Post Tagged with: "recipe"

homemade pasta

homemade pasta

As I mentioned yesterday, on Sunday morning we picked up a sweet pasta maker for $2 from a garage sale. $2 people! (I have just googled said pasta maker, and it may or may not sell for $85 in stores). Pretty much from the moment I bought the pasta maker, all I could think of was homemade pasta. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective) we had dinner plans at The Eatery on Sunday night (and it was fun and delicious) so it wasn’t until Monday night that I got to try out our brand new pasta maker.

At that same garage sale, the hubs noticed a pasta cookbook; in flipping through it he also noticed that there was a recipe & instructions for how to use a pasta maker. Since neither of us has ever used such a machine before, we decided to splurge and buy the book as well (ok… maybe not splurge, the book only cost $0.50).

So. What do you need to make egg pasta? Eggs, flour, and a pinch of salt. Seriously. That’s it. A machine helps, but is not necessary.

To make egg pasta by machine, you simply pile your flour on the counter, make a well in it, break the eggs into the well, add a pinch of salt, and start beating with a fork. This may sound simple, but when your eggs overflow your well, well… it gets a little crazy.

This process takes 2 (and sometimes 4) hands, so I don’t have a ton (ok, any) images of the pasta making process. At then end of it, my kitchen looked like this.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

After beating the eggs for a bit with a fork, you start mixing with your hands adding in as much flour from the well as needed until the mixture forms a “mass” (seriously, this is how it is described in my cookbook). You’ll know you’ve added enough flour once the mass stops sticking to your hands. Then the fun part begins!

You get to roll your dough over and over and over and over and over and over and over through the rollers of your pasta machine at decreasing thickness settings until your dough reaches the desired thickness. The pasta strips get longer and longer and longer (which is pretty fun), but once they get unruly you can cut them in half. Then you get to roll it through the cutting setting; my machine comes with a wide (fettucine—6mm) and a narrow (tagliolini—1.5mm) setting. I love me some fettucine, so that was my choice for pasta number 1! And boy, did it ever look awesome!

The best thing about fresh pasta? It cooks in about 30 seconds! We combined our fresh pasta with some delicious leftover homemade sauce from a few weeks ago and enjoyed it while watching TV. Seriously people, after making and cooking for all that time, all I wanted to do was the veg with my comfort food. So. Delicious.

Yum! Pasta!

Egg Pasta By Machine

From: Flipcook Pasta Cookbook by Gabriella Rossi
Serves: 2 as a meal, more as a starter

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 eggs
  • pinch of salt

Directions

  1. Place the flour into the centre of a clean, smooth work surface. Make a well in the middle. Break the eggs into the well. Add a pinch of salt. Start beating the eggs with a fork, gradually drawing the flour from the inside walls into the well. As the paste thickens, continue mixing with your hands. Incorporate as much flour as possible until mixture forms a mass. It will still be lumpy. If it sticks to your hands, add a little more flour. Set the dough aside and scrape the work surface clean.
  2. Set the machine rollers at their widest (kneading) setting. Pull off a piece of dough the size of a small orange. Place the remaining dough between two soup plates. Feed the dough through the rollers. Fold it in half, end to end, and feed it through again, about 7-8 times, turning and folding it over after each kneading. The dough should be smooth and fairly evenly rectangular. If it sticks to the machine, brush with flour. Lay it out on a lightly floured work surface or on a clean dish towel, and repeat with the remaining dough, broken into small orange sized pieces.
  3. Adjust the machine to the next line setting. Feed each strip through once only, and replace on the drying surface. Keep them in the order in which they were first kneaded.
  4. Reset the machine to the next setting. Repeat for each remaining roller setting until the pasta is the right thickness (usually the second to last setting).
  5. Be sure the pasta is fairly dry (but not brittle) or the noodles may stick together when cut. Select the desired width of cutter and feed the strips through.
  6. Separate the noodles, and leave to dry for at least 15 minutes before using.
  7. Bring 1.5 litres of water of water to a boil, salting at least 2 minutes before the pasta is added.
  8. Drop the pasta into the boiling water all at once. Stir gently to stop pasta from sticking together. Freshly made pasta is done as soon as water returns to a boil (if stuffed, cook for 2-3 minutes).
  9. Strain and immediately toss with butter, oil or prepared sauce.
  10. Enjoy. And avoid gaining 200lbs because fresh pasta is so delicious.

June 8, 2012 0 comments Read More
Sriracha Pulled Pork Bahn Mi

Sriracha Pulled Pork Bahn Mi

Remember item 14 on my 30-before-30 list? “To Cook Something That Takes More Than One Day”? Well folks, I’ve scratched it off the list (a couple of times, if you include my home-made bread from last-last week).

