Mushroom Bacon Ravioli

On Thursday, it happened. I decided I needed bacon. I tried to quell the urge with Friday night bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches. Not enough. So today I embarked on a task. Tonight's special?
Mushroom Bacon Ravioli.

For the pasta, I use a variation of Mario Batali's pasta recipe available on the internet. I use one egg for every cup of semolina flour, but I add a little olive oil, and some grated nutmeg to the egg. I also use the food processor rather than make the flour mound on my counter. I start the dry ingredients whirling in the processor and drizzle in the wet goods until the dough reaches the right "sandy' appearance. The I let it whirl and knead until it forms a good dough ball. I rest that wrapped in cling film in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before I begin to make the dough with my Kitchen Aid pasta attachment. Our mixer is at least 30 years old and still going strong. I wish I could say the same about other appliances.

While the dough rests I chop and saute the ingredients for the filling. The picture shows some of those.

Once the dough is ready, I cut circles and stuff the filling. The trick, every time, is to avoid trying to stuff too much into the circle. You want a good seal and enough room to work as much of the air out of the center as possible.

After you complete the ravioli, cover them with a moist towel.

Sort out your preferred topping - Marcella Hazen's Five Ingredient sauce, Garlic and Sage Brown Butter sauce, or some other favorite.

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a rolling boil. Add the pasta and cook until the ravioli are floating and the pasta is done. Drain well and serve sauced with side Parmesan.

Fall Roast Chicken in the Ozarks

In the fall, Eureka Springs becomes the target for numerous "weekends." This is my least favorite weekend, Corvette Weekend.

Rather than rant, I will simply state that most of my local and merchant friends wish it would just go away.

Naturally, I did not go into town. Instead, I went to Cassville, Missouri this morning. They have a lovely WalMart and a fantastic Cost Cutter market with a real butcher counter.

I returned with fixings (Ozark word) for a wonderful meal. The star of that meal will be chicken, roasted on a bed of onion, fresh rosemary, and fresh sage.

Ingredients

1 spatchcocked chicken

6 branches rosemary

2 bunches sage

1 medium onion, sliced in rings

2 Tablespoons butter, melted

salt and pepper to taste

Method

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Set the oven rack to low middle.
Salt and pepper the underside of the chicken generously.
Arrange rosemary, sage, and onion in the bottom of your baking casserole.
Lay the chicken skin side up on the onions and herbs.
Use a pastry brush to paint the exposed surface of the chicken with the melted butter.
Generously salt and pepper the top of the chicken.
Roast until an instant read thermometer shows 165 degrees in the thigh near, but not on, the bone. Usually 45 to 60 minutes.
Rest for 10 to 15 minutes and serve.

Grilled Korean Chicken

Are you fond of Buffalo Wings?

Do you enjoy sweet and hot BBQ?

Then you need to meet gochujang, a Korean fermented chile sauce or paste. I use the sesame version in my sesame noodles. I use the regular or garlic versions in stir fry and for tang in odd things.

This recipe features gochujang as a wet rub for chicken prior to grilling. I buy the Mother in Law brand through Zingerman's or Amazon.

Ingredients

One 2.5 to 4 pound whole chicken

1/4 cup gochujang sauce or paste

salt and pepper

Method

If using a regular charcoal or gas grill, set up the grill for indirect roasting. If using a kamado style cooker, set it up with the stone in place and a drip pan. 

Wash and rinse the chicken.

Remove the wing tips, the wish bone, the back bone and the keel bone.

Generously salt and pepper both sides. Spoon half the gochugang on one side of the chicken.

Lather the paste or sauce over the entire surface of the bird.

Repeat for the other side.

Roast while holding the temperature between 300 and 350 degrees.  Continue until the internal temperature of the thigh exceeds 165 degrees.

Serve drizzled with ranch dressing.

Beef Stroganoff

I find stroganoff very comforting, and I always say to myself, "I should make this more often!"

Ingredients

6 Tablespoons butter

1 pound N.Y. strip steak, trimmed and sliced in quarter inch slices

1 onion, sliced

8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, thick sliced

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon (2 teaspoons chopped fresh)

3 Tablespoons Cognac or whiskey

1 cup sour cream, room temp

1 cup beef broth

12 ounces egg noodles

salt and pepper to taste

Method

In a large metal skillet, melt most of the butter over medium high heat until it ceases to bubble and is hot without burning. 

Lay the steak pieces flat in the pan in a single layer. (two or more batches may be required) Do not move the pieces. When the first side has browned, flip the steak and brown the other side. Repeat until all the steak is cooked. Cover the steak to keep it warm.

In the same pan, cook the onion and mushroom until softened and beginning to brown. Turn off the heat and add the cognac to deglaze the pan, scrapping the fond on the bottom into the meat. Use a long match to ignite and burn off any remaining alcohol.

Meanwhile cook the noodles to al dente in boiling salty water. Reserve a cup of the water in case the sauce needs thinning.

Turn the heat back on to medium and add the spices and herbs and the beef broth. Bring the mixture to a simmer and add the beef and any juices. 

When the beef has reheated, add the sour cream and stir well while the sauce heats to a simmer. Do not allow the sauce to boil as it will likely break.

Add the hot noodles and stir to combine.

Serve immediately.

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Quick Saffron Aioli

This has been a standby in the Stainer house since daughter Abigail discovered it in a Bon Apetit for a dinner party she was hosting. The year was somewhere around 2000. She told Nancy and I that her guests were licking their plates. We tried it and have made it since then.

