Tomato, Basil, Raviolini Soup: Not your typical Tomato Soup

Years ago, I had this soup in some cafe.  I loved it so that I did some research knowing it was not homemade, and I found that it was from a company that sold frozen, concentrated soups.  I was able to purchase the concentrate, but because it was sold to institutions, it came in a package size that was impossible to deal with.  PLUS, what a better opportunity to challenge my own culinary skills!  I have been attempting to make this brothy tomato soup for several years, and this summer, I had a breakthrough.  This soup is not like typical tomato soups. It is not pureed, nor does it contain cream. It is only slightly thick, but is absolutely one of my favorites with a spicy kick from red chili flakes and basil.  This soup is best made during the summer due to the need for roasted tomatoes.  What I do is to take my tomato seconds from the garden and roast them up with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, at 350 for about an hour until they are soft and browning. I then put them through a food mill.  This is the key to this recipe.  It gives a depth to this soup you cannot get without the roasting.

This soup can be made vegetarian by using vegetable broth.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Ingredients for Roasted Tomatoes
3 lbs. tomatoes
1 T. olive oil
1/2 t. kosher salt
1/4 t. black pepper

Directions for Roasted Tomatoes
Wash the tomatoes and remove the stem.  Place tomatoes on a cookie sheet and toss with oil, salt and pepper.  Roast in 350 degree oven for about an hour until skins have popped and turned black in spots. Put through a food mill (or processor then strainer).  Yield will vary based on tomatoes.  Extra can be used in soup or frozen for next batch.

Ingredients for soup
1 T. olive oil
1/2 t. crushed red chili flakes
1 1/2 cups onions, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 bay leaf
2 c. roasted tomatoes (pureed)
1-28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes (not in puree), broken into small (about 1/2'') pieces
1 qt. homemade chicken (or vegetable) broth
2 c. water
1 T. white wine vinegar
3-4 T. cornstarch
1/4 c. water
1/2 c. basil, chiffonade
1 1/2 c. raviolini

Directions for Soup
Heat oil in heavy bottomed dutch oven.  Add chili flakes, bay leaf, and onions.  Sauté until onions are softened, about 6 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for one minute.  Add roasted tomatoes, whole can of broken up tomatoes and juice, broth, and water.  Bring to a boil, lower heat, then simmer for 1 hour. After 1/2 hour, bring large pot of water to a boil.  Add 1 T. salt and cook raviolini until thoroughly done (not al dente).  Drain pasta.  Taste soup.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Add vinegar.  Mix 3 T. cornstarch and water.  Add to soup.  Soup should thicken slightly, but not be thick. If needed, mix the remaining tablespoon of cornstarch with a few tablespoons of water and add to make the soup a bit more thick, depending on taste.  Add the raviolini to the soup along with the basil.  Serve and enjoy!

Sunday Red Gravy and Pasta: Marathoners Treat

When my friend Dan asked me to cook for his family who were to run the Champaign Marathon, I readily agreed.  Dinner for 8?  No problem, even for a Friday night.  Little did I know that dinner for 8 would morph into dinner for 20.  But what to cook?  What do you feed people the night before a 26 mile run?  Pasta.  Of course, pasta.  But pasta for 20 in a small kitchen?  So, I decided to go with something tried, true, healthy and delicious.  Red gravy, or red sauce, depending on who you are talking to.

Do you know red gravy?  That meat based red sauce so ubiquitous, so easy to do terribly.  I don't know about you, but red gravy is the bane of my restaurant existence.  Rarely is it anything but too sweet.  So my personal rule of thumb is to not order anything with a red sauce in an Italian restaurant.  But I love a good red gravy, like the one my former father-in-law taught me how to make some 20 years ago.

The recipe below is tried and true. It is rich, but not sweet.  The flavor of the sauce comes from the meat used, so the better quality sausages you can get, the better your sauce will be.  There is nothing here that should intimidate you.  Yes, it takes all day, but most of that time is completely hands off.  I used ground turkey and turkey sausages because I was feeding runners and wanted to keep the fat content of the food I made as low as possible.  You, of course, could substitute beef or a combination of beef and pork.  I hope you will make this recipe. It is simply delicious and goes beautifully with any number of pastas.  It can easily be frozen and saved for a later date.

Meatballs:
1 lb. ground turkey
2 slices white bread
1/4 c. buttermilk
1 onion, finely minced
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup parsley
1 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. fennel seeds, bruised in a mortar and pestle
1 t. salt
1/4 t. crushed red chiles
1 egg
Directions:  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Pour the buttermilk over the bread and let sit while you make the rest of the meatballs.  Mix the onions, garlic, parsley, oregano, fennel, salt, red chiles and egg in a medium sized bowl.  Mush up the bread and add it along with any remaining buttermilk to the vegetable mix. Gently mix in the meat.  At this point, cook up a bit of the meat in a frying pan.  Taste it and adjust your seasonings as needed.

Roll your meatballs into golfball sized balls.  Place them on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 1/2 hour.

