July Daring Cook's Challenge: Handmade Pasta

Steph from Stephfood was our Daring Cooks' July hostess.  Steph challenged us to make homemade noodles without the help of a motorized pasta machine.  She provided us with recipes for Spätzle and Fresh Egg Pasta as well as a few delicious sauces to pair our noodles with!

My version was a whole wheat ravioli stuffed with ricotta cheese and sun dried tomato, topped with caramelized onions and truffle pate. It was delicious! Despite it historically being a poor person's food I love the little surprise you find when you bite into a chunk of ravioll, with so many different fillings you never know what you'll find. So i have to hand it to the ingenious people who tried to re-use leftovers inside their pasta.
 So far as Italy is concerned, the earliest records of ravioli appear in the preserved letters of Francesco di Marco, a merchant of Prato in the 14th century. The pasta is described as being stuffed with pork, eggs, cheese, parsley and sugar, and during Lent a filling of herbs, cheese, and spices was used. There were both sweet and savory kinds. The city of Cremona claims to have created ravioli. But Genoa claims that too, insisting that the word ravioli comes from their dialect word for pasta, rabiole, which means "something of little value" and referred to the practice of poor sailors who suffered leftovers into pasta to be eaten for another meal.

Remember to make the filling and topping for the ravioli before the pasta dough.

One of my instructors in pastry school has her own cooking school specializing in Italian cuisine. She taught me that making pasta is really dead easy. It seems intimidating but it is just time consuming, not fought at all. There are only two ingredients to making pasta, flour and eggs.

I used 500g flour and 6 large eggs.
The ratio is typically 100g flour to 1 egg, but whole wheat flour is drier and needs the extra boost of egg. No matter what, the main ingredient is the flour, not the egg, so if your dough looks fine and you still have one egg to dump in, don't! The dough will look a little like bread dough if you've ever made it before.
Use the hook in a stand mixer and mix till elastic and shiny.

Separate the dough into 3 parts if you are using a pasta machine, handling too much dough at once will cause it to tear. And if you have someone to help you out, even better.

Clamp down the pasta machine and make sure it doesn't wiggle. If you don't have one, just use a rolling pin and roll the dough out very thinly over a flour dusted surface.

Dust a little flour on either side of the dough to prevent it from sticking inside the machine.
Stretch a few times and fold over itself until you get a smooth consistent dough. Only after should you start putting the dough through thinner settings.

Once you have the desired thickness (leave a little thicker for ravioli since it can tear with a filling) place the filling (recipe follows) in the centre of the dough. Fold the dough over sealing the edges with water. And cut.
At this time, either cook or freeze with parchment paper separating the different ravioli.


Boil water. Gently lower each ravioli in one at a time.
Cook till al dente. The time varies depending on the thickness of your dough. It could be anywhere from 2 minutes to Over 5.

Place raviolis onto a serving dish, top with caramelized onions and a teaspoon of truffle paste and dig in!

Filling:

Hydrate 1 cup of sun dried tomatoes with hot water. Drain and chop into little pieces.

Mix with 1 cup of ricotta cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Stir together.

Variations: try a pumpkin ravioli by mixing ricotta, pumpkin puree and nutmeg for a filling. Then top with a béchamel or a light cheese sauce.

Daring Cook's May Challenge: Gumbo

Our May hostess, Denise, of There’s a Newf in My Soup!, challenged The Daring Cooks to make Gumbo! She provided us with all the recipes we’d need, from creole spices, homemade stock, and Louisiana white rice, to Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo and Seafood Gumbo from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh.

I've never really had Creole food so this was an exciting challenge. Gumbo.. it's so raved about by everyone that I was thrilled and eager to get my hands dirty! After a little research I found the definition of a gumbo to be a thick, dark soup containing a mixture of rice, vegetables, and meat or seafood. The vast majority of gumbos fall into one of three categories:  Seafood Gumbo, containing some combination of oysters, shrimp, crawfish, and/or crabs, and more often made with okra than filé; Poultry and Sausage gumbo, which uses either chicken or turkey in combination with pieces of andouille or other smoked sausage, and more often made with filé than okra; and the increasingly rare Gumbo Z’Herbes, a meatless soup created for Lent that incorporates a wide variety of greens.  The greens symbolize different things to different families.  Most often the number of greens a person uses represents the number of new friends he or she is supposed to make that year.

I decided to go for a seafood gumbo and throw as many veggies as I could find (I want to make a lot of new friends this year!)

