My new favorite must have ingredient is the pepperoncini. I love it. Love it. It's tangy, has some nice heat, it's pickled. Everything about it works. It is the star of sauces and now it is showing up in much of what I cook. This is a nice little chick pea dish that works as an appetizer or a salad that you could easily add to and make a hearty meal.
-2 cups garbanzo beans, rinsed, drained
-6 pepperoncini, seeded and chopped
-1 tbsp parsley, chopped
Mix these ingredients together
-1 clove garlic, minced to paste
- juice of 1 lemon
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt
-pepper
Blend in to dressing. Add to garbanzo beans.
This can be served as a bruschetta, or as a salad. As a salad, the following ingredients are a nice addition
-halved cherry tomatoes
-thinly sliced fennel
-chopped persian cucumber
-tsp crumbled feta
Monday, September 5, 2011
MEDITERRANEAN "COMPOTE" (FOR PASTA, FISH, AND POULTRY
We don't eat much pasta, maybe once per month, so when I was given an atlas pasta maker and a chitarra for my birthday this past August, I was a little perplexed. I thought it would be collecting dust in a closet. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, it unleashed a bunch of ideas about what is possible with pasta.
First and foremost, if you make fresh pasta at home, you will never be satisfied to eat boxed spaghetti again. Ever. Ever. The pasta cut on the chitarra is light, delicate, and delicious. It's important not to overwork the dough, as I learned trying to make filled pasta this past weekend. To serve two people, the simple recipe is 100g flour/1 egg/a tiny bit of water. All this goes in the cuisinart, and off you go. Adjust water/flour to right consistency. Turn once, let rest for 30 minutes. And you are ready to make pasta.
Here's the thing about this sauce, which really isn't a sauce, it's more like a ragu...or a compote. If I ever leave the world of marketing performance products, I will do it to sell this sauce/ragu/compote.
I wanted the sauce to be as fresh and light as the pasta itself. This came together really well, and has a kick but has a very fresh taste that would work just as well on top of fish or chicken as it does on pasta. In this case I like making the noodle fettuccini width. I may try hand cut pappardelle as well.
Ready ?
-Slice six to eight cloves of garlic super thin (think the movie Goodfellas where Paul Sorvino slices the garlic with a razor....yes, that thin...although I don't recommend the razor)
-Sauté in ev olive oil but do not let brown
-Add 2 tbsp capers
-Add three or more cups of cherry tomatoes (I like red and yellow), halved. Or rough chopped fresh tomatoes.
-Add 8-10 pepperoncini, sliced, seeds removed.
-Add 10-12 pitted, chopped olives-they must be Castelvetrano olives.
-Cook down until tomatoes are soft and shriveled..
-Remove from heat.
-Swirl in two to three teaspoons butter
-Add chopped fresh parsley and basil.
Insane.
First and foremost, if you make fresh pasta at home, you will never be satisfied to eat boxed spaghetti again. Ever. Ever. The pasta cut on the chitarra is light, delicate, and delicious. It's important not to overwork the dough, as I learned trying to make filled pasta this past weekend. To serve two people, the simple recipe is 100g flour/1 egg/a tiny bit of water. All this goes in the cuisinart, and off you go. Adjust water/flour to right consistency. Turn once, let rest for 30 minutes. And you are ready to make pasta.
Here's the thing about this sauce, which really isn't a sauce, it's more like a ragu...or a compote. If I ever leave the world of marketing performance products, I will do it to sell this sauce/ragu/compote.
I wanted the sauce to be as fresh and light as the pasta itself. This came together really well, and has a kick but has a very fresh taste that would work just as well on top of fish or chicken as it does on pasta. In this case I like making the noodle fettuccini width. I may try hand cut pappardelle as well.
Ready ?
-Slice six to eight cloves of garlic super thin (think the movie Goodfellas where Paul Sorvino slices the garlic with a razor....yes, that thin...although I don't recommend the razor)
-Sauté in ev olive oil but do not let brown
-Add 2 tbsp capers
-Add three or more cups of cherry tomatoes (I like red and yellow), halved. Or rough chopped fresh tomatoes.
-Add 8-10 pepperoncini, sliced, seeds removed.
-Add 10-12 pitted, chopped olives-they must be Castelvetrano olives.
-Cook down until tomatoes are soft and shriveled..
-Remove from heat.
-Swirl in two to three teaspoons butter
-Add chopped fresh parsley and basil.
Insane.
BRAISED BONELESS SHORT RIBS
I had to work myself up to making short ribs. It's one of those items that even though it is not difficult, it is intimidating for some reason. I hear friends rave about short ribs they have eaten at better restaurants, and not being a huge short rib fan, I a) don't really get it, and b) assumed because I am not a huge short rib fan, that there is no way I could make a killer short rib. I am happy to report I was wrong. These short ribs were insane. In looking at other recipes, mine is almost more like an osso bucco short rib, at least it feels that way while I am cooking it.
Didn't really measure here, so just proportion based on your flavor preferences.
