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Pumpkin Ricotta Gnocchi

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Jan 102012

Hank Shaw is back, tempting us with pumpkin ricotta gnocchi. It's crazy good, and actually not as hard as you would think to make. Enjoy! ~Elise

Pumpkin ravioli with brown butter and sage is a classic for a reason: The color, the texture and the flavors of winter squash, fried sage and browned butter are a match made in heaven. But making ravioli requires a fair bit of skill. Gnocchi, however, are easy to make once you get the hang of it.

The key to making any dumplings is to make them as light as possible. We've all had leaden lumps of unhappiness before; they're memorable, and not in a good way. What keeps these gnocchi fluffy are the ricotta cheese and a light hand with the flour. Gnocchi dough is often sticky, and it's the ability to resist the urge to keep adding more and more flour that separates a good dumpling from a heavy one.

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How to Make Vegetable Stock

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Jan 092012

Homemade stock almost always tastes better than boxed or canned, and this is never more true than with vegetable stock. In the case of chicken or beef stock, the stock comes from cooking bones in water on low heat, for several hours. With vegetable stock, there are no bones to cook, so the richness of the stock comes from the variety of vegetables you use. It helps to brown the veggies first, so the stock gets infused with some of the flavors from caramelization. Unlike chicken or beef stock, which needs time to extract all the goodness from the bones, with vegetable stock, you cook the stock for only an hour to an hour and half. Beyond that, the flavors begin to disintegrate.

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Honey Mulled Wine

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Dec 212011

Now this was a happy accident. I don't know how I ended up with some red wine in a cup with honey in it, but it happened, and I'm so glad it did. Once I discovered how lovely my red wine tasted with honey, I thought to make a mulled wine with it. Mulled wines are typically very spicy affairs, with cloves, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, orange peel, etc. All well and good. The problem is that all of those spices together detract from the honey, and it's the honey taste that goes so well with the wine. So this is a simple mulled wine, with only cinnamon, a few peppercorns and a little lemon zest to liven things up, all enhancing the flavors of the wine and the honey, not competing with them. It's also pretty sweet, so feel free to play around with the amount of honey to suit your taste.

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Spicy Pork Stew with Chickpeas and Sausage

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Nov 072011

Is it stew weather? I think it's finally stew weather here at least. This morning a thick, chilly fog bank settled on the northern central valley and didn't lift until after 10. We actually made this stew in early summer, but it was too hot in most of the country to post it. But it looks like the 80 degree days we've been having this last month are finally behind us, and now is the time for a warm, spicy, hearty stew. This pork stew is inspired by the flavors of Spain, with chunks of pork shoulder, chickpeas, olive oil, garlic, parsley and paprika. Smoked paprika too, which adds just a touch of smokey flavor to the stew.

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Broccoli Rabe with Pasta and Sun Dried Tomatoes

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Oct 212011

Have you ever had broccoli rabe (pronounced "rahb" or "rah-bee" depending on where you are from)? I have sort of a love hate relationship with it. It looks like broccoli, but it doesn't taste like it. Broccoli rabe can sometimes be so bitter, even with blanching, there's no amount of vinegar or bacon that can save it. But bitterness heightens flavors (hence the purpose of parsley). Your tongue can distinguish 4 basic tastes—sour, bitter, sweet, and salty—so if you combine the somewhat bitter rabe with strong tastes from the other groups, the result can be like happy fireworks in your mouth. Rabe combined with sun-dried tomatoes is a deli classic, the tomatoes offering a sweet intense counter-note to the rabe. Still, it's not for everyone, so be warned. This recipes tosses lightly sautéed broccoli rabe with sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, Parmesan cheese and penne pasta. So good! We devoured it.

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Agua de Jamaica (Hibiscus Tea)

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Sep 022011

Walk in to practically any taqueria in California and you'll likely find supersized containers of agua frescas, right next to the soda dispenser. The usual flavors are horchata (a sweet rice drink), tamarindo (from tamarind, and agua de jamaica (pronounced hah-MY-kah), an infusion of dried red hibiscus flowers. I almost always go for the ruby red jamaica, I think just because I love the color. The taste is slightly tart and refreshing. If you've ever had red zinger tea from Celestial Seasonings, it's a little like that. Or a little like cranberry juice. With a squeeze or two of lime juice it becomes almost punch-like.

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Chicken Salad with Roasted Bell Peppers and Toasted Almonds

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Jul 302011

Now here's a twist on a summer chicken salad. This one is inspired by the flavors of Spain, with roasted bell peppers, toasted almonds, garlic and parsley. Chicken breasts are first gently poached in chicken stock, to help the chicken hold on to flavor. (You can easily re-use the stock for another recipe, just boil it down for ten minutes before chilling.) Serve with lettuce, on bread for a sandwich, or just as a side. Great for a summer potluck or picnic. Enjoy!

