Justafoodie Recipe Blog

Bean and Bacon Soup Revisited

2012-01-11T22:18:00.000-08:00

When I made my first bean and bacon soup I had no idea how long it took to make a bean tender and had no idea I was hampering the process by adding salt and tomato to the beans at the front end of the process. I corrected that with this recipe and will compare both before making the next batch. I admit that I love the look of the cooked bacon in the photos of the first recipe and the texture too, so my plan is to always add crisped bacon for plating.

Ingredients:

1 pkg white Navy beans
1 large yellow onion
2T extra virgin olive oil
8 small cloves of garlic
1/4C diced bacon
1T tomato paste
1/2t smoked paprika
1/4t powdered bay leaves
1T dried and crushed thyme
salt

Directions:

The first half of this recipe is devoted to cooking the beans properly. After soaking overnight and rinsing, they should be cooked in water without salt. I use 2” of water above the beans as a rule of thumb on all my soups. If it’s not enough I can always add more. The object is to cook the beans until tender. While the beans are cooking over a medium heat you can saute the onions in the olive oil and add the crushed thyme and powdered bay leaves. You should also add the bacon until it renders it’s fat, then take the pan off the heat until the beans are almost done.

When the beans are fully cooked, turn the heat to a simmer and go back to the pan with the onions and bacon. Add the tomato paste and cook it in a hot spot to caramelize the paste for greater depth of flavor. Add the smoked paprika and fold everything together. Open another hot spot on the pan and saute the garlic for a few minutes. This recipe could easily be adjusted to vegetarian version by eliminating the bacon. The smoked paprika will sub for the bacon in terms of flavor.

Add the onion and bacon mixture into the soup pot and stir. Simmer for ten minutes and your soup is ready. just like Campbell’s Soup, it’s “mmm mmm good”. Since Campbell’s Bean and Bacon soup was my canned soup of choice as a child, this is my homage to an old favorite.

Asian Fried Mussel Variations

2012-01-07T09:22:00.001-08:00

Ingredients for Fried Mussels:

green lipped mussels
1/4C flour
sake
1 fat clove micro plane grated garlic
1t micro plane grated fresh ginger
2t toasted sesame oil
1T chopped cilantro
panko crumbs
extra virgin olive oil

Ingredients for Garnishes:

lemon
creme fraiche
wasabi caviar
pickled ginger
mayonnaise
squid ink

Directions:

Here we have a clear case in which Nana would say, “Do what I say and not what I do.” I made this twice in a 2 day period and when I made it the 2nd time, I realized we had no more fresh ginger, so I improvised and used the red pickle ginger. Place the flour in a small bowl and mix in enough sake to make a thick heavy cream consistency. Add the garlic and ginger, then the finely chopped cilantro and mix. this cilantro could have been chopped more. I may try pureeing it in the future.

Start setting up your flour and panko bowls near a frying pan with 1/2” of olive oil over medium heat. Dredge the first batch of mussels in flour. Add the sesame oil to the batter that may have started thickening by this time. Use enough to thin it back to the heavy cream consistency.

Dip the floured mussels into the batter, then dredge them in the panko. You may put them directly into the frying pan or set aside until you have enough mussels to fill the frying pan. The only advantage in setting them aside is that they will all be cooked at approximately the same time.

Fry over a medium heat and turn when they show signs of browning. These mussels were precooked and shelled, so they need little actual cooking. The aim is to brown the exterior and warm the interior of each mussel. Drain them on paper towels and if you have more to cook, place the finished mussels in a warm oven at 200 degrees.

Each of these mussels is topped with mayonnaise combined with squid ink. It has a hint of “the sea” in it’s taste, just a little brine flavor which you can also get with a gray, moist sea salt. The mussel in the top left photo is garnished with red, pickled ginger. In the top right photo, grated lemon peel was used as the garnish, and in this lower photo you can see the wasabi flavored caviar. Since I could only find the caviar in one shop in a quantity of 4 ounces, it was imperative to use as much as possible, since it doesn’t keep long.

Since there also was a glut of creme fraiche on hand, I tried that with the wasabi caviar and have to admit, it had the best look and brightest flavor. Even though I prefer the fresh ginger, the cilantro and red ginger give this a great look for the Christmas holidays.

Fried Seafood Appetizers

2012-01-06T23:08:00.001-08:00

This is perhaps the only time I’ll talk about recipes without offering step by step photos, or exact proportions of ingredients. I was so rushed to get these made and onto the table that I completely forgot to take the necessary photographs. It is more of a record for future use than anything else; a basis for future recipes.

The Dore Style Fried Oyster (lower left) has already been listed here and I’ve done variations of the Asian Style Fried Mussel (upper left), but will discuss more ideas that were put together for this meal. That leaves the small Octopus, the Oyster Stuffing Fried Won Ton, and the Smoked Salmon Won Ton Cup which is exactly like my Smoked Salmon/Salmon Butter Phyllo Cups except for the cup.

Ingredients:

Sesame marinated mini octopi
flour for dredging
extra virgin olive oil for frying
sea salt or flakes salt

Directions:

This was a no brainer. I saw these precooked and sesame sprinkled octopi at 99 Ranch Market where I went to purchase the pre shelled and pre cooked green lipped mussels. I couldn’t resist putting one on each plate that I was serving to guests, because they were so darned cute. Being willing to try one myself was an essential part of the decision making process. All I did was dredge in flour and quickly fry in hot olive oil. They were delicious and even the non squid eaters were willing to give them a try. I hope to find them again.

Ingredients:

round won ton skins
2 oysters (buy in a jar and reserve liquid)
1/2 celery stalk
1 whole green onion
6 finely diced water chestnuts
1/2C Pepperidge Farm herb stuffing
olive oil for frying

Directions:

Microwave the oysters to cook them (1 minute on medium high should do it) and then chop. Finely dice the celery, water chestnuts and green onion, then saute with a bit of the olive oil. Add the finely chopped oysters, stir and add the stuffing mix. After stirring, add enough of the reserved oyster juice to moisten. Place a small spoonful in the center of the won ton, spread some water along the edges of the won ton and fold in half, forcefully pressing the edges together. Deep fry until golden brown, then drain on a paper towel. These are good served with a Thai sweet chili sauce.

If you look back in the Hors D’oeuvres file you will see both a recipe for the won ton cups under “Fig’s Wonton Cup” and the salmon butter under “Smoked Salmon/Salmon Butter Phyllo Cups”. Replace the phyllo cup with the won ton cup and you have the means to make this appetizer.

The Asian Style Fried Mussels can be versatile with a variety of toppings. Since I happen to have photos of the process and several of the finished variations, I’m writing a separate recipe for them.

Crab and Shrimp Pasta

2012-01-06T08:58:00.001-08:00

Leftovers ingredients have been a great source of inspiration to me, when it comes to developing recipes. After Christmas Eve, we had a pound of crab and half a pound or more of cooked shrimp, so for Christmas dinner, which I had not preplanned, we sat down to this pasta for a simple meal.

Ingredients:

1lb penne rigate pasta
4T fruity olive oil
1-2T sweet butter
3 anchovy filets
1T Tutto Calabria Hot pepper Sauce
(or 1t hot red pepper flakes)
3 large cloves of garlic
chopped parsley
8oz crab meat
1C large cooked shrimp

Directions:

It’s well established that we always have anchovies and Tutto Calabria Hot Pepper Sauce in the pantry and they along with olive oil and butter make a good start for a pasta sauce. But before starting the sauce, get a pot of water boiling and add the pasta, because this sauce takes less time to cook than the pasta will.

After the pasta is on, place the oil, butter, anchovies, and pepper into a large pan over medium heat until the anchovies have disintegrated. Then add the minced garlic and saute it until the fragrance increases. Add the crab and saute until it is warmed.

If this were a perfect world, the shrimp would have been raw and they would have been added before the crab, but since they were cooked, I added them last so they wouldn’t turn to rubber. After they are heated, add the drained pasta heat together for a minute or two, and then take off the heat to add the chopped parsley. Now plate the pasta and serve. Traditionally I would not serve cheese with this, but a small amount of Romano actually tasted good with this pasta, because it added more salt. Next time I’ll just use more anchovies.

Crab Cakes

2012-01-06T08:17:00.001-08:00

If I had known how simple these were to make, I would have made them years ago. I tried this year because I had plenty of leftover crab from the seafood antipasto served on Christmas Eve. I can’t wait to serve these to company.

Ingredients:

1/2lb lump crab meat
1 small bunch chives
2 small ribs celery with leaves attached
1/4C chopped parsley
1/2C fresh bread crumbs
mayonnaise to bind
wasabi mayonnaise to flavor
flour
2 eggs
panko crumbs
extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Add the crab, finely chopped chives and parsley, 1 egg and 2 parts mayonnaise to 1 part wasabi mayonnaise and stir. Having not measured the mayonnaise, it’s going to be guess work, but this photo may help. Start with a small amount since you can always add more if needed. It should look like the photo on the right when you’re done (click to enlarge the photo).

Finely chop the celery ribs and leaves, stir into the crab until fully blended, then add about 1/2C of bread crumbs. These crumbs were made from stale Pugliese bread from Grace Baking Company, but any French or Italian style bread should work. Look at the texture of the crumbs and don’t make do with commercially packaged very fine bread crumbs. Mix them into the crab and see how they help bind everything together, absorbing what may have looked like too much mayonnaise.

Take the 2nd egg and whip it in a small bowl. Set up another bowl of flour and a 3rd bowl filled with panko crumbs. Add 1/2” of olive oil into a frying pan and heat over a medium flame, which you can lower when you add the crab cakes, if they are browning too fast. Since filling the pan with 4 crab cakes will automatically lower the temperature, that may not be necessary. I used a large ice cream scoop to form the crab cake balls into a consistent size. Once released onto the flour, I pressed the ball into a patty, turned it over and pressed again so both sides were floured. Take the crab cake and place it into the egg to coat it completely on both sides.

Place the crab cake into the panko and cover with the crumbs on top, bottom and sides. When you place it into the pan, the patty should start sizzling. If not, wait until the oil is hot enough to sizzle the 1st crab cake before you start adding the others.

Place the 1st four crab cakes into the pan and brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels and reserve in a heated oven (200 degrees). When the last 4 are cooked and drained, plate all of them and add a tartar sauce to the plate. Mine was fairly simple using Trader Joe’s Tartar Sauce and doctoring it up with creme fraiche and fresh dill. You might also choose to add lemon to the plate.

Argentine Red Shrimp Salad

2012-01-04T08:55:00.001-08:00

One of my favorite Trader Joe’s seafood items is red shrimp from Argentina. It has a more elegant flavor than regular prawns, almost a blend between lobster and shrimp. I’ve used them several different ways, but for the holidays I tried these two preparations.

Ingredients:

First Option:
6 oz red shrimp
extra virgin olive oil
4 green onions
2 medium celery ribs
chopped cilantro
mayonnaise to bind
wasabi mayonnaise to taste
black sesame crackers
black sesame seeds
or wasabi caviar

Second Option:
red pickled ginger
round won ton
olive oil

Directions:

Finely chop the green onions, then divide the celery into 4 pieces lengthwise and finely chop that. Add chopped cilantro. I didn’t measure these but I think about 1/3C onions, 1/2C celery and 2T cilantro would be about right.

Sautee the shrimp in a little bit of extra virgin olive oil until cooked. Dice the shrimp and add to the bowl, then add enough mayonnaise to bind the shrimp salad, just enough to blend the ingredients. Add enough wasabi mayonnaise or powder to add a very faint heat. Blend.

It should look something like this in texture. You can find the won ton cup recipe under Hors D’oeuvres, but it’s really simple to make. Just lightly rub olive oil on both sides of a won ton and press into a mini muffin tin, bake at 375 for about 5 minutes. When they start turning a light tan, they’re ready.

