Penne with Turkey Meatballs

This is another recipe I have had on my list to try for a long time. I always seemed to bypass it in favor of other recipes that seem more exciting. I'm so glad I finally took the time to make this yesterday. I make some pretty delicious meatballs but these are some serious competition. I'm thinking the addition of the pancetta is what took them over the top. Mine got a little crunchier than intended. I left them in the oven while I prepped the sauce and subsequently preheated the oven for my semolina bread forgetting the meatballs were still in the oven. I like mine crunchy so it was not a problem. The sauce on this dish was really good. Next time, I would probably double the sauce because I like mine saucier (if thats a word!). A perfect dish for a Sunday dinner! Note, the recipe in the Everyday Pasta cookbook that I refer to below differs significantly from the online version.

Penne with Turkey Meatballs
Source: Everyday Pasta by Giada de Laurentis

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 ounces pancetta, finely diced
1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
1 pound ground turkey, preferably dark meat
1/2 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes (I omitted)
2 eggs lightly beaten
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 lb linguine (I used penne)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 28 oz can whole San Marzano tomatoes, drained and cut into pieces with kitchen scissors
2 whole garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh basil (I added some dried basil)

To make the meatballs, preheat the oven to 450.

Heat the olive oil in a medium, heavy skillet over medium heat. add the pancetta and cook for 2 minutes. Add the onion and continue to cook until the pancetta is crisp and the onion is tender, about6 4 minutes more. Remove from the heat and let cool.

In a large bowl combine the pancetta-and onion mix with the remaining meatball ingredients and stir to combine. Form the turkey mixture into balls about 2 inches in diameter, using about 2 tablespoons for each and place on a foil lined and greased baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally 8-10 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water.

Meanwhile in a medium saucepan, warm the 1/4 cup olive oil over medium heat. Add the tomatoes, garlic cloves, parsley, salt and pepper and cook for 10 minutes. Discard the garlic cloves. Add the cooked meatballs and the cooked pasta and toss to coat. Add the reserved pasta water, about 1/4 cup at a time, if the pasta needs moistening. Arrange on a serving platter and top with the basil.

Applesauce Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

I realized I had a massive stack of cooking magazines piling up around the house. I went through all of them this past week and made a list of all the recipes I want to try. I probably won't make half but at least it made me feel productive and organized! This recipe was from the December 2007 issue of Food and Wine Magazine. This cake smells absolutely wonderful while baking. I happened to have exactly 2 cups of homemade applesauce in my freezer. My Mother-in-Law made it a while back from apples hand picked from her orchard. I was saving the applesauce for the prefect baking occasion. The hint of black pepper in this recipe gives the cake a nice spiciness. Not hot but more like the spice in a good gingerbread. If you don't have cardamom, look for it in the bulk spices of your local grocery. You can buy just the small amount needed for the recipe without spending $15.00 for a whole jar. It also helps to ensure your spices are fresher by purchasing smaller quantities. I remember buying my first jar of cardamom at full price when I was making truffles for a law school get together. It seemed pricey at the time but the Martha Stewart in me wanted to make perfect truffles just as featured in Martha Stewart's magazine at the time. We will overlook the fact that I could have bought a box of gourmet hand made truffles for what I spent to make those, but they were delicious and fun to make. Its funny, I think if I hadn't gone to law school, I wouldn't have learned about my love of cooking. I spent many hours studying while watching Martha Stewart.


Applesauce Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake
Source: Food and Wine Dec. 2007

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 cups unsweetened applesauce
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• One 12-ounce bag semisweet-chocolate chips
• Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
• Crème fraîche, for serving
• 
  

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan. In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the granulated sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, salt, cloves and pepper. Whisk in the applesauce, eggs, oil and melted butter. Fold in the chocolate chips.
2. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs attached.
3. Transfer the pan to a rack and let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then invert it onto the rack and let cool completely, about 20 minutes. Sift confectioners’ sugar over the cake, slice and serve with crème fraîche.

MAKE AHEAD The cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Bijoux

Restaurant Week is in full swing in Dallas this month. Its a fun opportunity to try a new restaurant and support a great charity. This year I had the opportunity to go with a friend to Bijoux. Bijoux is one of only five restaurants in Dallas that has a five star listing. I have been to two of the other five-star restaurants (Abacus and The Mansion on Turtle Creek). This was my first time to try a five-star restaurant during restaurant week. After having dinner at Bijoux tonight, I can honestly say the rating was well deserved. Some restaurants tend to skimp or not perform their best during restaurant week but that was not the case with Bijoux. Food and service were top notch. The staff was attentive and knowledgeable. I'm looking forward to a date night with my husband soon to try their tasting menu.