 I also wanted to make the seafood stock myself but when I went to the supermarket and couldn't find any shrimp or fish heads, I decided to get the cheapest fish and use that to make the stock. So catfish bits were my make shift shrimp. Now for all those people who know me well, I hate hate HATE celery so none of my recipes will ever have that in them, so I will list the ingredient list and recipe as if the celery was in there for all of you celery lovers, but note I ommit this in all my recipes..

Shrimp Stock


Ingredients
¼ cup (120 ml) canola oil
Shells and heads (about 1 ½ pounds (700 gm)) from 4 pounds (2 kg) shrimp (prawns) ( I used catfish chunks instead)
1 tablespoon Basic Creole Spices (recipe below)
1 large onion coarsely chopped
2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped ( I ommited)
2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
6 bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons (10 ml) (5 gm) black peppercorns
2 cups (480 ml) dry white wine (optional)
3 ½ quarts (3⅓ liters) water
Directions:
1. Heat the canola oil in a large stockpot over moderate heat. When the oil begins to smoke slightly, add the shells and paprika. Stir continuously, for 2 minutes, until the shells crisp up and turn pink.

2. Add the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.


3. Add the white wine (skip this step if not using wine) and bring to a boil. Allow the wine to reduce for an additional 5 minutes.
4. Add the water and return to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, uncovered, skimming off any foam or oil that rises to the surface, for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

(This is my version with fish instead of shrimp)

5. Strain through a fine sieve into a large bowl. Discard all the solids. Allow the stock to cool, cover and refrigerate, then skim off the fat. Use immediately, or freeze for later use.

Seafood Gumbo

Minimally adapted from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh
Servings: 10

Ingredients
1 cup (240 ml) canola oil
1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm) (5 oz) flour
2 large onions, diced
6 jumbo blue crabs, each cut into four pieces (if unavailable, omit, or substitute another type of crab)
1 pound (½ kilogram) spicy smoked sausage links, sliced ½ inch (15mm) thick (optional, but encouraged if you eat sausage)
1 stalk celery, diced ( I ommited)
1 green bell pepper (capsicum), seeded and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup (240 ml) (160 gm) (5½ oz) sliced fresh okra, ½ -inch (15mm) thick slices (or frozen, if fresh is not available). If fresh or frozen is unavailable, you can leave it out because the roux will provide enough of a thickener.
Leaves from sprig of fresh thyme
3 quarts (3 liters) shrimp (prawn) stock (recipe below)
2 bay leaves
1 pound (½ kilogram) peeled and deveined medium Louisiana or wild shrimp (prawn) (Note: If you are buying whole, head-on shrimp, which you will need in order to use the heads and peels for stock, you will then need approximately 4 pounds (2 kilograms) of shrimp to yield enough heads/shells for the stock. Although the recipe only calls for 1 pound (½ kilogram) of shrimp, you will end up with a little over 2 pounds of cleaned shrimp (1 kilogram), which I found was perfect for this size pot of gumbo)
1 pint (475 ml) (450 gm) (16 oz) shucked oysters
8 ounces (225 gm) lump crabmeat
1 cup (240 ml) (100 gm) (3½ oz) minced green onions (scallions, or spring onions)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Basic Creole Spices, to taste (recipe below)
Worcestershire, to taste
Tabasco, to taste
4-6 cups (1 – 1½ liters) (650 gm – 950 gm) cooked Basic Louisiana White Rice (recipe follows)
Directions:
1. Prepare shrimp stock, if using (recipe above).
2. Make sure all of your vegetables are cut, diced, chopped, minced and ready to go before beginning the roux. You must stand at the stove and stir the roux continuously to prevent it from burning.

4. In a large cast-iron or heavy-bottomed pan, heat the canola oil over high heat. Whisk the flour into the hot oil – it will start to sizzle. Reduce the heat to moderate, and continue whisking until the roux becomes deep brown in color, about 15 minutes.

5. Add the onions. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir the onions into the roux. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and continue stirring until the roux becomes a glossy dark brown, about 10 minutes.

6. Add the blue crabs and smoked sausage and stir for a minute before adding the celery, bell peppers, garlic, and okra. Increase the heat to moderate and cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes.

7. Add the thyme, shellfish stock, and bay leaves. Bring the gumbo to a boil, stirring occasionally.
8. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, skimming off the fat from the surface of the gumbo every so often.

9. Add the shrimp, oysters, crabmeat and green onions to the pot and cook for 15 minutes. Make sure everything is ready to serve before adding the shellfish to the gumbo. DO NOT OVERCOOK your shellfish.