Sunday Red Gravy:
1-11/4 lbs. Italian sausage (sweet or hot depending on your preference)
1 T. olive oil
2 c. onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 c. green peppers, finely chopped
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1 small can tomato paste (about 1/4 cup)
3 28 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed in a food processor or blender
1 bay leaf
salt to taste

Directions:  Heat olive oil in a large, heavy bottomed Dutch oven.  Add the sausage and brown on all sides.  Remove the sausages to a plate.  Add the onions, green peppers, and mushrooms.  Saute, scraping up the bits (fond) on the bottom of the pan as the vegetables sweat.  When the vegetables are all soft (about 10 minutes), add the garlic and cook for one minute.  Add the tomato paste and continue to stir and cook until the color of the paste becomes a rich, deeper red, about 7 minutes.  Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, bay leaf, sausage, and meatballs. Add 3 cups of water and stir.  Bring this to a simmer, and simmer for 4-6 hours, stirring every once in a while to prevent sticking.  Add salt as needed.

Serve your red gravy with fettucini, angel hair pasta, penne, cheese or meat ravioli, or lasagna.
Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Ravioli with Brown Butter Sage Sauce: Community Dinner Joy

Joy of joys!  The last Community Dinner ever so long ago was amazing!  30 adults all squished into my 850 square foot 1st floor, replete with about a half dozen children underfoot with blocks and marbles.  Disaster?  Not even close.  Instead, people of all ages and walks of life, some knowing each other, others, not, sat and talked (ok, some had to stand and talk).  Cooking pasta in this environment can be a challenge.  Gallons of boiling water and crowds don't really go so well together, but for this one night, they did. It was lovely.  To be honest, it was a bit overwhelming, but the food was a hit, as was the company.

I started the night before.  Actually, I made the food plan on Wednesday. Listing what exactly was on the menu, items to purchase, approximate cost, and serving utensils needed.  Friday at around 3, after my meetings were done and I could concentrate, I began making the ravioli.  I started by roasting the sweet potatoes, and while roasting, I made the pasta.  Now cooking ravioli for 30 is a big task. I will not lie to you. I had to start with some math.  I used Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Italian Cooking cookbook, which is a wonderful resource if you like authentic Italian food.  Her recipe for sweet potato ravioli says it feeds six. So I multiplied all of the ingredients by five.  I used 9.5 lbs. of sweet potatoes, and a total of 15 eggs for the pasta.  I refrigerated the pasta dough while I made the rest of the filling.

Because several of the attendees were either unknown to me, or known vegetarians, I left the procuitto out of out recipe. They were still amazing.  I also slightly altered the recipe by adding a bit more ameretti cookies (I added an additional 5, so one more than called for in the recipe.  Other than that, this recipe is not my doing, it is the mighty Hazan's.  In the end, this recipe made 240 ravioli, which was plenty for 30 hungry adults with 2 servings to have for another time.  So yes, an average person ate 8 of these ravioli.

Lucky for me, I had help in this endeavor.  By about 6, I had the pasta dough and filling made, had done a preliminary clean up, and had started the custard for a lovely egg nog tiramisu trifle (recipe adapted from Epicurious.com).  This is when help rushed in.  My dear friend Jan saved the day.  For the next 4 hours, we rolled out dough and stuffed the pasta.  One of us worked the roller, while the other, filled.

The question was, "how do we keep the ravioli from sticking?" I had had a disaster with this before, so was prepared.  Here's what I did.  I put parchment down on 2 large cookie sheets and prepared a place in my basement freezer large enough to hold them completely flat.  Upon the parchment, I placed a good amount of semolina flour.  We put one layer of ravioli on a cookie sheet and placed that sheet immediately in the freezer while working on filling the next sheet pan.  When the second pan was done, we would replace it with the first, put down more parchment and semolina, and make another layer.  By the time each layer was done, the one in the freezer was frozen enough not to smash with the weight of the new layer.  It worked out perfectly!  I was able to take them from the freezer just before cooking the next day.  Not one was smashed or stuck.  Brilliant! (not me, the idea.).

With the filling for the tiramisu done, and ravioli completed, the evening finally came to rest around 2 am.  Yes, that's 11 hours of work, 4 of which was done with another set of able hands.  But, most of the work was done, leaving only final work on the day of the party.  Knowing I had my friend Greg coming in, a presentation on campus to do, and a lunch with another friend, I knew I would not have a lot of time on Saturday, so in the morning, I finished the tiramisu (except the artistic flourish Peter would accomplish just before the party), made the salad dressing, browned the butter and sage, and finished prepping the bread (yes, the bread that failed).

For this dinner, I made what I call my "auspicious salad of five" (auspicious due to odd number of ingredients, 5, well, because it has five main ingredients). When I plate this salad, I do everything in fives.  For this crowd, I just made a huge bowl, using 1.5 lb. mixed baby greens, 2 c. toasted pecans, 4 thinly sliced red pears, 1/2 large red onion, sliced paper thin, and 1/2 lb. Italian Gorgonzola (which I actually kept on the side given the number of children present).  I tossed this salad with a simple lemon vinegrette, salt and pepper.  I also attempted, but failed to make ciabatta (don't quite know what happened, but it was just not right, so I sent a friend out to buy some bread--failures happen).  The dessert was a beautiful tiramisu topped with a gorgeous work of bittersweet chocolate art, thanks to my friend Peter.

