Seafood Pappardelle

08-31-14-papardelle

I'm not sure where to start, tonight. Should I start with the light-as-air homemade pappardelle pasta? Or should I sing praises to the sauce of fresh tomatoes, crab, and Alaskan cod? Or... since they were mixed together, just speak of one of the best meals I've had in ages?!?

I think I'll go with all of the above.

Let's face it. Victor makes some of the best pasta this side of Italy. Years ago, he bought me a pasta roller - and I've never used it. He somehow managed to side-step me right out of the way when it comes to making fresh pasta. A side-step I am eternally grateful for, I might add. He just makes damned good pasta.

Pasta making, like any sort of bread or dough-making, requires the right touch and feel. Regardless of what a recipe states, experience teaches you what a proper dough should feel like - how silken, how soft or firm... you just know when it's right. Victor has it down.

The perfect example is the pappardelle he made today. It was based on a recipe by Michael Chiarello - formerly of Tra Vigne in Napa - a favorite restaurant of mine back in the day. Michael's recipe was just too wet with 6 eggs and 4 teaspoons of olive oil for less than 3 cups of flour. Victor worked the dough, adding more flour until it was the perfect silken mass. A novice would have followed the recipe exactly as written and ended up with a mess.

That's pretty much why I have a hard time writing recipes. They really should be general guidelines and not something that needs a degree in Chemistry to follow. There are just too many variables - the type of flour, the moisture content, the weather...

But the master was at hand and the pasta came out perfect.

Just pay attention when you make it and have some extra flour on hand in case you need it.

Pappardelle Pasta

adapted from Michael Chiarello

  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • 1 cup semolina flour, plus more for dusting
  • 6 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • Salt

Make the dough.

Sift both flours together on a large work surface and make a well in the center. Place the eggs, olive oil and a pinch of salt in a bowl, then pour into the well. With a fork, break up the eggs, then gradually mix the wet ingredients into the flour mixture just until combined.

Knead by hand.

Gather the dough into 2 equal-size balls; flour the surface. Push each piece of dough away from you with the heel of your hand, fold the dough over itself and turn it counterclockwise. Continue pushing, folding and turning until the dough is smooth and elastic, 4 to 5 minutes.

Rest the dough.

Pat each piece into a ball. Flatten slightly, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

Roll out the dough.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and dust with flour. Starting in the middle, push away from you with a rolling pin, easing up on the pressure as you approach the edge. Continue rolling the dough into a sheet, turning occasionally, until you can see your fingers through the bottom. You want it thinthinthin. Let dry about 10 minutes.

Cut the pappardelle.

Dust the top of the sheet of dough with flour and loosely roll it into a cylinder. Using a sharp knife, cut into 3/4-inch-wide slices. Unwrap the noodles; dust with semolina and gently toss to separate. Place on a sheet pan and cover with a tea towel until ready to cook (or freeze in freezer bags for up to 2 months).

It seems like work but it's actually pretty easy - and even easier if you have a pasta roller. (Mine is named Victor!)

And then we have the sauce...

Crab and Cod Sauce

  • Fresh Tomatoes
  • White Wine
  • Tomato Paste
  • Crab Meat
  • Alaskan Cod
  • Olive Oil

Victor went out and picked tomatoes out of the yard - maybe two pounds of yellow and plum tomatoes. He chopped them up fairly well, added a sprinkling of salt and pepper, chopped basil and two finely minced garlic cloves and a drizzle of olive oil and let them sit a spell.

In a large, deep saucepan with about 4 tablespoons of olive oil, saute the tomatoes until they begin to soften and release more juices. Add a half cup of white wine. Once it's back to a simmer add three or four tablespoons of tomato paste and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer for about five minutes.

Take some good Alaskan Cod (we had about 3/4 of a pound) and cut it up into about one inch cubes along with about a pound of lump crab meat and place it in the simmering tomato sauce until the cod is just cooked - about 5 more minutes. Pull it off the heat while the pasta is cooking then reheat. Cook the pasta until al dente, drain and add to the tomato/fish sauce for one minute to absorb the flavors.

The final result was fabulous. Nonna had two helpings - something she never does! I went back for seconds, m'self, figuring I'm really not going to start my new eating regime until Tuesday when I start back to work.

It really was superb!