10. Season with salt and pepper, Creole Spices, Worcestershire, and Tabasco.
11. Serve in bowls over rice. I placed mine in see through containers to give it a more elegant look, and garnished with some fresh parsley.



Greek Fare with a little help

Have you heard of Groupon? If you live in the United States you should certainly sign up, the website has amazing daily deals for a multitude of services, stores and restaurants where you get discounted stuff. You pay up front at the 50% rate and have a certain time to use your purchase. I've used it for many different services and was very very pleased.

This weekend I decided to use my Groupon for Thalassa Greek Restaurant down in TriBeCa my review in one word.. 'Spectacular' and in two words 'worth it'! The restaurant is a little hidden by all the well known restaurants in the area, they are also repaving the main road in front of it so it is not as visible to the public.
I walked in not expecting much but was pleasantly surprised! The restaurant has earned some great awards and the atmosphere if very inviting!

My first exciting moment was when I saw the icy mountain with fish, shellfish and gorgeous fresh vegetables displayed for all to see. You can literally pick your dinner!
We went with the prix fix 4 course menu with the perfect portion sizes.

To start us off we had a little amuse bouche of phyllo and cheese. It was crunchy and not saturated in butter. It was our first introduction to this restaurant and it left us craving for more!

There was also an assortment of 4 breads to chose from, served with hummus, olive oil and some marinated olives. The focaccia was slightly sweetened by caramelized onions and tasted a little like cornbread too. It was delicious! Their olive bread was also, as expected, delicious!

The best dish was this first appetizer, the most perfect and most amazing scallop I have ever eaten in my life. I dare any chef to make one better! I've eaten many scallops before but never one so perfectly cooked. It was wrapped in hair thin strands of phyllo and drizzled with an amazing refreshing sauce.  10+ points on this one!

The next appetizer was the rice and meat stuffed grape leaves. the flavor was much milder than the first appetizer. Still tasty, not overly vinegary like most grape leaves. I loved the kale in this dish too it made it different!

The main courses were filet mignon or fish. The filet mignon was cooked perfectly and was moist. The mushrooms were also a great side dish to it.

As for the fish, it tasted farmed to me. It laked flavor and the capers overpowered it a little. The spinach was also plain and the meager portion of baked potato was undercooked. This was the only complaint I had with this meal. But the meat dish was top notch.

And my favorite part as always, dessert. We had a little assortment of desserts on our plate, a pistachio Kataifi and Ekmek (Traditionally, the dessert Ekmek is made with a base of ‘Kataifi’ pastry. This pastry resembles angel's hair pasta or vermicelli as it is cut into very thin strands.) Cream ball covered in valrhona chocolate, with a small piece of baklava (to my delight, not overly sweet as most), and a little dollop of yogurt cream. It was another 10 score!

And I loved the little cookie box they gave us on our way out. I devoured it on the steps of the restaurant, why wait?

Do check out the restaurant's website. They also post a recipe of the month. Here is this month's. Lavraki Tartare. Lavraki is a Mediterranean sea bass.

Lavraki Tartare
Ingredients
2 thin slices of lavraki (Mediterranean sea bass) approx. 4oz.
1 tbsp Scordalia (garlic almond mousse)*
¼ inch thick sliced of a peeled cucumber
¼ inch thick slice of a roasted red pepper
¼ inch thick slice of a roasted beet
6 pcs poached grape leaves
½ tsp lemon and orange zest (mixed)
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Lay out the poached grape leaves, to form a square, and spread the scordalia on one side. Place the lavraki about one third in from the edge and on top of the grape leaves covering the entire length. Place cucumber, pepper and beet over the lavraki. Add zest and salt and pepper to taste. Take hold of the grape leaves and roll the entire length gently, but tight enough to avoid spillage.
Mise en Plate
Cut into 1 inch pieces, and place on serving dish.
Top each piece with tobiko caviar.

*Ingredients & Preparation for Garlic Almond Mousse
Makes enough for four cups, which and be refrigerated and used in other dishes, or as a garnish for almost any grilled fish.
1 oz fresh garlic
½ cup blanched almonds
1/3 cup vinegar
½ tsp white pepper
1 tsp sea salt
½ lb Country loaf (crust removed), soaked in cold water and squeezed dry
3 oz extra virgin olive oil
4 oz cold water
Add all ingredients (except the olive oil) to a food processor and blend for 3-4 minutes. Continue to blend while adding the oil in a slow stream. After completely blended, store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Lamb of God

Have you ever wondered why we eat lamb during Easter Sunday? If you are a regular at mass you will recall hearing  "Lamb of God you take away the sins of the world." The Christians often refer to Jesus as The Lamb of God, the lamb that fell to save the sheep, so it seems appropriate that we celebrate Easter with this special meal.