All that was left was to finish the salad, put out appetizers (I made crostini with goat cheese and an orange-scented tapenade, and also had mahon (a lovely Spanish cheese) and served that along side a bowl of my red pepper habenero jelly), baked the bread (or failed to--it never rose nor browned), set the water (2 large canning pots) to boil, and warm the brown butter sage sauce.  You may not want to do this for 30, but for 6? Easy.  I encourage you to try it.  Everyone loved the dinner, and I think you will too.  The ravioli are delicate, slightly sweet, and definitely savory, with a hint of richness without being cloying.

Pasta Dough (enough for about 50 ravioli, serving approximately 6--but really, if you are going through all this trouble, at least double the recipe and make enough to freeze on a wax papered sheet pan before removing to a plastic zip top bag)

3 large eggs
1 T. milk
approximately 1 2/3 cups unbleached flour
Directions:
If using a stand mixer:  place the eggs and milk in the mixer with the paddle attachment.  Turn to #2 and mix to break eggs (may need to help by breaking yolks with a fork).  Add the flour little by little until you have a dough ball that does not stick to the sides or bottom of the bowl.  Replace the paddle with the dough hook.  Knead on #2 for about 2 minutes.  NOTE:  If you are multiplying this recipe it is important that you do so in batches.  Not even my stand mixer, which is the largest Kitchen Aid makes for home use, has the torque to pull off a larger batch without overworking your mixer.  I ruined my mother's 1960's Kitchen Aid by doing this, so trust me here.  Wrap your dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to use it. If you are not going to use it within a few hours, expect that the dough will turn an ugly, but edible grey.

Filling:
1 3/4 pounds oranged fleshed sweet potatoes
3 amaretti cookies
1 egg yolk
3 T. prosciutto, finely chopped (optional)
1 1/2 cups freshly grated parmesano reggiano
3 T. parsley, chopped very finely
1/8-1/4 t. freshly ground nutmeg (please don't ever use the sawdust you buy pre-grated)
salt (to taste)
black pepper (to taste)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Pierce the potatoes a few times.  Bake them in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes.  Turn the oven down to 400 degrees and continue to cook until they are very tender when pierced.  Turn off the oven, remove the potatoes and split in half lengthwise.  Return the potatoes to the now off oven, cut side up leaving the door slightly ajar.  Remove after 10 minutes when the tops have slightly dried out.

Crush the amaretti cookies to a powder using a food processor, a bag and rolling pin, or a mortar and pestle.  Peel the potatoes and puree them with a food processor, food mill, or ricer.  Add the cookies, egg yolk, procuitto, parmesan, parsley, nutmeg, salt and pepper.  Taste and adjust seasoning.

Directions for Ravioli:
If you have rollers for your stand mixer, as I fortunately do, use them here.  If you have a hand crank machine, you'll want a friend to help you crank as you feed the dough into the rollers.  Start the machine on the widest setting (this means the rollers are as far apart as they go).  For me, this is #1.  Make a pile of flour on your countertop for dipping your dough to keep it from sticking to the rollers.  Cut your dough into about 2 inch pieces (you should do this one at a time, not all at once so that the remaining dough does not dry out).  Flatten the piece of dough and push it into a bed of flour that you have on your countertop. (This is going to get messy, but that's half the fun.)  Feed your dough into the rollers with one hand while the machine is running.  Don't worry.....  Don't worry.  Catch it with your other hand as it exits the rollers.

Fold the pressed pasta sheet into thirds, like an envelope.  Rotate it so that the edge goes into the machine first.  Run it through again on #1 (or, the widest setting).  Do this until the dough is smooth.  If it gets sticky, dip it in the flour. If it tears, don't panic, just press it together, dip it in flour,  and start again.  It's forgiving, remember?

For me, and for this batch of dough, I did this 7 times for each piece.  Then, adjust your rollers to the next thinner setting (#2).  Flour the flattened but somewhat thick dough.  Run it through the machine once.  Do not fold.  Repeat this process for #3, 4, and finally 5.  I like my raviolis to not be too thick, so I go to #5 or 6.  Some recipes go even thinner, but I find that the filling part gets wrinkly when I do this.

This is Jan with a wonderful sheet of just rolled out pasta

Now, as you roll your dough more and more thinly, it will get longer and longer.  You'll need to just trust me.  Catch it as it exits the machine.

