March 24, 2016 by chefpaulette

And now for the best part: Baby Artichokes

baby artichokes

Artichokes are great any size. I can make a meal of them every day. And with each leaf I nibble I wonder: Who ever thought of cooking this thistle and eating it this way? You know: pull off a leaf, don’t eat the leaf, but eat the tip of heart at the bottom of the leaf. Why did any think we should go through all this trouble for a tip of a leaf?

Whoever it was had genius in his/her brain. The ritual is as enticing as the taste. Food that takes you on a journey. The going is a grand ride, the arrival a sumptuous feast. That concentrated heart, all on its own, full bites of genius.

But imagine eating the entire artichoke. (It puts me in mind of soft-shelled blue-claw crabs: yes, you can eat the entire crab!) Baby artichokes are easy to trim, then you cook the whole thing, and then you eat the WHOLE thing. Sometimes I wonder if baby artichokes are like baby fish or clams or lobsters. Shouldn’t we throw them back in so they can grow? But with this plant, it’s not too much of a crime to eat them while young.

baby artichoke ingredients

Here’s how:

First, cut off the top third of the leaves. And cut off the stem.

cut top off baby artichoke

Then pull off all the tough dark green leaves until you come to the pale green leaves. Trim away any bright green from heart bottom.

trim away any green

Place them in acidulated water as you go (water with the juice of lemon). This helps them keep their color and not blacken.

lemon water

Then add them to a medium or large saucepan (depending on how many artichokes you have). Add water (you can even use your acidulated water for a lemony taste). Add parsley. Add smashed garlic cloves. Add a few healthy drizzles of olive oil. And season with salt and pepper.

artichokes in water, olive oil, parsley and garlic

Bring to a simmer, then partially cover and cook for about 40 minutes, until a paring knife pokes easily into the heart.

There you have it. Eat the whole thing (I use a fork and knife). The world is your artichoke.

baby artichokes

And check out this cool story about what happens when you let the thistle grow. It turns into a wondrous purple flower. (Beautiful, yes, but I want my artichoke.)

baby artichokes

March 15, 2016 by chefpaulette

Can you Kolacky? Here’s the recipe.

Kolacky

My friend, Danusia, is originally from Poland, and came to Nashville by way of NY and Florida. She and her husband Bill came to dinner one day and she brought a LARGE bowl of these little irresistible pastries: Kolacky. Or Kolache. She said her mom made these all her life (a Polish recipe) but Danusia found the exact same recipe on Kroger’s website.

Kolacky

That night we all enjoyed the lovely dessert but there were so many (and so therefore leftovers), which didn’t last long since I single-handedly ate the rest by the end of the next day. Read: they’re SO good.

After some months passed without them I felt the need to re-create the yum and searched for the Kroger recipe. And found it. The tiny pastries have a cream cheese dough, soft and pliable. And the only other thing you need is jam.

Kolacky dough

The recipe below is a close version of Kroger’s since I can’t help but tinker.

ready to bake

And then I made a batch in chocolate. (Anything good, is also good in chocolate.)

chocolate dough

isn’t it fun to bake?

Bake these. They last for days (if you don’t polish them all off first). And they are capable of providing infinite delight.

Kolacky – 2 flavors

Kolacky Pastries

For the cream cheese dough:

2 ounces cream cheese

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup flour

pinch salt

For the chocolate cream cheese dough:

2 ounces cream cheese

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup flour

pinch salt

1/4 cup cocoa

2 teaspoons sugar

Filling/Topping:

1/2 cup jam strawberry, apricot, orange, or your favorite

1/4 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Pulse the ingredients for each dough separately in a food processor until large dough curds form. Pull together dough and knead a little, then flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for an hour or 2 or overnight.

Roll each dough out separately (working with one disk of dough at a time) to about 1/8” thick. Using a 1-1/2 inch or 2-inch square cutter, cut out squares from the rolled out dough. Place a 1/2 teaspoon of jam in the center, Pinch together two opposite corners of the dough squares and fold slightly, pinching to close (so the dough stays together). Repeat with all the dough. Bake on a parchment-lined sheet pan for 20 minutes until lightly golden. Let cool completely before dusting lightly with powdered sugar.

February 19, 2016 by chefpaulette

Marcella Hazan’s Walnut Cake

Hazan’s walnut cake

I once met Marcella Hazan at a book signing in NYC. She was with her husband Victor Hazan. I was a loyal fan of Marcella and also a fan of Victor Hazan’s book on Italian wines.

