Summer Chicken Salad with Raspberries, Avocado and Balsamic Vinaigrette

Last week, I was craving salad. While I enjoy a good salad, this doesn't happen very often. One reason I needed a salad fix is that we had just eaten this lovely cavatelli pasta with ricotta the night before, and I perceived the dish as being rich--although it's actually not bad as long as you don't eat a ton of it.

The other reason is that I recently got a new cookbook that is all about salads in all their possible guises--Mediterranean Fresh by Joyce Goldstein. Focusing on fresh, light Mediterranean flavors with emphasis on fresh vegetables, herbs and fruit, this is a book for cooks with a surplus of produce on their hands who are looking for ideas and harmonious flavor combinations. It is also for cooks who love dressing, especially when it's homemade. The many and varied salads in the first section of the book--whether cooked or raw, with lettuce or not--have suggested dressing matches that you'll find in the second part of the book. If this mix and match approach appeals to you, and you eat a lot of salad, you'll love the creative, well-conceived recipes.

While I was inspired by a lot of ideas and flavors as I flipped through the book, I could not commit myself to any one recipe and its dressing, despite ample variations and flexibility. But it did get me in a more innovative mood, which resulted in this salad. I think the best salads are the results of serendipity--using the ingredients you have on hand and the produce you need to use up before it fades, rather than going out and buying a long list of ingredients for a salad recipe.

This salad started with sweet, juicy raspberries that sounded like they were meant to be paired with spinach, feta and almonds. Would avocado work in there too? Why not--it goes great with chicken. I did my dead simple balsamic, shake-in-a-jar dressing, and the salad was incredibly good.

This is more of a suggestion than a recipe, so use it as a jumping off point for your own salad creation.

Summer Chicken Salad with Raspberries, Avocado and Balsamic Vinaigrette
I think a really good salad needs to balance a lot of strong flavors and varying textures. Make sure you have sweetness (fruit), salt (feta and actual salt), sour (vinegar), richness (olive oil and avocado), freshness (greens), crunch (nuts). These elements come in countless forms, but the point is to create variety in every bite. You can make this for as many people as you want.

In a large bowl, toss:

- spinach leaves
- mixed baby greens (bag of spring mix)
- chopped cooked chicken
- thinly sliced red onions (soaked in ice water if you want to tone down the bite)

In a small jar, combine 1 part extra virgin olive oil and 1 part good-tasting balsamic vinegar (doesn't have to be expensive, just taste good), salt and pepper. The classic ratio is 1 part vinegar and 3 parts oil. I like my ratio better, but it's up to you. Screw on the lid tightly and shake to emulsify. Drizzle enough dressing over the spinach mixture to coat it when tossed well.

Divide the salad among large serving bowls and top each one with:

- fresh raspberries
- diced feta
- diced avocado
- toasted slivered almonds

Pass extra dressing at the table if you like.

A review copy of Mediterranean Fresh was generously provided by the publisher.

Red Wine Risotto with Sausage, Arugula and Caramelized Onions

I know I’m not the first to use red wine in a risotto dish, but it sure looks cool, doesn’t it? I’ve wanted to try it for ages, and I’m thrilled that I managed to combine the red wine with such delicious and complementary ingredients.

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you may remember a post about Butternut Squash, Mushroom and Spinach Risotto where I said risotto is one of my signature dishes – something I can make in countless different ways without a recipe and with confidence that it will turn out well. But, doing something over and over again the same way can be a little boring, so it was fun to add that splash of subtley fruity Italian red and watch it create a telltale stain on my oil and butter-slicked grains of Arborio.

The funny thing about red wine versus white in a dish like risotto is that is messes with your brain a little. I’m sure we eat with our eyes as well as our mouths, so seeing the obvious evidence of the red wine somehow made its flavor more noticeable in the dish. I think I could tell the difference between plain risotto cooked with and without white wine, but I still don’t specifically notice the wine’s flavor when I’m eating the dish.

I don’t mean to say that the red wine is overpowering or alcoholic or anything negative at all. But it’s lovely pinkish color reminds you to appreciate this flavor element rather than overlook it.

As for the other flavors – they’re fabulous. I can’t take all the credit; I was inspired by a risotto dish in the March ’08 Cooking Light in an article by Michael Ruhlman on balancing the five flavors (sweet, salty, bitter, sour, umami) in cooking. The bitter arugula is fresh and peppery; the caramelized onions balance with sweetness; the Pecorino Romano (along with the wine) volunteers indispensable umami; the turkey sausage is salty and savory; and the lemon, as always, adds bright acidity.

I would use red wine is many different risotto preparations, but this one is going to be a keeper in my repertoire. Have you tried red wine in risotto (maybe I’m late to the party)? Do you sometimes skip the wine altogether? Let me know in the comment section.

Red Wine Risotto with Sausage, Arugula and Caramelized Onions
Adapted from this recipe in Cooking Light magazine

You must use a wine that tastes good in this dish. I recommend a medium-bodied one that is well-balanced between fruity and earthy flavors (no jammy fruit bombs!). Italian wine would be great. The arugula wilts a lot, so it might look like too much at first – just add as much as looks good to you. Because it’s an aged cheese, Pecorino Romano has an excellent umami quality and mild, milky flavor that I love with this risotto; Parmigiano is more nutty and fruity, but it would also work. The zippy acid hit of the lemon juice is must, so don’t skip it!

Serves 3 as a main course, 4 to 6 as a starter or side

nonstick cooking spray
2 spicy Italian turkey sausage (such as Jennie O brand)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 red onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 or 2 shallots, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry red wine
arugula leaves – 2 or 3 big handfuls from a pre-washed bag
Pecorino Romano cheese for serving
Lemon wedges for serving

Lightly coat a skillet with cooking spray and heat to medium. Crumble the sausage into the skillet, discarding the casing. Stir frequently, breaking up an large pieces, until cooked through. Remove to a bowl and set aside.

Wipe out skillet with a paper towel and reduce heat to low. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter. When the butter is melted, add the onions and toss well to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste and cook, stirring occasionally until very soft and sweet, about 15 to 20 minutes. If onions start to brown too quickly, check that the heat is low enough and add a bit of water to moisten skillet. Add onions to the bowl with the sausage.

Meanwhile, heat the chicken broth (do not boil) in a medium saucepan and keep warm over low heat.

In a large saucepan or soup pot, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1/2 tablespoon of butter over medium-low heat. Add the shallots and cook until soft but not browned. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Add the rice and stir constantly for 2 to 3 minutes until all the grains are slick and slightly opaque. Add the wine and simmer until almost completely absorbed.

