Your own delicious marshmallows!

This year at Christmas I've done very little holiday baking; I was busy, and only made a couple of different treats. This particular confection was easy, fun to make, and delightful...homemade marshmallows! I very well may never buy another bag of marshmallows again! I flavored these with vanilla bean paste, but you could use almond extract, or some cinnamon, or cocoa powder and chips to make a chocolate marshmallow.

This treat dates back to an actual marsh mallow plant, but today they are made by combining sugar, gelatin, flavoring, and heat, and beating them into a cloudy frenzy. On that subject, I used a kitchenaid mixer with a whisk attachment. You could use a hand mixer, but be prepared to stand and mix for 8-12 minutes or so.

I hope you enjoy these; they partially dissolve into a delicious pool after being added to hot cocoa, and are delicate and cloudy when eaten on their own. I would not attempt these without electric assistance.

Ingredients

3 packets of gelatin (I used knox gelatin)

1 cup of water

Powdered sugar

1 cup white corn syrp

1 cup white sugar

candy thermometer (mine wasn't working and checked it with an instant read thermometer, then carefully washed it)

1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla bean paste

Method:

1.) In a small bowl, empty the gelatin packets and a 1/2 cup of water. Mix lightly with a fork and set aside.

2.) In a saucepan, place 1/2 cup of water, 1 cup of white corn syrup, and 1 cup of white sugar. Heat until the mixture reads 240 on a thermometer (this may take a few minutes.) 

3.) Add the gelatin to the bowl of the mixer and set to the lowest setting. Drizzle in the sugar mixture slowly. Be careful with the sugar mixture as it is quite hot.

4.) Add some hot water from the tap to your saucepan so the sugar mixture doesn't harden too much. You'll want to wash the pan out as soon as you're able. Once the sugar mixture has been added to the gelatine, mix on high for 8-12 minutes until very sticky and white.

It will look like this when it's ready

5. While the sugar and gelatine are being whipped into a frenzy, dust a large baking dish with powdered sugar. This will prevent the marshmallow mixture from sticking too much to bottom of the pan.

6.) Once the mixture is amalgamated, add the vanilla bean paste and mix again. 

7.) Using a spatula, spread the marshmallow mixture onto the baking dish.

The mix is so satiny and cheerful at this stage!

8.) If you can help it, let the marshmallows rest for 6 hours (they rested for 3 the first time I made them, as they were too tempting.) Dust the finished marshmallows, slice and enjoy however you like!

I put a nice, big one in my hot cocoa!

Simple, Delectable Tuscan Pasta

When I was in Greve in Chianti with the Mediterranean Opera Studio I stayed at a wonderful Bed and Breakfast in Monte Chiari. The proprietor, Ada is a lovely and warm woman who often made us delicious treats, like an orange cake, or a pear tart, or would share some of her produce from the garden. One day, she and her husband Paolo supplied me with a wonderful recipe for pasta-it yields a delicious, perfect sauce that clings to pasta without being overly gloppy.

For this recipe I used pici, which is a local pasta. It sort of looks like chubby spaghetti:

I'm not certain if you can find it in the US, but I've made it with cavatappi here in the states. I also think bucatini would work well with this dish. One of my favorite ingredients for this dish is water–specifically about 1/2 a cup of the salted water in which the pasta has been boiling. The starch from the pasta helps lend a velvety, creamy texture to the sauce, and adds just a bit of saltiness. 

Ada instructed me to remove the skins (but not the seeds) of the tomatoes, so I start the recipe by pouring boiling water over the tomatoes-this makes it very easy to peel the tomatoes!

Ingredients:

Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 to 3/4 pound of pasta such as pici or cavatappi

1 small to medium onion

1 clove of garlic (optional)

8 or 9 smallish tomatoes such as Roma tomatoes

2 medium sized zucchini

4 basil leaves

Method:

1. Boil a small pot of water, and pour over the tomatoes. Peel the skins off the tomatoes. Slice the tomatoes and reserve in a bowl.