-at least four large boneless short ribs (I bought a large pack at costco and made them all, they keep well)
-heavy pan (preferably cast iron, avoid non stick)
-slow cooker or heavy pot with lid (I used slow cooker)
-regular olive oil (not extra virgin)
-salt
-pepper
-garlic cloves (finely minced)
-shallots (sliced thin)
-carrots (finely chopped)
-celery (finely chopped)
-orange and orange zest
-low sodium soy sauce
-bottle red wine
-honey
-brown sugar
-cumin
-thyme
-low sodium chicken stock
Steps:
1) Salt and pepper short ribs
2) Heat olive oil in pan
3) Brown short ribs on all sides (this takes a while and they should have a crust on them). Remove from pan after browning and place in your slow cooker or heavy pot, covered, as some blood will come out, and you want to retain as much moisture as possible.
4) Saute shallots, add garlic, carrots, and celery in same pan with drippings.
5) Add bottle of red wine to pan, allow some of the alcohol to cook out.
6) Add a few shakes of low sodium soy sauce (if you can't handle the gluten use dr.braggs amino acids instead)
7) Add cup chicken stock
8) Add 1/2 cup raw honey and two tbsp brown sugar
9) Liquids should be reducing, add a tsp of thyme, 1/8tsp cumin, and a fist full of parsley.
10) Dump all of the contents of the pan in to the slow cooker/pot over the ribs. If it is not fully covered, add more chicken stock.
11) Add juice or 1/2 an orange and some orange zest.
12) Set slow cooker to six hours on low.
13) After the six hours, set to two hours on high. Test for doneness, should be falling off fork.
14) Heat pan coated with olive oil.
15) Remove the cooked short ribs from the liquid and transfer to pan to create final crust (basically repeating the first step). Remove from pan, Wrap up in foil and set aside.
16). Strain liquid in to bowl or container through fine sieve.
17) Chill liquid and remove fat layer from top (or use one of those things that separates the fat) too remove excess fat.
1) Using heavy pan or saucepan, reduce remaining liquid down by at least two thirds, takes a while. If it reduces too much, add more chicken stock. Also add more honey/sugar to help thicken (not much though).
18) Once reduction is almost done, swirl in 1-2tbsp butter.
19) Add salt to taste.
20) Serve ribs, with reduction on top, with starch of your choice. I would recommend a green onion risotto, or mashed potato with goat cheese, or parmesan truffle polenta. Make sure to include some sort of very refreshing vegetable to balance the richness of the ribs. I like to pair with a simple arugula salad dressed with lemon and extra virgin olive oil.
Didn't really measure here, so just proportion based on your flavor preferences.
-at least four large boneless short ribs (I bought a large pack at costco and made them all, they keep well)
-heavy pan (preferably cast iron, avoid non stick)
-slow cooker or heavy pot with lid (I used slow cooker)
-regular olive oil (not extra virgin)
-salt
-pepper
-garlic cloves (finely minced)
-shallots (sliced thin)
-carrots (finely chopped)
-celery (finely chopped)
-orange and orange zest
-low sodium soy sauce
-bottle red wine
-honey
-brown sugar
-cumin
-thyme
-low sodium chicken stock
Steps:
1) Salt and pepper short ribs
2) Heat olive oil in pan
3) Brown short ribs on all sides (this takes a while and they should have a crust on them). Remove from pan after browning and place in your slow cooker or heavy pot, covered, as some blood will come out, and you want to retain as much moisture as possible.
4) Saute shallots, add garlic, carrots, and celery in same pan with drippings.
5) Add bottle of red wine to pan, allow some of the alcohol to cook out.
6) Add a few shakes of low sodium soy sauce (if you can't handle the gluten use dr.braggs amino acids instead)
7) Add cup chicken stock
8) Add 1/2 cup raw honey and two tbsp brown sugar
9) Liquids should be reducing, add a tsp of thyme, 1/8tsp cumin, and a fist full of parsley.
10) Dump all of the contents of the pan in to the slow cooker/pot over the ribs. If it is not fully covered, add more chicken stock.
11) Add juice or 1/2 an orange and some orange zest.
12) Set slow cooker to six hours on low.
13) After the six hours, set to two hours on high. Test for doneness, should be falling off fork.
14) Heat pan coated with olive oil.
15) Remove the cooked short ribs from the liquid and transfer to pan to create final crust (basically repeating the first step). Remove from pan, Wrap up in foil and set aside.
16). Strain liquid in to bowl or container through fine sieve.
17) Chill liquid and remove fat layer from top (or use one of those things that separates the fat) too remove excess fat.
1) Using heavy pan or saucepan, reduce remaining liquid down by at least two thirds, takes a while. If it reduces too much, add more chicken stock. Also add more honey/sugar to help thicken (not much though).
18) Once reduction is almost done, swirl in 1-2tbsp butter.
19) Add salt to taste.
20) Serve ribs, with reduction on top, with starch of your choice. I would recommend a green onion risotto, or mashed potato with goat cheese, or parmesan truffle polenta. Make sure to include some sort of very refreshing vegetable to balance the richness of the ribs. I like to pair with a simple arugula salad dressed with lemon and extra virgin olive oil.
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