Green Bean Slaw Recipe
I used a moscato from Trani, Italy here, but feel free to experiment with other sweet white wines. The one I used was about 14% alcohol - just the right amount of boozy for a salad like this. As far as advanced prep goes - you can make the dressing a day or two ahead of time if you like. And you can slice the green beans, and make the croutons a day ahead of time as well. I used a wood-fired oven spelt walnut bread for the croutons here, but use whatever good bread you have on hand.
2 small handfuls (about 1/2 cup) golden raisins
1 cup / 240 ml Moscato / sweet white wine
Dressing:
yolk of one hard-boiled egg
3 tablespoons creme fraiche or heavy cream
1/3 cup / 80ml extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
-------------------------
1/2 a small cabbage, cored and shredded very finely
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 big handfuls green beans or haricot verts, very thinly sliced and cooked in a pot of boiling salted water for 20 seconds, drained (well) immediately, and cooled under cold running water.
A big handful of arugula, roughly chopped
2 handfuls (about 3/4 cup) toasted walnut halves
2 handfuls of torn rustic bread, pan-toasted until golden in a big splash of olive oil
A bit of shaved pecorino cheese
Place the raisins in a small bowl and cover with the wine. Let soak overnight, or for at least a few hours.
To make the dressing, mash the yolk of the egg in a small bowl. Gradually mash and stir in the creme fraiche. Very slowly add the olive oil beating constantly. It should be smooth and glossy. Whisk in the vinegar and lastly the salt. Taste and adjust if needed.
When you're close to being ready to serve the salad, toss the cabbage and the vinegar together in a large bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.
Just before serving, drain the raisins and add to the cabbage. Add the green beans, arugula, and most of the walnuts. Toss a few times. Add about 2/3 of the dressing and toss gently, but well. Taste and add more dressing if you like. Add most of the croutons and most of the pecorino cheese, before tossing again. Serve topped with the remaining walnuts and pecorino.
Serves 6-8.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Homemade ricotta
The California Cook: Homemade ricotta -- it's easier, and better, than you think
With just a few simple ingredients and a few minutes cooking and resting time, you've got a wonderful appetizer, dessert or pasta filling.
(By Russ Parsons, Los Angeles Times
September 30, 2010
Servings: About 1 pound, or 2 cups
Note: This recipe requires the use of a thermometer.
9 cups whole milk
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 tablespoons distilled vinegar
1. Heat the milk and buttermilk in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat to a temperature of about 185 degrees. Stir in the salt and vinegar and remove from the heat. Let stand until curds have formed, 5 to 10 minutes. Pull the curds gently to the side.
2. Line a strainer with cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Using a perforated skimmer, gently lift the mass of curds out of the pot and into the cheesecloth-lined strainer. Repeat until no more curds remain. Discard the remaining whey.
3. Drain the curds for 5 minutes, then transfer to a covered container to store in the refrigerator until ready to use. The ricotta is best used the same day, but will still be good for 2 to 3 days.
Each one-fourth cup serving: 110 calories; 8 grams protein; 2 grams carbohydrates; 0 fiber; 8 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 24 mg. cholesterol; 2 grams sugar; 163 mg. sodium.
But how does it taste? Honestly, I was a little skeptical at first. I mean, outside of some really great stuff I've had in Italy, I'd always thought ricotta was meant to be kind of bland, so how much better can bland be?
Short answer: Lots. Honestly, this ricotta is so good it can be used as a starring ingredient, not just asthe paste that holds together lasagna. The flavor is delicate with a wonderfully milky combination of sweet and tang.
And it's so easy to make, I don't think I'll be buying the packaged stuff again, outside of an emergency.
What do you do with homemade ricotta? How about spooning a mound in the center of a platter, drizzling it with good olive oil and seasoning it with sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper. Surround it with toasted bread slices and maybe some grilled eggplant, zucchini or peppers.
For dessert, do the same thing, but drizzle with honey instead of oil and serve it with fresh berries or cut-up late-summer fruit (fresh figs are amazing right now), with sliced toasted almonds scattered over top.
If you need a main course, mix ricotta with some chopped fresh herbs, spoon it onto a square of cooked fresh pasta, lay another square on top and drizzle everything with sage butter. Instant lasagna. If you don't have enough time, simply use the herbed ricotta to dress al dente dried pasta shapes such as penne or orecchiette.
