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Gnocchi di Ricotta con Salsiccia e Finocchi (Ricotta Gnocchi with Sausage and Fennel)

Published December 17, 2008 Italian , Pasta , Pork , Recipe Leave a Comment
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Ricotta Gnocchi

As previously mentioned, Angela and I have been in the processing of moving for the last month.  In the beginning of November, we packed up (or more precisely had movers pack up) our apartment in Long Beach, CA.  Two days later we flew to Washington Dulles and made our way to Alexandria, VA late at night, dropping off our cats with my parents on the way.

In the course of waiting for our household goods to arrive and looking for a new place, we were staying in a hotel.  While hotels are wonderful places to stay when you’re on vacation, they’re far from ideal as a residence.  I intentionally had picked a hotel that claimed it had a full kitchen.  Apparently, a full kitchen means a refrigerator, dishwasher, two electric burners, awful pots, and no oven.  My best laid plans of regularly cooking dinner there were quickly dashed if only because the pots (there was nothing that would qualify as a pan) were beyond awful.  But we did manage to eat in part of the time. And that’s one of the major reasons for lack of posts here. There simply wasn’t anything to post about (as well as some other logistical problems; I had my camera but didn’t have the computer I need to edit photos).

Toasted Fennel Seeds in a Mortar & Pestle

But that part of our moving ordeal (and what move isn’t an ordeal?) is over.  We have moved into our very own (rented) townhouse in Old Town Alexandria.  We have our cats who are still terrified and huddling in the basement.  We no longer have a dish washer.  The kitchen is tiny but I’ve appropriated the sun room for storage and a prep area.  My parents hated our old couch  that they bought us a new one.  We’ve spent more at Ikea that I’d like to admit and we still need to make another trip there.  We have our Christmas tree up.  While it may not be quite there yet, it’s slowly turning into home.

And last night, we had our first dinner guest.  My cousin Alison drove down from D.C.  Because she’s family, I had no issue with using her as a guinea pig for a new recipe.  I had purchased some ricotta at the Alexandria Farmer’s Market that I needed to use. I originally thought of ravioli but I didn’t quite have that much time on a weekday (I’m not quite set in my work schedule yet). Instead, I decided on ricotta gnocchi. I had some time to stop at a grocery store so I decided to make the full ricotta gnocchi with the suggested sauce and all.

The ricotta gnocchi were very easy to make.  Much easier than pasta or potato gnocchi.  The sauce wasn’t difficult (it’s mainly chopping) but I had problems with the Italian sausage not producing enough fat so I kept having to add olive oil.  There also wasn’t much liquid in my tomato sauce so I had to add water to the overall sauce so that the sauce could actually simmer.  This does produce a lot of sauce relative to the amount of gnocchi.  It’s almost a more Italian-American ratio than Italian but you can choose to eat as much or as little of the sauce as you choose.

If you examine the pictures, I’m pretty sure you can tell Alison’s opinion of the meal.  I heartily concur.  Alison was going to look for them at the store but they’re easy enough to make that I’d recommend making them yourself.

Ricotta Gnocchi Cooking

Gnocchi di Ricotta con Salsiccia e Finocchi (Ricotta Gnocchi with Sausage and Fennel)
Adapted from Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home

Gnocchi:

Alison enjoying Ricotta Gnocchi

1 1/2 lbs. fresh ricotta
1 cup all purpose flour
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tbsp chopped Italian parsley
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
olive oil

Sauce:

2 lbs. italian sausage, removed from casings and crumbled
1 tbsp fennel seeds, toasted and ground
1 tbsp red pepper flakes
1 red onion, finely diced
1 fennel bulb, trimmed, cored, and finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
1 rib of celery, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 cups Basic Tomato Sauce
salt and pepper
Pecorino Romano

