Fall Colors

Once you learn how to make basic pasta, you can play around with its shape, colors and flavors. 

Today we decided to make a three flavor, three color goat cheese ravioli. 

For the green pasta we added dehydrated spinach powder. For the red pasta we added dehydrated tomato powder and the yellow pasta was a basic pasta dough. You can also add spinach and tomato paste instead of dehydrated powder, but in this case you will diminish the amount of water added to the basic recipe in order to get the right consistency.

Once you roll out your three different doughs you want to maintain a base dough whole and the other ones you will cut into strips, as thin as you desire. You will then gently glue each strip on top of the basic dough with a bit of egg wash or water in between the layers.

You will then pass it on the pasta machine on a bigger width, about double the size of your last thickness you had rolled it off in, since you are basically laying one layer on top of the other. You will start rolling it out until the the desired thickness.

You can also just form different stuffed individual pieces of different colors and serve them all together. It will look very neat.

The pieces below are waiting to be cooked. 

Once you have shaped them you do not need to keep them covered and moist, they will hydrate and cook normally once they are thrown in the boiling water.

This is what they will look like once they are cooked. Now we will add the sauce.

These are the striped ones. We served them with a light carrot Beurre Blanc and a bit of grated cheese.

I love the colors of nature.

A mid-morning snack!

I saw this magnificent creature as I was walking home.

The color, movement and shape of the leaves remind me a of what I feel is beautiful.

Sometimes, just a healthy vegetarian snack will satisfy that mid-morning hunger before lunch time arrives. I find cheese one of the best snacks for these moments.

Both of these savory dishes below can be made in advance and kept in the cooler for a few days. I see them as good and nutritious snacks to have at home or at work, if you have access to a cooler.

Mushrooms A La Grecque

yield 25 portions 

• 2 cups Water
• 1 pt (or less if preferred) Olive oil
• 6 floz Lemon Juice
• 1 Celery rib
• 2 Tsp Salt
• Sachet D'epice (2 garlic cloves crushed, 1.5 pepper corn lightly crushed, coriander seeds, 1 bay leaf, 1 tsp dried thyme)
• 1/4 cup Parsley chopped

Procedure

Place the water, olive oil, juice, celery, salt and sachet in the pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add mushroom and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool in its own liquid.

Remove the sachet and celery and let the mushrooms marinate overnight in the cooler.

Cheese Wafers

yeld 150 wafers

• 1lb Sharp cheddar cheese grated
• 8 oz Butter softened
• 12 oz Bread flour
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• White Pepper

Procedure

Mix all the ingredients until they blend, knead dough in the surface, divide it in 5 pieces, roll into cylinders and chill in the refrigerator.

Once chilled, cut into slices and put on greased baking sheet. 

Bake at 450 F about 10 minutes or until crisp.

A simpler method is just to take bunches of grated Parmesan cheese, make little balls and bake them off until crisp.

The Parm crackers hold well in the cooler for many weeks.

Below is the simpler Parm version.

Mushrooms A La Grecque

A creative dessert: Whole grain tuile cookie, Chantilly filling, Caramel Sauce and Roasted Pistachio for garnishing.

The beauty of a fall day in Boulder's Historic District.

Gnocchi al Pomodoro and Zabaglione. November 2011

Here goes a curiosity:

The literal meaning for Pomodoro is "Golden Apple" in Italian. The first tomatoes in Italy were a yellowish color. Today, a food served "al pomodoro" are plates served with tomato sauce. 

Gnocchis are small dumplings most commonly made of potatoes, a touch of flour, eggs and salt. They are best when poached in simmering water and then cooked "au gratin" or "gratinati" with some kind of sauce, such as tomatoes, cream or cheese.

The word Gnocchi is originally Italian and means "lumps", but it is also found in other cuisines such as the Austro-Hungarian and Alsatian cookery, where they are called Knepfle, Knodel, Noques or Quenelles.

My Gnocchi recipe:

Yield about 16 portions

• Potatoes (about 4lb)
• Flour sifted (about 1/2 lb)
• Eggs beaten (about 2)
• Salt (to taste)
• Grated Cheese (to taste)

Procedure:

Clean your potatoes and boil them with their peels on and preferably whole in seasoned water. The peel will protect them from absorbing too much water while cooking.

