jenn_unplugged (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jenn_unplugged) wrote2006-01-03 11:57 am
jenn_unplugged) wrote2006-01-03 11:57 am
Happy New Year!
We're home again after spending a little more than a week in NC with my family. My sister and her husband were gracious enough to host us for more than a week, and it was great to stay with them.
I'm posting a few things here by request. I was telling my sister about chef clogs, which I am so thrilled to have discovered. They're very lightweight, comfy plastic clogs that professional chefs wear while working. If you have ever spent a good deal of time on your feet in the kitchen, you know how achy your feet can get. Chef clogs make awesome house shoes, and they're really cheap -- $11 a pair on the site linked above. Doug and I have a couple of pairs each, and we wear them all the time.
We cooked for various people in our family while we were there, and several people asked for some recipes. Here they are!
Roasted squash soup
This is a ridiculously easy soup that's really yummy. The key is the roasting of the squash, I think -- it really brings out the natural sweetness of the squash. This is a rich, savory soup, but there's no sugar in the recipe!
Ingredients:
1 medium squash (I've used butternut, acorn, and cooking pumpkin, and all were great)
olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup dry white wine
1 quart good quality chicken stock
1 cup half-n-half
salt and pepper to taste
mascarpone cheese for garnish
Preparation
1. Roast the squash: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and clean out the seeds. Rub the flesh of the squash liberally with olive and place the halves face-up in a baking dish. Bake uncovered for 30-45 minutes, until the squash is browning on top and is easily pierced with a fork. (Roasting time depends on the size of the squash.) Let the squash cool for a few minutes, and then scoop the flesh out of the shell with a spoon. Set aside.
2. Heat 1/4 cup of olive oil and the butter in a stock pot. Saute the onions, carrots, celery along with the cinnamon and nutmeg until the vegetables are translucent, about 7 minutes.
3. Add the wine to deglaze, and continue cooking until the liquid is reduced by about half. (a couple of minutes)
4. Add the chicken stock and the cooked squash. Cook until the mixture begins to simmer. (five minutes)
5. Puree the soup mixture in a blender or food processor (or use an immersion blender in the pot -- what a fantastic appliance!) and return the soup to the stock pot. Add the half-n-half, then salt and pepper to taste.
6. Serve with a tablespoon of mascarpone cheese dropped into the center of each bowl.
Bucatini All'Amatriciana
This is my all-time favorite pasta dish! I first had it in Rome and loved it so much that I looked for it when I got home. But it was very rare to see it on the menu in an Italian restaurant, so I found a few recipes and tweaked them until I had a version of it that I liked. Here's my recipe, which I have to say I like better than any version I've ever had in an American restaurant. :-P
Bucatini is a type of pasta that I've learned is hard to find in some areas. I get it at HEB's Central Market, but I couldn't find it in any grocery stores in NC. It's a sort of thick spaghetti with a hollow center, almost like a really long piece of macaroni. You can also use penne or thick spaghetti for this.
Ingredients
One package (pound) of bucatini or other pasta of your choice.
olive oil
1/4 pound of pancetta (an Italian meat, look in your deli section), chopped
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (more or less, depending on how spicy you want it)
1 cup dry white wine (preferrably pinot grigio)
1 28-oz can of whole tomatoes (I like the Cento brand for this recipe)
1 1/2 cups grated pecorino romano cheese
Preparation:
1. Heat about 1/4 cup of olive oil in a large skillet. Add the pancetta and the red pepper flakes, and saute until the pancetta starts to get crispy, about 7-9 minutes.
2. In the meantime, empty the tomatoes into a large bowl and squish them between your fingers to crush them. (You can use pre-crushed or pre-diced tomatoes, but I like the resulting texture when you crush them yourself.)
3. Add the white wine to deglaze the pan, then let the mixture simmer until the liquid is reduced by about half. Add the crushed tomatoes to the pan and bring the mixture to a simmer. Partially cover and let simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce will be done when it starts to thicken and "glisten". This is hard to explain, but the look of it changes to something that looks very rich and thick right when it's done.
4. Cook the pasta for one minute less than the recommended "al dente" cooking time. Drain and set aside.
5. When the sauce is done, add in the grated cheese and stir until it has melted. Depending on the size of your pans, either add the pasta into the sauce, or combine the two in the pot you cooked the pasta in. Toss together over low heat for about one minute, until the pasta is well-coated with the sauce.
