My Pretend BFF

Did you know that Mario Batali was born and raised in Seattle? Just a little bit of Wednesday trivia, -not that I'm obsessed with him or anything... much. Anyway, I've been feeling pretty lazy the last few days, but I had already gotten the groceries for a few Mario Batali meals, so might as well get my butt into the kitchen to make us some dinner. What's on the menu? Pennette with Cauliflower Ragu! It doesn't necessarily sound very appetizing, but the picture in Molto Gusto evoked childhood memories of going to a restaurant to taste my very first restaurant-made Italian food. However, I have to say that something kind of fun and kind of silly occured. As I was dissecting the cauliflower as per Mario's instructions, I realized that I was having a lot of trouble chopping and kept having to get up on my tip toes. I solved this problem by breaking out my highest heels. It was very Desperate Housewives of me, but it made my life easier and my shoulders much more comfortable.

I looked ridiculous, but I don't care.

Mario Batali's Pennette with Cauliflower Ragu:

1 medium cauliflower (2 lbs)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium white onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, smashed & peeled
Maldon sea salt (or any flaky sea salt)
2 tsps hot red pepper flakes
6 tbsp unsalted butter cut into 6 pieces
pinch of Kosher salt for pasta water
1 lb pennette
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano plus more for serving
1/2 cup of coarse fresh bread crumbs
1 1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, minced (but I wasn't in the mood for it so I skipped it)

Alright, once I had my high heels on, I halved the cauliflower, cut off the leaves and put them aside for later. I then cut out the core and chopped off the stalks, put them aside with the leaves. Cut the cauliflower into bite-sized florets, set aside in a bowl. Next, chop up the core, stalks and leaves.

Combine the oil, onion, garlic, leaves, stalks and core in a large pot, season with Maldon salt and cook on medium heat, stirring frequently until the leaves start to wilt. (it will smell so good!) After 3 minutes, reduce the heat to low and cook until the leaves are tender, which is about 20 minutes.

I don't know. I thought if I posed with the spoon, you'd believe I cooked it.

While you are softening the cauliflower, start your fresh bread crumbs. I took a small hunk of leftover Pugliese bread (enough to make 1/2 cup of bread crumbs) and sliced it up into tiny crouton-sized pieces with my bread knife. In a pan, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat, and once it's hot, add the bread crumbs and stir it until it's lightly toasted. Remove from heat and set aside to cool in a bowl.

Add your cauliflower florets, red pepper flakes, and 1 cup of water to the rest of the cauliflower mixture, and bring it to a simmer on medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, cover, and stir occasionally until the cauliflower is very soft and almost falling apart. (20 minutes) Add the butter and stir it in until it's melted. Remove from heat.

Before adding the butter.

Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot, add a pinch of Kosher salt (Mario says 3 tbsp, but I'm not comfortable with that). Cook until al dente. Drain your pasta water but make sure to reserve 2/3 of a cup. Add the pasta and 1/3 of the water to the cauliflower ragu and stir and toss over medium heat until the pasta is well coated. Add a bit more of the pasta water if you need to loosen the sauce a bit. Stir in your cheese.

Serve and sprinkle with the fresh bread crumbs and a sprinkling of cheese. Mmmmm, thanks Mario!

Seattle Fine Dining

My husband and I decided to have a romantic dinner for two out on the town last Friday so that we wouldn't have to compete with all the Valentine's Day lovers on Monday night. Nothing kills romance like having to wait 45 minutes to eat. I don't know why so many people have a problem with Valentine's Day, I think it's a perfectly good day. People are going to buy and consume no matter what, so to those haters, shame on you for hating, just love! It doesn't have to be limited to your partner either, it's just a day for loving everybody, and if you can eat chocolate on that day too: bonus!