Test their degree of doneness: 

Pinch a paring knife all the way through their center. It should slide easily in and out. That means they are cooked all the way through. 
Another way of testing their degree of doneness is by picking out a little piece of the potato and with your bench scraper press it and slide it against your counter. If it comes out like a smooth paste, they are done. You should not see well formed grains.

Now removed their skins and puree them. I would suggest using a food mill or a potato masher. This way the finished puree will turn out denser and tighter than when mashed in a mixer.

Mix in a bit of the flour, salt, eggs and cheese. Adjust the dough's consistency according to your desire. 

If you prefer a denser and tighter dough, you will probably want to add more flour and eggs. You can then roll it by hand on a lightly floured surface and cut it into little lumps. Once these are primarily poached you can brown then on the stove top with some butter or olive oil, and served them with your choice of sauce. That Maillard Reaction browning will give it a special extra flavor that will make you dish a lot more delicious.

If you prefer a lighter and fluffier dough, you might want to add just a touch of flour to your potatoes and instead of rolling them out you can put them in a large piping bag with a large hole and pipe each piece while you cut them as the fall into the simmering seasoned water. They may then be finished "gratinati" in the oven with sauce and cheese over them. In this case you shall serve them on the dish where it was oven cooked.

I personally prefer this lighter version of Gnocchi, since the potatoes take on a greater flavor in the dish. It also usually turns out to be a more digestible meal.

Ps: The when your are poaching your Gnocchi, you will know when it is cooked when it floats to the top of the surface.

Pss: I suggest boiling potatoes of significantly different sizes separately because they will have different cooking times.

My Pomodoro Sauce 
Yield 3 qt

• Grape seed oil (or any kind of high smoke point oil)
• 1/2 lb Chopped Onions
• 1/2 lb Chopped Carrots
• 1/2 lb Chopped Celery
• 1 to 2 lb Canned Whole Tomatoes (good quality whole tomatoe or if available, very ripe fresh tomatoes chopped).
• 4 Garlic Cloves (crushed)
• Salt (to taste)
• Black Pepper (to taste)
• Dried Basil Leaves
• Red Wine (to taste)
• Extra Virgin Olive oil (to taste)
• Fresh Basil leaves (to taste)
• Grated Parmesan Cheese (to taste)

Procedure:

Sweat your onions, celery, carrots in your grape seed oil. Add your dried spices. Add your garlic and as soon as looks golden in color add your chopped fresh tomatoes or canned tomatoes. Cook for a few minutes and add your red wine. Cook until the tomatoes are very soft and saucy. Remove from the heat and add your Extra virgin olive oil, fresh basil and finish it off with a touch of grated cheese.

This is the denser type of gnocchi. It was browned with butter and served with the Pomodoro sauce.

Below you will also see a small portion of the "pan seared" gnocchi, some sauteed spinach, the chunky pomodoro and a pureed version of the same pomodoro.

For dessert I served a Zabaglione.

Zabaglione is a light and foamy dessert of Italian origin made by whisking egg yolks, wine and sugar together over a gentle heat. The word is derived from the Neapolitan dialect word "Zapillare", which means "to foam".

The preparation for this dessert is a bit delicate, since the yolks must be whisked and thikened over heat without coagulating. The end result must be very frothy.

Whisked egg whites may be added to the mix after it has been beaten just before serving.

Ps: The term "Sabayon" is also used for a type of Mousseline sauce, usually made with Champagne, served with fish or Shell fish.

Zabaglione

Sabayon Whipped with Marsala and Lemon 

(yield 1 qt)

• 8 Egg yolks
• 1/2 cup of Sugar
• 1 cup Marsala or red wine
• 2 tsp Lemon Zest, finely grated

Procedure

Whisk the yolks and sugar in a copper or stainless steel bowl until they turn a pale yellow color and form a ribbon. Add the Marsala and whisk to combine.

Place the bowl over bain marie and beat the mixture until it is about four times its original volume and quite thick. Fold in the lemon zest.

To serve warm: Immediately pour over sliced fruits or over a white cake or a combination of cake and fruit. You can also serve it "gratinati" by browning its surface under a salamander.

I chose to serve the version below cold and simple because I found its flavor complete without adding any compliments. 


To make it: Once the warm sauce was ready, I placed it in a mold and refrigerated it for 1 day. It became of a thicker consistency and very rich.

You can serve a chilled slice plain and simple as a dessert or add some fresh fruits to accompany it.

I just love the fall...even in November.

