Leland's dad sent us Making Artisan Gelato when he found out we got an ice cream maker attachment for my shiny red kitchen aid mixer. My granddaddy used to make peach ice cream when I was younger and it was delicious. This was better with a peach puree incorporated into the ice cream and not just chunks of peaches in with vanilla ice cream.
I'm not going to include the recipe, because we followed the peach gelato recipe exactly. All I can say is if you don't have an ice cream maker, get one and use it and eat a lot of homemade ice cream and get fat, because it is so much better than anything you can get in a store or even an ice cream shop.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Mustard-Garlic Glazed Pork Chops
Okay, so we had an incredible busy cooking weekend and I'm not sure where to start so I'll go in somewhat chronological order.
We planned to make a fancy dinner at home on Saturday, so we went to the 14th & U Street Farmer's Market in the morning in search of lamb chops. There was no lamb, and I've never made lamb, so I must say I was slightly relieved that we picked up a couple of pork chops from a local vendor instead. We picked up some Swiss chard, garlic and goat cheese to combine as a side and some white potatoes for mashed potatoes.
We also got some bacon and ciabatta (and the goat cheese) that we used to make breakfast when we got home with some scrambled eggs. Simple and delicious. AND we got peaches for a peach gelato (in post above) we took to a friend's birthday on Sunday.
The pork chops turned out wonderfully. I wouldn't change a thing!
Leland made a brine with water, sugar, and salt that we let it sit in for like 4 hours. Then he rubbed them with a grainy dijon mustard, garlic, salt and pepper paste. We seared them in a pan on high heat for a couple of minutes on each side, until a crust formed and then transferred them to a preheated baking sheet in a 450* oven to finish for like 6 minutes. It started to smell like burning so we ran over to save them, but it was fine and they were perfect to come out! We tented them with foil and let them sit for another 5 minutes or so. We used the pork chops recipe from the New Best Recipes cookbook, and they suggested an internal temp of 145, but our thermometer wasn't working and it still turned out fine.
They were juicy and delicious ;). and I love pork.
We planned to make a fancy dinner at home on Saturday, so we went to the 14th & U Street Farmer's Market in the morning in search of lamb chops. There was no lamb, and I've never made lamb, so I must say I was slightly relieved that we picked up a couple of pork chops from a local vendor instead. We picked up some Swiss chard, garlic and goat cheese to combine as a side and some white potatoes for mashed potatoes.
We also got some bacon and ciabatta (and the goat cheese) that we used to make breakfast when we got home with some scrambled eggs. Simple and delicious. AND we got peaches for a peach gelato (in post above) we took to a friend's birthday on Sunday.
The pork chops turned out wonderfully. I wouldn't change a thing!
Leland made a brine with water, sugar, and salt that we let it sit in for like 4 hours. Then he rubbed them with a grainy dijon mustard, garlic, salt and pepper paste. We seared them in a pan on high heat for a couple of minutes on each side, until a crust formed and then transferred them to a preheated baking sheet in a 450* oven to finish for like 6 minutes. It started to smell like burning
They were juicy and delicious ;). and I love pork.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Capellini with Cherry Tomatoes and Goat Cheese
We had Ari and Val over for dinner last night and I made some changes to a dish that I've made a lot in the past. I usually do angel hair with some sauteed cherry tomatoes/shallot/ garlic and just before serving stir in fresh basil and mozz, BUT, the mozzarella doesn't really melt well, so you end up with lumps of it (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). The substitution of the mozz with goat cheese made this a completely different dish and really creamy and rich. I cooked the herbs in with the sauce instead of adding them fresh at the end making the flavors deeper.
My mom does something similar, but she slow roasts the cherry tomatoes in the oven at low temp overnight or all day, and it is totally delicious.
Before the pasta we had a simple salad with mixed baby greens, grapes (sliced in half), pistachios and shaved shallot with my house dressing!
This sauce isn't complicated, you just need time to let the sauce cook down. I'm not very good at measuring things out, so all of the amounts below are approximate. If you have the right flavors, it doesn't really matter if the ratios are right on. Last night I thought there should have been more sauce/ tomatoes for the amount of pasta, but everyone thought it was delicious. Anyway, this isn't exactly what I did with the pasta last night, but is what I will do next time!
Serves 4
a generous 1/2 lb of capellini
1 lb of cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
one small red onion or a shallot
3 cloves garlic or more to taste
a few glugs of olive oil, to cover the bottom of the pan
1/2 cup veg broth
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup of fresh goat cheese
2 sprigs thyme,
1 sprig oregano
a handful of fresh basil
salt and pepper
fresh grated parm, for garnish
So, in a deep saute pan dice the red onion and saute in the olive oil until tender and just starting to brown, add the fresh herbs and the garlic to the oil until fragrant, less than a minute. Deglaze the pan with the wine, add the broth and bring everything to a boil, reduce the heat to medium low and let cook down for about 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Then add the cherry tomatoes and let simmer for another 15 minutes. After 10 minutes use a fork to squish all of the tomatoes so the seeds and juices burst out, and then cook for the remaining 5 minutes or longer if needed. Pull out any woody pieces from the herbs and put on a low simmer. You don't need to stir this too often while it is cooking.
While you're waiting for the sauce to cook down bring your pasta water and a couple teaspoons of salt to a boil. Capellini only needs about 3 minutes if it is dry and even less if it is fresh, so don't add the pasta until your sauce is pretty ready to go.