Months and months ago I came across Matt Bites’ post about Sriracha Pulled Pork from the Sriracha cookbook. I knew the very moment I saw it that I was going to have to make it. The only problem? It requires way-advance planning because it takes more than one day. Yup. Pretty much the perfect answer to item 14.

I decided to make this pulled pork on the last night we spent at Sam and Graham’s because these guys love their Sriracha (so much so that they went as Soy Sauce and Sriracha for halloween last year). They also had two pork butts in their freezer. Perfect.

I couldn’t figure out what to serve with my pulled pork, but it came to me in a flash: Bahn Mi (or for those of you who aren’t fluent in Vietnamese: vietnamese subs). These delicious french/south-east asian sandwiches were sriracha pulled pork’s perfect twist to a southern favourite.
meal for my 30-before-30 list.
The night before you want to eat your pulled pork, you need to brine it. Some of you might say “oh… only a brine… that’s not a real two day meal”. To you I say “my list… my rules”. Woohoo! And brine-ing’s not super fast, either.

The next morning you wake up, prepare your pork with a sriracha mustard rub, and pop it into the slowcooker on low, where it will stay for the next 12 hours. You read that right. 12 hours. Then you want your pork to cool for 45 minutes before you pull it. And next time I would heat it in the sriracha sauce for 30 minutes. So you basically need to be cooking about 14 hours before you are going to eat supper.

Before dinner, prepare your accoutrements (for bahn mi traditionally julienned carrots, julienned cucumber, and cilantro. I made some pickled red onions to up the “pulled porkyness” of the meal.

Butter your baguettes with soy-sauce butter and broil them till they are crispy.

Then, it is simply a matter of making your banh mi and enjoying. YUM!

Sriracha Pulled Pork

From The Sriracha Cookbook, via Matt Bites.
Ingredients
Spice Rub

  • 6 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika

Brine

  • ¼ cup kosher salt
  • 4 cups cold water
  • ¼ cup freshly packed light brown sugar
  • 1 medium red onion, sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 bay leaves

Other

  • 6- to 8-pound bone-in pork shoulder (Boston butt) roast
  • 3 tablespoons yellow mustard
  • 1/3 cup Sriracha
  • ½ cup cold water

Directions

  1. To make the spice rub, in a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, garlic powder, salt, pepper, cumin, and paprika. Reserve.
  2. To make the brine, in a small bowl, dissolve the salt in the cold water. Add 2 tablespoons of the spice rub, the brown sugar, onion, garlic, and bay leaves, stirring to combine. Put the meat in a large bowl or ziplock bag and pour the brine over, making sure that the meat is completely submerged in liquid. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
  3. The following morning, drain the brine, reserving the pork and onion. Pat the roast dry with paper towels. In a small bowl, mix together the mustard and Sriracha. Using your hands, rub an even coating of the mustard mixture all over the pork. Sprinkle the remaining spice rub evenly over the entire roast, pressing it into the meat, making sure it adheres.
  4. Put the reserved onion in a crock pot. Pour in the cold water. Place the pork on top of the bed of onions, with the fattier side of the roast facing up. Cover and cook on low for 12 hours. At this point, the meat should simply flake away with the slightest touch. Remove the roast from the crock pot, and let rest for 45 to 60 minutes. This will allow the meat to cool slightly, which will in turn make it easier to shred. Pull the meat apart using two forks, discarding extra fat and other less-than-palatable bites.
  5. Here I would divert from the recipe and reheat the pork in a sriracha & water mixture so the pork is a little spicier and a little more saucy.

Pulled Pork Bahn Mi (Vietnamese Subs)

Ingredients

  • Sriracha Pulled Pork
  • Baguettes, sliced lengthwise
  • 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
  • 2 tbsp Softened Butter
  • Carrots (julienned)
  • Cucumber (julienned)
  • Onions (sliced, pickled in boiling vinegar and water if you prefer)
  • Cilantro
  • Sriracha

Directions

  1. Combine softened butter and soy sauce and spread on baguettes. Broil until toasted.
  2. Prepare subs by adding pork, carrots, cucumber, onions, cilantro and sriracha to taste.

June 1, 2012 2 comments Read More
let’s talk about oats

let’s talk about oats

Ok. I admit it. I’m addicted to my daily breakfast of oats.

In Buenos Aires, it was rolled oats (including these amazing peaches and cream oats) but now that we’re back we’ve moved on to delicious steel-cut oats. Though steel cut oats take longer to cook (about 20 minutes), their nutty, chewy, filling-ness more than makes up for it!

Oats (of all varieties) have a ton of health benefits: they are high in soluble fibre, selenium, and magnesium, and despite having a small amount of gluten they are well tolerated by people with Celiac’s. Their fibre is of a special type called beta-glucan, which lowers cholesterol levels. And to make them even better… oats have a low GI. (Source: WH Foods).

