Sipping Once, Sipping Twice, Sipping Chicken Soup with Rice

Maurice Sendak, you will be missed.  You understood so well the loneliness children feel with their inability to articulate their feelings.  You understood that childhood is not all sweetness and innocence but also the first phase of struggles to overcome. There is still a copy of "Where the Wild Things Are" in my night stand to remind me that even in my most frustrating moments, I can always sail home.  Thank you for giving our young selves the words and illustrations we needed.  Thank you for not underestimating our feelings.

I felt a great sense of relief when after Max had decided to return from his great and perilous adventure, after he left his new and terrible friends, that here was a bowl of something steaming and delicious brought to his room.  I could just taste it.

On snow days and sick days my mom would read "Chicken Soup with Rice" from the Nutshell Library to remind us of the comforts of home when storm or flu kept us indoors.  I am home sick today and thinking of Old Bombay, my favorite line in the poem when the young illustrated Maurice imagines traveling to exotic lands to "dream about hot soup all day."

I declared that I would ride an elephant in Old Bombay, to which my dismayed mother would always reply, "Oh no, please don't go, I'll eat you up, I love you so."

This is a take on both a traditional chicken soup with rice recipe and an Italian creamed soup with chickpea, porcini and farro.  I added the elements of that soup while swapping the farro out for black wild rice.   Both exotic and familiar.

Creamy Chicken Soup with Wild Rice, Mushrooms and Chickpeas

For the stock:

• 1 lb chicken parts
• 2 small or 1 large onion
• 2 stalks of celery 
• 2 garlic cloves smashed to removet he skin but other wise kept whole
• 2 carrots
• 2 small or one large bay leaf
• 7 to 9 sprigs parsley
• 7 to 9 sprigs dill
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon juniper berries
• 10 cups water
• salt to taste

For the soup:

• 6 cups above chicken stock
• shredded cooked chicken from above stock
• 1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms
• 10 oz to 1 lb chopped mushrooms such as crimini, portabello, standard white button, oyster or a mix of these
• 2 cups cooked wild rice
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 3 cups chickpeas pureed or mashed into a paste
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 stalk of celery chopped fine 
• 2 garlic cloves sliced
• 1 carrot chopped fine
• 1 bay leaf
• fresh chopped parsley for serving
• fresh chopped dill for serving
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• sea salt  and white pepper to taste

Put the dried porcini in a small bowl of water. 

In a large stock pot, combine all the ingredients for you chicken stock.   Cover and and bring to a boil.  Once it is boiling, lower the heat to medium and simmer until the liquid reduces by one fourth.  Remove the chicken and set aside to cool.  Put a colander over a large bowl and strain the broth.  Discard remaining ingredients.

In a dutch oven, heat the olive oil.  Add your chopped onion, carrot, celery and garlic.  Sautee` until they soften.  Add mushrooms and continue to sautee until the mushrooms reduce in size. When the vegetables start to get dry, add the cream.  When the cream is absorbed by the mushrooms, add the stock and the bay leaf.  Simmer over medium low heat and reduce to desired thickness.  When the chicken is cool separate the meat from the bone and chop to shreds.  Add your cooked rice, shredded chicken and salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with chopped fresh herbs.

Dinner on the Fly: Skate and Radishes in Anchovy Brown Butter and Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes and Dandelion Greens

In the spirit of Spring let me post this dish.  Walking around Essex market I was stopped by some dandelion greens.  There is only one time of year when you see them.  Unlike asparagus which you can get all year round but probably shouldn't, dandelion greens are only seen in certain markets in Spring.  They are a earthy and very bitter green.  I highly recommend this recipe for Ligurian mashed potatoes and dandelion greens by Mark Bittman.  It's a great recipe to use with any spring green actually and simple enough for a busy week night.   Remember that there are only four ingredients so make them count.  Use very good olive oil, sea salt and a flavorful potato.  Otherwise the subtleties in this dish can be lost. A good note for any dish that has very few ingredients.  

