I Love You More Than Food

Category: main courses

  • St. Louis Style Cannelloni with Pork, Ricotta, & Chard

    St. Louis Style Cannelloni with Pork, Ricotta, & Chard

    cannelloni with ricotta, chard, and sausage

    This recipe will feed about 4 people with a side dish or 3 hungry people without one. It helps to have a food processor available.

    Filling
    2/3 lb spicy or sweet Italian pork sausage, out of casing
    3 cups chopped chard and/or spinach
    1 cup ricotta cheese (preferably sheep’s ricotta)
    1/2 yellow or white onion, diced

    Cook the sausage in a medium high heat skillet in a little chunks, seperating with your fingers, until brown on one side. Add the onions, and cook until mostly tender. Add the chard/spinich, and cook briefly until wilted. Allow mixture to cool slightly in pan or in thin metal bowl, and if you have one, use a food processor to make the mixture more even/fine. Once cooled to room temperature or close to it, add the ricotta and stir until blended. Adjust seasoning.

    Red Sauce
    1 container chopped or strained tomatoes (I used a carton of POMI)
    1 stick butter
    1/2 onion, peeled and intact

    Combine all ingredients in sauce pan and simmer until delicious. Add salt. About 30 minutes. Can make ahead.

    White Sauce
    1 T butter
    2 T flour
    1-2 cups milk
    salt & pepper
    1/2 tsp thyme or 2 tsp fresh thyme chopped

    Melt the butter until the water content has fizzled off, add the flour and whisk, cooking about 1 min until slightly darker. Slowly add milk until you have a nice, somewhat thick consistency sauce. Set aside. You’ll be reheating this shortly and possibly adding more milk to pour over the cannelloni.

    Pasta
    2 eggs
    00 white wheat flour if possible
    0 semola / semolina flour

    Use this recipe and roll out as thin as possible into sheets, cutting into strips about 10 inches long by 4 inches wide, roughly. It is ok if the sheets vary in size, so long as they’ll roll into a cannelloni giving it a few layers around. Boil water, add salt, and one at a time blanch the strips for 30 seconds or so, until they toughen up a bit. Remove, set on paper towels flat, not touching other pasta, in layers, to reserve for use.

    Alternatively you can buy cannelloni tubes from the grocery or lasagna sheets without the ruffles.

    Assembly

    Put a thin layer of red sauce in your baking/casserole dish to prevent pasta from sticking to bottom. Roll several spoonfuls of filling into each pasta sheet, placing each closely against the next in the dish. Once finished, top with red sauce thoroughly, then white sauce. Top with grated parmesan or asiago, bake at 375 for 25 minutes until golden and beautiful on top.

  • Gorgonzola and Pear Gnocchi (Gnocchi alla Gorgonzola e Pera)

    Gorgonzola and Pear Gnocchi (Gnocchi alla Gorgonzola e Pera)

    Gnocci with Gorgonzola and Pears

    Gnocchi alla gorgonzola e pera is actually a pretty common dish in the northern half of Italy; the kind of thing any restaurant that might be serving tourists would throw on (without regard to seasonality, local cuisine, etc), and while that might turn you off, it’s actually quite good. That said, I ate it several places in Florence, and am fairly certain I spotted it on other menus around the way.

    I couldn’t find much on the history of this dish, so I think it’s more of a modern classic–prior to not-too-many-years-ago, most classic products of regions didn’t get transported or heavily used much in other regions. There was a time when gorgonzola is what you ate when you were in piedmonte; risotto is what you ate in Milan and in the far north, you ate potatoes in Alto Adige and maybe in Emilia-Romagna. Less so now, with the best of the best being desired by Italians everywhere loving food.

    Gnocchi is, however, typical of Alto Adige (where potatoes are most common), and gorgonzola–if it is officially DOP gorgonzola–is from Piedmonte. For this dish, you’ll want to use the opposite of what you’d likely want to snack on in a cheese plate. You’ll use Gorgonzola Dolce, which is the young, “sweet” gorgonzola. As the cheese ages it becomes more “piquante” or spicy, hot. It’ll tickle your throat if it’s the wrong type for this job. If you don’t have a quality cheese chop that carries both and can point them out, look for gorgonzola (imported, not pre-crumbled) that has a more soft, creamy texture with less blue bits–that’s usually it.