On to the fabulous menu for this evening. Bijoux had an excellent selection of choices, below is a review of the dishes I tried:

Amuse Bouche:
Watermelon, Cucumber, Texas Goat Cheese with Micro-greens (very refreshing and a great combination)

Also offered throughout the courses were three wonderful house made breads.

First Course:
White Corn and Coconut soup with fromage blanc (smooth and velvety with a great depth of flavor, the fromage blanc added just a little bit of heat from the seasonings mixed with it)

Second Course:
Smoked Prawns with an heirloom tomato and onion salad and a sprinkling of chorizo. (This could have been a meal all on its own. The four luscious prawns had a wonderful smokey flavor and were delicate and tender. This was summer on a plate)

Palate Cleanser of Green Apple Sorbet (tart but refreshing)

Third Course:
New York Strip with root vegetable puree and baby carrots and onions (Normally, I'm not that excited about ordering steak out. I'm really pleased with the quality of steak we make at home. Somehow tonight I was in the mood for steak. This was top quality. They did not bat an eyelash when I ordered my steak medium well and it was cooked perfectly per my request. The accompanying sauce was a nice compliment to the steak but not over powering.

Fourth Course
Valrhona chocolate mousse with strawberry ice cream (Words are not adequate to describe how delicious this was. A chocolate lover's dream!)

A really nice touch, Bijoux offers a plate of mignardises (an assortment of sweets to close the meal) including a tiramisu macaroon, a strawberry gelee, a chocolate truffle and two other small cookies. All were absolutely delicious. My favorite was the tiramisu macaroon.

Penne with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto

It was my turn to host our weekly play date this week. I don't know why, but for some reason lunch menus really stump me. I can come up with dinner menus all day long. I think its also a little bit of a challenge because it needs to be something that feeds a crowd, can be served buffet style and eaten while chasing a toddler if need be! It also has to be easy to prepare ahead. I was searching on the food network site and came across Giada's recipe for Pasta with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto. The recipe had great reviews and it met all my requirements. It even had an additional bonus of being very easy to make and only requiring a few ingredients. Can't ask for more than that. I made this recipe in 10 minutes and it was a hit. Even the toddlers liked it! They must be future gourmets in the making! If you wanted to make this more substantial you could easily add chicken sausage. The pesto flavor was mild and not overpowering. It coated the pasta very well. This will be a staple in our house from now on. I served this with a mixed green salad with sliced carrots, pine nuts, tomato and zucchini, fresh fruit and Paula Deen's Blueberry Cream Cheese Tarts. Definitely a successful lunch!

Penne with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
Source: Giada de Laurentis/Foodnetwork.com

12 ounces penne pasta
1 (8.5-ounce) jar sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
2 garlic cloves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup (packed) fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, blend the sun-dried tomatoes and their oil, garlic, salt and pepper, to taste, and basil in a food processor and blend until the tomatoes are finely chopped. Transfer the tomato mixture to a large bowl. Stir in the Parmesan.

Add the pasta to the pesto and toss to coat, adding enough reserved cooking liquid to moisten. Season the pasta, to taste, with salt and pepper and serve.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Tarts

This is another one of those recipes I have had in my file quite some time. I thought they would be a perfect compliment to my lunch menu and a bonus, easy to make. The name is a little deceiving, these are mini cheesecakes. I was really surprised a what a perfect crust the vanilla wafer made on the bottom. I can just imagine all the possibilities for other cookie crusts-chocolate wafer, ginger snap, crushed Oreos. These only took me about 10 minutes to make. I was also able to make them the night before and they held up perfectly. I wanted to use the blueberry pie filling as suggested but the store bought pie fillings have artificial colors in them which I try to avoid. Who would have thought? I looked in Whole Foods and didn't find any canned or jarred pie fillings. So, I decided to use a jar of St. Dalfour Wild Blueberry Fruit Spread that I have had in my pantry for a while. It worked perfectly. Its made of 100% fruit and had nice petite little blueberries nestled in the spread. This recipe is a keeper not only because it was delicious but because it is really versatile and can be made in a snap.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Tarts
Source: Paula Deen/Foodnetwork.com

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I used 1 tsp vanilla bean paste)
2 eggs
12 vanilla wafers (I found organic at Whole Foods)
1 (21-ounce) can blueberry filling, or other pie filling (I used a Natural Fruit Spread)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place a paper cupcake liner in each cup of a muffin pan.

Beat cream cheese with a handheld electric mixer until fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Place a vanilla wafer, flat side down, in each muffin cup. Spoon cream cheese mixture over wafers. Bake for 20 minutes. Allow tarts to cool completely. Serve with blueberry filling on top, or pie filling of your choice.