Radishes sauteed in brown butter is a favorite side dish of mine in Spring.  (See this earlier post.)  I recently made some anchovy butter and my sauteed radishes got a little update.   It was like falling in love all over again.  

 Skate and Radishes Sauteed in Anchovy Butter

• 1 skate wing (should be enough for 2 people)
• one large radish or 1 bunch small radishes
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon anchovy paste
• salt and pepper to taste (remember that the anchovy is also salty)
• parchment paper

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Melt butter with anchovy paste in a medium skillet until golden brown.  Lay the skate wing onto parchment paper.  Drizzle a small amount of the butter onto the skate.  Fold the sides of the parchment paper in two or three times to seal, cover, and to make an envelope for the fish.  Bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

Sautee` your sliced radishes in the remaining butter.  Turn the heat down to medium low and cook until tender.  Serve over skate.  To remove the fish from the bone, slide a fork or knife down the contour of the bone on either side and the meat will come off in strips.

Ragu Bolognese

This is one of Nick's absolute favorite dishes.  I should have written about it before now.  It is the ultimate in comfort food and a recipe I have made so often I know it in my sleep.  Particularly because I am a stickler for how it is done.  It isn't difficult or complicated but when one step or ingredient is amiss I can taste it.  

I have had some lively discussions with fellow enthusiasts of this dish as to its contents.  Some use tomato, some don't.  There have been those known to use red wine (although I prefer dry white so as not to overpower the other flavors).  Some use just beef and others use beef, veal and pork in thirds.  My brother does a great version using that variety of meat, pancetta and minus the tomato.  I always like the fresh contrast of tomato and parsley against the richness of the meat.  These ingredients are flexible but it is the liquid reductions that are important in tenderizing the meat and infusing it with flavor.  First milk, then wine and, if you like, tomato.  It is those reductions that define the difference between a meat sauce and a ragu.

This recipe will make a decent amount so you should know that it freezes well, is awesome over polenta as well as pasta and will make your lasagna unforgettable.

Ragu Bolognese

• diced pancetta
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 to 3 carrots finely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, ends trimmed and chopped
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups dry white wine
• 1 cup San Marzano tomato puree (or about half a 16 oz can)
• freshly ground nutmeg to taste
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
• salt (kosher or sea) to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• freshly grated parmesan or romano cheese to taste

In a heavy bottomed sauce pot or dutch oven, saute` pancetta in olive oil just enough to give it color and to render some of the fat and release the flavor.  Add your chopped aromatics, onions, celery and carrots.  Saute` until soft and the onions are translucent.  Add your ground meat and cook until no longer pink, breaking it up into smaller and smaller chunks while it is cooking.  Add milk and let simmer until the milk is absorbed into the meat, about 15 minutes.  Add freshly ground nutmeg to taste.  Add wine and let simmer until it is absorbed into the meat, also about 15 minutes.  Add your tomato puree and let simmer for a minimum of 30 minutes but up to an  hour stirring occasionally.  Add parsley, salt and pepper before serving.  Serve over pasta or polenta with grated cheese. 

Dinner on the Fly: Tarragon Quinoa Salad

I have returned to the Blogosphere.  I hadn't meant to be gone so long.  Balance is hard and I have pushed aside some of the activities in my life I really want to be doing.  When the pace of life quickens I feel like I start cooking one tired recipe after another.  Or maybe the recipes weren't tired but I was.

Yet happy accidents happen and often out of necessity.  If balancing work, relationships, exercise and life goals is tough then cooking a meal that is healthy, quick and delicious is the same kind of juggling act.  Especially in the moments when you are standing with your arms resting on the open doors of your cabinets and looking up into the shelves for inspiration.

Wasn't I talking about happy accidents?  This was definitely one.  I am always looking for a good use for tarragon.  So I went searching through my pantry to see what I could find.  Quinoa has a naturally nutty aroma which is the perfect compliment to the anise-like flavor of tarragon.  This is a delightful side dish that would be perfect next to steamed fish or your favorite chicken dish.  It holds its own in flavor so if you tossed in chopped chicken it would make a great lunch.