After playing with it for a while (I've had lots of ricotta in my refrigerator the last month), I'd say that the more restrained the combination, the better with this stuff. One of my favorite dishes was a lightly herbed mixture used to stuff roasted and peeled red and yellow bell peppers.
Or, based on how amazingly good fresh ricotta is with honey, try making gelato with ricotta, honey and a little orange liqueur. You'll need to add a little milk and cream to keep the mixture from being chalky, but not so much as to obscure the ricotta flavor (it'll still have a little of that texture … think of cannoli filling).
And those are just a few ideas of many.
Now there are those who will tell you that this cheese isn't truly ricotta. And pedantic though they may be, I'm afraid they're right. True ricotta is poverty food intended to wring the last bits of protein from milk by reheating the whey that's left from making another cheese (hence the name ricotta — or recooked). And if you have a lot of whey laying around, you certainly should try it that way.
Otherwise, you're better off with this shortcut method, which may be less than totally authentic but is certainly totally delicious.
Essentially what happens is that heating the milk changes the nature of the proteins and they begin to stick together, or coagulate. Adding acid further coagulates the proteins — it's not unlike what happened when you were a kid and poured orange juice into your cereal milk at breakfast.
You gently spoon this moist mass of curds out of the pot (I use a Chinese "spider" skimmer) and set them in a cheesecloth-lined strainer to drain for five minutes, and you've got ricotta. What's left behind in the pot is the greenish-gray whey, which, if you're in a particularly traditional frame of mind, you can feed to your prosciutto pigs.
As you might guess, with a process so simple, there is ample room for variation. I spent a couple of weeks trying as many as I could find and after many, many gallons of milk, I think I've come up with a version that combines the best of all of them.
The first variable is the milk itself. You can make ricotta with whole milk or skim milk, and with the addition of whipping cream or buttermilk. I even tried it with goat's milk (the best ricotta I've ever tasted was made from sheep's milk; commercial American goat's milk is not worth the effort).
For the acidification, you can use lemon juice, vinegar or buttermilk. (I also tried a recipe using vegetable rennet as the coagulant, but I'm afraid that level of cheese-making must be just a bit beyond me.)
Or you can use a combination. That's what I wound up with. There is enough acidity in buttermilk that you can use just that and whole milk to make ricotta, but you have to use a lot of buttermilk (2 cups for a half-gallon of milk). While that buttery flavor is nice, it becomes a little too strong in that concentration.
Regular old distilled white vinegar also works well, but the result is a little bland. Lemon juice works fine, but the acidity will vary depending on the season and so it's a little unreliable. So I compromised, using both 1 cup of buttermilk and 21/2 tablespoons of vinegar to make a ricotta that has a delicate but not overpowering lactic tang.
Temperature is another variable. After cooking ricottas to 165, 175, 180, 185 and 190 degrees, I found that the higher the temperature, the greater the amount of cheese you're able to pull from the whey. On the other hand, once the temperature gets to about 190, the milk solids that stick to the bottom of the pan begin to caramelize and scorch, making them so sticky it takes a lot of scrubbing to clean the pot.
In my laziness, I decided to settle for a smidgen less cheese in exchange for much easier clean-up. At 185 degrees, 10 cups of milk makes about 2 cups — or 1 pound — of cheese. That's plenty.
Finally, how long you let the cheese stand in the strainer will affect the final texture. The longer it goes, the drier and firmer the curds will be. For me, the sweet spot came after about 5 minutes, when there is still enough moisture in the cheese that it oozes slightly, but the curds have begun to firm up.
At this point, you may well be tempted to eat the ricotta straight out of the strainer, and indeed, there is something incredibly luxurious about eating spoonfuls of the warm curds, sprinkled with just a little salt and pepper.
russ.parsons@latimes.com
Copyright © 2010, Los Angeles Times
With just a few simple ingredients and a few minutes cooking and resting time, you've got a wonderful appetizer, dessert or pasta filling.
(By Russ Parsons, Los Angeles Times
September 30, 2010
Servings: About 1 pound, or 2 cups
Note: This recipe requires the use of a thermometer.
9 cups whole milk
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 tablespoons distilled vinegar
1. Heat the milk and buttermilk in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat to a temperature of about 185 degrees. Stir in the salt and vinegar and remove from the heat. Let stand until curds have formed, 5 to 10 minutes. Pull the curds gently to the side.