When you've run it through on #5 or 6 (depending on your thickness preference), place it on a well floured flat surface.  Now, here's the best part.  You'll need your filling, a teaspoon, a pastry brush, a bowl of water, and a pastry or pizza cutter.  Place large marble sized mounds of filling (about 3/4 t.) 3/4 inches from the edge of the pasta sheet that is facing you, running lenghwise, with 1/2 inches in between mounds.  Next, brush a line of water (you don't need much) above and below the filling mounds, almost touching them.  Then brush a bit of water in a line between each ravioli.  Next, carefully fold the dough over the mounds, matching edges to edges.  Now, here's the tricky part.  Don't fear it, just roll with it.  You'll get the hang of it, I promise.  Starting near the center of the sets of mounds, take your fingers and press down at the seam, then cup your hand around the mound, pressing out the air as you press the dough firmly down to make the sheets adhere to each other.

 Then move out from the center doing the same.  Try not to get any wrinkles, but honestly, they are inevitable, particularly at first.  Don't get discouraged if this happens.  They will still taste great.  Next use your pizza cutter to trim the bottom and to cut them apart from one another. 

Place on a cookie sheet that has been thoroughly covered with semolina or regular flour (semolina is duram wheat and is coarser than regular flour so it works well to keep the pasta from sticking to your pan, which is a disaster, trust me.  I've had that happen. And I cried.  But, I lived to make ravioli again and again.) Place the ravioli on the cookie sheet. Continue with the rest of the ravioli making in the same manner.
Now you have some options. You can stick those cookie sheets on a freezing cold porch to freeze them (which works well in a blizzard), or just into the freezer if yours is not packed like mine.  You can then put them into bags and you can have amazing ravioli anytime.  Or, you can cook them.  To cook them, boil a large pot of water.  When it comes ot the boil, add a lot of salt so that it tastes like sea water.  Go ahead, taste it.  This will bring the water off the full rolling boil, which is good.  Carefully add your ravioli (depending on the pot, I wouldn't do more than 30 at a time).  Reduce your heat if the water starts to boil rapidly.  Gently boil the ravioli,  (don't freak out if a few break--sometimes they do.) stirring every minute or so, until they are tender, about 5 minutes (taste one, or a corner, to see if they are done to al dente.)

Brown Butter Sage Sauce:
5 T. good quality unsalted butter
10-12 whole sage leaves
freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

Directions:
Put the butter in a small skillet and turn to medium heat.  When the butter foam subsides, and the butter's color is a gold but not yet brown, add the sage leaves.  Cook for a few seconds, turning the leaves over once.  Cook until the butter is a rich golden brown on the bottom and the leaves are crisp.  Pour over your cooked ravioli and enjoy!  Serve with freshly grated cheese if desired (oh, trust me, you'll desire it!)

These are the frozen ravioli just prior to dropping into boiling water

Chicken Tetrazinni Redux: Rethinking Comfort Food

It's a Friday afternoon--work done for the day.  It's cold.  Snow fell sideways all night long, leaving a clouded feeling of fogginess in my mind.  Yesterday, I had made chicken stock, which I love to have available.   To do this, I simmered a whole chicken in water with salt, pepper, parsley, thyme, bay leaves, onions, garlic, celery and carrots until the chicken was just done.  Then I removed the chicken from the bones and returned the skin and bones to the pot, reserving the chicken.  I simmered this overnight leaving me with a luscious stock.  With that, and all the other fixings in my overly stocked pantry and freezer, I decided to go ahead and make Bridget's family this dish of comfort.

In my childhood, my mother would make turkey tetrazinni. A cream based sauce, enveloping linguine, with leftover turkey and pimentos.  Topped lovingly with Parmesan cheese and almonds.  I remember loving it.
For Bridget, I like to mix things up a bit, and always try to make the dishes I make for her family as healthy as possible.  I've used a recipe by Emeril Lagasse for a tuna tetrazinni before, and her family has loved it.  So decided to use that recipe as a base for today's feast.

This makes a large portion, enough for 10-12.  It is a nice use for leftover chicken, but goes well with an equivalent amount of albacore tuna packed in oil as well.  I hope you enjoy it.

Chicken Tetrazinni

1 ½ c. onions, ¼ inch dice

1 red bell pepper, ¼ inch dice

6 T. Butter (or combination butter and chicken fat from stock)

1 T. garlic, minced

10 oz. mushrooms, sliced

1 ½ t. creole seasoning (such as Tony Carchere’s)

1 ½ t. thyme leaves

¼ c. flour

½ c. brandy (or dry white wine)

2 c. chicken broth

1 c. cream

14 oz. linguine (I used whole grain)

2 ½ c. cooked chicken, shredded

10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and pressed dry

1 T. fresh parsley leaves

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

1/3 c. parmesan (don’t necessarily need the good stuff here)

1 ½ c. fresh breadcrumbs

¼ c. parmesan

3 T. olive oil

½ c. slivered almonds

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to the boil while you proceed with making the sauce.
Saute the onions and red pepper in the butter (or use some of the chicken fat from the skimmed stock plus butter to equal 6 T.) until they are starting to soften.  Add the garlic and cook for one minute.  Add the mushrooms and saute until the mushrooms are softened.  Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for two minutes.  Add the brandy and the stock a little at a time, stirring continuously to make a smooth sauce.  Add the whipping cream and simmer for approximately 20 minutes until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.  

