What's the best part of serving a dinner party for a group of people who bought it at an auction?  They are there for the food!  When I was asked last year to donate a dinner for our local high school's fundraiser, I didn't have to think about it long before I said yes. As part of the package, the Varsity Lacrosse coach was going to be my waiter for the evening. Cook a dinner for a group of people who are actually going to be paying attention to the food?  Yes! Cook a dinner where I can just stay in the kitchen and plate things and send them out? Yes! That was my idea of a good time.

 

The menu was six courses and highlighted Italian food.  I made all the bread that day, fresh, including the baguette for the crostini.  I used the ever reliable Artisan Bread recipe and it saved me a trip to the bakery. I used my regular recipe, though, for the Focaccia, which takes 3 risings to make. I made my little Parmesan Crisps that we love so much for the first little appetizer and sent those out with glasses of Prosecco and some very good salami. The perfect way, in our opinion, to begin an evening.  We made up our favorite little crostini of fig jam, goat cheese and prosciutto and then everyone sat down to dinner.

antipasti
parmigiano reggiano crisps, salami
crostini with goat cheese, fig jam, prosciutto

zuppa
fennel and onion bisque, pernod
fennel puree
homemade artisan rolls

pasta
handmade spinach linguini, toasted pine nuts, grana padano

insalata
arugula, homemade crouton, pecorino, quail egg
toasted hazelnuts

carne
grilled steak with balsamic vinegar, salsa verde
zucchini pappardelle, garlic, red hot chili pepper
fresh focaccia

dolce
hazelnut semifreddo with caramel sauce
hazelnut brittle

espresso
limoncello
sicilian averna

 

 

The pasta course was handmade spinach linguini that I dressed with toasted pine nuts, good olive oil, a little sea salt and a good amount of Grana Padano cheese. One of my absolute favorite dishes.   I always serve it with a big Chardonnay and it's delicious and rich.

 

I love these little quail eggs.  I hard boiled them and put them on an arugula salad with some toasted hazelnuts.  I made my homemade Thomas Keller croutons and served those with the salad and dressed it all with an anchovy, garlic and balsamic vinaigrette that I whipped up in my mortar and pestle.  My God, that dressing is good.  I could lick the bowl when I make it (I didn't.)

Coach Grady was our super waiter for the evening. After he gingerly served a full tray of glasses of Prosecco, he could handle anything the rest of the evening

Dessert was Italian Hazelnut Semifreddo with homemade caramel sauce.  The caramel sauce is very dangerous. Seriously.  You cannot stop eating it. I poured extra caramel sauce into little shot glasses and everyone got one of those with their dessert, in case they needed more caramel sauce.  Which they did.  The next three days, Brian kept sneaking the caramel sauce out of the fridge and putting it in his morning coffee. I made a batch of hazelnut brittle and we stuck a nice little piece in everyone's slice of semifreddo as a crunchy little extra goodie.  Looked cute, too.

I gave out a couple of goodies at the end of the evening - my ever popular homemade vanilla extract and little bags of the hazelnut brittle.  I made the stickers for the vanilla extract bottles on my computer, using Epson Self-Adhesive Sheets and Pages on my Mac.  I love Pages - you can be so creative.  I've totally ditched my MS Word.  Goodbye!
 
If you like the little glassine favor bags I used for the brittle, you can buy them from Nashville Wraps, one of my favorite shopping sites for goodies like these.  I just punched two holes in the bag and tied it with some rustic twine. The 4 ounce Boston bottles for the extract you can buy from Specialty Bottle.
My extra set of hands in the kitchen that evening was the lovely Lydia Itsell, who helped prepare everything beautifully and washed way too many dishes that night. I would have drowned without her.

   The group that bought the dinner was great.  Such enthusiastic, fun people.  And the best part - no food allergies, no vegans and they all liked their steak medium rare.  Perfect diners.  I made a music playlist especially for the dinner that included a lot of Thievery Corporation, Michael Bublé and Raphael Saadiq that I think everyone enjoyed.