Drain the pasta and add directly to the sauce, crumble goat cheese over the top and fresh basil, if desired, and toss very lightly, so that the sauce covers all of the pasta, but there are still some chunks of goat cheese. Serve and top with a light sprinkling of parm.
My mom does something similar, but she slow roasts the cherry tomatoes in the oven at low temp overnight or all day, and it is totally delicious.
Before the pasta we had a simple salad with mixed baby greens, grapes (sliced in half), pistachios and shaved shallot with my house dressing!
This sauce isn't complicated, you just need time to let the sauce cook down. I'm not very good at measuring things out, so all of the amounts below are approximate. If you have the right flavors, it doesn't really matter if the ratios are right on. Last night I thought there should have been more sauce/ tomatoes for the amount of pasta, but everyone thought it was delicious. Anyway, this isn't exactly what I did with the pasta last night, but is what I will do next time!
Serves 4
a generous 1/2 lb of capellini
1 lb of cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
one small red onion or a shallot
3 cloves garlic or more to taste
a few glugs of olive oil, to cover the bottom of the pan
1/2 cup veg broth
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup of fresh goat cheese
2 sprigs thyme,
1 sprig oregano
a handful of fresh basil
salt and pepper
fresh grated parm, for garnish
So, in a deep saute pan dice the red onion and saute in the olive oil until tender and just starting to brown, add the fresh herbs and the garlic to the oil until fragrant, less than a minute. Deglaze the pan with the wine, add the broth and bring everything to a boil, reduce the heat to medium low and let cook down for about 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Then add the cherry tomatoes and let simmer for another 15 minutes. After 10 minutes use a fork to squish all of the tomatoes so the seeds and juices burst out, and then cook for the remaining 5 minutes or longer if needed. Pull out any woody pieces from the herbs and put on a low simmer. You don't need to stir this too often while it is cooking.
While you're waiting for the sauce to cook down bring your pasta water and a couple teaspoons of salt to a boil. Capellini only needs about 3 minutes if it is dry and even less if it is fresh, so don't add the pasta until your sauce is pretty ready to go.
Drain the pasta and add directly to the sauce, crumble goat cheese over the top and fresh basil, if desired, and toss very lightly, so that the sauce covers all of the pasta, but there are still some chunks of goat cheese. Serve and top with a light sprinkling of parm.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Red Pepper Risotto a la Riggs Place
Leland and I moved into a new apartment over the weekend (big step), and last night we broke in the kitchen! We made a red pepper risotto and it was pretty tasty, but definitely could use improvement. We actually found that the addition of the parmesan at the end made the biggest difference.
1 red bell pepper diced
1/2 a large red onion diced
3 cloves garlic minced
~3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 cups dry arborio rice
~1 cup dry white wine (we used a Chardonnay)
4+ cups of vegetable stock and water
1+ cup of parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste... we added a lot of black pepper and not too much salt because the broth and parm are salty
The major change I would make would be to add one more entire red bell pepper... it wasn't quite as "peppery" as it has been when I have made this before.
So, in a med/ large sauce pan heat the oil, saute the pepper and onion in the olive oil until just soft about 10 min on medium heat.
Meanwhile in a small sauce pan heat about the vegetable broth and water on med high heat. It doesn't need to boil.
To the pepper and onion, add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add more oil if needed (there should be enough to coat the rice), stir in the rice and coat it in the oil and heat through for 30 seconds to a minute. Stir in a cup or more of white wine, enough to cover the rice and then some. Stir until all of the wine is absorbed, then add two ladles of the heated broth, stir frequently until absorbed and add two more ladles (now would be a good time to salt and pepper). Repeat the ladling process until the rice will not absorb more liquid and it is just tender, you don't want mushy risotto. This will take about half an hour, so get started on the rest of the wine! When the rice is done, turn off the heat and stir in the parmesan and serve (with another sprinkle of parm of course).
This was pretty delicious, but like I said not "red peppery" enough so I would use 2 red bell peppers instead, but I think it could also benefit from a dash of red pepper flakes.
Yum :).
1 red bell pepper diced
1/2 a large red onion diced
3 cloves garlic minced
~3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 cups dry arborio rice
~1 cup dry white wine (we used a Chardonnay)
4+ cups of vegetable stock and water
1+ cup of parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste... we added a lot of black pepper and not too much salt because the broth and parm are salty
The major change I would make would be to add one more entire red bell pepper... it wasn't quite as "peppery" as it has been when I have made this before.
So, in a med/ large sauce pan heat the oil, saute the pepper and onion in the olive oil until just soft about 10 min on medium heat.
Meanwhile in a small sauce pan heat about the vegetable broth and water on med high heat. It doesn't need to boil.
To the pepper and onion, add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add more oil if needed (there should be enough to coat the rice), stir in the rice and coat it in the oil and heat through for 30 seconds to a minute. Stir in a cup or more of white wine, enough to cover the rice and then some. Stir until all of the wine is absorbed, then add two ladles of the heated broth, stir frequently until absorbed and add two more ladles (now would be a good time to salt and pepper). Repeat the ladling process until the rice will not absorb more liquid and it is just tender, you don't want mushy risotto. This will take about half an hour, so get started on the rest of the wine! When the rice is done, turn off the heat and stir in the parmesan and serve (with another sprinkle of parm of course).
This was pretty delicious, but like I said not "red peppery" enough so I would use 2 red bell peppers instead, but I think it could also benefit from a dash of red pepper flakes.
Yum :).
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