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Sichuan Eggplant

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Jul 062011

Are eggplants showing up in your local markets yet? They are here, and guest author Garrett has tossed together a classic Chinese dish using long and tender asian eggplants from the farmers market. Enjoy! ~Elise

The actual name for this dish in Sichuan cuisine oddly translates to "Fish-Fragrant" Eggplant. Confusing, as this dish has no fish anywhere in it. You see, in Sichuan cuisine there are 23 complex flavors. These range from red-oil flavor, hot and sour flavor, lychee flavor, to strange flavor, and many others. Fish-Fragrant is one of the most celebrated.

Fish-Fragrant is a combination of salty, sweet, sour, and spicy tastes that come from ginger, garlic, scallions and fermented or pickled chilies. It is so named because these flavors are often used to enhance fish. Often times in earlier Chinese history, if home cooks were unable to procure fresh fish for meals, they had to make do with older fish that might have had too intense of a fishy taste. The ingredients and tastes that make up the fish-fragrant flavor are all strong and could cover the odors of seafood that wasn't the most fresh.

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Grilled English Peas

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Jun 112011

Are you familiar with edamame, the salty soybeans often served at Japanese restaurants? I became addicted to them when I lived in Japan years ago; they're the Japanese version of bar nuts, almost always served at bars there, with beer. You eat them by putting the pod in your mouth, closing your teeth, and pulling out the pod which releases the salty beans to eat. (Trader Joe's carries them, by the way.) This recipe is sort of like an English pea version of edamame, that you grill. Okay, yeah it's a stretch, but you eat them like edamame. You take fresh English peas, toss them with olive oil and salt, and then grill them until they are lightly charred on the outside and steamy soft on the inside. Then when you eat them, you scrape up some of that smokey, charred, salty flavor, while the peas pop into your mouth. If you want to add to this symphony of flavors, you can sprinkle some balsamic and chopped mint on the peas before eating.

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Caramelized Fennel and Onions

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May 252011

Fennel lovers, onion lovers, unite! And then take a shower in grated Parmesan, lemon zest, and chopped parsley. I'd like to say this is quick and easy, but it's not quick. It's long and easy, the sort of thing you can just put on the stove and give a stir every once in a while, as you cook the rest of the meal. The onions and fennel are only lightly caramelized. You could cook them longer if you wanted, or sprinkle some sugar on them to bring out more of the caramelization. But just cooking them down and lightly browning them, and then tossing them with everything else, works for me. Wonderful flavors. Would be terrific alongside grilled fish or chicken.

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Red Snapper with Mediterranean Sauce 2 servings

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May 142011

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Red Snapper with Mediterranean Sauce 2 servings
Prized fish exotic flavors Instant Classic….
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Big Small Plates

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Apr 042011

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Big Small Plates
Fans of Cindy Pawlcyn’s Mustards Grill have been making meals out of her sampler-size starters for years. In Big Small Plates, Cindy brings home the biggest trend in eating out, with generously scaled recipes that promise less fuss and more flavors than traditional appetizers. The wide-ranging collection of universally appealing recipes spans soups, finger foods, salads, scoopables, and even sweets designed to satisfy big appetites as well as grazers. An alternative to conventional, varietyless main-course cooking, Cindy’s small plate recipes deliver the inspiration and reliability that make this new way of eating—and entertaining—practical at home. A cookbook of 150 sampler-size recipes from Mustards Grill, Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen, and Pawlcyn’s home repertoire, in her signature all-American style with Californian and global influences. Includes 150 gorgeous food, ingredient, and location photos. Mustards won the James Beard award for Best American Cookbook in 2002 and was nominated for the IACP Cookbook of the Year Award..-.
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Sunshine Cuisine

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Apr 032011

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Sunshine Cuisine
150 recipes with all the bright, strong flavors and fresh ingredients of both Provencal and Florida-Caribbean cooking. The PBS chef discusses the cooking methods behind his creations and presents more than two hundred recipes for such dishes as Shrimp Sambuca, Blue Crab Cakes with Mango, Grilled Tuna with Papaya and Pineapple, and other treats..-.
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Complete Curry Cookbook

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Apr 022011

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Complete Curry Cookbook
Authentic curries made easy.Curry is enjoyed throughout the world. This wonderful selection of curry recipes draws its inspiration from India, Thailand, China, England, Indonesia and the Caribbean. These quick, easy and tantalizing recipes feature ingredients found in supermarkets, yet the dishes maintain authentic tastes and flavors.Some of the creative curry recipes include: – Vegetables masala (mixed vegetables, tomato, gravy, curry leaf); chicken and wild mushroom curry with saffron; Indian-style butter chicken; Kashmiri-style lamb with root vegetables- Thai beef-tamarind curry with potato; braised beef with chililime and lemongrass; Caribbean coconut lime braised pork; grilled fish tikka- Shrimp curry, Calcutta style; Caribbean-spiced tilapia; calamari curryDansak (lentils with vegetables); eggs sambal goreng; chili coconut dal.Among the accompaniments and side dishes are: Tomato onion rice pilau; spicy Singapore noodles; zucchini pancake, Caramelized mango relish; spicy pickled green beans; fresh mint raita. These and other authentic recipes will allow home cooks to experience international curry cuisine at its most tantalizing..-.
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Twelve Months Of Monastery Salads