Add two ladles full of broth to the risotto and bring to a simmer. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Keep the risotto at a steady simmer, stirring continuously until the broth has absorbed almost completely. Add one ladle full of broth, stir until it is nearly absorbed, then add another ladle full. Continue simmering and stirring, adding broth as necessary, for about 20 to 24 minutes or until the rice is creamy and cooked al dente – firm to the bite, but cooked through. When the risotto is 1 or 2 minutes from being finished, add the arugula and stir until just wilted. Add the reserved sausage and onions; stir until just heated through. Remove risotto from heat and serve with shaved Pecorino Romano cheese and lemon wedges.

Two Appetizers for New Year's Eve: Apple-Thyme Chicken Liver Mousse and Pistachio-Chicken Liver Pâté

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, however you celebrate (or not). I had a fun, relaxing Christmas full of great presents and amazing food. I know I'm incredibly lucky, and now there's even more to look forward to with New Year's coming up. My school's football team, the Boston College Eagles, plays their bowl game tonight, and we're celebrating by trying out a recipe from one of the new cookbooks I got for Christmas. I'm trying to get some work done before another weekend starts, and I have so many recipes I want to post on this blog! I will start with two you may want to make this weekend.

If you are looking for elegant New Year’s Eve appetizers, I’m sending chicken livers to your rescue. If you are already gung-ho over nose-to-tail eating, this is child’s play. If you’re not so sure about chicken livers, consider this: they are so cheap and easy to prepare that you won’t be taking a big risk if you don’t like them. If you’re worried about squeamish friends and family, just call these dishes “country pâtés” and hope they are too embarrassed to ask you to explain exactly what’s in it. After the first bite, they won’t care anymore.

I may have tried pâté a couple times over the years, but I never had any interest in it until Mike and I had the chicken liver toasts at Michael’s Genuine, a restaurant in Miami that has become our new favorite place. If you’ve had foie gras, that’s the closest reference point I can think of for chicken liver. Unlike the geese raised for foie gras however, the chickens don’t get any special treatment, which explains why you can buy a pound of all-natural, hormone-free chicken livers at Whole Foods for about $2.37.

When cooked until just a bit pink inside and whizzed up into a pâté or mousse, the flavor of the livers is densely meaty, like an ultra-concentrated stock. If you make the mousse, you’ll get an airy, spreadable texture, not unlike chocolate mousse. The cold, creamy quality of the whipping cream that is usually associated with sweetness is equally complimentary to the savory flavor of the livers. The thick pâté is better suited to slicing, and you can enjoy the color of the pistachios that way.

We scaled down these recipes and made them at the same time, Mike standing over a skillet of steaming apple chunks, and me sautéing shallots on another burner. Since we never made either a chicken liver mousse or pâté before, it was fun to compare the methods (very similar until the end) and the finished products (totally different, yet complementary). I’m not sure which one I like better, but these recipes have a permanent home with us. Another fancy (and vegetarian) New Year’s Eve favorite is my gruyère gougères, the best cheese puffs ever, especially if you’re drinking Champagne!

Mike's chicken livers cooking with apples and onions for the mousse.

My chicken livers cooking with caramelized shallots and sherry for the pâté.

Chicken Liver-Pistachio Pâté
Adapted from this recipe in Food and Wine magazine, December 2007
This will keep in refrigerator for two weeks. Serve on toasted baguette or ciabatta bread. F & W also suggested stuffing a bit of pâté into brandy-poached prunes--yum!

Makes about 1 1/4 cups. Recipe may be doubled.

4 tbs. unsalted butter, softened (divided use)
1 large shallot, thinly sliced (about 1/4 cup)
1/2 lb. chicken livers, rinsed and trimmed of any fat (there won't be much)
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup dry sherry or marsala
2 tbs. chicken broth
1/3 cup plus 1 tbs. salted roasted pistachios, chopped (divided use)
1 tbs. chopped flat leaf parsley
1/2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
1 tbs. unsalted butter, melted

Add 1 tbs. of the softened butter to a large skillet over medium-low heat. When the butter has melted, add the shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 8 minutes. Raise heat to medium, add chicken livers, season with salt and pepper, and cook, turning once or twice until firm, about 4 minutes. Add the sherry and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth and continue cooking, turning livers a few times, until they are light pink in the center, about 4 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and transfer 2 chicken livers to a cutting board. When cool enough to handle, chop the 2 livers into tiny pieces, about the size of the chopped pistachios. Set aside.

Transfer the contents of the skillet to a blender or food processor and puree. With the machine running, add the remaining 3 tbs. of softened butter, one tablespoon at a time and blend until completely incorporated. Transfer the puree to a bowl and fold in the reserved chopped livers, 1/3 cup chopped pistachios, the parsley and the thyme. Season with salt and pepper, tasting as you go. Transfer the pâté to a ramekin, mason jar or other serving vessel, smoothing the surface as much as possible. Cover and refrigerate for about 2 hours.

Pour the melted butter evenly over the surface of the pâté , then sprinkle with the remaining tbs. of chopped pistachios. Cover and refrigerate until butter is firm, or for up to 2 weeks. Served chilled or at room temperature.


Apple-Thyme Chicken Liver Mousse
Adapted from this recipe on Foodtv.com, courtesy of Alton Brown

Makes about 2 cups. Recipe may be doubled.

1 tbs. unsalted butter
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped tart apple
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 pound chicken livers, rinsed and trimmed of fat (there won't be much)
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 tbs. brandy
1/2 cup heavy cream

In a large skillet over low heat, melt the butter and cook the onion and apple, covered, until apples soften. Remove lid, increase heat to medium, add the livers, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until firm and still pink inside, turning several times, about 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool, about 10 minutes.

Add the contents of the skillet to a food processor along with the brandy and thyme, and puree until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl, cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, whip the heavy cream to medium peaks. Adding about a quarter of the whipped cream at a time to the liver puree, gently fold the cream into the liver. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper. Serve chilled.

Duck Guazzetto and More Links to Holiday Recipes

The last few work days before a big holiday are always torture, and now is no exception! I can’t wait to kick back and revel in some holiday indulgence--not to mention presents. They’ve been taunting me from under our tree for weeks now because Mike is very conscientious about getting presents wrapped early. It’s really cute, actually. Plus, it motivates me to get my wrapping done too, instead of saving it for the last minute, as usual.

One thing that’s really helped us enjoy the whole Christmas season this year is NOT saving all the fun stuff up for the 24th and 25th. Tomorrow, for instance, we plan to open a bottle of Port we got last summer when we did some wine tasting in Los Olivos, California. We always buy Port at Christmas, but in past years we’ve opened it on Christmas day when we’re already stuffed and can’t fully enjoy it. This year, we’re using it to celebrate nothing more than, “Hey, it’s Thursday”. Little things like this really perk up an average weeknight.

