Orecchiette with Sausage, Beans and Mascarpone

I have made this recipe of Giada's many times and unfortunately, this time around it wasn't as good as I remember. It certainly wasn't bad, but something was a little off. The recipe is in her cookbook, Giada's Kitchen and available on the Food Network. I can never find fresh turkey sausage, so I always buy pork.

New Year's Eve Lunch

As we did last year, Marshal Mike and I had his sister and brother-in-law over for lunch on New Year's Eve.

This year, we started with Roasted Fennel and White Bean dip on crostini.

The recipe is from Food52 and was superb. Since the fennel is roasted, the flavor mellows and sweetens and the resulting dip is creamy with a crunchy, slightly salty crust on top. It will delight fennel-lovers and haters alike.

For lunch I made Giada's Butternut Squash Lasagna, which is in her cookbook, Giada's Family Dinners. It was phenomenal. We couldn't stop eating it. MM's sister took some home and ate it for breakfast and lunch the following day!

And for dessert, I made Giada's Cornmeal and Rosemary Cake with Balsamic Syrup, which is in her cookbook, Giada's Kitchen.

This is a great cake: light in texture and it straddles the delicate line between sweet and savory. The balsamic syrup was the perfect foil; it added just the right amount of tang. I wanted to lick my plate, but restrained myself. We did have guests afterall!

Mushroom Risotto with Peas

I received an email last week from Giada (well, not technically from Giada, but from her mailing list), announcing a Facebook contest where you chose one recipe of hers from a list of 50, cook it, take a picture and submit it for judging. I figured I do that on a regular basis with the blog, so I might as well submit a photo!

As you can see, I made mushroom risotto with peas, and I think my picture turned out pretty well. I did fuss with the recipe a little bit (mainly because I didn't want a huge vat of it leftover); my adaptions are below.

Mushroom Risotto with Peas
Adapted from Giada
Serves 4

Ingredients

6 cups vegetable or chicken broth (I used 2 cups leftover veggie broth and 4 cups chicken broth)
1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms (the package was 1 ounce and I was not about to half it!)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, finely chopped (again, the package determined how much I used)
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 cup vialone nano rice (or arborio)
2/3 cup dry white wine
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Bring the broth to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Add the dried porcini mushrooms and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until soft. Remove the mushrooms from pan with a slotted spoon and transfer to a cutting board. Set aside. Keep the broth at a low simmer.

2. Melt the butter in a large heavy skillet/pot/braiser over medium heat and then add the olive oil. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the fresh mushrooms and garlic. Finely chop the porcini mushrooms and add them to the pot. Saute until the mushrooms are tender and the juices evaporate, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the the rice and toast for a couple minutes, stirring continuously. Pour in the wine and scrape up any bits on the bottom of the pan. Stir for about 2 minutes, or until the wine has been absorbed. Ladle about 1 cup of broth into the pan and cook, stirring continuously. (The risotto should be simmering ever so gently; lower the heat if necessary.) Continue adding broth by the ladleful once the previous amount has been absorbed, and stir, stir, stir! After about 20 minutes, start tasting the rice and stop adding broth once it is just tender, but still has bite. (Some days you will use all of the broth, some days you won't.)

4. Stir in the peas and the cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with more cheese.

Kale Mac and Cheese

I have been craving mac and cheese for weeks, so this weekend, I finally decided to make a batch.

My thoughtful husband bought me two tickets to see Giada's cooking demonstration at the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show this past weekend. My friend, Allison, came with me and we had a great time sampling cupcakes, cheese, granola, iced coffee, flavored olive oil and vinegars, peanut butter - you name it! After watching Giada's presentation, I was starving and started to work on this mac and cheese as soon as I got home.

I followed a recipe from a blog named The Kitchen Sink Recipes. I didn't have any goat cheese on hand (or any cheese other than a block of extra sharp cheddar and a tiny bit of Parmigiano-Reggiano for that matter), so I just used a larger quantity of cheddar. The resulting cheese sauce was (unsurprisingly) pretty one-note, and I was too impatient to get the sauce to thicken (I was whisking for 10 minutes!), so it wasn't thick and creamy. But, the kale worked wonderfully with the baked pasta and because I am all alone, I got to pick out each and every bit of browned crispy rigatoni sticking up out of the pan. Actually, I have been wanting to try this baking sheet mac and cheese from Food 52 because the crunchy pieces are my favorite!

Ultimately, this fulfilled my craving, but in the future, I think I would find a different mac and cheese recipe I liked and just add kale to it.