Tarragon Quinoa Salad

• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• one small onion chopped
• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water or broth
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• sea salt to taste

In a 4 quart saucepan, heat olive oil over medium low heat. Add onion and saute` until soft and translucent.  Add quinoa to the pot and toss until coated with olive oil and onions are mixed in.  Pour in your water or broth.  Simmer until the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa is tender.  Just before taking the quinoa off the heat add raisins and tarragon.  The heat will plump the raisins and make the tarragon fragrant.  Toss with vinegar, sea salt and pecans before serving.

Dinner on the Fly: Octopus Potato Salad with Pancetta and Mint

Let's demystify octopus, shall we?  It is not that complicated, People.  You can make it for dinner on an ordinary day and it is no big deal.  So what are you afraid of?  It was fine when you ordered it in that Spanish tapas place.  Of course it was already cleaned, chopped, prepared and somehow artfully arranged on your plate.  But really you just can not imagine it on your kitchen counter as a blubbery, bulbous mass with purple, suctioned-cupped tentacles.  I am here to tell you that you can do this.

First here are a few of things you should know:

1. You are going to buy it frozen.  I know what you are thinking and believe me I am not accustomed to buying fish or seafood from my local supermarket's freezer section.  First of all, I am willing to bet that your local supermarket is not selling octopus, am I right?  ( If you live in NY I have gotten mine at Sunny Fish Market in Queens or Buon Italia in Manhattan, but I am sure there are many other great places.)  Octopus actually freezes well and is almost always sold to a wholesaler frozen.  I have heard rumors of New York neighborhoods like Chinatown or Bay Ridge, where you can get fresh octopus but I have not made those outings yet to be sure. Anthing you buy fresh is a real treat but I am willing to bet that the wonderful pulpa you had at that Spanish Tapas Bar probably started out frozen.
2. You are going to stick it in a pot and boil it.  Now does that sound hard? I haven't bought a frozen octopus that hasn't already been cleaned but I suppose it is still worth it to pose the question to your fish monger.  But boiling is pretty much the extent of preparing your octopus.  I have never had to beat it against a wall or put a cork in the water but feel free to try that if you feel so inclined.  Depending on the size of the octopus, you want to boil it for 45 minutes to an hour.  You should note that it will reduce in size by about a third.  It will be ready when you stick in fork in it and it is tender. Pull it out of the pot, chop it into attractive pieces and you are done.
3. If you are not accustomed to eating octopus, try it.  It is surprisingly delicious.  And if the environment and sustainability is a concern of yours, as it is a concern of mine, octopus is one of the better choices at your fish market.  I can not say that it is certainly local but octopi are a short lived and fast growing breed, making them better able to withstand overfishing. 

Octopus Potato Salad with Pancetta and Mint

• 1 octopus, prepared and chopped
• 3 potatoes, boiled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 1/4 of a cup chopped pancetta
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
• 2 shallots, 1 minced and 1 sliced 
• 1 stalk chopped celery 
• 1/2 a cup of cooked (or from a can) chick peas 
• pinch of red chili flakes
• 5 tablespoons of olive oil 
• 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
• sea salt
• black pepper

In a small bowl, add minced shallot and vinegar.  Slowly drizzle in 4 tablespoons of the olive oil while beating the vinegar and shallot with a fork.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Chop your potatoes first and then boil them in salted water (they will cook faster that way). Let them cool for 10 minutes. In a large bowl combine celery, warm potatos (not hot), and chick peas.  Add some of the olive oil and vinegar mixture while the potatoes are still warm and toss.  Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet.  Add pancetta and sliced shallot and turn the heat to medium low.  Let cook until the pancetta and shallots turn golden brown on the edges.  This will render some pork fat and carmelize the shallots.  When they are almost done and the skillet is still hot add the red chili flakes.  Let cool for a few minutes then add to the potato mixture and toss.  Add mint leaves, season with salt, pepper and the remaining oil and vinegar dressing to taste.

