Roasted Asparagus with cherry tomatoes

I served this dish this weekend to my family and friends at our annual easter celebration. It was a really big hit, even for those who do not care much for asparagus. Pam told me it gave her a tongue-gasm. How do you reply to that? LOL

I did not use a recipe, so I will try to tell  you about how to make it.

Roasted Asparagus with Cherry Tomatoes and Prosciutto

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs cleaned asparagus
• 1 lb cherry tomatoes
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
• salt
• a pinch of rosemary
• 3 T olive oil
• 4 slices  prosciutto, torn up
• shaved parmesan cheese

place asparagus and tomatoes in a bowl, toss with oil, salt garlic and rosemary. add prosciutto.  put it all on  a baking sheet and cook in the oven 15-20 minutes on 400. serve in a wide bowl with the parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. Yummy.

Chicken with Garlic, Garlic, Garlic!

 Vampires beware! This is not called Grand Garlic Gluttony Sauce for nothing! I saw this one day and made it shortly after. Mike LOVES this and we stink for days afterwards!

• 3 lbs. Frying chicken whole ( I often just use a package of thighs)
• 1 Garlic clove peeled and split
• 40 Garlic cloves 
• Rosemary
• 3⁄ 4 cup Dry white wine
• Freshly-ground black pepper to taste
• Salt to taste
• === GRAND GARLIC GLUTTONY SAUCE ===
• 1⁄ 2 cup Chicken stock fresh or canned
• 1⁄ 2 cup Whipping cream
• Cooked garlic cloves from the above - (all 40)

Method

Pat the chicken dry. Rub inside and out with one split clove of garlic. Lightly salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place chicken on a roasting rack in a baking pan and arrange cloves of garlic
around in the pan. Place in the oven and reduce heat to 350 degrees.
Bake 20 minutes and then pour wine over the chicken. Baste again in 10 minutes and again 10 minutes later.
Roast a total of one hour. You may wish to bake your chicken longer. (You may also opt to panfry and then simmer the chicken on the stovetop)
My friends serve the chicken on a platter with the garlic on the side. In this way you can squirt the cooked
garlic cloves onto bread, rolls or potatoes. Or you can make the following sauce.

For The Sauce: Put the chicken stock in a small saucepan and add the cream. As this is heating, squirt all of
the garlic cloves into the sauce, Simmer for a few minutes.

(ok, sometimes I skip the cream and just make a slurry with cornstarch and water to thicken this sauce, Its still very good and less fat.)

Correct the seasoning with salt and pepper and enjoy the sauce on the chicken. They call it Grand Garlic
Gluttony. I cannot understand why!

Notes

Comments: It is always fun to receive recipes from fans and friends. This is one will scare you to death, since it calls for one chicken and forty cloves of garlic.
I cannot even thank the person since he or she did not put a name on the recipe ... and I have long since lost
the envelope. So, you know who you are, and you are going to have the whole country smelling of wonderful
garlic. Do try this. It is not strong at all and is very good for you.I usually serve this with bagettes and butter and its usually ALL GONE.

Whoops! I did it again! Ravioli with smoked salmon

February 8 2016

OK, OK, I know I said I wouldn't ever cross this bridge again but I couldn't resist the challenge.  This week I made Ravioli again.  This time I succeeded.  I used a different pasta recipe and found it easier to work with and it made terrific raviolis.













Recipe for the pasta:

3 cups flour
4 eggs
1 T salt

I made it the same way, on the board in a well, with the eggs in the center, adding the flour to the center until it is all incorporated. The knead the dough. (this is hard) wrap it in saran and let it set at least one half hour.

While the dough was resting, I mage the filling:

1 lb smoked salmon, crumbled fine
4 oz cream cheese
3 scallions minced fine
mash it all together in a bowl and set aside.

Now run the pasta in the machine processing from the fat setting to the fine setting.  I made my dough pretty thin.
Lay the dough on the board and put a small pile of the filling on it.  I used the cutter for a guide.

Then egg wash the edges and fold it over.  Cut it out with the cutter and voila! Ravilioli!