  1. Place the ricotta in a cheese cloth lined sieve set over a bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
  2. To make the gnocchi, place the drained ricotta in a bowl with the flour, eggs, parsley, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Stir together with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms.  Shape the dough into 2 tbsp balls and place them on a tea-towel covered baking sheet lightly dusted with flour.
  3. Cook the gnocchi in salted boiling water until they all float, about 7 minutes.  Place the cooked gnocchi in an ice bath and transfer them to a bowl.  Toss with olive oil and refrigerate until ready to use.
  4. In a large skillet, cook the sausage over high heat until it is lightly browned, about 15 minutes.  Add olive oil if the sausage starts to stick.  Transfer the sausage to a bowl.
  5. Add the fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, onion, fennel, carrot, celery, and garlic to the pan cook until the vegetables are softened and browned, about 10 minutes.  Add olive oil if needed.
  6. Return the sausage to the pan and add the tomato sauce.  If needed, add some water to the pan.  Scrap up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan.  Bring to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes.
  7. In more boiling water, cook the gnocchi until they again float to the surface.  Transfer the gnocchi to the sauce, toss well, and cook for 1 minute more.
  8. Served topped with grated Pecorino Romano.

Serves 6.

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Provençal Rack of Lamb with Roasted Tomatoes

Published October 9, 2008 French , Lamb , Recipe 3 Comments
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Provençal Rack of Lamb with Roasted Tomatoes

I typed up the recipe and posted the pictures to flickr a week and a half ago. Unfortunately, the real world interrupted and I never got around to writing an introduction. It appears that I’ve been a bad blog writer so my apologies. But this recipe should be worth the wait.

The best lamb I’ve ever had was Gigot D’agneau at a somewhat random bistro in Paris. The lamb was tender but flavorful. The accompanying gratin dauphinois was amazing (I had to keep close watch over it so Angela didn’t eat all of it). The ambiance was good including the French group at the next table reciting Chuck Norris facts in English (the rest of their conversation was in French). This is almost as good.

I noticed this when flipping through Gourmet and was immediately interested. Even the name makes it sound good. The in-magazine pictures didn’t hurt. We don’t usually eat rack of lamb because of the price but decided that it was worth a try.

Herb Marinade for Rack of Lamb

And it ended up being worth every penny. The lamb was tender and tasty. I’d almost recommend this as a dish to serve guests but the lamb is good that we ended up picking up individual lamb chops and biting off the bits of remaining meat. It probably is worth making a fool of one’s self for.

When making this, consider making extra potatoes (assuming they’ll fit in the pan). The potatoes are quite good and, in our household at least, extra potatoes are always well received.

This would go nicely with a nice Syrah or Shiraz (the 2001 Daniel Gehrs Shiraz we opened had gotten a little too old).

Browning Rack of Lamb

Provençal Rack of Lamb with Roasted Tomatoes
Adapted from Gourmet, October 2008

2 garlic cloves
salt and pepper
2 tsp chopped thyme
2 tsp chopped rosemary
3 tbsp olive oil, divided
2 medium tomatoes, halved
1 one lbs frenched rack of lamb
2 medium shallots, thinly sliced
2 medium boiling potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4″ thickly
2 tbsp water

  1. Preheat the oven 400°F.
  2. Mash the garlic into a paste and add 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Stir in the thyme and rosemary and 1 tbsp olive oil.
  3. Put the tomatoes cut side up in a small baking dish. Sprinkle 1/3 of the garlic mixture over the tomatoes. Bake the tomatoes for 30 to 40 minutes total.
  4. Meanwhile, cut the lamb rack in half and dry the lamb with paper towels and season it all over with salt and pepper.
  5. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in an oven proof skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the lamb on all sides, about 6 minutes total. Set the lamb aside. Discard the oil.
  6. Add 1 tbsp more olive oil to skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and potatoes and cook into they are just beginning to brown.
  7. Add the water and stir in 1/2 of the remaining garlic mixture to the skillet. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat.
  8. Rub the remaining garlic mixture on the fat side of the lamb racks. Place the lamb racks on top of the potatoes, fat side up. Roast in the oven until the lamb reaches an internal temperature of 135ºF about 25 minutes.
  9. Remove from the oven and allow the lamb to rest for 5 minutes.
  10. Serve with the roasted tomatoes.

