Pastravaganza at Rossini

So I am back at school and without a kitchen, though I have friends with kitchens (hint hint, friends). But even better than friends with kitchens are friends whose family owns a restaurant. Sergio Zanetti, owner of Rossini Restaurant here in Toronto, was kind enough to invite me to learn to make gnocchi with their chef, Marco. While originally the plan only included gnocchi, things quickly escalated. I'm not including recipes as most of this was made in large batches and measured largely by eye, but I will try to include some helpful hints should you attempt pasta making.
We started off with gnocchi, sort of a soft noodle dumpling made from Russet potatoes, egg and flour. I'd originally asked my friend for a recipe because I had had some amazing lobster gnocchi at Rossini. You want to use as little flour as possible so that they are not overly gummy.
Marco took care of preparing the dough, and we got to work shaping the gnocchi. After rolling out thin ropes, we cut small pieces (these were probably about 3/4" but you could go slightly smaller or larger as long as they are consistent) and used a fork to give them a nice design (optional). Fold the fork firmly against the counter and roll the cut side of the gnocchi up to get this pattern. Work quickly and allow the gnocchi to chill in the fridge before cooking.

Next we made several kinds of pasta, all from the same basic dough. The only ingredients are eggs and flour, seriously. The restaurant has an industrial dough hook but if you were making a small batch it would be manageable in a home kitchen.
Pappardelle (like wider fettucine) was first. Pieces of the dough were flattened out by hand and then fed through the pasta machine (theirs is electric, though I've used a crank machine at home) at thinner and thinner settings, until the dough was almost paper-thin and translucent. Once it is rolled out, the dough is folded into thirds widthwise and then cut into strips of the appropriate size.Spaghettini starts the same way as papparelle, but instead of cutting the strips by hand they had a convenient attachment that cut the tiny strands.Next were tortellini and cappelletti, which are very similar. Marco mixed a filling of braised beef, parmesan and some bread crumbs, and dough that had been rolled out into thin sheets is cut into large squares. The folding is a bit finicky but oddly satisfying and something you get the hang of quite quickly. Of course you could do all kinds fillings, and sauces as well.
Ravioli are prepared by placing balls of the filling on a half of a long sheet of pasta, spaced out into even squares. Beat an egg in a bowl and brush on in between the squares as a sealant. Then fold over the remaining sheet and firmly press down, trying to remove as much excess air as possible while doing so (a lot like dumplings). Once they are all sealed up, cut them into squares and once again squeeze out any air trapped inside.It ended up being quite the day. I had a blast and learned a lot. You do need some equipment (hand-cranked models are not prohibitively expensive) and some practice, but once you have the techniques down, making fresh pasta is stress-free and rewarding. And wayyyy better than boxed.
Thanks again to Marco and Rossini for letting me come in! Also thanks to Martina for taking the pictures! Marco and I with the fruits of our labour:

Blueberry Pudding

I did not make this-for my last supper at home before heading back to a dorm room, my dad made some of my favourites. I'll start by posting possibly my favourite dessert-hot blueberry pudding with cinnamon whipped cream. This comes from my dad's recollection of a Craig Claiborne recipe (he thinks) from many years ago. I am leaving my dad's text as is because it amuses me and I've actually never made this.

Hot Blueberry Pudding with Cinnamon Whipped Cream

• 2 litres (a loaf) of good bread (wholewheat, multi-grain, artisan, ...), crust trimmed, cut into 12 mm/ 1/2" cubes
• 250 gm unsalted butter
• 375 gm sugar
• 1 litre low-bush (wild) blueberries
• 250 ml (1 cup) heavy cream
• strong cinnamon sugar

1. Melt the butter in a large deep sauté pan over medium high heat. When the bubbles have settled add the bread cubes, stirring to coat with butter. Stir regularly until cubes are browning, but not burned.
2. Add the sugar and keep on the heat until the sugar melts and begins to carmelize. ---this can be done a few hours ahead, and the pan & bread set aside. Reheat to soften the sugar ---
3. Turn the heat to high. Add the blueberries to the hot bread cubes, and stir until the berries are heated through.
4. Meanwhile, whip the heavy cream, using cinnamon sugar.
5. Immediately serve into bowls with a good glob of cinnamon whipped cream. Garnish with a sprinkle of ground cinnamon.

NOTES
Sauté the bread and sugar, and whip the cream a few hours before the meal. The final addition and cooking of the berries must be done just before serving.
This is the Zimmer family’s favourite thing for Peter to do with fresh Nova Scotian low-bush wild blueberries. Other times of the year it can be made with thawed frozen wild blueberries- thaw in the fridge for a couple hours.
The large high-bush blueberries don’t have the intensity of flavour of the “wild” low-bush berries from Eastern Canada and New England.

