Lamb Ravioli with Mushroom Cream

I'm a corner cutter when it comes to cooking most of the time. One thing you will NEVER see me making in my kitchen is pastry dough or pasta. When I want fresh pasta, I'll go to the Italian market to buy it. For this ravioli, I used wonton wrappers (not THAT bad...even Martha suggested using these for ravioli :)

This time of year I find myself craving lamb. Don't know why but I do know that this recipe satisfied my craving and I high fived myself after eating it. It's good enough to share.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup bread crumbs (I used Panko crumbs)
1/2 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
3 eggs (2 for filling and 1 to seal the ravioli)
2 large cloves of garlic (minced)
1/2 yellow onion (or white) chopped finely
handful of chopped fresh mint
wonton wrappers (you can find these in the refrigerated section of most groceries)
1 package of baby bella mushrooms (sliced)
3 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup of your favorite cheese (I used Parmesan)
1 cup milk (room temp)
Salt and pepper to taste
olive oil














Instructions:
In a large saute pan, heat up a drizzle of olive oil over medium high heat. Cook the chopped onion and 1 large clove of garlic minced. When onions are soft, add the lamb and salt and pepper generously. Break the lamb up with a spatula so that it cooks evenly. When the meat is finished cooking, put it in a large bowl and allow to cool for a few minutes while you prepare other ingredients.

Go ahead and start the sauce while the meat cools. In the same pan that you cooked the meat in, add 2 tablespoons of butter and the other minced garlic clove. Chop your mushrooms and place them in the pan and cook on medium low until soft. Once soft, reduce the heat to low so they don't burn while you are assembling the ravioli.




To the meat, add bread crumbs, ricotta cheese, 2 eggs, salt and pepper (a good few pinches of both) 2/3 of the chopped mint.



I used a fork to combine all ingredients but I think next time I'll use a food processor to grind the cooked meat smaller. It just depends on how fine you want your filling to be. It will be heartier if you just mix with a fork and fill the ravioli with the meat straight from the pan.

Once all ingredients are well mixed, open your wonton wrappers but only remove a few from the package as you need them (they tend to dry out). Lay a piece of wax paper on a baking sheet and place how ever many wrappers will fit. Break an egg into a bowl and whisk together the egg and a few splashes of cold water (this is called an egg wash). This will be used to seal the top wrapper to the bottom wrapper. WIth a brush, paint the egg wash around the edges of your bottom wrapper and then put about a tablespoon of filling into each wrapper. Seal the ravioli by placing another wrapper on top and squeeze the edges shut (very important! This step seals the ravioli so it won't break open in your boiling water).



before you finish your cream sauce, put on a large pot of boiling salted water. While you are waiting on the water to come to a boil, bring the mushroom pan up to medium high heat and add another tablespoon of butter. When it melts, add the flour to the butter and brown. Slowly whisk in milk so there are no clumps in the sauce. You can choose to make this sauce really thick (like I did) or add a little more milk or stock to thin it out. Once the sauce simmers (not boils! the milk will scald...YUCK) and thickens, add the cheese and taste to see if it needs more salt/pepper. Once the sauce is at your desired consistency, reduce to low just to keep warm.





Your water should be boiling now...so drop about 3-4 ravioli in the water at a time and cook for about 4-5 minutes each. When finished, take out with a slotted spoon and put on a platter and place somewhere to keep warm and cover with plastic wrap until all ravioli's are cooked. You can put them all on a pretty flat platter or you can make individual plates as you go along (that's what I did). Place 4-5 on each plate and spoon mushroom sauce on top and sprinkle with some pretty chopped mint. Devour.




***SIDE NOTE!! You can pre-make these, lay them on a cookie sheet and between layers, separate with wax paper and freeze individually on the sheet (so they don't stick together!). Once frozen, place them in a freezer ziplock baggie and you have a quick and easy dinner in the future. (these would be great with even store bought red sauce or alfredo sauce)

ummmmm LIFE CHANGING. Short Ribs.

