Culinary Drift Challenge #2

Creamy Pasta with Tomato Confit and Fresh Goat Cheese

This pasta dish is cooked risotto-style, which sounds intriguing. I hope you don't have any trouble finding the ingredients. Feel free to make substitutions where necessary.

Ingredients

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil, for poaching
3 plum tomatoes—peeled, quartered and seeded
2 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
Kosher salt
1/2 pound ditalini or other small-cut pasta (1 1/2 cups)
3 1/2 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
1/2 cup soft fresh goat cheese (4 ounces)
1/2 cup tightly packed freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (2 1/2 ounces), plus more for serving
Freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons snipped chives
2 tablespoons finely shredded basil leaves

Directions

In a medium saucepan, combine the olive oil with the tomatoes, thyme, bay leaf and half of the garlic and bring to a simmer. Cook over low heat until the tomatoes are very tender, about 15 minutes. Discard the thyme and bay leaf. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the tomatoes to a work surface and coarsely chop them; reserve the olive oil for another use.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, 5 minutes. Add the pasta and cook, stirring, until golden in spots, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining garlic; cook for 1 minute.

Add 1/2 cup of the chicken stock to the pasta and cook over moderately high heat, stirring constantly, until nearly absorbed. Continue adding the chicken stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring and cooking until it is nearly absorbed between additions. The pasta is done when it is al dente and suspended in a lightly thickened sauce, about 17 minutes total.

Stir the tomatoes into the pasta. Off the heat, add the goat cheese and Parmigiano-Reggiano and stir until melted. Season with salt and pepper, stir in the chives and basil and serve right away, passing additional Parmigiano-Reggiano at the table.

Source: Food and Wine, October 2008

Official Post Date: October 31, 2009, 11:59 pm.

Gnocchi with Gorgonzola Cream Sauce

I loved this. I really did. Of course, we hadn't just had it in Italy, so there was nothing to which I could compare our gnocchi. They were delicate and subtle, and there was a relaxing comfort to the repetitive formation rather than tedium. M and I learned that gnochhi are not actually something to be feared - and in a lot of ways, these were simpler than ravioli.

We started with 3 baked potatoes.



We scooped the flesh out of the baked potatoes.



And then set about to make the dough.



Once the dough was formed, M shaped it into 3 logs.



These three logs where then segmented and rolled out into snakes. Each snake was cut into approximately one-half inch pieces. I rolled each piece on the back of a fork, creating ridges that are intended to catch the sauce.



We ended up with enough gnocchi to freeze some before cooking. Ever since eating the ones we did cook, I've been looking forward to eating the rest.



We cooked the gnocchi in small batches that took only a minute or two. The small batches kept the water at a constant boil.



While the gnocchi were cooking, we set about making the gorgonzola cream sauce. A combination of gorgonzola, cream, garlic, and mozzerella, the sauce was the perfect balance between salty, creamy, and pungent.



Then we ladled the sauce into the bowls atop the gnocchi. For a finishing touch and a little bit of color, we added a little chopped parsley.



Thanks Lindsay and Jason for a perfect first challenge. This is definitely something we will be making again!

Potato Gnocchi: Results!

Oh what good intentions we had! The entire process went as well as we could hope. At every step, I was impressed that I hadn't screwed it up thus far. The dough was relatively simple to make, and came together quite well. But this is also where we really got hung up: that line about making sure the dough doesn't stick to your hands...We used the full two cups of flour and then kept adding, a dash at a time, until it got a little dryer. Oh and the other unfortunate part - we couldn't find any fresh thyme at the store (make that any fresh herb...) so we were forced to used dry thyme. We rolled, cut and fork pressed (so hard to make it look decent!) our cute little dumplings and cooked as directed.

The result? Well, as J stated that night - they were a bit more like tightly rolled sleeping bags than pillows. And that dry thyme turned out to be a big mistake; while the flavor was great the texture of a dry herb that hasn't had enough cooking time to soften, was an unwelcome surprise. Looks like we've got more work to do.

On a positive note - we both loved the sauce. And that's no small thing considering J's aversion to blue cheese! It's especially nice that it's so simple to make. I'm not sure it would work as well with other pastas, as the intensity requires a denser medium, but I'd like to find something else I can smother with this stuff.

We served the gnocchi with a simple arugula and Parmesan salad with lemon vinaigrette, which worked really well to cut the creaminess of the pasta dish.

The NY Times just reviewed a new book that's just been published in English (4 years ago in Italian), called 'The Encyclopedia of Pasta'. It gives a basic recipe for the entire catalog of Italian pasta and a history. Sounds pretty cool.

