RISOTTO ALLA PRIMAVERA

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/232081?mbid=RF

6 1/2 cups (about) vegetable broth
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 8-ounce onion, chopped
1 medium leek (white part only), sliced crosswise into thin rings
2 stalks green garlic, chopped, or 1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups arborio rice or carnaroli rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup 1-inch pieces thin asparagus
1 cup freshly shelled small peas or petite frozen peas (about 1/4 pound)
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus additional for serving

Bring broth to simmer in medium saucepan. Cover; keep warm over low heat. Melt 1 tablespoon butter with oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion, leek, and garlic. Sauté until wilted and almost tender, about 6 minutes. Add rice; stir until rice is translucent at edges but still opaque in center, about 3 minutes. Add wine; simmer until almost all liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 1 minute. Add broth 1 cup at a time until rice is about half cooked, allowing each addition to be absorbed before adding next and stirring often, about 9 minutes. Stir in asparagus, peas (if using fresh), and parsley. Continue adding broth by cupfuls and stirring until rice is almost tender, about 6 minutes longer. Add peas (if using frozen). Cook until rice is tender but still firm to bite and mixture is creamy, about 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat. Add 3/4 cup cheese and 2 tablespoons butter. Stir until cheese and butter melt. Season with salt and pepper. Serve, passing additional cheese alongside.

Char Siew Cheney

(really Renee's Char Shiew from shiokadelicious! He's fabulous. Check him out.)

Warning: Overnight marinade and 30 min warmup

Music: O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack.**

Approx. 1 kg of pork (shoulder or tenderloin)
5 tablespoons light soy sauce
3 tablespoons dark soy sauce
5 generous tablespoons maltose (or honey, but maltose preferred)
4 tablespoons white sugar
4 tablespoons Chinese rice wine
4 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
3-4 pieces ginger, peeled and smashed
3-4 cloves garlic, whole and smashed
red food color

Glaze (optional):
2 tablespoons maltose, warmed

• Clean the pork and remove the skin.

• In a medium saucepan, combine all the marinade ingredients (light soy sauce through to garlic). Heat the mixture for one minute, to allow the sugar and maltose to dissolve. Let cool.

• Place a few tablespoons of the marinade into a small bowl, and add a small amount of food color. Stir to dissolve completely. Pour the colored marinade back into the main mixture, and mix thoroughly. Check color intensity, and repeat the steps as necessary until the desired intensity of red coloring is achieved.

• Add the pork to the marinade and allow it to macerate in the refrigerator for anywhere between four hours to overnight. Stir occasionally to ensure all sides of the meat are well-covered with marinade. [I only managed to marinate my pork for about 2 hours, and it worked fine.]

• Remove the marinated pork from the fridge about 20-30 minutes before cooking, to allow it to come back to room temperature.

• Preheat the oven to 210C or 410F.

• Line a roasting pan with foil and place a rack in it.

• Place the pork lengthwise on the rack. [I also added about ½ inch of hot water to the bottom of the roasting pan just to help keep the meat moist. This is optional.] Put it in the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes (about 10 minutes for the tenderloin and 15 for the shoulder).

• Baste the meat with the marinade and turn it over. Reduce the heat to 180C or 360F, and cook for another 10-15 minutes.

• Baste the pork again and return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes. Check for doneness. [My tenderloin was done in about 25 minutes or so in total, and the shoulder about 40 minutes or so.]

• This is an optional step: if more of the charred bits, so characteristic of store-bought char siew, are desired, let the cooked pork cool for 2-3 minutes after it comes out of the oven, then brush with the warm maltose. Place the pork under the broiler/grill for 2-4 minutes, turning a few times, until some parts of the pork become slightly charred and crispy.

• Alternately, after the pork comes out of the oven, brush a layer of the marinade (be sure to bring the marinade to a boil and cook it through first though, as it has had raw pork sitting in it) over the meat, and leave to cool and dry for about 10 minutes before slicing the pork. This will give the char siew that final glossy, shiny finish.

**Alternative music choice: anything from this list. Like the perennial favorite: "Never forget Mao's Kindness (or You'll be Sent to a Reeducation Camp)."