Pheasant

The nice thing about living in Boulder is: 

"If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes." as people have told me. It's true.

After a snow storm, the skies will clear, the sun will come back, the snow will melt and we will get another nice fall day.

At school, I am fortunate enough to have a chef instructor that is also passionate about hunting. He hunts mostly pheasants. Of course, the hunting he does is totally legal, and even necessary to keep a balanced amount of birds in the fields according to our animal chain.

Once you hunt your bird you have to wait at least 7 days for it to age properly in order to eat it and enjoy what you are eating. The stiffening of the animal that happens right after it is killed is called the Rigor Mortis stiffening. 

Here goes a bit about Rigor Mortis

For a brief period immediately after the bird's death its muscles are relaxed and if then cooked will make a very tender meat. However, soon after, its muscles will stiffen in a condition considered "stiffness of death" or "Rigor Mortis" and if cooked in this state will make a very tough meat. 

This stiffness sets in about 1 hour after the animal is killed and will start getting soft again as the protein-digesting enzymes withing the muscle fibers begin to eat away the framework that holds the stiffness of these muscles in place. This is called AGING.

In general, each animal should age a certain amount of time before being eaten so that the meat becomes tender and flavorful. 

There are two main kinds of aging processes:

The Dry Age and the Wet Age. 

The Dry Age is considered the best type of aging. It is usually done to big pieces of meat, such as bison or venison, that are hung whole and unwrapped in a special chilled room, usually 34 F to 38 F and with a 70% to 80% humidity. It can be aged in this state from 1 week to more that 1 month. 

The cool temperature limits the growth of microbes, while the moderate humidity causes the meat to loose moisture gradually and thus become denser and more concentrated. 

It will also acquire a special flavor from the mold and protein bacteria that is created on its outside layer. This layer must eventually be cut off once it is ready to be cooked.

Even though this type of aging is considered the best in terms of meat flavor, it is not what is usually used, since it is a more expensive way of aging due to equipment and loss off meat weight.

The pheasant bellow was Wet Aged, which is the simpler aging process. 

It was put in a plastic container in the cooler for seven days, with its guts removed (so that it would not spoil) before plucking out its feathers. 

Since pheasant is a delicate animal, we chose to Dry Pluck it before cooking instead of Wet Plucking it. 

A dry plucking process is a more time consuming task. The feathers have to be removed one by one, but it protects the delicate skin of the bird, which should remain intact. We wanted to cook it with the skin on to get an extra pheasant flavor.

For a Wet Pluck you would remove all the feathers by rubbing the skin under water.

Below you will see the pheasant waiting to be plucked. 

Here is the pheasant as we were starting to pluck it.

It is important to remember that when you hunt a bird, you should look where it was shot and remove the bullet area right away, so that it does not contaminate the rest of the bird. 

If the weather is warm, you also have to eviscerate it right away so that it does not spoil. 

When cutting it, be sure not to cut the crop, which is the area where the bird feeds. This would spill its larva and grass out.

Cooking Process

Some accelerate aging can take place during slow cooking, so when you have a choice, choose a slow cooking method for your aged meat. This will make it even more tender.

For this bird, we chose to pan sear the whole bird being very careful not to rip its skin, since it is so thin. Once it was browned on all sides we slow roasted it in a 300 F oven. 

The ideas it to serve it medium rare about 140 F in order to maintain its tenderness and best flavor.

As the bird was roasting we deglazed the pan in which it was seared with some red wine and reduced it to get a very strong and flavorful sauce. 

Mean while, we sweated some Mire Poix and added some dried bread crumbs, roasted hazel nuts, dried prunes and some fresh herbs to the vegetables. We finished it off adding some pheasant veloute (the we made it by making a roux and adding some pheasant stock. You can also use fortified chicken stock if you prefer) and finally added the reduced red wine sauce and adjusted flavor.

Once the bird was roasted we served it with this pheasant stuffing and some extra pheasant veloute on top.

Below are some of the ingredients we used to make the stuffing:

Dried bread crumbs seasoned, dried prunes and roasted hazel nuts.

Unfortunately I did not get shot of the pheasant dinner plated. It was so delicious that I only remembered to take a shot when it was all gone.

Walking around my neighborhood I am able to enjoy this gorgeous fall day.

Ravioli on a snowy day.

Our first snow storm in October 2011. 

This is what my house looks like.

On our first snow storm we decided to make Ravioli Pasta stuffed with Ricotta and Black Olive filling.

