Tomato Goat Cheese Tart

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
• Line a tart pan with pre-made filo, brush with melted butter
• Thinly slice about 4 plum tomatoes, and top the filo crust concentrically with the slices
• Beat together 3/4 cup cream, 3/4 cup milk, 3 eggs, 4 ounces goat cheese, salt, pepper, nutmeg and chopped parsley
• Pour the mixture over the tomatoes
• Bake the tart for about 45 minutes

ENJOY!

Pasta with Vodka Sauce

I wish I could make this recipe here at school, but since we're not allowed to have alcohol in the dorms I think it would be a problem if I took out the very necessary handle of vodka in the community kitchen... until I have my own kitchen I have to settle for jarred vodka sauce.... Even though I can't enjoy it I figured I should still share it with you so here it goes......

I got the structure of this recipe from a friend’s mom and since then I have altered it just a little bit from her original, but needless to say I think it’s a great recipe. It makes enough for about eight people.

2 lbs pasta (penne or rigatoni)

1 ½ sticks of butter unsalted

½ cup of vodka

2 cups of light cream

3 cups of marinara sauce

Small Can of Tomato Paste

3/4 cup ofgrated Locatelli/Ramano/Pecorino cheese

Some black pepper (to taste)

Optional: 1/4lbsProsciutto Chopped, Parsley (to taste), ½ cup of Peas, Shrimp or Chicken

Set a big pot of water aside so it will begin to boil.

If using prosciutto sauté it and the tomato paste in a large skillet with some of the butter once sautéed add the remaining butter until melted. If not using prosciutto simply melt the butter and tomato paste in the large skillet.

Then add the vodka to the butter and let it simmer for at least ten minutes so the alcohol will burn off. You’ll know if it is ready because the air above the skillet won’t smell of vodka anymore. (To burn off the alcohol faster carefully using a match to light the alcohol on fire. The fire will burn off fast and on its own).

Put the pasta into the boiling water and then add the other ingredients to the vodka/butter mixture. Let cook for at least 10 minutes or until the pasta is ready.

Chicken Parmesan

This is another family recipe. I figured out to make it based on watching other family members cook it so sorry that there aren’t any quantities listed. It was particularly challenging to cook this in the community kitchen dorm tonight. The community kitchen sink was clogged and it looked as if the kitchen hadn’t been cleaned in about two months. It’d be nice to have my own kitchen, but needless to say my friends and I managed to cook the Chicken Parmesan without having any of our food touch any of the community kitchen surfaces (ie: the table, the stove, the sink, etc.).

Ingredients:

Before it was placed in the oven.

Chicken breast

Breadcrumbs (Progresso Italian style)

Eggs

Flour

Olive oil

Marinara Sauce

Parmesan Cheese Grated

Fresh Mozzarella Cheese Sliced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare the chicken breasts by trimming away the fat and cutting them into smaller chicken breast pieces. Set aside and set up three bowls; one filled with some flour, one filled with whisked eggs, and one filled with some breadcrumbs. Also, set aside a skillet with a good amount of olive oil on the stove and a pan to be placed in the oven.

Then cover each chicken breast completely in the bowl of flour then cover them completely with egg in the egg bowl and then cover them completely with bread crumbs in the bread crumb bowl. When the olive oil in the skillet is hot begin to brown the chicken on both sides in the pan adding more olive oil as needed. When the chicken is browned place it in the oven pan you set aside earlier.

Cover each chicken with some marinara sauce. Then sprinkle some Parmesan cheese over the sauce and place slices of mozzarella cheese on each breast of chicken too. Once everything has been covered place it into the oven for about 25 minutes or until the chicken is cooked all the way through. 

Serve the chicken with pasta with marinara sauce. I also chose to serve it with some salad.... We ate on my dorm room floor... maybe next year I'll have a table.

Marinara Sauce

This is a family recipe, I used to watch my mother make it and she would watch her mother make it. For the most part we actually add many of the ingredients to taste and not with actual amounts. I approximated the quantities to make it easier to follow. With these quantities it makes enough sauce for about eight people.

2lbs pasta (penne or rigatoni)

1 white onion chopped

2 cans of chopped tomatoes (preferably Luigi Vitelli or Progresso brand) (each 28oz)

2 garlic cloves diced

Basil Leaves (Dried)

2 Whole Bay Leaves (Dried)

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Optional: 2 Carrots chopped

In a skillet sauté the onion, salt, garlic, and a good amount of olive oil. Cook until the onions are translucent (just before they begin to brown). Meanwhile put the cans of chopped tomatoes into a big pot with the basil leaves, bay leaves, carrots, and pepper. Make sure to put a generous amount of basil leaves and pour some olive oil directly into the sauce.

Once the tomato mixture is warm add the sautéed things and cook stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes.

Sorry for the lack of pictures…. My camera’s battery wasn’t charged when I made this yesterday, opps. I’ll post pictures next time I make it. 

Saumon au Poivre Vert (Salmon With Green Peppercorns)

"A fashionable discovery of nouvelle cuisine, green peppercorns add piquancy to all kinds of sauces and stews. Available pickled in jars or cans, they are great to keep on hand in your pantry."