Hungarian Stuffed-Under-the-Skin Chicken

I made this last month to bring to a Chanakah dinner and I have been craving it ever since.  Every year I am invited to my sister-in-law's family Chanakah dinner. We gentiles come bearing gifts but leave the traditional cooking to those who know it best.  However this year, I couldn't help feeling that the burden of cooking was unbalanced and that a little help was in order.  I could have reached for what I know of traditional Chanakah dishes but  I couldn't possible make something so traditional as latkes or chotlin without trumping my host.  So I searched the New York Times Archives for less well known but appropriate dishes for this holiday.  This dish was posted in 2006 as Hungarian Stuffed-Under-the-Skin Chicken  (click here to get the recipe and believe me you should) and was adapted from Mindel Appel.  Mrs. Appel is the Hungarian Jew who founded this dish and you should read about her in this beautiful article.  This article well describes the spirit of generosity that often comes with family cooking.  Or cooking for anyone for that matter.  It describes a long tradition of cooking as a way of giving and spending time with those you love.  There are some other great recipes there to boot.

Here's the thing about this dish.  There's no complexity in its flavors.  There is no zing of acidity, no kick of something spicy, no rounding of sweetness to contrast or balance another flavor.  It is savory, chickeny goodness with real and simple vegetables cooking in those juices.  The stuffing is made with onion, egg, parsley, mushrooms and good challah bread.  Simple and delicious but I mean, really delicious.  Not the kind of fancy night out good, but the kind of good that makes you glad that you are home.  I swear that if love were scent it would be that of this dish while it is roasting in the oven.

Manila Clams over Leek and Flounder Risotto

I made this on a Monday night.  A Monday night in December when I had gifts to make and buy and wrap, designs to complete, work lunches to pack and a floor to clean.  I haven't even touched the subject of cookies yet.  If you think that is bad, on Friday I made a chicken pot pie.  It all started with a casual glance toward my cookbook shelves.  One of those large, glossy pictured, hard covered beauties were calling me.  Sit down, it said, take a load of for twenty minutes or so and read about something rich and delicious.  The cookbook that was calling to me was a collaborative one by Julia Child and Jacques Pepin.  I should mention that I just finished reading Julia Child's "My Live in France."  Now I am craving butter.  No, I won't reduce my cravings to just butter.  I mean really, when do I not crave butter.  It's that I was transported to a kitchen where food preparation can be poetry.  Don't just throw your aromatics in a stock pot, stud your onions with whole cloves first, bundle your herbs into a bouquet.  You think it shouldn't make a difference but when you smell the fragrant steam of your gently bubbling stock you know it does.  Just as when you you slow down and prepare anything with love and attention it always shows. 

I know this isn't a slowing down time.  Maybe that's why I always feel a little grouchy or blue at the close of the year.  Because I know in a blink it will be gone.  Sometimes there is so little time for savoring the present before we have to start all over again. 

I promise, next time I'll get to the cookies. 

Fish Stock



• Half of a medium-sized (or a quarter of an extra large) onion 
• 2 small carrots chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 3 to 4 sprigs of parsley
• 3 to 4 sprigs of thyme
• 1 leek leaf
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 a teaspoon kosher salt
• fish bones, head and tail
• 8 cups of water

Stud the onion with the whole cloves.  Using kitchen twine, tie together your herbs and leak leaf.  Now add all of your ingredients to your stock pot and bring to a boil.  Lower your heat and keep at a gentle boil until the stock is reduced by 1/4 of the liquid.  Pour your liquid through a strainer and into a bowl.