Vietnamese Pho 1512

M and I were unbelievably excited when we learned that this month's Daring Cooks' challenge was Vietnamese pho. Could we really create something as amazing as the pho we've had in restaurants in our own kitchen?? The short answer is yes, thanks to Jaden of Steamy Kitchen, the host of this month's challenge. Provided that we plan in advance, we can now skip the lines that snake down the block from our neighborhood pho restaurant.

Jaden offered us the option of doing a quick version, or doing the longer, more authentic version. Because we wanted to see how closely we could replicate our favorite pho restaurant, we opted for the longer version - for both the chicken and beef versions. That's right, we did BOTH chicken and beef. You can take a look at the recipes on the Steamy Kitchen website.

First, we tackled the chicken. Working with chicken is certainly more familiar and comfortable for me than beef, so it seemed like a good place to start. We charred the ginger, toasted star anise, coriander seeds and cloves, and roasted garlic since we wouldn't be using onion, which was meant to be charred along with the ginger. Mike hacked up a chicken and threw that in a pot with water, sugar, fish sauce, and the toasted spices. That simmered away until we had an unbelievably fragrant and authentic tasting pho broth.

Next, we addressed the beef. Jaden recommended using leg and knuckle bones for the best tasting pho. This required going to an asian grocery store, where we found everything we needed and more. We got beef bones like I never thought I'd buy. I'm glad we did, though, because we made some of the best tasting beef broth pho we've ever had. While both the chicken and beef pho were delicious, M and I preferred the beef pho. The chicken pho had a delicately flavored broth, whereas the beef was more robust and flavorful. With the colder weather just around the corner, I know we'll appreciate being able to eat pho without having to put on our coats this winter.

We made one tiny change to Jaden's recipes in that we used smaller noodles. I don't know if it's an east coast versus west coast thing, but pho restaurants in DC/Northern Virginia use smaller noodles than the ones that Jaden recomended, which are comparable to the noodles used in pad thai. While I'm sure the pho is equally delicious with the wider noodles, for us, the smaller noodles were the more authentic option, and I think our pho turned out pretty close to pho 50/pho 75/pho 14.

First Official Culinary Drift Challenge: Potato Gnocchi with Gorgonzola Cream Sauce

So now that I've moved into an actual apartment, with an actual kitchen, the challenges can begin! I'm throwing out the first challenge based on mom and my recent trip to Italy where we ate, unsurprisingly, some fantastic food, this dish included:

Potato Gnocchi with Gorgonzola Cream Sauce:

For the Gnocchi:

2 lbs. baking potatoes, cleaned and pierced with a fork

2 egg yolks, beaten

1 c. all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1 Tbsp. fresh thyme, chopped

salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place baking potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake for approximately 1 hour, until potatoes have softened.

Once finished baking, cut potatoes in half to slightly cool. Scoop out flesh and run through a potato ricer, or mash by hand-make sure it is not lumpy. Add the egg,thyme, salt and pepper, stirring with a wooden spoon until fully incorporated. Add the flour 1/2 c. at a time, and knead together with your hands. The dough will be somewhat sticky, but will come together after a while.

On a floured surface, roll the dough out into a log. Cut the log into three equal pieces, then cut those pieces into three equal pieces. Taking one piece at a time, roll out dough to create a rope about a 1/2 inch in diameter. I like to go from the middle outwards. Cut the roll into equal pieces, about 1/2 inch intervals. Roll each piece on the back of a fork to create indentations(this helps it to hold the sauce better.) Place cut gnocchi on a floured baking sheet. Once finished cutting and rolling, let gnocchi set for about 20 minutes to dry out a bit.

In a large saucepan, boil 6 or so quarts of salted water. Add gnocchi in batches of a dozen at a time. Scoop out using a slotted spoon trying to get most of the water off of them, and put on a warm dish. Salt and pepper, to taste.

Heavy Gorgonzola Sauce:

1/2 c. heavy cream

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1/4 c. milk

1 Tbsp. butter

1/2 c. gorgonzola cheese

1/4 c. mozzarella cheese

salt and pepper, to taste

In a small saucepan, bring the cream and garlic to a simmer. Turn off heat and let infuse for 1/2 hour. Strain cream and discard garlic cloves. Place cream, milk, salt and pepper over medium heat just until bubbles form around side of pan. Remove from heat and add the gorgonzola and mozzarella, stirring with a wooden spoon. If you prefer a thinner sauce, you can add more milk.

Place cooked gnocchi on a plate and drizzle with the gorgonzola cream sauce.

