Penne with Sausage

Summer's Gift



I bought a Grainger County tomato yesterday afternoon. Grainger County has a micro-climate that allows tomatoes to ripen about two weeks early and at one time we food freaks sought them out for our first taste of summer. Sadly, the secret got out and today Grainger County tomatoes are mass-produced and only slightly better (because they're harvested only a couple of days early instead of a couple of weeks early) than the standard supermarket tomato imported from Florida or California. For lunch today I made a BLT with that tomato (because it needs the help of bacon, lettuce, bread, and mayo to be its best).

But genuine local tomatoes have begun peeping out at the farmers' market. They aren't quite in season yet and the ones I've seen were picked earlier than the ideal (except for the green ones) but I'm guessing they'll be on every farmer's table by the week after next.

I'll stuff my face with good tomatoes until my skin turns red.

If you haven't guessed, I happen to be a tomato-eating fool. I'll stuff my face with good tomatoes until my skin turns red. Once they're readily available my lunch almost every day for a month will be sliced tomatoes with basil and cheese dressed with salt, lemon juice, and olive oil. The only variation will be in the cheese: feta, fresh mozzarella; or chèvre. I'll also snack on "cherry" tomatoes most afternoons.

And tomatoes will appear in my suppers. I've got a Roasted Garlic and Tomato Soup recipe that I'll be passing on here later and I make gazpacho two or three times every summer — both are great with sandwich suppers. But something I made last year and never got around to writing about is first on my supper list this year. It's simple but incredibly intense and really makes the best of the ingredients.

Penne with Sausage and Roasted Tomato Sauce
Serves 6.

3 links Italian Sausage (about 3/4 lb) — cut into 1/4" slices
8 lg roasted tomatoes with oil
1 md green bell pepper — 1/2" dice
1 md yellow onion — 1/2" dice
3 anchovy filets — rinsed and minced
3 lg cloves garlic — finely sliced
1/4 c red wine
1 lb penne or rigatoni
Leaves of 2 sprigs of fresh oregano
shredded Parmigiano Reggiano

Roast tomatoes and pour off oil, reserving. Coarsely chop tomatoes in a blender or food processor.

Brown Italian sausage in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat then drain on paper towels.

Pour off rendered fat, reserving about a teaspoon and add oil from roasted tomatoes - you should have about 2 tablespoons of oil in total. Add pepper, onion, and anchovies and sauté over medium heat until onions are lightly browned. Add garlic and cook 1 minute longer.

Add red wine and deglaze skillet. Add chopped tomatoes and sausage and simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. When pasta is done, drain. Add fresh oregano to sauce, spoon sauce over pasta, and top with shredded Parmigiano.

Try Penne with Sausage with...
Feta Stuffed Peppers
Fraised Brussles Sprouts
Grape/Rosemary Focaccia

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | pasta | main dish | italian

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Iceberg Wedge Salad

Retro Classic



When I was a kid (mumble) years ago my mother would sometimes take us to the S&W Cafeteria in downtown Knoxville. For a cafeteria, it was an elegant place dating to the Art Deco era and featuring a huge, sweeping, spiral staircase from the ground level to a mezzanine. The one thing I always got was the wedge of iceberg lettuce with their signature blue cheese dressing (my sister liked the 1000 Island dressing). The other day I made up a batch of my blue cheese dressing and remembered those days of yore. So I bought a head of iceberg and returned to my childhood.

Recipe here...

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | cooking for two | salad

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Wordless Wednesday

Recipe here...

Technorati: Food | photo | kevin d weeks | seriously good | wordless wednesday

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Ingredient: Dry Vermouth

When cooking with wine, chefs usually recommend that you use whatever wine you're planning to drink. Good advice and I generally adhere to it. But the advice presumes you're going to be drinking wine and that might not be the case on a weeknight or you may be planning on red wine with a steak but you need white wine in the appetizer. You can always re-cork the wine, but once exposed to oxygen it's shelf life is limited - particularly in the case of white wine.