When it comes to food, there are so many “special” recipes we want to cook for Christmas, that this year we decided not to pick just one. Last weekend, we made Duck Leg Guazzetto, a dish I think is truly, utterly phenomenal. It’s a recipe by Lidia Bastianich that was published in the January ’07 issue of Gourmet. The homemade, toasted pasta is so easy you’ll think you missed a step (and NO pasta machine is required!). The slow cooked duck legs become fall off the bone tender in a braise flavored with wine, rosemary and whole cloves. You must shave Parmigiano-Reggiano on top, and it’s bliss from there. I posted the recipe and pictures nearly a year ago, but after making it again last weekend, I just had to revisit it on the blog. It would make an incredible centerpiece for an intimate holiday meal.

If you’re still thinking about what to cook for the holidays, whether it’s Christmas Eve, New Year’s or, “Hey, it’s December 28th,” I have some ideas for you. Some appeared on this blog, and some are from other fabulous food blogs.

From Mingling:
Spaghetti Bolognese with Chestnuts: Your favorite meat sauce with a little something special.
Brussels Sprout-Chestnut Tart with Pancetta: "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire..."
Big Italian Meatballs with Creamy Polenta: A meatball that's a meal.
Exotic Rack of Lamb: Sexy, fancy, perfect for holiday.


A duo of elegant vegetarian tarts: Caramelized Onion and Blue Cheese Tart and Swiss Chard Custard Tart with Yeast Crust


And for dessert...
Chewy Chocolate Cookies with Mini Peanut Butter Cups
Cranberry-Almond Crostata: Take advantage of those fresh cranberries in this lovely recipe!
All in One Holiday Bundt Cake: apples, pumpkin, cinnamon, cranberries, maple and pecans (whew!)--all the flavors of the season in one great cake.

From Some of My Favorite Foodies:
A gorgeously seasonal Pomegranate and Spinach Salad from Brilynn of Jumbo Empanadas
An authentic Cassoulet from Veronica's Test Kitchen
Chocolate Macarons with Peppermint Ganache from Anita of Dessert First--I'll be trying my hand at French macarons this weekend with Anita's and Helene's posts as a guide!
The Espresso-Chocolate Shortbread Cookies from Deb of Smitten Kitchen--or any of her other cookies!
The show-stopping Crunchy Chocolate-Chestnut Cake from Ivonne, aka Cream Puffs in Venice
Chestnut and Pear Tart from Dorie Greenspan's blog is another show-stopper. Can you tell I like chestnuts?

My Favorite Smoky Turkey Chili

When I think of chili, I think of windy fall evenings, football games and the weekend. Chili is such a weekend food because it takes at least a little while to simmer and feels like a feast--especially when you add some supporting players like skillet cornbread and a great beer. The Leffe in the photo, by the way, is one of my favorites of all time and an absolutely excellent food beer; it's worth tracking down, though we did recently find it in a mixed pack at Costco.

This chili is just the thing to have simmering on the stove as you decorate your Christmas tree this weekend. It's also great to make while watching football. Will you be tree-trimming and football watching simultaneously like I probably will? In that case, you can even make this ahead--it tastes even better reheated.

I made this chili for a Halloween dinner this year because of the festive color combo of the sweet potatoes and black beans. The smokiness comes from poblano chiles, a mild, easy to find dark green pepper that you roast, skin and cut into strips. If you don't like heat, remove all the seeds, and you won't have a problem. The pepper roasting is the only fussy part of this recipe, but you've done that before, right? And it totally pays off. I also recently discovered dried chipotle chiles which have the most intense smoky-sweet flavor in their dried form--but a little goes far. We grind these up ourselves to make the chipotle chile powder, but you can either buy it or use any chili seasonings you prefer.

Although I said I was feeling relatively healthy after our blowout Thanksgiving weekend, we've still been eating nutritious, comforting meals like salmon and lentils (my favorite healthy yet totally satisfying meal) and some great vegetarian soups. I have two outrageously good soups that I want to post soon--just in case you need a break from the holiday indulgence that's going to happen in the coming weeks--I'm sure I will!


Smoky Turkey Chili
Loosely Adapted from Food & Wine, January 2003
I’ve actually been making this chili since I received the January ’03 issue of F&W. I even hung onto the magazine because it includes quite a few great-looking, healthy recipes, though the chili is only one I’ve ever made. Because I love the intensely sweet flavor, I buy dried chipotles and grind them in a spice grinder. You can buy them already ground or use one or two canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce. Anything with the word “chipotle” is probably hot stuff, so use sparingly at first. You can skip it if you don’t like heat, but I’d encourage you to try it because the sweet, smoky flavor is wonderful. Of course, feel free to use your favorite chili seasonings and spices--it’s a fun dish to play around with. Here are some excellent instructions on how to roast peppers. I do mine (or I should say Mike does mine) under the broiler.

Serves 6

1 tbs. canola or olive oil
1 lb. lean ground turkey
Salt and ground pepper to taste
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium onions, chopped
2 tbs. chile powder (the regular, mild stuff--Spice Islands makes a good one)
pinch of ground chipotle chile powder (or to taste) or 1 to 2 canned chipotles in adobo (optional)
4 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 quart water
1 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
Two 15-oz. cans black beans, drained but not rinsed
4 large poblano chiles—roasted, peeled, seeded and cut into thin strips
1/4 cup tomato paste
Sour cream, grated cheese, cilantro and chopped scallions for serving (optional)

Add the oil to a large pot or Dutch oven and heat to medium-high. Add the ground turkey, season with salt and pepper and cook, breaking it up as you stir, until browned. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Turn the heat down to medium-low, add the onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook until soft and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, both chile powders, cumin and cloves and cook for 2 minutes more. Add the tomatoes and water and raise the heat to bring chili to a boil.

Add the turkey, cover the pot and simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes and simmer for 30 more minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add the beans and poblano, stirring to combine, then taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper or chile powder to taste. Stir in the tomato paste and simmer for 5 minutes.

Serve topped with sour cream, grated cheese, cilantro and chopped scallions. Cornbread is an excellent accompaniment.

Turkey Lasagna with Eggplant and Spinach

Do you think there's a proper way to layer a lasagna? Like if you put the ricotta on before the meat, you've screwed it up? I don't think so. I plan out my layers before I start assembling to create optimum enjoyment of the flavors and textures of the ingredients. But as long as it makes you happy, I think the way you layer is a matter of personal style.

The lasagnas I ate as a kid did not have much variation. There was noodle, red sauce, meat and cheese--and the meat and cheese layers were repeated at least twice. A while ago, I figured out that I don't like that. I like to stuff my lasagna with vegetables, but I want meat too so it's more substantial and doesn't rely on wild amounts of cheese for protein. I use only a moderate amount of meat--about three quarters of a pound--so I put it in a single layer. I do just one layer of vegetables too so I can taste them, and the finished product has distinct components.

