rolling in the dough

I was recently introduced to homemade pasta made by the infamous Pasta Attachment on Lily's KitchenAid, two of her fabulous wedding gifts. We shared a meal together, the pasta and I, gazed into each other's eyes and the rest is history. 

I left Lily's that night, and came home to find the pasta maker I had recently been gifted, it's of the hand-crank variety, but a pasta maker nonetheless. Using this new gift, the next week was filled with four nights of homemade pasta in various preparations topped with many a sauce. It was beautiful. Just beautiful. These photos below are the noodle fruits of my labor of pasta-maker-love. The sweet sweet product of eggs, flour, a little basil, and a lot of mixing, followed by rolling rolling rolling, followed by machining. A lot of machining. It is truly a process, and because I used a machine to do much of the work, this isn't even considered "homemade" pasta by old world Italian standards. Yes, I'm an impostor, I know.  

If you haven't already tried your hand at making homemade pasta, I highly recommend it. It opens up so many possibilities for dough thickness, shapes and flavors. In fact the possibilities are so endless that you might find yourself too overwhelmed to experiment at all. Don't let that happen. Take this new task in stride. Start small, like with a plain spaghetti or fettuccine, and then think about the other flavor options. 

Oh yeah, and want to know the coolest part about this project? This pasta maker was purchased from JC Penney circa 1980 (possibly earlier) for $19.99, my mom gave it to me for keeps this year and it's the best. It's in its original box with price tag and all. The same machine will now set you back between $60-100, but it's worth it.  Otherwise a rolling pin, a ruler (to measure the dough's thickness) and a sharp knife can get the job done.     

the rolled dough ready to be cut

like magic, the dough turns to spaghetti

spaghetti, basil spaghetti and fettuccine

INGREDIENTS:

1 and 1/4 cups fresh basil leaves

3 cups flour

3 eggs

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon water

2 teaspoons olive oil

Place the basil in a food processor, cover and process until finely chopped. Add flour, process until blended. Add eggs, water, and oil. Process 15 - 20 seconds or until dough forms a ball. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 - 10 minutes. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. Divide into fourths. Follow your pasta maker's instructions on rolling the dough to the desired thickness.  

a pizza pie

thank you for your patience during this blogging hiatus.  I have been wrapped up in other activities, eating meals mostly out and not doing so much of the cooking. I have been visiting the farmers markets weekly and stocking up on mounds of fresh produce and then consuming it, but the cooking I've done as of late has been more of just an assembly of those ingredients, which creates good and edible food,  just not exactly the sorts of things that have recipes that might inspire others to get working in the kitchen. And so I find myself with almost a month gone by and no new posts. eeek.  not cool. baby steps to more cooking and more sharing.  this is the first of such baby steps.  a pizza creation, which will either bring you disgust or joy at the combination of toppings employed. especially if you are firmly "not a caper person", of which I can name three, you know who you are. herb trader joe's crust, capers, pineapple and red onions. sounds gross. tasted good. preconceived notions are often deceiving. nothing like a little life lesson tucked in a recipe blog. whatevs, like I said, baby steps.

If you do choose to make this the list is simple, herb pizza crust, any red sauce, grated mozzarella, sliced red onions, pineaple chunks and capers. and you've got yourself a meal.

And so we meat again.

There are two ways to approach carne asada at home. One is the true homemade method done by marinating your own carne, and the other is to purchase the pre-marinated carne from Trader Joe's.  Both work and taste good, but are cannot be considered equal on prep time.  Last week I tried out the TJ's carne asada, cooked on the grill and sliced thinly for some fresh tacos. It's really good and cooks on the grill in about 15 minutes. If you want to give the real deal a shot, here's a tasty recipe with orange juice, lime juice, jalapeños and garlic for making your own tangy and spicy version at home.  Before serving we topped these with jalapeño-cilantro sauce. Other than the meat and tortillas, all you need for these is your favorite salsa, chopped cilantro and onions, and some lime wedges. Top tacos with all of the above, and you're done!

CARNE ASADA
Tyler Florence's Mojo Marinade:
4 garlic cloves
1 jalapeño
1/3 cup fresh cilantro
salt and pepper
2 limes, juiced
1 orange, juiced
2 tbsp. white vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree. Place two pounds of flank or skirt steak in a shallow baking dish and marinate for 1-8 hours.  Grill (or broil) the steak for about 7 minutes on each side. Once it's cooked to your liking, let rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

make sure you try the soup in Lucca

one of the best meals we had in Italy was in a restaurant that we stumbled upon at around 10:30pm after a long day of train rides and touring. It was a little too late at night to expect a reasonable dinner, but we sat down at the first restaurant we saw that still had people eating outside, and were excited to find that a) they were still serving dinner and b) that the first page of the menu at Trattoria Da Francesco was a review by Mark Bittman, food writer for the New York Times and author of my favorite cookbook How to Cook Everything. Although the review was more than four years old, he mentioned that the restaurant did a nice job with all of the local specialties, especially the soup, "make sure you try the soup."

The three main Luccan specialties are tortelli lucchese (meat filled crescent-shaped ravioli with ragu), sea bass (usually grilled whole) and a farro soup with beans and lentils (farro is a barleylike grain often referred to as "cereal").  The ravioli was good, very meaty. The sea bass arrived grilled whole and stuffed with one sprig of rosemary, it was fresh and the prototype of a simple, delicious dish. The star of the night, or so I felt, and the hands-down-best-thing I ate in all of Italy was the Cereal Soup, it didn't even sound good, but I ordered it because Mark Bittman said to try it and I trust him. He was right, and I was very pleased with my choice. I checked Mark's blog and he's already gone above and beyond to post the recipe for the masses.  Here it is, Cereal Soup from Lucca, delicious and a must try.

outside our room in Lucca.

walking through the square.

the center of Lucca.