Read the complete article...

Technorati: Food | ingredient | kevin d weeks | cooking for two

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Mashed Potatoes

SG Archives: Horsing Around



Several years ago garlic mashed potatoes became popular. And almost inevitably that led to other variations on mashed potatoes like chipotle mashed potatoes, artichoke mashed potatoes, mashed potatoes with various kinds of cheese, and even Lipton Onion Soup mashed potatoes. But one variation I haven't seen anywhere was suggested to me by an English friend — horseradish mashed potatoes.

These are extraordinarily (even spectacularly) good and couldn't be any easier to make. The horseradish flavor is a delightful complement to the mashed potatoes, offering a similar earthy flavor, as well as a surprising foil to the potatoes inherent blandness.

Recipe

Make up a batch of mashed potatoes the way you always do.

Add horseradish to taste.

(Note: My favorite potato for mashing is Yukon Gold.)

(Note too: Of course you have to serve either roast beef, fried chicken, or meatloaf with mashed potatoes.)

Try Horseradish Mashed Potatoes with...
Bacon-wrapped Meatloaf
Rack of Lamb with Caramelized Onions
Schnitzel

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | side dish | potatoes

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Espresso Ice Cream with Nutella Swirl

Nutella Novice



I always thought Nutella was just a fancy European chocolate sauce and as someone who's not passionate about chocolate I wasn't particularly interested. In fact, although it's frequently found on breakfast tables throughout Europe I was never even tempted to try it during my travels. Breakfast is bread, cheese, maybe some ham, coffee, and a cigarette. Breakfast is decidedly not chocolate

So I was surprised to learn a couple of months ago that Nutella is actually hazelnut butter flavored with chocolate. That put a whole new complexion on things and I added it to my current grocery list - I wanted to try it and see what the fuss was about. It took a month (and several grocery lists) before I was in a store that sold Nutella and I bought a jar. When I got home it went into my pantry and I forgot about it for another month before noticing it and trying a bite. It was pretty good - nothing to write home about, but then I was already at home - and I forgot about it again. Until I made a batch of lavender ice cream.

Breakfast is bread, cheese, maybe some ham, coffee, and a cigarette. Breakfast is decidedly not chocolate.

The ice cream was good, but needed something. But what? I remembered the Nutella and decided to add a spoonful. Delicious, and then I realized the perfect use for the Nutella was swirled into espresso ice cream. So I picked an ice-cream custard recipe (from David Lebovitz's Fine Cooking article, "Scooped," June/July 2009), added some espresso powder, and swirled in the Nutella. Woo hoo! This is some good stuff, and if you really want to kick it over the top, drizzle it with some Fra Angelica, for another hazelnut kick with a brandy back.

Espresso Ice Cream with Nutella Swirl
Makes 1 1/2 quarts.

2 c heavy cream — divided
1 c whole milk
2/3 c sugar
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 tbsp Espresso powder
5 egg yolks — lightly beaten
2/3 c Nutella

Heat 1 cup heavy cream and milk with sugar, salt, and Espresso powder over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sugar dissolves, small bubbles begin to form and temperature is about 175 degrees.

Slowly add half of hot cream mixture to beaten egg yolks, whisking constantly and vigorously to avoid curdling. Then whisk egg mixture back into the cream. Place pan back over medium heat and cook, stirring, until mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. You should be able to draw your finger through the custard and leave a trail.

Pour custard through a sieve into a 2 quart bowl. Whisk the 2nd cup of heavy cream.

Place this bowl in a larger bowl, add ice and cold water and chill until ice melts. Cover medium bowl and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Add to ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's directions. Scoop ice cream into a plastic container, drizzle in Nutella, and swirl with a knife (this will be easiest if the bowl is on a moist kitchen towel). Freeze for at least a couple of hours to harden.

Try Espresso Ice Cream with...
Mititei (Romanian Sausages)
Lamb Steaks with Gremolata
Cuban Braised Pork

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | dessert | ice cream

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