Since our filling was very flavorful, I decided to make a fresh pesto sauce to accompany it. It worked great together.

When you fill your Raviolis, make sure to egg wash the bottom layer of pasta sheet. You can do this by using equal parts of eggs and water whisked together.

Now, with a small ice cream scoop or spoon, add equal amounts of filling throughout the sheet, leaving the same amount of space in between them.

Once you have completed, egg wash the top pasta sheet and gently lay it over your fillings. Lay it loosely so that you can tuck all sides of the filling and keeping it tight and removing all the air from inside. 

Any residua air bubbles left in the ravioli would probably inflate once warmed in the cooking water and could ruin your individual pasta envelope.

Once you have tighten the middles cut them equally in shape and size. I have found it easier cutting them with a ring mold and making round raviolis. This way they turn out all the same. If you don't have a ring mold you can also cut them square, making the all the same size.

You may hold them for a bit of time before cooking, but cover them with a moist towel so that they don't dry off since you would not want them to crack. This would make the filling leak. 

Post Scrip-tum: When cooking your Ravioli, leave them in the boiling water only for a few minutes. Remove them when they are a still a touch under done. This will bring them to the perfect cooked texture, since It will always "carry over" a bit longer once they are out of the water. You want you finished product to be "Al Dente" or "To the Bite".

These raviolis just came out of the boiling seasoned water and are ready to be sauced.

Here is the Pesto sauce that I made. I used Pine Nuts for their crunch. The recipe for this sauce described in the previous post.

I tossed the raviolis with my hands. Since I wanted to make sure they would not tear. At this point they are very delicate.

I plated it nicely with some fresh grated Parmesan cheese. This is a perfect example of "Keeping it Simple and Delicious."

This is what my car looked like after our first snow storm in October.

Making Fresh Egg Pasta on a Fall Day...

Fall days are great for cooking, especially cooking something warm and rich like pasta. 

This was my first time making fresh pasta in class. At first it seemed difficult, but soon after I got the exact measurement for the basic dough, I found it quite easy.

Freshe Egg Pasta yeld 1.5 lb

• 1lb Bread flour (I used half bread and half AP)
• 5 eggs
• Pinch Salt
• 1/2 fl oz Olive oil (optional, if used you will probably need a bit more flour to reach the right consistency dough)

Boil a big stock pot with season water. It will be used to cook the pasta.

Mix all of these ingredients in a food processor until combined and finish mixing it by hand. This way you won't develop to much gluten in the dough.

Flatten and square the dough, wrap tightly and refrigerate for 45 minutes.

Once chilled and relaxed, cut 1/3 of the dough with your bench scraper and place the rest back in the cooler. You will be using only 1/3 at a time.

Roll it out to a long rectangle thin enough to pass through the widest part of the pasta machine, either # 1 or #7 depending on how your pasta machine is set up.

Start rolling your dough through the machine diminishing the # of wideness each time it goes all the way through. Keep the edges sharp with no cuts. If you get an outside rip on your dough, gently cut a straight strip with your pizza cutter. This way you will avoid the rip to grow.

When you reach the desired thickness, pass it twice through this thickness and finally pass it through the strip cutting part to make the Fettuccine or Angel Hair strips.

Place each patch of pasta strips in the desired sizes with a bit of flour on top of a sheet with parchment paper.

It can be held for boiling.

Meanwhile make the sauce of your choice.

One of my favorite sauces is the Pesto Sauce which meats a "pasted" sauce in Italian. The correct way of making it is with a Mortar and Pestle. If you don't have one you can make it in a food processor.

Pesto Sauce Yield 3 cups

• 4 Qt Fresh basil leaves (chopped)
• 1.5 cups Olive oil
• 4 oz Pine nuts (Walnuts can be used if you don't have Pine nuts)
• 10 Garlic cloves (crushed)
• 1.5 tsp Salt
• 5 oz Parmesan cheese grated
• 1.5 oz Romano cheese grated

Paste the basil, oil, nuts, garlic, salt, keeping the coarse texture.

Transfer the paste into a bowl and stir in the cheese.

Add tho the hot pasta that just came out of the steaming water.

Serve with additional grated cheese.

You can also serve your pasta with a Tomato Sauce, Tomato and Meat Sauce or Tomato Basil Sauce.

Tomato Sauce

Sweat some onions and garlic with a low smoke point oil, salt and pepper. 