Marcella was signing her new book, Marcella Cucina, for a long line of book buyers. I already had a 2-volume paperback copy of Marcella’s The Classic Italian Cookbook, a wonderful guide to classic Italian cooking with lots of regional specialties you can’t find in other books. Her recipes were appetizing, reliable, enlightening, and tasty. Those books spent a lot of time in my kitchen.

I told Marcella, as she signed her new book for me, that I cooked with her often in my kitchen. She looked at me with a smirk and said, “Really? Am I any good?” The comment threw me. I said Yes, of course. She had no reply, handed me my book and I moved on to make way for the next person in line. What was that all about? I couldn’t figure it out. But it made me (unconsciously) put aside her books for years.

Until recently. Once again, thumbing thru the pages of The Classic Italian Cookbook, I was drawn to so many recipes. And this walnut cake is one of them.

butter and sugar creamed

I tweaked it some from her original recipe. Switched out the lemon zest for orange zest. Shortened the baking time by 10 minutes. Added orange extract and a vanilla icing swirled over the top of the cake.

The cake has more walnuts in it than batter. I used a nut grinder to get large walnut crumbs with some small walnuts chunks.

ground walnuts

batter and walnuts

The batter is dense and a bit stiff. You need to press it into the greased and lightly floured pan.

walnut batter

It bakes up dense and chewy and richly dark.

baked walnut cake

It’s not too sweet and makes me think it would make a great breakfast cake. But I opted to add a sweet vanilla glaze on top. The combination of cake and icing is way too irresistible and, therefore, don’t expect this cake to be around for more than a day. Chew, chew, yum, yum.

walnut cake w vanilla icing

Walnut-Orange Cake w Vanilla Glaze

1 stick unsalted butter, room temp, plus more for the pan

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons rum

1/2 teaspoon orange extract

zest from 1 large orange

1 cup flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

pinch salt

2 cups shelled walnuts, minced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat the butter and sugar together in a hand or stand mixer until creamy and smooth. Add the egg, rum, and extract. Beat well to combine. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix until just combined. Stir in the walnuts.

Butter a 9-inch spring-form pan and place a circle of parchment at the bottom. Butter parchment circle and dust pan with flour, tapping out excess. Spoon in the batter and press batter to evenly fill pan. Bake for about 50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool slightly, then while cake is still warm run a knife along the edges where it touches pan and remove the sides of the pan. Let cake cool completely before icing the top.

Vanilla Glaze:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

5-6 tablespoons very hot water, as needed

Smooth the butter in a medium mixing bowl. Add the sugar and vanilla and mix together with butter using a spoon. Drizzle a little hot water on the mixture and stir vigorously to make the icing into a not-too-thick, not-too-thin consistency. If too thin add more sugar. Too thick add more hot water.

January 16, 2016 by chefpaulette

Recipe Gift: Tuna-Stuffed Piquillo Peppers

This is such a great idea. Yes, the tuna-stuffed piquillo pepper is a great idea. But how I got the recipe is even better.

Okay, I’m coining this phrase (if there are any millions to be made for coining a phrase, please send to my PO Box): Recipe Gift.

Duane’s son, Jody, sent me a recipe gift for Christmas. A recipe plus the ingredients. For someone who loves to cook (me) this was the perfect gift. Jody had already tried the recipe and loved it. He thought that we would love it, too. What could be better?

Duane and Jody

The ingredients he sent were conveniently in a can and a jar. BUT they were from Spain. Spanish tuna and Spanish piquillo peppers. The can itself is a work of art…

bonito tuna from Spain

And so are the peppers.

Spanish piquillo peppers

Do you know piquillo peppers? They are small red peppers, roasted to remove their skins so you work with smooth sultry pepper flesh. But they remain whole (without their tops/heads) so you can stuff them, like pita pockets.

The recipe Jody sent was a link from Serious Eats. (Recipe below with a few tweaks from me.) And I just took it from there. First I made the garlic-lemon aioli…

garlic-lemon aioli

aioli, seasoned, in bowl (let it chill a bit)

Then I took out the peppers and let them drain off the jar juices on a paper towel.

piquillo peppers draining

Then opened the beautiful tuna can (which I’m washing and then hanging on the kitchen wall) to reveal the beautiful tuna…

Spanish bonito tuna

Cut up shallots, and parsley, juiced lemon, added capers, and some aioli, all to the bowl with drained tuna…

tuna mixture

Mix it up…

tuna mixture

Now the fun part: stuffing the peppers. Gently hold one pepper in your hand with the top part open (like your going to fill a pastry bag). Spoon tuna mixture in, pushing down gently, until it’s filled with as much as you can get in.

stuffed peppers

Lay each filled pepper on a slice of baguette. When all done, place on a serving platter and dollop each with aioli, drizzle with a little olive oil, sprinkle with salt and minced parsley.

