Spaghetti Carbonara [Zack]

Carbonara is a pasta dish originating from Rome and is my favorite thing to eat. When we visited Rome, I was on a mission to find the best rendition so I could try to recreate it at home. This is pretty darn close. The ingredient list is extremely short and therefore relies on the quality of the inputs. If you can’t find guanciale (bacon made from pig’s jaw), use pancetta or lightly smoked bacon. If you can’t find a good pecorino romano, use parmesan reggiano.

The recipe has 3 steps: 1. Slowly render the bacon until it becomes crispy 2. Cook the pasta 3. Remove the bacon pan from the heat, add the noodles, and toss the pasta in the rest of the ingredients. The sauce becomes surprisingly creamy due to a combination of eggs, bacon fat, reserved pasta cooking water, and pecorino romano cheese. It’s bliss.

Process:

Slice the guancaile into match sticks and place into a cold frying pan. Turn the heat on medium, and let the fat render out of the bacon until it’s crispy and brown. Pour off the fat until about 1T remains and set the pan aside.

Prep your ingredients in advance because the last steps happen quickly. Crack the eggs into a bowl and lightly scramble them. Grate the cheese.

Salt a big pot of water until it tastes like the sea and bring to a boil. Cook your spaghetti until al dente. A few minutes before the pasta is finished, return your frying pan with the bacon to medium heat. Grab a coffee mug and scoop out a cup of the boiling pasta water to use for the sauce later. Strain the noodles.

Take the bacon pan off the heat. Bacon pan, I like the sound of that! Add the spaghetti, pasta water, and cheese, tossing vigorously with tongs to mix. You don’t want the eggs to curdle, which is why you remove the pan from the heat and mix quickly. Crack black pepper until your arm hurts, and serve immediately with a glass of nice Italian wine.

Ingredients:
Makes 2 big bowls -
½ lb spaghetti noodles
2 whole eggs, beaten
2T-3T of pasta water

¾ cup Pecorino Romano cheese, finely grated
100 grams guanciale chooped in matchsticks (this was about 3 thick slices for me)
freshly ground black pepper

optional:  chopped spring onions or 1 large clove of garlic

Song:  Missy Elliott - Hot Boyz

Tom's Classic Caesar Salad [Zack]

I have very fond memories of learning to make a true caesar salad from my uncle Tom.  I went over to his apartment for one of our cooking sessions and was surprised that our grand adventure was making a lowly salad.  Surprisingly, crafting a classic caesar salad with Tom taught me a lot of useful tips!

We uncorked a bottle of white wine, turned up the music, and had an amazing meal.  I had never realized that the original Caesar salad didn’t contain cream, but did contain anchovies!  I learned a lot of through the process:

• Adding the correct amount of anchovies to a recipe does not mean that you can necessarily distinguish their flavor, but they can quietly enhance the taste of the dressing
• What a “coddled egg” is and how to soft boil an egg
• That I should actually use an egg timer for its intended purpose instead of guessing – there are certain things in the kitchen that you can’t do by feel
• It’s way more fun to learn how to make a classic recipe from scratch versus glopping it out of a squeeze bottle

Process:

Get a small pot of water boiling for your eggs.  Reduce the water to a simmer and place your eggs gently into the pot and start the timer.  Take 1 egg out after 4 minutes (coddled egg for the dressing), and leave the rest in until your timer has reached between 5 and 7 minutes.  Five minutes will give you a runny yolk, 7 will be “just set”.  Take the pot off the heat, gently pour out the hot water, and fill the pot with cold water to stop the eggs from cooking.  Peel the eggs after they have cooled off for 5 minutes.

Slice your day-old bread into cubes. Place them into a frying pan with a generous amount of butter + olive oil.  Keep an eye on the bread and make sure to mix it around frequently.   It’s up to you how you would like to flavor the croutons – my favorite is garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, and some type of dried herb.