 

I had to pick out a soup that was not too heavy because I wanted the meal to progress in a certain way. I chose this fennel and onion soup, which is delicate and flavorful and then I used a David Tanis recipe for the fennel puree swirl on top. Did I tell you I got to meet David Tanis?  Just checking.  This soup recipe is what I'm going to share with you.

 

Onion and Fennel Bisque with Pernod and Fennel Puree

adapted from The Blue Heron Inn

for a printable recipe, click here

8 servings

2 leeks (white and pale green parts only), washed, chopped (about 1 cup)
3 medium red onions, chopped (3.5 cups)
1/2 lb. fennel bulb, fronds reserved (for puree), chopped (1.25 cups)
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 cups vegetable stock or chicken broth
1.25 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons Pernod

Cook onions, leeks, fennel and garlic in butter in a heavy pot over medium heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 15 minutes. Add wine and boil, uncovered, until evaporated, about 1 minute.  Add stock, water, salt, pepper and nutmeg and simmer, uncovered, until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in cream and simmer, stirring occasionally until slightly thickened and liquid is reduced to about 6 cups, about 15 minutes.

Puree soup in a blender or with an immersion blender until smooth, then transfer to a soup tureen and stir in Pernod.  Ladle into individual bowls and garnish with fennel puree.

Fennel Puree
from David Tanis 

1 cup roughly chopped fennel fronds
1/2 cup parsley leaves
1/2 cup basil leaves
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1/2 cup good olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed until you have a smooth green puree.

Wow, that sounds fancy, doesn't it? I love giving you a recipe that makes you look like a star in the kitchen. This one will have your family or guests think you're a fabulous gourmet cook, but it's so easy - I'll show you how. 

I do not like boneless pork loin. I don't even like the white meat of chicken or turkey. Yes, these meats are lean but they are boring, totally devoid of taste and dry.  The only decent parts of a chicken is the dark meat. If I ever fix a turkey breast, I butterfly the thing and stuff it, to add some taste.  I do the same thing with pork loin.  There's no use in fixing that cut of meat, in my opinion, unless you add something to it.  And it needs help.  If you like stuffing, why not make up a stuffing that you really love and butterfly the pork loin and put it inside?  And to make it even tastier, buy a bone-in rack of pork loin.  If you can't find a bone-in pork loin, just use a regular loin.  But if you like eating ribs, do try to find the bone-in version.

 
The stuffing can really be whatever you like. I've stuffed meats like this with a combination of sun-dried tomatoes, spinach and bread crumbs.   Use your imagination. If you make it for the holidays, some cranberries added to the stuffing would be nice.

Rack of Pork Stuffed with Apples and Herbs

for a printable recipe, click here

serves 5

You will need kitchen twine to tie up this roast.

The stuffing for this recipe is made with fresh bread crumbs.  Just take any bread, fresh or stale, and grind it up in your food processor.  Do not toast the bread.

Stuffing:
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 small apples, peeled, cored, chopped into small dice (about 1-1/2 cups)
1 celery stalk, diced (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 medium onion, diced (about 1/2 cup) 
1/2 tsp. sea salt
freshly ground pepper
1 garlic clove, minced or grated
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 Tablespoon chopped parsley
1 Tablespoon fresh sage
1 Tablespoons fresh rosemary
zest of half a lemon

1 bone-in pork loin, 5 ribs, about 3-1/2 to 4 pounds (a boneless pork loin is fine, if you can't find a bone-in version. Just cut the cooking time by about 15 minutes if using boneless).

Herb Rub:
1 Tablespoon chopped parsley
1 Tablespoon chopped sage
1 Tablespoon chopped rosemary
zest of half a lemon 
1 garlic clove, minced or grated

Basting Liquid:
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup apple cider
1/2 cup white wine
1 Tablespoon olive oil 

In a skillet, heat the oil and add the apple, celery and onion with the sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper.  Saute over medium-low heat for about 6-7 minutes, until vegetables and apple are soft.  Add garlic and saute for 1 minute. Remove skillet from heat and add the fresh bread crumbs, herbs and lemon zest. Transfer mixture to a bowl and let cool completely.