 The next step is to boil water  (!)  Cook the ravioli in the water at a full boil for 5 minutes and then remove from the water.
While the raviolis are cooking, prepare a shallow pan with 1/2 cup melted butter, one minced clove garlic, 4 T capers and some freshly chopped dill.
Saute the raviolis for only a few minutes in the sauce and then serve

 There may be a seat for me in pasta heaven after all!  I thought this dish was amazing, Mike thought it was okay. I may try the same ravioli with a sour cream and dill sauce. yummy!

Ravioli also known as the pasta from hell.

February 1, 2016

I put on my big girl panties and decided to try making some ravioli.  I now believe there is a secret place in heaven for people who make beautiful Ravioli. I am will not be getting a seat there.



I used the pasta recipe from last time.
Pasta Dough:
3 cups 00 flour or unbleached all-purpose, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs plus 2 yolks
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
1 tablespoon water

To make pasta dough: Combine the flour and salt; shape into a mound on your work surface and make a well in the center. Add whole eggs, yolks, and 1 tablespoon olive oil to the well and lightly beat with a fork. Gradually draw in the flour from the inside wall of the well in a circular motion. Use 1 hand for mixing and the other to protect the outer wall. Continue to incorporate all the flour until it forms a ball. Knead and fold the dough until elastic and smooth, this should take about 10 minutes. Brush the surface with remaining olive oil and wrap the dough in plastic wrap; let rest for about 30 minutes to allow the gluten to relax. Divide the ball of dough in small sections, cover and reserve the dough you are not immediately using to prevent it from drying out. Form the dough into a rectangle and roll it through the pasta machine, 2 or 3 times, at widest setting. Pull and stretch the sheet of dough with the palm of your hand as it emerges from the rollers. Reduce the setting and crank dough through again, 2 or 3 times. Continue tightening and rolling until the sheet is thin.

I Had a hard time with my pasta for some reason. I finally managed to get some fairly thin sheets.

While it was resting I made a sausage and spinach filling:

1 Lb italian sausage
4 cups spinach
1 diced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups mozzerella cheese

brown the sausage in small crumbles, aadd the onion, garlic and spinch and sautee until eveything is soft.

I also made my own red sauce, but we won't talk about it.
 In the summer I can my own marinara, but I used the last of it on the pappardelle.  Tomatoes just have no flavor this time of year and my sauce was awful.  I recommend that you buy some ready made until summer gets here. Paul Newman makes a pretty good one.


Yeah......Let's just not talk about it.

It came time to make the Raviolis. First I tried laying out the sheet and putting little mounds of filling, washing with egg wash , put another sheet of pasta on top and cut out with a round cutter.  Crimp all the edges so the stuffing stays inside (It didn't)
Then I used a ravioli tray where you put a sheet of pasta on it, lay the filling in the grooves, put another sheet of pasta on top and run a rolling pin over it to seal them. (Not very well) Every method of making the lovely little pillows was a heinous nightmare.

I boiled my less than successful raviolis in boiling water for 5 minutes. half of them fell apart all over the place in the water. The rest I put on a plate with some sauce and good cheese, wiped the tears off my face, and presented Mike with a plate.
 

Lets just say this was not his favorite meal.

I layered up the rest of the ravioli, (and pieces of them) some mozzerella cheese and what was left of the sauce and baked it like a lasagne. As my friend said."good save". At least I did not waste all that good cheese!

I do not think I will try Ravioli any time soon.  I have to finish licking my wounds.

Fettuccini Alfredo

January 25, 2016

onward with the pasta! This week: fettuccini 


I used Tyler Florence recipe for pasta this week:

Ingredients

Pasta Dough:
3 cups 00 flour or unbleached all-purpose, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs plus 2 yolks
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
1 tablespoon water
Cornmeal, for dusting

Alfredo Sauce:
1 pint heavy cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Freshly cracked black pepper
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

Directions
Pasta Dough:

