Sundays

Sundays, well what can I say? It is my most and least favorite day of the week! No sporting events to attend, only ones to watch.  No work, no school, usually no homework to nag about. It is the day that belongs to each of us to make of it what we desire, but somewhere around 3:00 the realization of Monday begins to creep in. It is like being on vacation and knowing the only thing left of it is the packing and traveling. Total bummer.

In any case, on one such Sunday, I decided to do something creative.  My idea of creativity is creating something edible.  Sometimes it is my day to make chicken stock to freeze up for future uses.  When my garden is in full swing, it is making a beautiful roasted tomato sauce that I can freeze for a future use or making a pesto before the basil goes to flower and seed. On one recent Sunday, I decided that a homemade ravioli was in order. I have a really wonderful pasta dough recipe that is heavy on the eggs, but it makes a nice firm ravioli which I like, holds up very well in the end.

Pasta Dough

Makes about 1-1/2 pounds

3 cups all-purpose flour
7 large egg yolks plus one whole egg
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil or other flavored oil if desired ( I use a garlic flavored avocado oil)
1/4 cup water
Bench Flour

In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine the flour, yolks, salt, oil, and 3 tablespoons of the water. Process until the dough begins to hold together. Stop the machine and pinch a piece of dough: If it feels too dry, pulse in up to 1 tablespoon more water, until the dough forms a moist ball.

Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until it forms a smooth ball. Loosely wrap in plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for up to 1 hour before using. (While it is resting, this is a good time to set up your work area and make your filling)

Filling Recipes and Directions

I have two favorites, cheese and roasted butternut squash.

Cheese Filling-

15 oz container of ricotta cheese (my favorite brand is PollyO)

1- 8oz bag of shredded mozzarella cheese

1- 8oz bag shredded Italian blend cheese

1/2 cup shredded Parmigiano Reggiano

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/4 heavy cream

1/4 - 1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 tbsp basil, chopped

salt and pepper

Combine all these ingredients, salt and pepper to taste.

Butternut Squash Filling

Heat oven to 425.  Take 2 butternut squash, cut down the middle, scoop out seeds, brush with vegetable oil, salt and pepper.  Place cut side down on a baking sheet and put in preheated oven.  Cook for about 30 minutes, till tender - a knife or fork can go thru with ease.  Take out till cool enough to handle.  Scoop flesh out into a food processor bowl.  Add to the bowl one 15 oz container of ricotta cheese, 1 8 oz bag of shredded mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup shredded Parmigiano Reggiano, 1/4 - 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp chopped sage. Process till smooth, if it seems dry add chicken stock, water or vegetable stock, a couple tbsp at a time till smooth.  Taste.  The squash should be somewhat sweet, but depending on how ripe it was it may need a tbsp or so of sugar added.

To prepare your workspace try to designate a section of counter top space for the process, in one section lay out a towel, preferably flour sack cloth, but any cloth towel will do. Lightly flour the cloth. As you make your raviolis, you will place them there to dry. You will need a small dish with one beaten egg and a pastry brush and a tablespoon for your filling, a cutter for the dough.  You can go fancy with fluted edge rollers or as simple as a tin can you took the top and bottom off of and cleaned well. I wuse a biscuit cutter. Personally, I like about a 4 inch round. You will also need to roll your dough out, either by hand or machine.  I have a machine, there are attachments for your kitchen aid mixer, or hand crank pasta machines.

Separate your dough into 4 pieces for easier management, making sure unused dough is covered in plastic wrap at all times. Take the first  of 4 and press down to make flat enough to go thru your pasta roller at the largest setting.  Roll thru and fold in half lengthwise and roll thru again, then move your setting down one size and do it again, no need to repeat, unless you are getting uneven sides or holes. Repeat till you are at the smallest setting.  Lay your sheet out and cut as many rounds as possible. Take one half of each round and put one heaping tablespoon of filling in it, take the other round and brush with egg wash. Place on top of filled side, I like to put it in my hand at this point and press the edges together, making sure to get as much excess air out as possible and sealing as well as you can. Place on your prepared cloth.  Repeat until you have used as much dough as possible.  I like to take the extra shreds of dough and let it dry, then throw in a ziplock bag into the freezer for future soup noodles. As you are preparing your raviolis, as you finish one of the 4 balls of dough, lightly dust the tops of the prepared raviolis with flour and then flip them, the idea is to let them dry a bit.