While the sauce is thickening, cook the pasta to al dente (do not cook all the way), drain it, and cool down with cold water.  Set aside.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  When the sauce is thickened, add the thyme, parsley, and Parmesan.  Season with salt and pepper.  Off heat, add the chicken and spinach.  Stir well.

Add the oil to a skillet.  Slowly toast the almonds in the olive oil until lightly golden brown.  Add the oil and almonds to breadcrumbs.  Stir in the remaining Parmesan cheese.

Add the pasta to the sauce and stir well to combine.  Pour pasta into a large baking dish that has been lightly oiled.  Top with breadcrumb mixture.  Bake, uncovered until browned and bubbly, about 25 minutes.

Enjoy!

Pho Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup): Packing in the flavor

I had the most lovely weekend. I was blessed with a catering gig with my professor and his wife, Bob and Bernadine on Sunday.  I was to prepare a brunch for Sunday for 15 people.  As there is nothing I love more than to spend time with my dear friends Bob and Bernadine, I did the cooking on Saturday at their house. I prepared four different quiches--Quiche Lorraine, Spinach and Chevre with Leeks, Wild Mushroom and shallots  with Gruyere, and Spinach and Mushroom with Gruyere.  I also made sharp cheddar, thyme and chive scones, a salad with homemade ranch dressing, and a fruit salad with a side dressing of homemade yogurt, lemon zest, ginger and honey.  A full day indeed.  The brunch was well received and appreciated.

Lucky for me, Saturday evening led to even more cooking.  My friend Peter, who is also a foodie like me, invited me over to make a meal for Chinese New Year.  He taught me how to make this amazing dish. It was kind of like a Chinese tamale.  Sticky rice cooked much like a risotto with pork, then rolled in eucalyptus leaves and steamed.  In turn taught Peter how to make pasta, so we had this interesting combination of homemade pasta with a ragu and these lovely Chinese rice bundles.  While enjoying our feast, we talked about Pho.  Peter is passionate about Pho.

Now, if you've never had Pho, I strongly encourage you to try it.  Now the thing about Pho is that it is all about the broth, so finding a good Pho can be a challenge. You may need to go to several Vietnamese restaurants before finding one that rocks your boat.  But be careful, once you find it, you'll want it often.  Pho is a lovely, complex beef or chicken based soup.

Since our conversation, I've not been able to get Pho off my mind.  So, I decided to make some this week.  My efforts began with an earnest internet search.  I found hundreds of recipes.  I did some comparing and found many similarities.  Bones, meat, star anise, cloves, ginger, fish sauce, and onions all at the base of the broth.  It is all about the broth.

As the idea of cooking up ten pounds of beef bones for a serving for four seemed a bit overzealous for a weeknight meal for one, I decided to make a chicken pho to start my learning process.  The following recipe is a compilation of several I found on the web.  It is amazingly rich and complex in flavor.

This recipe makes 4 quarts of broth.  The toppings are enough for 4-6 servings, which will leave you broth for another time.  It freezes well.  You may also just have more toppings (and more chicken breasts) available and serve a crowd of 10-12.
Pho Broth

4 lbs. skinless chicken thighs

2 chicken breasts, bone in, skinless
1 whole onion, peeled and cut in half
3-inch chunk of ginger, unpeeled

2 T. whole coriander seeds
4 whole cloves
3 whole star anise
2 T rock sugar (found at Asian markets)

3 T.  fish sauce

small hand full of cilantro stems

Directions

Place ginger and onion on a baking sheet. The top of the onion should be about 4″ from the oven’s heating element. Set to broil on high for 15 minutes. Turn the onion and ginger occasionally, to get an even char. The skin should get dark and the onion/ginger should get soft. Slice ginger into 1/4 inch thick slices.

Fill a large stock pot with water and boil. While the water is boiling, use a cleaver or heavy knife to break the bones of the thighs in at least 3 places (just give them a real good whack--but watch your fingers.  They should be nowhere near that chicken--yes, this is gross, but the more marrow you expose, the more rich your broth will be).

When the water boils,  boil the thighs on high for 5 minutes. You’ll see lots of foam come up to the surface. Drain, rinse your chicken of the scum and wash your pot thoroughly. Refill with 4 quarts of clean, cold water.

Add chicken, chicken breast, onion, ginger, cloves, anise, coriander, sugar, fish sauce and cilantro in the pot and cover. Turn heat to high – let it come to boil, then immediately turn heat to low. Prop lid up so that steam can escape. After 15 minutes, remove the chicken breasts, shred with your fingers when cooled and reserve for serving (you’ll serve shredded chicken breast with the finished soup). With a large spoon, skim the surface of any impurities in the broth. Skimming every once in a while ensures a clear broth. Simmer a total of 6-8 hours (yes, that long.  You can do it over night if you wish). Taste and adjust seasoning with more fish sauce and or sugar.