Flour's "Famous" Banana Bread

Any longtime readers of BlB will know that I am always looking for a good banana bread recipe. I have tried one with a messy topping that overflowed onto the bottom of my oven, one with espresso and whiskey to kick start the morning (or any time of day), one with a boozy glaze, one with peanut butter, one that is spicy and chocolatey, and now I have made what could be considered the most traditional of banana bread recipes. And guess what? I wasn't impressed.

I found this recipe on the blog, Ipso Fatto, but Flour's Famous Banana Bread recipe is all over the internet. Flour is a popular bakery in Boston that is always getting written up or visited on some food-interest show. I had high hopes for this bread! I almost didn't include the walnuts, because I don't love them, but I wanted to make the recipe as is and I figured I could use some Omega-3 in my life. Most blogs link to the recipe on the Food Network. Giada visited Flour on her show and Joanne Chang, the chef and owner of Flour, provided the recipe to Food Network. I used the alternate measurements that Ipso Fatto provides from the Flour cookbook.

Yes, this bread created a crunchy top, which, in my opinion, is the most important part of banana bread. And yes, it was moist and the ratio of walnuts to bread was pleasing. But, the downfall of this bread is that it tasted like vegetable oil. It totally masks the 3 1/2 bananas in the bread. I think butter would have blended better. Or maybe a mixture of the two.

So, my epic hunt for the perfect banana bread recipe continues. (I have already found two more contenders this week!)

Beef and Butternut Squash Stew

Let's get this out of the way in the beginning: the end result of this dish is not what I would typically consider a stew. It is much too brothy to be a stew. I would call it a soup. Semantics aside, this was very tasty, hearty and warming on a cool October night.

I had my friends (and neighbors), Nicole and Joe, over for dinner this past weekend and I was craving pot roast. When I was flipping through Giada's Kitchen, I saw this recipe for Beef and Butternut Squash Stew and thought, well, that would be a good way to use the butternut squash from this week's CSA. (A note about the squash: I usually dread cutting butternut squash because they are large and tough, but these babies were a manageable size, easy to peel and easy to cut into.)

While the stew turned out well, it could have used more vegetables. I actually found myself searching for carrots that I knew were not in the bowl. And when I had it leftover at work the next day, I couldn't help but think that barley, or some other grain, would enhance the dish and soak up the remaining broth.

In case anyone is wondering what we had along side the stew, I pan-fried a can of chickpeas and threw them on top of the CSA salad mix and made Ina Garten's Vinaigrette for Green Salad (I halved it and omitted the garlic). Giada recommends serving this stew with crusty bread, and I thought, well, we can't have bread without roasted garlic butter! I first wrote about roasted garlic butter in June, but this time I roasted 6 heads of CSA garlic for 8 tablespoons of butter. (The CSA garlic only has between 4-5 cloves in each head.)  All in all, it was a great dinner!

Eggplant Caponata

There is an excellent restaurant near my office called Casa Nonna, that makes a delicious version of eggplant caponata. (Well, everything they make is delicious. I force my friends to go there all the time.) I thought it might be fun to try to make my own caponata with my CSA eggplants. Unfortunately, I went to the grocery store before I looked at recipes, so I didn't have all of the ingredients that most of the recipes called for. I did find one recipe from the NY Times that matched up with the ingredients I had on hand, but I ended up referencing five other recipes for method and other ingredient suggestions.

I was really pleased with the results. I was a tad impatient when cooking the eggplant, so the larger pieces didn't cook fully, but other than that, I thought it was a great first try!

Eggplant Caponata
Adapted from the New York Times Diner's Journal, Giada's Caponata, Jamie Oliver's Caponata, A Veggie Venture, Bell'Alimento, and Mario Batali's Molto Italiano
Make 4 or 5 cups

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 small onions (or 1 regular size onion), diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium and 1 small eggplant, diced (about 3 cups)
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (with juice)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
5 tablespoons capers, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

1. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until onion is translucent, 3-4 minutes. Add the eggplant and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the raisins, oregano and tomatoes to the pan. Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens, 10-15 minutes. Stir in the vinegar, sugar and capers and let cook for another 1-2 minutes. Taste for seasoning.

2. To serve, I like to toast slices of whole wheat baguette, drizzle a little olive oil on them, top with caponata and then sprinkle a pinch of flaky sea salt (such as Maldon) on top. The caponata will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for almost a week.

