Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Back to Basics!

 

 

Today I am going back to basics! Sometimes we just try to use all store bought ingredients so we can save time on making a meal, but we often forget that it can be so much more delicious and just as easy to make those store bought ingredients yourself.

I was inspired last night by going to meet some friends at Mr. Chow in Beverly Hills. Mr. Chow’s is one of the most famous restaurants in LA! Anyone whose anyone goes there, well accept for me. LOL! Out of my 6 years of living in Los Angeles, never have I been to the celebrity hot spot. Now my life is finally complete. Mr. Chow’s definitely lived up to its hype when I tasted the hand-made, velvety thin Chinese noodles.

So needless to say it got me thinking. Why don’t I make my own pasta more often? Its pretty easy, not very time consuming and it is taste stands out as the center of any dish. I’m going to give you a little bit of culinary school basics. With this very basic pasta recipe, I have included a béchamel sauce, also known as “white sauce” which is one of the “mother sauces” of French cuisine, and is used in many recipes in French and Italian cuisine. With combining the two recipes of pasta and sauce, your result is simple yet complex in flavor and will impress anyone who you serve it to!

 

 

Basic Pasta Dough

 

Ingredients

4 eggs

3 1/2 c. flour

Salt

 

Directions

Beat eggs. Add flour and salt and knead for 15 minutes. If you do not have a pasta machine, then roll out dough flat. Take the dough and roll it up like a jellyroll. Slice thin and unwrap it. It will make long strips of pasta.  OR you can use a pasta maker from a kitchen aid mixer to roll out dough faster.

Boil water with a heavy pinch of salt. Add pasta for about 5 minutes until cooked through. (fresh pasta takes a shorter amount of time to cook than pre-made pasta)

 

 

Basic Béchamel Sauce

 

Ingredients

5 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 cups milk

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

 

Directions

In a medium saucepan, heat the butter over medium-low heat until melted. Add the flour and stir until smooth. Over medium heat, cook until the mixture turns a light, golden sandy color, about 6 to 7 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the milk in a separate pan until just about to boil. Add the hot milk to the butter mixture 1 cup at a time, whisking continuously until very smooth. Bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes, stirring constantly, then remove from heat. Season with salt and nutmeg, and set aside until ready to use.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Red Wine Dessert

 

There are only a few times when I choose red wine over white wine. Even though red wine is much better for you, I usually go for the white because I feel like its tastes better when you are drinking it by itself. I try to find other ways to use red wine in my recipes so if I’m drinking a glass of red wine it will compliment my dish.

Studies show that 1-2 glasses of red wine a day lowers risk of heart attack for people up to 50 percent!! Red wine also has shown to help prevent blood clots and reduce the blood vessel damage caused by fat deposits. Plus it is rich source of antioxidants, which of course, is good for everything!

This decadent and rich dessert I have come up with can also be called healthy. A reduction of dry red wine paired with a floral, sweet honey and pouched fresh figs is paired beautifully with the same wine you cooked with. For the wine I would suggest the dry red, such as a Chianti. It is less sweet so that it doesn’t over power the honey.

 

 

POACHED FIGS IN RED WINE AND HONEY

SAUCE

 

Ingredients

1 cup dry, red wine, such as Chianti

1-1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup honey

2 cinnamon sticks

8 fresh figs

4 1oz pieces of dark chocolate (opt.)

 

Directions

Pour wine into a heavy saucepan. Dissolve flour in wine, off the heat, until fully dissolved. Transfer saucepan to stove top and cook over a medium flame.

Add honey (honey that has been warmed to a syrup-like consistency) and cinnamon sticks, and cook, until reduced by about half, approximately 8 minutes.

Reduce flame to low, and add figs so that they are standing up straight. let figs poach for about 10 minutes. 

to plate, place fig on a plate, drizzle with red wine sauce and sprinkle with chocolate pieces. ENJOY!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Blue cheese... Yes Please!!

Blue cheese is a cheese that people either love or hate. I happen to LOVE it and I use it in many of my dishes! I find that blue cheese adds elegance to most dishes, which I have done to simple zucchini in this dish.

Blue cheese can be either made from cow’s milk, sheep’s milk or goat’s milk. All blue cheese is made the same, a timely process of aging in controlled temperature caves and injected with Penicillium cultures for that blue-green veined finish result.  In this dish I am using Gorgonzola; an Italian veined blue cheese. It adds a burst of flavor in a smooth, salty bite.

When I’m catering or doing personal chef work I love to make this dish because I can make it early on so I can focus my attention on my main dish and my guests.

 

Gorgonzola zucchini Gratin

6 medium sized zucchini, chopped ½ inch think

½ onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tomatoes, chopped

EVOO

1 cup Gorgonzola cheese

2 eggs

1-cup milk

 

In a large shallow pan sauté onion and garlic on medium-high heat in 1-2 tbsp of EVOO until opaque. Add zucchini and tomato, and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until zucchini is almost cooked through. (About 8 minutes) turn off heat and mix in ¾ cheese until creamy. Pour into an oven save dish.

In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour milk mixture over zucchini and top with remainder of cheese.

Bake in a 350-degree oven for 25 minutes until cheese is melted and golden brown.