    For 3-4
    3 oz gorgonzola dolce cheeese
    1 ripe pear, diced
    1 T butter
    2 T flour
    1 cup light vegetable stock
    1/2 cup milk
    fresh gnocchi*
    salt, fresh ground pepper

    Boil your water and have it ready. If you are using fresh gnocchi (which you could be!), they require VERY little cooking time, take what you think they take and cut it by half. Seconds! Otherwise, they’ll fall apart, and you’ll regret it.

    Dice your pear, have your ingredients ready. You may or may not need slightly more or less veg stock & milk. Create a roux by heating the butter in a small sauce pan, until clear and stopped bubbling, medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until color darkens slightly, about 2 minutes. Continue whisking and slowly add the vegetable stock, then the milk, until you get a mac-n-cheese type consistency, or slightly thinner. Add the gorgonzola and continue whisking until smooth.

    Add the gnocchi to the water and cook; remove the gnocchi as soon as they float to the top of the pan using a slatted spoon or gnocchi paddle. Add the pear to the sauce and let it warm up, adding the gnocchi to the sauce and stirring gently to coat, with a large wooden spoon (don’t use metal, you’ll chop up the dumplings).

    Add some salt and black pepper to taste, serve!

    Fresh gnocchi makes a huge difference over the vaccu-packed kind you’ll find on the pasta isle. It’s much less dense and has the texture of a down pillow, collapsing in your mouth. I buy mine in bulk from Rainbow market or from Faletti Foods; both carry gnocchi by the bay area’s “Pasta Shop,” which lots of local stores retail products from.

  • Salmon Cream Cheese Wontons & Spicy Persimmon Slaw

    Salmon Cream Cheese Wontons & Spicy Persimmon Slaw

    home made salmon cream cheese wontons

    spicy persimmon cabbage salad

    Inspired by Wild Ginger in Cambria, CA, these wontons are tasty, filling finger food; the slaw helps to cut the fat and is a nice fall accompaniment. They’re also a really convenient way to use up any leftover wonton skins and leftover salmon.

    For 12-16 wontons

    Square wonton skins
    1/3 lb salmon, cooked (grilled, broiled, whatever)
    1/4 C cream cheese (I prefer Gina Marie from Sierra Nevada Cheese Co)
    1-2 tsp brown rice vinegar
    1/8 tsp five spice powder
    salt
    lots of safflower/sunflower/other high eat oil for frying

    Shred the salmon and mix with room temperature cream cheese. Add rice vinegar, five spice powder, and a pinch of salt to taste. Set aside for up to 2 hours or refrigerate up to 2 days ahead. Use 1T per wonton wrapper and moisten wrapper with spray bottle. Fold diagonally and seal, then bring end points together and seal. Fry at medium high heat, testing a piece of wonton skin first, until evenly golden.

    Spicy Persimmon Cabbage Slaw

    1/2 head cabbage, chopped somewhat finely
    1 persimmon, sliced thinly
    2 tsp gochujang or other chili paste such as harissa
    juice of 1 lime
    1/4 tsp ground cumin
    salt

    Whisk gochujang, lime juice, cumin and salt; toss cabbage and persimmon in mixture and let set 10 minutes before serving, or up to 1 hour.

  • Rancho Gordo Heirloom Bean Chili

    Rancho Gordo Heirloom Bean Chili

    home made chili with rancho gordo heirloom beans

    Delicious chili made from Rancho Gordo heirloom organic beans, adapted from Smitten Kitchen.

    olive oil
    2 large yellow or sweet onions, diced
    1 T minced garlic
    2 large carrots, cubed
    1 cup dry pinquito beans
    1 cup dry yellow-eye steuben heirloom beans (also rancho gordo but they aren’t selling them online! if you’re in SF try Rainbow’s bulk section)
    3 lbs ground beef, turkey, chicken, or pork (I used mostly beef/pork, but a little ground chicken too)
    1 green bell pepper
    1 red bell pepper
    4 T chili powder
    1 T cumin (ground)
    2 T paprika
    1 T dry oregano
    1 T chili flakes
    16 oz tomatoes chopped or stewed/pureed (I use POMI)
    2 C beef broth or veal stock
    1/4 C cider vinegar