To finish, fill the won ton cup with the shrimp salad and top with chopped red pickled ginger. A pink pickled ginger slice would be a good alternative. In this 2nd photo I added some leftover wasabi caviar from another recipe being made on the same night.

Dore Fried Oysters

2012-01-03T08:43:00.001-08:00

When I needed a few oysters to make an oyster dressing, it occurred to me that there were enough oysters leftover for the number of guests at Christmas Eve dinner, so remembering I had seen this style of oyster made at Marin Joe’s, I decided to try them with my own spin.

Ingredients:

1 jar shucked oysters
flour for dredging
1 egg
garlic powder
olive oil for frying
squid aioli or creme fraiche
wasabi flavored caviar

Directions:

If you can find a small packet of squid ink, then you’ll be able to mix it with mayonnaise to create the black background for the wasabi caviar. If not, creme fraiche is also a good choice.

The frying is so easy, I forgot to take photos of each stage, so the verbal description will have to do. Remove the oysters from the jar and drain, then dredge in flour, dip in the whipped egg and fry in the olive oil over a medium heat. Drain on a paper towel and plate. Place a dab of the aioli or creme fraiche on top and spoon on the caviar.

Ceci and Kale Soup

2011-10-30T23:13:00.000-07:00

This was the first time I’ve used ceci in soup and it was only because I had dried garbanzo beans in the pantry. I don’t even know why I bought them, since I’m satisfied with canned ceci, but there they were, in abundance, and I needed to use them, so I could reclaim some drawer space.

Ingredients:

3C cooked garbanzo beans
1 large yellow onion
3 strips bacon
3 large garlic cloves
2 porcini bouillon cubes
1/4t powdered bay leaves
1T crushed dried thyme
3C kale

Directions:

I never really measured the garbanzo beans, since I was in a hurry to get them soaking, but I think there were 1 1/2 – 2 cups of dried beans. After overnight soaking and rinsing, I cooked them over a medium low heat until they were tender, then rinsed again and put them back in the pot to cook, covered by 2” of water. For flavoring I added 2 porcini bouillon cubes that could easily have been substituted with chicken, beef or vegetable bouillon. While they were cooking I chopped the bacon and onions, sauteed them and added the chopped garlic. I also added the powdered bay leaves.

When the bacon was mildly cooked, but not crisp, I added chopped kale into the pan over a medium high heat and sauteed the kale. An immersion blender was the perfect tool for this soup because after I removed a cup of the ceci, I pureed the rest into a creamy base. Afterwards the kale and ceci were added back into the pot to simmer for another 20 minutes. this turned out to be a very good idea.

Smokey Linguica Split Pea Soup

2011-10-01T22:12:00.000-07:00

Every Fall when the weather starts turning a bit cold, I like to start more soup experiments. After all the soup I’ve made, it seems that success rates are usually high and the only thing holding me back would be lack of inspiration or ingredients. Well, the pantry is stocked and soup is on.

Ingredients:

1/2 bag green split peas
1 linguica sausage
1 large yellow onion
1t smoked paprika
1t dried thyme
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Directions:

As with all soups, I start with chopped onions in olive oil. Next I add the thyme with salt and pepper, then saute until the onions wilt. Add the smoked paprika, stir in, then add chopped linguica and saute some more until the sausage is slightly browned.

Since this was a deliberately small batch, I only used half a small bag of split peas. I added water until it was an inch over the other ingredients, covered the pot, lowered the heat to a simmer and let time and heat work it’s magic.

This was a quick dinner that I’ll be making again. I may add more smoked paprika and some fresh garlic on my next attempt to reinforce the flavor of the linguica, or perhaps, just more linguica.

Pesto Potato Salad

2011-09-30T00:38:00.000-07:00

First putting this together during the development of my “Italian Burger”, it seemed a natural fit as the side dish. Discovering that Ligurians traditionally put both potatoes and string beans into their classic pasta with pesto, I decided I couldn’t lose with this combination of ingredients. If it was good enough for the Genoese, it was good enough for us and our guests, and that’s exactly how it turned out.

Ingredients for the Salad:

5lbs red or Yukon Gold potatoes
1 small red onion
1C baby green beans
1/3C mayonnaise
1/4C chopped parsley
red wine vinegar
a fruity extra virgin olive oil
fresh pesto
salt to taste

Ingredients for the Pesto:

1C fresh basil leaves
1/4C fruity tasting extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1T toasted pine nuts
1T grated Parmigiano
1T chopped parsley

Directions:

For years I made potato salad on the same day I boiled the potatoes, but it’s much better to make the salad the day after the potatoes are done, because they have less chance of falling apart during the stirring process. Boil the potatoes the night before. They are fully cooked when you can pierce them with a fork. Drain them, add cold water to the pot, and drain them again after 5 minutes. You can leave them in the drained pot on the counter and peel them just before making the salad. Blanche the green beans and refrigerate over night in a covered bowl or container.

To make the pesto, pour about 1/4C of the olive oil into a blender, then peel and chop 4 cloves of garlic and add them to the oil. Blend on high for a minute.

Take a good look at these pine nuts. Notice how they are elongated ovals, not roundish triangles? These are Italian pine nuts with a rich nutty flavor. The triangular pine nuts are coming from China and have a very different flavor, almost medicinal. Pan toast them over a medium heat while constantly stirring to keep them from burning. Add to the blender and turn it on for another minute.

Coarsely chop the basil and add it along with a few (3-4) sprigs of parsley to the blender. Blend until the leaves are minced. You may need to stop it and stir down the ingredients to make a smooth paste. Add the cheese and blend another minute. If the pesto seems too thin, add more basil, and if it is too thick, more olive oil with correct it. Parsley is part of a traditional Ligurian pesto, but more importantly, it keeps the pesto from oxidizing and becoming discolored. Set aside and start peeling potatoes.

After peeling, slice the potatoes and drizzle with red wine vinegar. Finely chop the onion and add it to the bowl of potatoes. You may also add a drizzle of olive oil.

Chop the parsley and add to the bowl now or at the end when the mayonnaise is added. Now cut the baby green beans into short lengths and add to the bowl.

The pesto should be thick as you see it in this photo. You’ll need some mayonnaise to help spread the pesto around the salad, but use as little as possible.

I started with about 1/3C mayonnaise, but ultimately had to add a little more along with olive oil. Start stirring the ingredients together and add sea salt a little at a time to taste. Potato salad is one of the few things I need to salt.

Rapini Anchovy Pasta

2011-09-17T10:09:00.000-07:00

Cime di rapa or rapini has been a favorite Italian vegetable because of the slight bitterness it imparts. Papa used to forage for wild mustard greens in and around San Francisco, as many Italians still do in Italy today and mustard has a very similar taste. They both remind me of Papa, so this pasta is my take on a classic Pugliese combination of bitter greens, pasta with an olive oil, garlic, anchovy “condimento”.

Ingredients:

1 bunch rapini (broccoli rabe)
3T extra virgin olive oil
3 large or 6 small anchovy filets
1T green olive tapenade
3 large cloves garlic
1T Tutto Calabria Hot Spread Sauce
1 package pappardelle
Romano cheese

Directions:

Fill the pasta pot with water and heat it on high. Wash and coarsely chop the rapini, then set aside. Place the olive oil in a large pan, big enough to hold the pasta and vegetable. Heat on medium and mince the garlic.

When the oil is heated, add the anchovy, hot pepper spread and olive tapenade. Stir and mash the anchovies into the mix until they disintegrate completely. Since the pasta water is boiling by now, add the pasta into the water and stir so it doesn’t stick together. Back to the sauce; add the garlic and saute for a few minutes. Set this aside off the heat, and put your attention on the pasta.

As soon as the pasta is al dente (flexible but chewy), add the rapini and submerge into the pasta water to cook. You need it to wilt and still be bright green. Adding the rapini with cool down the water, so your pasta will not overcook, but the vegetable will have enough heat to cook thoroughly. Drain the pasta and rapini and add to the sauce pan. Place over a medium heat and mix together. Adding the heat serves the purpose of eliminating any residual water. Now plate and add the freshly grated Romano.

Cumin Seed Red Lentil Soup

2011-09-04T23:48:00.000-07:00

This was just another variation on using red lentils. Heating cumin seeds in oil to bring out their flavor seemed an obvious choice to use with this Indian staple. For few ingredients, this soup packed a lot of flavor.

Ingredients:

2C red lentils
3/4C wild rice
1 large yellow onion
2T extra virgin olive oil
1T cumin seeds
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
Sciabica Jalapeno Olive Oil

Directions:

Place the olive oil in your soup pot and heat over a medium flame, then add the cumin seeds. Dice the onion and as soon as the cumin seeds start releasing fragrance, add the onion. Sautee the onion until it is translucent.

Place the lentils and rice into a strainer and wash with cold water, then add to the pot. Stir the ingredients together and add enough water to cover the lentils by 2 to 3 inches.

Increase the heat to high, add salt, pepper, and bay leaves. When the soup comes to a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer, cover pot with lid and stir every 10 minutes. Check the consistency and take the soup off the heat when it is as thick as your preference dictates. Check seasoning and add more salt and pepper if necessary.

After plating the soup you can add the jalapeno flavored olive oil or if you don’t have that (but I encourage you to get some) a fruity olive oil will work.

Wheat Oat Soda Bread

2011-08-27T17:55:00.000-07:00

During my 3rd trip to Ireland, and after eating all that wonderful “brown bread” I went hunting for a cookbook with a traditional recipe, since waiting for a 4th trip to eat that bread was not practical. Kylemore Abbey had such a book and it came home with me. I made the recipe, following it exactly. Wanting a slightly sweeter and less stiff dough, I made a few changes and came up with this recipe. It’s just as good without the oat flour, but since I only had 3 cups of whole wheat flour left, grinding oatmeal in a spice grinder gave me what is referred to in this recipe as oat flour. I’ve used as much as 1/4 cup of molasses and that worked too.

Ingredients:

3C whole wheat flour
2C unbleached white flour
1C oat flour
1C wheat bran
1/2C steel cut oats
3T wheat germ
2t baking soda
1t salt
2T dark molasses
1qt buttermilk
1 extra large egg

Directions:

After gathering together all the dry ingredients, measure them out and place into a large bowl. Mix the dry ingredients together and then gather the wet ingredients.

Place part of the buttermilk into a measuring cup or bowl, then add the molasses and egg. Mix thoroughly with a whisk, set aside and make a well in the center of the dry ingredients so you can mix wet and dry together.

Pour the buttermilk mixture into the well and add any of the leftover buttermilk from the quart. The batter can be sticky enough to warrant using more flour, so reserving some of that buttermilk until needed might save some time. Mix the ingredients together until all the dry ingredients have been blended into a moist dough. Separate the dough in half.

Place on half of the dough on a floured board for kneading and knead long enough to form a smooth loaf. Knead the 2nd half into another loaf and place both on a greased baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In this instance I greased the baking sheet and the loaves with olive oil. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, then remove from the oven and let cool on a drying rack. I use cake racks, since I have them and they do the job of allowing the bottoms to cool and not steam on the hot pan. When cooled, slice the bread loaf, spread with butter and jam or marmalade and eat. This photo shows my plum, pineapple and orange marmalade, which obscures the bread, but tastes very good.

Porcini Lasagne

2011-08-05T08:16:00.000-07:00

The minute I tasted this lasagne in Venice, I knew I just had to try and duplicate the recipe, but I didn't think it would take me so long, seeing as it was one of the best pastas I have ever eaten. It was obvious that it had porcini mushrooms, bechamel sauce and most likely grana padana cheese. That was a good enough start for me to give it a try and a baby shower with food centric friends was the perfect occasion to get me hopping.