These short ribs are STUPID. Just plain STUPID. And they are easy to make and *Almost* impossible to screw up (if you have a difficult time making mac n cheese then I would suggest you keep trying to make THAT and NOT these short ribs). If you are entertaining friends or family, make a bunch and they will worship you. They will kiss your ring. OK seriously, I'm done. Here's the recipe.

for the short ribs:
4 short ribs bone-in (if you don't know what they are, ask your butcher)
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon grated ginger
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon brown sugar
juice of 1/2 of a lime
2 and 1/2 cups of apple juice
1 teaspoon siracha (or any hot sauce will do. Add more if you want it spicier)
3 scallions
salt and pepper

for the sides:
1 cup of jasmine rice
1 small can of light coconut milk
juice from 1/2 of a lime
a small handful of cilantro chopped

2 baby bok choy chopped and rinsed really well
1 red pepper (diced)
1 clove garlic (minced)
1 teaspoon ginger
red pepper flakes (how hot? you decide)

Short ribs take time, And the only way you will get them right is if you cook them in the oven for a few hours. They need lots of love so I generally cook them on the weekend when I can give them the attention they deserve (because I know that they will make me a very happy woman if I treat them right). Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

While your oven is heating, get a large pan that has a lid *Important* this pan needs to be able to transfer into the oven! A small dutch oven will do beautifully. I use my wok sized Calphalon with it's tight fitting lid for this recipe.

put a little canola oil in your pan and put on stovetop burner over medium high heat. Salt and pepper all sides of your short ribs and pan sear them on each side to achieve a gorgeous crust. once they are browned you will add your braising liquid. (I assemble my braising liquid while the short ribs are searing)

For the braising liquid, in a bowl stir together your 2 cloves of garlic, applesauce, soy sauce, ginger, 1/2 of a lime juiced, brown sugar, 1.5 cups of apple juice (reserve the rest for later) & siracha sauce. lower the heat of the pan that the short ribs are searing in (you don't want the liquid to jump out at you when it hits a pan that's too hot!) Add your awesome braising liquid to the pan and bring it up to a LOW simmer. (its ok if the short ribs aren't completely covered. you'll be turning them every 30 minutes while they cook in the oven).



Cover the pan with a tight fitting lid and transfer to your oven. Cook the ribs at 350 degrees for about 2-2.5 hours.

You need to turn them with tongs in the liquid every 30 minutes. As you cook them, your liquid is going to reduce to basically the best stinking korean style bbq sauce you've ever had. Mine reduced really fast (too fast) and I added the rest of my apple juice to the pan at about an hour so my short ribs wouldn't dry out. just feel it out. If you're ribs aren't fork tender yet and the liquid is looking like it's going down to nothing, add more juice and stir it together. It's important to do this BEFORE your bbq sauce reduces so much that it burns. No good. No good at all. At the 1.5 hour mark, I knew my ribs would be finished soon so I started my sides. Things tend to cook very differently in Denver though so it may take you longer to cook them. *IMPORTANT* You know they are done when they are so tender that they are falling apart! Your liquid needs to be at a thick consistency and your meat needs to be SUPER tender!



For the rice:

The golden rule for rice: 1 part rice. 2 parts liquid. Not Just Water. ANY liquid will do. For this dish, I use coconut milk and water as my liquid to cook my jasmine rice and it is phenomenal. In a saucepan, put a pat of butter on medium high heat along with 1 cup of rice (more if you are cooking for a crowd). And then I added 2 cups of a coconut milk/water combo. Bring rice to a boil. Give a stir. Drop the heat to a LOW simmer. Cover TIGHT and LEAVE IT ALONE. Shake the pan every 5 or 10 minutes to make sure your rice doesn't stick. Follow time instructions on the package of rice that you bought. My rice takes about 20 minutes.

After it's tender, turn off the heat and add some lime juice and chopped cilantro. Fluff with a fork.



For Veggies:

In a pan on medium heat, cook a clove of garlic in a bit of canola oil along with the grated ginger and chili flake. Add your chopped vegetables and salt them to taste. Cook until just tender.



ASSEMBLY!!

about 10 minutes before you pull the short ribs from the oven, give them one last turn and throw in some chopped scallions. Re-cover and wait a few minutes.

I always serve this family style. Heap your rice on a platter and throw the veggies on either side of the rice. And THEN Nestle those perfect little short ribs on the bed of rice and spoon extra bbq sauce from the pan onto each one (Don't drool on the food). Eat them and thank ME for blessing you with such greatness.