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The recipe comes from absolutelyappetizing.wordpress.com, and I have no idea if it, or more likely I, can duplicate the pillow-y perfection mom and I discovered in Milan, but it's worth a try, or 10. We also have a family history of homemade pastas (shout out to Ravioli Day!), and have always steered clear of these little dumplings, because of their supposed difficulty. Just like the Italians to create something so simple it's difficult!

So bring it on Simone! Let's see how we fair.

Official post date: Sunday, October 18th. 11:59 pm.

Vegan Indian Dosas

So another month's gone by without Mike's pretzel post you all have been waiting for. I'd tell you that he's got another project half-finished in the fridge, but then you might never hear a thing about it from him. Someone once told me something about good things happening for those who wait. I guess I can wait a little longer.

This post, however, can't wait another minute! It's Daring Cooks time again!! Seems like we just finished the last Daring Cooks challenge, which might give you a little insight into how busy things have been. This month's challenge resulted in our first every intentionally vegan meal. And it was good! We've had very little Indian food that wasn't good, though, so neither of us were in the least concerned. And while neither of us was worried about going meatless it was a HUGE stretch for Mike to omit the yogurt he considers so vital to nearly everything served with rice. I should mention that this recipe did not require rice, as the intent was to fill dosas, or pancakes, with filling. The mere mention of Indian, however, set Mike's rice button off, and we had a pot of rice cooking almost before anything else.

The Indian Dosas challenge was hosted by Debyi from Healthy Vegan Kitchen. As the recipe contained 3 parts - dosa, filling, and sauce, and would result in a lengthy post, I'll let those who are interested view the recipe on her site.

The dosas were very similar to crepes we've made before, although these were made with spelt. We'd never worked with spelt before, so that was something new. We've got a bag of spelt flour left, so Mike is already thinking of the bread he can make...Oh, the other new ingredient for us in the crepes was almond milk, which we opted for in place of soy milk. The crepes turned out really well - on our first night. We attempted to make them again the next night to eat with our left overs but at that point didn't have any baking powder. The result was a spectacular failure. The baking-soda-less crepes were completely off, so we ate the rest with just rice. Not nearly as fun. The lack of crepes, though, was offset by the addition of yogurt.

We generally followed the recipe as posted, making only 2 additions. We made tamarind and cilantro chutneys I learned from a cooking class with Chef Vinod. Unfortunately, we only got pictures of the tamarind chutney, so you all are missing out on the vibrant green of the cilantro chutney. The filling was a chick-pea and tomato mixture, and the sauce was a curry coconut sauce. We added a little side of cucumber, which was a nice contrast to the softness of the dosas. All in all, it was a good challange, definitely enhanced by the chutneys. Thanks to Debyi for hosting a great challenge and for getting us to eat an entirely vegan meal!

Lastly, if none of the other challenges have so far tempted you, Lindsay, or if you haven't been inspired, maybe this one will do the trick. Can't wait until October when you've got a kitchen!

Einkaufen: To go grocery shopping

The German Grocery Store is truly a place to marvel. We Americans love our convenience and I've always thought Europe as a whole held a disdain for the excess that is the modern superstore. Oh how I was wrong! But before you begin to think I'm railing against suburbinization, read on...

The first time I went to the grocery store by our new 'home' was like walking into Wonka's chocolate factory. It was amazing. Huge, sprawling, and CHEAP. I've never seen such varieties of just about EVERYTHING. Germans can't just have mustard - they would like to choose from 12 brands, 8 flavors, and 6 consistencies of mustard. Before I got here, I'm pretty sure Vienna Sausages were the only tube-cased meat in water I had seen - here, oh no, they have an entire aisle!


Bonn is also home to Haribo, the gummy bear company. So in accordance, the grocery store has an entire aisle devoted to gummi treats.


Like Wonka's leisure nightmare tunnel, there's a dose of the terrifying. Early on, we went to find chicken stock to make risotto one night and realized we had no idea where to find, or how to ask for this. We finally managed, after asking a nice man where we could find 'the juice of chicken bones that have cooked a long time' and what we found completely shocked us:


I realize this is perhaps more of 'the real McCoy' than we're being given in the states, but I can't help getting the heabi-jeabies (sp??) thinking about it. Not to mention, I'm not so sure I want to throw those little chunks into what I'm cooking....Notice the label says 'Bouillon' - makes you wonder what's in those little cubes in the states, doesn't it??

Much to Jason's chagrin, I've gotten to the point of wanting to hang out in the grocery stores.


Or maybe he doesn't mind...