Now, on to the dressing.  If you have whole anchovy filets, you’ll need to add them to a bowl and mash them up with a fork.  This will take a bit of muscle/patience.  Once you have a paste, add the minced garlic and peeled coddled egg.  Mash these up with a fork a bit to combine.  Then, whisk in the liquids - mustard, red wine vinegar, and olive oil.  Crack a ton of black pepper into the bowl, and add the grated parmesan cheese.

In a bowl, toss the lettuce with the dressing and add any other toppings that you’d like.  I usually add sliced red onion, a soft-boiled egg, croutons, and sometimes sliced avocado.  You can get as creative as you’d like: shrimp, chicken, sliced leftover steak, etc.

Ingredients:
Makes 2 dinner-sized salads or 4 side salads

Dressing:
4 anchovy fillets or 1T anchovy paste
1 medium garlic clove
1/2T mustard
2T apple cider vinegar
4T olive oil
1 coddled egg (soft-boiled for 4 minutes)
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Salad ingredients:
a head of lettuce
a few eggs
sliced parmesan cheese
day-old bread
herbs and spices for the croutons
olive oil
butter

Song:  Zusammenklang - Morgenblaue

CHICKEN SPINACH PIE - Tom & June

INGREDIENTS FOR DINNER FOR 2

~ 1 Bag of Spinach Large leaf or Baby
~ 1 Clove of Minced Garlic
~ 4 Tablespoons of Minced Onion
~ 3 Eggs
    (2 for filling and 1 for egg wash)
~ 2 Tablespoons of Water
~ 1/4 Teaspoon of Dried or Fresh Thyme
    (We used fresh lemon thyme from our garden) 
~ 2 Pinches of Salt
~ 1/4 Teaspoon of Black Pepper
~ 1 Sheet of Pastry from 1 package of Puff Pastry
    (Found in frozen food section - defrost 1 sheet of pastry 2 hours before starting)
~ 1/2 of a Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
~ 1 Tablespoon of Flour



TO START

Sprinkle 1 pinch of salt and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper on both sides of chicken and either saute, grill or bake, then set aside.

In a large mixing bowl while chicken is cooking beat 2 eggs add garlic, onion, thyme, salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a microwave safe bowl place spinach and microwave until wilted. May need to stir in between. Drain spinach and mix in our filling bowl.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat 1 egg and water in a separate small bowl for wash.

Spread flour over cutting board and place pastry on it.
Spread 1/2 of spinach filling on 1/2 of pastry leaving 1 to 2 inches of pastry uncovered with filling. (Use slotted spoon if filling is wet) Place cooked chicken breast over filling. Place remainder of filling on top of chicken.
Fold pastry to meet edges evenly. Use a fork to seal all open edges.

Place pastry on cookie sheet or shallow baking dish. Coat with egg wash and place in hot oven for 35 minutes.

Let pastry set for 5 to 7 minutes before slicing. We served our entree' with carrots.

                                                                           




    

Asparagus Shitake Risotto with Black Truffle [Zack]

Risotto is one of my favorite things to cook.  It's way more simple than you think.  If you know how to stir rice around in a pot and be patient, you're good to go.  Since this ingredient list is pretty sparse, the quality of your inputs matter.  If you can find some homemade chicken stock and parmesan reggiano, you will taste the difference.  If not, it will still be great!

Process:

We'll cook the asparagus and shitake mushrooms in a separate pan from the risotto.  Therefore, we can multitask!

Slice the asparagus into thin rounds and add them into a saute pan over medium heat with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Wash and slice your shitake mushrooms.  Make sure to not overcook your asparagus - you want it to have a slight bite to it.  Reserve on a side-plate.

Heat up your chicken stock in a sauce pot.  You want to add hot stock to the rice so it cooks more evenly and the temperature doesn't drop each time cold stock is added.

Melt some butter and olive oil in a pot over medium heat.