2. Line a strainer with cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Using a perforated skimmer, gently lift the mass of curds out of the pot and into the cheesecloth-lined strainer. Repeat until no more curds remain. Discard the remaining whey.
3. Drain the curds for 5 minutes, then transfer to a covered container to store in the refrigerator until ready to use. The ricotta is best used the same day, but will still be good for 2 to 3 days.
Each one-fourth cup serving: 110 calories; 8 grams protein; 2 grams carbohydrates; 0 fiber; 8 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 24 mg. cholesterol; 2 grams sugar; 163 mg. sodium.
But how does it taste? Honestly, I was a little skeptical at first. I mean, outside of some really great stuff I've had in Italy, I'd always thought ricotta was meant to be kind of bland, so how much better can bland be?
Short answer: Lots. Honestly, this ricotta is so good it can be used as a starring ingredient, not just asthe paste that holds together lasagna. The flavor is delicate with a wonderfully milky combination of sweet and tang.
And it's so easy to make, I don't think I'll be buying the packaged stuff again, outside of an emergency.
What do you do with homemade ricotta? How about spooning a mound in the center of a platter, drizzling it with good olive oil and seasoning it with sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper. Surround it with toasted bread slices and maybe some grilled eggplant, zucchini or peppers.
For dessert, do the same thing, but drizzle with honey instead of oil and serve it with fresh berries or cut-up late-summer fruit (fresh figs are amazing right now), with sliced toasted almonds scattered over top.
If you need a main course, mix ricotta with some chopped fresh herbs, spoon it onto a square of cooked fresh pasta, lay another square on top and drizzle everything with sage butter. Instant lasagna. If you don't have enough time, simply use the herbed ricotta to dress al dente dried pasta shapes such as penne or orecchiette.
After playing with it for a while (I've had lots of ricotta in my refrigerator the last month), I'd say that the more restrained the combination, the better with this stuff. One of my favorite dishes was a lightly herbed mixture used to stuff roasted and peeled red and yellow bell peppers.
Or, based on how amazingly good fresh ricotta is with honey, try making gelato with ricotta, honey and a little orange liqueur. You'll need to add a little milk and cream to keep the mixture from being chalky, but not so much as to obscure the ricotta flavor (it'll still have a little of that texture … think of cannoli filling).
And those are just a few ideas of many.
Now there are those who will tell you that this cheese isn't truly ricotta. And pedantic though they may be, I'm afraid they're right. True ricotta is poverty food intended to wring the last bits of protein from milk by reheating the whey that's left from making another cheese (hence the name ricotta — or recooked). And if you have a lot of whey laying around, you certainly should try it that way.
Otherwise, you're better off with this shortcut method, which may be less than totally authentic but is certainly totally delicious.
Essentially what happens is that heating the milk changes the nature of the proteins and they begin to stick together, or coagulate. Adding acid further coagulates the proteins — it's not unlike what happened when you were a kid and poured orange juice into your cereal milk at breakfast.
You gently spoon this moist mass of curds out of the pot (I use a Chinese "spider" skimmer) and set them in a cheesecloth-lined strainer to drain for five minutes, and you've got ricotta. What's left behind in the pot is the greenish-gray whey, which, if you're in a particularly traditional frame of mind, you can feed to your prosciutto pigs.
As you might guess, with a process so simple, there is ample room for variation. I spent a couple of weeks trying as many as I could find and after many, many gallons of milk, I think I've come up with a version that combines the best of all of them.
The first variable is the milk itself. You can make ricotta with whole milk or skim milk, and with the addition of whipping cream or buttermilk. I even tried it with goat's milk (the best ricotta I've ever tasted was made from sheep's milk; commercial American goat's milk is not worth the effort).
For the acidification, you can use lemon juice, vinegar or buttermilk. (I also tried a recipe using vegetable rennet as the coagulant, but I'm afraid that level of cheese-making must be just a bit beyond me.)
Or you can use a combination. That's what I wound up with. There is enough acidity in buttermilk that you can use just that and whole milk to make ricotta, but you have to use a lot of buttermilk (2 cups for a half-gallon of milk). While that buttery flavor is nice, it becomes a little too strong in that concentration.