While stuffing is cooling, butterfly the pork loin.

Cut down along rib bones then turn knife on its side and start opening up the loin

 

Cut four 12" lengths of twine and set aside. Lay out pork loin, fat side down, with bones facing to the right. Insert the blade of a very sharp knife along the rib bones and slice down.  This will release the loin from the ribs.  Do not slice all the way through.  Open the meat up a bit and take your knife and continue to slice through the meat, opening it up as it goes.  When the meat is butterflied, season it with some salt and pepper and lay the stuffing right on top.  Roll the pork loin back up and tie between each rib bone with a piece of the twine to secure the roast.  Trim loose ends of twine.  Season the outside of the pork loin with salt and pepper.

Continue cutting through pork loin, opening it up, until flat

 

spread stuffing and then roll up roast and tie

 

Make herb rub:

Mix all ingredients for the herb rub together and rub the pork loin all over with this mixture.  

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Line a baking pan with foil* and place a grate on top.  Warm the ingredients for the baste in a small saucepan on the stove.  Place the pork roast on the grate and bake for 20 minutes, uncovered.  Baste with about a third of the basting liquid. Loosely cover the roast with foil and lower temperature to 350 degrees.  Continue to cook for about 1-1/2 hours, basting with the liquid twice more.  

 

Remove pork roast from oven and transfer to a cutting board.  Let rest for 10 minutes, covered.  Cut twine. Slice between rib bones into 5 portions and serve.

* Note:  If you'd like to make a pan sauce out of the drippings, do not line the pan with foil.  When you remove the roast to the cutting board, you can transfer the pan drippings to a saucepan and make a little sauce by adding some more white wine and butter and whisking until smooth. You can strain the sauce over the meat.
 

Look how gorgeous that is?  It's moist because of the apple cider basting liquid and it's flavorful because of the stuffing.  It's a very forgiving recipe which holds well on low in the oven.  Make this for the holidays and I guarantee it will be a hit.  

Isn't this time of year amazing?  It was such a horribly hot summer here and I'm really enjoying Fall.  Out here in the Midwest, our leaves are at their peak.  We got in another 18 holes of golf this weekend and it might be the last, since the rest of the month is so busy.   I have a big charity auction dinner to cook and a trip to Chicago to visit our boys in college.

When I say gnocchi, what do you think of?  Most people picture the more well known potato gnocchi, but gnocchi in Italy can mean anything that is like a little soft dumpling.  These gnocchi do not contain any potato at all.  

Some spinach gnocchi contain ricotta cheese and I've made those but I prefer this version, with no ricotta. They are lighter. Be sure to use freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese - it makes a big difference.  These little beauties can be a side dish or the main event for a light lunch or dinner.  Toss them in a little olive oil and/or butter. They're delicious.  And look how easy they are to make - it takes just minutes and you can make them ahead, put them in the fridge earlier in the day and then cook them when you want them.

Make your own fresh bread crumbs for this.  Just take any bread and grind it in your food processor.  Fresh bread crumbs!  It makes a difference.  Do not use the fine dry bread crumbs in the canister from the grocery store.  Just don't do it.   When I grind bread crumbs, I grind a whole bunch, divide them into zip locks and freeze them.  Then I have fresh bread crumbs whenever I need them.  So easy.

Spinach Gnocchi

for a printable recipe, click here

make about 10-12 gnocchi

* Be sure to use freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese - the already grated cheese in the grocery store will not work as well.

10 ounces of fresh spinach
1/3 cup flour
1 egg, beaten lightly
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
a few grindings of pepper
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese or Grana Padano 
1/2 cup freshly ground bread crumbs 

Thoroughly wash the fresh spinach and place in a steamer basket.  Steam until wilted.  Remove and place in clean towels and wring out as much liquid as you can.  Chop finely.