Ingredients:
fresh or dried (one pkg) lasagne sheets
bechamel sauce
2 C freshly grated grana or parmigiano
1 1/2C coarsely grated semi soft truffle cheese
2 pkg frozen porcini mushrooms (about 1 lb)
3T extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cube sweet butter
3 porcini bouillon cubes
water for boiling the pasta

Directions:

Place 8 cups water into a stock pot over high heat and add the bouillon cubes. This adds additional porcini flavor to the pasta. Grate the cheese.

Filter the water from the bag of frozen porcini through a cheese cloth into the pot for even more flavor. Slice porcini as thin as this as possible.

Use a standard bechamel sauce (my recipe can be seen with the Lasagne Verdi Bolognese recipe), then add 8-12 passes of nutmeg over a micro plane grater.

Place 3 pasta sheets into boiling bouillon, cook until it's flexible, or fully cooked. Drain on a cotton dish towel, but don't overlap the pasta.

After heating the olive oil and butter, add the mushrooms and saute them. Your bechamel should be covered if it is already finished.

Layer some bechamel to cover the baking dish and add pasta to cover, then spread more bechamel over the pasta. Sprinkle finely grated grana on top.

Add another thin layer of cheese, using the coarsely grated truffle cheese which will melt and become a way to hold the lasagne together.

Add a thin layer of the sauteed mushrooms to the cheese, then start over with layering the pasta, bechamel, cheeses, and mushrooms until the pan is full.

The last layer is only bechamel and parmigiano. Bake at 360 degrees for an hour covered in foil, remove the foil, bake for 10 minutes or until the top layer is browned.

Porcini Flavored Polenta with Wild Boar Sausage

2011-08-01T00:32:00.000-07:00

I admit to buying the sausage, because making them would mean more freezer space and I'm out of that at the moment. Besides I really like going to Gourmet Corner to see what's new in French imports. This polenta recipe grew out of a need to serve something simple with the sausage.

Ingredients:
1C coarse polenta
5C water
3 Porcini bouillon cubes
1/4 cube butter
1 1/2C freshly grated Parmigiano

Directions:

In a large pot, bring the water to a boil and add the bouillon cubes. Stir until the cubes dissolve. Then measure out the coarse ground polenta and grate the cheese.

Slowly pour the corn meal into the broth, and whisk it the entire time so you do not form lumps in the polenta. Keep whisking as the polenta cooks.

You will have to whisk the polenta until it thickens considerably. It is still very thin in this photo as is evidenced by the bubbling porcini broth. You want it thick and stiff.

In this photo it is only beginning to thicken, so when it looks like this, stir it for at least 10 minutes longer over high heat, then lower the heat and keep whisking.

When it is finally thick, stir in the butter which makes it considerably creamy in taste. You may sub Mascarpone cheese for a little less fat.

Add the grated cheese and whisk or stir it into the polenta to complete the dish. Plate and top with sausages. For a vegetarian option top with roasted vegetables.

Roasted and Stir Fried Winter Vegetables

2011-07-21T00:34:00.000-07:00

This may very well be the only recipe I have ever put together because I just had to photograph the ingredients. When I first found this red savoy cabbage at Rainbow grocery I thought it was incredibly beautiful. Then, when placed next to the bunch of multi colored carrots, the notion of developing them into a still life subject took form. The Brussel Sprouts (yes, I know they are really Brussels Sprouts, but I'm too old to change) were added for their shape and brighter color.

Ingredients:
1 small bunch of multi colored carrots
1 small red Savoy cabbage
6 Brussel Sprouts
1T olive oil
3 strips of thick cut bacon
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Wash all the vegetables and cut carrots on a diagonal and Brussel sprouts in half lengthwise. Preset oven to 400 degrees and place the vegetables into a roasting pan.

Drizzle the olive oil over the vegetables, add salt and pepper, then mix to coat the vegetables and place the pan in the oven for 20 minutes.

Slice the bacon and cook until rendered so the bacon grease can be utilized to saute the cabbage.

Add the shreaded cabbage and saute, then cover the pot so the residual water left from the washing will steam the cabbage until it is limp.

Layer the cooked cabbage onto the plates, then remove the roasted vegetables from the oven, stir once more, adjust for perfect seasoning and add to each plate.

Mac and Cheese Goes Italian or Pasta Al Forno

2011-06-26T08:27:00.000-07:00

My confidence was doing well enough after the first foray into the world of Mac and Cheese to try one with an Italian spin. I put so much "Italian" into this one that the "spin" was almost dizzying!

Ingredients:
1 lb pasta
1 bag Trader Joe's Quatro Formaggio
1/2 cube of butter
3T white flour
1 1/2C whole milk
grated nutmeg
2T truffle paste or Tartuffata
1/2C grated Parmigiano

Directions:
Since this pasta is fairly heavy, start the sauce after you have boiled the water and start cooking the pasta. No matter what type of macaroni being used, cook it knowing that the sauce only takes about 10 minutes, and plan for them to be ready at the same time.

I selected torchietti because it was a heavy pasta and I wanted to keep in mind that in traditional Italian cooking, pasta is the main ingredient and the sauce is merely a condiment.

I used the Quatro Formaggio for convenience, but this recipe doesn't really need this product and could be good with just the Fontina and Parmigiano if you need to blend and grate your own.

Start by making the roux with the flour and butter and grate some nutmeg into it. I used about 5 long passes on the micro plane. It smells so good!

Then comes the milk until the bechamel thickens up. To this add the truffle paste, stir in, then add the cheese and over a low heat let the cheese melt while constantly stirring.

Rinse and drain the fully cooked macaroni, then stir into the cheese and place in your baking pan or casserole. I have never had a pasta al forno that wasn't overcooked and delicious.

Place the finely grated Parmigiano on top and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for about half an hour or until it browns around the edges.

Rigatoni with Fave and Pancetta

2011-06-06T00:43:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite Food Outlet purchases are the pancetta and prosciutto "ends" that are left over after slices have been cut and packaged. The manufacturer then packages the leftovers that Grocery Outlet manages to buy. I've never seen them in another store, except for better manicured ends sold at Corti Brothers in Sacramento. I use these for anything that needs a courser dice of these products. I know "fave" is not generally known as the plural for fava, but it is and I just can't say favas after one year of Italian.

Ingredients:
1 lb.rigatoni
1/3C diced pancetta
1 1/2 lbs fave in pods
2 cloves minced garlic
1T olive oil
Freshly grated Romano cheese

Boil the pasta water. After shelling the fave, add 1T of olive oil to a pan large enough to hold the pasta and beans after they are both cooked. Saute over a medium heat for a few minutes, then add water and cover so the fave will steam.

While you check on the beans and stir occassionally until the water is gone, thick dice the pancetta by first cuttting thick slices from the end. Look at that thing. All that pancetta for only $3, a bargain hunter's dream! Start cooking the pasta.

Add the pancetta to the pan and saute along with the beans until the fat starts melting. The rendering fat should be enough to keep them from sticking to the pan.

When the skins start peeling or splitting the beans are almost completely cooked. The fat should look translucent. I always eat the skins and like the taste, so don't bother skinning the fave. This is a rustic dish and they are part of it.

Add the minced garlic and saute for a minute until they are no longer raw. Set aside if the pasta isn't finished boiling. Drain the pasta, add to the pan, and continue stirring over a medium heat until the water is absorbed. Add cheese, plate, then sprinkle on more cheese.

Lamb and Barley Soup

2011-05-26T08:42:00.000-07:00

During a disastrous lamb dinner where I bought not only a rack of lamb that we served a little too rare, but a small lamb roast, in case I underestimated portions on the rack, no one wanted to attempt eating the roast. So, one cooked roast of lamb, what could I use it for besides sandwiches? Then I remembered a soup Uncle Anthony always made, that I really loved. I had no recipe, so had to improvise from memory. I'm sure he used a raw shank, but I needed to use up the leftover roast, so we start from there.

Ingredients:
1 1/2C diced cooked lamb roast
2T extra virgin olive oil
3 small carrots
2 celery ribs
1 medium yellow onion
1 package of pearl barley
1-2 porcini or beef bouillon cubes
salt
water to cover by 2"

Directions:
After the roast has been refrigerated overnight, cut it into 1/2" slices, then dice those. Dice the onion and fine dice the celery, then thinly slice the carrots, cutting the bigger slices into quarters. Place a 6-8 quart stock pot over a medium heat and add the olive oil.

Add the vegetables to the pot and saute until they sweat. Adding a little salt at this time will help in the process.

After about 3 minutes, add the diced lamb and saute for another minute or so. It's not on the recipe, but adding a bay leaf could be good.

Wash and drain the package of barley, then add it to the pot and stir it into the vegetables for another minute or two.

Add water to cover by 2 inches and one bouillon cube. Lower the heat to a simmer and cover the pot for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

This photo shows the soup cooked for about half and hour. If you need more water to fully cook the barley, add it. Use 2nd bouillon if needed.

I almost never use black pepper in a soup, even if I write it as an ingredient in a recipe, but I think it would be a good addition to this soup. It originally turned out a bit flat, so I adjusted the recipe with the bouillon cubes, making sure not to add both at once, since I had already added salt. At the end of the process, I uncover the pot if the soup needs to thicken and simmer some more.

Macaroni and Dubliner

2011-05-15T22:49:00.000-07:00

Macaroni and cheese was never on my radar, since Mom only bought the bright orange Kraft version and I never associated it with food, only convenience. Then I discovered my niece liked it, almost considered it one of the five major food groups, so I had to at least try to make a "real" mac and cheese. Thanks, Brit, for visiting and giving me reason to try this recipe. We didn't do so bad on this first attempt.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ditalini pasta
6T butter
1/4C white flour
1/4t salt
1C - 1 1/2C whole milk
10 oz Dubliner cheddar cheese
grated Parmigiano

Directions:

To make the cheese sauce, start by melting the butter on low heat. Get your pasta water boiling now too. Our objective is to make a bechamel sauce as a base for the cheddar to melt in.

Next, add the flour and stir gently to cook the flour in the butter and get rid of a raw flour taste. A whisk is a good tool to use for this. Don't brown the flour, but let it get to a light tan color.

Once you get there, start adding the milk. Use enough to make a bechamel that is thin like a cream soup, not thick like pancake batter. Check the water and start cooking the pasta.

If you look at the sides of the pan in this photo, you'll see how thick it should be. Thick enough to coat the pan and not drip off. When you get to this point, start adding the cheddar.

With any luck you will have already grated your cheese. Or you may be fortunate to have an assistant helping you. That looks like 2 cups, but you need 3-4 cups for a strong cheese taste.

Add salt to taste to the cheese sauce, drain pasta, add it and stir to cover all the pasta with sauce. Place in a baking dish, grate Parmigiano over the top and bake at 375 until it browns.

We decided to gild the lily and add cooked bacon for more crunch. If you look at the photo above, you'll see the bacon cooking on a sheet pan on the shelf beneath the mac and cheese.

Shrimp Capellini with Vermouth

2011-04-15T21:51:00.001-07:00

When the Martini drinker in your household decides to switch to something else, what would you do with leftover Vermouth? I decided to just pour some into this seafood pasta that I was preparing. It was simple and needed a bit of a lift, so it seemed okay to sub the vermouth for a dry white wine, after all that’s what it is with a little fortification to 18% proof and aromatization from herbs and spices.

Ingredients:

1 lb. capellini
16 large raw shrimp
3T sweet butter
2T olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1t minced fresh thyme
1t Aleppo pepper (red pepper)
1/2C vermouth

Directions:
Place water in a 6-8 quart stock pot over a high flame and start boiling water for the pasta. Then take a pan big enough to hold the cooked pasta and shrimp, add the oil to it over a medium heat and start the sauce.

Add the minced thyme, red pepper flakes and butter to the heated oil and saute them until the garlic starts permeating the air and the butter is completely melted in the pan.

