February 26, 2011 at 10:00 am by Kathleen Bellicchi
Tiramisu is a dessert that hits on all cylinders. It is lush yet light, soft yet crunchy, and has rich chocolate flavor deepened by the taste and kick of Kahlua, Amaretto and espresso. Yummmmm! Tiramisu is an easy to prepare no bake dessert that can be made ahead of time. If there are any leftovers Tiramisu has a second life, it softens to a pudding like texture.
Tiramisu serves 8-12 (depending on portion size)
2 eggs, separated*
2 tablespoons maple syrup (or sugar)
2 cups Mascarpone, room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup espresso or strong coffee – room temp. OK to use de-caf
1/2 cup Kahlua 1/2 cup Amaretto 1 cup whipped cream (about one-third cup un-whipped)
pinch sea salt
18-24 ladyfingers (depending on size) (Savoiardi in Italian grocery stores)3-4 ounces chocolate shards (bittersweet or milk chocolate or a combination)
4 tablespoons sifted cocoa powder
One-half pint raspberries for garnish (optional)
Beat egg whites to stiff peaks. In a separate bowl with a clean whisk or beaters, beat heavy cream until it holds stiff peaks. Mix mascarpone, vanilla sugar, egg yolks, salt, in a separate bowl and whisk with a whisk or electric mixer until well combined. Fold whites and whipped cream into mascarpone mixture.
Place a few spoonfuls of the mascarpone mixture in the bottom of 2 quart serving bowl (any pretty bowl will do) and delicately spread out (you don’t want to deflate the whipped cream or beaten egg whites.) Combine coffee and liquor in a shallow dish. Dip a ladyfinger in the mixture, turn to saturate but not disintegrate the ladyfinger. Place on top of mascarpone, and repeat to make one layer that covers the mascarpone mixture. Make the second layer with ladyfingers placed perpendicular to the first layer. Sprinkle each layer with chocolate shavings. Add layers, end with mascarpone. Sprinkle with cocoa and chocolate shavings. Let sit in refrigerator covered at least 2 hours and up to 4 hours to allow flavors to meld.
Leave dessert at room temperature about 30 minutes before serving. When desserts are too cold their wonderful flavor is locked in and they taste about half as good as they could. Spoon onto dessert plates, strew raspberries over and around the Tiramisu . Enjoy!
Notes:
Eggs separate best when cold, beat (volumize) best at room temperature.
A clear glass bowl shows off the layers and looks attractive. You can use individual goblets to make the Tiramisu.
Use crisp rather than soft ladyfingers. Brands of ladyfingers vary greatly in their capacity to absorb the coffee/Kahlua mixture. Some will need longer soaking, others will begin to disintegrate and you’ll need to dip them quickly into the liqueur and coffee mixture
To shave chocolate: Use a sharp chefs’ knife and slice thin pieces at a slight angle. The chocolate will separate into shards. It is easier to cut shards with a thick chunk of chocolate rather than a thin bar.
I recommend using Valrhona or Callebaut bittersweet, dark, and/or milk chocolate.
*RAW EGG WARNING The American Egg Board states: “There have been warnings against consuming raw or lightly cooked eggs on the grounds that the egg may be contaminated with Salmonella, bacteria responsible for a type of food borne illness. Healthy people need to remember that there is a very small risk and treat eggs and other raw animal foods accordingly. Use only properly refrigerated, clean, sound-shelled, fresh, grade AA or A eggs. Avoid mixing yolks and whites with the shell.” Note: Raw eggs should not be used in food prepared for pregnant women, babies, young children, the elderly or anyone whose health is compromised.
Alternate preparation method to cook egg yolks. In a double boiler bowl beat the egg yolks and sugar. Bring a pan of water to a simmer and place double bowl over (not in) simmering water. Beat the egg and sugar mixture with an electric mixer until it ribbons off the beaters, about 5 minutes. Remove from water and let sit to cool 5 minutes. Return to recipe and add as egg yolks as directed.