Spanish Tuna-Stuffed Piquillo Peppers

Then have yourself a merry ole time. Your tastebuds will pop like fireworks, and you won’t be able to stop saying Mmmmmm!

I start with one, then move on to all.

Of course, Jody loves to cook, too. And his birthday is in March. I’m now starting to dream about my recipe gift for him.

Tuna-Stuffed Piquillo Peppers (from Serious Eats)

1 (250-gram, about 8.5 ounces) can oil-packed Spanish Bonito tuna, drained

1 recipe aioli divided (see below)

1 small shallot, minced (about 2 tablespoons)

1 tablespoon fresh juice from 1 lemon

1 tablespoon capers

3 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, divided

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 (12- to 14-ounce) jar piquillo peppers, drained, about 8-10 total

8-10 baguette slices, cut thinly, toasted if desired

Combine tuna, 1/4 cup aioli, shallots, lemon juice, capers, 2 tablespoons minced parsley, and olive oil in a medium bowl and mix to incorporate. Adjust seasoning to taste with salt and pepper, adding more lemon juice, olive oil, or aioli if desired.

Stuff tuna mixture into piquillo peppers. Arrange baguette slices on a serving dish. Top each with a stuffed pepper. Top with a dollop of aioli. Sprinkle with remaining parsley, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt. Serve immediately.

For the Lemon-Garlic Aioli

1 large egg yolk

4 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 4 teaspoons)

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon juice (from 1/2 a lemon)

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place egg yolk, garlic, water, and lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until combined and then drizzle in the oil little by little with machine running until an emulsified mayo forms. Season with salt and pepper. to taste. Store any leftover in a jar. Refrigerate for up to a week or two.

January 11, 2016 by chefpaulette

Not Ur Grandma’s Beef Stew

beef stew

Yes, I confess. I’m an Italian food junkie. But sometimes my American side kicks in. Pancakes, hot dogs, hamburgers, mashed potatoes, grilled cheese sandwich, BLT, (endless list). The other day I was hankering for beef stew. It’s fun to gather ingredients and just dive in (following simple braising methods) and put together a yummy stew. I served it over rice. Duane and I demolished it.

Because I created it on the spot (but with the usual characters cooking in the pan), and since Duane wrote this cool music to accompany the process, I call it: Not Ur Grandma’s Beef Stew.

This under 1-minute video tells all. 🙂

January 7, 2016 by chefpaulette

How to Make a Quick Simple Tomato Sauce

quick tomato sauce

Maybe when I was 17, away at college, and wanting to feel like a cook…maybe…I bought a jar of Ragu. I know I can imagine what it tastes like, so I must have bought one once.

But never again. What’s the point? When you can outdo that taste so easily. When you can make your own tomato sauce in 15 minutes.

I had so much fun making this short video of how-to make your own simple quick (and delicious) tomato sauce.

I’ve probably bubbled this up thousands of times. Not only for pasta, but to slip in a few fillets of fish. Or spoon on an eggplant parmigiano. Or to top a pizza. It goes everywhere!

Simple Tomato Sauce

2-3 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, cunt into small dice

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes

3-4 sprigs fresh herbs, i.e. basil, sage or oregano (optional)

salt & pepper to taste (pinch hot pepper, optional)

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan. Add the diced onion. Cook until softened, about 3-4 minutes. Add the minced garlic. Cook for about a minute until fragrant (but not browned). Add the wine. Let it almost completely evaporate. Then add the tomatoes. Stir to combine. Season with salt & pepper. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Add fresh herbs before serving.

December 30, 2015 by chefpaulette

Falafel…send your taste-buds to other lands

frying the falafel

I first tasted falafel in my 20’s at a Greek restaurant in Huntington, LI. I immediately fell in love. With its condiment of a tahini-yogurt sauce, the dish can’t help but sweep you away to foreign lands. (Where I am always game to be swept.)

I’ve tried different recipes over the years for making them at home, but stopped searching when Mark Bittman published his recipe in the New York Times some years ago. His recipe uses dried chickpeas that are soaked overnight, and quite a bit of parsley…so that the inside of these morsels of goodness look green.

No worries. They are supposed to. And the taste is perfect every time.

Native to the Middle East, falafel is found across countries…Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, everywhere. Tucked into pita bread, or as a snack, or part of the antipasto table (mezze table), they know how to fit in perfectly. If you make a batch, and have any leftover, they are great as a bite right from the fridge.

