Fava Bean and Asparagus

Wine: Portal N. Sra Portal Terra Alta Roble 2004

Spring is here! First Strawberries at the Farmer’s Market. First Asparagus. First Fava Beans!

We made Fava Bean Pasta, one of our very favorite pasta recipes. It reheats well, always an important aspect for us.

We bought lots of asparagus and decided to make two different recipes on two different days.

The first night we made Asparagus with Parmesan Cheese. The recipe is from The Classic Italian Cookbook by Marcella Hazan. The Asparagus is first cooked in boiling water until still crisp. The asparagus is then removed from the water and put in a ceramic dish. It is then sprinkled with Parmesan Cheese and topped with butter. The dish is placed in a very hot 450 degree oven until golden brown on top.

On the second night we made Asparagus, Florentine from the Fine Art of Italian Cooking by Giuliano Bugialli. It is a great recipe, the asparagus is sautéed in butter (Cathy browned the butter first) with parmesan cheese then removed from the pan. Eggs are lightly fried in the remaining butter and then placed on the asparagus and served. It is very rich and good.

For desert we served the fresh cut Strawberries, I topped mine with Grand Marnier.

Bacon and Fava Bean Pasta
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1 lb. Linguini
1 ½ Onions
2 Garlic Cloves
2 Pounds fresh Fava Beans (start with about 5 pounds pods)
½ Cup White Wine
½ Pound Bacon
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Hand full of fresh chopped sage

1. Prepare the fava beans by removing all beans from the pod. Then blanch beans for 1 minute. Then peel the skin from the blanched beans. Discard the skin.
2. Chop bacon and sauté but not too crisp
3. Remove bacon from pan, pour off bacon fat
4. Add olive oil and sauté onion and garlic till soft and translucent
5. Add wine, boil till almost all evaporates leaving ¼ cup of liquid left in pan
6. Using wooden spoon scrape and deglaze the pan retaining the brown bits from the bottom of the pan in the liquid
7. Add chopped sage, peeled beans, and bacon and sauté until hot
8. Toss with cooked pasta and add grated parmesan cheese

Serve and enjoy!

Risi e Bisi

Wine: Coto De Imaz Rioja 2000

We started to see fresh peas at the Farmer’s Market and on menus. So we decided to build a dinner around fresh peas. That ALWAYS for us means Risi e Bisi. That is an Italian dish made from Pea Stock, Peas, Rice and Prosciutto.

On Sunday at the market we bought lots of unshelled peas and some freshly shelled ones. In addition, we went to The Cheese Store of Silverlake and Chris generously gave us the end of a piece of Prosciutto and we bought a couple of bottles of what Julian described as the “Fabled” Coto De Imaz to drink with the rici e bisi.

We definitely cooked the dinner in stages.

On Tuesday we made the Pea stock from the peas.

On Wednesday we ground the Prosciutto and cooked it with the garlic and onions. We then left it on the stove and we went to a wine tasting at Silverlake Wine, for a great high-end (for us) wine: Behrens & Hitchcock. We really enjoyed the wine, and bought a bottle of the Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2004, which we will save for a special night.

When we returned home, we heated up the remaining Cabbage Pizza as a first course and then proceeded to make the Risi e Bisi. We once again used the recipe in Bugialli’s Italy. The Risi e Bisi was great, and we look forward to the leftovers.

Once again for desert, we had the Carrot Cake from Literati II, that Martin had given us.

A perfect meal!

Chicken Vermentin

Wine: Shotfire

We always look at the recipes in the New York Times but very rarely find one that interests us. We did see, however a recipe that really looked good: Roast Chicken Vermentin. We made it and it was excellent. We will definitely do it again! I suspect that the reason that we liked the chicken so much was that the recipe was from one of our favorite London restaurants: The River Café. We also have several of their cookbooks, but not the one this recipe was from.

We started with some of our leftover Asparagus Pasta.

We had heard of a brand of chicken called: Smart Chicken. We were told it is exceptional and they use it at Campanile. We arranged to get some Smart Chicken from Campanile and used it. The chicken really tasted like chicken. We will always try to buy it in the future. We need, however to find out where to purchase the chicken at a retail store. I have a call into Smart Chicken and will try and find a local outlet.

Our friend Martin had been telling us how great and large the Carrot Cake was at Litteratti II. He brought us a piece and we decided to have it for desert. It was so large, we split the piece in two saving a piece for the next dinner. The ½ of the piece we then split between us! It was excellent carrot cake, surrounded with actual carrots.

Roast Chicken Vermentin
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2 1/2 ounces (about 2 1/2 cups) dried porcini mushrooms, or mixed dried mushrooms
1/4 up extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 4 1/2 -pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
2 pounds waxy boiling potatoes, like Yukon gold or red-skinned potatoes, quartered
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
1 cup Vermentino, or other crisp, citrusy white wine, like Pinot Grigio.
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bring 1 2/3 cups water to a simmer, and stir in the porcini; soak for 10 minutes. Drain, reserving both mushrooms and broth. Roughly chop the mushrooms.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the garlic and cook until lightly browned. Add the mushrooms and saute for 2 minutes. Stir in the mushroom broth, bring to a boil and then simmer for about 10 minutes, so that it reduces by 1/3. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Trim off excess fat from the chicken pieces. Rinse and pat dry. Place the chicken, skin-side down, in one layer, in a large roasting pan. Tuck the potatoes and mushrooms around the chicken. Sprinkle with the rosemary, wine and remaining 3 tablespoons oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Turn the chicken over, season with more salt and pepper and continue cooking until the chicken and potatoes are lightly browned, 30 to 35 minutes more. Serve with the vegetables and the juices from the pan. Serves 4. Adapted from ''Italian Two Easy: Simple Recipes From the London River Cafe,'' by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers.

