Recipe: Mario Batali inspired Raviolone

I have a bone to pick with Mr. Batali.   For our anniversary dinner, I chose to recreate a recipe that I had seen on Iron Chef America.  Since it was his creation, I decided to use his pasta dough recipe as well, and boy was that a HUGE mistake.  I did exactly what he said, and it turned out to be a big pile of mess.

Here's why, his recipe called for

3 1/2 cups flour
4 xtra large egg yolks

That's it.  I should have seen the warning signs........like there is way too much flour, and no oil.   So, I tried it anyway and just ended up using up six egg yolks, because I didn't have extra large eggs, and then getting this sand-like mass of dough, and having to throw it all away.

So, I decided to pull out my notebook from culinary school, and searched for the recipe we used to make pasta dough, and it was quite different.

100 grms flour ( 1 3/4 cups flour approx)
1 egg
1 tbsp. oil
Salt

Perfect.  Perfect, perfect.

Now, the fun part, is coming:

Pile your flour on a clean counter or board.  Mix in the salt.  Make a well in the center, and crack the egg and add the oil.  With a fork, mix the egg and oil, and then start incorporating the flour from the top sides of the well, working inwards until all the flour has been incorporated and you have a ball.  With well floured hands, knead the dough approximately for 12 minutes, using the heel of your hand to push forward and then gather back in with your fingers.  You'll know its done when you make an indentation with your finger and it springs back into shape.  Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest at room temp for 15 minutes, or a few hours in the fridge, but bring it back to room temp when you are going to roll it. 

So, Mario's recipe didn't work, but the filling was very promising.....but I did end up changing a few things.
His raviolone was like this:
Sweet potato and egg yolk stuffed raviolone with pork guanciale and shaved white truffle.
1.I bloody wish I could buy a white truffle.  But alas, no $$.
2. I think pork guanciale is very strong, so I omitted it.

Mine went a little something like this:
Roasted pumpkin, ricotta, pancetta and egg yolk stuffed raviolone, with white truffle oil.

I know, the oil is a crude and completely fabricated substitution (the oil, that is) but hey, beggars can't be choosers.  Let me tell you, IT ROCKED.

To roll your dough, roll it out in your pasta machine until setting 5, which is the second to thinnest setting.  If you don't have a pasta rolling machine, with a rolling pin, roll it out to 1/4 inch thick.

So for the filling you need:
250 grams roasted pumpkin
125 gr. ricotta cheese
30 gr. diced and cooked pancetta
3 egg yolks
egg white
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all your ingredients together, except for the egg yolks, which should be on separate plates or bowls.
Cut your pasta into 5 inch squares, and place 1/3 of the filling, and one egg yolk.  Top it with another pasta square, and seal the edges with egg white.  Do the same with the remaining 2 squares, and the rest of the pasta you can freeze it for up to a month.

In a large stockpot, bring 3 liters of salted water to a boil.  When it is boiling, reduce heat to med high, you want a less vigorous boil, and drop in your raviolone, and cook, turning, for 4-5 minutes.  Carefully take out of the pot, straining it on a paper towel if you like, place on a plate, drizzle it with as much truffle oil as you like, shaved parmesan and a fresh sprinkling of fresh cracked pepper.
When you cut the raviolone, your egg yolk starts to ooze out and mixes with the truffle oil to make your sauce, absolutely sublime!
We had it with a wonderful bottle of Laurent Perrier Cuvee Rose Brut Champage, but you can pick and choose what you like!
Buon appetito!

 
 

Recipe of the day: Beef and shitake stew with Spaetzle

Aaahh....sundays.  Doesn't everyone love a lazy sunday?  I made this dish on saturday, so I would just have to reheat it on sunday.  Not gonna write too much, because I actually have to make something a little more complicated today, as it is my 2 year anniversary with my boyfriend.  Today I am tackling a little recipe I saw on Iron Chef America, created by Mario Battali and Emeril Lagasse.  They had to make things out of sweet potato, and this dish made me salivate.  It was a Raviolone stuffed with sweet potato and one raw egg yolk, boiled for a few minutes, and when they served it, as you cut into the raviolone, the perfectly cooked egg yolk became your sauce along with some pork guanciale and freshly shaved white truffles.
Tonight, I am going to TRY, and recreate the recipe adding my touch, and suffice to say, it will be on the blog, wether it worked or not. 

Anyhow, back to my stew.  This is probably one of the easiest dishes to make, but it really knocks them out.  It is soooo stick to your ribs yummy, that I beseech all of you to make this on a cold winter day.  Or as my friend Miki in Dubai said, turn your aircon as high as it will go, and pretend. 