And then there’s that taste-bud flight to another land. Falafel will always transport you. No passport needed.

falafel – ready to eat

Falafel w Yogurt-Tahini Sauce

1 ¾ cups dried chickpeas

2 garlic cloves

1 small onion, quartered

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon ground cumin

cayenne to taste

1 cup chopped parsley

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon lemon juice

salt & pepper to taste

canola oil for frying (about 2 cups)

Sauce:

½ pint plain yogurt (Greek is best)

2 tablespoons tahini

juice of ½ lemon

salt to taste

Place the chickpeas in a medium mixing bowl. Cover with water about 2-3 inches above surface of chickpeas. Let stand for 24 hours. Add more water if it absorbs sooner. Drain, but reserve any extra water. Chickpeas will still be a little hard.

Add chickpeas, garlic, onion, spices, parsley, baking soda, and lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until minced, not pureed. Scrape down the bowl. Add a little soaking water if needed to help it process, but limit the amount of water – less is better or they may not stick together while frying.

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan. Oil should be at least 2 inches deep – more is better. Heat to 350 degrees or test with a little piece of mixture. If it sizzles immediately and bounces to the top the oil is ready.

Scrape out mixture into a mixing bowl. Form small balls with the mixture. Deep fry a few at a time. Cook until nicely browned, turning them carefully – less than 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Sauce:

Mix together all the ingredients. Use as a condiment to the falafel.

December 23, 2015 by chefpaulette

Black & White Cake? Black & White Cookie?

mini black and white cakes

I think it depends on where you are from. Growing up in NY we knew these as black & white cakes. They were usually a good 6 inches in diameter. One half iced with chocolate, the other with vanilla icing. I always loved the chocolate side, and ate the vanilla side first so I could end with the best.

Now we make them at home (and in class) and we make them small — about 2-3 inches in diameter. So you can eat them in about 3-4 bites and each bite can be a combo of chocolate and vanilla.

Yes, this is one of those treats where the eating of it is kinda part of the recipe!

Often, people who come to my class don’t know these cakes. Or they do and say:”I thought they were black & white cookies?” A couple of people knew them from Disney World (???) and then a couple knew them from watching Seinfeld.

icing the black and white cakes in class

But here’s the recipe and a SECRET: my mother figure out how to make them — she transformed her forever-cupcake batter into black & white cake batter with a tiny adjustment. I won’t point out where the adjustment lies (you may figure it out) because I’m not in the habit of giving away ALL secrets!

Mini Black & White Cakes

1 stick butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons milk

1 1/2 cups flour

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

pinch salt

Vanilla Icing:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

5-6 tablespoons very hot water, as needed

Chocolate icing:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

2-3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon instant espresso (optional)

5-6 tablespoons very hot water, as needed

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or using a hand mixer) cream the butter and sugar together until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time until each is incorporated. Mix in the vanilla and milk. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour and baking powder. Add to the butter mixture and mix until just combined (don’t over-mix).

Line a sheet pan or cookie sheet with parchment. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of batter for each cake. Line them up with at least 1/2 inch in between. Bake until golden, about 10-12 minutes. Let cool, then gently peel from the parchment. Ice the flat side of the cake. Using a spatula, butter knife, or offset spatula, smooth half the cake with chocolate icing and the other half with vanilla. Let icing set before storing.

Make the vanilla icing: Smooth the butter in a medium mixing bowl. Add the sugar and vanilla and mix together with butter using a spoon. Drizzle a little hot water on the mixture and stir vigorously to make the icing into a not-too-thick, not-too-thin consistency. If too thin add more sugar. Too thick add more hot water.

Make the chocolate icing: Smooth the butter in a medium mixing bowl. Add the sugar, cocoa, and instant espresso and mix together with butter using a spoon. Drizzle a little hot water on the mixture and stir vigorously to make the icing into a not-too-thick, not-too-thin consistency. If too thin add more sugar. Too thick add more hot water.

this is my portion

December 15, 2015 by chefpaulette

It’s Christmas. Bake!

babka bread and rugelach

Have you all been keeping up with the Great British Baking Show? I LOVE it. Seems the season is over now (even tho the American version for Holiday Baking is on, but the show is not as good except for Mary Berry). Still, when I enter the kitchen with baking recipes in hand I think of the two hostesses barking “Bake!”

My go-to holiday cookie is the Italian Rainbow Cookie or Italian Flag cookie. A pretty involved recipe, but we dive in each year and send goodie tins to Duane’s kids and brother. We both dive in, because when it comes to the chocolate coating part that’s Duane’s job. He brings his building skills, and treats the melted chocolate and offset spatula like mortar and trowel. Excellent work. (He’s not available for hire.)