Orecchiette with Chard, Sweet Sausage and Cannellini Beans

This dish was inspired by one of my favorite of Giada's pasta recipes: Orecchiette with Sausage, Beans and Mascarpone. It is in my normal pasta rotation in the cooler months, because it is comforting and delicious. I had it in mind when I was trying to come up with something to do with the gorgeous bunch of rainbow chard from my CSA bag. (I am not using the word "gorgeous" lightly. A couple of the leaves had stems that were bright magenta on one side, then you turn it over and the underside was bright orange! Nice work, nature.)

Orecchiette with Chard, Sweet Sausage and Cannellini Beans
Inspired by Giada
Serves 4

Ingredients

8 oz dried orecchiette
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 sweet onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 links sweet Italian sausage, casings removed (I think this was just over 1/2 pound and you could certainly use pork, turkey or chicken sausage)
1 cup vegetable broth
1 bunch Swiss chard, ribs removed and leaves torn or chopped into large pieces
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for serving
large handful flat-leaf Italian parsley, chopped (my CSA parsley is the best parsley I have ever tasted - so lemony and wonderful)

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil; generously salt it. Cook the pasta according to package directions. (Orecchiette take longer to cook than other shapes of pasta and I found that if I dumped the pasta into the pot at the same time that I started the sauce, it was all finished at the same time.) Drain, reserving a cup of the pasta water.

2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and stir so the onion is covered in the oil. Add the garlic, stirring until fragrant (less than a minute). Add the sausage, breaking it up into bite-sized pieces with a wooden spoon. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft and the sausage is fully cooked.

3. Add the stock and the chard to the pan. Cover and cook until the chard has wilted, a couple minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and stir to combine. Remove from the heat and add the pasta. Stir, then add the cheese. Taste for seasoning (I didn't need to add any salt or pepper). Portion into bowls and top with more cheese and the parsley. (I saved some of the pasta water to add to the Tupperware containers with the leftovers. If you don't have any leftovers, you probably won't need the pasta water.)

Bacon, Swiss Chard and Kale Pasta

I had a bunch of kale hanging out in the crisper drawer with the CSA swiss chard and found this recipe on Epicurious. Obviously I thought, "well, bacon's got to make kale and swiss chard taste delicious!" And it did. I have eaten its leftovers for three days. I never get that far! The balsamic vinegar added at the end really adds a depth of flavor to the sauce.

I followed the recipe as written, except I used half a pound of Giada's fusilli col buco pasta, about 2/3 pound of bacon, and I didn't have any Parmigiano-Reggiano on hand, so I used Pecorino Romano.

One-Year Blogiversary and Biscotti

Glamour Shot

Today is BlB's one-year blogiversary! To celebrate, you get biscotti! 

My mom was in town this past weekend and helped me make her famous recipe for almond biscotti (with and without chocolate chips) and one of Giada's recipes for Almond and Lemon Biscotti. I looooved Giada's recipe. The extra crunch of the cornmeal and the subtle lemon flavor were fabulous (Giada's is the biscotti at the top of the picture). My mom's recipe is below.

Almond Biscotti

2 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. sugar
1/8 c. – fill half-way with water, then add 1-2 tsp almond extract, fill remainder with vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 c. whole almonds coarsely chopped
¾ c. mini chocolate chips (optional)
1 egg beaten for egg wash

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a stand mixer, mix flour and sugar together. Add eggs and water mixture. Stir in almonds (and chocolate chips). If the dough is really sticky (to the point you can't handle it) add more flour and mix again.

Divide into 4 or 5 portions. Roll on lightly floured surface to form “logs”. Each log should be about 10 inches by ½ inch. Brush egg wash on top of logs with a pastry brush.

Bake on parchment paper-covered cookie sheets until light brown and firm to the touch, about 30 minutes. Let cool a little and then cut on the diagonal. For harder biscotti places pieces on their sides and bake a little longer. For more chewy biscotti do not bake again.

Espresso Brownies

Rich chocolaty goodness!

This is a serious brownie.  It is a stick in your teeth, almost achingly sweet brownie with incredible depth of flavor. What can I say except Giada is a genius.

This recipe is in her cookbook, Giada's Family Dinners, which I purchased on Gilt (see here for my obsession with Gilt; my obsession with Giada is evident in just about any post on this blog and needs no explanation).

I had to alter Giada's recipe slightly because all I had in the pantry was a 17.6 ounce box of brownie mix (dark fudge with chocolate chunks). (I wonder if companies even make 19.8 ounce boxes of mix anymore - that seems so pre-recession!) (Another side note, I think it is interesting that Giada recommends Duncan Hines - are the different brands really that different? Maybe she is invested in the company. I happened to have Duncan Hines on hand, but that is probably only because I had a coupon.) I followed the box's instructions to use 1 egg, 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup vegetable oil. I used just less than 2 tablespoons of the espresso powder. I also didn't add chocolate chips because my mix already had chocolate chunks, but in hindsight, it would have benefited from some chips.