The St. Martin Cathedral in Lucca.

LUCCAN FARRO SOUP
Recipe from Mark Bittman

Mark says, "If you can't find farro, use spelt. And if you can't find spelt, use barley. (And if you can't find barley -- where do you live? -- use wheatberries or brown rice."

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 celery stalks, trimmed and chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 cup farro, spelt or barley
• 1 cup dried white beans, soaked for several hours or overnight
• 2 cups chopped tomatoes (canned are fine; do not drain)
• 6 cups stock or water, more as necessary
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, optional
• Freshly grated Parmesan

Method

• 1. Put oil in a large, deep saucepan over medium heat; a minute later add onion, celery, carrots, a large pinch of salt and some pepper. Cook until vegetables are glossy and onion is softened, 5 to 10 minutes. Add garlic, and stir; add farro, beans, tomatoes and stock, and stir.
• 2. Bring to a boil, then adjust heat so mixture simmers steadily. Cook until farro and beans are tender, at least an hour, adding stock or water as necessary if mixture becomes too thick. Stir in parsley and basil (if using), then cook another 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning, then serve with lots of Parmesan.

today is a big day

A lot of exciting things have been happening lately, and today holds three happy moments for these loved ones.

After a wedding filled with beauty, craft and lots of love, Lily & Greg (now The Fergusons!! or the Fergatron 2000s) journey off to their honeymoon holiday in Spain.  I hope the happy couple enjoys many tapas and ciders on their adventure.

Dearest Kelly Renee hops on a plane to make her move to Paris and start living the French life with Yann.  See you in Paris. Wahoo! 

AND, also on this day, Kathleen turns the big 2-5.  Happy Birthday, Kathleen! I owe you a cake.

Best of luck on these new adventures and life chapters! Lots of love to my special lady friends.  xoxo, lp

chicken tikka masala

Chicken tikka masala is an Indian curry that consists of marinated, roasted chicken (tikka) in a rich, tomato-based sauce. The dish is creamy, has the slight sweetness of tomatoes, and the aroma of cloves and coriander. It was said to have first been made in a Bangladeshi restaurant in Scotland, and has since become the most popular dish in British restaurants.  It's probably my favorite Indian dish next to saag paneer and chicken tikka kabobs, so it's a good one to learn how to make at home. My at home creation is still not quite as good as Mayuri's Tikka Masala deliciousness, but it's getting closer.  

You begin by marinating the chicken in yogurt and spices and grilling or broiling it, once the chicken has cooked it's added it to the creamy, spiced tomato sauce and can be served over basmati rice and alongside naan, for dipping in the extra sauce.  

This recipe includes one spice that you may not have on hand, garam masala or tikka masala spice, but both can be purchased either at an Indian grocery or at Uwajimaya and are worth the investment. Also, the cream, if the sauce is thicker and richer than you'd like at the end of cooking, you can thin it with a cup or more of milk. I added a little more than a cup of milk to the sauce last time and it worked well.

CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA  

For the chicken marinade:

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-2 inch chunks

2 cups plain yogurt

2 tbsp. lemon juice

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tbsp. ginger, finely grated

1 1/2 tsp. cumin

1 1/2 tsp. coriander

1 tsp.  cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp. turmeric

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

salt and pepper

Mix all marinade ingredients in a large bowl and add chicken chunks.  Refrigerate this mixture for 1 hour or overnight, depending on how much time you have. Once chicken has marinated, skewer and place on a cookie sheet, and set aside until sauce has been prepared.

For the masala sauce:

2 tbsp. butter

1 jalapeño pepper

1 large onion, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 tsp. ginger, finely grated

2 tsp. cayenne pepper

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. salt (or to taste)

1 tbsp. garam masala or tikka masala spice

1 small can tomato paste

2 cups cream

1 cup milk (optional)

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

In a large skillet melt the butter, add the jalapeño, onion, garlic and ginger and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until tender.  Add the cayenne, cumin, garam masala, and salt. Add the tomato paste and incorporate with the seasonings, whisk in the heavy cream and milk and reduce heat to low, allowing the sauce to simmer until thickened, about 20 minutes.  

While the sauce is simmering, grill or broil the chicken skewers for about 6 minutes on each side.  Remove the chicken from the skewers and add to the sauce along with the fresh cilantro.  Cook everything for an additional 10 minutes and serve with steamed basmati rice and naan (Trader Joe's has some really good naan options).  

roasted artichoke

I grew up loving steamed artichokes served with lemon butter.  My favorite part was the artichoke heart at the end, once all the leaves had been eaten, and eating the heart dipped in more lemon butter.  I saw this recipe for Roasted Artichokes the other day on Pinch My Salt and had to try it.  If you try making this, make sure to cook the artichokes long enough for their size, probably about an hour and 15 minutes, otherwise they turn out being slightly bitter. Both artichokes tasted pretty good, but the smaller artichoke of the two tasted better.

WHOLE ROASTED ARTICHOKES

What to do:
Preheat oven to 425. Rinse the artichokes, and cut off the top quarter of the artichoke, and the bottom of the stem so that it can sit flat on the base as it bakes.  Rest each artichoke on a piece of aluminum foil that you've drizzled with olive oil.  Stuff 2-3 garlic cloves in the leaves of each artichoke, douse with the juice of half a lemon, and about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Sprinkle with kosher salt.  Wrap entire artichoke in aluminum foil and bake at 425 for about an hour and 15 minutes.  Serve with lemon butter or the lemon and oil juice that results from baking.  Don't forget to eat the heart once you've finished all the leaves.