February 22, 2011 at 4:37 pm by Kathleen Bellicchi
Osso Bucco is an ideal entrée for a winter dinner to make and prepare with or for friends. There are 3 Roasted Pepper blog posts (Osso Bucco, Creamy Polenta, and Tiramisu) and 2 references to previous blogs (Orange Arugula Salad and Roasted Peppers) that make up this hearty feast for a warm toasty evening with good friends.
Osso Bucco
serves 4-6
6 veal shanksone-third cup flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
one-fourth cup olive oil
1 cup white wine (Pinot Grigio)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 leeks
1 clove garlic
1 fennel bulb2 carrots
1 cup veal or chicken stock
Pat veal shanks dry. Tie each shank around the center with kitchen twine to hold the meat in place around the bone. Place flour, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl, dust veal shanks on all sides in seasoned flour. Heat a large sauté pan over a medium heat, add oil turn heat to medium high and add veal shanks so they sizzle when they hit the oil, turn heat back to medium. Make sure pan is large enough so there is room between shanks. Brown on top and bottom, then turn so the sides are browned as well. This process will take about 25 minutes. Browning the shanks well on all sides is a key to coaxing the best flavor from the meat and bone. Remove veal shanks from pan and set aside. Add wine to deglaze pan, cook 3-4 minutes and scrape all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Mix in tomato paste and set aside.
Slice leeks in half lengthwise and wash well to remove dirt and sand. Slice on a diagonal in one inch pieces using the whole leek, cut garlic in thin slices . Trim the fennel to just above the bulb, slice in half lengthwise, then into a one-inch dice. Cut carrots in a one inch dice as well.
Heat a large oven ready casserole or Dutch oven over a medium heat, add oil, leeks, and garlic, sauté until they begin to soften about 4 minutes. Add fennel and carrots, sauté 5 minutes. Add stock bring to a simmer, add wine mixture and nestle the veal shanks into the vegetables. Cover and place in a 325 F. oven for 2 hours, leave uncovered last 30 minutes. You can prepare to this point and refrigerate up to 3 days before serving.
Gremolata
one-half cup flat-leaf parsley
1 lemon rind and squeeze of lemon juice (use a Meyer lemon if you can find one)
Mince parsley and rasp lemon using a microplane
To serve:
Leave string on until you place re-heated shanks on your serving platter. Re-heat Osso Bucco in 250 F. oven or over low heat on top of stove.
Heap Polenta (refer to Roasted Peppers blog recipe and video into the center of a large oval platter, place Osso Bucco around the outside and sprinkle with Gemolata. Squeeze about 1 tablespoon of lemon juice over the Gremolata. Enjoy!
You can serve Light as a Feather Gnocchi in a rich chicken broth with grated Parmesan cheese’ strewn with parsley or fennel fronds; in Brown Sage Butter; and they’ll also stand up to Bolognese. Enjoy!
Cook the potatoes
3-4 Yukon Gold potatoes (3 cups riced)
one-half teaspoon kosher salt
I like the buttery taste of Yukon Gold potatoes, you can use a white potato or Idaho potato if you prefer.
Peel, quarter, cover potatoes with cold water, add salt, bring to a boil, and simmer until soft, about 15 minutes or until you can easily pierce to the center w/ a small sharp knife. Drain water from potatoes then pass through a potato ricer into a mixing bowl.
Prepare the Gnocchi dough
one-half cup milk
5 tablespoons butter
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 egg yolks
1 whole egg
one and one half cups grated Parmesan cheese
Bring milk and butter to a boil, remove from heat, add flour all at once, and beat with an electric beater until the mixture forms a ball. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition, until the mixture reforms into a ball. Add whole egg and beat well again. The mixture will lose its ball shape at this time. Add riced potatoes, grated cheese, and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix by hand or with beaters until well combined.
