Turkey Ragu with Fresh Basil

I don't have any unique or humorous stories to tell. I felt like trying to create something using marinara and the mascarpone cheese in my fridge. So, taking a cue from a technique I've seen Giada do a couple times, I came up this quick, satisfying dish.


Turkey Ragu
Serves 4
Cook Time - about 20 min

INGREDIENTS
1 lb pasta (I used rigtoni)
2 TBSP olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb ground turkey
red wine, for de-glazing
1 jar chunky marinara sauce (or make your own)
8 oz mascarpone cheese
A few basil leaves, torn

DIRECTIONS
Cook noodes to al dente. Drain & set aside.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add onion and garlic and cook about 3 minutes. Add ground turkey and brown.

Turn heat to high and add a bit of red wine to de-glaze the pan.

Turn heat to medium-low and add marinara sauce (should be about 3-4 cups). Simmer about 10 minutes.

Add mascarpone and basil and mix together until well blended. Once blended, add pasta and toss until well-coated.

**I think this sauce would be great with some small chunks of fresh veggies - maybe some zucchini, carrots, celery, and green/red peppers.**

Fresh Raspberries

This past weekend, we went up to the lake where I basically grew up.

You're jealous, aren't you?

When I was growing up, summers were the time to go out and pick fresh berries. Apparently that isn't common when you grow up in the city, as my husband had never picked berries before.


So, my mom, husband, and I drove even further into the country to a berry farm and picked some gorgeous fresh raspberries.

Aren't they purdy?

Steak au Poivre

I believe I've mentioned before that I discovered a love of steak less than a year ago. It's stuck with me. I've been trying to perfect my pan frying technique to produce the optimal medium rare steak. I think I'm finally getting the hang of it.

Earlier this week, I decided to give steak with a pan sauce a go and found Ina Garten's recipe for Filet au Poivre. I figured you can't go wrong with Ina.

This recipe is super simple and pretty fun to make. In all, I think I'm more of a steak purist and prefer them without any sauce, but it was a nice change and I would definitely recommend this to friends. I do recommend, however, using a less expensive cut of meat than a filet.


Filet of Beef au Poivre
Recipe by Ina Garten
Serves 6 (I cut the recipe down by half)
Total Cook & Prep Time - 25 min

INGREDIENTS
6 filet mignon, cut 1 1/4 inches thick (I used 2 - I don't remember the cut)
Kosher salt
2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup chopped shallots (3 to 4 shallots)
1 cup canned beef broth
1/2 cup good Cognac or brandy (I used brandy)

DIRECTIONS
Place the filets on a board and pat them dry with paper towels. Sprinkle the filets with salt and then press the black pepper evenly on both sides. Allow to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes.

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of the butter and the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat until the butter almost smokes. Place the steaks in the pan and lower the heat to medium. Saute the steaks for 4 minutes on 1 side and then for 3 minutes on the other side, for medium rare. Remove the steaks to a serving platter and cover tightly with aluminum foil.

Meanwhile, pour all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the saute pan. Add the shallots and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the beef broth and cook over high heat for 4 to 6 minutes, until reduced by half, scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the Cognac/brandy and cook for 2 more minutes (NOTE - do not lean over the pan and inhale as the alcohol is burning off. Trust me on that one). Off the heat, swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Serve the steaks hot with the sauce poured on top.

Mascarpone Mac & Cheese

Sometimes, you just feel like mac & cheese, don't you? Yeah... I know you do. I do too. I'm a sucker for the stuff. Considering this week already sucks, mac & cheese was a necessity.

Most of my readers should know by now that coming up with my own recipes really isn't my thing, but I gave it a go tonight, and I must say, I impressed myself. In fact, so much so that I'm going to submit it to Presto Pasta Nights, hosted this week by Kate at Thyme for Cooking. I didn't really measure, so the recipe below is an approximation.

Mascarpone Mac & Cheese
Serves 4
Cook Time - 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS

3/4 lb elbow macaroni
2 TBSP butter
8 oz mascarpone cheese, softened
3/4 cup grated Fontina cheese

Béchamel
3 TBP butter
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 - 3/4 tsp salt
3 TBSP flour

DIRECTIONS
Boil noodles to al dente. Drain & set aside.

Meanwhile, prepare the béchamel by melting the butter in a medium saucepan. Add milk & cream. Whisk in remaining ingredients and simmer until slightly thickened.

In another saucepan or medium skillet, melt 2 TBSP butter. Once melted, add mascarpone cheese and whisk until melted and smooth. Add the fontina and mix until smooth.

Add the noodles to the cheese mixture and stir until well mixed. Add the béchamel and mix until it reaches your desired level of creaminess. Season to taste with salt & pepper.

Gelato di Lampone

What a better way to celebrate my 100th post than with a new gelato recipe! As I wrote about before, I've been searching for a good gelato in the U.S. for about the past 9 years. My husband joined me on that quest almost two years ago after we returned from Italy. Last night, we decided to try our hand at our favorite flavor - raspberry.