Serves 2.

Baked Orecchiette with Pork Sugo

Published September 21, 2008 Italian , Pasta , Pork , Recipe 2 Comments
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Baked Orecchiete with Pork Sugo

The lack of posts on here is due to the fact that I had to travel to the east coast for work (but I did update my flickr account).  I wanted to make something special for Angela for Sunday dinner but instead I ended up making something that I wanted to (oops).

This recipe appealed to me immediately upon reading it.  Combining pork and pasta, two of my favorite foods, it was like it was written for me.  I had initially hoped to remember to make the recipe sometime in the future when baked things would be desirable but the weather has cooperated and it’s been cool the past several days (or at least since I got back).

This is not something to make on a weekday. In fact, it’s not something to make on an average weekend. It takes a considerable amount of time and effort. And, me being me, I had to find a way to make it more difficult. Replacing canned tomatoes with fresh isn’t that much effort when the tomatoes are readily available but replacing store bought orecchiette with homemade is a bit more serious investment in time and effort. Which was really unintentional but the only orecchiette I could find were $6 for half a pound which is more than I was willing to pay. And I’m not going to figure out exactly what my hourly rate is making homemade orecchiette.

But, luckily for all that effort, this is good.  It’s very good.  It’s good enough that I’m looking forward to eating leftovers for lunch tomorrow (and that’s rare for me even with the best leftovers).  Angela thought it tasted a bit like pot roast (but with pork obviously).  It reminded me a bit of carnitas with pasta.

The pork and pasta marry well together.  The red pepper flakes give just enough heat.  It is very well balanced.  It’s also unlike any other baked pasta dish I’ve had.

Most baked pasta is relatively heavy of cheese and sauce.  The cheese is almost an after thought with this recipe.  The sauce is just the cooking liquid from the braise.  It’s as light as most baked pasta is heavy.  It’s pleasant simply remembering dinner.

And, luckily for me, Angela wasn’t upset that I picked this so I don’t have to sleep on the couch tonight.

Preparing to braise the pork

Baked Orecchiette with Pork Sugo
Adapted from Ethan Stowell via Food & Wine October 2008

3 1/4 lbs. boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch pieces
salt and pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
4 carrots, peeled, cut into 1/4″ dice
4 celery ribs, cut into 1/4″ dice
1 large onion, cut into 1/4″ dice
4 garlic cloves, finely diced
4 tomatoes, peeled, cored, and diced, juice reserved
1 1/2 cups red wine
4 sprigs of thyme
5 cups pork or chicken stock
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 1/2 lbs. orecchiette
2 cups grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

  1. Dry the pork on paper towels thoroughly, then season with salt and pepper.
  2. Place the olive oil in a large dutch oven and heat over medium-high heat until just before smoking.  Brown the pork in the olive oil on all sides, about 12 minutes.
  3. Add the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic and cook until softened, about 8 minutes.
  4. Add the tomatoes and the juices and bring to a simmer.
  5. Deglaze the dutch oven with the red wine and add the thyme.  Boil the red wine until it is reduced by half, about 5 minutes.
  6. Add the stock, season to taste with salt, and bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer for 2 hours.
  7. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
  8. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the meat and vegetables to a food processor, discarding the sprigs of thyme.  Pulse the food processor several times until the pork is shredded.  Return the pork and vegetables to the dutch oven.
  9. Stir the parsley, oregano, and red pepper into the dutch oven.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  10. Cook the orecchiette in boiling, salted water until they float.  Drain the orecchiete and stir into the dutch oven.
  11. Place the pork-pasta mixture in a large baking dish.  Sprinkle the cheese on top of the mixture evenly.
  12. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes.
  13. Remove from the oven, allow to rest for 15 minutes, then serve immediately.