Chicken chili

I LOVE chili with a passion. Maybe its because my mother would make it almost once a week and it now reminds me of my childhood. The only problem is that I almost always regret eating red chili. My stomach just can't handle its greatness. So...I make different variations of white chili. Chili is one of those 'whatever you've got in your pantry' recipes. Mix it up. If you've got a bunch of veggies in your house that need to be eaten, throw em in. Here is the most recent version that i made (with great success, btw)! The kid HATES beans (surprising, no?!) so i snuck them in by pureeing them in my food processor (she still asked if they were there because she could taste it BUT she still ate 2 helpings because i may have told her a little lie). So here goes nothing (As usual, serves about 3-4 people. Double the recipe if you are cooking for a crowd):

1 boneless skinless chicken breast (or whatever the heck you like)
2 heaping tablespoons of a good quality chili rub (whole foods market sells awesome variations)
2 cloves of garlic (minced or crushed)
1 poblano pepper
1 cup frozen sweet corn
1 jalapeno pepper (if you want more heat. This is optional)
1 carrot (diced)
1 small yellow onion
1 can of white beans (i used cannelini)
2-3 cups of chicken broth (you can control the thickness of your chili by adding more or less)
1/4 cup heavy cream
Cilantro chopped
Salt & pepper taste

Directions:

Rub 1 tablespoon of the chili powder and some salt and pepper on the chicken and pan sear on both sides on medium high in your soup pot with a little canola oil until cooked through enough to shred (its ok if its slightly undercooked. It will finish cooking when you shred it and put it back in pot). Chop your veggies while your chicken is cooking and when it's done, place the chicken aside on a plate and let cool while you move onto the next step.

Lower the heat of the SAME POT to medium and place your chopped garlic and veggies (including corn) and stir around to get all the yummy bits off the bottom of the pan that the chicken left behind. Add the additional 1 tablespoon of chili powder and a little salt and pepper to the veggies. While your veggies are softening, drain and rinse your can of beans and puree until smooth. Shred your chicken and add both the chicken (and it's juices) and the pureed beans to the pot. Then add your chicken broth, give it all a good stir and bring to a boil. Once it's boiling, reduce to a simmer and cover. It will be ready in about 20 minutes. Just before you serve it, stir in the heavy cream and some chopped cilantro. Bring back to a simmer and then it's ready!

I like to set up a little 'station' for condiments/toppings when I make chili so that everyone can personalize what they like. Some people hate cilantro so you can opt to chop some and let them decide if they want it or not (but I throw it in. They don't have a choice with me). I also put some shredded cheddar Jack, lime wedges, sour cream, chopped red onion, hot sauce, YOU NAME IT. Anything is great! If you're entertaining, it would be good to make some good ol' fashioned Jiffy cornbread (you can add jalapenos and cheese cubes to the batter before you bake it. Holy Crap).

Hope you like this as much as I did!

(Sorry I didn't take any photos of this one...the chili didn't last long enough to photograph but here's a picture of Lou Dog to fill the void!)

Ohh la la!

After a few months of playing with makeup at a department store and NOT HAVING A LIFE, I am back on the map (and not LIVING at said department store any longer) with plenty of time to cook in my beloved kitchen for my beloved family. I apologize that I have not been around. Now lets get to it.

I've said it before and I will say it again. I LOVE french food. Specifically provencal style cooking. Light, fresh and perfect for summer/spring. I made this very easy dish a few days ago for a dear friend who after a hard day of work (she is a Doula) she deserved a huge glass of white wine and a perfect piece of fish.

I will make this dish again very soon and will post photos. The camera was with the hubs in San Fran so I couldn't capture it's beauty for you. Just use your imagination.

If you're cooking for a crowd (and this is a great dish for a crowd) just use your noggin and double up the ingredients!

Turbot with roasted vegetables and sauteed spinach

1 large fliet of Turbot (this is hands down, THE MOST delicious fish I have EVER cooked/consumed. Cod or any other buttery white fish would work also in this dish but I'm telling you, if you can find Turbot, you will NOT be disappointed!)