Regular old distilled white vinegar also works well, but the result is a little bland. Lemon juice works fine, but the acidity will vary depending on the season and so it's a little unreliable. So I compromised, using both 1 cup of buttermilk and 21/2 tablespoons of vinegar to make a ricotta that has a delicate but not overpowering lactic tang.
Temperature is another variable. After cooking ricottas to 165, 175, 180, 185 and 190 degrees, I found that the higher the temperature, the greater the amount of cheese you're able to pull from the whey. On the other hand, once the temperature gets to about 190, the milk solids that stick to the bottom of the pan begin to caramelize and scorch, making them so sticky it takes a lot of scrubbing to clean the pot.
In my laziness, I decided to settle for a smidgen less cheese in exchange for much easier clean-up. At 185 degrees, 10 cups of milk makes about 2 cups — or 1 pound — of cheese. That's plenty.
Finally, how long you let the cheese stand in the strainer will affect the final texture. The longer it goes, the drier and firmer the curds will be. For me, the sweet spot came after about 5 minutes, when there is still enough moisture in the cheese that it oozes slightly, but the curds have begun to firm up.
At this point, you may well be tempted to eat the ricotta straight out of the strainer, and indeed, there is something incredibly luxurious about eating spoonfuls of the warm curds, sprinkled with just a little salt and pepper.
russ.parsons@latimes.com
Copyright © 2010, Los Angeles Times
Monday, September 27, 2010
Jamaican Rice and Peas
made this with the aforementioned pork tenderloin with figs and onions. it was wonderful enough to have a really nice (expensive)(got this from a wine tasting)Italian schioppettino from stefano traverso vignaoiola. pepper. it was also good with dessert of candy corn. i know. tmi.
The chile is cooked whole with the rice and is there just for a bit of flavor. It doesn't make the rice hot at all, as it stays whole and you discard it at the end.
Ingredients
* 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
* 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
* 4 garlic cloves, chopped
* 2 cups long-grain rice
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
* 1 cup water
* 1 cup chicken stock (or vegetable stock for vegetarian option)
* 2 cups coconut milk
* 1 15-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
* 2 teaspoons dried thyme
* 1 whole Scotch bonnet chile (can substitute a whole habanero)
* Lime (optional)
Method
1 Heat the oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and sauté for 4-5 minutes, until they begin to brown on the edges.
2 Add the garlic and rice, stir well and cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring often.
3 Add the grated ginger, salt, water, stock and coconut milk and stir well. Add the kidney beans and sprinkle the thyme over everything. Add the whole Scotch bonnet chile (or habanero); it will season the rice much like a bay leaf would. Bring to a simmer, then turn the heat to low and cover.
4 The rice should be done in about 15-20 minutes, depending on the type of rice you are using (some long grained rice takes longer to cook). Check after 15 minutes. Once done, remove from heat and cover for 10 minutes. To serve, fluff with a fork. Sprinkle with a little lime juice if you want. Discard the habanero (or eat it, if you dare!)
Serves 6-8.
The chile is cooked whole with the rice and is there just for a bit of flavor. It doesn't make the rice hot at all, as it stays whole and you discard it at the end.
Ingredients
* 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
* 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
* 4 garlic cloves, chopped
* 2 cups long-grain rice
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
* 1 cup water
* 1 cup chicken stock (or vegetable stock for vegetarian option)
* 2 cups coconut milk
* 1 15-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
* 2 teaspoons dried thyme
* 1 whole Scotch bonnet chile (can substitute a whole habanero)
* Lime (optional)
Method
1 Heat the oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and sauté for 4-5 minutes, until they begin to brown on the edges.
2 Add the garlic and rice, stir well and cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring often.
3 Add the grated ginger, salt, water, stock and coconut milk and stir well. Add the kidney beans and sprinkle the thyme over everything. Add the whole Scotch bonnet chile (or habanero); it will season the rice much like a bay leaf would. Bring to a simmer, then turn the heat to low and cover.
4 The rice should be done in about 15-20 minutes, depending on the type of rice you are using (some long grained rice takes longer to cook). Check after 15 minutes. Once done, remove from heat and cover for 10 minutes. To serve, fluff with a fork. Sprinkle with a little lime juice if you want. Discard the habanero (or eat it, if you dare!)
