Sausage and Spinach Pappardelle

 

A family favorite that makes a bunch.  Even spinach haters love it cause its so darned good.

Ingredients:

• 4 mild or hot Italian sausages (about 12 ounces)
• 1/4 c minced shallot or sweet onion
• 8-10 oz baby spinach
• nutmeg
• 1/4 c parmesan grated
• 1 stick butter
• 12 oz pappardelle pasta
• parmesan for serving.

Put on a large pot of water and bring to boil  Cook pasta according to package directions.  Do not drain pasta as you will need pasta water

Remove sausage from casing and crumble in a large frying pan over medium high heat.  When cooked add shallot (or sweet onion if you can't find shallots).  Sautee' 1 minute until translucent.  

Reduce heat and start adding spinach in batches, adding more as it wilted. Add a couple of scrapes of nutmeg (a large pinch worth).  When the butter is about half melted add a ladle (scant 1/2 cup) pasta water and stir into the melting butter to emulsify.  DO NOT skip this step or your sauce will break.  Finish adding spinach, when all wilted down add parmesan cheese and stir into butter emulsion.  If it starts to break add another 1/4-1/2 c pasta water to re-emulsify. 

At this step your pasta should be ready to be pulled from water and added to the mixture.  Simmer in sauce a minute or two tossing with tongs to coat all the pasta with the glorious butter cheese sauce.  Serve in bowls with additional grated parmesan.

Oven Butter Poached Shrimp

A similar version of this recipe exists on this blog.  This version is a bit lighter, who am I kidding, one less stick of butter isn't really lighter.  To amp up the flavor I toss in chopped garlic and wine to make things a bit tastier.

Cooking with wine is a no brainer, use any good wine you'd drink that doesn't break the bank.  Added bonus when you cook with a wine and serve it at the table there's a pairing that magically happens on the palette.  I used a Pinot Grigio, but Pinot Gris or even Chardonnay will work.

I use large shrimp for this as they have better flavor and are easier to eat.  The 21-25 size are ideal for this finger food...not a fine dining experience, but casual dining where you grab it by the tail and enjoy.  Be sure to have a bowl next to you to catch the remaining tails.

Oven Butter Poached Shrimp

• 2 lbs large shrimp
• 3 sticks unsalted butter
• 1 c dry white wine
• 1 t kosher salt
• 1/4-1/2 t red pepper flakes
• 1/4 c minced fresh parsley
• 3 cloves garlic minced

Preheat oven to 375f

Wash and shell/devein the shrimp leaving the tail on.

Gently heat butter until just melted.  Add wine, salt, pepper flakes to taste, parsley and garlic.  Whisk to combine.

Place shrimp in a 9X13 baking dish.  Pour over butter mixture.  Bake 20-25 minutes until no longer pink and cooked through.  

Ladle into bowls. Serve with crusty bread to soak up the luscious poaching liquid.

No Bakes Cookies...perfect for a summer heat wave

I type this as the temperature in the SGV has broken 100f and it isn't even noon yet.  Too hot to bake but you still want a good cookie?  This is the ticket.  The "No bake cookie" has been floating around my Mom's house since we got the first version from our friend Marty Hintsala back, way back in the '60s.

Added bonus is its stupid easy.  Use a large nonstick pot and the clean up is easy too.

What makes this "MY COOKIE" is that I switched up some ingredients to make it deeper and richer in flavor than the original.  Half brown sugar instead  of all basic white granulated.  My current go to "Black Onyx Cocoa" instead of regular Hershey's as its an almost black all cocoa solids powder for better flavor.  A bit of kosher salt to balance out the flavors and cut the sweetness.

No Bake Cookies 

• 1/2 c butter
• 1/4 c milk
• 4 T Black Onyx of Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa Powder
• 1 c brown sugar lightly packed
• 1 c granulated sugar
• 1/2 t kosher salt
• 1/2 c peanut butter
• 3 1/2 c quick cooking oat meal
• 2 t vanilla

Put first 6 ingredients into a large non-stick stock pot and bring to boil over medium heat.  Boil at full rolling boil 1 minute.  Remove from heat.

Stir in peanut butter.   Stir in vanilla.  Stir in quick cooking oats.

Drop by tablespoonful onto silpat sheet.  Or by 2 tablespoonful if you like big cookies.  Cool to room temp to set.  Enjoy!

Butter Almond Coffee Cake

Perfect for a chilly winter morning is this Butter Almond Coffee Cake.  Its pretty simple to make, a few steps that in themselves are easy, just several of those steps to get to this wonderfully almondy coffee cake.