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.  Shape the mixture into balls and place on a cookie sheet or any prep pan.  The mixture will be very wet.  Flour your hands or roll the gnocchi in a little flour to shape them into balls. (At this point you can stick them in the fridge for a few hours).

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.  With a slotted spoon or a handled strainer, place a few gnocchi at a time in the simmering water and cook for about 2 minutes.  Remove with the slotted spoon to a serving dish and keep warm by tenting with a piece of foil.  Repeat with remaining gnocchi.

You can dress these gnocchi with just some olive oil, sea salt and some more grated cheese.  This is my favorite way to eat them.

I just returned from the BlogHer Food conference in San Francisco.  For those not familiar with BlogHer, it is the publishing network that runs ads on this site. BlogHer has thousands of bloggers generating great content and hosts conferences annually, one of which is for their food bloggers.  For those of you who were at this sold out conference, wasn't it well done?  There were a number of great panel discussions, lots of interesting vendors, tons of great food and two very fun parties.  For those who couldn't attend, I wanted to write a recap so you could see what the conference was like, as I know many of you want to go next year.

One of the highlights of the trip was meeting up with my goddaughter, Gaby, who writes "What's Gaby Cooking'".  We did a Segway tour of San Francisco and had an absolute blast.  We did not want to get off those darn things, they were so much fun!  The weather was spectacular and there was an air show that weekend and the pilots were practicing over the water while we were on our Segways.  It was incredible.

The obligatory mecca to the Williams Sonoma store, Kara's Cupcakes, the airshow,

me and Gaby on Segways

 

Brian and I went to a couple of great places for dinner before the conference even started.  One restaurant was Perbacco, which just blew us away.  We had some of their handmade pastas, like trofie, which is very labor intensive.  Every ingredient in each dish was outstanding - the basil in the pesto, the figs in the salad. We finished with their caramel gelato with sea salt - a wowzer! Then the next evening we went to Chez Panisse for dinner.  I just had to make that pilgrimage.  It did not disappoint. Everything was incredible, but the first course of crostini with tomatoes was explosive in taste - they grilled the bread over the wood fire and you could actually taste that.  It was outstanding.

From where we were sitting, I could see into the kitchen.  It was a real treat.  At one point, I thought I saw David Tanis in the kitchen:  

Is that. . . David Tanis?  
 

I know he splits his time between Chez Panisse and living in Paris, so I asked the waitress if he was working that night, and she said, "Oh yeah - that's David back there - would you like to meet him and get a tour of the kitchen?"  Would I?  Yes! But I didn't want to impose.  Brian insisted I go back there (thanks, honey!) so I did and I got to meet David and see the whole kitchen operation and the various stations.  I loved it.  He couldn't have been nicer.

back in the kitchen at Chez Panisse with David Tanis

I've been reading for a long time Marcia Gagliardi's "Tablehopper".  She is the Queen of what's happening in San Francisco.  She was kind enough to invite me to a party she was co-hosting at Orson.  It involved a whole lot of chocolate, lots of strange and exotic flavors to taste and creative cocktails.

Marcia Gagliardi of Tablehopper

 

One of the things I heard over and over all weekend was how supportive and close the blogging community is and I think that's absolutely true.  Everyone was just so happy to meet each other.  It was fun to meet so many people that I know online - thank goodness everyone had their blog titles on their name badges!  Some people you only know by their blogging titles, so it was fun to meet them in person. Then, of course, there were bloggers who everyone knows and they could not have been nicer to meet.  What a bunch of amazing and talented women (and men, too!).

 

Diane Cu (White on Rice Couple), Jaden Hair (Steamy Kitchen), Susan Russo (Foodblogga)

 

Hank Shaw (Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook), Brooke Burton (Food Woolf), Gaby Dalkin (What's Gaby Cooking)

Thanks to Hank Shaw, I now know more hangover remedies and I want to make my own homemade pancetta!