Duane applying the chocolate for rainbow cookies

Duane applying chocolate

Duane surveying his work

But this year I changed it up, In ADDITION to the rainbow cookies I made rugelach and a sweet bread recipe that is a cross between babka and challah. Both of these are Jewish-related confections and crept into my non-Jewish related Christmas kitchen because I LOVE these treats. Not being a sweet-sweet lover, these are a cross between breadish and sweetish. I find them absolutely irresistible and easily pass by a rainbow cookie to devour either the rugelach or babka/challah.

I didn’t make up these recipes. I’ve been tracking rugelach recipes for years and never dove in. Some recipes sounded good, some didn’t (as if you could taste by reading). I recently found one I wanted to try from the New York Times. Of course, I’m always changing things from recipes I source…I used strawberry jam instead, and my nuts were spiced with ginger & nutmeg.

Rugelach recipe by Emily Weinstein

rolling up the rugelach

little crescent rugelach

right-out-of-the-oven rugelach …yum

The babka-challah mashup I found in Bon Appetit. The picture alone had me. And the making of these elaborate breads is easier than it looks. The first time I made the recipe I made one large loaf as directed (and I think I ate the entire thing on my own) (over time). For Christmas, tho, I was able to make four smaller loaves with the same recipe.

Cinnamon-Chocolate BabKallah by Claire Saffitz

babka-challah bread dough

filling the braids

braiding the bread

braided babka-challah

baked loaves

babkallah inside

I know. Your mouth is watering. Well there’s only one way to satisfy that craving. Bake!

November 11, 2015 by chefpaulette

Dreaming of Amalfi – Lemon Ravioli

Amalfi paining by Chef Paulette

I just finished this painting of a view of Amalfi. When I’m deep in a painting of a beautiful Italian scene I feel myself in that place. I can even smell the air. Feel the sea breeze. My palate gets nostalgic, too. So I’m remembering the lemony ravioli we had on our last trip to Amalfi in 2014. It was at a restaurant in Maiori. A place right on the beach.

lemon ravioli in cream sauce at a restaurant in Maiori

Lemons are huge in Amalfi and grow everywhere. The cuisine is filled with lemons, too (this where limoncello comes from).

Amalfi lemon

This ravioli lemon-filled dish was so spectacular I figured out how to make it and we’ve cooked in class several times.

lemon ravioli-making in class

Try this immersion into lemon love. Ravioli with lemon-scented ricotta filling and a very lemony cream sauce.

Lemony-Ricotta Stuffed Ravioli w Lemon-Cream Sauce

For the dough:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra

¼ teaspoon salt

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

For the filling:

1 lb. ricotta

½ cup grated cheese

zest of 3 lemons

salt & pepper to taste

For the Sauce:

2 lemons

½ stick unsalted butter (4 tablespoons)

1 cup dry white wine

2/3 cup cream

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 cup grated cheese

Make the dough: Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl, and shape into a mound. Create a “well” in the mound and add the eggs. Using a fork slowly mix the flour into the egg, until the dough comes together and most or all the flour is mixed in. Gather the dough and knead it on a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth, shape into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Let rest for 30 minutes.

Make the filling: Mix the ricotta, grated cheese, and lemon zest. Combine well. Season with salt & pepper.

Make the ravioli: Cut the dough into four pieces. Work with one piece at a time and keep the other pieces covered in plastic wrap. Flatten the dough into a rough rectangle, and roll through the pasta machine, changing the numbers from thick to thinner (lower to higher) one at a time until you reach the next-to-the-last number on the machine. Dust the sheet with flour in between every couple of numbers to keep it from sticking in the machine.

Lay the sheet on a table. Place scant ½-teaspoons of filling in row on the bottom half of the sheet, about an inch apart. Fold the top half over the bottom half. Press all the edges closed to seal well. Cut in between to make the individual ravioli. Place the finished ravioli on a flour-dusted sheet and repeat with the rest of the dough.

Make the Sauce: Zest the 2 lemons. Then quarter each lemon, cut off the peel entirely and minced the lemon pulp, discarding any seeds. Melt the butter in a medium sauté pan. Add the zest and pulp. Heat till hot. Add the wine. Cook until simmering. Add the cream. Stir to combine. Cook on medium low heat until cream is bubbling and slightly reduced. Season with salt & pepper.

Cook the ravioli: Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Salt water. Drop in the ravioli and cook until al dente, about 3 minutes. Spoon half of the sauce into a large shallow serving bowl. Add a few small spoonfuls of pasta water to dilute sauce a bit. Add ravioli, top with more sauce and gently coat. Serve with some grated cheese.

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