Continue to saute and allow the garlic to cook longer, but watch it carefully so it doesn’t brown. You may wish to lower the heat until the butter starts foaming. If the pasta water is not boiling yet, take this off the heat until it does.

Next, add the shrimp, raise the heat to medium high and saute them until they turn pink one one side. This doesn’t take very long, so add the pasta to the boiling water and start cooking it. Capellini cooks fast so keep an eye on it.

Add the vermouth halfway through cooking the shrimp and continue cooking. When the pasta is al dente, drain it and add it to the cooked shrimp and vermouth butter sauce.

Mushroom Turnovers

2011-04-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

After one more recipe using Burrata and prosciutto, I'm hanging up my turnover hat for awhile. I love the ease of making them. They make tasty little starters, or a big appetizer, but my well is running dry for new ideas at the moment, and I would in fact, like to repeat a few before making something new. This recipe is for the first turnover I ever made; it was an appetizer for vegetarian friends.

Ingredients:

2C sliced mushrooms

1 large minced shallot

1T extra virgin olive oil

salt to taste

1/4t dried thyme

1package puff pastry squares

Directions:
First of all, thaw the puff pastry, then preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

After the mushrooms have been sliced, give them a coarse chop. In a pan over medium heat, add the olive oil and saute the minced shallots until they are translucent. Crush the thyme and add it to the pan. Stir it with the shallots and saute until you smell the fragrance of the thyme. Now's the time to add the chopped mushrooms to the pan and saute them until they start releasing their liquid. Adding salt at this time will help in that process. Feel free to add a bit more olive oil if they start sticking to the pan before the liquid is released. Remove the mushrooms and set aside.

Place the puff pastry squares on a large, nonstick baking sheet. Add as much filling as you can toward the center of each pastry square, but allow at least a one inch border all around so you can seal the turnover properly.

Fold two opposite corners of the pastry together, stretching it slightly over the filling and pinch all the edges to seal the turnover. Fold over all the edges by half an inch and crimp the edges. Use fork tines to press the edges together if you can't get the hang of crimping. Dock the top for venting steam (pierce with a fork in quick jabs).

Bake the turnovers until they are puffed and turning a golden brown. sometimes I lower the oven to 350 degrees after the first 5 minutes, to avoid burning the dough. Again, you can see what happens when the edges are not fully sealed. This can be avoided if you make certain the all the edges are dry and the margins are a full inch or more wide.

Sausage & Cheese Omelet

2011-04-06T14:30:00.000-07:00

Since I had filling left over from the sausage and cheese turnovers, I decided to put them to good use. It seemed a natural fit for an omelet and worked out quite well. I especially love to work out secondary uses for leftovers. I just had to post the photo this way, otherwise it looks like a smiley face.

Ingredients:
2 extra large eggs
1T whole milk, cream or water (I'm not fussy)
Sausage and chipotle cheese filling
1 chopped green onion

Directions:
If you don't have a Teflon coated 8" frying pan, then a small seasoned, cast iron frying pan will work or any small frying pan coated with a little olive oil or butter will do the trick.

After you have put the frying pan over medium heat, crack the eggs into a bowl and beat in the liquid of your choice. I don't know why I do this, but it works for a fluffier omelet.

When the egg starts to cook I always roll the pan to make sure the sides of the omelet will not be too thin. As soon as I see bubbles forming I know the egg is cooked enough to add filling.

Start by cleaning and chopping the green onion. I use the green part exclusively, but could easily add the white portion as well. It's all about the color contrast when I select ingredients.

Try to add the filling and spread it out enough so it will warm up. Most often I prefer having everything that I add to an omelet at room temperature when I start. that way everything is warm when the eggs are fully cooked.

When the eggs are almost fully cooked and no longer runny, start loosening the edges of the omelet with a spatula and flip one side over the other. I make certain that the fold is parallel to the pan handle, for easier plating. If you notice the first photo, the crust is darker than that of this photo, because I always let the omelet finish cooking for another minute or two, before turning it over onto the dish.

Cheese and Sausage Turnovers

2011-03-31T16:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, I've made turnovers before. My motto is to take a good idea and run with it, so since the turnovers have been successful I'll be making more of them with different fillings. How can I resist with frozen puff pastry so cheap and so available. A turnover is a useful tool for using up leftovers. I can't wait for Thanksgiving so I can try one with turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce!

Ingredients:
1/2 red onion
3 Italian sausages
1T olive oil
2/3C grated Chipotle Jack cheese
6 square cut frozen puff pastry

Directions: Before starting on the filling, defrost the puff pastry.

Finely mince the onions and saute them in the olive oil over a medium heat. After they have become translucent, add the sausage after you have removed the casings. Your aim is to cook and break down the sausage as much as possible into a fine texture, so you won't have lumpy turnovers with lots of air pockets. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place one of the racks in the middle of the oven for more even heating.

When the sausage is fully cooked remove it from the pan and place it in a bowl to cool down. Set aside, then grate the cheese with a coarse grater until you have 2/3 cup. Add the cheese to the cooled sausage and stir. Place the squares of pastry dough on a non stick cookie sheet, or a regular sheet pan covered with parchment paper and start filling the squares by piling the sausage mixture in the center with 1 1/2" margins all around. Fold opposite corners together and press firmly around all edges. You may have to stretch the dough to accommodate the amount of filling as you pass it over the top of the filling.
After all edges are secure, fold them inward by 1/2" and start crimping the edges. I can't explain it, you'll just have to see it, or take the easy way out and just press fork tines along the edges to make sure the turnover edges are sealed. Dock the top of each turnover with fork tines, so steam can be released.
This photo is evidence that my edges were not as fully sealed as they should have been. "Do as I say, not as I do."

Salami Sauce

2011-03-25T14:21:00.000-07:00

I ask you, what does one do with 8 pounds of salami? Our dear friend, Fr. Guglielmo Lauriola was being gifted with so much salami, among other comestibles, that he insisted I take some off his hands. He said refrigeration would make it hard. Okay, so I stored some in a cool dark place. We're trying to watch our salt intake, so it needed to be diluted in some way and not just eaten in chunks, which we have been known to do. That's when I came up with the salami sauce idea. Surely some Italian, somewhere over the centuries, must have resorted to this type of use for salami.

Ingredients:
1 salami chub
1 medium yellow onion
1 oz. dried porcini mushrooms
3 cloves of garlic
1T extra virgin olive oil
1t dried basil
1 can Del Monte tomato sauce
1 large can chopped tomatoes
1 large can of water (by proportion not measurement)
1/4C chopped Italian parsley

Directions:

Since the salami was difficult enough to peel, I decided to go with the big guns and use the Cuisinart. If the salami is on the drier side, you will really need a processor of some sort. Otherwise thin slicing and mincing will work.

Finely dice the onion and mince the garlic. Set aside, then heat the olive oil in a 6 quart pot over low heat. Saute the onion in the oil until translucent, then add the basil and garlic and mix thoroughly.

The salami can be added and stirred into the mixture. Saute for 2 minutes over a medium high heat to try and caramelize. Then lower the heat to a simmer.

Crush and add the dried porcini, then stir to incorporate and scrape the bottom of the pot clean so nothing burns while you simmer the sauce.

Add the chopped tomatoes. If you can't find any, use stewed tomatoes as a reasonable substitute. Add the small can of Del Monte and stir ingredients together.

The sauce is thick now so thin it out so it will be able to cook for enough time to create a nice depth of flavor. I always add water; never liked wine in pasta sauce. It will evaporate during the cooking process. Don't be timid add a large can of water.

After adding the water, add the chopped parsley, stir, cover the pot and simmer for 30 minutes. Check the pot every 10 minutes and stir, so nothing sticks to the bottom and burns. Uncover and cook until you like the consistency.

Mushroom and White Wine Creamed Soup

2011-03-24T22:01:00.000-07:00

Since mushrooms are one of my favorite ingredients, it was highly probable that I would come up with a new soup idea based on what was on hand. On hand specifically was a pound of crimini mushrooms that needed to be used immediately. The other available ingredients are what made this soup work.

Ingredients:
2C minced brown Crimini mushrooms
1/2 small red onion
1/2 cube butter
2T olive oil
2T tomato paste
2t dried thyme
1 bay leaf
2/3C dry white wine
1/3 heavy cream
1T flour
1 can chicken broth

Directions:
For the mushrooms, a quick whirl in a food processor will do, but you could mince them. Finely dice the onion and set aside. Since I had no idea what I was going to make, I started out with a 12" non stick frying pan, but I would suggest a 4 -6 quart pot for this recipe.

Heat the butter and half of the olive oil in the pan and saute the onions over medium heat until they are tender. Add the mushrooms and stir together until the mushrooms start releasing some of their liquid.

To aid in this process add a little salt and also add pepper if you wish. I usually leave pepper until the end of cooking if I use it at all. Cook down the mushrooms over a medium hot flame until they look a little darker.

Open a small spot in the pan and add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Saute the tomato paste in it, while you break it up for about 2 minutes. Now incorporate it into the mushroom onion mixture.

Lower the heat to medium and add the wine (I used Chardonay), then stir it into the mushrooms and start simmering. Ultimately, your goal is that the wine to be reduced by at least half.

As you start the simmering process, after adding the wine, add the dried thyme and the bay leaf. You should notice a deep, rich color developing in the soup ingredients.

Since the objective is to make soup, adding chicken stock or broth, or even beef broth is necessary. For a Vegetarian version I suggest adding water, and a vegetarian bouillon cube.
Star brand makes a very good porcini version.

Wisk the flour into the cream until it's smooth or you may end up with lumps in your soup. If you want to skip the flour, you can cook down the soup until it reaches the desired thickness and simply add the cream.

I usually wisk in the flour/cream thickener, as a good measure against lumps, but stirring would probably suffice. Since you already have a dirty spoon and a dirty wisk, the choice is yours. Fish out the bay leaf before plating.

Garnish with a fresh sprig of thyme or even rosemary, so your finished version will look better than mine. It was too cold to run outside into the garden, so I used the dried thyme I already had in the kitchen.

Eggs In Purgatory

2011-02-28T17:32:00.000-08:00

Often hearing of the classic Sicilian dish "eggs in purgatory", yet having little specific information about them, made this recipe a real shot in the dark. That didn't deter me. What I knew about was the technique employed, of poaching an egg, not in water, but in tomato sauce. Because I wanted to use this as a brunch dish, I decided to beef it up (pork it up) with hot Italian sausage.

Ingredients:
1/2 medium yellow onion
2t dried basil
3 Italian Sausages
1 can of pureed tomatoes
6 large eggs
1T extra virgin olive oil
freshly grated Romano cheese

Directions:

Dice the onion and saute in olive oil over a medium heat. Add the basil by crushing it between your fingers.

Remove casings and break the sausage into the smallest pieces possible, then saute with the onions. Break the sausage further if possible.

When the sausage is cooked, add the crushed tomatoes and cook down the sauce for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Ladle some of the sauce into a small nonstick frypan or saucier to a 1"- 2" depth over medium high heat. Add the egg to poach.

Top with grated cheese as soon as the egg white is opaque and continue cooking until the cheese partially melts.

Slide into a shallow bowl and serve. You could also cook these in a large nonstick frying pan if you wanted to make them all at the same time. it would probably ressult in less sauce per serving and you need to space the eggs so they have some room to expand but not touch one another.

Sausage & Olive Tepanade Pasta

2011-02-19T14:31:00.000-08:00

Collecting more condiments than I can possibly use was the impetus for this recipe. My jar of green olive tepanade from Italy was going to get stale dated if I didn't start using it soon.

Ingredients:
4 Italian sausage
1 small yellow onion
2t dried basil leaves
1/4t hot red pepper
1 can stewed tomatoes
2T green olive tepanade
extra virgin olive oil
1lb. pasta
Freshly grated Romano cheese

Directions: Start by placing a 4-6 quart pot full of water on the burner and bringing it to a rolling boil for the pasta. I usually start the water after I've prepped the ingredients for the sauce.