Barefoot Bloggers California Grilled Pizza

I was excited about Rebecca at Ezra Pound Cake's pick for this months Barefoot Blogger's bonus recipe. This is another recipe I have passed by so many times in my Barefoot Contessa Parties cookbook. That book is one of my favorite go to cookbooks for entertaining. The online recipe differs from the one in the book in that it calls for grilling instead of oven baking. I was intrigued at the idea of grilling a pizza. Although, apparently the best rain dance you can do is to open your grill. It started pouring right as my husband was grilling these. He was a good sport though and completed the grilling just perfectly in spite of getting a bit wet! Overall, these came out really well. I made two pizzas, one with tomatoes, basil and mozzarella and the other with caramelized red onion, arugula, bell peppers and fontina cheese. I wasn't absolutely in love with the toppings but I am pretty traditional about what I like on my pizza. The dough recipe is the real stand out though. Unlike other more complicated recipes, this dough only has a 30 minute rise and a really great flavor from the olive oil. I know I will be using this dough recipe over and over again. I can't wait to try it with an old fashioned pepperoni pizza. To complete this meal, I served it with Ina's Caesar Salad and Outrageous Brownies. Next time, I would love to serve them with the Ice Cream Soda's recommended in Barefoot Contessa Parties. As Ina would say, "How great would that be?"


California Pizzas
Source: The Barefoot Contessa Parties/Foodnetwork.com

For the dough:
1 1/4 cups warm (100 to 110 degrees F) water
2 packages dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons good olive oil
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
2 teaspoons kosher salt

For the toppings (select 8):
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 pound fresh mozzarella, grated
1/2 pound Italian Fontina, grated
1/2 pound mild goat cheese, such as Montrachet, sliced
1 red or yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, and julienned
1/4 pound prosciutto, thinly sliced and julienned
1 bunch arugula, cleaned and dried
6 plum tomatoes, sliced 1/4-inch thick
4 pork or turkey sausages, cooked and sliced
1 bunch basil leaves, cleaned and dried
4 garlic cloves, roasted
Crushed red pepper flakes

For prep:
1/2 cup good olive oil
Cornmeal

For the dough, combine the water, yeast, honey, and olive oil in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add 3 cups flour, then the salt, and mix. While mixing, add 1 more cup of flour, or enough to make a soft dough. Knead the dough on low to medium speed for about 10 minutes until smooth, sprinkling it with flour, if necessary, to keep it from sticking to the bowl.

When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured board and knead by hand a dozen times. It should be smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and turn it several times to cover it lightly with oil. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into 6 equal parts and roll each one into a smooth ball. Place the balls on a baking sheet and cover them with a damp towel. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 4 hours.

If you've chilled the dough, take it out of the refrigerator approximately 30 minutes ahead to let it come to room temperature. Roll and stretch each ball into a rough 8-inch circle and place them all on baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal. (You will be able to fit 2 pizzas on each 18 by 13-inch baking sheet.)

Light your grill and wait until it's hot.

Place the pizzas directly onto the grill and cook on 1 side for 1 minute. Turn the pizzas over and brush with olive oil or garlic oil.

Top the pizzas with any toppings you wish, piling them high. Drizzle each pizza with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Put the lid on your grill and cook for 5 minutes more, until the crust is crisp and the toppings are cooked.

Omnivore's Hundred

The Omnivore's Hundred is a fun poll/game that has been going around the Internet this week. I first saw it on Chocolate and Zucchinni. The Omnivore's Hundred is an interesting list of 100 items that Andrew Wheeler, co-author of the British food blog Very Good Taste, thinks every omnivore should try at least once in his life. He offered this list with the following instructions:

1. Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2. Bold all the items you’ve eaten
3. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4. Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

Having completed the list, you can probably see I am not a fan of strange meats or anything that might smell bad!

The Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos Rancheros
4. Steak Tartare
5. Crocodile (Had alligator in New Orleans-same thing! Tastes like chicken!)
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba Ghanoush
11. Calamari (I love the Calamari at the Palm)
12. Pho
13. PB&J Sandwich (quiz should also include a fluffer nutter!)
14. Aloo Gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16 Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom Tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie Gras
24. Rice and Beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de Leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava (this is one of the things I would like to make from scratch)
30. Bagna Cruda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikki marsala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (I grew up eating these!) I think the quiz should include the original hot out of the oven!
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle (Another thing I hope to make from scratch soon)
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie (Its been a long time)
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini (I can't wait to have a party with a Bellini Bar with fresh purees! I'm thinking it would be perfect or Girl's Night)
81. Tom yum (Love it!)
82. Eggs Benedict(one of my very favorites!)
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. (Abacus)
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox ( I grew up eating this!)
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake (I don’t ever want to be in a location where this is being served)