This lasagna is my best, and that's why I've waited until now to post a lasagna recipe on the blog. I think turkey has a milder flavor that goes better with vegetables than beef does. The thick slices of roasted eggplant are utterly delicious, and one of my favorite vegetables in any context.

One last thing: Try this homemade sauce! You'll be amazed that a minimal effort on your part yields something with so much home-cooked, deep flavor. You'll never want to use a jar again, and it makes a lasagna (already a bit of a project, I have to admit) that much more special. But put this together on the weekend, and unless you're feeding a crowd, you'll have leftovers that only taste better the next day.

Turkey Lasagna with Eggplant and Spinach
Make the sauce first, early in the day, or a day in advance if that works best for you. Then it is just a matter of prepping the other components—vegetables, meat, and ricotta—and assembling the dish. I love whole wheat lasagna noodles and think they go especially well with veggie lasagnas. Try Gia Russa brand (I find it in the grocery store).

1 large or 2 small to medium eggplant, stem end trimmed, sliced lengthwise 1/2-inch thick (better to have extra eggplant than not enough here)
olive oil
coarse salt and ground black pepper
12-14 oz. baby spinach leaves
3/4 lb. lean ground turkey
red chile flakes, to taste
15 oz. container ricotta cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten
pinch ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. each dried basil and oregano
Easy Tomato Sauce (recipe follows)
1 package “no boil” lasagna noodles
8 oz. mozzarella cheese, grated (I like Sorrento brand)
16-20 fresh basil leaves
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, for serving

1) Prepare the vegetables: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Using a pastry or grilling brush, coat a large baking sheet with olive oil and arrange the eggplant on the sheet in a single layer (use two baking sheets if necessary). Lightly brush the tops of the eggplant slices with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast 10-15 minutes, or until eggplant slices are soft and lightly browned. Set aside. Adjust oven temperature to 400 degrees.

Meanwhile, heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add a few handfuls of the spinach, season with salt and pepper and cook, turning constantly, about 3-4 minutes. Place cooked spinach in a colander. Repeat with remaining spinach. Gently press the spinach in the colander to release as much liquid as possible. Set aside.

2) Cook the turkey: Heat the same large skillet to medium-high. Add the ground turkey, breaking it up as it cooks. Season with salt, pepper and chile flakes. When turkey is cooked through, remove the skillet from the heat and set aside.

3) Prepare the ricotta: In a bowl, mix the ricotta and the eggs. Season with salt, pepper, nutmeg, basil and oregano.

4) Assemble lasagna: Coat the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray. Cover the bottom of the dish with a light layer of tomato sauce. Cover with four lasagna noodles. It is okay that the noodles do not fit all the way to the edges of the dish. They expand during baking. Top with half the ricotta mixture, all of the turkey, and one-third of the mozzarella. Cover with a layer of tomato sauce and a layer of noodles. Top with the rest of the ricotta, all the eggplant, and all the spinach. Cover with 1/3 mozzarella cheese and another layer of sauce. Lay the basil leaves evenly over the sauce and top with a final layer of noodles. Cover the noodles with more sauce and the rest of the mozzarella.

Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes at 400 degrees. As soon as you take the lasagna out of the oven, remove the foil and grate some Parmigiano-Reggiano over the top. Let the lasagna rest for about 15 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces and serve.

Here is a quick reference for layering the lasagna:

Sauce
Noodles
Ricotta
Turkey (all)
Mozzarella
Sauce
Noodles
Ricotta
Eggplant
Spinach
Mozzarella
Sauce
Basil
Noodles
Sauce
Mozzarella
Parmigiano (after baking)

Easy Tomato Sauce
You may think one of the nice jars of store-bought sauce is just as good, but it’s not. Go for the convenience if you have to, but if you’ve got the time, this stuff is so delicious and hardly any work at all. It makes your house smell so incredible that you will want to make it all the time. Do not skip the wine; it add great depth of flavor.

Makes about 3 cups (for one lasagna and a bit left over); double the recipe if desired.

1 tbs. olive oil
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/3 cup chopped celery
1 medium yellow or white onion, chopped
Coarse salt and ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry red wine (an Italian red like Sangiovese is the best)
28-oz. can whole tomatoes (buy a brand imported from Italy; San Marzano tomatoes are the best, and most grocery stores have them)
2 dried bay leaves
1 tsp. sugar

Add the olive oil to a large soup pot or Dutch oven and heat to medium. Add the carrots, celery and onion. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring often, until soft and lightly browned. Add the garlic and stir as you cook for 1 minute. Add the wine and cook until just a little bit of the liquid is left, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juice and the bay leaves.

Turn the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer, stirring every so often. Reduce the heat to low, maintaining a simmer, but keeping the sauce from flying out of the pot. Simmer uncovered for 1 hours, stirring occasionally. Add sugar. Taste and season with salt and pepper according to your taste. If you still think the sauce is very acidic, add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. I found that 1 teaspoon made enough difference to round out the acidity, but taste for yourself.

Remove the bay leaves, let the sauce cool, and puree in batches in a blender. Or use a hand blender and puree right in the pot.

And Bonus! As if this post wasn't long enough...more fabulous, creative lasagna recipes from around the blogosphere:

1) Bea's gorgeous (as always) Untraditional Green Lasagna from La Tartine Gourmande
2) Polenta Lasagna with Portabellas and Kale from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen--I love polenta, I love mushrooms, I love kale--this looks awesome!
3) My Mother's Lasagna from Cream Puffs in Venice--When Ivonne writes about lasagna, you pay attention!
4) Spinach and Chicken Lasagna from What's For Lunch Honey--You have to see these layers--that is one gorgeous and substantial lasagna!
5) A beautiful and indulgent Vegetarian Lasagna from The Passionate Cook, complete with bechamel sauce.
6) Kevin's Basic Lasagna from Seriously Good uses Italian sausage, is fast to prepare and--I'm just guessing here--tastes anything but basic.

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Technorati Tags: recipes, italian, turkey, eggplant, Main Course

Thai Cashew Chicken

When we finally landed in San Francisco after over three weeks in Asia, we only had one thing on our minds—hamburgers. Of course we also had to figure out where to get a hotel and how to get back to Fort Lauderdale with our stand-by tickets, but the immediate concern was a good American meal.

The funny thing is, we weren’t sick of noodles and seafood. We ate beef in Japan more than once, but the point is that we had been eating Asian food for a month, and couldn’t resist the siren call of American comfort food. We wandered the streets of downtown San Francisco passing Asian, Thai, Vietnamese and even Indonesian restaurants that we would ordinarily have been thrilled to see. We wanted to avoid chain restaurants, but in the end we ended up at the Cheese Cake Factory…mmm, sliders.