Serves 6-8.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
chile chicken mexicano with blood orange margaritas
didn't make it home in time to go to yoga. so it's off to the y tomorrow at five a.m.
i saw heidi's green enchilada recipe and did this:
(leftover) crock pot braised chicken thighs, in v8, schirrachi and garlic
(leftover) brown rice and crisply cooked sugar snap peas, mixed with thighs
This was the middle section of a casserole i derived by putting this on the bottom:
cubed a ripe tomato, minced two garlic cloves, minced two scotch bonnets and two banana peppers picked from the garden. added cilantro and some more v8.
layered on top of that two torn corn tortillas, then added the chicken and rice. one more torn tortilla, then topped with grated cheese. it's baking at 330 and i'll drizzle it with sour cream mixed with a little water.
i'm sipping a margarita made with good tequila, limoncella and blood orange juice.
i saw heidi's green enchilada recipe and did this:
(leftover) crock pot braised chicken thighs, in v8, schirrachi and garlic
(leftover) brown rice and crisply cooked sugar snap peas, mixed with thighs
This was the middle section of a casserole i derived by putting this on the bottom:
cubed a ripe tomato, minced two garlic cloves, minced two scotch bonnets and two banana peppers picked from the garden. added cilantro and some more v8.
layered on top of that two torn corn tortillas, then added the chicken and rice. one more torn tortilla, then topped with grated cheese. it's baking at 330 and i'll drizzle it with sour cream mixed with a little water.
i'm sipping a margarita made with good tequila, limoncella and blood orange juice.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Almond-Apricot Granola Bars
from mark bittman, nyt. finally. when i've made these before, they've crumbled. these might not.
Published: September 17, 2010
Time: 1 1/2 hours, largely unattended
Related
*
The Minimalist: Granola Bars, Unwrapped (September 22, 2010)
1/2 cup almond butter or other nut butter
1/2 cup honey
1 cup crispy brown rice cereal
1 cup granola
1/2 cup almonds, chopped
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
Vegetable oil for greasing.
1. Put almond butter and honey in a small saucepan over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes or until they melt together; whisk to combine.
2. Put the crisp brown rice cereal, granola, almonds, apricots and salt in a bowl and add the mixture of almond butter and honey; stir well to combine.
3. Grease a 7- or 8-inch square baking dish with a little oil and line it with plastic wrap. Spread the granola mixture evenly into the dish, pressing down gently, and cover with more plastic wrap; refrigerate until set, at least 1 hour. Once set, remove by lifting the edges of the plastic wrap out of the dish; peel off the plastic and cut the bars to any size you like.
Yield: 16 to 20 granola bars.
Published: September 17, 2010
Time: 1 1/2 hours, largely unattended
Related
*
The Minimalist: Granola Bars, Unwrapped (September 22, 2010)
1/2 cup almond butter or other nut butter
1/2 cup honey
1 cup crispy brown rice cereal
1 cup granola
1/2 cup almonds, chopped
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
Vegetable oil for greasing.
1. Put almond butter and honey in a small saucepan over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes or until they melt together; whisk to combine.
2. Put the crisp brown rice cereal, granola, almonds, apricots and salt in a bowl and add the mixture of almond butter and honey; stir well to combine.
3. Grease a 7- or 8-inch square baking dish with a little oil and line it with plastic wrap. Spread the granola mixture evenly into the dish, pressing down gently, and cover with more plastic wrap; refrigerate until set, at least 1 hour. Once set, remove by lifting the edges of the plastic wrap out of the dish; peel off the plastic and cut the bars to any size you like.
Yield: 16 to 20 granola bars.
Pork Tenderloin with Figs and Onions
* 2 pork tenderloins, about a pound each
* Salt
* 4 Tbsp butter
* 1 white or yellow onion
* 1 teaspoon sugar
* 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
* 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced
* 8-10 mission (dark) figs, quartered
* 2 Tbsp chopped parsley
* 1-2 teaspoons lemon juice
* Black pepper
Method
1 Salt the pork tenderloins well and set them out at room temperature for 15-20 minutes. Heat the oven to 300°F.
2 Slice the onion into strips lengthwise (from the top to the root end). Cutting the onion this way helps keep the pieces hold their shape.
