Birthday Dinner Recipe: Fresh Pasta

When Rem and I were on vacation, we celebrated my 55th birthday with a delicious home-cooked dinner.  I haven’t made pasta for years and years but love the slightly irregular, slightly chewy fresh noodles and knew it was part of my desired menu.  We also had flat roasted chicken, asparagus, and a yummy chocolate cake for dessert.

This was a fresh spinach and herb pasta which made beautiful, springy, green noodles but the flavor was pretty mild.  I will try it again with more herbs next time.

Here is a little slide show made from pictures of mixing the dough, rolling it out, cutting the pasta, and cooking it (some of the same photos are throughout the recipe as well).

Fresh Spinach & Herb Pasta

Adapted from King Arthur Flour

3 cups fresh spinach and herbs (any combination of spinach, arugula, green onion, chive, basil, green onions or other fresh greens and/or herbs will work fine – we used mostly spinach,  with some very finely minced rosemary, thyme and some dried basil because we didn’t have fresh)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or coarse sea salt

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus additional flour for rolling out pasta

2 large eggs, room temperature

You may need 1 or 2 Tablespoons water

Optional: Cornmeal for rolling out pasta

Directions:

Wash and dry your fresh greens and/or herbs.

Coarsely chop the greens and herbs and place in a sturdy bowl and sprinkle with the coarse salt.

Use a pestle, dowel or other implement to grind the salt and herbs together into a wet paste. (I used a metal spoon) and set aside.

Mound the flour on your work surface.  Make a well in the flour with your fingers and crack eggs into well.  You can start with a fork but I just used my fingers to start mixing the eggs and flour together.

Add the herb paste to the flour and egg mixture and continue mixing.  You may need to add a tablespoon or two of cold water to form a rough dough with no dry flour left on the counter.  However, I didn’t need any water.  The dough will be fairly stiff.

Knead dough for 8 to 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and springy.

Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes. Note: you may also choose to do this in a stand mixer, or in your bread machine set on the dough cycle. If you use your bread machine, cancel the cycle after about 10 minutes of kneading, and remove the dough.

Divide dough into 4 pieces.  With a rolling pin, roll out 1 portion of dough at a time on a large cutting board lightly sprinkled with flour or cornmeal, rolling dough quite thin, about 1/16th of an inch, although I don’t think mine was that thin.

Cut into narrow strips, or roll up the whole sheet and then cut.

In these pictures, when I rolled the whole sheet of pasta before cutting, it should have been in a looser roll.  Be sure to unroll the cut pasta.

Toss strips lightly with a little flour or cornmeal and allow to dry for 10 to 15 minutes before cooking.

If you aren’t going to use all the pasta, you should dry it for a few hours before storing.  I tried making nests, but my pasta was on the thick side and ended up sticking to itself.  I should have left it just spread out (or maybe hanging over a broom handle!)

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil.  Drop the pasta in and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes, testing for doneness after 3 minutes.

Drain the pasta, add a simple sauce or just butter and Parmesan cheese and serve.  We used a splash of heavy cream (left over from another recipe), some butter, Parmesan and freshly ground black pepper.

Mangia!

Thanks for your visit.  Still to come: flat roasted (or spatchcocked) chicken and chocolate cake.

Chicken, Spinach, and Pasta with Creamy Feta Sauce

I wanted pasta for dinner the other night because I’m still eating a bit cautiously after oral surgery last week and the idea of tender pasta was appealing.  Actually, I love pasta and I’m happy to eat it even when my mouth is fine.

We had a rotisserie chicken in the fridge and a box of spinach in the freezer, so I did a quick search online for recipes using chicken, pasta and spinach and found this recipe on Healthy. Delicious.  Of course you could cook up a chicken breast or two and start with a big bag of fresh spinach but for me this recipe is about a yummy and easy dish with stuff I had on hand.

Chicken, Spinach and Pasta with Creamy Feta Sauce

Adapted from Healthy Delicious

Ingredients:

8 ounces pasta – a big, chunky shape worked well

3 tablespoon butter, divided

3 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup half and half

1 1/2 cups milk – I used 2%  because that’s what we have in the fridge

4 ounces feta cheese

2 cups shredded chicken

1 10-ounce box frozen chopped spinach – thawed with moisture squeezed out

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

zest from one lemon

I was rushing with the photos so I completely forgot to show the butter, milk and flour.  Or the oregano.  Oops.  I wanted to share this recipe here because it looked like a winner, but I also wanted to get dinner made and to sit down and eat it. The lemon zest I decided to add later, so I don’t feel bad that I didn’t take a picture of the lemon.  Sorry.