Bring the water to boil in a large pot.  When at a boil, salt the water, then add the raviolis, careful not to crowd the pot.  Reduce the heat to keep it at a gentle simmer, if it boils too hard, the raviolis will come apart and you will have empty pillows.  They should take about 5 minutes, they will start to raise to the surface.

As for toppings, the easiest thing to do is to melt butter in a skillet, throw in some fresh herbs and and then dust the top with some fresh shredded cheese.

THE DIP THAT MAKES YOU DIP!

Give this one a try! I will add a picture later, but I was reminded about how great this recipe is and how popular you will be if you make it and share!

Ingredients:

2 bars of cream cheese
Pace Picante Salsa (whatever heat level you want) – but I do not use the chunky one I use the original one.
1- Chipotle Chile
1/2 -1 cup of shredded cheese
one bunch green onions, chopped
1 med tomato, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
opt- 1/4 cup cilantro – chopped
opt-1 jalapeno, minced

Directions:

I put the cream cheese in the food processor ( it helps too if it is room temp) and blend till creamy. I add the salsa a bit at a time, I am more interested in consistency, but I will guess it is about a cup. You want it creamy and not too liquidy, although it does firm up a bit in the refrigerator so you don’t want it to be so firm that you wont be able to get a chip in there. With the processor running, add one chipotle chile and a little of the adobo sauce too( you find them in the hispanic food area called chipotle in adobo sauce). If you wanted to add a little more heat then you would add the jalapeno now too.Open your processor lid and toss in cheese, I either use the Sargento Lite Mexican Shredded cheese to lighten things up, or sometimes for a kick I use Shredded Pepper Jack and/or this Chipotle White Cheese (I have only seen this at Costco and it have a neat smoky taste without being too spicy) and the chopped green onions,. at this point you would also add the cilantro if you were using it. Place the lid back on and just pulse till mixed through. You don’t want to loose the texture of the onions and cheese. Take it out and place in your serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap. Doing this part early in the day is a good thing, gives it plenty of time to firm up and have all the flavors come together. When you are ready to serve, you can garnish with the chopped tomato and avocado. Serve with chips, cut veggies, crackers, anything dipable!

VARIATION -
Take extra large flour tortillas, spread the dip on the tortilla about 1/4 – 1/2 inch from the edge, top with the avo and tomato. Roll the tortilla fairly tightly. Get some sturdy paper towel and just dampen, you don’t want them wet, lightly dampened. Roll the paper towel around each tortilla roll and place in a sealable plastic storage bag and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Just before you plan to serve, unroll the paper towels and slice the tortilla rolls about 1 inch thick. Serve cut sides showing, and you can have some extra salsa on hand for dipping too if you want.

SImple, Delicious Lamb Chops

One of my favorite things to make-LAMB CHOPS!! They are so easy and tasty and I have gotten great reviews.

The first thing I do is to chop like a mad woman! I am so fortunate to have land to grow fresh produce on, and I have beautiful herb beds. The first thing I do is to pick fresh rosemary, sage, basil, oregano, and italian flat leaf parsley. I chop it fine, then on to the shallot and garlic, again chopped fine. Lemons are the next order of business. Zest first and then save for the juice. So all those chopped items go into a dish for marinating. To that you add the juice of 2 lemons, salt, pepper and oil. I prefer avocado oil, but any neutrual oil will do. I usually make enough to fill a canning jar and use enough to cover the chops and store the rest in the refrigerator.

I haven't been specific about amounts, and I am a do it by touch and feel, but I will say that each herb should be about 1/4 chopped. I use 2 or 3 shallots and I use one whole head of garlic. 2 lemons and about 1 1/2 - 2 cups of oil.

Now put those racks of chops in the dish you are going to marinate in and add the marinade. Rub it in really well. I like to put the chops fat side down into the marinade and then rub into the back side. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

DAY 2 -

Take your dish out up to an hour before you are going to cook, to bring to room temperature. I like to use a cast iron skillet, but any skillet will do and I heat it - SCREAMING HOT! Then put those chops fat side down, into the skillet, turn and try to get as much searing as possible. We are just trying to get a nice sear on the outside of the chops and get it heating. While you are doing this, have your oven preheating to 325 degrees. Once you get a sear on the chops put them in a roasting pan and put them in the preheated oven for about 15 - 20 minutes. Take them out, let them rest, covers with foil for about 10-15 minutes.
If I am having a dinner party I will get to this point and stop, get everything else ready and then at the last minute finish. I take the chops to a cutting board and turn back on my skillet. Cut through the chops to seperate them into individual chops. I love a little sear on the sides, so depending on how done you want them I throw them cut side down into the skillet to get a sear. If you like them rare, just down and flip and out, if you want them a little more done just keep them in the skillet a bit longer. Salt and pepper them before serving if you would like.
I have served these as appetizers, and as a main course with risotto and asapargus.
GOOD EATING!!