Broiled Flounder

• one skinless, boneless fillet of flounder
• 3 to 4 sprigs of thyme
• 3 to 4 sprigs of parsley
• sea salt for sprinkling
• black pepper
• olive oil for drizzling
• 1 sheet of parchment paper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Lay thyme and parsley on parchment paper.  Then lay the fish fillet on top of the herbs.  Sprinkle with salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil.  Fold paper around the fish.  Broil in the oven for 5 minutes.

Risotto

• one leek cut in half and diced
• half a medium onion, diced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• pinch of crushed red pepper
• approx. 4 cups of above fish stock
• 4 to 5 saffron threads
• White pepper
• sea salt for sprinkling
• half a lemon
• 1 and 1/4 cup arborio rice
• 1 broiled fillet of flounder (above)

Heat your olive oil in a dutch oven. Add onion, leek and crushed red pepper.  Sautee` until soft and onion is translucent.  Add your rice and toss so that it is evenly coated.  Just as it is starting to feel dry add a ladle full of fish stock.  Stir and let the rice absorb the stock completely.  Stirring is very important to risotto.  It releases the starches and makes it creamy.  The more you stir the better.  Add another ladleful of stock and repeat. On third ladle, add your saffron threads.  Continue slowly adding stock until your rice is creamy and tender.  Add salt, white pepper and squeeze in some lemon juice to taste.  Crumble the flounder and toss in the risotto.

Steamed Manila Clams

• one carrot diced
• one stalk of celery diced
• half an onion diced
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 dozen manila clams
• 1 large handful of chopped parsley

Wash clams by putting them in a bowl of cold water with a inch of cornmeal.  Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Heat your butter in a medium saucepan.  Add your celery, carrots and onion when the butter is melted but not brown.   Sautee` until the onions are translucent.  Add your clams and cover.

Dinner on the Fly: Spaghetti and Meatballs

Spaghetti and meatballs.  Do I even need to write anything else?  It is sinful and comforting, ethnic and universal.  Some version of this classic dish has been a part of almost all of our kitchens growing up.  My favorite version of it is the simplest one.  What is your recipe?  Do you make it spicy or give it a twist?

Meatballs

• 1/2 lb ground beef, pork or veal (or a combination)
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• 1/2 an onion, chopped
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Line a sheet pan with  parchment paper.  Put all the ingredients a food processor and pulse until blended.  Careful not to pulse too much or you will get a puree.  take about 1/2 a cup of your mixture (small snowball size ) and roll into a ball.  Place each one on the parchment paper lined pan about 2 inches apart.  Keep a bowl of water nearby to dip your hands in so that the meat doesn't stick when you are rolling it. Bake for 25 minutes. then add to your tomato sauce.

Tomato Sauce

• one can of crushed tomatoes
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, smashed and peeled
• sea salt
• black pepper 
• chopped fresh parsley
• Parmesan cheese

Heat olive oil in a saucepan on medium low heat.  Add garlic (with cloves intact or chopped if you like your sauce a little more garlicky).  Sautee` until fragrant but be careful not to burn.  When fragrant add your tomatoes and stir.  Keep at a simmer for about an hour.  Add meatballs when done (about 25 minutes into your simmer). Add salt, pepper and parsley before serving.  Top with Parmesan cheese after tossing with your cooked pasta.

Dinner on the Fly: Chinese Hot Pot in an American's Kitchen

Something about this dish will be lost in translation.  My first experience with food and culture in China and Hong Kong has brought me a deeper understanding of both, if not a full one.  I must have tried forty  dishes during my stay and each one was completely different from the last.  Still, I haven't made more than a small dent in understanding the vastness and complexity of Chinese cuisine. There are flavors that I will always remember and look forward to, should I return, not just for the their flavors but for their unique and artful presentation.  Should I return to Hangzhou, I will want to unwrap the lotus leaf that a whole spring chicken has been cooked in to release the fragrant steam and make sure the head is still intact.  I'll ask for the pot of shrimp brought live to the table, then drowned in rice wine so that their fresh water taste mingles with the sweet acidity.  I would like at least two different green vegetables, cooked to a just wilted bright green, pleasantly salting and tinged with garlic.  Let me not forget to accompany it with a cup of Dragon Well green tea, where the leaves float like plants behind an aquarium's glass and it tastes the way grass smells in Spring.