A tablespoon of homemade pesto (recipe below)
2-3 tablespoons white wine (dry-like a sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio)
1/2 tablespoon of butter
2 russet potatoes (Peeled and sliced into 1/4 in-1/2 rounds)
2 shallots (roughly cut)
1 bulb of fennel (cut into pieces - http://www.bonappetit.com/tipstools/tips/2009/06/how_to_chop_fennel_list )
1/2 cup whole pitted kalamata olives
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 cloves garlic (chopped)
2-3 large handfulls of fresh spinach
1 tablespoon of dried herbs de provence (you can find this amazing mixture of dried herbs at any supermarket. It's DIVINE!)

Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Pesto recipe:

a handful of fresh basil
a handful of fresh parsley
1 clove of garlic
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2-3/4 cup good olive oil

Put everything in a food processor (or chop everything finely and add olive oil in a bowl) and shop until smooth and pretty. Make a day ahead for flavors to marry but its delicious right after you make it too!

Now get cookin:

Preheat oven 400 degrees

prep the vegetables except for the spinach (potatoes, fennel, shallots, olives, onion and 2 cloves of garlic chopped) and put on a non stick baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and generous amount of salt and pepper (about 1/2 tablespoon of each) then rub the herbs de provence in the palm of your hand to release the aromas and sprinkle evenly onto vegetables. Mix with clean fingers so everything is coated evenly and place in Oven. Set timer to 35-40 minutes (You will need to stir the vegetables once at around the 15-20 minute mark so they cook evenly and don't burn).

While veggies are cooking, prepare the fish.

I used a large piece of tin foil (double it up to prevent leaking) to create a pouch to cook my fish in so it would be perfectly moist. place fish on the foil, season with a little salt and pepper, drizzle with a few tablespoons of pesto and make sure it is nicely seasoned with pesto. I also squeezed a bit of fresh lemon juice on top. create a pouch for the fish and lastly pour the wine into the pouch before crimping it sealed.

Put the fish in the oven with the veggies and cook the fish for 20 minutes.

Lastly, to add a little green to the mix, I did a quick saute of garlic and spinach in a pan on the stovetop. Drizzle a little Olive oil on med-high heat, cook garlic in oil for just a few seconds and then add the spinach, season with salt and pepper and cook until it starts to wilt. Remove from heat and place on large platter along with the roasted veggies (they should be slightly crispy on the outside and golden) and put the filet of fish on top of everything and pour the liquid from the pouch over the fish. I love this dish family style because people can just dig in.


**IMPORTANT**
Please remind your guests to be careful eating the fish because it can contain pin bones (very sharp and dangerous if swallowed) and I broke the fish into tiny pieces for my daughter to make sure she wouldn't have any bones.

Serve with crusty bread and pesto and a dry white wine or cotes du rhone! You'll be in heaven!

Summer Heat

The past week weeks have been cool in the evening but hot during the day here in Denver. When we lived in Philly I avoided cooking all together during the (smoldering hot) summer months because our little house would turn into even more of a furnace. It's the same here...No air conditioning yet we've managed to keep our home cool and I don't want to disturb that by firing up the stovetop. So its been eating out or pastrami and cheese sandwiches for us.

One of my favorite non-cooking dishes would have to be my gazpacho. It's so healthy and light and sure beats eating anything hot on a summer day. you can rough chop all of the vegetables in a food processor to make your job (a lot) easier. Putting a little love into a chop on the ol' board wouldn't hurt either though if you don't have a food processor.

Smokey Gazpacho

3 cups plain tomato juice
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
2 large vine ripened tomatoes
1 large seedless english cucumber
1 red pepper
1 whole shallot (minced)
1 garlic clove (minced)
1 stalk celery
1 medium carrot
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 lemon
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon pepper

In a large bowl (not metal), put all of the chopped vegetables and the canned tomatoes (including the juice) in (they should be chopped into small chunks. The Carrot and celery should be chopped into very small pieces especially). Add the minced Garlic and shallot followed by your seasonings. Parsley, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper and sugar. Stir the vegetables together and then add your liquids. The tomato juice and vinegar and juice 1/2 of a lemon into the mixture.

Cover and let the flavors mingle overnight and enjoy for the week. This soup gets better with time and it can be frozen for a few months too. I like to freeze single portions and enjoy it for lunch in the fall months.

Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a crusty artisan bread.

ditch the bag

I religiously ate popcorn from a bag for most of my life. Like twice a week atleast. I would eat a bag of popcorn for dinner A LOT while recording in the studio. And I got to thinking about a few things. A) its simplicity. corn kernels + really high heat = popcorn B) the funny film left on the inside of my mouth after devouring a bag of microwaved popcorn and C) the idea of exposing my body to chemicals in the 'butter flavored' snack

So I discovered very quickly that making my own popcorn was MUCH more affordable and SO MUCH MORE delicious than any popcorn I've ever had from a bag! You can literally put anything on your popcorn but I always make it how I love it. Movie theatre style.

Movie Night

1/4 cup yellow or white corn kernels
2 tablespoons of canola oil
1 tablespoon of real margarine (salted and melted)
2 teaspoons of ultra fine salt (you can usually find super fine salt in the same aisle as you will find your kernels) or however much salt you prefer.

In a large pot:

heat your oil and kernels on high heat while covered tightly with a lid. Once you hear the first 'pop', don't go far because you'll need to give a good little shake to the pot about every 10-20 seconds to keep your popcorn from burning. once the popcorn starts really popping, lower your heat to medium high to further prevent burning. After about 3-4 minutes of active popping, remove from heat and shake a few times until you stop hearing it pop.

Sprinkle your salt on top and your melted butter. Stir with a spoon and then pour into a large bowl. Sometimes I add a little fresh ground black pepper for a kick.

simple bliss.

entertaining

We had some friends over last night and I made this:





Sesame crusted Tuna with Coconut rice and pan seared Baby Bok Choy (and a honey soy lime sauce)

I cooked for 5 adults last night so the recipe is for a small gathering.

Make the sauce first:

In a small saucepan:

1 teaspoon garlic siracha
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup good quality honey
1 tspn fresh lime juice
1/2 tablespoon grated ginger

put all ingredients in the pan and simmer on very low heat for about 10 minutes stirring frequently so it doesn't burn!


The fish:

2 lbs fresh Tuna fish (its color must be bright red. If it appears to be browning or stinky, don't get it)
1 cup roasted black or white sesame seeds
salt and pepper

The rice:

2 cups jasmine rice
1 can of natural coconut milk (should equal 2 cups...if not, add a little water to make it 2 cups)
2 cups water
1 tbsn butter

The Baby Bok Choy:

1 tbsp veg or canola oil
5 baby bok choy
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil

First, get your rice going. It will take about 20-30 minutes to cook. In a pot, melt the butter and add the rice. Toast the rice in the butter stirring together for about a minute. Add your liquid to the rice (coconut milk and water) and stir well. Bring the liquid to a rapid boil. Once boiling stir well once, lower heat to a simmer, cover TIGHTLY and leave it alone. Gently shake the pan every 5 minutes while leaving lid tightly over the rice. This prevents the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning. You shouldn't have any issues with burning if the temperature is at a simmer.

While your rice is cooking, you can prepare your Tuna. Examine the tuna steaks making sure that they are patted dry and that there are no scales to be cleaned off. Season them with salt and pepper on both sides. On a plate, pour the sesame seeds and place each side of the tuna steaks onto the seeds to cover. This will create a delicious crust. Set aside.

I would wait until the rice has been cooking for about 15 minutes before I start pan searing the tuna.

In a large non-stick pan, drizzle a little bit of canola oil and heat the pan to high heat. Once the pan is hot enough, lower the heat to medium high and place the sesame covered tuna steaks in the oil. They should be sizzling loudly. For rare tuna (which is in my opinion the BEST way to eat it if it's really fresh), cook for only about 2 minutes on each side and then remove from the pan. Put aside and get started on your baby bok choy.

Halve and rinse each baby bok choy (you can use regular bok choy for this too if you would like). In the same pan that you cooked your tuna in, over high heat, sear the baby bok choy for about 4-5 minutes (until they start to caramelize) on each side. After they are cooked, splash your soy sauce over them and cook a little more over medium heat for just a few minutes and drizzle with sesame oil at the end.

To plate:

Fluff your rice with a fork in the pan and spoon onto a large platter. Slice your tuna steaks and place the bok choy around the fish. Spoon the honey soy lime sauce over the fish and put any that is left on the table for people to add to their dish. This is a family style meal that will be sure to please your guests.