I love my morning oats. They are easy on the pocketbook and they fill me up and keep my full until lunch time. They are warm and comforting. They are delicious. Recently, I’ve been topping mine with a 1/2 teaspoon of brown or maple sugar, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds (which I should grind but don’t have a grinder), raisins and walnuts. Add a half a banana, a splash of milk, and a big cup of coffee (on the side of course) and you’ve got yourself a breakfast.

Do you eat oats in the morning? What are your favourite toppings?

May 10, 2012 3 comments Read More
Browned Butter Pasta

Browned Butter Pasta

In my quest to become the Richmond food blogger, I’ve become so busy thinking about restaurant reviews that I haven’t posted a recipe post in… well… a long time. And while it is true that eating at this many restaurants means I’m not cooking as much, I’m still cooking a lot, and becoming ever more adaptable to cooking with what is available in Buenos Aires.

Dinner on Monday night was decidedly gourmet, and about half way through cooking it – I realized I was going to be blogging it. This means that I don’t have a lot of prep images (any, in fact), but I do have a handful of images of our delicious browned butter pasta with a red wine-balsamic vinegar reduction accompanied by garlic roasted brussels sprouts in a garlic cream sauce.

As spring approaches for most of my readers, this recipe is going to seem a wee bit out of place. But this week in Buenos Aires it’s been clear… fall is coming. Monday especially was cold and windy and all we felt like having for dinner was comfort food. So pin this recipe or or otherwise save it for later, and then when fall comes… you’ll thank me.

This meal was inspired by: this pin, the fact there were brussels sprouts in the grocery store, the delicious looking fresh pasta in said grocery store, and the fact that I had planned on making a browned butter cauliflower pasta a few weeks ago, but couldn’t find a cauliflower and have been craving browned butter since.

Some days the random stars align to create something delicious.

Browned Butter Pasta with a Red Wine Balsamic Reduction

Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup red wine
  • 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • Fresh stuffed pasta
  • Italian parsley (for garnish)
  • Parmesan cheese (to taste)

Directions

  1. Combine red wine and balsamic vinegar in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Simmer over medium heat (stirring frequently) until the mixture has reduced.
  2. Bring water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions.
  3. Meanwhile, heat your butter over medium heat until it browns (learn about browning butter here).
  4. Mix your cooked pasta into the browned butter.
  5. Serve with a drizzle of the red wine reduction, parmesan cheese, and italian parsley.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts in a Garlic Cream Sauce

Serves 2

Ingredients

  • Brussels sprouts
  • 2 cloves garlic, divided (I use 4, but I always double my garlic)
  • 2 tbsp cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut off brown ends of brussels sprouts and cut in half length wise. Toss with 1 clove crushed garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.
  2. Pour brussels sprouts on a baking sheet and roast for 35-40 minutes until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Monitor and shake pan as needed.
  3. Meanwhile, combine heavy cream, 1 clove crushed garlic, and a few sprinkles of salt. Let warm to room temperature while brussels sprouts are roasting.
  4. Serve brussels spouts garnished with the garlic cream sauce.

March 29, 2012 0 comments Read More
One Gigantic Broccoli

One Gigantic Broccoli

Last week, the hubs picked up a gigantic broccoli at our local Saturday fruit and veg market.

Apparently, when he asked the woman for a broccoli that was ‘más pequeño’ (smaller) she just smiled at him and shook her head no. He’s got no idea whether something was lost in translation or whether she just thought it was hilarious to send him packing with a gigantic broccoli, but in any event we knew we would be cooking with broccoli. A lot.

Luckily, in a random coincidence that make me smile, that same day this post popped up in my Pinterest. Basically, a gazillion different broccoli recipes for me take some inspiration.

So, our first broccoli dish last week: Broccoli & Cheese Mashed Potatoes (inspired by these Asigao Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli) Make these. They are delicious – and the rave reviews from the hubs and from my mom ensured them a spot in my recipe book for years to come!

Broccoli & Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Inspiration.

Ingredients

  • 2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed (1/2″)
  • 1.5 cups broccoli, florets and stems (1/2″ pieces)
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup ricotta
  • 1/2 cup parmesan, grated, divided
  • splash milk or cream
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

  1. Boil potatoes and broccoli together for about 20 minutes, until soft.
  2. Drain and return to pot. Add all remaining ingredients, reserving enough parmesan for garnish, mash until smooth.
  3. Garnish with reserved parmesan and serve.

Our second broccoli recipe was also seriously awesome. Pasta (any kind, I recommend super fun cellentani/corkscrew pasta) with Broccoli Pesto and Broccoli. This time, inspired from here. This may have been my favourite of all three broccoli dishes. Ever since I first started making homemade pestos about 2 years ago, I just can’t get enough. And this was my first broccoli pesto ever.