The next day, we wandered around the Ferry Plaza for hours, and I ended the day, yet again, with a juicy hamburger and sweet potato fries. It was fun to crave this food that I normally feel less than excited about. When we finally did get home, we cooked healthy American recipes, like our staple black bean burritos. The luscious roasted vegetable linguini from my last post was a re-introduction to Italian cuisine. After about 3 weeks without Asian food and craving the exotic once again, we tossed together shrimp, chicken, vegetables and rice vermicelli with a tangy Vietnamese dressing. A few days later, we revisited the dishes we learned at the fantastic cooking school we attended in Thailand and made this recipe.

This is the photo of the cashew chicken as we made it in Thailand. Our home version lived up to the delicious taste memory.

Thai Cashew Chicken (Gai Pad Med Ma-Muang)
Adapted from Bai Pai Cooking School
Mike slices the chicken as thinly as possible so it cooks quickly. Use a very sharp knife and cut at an angle as if you are slicing a flank steak. Dried Thai chiles would be ideal, but the medium-hot chiles de arbol I had on hand worked really well. If you don't have dried chiles, sprinkle in some hot red pepper flakes, since you really should have at least a little heat in this dish. The Thai chili paste is irreplaceable as far as I know. Luckily, you can get it online here and probably in well-stocked markets.

Serves 4

3 tbs. canola oil, divided
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
salt and ground black pepper, to taste
2 1/2 tbs. Thai chili paste (Mae Pranom brand)
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 large onion, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1 tbs. sugar
6 dried red chiles (such as chiles de arbol)
Generous 1/2 cup raw cashews, toasted (or substitute dry roasted, unsalted cashews)
5 scallions, cut into 1 inch pieces
Steamed Thai jasmine rice, for serving

Heat 1 tbs. oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the chicken, season with salt and pepper and stir fry until cooked through. Put the chicken in a bowl and set aside. Repeat with 1 tbs. of the oil and the rest of the chicken.

Add the remaining oil to the empty skillet and heat. Add the chili paste, stirring constantly to break it up for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth, red bell pepper, onion, oyster sauce and sugar. Stir well and simmer for 3 minutes. Lower the heat to medium, return the chicken to the skillet and cook until the sauce is slightly thickened and the vegetables are tender, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the chiles, cashews and scallions, stir to combine and serve immediately over rice.



Technorati Tags: recipes, Thai, chicken, Main Course

Mole Sauce for Steak or Chicken and Lime-Honey Vinaigrette

I know I have written about how much I think Gourmet magazine stands out among the mountain of food magazines that overtake my mailbox every month. Lately, however, more of the recipes I actually cook have come out of Food & Wine magazine. The finger-lickin’ tasty Fried Chicken and Biscuits came from the February issue, and I hit the jackpot again in the March issue with an Mole Sauce that used a simple poblano salsa as its base.

Like many complex and iconic dishes, mole sauce inspires feeling of fascination and reverence in me. Maybe even more so, since it is the kind of dish I may never duplicate authentically unless I move to Puebla and become friendly with the cooks there who carry the secrets of mole-making around in their DNA. Having said that, I think the mole I made with the Food & Wine recipe as a guide definitely does justice to the genuine article.

This sauce is smoky from poblanos, spicy from dried chipotle peppers, nutty from toasted sesame seeds, and rich from chocolate, raisins and cinnamon. Complex doesn’t even begin to describe it; all the sweet flavors are perfectly balanced by the chiles and vegetables. Pureeing makes the consistency creamy and opaque, but it is not at all thick or heavy. All of this means that you could feast on this mole sauce for hours because your taste buds will never get tired of sampling the subtle shades of flavor.

The same article also inspired one of the best salad dressings I’ve made in a while: a simple lime-honey vinaigrette that is refreshingly sweet and zingy. I poured it over a salad of sweet baby lettuces (not the spicy greens we usually prefer, like arugula) from a Dole salad mix, tossed it with chopped tomatoes, a few slivers of red onion and fresh orange sections along with the juices that accumulated when I cut up the orange.

By the way, we served the mole sauce over dry-aged sirloin steaks, seared in a skillet over high heat then transferred to the oven to finish cooking. Any good steak would be wonderful; just let the mole be the star of the show. Two nights later, we roasted whole chicken breasts and topped them with the leftover mole. This was also fantastic. This may be the closest I ever get to authentic mole sauce, and I couldn’t be happier about it!

Mole Sauce for Steak or Chicken
Adapted from Food & Wine magazine

The original salsa recipe calls for ancho chiles which are dried poblanos. I could not find them, so I used fresh poblanos with amazing results. The recipe for the Poblano Salsa base yields 5 cups of salsa, but you only need one cup to make the mole. I prepared the whole salsa recipe and used some of the leftovers to make an enchilada sauce by mixing about 1 cup of salsa with a can of plain tomato sauce. I froze the rest in 1 cup portions for future use. You could also use the salsa as a dip or a topping for grilled fish or chicken. Two dried chipotle chiles with most seeds should yield a very hot salsa Adjust the amount of chiles and seeds to suit you, but don’t eliminate them completely; they add a unique sweet-smoky flavor.


Poblano Salsa:
8 poblano chiles, stemmed seeded and roughly chopped
1 to 2 dried chipotle chile peppers, stemmed and some seeds discarded, depending on your desired heat level (see recipe headnote)
1 quart low-sodium chicken broth
3 plum tomatoes, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 white onion, chopped
1 tbs. light brown sugar
1 tbs. canola oil
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. coarse salt
1 tsp. (approx.) freshly ground black pepper
1 tbs. cider vineger

In a large saucepan, combine all the ingredients except the vinegar. Bring to a boil and cook for two minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, cover and let stand form 10 minutes. Working in batches, roughly puree the salsa in a blender. Transfer to a bowl, stir in the vinegar and set aside.

Mole Sauce (Makes about 1 ½ cups; 6 servings):
1 tbs. sesame seeds
1 c. poblano salsa
½ c. low-sodium chicken broth
2 oz. chopped sweet chocolate (I used half milk and half semisweet)
2 tbs. dark raisins
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste

In a medium saucepan over low heat, toast the sesame seeds until golden. Add the poblano salsa, chicken broth, chocolate, raisins, cinnamon and nutmegs. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the chocolate is melted, about 4 minutes. Transfer the sauce to a blender and puree until smooth. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper, if desired. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Reheat in the microwave and serve over grilled or roasted steak or chicken. Keeps in the refrigerator for 4 days.