 

Fran Feldman (FRANtasticfood), Lori Lange (Recipe Girl), Jenny (Picky Palate), Amanda (I Am Baker), Stephanie Manley (CopyKat Recipes)

 

Todd Porter, Diane Cru (White on Rice Couple), Garrett McCord (Vanilla Garlic), Maria Lichty (Two Peas and Their Pod)

 

Lael Hazan (Educated Palate), Susan Filson (Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy)

 

Gaby (the next Food Network Star) and Me

 

Aran (Cannelle et Vanille) had her beautiful little baby at the conference and it was sweet to watch them. And everyone knows who these two below are, right?   She was scurrying around the conference all weekend, being such a good little girl and getting to eat lots of goodies!

Danny and Lu

I have never seen so many people so totally plugged in.  In normal situations, where there was a speaker or a panel, it would be rude to constantly be on your laptop or your phone.  But in a bunch of bloggers, everyone is on their phone or laptop, twittering away and it's absolutely fine.  I have to admit, I really loved that.  And for those of you who could not attend, reading the live tweets about the speakers is a fun way to follow along.

 

There were lots of sessions you could go to about anything from food photography to SEO for bloggers to recipe writing and blogger ethics.  There was something for everyone.  

 

The absolute highlight for me, though, was meeting Penny De Los Santos.  Yes, I am now completely in love with this woman!  Her cool factor is about a 15.  I've always been awed by her photography, but sitting in her session was amazing.  I loved the stories she told about her photographs and her thoughts about her photography in general.  She could not have been more gracious and lovely to meet. I wanted to take a picture of her, but she was too shy about it!  I thought that was hilarious - she didn't want to be on the other end of a camera.  But when I was editing my photos from the conference, I realized I accidentally took a photo of her when I was shooting the espresso bar.  So here is my photo of Penny De Los Santos getting an espresso:

I got you anyway, Penny!

 

 The food at the conference was great and there was always something being served in between sessions.  There were lots of vendors that made some great little appetizers and there were sweets galore.

 

 

There were shuttle buses one day to take us over to the Ferry Building so that we could go to the Market.  I had lunch at the Slanted Door with Lael and Susan and we tried several dishes, including the delicious papaya salad and the caramelized tiger prawns.

 

The shopping, of course in the Marketplace was amazing.  You could spend all day there but we did have to get back to the conference at some point!

 

goodies at the Ferry Market

 

There was a very fun party on Friday night that BlogHer and Food Fete hosted. There was lots of great food, cocktails and fun stuff to sample from the vendors there. 

 

I see Matt and Gaby yacking away

 

Friday night party food

 

The closing keynote was given by Shauna (Gluten-Free Girl), Michael Ruhlman, and Molly (Orangette).  They were all compelling speakers but I must say, I think everyone was very moved by what Shauna shared with all of us.  I think the room collectively gave her a big group hug and I hope she knows it.

 

Ruhlman getting all fired up during the closing keynote

 

All good things must come to an end.  On Saturday night, Jaden, Ree and Elise hosted a Closing Party at the California Culinary Academy.  It was so much fun. There was lots of food, of course.

 

And Michael Ruhlman did a demonstration of how to make your own bacon. The room was packed.  I was lucky to be standing right next to Hank Shaw, who gave me great bacon commentary during the demo!  I love that guy.

Ruhlman making bacon

 

Now let's talk swag.  You want to know about it - I know you do!  There was plenty of that during the conference.  Sharffen Berger was giving out tons of chocolate.  I got bottles of saffron, numerous jump drives, a digital thermometer, a Nutella knife, a very nice cookbook from Philadelphia Cream Cheese, a great BlogHer swag bag, and tons of edible goodies.

At the closing party, Chef's Catalog gave everyone a very nice bag full of kitchen items and a gift certificate:

 

Some tips for those of you who would like to go next year.  One: Make sure there is extra room in your suitcase for all the swag. Some people could not take goodies back because their suitcases were so full. I know you can't see it very well in the photo above, but the Chef's bag included a 12-inch pizza pan.  Try stuffing that in your suitcase, if there's no room!  Two: Take business cards so you can easily exchange information with other people and throw your card in for drawings.