Serves 8.

Homemade Orecchiette


Homemade Orecchiette
Adapted from Epicurious

2 cups semolina flour
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup lukewarm water
salt

  1. In a bowl, mix together the two flours (don’t do this on a work surface, I tried and the water runs all over the place).
  2. Make a well in the center of the flour and add the water and salt.  Using a fork, slowly incorporate the water into the flour.
  3. Once the flour and water are mostly incorporated, pour the bowl contents onto a work surface.  Knead the dough until it comes together and then need for several minutes more.
  4. Cut the dough into 8 even pieces.
  5. For each piece of dough, roll it into a cylinder with a 1/2″ diameter.  Cut the cylinder into pieces 1/2″ wide.  Toss the various pieces with semolina flour then place it in the palm of your hand and press down on it with the thumb of your other hand and twist slightly.  Place the orecchietta on a baking sheet dusted with semolina.

Makes 1 1/2 lbs.

Gratin Dauphinois Madame Laracine (Madame Laracine’s Potato Gratin)

Published September 2, 2008 French , Potatoes , Recipe 4 Comments
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Gratin Dauphinois Madame Laracine

According to Patricia Wells, one can never have too many potato gratin recipes.  I agree.

It may seem as if I chronicle Angela’s dislike of foods too often on here, but I can always make her smile by welcoming her home from work or school with a potato gratin in the oven.  In fact, I don’t believe I’ve made one for someone who hasn’t fallen in love with it.

Potato gratins manage to be both decadent and homey at the same time.  While you may not have eaten them growing up (I know I certainly did not), they still manage to be comfort food.  Somehow they manage to transcend cultural boundaries.

If you’ve been paying attention, this recipe may seem similar to Gratin Dauphinois Madame Cartet (Madame Cartet’s Potato Gratin). And that would be due to the fact that they can be found in the same cookbook. In fact, they are on adjoining pages.

Why bother with different potato gratin recipes?  The obvious answer is that they’re all different.  But more precisely, they compliment other foods differently.  The gratin from Madame Cartet has dominate flavors of cheese and cream.  It is undeniably rich.  This gratin gains stronger flavors from the bay leaf and the nutmeg.  They help to reduce the richness of the gratin.  It compliments foods which are less rich.

This is a bit more complicated version of a potato gratin.  It requires the potatoes first be parboiled in milk which requires a little extra time but not that much extra work.  It mainly needs extra planning.

Gratin Dauphinois Madame Laracine

Gratin Dauphinois Madame Laracine (Madame Laracine’s Potato Gratin)
Adapted from Bistro Cooking

3 lbs. baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cups whole milk
3 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 tsp salt
3 bay leaves
ground nutmeg
black pepper
1 cup crème fraîche or heavy cream
2 cups grated Swiss cheese

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
  2. In a large sauce pan, place the potatoes, garlic, salt, and bay leaves.  Cover with the milk and 2 cups water.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Stirring occasionally, simmer for 10 minutes over medium heat.  Remove from the heat
  3. Transfer half of the potatoes from the sauce pan to a large gratin dish.  Cover the potatoes with half the crème fraîche.  Sprinkle with half the cheese, nutmeg, and pepper.  Add the remaining potatoes then cover with the remaining crème fraîche.  Sprinkle with the remaining cheese, nutmeg, and pepper.
  4. Bake the gratin for about 1 hour, or until it is crispy and golden on top.

Serves 6 to 8.

Yosemite Campfire Cooking – Southern Delaware BBQ Chicken

Published August 25, 2008 Chicken , Recipe 5 Comments
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Southern Delaware BBQ Chicken cooking over a campfireThis past weekend we went camping at Yosemite National Park. We took my cousin’s daughters, Ivy and Makayla, with us. Differing from the majority of visitors, we stayed in the high country at Tuolomne Meadow.