Fricasseed Chicken Breasts with Fresh Herbs and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Fricasseed Chicken Breasts with Fresh Herbs and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Fricasseed Chicken Breasts with Fresh Herbs and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Adapted from Marcella Says... : Italian Cooking Wisdom from the Legendary Teacher's Master Classes, with 120 of Her Irresistible New Recipes
Serves 4-6

6 large chicken breasts, bone-in, skin on
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, peeled & chopped
1 ½ T. fresh oregano leaves, chopped
1 ½ T. fresh rosemary, chopped fine
3 slices thick-cut bacon [I used buffalo bacon], cut into 1-inch pieces, about ½ cup
8 sun-dried tomato halves, cut into ½-inch pieces
Sea salt to taste
½ t. dried red chili flakes
1 cup dry white wine [I used Chardonnay]
6 medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

Wash the chicken under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels.

Pour the oil into a 12-inch sauté pan, skillet, or Dutch oven, and turn the heat to medium-high. When the oil is hot, add the chicken breasts, skin side down. Cook until browned to a nice deep gold, turn and brown the other side. Transfer the pieces to a bowl.

Turn the heat down to medium, add the garlic to the pan, and as soon as the garlic aroma begins to rise, add the herbs and bacon. Cook the bacon, turning it once or twice, until it is lightly browned but not crisp. Add the sun-dried tomatoes. [If you’re using dry, not oil-packed, as I did, you might think the pan’s going to burn at this point. Have a little faith and turn down the heat a bit and all will be well.] Turn all the ingredients once or twice, then return the chicken breasts to the pan with their accumulated juices. Sprinkle with the salt and chili pepper flakes, and turn the pieces to coat them well.

Add the wine, increase the heat to high, and let it bubble for a few seconds. Use a wooden spoon to scrape those yummy browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Turn the heat to low and cover the pan. Cook the chicken, turning it from time to time, until it is nearly cooked, about 20 minutes. If during this time, the pan juices become insufficient to keep the chicken from sticking, add up to ¼ cup of water.

When the chicken is done, transfer the pieces to the bowl again.

Put the potatoes in the pan, turning them over to coast them well. Sprinkle them with salt, turn the heat down to medium, and cover the pan. When the potatoes are almost done but not quite tender, return the chicken to the pan with any accumulated juices. Cook, turning the chicken over once or twice, until the potatoes are done. [I’m not sure why, but it took my potatoes a lot longer to cook than I expected—nearly half an hour. Make sure yours really are nearly done before you return the chicken to the pan, otherwise you’ll have overdone chicken, and we all know what a tragedy that can be.]

Serve at once, spooning a little sauce over each chicken breast.

Buffalo brisket

Brisket with Dried Cherries and Crimini Mushrooms
Brisket with Dried Cherries and Crimini Mushrooms
Adapted from Epicurious
Serves 8

2 cups dry red wine
2 cups chicken broth
2 small bottles Pom pomegranate juice, cooked down to half
¼ cup all purpose flour
2 large onions, sliced
10 garlic cloves, chopped
3 slices bacon, roughly chopped [I used buffalo bacon]
3 T. chopped fresh rosemary
4 T. chopped fresh chives
1 4-pound trimmed flat-cut brisket [I used a buffalo brisket]
12 ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 cup dried cherries

Preheat oven to 300°F. Whisk wine, broth, reduced pomegranate juice, and flour to blend in medium bowl; pour into a Dutch oven. Mix in onion, garlic, bacon, rosemary, and chives. Rub brisket on all sides with salt and pepper. Place brisket, fat side up, in roasting pan. [With a buffalo brisket there isn’t much fat, but it didn’t matter at all.] Spoon some of the wine mixture over. Cover pan with aluminum foil and then the lid.

Bake brisket until very tender, basting with pan juices every hour, about 3 1/2 hours. Transfer brisket to plate; cool 1 hour at room temperature.

Thinly slice brisket across grain. Arrange slices in pan with sauce, overlapping slices slightly. (Brisket can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)Preheat oven to 350°F. Place mushrooms and cherries in sauce around brisket. Cover pan with foil. Bake until mushrooms are tender and brisket is heated through, about 30 minutes (40 minutes if brisket has been refrigerated). Transfer sliced brisket and sauce to platter and serve.

Swiss Chard Lasanga

LowCarb Swiss Chard Lasagna
l Medium to Large head of chard or cabbage
l Tblsp. Olive Oil
2 Garlic Cloves, minced or pressed
l Medium Onion, chopped
l Green Bell Pepper, chopped
3/4 lb. gr. beef (can also use 1/2 sausage with the beef for a little bit of a kick)
l 6 oz can Tomato Paste
l tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. salt
l tsp. black pepper
l cup grated Mozzarella Cheese
l/2 cup Ricotta or Cottage Cheese
l/2 cut freshly grated Paramesan Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1) Wash the chard and remove the tough outer leaves. Cut the head in half. Carefully peel back the leaves. trying to keep them in tact; thest will serve as the lasagna noodles.