Thanks to BlogHer for such a great conference!

If you'd like to read some other recaps of the conference, here are a few links:

What's Gaby Cooking  BlogHer Food and San Fran

Food Woolf:  How to Go to a Food Blogging Conference

Will Write for Food: BlogHer Food, the Love Fest

Panini Happy:  Memorable Moments from BlogHer Food '10

Steamy Kitchen:  Oinker

Bay Area Bites:  BlogHer Food Conference, Day 2

Picky Palate:  BlogHer Food Extravaganza

Celiacs in the House:  BlogHer Food 2010

I have so many recipe files that I've kept over the years, it's amazing to me sometimes.  Ever since I was young  and really started cooking, I've cut out every little recipe idea that appealed to me.  It's fun to go back to those really old files and see what inspired me back then. Sometimes I find something that I absolutely forgot about, like this recipe.  

When Brian and I were on our honeymoon (25 years ago) we really didn't have any money.  But we splurged one evening and went to an Italian restaurant, where Brian ordered this ravioli with five cheeses.  He raved so much about it that when I got home, I contacted Bon Appetit and asked them to get the recipe.  I was sent the recipe, hammered out on an old typewriter on a piece of paper.  I made the ravioli and then filed the recipe away and totally forgot about it - until I came across it recently and thought it would be nice to make this ravioli again for him. The restaurant is long gone, but it's a timeless recipe.

 

There are many methods to make ravioli.  Using this ravioli mold is one of  my favorites.  If you don't have a mold, you can make ravioli by using this method instead. 

Honeymoon Ravioli (Ravioli with Five Cheeses)

for a printable recipe, click here

makes 50-60 ravioli

helpful equipment:  a pastry bag or gallon sized zip lock, a ravioli mold, a rolling pin, a spritz bottle of water, a fluted pastry wheel

for the pasta:

3-1/2 to 3-3/4 cups all purpose unbleached flour or Italian "00" flour (about one pound of flour)
6 large eggs

for the filling:

2 ounces Parmigianno Reggiano
1 ounce Pecorino
3 ounces mozzarella cheese
2 ounces gorgonzola
8 ounces ricotta
1 egg 
salt and pepper 

 

Make the pasta dough:

In a food processor or KitchenAid mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix most of the flour and the eggs.  (You can also just make the dough by hand on a counter or cutting board). Process or mix until blended and keep adding the remainder of the flour until you get a nice dough that is not too sticky.  If very sticky, add additional flour by the tablespoon until you get a dough that is not too sticky and not too dry.  Form the dough into a ball and knead on a floured counter until smooth. Wrap the dough in a floured piece of plastic wrap and let rest for about 30 minutes at room temperature.  While you are letting it rest, make the filling.

Make the filling:

Place your hard cheeses, the Parmigianno and Pecorino, in a food processor and process until fine.  Add the other cheeses, the egg and a pinch of salt and pepper and process until smooth.  Fill a pastry bag, fitted with a large tip, with the mixture and refrigerate.  (If you don't have a pastry bag, just use a gallon size zip-lock and snip off a little of one corner).   You can also simply fill the ravioli with a spoon, without using a pastry bag.

 

Make the ravioli:

Cut the pasta dough into three pieces.  Keep the dough you are not using wrapped. Make sure your pasta rollers are on the #1 setting, the widest.  Flatten your piece of dough and run it through the rollers.  Flour it, fold it into thirds, and run it through again.  Do this three or four times.  Set the rollers to #2 and run your dough through that setting.  Do not fold dough.  Keep running it through the rollers until you get to setting #4 or #5.  I usually make my ravioli no thinner than these settings.  I find that if the dough is too thin, the ravioli tend to burst when you cook it.  If you like thinner dough, use #5.  Keep in mind as you are making the pasta sheets, that you want them as wide as possible so that they cover your ravioli mold. (If you are not using a mold, don't worry about that.) Take the sheets of pasta and lay them on a floured countertop.  If you are not very speedy and are going to take a while to make the remainder of the sheets, cover the pasta sheets with a towel or plastic wrap, so they don't dry out.

