Blood Simple: Sugar Snap Pea and Cheese Curd Salad

adapted from a recipe by Sam Bell of Blackberry Farm (Walland, Tennessee), found here

Serves 6 as an appetizer

1/4 cup walnuts (black walnuts, if you can get 'em)

2 tablespoons canola (or grapeseed) oil

1 lb. sugar snap peas (4 cups)

3 oz. cheese curds (or 1/2-inch cubes of ricotta salata) (1/2 cup)

2 cups mix of baby arugula & baby spinach (original recipe: watercress, coarse stems discarded)

1/2 cup thinly sliced radishes

1/4 cup finely chopped mint

1/2 tablespoon fresh chopped dill (optional)

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (original: white balsamic vinegar - if you have blood orange vinegar, use that!)

1/2 - 1 teaspoon kosher salt

For cheese curds:

2 cups 2% milk

1/2 cup half/half

3 tablespoons lemon juice

To make cheese curd, heat milk in pan until it starts to foam. Don't wander off. Remove from heat before it bubbles over. Add lemon juice and watch the curds separate from the whey. Let sit, covered, for 2 hours. Using cheesecloth over a colander, or a thin mesh bag, pour mixture and let whey drain away. Now squeeze the cheesecloth or bag several times as hard as you can to get as much moisture out, so that it's now like dry cottage cheese. Remove and squeeze curd to form a ball. Using a clean dish towel, neatly wrap the curd several times around, then sit something heavy on it, like a brick or cast iron pan for another hour or so. Unwrap and now wrap curd in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. It will keep for a few days nicely. It should yield about 2 3/4 - 3 oz. of cheese. (If you have no lemon juice, start with a tablespoon of white vinegar and add more as needed to get the curds to separate. As well, if using vinegar, wash the curds off well to get rid of the vinegar aftertaste. If that's too much work for you, use the suggested ricotta salata.)

Preheat oven (or toaster oven) to 350°F with rack in middle.

Toast walnuts in a shallow baking pan until pale golden, 5 to 8 minutes, then toss warm nuts with oil in a small bowl and cool completely.

Cook sugar snaps in a saucepan of salted boiling water until just bright green, about 1 minute. Drain sugar snaps and transfer to an ice bath to cool, then drain again and pat dry. Thinly slice diagonally and transfer to a large bowl.

Add cheese, radishes, mint, vinegar, and nuts (with oil) and toss. Season with salt. Salad can be made 4 hours ahead and chilled.

Original Post Found Here: http://chef-du-cinema.blogspot.com/2011/07/tv-bites-blood-simple.html