I did find the "glaze" - it is really a frosting - to be too sweet, so would use less powdered sugar next time.

New Year's Eve Lunch

MM's sister and brother-in-law (and 2 of Patton's canine cousins) came over for lunch on New Year's Eve. Erin, my sister-in-law, is a vegetarian, and DC was having unseasonably warm weather (50 degrees!), so I was more than happy to make a meatless menu that would taste fresh and wouldn't weigh us down.

Our menu follows:

Arugula Salad with Clementines and Caramelized Fennel

I found this salad in the January 2010 issue of Bon Appetit. The recipe (which I halved) calls for oranges, but I had a box of clementines in the fridge, so I figured they would work just as well (if not better). I used 4 clementines. I would absolutely make this again and I think everyone would agree it was excellent!

Rigatoni with Vegetable Bolognese

This is one of Giada's recipes, from her cookbook, Giada's Kitchen. The vegetable bolognese came together quickly and was super flavorful. The mushrooms gave it a hearty, meaty goodness and the small amount of mascarpone was just enough to make the sauce slightly creamy. We had tons of leftovers, so MM and I will be eating this today too!

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

My mom has been telling me to try this cake for years. She got the recipe from my grandmother and makes it all the time. I had extra cans of pumpkin puree and evaporated milk from Thanksgiving, so I decided it was high time I tried this recipe.

And... it was pretty good. I wouldn't say it was the best dessert I have ever had, but it was enjoyable. It is like a pumpkin pie on the bottom and crunchy cake on the top.

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

2 cups pumpkin puree (I used a 15 oz can, which is just less than 2 cups, but it works fine)
12 oz. can evaporated milk
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (I don't have pumpkin pie spice, so I used 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ginger, and 1/4 tsp. cloves)
1 tsp. salt
1 (18.25 oz) box yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped pecans (my mom swears that 2 cups is better, but I am not a huge fan of nuts)
1 cup butter or margarine, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 13x9 inch baking dish.

Combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, spices and salt. Mix well and spread into dish.

Sprinkle cake mix over top of pumpkin mixture and pat down. Sprinkle pecans over top and drizzle melted butter all over the top.

Bake for 1 hour or when a cake tester comes out clean (no longer than 1 hour 20 minutes - mine took 1 hour, 10 minutes).

Chicken Marsala with Mustard and Mascarpone

Oh, Giada, can you do no wrong?

I can't even remember the last time I had chicken Marsala, but this is certainly the best iteration of it that I have ever had. Although, when we were in high school, my brother went through a phase when he was obsessed with chicken Marsala and made it all the time. (At least I think it was high school; I could be remembering this incorrectly.) His version of it was terrific as well.

This recipe is from Giada's cookbook, Giada's Family Dinners, which I recently bought on Gilt for super-cheap. (If you are not a member of Gilt, let me know and I will send you an invitation. It is one of the most amazing things ever created. Really great products for unbelievably low prices. Especially if you are an obsessive shopper like I am!) Of course, you can also find this recipe on foodnetwork.com. The mustard and mascarpone work really well with the Marsala and the browned mushrooms. (A note on the mushrooms, which most of you probably know already: cremini mushrooms are also called "baby bella" or "baby portobello".)

A note on the serving size: I used just over a pound of chicken, and a half pound of pappardelle, but the full amount of all the other ingredients (I like a lot of sauce) and it made 4 servings.

Orecchiette with Greens, Garbanzo Beans and Ricotta Salata

Giada has done it again!

I was really surprised by this dish. It was flavorful, texturally interesting and satisfying. Plus, I usually do not like Swiss chard, but (luckily) it loses its characteristic bitterness in this recipe. Unfortunately, the chickpeas do not quite seem at home in this dish. Cannellini beans may have been a better flavor match up. And I really love lemon, so I think I might add lemon juice next time I make this.

This recipe is from Giada's cookbook, Giada at Home, and can be found on foodnetwork.com. Also, if you are going to try this dish, please do not substitute feta for the ricotta salata. Their flavors are completely different. Search out the ricotta salata, it won't kill you. AND, it is delicious!

Dirty Risotto

The other night was dark and chilly (fall is thankfully upon us) and I was craving risotto. I wanted a recipe that was full of "stuff" so it would be hearty and found this recipe of Giada's on Food Network. (I am embarrassed to say that it took me a couple of hours to realize that Dirty Risotto is a play on Dirty Rice. Although, having never had dirty rice, maybe I shouldn't be too embarrassed.)