2. Dice the onion, garlic (if using,) and zucchini (but keep them separate.)

2. Saute the onion and garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil until they start to become translucent, about five minutes.

3. While your onions are cooking, put a pot of water on to boil. Add 2 tablespoons of salt to the water.

4. Add the tomatoes to the saute pan and cook for 5 minutes.

5. Add the pasta to the water, and set your timer (I always shoot for 1 to 2 minutes under the recommended cooking time, as I like my pasta very al dente.)

6. Add the chopped zucchini to the saute pan, and cook another 5 minutes. Tear the basil leaves into the sauce. and toss.

7. Remove 1/2 a cup of water from the pasta water and add to the saute pan and stir. This will help the sauce become a bit more "saucy."

8. Drain the pasta and toss with the sauce. Serve and enjoy!

Buon apetito!

Homemade Caesar Salad!

I love a good Caesar salad! Unfortunately, I find that good Caesar salads can be difficult to find–the vast majority of them at restaurants are bland, limp, lifeless and fall quite flat. There are a few exceptions to this rule–I find that Bistro Romano in Philadelphia makes an excellent one, and (naturally) there are a few good ones in New York. But sometimes, I just want a reliably delicious salad, so I turn to this recipe.

It's worth noting that I love salad, but hate making it. Most of the time I find it tedious and boring to make. This is not one of those salads–it's actually quite fun to make, and you can enlist your friends to help you dry and chop the romaine. I also enjoy the process of making the croutons for the salad, which, again is easy. If you don't want the bread or are gluten intolerant, I find that substituting tomatoes for croutons works beautifully (sometimes I do this anyway, or have tomatoes AND croutons...)

While a staple on Italian menus, Caesar salad was actually born in Tijuana, Mexico! Caesar Cardini, an Italian restaurateur with a flair for the dramatic, whisked these ingredients (he was out of a lot of things) table side and it caught on. Now Caesar salad is featured on menus coast to coast.

A few notes on my preparation of this classic: I really like a Caesar salad with a kick, and I like to use a full teaspoon of hot Dijon mustard. If you're not in the market for so much heat, then cut it back to a 1/2 teaspoon. Traditionally, a wooden bowl is used to mix the ingredients. I do not have a wooden bowl, so I use a stainless steel one. It still comes out perfectly.

Ingredients:
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of anchovy paste (or 2 anchovy fillets– use the paste)
1 teaspoon of smooth Dijon mustard (the fierier the better)
1 egg yoke (or 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise if you find the thought of an egg yoke abhorrent)
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
3/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 cup of Parmesan cheese (I like Parmigiano–Reggiano or Grana Padano)
1 teaspoon of black pepper

Method:
1. In your bowl, muddle (or crush with a fork) the garlic and salt together–crush the garlic into tiny pieces. The salt will help break down the garlic a bit.

2. Add the anchovy paste and Dijon mustard, and incorporate into the garlic mixture.

3. Add the egg yoke and mix thoroughly.

4. Switch implements–grab a whisk! Whisk in the 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice, then drizzle in the olive oil while whisking.

5. Add 1/2 cup of of cheese to the bowl and whisk in it.

6. Add the black pepper.

7. Toss with croutons (recipe below) or chopped tomatoes and enjoy!

Croutons

Perhaps unsurprisingly, croutons are very easy to make–there's really no need to by those lumps of reincarnated stale bread in a bag. A sourdough boule is delicious, but I've use lots of varieties. I've even used a baguette once when I didn't have anything else, and the croutons were delicious.

Ingredients:
Bread
1 1/2 tablespoons of Olive oil (maybe a bit of butter)
Garlic powder
salt
pepper

Method:

1. Cut the bread into cubes–you can remove the crust or not–I never do (I think it has more personality)

2. Heat the oil and (if using) butter in a pan

3. Add the bread to the pan, toss garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste. When the croutons are golden brown, serve!