Cook the Gnocchi
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, as if you were cooking pasta. Add 2 teaspoons kosher salt.
Flour a dry surface, divide dough in 6 pieces, roll out one piece into a log about one-half inch in diameter. Using a small sharp knife, cut log into one-inch pieces. You can roll the tines of a fork across the top of each gnocchi to make ridges; it’s OK to omit this step. Drop Gnocchi pieces into boiling water, when the gnocchi come to the surface about 2 minutes; remove with a slotted spoon to a grid cooling rack. Gnocchi can be refrigerated 3-4 days or frozen for 1 month.
There are many delicious ways to serve Gnocchi, below are two of my favorites.
Soup
Place 8-10 Gnocchi in the bottom of a soup plate, pour rich chicken stock over Gnocchi, add a few pieces of cooked chicken if you like. Pass grated parmesan cheese and a pepper mill separately.
Brown Butter:
one-fourth cup
4 tablespoons (one-half stick) butter
15-20 sage leaves
Heat butter over medium heat in a sauté pan, when it begins to sizzle add sage leaves, lower heat slightly, let sage leaves crisp in one layer. After 4 minutes remove leaves to a cooling rack, they will continue to crisp.
Toss gnocchi in the browned butter until well coated and heated through 4-5 minutes. Turn gnocchi onto a platter, garnish with the crisp sage leaves, and strew freshly grated Parmesan cheese over the Gnocchi. If the gnocchi have been chilled, re-heat in a 350F. oven for 6-7 minutes, or microwave for 2 minutes, proceed as above. Enjoy!
November 20, 2010 at 12:29 pm by Kathleen Bellicchi
Maple Lemon Chiffon Pie
Yield: One 9-10 inch pie
Cooking and serving food to family and friends can build and sustain relationships. Cool and soothe your family and friends after Thanksgiving dinner with Maple Lemon Chiffon Pie
Except for the crust, you won’t need the oven for this dessert. (See Whole grain Pie Crust recipe Roasted Peppers blog)
Prepare Pie Filling
1 cup water
2 tablespoons white flour
2 tablespoons corn starch or Arrowroot flour
Three-fourths cup maple syrup (Grade A)
pinch of salt
2 large eggs – separated
2 lemons – juice (about one-third cup)
grated rind of one lemon
one-half cup heavy cream (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons maple syrup
Boil water in a heavy 4-quart saucepan. Combine flour, cornstarch and salt with maple syrup so there are no lumps; whisk this mixture into boiling water; turn heat to low and simmer covered 5 minutes, while the mixture is simmering separate eggs and beat egg yolks.
Remove pan from heat, add a spoonful of the maple syrup mixture to the yolks, stir briskly to combine, then mix yolks into hot liquid whisking constantly until smooth.
Place pan back on heat; simmer at lowest setting covered 5 minutes.
Remove from heat, stir in lemon juice and grated lemon rind, cover pan with plastic wrap and set on a counter (not the stove) to cool to room temperature.
When filling has cooled beat egg whites until they are stiff but not dry. (you can omit the heavy cream if you wish, add the teaspoon vanilla and 3 tablespoons maple syrup to the beaten egg whites.) (Wash and dry beaters or whisk between beating eggs and cream.)
Beat heavy cream in a clean dry bowl until it holds soft peaks, add half the vanilla and maple syrup to the egg whites and half to the maple syrup. Stir 1/3 of the beaten egg whites into the filling; fold in the remaining whites and whipped cream. Pour filling into cooled baked pie shell and chill to set at least 2 hours before serving. Enjoy!
November 20, 2010 at 12:24 pm by Kathleen Bellicchi
Whole Grain Pie Crust
Yield: One 9-10 inch pie
A satisfying way to build and sustain relationships is through sharing food. Pie is a celebration of friendship and community. You divide the whole into many pieces and share. the bounty, the joy! Often a pie shell is just a vehicle for a filling. This wholegrain pie crust is tasty on its own and it’s not too hefty for a light chiffon filling.
Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Place flour and salt in a stainless steel mixing bowl. Pour oil over flour, use a large dinner fork held backwards and make short strokes down and through the flour and oil to combine the ingredients. When most of the flour has been incorporated, drizzle 1/3 cup ice water over the flour mixture. Mix quickly using the same stroke with the fork, then use the fork in a circular motion around the edge of the bowl to form a loose ball of dough. It’s OK if there are some loose pieces left on the bottom of the bowl.
Roll out dough between sheets parchment paper or plastic wrap, into an 11 inch round.
Discard top sheet and invert dough into pie tin, peel off bottom sheet and discard. Fold excess dough so you have a double layer on the rim of the pie tin. To form a decorative edge, hold your ring finger and middle finger together on the edge of the pie plate; use the pointer finger from your other hand to press the dough between the two fingers. Prick dough all over with a fork and place in pre-heated oven. Bake 20-25 minutes until the crust doesn’t feel doughy to the touch and is beginning to brown. Cool crust in pie plate on a wire rack.
Pie Crust Tips
The secret to making a flaky whole grain piecrust is a light hand combining the ingredients, handling the dough as little as possible and using short quick strokes to combine ingredients.
It is best to roll the dough and bake it as soon as you make it. When the dough sits, water and oil soak into the flour and produce a brittle crust.
Roll out extra dough and make a strudel with fruit or sautéed greens. Score and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Many years ago on a business trip to Switzerland & Italy I stopped with two colleagues to visit my brother and his wife.
My older brother, a classical musician, moved to Europe shortly after graduate school. After stints in Munich and Zurich he played in the percussion section at La Scala and lived in Lugano Switzerland.
Mike and Evi kept bees, made wine, traded honey for polenta, made their own soda from fermented mulberries and honey, and cured their own meat, what a life, eh?
It was a cool afternoon in late October when we arrived. We walked into a large room with windows that looked out onto the foothills of the Alps to the north; a cozy fire crackled in a large stone hearth. The table was set with their wine, Taleggio cheese, crusty brown bread, and a pile of chestnuts they had gathered that afternoon.
We roasted the chestnuts in the fireplace and ate them with wine and bread and cheese. Definitely the simplest meal I had ever eaten and to this day one of the most memorable. Fresh local ingredients simply prepared, in this case — no stove cooking, an incomparable treat.
I re-created the experience this week-end. Part of the fun is looking for local produce and products that will complement one another.
If local doesn’t strike you, take your palette to a wine and cheese shop and have fun tasting and pairing what will enhance the taste of roasted chestnuts. You’ll most likely find someone who will enjoy helping you choose. You’ll have fun and learn at the same time.
If you don’t have a fireplace you can roast the chestnuts in the oven. To roast chestnuts, cut an inch long X into the bottom of each chestnut to allow steam to escape.
In a fireplace; put the prepared chestnuts in a wire basket, or a chestnut roasting pan — a long handled metal pan, usually copper. Set the pan about 10-12 inches above logs (25 mins) or nestle off to the side to roast slowly (40 mins); shake pan or basket frequently for even roasting. To oven roast, pre-heat to 400 F. place chestnuts on a cookie sheet and roast for about 30 minutes, shake every 10 minutes.
Heap the hot roasted chestnuts on a tray, peel and eat as soon as you can handle them; once cooled the inner covering will stick to the chestnut when peeled. Any combination, wine and chestnut, cheese and wine, bread and cheese and wine, all offer intriguing taste and texture sensations. Relax and Enjoy!
You can still find corn on the cob at farm stands and markets. Grab the corn and head home to make corn fritters. Corn meal is the secret ingredient, it lends a crunchy texture to the fritter batter.