Blueberry Coffee Cake with Lemon Spice Streusel

Do we have any blueberries, I wondered, as I opened the fridge door.
Oh yes. Oh my.

This recipe comes from Cooking with Les Dames d'Escoffier. Les Dames d'Escoffier are a female culinary association dedicated to the advancement of women in the field. Some of their luminaries include Julia Child, Alice Waters and Dorie Greenspan. This is a collection of their favourite recipes for home cooking, written very accessibly. So you know it's going to be good. I actually took this out of the library but it has quickly moved to #1 on my wishlist. Tons of great recipes along with wine pairings which is crucial for me, because I am absolutely clueless and unsophisticated when it comes to wine. The book is also peppered with personal anecdotes about these women's careers as chefs, restauranteurs, food writers, photographers, caterers, as well as some great kitchen tips. There are very few photos but, hey, I trust them and this cake did not disappoint. Also a way to use up some of the buttermilk I bought for the waffles this past weekend.

Buttermilk Berry Coffee Cake with Lemon Spice Topping
For the cake:

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 2/3 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (frozen works too, could also use raspberries, blackberries, etc.)
• 2 tsp lemon juice

For the streusel:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup flour
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• 3 tbsp butter, room temperature
  

1. Pre-heat oven to 350˚ and butter a 9-inch springform pan. Cream butter and sugar in large bowl of electric mixer or by hand (check out our old school mixmaster and understand my longing for a KitchenAid).
2. Add the eggs one by one. Beat in the vainlla.
3. Sift together your dry ingredients and alternate adding them and the buttermilk, gradually, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Do not overbeat.
4. Pour half of the batter into pan, and try to make it as level as possible. Toss together lemon juice and blueberries, sprinkle on top and add remaining batter over top.
5. For the streusel, combine dry ingredients in small bowl and cut in the butter until you have a nice crumb-y streusel texture. Sprinkle over top and bake approx 1 hour 10 minutes, checking doneness with a skewer. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for at least 15 minutes. Undo the springform and serve warm or at room temperature.

Teaches of peaches

Again embracing the season I bought two boxes of swoon-inducingly ripe peaches and set my phasers on pie. I guess I've had a lot of practice but pie dough is really not all that intimidating, even a fancy-looking lattice top. It can even be prepared the night before to split up the work. Bake sure your butter and shortening are cold for better results.

Pie Dough for Lattice-Top Pie (you guessed it, Cook's Illustrated)

• 3 cups flour
• 2 tsp sugar
  
• 1 tsp salt
• 7 tbsp shortening, chilled (ex. Tenderflake, Crisco)
• 10 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 10 tbsp ice water

1. If you've got the set-up, make this in a food processor for best results. You can do just fine without one, I did. Mix flour, salt and sugar, add shortening and process/use pastry cutter until mixture has texture of coarse sand. Scatter butter over mixture and process/use pastry cutter until you get coarse crumbs, with butter pieces no larger than peas. Sprinkle ice water over mixture and use rubber spatula to fold, pressing down to help dough come together. Divide dough into 2 pieces, one slightly larger than the other. Flatten larger piece into 5 inch square and smaller piece into 4 inch disk, wrap separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least an hour, up to 1 day.
2. When you're ready to go, roll larger piece into a 15 by 11 inch rectangle. Slide onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper and using a pizza wheel or knife cut 8 strips of dough, straight as you can. Refrigerate until ready to use.
3. Roll out smaller disk on lightly floured surface (we have this cool cloth with the diametre of a pie plate drawn on), and transfer to 9 inch pie plate. Leave the overhang alone and refrigerate.

6-7 medium sized peaches (about 7 cups when sliced)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup + 1 tbsp sugar
pinch ground cinnamon
pinch ground nutmeg
pinch salt
3-5 tbsp potato starch or Minute tapioca

1. Heat oven to 500˚ and place rimmed baking sheet inside. Boil water in a large saucepan and fill a large bowl with ice water. Score an X on the bottom of the peaches, use slotted spoon to drop into boiling water for 1 minute, then into ice water for 1 minute to facilitate peeling (or leave skin on, up to you). Halve, pit and cut peaches into slices 3/8 inch thick.
2. Mix slices with lemon juice, 1 cup sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and starch or tapioca (if using tapioca grind fine in food processor, spice grinder, or place in ziploc and bash with rolling pin/other similar object). Turn mixture into dough-lined pie plate and form the lattice. Here is a useful diagram if you've never made a lattice-top before. Lightly brush lattice-top with 1 tbsp water and sprinkle with remaining sugar.
3. Reduce oven temperature to 425˚. Place pie on baking sheet and bake about 25 minutes, until crust is set and begins to brown. Rotate pie and reduce heat to 375˚, continue baking until peach juices are bubbling and crust is golden brown, about 25 minutes more. Cool on a wire rack before serving.