Saute onion slices in olive oil drizzled lightly into a pan large enough to hold 1 lb. of pasta plus the sauce ingredients. Add the basil and red pepper.

Add garlic to the onion and move off heat or they'll burn. Now add chopped sausage over medium high heat and saute until caramelized a little bit.

After the sausage, onion and garlic have cooked together and are fully cooked, add the olive tepanade. Black olive tepanade could be substituted.

Add the stewed, or of you prefer, solid packed tomatoes and break them up. I do what Nana did and squish them in my hand; a tool I never misplace!

Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes until the tomatoes break down further. If the mixture looks dry, add a little water before simmering the sauce.

When the sauce is done, cover and shut off the burner. Cook the pasta al dente, drain, then place it in the sauce and stir over a low flame 2 minutes.

After the sauce has absorbed into the pasta it's ready to plate. you may add some cheese to the pasta before plating, just like Nonna (Nana's mother, my great grandmother did), but I really prefer to add it after plating. I like the way it looks. I truly believe Nonna added the cheese before bringing the pasta to the table, as a way of conserving the use of a very expensive imported cheese. Even when pasta was served family style at Nana's table, there was only one bowl of grated cheese available for everyone to use, and Papa "read you the riot act" if you took too much!

Savory Turnovers

2011-01-18T23:41:00.000-08:00

Recently I had a freezer purge and discovered a nice little stash of puff pastry squares that I stock for parties and quick pot pies. On occasion I make a dessert turnover with a fruit preserve. I was looking for something easy that could pass for a meal the way Cornish pasties do, and this is what I managed to come up with.

Ingredients:
1 pkg puff pastry squares
1 minced shallot
2T extra virgin olive oil
1C finely chopped cabbage
1C finely diced cauliflower
2t powdered cumin
1/4t garlic powder
S&P to taste

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large pan or wok, then add the shallots, saute a minute, then add the shredded and chopped cabbage.

After adding the cauliflower, saute the vegetables until they begin to wilt. Adding the salt now will aid in this process.

Sprinkle on the cumin, salt and pepper, stir and continue sauteing until the vegetables are cooked. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lay out the puff pastry on a non stick baking sheet, or parchment covered baking sheet. Fill with the vegetables and fold into a triangle.

After folding, pinch or crimp all the edges so the filling will not run out during baking, then vent with a fork and bake until golden brown.

Pasta Carbonara

2011-01-08T01:06:00.000-08:00

This recipe was a necessity for me to learn, since my husband ate Carbonara every day during our honeymoon in Italy. I copied down the recipe used by La Carbonara in Rome, from a travel show I was watching one day. I have altered it to my own taste. The traditional Carbonara is made with spaghetti, but I have never liked the texture of spaghetti and am not enough of a slave to tradition to make this recipe with it. I have also added more cheese and eggs for a creamier taste without resorting to using cream.
Fettucine is pictured here:

Ingredients:

1 lb linguine or fettucine
5 eggs, 2 whole and 3 extra yolks
1/3 lb pancetta cut into a small dice
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2C half Romano & half Parmigiano

Directions:

While you are boiling the water for the linguine, chop and saute the pancetta until it's lightly browned on the edges (if pancetta is unavailable, you can substitute a lean non smoked bacon), then drain off the fat and set aside. The point to sauteing the pancetta is to render the fat, not to make it crisp. Grate the cheese and set that aside. Now put the whole eggs and additional yolks (sans shells of course) into a small bowl and lightly beat, grate black pepper (medium coarse grind) into the egg and beat again.

As soon as the linguine is al dente, drain the pasta and take a cup of the pasta water and set aside. Turn off the heat, and place the pancetta into the bottom of the empty pot, then add back the pasta, stirring them together. Now add the cheese into the bowl with the egg and mix and combine them by stirring. The pot will be hot from the boiling water and that residual heat is what cooks this egg sauce. Pour the egg mixture onto the pasta and stir very quickly to incorporate. Use a little of the reserved pasta water to help the cheese to melt and the egg to become creamy. Use 1T at a time, only if the pasta looks dry and is difficult to stir. Adding too much will ruin the recipe; adding too little can easily be adjusted. This particular making of the recipe did not require any of the pasta water at all. The last photo clearly shows that the cheese had melted and the sauce was already creamy (click to enlarge).

If you have failed to turn off the heat, you will have scrambled egg pasta, not Carbonara.

Clam Stew

2010-12-28T22:08:00.000-08:00

When life hands you a lemon you make lemonade, but what do you do with clams? I had an opportunity to find out. Over the holidays I succumbed to the purchase of a bag of clams; way too many for only the two of us. After making my shellfish pasta I still had dozens of clams left and they needed to be used quickly because I had purchased them 5 days earlier. Since I like oyster stew, it seemed a natural to try a clam stew, especially since I already had cream in the house.

Ingredients:

4-5 doz. clams

1C Tocai Friulano (dry white wine)

3T extra virgin olive oil

2 shallots

2 ripe Roma tomatoes

1 pt. heavy cream

salt & pepper

Directions:

Wash the clams and place in a 6-8 quart pot for steaming. Add the wine, olive oil and minced shallots, then cover with a lid and heat over medium heat to steam the clams open.

When the clams have opened, remove their shells and place all clam meat into the pot. Lower the heat to a simmer.

You may now season the soup by adding salt & pepper or thyme. I didn't add the herb, but believe it would work in this recipe.

Thinly slice and chop 2 Roma tomatoes and add them to the pot. I added them for color, so you could sub parsley or cilantro if you prefer.

Pour the cream into the soup and stir, allow it to lightly simmer for five minutes before serving.

I prefer a thin soup to be served with bread, so I toasted and buttered slices of Pugliese bread, then placed them in the bottom of the bowl, before adding the stew.

Rich, clammy and delicious; definitely a keeper recipe.

Mixed Shellfish Linguine

2010-12-24T12:02:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve at our house is always a no meat meal in keeping with Roman Catholic tradition and this past holiday was no exception. I decided to experiment with the pasta and surprised myself in a pleasant way, since this was all done without referencing anything, just off the cuff.

Ingredients:

1 lb. linguine

1 lb. tiger prawns

2 doz. Clams

1C crab meat

1C mussels
1 28 oz. can chopped tomatoes
2C mussel broth
1 large yellow onion

3 large cloves garlic

1/4t red pepper

3 dried sage leaves
1/2t dried thyme
1/4t saffron threads
extra virgin olive oil

chopped parsley to garnish

Directions:

After dicing the onion, place it in a large pan over medium heat and saute in olive oil until translucent. Saute added herbs and garlic.

Now add the can of diced tomatoes, stir, then also add the mussel broth or canned clam juice if you prefer. Mussels optional also.

Because the broth thins out this sauce, it's necessary to cook it down on medium high heat until it thickens. Heat the pasta water.

Once the sauce had been reduced by half you can start adding the seafood, but lower the temperature, so the sauce won't scorch.

Add prawns and crab meat, stir while mixing into the sauce. Once the prawns start turning pink, submerge them into the sauce.

Now add the clams on top of the sauce and cover the pot with a lid so the clams will steam. Add linguine to the pasta water.

Once the clams open, remove them and the prawns from the sauce and set aside and cover. Use them to garnish the plate of pasta.

When the pasta is al dente, drain it and place in the sauce pan so it can absorb some of the sauce that has thinned out since the clams were cooked.

Gently fold in the mussels if you're adding them, just before plating so they don't overcook and get rubbery.

Plate the pasta, then surround the outside with the prawns and top them with the clams in their shells. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Turkey Dinner Tortelloni Soup

2010-11-30T17:02:00.000-08:00

What do you do with all your holiday turkey leftovers with all the trimmings? Microwaved leftovers and turkey stock, along with turkey sandwiches were my usual way of dealing with them, but this year I just happened to notice a package of won ton wrappers in the refrigerator and my world changed. I made soup well beyond my normal turkey stock.

Ingredients:

1/2C leftover turkey stuffing

1 pkg won ton skins

3C turkey stock

1oz freshly grated Parmigiano

1/2C leftover peas and mushrooms (optional)

Directions:

Lay out 8 won ton skins at a time and place about a teaspoonful of stuffing in the middle of each. Brush water on the edges and fold in half or into triangles and secure the stuffing in place by placing pressure on the edges to seal them. Place them on a cookie sheet until your stock has come to a rolling boil. Lower the heat to medium high and slide the tortelloni into the pot. Stir carefully.

When the tortelloni are cooked they will rise to the top of the stock, but testing one to make sure it is cooked through is always a good idea. When I first tested this recipe I simply placed the pasta and stock in a bowl and added grated cheese. On the second go round I added a few spoonfuls of cold peas and mushrooms to the soup to liven up the color a bit for more eye appeal and didn't bother with the cheese. The peas get heated by the soup and keep from getting mushy by not adding them to the boiling stock.

Yellow Split Pea with Ham Soup

2010-11-26T10:46:00.000-08:00

This is a thick, filling soup that came about with pantry and freezer items I had on hand one cold wintry night. Good thing too, because I didn't want to go out into the cold rain to get to a grocery store. You can make it as thick or as thin as you'd like, but as a porridge, it makes a great meal in itself.

Ingredients:

1 pkg yellow split peas
1 large yellow onion
1/2C wild rice
1 ham slice (1C)
1t dried thyme
2 bay leaves
2T extra virgin olive oil
water
salt & Pepper

Lightly cover the bottom of a large stock pot with olive oil and add the diced onion, then saute with the thyme until translucent.

Rinse the peas and wild rice, add to the onions and stir, then saute for a another few minutes over medium heat while you dice the ham.

Add the diced ham and stir. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Then cover with 3 inches of water and raise the heat.

When the water comes to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer, add the bay leaves and cover the pan. Stir every 15 minutes or so.

As the soup thickens, uncover and stir often or the pan will scorch. Adjust seasonings, add water if you prefer a thinner soup, then readjust seasonings.

Cremini Mushroom Sauce

2010-10-27T08:30:00.000-07:00

What does one do with a pound of mushrooms that will not last for another few days? Make a mushroom pasta sauce is my quick answer. We have no family recipe for mushroom sauce, so I developed this sauce out of necessity, since when I first lived on my own, I had many vegetarian acquaintances. It is perhaps 20 years or more since it was last prepared and it has a few new additions, but makes for a nice basic vegetarian pasta sauce.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb brown Cremini mushrooms

2 large yellow onions

2T extra virgin olive oil

1 28oz can of tomato puree

2 cans of water (this is by volume, use the can)

1/2 oz dried porcini

2T dried basil

1t dried thyme

3 large cloves of garlic

Directions:

Chop the onions and place in a non reactive 6 qt pot over medium heat along with the olive oil, and saute until the onions are translucent, adding a little salt to help them release fluids. Roughly chop the Cremini mushrooms and pulse in a food processor or finely chop with a knife.

Add the mushrooms and herbs to the cooked onions and saute for a few minutes more until the mushrooms have also lost some fluid. You may now add the can of tomato puree and stir it into the mushroom mixture. Cook while constantly stirring for a few minutes to caramelize the puree and produce a richer tomato taste.

Add the water and stir again Now you can add minced raw garlic and crushed porcini mushrooms. Bring the sauce to a low boil, scrape the bottom of the pot to make certain that nothing is sticking and reduce heat to a simmer. If the sauce looks like the consistency that you prefer, put a lid on the pot and simmer for 10-12 minutes before stirring. If the sauce looks too thin to you, leave the lid off the pot and stir every 10-12 minutes. The process of evaporation will thicken your sauce. You are looking for a rich brownish red color to indicate that the sauce has fully cooked. The sauce should be ready in less than an hour from the time you start the simmering process.