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Mar 302011

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Twelve Months Of Monastery Salads
New in paperback! From the introduction to Twelve Months of Monastery Salads: People now savor and enjoy salads all year round. Some of the reasons salads are so popular are that they are easy to put together, there are endless variations to please every taste and palate, and they seem to always provide a wonderful contrast of flavors, textures, color, and nuances. Monastic cooking relies a great deal on the seasonal harvest of our gardens, farms, and orchards. Nothing is so deeply appreciated at the monastic table as a well-arranged, well-balanced salad, the end result of our own cultivation and the thrifty creativity of the monastic kitchen. The recipes here exalt the values of health, nutrition, and refinement of taste. A salad, carefully prepared, is always an occasion for celebration. Bon Apetit! A sampling of seasonal recipes from Brother Victor: Spring Arugula and Dandelion Salad Salmon-Cucumber Salad Asparagus and Egg Salad Summer Kiwi-Peach Salad Orzo and Green peas Salad Zucchini Salad Basque Style Fall Baby Beet Salad Indian Curried lentils Salads Winter Wild Rice and Barley Salad Savory Cauliflower Salad Marinated Pepper Salad.-.
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Salad Dressings

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Mar 282011

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Salad Dressings
Every proper salad should come to the table well dressed. Salad Dressings is a veritable wardrobe of vinaigrettes and creamy dressings that are easy to make and even easier to store. Flavors such as tarragon, roasted red pepper, or crumbled Stilton cheese enhance simple salads of tender greens, while creamy varieties such as Tart Russian or decadent Blue Cheese pair sumptuously with heartier flavors and textures. Exotic dressings like Thai Peanut or Indian Curry add distinctive, unusual flavors and elevate the ordinary. Salad recipes sprinkled throughout plus quick recipes for crunchy toppings—think flavored croutons or spiced nuts—top off this handy guide to salad fare extraordinaire..-.
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The Barbecue! Bible 10th Anniversary Edition

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Mar 282011

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The Barbecue! Bible 10th Anniversary Edition
For a Steven Raichlen video click here. Now the biggest and the best recipe collection for the grill is getting better: Announcing the full-color edition of The Barbecue! Bible, the 900,000-copy bestseller and winner of the IACP/Julia Child Cookbook Award.Redesigned inside and out for its 10th anniversary, The Barbecue! Bible now includes full-color photographs illustrating food preparation, grilling techniques, ingredients, and of course those irresistible finished dishes. A new section has been added with answers to the most frequently asked grilling questions, plus Steven’s proven tips, quick solutions to common mistakes, and more.And then there’s the literal meat of the book: more than 500 of the very best barbecue recipes, inventive, delicious, unexpected, easy-to-make, and guaranteed to capture great grill flavors from around the world. Add in the full-color, and it’s a true treasure..-.
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The Home Creamery

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Mar 282011

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The Home Creamery
Butter, yogurt, ricotta, and other fresh dairy products have been made in home kitchens around the world for centuries. They are not difficult to make, require no complicated aging techniques, and offer the home cook a wonderful range of tart, sweet, nutty, silky, creamy, melty textures and flavors. With the growing availability of local, organic milk and the soaring popularity of raw milk, now is the perfect time to bring fresh dairy products back to the home kitchen.Author Kathy Farrell-Kingsley begins with simple, step-by-step instructions for making sour cream, buttermilk, créme fraîche, mozzarella, fresh goat cheese, and 10 other fresh milk products. Home cooks will be thrilled with the simple but magical process of turning milk or cream into cultured dairy products and soft, unripened cheeses. There’s nothing quite like watching cream turn into butter or tasting the slightly chewy tang of homemade mozzarella.Following the dairy instructions are 75 delicious cooking and baking recipes developed to showcase products from The Home Creamery. Cheese Blintzes, Herbed Goat Cheese Bites, Mozzarella Panini, Spinach Ricotta Pie, Coleslaw with Buttermilk Dressing, Chocolate Sour Cream Cake, and Tiramisu are that much sweeter when made with the rich creamy goodness of homemade dairy items..-.
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Older Entries

Cooking With Christy

Pumpkin Ricotta Gnocchi

How to Make Vegetable Stock

Honey Mulled Wine

Spicy Pork Stew with Chickpeas and Sausage

Broccoli Rabe with Pasta and Sun Dried Tomatoes

Agua de Jamaica (Hibiscus Tea)

Chicken Salad with Roasted Bell Peppers and Toasted Almonds

Sichuan Eggplant

Grilled English Peas

Caramelized Fennel and Onions

Red Snapper with Mediterranean Sauce 2 servings

Big Small Plates

Sunshine Cuisine

Complete Curry Cookbook

Twelve Months Of Monastery Salads

Salad Dressings

The Barbecue! Bible 10th Anniversary Edition

The Home Creamery

Cooking With Christy

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