This One's for the Book!

Squash...check. Artichoke hearts...check. Ingredients to make pasta dough...check!

Ready, set...create! Okay, I didn't go shopping, I didn't have a plan, but I went into my kitchen tonight to prepare something delicious! What I created was a lovely ravioli, filled with acorn squash, onion, bacon and sage. As a sauce, I made a lemon-artichoke pesto sauce, and topped it all off with a savory artichoke and tomato salad for a bit of brightness and color. This one's goin' into the book!

I took ideas from a bunch of different recipes to pull this one together, and the flavors were really spot on! My first goal was to get the pasta dough made, since I would need to let it sit for 30 minutes. I used my favorite recipe for pasta dough, from Stir by Barbara Lynch. All it requires is 2 cups of flour (I use the Perfect Pasta blend, from King Arthur Flour), 2 large eggs, 4 large egg yolks and a teaspoon of kosher salt. Once that was made, and resting, I cut up another one of my acorn squash, and set it to boil on the stove in some water.

Once the squash was cooked, I pureed it in my food processor, and then poured the puree into a bowl with softened onions, bacon and sage, seasoned with some salt and pepper, and...Voila, our ravioli filling is done!

While these things were cooking and resting, I also prepared my pesto. I had some marinated artichoke hearts from the antipasto bar at Whole Foods, as well as some Parmesan, pine nuts, and lemon. I also used the oil that the artichokes were marinating in to emulsify the mixture. What I got was a bright, tasty pesto sauce with no basil whatsoever! Now that's what I call imagination!

As I rolled out my pasta dough, I made my raviolis by scooping a bit of "stuffing" onto each strip of dough, and folding it over. I have this amazing Ravioli Stamp that made the job much easier too! It definitely took less time than I thought it would, and fresh pasta dough is better than wonton wrappers any day! (However, in a pinch, wonton wrappers work well for quick ravioli.)

Do you see those little red dots? Each ravioli is brushed with a bit of egg yolk mixed with paprika, as well. Once I cooked the ravioli, and drained it, I added them back to the pot and tossed them with the Lemon-Artichoke pesto. I topped the dish with some extra artichokes and Kumato tomato for color and freshness. 

This was a really heartwarming meal full of delicate flavors that melded together nicely for a very hearty dish! I'm keeping this one in my back pocket, for sure!

Hug Your Closest Sri Lankan!

Sri Lanka

The other day, I received an invitation to an event on Facebook. The event in question is "Hug a Sri Lankan Day," and it takes place on February 4th. That's FRIDAY! Sri Lanka is located off the southern coast of the Indian sub-continent. It is an island nation. In honor of this day, and my friend Ladali, who is Sri Lankan, I decided to make a fitting dish, complete with how-to instructions, just in time for you to cook dinner on Friday. I chose a Chicken Curry dish, also known as Chicken Dopiaza. The original recipe can be found here. I'm sure that you could make this with other types of meat as well, and for you vegetarians out there, I have a feeling that these flavors would work very nicely with some tofu (you'll have to adjust times a bit, that's all). Now, let's start with what you'll need:

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

8 small onions/shallots, halved

2 bay leaves

8 green cardamom pods

4 cloves

3 dried red chilis

8 black peppercorns

2 big onions, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 inch piece of fresh root ginger, finely chopped

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground turmeric powder

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste)

4 tomatoes, skinned and finely chopped (I used canned, diced tomatoes)

1/2 cup water

8 chicken pieces, skinned

plain rice, to serve

This seems like a lot of ingredients, I know, but it's actually a very simple dish, and it's delicious. I happened to have these spices on hand, but if you don't, you can find them at your local grocery store, or order them online if you have a few days before you plan on cooking this dish. Now, of course, the first step is your mise en place. But, for mine, I combined the ingredients for each step into separate bowls, to make it easier for me. If you want to do it that way, this is what should be in each bowl:

Bowl #1: Shallots

Bowl #2: Bay leaves, cardamom pods, cloves, chilis and peppercorns

Bowl #3: Onions, garlic, and ginger

Bowl #4: Coriander, cumin, turmeric, chili powder and salt

Bowl #5: Tomatoes and water

Bowl #6: Chicken

We're ready to begin cooking! Before I start with the main part of this dish, I put the rice and water into the rice cooker since that usually takes about a half an hour to cook. Rice cookers are a fabulous invention. All you have to do is press the cook button, and it turns off when the rice is done. When I cook rice, I always use the ratio, 1:2. If you use a cup of rice, you should pour in 2 cups of water. That goes for any measurement of rice...double it for the water. Then, set it...and let it go!