The original version was actual an emulsion of olive olive with Dijon mustard, lemon juice, and saffron. This version does not require whisking or a ride in the food processor.

Ingredients

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

large pinch of saffron threads

1 cup mayonnaise

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon sun dried tomato paste (for color)

salt and pepper to taste

Method

Combine all the ingredients except the mayonnaise in a small sauce pan and gently heat while whisking to melt the honey and bloom the saffron. Allow the mixture to cool. Add to the mayonnaise and whisk to blend. Refrigerate one hour to 24 hours allow the flavors to meld.

Use the aioli to dress grilled or fried vegetables and fish. Also dresses chilled asparagus and the like.

You will lick your plate.

A Favorite from Mid Twentieth Century - Artichoke Squares

Still Warm!

Nancy's father, John, was a character. He was a Type A engineer who later earned a PHD in Statistics. He retired as the Senior Vice President for Western Electric. He was a Life Master at duplicate bridge.  He loved arranging fetes and was a machine gun chopper in the kitchen.

This recipe came to us on a 3 x 5 card from Nancy's folks and was John's signature dish. He originally got the recipe from the Summit, New Jersey YWCA and made it his. I checked the internet and similar recipes abound, but this is John's.

Warning! The pictures are of a quadruple batch that I made to welcome back my colleagues on the staff at my middle school. Do not let the size of the ingredients confuse you.

Ingredients

2 jars marinated artichoke hearts

4 eggs

1 medium onion, diced finely

½ teaspoon dried oregano

¼ cup fine bread crumbs

1-2 clove garlic, flattened and minced

½ pound sharp cheese (Cheddar or Cheshire works well), grated

2 Tablespoons fine minced parsley

salt and pepper to taste

 

I substituted these for marinated and altered the seasoning as well

Basil and oregano

Method

Grease 8” x  8” flat pan or dish with olive oil

Beat eggs to combine and add seasonings, bread crumbs, and parsley.

Sweat (gently cook to translucent and soft without color) onions in oil from one jar of artichokes. Add garlic for the last one minute. Drain off oil and add to the egg mixture. Mix well.

Rough chop drained artichoke hearts. Add artichoke and cheese to egg mixture and mix well.  Pour mixture in pan or dish and spread evenly.

Bake at 350 degrees until set and golden (approximately 30 to 50 minutes).

Allow to cool to warm and cut in 6 x 6 grid

Note: This freezes well for up to 30 days in sealed baggies.

Ready to go in the oven

Just out of the oven

Time Wounded This Recipe; The Recipe Fought Back

panzanella (pan·za·nel·la)

My students, and even the young men I used to coach who now have their own children, know nothing of the dark ages of rotary dial phones, daily milk delivery, and day old bread. They also know nothing of polio, measles, mumps, and chickenpox, so I guess they win.

In those ancient times, and for hundreds of years before then, housewives and cooks struggled with what to do with foods that were past their best buy date. When sailing ships opened the spice trade to the Far East, Europe went wild. Those spices could hide meat and other ingredients that were perhaps just a bit "off."

In those times, bread was baked daily. How to use the day old, stale bread became something that mattered. Sweet and savory bread pudding is but one example of the solutions. The basis for this recipe is another.

Panzanella, or bread salad, was a Tuscan style recipe that combined day old bread, toasted, with fresh vegetables, olive oil, anchovy, capers, and acid from vinegar or lemon. Clearly, this stale bread solution was a work of genius.

Then modern food processing invented bread with a shelf life measured in decades. Panzanella became a lost and forgotten orphan of modern times.

I think the world was too hasty in abandoning poor panzanella. Not too long ago I saw a New York Times recipe for panzanella that highlighted grilled vegetables. At that same time, I had the remnants of a rustic loaf that Nancy baked sitting on my counter. From that serendipitous moment plus some research sprang this recipe. I use it whenever Nancy makes rustic bread, focaccia, or we take and bake bread.

Ingredients

2 cups of toasted bread cubes from home baked, take and bake, or rustic bread

1 zucchini, topped and tailed, cut lengthwise in quarters 

1 sweet bell pepper, seeded

1/2 large red onion, cut stem to root into 4 segments

1.5 cups diced tomatoes, seeded but with juices retained

1 clove garlic minced

1 anchovy fillet, rinsed, mashed, and minced

1 Tbs. capers, minced

5-7 large leaves fresh basil, cut chiffonade 

2-3 Tbs. EVOO

1-2 tsps. red wine vinegar or lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Method

Slice your bread in 1" slices

Toast the bread in a toaster oven, on a grill pan, or outdoors on a grill.

Dice the toasted bread in 1" cubes.

Grill or broil the zucchini, onion, and sweet pepper until char marks show and the vegetables slightly soften.

Dice the grilled vegetables.

Add the minced garlic, the minced anchovy, and the minced capers to the vegetables. Add the diced tomatoes and their juices without the seeds to the vegetables. (Note: If you use cherry tomatoes, do not worry about the seeds.)

Add the bread to the vegetables and mix well.

Add a large pinch of salt and pepper. Mix well.

Refrigerate 1 to 4 hours.

Immediately before service add the basil, the olive oil and the vinegar or lemon juice. Mix well and adjust the salt/pepper/olive and oil/acid.

Serve with any roasted or grilled protein.