Notes:

For this particular batch of sauce I held back 10 mushrooms and thinly sliced them for a textural contrast in the sauce. Garlic may be sauteed, but I added it raw. The porcini are icing on the cake and if you don't have them, leave them out. If you do use them, you may wish to reconstitute them with hot water and to add the water into the can for part of the water requirement for this recipe. Remember to use the can for adding in the water as the proportion is by volume.

Romano Stuffed Mushrooms

2010-10-22T20:49:00.000-07:00

I have made stuffed mushroom caps several different ways, but this is the easiest recipe, because it has the least number of ingredients, and most of them have a permanent place in my pantry or refrigerator.

Ingredients:
24 brown Crimini mushrooms
1/2 small red onion
2T chopped Italian parsley
1/4C freshly made Puglese breadcrumbs
1/4C freshly grated Pecorino Romano
extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
Clean mushrooms, remove stems, set aside the caps, facing up on a baking sheet. Now mince the stems, parsley and red onion. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Saute the mushroom stems, onion and parsley over medium heat in a small amount of olive oil until fully cooked.

Add the breadcrumbs and stir until they have completely incorporated with the onion mushroom mixture.Take the pan off heat and add the Romano.

Stuff the mushroom caps with the filling until it is piled in a mound on top of the mushroom cap. I like to drizzle a little Sciabica Jalapeno olive oil on top before baking, but it's not necessary. When all caps have been stuffed, bake them for 10 - 15 minutes or until the mushrooms have cooked. These make a good appetizer or a side dish for steak.

Pesto Pot Pie

2010-09-10T17:31:00.000-07:00

Had I known how easy a pot pie could be to construct, I would have been making them for many years. As it is, I feel compelled to try many variations on this recipe and already have my next recipe in mind. It will be a Thai Green Curry with the crust made of a basil or coconut flaky pastry dough. I can't wait to experiment.

Ingredients:
2 carrots
2 ribs celery
1dz small cippolini or boiling onions
3 medium rose potatoes
1 chicken breast
bechamel sauce
3T fresh pesto
frozen puff pastry

Directions:

Wash all the vegetables and peel the carrots and potatoes. Cut the celery, carrots and potatoes into 3/4" -1" dice and set aside. Steam the onions and carrots together, then remove the onions as they soften a bit, remove and peel the onions, then set aside in a large bowl. Add the celery to the steamer and continue steaming until both the carrots and celery are still stiff, but not crunchy. Remove them from the steamer and set aside with the onions. Steam the potatoes until they release some starch but are very undercooked, then set them aside with the other vegetables.

Steam the chicken for about 5-8 minutes until it is pale pink inside, but not fully cooked. Cut the chicken into very chunky pieces and mix with the vegetables. My biggest problem with pot pies is that there is usually too much sauce and not enough filling, especially the meat or poultry. This recipe fixes that problem, once and for all. No skimping in my kitchen! Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

For this recipe I took my standard bechamel sauce and made it a little thicker by using 3T butter, 2T flour, and 1 3/4C milk, making the traditional rue from the flour and butter, then adding the milk and whisking until the sauce thickened considerably. I added a cup of grated parmigiano cheese and then added 3T thick pesto sauce that I made with basil, olive oil, garlic and toasted pine nuts. Add the vegetable chicken mixture to the sauce and blend well, then spoon it into 5 -6 ramekins. Cut out an equal number of rounds of puff pastry and place over the ramekins. Press the sides of the pastry against the ramekin walls with a fork, then make a frilly border by rolling leftover pastry into a rope and placing it around the sides of the ramekin.

Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the pastry puffs and becomes a golden brown color. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Pappardelle with Porcini Butter Sauce

2010-08-21T20:46:00.000-07:00

The very first time I discovered this classic pasta dish was during a quick lunch in La Spezia Italy on the Ligurian coastline. We were on our way to Borgo Val di Taro (Borgotaro), a big time porcini gathering area, and needed to make a train connection with a 2 hour layover. A small restaurant a few doors down from the station seemed the perfect place to kill the time. As we walked into the pale pink dining room I was hoping the food would be better than the decor, but knew that I was bound to get a decent meal at a traditional trattoria. As is our custom when traveling, we followed our noses to find this little gem of a restaurant and the pasta was a revelation to my palate. A second trip and a second helping were necessary to perfect this recipe, but we didn't see it as a hardship.

Ingredients:
1 pound pappardelle
1/2 cube unsalted butter
1T extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
1/3 pound of fresh porcini mushrooms
1/4C freshly grated parmigiano
fresh Italian parsley (optional)

Directions:

Start a pot of water boiling. After brushing off the porcini to clean it, slice it into very thin slices and set aside. In a saute pan add the butter and olive oil and melt them slowly over a low heat. Peel the garlic cloves and smash slightly with the side of a broad knife. If the water is boiling start the pappardelle cooking. When the butter has melted, add the garlic, increase the heat to medium low, and saute to impart the garlic flavor into the butter. Remove the garlic and add the sliced porcini, stirring constantly until the porcini have released their fluid and are limp. Your aim is to get a custard like mouth feel from the porcini.

Drain the pasta and add to the saute pan, mixing it into the butter sauce. When the liquid from the pasta had reabsorbed into the pasta, add the freshly grated Parimgiano and stir until it incorporates well into the pasta. Plate and serve. You may add freshly chopped parsley for a more colorful presentation.

Salami & Pesto Salad

2010-08-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

Salads make up a good portion of our vegetable intake and I'm always looking for a way to expand the repertoire, so this is my take off on a Cobb Salad, nothing about it is similar, but that was the inspiration regardless. Well, okay, there are meat & greens, I'll give it that.

Ingredients:
1 small red onion
2 medium sized ripe tomatoes
1 large yellow or orange bell pepper
1 head Romaine lettuce
1 stalk celery
3 oz. spicy salami slices
1 T fresh pesto
extra virgin olive oil
red wine vinegar
salt and pepper

Directions:

Slice the onion and tomatoes, then add in the pepper that has been cored and seeded, then chopped. Next, cut the salami slices into thin strips and add those as well, then rough chop the celery and add it along with the salt and pepper to the bowl. Drizzle on the olive oil and toss, add the vinegar and toss again. Rough chop the romaine heart, adding it to the bowl, and toss everything again.

After the salad has been tossed and dressed, add the dollop of fresh pesto and mix thoroughly into the salad. I stopped here, but believe I missed a great opportunity to also add shaved Parmigiano Reggiano to this mix. I'll certainly have to try that next time I make this salad.

Herb Stuffed Game Hen

2010-07-03T23:54:00.000-07:00

When it comes to roasting chicken or game hens, I usually opt for a non-edible stuffing that works to moisten and flavor the bird instead of being eaten as a side dish. We eat enough starches as it is so eliminating breading or rice in this instance seems like a healthier option.

Ingredients:

4 game hens

1 large onion

16 sprigs fresh thyme

12 large sage leaves

12 sprigs of French or English lavender flowers

extra virgin olive oil

rosemary salt

Directions:

Defrost and wash the hens, then pat dry and set aside. Skin and quarter the onion and add a quarter of it into each bird cavity. Wash the herbs and add 4 sprigs of thyme to each hen, then 3 sage leaves to each and 3 lavender sprigs to each. Set the birds on a rack inside a roasting pan and drizzle olive oil on each game hen. Sprinkle the poultry with the rosemary salt (you can make this yourself by pulsing 1 part fresh rosemary to 5 parts salt in a coffee grinder) and rub it into the skin all over the hen. Now roast in a preheated 375 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour, until the skins cook to a crispy golden brown. The onion steams during the roasting and infuses it's flavors into the flesh of the bird. The herbs do the same thing and lavender was a nice change of pace for me.

Cheddar Polenta

2010-06-15T18:49:00.000-07:00

Not much thought went into this recipe. Although I have never eaten cheese grits I'm sure they are similar, and since I had leftover chili, it seemed the perfect accompaniment.

Ingredients:
1C coarse corn meal or polenta
4C water
1/2 cube butter
1C grated cheddar cheese

Directions:

Bring water to a rolling boil in a large pan, then gradually whisk in the polenta until it is thoroughly mixed in. Keep stirring, but if necessary, turn down the heat until the polenta is fully cooked. Take off the stove and mix in the grated cheese and butter. Add salt if you desire and serve.

This was served with all meat chili, but could easily be served with eggs or bacon and eggs or a sauteed vegetable such as spinach or zucchini. I grilled the leftovers and served them with boudin noir and a fried egg for breakfast the next morning.

Ostia Ripiena di Maria Lauriola

2010-06-02T15:36:00.000-07:00

This is a recipe given to me by the sister of a dear friend who shared his family with us on a trip to Monte Sant'Angelo in Puglia. We were amazed at the generosity of this family. Not only did they make dinner for us, but cleared their calendar to give us a tour of the entire peninsula the following day and another dinner. They will forever be in our hearts. Ostia is the Italian work for host, referring to a communion wafer and piena means full while I believe ripiena means filled. The very thin wafers are not sold here, but I found a suitable substitute in a local Mexican market.

Ingredients:
2 pounds whole almonds
300 gr honey
100 gr sugar
cinnamon to taste
flour wafers

Directions:

Heat the almonds and honey until the honey thickens then add the sugar until the sugar melts. Add the cinnamon to taste and take the pot off the heat. Take the ostia and lay on a flat surface, then fill with the almond mixture, place the 2nd ostia on top and flatten with a heavy object like an iron.

Heck, I don't know a gram from a kilogram except that it may be 100th the size, and 28grams are in an ounce, but the math got so confusing, I decided to use about 22 ounces of honey, 2/3 cups of sugar, 1 1/2 pounds of almonds and 1/2t of cinnamon. Since I couldn't judge how thick it had to be, it seemed a good idea to use a candy thermometer and at least get it between soft and hard ball stage. Even though my ancient candy thermometer is a bit untrustworthy, it seems to have worked.

Here is one big caution for anyone trying this recipe, don't get smart and decide to do this on your kitchen counter; bad, bad idea. I lost two that way, but luckily I figured out it wasn't going to work well before more were ruined. Don't scoop too much of the honey either, because when it overflows, even onto Teflon, it will stick and be impossible to lift without breaking the wafers. Luckily some scissor trimming helped me to salvage several of the Ostia Ripiena that had this particular problem.

It came as a big surprise that the wafers started changing shape the minute they were hit with the hot caramel, so I had to work quickly. I tried to get the almonds into one layer fast, then top them with the second wafer, but they were shape shifting the entire time and I only had one iron. Since they needed to be weighted down, Plan B quickly took shape and I grabbed 3 Teflon coated sheet pans, pulled off 2 and threw more wafers on the bottom pan, filled them, topped them with their 2nd wafer and loaded the 2 remaining pans on top.

Looking at the pan of cooked filling, I knew I had to come up with yet another plan, since I was out of sheet pans. That is when I buttered the top pan, layered on the nuts and spread them out. It was going to just be left as is to become almond brittle, but since there were more wafers, I decided to try something. I layered some wafers on top and pressed them down onto the filling that was cooling, stuffed more nuts underneath each of them with a fork, and twisted them around on the sheet pan until I could lift them off. I put the first of them on a plate, topped it with a 2nd wafer and loaded the next one on top of that, then added its 2nd wafer, and continued that process until they were all completed and staying flat under their own weight. They went back in a stack onto the sheet pan and I added a dinner plate to keep them from curling up. The process added more weight to the sheet pans on the first batch and all's well that ends well. The second procedure was actually easier than the first.

Figs & Goat Cheese 2 Ways

2010-05-13T08:02:00.000-07:00

Mediterranean tapas, mezze or appetizers, whatever you wish to call them, are often quick and simple to make. Yes, there are 3 appetizers on the plate, but the title doesn't imply fuzzy math. Only 2 of the hors d'oeuvres contain figs, and only 2 utilize goat cheese. So with few ingredients you can still produce variety.