We don't really go out to eat because I love to cook, but there are a few places I've been dying to go to and one of those places is Assaggio. It's situated in downtown Seattle on what I like to call Tommy Douglas Corner. For all I know, it may actually be called this by Seatlleites because Tom Douglas' restaurants Lola and Dahlia Lounge are on this corner. Anyway, I kept my eyes peeled for him just in case we stumbled upon him so I could get his autograph for my cousin. We didn't see him, but we were fortunate enough to just walk into Assaggio on a Friday night and score a table for two at the front of the restaurant. Not only that, but we were greeted at the door by none other than Mauro Golmarvi, who is apparently the owner, chef, manager, Maitre D', and everything of Assaggio Restaurant. Seriously, this man must be an overachieving workaholic. And sweet, very, very sweet. Then for a full five seconds I thought we were sitting next to Bill & Melinda Gates, (we weren't) and there was also some famous guy at the table behind them, but I didn't want to stare so we didn't figure out who it was. The service was great! The appetizers and mains were thankfully, comparable to Toronto prices, the wine was excellent (Friulano wine), and they had this incredible olive oil/pepper/garlic concoction on each of the tables to enjoy with our bread that was divine! I should have asked them what it was now that I think about it. Oh well, next time. I was also praised for eating cannoli with my hands. I guess the hoity toity Seattleites use a fork and knife? I was a bit embarrassed when we left, because Mauro opened the door for us, and unbeknownst to me, he had walked out behind us as I enthusiastically exclaimed, "That man is the awesomest!" When I turned to look at my husband, I noticed Mauro grinning at me. I'm such a dork. Assaggio Restaurant: http://www.assaggioseattle.com/

Happy Valentine's Day!

I realize that I may be dwelling on it (hello, extreme aversion to failure) but do you remember that spectacularly failed beef stew I made a couple weeks ago? Well, that very same day I had actually decided to make Boeuf Bourguignon for a small Valentine weekend get together at our house. What better way to kick off our first dinner party than to serve the most epic dish I have made to date? It's perfect because it serves 6, is super delicious and will CERTAINLY erase the feelings of inadequacy I have pertaining to anything remotely related to beef stew. And of course, just to prove to you all that I did it and that it was delicious yet again, I have pictures! It just goes to show that Julia Child was incredible: if the recipe is good, anybody can do it... without inadvertently charring anything.

It took me a bit longer because I had to blanche my bacon to get rid of the smokey flavour first.

Drying off my blanched bacon.

Sliced up into thin strips and browned.

Browning my (rinsed and patted dry) meat in batches.

Softening the carrots and onions.

Browning the pearl onions at the end of the beef's cooking time.

The browned mushrooms, to be added along with the pearl onions.

Ready to eat!

If you plan on serving Boeuf Bourguignon for a dinner party, I suggest that you make it the day before, that way you are relaxed while preparing and cooking, and you won't smell like food when your guests arrive! Plus, as Julia Child mentions, it tastes even better the next day after the complex flavours have fully infused the dish. Mmm, so good! This time I served it with light, yummy egg noodles, fresh, crusty bread, and we had fabulous guests who brought delicious red wine -one bottle of which was made by someone's dad, so cool! I was going to make ice cream sandwiches for dessert, but one of our said fabulous guests brought us CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRIES. They were so luscious, I wish I had taken pictures, but I just really wanted to eat them, sorry. What a perfect Valnetine's Day dessert. Since I have no pictures of the pretty strawberries, I won't disappoint you, here's a picture of something else:

Hooray for not burning anything and hooray for great company! http://www.oprah.com/food/Boeuf-Bourguignon

By the way, Happy 21st Birthday to my brother-in-law! And happy 7th birthday to my little friend Emmett!

Lots of Home-Missing

Being on the west coast, and experiencing the mildest winter of my life has definitely earned my respect for this area of the world. Even married life has proved to be rewarding and enriching, as cheesy as that sounds. (Going on five months!) But the fact of the matter is, we are alone out here and the people that we love are all very far away. One of my good friends has just recently become officially enagaged, and it kind of makes me sad that I can't celebrate their joy in person. Neither can I just call my aunt up and ask her if she wants to go to the Eaton Centre for a spot of shopping before a nice dinner, or get hijacked by my cousin to some fancy, fine dining establishment. What if there was an emergency? A couple months ago, my father had to be rushed to the hospital and stayed for almost a week, and all I could do was call his hospital room from three thousand miles away. My best friend just bought a new chandelier. I haven't seen it yet. I'm not complaining, I love that there is this whole new city that I get to explore with my husband, new people to meet, new things to learn and enjoy! But I do miss all of my family and friends. Very, very much. Just know that you are loved and missed.