Is that what comes to mind when you think of Chinese food? If it is than you win the cigar for for being far more worldly in t the realm of Asian culture than I.

Traveling to a new place and breaking bread with locals was like a reboot to the way I think about food. Hot pot was one of my favorite dishes in China and Hong Kong.  It epitomized the family style way of dining where a dish is always shared and brought to the table when ready, without our western concept of a sequence of courses.  Hot pot was also one of the simplest dishes in concept.  Perfect for the non-Asian-savvy to recreate at home.  It isn't only an ease of preparation and flavors from my trip that I am bringing to my table with this dish, but the intimate circle it creates as we all share in the cooking and tasting of our meal.

Not to mention it reminds me of a fondue party, which I love.

This is a hot chili oil I made by heating peanut oil with garlic cloves and lots of tian jin red chilis. 

Hot Pot (With a Little of Everything Thrown In)

For the broth: 

• 1 lb pork bones
• 10 garlic cloves, peeled and mashed with the flat side of a knife
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• three carrots cut in rounds
• 1 small knob of ginger, chopped to equal about 2 tablespoons
• 5 small potatoes, diced (preferably yellow flesh)
• 4 diced scallions
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce

At the table:

• very fresh, thinly sliced raw top round beef (or substitue and appropriate cut of pork or lamb)
• very fresh, filet of flounder cut into small bite sized pieces (or substitute another white fish)
• very fresh, sliced scallops (or shelled and cleaned shrimp)
• chopped shitake mushrooms
• snow peas (or bok choy)

Dipping sauce:

*simple soy sauce is fine here.  I went to one restauraunt and there was a make your own dipping sauce bar so I tried to recreate what I did which was delicious.  I did not measure I just added buy taste

• soy sauce
• peanut butter
• fish sauce
• minced garlic
• minced scallion (green parts only)
• 1 minced dried red tian jin chili
  
  
  In a large stock pot, add pork bones, chopped onion, garlic, carrots, ginger and potatoes.  Bring to a boil.  Keep at a gentle boil uncovered for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  You want about a fourth of the liquid to reduce.  While still boiling add your soy sauce, fish sauce and scallions.  You want to keep this soup as close to boiling heat as you can because you are cooking ingredients in it at the table.
  
  
  The rest of this recipe happens at the table.  It is in the layout.  I used fondue pots to keep the soup at a temperature that cooks your ingredients.  Then I ladled soup into individual small bowls for sampling.  Dipping sauce was in everyone's reach. I made sure my meat and fish were cut small so that it cooked at the end of our chopsticks.  Vegetables were added by the handful, pulled out and served when bright and tender.  It was awkward at first but we got the hang of how and when to reach over one another, whether we dipped our fish, meat or vegetable into the sauce or added the dipping sauce into the bowl and how long to hold our raw ingredients in the hot broth.  Like any firsts, we got the hang of it.

Sunday Dinner at Home: Roasted Acorn Squash Ravioli

Let me start by saying that I do not have a pasta machine.  I have never had one and I am pretty sure my grandmother didn't either.  Saying that doesn't mean that I am opposed to one.  I didn't mean that in the belligerent I-will-never-have-one-and-you-shouldn't-either kind of way.  Quite the contrary, we would probably have fresh pasta more often if I did have a pasta machine.  But you can make fresh pasta without one and it isn't as hard as you think.

Do you remember what it was like to want to get your hands dirty?  Or to be a kid and need the satisfaction of a tactile experience?  I could not pass a pile of leaves my father had just raked without jumping in it.  How about running your fingers through warm sand and digging down to the cool, damp sand underneath?  When I was an art teacher my students would ask "When do we get to use clay?" starting on the first week of school and every week that followed until we actually did use clay.  They would cheer on painting day from kindergarten to high school.