Dice an onion and add it to a pot with butter and olive oil.  Gently sautee the onion for about 5 minutes.  Add in the Arborio rice (risotto rice) and stir it around in the oil and onions for 4 minutes.  This will lightly toast your rice and give the food a nutty taste.

Add in 1 cup of white wine and stir every 30 seconds or so until the rice soaks it up.  Once the wine has been absorbed, continue to add in chicken stock in 1/2 cup increments until the rice is nicely al dente (this should take about 15 minutes).

While you are stirring your risotto, cook the shitake mushrooms in the other pan in a little bit of olive oil.  Add them to your side plate with the asparagus.

Stir in the grated cheese, mushrooms and asparagus during the last minute of cooking.

Top with as much black truffle you can afford, crack some black pepper, and serve.

Ingredients:

3 asparagus spears
1/4 lb shitake mushrooms
1T butter
1T oil
1 medium white onion
1.5 cups Arborio Rice
1 cup white wine
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup grated parmesan reggiano (or more to taste)
as much black truffle as you can afford to top

Song:  Kimbra - Settle Down

Homemade Sweet Sausage Flat bread Pizza [Zack]

One of my favorite pizzas is made by Delucia’s in Raritan NJ.  They make a nice dough, have a wood-burning oven, but what really sets their pizza apart is the fresh homemade sausage.  They season ground pork with some spices and then put the raw pork on top of the pizza.  Their oven cooks the sausage right on the pizza.  It’s way better than sliced formed sausage because the ground pork has nooks and crannies in order to increase browning.

I chose to add this sausage to a flatbread pizza.  I brushed the flatbread with olive oil and topped it with sausage, cooked spinach, red onions, and sea salt.

You can adapt this very basic sausage recipe however you choose.  You can:

• make it more spicy by adding hot pepper flakes
• omit the brown sugar for a savory sausage
• add any type of herbs (including fennel seeds)

Process:

Start by making your pizza dough.  Get a big bowl and combine the lukewarm water + the yeast packet + the honey.  Mix it all together and let it sit for 5 mins.  Gradually add in your flour, mixing constantly.  Once you can start kneading the dough, add only enough flour so the dough doesn’t stick to your hand.  Knead for 2 more mins until the dough is silky.  Drizzle a bit of olive oil on top and cover the bowl with a kitchen towel.  Let the dough rise for an hour or so.   

In another bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the sausage and mix well. 

Pre-heat your oven well in advance to the maximum broil setting.  I like to use an overturned cast iron skillet on the middle rack of the oven instead of a pizza stone (thanks Kenji!). 

Roll out your pizza dough and add the toppings.   I like to brush the crust with olive oil.  Open the oven and carefully place the pizza on top of the cast iron skillet.  Cook the pizza until the crust browns nicely and the sausage has a few crisp edges. 

Ingredients:

1 lb ground pork

2T brown sugar

1tsp harissa powder (or ½ tsp paprika, ½ tsp pepper flakes)

1tsp onion powder

1tsp garlic powder

1tsp sea salt

Pizza dough:

Approx 3 ½ cups pastry or type 00 flour

1 envelope instant yeast

1T honey

2 tsp salt

1 ½ cup lukewarm water

Song:  Kavinsky - Nightcall

Spicy Pancetta Red Sauce [Zack]

This pasta dish is perfect for a quick fix.  I was in a rush to cook dinner and was able to cook this start-to-finish in 30 minutes.  It's fresh, savory, and perfect after a long day at the office.

The simplicity of this recipe relies on the quality of the ingredients.  I was given some free homemade fresh pasta from the opening of the new Italian Specialties store Sette Piatti.  I found some quality pancetta in the fridge (I'm glad I'm a hoarder), and the rest fell into place.

Process:

Get a sauce pan going over medium heat and toss your pancetta in the pan.  While that is slowly crisping, set a pot of hot salted water over high heat.  Slice the red onions, garlic, and hot pepper and set aside.