The dish turned out fairly well. The guy at the supermarket cut my pancetta a little too thin and I think it would be better if it was about 1/4 inch thick. Also, Harris Teeter was out of pork sausage, so I bought chicken sausage. I bet the pork sausage would have made the risotto a little more flavorful. (Although chicken is healthier.) And as you can see from the picture, I did not cut up the red bell pepper small enough; I think a small dice would have been appropriate. And lastly, we omitted the mushrooms, because MM does not like them.

When it was all said and done, I discovered that I like the taste of vegetarian risotto better than ones with meat in them. And on another risotto note, I am determined to make red wine risotto this winter! Stay tuned!

Chicken Spezzatino

Love that Le Creuset!

Maybe it's because it has (thankfully!) been getting cooler at night or maybe it's because I am so busy at work that cooking a complicated multi-step recipe when I get home is enough to make me stop cooking all together and eat peanut butter toast washed down with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc (hey, don't knock it till you try it!) that I have been craving hearty one pot meals that don't require much effort on my behalf. This spectacular recipe is one such dish!

It is from Giada's Everyday Italian cookbook and can be found here. (The biscuit part is not from Giada's original recipe and I think the stew is hearty enough without bread. Although, orzo or some other little pasta that could cook in the liquid might be a good variation.) The Food Network website has a different version of Giada's Spezzatino that also looks great, so I think I will have to try that one too!

Orecchiette with Sausage, Beans and Mascarpone

So I don't have a picture of last night's dinner, and I can't believe I haven't blogged about this recipe yet because it is one of my favorites. You can find the recipe here and it is also in Giada's cookbook, Giada's Kitchen.

This pasta dish is the perfect marriage of flavors: salty from the sausage, creamy from the beans and the mascarpone and bright freshness from the oregano. It comes together so quickly and is unbelievably satisfying. Tastes pretty good on the second day too!

Pork Chops with Fennel and Caper Sauce

My love affair with fennel continues.

This is another recipe from Giada's Kitchen (and can be found on the Food Network website). It was delicious. I halved the recipe and omitted the lemon at the end (because I was lazy). I also managed to overcook the pork slightly, but there was enough sauce that I could mop it up with the pork to make it moist. I have never made a recipe of Giada's that did not turn out well. (Patton enjoyed the leftover pork fat, too!)

Fettuccine with Smashed Peas, Sausage and Ricotta

May not be a looker, but it is tasty!

This recipe is from Giada's cookbook, Giada's Kitchen, but you can also find all her recipes on the Food Network website. It comes together really quickly and is delicious. I couldn't find tagliatelle, so I used fettuccine and I used sweet Italian chicken sausage instead of pork sausage. I also forgot to save the pasta water, so it wasn't the perfect consistency, but it still tasted good!

Pasta Ponza

 My pathetic unappetizing picture of the finished dish.

I tried a recipe from Giada's new cookbook, Giada at Home (which Giada has signed, because, yes, we are besties), last night called Pasta Ponza (recipe can be found here). The dish originated from a trip she took with her family to the small island of Ponza off the coast of Naples in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Ponza is also featured in this month's La Cucina Italiana magazine.

This dish was really easy to put together and had delicious flavors. My only issue with it was the texture at the end. The breadcrumbs turned to mush. This may have been because I didn't have any Italian breadcrumbs on hand (although I could have sworn some were in the cupboard) and I didn't feel like washing the food processor, so that ruled out making my own, so I used Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs). They just didn't get crunchy enough in the oven, which is odd, because they are usually crunchier than Italian breadcrumbs. I suppose I could have left them in longer, but the pasta was done cooking and I was hungry. Because I did really like the flavors altogether: the juicy, sweet cooked tomatoes, the salty, vinegary capers, along with the mounds of Parmesan cheese (the Pecorino Romano was $11 for one tub (!) so I used the Parmesan I already had), I will make this again, but I think I will try to bake the whole thing together to see if the breadcrumbs will get crunchy.

The most exciting part of this was the gorgeous tomatoes I bought:

Kind of look like bowling balls in this picture!

And I used the ridiculous cat bowls my mom bought me:

They are Japanese and we found them at a consignment shop in RI. They just make me smile when I look at them. And everyone knows I am a crazy cat lady anyway, so I might as well have cat dishes!

Marshal Mike was feeling really sick last night (those damn bandits!), so he slept from about 7-9:30pm. When he reheated his pasta at 9:30, I asked him what he thought and he said, "I'm sick, I can't taste anything." And he shoveled some more into his mouth. Great.