500 gr. Beef chunks for stew
Oil, for sauteeing
3 onions, chopped
200 gr. fresh shitake mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup red wine
4 tbsp. Hungarian paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
Water
Sour cream for garnish
Spaetzle

In a large dutch oven over high heat, drizzle a little oil.  When the oil is hot but not smoking, add your beef chunks and sear them until they are golden brown.  Remove from heat, and add a little more oil to the pan if necessary.  Add your shitake mushrooms and saute, until soft, about 4 minutes.  Add your red wine, and deglaze the pan using a wooden spoon to break up any brown bits.  Let the wine evaporate, and remove your mushrooms, set aside.  Lower the heat to low, and add some more oil if necessary.  Add your onions and saute until soft, about 10 minutes.  Add  your paprika and stir, then add your beef and mushrooms, salt and pepper and fill the dutch oven with water, until it fully covers the beef chunks.  Bring to a boil, and then lower to med heat and let simmer, stirring ocassionally, for at least two and a half hours.  Keep checking it to make sure the water hasn't evaporated, and that your beef is cooking through until it is fork tender.
You want there to still be some sauce, so not too dry.
When it is done, place your cooked Spaetzle on the plate, spoon over some of your stew and garnish with some sour cream......yummy!
I served it with a lovely Rioja red wine, but any full bodied red will do.

Recipe of the day:My Dark Chocolate Orange Rosemary Muffins

Hello my fellow foodies and Happy New Year!  I hope 2010 is a better year all around, and that I am fortunate enough to taste many many more delicious treats!  Sorry about my absence, I have been in Miami on Holiday, and yes, I did go to many delish (and one completely forgettable) places, but truth be told, I was just so relaxed, and so gosh darn hungry most of the time that I would take the picture of the place when we sat down.  Then after I was with a very very very full stomach, I would realize, huh.....I forgot to take a picture of the foods I ate.  Oh well, I go to Miami often, so don't worry, you'll get yours yet.

So, on to 2010!  This year I have made a few resolutions.  One, was to quit smoking, which this year, I am 13 days in and 13 days sans smoke!  The other was to exercise more, which I have been doing as well (because if I didn't, I would probably have to sign up for the Biggest Loser next year) and the third kind of stumped me for a while.  But, I figured it out, and I am pretty excited about it!  I'll let you know later on.  So anyhow, since before I got back to Barcelona, I've been toying around with this idea for a Muffin.  I know people love the combination of Chocolate and Orange, I'm not so keen myself, but everyone else seems to love it.  So, Monday morning bright and early, I decided to tackle it. 
Bought the oranges, the chocolate, all the basics........and started cooking.  The first batch turned out, well, let's say less than stellar.  The taste was there, but it was kind of dry.  So, the second batch I decided to just use egg whites.  Disaster.  They just tasted like eggs.  Then, I tried a combo of egg whites and yolks, more liquids and fats......and VOILA!  I DID IT!!!  It helps to have a very very picky audience on what Moist and Tender and Fluffy should look and feel like.  So my fellow readers, I will share my recipe with you, and hope that you will try these at home.  You will make quite a few people happy, of that I am sure!

 Makes approx 12 muffins.

2 cups cake flour
1/8 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg + 1 egg white
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup orange juice
Zest of 1/2 an orange
1 cup milk
1/2 stalk fresh rosemary, leaves chopped and 12 leaves reserved
3/4 cups good dark chocolate, at least 60% Cacao, chopped into 1/2 inch chunks




For the orange garnishes:
12 orange triangles, thinly sliced
1/4 cup orange juice
 1/4 cup sugar
 1 Tbsp. Butter
 1/4 cup marsala wine, or port wine

For the chocolate ganache topping:

1/2 cup dark chocolate, at least 70% cacao, roughly chopped
1 tbsp. butter, cut into pieces

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line your muffin tin with paper holders, or butter the tin.  Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powderand salt, set aside.  Chop the chocolate into chunks, set aside.  In a non-reactive bowl, mix your eggs with the oil until emulsified.  Add the orange juice, zest, milk and rosemary.  Fold carefully the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, you don't want to overmix and it will be lumpy, stir in the chocolate chunks.  Spoon into the muffin tin, and set on the bottom rack for 20 minutes, approx.  When done, place a knife or toothpick into the center and make sure it comes out clean.  Place on a rack to cool.

Meanwhile, for the caramelized orange slices, place all ingredients in a deep saute pan over high heat.  When it starts to boil, reduce heat to med high, and swirl sometimes just to make sure your orange slices don't stick to the bottom of the pan.  When the liquid is almost all evaporated, turn off heat and place slices on paper towels to drain some of the liquid.

Now, over a double boiler, melt your chocolate and butter.  Mix thorougly.  When the muffins are cool enough to handle, with a spatula, coat the top with the melted dark chocolate, add a reserved rosemary leaf and and orange slice.  Continue for all of them.  Don't coat too much, you want a thin coating of the chocolate.  Now, ENJOY!!!!!