That is the joy of making something from scratch.  It literally feels good.  Like cold water and wet clay on a potter's wheel...someone stop me because I will go on forever.  Pasta making is like that too except afterwards you get to eat it!  If you are really nice you might even share it with others.  So what if it took me all day and my kitchen was a mess?  Maybe my furniture, counters, hair and eyebrows are covered in flour, but I had fun.  Delicious fun.

Roasted Acorn Squash Ravioli with Fried Sage Leaves 

For the pasta:

• 3 eggs
• approx. 3 cups of flour

For the filling:

• 1 acorn squash
• 1/4 cup diced pancetta
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 small or half of one large onion diced
• 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese
• 5 sage leaves chopped
• salt
• pepper

For the garnish:

• 3 tablespoons of butter
• remaining bundle of sage leaves

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Wrap your acorn squash in aluminum foil and pop it in.  This will roast for about an hour and a half.

On a clean dry surface, scoop out your flour and make it into a pile (like a mountain, as my aunt would say).  With your fingers, make a hole in the center (like a valley, if you will).  You want to make sure this hole goes down to the surface and that the "walls" are pretty high.  Crack one of the eggs into the center of your flour. Gently scramble the egg with a fork.  it will begin to absorb the flour.  When it becomes more of a cough you can begin to knead it with your fingers.  Form the dough into a disc and repeat with the following two eggs.

On a floured surface, roll out your dough from the center out.  The flour is what makes the dough expand so if the dough is too sticky or not spreading, add more four to the surface.  Roll out the dough as thin as you can get it without breaking.

In the meantime, you might want to get started on the filling.  Add your butter, pancetta and onion to a hot skillet.  Turn down the heat to medium and sautee` your ingredients until your pancetta is well cooked and your onion is translucent.  Salt and pepper to taste

When your acorn squash is done, take it out, unwrap it, cut it in half and let it cool.  When it is cool  enough to handle, scoop out the seeds and throw them away.  Then scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Add the squash, pancetta and onion mixture, chopped sage and Parmesan cheese to a food processor and pulse until smooth.  (Or mash it together with a fork if you prefer.)

Lay out one sheet of the pasta and add a spoonfuls of your squash mixture, each about 2 inches apart. Brush a little water on the dough in between.  Lay another sheet of pasta on top and press around each lump of filling with your fingers so that the dough sticks together. Cut your ravioli apart with a knife or pizza cutter.  You want to lay the ravioli out on a tray with some space between them to keep them from sticking together before you cook them.  Boil about three or four at a time, until they float to the top and pucker slightly.

In a frying pan or hot skillet, melt about 3 tablespoons of butter.  When the butter is hot and melted but not yet brown, add the sage leaves with a generous sprinkling of salt.  Let them fry until they darken and curl.  Drizzle over the ravioli.

Dinner for One: Baked Eggs and Brussels Sprouts

I have been cooking for two for so long I forgot what it was like to fend for myself.  But I do have many single friends and most cook for themselves.  There is a popular opinion that when you are one person it is easier and just as cheap to get take out and I am still trying my hardest to prove that wrong.  Picture this: it is a Wednesday.  I come home from a long day at the office.  I have two hours before having to run out again.  I am even trying to get in a shower.  Yet, I am the food snob that I am and I want my dinner to be delicious spectacular.  If you find yourself in the same predicament one night, try the recipe below. 

Baked Eggs and Brussels Sprouts

• 2 eggs
• 4 brussels sprouts shredded
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• Parmesan cheese to taste
• drizzle of balsamic cream
• sea salt
• pepper

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Toss brussels sprouts, olive oil, salt, pepper, and balsamic cream in a single serving, oven proof ramekin.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Crack the two eggs over the top.  Sprinkle with more Parmesan, salt and pepper.  Bake for 20 minutes.  

Go have a shower.  Do your thing.  It will be done by the time you get out.  

