Pasta roller

This past weekend, I picked up a manual pasta rolling machine.  My first attempt at linguine came out like little tree trunks.  Tonight, my second attempt came out a little better, although the pasta was still way too thick.  The sauce was a garlic bechamel, topped with grated romano, bacon and parsley.

I made a batch of dough over the weekend and froze part of it.  My plan is to make the dough on weekends and just defrost it later.  I’m hoping that eventually it will be as fast dry pasta.  It cooks in just a few minutes, so that would still leave time to roll the defrosted dough.

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Tomato & Mushroom Pasta

I started with a tablespoon of melted butter in a skillet.  To that I added a clove of crushed garlic.  Once it got really aromatic, I added a can of fire-roasted tomatoes and a can of mushrooms.  Near the end I added some basil and salt.  I served it over some ravioli and radiatorre pasta (I didn’t have enough of the ravioli).  On top I sprinkled some bleu cheese and the obligatory bacon bits.

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Salmon with Caramelized Fish Sauce

I few weeks back, I discovered some individually frozen Copper River Sockeye Salmon at the grocery store. I got some and it was great, so I went back and bought every uniform piece in the 6oz range.

Tonight I baked a piece with a caramelized fish sauce. I got the idea off of a “Why We Cook” podcast. I basically boiled the sugar until it caramelized and then poured in a mixture of fish sauce, granulated garlic, salt, pepper and lemon juice. The sugar seized and I just stirred it on the heat until the sugar and fish sauce came together. I drizzled most of the sauce over the fish before baking. The remainder I drizzled over after the fish was done.

On the side was a peanut-ginger-beet purée, which was a failure both in theory and execution.

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Lamb Chops & Bacon Mac’n’Cheese

Dinner tonight was broiled garlic-rosemary lamb chops with bacon, sharp cheddar & Parmigiano-Reggiano mac’n’cheese.

Several weeks back I picked up a family pack of lamb chops on sale. Last night I pulled the last set out of the freezer. I wanted to do the garlic-rosemary combination that I did on my first lamb chops. To my chagrin, I was out of fresh garlic. I ground together some dried garlic and rosemary in my mortar and pestle, but needed some liquid, so I added a little bit of fish sauce. I rubbed this combination on the lamb chops and set them aside while I made the mac’n’cheese.

I took the last of a package of bacon (~ 1/4lb), diced it and threw it in my 12″ cast iron skillet. I cooked it till it was nice and brown, then removed the bacon to a plate. I transferred the grease to a small sauce pan and added some flour to make the roux for my mac’n’cheese. The cheese was a blend of sharp cheddar and Parmigiano-Reggiano that I grated earlier this week. I assembled the mac’n’cheese and spread the bacon on top.

I broiled the lamb chops for 3-4 minutes per side and then rested them while I broiled the mac’n’cheese.

The lamb chops were really good. The mac’n’cheese was good but not as good as my normal recipe. I did not care for the cheese combination and there was too much bacon (who knew that was even possible). With dinner, I had a nice Russian River Valley pinot noir.

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Garlic and Saffron Soup

This is another Hubert Keller recipe (Chef Hubert Keller, then Enter Secrets of a Chef, Recipes, Go To Season 1). It seems like an enormous amount of garlic, but it works (just make sure you blanch it). The “large pinch” of saffron is an understatement. I saw Chef Keller do this yesterday, and his “large pinch” was a rat’s nest, about 1″ in diameter. I served it with a slice of bread and a poached egg like Chef Keller did on TV.

Definitely a keeper…

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Broiled Lamb Chops

I decided to broil some more of the lamb chops that I bought last week. My original idea was to do the lamb chops with garlic and mint, and serve them with sautéed kale. I went to the store and couldn’t get kale, so I had to settle for mixed greens. I smelled the mint but could not detect anything. I naively assumed that the packaging was just that good (it wasn’t). So no mint and no kale.

I did the lamb chops with fennel seed, garlic and rosemary. The fennel detracted from the lamb and I won’t do it again. I broiled the chops for 4 minutes per side (just like last time) but unfortunately they did not cook as evenly as the last set.

Here it is, with the sautéed greens, garlic-Romano mashed potatoes and a French Pinot Noir.

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Garlic & Rosemary Lamb Chops

I’d never made lamb chops before, but they were on sale last weekend, so I picked up a package. The first serving I decided to do like this Lamb Chop Ideas.

I mixed dried rosemary (my rosemary bush is currently buried in snow) and garlic in my mortar and pestle, then rubbed it into the chops. I put the oven rack in the top position and preheated the broiler on high. I salted the chops right before putting them under the broiler, for 4 minutes per side. I was a little disappointed with the sear I got, but was absolutely shocked on the even medium doneness of the chops. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a piece of meat cooked more evenly. I have two more servings, and I’m tempted to cook them just like these.

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Pork chop with a Mead reduction, Peanut Butter-Ginger Carrots and Truffle-Scented Garlic & Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes

I heard about cooking with mead some time back, and decided to give it a try.

I cooked the pork chop on the stove top. When it was finished, I removed it to rest and deglazed the pan with the mead. To the mead I added a reduced-sodium beef bouillon cube. I cooked down the mead until it was the consistency of a thick syrup, before finishing it with a little butter. The sauce turned out to be both sweet and savory, and very potent (a little went a long way).

The peanut butter-ginger glaze for the carrots I made by mixing peanut butter, crystallized ginger, a little brown sugar and heavy cream. To that, I added some melted butter. I mixed the glaze in with the cooked carrots. The result was a little too sweet (probably will omit the sugar next time). It would probably have worked with a spicy entrée, but not with the mead reduction, that was a little sweet itself.

The potatoes were my standard recipe (Garlic & Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes) with a little truffle oil mixed in.

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Garlic & Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes

Let me start by saying that I’m a fan of instant mashed potatoes.  As I see it, there are two differences between instand and from-scratch mashed potatoes:

1. From-scratch require a lot more time and effort.
2. They can also end up lumpy.

For those of you still reading, we will continue.

Garlic & Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes

• 1 cup potato flakes
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup milk
• Chicken bouillon, to taste
• 1/2T garlic powder
• Extra-virgin olive oil

Combine flakes, water and milk in a 4 cup glass bowl.  The chicken bouillon is used in place of salt, so add to-taste.  Mix thoroughly, cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 2 minutes (plus or minus, depending on your microwave).  Remove plastic and add garlic.  Add olive oil and stir until reaching desired consistency.

This is just the basic recipe.  You can add additional spices (like rosemary) or cheese (cheddar, pepperjack, goat cheese, etc) after cooking, or sun-dried tomatoes (before cooking).

Feel free to eliminate the garlic and/or replace the olive oil with butter and/or cream.

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