Lime-Honey Vinaigrette
Serves 4

2 tbs. honey
3 tbs. fresh lime juice
2 tbs. canola oil
2 to 3 drops red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to a jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake well until emulsified.



Technorati Tags: recipes, beef, salad, chicken, Main Course

Crispy Fried Chicken

In my last post, I promised you easy fried chicken to go with those biscuits, along with a few reasons why you can eat these Southern comfort foods without raising your jeans size.

Take my advice, and you will never again have to have guilty fantasies about yourself and a bucket of Extra Tasty Crispy:

• Marinate overnight in buttermilk—it makes the chicken so tender that you won’t feel horribly deprived if you don’t eat all the skin

• Use canola oil—so if you do end up eating more of the fabulously crispy skin than you planned, at least it will be cooked in heart-healthy fat

• Use tasty chicken pieces—go ahead and fry legs and thighs; the extra moisture and flavor makes them more satisfying than breasts, and they cook quickly

• Do greens on the side—this meal becomes a lot more nutritious if you serve simple greens (I did turnip; kale and collard are good too) sautéed in olive oil, lemon and garlic

• Make your own biscuits—They’ve only got 4 ingredients, not counting salt, so it’s too easy not to whip these up yourself; because you’ll use the best ingredients, they will be worth every buttery bite

Crispy Fried Chicken Leg and Thighs
Adapted from Food & Wine magazine and Tyler Florence for Food Network
Plan on marinating the chicken for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Serves 4

8-10 pieces of chicken (any combo of legs and thighs)
3-4 cups buttermilk
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. salt, or to taste
2 tsp. ground black pepper, or to taste
1-2 tsp. ground cumin
1-2 tsp. Hungarian smoked paprika
½ tsp. cayenne pepper, or to taste
1 ½ quarts canola oil

Place the chicken pieces in a large heavy-duty Ziploc bag and pour in 3-4 cups buttermilk. Seal up the bag, swish the chicken around and refrigerate overnight or at least 8 hours. Flip the bag over a few times during marinating period so all the chicken has a chance to soak.

In another large Ziploc bag, combine the flour, salt, pepper cumin, paprika and cayenne. Add 3 or 4 pieces of chicken, seal and shake. Shake off any clumps of flour then press the chicken pieces so the remaining flour adheres well. Set chicken on a wire rack and repeat with remaining pieces.

Meanwhile, pour the oil into a large, heavy saucepan. Using a frying thermometer, heat the oil to between 350 and 360 degrees. Add 3 or 4 chicken pieces and fry, turning once, until the chicken is cooked through, about 12 minutes total. The temperature of the oil will drop when you add the chicken, so keep an eye on the thermometer and adjust the heat so the temperature stays between 325 and 350 while frying. When the chicken is done it will be well-browned, but if you aren’t sure, take one piece out and cut into it. You won’t be able to put it back into the oil if it isn’t cooked through, but you can finish it in the oven, if necessary. This is better than having a whole batch of undercooked chicken.

Use tongs to take the cooked pieces out of the oil and place on a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat with the remaining chicken pieces. Serve immediately or later, at room temperature.

Technorati Tags: recipes, poultry, Main Course

One-Skillet Lemon Chicken with Red Potatoes

Isn’t it rewarding to execute the proverbial “one-pot meal?” Protein, starch and vegetables all nestled cozily in a single cooking vessel should make anyone sigh with relief on a busy night, yet I never make it a point to cook one-pot meals. Maybe the stigma of crock pot cooking and the idea of haphazardly tossing an "all but the kitchen sink"-style array of ingredients into a large vat deterred me (disclaimer: I do own a crock pot, and admit that it has its own unique set of benefits). I am happy to say that this succulent, moist chicken that creates its own rich, lemony sauce as it roasts, reintroduced me to the very delicious possibilities of one-pot meals.

In all honesty, I am still raving about how wonderful this lemon chicken is and fighting Mike over the leftovers. The method used to create the bright, luscious lemon sauce is ingenious. I wish I could take the credit, but I got this recipe out of one of my Cooking Light cookbooks. I slightly increased the scant amount of olive oil they called for and added extra kalamata olives and grape tomatoes (why on earth would they restrict me to 10 grape tomatoes in their original recipe?!).

To create this fantastic lemon sauce, all you do is line a large oven-proof skillet with lemon slices. Then you toss the chicken in a lemon-rosemary-garlic vinaigrette and layer it on top; toss the red potato wedges in the same vinaigrette and tuck them in around the chicken; and finally sprinkle the olives and tomatoes over all. After baking totally unattended for about 55 minutes, you have a complete meal bathed in the luscious sauce mentioned above. The use of boneless, skinless chicken thighs helps create the rich sauce and is guaranteed to be moist. On a night when I thought I would just be throwing together something simple and unchallenging, this one-pot dinner was an incredibly tasty surprise.

Skillet-Roasted Lemon Chicken with Red Potatoes
Adapted from The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook

Serves 4

1 to 2 large lemons, sliced
2 tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 tbs. lemon juice
¾ tsp. coarse salt
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
5-6 garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1 ½ lb. small red potatoes, cut into 1-inch wedges
½ pint cherry or grape tomatoes
12-16 kalamata olives, pitted

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In your largest oven-proof skillet, arrange lemon slices in a single layer along the bottom. In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon zest and lemon juice, salt and pepper, garlic and rosemary. Toss the chicken pieces in the vinaigrette and arrange in a single layer over the lemon slices. Add the potatoes to the bowl and toss in the remaining vinaigrette. Place potatoes in the skillet over and around the chicken and pour in any excess vinaigrette. Sprinkle the tomatoes and olives over the potatoes. Transfer the skillet to the center of the oven and bake for 55 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the chicken is cooked through. Divide the chicken and vegetables between serving plates and spoon the lemon sauce over. The cooked lemon slices may be eaten as well.

Technorati Tags: recipes, healthy, chicken, Main Course

Crisp Polenta Triangles with Sherry-Garlic Sausage Saute

I use polenta as a smooth, creamy bed for a huge variety of foods. I love the soft texture of the cornmeal that soaks up all the juices on the plate and fills your stomach with warmth. So, why would I cook polenta any other way?

Try these polenta triangles once, and you'll understand. I definitely did. Pan-fried for a few minutes on each side in a shallow pool of very hot olive oil, the polenta develops an irresistibly crisp golden crust. They are still soft and tender on the inside, but hold together so you can eat them like crostini with fresh tomato-basil salsa or a hot saute of onions, garlic, tomatoes and spicy turkey sausage cooked with sherry.

