Entries categorized as ‘Recipes - Observations’
I’m tempted to just let the pictures speak for themselves, but like Joe Biden, I have a verbosity reputation to maintain.
I also have a sweet tooth reputation to maintain, which is why I finally summoned the courage to whip up a batch of these decadent desserts. Between the truffles, the lemon squares I made last week and the apple pastries that are waiting in the wings (thanks to some overzealous apple picking), sugar is my new best friend.
These truffles - made from yet another Bon Appetit recipe - are simple but extremely rich. In retrospect, I probably shouldn’t have made them nearly as big as I did (half the size of a golf ball), and probably should have brought them to work instead of eating them all myself. Don’t worry, they lasted at least a week… I think.
Another warning: make sure the chocolate you use is room temperature. I used some Ghirardelli chocolate chunks right out of the freezer and had a hell of a time trying to get the chocolate melted and combined with the cream. In fact, the first time I tried, I was left with a chunky mess because some of the chocolate pieces didn’t in fact melt.
Here’s what it looked like after I re-melted that mess in the microwave, and then re-chilled it:
As you can see from the crater, the truffle base (simple chocolate ganache) is nice and smooth. But if I had to do it all over again, I might have used this guy’s melting process.
For the next step, it would be beneficial to have a melon scooper. I, of course, didn’t, so I went with the sloppy alternative of forming the little chocolate balls by hand. This process yielded some slightly amorphous truffles:
After chilling for an hour, the truffles were ready for their coating. This could be as easy as rolling them in cocoa powder or as sloppy and difficult as rolling them in melted chocolate in the palm of your hands. Guess which one I chose?
After suppressing the impulse to coat whatever I could get my hands on (including myself) in melted chocolate, I covered the truffles but still had some chocolate left over. Being the consummate artist, I decided to use the melted leftovers as an homage to Jackson Pollack, dripping and splattering the chocolate on and around the finished truffles.
Question: Is there anything chocolate can’t do?
Categories: Dessert · Recipes - Observations
Tagged: chocolate truffles, bittersweet, cacoa powder, Ghiradelli, sweet, melted chocolate, ganache
When I say “literally,” I mean I’ve eaten this soup at least once a day since making it last weekend. Why?
- There’s a lot of it.
- My wife, who doesn’t like soup, is out of town.
- It’s the perfect winter meal.
- I’m lazy.
Also, the recipe is pretty simple. The only difficult part is figuring out when the chicken is cooked through. I usually have to fish a piece out and cut into it to make sure the meat has cooked to the bone. By the way, I strongly recommend that you do not use skinless chicken as it gets rubbery almost as soon as the water gets hot.
As you can tell from the picture, I overdid it with the pastina (little pasta). This is not an uncommon occurrence. I always find that when I look at the amount of soup I’ve made, and then look at the little box (or bag) of pastina, it seems reasonable to use practically the whole thing.
Wrong. The pastina (in this case, orzo) will continue to soak up moisture from the soup, sometimes to the point of total absorption. It’ll still taste good, it just won’t be soup. In other words…
No soup for you!
Categories: Cooking · Recipes - Observations
Tagged: chicken, chicken soup, orzo, pastina, soup
For my first, and thus far only attempt at this recipe, the one decision I had to make was which cooking alcohol to use. I chose the Vermouth, but I think Marsala would be just as good… although, perhaps, a bit sweeter.
I don’t have much more to say about this dish except that it’s easy and awesome! It is probably the safest, simplest and tastiest way to use artichokes, the forgotten vegetable.
By the way: if the frozen artichokes don’t cook properly in the allotted time, feel free to cover the pot. I won’t tell if you don’t.
Categories: Cooking · Recipes - Observations
Tagged: artichokes, marsala, vermouth
Mmmm… now that’s some delicious photography.
I’m not sure how the tasty, but humble, meatball made the leap from “the sauce” into this greener dish. But I don’t care; it just really works. And, unlike some of my recipes, this one has veggies built in. As that Red Stripe spokesman would say: “Hooray veggies!”
Like a cooking version of The Da Vinci Code, this meatball recipe was cleverly hidden inside my Stuffed Peppers recipe from way back. However, instead of stuffing peppers with the meat mixture, you just need to form it into balls and fry ‘em up. Instant gratification.
Well, not exactly “instant.” No matter how hard I try, browning the meatballs in oil still leaves the inside raw. That’s why most people throw them into the tomato sauce while it’s still percolating. It finishes off the cooking process of the meatballs, as well as thickens the sauce.
The same thing goes in this recipe. In fact, instead of removing the meatballs in order to saute the onions, it doesn’t hurt to just push the balls to the side. Then, covering up the whole thing with peas will trap the heat, and cook the meat some more.
A note of caution: always make sure the meatballs are actually done. I usually select the thickest meatball to cut into when I’m ready to serve, just to make sure it’s cooked through.
There’s nothing that can flip your stomach faster than an undercooked meatball. Trust me.
Categories: Cooking · Recipes - Observations
Tagged: meatballs, onions, peas, Recipes, stuffed peppers
This is another easy, one-skillet meal. Again, probably not as many veggies as one would like, but it’s packed with protein and will satisfyingly fill your belly on a cold winter’s night.