 


Salads and Stuff

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Once upon a time, we ate dinner-sized salads all the time. Lots of fresh greens and veggies, a bit of something grilled, and a simple dressing. Basic, colorful, fun, and filling. And reasonably nutritious.

When we moved Nonna in with us, our eating habits changed quite a bit. Because of her medications and such, we became much more meal-time-regimented and started catering more to her limited likes. The once over-the-top-whatever-is-in-the-fridge meals became more structured to meet her growing list of foods she no longer cares for.

As opinionated and pigheaded as I am, I can also take the path of least resistance - and that's pretty much what I've done with cooking.  Nonna doesn't really care for salads all that much anymore and it's easier to cook one meal for three than to make us something and something different for her. The downside is that I just got back from my annual physical and - surprise, surprise - my weight is no longer just creeping up - it's on an upward spiral.

I maintained a pretty constant and healthy weight for many years - and then quit smoking. I gained a lot of weight, lost half of what I gained, started smoking, again, quit, gained a lot of weight, again, and lost about half, again.  I never made it back to that pre-1989 weight, but I felt okay and bought some larger clothes.

But the last couple of years have seen even more pounds go on. The good news is all of my blood work is okay, but a couple of things could be a tad better.  So... I need to lose some weight.

It's easy to blame the change in diet and weight gain to Nonna moving in, but... that's not really being fair to her. Yes, our eating habits have changed, but we're still eating well. I'm just eating too much.

Losing weight when one loves to cook and eat, when one can walk into the kitchen and bake a pie or cake without opening a cook book or looking at a recipe, is no easy task. And it really doesn't even matter how healthy the food is if the portion-size could fed the neighborhood. A person can eat 3000 calories of lettuce and if they only burn 2000 calories, that extra 1000 calories of lettuce will turn to fat.

So...

It's time to start rethinking mealtimes and nourishment. I need to start paying attention to what I eat. Two things I need to address right away is the amount of picking I do at work, and the bowl of M&M Peanuts on the coffee table. And I need to start weighing myself regularly and track what I'm doing.

Bringing my meals to work will be a good start because I really do think regulating that 8-hour period is going to be crucial. And just getting rid of the M&M's will be a positive step, as well.

We're starting off at 228. Onward and downward, we go!

Next weigh-in will be Monday, September 8th.


Bahamian Rum Cake

Mom would have loved this cake!

While I was putting it together, I kept thinking of her making cakes, poking holes in them, pouring syrupy goodness over them... she had a lot of fun in the kitchen baking cakes and making desserts. It's obvious, considering her "Dessert" cook book is twice as thick as her cook book for everything else!

She baked a lot of cakes in her time and one memory will always be the missing little tiny corner of the 9x13 cakes. She had a habit if nicking a teensy corner - about a half-inch square - of the cake for herself. She would have killed one of us for doing it - but... she baked it!

I'm more of a batter-eater/beater-licker, m'self. And I don't usually go for teeny corners. I go large.

And large I went, today!

I just got a copy of David Lebovitz' book "Ready for Dessert." I am always ready for dessert, so I had to get it. David worked at Chez Panisse in Berkeley and has become my go-to for great baking ideas. I love that his recipes are good - not fussy. He uses real ingredients that most people have access to and explains what he does while also explaining that it's what he did - you can actually change things and it's okay.

I saw this particular cake and immediately thought of a Tortuga Rum Cake I made right after we got back from the Cayman Islands. That was one sad cake compared to this one. But then, that's why he baked at Chez Panisse and I baked on an aircraft carrier.

But even an old salt like myself couldn't screw up this perfect recipe.

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There's a goodly amount of sugar in this but it never comes off as cloyingly sweet. Perfect crumb and a perfect sweet balance.

This is a three-part recipe. The 2nd and 3rd parts - both syrups - can be accomplished while the cake is baking

Bahamian Rum Cake

adapted from  Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz

The Cake:

  • 3 cups flour, sifted
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
  • 1 cup butter, room temperature
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 eggs, room temperature
  • 2 egg yolks, room temperature
  • 1 tbsp vanilla
  • 3/4 cup good-quality canned coconut milk

Preheat your oven to 350°.  Butter a 10-cup bundt pan and dust it with flour, tapping out the excess.  Set aside.

n a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg.  Set aside.

In the bowl of your stand-mixer, beat together the butter and sugars, slowly increasing the speed to medium – allowing the batter to become light and fluffy (approximately 5 minutes).