It may look deceptively basic, but this is an amazing sausage dish. Taking your time to brown the sausage and simmering it in the tomato-sherry sauce brings out intense flavor that is the perfect balance of meat, wine and garlic. Mike created this dish and often uses it as a sandwich filling. But, over our golden polenta triangles, it made me want to light some candles and pretend we were in a homey little Italian restaurant... buon appetito!

Crisp Polenta Triangles
You can also use coarse cornmeal cooked according to package directions. The polenta will need at least two hours to cool, so plan accordingly.

2 c. chicken broth or water
1 c. finely ground cornmeal or instant polenta
¼ c. milk
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil, as needed

Bring the broth or water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Stirring constantly with a whisk, add the polenta in a slow but steady stream. It will thicken almost immediately, so just keep whisking until the cornmeal is blended and smooth. As soon as you have added the cornmeal, turn the heat to low. The hot cornmeal may spurt up at you as it boils, so stand back. Cook over low heat just until the polenta is smooth and thick, about 1 minute. Whisk in the milk, season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.

Coat a shallow baking dish (I used an 8 x 8) with cooking spray and pour the polenta into the dish, spreading it out to form an even layer. Cover and refrigerate until cool and very firm, at least 2 hours.

Cut the polenta into triangles and remove them from the dish.

Add enough olive oil to completely coat the bottom of a large, heavy skillet and heat to medium. Add as many polenta triangles as you can without crowding the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden. Add more salt and pepper if you like.

Turkey Sausage in Sherry and Garlic
Serves 4

1 tbs. olive oil
1 onion, sliced into half moons
salt and pepper
3 links hot turkey sausage
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ c. dry sherry (not cooking wine)
1-14 oz. can diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the onions and sauté until soft, about 4 minutes. Push the onions to the edge of the pan and add the sausage links. Sear the sausage for 3-4 minutes per side. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Deglaze the pan with the sherry, then add the can of tomatoes with their juice. Adjust heat so the liquid is at a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the sausages are cooked through and the sauce is well-thickened.

Remove sausage links from skillet and slice on the diagonal. Return to skillet to coat with sauce and serve.

Technorati Tags: recipes, Italian, turkey, Main Course

Real Pad Thai from Your Kitchen

If you have been lucky enough to find a very good Thai restaurant, then you have probably already fallen hard for pad thai, the light rice noodle dish that plays on your tastebuds with sweet and umami flavors until you have eaten greater quantities of it than you thought possible. If you have wished you could reproduce the exotic flavors of this deceptively simple dish at home, read on because I have a very manageable recipe for you. If, instead, you're wondering what all the fuss is about, you've probably had the misfortune of tasting, a gooey, sticky-sweet americanized version made with a thick pre-packaged, corn-starch laden "pad thai sauce." In that case, read on and discover an authentic dish that is completely different than what you're used to.

I love pad thai because for years I lived in the delivery radius of the best thai restaurant I have ever found. I could call them at 7:00pm on a Friday night and have a made-to-order steaming hot dish of pad thai in front of me in under 15 minutes. That goes to show how efficient these folks were, but also how quickly this meal comes together once your ingredients are prepped.

I was spoiled rotten with this pad thai. When I moved away from Boston, I tried other thai restaurants, and have never had anything that comes close. I'm sure there are other respectable chefs turning out authentic pad thai, but in my experience, they are a rarity.

It takes a little practice to get the technique just right for this recipe. What you make will still be tasty, but the timing really is everything, and you'll learn just how you like to do it after a couple attempts. Nothing may hold up to Bangkok Bistro in my estimation, but this satisfies me and captures those flavors that made me crazy for this dish from the first bite.


Pad Thai
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Savoring Southeast Asia by Joyce Jue

The most important thing you can do is have all your ingredients prepped and ready to add to the skillet in quick succession. I have tried to lay out the steps below. Once you begin to cook the shallots, you will have a finished dish in under 7 minutes.
Serves 3-4

3 tbs. vegetable or peanut oil, divided
salt and pepper
¾ lb. chicken breast meat, pounded very thin and cut into 1-inch pieces
12 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
10 oz. flat rice noodles
2 ½ tsp. tamarind concentrate plus 3 tbs. water (or the equivalent of another tamarind product)
2 tbs. sugar
3 tbs. fish sauce
2 tbs. lime juice (about 1 lime)
¼ to ½ tsp. dried red chile flakes
2 tbs. chopped shallot
1 ½ tbs. chopped garlic
3 large eggs, beaten with 1 tblsp. water
2 c. fresh bean sprouts, divided
6 green onions, white and light green parts, chopped
½ c. roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
¼ c. cilantro, chopped
lime wedges, for serving

Heat 1 tbs. of the oil in a large nonstick skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and stir-fry until cooked through, about 4-5 minutes. Remove to a bowl. Lower the heat to medium and add 1 tbs. of oil to the skillet. Add the shrimp, season and cook until opaque, about 1 minute. Add to the bowl of chicken and set aside.

Meanwhile cook the noodles according to package directions. In a bowl or large glass liquid measuring cup, whisk together the tamarind and water, sugar, fish sauce, lime juice and chile flakes. Set aside.

Assemble everything you need to put together the pad thai: shallots and garlic, beaten eggs, chicken and shrimp, green onions, noodles, tamarind mixture, bean sprouts and peanuts.

Heat the last tbs. of oil over medium-low heat, add the shallot and cook for 1 minute, then add the garlic and cook for an additional minute. Add the beaten eggs, swirling the pan to coat the entire surface. Let the eggs set for a few seconds, then move them around the pan with a spatula, breaking them up. Immediately add the chicken and shrimp and toss quickly with the eggs. Add the noodles and toss them with the egg mixture for a minute or so, until you have cooked pieces of egg throughout. Pour the tamarind mixture all over the noodles in the skillet and toss to coat thoroughly. Immediately add the green onions, half of the bean sprouts and half of the peanuts and toss to combine. Remove from heat. Serve the pad thai with the remaining bean sprouts and peanuts; the cilantro; and the lime wedges.


Technorati Tags: recipes, thai, Main Course

Toasted Pasta with Duck Leg Guazzetto

Sometimes I just want to hunker down and spend some quality time in the kitchen. Occasionally this means baking or setting up a big pot of something wonderful to simmer away on my stove top all afternoon. Sometimes it means I’m up for a challenge; it means I want to tackle something I have never tried before or a recipe with multiple steps that can span a whole weekend. If you are in this kind of mood, make this duck guazzetto, created by Lidia Bastianich. Rich duck, dried porcinis, tomato paste and aromatic spices create an intensely flavorful, silky sauce as the long, slow braise transforms the meat to fall-off-the-bone tender.

A close-up of the finished guazzetto.