Ingredients:
fresh figs
thinly sliced prosciutto
2 young zucchini
goat cheese
mint leaves

Directions:
Wash and trim the ends of the zucchini, then slice lengthwise into thin strips. Grill on the stove top in a non stick grill pan with ridges. If you do not have a nonstick pan brush each strip of zucchini with olive oil. Grill until tender then set aside.

Wash the figs, pat dry, trim off the stems, then cut lengthwise. Wrap half of the figs with prosciutto and plate. Set aside the remainder.

Chiffonade the mint and mix with the goat cheese. If the cheese is crumbly, add a small amount of milk or cream to the mix. When it is smooth, place a heaping teaspoon of the cheese on one end of the grilled zucchini (you may also add a mint leaf), and roll setting the zucchini on one end, so you don't need to secure it with a toothpick. Add generous spoonfuls of the cheese mixture to the remaining figs and garnish with a small mint leaf.

Balsamic Glazed Chicken

2010-05-02T17:25:00.000-07:00

This is just another attempt to make a chicken dish seem a bit more than it is. The sweet and sour relish or jam is a nice addition that I usually reserve for pork. The wine sauce made this dish a bit more sophisticated than my normal grilled chicken and added another layer of depth to the overall flavor.

For the Marinade:

1/4C extra virgin olive oil

3T cherry balsamic vinegar

2 large garlic cloves

8 small sage leaves
1t smoked paprika

Directions:

Place the olive oil into the pan you will use for marinading the raw chicken. I prefer a glass pan for marinading. Add the balsamic and paprika.

Finely mince the garlic and sage leaves, then add them to the marinade. Stir all ingredients.

Add the chicken breasts and turn over in the marinade, making certain all the chicken is covered in marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for one or more hours.

For the Fruit/Onion Jam:

1 medium onion

extra virgin olive oil
salt
1/4C dried cherries
3T red currants

1/4C cherry balsamic

Directions:

Pour enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan, add halved and thinly sliced onions and saute with salt until wilted, then add fruit.

Saute the fruit, then slowly add the balsamic and continue stirring until the mixture is fully cooked, when the vinegar has turned the onions to a deep rich color.

Start grilling the chicken while you make the sauce. Place it on a grill pan over a medium heat, and when the juices raise to the top, turn over the breast until it is fully cooked, usually when the juices return again to the top and run clear.

For the Sauce:

2/3 can chicken broth

3/4C dry red wine

1T cracked pepper

2T cherry and red currant onion jam

1T garlic rosemary butter

Directions:

Remove the jam from the pan and deglaze fully with the red wine. Add the balsamic and pepper. Reduce the wine by half.

Heat the chicken broth is a small sauce pan, add the reduced wine and 2T of the jam. Reduce this until it is half the original volume, take off heat and stir in the butter.

Plate the chicken breasts, and either set the jam on top or to the side, then ladle on the sauce.

Red Lentil and Pancetta Soup

2010-04-27T22:31:00.000-07:00

Some Springs are cooler than others and it's still soup time in these parts. Luckily I have a large selection of legumes and grains in my pantry, so soup can be made any time of year when the weather necessitates. This is a hearty soup that can be more porridge like if you use less water.

Ingredients:
1 medium yellow onion
3 oz of thin sliced pancetta
3 large cloves garlic
2C red lentils
water to cover by 1-2"
1t dried thyme
salt to taste
2T extra virgin olive oil
1/2C of wild rice

Directions:

In a large stock pot, add the olive oil and heat over a medium flame, dice the onion and add it to the pot with the thyme. Saute until the onion turns translucent. Rough chop the pancetta and add to the stock pot, saute.

Chop the garlic and continue the sauteing for a minute, then add the rinsed lentils and enough water to cover by 1 to 2 inches. Let simmer in the pot for 5 minutes, taste the broth and salt to taste. I had the dregs of a bag of wild rice to use so I added it since it adds a nice textural contrast when the soup is cooked. More might even be better but the half cup was good enough. Cover the pot and simmer until the lentils have broken down and the rice is cooked.

Asparagus and Prosciutto Risotto

2010-04-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

Having tasty ingredients on hand makes working on a new recipe so easy. I know people have made asparagus risotto before and it sounded fairly bland to me, so adding prosciutto seemed a good idea. Adding a really good balsamic seemed a good idea too, but in reality, it wasn't. So as Nana would say, "Do as I say, and not as I do." and skip the balsamic. Its sweetness just muddles the flavors.

Ingredients:
1 lb arborio rice
2 chicken bouillon cubes
4C water
1 small red onion
16 asparagus spears
1C freshly grated Parmigiano
3T extra virgin olive oil
3oz sliced prosciutto
basil flavored olive oil

Directions:

The very first thing to do is to is to boil the water and bouillon cubes. Once that is accomplished, you can add some olive oil into the risotto pan and saute the diced onions until translucent, then the rice. Trim off the spear heads from the asparagus and dice the stems so you can add them to the rice. Start adding the broth one ladle at a time and stir it into the risotto. Next thing to do is to chop and lightly saute the prosciutto, reserving half for the finished dish.

Add half of the prosciutto with the last ladle of broth and cook until finished. If it is not quite done add extra water until the rice is cooked.

Take the pan off the heat when the rice is al dente and add the grated cheese, then stir in until it melts. Steam the asparagus spears.

You may add some basil oil to taste before or after you plate the risotto. After plating add the reserved prosciutto and asparagus spears.

This dish is worthy of serving to company as a main course or as the first course of a holiday meal. I'm really glad I attempted making it and it has inspired me to do my own take on other traditional risotti recipes.

Figs with Minted Goat Cheese

2010-03-23T08:10:00.000-07:00

One of the first fruit trees planted in the garden was a Brown Turkish fig, given to me by my dear neighbor, Mrs. Rosa Hight, who was happy to reduce her volunteer population. The leaves are beautiful and I enjoy using them on cheese plates, but I can't manage to ever get a ripe fig from it. That makes the first ripe figs of the season very important to me, at least I get to taste a few.

This recipe is very simple and I put it together after looking at a British cookbook by Jennifer Joyce called Small Plates. She had mixed goat cheese with a full mint leaf. The figs must be fully ripe and sweet for this to taste really good. I decided to chop the mint into the goat cheese and add a bit of milk to thin the texture and make it a bit softer. Instead of spooning the cheese on, the next time I make these I'll be thinning out the cheese a bit more and piping it onto the figs.

Goat Cheese, Meat and Chard Lasagne

2010-03-10T19:19:00.000-08:00

After making meatballs one afternoon I decided to hold some of the meat mixture for another purpose. Then I had to come up with the purpose, so looking to see what else needed to be used soon, lasagne popped into my head. I really love lasagne but don't get much of it, so I had high expectations with this project. Next time I will eliminate the goat cheese and use another milder cow milk cheese. Switching out the chard for spinach or zucchini might work well too. This was not my best effort, but decent enough to add here to inspire a better one next time.

Ingredients:
1 box lasagne sheets
1 carton ricotta cheese
1 eggs
1/3C chopped flat leaf parsley
2C freshly grated Romano cheese
1C prepared spaghetti sauce
1C ground beef mixed with Romano, garlic, and breadcrumbs
1 bunch Swiss chard, small stemmed or leaves w/o stems

Directions:

First step is to preheat the oven to 350 degrees and mix the ingredients for the ricotta filling; eggs, ricotta, chopped parsley, and 1/2 of the Romano cheese. Mix them thoroughly and set aside while you boil water for the lasagne. Cook the strips to an al dente and drain.

In an ovenproof pan, spread some of the tomato sauce on the bottom and layer it with one layer of the lasagne sheets. Next, place a thin layer of the ricotta/parsley mixture over the sheets of pasta. Then add another layer of the pasta onto the parsley ricotta filling.

After layering more sauce over the pasta, add a layer of the meat. I merely made these into a ball shape than flattened them for a thin layer of meat. Cover with your next layer of pasta and more sauce, then add the blanched chard and put the goat cheese on top of them.

Continue layering with what ever ingredients you have left over, in this case I added more meat. More lasagne sheets go over the top and more ricotta on top of those. The last layer should be pasta and sauce. The more sauce the more cooked the pasta will be and since the pasta sheets were al dente they could use a good portion of tomato sauce.

Finally add the remaining Romano cheese. This should in essence go on all layers of the tomato sauce, but these photos indicate that I failed to do that during the layering of this lasagne. Bake the lasagne until it is hot throughout, 30-40 minutes. You may wish to place a foil tent on top so the cheese does not burn and pull it off during the last 5 minutes.

Spinach Fettuccine

2010-02-25T19:00:00.000-08:00

After making Lasagne Verdi Bolognese, I was in possession of some spinach pasta that was wrapped in Saran and left in the refrigerator for a few days, along with about a cup of Bolognese sauce. It seemed like a good idea to use these immediately, so I worked out a plan.

Ingredients:
Leftover spinach pasta
Leftover Bolognese sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
Freshly grated Romano cheese

Directions:

Take the pasta and let it come to room temperature, roll out to about 1/8" thickness and cut into fettuccine width. I was finally able to use the wooden pasta cutter I had purchased in Italy, so this project was quite fun. Without this tool I would have brushed a generous amount of flour on both sides of the pasta and rolled both ends towards the middle, then sliced it with a knife, placed the knife or a chopstick under the middle and unfurled the pasta.

Since I did have the tool, I only had to place the cut pasta in some flour to coat it, so it wouldn't stick to itself. Since the sauce wasn't enough to cover the pasta, I minced the canned tomatoes and added them to the Bolognese sauce. They were heated together in a small sauce pan over a low flame until they had simmered enough to heat thoroughly.

Shaking off the loose flour, I placed the pasta into boiling water and waited for it all to float to the top. Afterwards I tested it and when it was cooked to my liking, I drained off the water. This pasta is really good "al dente", which gives it a chewiness that was really appealing.

The pasta looked so good, I could have eaten it with just a bit of butter and cheese, but I already had prepared the Bolognese, so on it went. You can see by the color that the color of the Bolognese changed dramatically with the addition of the tomatoes. I may have to adjust my Bolognese recipe to include chopped tomatoes, because this sauce has great eye appeal.

Minted Goat Cheese

2010-02-01T08:18:00.000-08:00

This recipe was put together during an unusually prolific period of trying new appetizers. I originally made it to go over fresh figs and then to use inside a grilled strip of zucchini rolled around the cheese with a sprig of mint added as a garnish. It was tweaked several times before becoming what it is at this time.

Ingredients:
4 oz mild goat cheese
4 oz mascarpone
10 large spearmint leaves
Half & Half

Directions:
The cheese spread id straight forward, just allow the cheeses to come to room temperature and mix together, adding a bit of half and half to get it to a spreading consistency or less to smooth out the texture if you're going to scoop it into phyllo cups as I did in the photos below. Once the consistency is the way you want it, add the finely chopped mint.

In the two photos above it was taken from the bowl with a small ice cream scoop and placed into phyllo cups where I added small sprigs of mint and then drizzled honey over the top.

For a different, spicier treatment I decided to experiment with a jalapeno jam that I had on hand. This too worked well in terms of flavor, but I think a red pepper jam or even a Mae Ploy sauce would taste as good, since it brings heat to the table, and furthermore it would look wonderful during the holidays.

Goat Cheese Napoleon

2010-01-30T08:07:00.000-08:00

I have such great fun repurposing leftovers, so they are nothing like what their components were when originally used. This sweet yet savory napoleon is a good example of that. The idea for this particular cheese mixture of minted goat cheese came from the one that originally topped fresh figs. But since I had puff pastry in the house I decided to try something different with the cheese. Although good, I think I can tweak this recipe into being something even better.