You raise me up

Home-made waffles for breakfast ceases to be a good idea when you realize that means waking up at 8 on a Sunday. This batter for yeasted waffles can be whipped up the night before and left to rise 12-24 hours in the fridge, making quick work of a delicious project.

Yeasted Waffles

• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 8 tbsp/1 stick/1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Heat milk and butter in small saucepan over medium-low heat until butter is melted, 3-5 minutes. Cool until warm to touch. Meanwhile, whisk flour, sugar, salt and yeast in large bowl to combine. Gradually whisk warm milk-butter mixture into flour mixture until batter is smooth. In small bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla, and then add to batter and whisk until combined. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
2. Heat waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions, remove batter from fridge once iron is hot (batter will have risen-make sure to use LARGE bowl). Whisk batter to recombine and deflate, and bake waffles according to manufacturer's instructions. To hold waffles place on wire rack on top of cookie sheet covered with dishtowel in 200˚ oven.

Ribs and grilled corn

To accompany my delicious cornbread, I turned to the barbecue in a day-long attempt to be Southern. It was tasty. Ribs are my standard birthday request and they are always good because well, they're ribs. I knew Cook's Illustrated could take me further. These are slow cooked (pick a nice afternoon to spend outside tending the grill) and incredibly tender. If you're going to the trouble of spending four hours on ribs, it's not much more to make your own sauce, but store-bought is also acceptable.

Kansas City Style Sweet and Sticky Ribs

• 3 tbsp paprika
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 full racks pork spareribs, trimmed of any large pieces of excess fat, membrane removed and patted dry
• 1 cup wood chips
• 2 cups bbq sauce

1. Combine paprika, sugar, pepper, salt and cayenne in a small bowl. Massage spice rub into both sides of rib racks.
2. Soak wood chips in bowl of water for 15 minutes, place in small disposable aluminum pan. Place pan directly on primary burner of gas grill, ignite, turn all burners to high and preheat with the lid down until chips are smoking heavily, about 15 minutes. Turn primary burner to medium and shut off other burners, adjusting temperature of primary burner as needed to maintain an average temperature of 275˚. Position ribs over cooler part of grill.
3. Place sheet of vented aluminum foil directly on top of ribs and cover grill. Grill, turning and rotating ribs after each hour for 3 hours. Brush ribs liberally on both sides with sauce, wrap them tightly with aluminum foil and cook until very tender, about 1 hour more.
4. Transfer ribs (still in foil) to cutting board and rest 30 minutes. Unwrap and brush with additional barbecue sauce. Slice ribs between bones and serve with remaining sauce.

And now the sauce:

• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, minced
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup root beer
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1 cup dark corn syrup
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1/2 cup tomato paste
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 tbsp brown mustard (regular if you can't find brown)
• 1 tbsp hot sauce
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp liquid smoke (optional)

Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Whisk in remaining ingredients except liquid smoke, and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer until mixture is thick and has reduced to 4 cups, about 1 hour. Stir in liquid smoke if using-I didn't.

Corn is so plentiful this time of year that one could ALMOST get tired of eating it boiled on the cob with lots of butter and salt. For a nice change of pace, try Mexican-style grilled corn.

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 3 tbsp sour cream
• 3 tbsp minced cilantro leaves
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 3/4 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 4 tsp lime juice
• 1 ounce Pecorino Romano, grated (about 1/2 cup, I substituted parmesan)
• 4 tsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 6 large ears of corn, husks and silk removed

1. Turn all burners to high and heat with lid down until very hot. Scrape and oil grate.
2. Combine mayonnaise through cheese in large bowl. In second bowl, mix oil and salt. Brush evenly onto corn and grill until lightly charred on all sides. Remove from grill and bursh with mayonnaise mixture, serve immediately.

I love this cornbread so much...

Well, he'll tell you:

I looooove cornbread. I actually don't care much for chili but will often suggest it just to have cornbread alongside. I played with the Cook's Illustrated recipe a bit to spice it up and make it even cornier.

Cornbread

• 2 tbsp unslated butter, melted
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup buttermilk-if you don't have buttermilk, you can make a good substitute with the ratio of 1 cup whole milk to 1 tbsp vinegar
  
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 jalapeño pepper, stemmed, seeded and minced
• 1/4 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen

1. Pre-heat oven to 425˚. Grease 9 inch square baking pan with butter.
2. Mix together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well.
3. Crack eggs into the well and mix, then add buttermilk and milk and stir until just combined. Add melted butter along with pepper and corn and mix.
4. Pour batter into pan and bake until golden brown and lightly cracked, about 25 minutes.
5. Allow pan to cool 5-10 minutes on wire rack, and serve warm.

A veritable deluge of posts coming soon as I count down to back to school. Next: Ribs!