Luckily, I have been fawning over the Italy-themed January issue of Gourmet for a couple weeks now, and I decided by Thursday that we (it’s always nicer to face a challenge as “we” instead of “I”) were going to make our own Istrian feast complete with aforementioned duck legs and homemade toasted pasta. Mike was whole-heartedly on board with the toasted pasta, but thought the duck guazzetto (the Istrian term for a braise) might pose a challenge. I was certain that the guazzetto would be utterly glorious, and the recipe did come off without a hitch. Planning ahead was a factor, however, as I had to visit the butcher a day ahead to buy some beautiful frozen duck legs. These folks are not open on Sundays, and I needed the extra day to let the meat defrost in the refrigerator.

To make it easy on ourselves, we made and toasted the pasta one day ahead, as well. It truly came together easily, with rolling out the dough being the only mildly tedious part (that’s where the “we” came in).

Everything about this meal was heavenly. If we paid a lot for this dish in an Italian restaurant, we would have been more than happy. I wouldn’t recommend trying to put it all together in a single day, but if you want to spend a weekend making something really special, you will not be sorry with this one. Toasting the pasta in the oven gives it a nutty flavor, but the real treat is the rustic texture of these noodles. Hand-rolling, baking and breaking the dried dough into pieces creates uneven shapes that make every bite delicious in a slightly different way.

Do not forget to top the guazzetto with some good cheese. We also added our own special touch with some Bahamian sea salt that a friend gave me. Like the pasta, this very freshly harvested salt has an uneven grain and tastes like the warm ocean water of the Bahamas, only sweeter. As the pasta and guazzetto were not too heavily salted, we decided to try this salt, adding yet another incredible flavor note in the dish. If you don’t have a lovely person to bring you salt from the Bahamas, there are lots of different sea salts to experiment with.

Sometimes weekend projects don’t live up to expectations, but this one paid back our efforts in every bite. We gave ourselves all the time we needed to actually enjoy the cooking process, and none of it was terribly challenging after all.

Roll each piece of dough into a thin rectangle...

bake until golden...

and break into pieces before boiling.

Duck Leg Guazzetto
Adapted from Gourmet; Originally published in Lidia’s Family Table by Lidia Bastianich
As in the magazine, we made the rustic toasted pasta to serve with this richly flavored braised duck. If you are not up for doing homemade pasta, I think this would be wonderful over polenta; a large, flat noodle like tagliatelle; or lasagna noodles broken into smaller pieces before boiling.

Serves 4 generously

2 c. boiling water
½ oz. dried porcini mushrooms
3 lb. fresh or frozen duck legs (not confit; about 4 legs)
2 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
¼ tsp. salt
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tbs. tomato paste
1 c. dry white wine
3 c. reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 ½ California bay leaves, or 3 Turkish
1 (5-inch) sprig fresh rosemary
5 whole cloves
toasted pasta (see recipe below)
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano for serving

Pour boiling water over dried porcini in a bowl and let stand for 15 to 20 minutes, or until softened. Pour the contents of the bowl through a fine mesh sieve lined with a slightly dampened paper towel into another bowl, reserving the soaking liquid. Rinse the mushrooms to remove any grit, chop into small pieces and set aside.

Trim the duck. Remove any excess fat and about 2/3 of the skin from each thigh leaving a two inch strip of skin down the center. Leave the drumstick skin intact. Pat duck dry with a paper towel.

Heat 2 tbs. oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Sear the duck, in two batches if necessary, so you do not overcrowd the pot. Cook until lightly browned on both sides. If the oil starts to splatter, partially cover the pot and use tongs to carefully turn the legs. Remove legs to a plate, sprinkle with coarse salt and set aside.

Add onion to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 to 8 minutes. Season lightly with a pinch of salt and ground pepper. Add the porcini mushrooms and tomato paste, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the wine and return all the duck legs to the pot along with any juices that accumulated on the plate. Raise heat to bring to a boil, then lower heat and cook uncovered for about 5 minutes to reduce the wine. Add chicken broth, reserved mushroom-soaking liquid, bay leaves rosemary and cloves and bring to a boil. Cover pot and reduce heat to low. Gently simmer, covered, 1 hour, turned duck legs once halfway through.
Reposition lide to partially cover and continue to simmer for 30 minutes. Turn duck legs again, remove lid and simmer for an additional 30 minutes, until meat is very tender and sauce is thickened. Remove duck legs from pot and set on a cutting board. Allow sauce to continue simmering for 15 to 30 minutes or until you are left with about 3 cups of rich, slightly thick sauce. Remove rosemary sprig, bay leaves and cloves from the sauce and skim off any fat. Cover and keep warm over low heat. When duck is cool enough to handle, remove skin and fat and tear the meat into bite size pieces. Discard the skin and fat and return the meat to the pot. Keep covered over low heat until pasta is ready.

Toasted Pasta
Adapted from Gourmet

Serves 4 generously

2 to 2 ½ c. all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 ½ tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
4 ½ tbs. ice water, plus more if needed

Add 2 c. flour to a food processor and process for a few seconds to aerate. Whisk the eggs, oil and ice water together in a liquid measuring cup or bowl that pours easily. With the processor running pour the egg mixture through the feed tube and process until a slightly sticky dough forms and gather on the blade, about 30 to 40 seconds. Feel the dough. If it is a bit too sticky to handle, add more flour, a scant tbs. at a time and process until you can handle it. If dough is hard and dry, add more ice water. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 1 to 2 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Press dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and let stand at room temperture for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees and line 2 large (about 17 x 13) baking sheets with parchment paper. Unwrap dough and cut into four equal pieces. Put one piece on a lightly floured surface and cover the rest. Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough out as thinly and evenly as possible into a large rectangle about the size of your baking sheet. Keep the dough moving as you roll and add more flour to your work surface so dough does not stick. Transfer dough to lined baking sheet and repeat with the next piece of dough. Bake the first two sheets, rotating their positions occasionally, for about 15 minutes. Turn the baked pasta sheets over and continue baking until completely dry and golden, about 15 minutes more. Bubbles may form on the pasta during baking, but don’t worry; they add to the textural variation that makes this so delicious. Transfer pasta to cooling racks and let them sit out to continue drying for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours. Roll the next two pieces of dough, bake, and cool in the same manner.

Bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil over high heat. Season with salt. Break the sheets of pasta into large, irregular pieces, about 2 to 3 inches each. Add to pot and cook for 2 to 4 minutes, depending on thickness, until al dente. Drain in a colander and serve immediately topped with duck guazzetto and freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, and sea salt, if desired.

We also made this easy Italian salad from Gourmet. It is thinly sliced celery hearts and mushrooms, dressed with lemon and olive oil, and topped with salt, pepper and shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano. Slicing the mushrooms as thinly as possible and adding the dressing transforms them.

Technorati Tags: recipes, Italian, duck, Main Course