Now, on to the main course, right? It's about time! I promise things are going to go quickly from here! I made this dish in a wok, but you can also use pretty much any large pan. Be sure that it's large enough to fit all the things you are going to put in it.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in the wok, or large pan, and fry the halved small onions/shallots until soft (I used shallots). Remove and set aside. Make sure those shallots are really soft, because otherwise, they are going to be a very overwhelming flavor in the finished product. Shallots get sweeter as they cook.



Add the remaining oil and fry the bay leaves, cardamoms, cloves, chilis and peppercorns for 2 minutes. Be careful here...as the cardamom pods get hot, they can pop. One almost knocked my EYE out!



Add the big onions, garlic, and ginger. Fry for 5 minutes.



Add the spices (coriander, cumin, turmeric, and chili powder) and salt and cook for 2 minutes.



Add the tomatoes and water to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken.



Add the chicken pieces and cook for 15 minutes more. Once I added the chicken and it had begun to cook, I found that the sauce needed a little bit more water because it was evaporating quickly. Don't be afraid to trust your instincts and add something if you feel it needs it.



Add the reserved shallots back to the pan, and then cover and cook for another 10 minutes until the chicken is tender. I cut about 4 minutes off this time because I found that my chicken was done, and I didn't want to over cook it. However, it all depends on the size of your pieces, the parts that you choose to use and the temperature of your pan, so you be the judge. Once it looks tender and cooked through, take it off the heat so that the meat doesn't get chewy. Serve over rice.

This was a delicious meal, and I found it to be an educational experience. I have friends from all over the world, and it is always a treat to learn about their cultures and cuisines. It's not every day that you see a Sri Lankan restaurant, or even think about cooking a Sri Lankan meal, so I'm very happy that I took this opportunity to learn about this fascinating cuisine. I will definitely be trying more in the future, and I'll be on the lookout for a restaurant too. I'm intrigued! And a great big thank you goes out to Ladali for pointing me in the right direction for this post. I will be giving her a GREAT BIG HUG on February 4th!

Another Important French Term

It seems that the French have a corner on the market of important cooking techniques, and the mirepoix is one of the most important. Have you noticed that many recipes start with an assortment of diced onions, carrots and celery? That's the mirepoix! (pronounced meer-pwah)

Mirepoix for Tomato Sauce

In all its forms, either raw, roasted, or sauteed in butter, this trio is the base for many stocks, stews, and sauces. While this is the most common threesome, other cuisines have their own variations. In Italian culture, it is known as soffritto, and involves olive oil (instead of butter), as well as garlic, fennel, leek and herbs. In Creole cuisine, it is known as the Holy Trinity, and uses onion, bell pepper and celery.

The reason for the use of onions, carrots and celery (usually in a 50%, 25%, 25% ratio respectively) is the flavor and aroma that these three ingredients add to a dish. When chopping, there's not much need for uniformity among your cuts, since the vegetables cook down so much during the process. They get extremely soft and almost melt into the surrounding ingredients, adding body and thickness to the stew, soup or sauce. The smaller the dice, the quicker the aromas and flavors are released. In the event that you are looking to make a "white" stock (stock that has little to no color to it), substitutions for the carrots include parsnips and/or mushroom trimmings.

Roughly chopped mirepoix (Wikipedia)

I keep these three ingredients on hand at all times, and they usually have a starring role on my grocery lists as well. So many things start with this threesome, its just easier to always make sure you have enough on hand. Even if you don't have a recipe to go on, it's the base for basic marinara sauces, as well as most soups and stocks, so even if you are throwing something together during that "clean out the fridge" week, it is best to have them on hand!

Fun Fact: In French restaurants, mirepoix is an important item in every line cook's "mise en place" (the prepared food items at their cooking stations that save them the trouble of making each tiny part of a recipe every time an order comes in). Read more at Suite101: Mirepoix: A combination of onion, carrot and celery