Strain the broth through cheesecloth and discard the solids (if you have a dog, he or she will love you for the meat from those thighs, but all the flavor has been sapped, so don't be tempted to eat it yourself--or do, but it won't taste too good.)

At this point, you can serve your soup, or you can cool the stock and remove any fat that coagulates on the surface.

Pho Soup
1 lb dried rice noodles (about 1/4″ wide)
2 cups bean sprouts, washed
cilantro tops
1/2 cup shaved red onions
1/2 lime, cut into 4 wedges

1/2 cup basil, chiffonade (sliced into thin strips by rolling up and slicing)

1/4 cup mint, chiffonade
Sriracha hot sauce
sliced Thai chilies

 Directions

Prepare noodles as per the directions on package (do not overcook). Reheat stock, if cooled.  Ladle broth into the bowls, add shredded chicken breast and soft noodles in each bowl. Have the rest of the ingredients at the table for people to add to their bowl as they wish. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

A- Traditional Spaghetti Carbonara: Lightening up dinner for a change

I love Spaghetti Carbonara.  I mean, love it.  Its richness, its texture.  It is actually my favorite thing to make with leftover pasta for breakfast.  The problem is is that I don't feel good about eating it.  I love good food.  At the same time, I struggle, because I want to eat healthy food, at least, most of the time.

Eating Spaghetti Carbonara seems wrong, somehow, to me.  So tonight, I decided to try to lighten it up, and to be honest, the product was successful, at least for me.  I have to be honest when I say that I usually don't like "light" recipes. I normally figure that if you are going to eat, you should eat.  But, sometimes I make exceptions.  I rarely eat beef, and will replace it with turkey without hesitation.  I use some low fat products such as mayonnaise, sour cream and milk, etc. And I rarely eat pasta that is not whole grain, except when I make it fresh.

Now to say that this is a "healthy" meal would be deceiving.  I'm sure it's not. But compared to it's counterpart, I feel fulfilled and don't feel badly about my dinner.  Traditional Carbonara is based on Pancetta (Italian Bacon), eggs, sometimes cream, and lots of cheese.  Carbonara is easy no matter what recipe you use.  The trick is not to curdle the eggs.  The way you do this is to mix it with cream (or in this case buttermilk) and to turn off the heat before adding it to the pasta.  I make sure to use fresh eggs for this (I like using free range organic eggs. I may be a student, but this is one of my few extravagant ingredients I will spend money on.  Well, this, and good Parmeggiano Reggiano--ok, there are others....)

This recipe as well as many others only take as much time as it takes to make pasta, so it is perfect for a busy day. Please try it and let me know what you think.

Shameem's Non-Traditional Spaghetti Carbonara
(serves one and I'm sure can be easily multiplied)

2 oz. whole grain spaghetti (I like Barilla whole grain, it doesn't taste too wheaty)
1 T. salt
2 quarts water

1/2 leek, cut in half, rinsed carefully in lots of water, and thinly sliced
4 Crimini mushrooms
1/2 t. olive oil
pinch salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup white wine
2 oz. Canadian bacon, roughly chopped

1 oz. Parmeggiano Reggiano, grated
1/2 oz. Pecorino Romano, grated
1 T. buttermilk
1 egg
1/4 t. black pepper, freshly ground, coarse
1 T. parsley

Directions
Bring the water to a boil in a large pot.  Once it is at a boil, add the salt.  Add your pasta.  Cook until just al dente (so that it still has a bit of a bite.)

While the water is coming to a boil, saute the leeks in olive oil with a pinch of salt for 3 minutes on medium heat.  Add the mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes more.  Add garlic and bacon and cook for one minute.  Add the wine and cook for one minute until the wine evaporates.

Mix the egg, buttermilk, pinch of salt, pepper and cheeses in a small bowl.

When the pasta is done, take the vegetables off of the heat.  Add the pasta using tongs.  Don't worry about a little extra water going into the pan.  Mix the pasta and the vegetables.  Add the eggs and cheese and mix well.  Top with parsley and extra pepper and serve immediately.

I hope you enjoy it!

Blizzard Ravioli

What could be better.  I know, I know, I should have been editing that chapter or paring down my paper for the AERA conference, but it was such a lousy day out.  So, I did it.  I made ravioli.  I shouldn't say I though, because lucky  for me, I was not alone. Now, making ravioli is one of those all day tasks with many steps, but it is worth every minute of that effort to break into one of those pillows of heavenliness.  I've taken pictures of the process for many of the steps, so bear with me. 

If you've never made pasta, you should try it.  It is a very forgiving process. It also makes your heart feel good.  At least, it does mine.  I've got perfect tools for this, but you don't need tools as everything can, and often is done completely by hand.  If you don't have a stand mixer, you'll need to make pasta using the "Well Method."  The cookbook, The Essentials of Classical Italian Cooking is a wonderful resource for how exactly to make pasta.  There are also numberous websites that will walk you through the process.  Don't be daunted.  Jump in!  Make a day of it!  Kids love making pasta (adults do too).  And there is nothing like the taste of it.  I encourage you to try. I think you will be glad you did.