Alternate Method:

Preheat the oven to 350, put the croutons on a half sheet pan, toss with seasoning and bake for 15 minutes or so, or until brown.

Ready to eat!

Roasted Vegetables with Basil and Balsamic

Everyone agrees that vegetables are good for you. Not everyone agrees that vegetables are delicious and flavorful. This is one of those recipes that can help dispell the myth that veggies can't be a showstopper.

I imagine this dish to be somewhere between a main dish and a salad-I like to use a lot of basil leaves for this. If your basil is too bitter, just cut the number back or use a different variety of basil.

The elements are simple-zucchini, yellow squash, and a red onion, but when assembled, they make a wonderful feast for the eyes and the tastebuds. Please just use this recipe as a blueprint, and feel free to change it to suit your larder or taste.

Ingredients

3 Zucchini

2 Yellow squash

1 red onion

Salt and pepper

1/4 cup Olive oil

1 cup of basil leaves

Good quality balsamic vinegar (or balsamic glaze)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees farenheit

2. Slice the zucchini and yellow squash into big (but still hearty) chunks-I cut the squash in half lengthwise and slice into 8ths.

3. Cut the onion in half, and cut each section into 8ths or simply slice. It is important not to dice the onion, as it will burn in the oven. 

4. Toss the veggies in the olive oil and tumble them onto a half sheet pan. Generously salt (2 teaspoons) and pepper (1 tablespoon) the vegetables.

5. Roast the vegetables for 45 minutes. If the squash express lots of water and won't brown, you can simply broil the vegetables for the last few minutes.

6. Tear half the basil leaves into a serving bowl. Add the veggies on top (and enjoy the wonderful scent of the hot veggies hitting the basil) and top with the remaining leaves. Drizzle the bowl with the balsamic.

7. Enjoy!

Penne alla vodka

I remember one of the first times I had penne alla vodka-it was shortly after I moved to New York to attend Manhattan School of Music. It was in a wonderful Italian restaurant uptown (now sadly closed) and was served with sausage. It was a cold winter night, and the fiery, sumptuous sauce really hit the spot.

The best news is that vodka sauce, while being a bit time consuming, is pretty easy to make! There are a lot of different versions, but this is one that works for me-I hope you, dear reader, will try it too-it's almost always a hit when I serve it, and I hope it will be for you too.

For this recipe, you need a saute pan that can go in the oven, and a blender.

Ingredients
1 pound of penne cooked in salted water.
1/3 cup of olive oil
2 medium yellow onions
5 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons of dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
1 1/4 cups of vodka
2 28 oz cans of whole peeled tomatoes, juice drained
1/4 cup cream (optional)
1/4 cup Pasta cooking water
Parmesan cheese (optional)

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Peel the onions and slice them in half, then roughly slice them. There is no need to dice them, since you will blend the sauce later-enjoy the low maintenance use of the onion here.
3. Heat the olive oil in the pan and saute the onion over a medium heat-cook gently and fairly slowly here, for about 5 minutes or so.
4. Turn the heat to mediu high and add the (again, roughly chopped) garlic, oregano and red pepper-the heat from the oil helps the flavors in the oregano bloom, and makes the red pepper boom.
5. Add the vodka, which will sizzle! Cook for two minutes or until it reduces a bit.
6. Mash the tomatoes by hand as you add them to the pan. Stir the sauce and then toss into the oven.
7. Cook the sauce in the oven for an hour. When you remove the sauce, blend it in the blender in a few batches.
8. Add the cream and some of the starchy water. The amounts are flexible-I want you to have the consistancy of sauce that you like-if it seems thick, then add some more water or cream.
9. Toss with cooked al dente penne noodles and garnish with parmesan cheese.

I've served the dish here in a very American way, all on one platter-sausage on the left, lightly sauteed broccoli rabe on the right.