Repeat with remaining dough until you have made all your pasta sheets.  If you have a ravioli mold, flour it well. Lay one sheet of pasta on the mold, making sure the entire mold is covered.  Take your pastry bag and squeeze out about a tablespoon of filling into each well.  Spritz the pasta sheet with a little water. Lay the second sheet on top and run a rolling pin over to seal.  Turn the mold over and release the ravioli.  They will not be separated.  Use a fluted pastry wheel to cut apart.  Lay the ravioli on a floured baking pan and continue making ravioli until you've used all the pasta sheets.

 

You can store the ravioli on baking sheets in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them.  Cover with plastic wrap.  You can also freeze them on baking sheets and then stick them in zip locks.  To cook after being frozen, do not defrost first.

To cook:  Bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil.  Add the ravioli in batches of about a dozen at a time. Bring the water back to a gentle simmer and cook for about 3-4 minutes.  (If ravioli is frozen, cook about a minute more). Remove with a slotted spoon or handled strainer to a serving dish . Continue cooking the remainder of ravioli.  Serve with any sauce you like. Just some butter, olive oil,sea salt and chopped herbs is simple and delicious, too.

 

This week I will be going to San Francisco to attend BlogHer Food 2010. It's sold out again this year and should be an incredible conference with about 300 food bloggers attending.  There's going to be some very fun parties, some great speakers and some incredible food to eat.  Are you going?  Can't wait to see you!

 

I'm thinking about Thanksgiving already.  That's right - but it's not because I'm so super organized or anything, it's because I've been saving and freezing chicken parts all year and now it's time to make some wonderful homemade chicken stock for Thanksgiving.  (I need the freezer space.)  I usually buy whole chickens from The Egg Man, cut the backbones out and cook them this way.  I just freeze these backbones and any other chicken or turkey parts that I may acquire through the year. Then, in the fall, I take them all out and make this super stock.  Making homemade stock is basic, easy and something everyone should learn to do.  

The method is very simple.  I like to roast the bones first in the oven to give them a richer flavor.  Then the bones are added to some aromatics, covered with water and simmered on the stove a good long while.

One great thing about using this stock for Thanksgiving gravy is that I can reduce it down even further for flavor when the big day comes.  If I take out the stock, strain it again and then put it on the stove, uncovered and let it simmer a good long while, it gets even richer.  When I make gravy out of this stock, it's something really special.

When you're making the stock, be prepared for lots of oohs and aahs.  Your house will absolutely smell like Thanksgiving Day.  

Homemade Chicken Stock

Exact quantities simply do not matter in a recipe like this.  Only have 5 pounds of chicken bones?  That's fine. Want to use 6 carrots?  Go ahead.

The exact quantity that this will yield will depend on how long you cook the stock and how far down it reduces. I had about 10 cups of stock.

for a printable version click here

6 pounds of chicken bones (I had some turkey backs, also)
2 onions, quartered
4 celery sticks
4 carrots 
1 tablespoon whole peppercorns
4 bay leaves
a few springs parsley
about 20 cups of water

Equally distribute chicken parts and vegetables on two baking trays (cover your trays with foil to make them easier to clean).  Roast at 400 degrees for about 1 hour. Transfer everything to a very large stockpot and add the rest of the ingredients.  Bring up to a slight boil, lower heat and simmer gently, uncovered for about 2 hours.

Strain into large bowls through a fine sieve.  If you like, strain again through cheesecloth, to remove any finer bits.  Cool completely in the refrigerator.  

After the stock is completely cooled, remove layer of fat from the top.  Transfer to plastic containers and freeze for up to 3 months.