And that's it! You can garnish it with a bit more grated cheese, but there's enough cheese in the sauce that it isn't really necessary.
Let me know if you try out those recipes. I'd love to hear how it turned out! :-)
I'm posting a few things here by request. I was telling my sister about chef clogs, which I am so thrilled to have discovered. They're very lightweight, comfy plastic clogs that professional chefs wear while working. If you have ever spent a good deal of time on your feet in the kitchen, you know how achy your feet can get. Chef clogs make awesome house shoes, and they're really cheap -- $11 a pair on the site linked above. Doug and I have a couple of pairs each, and we wear them all the time.
We cooked for various people in our family while we were there, and several people asked for some recipes. Here they are!
Roasted squash soup
This is a ridiculously easy soup that's really yummy. The key is the roasting of the squash, I think -- it really brings out the natural sweetness of the squash. This is a rich, savory soup, but there's no sugar in the recipe!
Ingredients:
1 medium squash (I've used butternut, acorn, and cooking pumpkin, and all were great)
olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup dry white wine
1 quart good quality chicken stock
1 cup half-n-half
salt and pepper to taste
mascarpone cheese for garnish
Preparation
1. Roast the squash: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and clean out the seeds. Rub the flesh of the squash liberally with olive and place the halves face-up in a baking dish. Bake uncovered for 30-45 minutes, until the squash is browning on top and is easily pierced with a fork. (Roasting time depends on the size of the squash.) Let the squash cool for a few minutes, and then scoop the flesh out of the shell with a spoon. Set aside.
2. Heat 1/4 cup of olive oil and the butter in a stock pot. Saute the onions, carrots, celery along with the cinnamon and nutmeg until the vegetables are translucent, about 7 minutes.
3. Add the wine to deglaze, and continue cooking until the liquid is reduced by about half. (a couple of minutes)
4. Add the chicken stock and the cooked squash. Cook until the mixture begins to simmer. (five minutes)
5. Puree the soup mixture in a blender or food processor (or use an immersion blender in the pot -- what a fantastic appliance!) and return the soup to the stock pot. Add the half-n-half, then salt and pepper to taste.
6. Serve with a tablespoon of mascarpone cheese dropped into the center of each bowl.
Bucatini All'Amatriciana
This is my all-time favorite pasta dish! I first had it in Rome and loved it so much that I looked for it when I got home. But it was very rare to see it on the menu in an Italian restaurant, so I found a few recipes and tweaked them until I had a version of it that I liked. Here's my recipe, which I have to say I like better than any version I've ever had in an American restaurant. :-P
Bucatini is a type of pasta that I've learned is hard to find in some areas. I get it at HEB's Central Market, but I couldn't find it in any grocery stores in NC. It's a sort of thick spaghetti with a hollow center, almost like a really long piece of macaroni. You can also use penne or thick spaghetti for this.
Ingredients
One package (pound) of bucatini or other pasta of your choice.
olive oil
1/4 pound of pancetta (an Italian meat, look in your deli section), chopped
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (more or less, depending on how spicy you want it)
1 cup dry white wine (preferrably pinot grigio)
1 28-oz can of whole tomatoes (I like the Cento brand for this recipe)
1 1/2 cups grated pecorino romano cheese
Preparation:
1. Heat about 1/4 cup of olive oil in a large skillet. Add the pancetta and the red pepper flakes, and saute until the pancetta starts to get crispy, about 7-9 minutes.
2. In the meantime, empty the tomatoes into a large bowl and squish them between your fingers to crush them. (You can use pre-crushed or pre-diced tomatoes, but I like the resulting texture when you crush them yourself.)
3. Add the white wine to deglaze the pan, then let the mixture simmer until the liquid is reduced by about half. Add the crushed tomatoes to the pan and bring the mixture to a simmer. Partially cover and let simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce will be done when it starts to thicken and "glisten". This is hard to explain, but the look of it changes to something that looks very rich and thick right when it's done.
4. Cook the pasta for one minute less than the recommended "al dente" cooking time. Drain and set aside.
5. When the sauce is done, add in the grated cheese and stir until it has melted. Depending on the size of your pans, either add the pasta into the sauce, or combine the two in the pot you cooked the pasta in. Toss together over low heat for about one minute, until the pasta is well-coated with the sauce.
And that's it! You can garnish it with a bit more grated cheese, but there's enough cheese in the sauce that it isn't really necessary.
Let me know if you try out those recipes. I'd love to hear how it turned out! :-)