I'm lazy and I hate grating cheese, so I just throw chunks of parmesan reggiano into my food processor.  Boom, grated cheese.  Set the cheese aside and add the 4 loosely chopped tomatoes and puree until chunky.

When the pancetta is nice and crispy, add the red onions and hot pepper into the pan.  Saute for 3 minutes.  Add the garlic, cook 1 additional minute, and then put the tomato puree into the pan.  Add the red wine and cook down for about 10 minutes.  You may need to add a dash of salt, but be careful as the pancetta will already add some salt.

Cook your pasta, toss it all together, and add reggiano like a madman.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
1/4 lb or 100g pancetta cut into matchsticks
1 clove garlic diced
2 red onions sliced
1/2 glass red wine
1 hot pepper sliced

4 large tomatoes

enough parmesan reggiano to make you feel like a king (aka to taste)

1/2 lb or 250g macaroni pasta (fresh if you can)

Song: St Paul and the Broken Bones - Don't Mean a Thing

Kale for Breakfast or an Appetizer

Recently I saw a recipe of the Food Network using kale with squash so decided to try it.  Turns out it wasn't what I expected and we ended up with a HUGE bag of kale.  So off to the internet to search out other recipes.

We're always looking for something different for breakfast on our days off, so thought we'd try this one.

Sauteed Kale with Toast & Eggs (for 2)

Remove stems from approximately 1 cup of kale.  Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil, add 1 clove of chopped garlic, 1 tbsp of bacon bits and kale.  Cook about 2 minutes.  We preferred it slightly crunchy rather than wilted.

Take 2 slices of a nice, crusty bread.  Spread with butter or a little olive oil and toast (or not).

Spoon kale mixture onto bread and top with fried or poached egg. 

Tom put the eggs into a ramekin and cooked in a pot of water. 

Top with shaved parmesan.

As an Appetizer -
Use the same basic recipe - leave off the egg and you have bruschetta!  Top with a dollop of goat cheese and you're ready to serve.

Crispy Duck Confit Pasta with Morel and Spinach Cream Sauce [Zack]

If spaghetti carbonara is the king of pasta, and bucatini amitriciana is the queen, then duck confit pasta with morel cream sauce could very well be the prince.  There are a lot of elements in this dish that mimic the savory deliciousness of carbonara:  crispy duck confit = bacon, parm reggiano = pecorino cheese, and creamy egg yolk = creamy egg yolk.

I used a good amount of chicken stock to add flavor and to replace a portion of the cream.  I found jarred morels, but if you can find fresh ones, that's even better.

In case you need a recipe on how to make homemade duck confit, check out my recipe.

Process:

Take your duck confit out of the fat and place it skin down in a cold pan.  Start the pan over medium-low heat to render the fat from the skin and to crisp it up.

Break the duck leg apart with a spatula so you can crisp maximum surface area.

Cook for about 10 minutes after you break it up, making sure to turn it over every few minutes.

Slice your shallots, chop your morels, and wash your spinach.

Start the shallots in a pan with 1T of garlic butter and a little bit of olive oil over medium heat.  Saute until they develop a little bit of color.  Add in the morels and the spinach.  Cook for another 5 minutes until the spinach has mostly wilted.

Add in your cream and chicken stock, and reduce for another 5 minutes.  Throw in the grated cheese.

Cook your pasta al dente according to the directions on the package.

Toss the cooked pasta in the sauce, top with the duck confit, crack black pepper all over, and serve with an egg yolk per portion.

Ingredients:
.5 lb / 250g pasta
4/5 cup / 200 ml chicken stock
2T cream
1/2 cup grated reggiano
1 cup chopped morels
3 shallots
1T garlic butter (or 1T butter, 2 cloves garlic, mashed to combine)
2 egg yolks
cracked black pepper

Song - I said prince of pasta, not Prince, but oh well here goes anyways:  Prince - Breakfast Can Wait