Leftovers and Leeks

I didn't feel like going to the store for ingredients this evening, so I looked in my fridge for something I could piece together. I had leftover chicken from last week's Brunoise dish, and I also had a really pretty bunch of leeks from the farmers market that I needed to use before they went bad. My first thought was of a really delicious recipe for braised leeks with thyme and garlic, from Jamie's Kitchen, by Jamie Oliver. When I flipped to the page, however, I noticed a note at the bottom, directing the reader to add a little cream, a handful of parmesan cheese, and toss with pasta for a yummy main course.

Okay, so left over chicken, with a side of spinach fettuccine mixed with this leek recipe! Sounds like a plan to me! I cut the leeks, and sauteed them with some butter, garlic, and thyme, before adding some chicken broth and wine. The whole pot went into a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes. If you have large leeks, go for more like half an hour, but the leeks that I had were on the smaller side, and I didn't want to overcook them. Meanwhile, I put a pot of water on to boil for the fettuccine. 

Once the leeks were done, and the pasta was cooked, I mixed the two, along with a touch of cream and a nice, healthy handful of grated parmesan. I seasoned to taste and voila! A really tasty pasta dish that paired really nicely with my already-prepared chicken breasts. If you can recall, there were even leeks in the chicken dish, so the flavors overlapped and tasted really nice together! And, I got to finish off the bottle of wine that I was using to cook with, too! That's a win-win for a Monday, if you ask me!

Murphy's on the Green

This weekend, we took another trip up to the ol' V-T to celebrate a few birthdays, among them, my father-in-law's special day! We decided to take him out to lunch to celebrate, before heading to a special little lady's fourth birthday bowling party! We decided on Murphy's On The Green, in Hanover, NH. This pub-like establishment is located on the main drag of Dartmouth's little college town, and it sure is delicious! They were doing a helluva business on a Saturday afternoon at 2pm, but they were able to find us a table for four rather quickly.

A few minutes passed, and the waitress came over to take our drink order and recite the specials, which consisted of Salmon Chowder and a Red-Pepper Fettuccine entree (mmm, more on that later because that's what I decided to order!) Since a toast was in order, we all ordered drinks, and I opted for a glass of white wine, the Glass Mountain Chardonnay, out of a vineyard in California. I found it to be crisp, and reminiscent of apples. The description also described notes of butterscotch, which I think I tasted when I concentrated on it.

When we had all made our decisions, we placed our order. I decided to start with the Grilled Heart of Romaine Caesar. I don't see this on a menu all that often but when I do, I tend to lean towards ordering it. I know you are thinking, grilled lettuce? But yes sir, GRILLED LETTUCE. It's delicious. The grill pulls a smokiness from the lettuce that you wouldn't expect, and the heat wilts the leaves slightly, giving it what I can only describe as a heartier consistency. The romaine heart was drizzled with a fresh Caesar dressing, as well as parmesan flakes and garlicky croutons. The plate was decorated with a lovely red pepper aioli as well as an accompaniment of kalamata olives. I don't normally think of olives as a garnish for a Caesar salad, but in this case, the saltiness of the olives went really well with the smokiness of the grilled lettuce.

For my entree, as I mentioned earlier, I decided to go with the special of the day. The base for this delicious meal was a plate of red-pepper fettuccine from Vermont Fresh Pasta (and you know how I feel about fresh pasta). Check them out at their website, and if you can find their products in a store near you, I highly recommend giving them a try. They are seriously delicious. On with the dish, right? :) This delicious, fresh fettuccine was topped with a bacon and cream sauce, as well as grilled littleneck clams. The clams were a great size (I was expecting much smaller), they were perfectly cooked and fantastically sweet! There was a lovely bacon flavor to the sauce, and the bits of bacon throughout added a great little crunch to each bite. The whole plate was really very well seasoned and totally delicious.

We've visited this restaurant before, and I'm always thrilled with my meal, but this was an especially delicious visit! I think I chose a nice pairing between the wine, the salad and the entree, and I was so satisfied when we walked out that door. If you are ever in the area, definitely check out Murphy's On The Green, located at 11 S. Main Street in Hanover, NH. You won't be disappointed!

New Toys!

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful meal somewhere terrific this evening!

Yesterday, I got a special delivery! I had some Williams Sonoma gift cards that I used last weekend to buy myself a new toy for the kitchen, and I'm VERY excited to use it! What did I buy, you ask!? Well, I think I've mentioned that I much prefer fresh pasta to dried, and that on most occasions, I make my own. I do this with attachments for my KitchenAid Stand Mixer. Currently, I own a pasta roller, as well as a cutter for both fettuccine, as well as spaghetti. In addition to the rollers, I also have an attachment that works with the meat grinder to make some of the shaped pasta, but it's not ideal for my needs. So I purchased....drum roll please...


A PASTA PRESS!

This attachment, for the KitchenAid Stand Mixer, presses the pasta dough through specially shaped discs to make Spaghetti, Bucatini, Rigatoni, Fusilli, and both large and small Macaroni. Who's excited!?!? I AM!! I've been waiting to buy this accessory for a long time now, so I'm ecstatic that's it's here! I plan on making some of these shaped pastas now, instead of purchasing them. The more things I make from scratch, the fresher we keep our diet, and that's something I stand 100% behind. I also have plans for a bread maker in the near future, which is a very exciting prospect for me!

Fresh pasta is a process for sure, I won't deny it, but it is worth every second. Once the dough is made, rolled out and cut, it takes about 3 minutes in the boiling water, and it is just so soft and succulent. It absorbs sauces and flavors much better than dried pasta, since it's more of a doughy consistency, and really accentuates those flavors. You can even take a weekend and make a bunch of pasta, and refrigerate it or freeze it for the future. I challenge each and every one of you to a taste test between fresh pasta and dried pasta. If you try it, and prefer the boxed variety, I'll eat my socks! :)

Stay tuned for some delicious fresh pasta recipes!