    Garnish:
    Cheddar cheese, grated
    Red onion, diced

    Serve with macaroni  OR bread

    Beans: Soak the beans overnight in plenty of water. Do not soak more than 9 hours or they will probably burst. They may be mixed for soaking. Try to pre-cook ahead, but if not, start cooking the drained, rinsed, soaked beans in fresh water in a seperate pan as you begin making the chili. Cover and be sure they are cooking at at least a simmer, but not a boil. You want them tender before you add them to the chili at the end. They like to be cooked about an inch of water over the beans; just drain off the extra water if they’re cooked through.

    Chili: In a soup pot or dutch oven, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil or butter. When hot, add diced onions. Cook until almost translucent, at medium heat. Add the garlic & carrots, cooking another 2-3 minutes. Add the meat, and let it cook through.

    While meat is cooking, dice your peppers and gather your other ingredients.

    When meat is cooked, add all of the spices. Cook 2-3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, beef stock, and vinegar. You may wish to reserve additional beef stock in case you prefer looser chili. Prepare your garnishes. Add the drained, cooked beans to the chili and you may serve in 10 minutes (simmering) or any amount of time after. The longer it sits, the better; I like to put the lid back on the pan and let it cool down very slowly, so that the flavors meld.

    Serve with cheddar and red onion on top.

  • Matsutake Mushroom Gnocci with Watercress

    Matsutake Mushroom Gnocci with Watercress

    Preface: The only other context I’ve eaten matsutake is in dashi and in a quesadilla (a delicious quesadilla). I don’t think I would make this dish exactly the same next time; I think it would be better in more broth, without the creme fraiche, with egg noodles (Asian style). I used really good quality, fluffy, fresh gnocci for this dish and I think it was really competing with the matsutake, which is a shame because they should have been the feature of the dish.

    matsutake gnocci with watercress

    matsutake mushrooms cooking

    Luckily, matsutakes had a bumper crop this year and they were only $20/lb. In SF, they can be found for $40 or more most years, so this was a really nice surprise last time I popped in at the Japanese market. Yesterday, I even saw them at Rainbow Foods!

    I do think simmering the matsutakes in dashi (it was small amounts of mirin, soy sauce, sake, walnut oil and then a larger amount of straight up dashi–water infused with kombu and i-forget-the-name tuna flakes) worked well, I just would have made more of it next time and omitted the creme fraiche I added. The watercress also worked well. So go ahead and do that, and sub those gnocci for egg noodles and I’m pretty sure you’ll have a delicious meal.

    Anyway, no recipe here since I won’t stand behind it, but thought you might learn from my experience.

  • Shrimp & Grits

    Shrimp & Grits

    [donotprint]home made gourmet shrimp and grits with chard

    A friend and I stopped by Farmer Brown for a late night meal after seeing a play about a week ago and we had some shrimp & grits. Created a little inspiration.

    Had a little panic, though. I canned my own tomatoes this summer with just some fresh lemon juice; a coworker and I were talking about canning techniques and she mtnioned she would not can her own tomatoes especially without preserved lemon juice because of the variation in pH in fresh lemons, due to the botulism risk.. I felt like a bit of a dummy. I took chemistry, why’s my brain not thinkin?

    At any rate, I ran out of tomatoes and really had to break open that jar and had myself all hyped up that we might start having lazy eyes and collapsing lungs within a day or two, but it’s been a few and we’re fine. I did throw the rest of the jar away, kinda regretting that now, and what we did eat would have been totally worth it because it was totally tasty.