Tonight Bill and I decided to frog out. We made a delicious French meal of pan seared salmon with a rich peppercorn cream sauce, accompanied by baked tomatoes topped with garlic. It was tres magnifique!

Stuffed Summer Vegetables

Tonight I made more good (in fact, delicious) use of the summer vegetables I bought the other day at the farm. The recipe I used is from Alain Ducasse, and the concept is to stuff a variety of vegetables with several meats, mushrooms and cheese, along with a small amount of the vegetable that is being stuffed.

Chef Ducasse suggests that the stuffed vegetables may include: tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, and onions. For this meal I used just tomatoes and zucchini. When you are stuffing the eggplant and the tomatoes, the vegetables that go into the filling are supposed to be pre-roasted. I did not have time to do this step, so for the tomatoes I used the filling straight, omitting the tomato confit that was called for in the recipe. Otherwise I followed the instructions more or less as written. The quantity made by the recipe is enough to serve 4-6 people.

First, mince 4 small shallots, 1 clove of garlic, and 1/4 lb mushrooms. Saute the shallots for a minute in a little olive oil and butter over medium heat . Add the garlic, and saute for another minute.

Next add the mushrooms, and saute for an additional minute, then add an extra tablespoonful of olive oil. Optionally, add 2 tablespoons of chopped black truffles to the mixture along with a tablespoonful of truffle oil in place of the olive oil. I added the truffles and they were wonderful!

Set the mushroom and shallot mixture aside.

Next chop 3/4 lb chicken breasts and 2/3 lb boneless leg of lamb into 2-inch chunks, and saute in olive oil over medium-high heat. Season with salt, and cook until golden brown on all sides, about 4 minutes. Alain Ducasse advises to leave the meat a little undercooked to avoid drying it out, as it will finish cooking inside the vegetables later on.

Add 1/2 lb of chopped boiled ham to the mixture, then finely mince the meats.
Add the minced meats to the mushroom/shallot mixture, along with 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese and 1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste and mix well.

Next scoop out the flesh of the vegetables you want to use, and leave the shell to be stuffed with the filling. You can reserve the flesh of the tomatoes, as I did, for a later use. (I will probably use them in a sauce.)

Stuff the vegetables, topping them with their reserved "caps" if desired, as I did with the zucchini below.

Drizzle the vegetables with a little olive oil, and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until the edges of the vegetables are browned. I put mine under the broiler for a few minutes at the end for extra browning.

Compose a simple salad by drizzling a mesclun mix with lemon and olive oil and sprinkling with a little salt, then mound the salad on a plate and top with the vegetables.

Bon appetit!

Tart of Young Lettuces and Tomato Confit

Here is a recipe that I made for my sister last week. It is a savory tart that really showcases the deep, pure flavors of the few main ingredients, in the signature style of Alain Ducasse. This recipe comes from his cookbook, Flavors of France. It is basically a composed salad served atop a rich, buttery crust.

To start you will need to slow-bake 4 1/2 pounds large plum tomatoes for the Tomato Confit. To do this, preheat the oven to the lowest setting, then peel and quarter the tomatoes, removing the seeds and membranes, then arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet greased with olive oil. Scatter 8 branches of fresh thyme and 6 medium unpeeled garlic cloves over the tomatoes, then drizzle them with 1/4 cup olive oil and 2 teaspoons course sea salt. Bake 2-3 hours, turning once halfway through the baking process. Prepare the tomatoes several hours or up to 3 days ahead of the following instructions. Preserve all of the cooked ingredients in a jar in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Next, make the pastry. You will need:

1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into bits

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 large egg yolks

1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 teaspoon water, for egg wash

Combine the flour, butter and salt in a food processor or medium bowl. Mix until the dough resembles coarse meal. Add the egg yolks and mix just until the dough comes together. Knead the dough for about 2 minutes between the palms of your hands and form it into a ball. Press into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

When ready, bring the crust to room temperature and roll out into a circle 11 inches across and 1/8 inch thick. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, prick with a fork in several places, and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Then brush the egg wash over the surface of the crust and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Let the crust cool on a wire rack, then transfer very gently to a serving plate, sliding the crust off of the parchment.

For the topping you will need:

1/4 pound mixed arugula, mesclun, and frisee

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

Tomato Confit (that you prepared earlier)

1/2 small zucchini, skin sliced off in wide 1/8-inch-thick strips and cut into 1 1/2 inch lengths

5 or 6 fresh basil leaves

2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, sliced with a peeler into shavings

Small fresh thyme sprigs for garnish

Toss the lettuces together with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the sea salt. Top the cooled crust with this salad, then arrange the tomatoes, cut side down and slightly overlapping, in concentric circles from the outer edge in.

In a skillet, cook the zucchini strips in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat for about 1 minute. Arrange the zucchini on top of the tart with the basil and cheese, garnishing with thyme and a few pieces of garlic from the confit if desired. Serve immediately. The tart yields 6 servings as a first course, or as a featured component in a light lunch. We had ours for lunch along with a Spanish-style potato salad.