2) Arrange the individual leaves on a steamer basket or tray and steam until nearly tender, about 3 to 5 minutes.(you can also do this in the microwave.) Set aside.

3) Put the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high-heat. Saute' the garlic, onion, and green peper until the onion is translucent.

4) Add the ground beef and brown thoroughly. Drain or skim the accumulated fat and water.

5) Add the tomato paste and tomato sauce and seasonings to the mixture and combine well.

6) Coat a 9 X 13 X 2 inch-baking pan with a little olive oil.

Assemble the lasagna: Line the bottom of a pan with a layer of leaves. ( I cut in 2" strips - I find they lay platter) Top with half the meat mixture. Add a third of the mozzarella cheese and half of the rocotta cheese. Add another layer of leaves, and remaining half of the meat mixture, another third of the mozzarella and the remaining half of the rocotta. Top with the remaining mozzarella and finish by scattering the paramesan on top. Bake covered for about 20 min. Uncover and bake for 5 minutes more.

Cardamom Cookies

Music: new U2--How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

Via puckmichigan at Splendid table's foodtalk (I feel great confidence in this recipe, given the Detroit area's significant population of Arab descent. Also, Michigan is my personal ancestral homeland--I was born 10 minutes from Madonna's hometown! But we moved to Jersey when I was 6 weeks old and now Madonna's all English, so we really don't hang like we used to ...)

Cardamom Cookies
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) room temp butter (if unsalted, add a few shakes of salt to the recipe)
1 c powdered sugar (you can get away with regular, just beat it longer)
Crushed seeds of 3 Cardamom pods (or 1/2 tsp of cardamom powder)
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 egg yolks
3 c flour
Handful of pistachio nuts

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit
• Beat together softened butter, sugar and vanilla.
• Beat in egg yolks (one at a time) and the cardamom. Your life will never be the same after cardamom. Add it to coffee (a small pinch in your cup)--it's unfathomably good.
  
• Sift in flour half a cup at a time and blend well. The mix will get all crumbly, but that's ok--the heat of your hands will melt the butter and make them pliable when it's time to make balls.
  
• Shape dough into 3/4 inch balls. Press a small piece of pistachio nut into the top of each. (and I'll be damned if I blanch and peel them again. Be grateful they're shelled.)
• Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet (dude, they're 80% butter. No need to grease the sheet.) in 375 degree oven for 12-15 minutes, until lightly golden.
• When cool, take off the cookie sheet, let 'em cool a bit and put in an airtight box on the counter. Treat them as you would butter cookies.
  

Baklavesque Ice Cream

Album: Best of Nina Simone (esp. Ne Me Quitte Pas)

Warning: PREP WORK

1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup cream (or 1 cup half & half)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/8 tsp salt (optional)
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 tsp rose water
2 cups cream
1 cup shelled pistachios (1 1/2 hr PREP WORK, 2hr if not shelled)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 glass wine (a nice white)

Blanching and Peeling of Pistachios (can be done beforehand):
Preheat oven to 250 fahrenheit. Boil some water and pour it onto meats (doesn't matter how much water, but definitely cover them); let stand for 5-10 minutes. Drain water and let cool enough to pick 'em up. Put meats on a towel and pinch meats between thumb and forefinger to remove skins.

Realize this is a laborious process. Call all Middle Eastern friends to see if there's a shortcut. Find none. Resign self to suffering. Skins will dry out and stick to the meats after about 25 minutes; therefore no breaks. Curse all the time you wasted calling your useless friends. Remain convinced there's a better way to do this but your friends are either descended of a masochistic middle eastern sect or are too assimilated to remember the shortcut of their peoples. Decry the hegemony of western culture. Discard skins and put meats in 250 degree oven for about an hour, shaking occasionally so they don't stick and burn.

Ice Cream Making:
Gently heat half & half (or milk/cream mix) in a small to medium saucepan. Stir in sugar, honey, and salt to make a sweet milk mix. While you're stirring, take two quick breaks to separate the yolks. Put egg yolks in a two-cup sized dish that can take a little heat (i.e., not plastic). So, we've gotta get the yolks into the milk mix but if we drop the cold yolks into the mix they'll curdle from the sudden shock of the high heat. This would be disgusting--imagine fried eggs in your ice cream. So you've got to jack up the heat gradually by tempering them so they stay loosey-goosey. How to temper? Take some of the heated up milk mix (like, to 1/2 or 3/4 a cup of it) and gradually add it to the egg yolks, stirring constantly. Once it's warmed up, pour yolk/milk mixture back into the original half and half saucepan. Cook over medium heat about 5-10 mins, until thickened and creamy. Do not boil. Cool it way down in the fridge (or better, on a ledge in front of a window if it's a wintry night), but stir it occasionally so it doesn't get a skin. Or don't, it's no big deal if it gets a little skin.