For today, I made two different types of sauces for the spinach and cheese filled ravioli.  I made a classical Italian all day meat sauce, and a marinara for my vegetarian friends.  I used chicken for the meatballs, as I happen to like them that way, and I also used turkey hot Italian sausages, but they're not even in the running with the pork sausage I get at Caputos in Chicago.  Oh well, can't complain when I live 2 hours away from my favorite grocery store.  Well, I guess I could, but it wouldn't do any good.  I learned to make the meat based sauce from my former father-in-law whose father had just immigrated from Southern Italy.  I don't know how authentic it is as unfortunately for  me, I've never made my trip of a lifetime to Italy.  But I can tell you that whomever eats it, loves it.  Everyone.  Every time. 

This recipe makes a huge pot of ravioli and meat sauce. If you do not want a huge pot of sauce, or if you don't have a huge pot, you can easily cut everything in half. I use my largest enameled cast iron dutch oven for this.  This recipe makes enough dough and filling for 80 2 1/2 inch square ravioli and can be easily modifed to meet your needs.  I like to plan to have 6 ravioli per person and these freeze perfectly well.

Italian Meat Sauce
1 lb. good Italian Sausage
1 1/2 lb. ground meat (I used hand ground chicken breast, but you can use any combination you like.  Sirloin and ground pork work well.)
3 slices of bread with a good crumb, torn into pieces
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup milk
2 small onoins, finely chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
5 cloves garlic, ground finely
1/2 cup parsley
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 t. good dried Greek oregano (I like the kind you can buy still on the stalk)
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 t. fennel, ground coursely (optional)
1 t. salt (or more to taste)
ground pepper
2 eggs
2 cups onions, chopped finely
4 cloves garlic, chopped finely
2 cups green pepper, chopped finely
12 oz. mushrooms, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
1 4 oz. can tomato paste
2 28 oz. cans tomato sauce (not the jarred stuff with spices, just your basic, good tomato sauce found in the tomato section of the grocery)
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
28 oz. water
2 bay leaves
salt to taste

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350.  Make the meatballs first.   To do this, mix the bread up with the 2 milks.  Let it sit while you prepare the vegetables.  Add the chopped onion, garlic, parsley, cheese, spices and eggs to the soaked bread.  Carefully mix in your meat.  Make golfball sized meatballs and place them on an oiled cookie sheet.  Bake for about 30 minutes until they are fully cooked.  Set them aside.

While the meatballs are baking, (I bake them, by the way, because they are much less of a mess and I don't miss anything by doing this) Place 1 t. extra virgin olive oil in a dutch oven.  Brown the sausages on all sides and then remove them to a platter.  Saute the onions and peppers in the same pan, using them to clean off the "fond" from the bottom of the pan (fond is the term given to the sticky bits at the bottom of a pan leftover after sauteing or frying).  After about 4 minutes on medium, the vegetables should be somewhat limp.  Add the tomato paste and cook until it changes color and gets slightly darker.  This will take 4-5 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook another minute.  Add the canned tomato products, stir, then add the meats and their juices to the pan.  Add the water and the bay leaves and stir.  Let this cook on low, at a simmer for as many hours as you have patience for, but at least 4.  It is better at 6.  You may need to add water if it starts to get too thick for your liking.  Taste for salt at the end. I find the meats season the sauce well and usually do not add additional salt.

Marinara
3 T. good quality extra virgin olive oil
pinch red pepper flakes
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onions
4 cloves garlic, finely pasted
2 28 oz. cans good quality whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand or with an immersion blender
1 bay leaf
1 t. dried oregano
2 t. fresh thyme (or, instead of the herbs, use 1/4 cup torn basil)
salt to taste

Directions
Heat a dutch oven or heavy bottomed deep pot.  Add the oil. When it starts to shimmy, add the chiles.  Immediately add the onions and saute until deep golden brown.  Add the garlic and stir continuously for 1 minute.  Add the crushed tomatoes, bay leaves, and oregano (if using).  Let simmer for 30 minutes.  Add one cup of water and let simmer another 30 minutes. Finish with thyme (or basil) and salt to taste.  Today we added 1/2 teaspoon sugar to cut the acidity down. There was no hint of sweetness, but it did it's job.

Pasta
6 eggs
1/'4 cup water
1 t. salt
all purpose flour

Directions
If you have a large stand mixer, you may be able to do this full recipe in one batch. I have the Kitchen Aid Professional 600 and this was maximizing its capabilities.  Pasta can kill a mixer. I killed my mother's 1970's kitchen aid with just 4 eggs worth.  With all its protiens, it will work your machine, so if it seems to be struggling, cut your dough in half and make it two different times.  Add the eggs to the bowl of your mixer.  Mix with the paddle. Add the water and salt and mix for another minute.  Add the flour, one cup at a time, until your dough forms a stiff ball.  No, I can't tell you how much flour.  It depends on all sorts of factors, egg size, humidity, goddess will...Remove the paddle and put on the dough hook.  Knead at power level 2 for 5 minutes.  The dough will not be smooth like a bread dough at this point.  The real kneading happens with the pasta rollers.