The real key to this coffee cake is to really whip the egg sugar mixture as there is no leavening in the cake.  That right, no baking soda or baking powder, its lightness comes from the air whipped into the eggs in the beginning.  Don't be afraid to whip it long and hard (wasn't that a Devo Song?) until the beater leaves trails in the egg mixture and it falls in ribbons from the whip. Takes about 3-4 minutes to get to that stage. If you don't do this your cake with be dense.

Butter Almond Coffee Cake

Cake:

• 1/2 Cup Sugar 
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/2 t. Vanilla
• 1/2 t almond extract
• 2/3 Cup Butter, plus small amount for pan
• 2 Eggs
• 3/4 Cup Flour

Glaze:

• 2 T. Milk
• 1 T. Flour
• 1/4 C. Butter
• 2 oz. Blanched almonds, sliced
• 4 T. Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour a 9" baking pan.
Melt 2/3 C. butter and allow to cool.
Using a mixer with whisk attachment, beat eggs, vanilla, almond extract, salt and sugar in large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.  Slowly add butter and flour to egg mixture and stir in on low speed.
Pour batter into an prepared cake pan. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
In a saucepan, combine remaining 1/4 cup of butter, 4 T. sugar, milk, and flour. Bring to a boil and add almonds.  Spread cake with glaze and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until just beginning to turn light brown and crispy.
Allow to cool on a rack for 10 minutes or so before cutting. Serve warm or at room temperature.

S'mores Parfaits

Although I may be a fruit pie/cobbler guy, I do enjoy my chocolate. Rich deep chocolate, not that wimpy milk chocolate stuff. We got invited to BBQ the other day and were left with the task of putting together a dessert for the host who dislikes fruit, especially if it is baked into something.

Chocolate to the rescue. Since it is summer and an outdoor BBQ the perfect thing would be something S'mores like. Since there wouldn't be a fire going I opted to go with duplicating the flavors and leave the fire part out.

The filling was inspired by the September 2008 Food & Wine "30 Best Fast Recipes Ever". I opted to go with the really dark chocolates and knew their recipe couldn't hold up to the intense Valrhona's I wanted to use. Therefore I swapped in half-and-half for the milk to compensate for the lower cocoa fats in an 85% cocoa solids bitter sweet chocolate. I increased the sugar as well as I was using a "Black Onyx" unsweetened baking chocolate from Surfas that is as the names suggests so rich in chocolate solids it looks almost black.

S’more Parfaits

• 6 graham crackers – crushed fine
• 2 T butter melted
• 1 T sugar
• 1 c miniature marshmallows

Double Chocolate Pudding Filling

• 2 ¼ c half and half
• 1 c sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2 T corn starch
• 3 T unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1 large egg
• 2 large egg yolks
• 5 oz semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chopped
• 2 T unsalted butter cut into pieces
• 1 t vanilla extract

Fine crush the graham crackers in food processor. Reserve 6 teaspoons for later. Add 1T sugar and melted butter. Whiz until incorporated. Divide the mixture evenly in to 6, 8 oz ramekins. Bake in 350 Oven 5 minutes. Let it cool while making the pudding filling.

In a medium non-stick sauce pan mix 2 cups half-and-half and sugar. Stir until smooth over medium heat until it boils and sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. Stir in salt.

Mix corn starch, cocoa powder and remaining half-and-half and whisk until smooth. Whisk into hot mixture until smooth. Return to moderate heat and whisk constantly until the pudding is thick enough to coat back of spoon, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Whisk eggs until smooth. Whisk in briskly and constantly 1 cup of hot cocoa mixture until smooth. Return pan to medium low heat. Whisk in the egg mixture and whisk constantly until the mixture just comes to a boil about 2 minutes. Do not boil.

Pour chocolate mixture through strainer into mixing bowl. With beater attachment on stir add chopped chocolate and cubed butter. Stir until just incorporated.

Divide pudding mixture into each ramekin. Top with Marshmallows and reserved graham cracker crumbs. Cover with plastic wrap and chill 1-2 hours.

The marshmallows can be “toasted” with a kitchen torch just prior to serving.

Use really good chocolate and cocoa

Whisk briskly to totally dissolve in the cocoa and corn starch mixture to avoid lumps
Lightly tap in the graham cracker bottom, don't press or it will be like a brick at the bottom you can't break loose to eat with the filling and stuff.
Slowly stir in butter and chopped chocolate until just smooth. Don't beat or you will have it full of bubbles and not have a smooth texture.
Divide the pudding filling and enjoy! Of course you can skip the entire parfait and just eat the pudding as it is an intensely rich and velvety chocolate pudding all by itself.