Chicken Stock

So my weekends are usually crazy, but when I get the chance I make a long simmering, rich and flavorful chicken stock! I cut up an onion, garlic head, and a shallot. Then I cut up a cup of carrots, celery and leeks, throw them in my beautiful huge stock pot. To that I add my chicken bones. Now here is the the thing, I hate waste, so during the week, I may roast some chickens or use store bought rotisserie chicken. When I do that I always save the bones, throw them in a storage bag and throw it in the freezer for stock day! Even the day I made Hoisin Wings, I threw the end pieces of the wings into a bag and added them to my pot. It is a great way to use a chicken completely. I will have roasted chicken one night, use the leftovers for chicken salad the next and then use the bones for stock that weekend.

SO once you have your veggies and chicken bones in the pot, add a couple of bay leaves, parsely stems, fresh thyme a tbsp of peppercorns and top with cold water. Bring it to just a boil, not a hard boil just a good, steady simmer and be ready to occasionally skim any gray foamy stuff off the top. Other then that thow, I just let it go! I turn it to low and let it simmer for a few hours, no stirring just skimming every once in a while.

At the end of a few hours, I taste it to make sure it has that herbal, chickeny rich flavor and I usually salt it at this point, just to taste- a bit on the weak side to leave you some room for further seasoning at the point of the end use. I ladle it into another stockpot thru my chinois to fully strain off the broth and then put it into the fridge overnight. The next day I skim the fat off, so now it is is virtually fat free! I put it into either storage bags or storage containers and put into the freezer for when I need it! It is too simple - just try it!

Hoisin Wings!!

So last Sunday was Hoisin Wing night, a favorite here. Thought I would post the process and the results.

The key to an excellent wing is, in my opinion, proper marniation time. I like to prepare my sauce early in the day so the wings can swim in the sauce for 8 hours, turning them about every couple of hours.

First you need to prepare the garlic, cause what is a great anything without garlic? I like to do a rough chop then toss a bit of kosher salt on top and mush with the side of a knive to form a paste. Once that is done I add to a large bowl and add in some chopped ginger. Sometimes I use fresh, but the jarred version works fine in this case.

Next on the agenda is the lime juice, fresh squeezed from one or two. Now it is time to add the hoisin sauce, I use one jar of my favorite brand. I believe it is about 8 ozs. which would equate to about a cup. On top of that you need chinese hot sauce, oh about a tsp to a tbsp, depending on your tolerance of heat in food. Next is Ketchup, about 3/4 cup, and on top of that, about 1/4 cup of Rice Wine Vinegar, salt and pepper and thats it! Sweet, Spicy, Tangy, Savory, TERRIFIC!

Now it is important to bathe those wings for those 8 hours. I use the party wings, which are essentially a wing that has been cut at the joint and the end of the wing removed. You can easily prepare them yourself, or buy them already done for you. Either way the smaller piece makes for a terrific bite size piece!

Once the wings fully bathed and ready to get the heat treatment, let them out of the referigerator for a bit, maybe half hour, to come to room temp. Then on the grill they go! AND CHECK IT OUT!

Sounds good enough to eat!

I am working on constructing my cookbook and I am challenged by writing with more colorful descriptions. It is one thing to say "It was a delicious or beautiful tomato" and it is another to say "It was a plump, juicy tomato, not bright red but a blush color that is reminiscent of that perfect moment in a sunset. You know right where the sun hits the horizon and you get that quick moment of blush before the sun sinks into the darkness." This may be overplaying this a bit, but you get the picture. My next entry will be one of my recipes that I am going to be used in my cookbook along with the description. I am hoping to get comments, grading my descriptors. Have a great day!

Simple Works!

This summer has been a great time to practice simple, fresh and healthy dishes. We had a beautiful tomato crop this year-heirlooms that were fabulous! My simple delicious and oh so popular dish was a simple vingrette with a touch of honey, fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzerella, zuchinni, fresh basil, salt and pepper, totally delicious!