Directions:

Cook the pasta as directed on the package.  While it is cooking, proceed with the sauce.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring for a few minutes, so it is a nice, toasty color.

Put the half and half and milk in a microwave safe bowl or large, glass measuring cup and heat.  My microwave isn’t super powerful and 1 minute was enough so the mixture was warmish.  It could have used another 20 seconds.  You don’t want it to boil, just to warm it up before adding to the butter/flour roux.

Add the warm milk mixture to the saucepan and cook for 5 minutes or until it has thickened a bit, stirring frequently.

The pasta, meanwhile, should be about done.  When pasta is done, drain in a colander, and return to the pot.  Toss with remaining tablespoon of butter.

Stir chicken and spinach into pot with pasta.

When sauce is cooked, remove from heat.  Stir in crumbled feta cheese, oregano, chili powder, black pepper and lemon zest.

Pour sauce into pot with pasta and stir to combine.

Serve.

Delicious!

All the flavors and textures worked well together.  If I’d been a little more organized, I would have saved some of the lemon zest for garnish and made prettier pictures, but I wasn’t and I didn’t.  It was very good and something I’m sure I’ll make again.  I hope you give it a try.

Thanks for your visit.

 

 

This Is Really Juicy!

So that got your attention.  Did you think I had some big news?  Or hot gossip??  I just wanted to tell you about our latest caper.

It all started when Rem and I went to the Rafael and watched a documentary called “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead”.  You can learn more about the film on their site but suffice it to say we were intrigued and inspired enough that we bought a juicer.  A  Breville JE98XL Juice Fountain Plus to be specific.  And we’ve started The Great Juice Adventure!

Some people go on a juice “fast” but fasting means to abstain from food.  Others go on a “cleanse” which sounds so clinical and unpleasant to me.  What we’re doing is juicing loads of fresh fruits and vegetables and consuming the juice.  For ten days.

Rem started a day before me so he’s on Day 4 and I’m on Day 3.  We juiced 2 x per day as part of our transition prior to going all-juice partly to try different blends of fruits and veggies and partly to ease into it.  I’m feeling  low energy today (better after my morning juice) but from what we’ve learned, that is to be expected.  We’re curious to see what else will happen.

Since I’ve been eating more wisely and making better food and activity choices I’ve been eating a lot of fruits and vegetables and I savor the taste of veggies.  Rem has been struggling more with the taste but  I’m having fun creating interesting combinations and with trial and error, we’re finding  what works for us.

Because I want to keep this interesting I decided to try many different things.  Some ingredients I was fairly skeptical of (kale, sweet potato, fennel) but found perfectly tasty.   Others (cabbage) have been dropped from the ingredient list (shudder).  Granny Smith apples, pears, carrots and celery have all been stalwarts and one of them is in just about every juice I make.  I’ve learned to add things like lemon in increments and taste before added too much and that a piece of ginger, some lime, or a handful of cilantro or mint leaves can be the difference between a so-so juice and a really delicious one.

Following are some…well, not recipes because I didn’t measure everything precisely, but some blends that I’ve enjoyed.  Yields vary according to the size of the fruits and veggies used as well as the type of juicer used.

We start our day with a fruity one but include some veggies too.

Breakfast Blend Juice

6 carrots, scrubbed and ends trimmed

2 Granny Smith apples, quartered and cored

1 orange, peeled

1 tangerine, peeled

1/2 beet, scrubbed and trimmed

about 4 large strawberries, stemmed

a handful of red grapes

1/2 cup of pineapple chunks

Juice together. Stir to combine.  Enjoy!

Drink Your Greens (this is pictured above and is also the earlier picture showing the separate red and green colors)

This is bursting with nutritious and flavorful ingredients.  One sip and you can taste the vitality.  It reminds me of a tree with buds bursting into green leaves.

6 kale leaves, washed, ends trimmed

4 large chard leaves, washed, ends trimmed

A handful of beet greens, washed

1 zucchini, trim ends

2 Granny Smith apples, quartered and cored

2 stalks celery, ends trimmed

1/2 lime, peeled

about 1 inch piece of green onion

1/2 small bunch of cilantro

Juice together. Stir to combine.  Taste and add more lime or cilantro if needed.  Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Sunshine

I really wasn’t sure about sweet potato juice. But Rem and I both like this sweet juice spiked with citrus and ginger.