In a small bowl, beat together the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla.  Slowly drizzle the mixture into the creamed butter, scraping the sides as needed.  Once the eggs are completely incorporated, gently stir-in one-third of the flour mixture, then about half of the coconut milk.

Mix in another third of the flour mixture, the rest of the coconut milk, and the remaining third of the flour; until just combined.

Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake about 55 minutes or until cake is set.

While the cake is baking, make the coconut rum syrup.

Coconut Rum Syrup

  • 3/4 cup coconut milk - the rest of the can you used for the cake
  • 6 tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 cup dark rum - like Meyers

In a medium sauce-pan , warm the remainder of the coconut milk, and the sugar , stirring until the sugar dissolves.   Remove the syrup from heat and add the dark rum.  Mix well and set aside until the cake comes out of the oven.

When the cake comes out of the oven - while hot - poke about 60 holes in it with a skewer. Slowly spoon about 2/3 of the syrup over the cake, letting it soak in. Cool completely in the pan.

When cool, invert onto a cake plate and brush with the remaining coconut syrup and then cover with the coconut glaze.

Coconut Glaze

  • 4 tbsp butter, cut into pieces
  • 6 tbsp heavy cream
  • 6 tbsp brown sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 tbsp dark rum
  • 1/2 cup sweetened coconut, toasted

Toast the coconut flakes either in the oven or in a small skillet on the stove.

Combine the butter, cream, salt and sugar together in a small saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil.  Stir the mixture to dissolve the sugar.  Remove from the heat, whisk in the rum and toasted coconut.

Spoon the glaze over the top of the cake, letting it run down the sides.

This was one awesome cake!

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I'm thinking it will make a great breakfast cake, too. I know mom would approve.


Mutiny on the Bounty

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Our vision of a bountiful tomato and pepper harvest have come to naught. Timing and Mother Nature have conspired against us, this year - pitiful pickin's, indeed.

We (as in Victor) planted 7 tomato plants and 8 pepper plants the day after we returned from Sicily. The plan was to can peppers and tomato sauce to give out as Christmas gifts. We were seriously looking at the possibility of so much stuff coming ripe that along with all the jars, I bought extra lids and rings to make sure we could reuse as quickly as we emptied. Instead, we're looking to call Willie Nelson for a Farm Aid concert. There's hope that one of the plum tomato plants will still produce a bit, but if we make the sauce this year, it's going to be from canned tomatoes.

Actually, we will be making sauce at some point within the next few weeks. Whether from canned tomatoes or fresh from our yard, homemade sauce is infinitely better than the supermarket stuff, and we're going through more and more of it with Nonna's dwindling food likes. It also is easier to store. The freezer is pretty finite. We have lots of room downstairs.

Most of the folks we've spoken with are having tomato issues this year, so we're thinking it's more than just getting them into the ground 2 weeks later than usual. The weather hasn't been nearly as hot - although it hasn't been as muggy, either - which should have made them happy. It's a conundrum, indeed.

Seven tomato plants... I had hopes of making a yellow tomato sauce this year, just for something completely different. Yep. Big plans foiled by the fickle finger of fate.

And now for something completely different.

Maybe another year.

Fortunately, we have some other projects going on that don't require Mother Nature's outdoor cooperation, so the Christmas stockings shan't be completely empty but I'm going to miss my hot peppers in February. And yellow tomato sauce.

Next year.

 


Baked Stuffed Tomatoes

08-11-14-stuffed-tomatoes

Back in another lifetime - when we lived in San Francisco - our weekends were quite different than today. We were both Monday-Friday employees and Saturdays were spent doing chores and watching the food shows on KQED. My parents would always stop by at some point in the day and we'd stop whatever we were doing, consume a pot of coffee, and in 30 minutes they'd be on their way. The perfect parental visit.

The cooking shows would be on and depending upon the show - there were quite a few that started early in the morning and ran all day ending at 4pm with Lidia - my mother and I would often yeah or nay their recipes and rework them to suit our vastly-superior culinary skills.  Mom had pretty much stopped cooking by then, but she still had strong opinions. (Gee... I wonder where I get that from?!?)

Two people we never criticized, however, were Julia Child and Lidia Bastianich.

I've always been a fan of Lidia and her style of cooking. Taking a few really good ingredients and putting them together - letting the ingredients speak for themselves - is a perfect approach to cooking and eating. It's pretty much how I learned to cook - before the hotels I worked in decided to complicate things in the '70s and early '80s.