Cathedral DomeAngela and I enjoy Yosemite a lot and visit at least once a year (depending on how often we can get reservations). Over the course of our visits, we’ve found that while we enjoy the valley, the real draw for us is the high country where the crowds (and the air) are thinner. The valley seems like a tourist attraction while the high country is more like a national park. We even noticed this as far as campers go: there are far fewer motor homes at Tuolomne Meadow than at the campgrounds in the valley. And, frankly, that’s the way we like it.

When we go to Yosemite, we plan on hiking. This trip, we may have overdone it (please remember that we both live in the city and work in offices before passing judgment on our athleticism). When we first arrived, we set up camp, and then hiked to the top of Lembert Dome. This isn’t a hard hike (Angela and I had actually done it the previous year) but everything’s a bit harder at 8500 ft (and that’s just the starting elevation).

The second day we decided to hike to Cathedral Lake. It was listed as moderately difficult and it was only 7 miles round trip. Plus, the topographical map made it look like it only had a few steep parts and they wouldn’t be too long.

How wrong we were. Perhaps we were out of shape. Perhaps it was the elevation. Perhaps it was because we were sore from the previous day’s hike or from sleeping on the hard ground. It doesn’t matter why but we had a rather difficult time hiking their and back. The guidebook listed it as a 4 to 6 hour hike (depending on whether you just visit Lower Cathedral Lake or head on to Upper Cathedral Lake); it toot us 6 hours just to go to Lower Cathedral Lake and return.

Now, I probably come across as hating the hike. But I didn’t. Cathedral Lake is beautiful. The hike was beautiful. I just didn’t enjoy walking uphill for that long. I may not hike it again but I’m glad I did it the first time.

View from Atop Lembert Dome

But this is a food blog, not a hiking blog. We did eat and we did eat well. The major difficulty of the trip wasn’t the hiking, it was the starting of a camp fire where there’s little oxygen. It may be that I’m incompetent when it comes to campfires (not unlikely really), but I could barely get one going Friday night and Saturday it took half a bottle of lighter fluid and a couple of Coleman fire starting things. It only got going Saturday night when I sent Angela to the camp store to buy charcoal (which went unused and we left for the next campers).

El CapitanOnce the fire finally got started, I got to make something that I can rarely make properly because we have no grill (because we have no place to grill). This marinade is designed for grilling and for anything else it really doesn’t work well.

I call this Southern Delaware BBQ Chicken but it doesn’t have a formal name per se. It’s a family recipe. It’s something that my grandfather, who lives in southern Delaware, used to make and now has passed on to his grandchildren. He even made custom grates for holding and turning the chicken. Part of my childhood was eating barbecued chicken with corn on the cob and potato salad on hot summer days. We always had watermelon for dessert. A few years ago, my grandfather made sure to teach some of his grandchildren (myself included) how to properly cook the chicken.

Given I had a chance to finally grill something, I decided that I needed to make the chicken. To be honest, this isn’t my grandfather’s rendition as I had didn’t have the hours (or the equipment) to grill it to his standards. But, it’s still good. I hope you can enjoy this as my family has. And my apologies to my cousins if I’m letting out any family secrets.

Southern Delaware BBQ Chicken cooking over a campfire

Southern Delaware BBQ Chicken

4 chicken quarters

Marinade:
5 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp paprika
1 cup cider vinegar
1 egg, well-beaten
1 cup vegetable oil

  1. Trim the chicken of excess fat.
  2. To make the marinade: Mix together the dry ingredients. Add the vinegar and the egg and whisk to combine. Whisk in the cooking oil.
  3. Pour the marinade over the chicken and refrigerate for 1 day.
  4. Grill the chicken, turning regularly and basting with the excess marinade regularly, until cooked through.
  5. Serve immediately

Serves 2 to 4.

Sablés

Published August 20, 2008 Cookies , Dessert , French , Recipe 8 Comments
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Sables

These are the most addictive cookies I’ve ever eaten.  Even more so than Thin Mints.  It took a significant amount of will-power to not eat just one more.