3 Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Pat the tenderloins dry with paper towels. Place the tenderloins in the pan and sear on all sides, until nicely browned. Remove the tenderloins to an oven-proof pan, and place in the oven at 300°F. Cook for 15-20 minutes, until an instant read thermometer inserted into the center of the tenderloins reaches 140°F. Then remove from oven and let rest.
4 While the tenderloins are roasting, add the onions to the sauté pan along with the other tablespoon of butter. Sprinkle with salt. Toss to combine and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add the sugar and balsamic vinegar, and toss to combine again. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 15 minutes.
5 Once the onions have softened and browned, add the rosemary and figs. Increase the heat to medium-high and stir to combine. Sauté 2 minutes, stirring often.
6 Remove from the heat. Mix in the parsley and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Slice the pork tenderloins into 1/4-inch thick slices and serve alongside the onions and figs.
* Salt
* 4 Tbsp butter
* 1 white or yellow onion
* 1 teaspoon sugar
* 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
* 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced
* 8-10 mission (dark) figs, quartered
* 2 Tbsp chopped parsley
* 1-2 teaspoons lemon juice
* Black pepper
Method
1 Salt the pork tenderloins well and set them out at room temperature for 15-20 minutes. Heat the oven to 300°F.
2 Slice the onion into strips lengthwise (from the top to the root end). Cutting the onion this way helps keep the pieces hold their shape.
3 Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Pat the tenderloins dry with paper towels. Place the tenderloins in the pan and sear on all sides, until nicely browned. Remove the tenderloins to an oven-proof pan, and place in the oven at 300°F. Cook for 15-20 minutes, until an instant read thermometer inserted into the center of the tenderloins reaches 140°F. Then remove from oven and let rest.
4 While the tenderloins are roasting, add the onions to the sauté pan along with the other tablespoon of butter. Sprinkle with salt. Toss to combine and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add the sugar and balsamic vinegar, and toss to combine again. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 15 minutes.
5 Once the onions have softened and browned, add the rosemary and figs. Increase the heat to medium-high and stir to combine. Sauté 2 minutes, stirring often.
6 Remove from the heat. Mix in the parsley and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Slice the pork tenderloins into 1/4-inch thick slices and serve alongside the onions and figs.
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Limoncella Macaroons
heidi's 101 cookbooks blog:
The original recipe is an almond paste base enhanced with Grand Marnier as a flavor accent. But I can imagine taking these cookies in many different directions. This time around I went the lemon route, but if you can imagine an ingredient pairing well with sweet almonds, you might try it here. I used two tubes of Odense almond paste here, but be interested if any of you know of a good, pure almond paste make from organic almonds. Also, be sure to buy almond paste, not marzipan.
1 large egg white
14 oz / 400g almond paste
1/2 cup / 2 oz / 55g confectioners' sugar, sifted, plus quite a bit more for surface and coating
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
scant 2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon limoncello
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Beat the egg white, the almond paste, confectioners' sugar, and almond extract together either by hand or with an electric mixer, until creamy, about 2 minutes.
Add the zest, limoncello, and salt and beat until combined, another 30 seconds.
Coat a clean/dry surface with a generous handful of sifted confectioners' sugar then turn the dough out onto it. Shape and roll out the dough into two 3/4-inch thick logs, roughly 18 inches long. Cut each log into 24 equal pieces (see photo). Make sure each piece is entirely coated in sugar, tapping to remove excess.
Transfer to prepared baking sheets. They don't spread much so you can crowd them a bit more than you might with other cookies. Let stand for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350F / 180C degrees. Use three fingers to gently pinch each piece of dough to form an irregular pyramid shape of you like, or you can leave them pillow shaped. Bake until pale golden, about 15 minutes. Alternatively, I also like them deeply golden, it's a matter of personal preference really, but baking for a few extra minutes will achieve this. Transfer the cookies from baking sheets to wire racks, and let cool completely. These cookies keep well in an air-tight container for a few days.
Makes 4 dozen bite-sized cookies.
These cookies are a riff on the Pinched Orange Macaroons by Patrick Lemble (executive pastry chef at the Four Seasons restaurant, New York City) highlighted in the December 2009 issue of Martha Stewart Living.
The original recipe is an almond paste base enhanced with Grand Marnier as a flavor accent. But I can imagine taking these cookies in many different directions. This time around I went the lemon route, but if you can imagine an ingredient pairing well with sweet almonds, you might try it here. I used two tubes of Odense almond paste here, but be interested if any of you know of a good, pure almond paste make from organic almonds. Also, be sure to buy almond paste, not marzipan.