Pasta with Broccoli Pesto and Broccoli

Inspiration.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups broccoli, chopped
  • 1.5 cups pasta
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/4 cup (or more) parmesan
  • 1/3 cup almonds (or pine nuts)
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 small red pepper, diced
  • 1 small summer squash, diced

Directions

  1. In a large pot of boiling water, boil broccoli until tender and bright green. Transfer 2 /3 of the broccoli to a blender or food processor with a slotted spoon, and reserve the remaining broccoli (be sure to remove it from the pot, so it does not continue to cook).
  2. Return water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta and return to pot.
  3. Meanwhile, add oil, parmesan, nuts and garlic to blender/food processor and puree until smooth.
  4. Sauté red peppers, summer squash and reserved broccoli in a small frying pan.
  5. Add pesto and sautéed vegetables to pot, mix and serve. (Sprinkle with parm, if desired).

Our third, and final broccoli recipe in the week of so much broccoli was a red curry stir fry with black beans, broccoli, summer squash and red pepper. This one was kind of disappointing (the red curry paste we picked up in Chinatown smelled amazing while cooking, but tasted only ok). If you have a red curry paste you love (whether homemade or store bought) this would be awesome.

Broccoli Bean Red Curry Stir Fry

Inspired by the red curry paste I found in China Town

Ingredients

  • 1 cup brown rice
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp red curry paste
  • 1 cup broccoli, chopped
  • 1 small summer squash, chopped
  • 1 small red pepper, chopped
  • 1 cup black beans

Directions

  1. Cook rice according to package directions or these awesome instructions.
  2. Meanwhile heat olive oil in a wok. Once hot – but not smoking – add red curry paste and mix. Add in black beans and sauté (if using dried beans, see instructions here).
  3. Add coconut milk, and vegetables to the wok. Add broccoli, stir fry for about 2 minutes, add red peppers, stir fry for an additional 2 minutes, add summer squash, stir fry until all vegetables are crisp. Serve over rice.

And there you have it. Our week of broccoli.

February 27, 2012 3 comments Read More
Salsa Burgers

Salsa Burgers

Up until about six months ago, the thought of buying any groceries without a list left me in a bit of a panic. I hate being wasteful (whether financially, in throwing out rotten food, or in time – spending hours in the shops thinking about what I was going to cook). I preferred to go into the grocery store with a list and get out as quickly as possible.

This past summer, these tendencies started to change – at least when it came to produce. I was now more concerned about eating the best, freshest, produce when it was at its cheapest and most delicious (isn’t it funny how those two go hand in hand)? I’ve also matured as a cook, and am more confident in both my skills and my creativity. So I started going to the market to pick up the best looking produce, return home, make a weekly meal list, and then pick up any remaining ingredients. Admittedly, that process takes more time, but the quality of the food (and the cost of our grocery bill) more than makes up for it.

So, we’ve carried that new tradition with us down to Buenos Aires, since it is the middle of summer here. This past Saturday, I was in Iguazu Falls with my mom so I sent the hubs to the market. Upon my return, I was blown away to see the quality (and the quantity) that he had purchased. Next week I’m going to show you the size of the broccoli he bought. (I need to first finish making my way through all said broccoli…)

Anyway, I digress… when I was looking through the fridge yesterday I noticed we had leftover tomatoes, cilantro, and yellow onion. And what do tomatoes, cilantro and yellow onion make? Only the world’s best (and most simple) salsa.

Making tacos would be the “obvious” answer to go with our salsa. But, not so easy in BA, where tortillas, hard taco shells, and spicy spices are hard to come by. So instead, I decided to make salsa burgers. And boy were these babies delicious.

We used burger sized pitas from the arab grocery store next door in place of buns, delicious fresh burgers from the butcher down the street, my homemade salsa (recipe below), lettuce, slices of fried zucchini (what can I say, it’s summer squash season), and a healthy dollop of Franks (courtesy of my mom). So simple. So easy. So good. These would have been even better with avocado spread on the pita, but alas, our avocado didn’t last the week.

The hubs asked me where I got the idea for the burgers. I told him my head. And then realized that was, in fact, true. So, all this to say, sometimes the best meals come without a plan.

Allison’s Simple Salsa

Ingredients

  • 4 roma tomatoes
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion
  • 1 bunch cilantro (to taste)
  • chili flakes or jalapenos to taste
  • salt and pepper

Directions

  1. Chop roma tomatoes into 1/4 inch cubes and transfer to bowl. Wash and dry cilantro, remove from stems, and add to bowl. Dice onion and add to bowl.
  2. Add chili flakes, jalapeno, salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Mix, cover, and let sit overnight in refrigerator.

February 23, 2012 0 comments Read More