Add your chopped tomatoes or good canned tomatoes if your tomatoes are not in season. Add some dried oregano and whatever other spice you desire.

Once your tomatoes are very soft and falling apart, turning into sauce, remove from the heat, add some extra virgin olive oil (if you want an extra flavor add some garlic flavored olive oil) and finish it with some fresh herbs.

Tomato Basil Sauce

Follow the procedure above but add  dried basil leaves in the beginning of the cooking process and lots of fresh basil leaves at the very last end of the cooking process, when you are about to serve your dish.

Tomato and Meat Sauce

Brown your ground meat on a large sauce pot with a bit of high smoke point oil, salt and pepper. Do not crowd your pot with meat. This would make the meat's juices and blood turn the meat gray and would keep it from browning in a Maillard Reaction way. You want the juices from your meat to evaporate quickly in the hot pan when they are released.

Once your meat is browned, remove it from the pot, add a bit of red wine to deglaze it now add your chopped onions, crushed garlic, seasonings, and chopped tomatoes. Mix it well so that your tomatoes release their juices and let it simmer until the tomatoes become soft and saucy. Adjust for flavor and finish it with a bit of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Rolling out the pasta dough sheet. 

You can connect it and roll it in a circle.

Pasta ready to be boiled. It is coated with flour so that it does no stick together.

Fettuccine in Meat Sauce.

Fettuccine in Tomato Sauce.

Fettuccine in Tomato and Basil Sauce.

And this is one way to enjoy a fall day...

Monkey Bread - October 2011

With the scraps of your perfectly cut Croissants you can make what we call Monkey Breads.

Roll each scrap into light balls and dip it into melted butter.

Now roll it over cinnamon sugar and place each ball on top of each other inside a cake pan. Bake at 400 F.

The process of making it.

Once they are ready, turn them over on a plate and serve.

A delicious sweet treat that will be devoured immediately!

Souffles: A breath of hot air.

And on a nice fall day in Boulder, I am in the kitchen making delicious souffles...

Souffles can be among the most delicate "puffed", "breathed" and "whispered" foods to make, but if made right, it is not difficult as it's been said.

It is certainly one of the most delicious foods to eat.

Pumpkin Souffle

• 12 oz Milk
• 2 Egg yolks
• 2 oz Sugar
• 2 tbsp Cornstarch
• 6 Egg whites
• Pumpkin puree (or other desired pureed fruit)

Procedure

In a small sauce pan, medium heat, bring the milk to a scald.

Meanwhile whisk the sugar and two egg yolks together, then the cornstarch. Stir until you have a smooth mixture.

Temper the hot milk into the egg mixture. Strain and return to the pot.

Bring to a boil and boil for one minute stirring constantly until thickened and smooth.

Remove from heat, add the desired flavors and cool.

Whip the egg whites to medium peeks. Do not over whip or let the eggs get dry.

Fold the two mixtures together lightening the base with a portion of beaten whites first.

Place in a large or individual buttered and sugared souffle dish and bake at 400 F

from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of your dish. 

Lower your temp if needed for larger Souffles to avoid browning on the top.

Open the oven the minimum times possible while baking. It will be done when risen, golden brown and slightly firm on top.

For a Savory Souffle

If you want to make a Savory Souffle, you can omit the sugar and add instead of using cornstarch, make a flavored Bechamel as your dairy base (flour + butter melted and mixed and seasoned. Add your milk and stir until thick), and then temper your eggs.

Now you may add whatever ingredients you choose to your base, such as grated cheese, onions, sauted vegetables, cured meat, etc.

Once your base is ready you may fold in your whites.

When coating your baking dish, coat it with butter and bread crumbs.

Key Point: To achieve maximum lightness with flavor!

Points to remember about Souffles:

• Combo of a flavored base and whipped whites folded in
• Base can be thickened or stabilized with flour, cornstarch or yolks
• It can be a savory bechamel with yolks or a sweet pastry cream
• Whites are whipped to very soft and flowy peeks
• Pouring them into a buttered crumbed or sugared dished gives them a more attractive texture. Unlike people think, it does not increase traction when rising
• Fill them to the rim
• Bake them in a hot conduction oven 450 F and close to the heat source
• Serve them immediately
• Test for doneness by touching the tip

Below is the folding of the whites into the puree base.

The batter being filled into the remekins.

The "Puffed" hot souffles that just came out of the oven.