Well, that was until we ate them all.  They only lasted two days.  There was a slight bit of miscommunication in our household involving the cookies (“Matthew ate them all!”). Angela still isn’t amused by that.

Sablés are lightly sweet with a predominant butter flavor.  In many ways, they are very French.  They’re basically the cookie form of a sweet tart dough but they also manage to be just a bit better than straight tart dough would be.  It may just be the shape (or the added sugar coating).

The problem I always have with recipes that need to be refrigerated is that when I want to make cookies, I want to make the cookies right now.  I don’t want to have to wait several hours to have the sweet ambrosia; I want it now.

It was my good fortune to actually wait and make these cookies.  The wait was definitely worth it.  We were nearly fighting over the cookies; they were that good.

Sables Before Baking

Sablés
Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 egg yolks
2 cups all-purpose flour
coarse sugar

  1. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter at medium speed.
  2. Add the sugars and salt and beat until well blended, about 1 minute.
  3. Reduce the speed to low and beat in 2 of the egg yolks.
  4. Turn off the mixer and add the flour.  Pulse the mixer at low speed 5 times to begin to combine the flour.  Mix at low speed for about 30 seconds or until the flour is well incorporated.
  5. Remove the dough from the mixer bowl and place on a work surface.  Divide the dough in half.  Shape each half into an approximately 9-inch long smooth log and wrap it with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.
  6. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
  7. Working with one log at a time, brush it on all sides with beaten egg yolk.  Sprinkle all over with the coarse sugar.
  8. Slice the log into 1/3 inch thick cookies.  Place the cookies on a baking sheet, separated by 1 inch.
  9. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes or until they are lightly browned on top.

Makes about 50 cookies.

Pot-Roast Chicken and Vegetables

Published August 17, 2008 Chicken , Recipe Leave a Comment
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Pot-Roast Chicken and Vegetables

Despite the fact that Angela may claim that I’m always looking for a harder way to do something in the kitchen, I do really appreciate simple and easy food as long as it’s also good.  This manages to be all three.

Simply, this is pot-roasted chicken with vegetables.  There aren’t any complicated ingredients.  There aren’t any complicated instructions.  You put everything in a pot and you cook it.   Like the best simple things, it also manages to taste good.

Vegetables for Pot-Roast Chicken

This would be a near perfect meal to prepare when having guests: simply pile everything into a pot and place it in the oven.  Remove it when the guests arrive and serve.

But what really appeals to me about this recipe is that it almost literally calls for elaboration.  Substituting different vegetables would almost be a no-brainer.  Tarragon could replace the thyme.  The chicken could first be browned in the pot and the vermouth be used to deglaze.  The sauce could be reduced at the end or enriched with butter.

If you look closely, you’ll notice that the ingredient amounts listed below do not match the pictures.  It’s simply that there are only two of us and it’s easier for me to find a way to use the leftover chicken (it ended up in ravioli with spinach and parmesan cheese) then it is for me to find a way to use the leftover chicken as well as leftover vegetables (we still ended up with leftover vegetables; according to the cookbook, pureeing leftover vegetables with leftover sauce makes a good soup).

While simple, this was really quite good.  What really struck me was the fact that very little work led to quite a good dinner.

Pot-Roast Chicken Ready to Cook

Pot-Roast Chicken and Vegetables
Adapted from The River Cottage Cookbook

1 four to six lbs. chicken
2 onions
3 carrots
3 leeks
3 potatoes
2 bay leaves
2 to 3 sprigs of thyme
1 tbsp butter, softened
1 cup dry vermouth
1 cup water
salt and pepper

  1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
  2. Peeled the onions, carrots, and potatoes.  Cut the carrots and potatoes into large chunks.  Slice the onions.  Cut the white portion of the leeks into large chunks and discard the rest.
  3. Place the chicken in a large dutch oven.  Surround the chicken with the vegetables and herbs.  Rub the butter onto the exposed portion of the chicken.  Season the chicken and vegetables with the salt and pepper liberally.  Pour the vermouth and water into the dutch oven.
  4. Cook the chicken, covered, in the oven for 50 minutes.
  5. Uncover and cook for 25 to 35 minutes more.
  6. Remove from the oven.  Carve the chicken into large pieces.
  7. Serve the chicken and vegetables with the sauce.