Lofranco At Heart

My mother used to joke that I was really an Italian kid at heart because I loved pasta so much. So it was certainly fitting that I grew up with the strangely Italian sounding Filipino surname: Lofranco. Pasta is so perfect, because it can become any taste that you want, comes in many shapes, sizes and textures, and it's pretty. Tonight, my fake best friend, Mario Batali, inspired me to make his Penne alla Papalina, only I am bored of penne, so I used rigatoni. This dish is so good that I am sure I'm going to have pleasant dreams about it tonight!

I have added the peas to the browned prosciutto

Boiling rigatoni

Egg, olive oil and pasta water mixture

A perfectly delicious dinner in 20 minutes.

BFF Mario Batali's Penne Rigatoni alla Papalina

Kosher salt
6 tablespoons olive oil
8 oz sliced prosciutto, in one-inch squares
2 cups frozen baby green peas (I only used 1 cup because my husband dislikes peas)
1 pound rigatoni
4 large eggs
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Coarsely ground pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a pinch of salt.

Meanwhile, in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat, heat three tablespoons of the oil and cook prosciutto in oil until it turns golden brown, about five minutes. Remove from heat and stir in peas.

Drop pasta in boiling water and cook just until tender, or al dente. Drain, reserving about a half-cup of the pasta water. I usually just dip my silicon measuring cup in the water and set it aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, then whisk in the remaining three tablespoons of oil and 1/4 cup of the pasta water.

Add drained pasta to the prosciutto/pea mixture and stir and toss over medium heat to mix well. Add egg mixture, remove from heat, and stir and toss vigorously to cook the eggs slightly.
You may add some of the remaining pasta water to loosen the sauce. Stir in the cheese, season with pepper and serve at once with additional grated cheese on the side. Enjoy the deliciousness!

Extra, Extra! Keener Newbie Chefs Get Lazy Too!

Have you ever heard of borsetti? Well, it has bumped both tortelini and ravioli off my pasta list. The people who know me best know that I like things instantaneously if they are: 1. Cute 2. Delicious 3. My bank account allows me to have it. Borsetti look like tiny drawstring bags of pasta, akin to tortelini, filled with meat and/or cheese and are extremely delicious. I would love to attempt to make them myself soon, but I need a pasta maker first. The bonus? They were on special at Safeway this week and they were made in Canada!

Borsetti photo shoot. So cute!

Lazy and mouth-watering lunch

These particular borsetti contained (are you ready for this?) roasted chicken, prosciutto and parmesan. My sauce? My best friend taught me this trick: I used two tablespoons of cream of chicken soup from a can, added sauteed onions, a bit of milk, 1 tsp of fresh ground pepper and parsley that I stole this from my rabbits). As easy as making a sandwich.

Mexican Night at the Wilsons

Yesterday I mentioned family recipes that become a cycled staple and I think I just found one of ours. It's the second time I have made it, and it's just perfect because it's low fat, palatable, nutritious, quick, and leaves you with delicious leftovers: Chilli Turkey Tacos. I was able to make these even after an exhausting day of Ikea and walking around the city with my still broken toe. Easy peasy.

The ingredients, plus a bit of brown sugar, a pinch of salt and your choice of taco or tortilla, & sour cream.

 

For leftovers, you can always turn the turkey chili filling into a giant plate of nachos, just add salsa and some shredded cheese! This would be perfect hockey night in Canada food.

Turkey Chilli Taco Recipe:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 finely chopped onion

1 lb 2 oz ground turkey

2 tsp of chilli powder or flakes

440 g tin of chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 tsp brown sugar

pinch of sea salt

425 g tin red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

taco shells or nacho chips

sour cream for topping

optional shredded sharp cheddar cheese for topping

optional salsa

Heat the olive oil in a skillet, add the onion and cook on medium heat until soft, about 3 minutes. Increase to high heat and add turkey. Cook until browned. Make sure to break up any large lumps.

Add the chilli powder/flakes, cook for 1 minute. Stir in tomato paste and chopped tomatoes, and 1/2 cup of water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the sugar, kidney beans and salt. Remove from heat. Mmmm, so tasty!