Now forget about the mix and focus on the pistachios. You have two pistachio options: either a)chop them and add them to the ice cream 2 minutes before it's done (very tricky) or b) cuisinart them into a fluffy paste, gradually adding one cup of the cream, the rose water, and the cinnamon. BTW, if you have no rose water, but you have rose perfume, you can substitute a couple of drops of rose perfume in the mix (1 spritz if it's an atomizer). Sure, there's a little formaldehyde, but that's life. Just don't tell anyone.

Have glass of wine.

Stir together the paste, cream, and egg/sugar mix. If you've got a kitchenaid, use the whisk, it's fabulous. If you don't have a kitchenaid, you must get one. I've got my mother's old one. The thing is more than 30 years old, and it has suffered through the relentless abuse of a peripaetic 20-something--it was in a frigging basement for two years, which flooded at least twice--and with absolutely no maintenance other than a thorough cleaning when I pulled it out of the basement, it still performs like a well-tuned sports car. You only ever need to buy one!

I have no idea how this company makes a profit.

Put the mix in your ice cream machine. If you've got the chopped pistachios, put them in a minute or two before it's done. If you've done the paste thing, you may want to actually run the machine a second time; the paste is really thick and heavy, and makes it hard for air to get into the ice cream mix, rendering each spoonful really heavy--think gnocci. Because air is wicked cheap, most commercial ice cream makers fluff up their ice cream with lots of air, so people get accustomed to light ice cream. A second run will probably make your ice cream more crowd-pleasing. When the machine is done, put the ice cream in the freezer for at least 8 hours to fully harden.

Voila! Serve with Persian cardamom cookies.

pasta with ramps

Pasta with Ramps

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Here, ramps are cooked with extra-virgin olive oil and tossed with pasta and Parmigiano Reggiano, a wild play on the classic Italian pasta with garlic, pepperoncino, and greens.
This dish is also delicious made with pancetta instead of the olive oil. Dice the pancetta and cook, covered, until crisp and the fat is rendered; then proceed as directed.
4 servings
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds fresh ramps
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, or half oil and half butter
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed dried Italian red pepper (pepperoncino) or red pepper flakes
Salt
1/2 pound dry pasta, in any shape, such as penne, linguine or orecchiette
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino cheese
To prepare the ramps, trim off the roots with a paring knife and slip off any discolored or dead skin that clings to the bulbs. Wash the ramps in several changes of water and drain well. (As you clean the ramps, stack into loose bundles, so the bulbs and leaves are lined up; this will make them easier to cut). Place on a cutting board and cut off the bulbs; cut the leaves in half crosswise. Reserve both bulbs and leaves. Put a large pot of water on to boil.

In a large non-stick skillet set over low heat, combine the ramp bulbs, olive oil and 1/3 cup water; cover and cook until the bulbs are soft, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the pepperoncino and cook, tossing frequently, about 1 minute. With a tablespoon, scoop about 1 tablespoon of the oil into a small bowl and reserve. Add the ramp greens to the pan along with 1/2 teaspoon salt and about 3 tablespoons water. Cover and cook over moderately high heat, tossing frequently, until the greens are tender and the water has completely evaporated, about 5 minutes. (If the water evaporates before the greens are cooked, add a tablespoon or two more to the pan. If too much water is left in the pan once the vegetables are cooked through, uncover, increase the heat to high and boil it off, or simply drain it off). Turn the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the bulbs and greens are meltingly tender and the greens are no longer stringy. Turn off the heat.

Meanwhile, salt the boiling water well. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still slightly firm to the bite. Using a measuring cup, scoop out about 1/4 cup of the cooking water and reserve. Drain the pasta well.

Pour the reserved cooking water back into the pasta pot. Add the reserved ramp oil, and the cooked ramps and bring to a boil for 30 seconds. Add the drained pasta and toss to coat, seasoning with salt and plenty of freshly ground pepper. Divide the pasta among four warm shallow soup bowls, spooning some of the vegetables over each. Serve at once, passing the cheese on the side.