Pizza, Pasta and Mah Jong

Wine:
Cottonwood Canyon 2000 Estate Pinot Noir
Shotfire 2005 Barossa Shiraz
Amador Foothill Sangiovese 2003
Terre Di Tufi Toscana Bianco 2004

Billy had returned from South East Asia. We decided to play Mah Jong on Saturday night. Billy had requested we make the Cabbage Pizza with Pancetta. Billy had read about the Pizza on the blog while traveling. We get our Pancetta at The Cheese Store of Silverlake – it goes great with the Cheese and Cabbage. We made the cabbage pizza and once again it was a hit. Kevin brought over the first printout from his on-line wine catalog. It was quite impressive to see how the program organizes and catalogs there wine storage.

Spring had arrived early at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market and they had lots of young Asparagus. It gave us an opportunity to made one of our very favorite pastas. It is from Chez Panisse Pasta Pizza & Calzone by Alice Walters. Asparagus Pasta is amazingly good and very easy to make.

For desert we served Cookies from Clementine & Dolce De Leche Ice Cream

We played Mah Jong till after midnight, when we decided to end the game!

Asparagus, Brown Butter, Parmesan & Fettuccine
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1 ½ pounds Asparagus (recipe calls for white, but we use green)
½ cup sweet butter
Fettuccine for 4
Salt and Pepper
Parmesan Cheese

Peel Asparagus
Heat the butter gently until it starts to turn golden brown
Cook the Asparagus in boiling water for a few minutes until they are cooked but not overly soft
Drain Asparagus and add to brown butter and coat well with the butter
Cook the pasta drain and return to pot
Add the Asparagus and any remaining butter to the cooked pasta
Season with salt and pepper, mix well.
Serve the pasta topping with grated Parmesan Cheese

Arista

Wine: Shotfire

We made a salad made from Bitter Greens with Hazelnut-Gorgonzola Vinaigrette from the cookbook: Cucina Simpatica. The salad wasn’t to our taste. Oh well, sometimes you win and sometimes you loose.

The main course made up for it! We made the Arista – from the Zuni Café Cookbook. It is made from boneless pork. It marinates in the refrigerator with great spices for 2-3 days. It is cooked on a bed of potatoes, fennel and garlic. It is a great dish and the leftovers make fabulous sandwiches!

A Winner and a Loser

Wine: Beaumes de Venise Domaine de Fenouillet 2004

We had previously made a Cauliflower dish from Madhur Jaffrey’s memoir of her life in India: Climbing the Mangos Trees. The very delicious recipe is called: Grandmother’s Cauliflower with Cheese (Vali Cobi). The dish is wonderful. It is one of our favorites.

We love a dish we make called Pork Braised in Milk. In the new On Top of Spaghetti cookbook there is a recipe called: Pappardelle and Saffron-Scented Milk-Braised Chicken. Because we like the Pork in Milk we decided to make this new Chicken dish. The chicken was made with saffron, so we figured it would go well with the Indian Cauliflower dish. We made the chicken but found it bland compared with cauliflower. I don’t think we will be making Milk-Braised Chicken again. However, there will be lots more Grandmother’s Cauliflower in our future!

Grandmother’s Cauliflower With Cheese (Vali Gobi)
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SERVES 4-6

I don't have my grandmother's exact recipe. I never asked her, being too young at the time to know better. But the recipe here is a good approximation (as Jimmy Durante, the American come¬dian, used to say, "Da nose knows") and utterly delicious.

Do not use jalapeno or serrano chilies for Indian dishes. They have the wrong texture and flavor. Green bird's-eye chilies or any long, slim, thin-skinned variety, such as cayenne, are ideal. If you can't find them, use 1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper instead of 1/4 teaspoon.

2 tablespoons olive or other vegetable oil
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 1/2 pounds (8 cups) medium-sized cauliflower florets, cut so each floret has a stem
1 3/4 cups grated fresh tomatoes
3/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons heavy cream
One 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated to a pulp on the finest part of a grater or Microplane
2 fresh hot green chilies, cut into slim rounds
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1/4 cup coarsely grated sharp Cheddar cheese
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Pour the oil into a large, preferably nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat. When it is hot, put in the cumin seeds. Let them sizzle for 10 seconds. Add the cauliflower florets, and stir them around for 2 minutes. Add the grated tomatoes, ginger, chilies, cayenne, turmeric, ground coriander, and salt. Stir to mix. Stir and cook for 5 - 6 minutes, or until the tomatoes are almost absorbed and the cauliflower is almost done. Add the cilantro and mix it in.

Put the contents of the pan into an ovenproof dish about 8 inches square, add the cream, mix, and sprinkle the cheese over the top. Put in the top third of the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and developed a few light brown spots. Serve hot.

Cabbage Pizza Works!

We took the leftover Cabbage and made a great Pizza! We did nothing else but spoon the cabbage mixture on a Vicolo Pizza Shell. It turned out great!