    Here’s my version.[/donotprint]

    Shrimp and Grits
    For four

    1 C polenta
    1 C chopped tomatoes, strained tomatoes, or 2C fresh tomatoes chopped and seeded
    1 tsp dry thyme or 1 T fresh thyme
    1/2 tsp chili flakes
    1/4 C vegetable stock
    16 18-20 count shrimp (prefer blue Mexican prawns), deveined and shell removed completely
    2 C chopped fresh spinach
    salt

    Cook the polenta using a 1-3 ratio with water or stock. Be sure to bring liquid to boil first, evenly cipher in the polenta and continue stirring on low heat for at least 5-6 minutes until creamy and thick.

    In a sauce pan bring the tomatoes to a simmer and add the chili flakes, thyme, and veg stock. Reserve some veg stock in case you need to thin the sauce. Let it reduce to a tasty, rich flavor and add the shrimp to cook. Add the spinach, turning off the heat and throwing a lid on the pan for 30 seconds or so to wilt. Serve on top of the polenta in a bowl.

  • Spaghetti & Shrimp in Spicy Chevre Sauce (Pasta with Goat Cheese Sauce)

    Spaghetti & Shrimp in Spicy Chevre Sauce (Pasta with Goat Cheese Sauce)

    bionaturae whole wheat spaghetti in goat cheese sauce with shrimp

    I was reading the Times a couple of days ago and saw an article about whole wheat pasta and its merits. Yeah, it’s merits. I haven’t tried the stuff in years and 100% agreed with the starting sentiment of the article–it’s icky stuff, and I’m a pasta traditionalist, picky as hell about my Italian food in general.

    But the author won my trust as I read and knowing I could get their “favorite” brand at my neighborhood grocer, I grabbed some when I was at the store later in the week and gave it a go. It’s really non offensive. It even has a nice texture. We’ll try rigatoni next time.

    Also, I just returned from a fabulous trip to Mexico with my S.O., and am seriously craving some pasta! We ate pretty much meat, and a little bit of vegetables, and a lot of coconut milk and wine (oh come on, not together!).

    Bionature whole wheat spaghetti with shrimp in goat cheese sauce

    Pasta with Goat Cheese for two:

    12 shrimp of your preference (blue Mexican gulf prawns for me, until they don’t have them next year..)
    2 T butter
    2 tsp olive oil
    2 T goat cheese
    3/4 C vegetable stock
    1/4 C heavy cream
    120 grams spaghetti (I used bionature whole wheat organic spaghetti)
    1 tsp chili flakes
    2 cloves garlic
    1/2 tsp mixed Italian dry spices
    salt & pepper

    Start your water to boil and chop the garlic finely. When you add the pasta to the boiling water, warm a skillet to medium high heat and add the butter and oil.

    When the oil and butter are hot, reduce to medium and add the garlic. When the garlic is fragrant, add the veg stock, cream, chili flakes and spices.

    De-vein and peel your shrimp, patting dry and tossing with a little salt. When the sauce is bubbly and slightly reduced, add the goat cheese until incorporated, and then immediately the shrimp.

    The pasta should be about done; drain and add it immediately to the sauce*. If you should need to wait for it to finish, DO NOT over cook the shrimp–take them out slightly underdone and set aside, re-adding them with the pasta. Simmer a bit as you see in the picture above and serve it up!

    *You could also add some swiss chard, kale, or spinach to this dish at the end, throw a lid on it to wilt and serve.

    *In my opinion, the trick to really good home pasta is to simmer the pasta a bit in the sauce, getting it really hot.

  • Rigatoni Pasta with Spicy Sausage & Chard

    Rigatoni Pasta with Spicy Sausage & Chard

    [donotprint]Rigatoni Pasta with Spicy Sausage & Chard

    Homemade pork sausage, chard, tomato paste/veg broth/creme fraiche sauce with rigatoni pasta.

    Lots of pasta dishes lately, as they make for quick weeknight meals.[/donotprint]

    Rigatoni Pasta with Spicy Sausage & Chard
    This recipe is forgiving and many things can be substituted to accommodate what you already have around. I will try to provide some guidance.