Wrap your dough ball in plastic and let it rest for 1 hour.

Ravioli Filling
1 1/2 lbs. (24 oz.) good quality ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese (please do yourself a favor and use the good stuff here)
8 oz. frozen spinach, thawed, chopped and thoroughly squeezed out
1/'4 cup Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped finely
2 egg yolks
1/4 t. freshly ground nutmeg (please, throw out your pre-ground nutmeg!)
1/4 t. freshly ground pepper (same with the pepper)
salt to taste

Directions
Mix everything together in a bowl.

Directions for making the Ravioli
If you have rollers for your stand mixer, as I fortunately do, use them here.  If you have a hand crank machine, you'll want a friend to help you crank as you feed the dough into the rollers.  Start the machine on the widest setting (this means the rollers are as far apart as they go).  For me, this is #1.  Make a pile of flour on your countertop for dipping your dough to keep it from sticking to the rollers.  Cut your dough into about 2 inch pieces (you should do this one at a time, not all at once so that the remaining dough does not dry out).  Flatten the piece of dough and push it into a bed of flour that you have on your countertop. (This is going to get messy, but that's half the fun.)  Feed your dough into the rollers with one hand while the machine is running.  Don't worry.....  Don't worry.  Catch it with your other hand as it exits the rollers.

This is my friend Boone, catching the dough as it exits the rollers.  If you look closely in the window, you can see the snow coming down. 

Fold the pressed pasta sheet into thirds, like an envelope.  Rotate it so that the edge goes into the machine first.  Run it through again on #1 (or, the widest setting).  Do this until the dough is smooth.  If it gets sticky, dip it in the flour. If it tears, don't panic, just press it together, dip it in flour,  and start again.  It's forgiving, remember?

For me, and for this batch of dough, I did this 7 times for each piece.  Then, adjust your rollers to the next thinner setting (#2).  Flour the flattened but somewhat thick dough.  Run it through the machine once.  Do not fold.  Repeat this process for #3, 4, and finally 5.  I like my raviolis to not be too thick, so I go to #5.  Some recipes go even thinner, but I find that the filling part gets wrinkly when I do this.

Now, as you roll your dough more and more thinly, it will get longer and longer.  You'll need to just trust me.  Catch it as it exits the machine.

When you've run it through on #5, place it on a well floured flat surface.  Now, here's the best part.  You'll need your filling, a teaspoon, a pastry brush, a bowl of water, and a pastry or pizza cutter.  Place large marble sized mounds of filling (about 3/4 t.) 3/4 inches from the edge of the pasta sheet that is facing you, running lenghwise, with 1/2 inches in between mounds.  Next, brush a line of water (you don't need much) above and below the cheese mounds, almost touching them.  Then brush a bit of water in a line between each ravioli.  Next, carefully fold the dough over the mounds, matching edges to edges.  Now, here's the tricky part.  Don't fear it, just roll with it.  You'll get the hang of it, I promise.  Starting near the center of the sets of mounds, take your fingers and press down at the seam, then cup your hand around the mound, pressing out the air as you press the dough firmly down to make the sheets adhere to each other.

 Then move out from the center doing the same.  Try not to get any wrinkles, but honestly, they are inevitable, particularly at first.  Don't get discouraged if this happens.  They will still taste great.  Next use your pizza cutter to trim the bottom and to cut them apart from one another. 

Place on a cookie sheet that has been thoroughly covered with semolina or regular flour (semolina is duram wheat and is coarser than regular flour so it works well to keep the pasta from sticking to your pan, which is a disaster, trust me.  I've had that happen. And I cried.  But, I lived to make ravioli again and again.) Place the ravioli on the cookie sheet. Continue with the rest of the ravioli making in the same manner (it's nice to have friends so that the rolling and filling can happen at the same time.  Me, I had 2 friends.  Boone and Julian, who is 12, and is killer in the kitchen.)

Now you have some options. You can stick those cookie sheets on a freezing cold porch to freeze them (which works well in a blizzard), or just into the freezer if yours is not packed like mine.  You can then put them into bags and you can have amazing ravioli anytime.  Or, you can cook them.  To cook them, boil a large pot of water.  When it comes ot the boil, add a lot of salt so that it tastes like sea water.  Go ahead, taste it.  This will bring the water off the full rolling boil, which is good.  Carefully add your ravioli (depending on the pot, I wouldn't do more than 30 at a time).  Reduce your heat if the water starts to boil rapidly.  Gently boil the ravioli,  (don't freak out if a few break--sometimes they do.) stirring every minute or so, until they are tender, about 5 minutes (taste one, or a corner, to see if they are done to al dente.)

Serve with the lovely sauce of your choosing and a sprinkling of parmeggiano reggiano.

Buon Appetito!