Serves 4 to 5.

Spicy Beef with Vegetables

Published August 10, 2008 Beef , Chinese , Recipe 4 Comments
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Spicy Beef with Vegetables Cooking

Just in time for the Beijing Olympics (I’m actually watching the women’s gymnastics competition while writing this), here is a Chinese beef recipe.  Of course, I made this with no regards to the Olympics whatsoever last week.  I did, however, wonder how many people ordered Chinese takeout to watch the opening ceremonies on Friday.

Part of the reason I decided to make this recipe was that I had finally tracked down mo-er mushrooms at 99 Ranch Market the last time I was there. I wasn’t entirely sure I had purchased the correct thing until I compared the glossary in the cookbook to the mushroom packaging and could match up two of the three Chinese characters (there were two listed in the cookbook, there were three on the packaging). I took a picture of them to help you find them.

Mo-er Mushrooms

This is prepared in a very similar fashion to Chili-Pepper Beef but the flavor is quite a bit different. The Spicy Beef, oddly enough, isn’t as spicy as the Chili-Pepper Beef. However, the vegetables work much better in the Spicy Beef. In some ways, I prefer the Chili-Pepper Beef but this is also good, in a different way.

Spicy Beef with Vegetables

Spicy Beef with Vegetables
Adapted from The Key to Chinese Cooking

1/2 lbs. flank steak, shredded
1 tbsp dried mo-er mushrooms
1 1/2 cups shredded celery
1 cup shredded carrots
1 garlic clove, minced
2 quarter-sized slices peeled ginger, minced
1/2 tsp salt

Marinade:
1 tsp light soy sauce
2 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbsp water
1 tsp oil

Sauce:
1 tbsp black bean paste
1 tsp chili sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
1 1/2 tsp Chenkong vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tsp water
2 tsp seasame oil

  1. Combine the marinade ingredients and toss with the steak.  Allow the meat to sit, refrigerated, for 30 minutes or more.
  2. Soak the mo-er mushrooms for 30 minutes in warm water.  Rinse and discard the hard “eyes.”  Then, shred them.
  3. Heat a wok over high heat until very hot.  Add 1 cup of oil.  When the oil is 375ºF, add the beef and toss rapidly for 10 seconds.  Remove from the heat and pour the meat and oil into a strainer over a bowl.  Allow the oil to drain off the meat.
  4. Return 3 tbsp oil to the pan and heat over high heat until hot.  Add the garlic and ginger, stir a few times, then immediately add the celery, carrots, and mushrooms.  Cook, stirring regularly, until the vegetables are softened, several minutes.
  5. Add the beef and cook for 1 minute more, stirring regularly.
  6. Add the sauce, stirring to combine, and cook for 5 to 10 seconds.
  7. Serve immediately with white rice.

Serves 2.

Bucatini with Sausage and Peas

Published August 8, 2008 Italian , Pasta , Recipe 4 Comments
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Bucattini with Sausage and Peas

If you haven’t been paying attention, I tend to post a lot of pasta recipes. Here’s one more to enhance my collection.

This recipe actually comes from Sting’s personal chef (or so it was stated in Food & Wine).  Appropriately, when I started to make this and turned on the radio, a Police song came on.  I considered that a good omen.

There’s nothing complicated or special about this recipe.  It is simple but in its simplicity there is taste and quality.  It is a pasta should be.