    50 grams dry pasta per person (for entree size)
    1/4 lb ground pork per person (or Italian sweet or spicy sausage, without casing)
    1/2 C shallot, onion, or fennel per person, sliced in nice edible size pieces
    2 cups raw greens per person (spinach, chard, kale, other braising green)
    1-2 T tomato paste per person
    1 C vegetable stock (or chicken, etc) per person
    heavy cream or creme fraiche, about 1-2 T per person

    If you are working with ground pork and not pre-seasoned sausage, season your sausage with what you have on hand: paprika, chili powder, chili flakes, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, salt, pepper and even rib rub. Mix well.

    Boil water for the pasta and begin cooking the pasta. In a large skillet on high, cook the ground pork in chunks, separating bits with your hands and tossing into the pan; when all pork is in the pan, add the onions/fennel/shallot. When pork is browned on one side, stir vigorously and add enough stock to cover the bottom of the pan. Add tomato paste and stir to dissolve, add salt. Add greens to wilt, and as the pasta is finishing, add the cream or creme fraiche to taste. Serve in warmed bowls.

  • Oven baked babyback ribs to fall off the bone all year long + mango slaw

    Oven baked babyback ribs to fall off the bone all year long + mango slaw

    Oven baked babyback ribs

    Rack of ribs cooked in oven babyback

    I know it’s barbecue season and all, but the nice little disc that distributes the heat on my gas grill pretty much withered away to dust all of the sudden, and I’m grill-less unless I want to bother with the whole charcoal thing, which most of the time just takes way too much planning.

    And so, after my latest grocery impulse buy–a rack of ribs–I had to come up with somethin’ new.

    Oven Baked Ribs

    1 rack (or more! hey! who’s to stop you) babyback pork ribs

    For the spice rub:
    1/4 C brown sugar
    1 T paprika
    2 tsp smoked paprika
    2 tsp chili powder
    1 tsp garlic powder
    2 tsp kosher salt
    1/2 tsp ground coriander
    1 tsp berbere mix if you can get your hands on some

    Mix it up and rub it on the ribs generously. Let sit overnight in the fridge with it on or at room temp at least 30 minutes.

    Make a loose foil packet for the ribs and bake at 300 degrees for 2 1/2 hours.

    When rib meat is pulled away from bone, dress top in bbq sauce (store bought in my case) and stick under the broiler meaty side up for a few minutes until bubbly and caramelized.

    Mango Slaw

    Mango Slaw

    1/2 cucumber,seeded and sliced thinly
    1/4 mango, julienned
    1/4 jicama tuber, julienned
    1/8th head red cabbage, sliced thinly
    1/4 carrot, sliced thinly in wafers
    2 radishes, quartered and sliced thinly
    juice of 1/2 lime
    1/4 tsp ground cumin
    1 tsp walnut oil
    1 tsp sushi vinegar or other vinegar
    pinch salt

    Whisk together last 5 ingredients and add all other ingredients. This’ll be fine the next day too but I prefer it immediately.

  • Rigatoni with Tomato Cream Sauce, Peas, Chard (Pasta with Spring Vegetables)

    Rigatoni with Tomato Cream Sauce, Peas, Chard (Pasta with Spring Vegetables)

    Pasta with spring vegetables - Rigatoni with fresh english peas, chard, and tomato cream sauce weeknight pasta

    Feel free to improvise the dairy combo in this; I used what I had on hand–full cream or whole milk would suffice, or you can combine skim and sour cream, whatever you have around. Ultimately this is pasta with spring vegetables, and you can substitute where it makes sense to.

    For two

    150 grams rigatoni
    1 cup milk
    2 T creme fraiche
    1/2 tsp Italian dried herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, any combo thereof)
    2-3 T tomato paste
    1/2 cup peas, shelled
    1 1/2 cups cleaned, chopped chard or kale

    As you start the pasta is cooking (bring water to boil first before starting the sauce), use a large skillet to gently warm the milk and tomato paste. Add some salt.

    When steaming or very lightly simmering, stir mixture and add herbs and peas. Continue cooking a few more minutes.

    When pasta is done,  drain and add to the sauce pan, adding the chard and creme fraiche, covering, and letting wilt. A little parm or pecorino on top is nice.