1 large egg white
14 oz / 400g almond paste
1/2 cup / 2 oz / 55g confectioners' sugar, sifted, plus quite a bit more for surface and coating
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
scant 2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon limoncello
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Beat the egg white, the almond paste, confectioners' sugar, and almond extract together either by hand or with an electric mixer, until creamy, about 2 minutes.
Add the zest, limoncello, and salt and beat until combined, another 30 seconds.
Coat a clean/dry surface with a generous handful of sifted confectioners' sugar then turn the dough out onto it. Shape and roll out the dough into two 3/4-inch thick logs, roughly 18 inches long. Cut each log into 24 equal pieces (see photo). Make sure each piece is entirely coated in sugar, tapping to remove excess.
Transfer to prepared baking sheets. They don't spread much so you can crowd them a bit more than you might with other cookies. Let stand for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350F / 180C degrees. Use three fingers to gently pinch each piece of dough to form an irregular pyramid shape of you like, or you can leave them pillow shaped. Bake until pale golden, about 15 minutes. Alternatively, I also like them deeply golden, it's a matter of personal preference really, but baking for a few extra minutes will achieve this. Transfer the cookies from baking sheets to wire racks, and let cool completely. These cookies keep well in an air-tight container for a few days.
Makes 4 dozen bite-sized cookies.
These cookies are a riff on the Pinched Orange Macaroons by Patrick Lemble (executive pastry chef at the Four Seasons restaurant, New York City) highlighted in the December 2009 issue of Martha Stewart Living.
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
veal stew with greens
found an old copy of food and wine (apr 10) with this recipe. when i saw veal stew in the grocery, i made it. delicious. even w/o watercress. roasted a sweet potato, a celery root and a golden beet, drizzled some basil vinaigrette, and what a wonderful lunch. cause we're eating out again tonight.
Ingredients
1. 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2. 1 tablespoon canola oil
3. 3 pounds veal shoulder, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
4. Salt and freshly ground pepper
5. 1 cup dry white wine
6. 5 cups spinach leaves, chopped
7. 5 cups sorrel leaves, chopped
8. 1 head of romaine, chopped
9. 1 bunch of watercress, chopped
10. 1 leek, finely chopped
11. 1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
12. 1/4 cup finely chopped tarragon
13. 1/4 cup finely chopped chives
14. 1 cup crème fraîche
15. Steamed rice, for serving
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 325°. In a large enameled cast-iron casserole, melt the butter in the oil. Season the veal with salt and pepper. Add it to the casserole and cook over high heat, turning occasionally, until browned, 12 minutes. Add the wine, cover with a sheet of parchment paper and the lid and braise in the oven for about 1 hour, until the meat is nearly tender.
2. Add the spinach, sorrel, romaine, watercress, leek, parsley, tarragon, chives and crème fraîche to the casserole. Stir well; season with salt and pepper. Cover again with the parchment and the lid and braise for 30 minutes longer, until the greens are wilted and the veal is tender. Transfer the stew to bowls and serve with rice.
Ingredients
1. 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2. 1 tablespoon canola oil
3. 3 pounds veal shoulder, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
4. Salt and freshly ground pepper
5. 1 cup dry white wine
6. 5 cups spinach leaves, chopped
7. 5 cups sorrel leaves, chopped
8. 1 head of romaine, chopped
9. 1 bunch of watercress, chopped
10. 1 leek, finely chopped
11. 1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
12. 1/4 cup finely chopped tarragon
13. 1/4 cup finely chopped chives
14. 1 cup crème fraîche
15. Steamed rice, for serving
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 325°. In a large enameled cast-iron casserole, melt the butter in the oil. Season the veal with salt and pepper. Add it to the casserole and cook over high heat, turning occasionally, until browned, 12 minutes. Add the wine, cover with a sheet of parchment paper and the lid and braise in the oven for about 1 hour, until the meat is nearly tender.
2. Add the spinach, sorrel, romaine, watercress, leek, parsley, tarragon, chives and crème fraîche to the casserole. Stir well; season with salt and pepper. Cover again with the parchment and the lid and braise for 30 minutes longer, until the greens are wilted and the veal is tender. Transfer the stew to bowls and serve with rice.
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