Corn Fritters
4 cups corn or canola oil
3 ears corn
2 eggs
one-third cup corn flour or fine ground corn meal
one-third cup unbleached white flour
one-half teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
one-fourth teaspoon grated nutmeg
3 tablespoons pickled jalapeno slices – minced (optional)
Heat oil in a 4 quart saucepan. Scrape corn off cob into a wide mixing bowl; scrape cobs again to release the remaining corn milk. Separate eggs, beat whites until they hold soft peaks, set aside. Mix egg yolks into corn, add remaining ingredients and mix well. Fold in egg whites.
Set paper towels or a paper bag on a cookie sheet to drain fritters.
Drop batter by tablespoon full into hot oil. Let cook on first side for about 2 minutes, about 80% cooked through. Turn fritters over and finish cooking on second side about 1 minute. Drain on bag or toweling. You don’t need any dipping sauce. Serve immediately.
Reading the book or watching the movie Eat Pray Love, Liz/Julia Roberts eats her way through Rome with a side trip to Napoli for pizza. Did your mouth water reading about or watching Julia twirl a fork into a plate of plump spaghetti with red sauce and a shower of parmesan cheese? Did your mouth open slightly along with Julia as she folded her first piece of pizza and guided it toward her mouth? The pull of the eat portion in the Eat Pray Love equation is Umami, also called the fifth taste.
What foods make your mouth water just thinking about them? Chances are they are Umami rich foods. Simply, Umami is naturally occurring glutamate; it’s the G in MSG (although the G in MSG is not naturally occurring). There are two sources of Umami: in plants Guanylate, and in animal products Inosinate. Two Umami rich foods are parmesan cheese and tomatoes; pancetta ranks high as well; onion, garlic, and basil, also get a nod.
Whether you start your sauce with pancetta or prepare it vegetarian style, you are creating an intense Umami treat.
Red Sauce
4 tablespoons olive oil
one-fourth cup diced pancetta
1 clove garlic – minced
one half cup sweet onion – minced
8 plum tomatoes (about 6 cups) diced (or any ripe tomatoes)
Sprinkle of red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon kosher salt or bouillon equivalent
1 pound spaghetti or perciatelli
12 leaves basil
1 cup grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese (use a rasp to create a grated cheese cloud)
Heat a sauté pan over medium high heat so oil sizzles when it hits the surface of the pan, add half of olive oil and pancetta, cook until pancetta begins to crisp about 3-4 minutes. Lower heat to medium, add onion and sauté 4-5 minutes. Add tomatoes (tomatoes are so ripe and juicy right now I leave skin and seeds intact), red pepper flakes, salt. Turn heat to medium low and cook with a tipped cover about 15-20 minutes, until the tomatoes melt/fall apart. Tear 8 basil leaves into sauce and let sauce sit at least 30 minutes before serving. You can refrigerate sauce for a day or freeze. Serve the sauce chunky style, or pulse in a Cuisinart, or use an immersion blender for a smoother textured sauce.
Cook spaghetti or perciatelli (spaghetti w/ a hole in the center of each strand) according to package directions. I’ve always thought ribbed pasta shapes were best for holding sauce. Recent reading has expanded my views of dry pasta. DeCecco, an imported pasta from Italy claims they extrude their pasta through bronze tubing to deliver a matte finish that holds sauce as well as or better than ribbing. I like it.
Place a large platter or wide shallow bowl under a colander in the sink, drain pasta and heat your serving bowl at the same time. Reserve 2 cups of pasta water. Toss pasta with remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, then toss with about half the sauce, about a half-cup of pasta water. Strew one-third cup grated cheese over the top of the pasta and sauce. Use real Parmesan Reggiano cheese… there IS a difference. A simple taste test reveals all, try it.
Pour dressed pasta onto platter or into bowl and twirl spaghetti into 4-6 sections using a large fork. Top each twirled section w/ more sauce, cheese, and torn basil leaves. Pass extra sauce and cheese separately.