The dominant flavor in the pasta is the sausage; the sausage ends up providing most of the seasoning to the sauce.  The tomato sauce and the peas merely compliment the sausage.  There’s no need to use actual bucatini; any spagheti-like pasta will do.

When I made this, Angela was out of town.  I made a full recipe any way and ate it for the next two days for lunch. It reheated well and made a good lunch (as long as I remember to bring along some cookies for dessert).

Parcooking Tomatoes

Bucatini with Sausage and Peas
Adapted from Food and Wine September 2007

2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 lbs. Italian sausage, casings removed
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small shallot, minced
2 1/2 cups tomato purée
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup frozen baby peas
salt
1 lbs. bucatini or spaghetti
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

  1. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. When the olive oil is hot, add the sausage, breaking it up with a spoon, until the sausage is well browned, about 8 minutes.
  2. Pour out the excess oil and discard. Add the garlic and shallots and cook until softened, about 2 minutes.
  3. Add the tomato sauce and bring to a simmer. Cook, partially covered, at a low simmer for 30 minutes.
  4. Stir in the peas and heavy cream and simmer for 10 more minutes. Add half the parmesan cheese and season to taste with salt.
  5. While the sauce is cooking, cook the bucattini in boiling salted water for 1 minute less than the manufacturer recommends.
  6. Add the pasta to the sauce and cook at a simmer for 1 minute more.
  7. Serve immediately topped with the remaining parmesan cheese.

Serves 4 to 6.

Watermelon Sorbetto

Published August 5, 2008 Dessert , Ice Cream , Italian , Recipe 4 Comments
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Watermelon Sorbetto

With the coming of summer, I’ve been tempted by all the various melons at the farmer’s market. It’s hard for me to resist those juicy orbs.

Unfortunately, I have the distinct tendency to bring a newly purchased melon home, put it in the refrigerator, and then promptly forget to eat it. Normally, discovering that I had some form of melon that I didn’t know I had (well, not too long after I bought it), isn’t a bad thing but I still have to figure out what to do with it.

I usually intend to chop it up and take it with me to work for breakfast. My problem is that at night, I’ll tell myself I’ll cut it up in the morning. And in the morning, I don’t feel like cutting it up in my half-awake state and that I’ll cut it up that night for the next day. Rinse, repeat, ad nauseum, and I wind up with the forgotten melon.

I finally had enough of the watermelon accusingly staring me in the face every time I opened the refrigerator and decided to do something about it. Hence, watermelon sorbetto.

This isn’t actually the first time I made a watermelon sorbet. I tried one sometime last year (I don’t remember what recipe I used) but I don’t remember being impressed by it. I think it might have been a texture issue. I find that texture is very important in frozen desserts so I made sure to strain the watermelon purée which made for a very smooth sorbet.

The sorbet ended up tasting more like watermelon than eating the watermelon straight did (which was good as I realized the watermelon was much closer to tasteless than I like). The mini-chocolate chips add a nice contrast to the sorbet as well as looking like seeds. Be aware that the sorbet freezes very hard and needs to be allowed to soften for several minutes before eating (or you may break your spoon).

Watermelon

Watermelon Sorbetto
Adapted from Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments

3 lbs. watermelon, seeded and cubed
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp vodka
2 tbsp mini chocolate chips

  1. Purée the watermelon in a food processor or blender. Run the watermelon purée through a fine mesh strainer. Measure out 3 cups of watermelon juice.
  2. In a small saucepan, heat approximately 1/2 cup of the watermelon juice along with the sugar and salt until the sugar has thoroughly dissolved. Remove from the heat.
  3. Combine the watermelon juice in the saucepan with the other watermelon juice and place in a medium sized bowl. Stir in the lime juice and vodka.
  4. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator.
  5. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions. During the last minute of freezing, pour in the chocolate chips.
  6. Remove from the ice cream maker’s bowl and place in a container. Place the container in the freezer to finish freezing.
  7. Several minutes before eating, remove from the freezer.

Makes about 1 quart

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