Ingredients:
1 package frozen puff pastry squares
4 oz. goat cheese
4 oz mascarpone
fresh mint
honey

Directions:

First thing to do is to bake the puff pastry according to package directions. This is easier said than done when you buy yours from a Middle Eastern market where the packages have no directions. I decided to go for a safe 375 degrees and that worked well. Halfway through the baking, when the pastry is starting to rise, place another baking pan on top to stop the dough from rising to much. On this particular baking, I waited too long and as you can see from the 2nd photo above, the pastry started flaking when I spread the cheese on top. Chop up some mint and add it to the softened goat cheese and mascarpone for the spread. I added the mascarpone to give a creamier texter and more buttery taste to the cheese spread.

After spreading on the goat cheese, generously drizzle on the honey, add another layer of the pastry, then spread on the cheese mixture and drizzle more honey, then cap with a final layer of baked puff pastry. In the photos you can see that I did the entire process using square dough, thereby forcing myself to cut the final product into individual portions. Do yourself a favor and cut the dough into portion size pieces before you bake it. That's the way I'm going to do this next time and I may also add sugar to the minted cheese. The recipe is savory, but I think the added sweetness will enhance the cheese taste without making this a sweet dessert. All in all it was a good way to use up the leftover minted goat cheese.

Smoky Rub for Pork

2010-01-06T08:49:00.000-08:00

I came up with this recipe when I tried roasting pork tenderloin for the first time. I wanted to do something that would work as a nice counterpoint to the sweet balsamic onion relish that I would be serving with it.

Ingredients:

2t garlic powder
1t smoked paprika
1t garam masala
1t ground cumin
1T extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Mix all ingredients into a paste and rub on pork tenderloin or center cut pork chop, roast or grill and you're done. This rub may be applied just before grilling the pork chop, but for the pork tenderloin, I suggest letting it sit for one hour, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.

This center cut pork chop is sitting in a fruit sauce made with cherries and enhanced for this particular use with hot curry powder that I made from 1 part ground cumin, 1 part hot red pepper powder, and one part ground tumeric.

Saffron Artichoke Risotto

2009-12-29T22:48:00.000-08:00

As the owner of at least 6 books devoted entirely to the subject of risotto, I know there are many recipes, but this was developed when only pecorino cheese was available.

Ingredients:
2 cups arborio rice
8 cups chicken stock
1 cup dry white wine
1 medium yellow onion
12 small fresh artichokes
1 large pinch of saffron threads
3T extra virgin olive oil
1 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
1 half lemon

Cooking Directions:
Peel the artichoke tough outer leaves until the flesh looks yellow green in color and the resistance is weaker than when you started peeling. Cut off the top 3rd and cut lengthwise, soak in acidulated water.

Heat olive oil in a 6 quart nonreactive saute pan over a medium-high flame.

Add finely chopped onion and when the onion is translucent, add the rice, saute, add the saffron, stir, then when the rice looks opaque lower the heat to medium, add thinly sliced artichoke hearts, stir, then add the wine.
After the wine has cooked down, start ladling in the chicken broth one cup at a time until it is completely used or until the risotto is cooked al dente.
Take off heat, add the Pecorino Romano, stir until melted, plate and serve after letting it rest for 5 minutes.

Blackberry Apricot Napoleon

2009-12-15T09:12:00.000-08:00

Yes, you caught me. I've done this recipe before, but in fairness it was made with a commercial red currant jam and this is made with homemade apricot preserves. Besides, how many original recipes can a girl come up with on short notice?

Ingredients:
frozen puff pastry
apricot preserves
extra heavy whipping cream
blackberries

Directions:

Many commercially made packages of frozen puff pastry com in 6" X 6" squares, so cut each in half , place on a baking sheet and bake according to package directions. After they are halfway baked, before they turn color but after they have puffed up, lay a 2nd sheet pan on top of them to keep the pastry flattened. Remove the sheet pan after a few minutes and allow the pastry to brown. Cool down the pastry and plate the first layer, then add a layer of preserves.

Add a layer of berries, then whip the cream and use vanilla if you choose, but no sugar. I don't bother with either for this dessert. Top the fresh berries with a generous amount of the whipped cream and add another layer of pastry, preserves and berries.

Finally you need to top the berries with more cream, another layer of pastry and more apricot preserves. But for this final layer, place the cream on the preserves and make the berries your final layer.

Reinventing the Wheel - Ceasar Salad Dressing

2009-10-01T20:48:00.000-07:00

Every time we want Cesar salad at our home I log on to the Internet and go searching for the "original Cesar Salad Dressing" and have never found the same recipe twice. Tonight I finally caved in and made up my own recipe using traditional ingredients. I like a thick dressing and accidentally discovered the secret to making one.

Ingredients:
1C extra virgin olive oil
2 extra large egg yolks
2T lemon juice
1t Worcestershire sauce
1t flaked salt
2t Dijon mustard
4 cloves garlic
1 small tin anchovies
1C finely grated parmigiano
cracked pepper to taste

Directions:

Every time I've followed a published recipe all the ingredients get processed together and the dressing is less thick than I would prefer. This time I started with just the egg yolk and oil and whipped it up in the food processor until it became very thick and creamy. Remove the mixture from the processor and set aside. Then add the lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, salt, chopped garlic and half of the anchovies drained and chopped into the processor. Process these until smooth, then fold in the other mixture, add the parmigiano and stir until you have incorporated all the ingredients. Chop the other anchovies and fold in, then toss onto chopped Romaine lettuce, sprinkle with course ground or cracked black peppercorns and mix.

Chinese Tacos

2009-09-08T23:54:00.000-07:00

Neither Chinese nor tacos, this recipe was inspired by Chinese stir fry and many of the vegetables and condiments common to that style of cooking. Frozen onion pancakes sub for a tortilla, as a vehicle for getting the vegetables into one's mouth sans fork. It's my only vegan recipe and that was quite by accident. Quick to prepare, this makes for a satisfying snack or a small meal.

Ingredients:
1 small yellow onion
1/2C bean sprouts
1/2C snow peas
1/2C shitaki mushroom caps
1/2C oyster mushrooms
2T toasted sesame oil
1T olive or canola oil
1T black bean sauce
1 package frozen onion pancakes
3 green onions
cilantro
hoisin sauce

Directions:
Slice the onion lengthwise, roughly chop the beansprouts, diagonally cut the snow peas, and thinly slice the mushrooms. In a wok or chef's saute pan heat the sesame oil and stir fry these 3 ingredients adding them one at a time in the order in which they are given (onions take longer to cook). If there is not enough oil, add the canola or olive oil at this time. As they start to soften, add the black bean sauce and stir to incorporate.

Thinly slice the green onion and rough chop the cilantro, then set them aside. Place an onion pancake into a frying pan on medium high heat and cook on both sides, flipping it over, until both sides are crispy and brown. When done either set aside in the oven on a very low temperature to accumulate a few, or start making the tacos by spreading a small amount of hoisin sauce on one half of a pancake, then layering in the sauteed filling and topping with a garnish of green onions and cilantro. Fold in half and eat with your hands.

Pork & Potato Green Curry

2009-09-01T17:52:00.000-07:00

Trying to cook dinner for a Vegan friend was a challenge, but I adapted this recipe by cooking the pork separately and adding it to the curry after plating the portion that would work for my friend, namely the vegetable portion. In this particular try the potatoes were overcooked, so my timing was a bit off, as are the photographs. The taste was still good while the texture suffered.

Ingredients:

1 small pork loin(8-12 oz)

1 medium yellow onion

4 small to medium Yukon Gold potatoes

1C petite green beans

2T green curry paste

1 can lite coconut milk

3T olive oil (sub whatever you like)

1/2C chopped basil

Directions:

Thickly slice the onion and saute 1/3 of it in 2T of the oil over a medium heat until barely translucent, then add the sliced pork loin and saute until cooked through. Omit this step for a vegan or vegetarian dish. Set aside and start sauteing the vegetables in a clean pan.

Saute the remaining onion in the remaining 1T of oil, then add the green beans, saute a bit more and add the potatoes. After a few minutes, add the coconut milk. The white clumps in the photo are the fat solids from the coconut milk, and they melted into the curry without a hitch. Add the green chili paste and if 2T aren't hot enough adjust the amount. Cover the pan for 5 minutes and turn the heat down to simmer. Test the texture of the potatoes and when they have cooked, add the chopped basil. I served this with white polenta that had been cooked with green onions, toasted sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds, but jasmine rice or basmati would work just as well. The polenta recipe is located in the appetizer recipe for polenta cup construction.

Pesto Pinwheels

2009-08-30T08:51:00.000-07:00

You discover a box of frozen puff pastry in your freezer that needs to be used (the exact reason not having been established) and dessert is already planned, what do you do? Make a quick appetizer with pesto. Luckily when I make pesto from scratch, I most often freeze a few jars with the leftovers so it is most always available. A commercial brand of pesto would not be as flavorful.

Ingredients:
fresh homemade basil pesto
grated Romano cheese
puff pastry

Directions:

Thaw the puff pastry and set your oven to 375 degrees. Spread the pesto over the pastry, leaving a small border so you can seal the pastry to itself, and so the pesto will not fall out of the roll you are about to make. Add a generous amount of grated Romano cheese (twice what is in the photo) and tightly roll the pastry into a tube, sealing the end by pinching the end onto the roll. Slice the pastry roll into pieces that are a little less than an inch wide and place each disk on its side upon a baking sheet that has been layered with parchment paper (or buttered). Bake until puffed and lightly browned.

The Apricot Almond "Darty"

2009-08-22T07:43:00.000-07:00

Many new recipes are developed by adapting a tried and true recipe into something better by using different ingredients. That is how this one was created. I used Nana's walnut date bar as a starting point and switched out the dates and walnuts for toasted almonds and apricots.
Ingredients:

4 eggs
2C sugar
1 1/2C flour
1t baking powder
1/2t salt
1T almond extract
1C chopped dried Turkish apricots
1C chopped dried Blenheim apricots
2C slivered toasted almonds

Directions:

Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt, then set aside. Beat eggs and gradually add in the sugar, then the almond extract, until you have a light fluffy mixture. Add in the apricots, mixing slowly. Continue mixing while adding small amounts of the flour mixture until it is all completely incorporated.

Toast the almonds on a sheet pan in the oven at 400 degrees fro about 5 minutes, let cool and add them into the batter by hand, so as not to break them into smaller pieces. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Prepare a jellyroll pan by placing a liner of parchment paper into it, then place your batter down the middle of the pan and spread it evenly to all 4 corners of the pan. This is a very sticky batter, so you'll need to put some muscle into it! Grease another sheet of parchment paper with butter and place it on top of the batter before placing it into the oven. I can then smooth and even out the batter by running my hands over the top sheet of parchment paper. This keeps the top from becoming hard, so it can hold the powdered sugar better. Bake the batter for 30 minutes and test to see if it is done by putting a toothpick into the center. If it comes out wet you need to cook it longer. I often turn up the heat to 350 degrees if it is not cooked at that point and bake another 10 minutes. After you take the sheet pan out of the oven, remove the top layer of parchment paper and let the cookies cool a bit before cutting them into bars. Cut them into squares. While still warm, roll them in powdered sugar.

This becomes a very chewy and rich cookie that I used, combined with a lavender shortbread for a friend's wedding. After placing the cookie in the center of a piece of cellophane, I lowered it into a 2 1/4" X 2 1/4" favor box, placed the chocolate covered shortbread on top, then wrapped with netting and ribbon that worked with the bride's color scheme. The reason these cookies came about at all was that the shortbread looked small for the box. Adding the Darty did the trick in filling up the box. I measured the bars before cutting to 2" so they would not be too large for the boxes and the cellophane aided in keeping both cookies from shifting around.