The process is pretty straightforward, though you may need to pay extra attention to the liquid and couscous to make sure they’re in the correct ratio.
Depending on supermarket sales, I sometimes pick up the 10 oz. box of Near East couscous and use the whole thing in this dish. Realize that if you want to make this extra fluffy version, you will need to compensate for the extra couscous with more liquid and more bouillon.
It ain’t easy being extra fluffy.
Categories: Recipes - Observations
Tagged: chickpeas, couscous, filling, simple
Chicken Cacciatore - it’s always on the menu but I never order it.
Maybe that’s because I’ve been waiting for the right recipe to come along so I could try doing it myself. As it happens, my esteemed mother-in-law not only has a recipe for this famous Italian treat, but the special recipe that makes my wife go ga-ga.
Despite worries of retroactively ruining her childhood by messing up her favorite childhood dish, everything turned out fine. My wife even said it tasted almost exactly like her mom’s, which I took as high praise. “But,” she added, “the sauce was a little too thick.” Oops.
As you can see from the ingredient list, it’s really an improvisational process. Want more garlic? Throw in more garlic. Want less mushrooms? Leave them on the side. It’s like Burger King always says: have it your way. Except, unlike Burger King, your way is edible.
Categories: Recipes - Observations
Tagged: chicken cacciatore, chicken thighs, green peppers, improvisation, mushrooms
November 9, 2007 · 1 Comment
This is a fairly easy recipe and good to make when you want something warm and you’re feeling lazy. Most people think of beans & rice as a traditional side dish for Latin-American dishes, but it works well on its own with a small salad or veggie on the side.
What else can I say? I guess the Italian spices make it “Italian,” but the whole deal is fairly close to other recipes I’ve seen. I once tried to substitute red beans, and it worked ok, but not as good as black. Also, and keep in mind I haven’t tried this, I think you can throw the bean mixture in a blender and turn it back out into the pan for “refried” beans. Again, that’s just theoretical conjecture on my part.
Oh yeah, a little reminder on salt: since the bacon is already salty, be sure not to toss too much in during the final cooking. A little dash will… you know.
Categories: Recipes - Observations
Tagged: bacon, black beans, Italian, rice
See, I told you: five ingredients. Unless you want to count salt & pepper separately, but that’s just silly.
Anyway, the key to tomato sauce (”marinara” is something different in my book, even though most places and companies confuse the term) are the tomatoes. While that may be obvious, using canned tomatoes may not be.
Fresher is not always better, especially when it comes to tomatoes. Preparing fresh tomatoes to use in sauce takes an awful long time, a lot of work, and even then, will usually not come together as well as the canned kind.
I have a picture of Rosa tomatoes here, but you can use any kind, as long they’re Italian. I know, it’s snobby, but the Italian ones really are the best.
The tomatoes are usually packed in puree, and should come with basil. Make sure they do not have tomato paste (Death to tomato paste!) or are Italian style (meaning they are probably from New Jersey, not Italy: actually two different places, as opposed to what cable TV leads you to believe).
On a side note, my friend Lou maintains that the onions are dispensable, Sicilian addition. I can’t bring myself to try it another way.
Categories: Recipes - Observations
Tagged: food mill, Italian tomatoes, tomato sauce
Now, this recipe I did not get from Mom. This one came from the back of a soup can - College Inn Light & Fat Free Chicken Broth to be exact. I still have the label.
The only break from the recipe I make is with the spinach. I use frozen spinach, which is not as easy, but allows me to keep the spinach on hand whenever I need it.
When it’s time to add the spinach, I just throw the frozen square in the middle of the skillet and flip it occasionally to melt the spinach down. This will take quite a while - probably about 15 minutes - but when the spinach is all broken up, it will taste exactly the same.
Actually, I’m not sure of that since I’ve never made it with real spinach. I should probably try that.
Categories: Recipes - Observations
Tagged: chicken broth, spinach
OK, first thing’s first: this is not just tomato sauce with meat in it. Every time I see a crappy, low-rent Italian restaurant try pass off their regular marinara with some hamburger in it as “pasta bolognese,” I want to vomit. Fortunately, I restrain myself.
This, again, is another one of my mom’s recipes, passed down through the generations. Actually, I have no idea if she got this from a cookbook, but I like to think it was the generations thing.
I know you’re probably tired of hearing this, but I use ground turkey in my sauce to appease the little lady. Yeah, it’s not as rich or flavorful as veal, but I’m all about saving the baby cows. Come on, you know they’re cute! Remember when Bill Crystal played midwife to that calf in City Slickers? Just hang on to that memory and you’ll enjoy the turkey a lot more.
Anyway, I also use baby carrots because I’m lazy and they come pre-peeled. I find that filling up my 3-cup pulse grinder with them just about equals two full carrots.
As far as which pasta to use, this sauce goes best with the long noodles. I use fettucine or linguini, but the more traditional shape is tagliatelle. You can also use the smaller shapes, as long as they pick up the sauce - something like shells would do.
Top it off with a little Parmesan, and you’ve got a classic!
Categories: Recipes - Observations
Tagged: bolognese sauce, Italian, meat sauce, pasta