My professional cooking days ended years ago and once freed of the professional kitchen, the amateur cook could take off. Cooking became a joy - not a chore. Food became fun - not 1800 salads that all looked exactly the same. After a while, it even became fun to go out to really nice restaurants, again. On one trip to New York shortly after moving east, we had dinner at her flagship restaurant Felidia. It was fabulous.

But even though I love the concept of someone cooking dinner for me and doing the dishes and all that, I'd much rather eat at home, today. I really dislike the pretentiousness involved in dining out. I'm much more the neighborhood trattoria kinda guy - which is why this recipe struck such a cord.

Back here, we watch cooking shows on Sunday. Or, rather, Victor watches them while I'm doing a website or something. Every now and again he calls me into the living room to see something - like the stuffed tomato from Lidia's show yesterday.

We both started drooling and I knew immediately that it was going to be dinner tonight.

The concept is beautiful - a tomato that has been hollowed out, stuffed with a bread stuffing and baked. When it's about half-done, an egg is cracked into it and it goes back into the oven under a blanket of cheese. How could it be wrong?

Lidia called it a brunch or lunch dish, but since we were having them for dinner, I added a bed of pasta. The pasta was totally unnecessary.

Baked Stuffed Tomatoes

  • 1 large tomato per person
  • about 3/4 cup dressing per tomato - a simple bread dressing of your choice will work
  • Shredded granna padano cheese
  • 1 egg, per person per tomato

Preheat oven to 375°. Hollow out tomatoes leaving a thick shell. Place seeds and pulp into a mesh strainer and work to yield as much juice as possible.

Butter a baking dish adequate for the amount of tomatoes. Stuff each tomato with your prepared stuffing, making an indentation where an egg will fit. Pour reserved juice into pan.

Cover pan and bake about 20 minutes.

Uncover pan and crack an egg into each tomato. Top with shredded cheese and return to the oven and bake until the whites are set but the yolks still a bit runny - about 12 or so minutes.

Serve with a bit of the baking juices.

These totally rocked. Alas, Nonna wasn't overly impressed - even though I made hers without the egg.

Oh well. We liked it - and I'm sure we will be making them, again.


It's quick and it's easy...

quick-easyLots of recipes for dinner in 30 minutes or less, along with quick hors d'oeuvres, salads, soups, and desserts.

Click the Recipe link for a complete list or use the search button to find a specific ingredient!


Chocolate from Modica

08-05-14-modica-chocolate

Okay... It's 10:50am and I just did something I never do at this time of day. I went into the kitchen and cut myself a piece of cake.

I had to. Really.

Last night I made a simple yellow cake and then made a chocolate frosting. The cake is my go-to yellow from Better Homes and Gardens. Been making it for years. The icing?!? Chocolate-with-a-twist.

I opened the cupboard to get down the cocoa powder when I saw the little chocolate discs we brought back from Sicily.  An icing was born.

An O.M.G. Icing!

Yeah... this one may just be the best one I've ever made. Ridiculously good.

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Rich and creamy and just screaming with intense chocolate flavor. It's flippin' awesome.

I creamed 1 stick of butter with about 5 cups of powdered sugar. I added 2 tbsp vanilla and 125 grams - a tad less than 4 1/2 ounces - melted 100% Modica chocolate. I then drizzled in maybe a quarter-cup of heavy cream to thin.

Total awesomeness.

The cake itself is no-fail and holds up to layer-splitting and any number of fillings or frostings. Today, it's the perfect vehicle for getting that frosting into my mouth.

Yellow Cake

  • 3 cups cake flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup butter, room temperature
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 5 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter and flour two 8″ pans.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Place butter in mixer bowl. Beat for 3 minutes until the butter is light and creamy.

Add the sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition, scraping the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well before adding the next.

Add vanilla. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk. Mix just until blended.

Spoon the batter into pans. Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I know I rant and rave about the quality of foods here in the USofA all the time. We have a few really good things, but damn - the small manufacturers in Europe do such a better job of making quality foods. While we're so focused on market share and mass-production and how to make something even cheaper, they're slugging along making food that sings quality and perfection. Modica chocolate is a perfect example. Made in small batches by small companies and unsurpassed in excellence.

Search out some Chocolate of Modica, if you can. It's worth it.