To make pasta dough: Combine the flour and salt; shape into a mound on your work surface and make a well in the center. Add whole eggs, yolks, and 1 tablespoon olive oil to the well and lightly beat with a fork. Gradually draw in the flour from the inside wall of the well in a circular motion. Use 1 hand for mixing and the other to protect the outer wall. Continue to incorporate all the flour until it forms a ball. Knead and fold the dough until elastic and smooth, this should take about 10 minutes. Brush the surface with remaining olive oil and wrap the dough in plastic wrap; let rest for about 30 minutes to allow the gluten to relax. Divide the ball of dough in small sections, cover and reserve the dough you are not immediately using to prevent it from drying out. Form the dough into a rectangle and roll it through the pasta machine, 2 or 3 times, at widest setting. Pull and stretch the sheet of dough with the palm of your hand as it emerges from the rollers. Reduce the setting and crank dough through again, 2 or 3 times. Continue tightening and rolling until the sheet is about 1/4-inch thick. Keep in mind, overly thick pasta tastes gummy. Cut the long sheet into workable 18-inch pieces. Now, using the fettuccine cutting attachment, run the sheets through the cutting slot. Dust the noodles and a baking sheet with cornmeal. Coil the strands into a nest. Allow to dry for about 10 minutes before cooking.

Alfredo Sauce:

To prepare alfredo sauce: Heat heavy cream over low-medium heat in a deep saute pan. Add butter and whisk gently to melt. Sprinkle in cheese and stir to incorporate. Season with freshly cracked black pepper. In a large stockpot, cook pasta in plenty of boiling salted water for 3 minutes. Quickly drain the pasta and add it to the saute pan, gently toss the noodles to coat in the alfredo. Transfer pasta to a warm serving bowl. Top with more grated cheese and chopped parsley. Serve immediately.

If only it was all that simple!  I once again had issues with the dough the first couple of passes thru the machine, but then it got softer and better.  I did not use cornmeal, I used flour to keep my sheets from sticking together.  

My Alfredo sauce also had chicken and mushrooms sauteed into it.  It was very very tasty.  Mike loved it and I believe he is beginning to congratulate himself on such a wonderful gift!

Pappardelle with meat sauce

January 17, 2016

 Mike gave me the pasta attatchments for my kitchenaid for Christmas!  Oh holy cow are we going to have fun now!  My first attempt at pasta was pappardelle.

Pappardelle [papparˈdɛlle] (sing.: pappardella) are large, very broad, flat pasta noodles, similar to wide fettuccine.  The name derives from the verb "pappare", to gobble up. The fresh types are two to three centimetres (³⁄₄–1 in) wide and may have fluted edges.

I used a recipe I found online to make the dough.

3 1/2 cups of flour
3 large eggs
1T salt.

Make a pile of the four and dig a little well in the middle of it.  drop the eggs and salt in and keep adding flour from the edged to the batter until you have a smooth stiff dough. (my dough was VERY stiff, and I may have added too much flour!) Scrape off your board of the excess flour and knead the dough until its smooth and pliable. (I found this VERY difficult!)
Wrap in plastic wrap and let proof for 30 minutes.
While the dough was proofing, I made a lovely meat sauce.

Meat Sauce
1 Lb ground beef
1 Lb italian sausage
one large onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 quart jars of homemade marinara sauce (You can buy some if you didn't can any this summer!)
 Brown the meat and onions, add the garlic and sauce and simmer on low all the day long! It should reduce by about half)

I took a small handful of the pasta and flattened it into a disk and sent it thru the pasta machine on the widest setting. This was painful, and I thought I had done something terribly wrong, because it came out all broken and shredded looking, but I folded it in half and put it thru again.  I put it back thru about six times and it became a beautiful sheet as wide as the machine.  Then I started lowering the width, on each pass until I had pasta I could almost see thru.  I put it on a floured tray and lightly floured it so it would't stick together.
 When I had it all flattened, I cut it into ribbons about one inch wide and set it aside while I boiled water.
Unlike dried pasta, fresh pasta only needs to boil about 3-5 minutes.
Then I tossed it with the lovely meat sauce and topped it with some nice Parmesan cheese.

Manga!

Thanks for the pasta machine Mike, I love it! Next time: Fettuccini