For those of you who haven't had real gelato before, I suggest you go out and find some now (but don't buy it at the grocery store. That stuff is all crap). It's similar to ice cream, but has a higher milk concentration (rather than cream) so it is more dense and much more flavorful. A real raspberry gelato should taste just like you're eating a smooth, cold raspberry.

After doing a lot of searching online, I came across a recipe for strawberry gelato that looked like it could be easily modified for raspberry (and by the picture, it looked delicious). Our review: super simple. It was delicious, but had a little too much of a dairy after-taste, so we'll cut down on the dairy a bit the next time we make it. So, the search continues, but minimally.

Raspberry Gelato

Gelato di Lampone
From Italylogue.com

INGREDIENTS
1 lb. fresh raspberries
12 oz. granulated sugar, about 1.5 cups
1.5 cup cold whipping cream
1.5 cup cold water
dash of lemon juice (only if fruit isn’t “bright” enough)

DIRECTIONS

Wash berries.

Put berries, sugar and water into a blender or food processor and blend until liquid and smooth. (This is also where you’ll add lemon juice if necessary.) (I suggest straining the blended mixture to remove the seeds. It's more authentic that way, and I think it tastes better).

Whip the cream until slightly thickened - like the consistency of buttermilk.

Combine the cream with the raspberry mixture and mix thoroughly until blended.

Freeze as indicated by the manufacturer of your ice cream maker. (I suggest going out and buying the Cuisinart ice cream maker. It's wonderful).

Homegrown Gourmet #10

It's time for the next round-up of Homegrown Gourmet. I was the winner of Homegrown Gourmet 9 with my Swedish Meatball recipe. As such, I have the honor of hosting this round, which means I get to pick the food topic.



First the rules:

Anyone can play!

A theme will be picked by the host. Participants will make a dish that follows the theme and that somehow represents their home region- town, state, area. Representation can feature a local ingredient, be a traditional dish from your area, or be a creative twist.

Participants will have 3-4 weeks (host discretion) to complete their recipes and post them to their blog (or email the pics and text), and notify the host. The host will then post the results and then let everyone know via email or message board the results are up! An explanation of your dish is required; it can be a story about the local custom or ingredient, how you came about eating/ making the recipe, or an explanation about how your creative dish fits the theme.

Fresh and local foods are encouraged!

When the round is done, the host will announce their favorite dish by updating their blog. Favorite is completely subjective to the host- no one expects the host to make and taste test all the dishes, it is just something that strikes the host’s fancy! The creator of the fave gets the honor of hosting the next round, if they so choose!

Now, onto the fun part:

The theme for this round-up is...

*

*

*

*

PIZZA!

I hope you all have fun with this topic and put your culinary creativity to work. I'm anxious to see what you come up with (and hopefully, I'll get some great new pizza recipes to try out). If you've never participated before, don't be shy.

To participate, please send an email to elizabethscookingAThotmailDOTcom with “HomeGrown Gourmet 10″ in the subject, with your name, blog name and URL, location, and permalink to your entry. If you don't have a blog, but want to participate, please submit your recipe and pictures to the above email and I will post them for you. Please try to have a picture of your dish in your post. Deadline for the event is Monday, August 25, 2008. I can’t wait to see all of your entries and pick a winner for the next round!

Chicken in Tomato Sauce

Sometimes I decide what to cook for dinner based on what side dish I'm in the mood for. I was in the mood for garlic bread yesterday. That lead me to something in a tomato-based sauce. My husband is always in the mood for both. So, while he was outside playing tennis in the 95 degree heat, I thumbed through my recipe print-out book, and I settled on the unfortunately-named "Get Yo Man Chicken" from the Food Network show Down Home with the Neely's.

Stupid name aside, this dish is great. The Neelys are now three for three in our house. It reminded me a bit of chicken cacciatore, only without peppers and with rosemary. The flavors complimented each other perfectly. I recommend using fresh herbs instead of dried, if you can. I think fresh herbs give food a little extra something. I'd definitely make it again and would recommend it to anyone who wants a healthy, hearty dish (yes, I know that sounds contradictory). Enjoy!


Get Yo Man Chicken
Recipe by The Neely's
Serves 4-6 (I cut down the recipe for 2)

INGREDIENTS
2 TBSP olive oil
6 chicken thighs, skinless (I used boneless thighs)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 medium onion, sliced
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine
1 (14.5-ounce) can crushed tomatoes in thick puree
1 tsp dried thyme (I used basil)
1/2 TBSP dried rosemary (I used fresh)
1 TBSP lemon-pepper
Hot buttered rice*
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

DIRECTIONS
Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat.

Pat chicken dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper (I also used garlic powder). Brown the chicken, meat-side down first, and turning once, about 4 minutes on each side. Transfer to a plate to reserve.

Pour off all but 1 TBSP of oil from the pan.

Add onion to the pan and saute until tender, roughly 3 minutes. Add the stock and wine and stir, scrapping any brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Turn heat to high and reduce by half, about 3 minutes. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and add the herbs and lemon pepper. Add the chicken thighs back in. Cover and cook on medium low for about 40 minutes.

Remove chicken from liquid and serve on hot buttered rice. Ladle the sauce on top and garnish with fresh chopped parsley.

*I make this recipe exactly, except I omit the shallots and thyme.