1 medium garnet sweet potato, scrubbed and ends trimmed

4 carrots, scrubbed and ends trimmed

4 stalks celery, ends trimmed

1 Granny Smith apple, quartered and cored

1 orange, peeled

1 tangerine, peeled

1 red bell pepper, quartered and seeded

about 1 inch piece of fresh ginger

Juice together. Stir to combine.  Enjoy!

Gazpacho Juice

I love gazpacho and this has that flavor plus the nutritional punch of added greens.

1 cucumber, peeled

3 tomatoes, cored and cut to fit juicer feed chute

1 red bell pepper, quartered and seeded

1 Granny Smith Apple

4 kale leaves, washed and ends trimmed

2 chard leaves, washed and ends trimmed

1 inch piece of green onion

1/2 lime, peeled

1/2 bunch of cilantro (or basil)

small piece of chile pepper

Juice together. Stir to combine.  Taste and add more lime or cilantro if needed. Enjoy!

Fennel and Fruit Juice

This is a beautiful jade green juice that is sweet and refreshing with the distinct licorice flavor of  fennel.

1 bulb of fennel, ends trimmed and cut into pieces to fit juicer feed chute

about 1 cup packed spinach leaves

3 leaves kale, washed and ends trimmed

1 pear, quartered and cored

1 Granny Smith apple, quartered and cored

1/2 lime, peeled

Juice together. Stir to combine.  Enjoy!

Cantaloupe and Carrot Juice

I fixed this for Rem this morning and he said it was enjoyable: “semi-sweet and fruity”.

4 carrots, scrubbed and ends trimmed

about 2 cups of red grapes

about 1 cup of cantaloupe chunks

Juice together. Stir to combine.  Enjoy!

If you are interested in more information you can check out this site: Join the Reboot.  It was started by Joe Cross, the subject of the documentary as well as the Executive Producer and Co-Director.  It has nutritional information, reboot guidelines, recipes and community forums.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

The Comforts of Winter: Cooking Class Week 2

Spices

Our second week of cooking class was an Indian Feast. Before we tasted anything, Tom Hudgens, our instructor, started grinding spices in a small grinder and the aroma was amazing.  By the time we sat down to eat I think everyone in class had worked up quite an appetite from the tantalizing aromas alone.

Kohlrabi, cilantro, celery root and butternut squash.

We peeled and diced and cubed a variety of vegetables that I don’t have much experience with: fennel, celery root, butternut squash (I love it but don’t fix it that often) and kohlrabi which I don’t think I’d ever had.  It is in the upper left of the photo, above.  The peeled flesh of the kohlrabi is something like broccoli stem though a bit milder and more sweet.  These were all combined in a Winter Vegetable Dal with Coconut Milk.

Green garlic

We also prepared a chicken curry dish with green (or immature) garlic and spinach.

Ingredients for two curry dishes

After getting all the ingredients ready, Tom started cooking.

Stacks of freshly fried papadums

Purchased papads or papadums fry up in seconds.  The crisp, lentil wafers were delicious and I found it hard to resist snacking on them as the rest of the meal was completed.

Indian Feast

A crisp papad at the top of the plate, and next moving clockwise: Chicken Curry with Green Garlic and Spinach, garnished with thin slices of red onion and lemon.  Basmati rice  combined with red quinoa is in the center of the plate with the Winter Vegetable Dal on the lower left with a dollop of  Yogurt Mustard Seed Raita.

Blood Orange Gelee

Blood Orange Gelee was the lovely finale.  It is a sophisticated and elegant combination of blood oranges with their juice and zest with whole cloves, cinnamon sticks and cardamom pods plus orange flower water in a softly-set gelatin. NOT the Jello we grew up with!  Here is the whole menu:

• CHICKEN CURRY WITH GREEN GARLIC AND SPINACH
• WINTER VEGETABLE DAL WITH COCONUT MILK
• BASMATI RICE AND QUINOA
• PAPADUMS
• YOGURT RAITA WITH MUSTARD SEED
• BLOOD ORANGE GELEE WITH SPICES AND FENNEL CANDY

Be sure and visit Tom Hudgens site, Whole Hog Blog, where you can find all the recipes for these dishes and many more!

I have been having so much fun in cooking class that I prepared dinner for my parents using some of the dishes we’ve made in class: Bitter Green Salad with Roasted Beets, Feta Cheese and Pecans (instead of the walnuts as we used in the class), Basmati Rice with Red Quinoa, a Chicken Stew with Winter Vegetables (after a recipe in his cookbook), Orange and Red Onion Relish and the delicious Fresh Ginger Cake from week one plus Honey Vanilla Ice Cream (also an adaption of one of Tom’s recipes). No pictures though – I was too busy cooking!