This year I cooked my first leg of lamb (no joke- I had never done it before) and I have to say it was delicious. I adapted a recipe from The Flavor Lab  and it was the most amazing lamb ever! Scroll down for this succulent Easter meal.

For Crust:

1 slice of bread

2 TBS Oregano

1 bunch of fresh parsley

3 TBS Dijon mustard
50g Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup walnuts
3 TBS olive oil

2 TBS minced garlic

1. Blend all these ingredients in a food processor untill it looks like crumbs.

Lamb Ingredients:

Crust recipe above

1/2 cup white wine
salt and pepper

1 leg of lamb

1. Place the leg of lamb in a deep cooking dish. Cook the sides of the lamb to seal it, just a few minutes.

2. Rub the crust all over the lamb and leave it in the fridge (lid closed or wrapped in plastic) for 2 days.

3. When ready to cook the lamb, pour the white wine in the dish and bake in the oven with the lid on top at 220F until the meat is cooked and no longer red, you want the eat to be slightly pink. (1.5-2 hours).

Enjoy with some Israeli couscous for a final Mediterranean touch.

Daring Cook's Challenge April: Edible Savoury Containers

Renata of Testado, Provado & Aprovado! was our Daring Cooks’ April 2011 hostess. Renata challenged us to think “outside the plate” and create our own edible containers! Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 17th to May 16th at http://thedaringkitchen.com/!

I wanted to make something difficult and time consuming for this challenge. Crazy right? And I had this idea of making a bread bowl.. and then I started thinking about all the things I loved to dip in bread. And my husband's favorite pasta dish came to mind. It's a Portuguese dish that my mother used to create for me as a child and I loved it, and when I made it for my husband he devoured it!

Then I started to worry about the sauce seeping through the bread and making it fall apart. So I needed a back up plan, and I created a delicious salad to go in the basket.

The bread basket is what you are probably the most curious about so here it is.. I made a basic pizza crust and weaved it into a lattice pattern.

Basic Pizza Crust

Ingredients.
15 oz all purpose flour
5 oz whole wheat flour
0.5 oz salt
1 tsp instant yeast
2 oz olive oil
14 oz water

1.First you mix all the ingredients in a bowl except for the water.

2. Then you add half of the water. Never add all the water in at once, Chances are you will not need the full amount. Mix on first speed with  a dough hook. You can also make this dough by hand by kneading it. It will take a few minutes longer but it works just as well.

3. When the dough feels hydrated and not slippery wet, that's when you stop adding water. But do it at minute intervals as it takes a while for the starch to absorb the water. If you add it all in at once the chances are you over wet the dough. If this happens, add more flour gradually until the dough is not slippery wet.
4. When the dough starts to rise up the hook and peel off the sides you are in very good shape.

5. Poke the dough. If it springs back up then you are done and ready to rest the dough. Rest it until it doubles in size (covered with plastic wrap so the dough doesn't dry).

6. When the dough has rested, portion it into small uniform falls and rest for 5 minutes (covered with plastic wrap so the dough doesn't dry).

7. Roll the balls into long serpent-like shapes and allow the dough to rest another 5 minutes, covered, before you begin to weave it.

8. Once weaved into a basket, allow the dough to rest, covered, for another 30 minutes.

9. Bake for 15 minutes, on until done, in a preheated 500 degree oven.

Now for the Pasta Dish:

1 lb stew meat

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 Tbsp Olive oil

1 bay leaf

1 Tbsp Tomato Paste

1 can diced tomatoes

2 buillon cubes

1/2 C white wine

Water as needed

salt

pepper

1 lb pasta

Directions:

1. Sautee onions, garlic, bay leaf and a little pepper in the Olive oil.

2. When golden brown, add the tomato paste and tomatoes. Sautee 3 minutes.

3. Add meat and cook for 3 minutes.

4. Add wine, buillon cube and just enough water to cover the meat. Cook on low heat for 4-5 hours until the meat is tender. You may need to add water as the meat cooks.

5. When the meat is done add some water to the pot and cook the pasta in it. The pasta will absorb much of the water.

6. Season with Salt and Pepper and pour over the bread bowl.

7. Devour!!