Veal Scallopini with Tomato, Oregano, and Capers

This is a very tasty recipe that I learned from Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. Having previously eaten veal that was dry and tough in restaurants on more than one occasion, I was pleased to find that I could make quite appealing veal very easily at home. I have been making this recipe for so long now, and so many times that I haven't looked inside the cookbook for years. Hence I am sure I have altered it somewhat to fit my own personal cooking needs and conveniences.

It is one of my old standbys, a recipe that I make when I don't know what else to make and am too pressed for time to look for new recipes.

It doesn't take too long and is very easy.

To serve approx. 4 people, or 2 adults and 3 little ones as in our household, the ingredients are:

1 lb thinly pounded veal slices for scallopini

about 1/2 c. flour

salt and pepper

vegetable oil, enough to coat your frying pan

1/2 c. white wine

1 large can of imported Italian plum tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped

1 T. oregano

1 T. capers, or a lot more if your children adore capers like ours do...

1 T. butter

First, season the veal with salt and pepper.

Then, dredge each slice with a thin coating of flour.

Pour a small amount of vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat, just enough to coat the bottom.

Fry the veal slices until browned, turning once to brown both sides, about 4 minutes per side.

They will look something like this:

If you need to brown multiple batches of veal, deglaze the pan with the wine between batches in order to prevent burning leftover particles from the previous batch. Set aside the cooked veal and glazing liquid in a bowl.

Once all the veal is cooked, deglaze the pan once more. Then add the chopped tomatoes. Pour any liquid from the reserved veal into the pan as well, and cook this sauce for about 30 minutes.

Toward the end of the cooking time, add the oregano and the butter. This time I forgot the butter, and didn't even notice until I typed this out. Thus, if you're watching your fat intake, you too can "forget" the butter with no ill consequences.

When it is done cooking, add the capers.

Briefly reheat the veal slices in the sauce.

Serve the veal topped with the sauce.

Enjoy with a green vegetable or salad!

Potato Gnocchi with Tomato Sauce

Sometimes we let potatoes sit a little too long in the kitchen, and they start to sprout eyes and become a bit soft. If this happens to you, and you think they are destined for the garbage, WAIT! These ugly little potatoes can be transformed into a delicious meal. Indeed, potato gnocchi made with old potatoes is far superior to potato gnocchi made with potatoes in their prime because they contain less water and more starch. The gnocchi instructions below are adapted from Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. She recommends using any kind of old boiling potato, and specifically advises against using any kind of baking potato or new potato as either will yield gnocchi that are "likely to collapse while cooking." The potatoes I used in this case are Yukon Gold.

With just six ingredients including these lowly potatoes, and a little patience, you will impress your family with a tasty and economical meal.

You will need:

1 1/2 pounds potatoes

1 1/2 cups flour

1 large can of Italian tomatoes with their juices

5 tablespoons of butter

1 medium sized onion

salt

First, boil the potatoes in water until they are soft. The smaller ones will cook first, and you can remove them as they are done.

Meanwhile, start your sauce. Dump the tomatoes in a pan, chop them up roughly with some kitchen shears, add the butter and some salt. Peel and halve the onion, and place it in the pan with the other ingredients. Bring to a simmer, stirring every so often.

As you stir your sauce now and then, break up any large chunks of tomato with the back of a wooden spoon.

This sauce is so simple, and so tasty, and it can be enjoyed on any kind of pasta!

When the potatoes are soft, peel them while still warm.

(It's worth mentioning that any traces of the "eyes", and any discolored spots should be removed prior to eating any potato, as these blemishes can be toxic.)

Now, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. I used the same one I boiled the potatoes in - less to clean up later :)

Pass the peeled potatoes through a food mill to make a puree.

Place the potato puree on a floured work surface, and knead in the 1 1/2 cups of flour a little at a time. Depending how absorbent your potatoes are, you may not need to add all of the flour. Your dough should end up soft and just a little bit sticky.

Divide the dough into a few smaller pieces.

Then, using both hands, roll each portion into 1 inch thick snakelike cylinders, dividing it into more pieces as necessary to keep it at a manageable length.

Using a sharp knife, divide each cylinder into little pillows of dough.

Using a fork as a shaping tool, use your index finger to indent each pillow in the center.

The fork will create a groove pattern on one side, useful for trapping the sauce.

Make a batch of gnocchi, and test a few in the boiling water to determine the cooking time. They should float to the top, and then require 10 seconds, more or less, to become done. When they are done they should not taste of raw flour. I left mine in for 20-30 seconds.

Here are the gnocchi, looking lovely boiling in the salted water:

Once cooked, remove the gnocchi from the pan with a slotted spoon and transfer to a colander.

Cook any remaining batches of gnocchi in the same boiling water.

Once all the gnocchi has been cooked, serve in bowls and top with the warm sauce.

If desired, you may also top your gnocchi with some Parmesan cheese. We had ours with sauce only, and didn't miss a thing.