and consistency."

How can you not love that?

Belmont Food Shop is located at 27 North Belmont Ave in the Museum District (and at the St. Stephen's Market every Saturday with quiche, tamarind tea and their famous truffles). They sell 'lunch boxes' and Sunday night take out from their shop. I adore the idea of feeding people on Sunday evening- such a wonderful time to be with family and friends. You can find out the latest menus on their facebook page. Last week's special was roast chicken with sweet-and-sour eggplant and peppers, though they have assured me that they will make a vegetarian special on request. Love!

Mike was generous enough to share his recipe and technique for baked ricotta, so in the name of that kind of generosity, I will try to do it justice here. It was so wonderful and versatile, I will be making it for salads, sandwiches and cocktail snacks. All the time.

Mix:

• Toasted spices (he used fennel seed, black pepper and coriander, but experimenting would be fun), ground (see the beautiful brass mortar and pestle?)
• 1 cup of ricotta
• 3 eggs, beaten in one at a time
• about a quarter of a cup fontina cheese

Bake in 200 degree oven for 60-90 minutes, until edges are just beginning to brown and center has just set. Let cool and slice to add to salads or sandwiches.

You are gonna love it too!