Dinner on the Fly: Baked Eggplant with Tomato, Ricotta and Basil Oil

Are you tired of these super simple recipe posts yet? Just let me know and I will post some twenty-seven step French entree that spins and shoots off fireworks in front of your dinner guests.  It's not that I am lazy.  It's just that these late summer vegetables won't last forever.  I don't want to make them saucy or cook them down to a ragu.  I want to taste them the way they are right now.  I want to savor their bright flavor as I squint into the low, golden sunshine of Indian Summer.  I hope school never starts.

Don't bother making this dish if your tomatoes are not sweet.  They must be red, not orange.  Do you hear me?  Because that is the color of a tomato.  Red.  Ideally you should use a small, fresh eggplant but if you have one of the large purple-black ones from the super market, slice them in rounds, salt them and let them stand for about twenty minutes to half an hour.  This should take some of the bitterness out of them.  Basil is a must here.  If I only plant one herb in the Spring, (which this Spring I did) it is basil.  It smells like the color green to me.  Hurricane Irene uprooted my basil plant (thankfully our only damage) so I pureed the last of its fragrant leaves in olive oil.  That way we could hold on to its flavor a little longer.  The ricotta is homemade which is surprisingly easy and a recipe post to come.  In fact I have a new contributor to this blog.  Janice, will you do the honors please?

I am stopping here.  Let me post this before it is too late.  Run to your farmer's market!  Get the last tomatoes and eggplant before they are gone! 

Baked Eggplant, with Sliced Tomato, Ricotta and Basil Oil

• One large tomato, very fresh, very red, sliced
• One small eggplant cut into rounds
• Olive oil
• sea salt
• one dollop of ricotta
• drizzle of balsamic vinegar or balsamic cream (essentially like a balsamic reduction and can be bought in specialty stores or homemade) I found a great recipe for balsamic reduction however  here.

For the basil oil:

• One 2 foot overturned basil plant or 4 cups of basil leaves 
• 1 to 2 cups of olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and cut into quarters
• sea salt

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss your eggplant rounds in a sprinkle of sea salt and olive oil.  You want enough olive oil to coat your eggplant.  The eggplant will absorb your olive oil quickly, so you don't want to let this sit.  Spread them out on your baking sheet with some space between them.  Not much, just enough so that they are not touching. Bake until they are tender and the skins are slightly shriveled.  In a food processor, add your basil leaves and garlic and pulse.  Add your olive oil slowly and in batches in order to get the consistency that you want.  Salt to taste.

Layer your eggplant over the sliced tomato.  Add a dollop of ricotta (preferably home-made but we will get to that later) and drizzle with the basil oil and balsamic cream.

Dinner on the Fly: Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Zucchini here, zucchini there, zucchini, zucchini everywhere. Our local CSA is in full swing and zucchini season it is.  How many ways can I make this stuff?  What to do when your zucchini is the size of a small watermelon? Well, summer isn't all brisket and hamburgers now, is it?  I still fairly new at stuffing vegetables but this recipe is easy.  I think it is worth experimenting with, use different cheeses and herbs, maybe add a meat for something a little more filling.

Stuffed Zucchini Boats

1 large 2 small zucchini 

2 garlic cloves minced

1 onion, chopped

3 plum tomatoes, chopped

A handful of basil leaves chopped or torn

Juice of one lemon
1 cup cooked rice
1/4 to 1/2 pound feta cheese
1 tablespoon maras biberi (Turkish red pepper)
1/4 cup pitted black sundried olives
light sprinkling of sea salt
Drizzle of olive oil

Preheat your oven to 475 degrees.   Scoop out the insides of the zucchini with a spoon or melon baller. Drizzle a little olive oil inside the holllowed out zucchini.  Chop and put aside in a large bowl.  Add all remaining ingredients to the bowl with chopped zucchini and toss.  Drizzle a little more olive oil in the mixture and bake until tender.  About 35 to 45 minutes.